The very day I was leaving, Sho offered to drive me to make the trip a lot easier. Well, Sho had a party the night before my departure and was completely incapacitated. Nervously, Mayu agreed to take the wheel, since she was the only one with a driver's license.
Mayu at the wheel as we pull away from Makino Train Station.
Hide in his apartment as we picked him up.
Everyone in the car. You can't really tell, but it's Mayu, Me, Mami, Shiho, Sho, Hide, and Taka.
We arrived at Itami Airport and were walking toward the check-in counter from the Parking Lot.
Later on Ai, Ryu, Yuki, Michiko, and Shota showed up to see me off.
After this last picture I failed to take more pictures, because my camera died. I said bye to everyone and got on the plane. As the plane was pulling out, I looked out my window and could see everyone at the Observation Deck waving... unfortunately they couldn't see me. I was very happy that everyone came to see me off. Those that couldn't make it called and said bye.
Over all, I had an extremely wonderful time in Gaidai, and miss everyone tremendously. I didn't feel ready to come home, but I have to graduate. haha This definitely isn't my last trip to Japan... Be ready for another Blog... I have plans in the future to study in Okinawa for a year... we'll see. Thanks for those who followed the blog and I hope it may have helped in answering some questions about Japan. If you've been dancing around the idea of Studying Abroad, I hope my blog has helped in your decision making.
Thanks again and if I go back, there'll be another blog...
Japan has a total of 47 Prefectures. The map below gives you an idea of where they are. The last week of my stay in Japan I went to my girlfriend's home prefecture in Ishikawa. Mayu's Grandmother made reservations in a "Ryokan," or a resort hotel with hot-baths and other accommodations, and we stayed there for three days. We took a bus from Kyoto through Fukui and into Ishikawa. The following are pictures of my stay.
Check out the map to get an Idea of where I went. I stayed in the Kansai area and stayed mostly in Osaka. I visited Kyoto, Nara, Okinawa, and Ishikawa.
Map of Japan. Click to get a bigger picture.
The first night I was there we went to Mayu's classmate's bar.... and Yes Jack Sparrow showed up. Yes people... Jack Sparrow is also Japanese. I spoke english to him and he became extremely tongue tied and said in Japanese that he doesn't speak english.
Yes, he has a gun.... and instead of a sword he carries around a Japanese Umbrella. His gun is a lighter. Jack Sparrow is a smoker.
He does like his rum though.
Mayu and Jack Sparrow.
Mayu and her friends. This is where I spent my Christmas.
We moved to Karaoke and was there till about 7:00am.
More friends.
Back at the Ryokan, we spent the day in our Yukata.
Me, Mayu, Mayu's mother, and Mayu's Grandmother.
We had crab for dinner... it was delicious.
This was the scene from outside my window. Mayu lives in Kaga city, in Ishikawa... and there really isn't anything there. The weather wasn't too nice, but way in the background in the picture are some mountains.
On our ride back home it began to snow... so I was lucky enough to see some snow.
More snow.
More Snow.
The trip to Ishikawa was really nice. It was very relaxing and the food was delicious. Mayu's grandmother and mother were very nice and Mayu's Grandmother paid for EVERYTHING... I was very grateful and couldn't thank her enough. I really hope to go back again someday.
Me, Mayu, Sho, and Shiho decided to take a trip back to Kyoto to check out Arashi Yama... A place I went to once before, but when it was raining. This time it was nice out and they were going to be lighting up the mountains. The following are from that trip.
From left to right. Me, Mayu, Sho, and Shiho. We stopped at a Takoyaki restaurant and ate some lunch before we headed off to Arashi Yama.
The bridge in the background heads to the mountains. There were lots of people here, but not as many people from the time we went to Kiyomizutera.
The four of us on walking down the bridge pictured above.
They lit up the Bridge once night fell and this is the picture of the bridge.
The mountains lit up.
Once again.
We took a bit more of a walk and were able to check out the bamboo forests.
At Arashi Yama train station there was a christmas tree made of apples... Sho took a bite out of one and it was not tasty.
