The last few weeks and Tokyo

After Nara, I didn't do much travelling for a two reasons. The first being that I was trying to save my money for going to Tokyo the last four days of my trip. The second being it was VERY hot all day, every day. Generally, it was around 90-95 degrees, heat index of 105-110, and like upwards of 80% humidity. So yeah, walking around in crowded cities wasn't entirely appealing when it wasn't necessary.

Then the last two weeks hit. I had to write an essay entirely in Japanese, and then deliver a four-minute presentation on the topic about which my essay was written, also entirely in Japanese. It was really nerve-wrecking, but I managed, and got a high grade. Then the last week came, and it was crunch time for final exams. So I got through the first few days, took my exam, and got to relax. That night we all went to dinner at a kaiten-zushi restaurant (rotating sushi bar), and then headed back to JCMU to drink.

Friday was the closing ceremony, where I got to say bye to my teachers and get my final grade for the term. I received a really good grade, which was a definite relief.

After playing with Jackie's host family for what seemed like hours, Jackie and I hopped on the train bound for Shizuoka. Well, we took a train to Maibara, then Ogaki, then Toyohashi, then Hamamatsu, and THEN Shizuoka... but still, we got there. After staying the night in Mishima, we headed back to Shizuoka to meet Niki and Tisch. There, we saw a life-size GUNDAM. Even though I'm not really that into anime anymore, it was really impressive.

Then we headed to Tokyo. We got there a little late, so we dropped our stuff at the hotel, and went to Yoshinoya to grab some cheap donburi. Then we got further acquainted with our somewhat unusual sleeping arrangements...

...because we stayed in a capsule hotel! It was nice. I slept really well, and it wasn't really all that cramped or claustrophobic at all.

The next day, we headed to Otemachi so that I could use an ATM (there was a Citibank there, and my ATM card wouldn't work at anything except post office ATMs , or Citibank), and then went to the Imperial Palace area to be tourists. We ran into these college students that showed us around for free. They told us that they usually wait around for Americans or other English-speaking tourists to come, then they give them a free "tour" so that they can practice their English. It amazes me the lengths that foreigners go to to learn English, but Americans tend to speak English, and don't understand the value of learning a foreign language. It just gives me a little perspective.

But back to Tokyo. They showed us around. It was really a beautiful place, even if we didn't get to see the Palace.

Afterwards, we went to Akihabara. For those who don't know, Akihabara is a Japan nerd's heaven. I mean, we went to a GUNDAM CAFE. And that's just start of it.

There were six-story arcades, costume shops, etc. I bought a My Neighbor Totoro bento box. I like it.

After Akihabara, we headed back to Asakusa to switch to our new hotel, which was in Ueno. It was... a hotel. Nothing special, but definitely sleep-able. We all showered and called it a night early (ish).

The next day, which was our last day in Tokyo (and Japan really, for that matter), we started with lunch in Harajuku. We went to this place called Sweets Paradise, which was ridiculous. For 90 minutes, it was all-you-can-eat sweets and other odd things like curry and spaghetti. It was dangerous, but so, so good. After wanting to die, Tisch and I walked around Harajuku while Niki and Jackie freaked out about the four-story Forever 21 that they had found. We eventually found a random English-style pub and grabbed a beer, then found the girls again.

And then we made our way over to Roppongi to go to Tokyo Tower. I went to Tokyo Tower the last time I was in Japan, but I didn't remember it being as impressive as it was. I can't really put into words how cool it was to look out onto one of the biggest cities in the world.

Then we headed back to our hotel, showered and cleaned up, and headed out for karaoke. We got back to our hotel around 4 in the morning, and since Tisch and I had to leave Ueno around 7 to catch our shinkansen (bullet train) to Nagoya, I decided to just... not go to sleep.

So we got to Tokyo station, hopped on a shinkansen, and arrived in Nagoya a few hours later. Then we took the Nagoya meisetsu (just another subway/train line) to the airport, and did the typical pre-flight business. Then we took our 12 hour flight back to Detroit, during which I only managed to sleep for about two hours.