After Arashi Yama we were able to stop by Ichikotsu and eat some wonderfully delicious food. I got a chance to turn the Tako Yaki... I wasn't very good.
Near the end of exam week, my friends and I got together and rented out a log cabin for a night. It was cold... and we didn't sleep... luckily I didn't have class the next day until 1:00pm. The following are pictures of that night.
Down in the bottom left hand corner is Mayu, in the center is Mami, and in the top is Ai. The cabin was really awesome. We step into the room and it opens up to the living room and to the right is the ladder pictured above. Across from the front door is the sliding glass door to the balcony. This is the first room. This room was connected to another room designed in the exact same way. One problem... we had to pay to use the heater. 100 yen for two hours... We payed up.
We're starting our "Nabe" party. Nabe is just a pot with water and we add some flavoring then throw in vegetables, meat, and tofu.
The group waiting for the food to get ready.
Sho finally showed up and brought about 5 pounds of meat.
Sho and Masato.
The cabin was a fun time and the next morning we had to check out by 9:00am. This was the reason we stayed up all night.
As the last days of class drew near, things were getting much busier... lots more studying. During the busy time we were able to squeeze time for pictures in class. I never took any pictures of my other two classes, but the following pictures are of my Japanese Spoken lvl. 6 class and Japanese Reading and Writing lvl. 4 class.
The girl in the left is Yan san, and the guy on the right is Matt san. Two class mates of mine in my Spoken class. Yan is from Korea and Matt is from Utah.
This is Vicky. She is in both my Spoken class and Reading and writing class. Vicky is from California.
My entire class for Spoken Japanese. Top row left to right is Matt, Brittney, Yan, Christina, Lauren, and Towa. Front Row left to right is Me, Okawa Sensei, and Vicky. I probably butchered the spelling. Okawa Sensei was really good and an extremely friendly teacher. Brittney, Lauren, and Towa were from Australia. Christina was from Brazil.
This is me and my Reading Writing teacher Miyauchi Sensei. Also a really great teacher.
A picture of mos my class mates in the Reading and Writing class... I unfortunately do not know most of their names. But I had a great time in class.
The Japanese classes in Gaidai were really good. Most everyone I spoke with would say the same thing about their teachers. I found out in the middle of the Semester that an extremely well used book in Japanese classes called "Genki," was made at Gaidai. I personally never used the book, but many of the exchange students in Gaidai had used "Genki."
In Japan when the leaves change it's a BIG DEAL. I'm serious. On the news they talk about the status of the leaves in different areas of Japan and when the best time to view the leaves are. Kyoto happens to be one of the more famous places to check out this beautiful time of year. The following is my experience in Kyoto checking out the changing of the leaves and the Temples.
This is an example of ENGRISH... Japanese clothes designers will often throw anything on clothing if it has english... well poor Saya didn't realize what this meant in English... We had fun teasing her about it.
All of us gathering to decide where to go first.
Us having fun walking down the back roads to our first place... Keep in mind how narrow the road is... just remember that for a bit.
Our first stop was this temple. We didn't go in, but it was very pretty and cool to take a picture of this Pagoda. We weren't too keen on paying to enter any of the temples we went to... for many reasons, but it was still very beautiful.
Reason 1 for why I asked you to keep in mind the picture of the road in the last picture... This is a picture of one of the roads we went through to get to another temple... The day we went to Kyoto happened to be a very popular day...
The same pagoda pictured above.
A temple with a huge buddha... Many of you may know that I'm buddhist, but none of these temples have anything to do with my school of buddhism... i'm sure you didn't care.
Another temple with a bunch of people... and the tree in the background is the main attraction... rather many trees like it. This theme of "bunch of people" is a theme to keep in mind.
Me, Sho and Hide taking a picture together of that tree above.
Another beautiful tree.
Mayu and Saya 100 yard dash... Mayu won by a bunch... Saya just can't run well.
The tree in the background is really pretty...
This has nothing to do with trees or temples... but it was a cool car.