It's weird being back.

Nagahama, Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara

So, I think I misjudged the amount of free time I would have while in Japan. I don't know why I didn't realize it, but fitting all of the things I wanted to do while in Japan on top of class and schoolwork proved to be nearly impossible in ten weeks. I will quickly recap my adventures in Japan right now...

June was my first month in Hikone. I didn't do much traveling aside from a brief (and failed) afternoon excursion to Otsu and Kyoto. I spent most of the month adjusting to the differences between Japan and the United States, exploring Hikone, and going to class/studying. I made some new friends, Japanese and American both. Oh, and drinking. There was some of that too.

July was slightly more eventful, though I don't mean to express that in a way that makes June seem like it was boring, because that wasn't the case at all. Back to July. I went to a few places, made some more new friends, and studied a lot. Let's see... At the beginning, there was the Tanabata Festival in Hikone at Shiga University. That was fun, even if it was a bit small. It was cool seeing everyone--both Japanese and foreigners--in traditional dress for the festival.

I went to Nagahama with Tisch, Jackie, Sang Yun, and Heather, and we met Kailey there (she was doing a homestay in Nagahama) the first weekend of the month. We hung around the festival there, did some shopping, and went to kaiten-zushi (a revolving sushi bar in which plates of sushi are distributed on a conveyor belt to the masses). There was some drama during that day as well, but I'll withhold that from a public setting.

I also went to Osaka with Niki, Sang Yun, and Tomoyo. Honestly, that might have been the most fun I had up to that point in Japan. Osaka is such a wonderful city. When people think of Japan, they tend to think of Tokyo and Okinawa... but Osaka doesn't get the credit it deserves. I can't judge Okinawa because I've never been, but I like Osaka a lot more than Tokyo. Anyway, we shopped around Namba,

went to Takatsuki for okonomiyaki,

went to a karaoke bar,

and got back to Hikone really late. It was so much fun! I wish I could have gotten back to Osaka one more time before I left JCMU.

I also went to Kyoto for the Gion Matsuri (Gion Festival) with Jackie, Heather, Tamika, Masa, and Yohei. Well, we tried to go anyway. By the time we actually got to Kyoto, the festival had already ended. But we made do... we went to the River, walked around the shopping district, etc. It was SO hot outside, but it didn't even matter because the day was so fun.

The next day, I went to Nara with Tisch and Kailey. We ran into our friend Katie at the train station, so we convinced her to join us. It took us a while to get to Nara and meet with Jackie and her friend Yuri due to some unforeseen conflicts, but we made it! We went to Todaiji (a large temple in Nara), which is famous for the Daibutsu (the largest bronze statue of Buddha in the world!).

We also just walked around the town, fed some deer (more on that shortly), and did some shopping. Once again, it was incredibly hot outside all day, but was a great day nonetheless. Okay, so, the deer. In Nara and Hiroshima, there are deer EVERYWHERE. And they just walk around freely, unafraid of people. If you have food in your hand, they aren't shy to just snatch it from you. It's so bizarre.

I feel like this is going to come in two parts. More later!

A quick update

Osaka didn't happen this past weekend, we just didn't have enough time to plan for it. I went to Otsu and Kyoto on Tuesday, though... it was alright. We didn't do much of anything, but Heather and I just wanted to get out of Hikone for a few hours, and Niki had to go to Otsu to get submit her visa application. Kyoto is only a few more stops past Otsu, so we just decided to go a bit further. It was raining so we didn't go very far in Kyoto, but it was kind of nice to just walk around the train station there. It's HUGE. Here's a picture that my friend Lindsay took last time we were in Japan, in 2005:


So yeah, we were there for a few hours before we decided to head back (and to beat the rush hour on the trains here). I'm excited to go back and actually see Kyoto again. It's going to be so different navigating through the city by myself, and not with a tour guide.