Reason 2 for keeping in mind the picture of the road and "bunch of people." This was on our way to Kiyomizu Dera a famous temple in Kyoto and a World Historical Site. It's hard to see from this picture, but we are crammed in the road like sardines. I have never been in a crowd this large, this packed, and this determined to to get to the same destination. Hide was surprised too.
Finally Kiyomizu Dera. This was the main gate and the whole temple ground was roped off so people had to enter through the main gate. There was a huge line and we all tried to do our best to avoid paying, but unfortunately we had to pay to check it out... so we sucked it up and paid.
The large crowd is what we had to hike through in order to get to the Temple... and most of the crowd in the background is actually the line to enter the temple and buy your ticket... We kinda cheated and sent Mayu and Hide to sneak through the line, buy all our tickets, and then hand them to us through the gate... it worked.
A beautiful picture of the gate on the Temple Grounds.
This light could be seen for miles and was shining at the top of the Temple... once we arrived at the top of the Temple we took a break and began to make jokes about the beam of light... Sho said it's a huge Marlboro cigarette....
It was a wonderful trip and we had a great time visiting the historical sites and seeing the beautiful trees. Afterwards we hit up some "Yaki Niku," or barbecue I guess... We ate a ton and it was delicious. I highly recommend that you experience this event in Kyoto if you're ever in Japan.
A couple days before I left for Okinawa Obama's election update was shown at Kansai Gaidai. In the morning we were able to watch the race in real time. Here are some pictures of my friends watching the election.
Left to Right (Bill, Joe, and Vicky)
The moment Obama was announced to have won the election.
I left for Okinawa on a thursday and I was going to spend 6 days in Okinawa.
It's a little blurry, but its a picture of the city scape from my Grandmother's apartment. A view that is very nostalgic to me.
The night I arrived in japan, many of my extended family gathered at my grandmother's.
There's a very famous street in Naha City, Okinawa called "Kokusai Douri" and next to that street is an out-door mall called "Heiwa Douri." I used to go there quite a bit with my grandmother when I was younger. The above are fruits found in Okinawa that could be bought in Heiwa Douri. (dragon fruit, start fruit, pomegranates, pineapples, are some of the fruits.) The following are some more items found in the mall.
Sea Snake
Pig's Head
I left the mall and decided to go check out one of Okinawa's more famous sites, Shuri Castle. Here's some pictures of my hike to find the castle. Don't get me wrong, it's well marked, but I went by the monorail which runs throughout the city of Naha. Once I exited at the Shuri Castle Exit, I had to figure out the way to the Castle and this is what I encountered...
Aparently this is part of Shuri castle, and is a small park at the top of a hill near the Castle grounds. From the monorail station I just began walking towards the general direction of Shuri Castle.
A great view of the landscape from the Park I mentioned in the above picture... and then I turned to my left and saw this sign...
The sign in Japanese reads "Habu ni Chui," which as you could imagine means "snake caution." Okinawa is well known for a very poisonous snake and I grew up always being warned of the snake, so I was surprised to see the picture.
Once I entered the Castle Grounds, they were show casing Okinawa's traditional dances.
The Okinawan Dance mentioned above.
Finally Shuri Castle. Just to add, this was a friday and Mayu was going to be flying in later that night so I had plenty of time to kill... I happened to be wearing Jeans and a T-shirt and I was BURNING UP!!! It felt like summer in NOVEMBER... a little strange... and some say there is no Global Warming... yeah right.
The next day Mayu and I went to "Kokusai Douri" and then had plans to go to the Okinawan caves called "Gyokusendou."
A cat that was hanging out at shop on "Kokusai Douri." Mayu was attacked... I failed to mention that a couple minutes before she decided to pet the cat a little brat was teasing the cat and was swatted at. Well, as we can imagine Mayu was bitten, but the cat didn't even hiss, it just attacked.
From Left to right (Minako, Mayu, and Ruriko) Mayu with my cousin and my aunt at the place to visit the caves... i think the place is called "Ryukyu Mura."
Note, the date in the picture has changed but this is the same day as the Kittty Cat attack... my camera is set on Central Time Zone not Japan's...