On Saturday morning, some of the students from Shiga Daigaku came over to JCMU and taught us how to make Japanese-style curry. It was DELICIOUS. And easy! I'm excited to learn how to cook more Japanese food while I'm here. After the cooking event, I went to a festival at Shiga Prefectural University (different from Shiga University) with some of the other people in my program. It was pretty fun--there was a lot of cheap food and drinks, as well as little street fair-esque shop stands, and free live music. There was a Japanese ska band playing when we first got there! I wish we could have seen more of them, but they were finishing their set as we arrived.

Sorry that this isn't particularly interesting, but it's a busy day. I have a lot of things that I need to get done today, but I also wanted to post something, at least. Hopefully I'll pick up some extra time this week.

Hikone Castle!

Before I talk about my trip to Hikone Castle on Sunday, I'll recap my weekend. Friday night, we kind of stayed in the dorms, had some drinks, hung out, and just enjoyed each other's company a bit more. Pretty chill night--not particularly crazy or anything, just getting to know each other a little more.

Saturday I wanted to sleep in (I hadn't really gotten the chance to do so all week with classes, orientation, and jetlag), but it wasn't really all that successful. I think I managed to get to like 9am before I couldn't sleep anymore. I woke up, sat around for a while, studied a bit, and then wasted more time until we headed out for the party at Shiga Daigaku that we got invited to.

The party was definitely fun. I met a lot of local Japanese college students and chatted with them, got to see what their parties are like, etc. Afterward, everyone went out with them to do karaoke and drink more, but I wasn't really in the mood to get crazy so I opted to go back to JCMU, so I hung out with this guy Christian and we watched all the drunk people make their way back as the night went on. Then I hung out with two guys, Ahn and Tom, whose Japanese is better than mine and practiced/listened to them. It was nice.

Sunday, I went to Hikone Castle (彦根城) with Heather, Jackie, and Kailey. It was really, really beautiful and interesting... I'm gonna go ahead and let the pictures speak for themselves.






In the castle area there was also a garden and plum orchard, which were fantastic as well.




まったね！

First week in Japan

Alright, so I left off last time at heading to the airport. So, Jackie and I went to get breakfast in the hotel (it was complimentary, so we figured, why not). After that we walked to the convenience store next to the hotel and while we were there we ran into Heather (a girl I had met at orientation before) and Ian, two people going to JCMU as well. So, we checked out of our hotel room and headed back to the airport afterwards. Basically we just wandered around at the airport after storing our luggage and headed to the "sky deck."

Okay, so this thing was completely amazing. Basically, Chubu Centrair Airport in Nagoya has a deck on the top level of the airport where people can walk around and watch planes take off. It was really nice, especially since it also gave you an option to see the surrounding landscapes and cityscapes. So after that we headed to the shops to just waste some time, and ran into Tisch and his grandma (who was from Gifu, Japan, I believe). We ended up just walking around until Ian, Tisch, and his grandmother went to eat lunch and Jackie, Heather, and I did our own thing. Now, we were hoping that this would waste a lot more time than it actually did. It was basically the longest day EVER. In retrospect, it was fun, but at the time it just dragged on and on and on. Eventually, more people going to JCMU arrived, but the last flight coming in with them on it was delayed for about an hour and a half. We finally left and took a bus to Hikone, and settled into the college around 11pm. The center is really nice. I haven't gotten around to wandering about it to take pictures, but I'm just gonna post some that Heather uploaded to Facebook for the time being. That's the academic building of the center, where all of our classes are. We also have restaurant attached to it called Coco's that's open for lunch. JCMU students get $3 off any purchases there up to 10 times a month, so that's pretty cool. This is Biwako (Lake Biwa), and the college is located on the shore of the lake. Alright, so basically all week we've been doing orientation and welcome activities. One of them was a bicycle tour of Hikone with some of the guys from Shiga Daigaku (Shiga University, which is down the road from JCMU). That was cool; we kind of just rode around the town for an hour or two and got to see a little bit of it. The guys from Shiga Daigaku were really nice too... and really, really good at English. Thursday morning we took our placement exams for language classes, and I choked on my oral interview, which is probably why I got placed into level two (the classes I took sophomore year and the first half of junior year). It's not a completely terrible thing, though--I could probably afford to re-learn some things. Also, I guess it's nice that I won't be stressing out too much over the intensity of the workload. It's a bit disappointing to not be in level three, but I'm bouncing back. Friday, classes started. So far, so good! The first few days were pretty terrible as far as jetlag goes. It took me two days to get back on a normal sleeping schedule, but I'm still a bit tired right now. Though I'm sure that's partially due to being out last night. I'll update again soon (probably tomorrow) with a lot of photos of the college, and my apartment, and hopefully some of the city.

I'm here!

I'm in Japan!
Alright, this last week has been RIDICULOUS. Of course, I waited until the last minute to pack everything. Figures. At least I made a list? Anyway, I had my last few days of work this week, and it was a sad goodbye. I love the people I work with, and I've been with them for SO long that it's going to be odd not having them around all summer. On Thursday, I woke up and started packing up all of my stuff to bring home before I left. I basically just brough all of my clothes back, as well as the electrical appliances and accessories that I planned on needing.

Friday was a pretty boring day; I went to Ann Arbor for band practice at Tommy's house, then I came back and basically did nothing for the rest of the day and night. Saturday was a crazy day of running errands... I went all over the place and spent a lot of money on last-minute things. Then GAB played a show at the Modern Exchange... basically, it was the perfect sendoff. After the show, Elyse, Mikey, Collyn, and I grabbed the last late-night dinner and beer (in the United States) for me at Old Chicago.

Sunday morning was a little bit crazy too. First of all, I was exhausted from the show when I woke up. Then I went to breakfast with Kyle and Kyle at Mom's (which was delicious), and then I came back to my house and just packed. Very quickly.

The flight was LONG. It was actually shorter than the last time I came to Japan; then it was 14 hours, and this time it was only about 12. There wasn't much turbulence, so it was pretty smooth, but it was still just outrageously long. I had a book, I had an iPod, and I had my Japanese textbooks, but it still just dragged on the entire time. It eventually got to the point where I was making really awkward conversation with the girl sitting next to me just so that I would be talking to someone. I slept for maybe an hour, but that's it. On the bright side, the videos they played were pretty good. They didn't just have movie after movie like some flights do; instead, there was a television block (in which they played 30 Rock, How I Met Your Mother, and Modern Family), followed by a movie or two, and then back to the television, etc. So that helped. A bit.
Finally, we landed in Nagoya. I forgot how it feels when you're dropping in altitude really quickly, and it took me by surprise. Then the whole ear-popping thing started, which was uncomfortable, but whatever. The airport was nice... the people try to be incredibly helpful and accommodating, which is nice in an international airport. It was a slap in the face, however, when I has to use some Japanese. It wasn't TERRIBLE, but it definitely could have gone more smoothly had I practiced some more over the past month. It's crazy how fast some of that stuff leaves your mind.

I made a new friend before boarding the flight, too. Her name's Jackie, and she's going to JCMU with me also. She spent a semester in Osaka last year, and her Japanese is MUCH better than mine, so it was definitely nice to have her with me when trying to store our luggage overnight and get a hotel room.


Our hotel is pretty nice. The room is small, but it's air conditioned and the bathroom is nice. We have to check out at 9:30 am (it's 7:30 as I write this), so we're doing things on our computers and watching a Japanese news TV network (which, by the way, is way more entertaining than American news and weather). After this, I think we're going to head back to airport and shop around a bit, grab something to eat, and wait for the JCMU people to get here.

Evidently, the FIFA soccer world cup or something is starting in ten days. I don't know much about soccer or sports, but it seems like it's a big deal here, especially since soccer in Japan is so popular. I'm actually interested in watching it, which is bizarre.

I'll update again soon... maybe with video? I want to do video tour type thing of my room and campus when I get there. Tonight is a meet-and-greet (I think), and tomorrow is a tour of Hikone, and the next day is placement exams... which I am NOT looking forward to.