Mayu and I took a picture with the huge snake... Mayu somehow ended up with the dangerous end and was freaking out. In Okinawan culture a white snake is supposed to bring lots of good luck.
I have a bunch of pictures of the cave, but their all just stalagtites and stalagmites, but this is the prettiest picture. The sign in the picture reads, Blue Spring.
Mayu and I in traditional Okinawan clothing at "Ryukyu Village."
The next day we had plans to visit Okinawa's famous aquarium, Churaumi. The Following are pictures from that trip. My second Cousin Nana and her daughter Miyu.
The view at the top of the hill on our way towards Churaumi Aquarium. The day was a little cloudy, and ended up raining but we still had a wonderful time.
My cousins on our way down to the aquarium.
The massive Fish Tank in the Aquarium which holds three Whale Sharks. The glass is a Meter Thick...
Mayu doing her best to look like a sea turtle.
I had no idea what these Manatees were doing, but the top one I believe is going number 2... we can imagine what the bottom one is doing... As I was taking this picture two teenage girls ran up screaming "Kawaii!!," which means cute... I don't see what's cute in this scene... haha
We checked out the Dolphin show and it was really fun... until it began to rain at which point the audience all dashed for shelter.
After the Dolphin show we went back into the Aquarium to check some stuff out. In the shark research area Mayu is standing in the replica of a Megalodon Shark Mouth... Don't worry it's an extinct shark so swim with ease.
This happened to be Mayu's Favorite fish... and yes the fish is truly ugly... Mayu is doing her best impression of the unfortunate looking fish.
Me being stupid at the entrance to the Aquarium.
The next day Mayu and I once again returned to "Kokusai Douri" to purchase gifts from our friends. Mayu's new favorite pet. One of the stores in "Heiwa Douri" kept an Owl as a pet. At first we didn't realize it was real until we looked a little more carefully... Mayu kept saying how cute it was until she read the sign that said that Owl's eat frozen mice...
My aunt's and grandmother seeing us off at Naha airport... I'll be back in Okinawa, I promise.
It was really great to be back in Okinawa and spend time with my family. It was only a short time, but it was still great. I do plan on going back. After I graduate from UWF, I hope to study abroad for a year in Okinawa through a scholarship offered by the Okinawan Prefectural Government.
In Japan, every November the schools around the country celebrate what they call the "Culture Fest." Specifically for Kansai Gadai, the students operate stores, events, and participate in Dance competitions. Normally, students involved in clubs (i.e. baseball team, basketball team) and circles (i.e. what we call clubs in UWF.)
This is my experience doing a Tako Yaki Store with all my friends. Just to add, it was three days of waking up at 7am and ending at 8pm and doing nothing but selling Tako Yaki.
^ Tako Yaki
Hide and Taka working the extra Tako Yaki burners.
The girls were given the job of wearing costumes (i.e. japanese school girl uniforms, nurses, and stitch...) and attracting customers. This is Mayu dancing in front of the store in a Stitch costume.
Hide messing around with Sho, Akiyo, and Risa cooking the Tako Yaki.
Ryu doing his DJ Ozma "Spider Man" dance... this probably scared the customers away...
Honami in her Nurse outfit bringing in the customers.
I just got pied, so Sho and I took a picture together.
A bunch of the members in front of the store. There were all together bout 18 of us that participated in the three day event.
Ryu was pied by all of these kids at least twice.
Honami getting pied. I think she was hit by about 4 or 5 pies.
Honami, after the pieing.
Mayu wasn't able to escape the pieing. In the end Saya, Honami, and Mayu were the only girls that didn't escape getting pied throughout the three days.
Once the three days were up we decided to celebrate our work and went out to a restaurant. Only one place was open, because everyone else apparently had the same idea in mind.
From Left to right (Hide, Taka, Me, Mayu, Honami, and Emi) About a third of the group at the restaurant after the Culture festival.
The group waiting outside the restaurant.
Ryu and Mami.
Mami and Noriko.
Hide, me, and Ryu- We sang a ton of songs and ate the crappy food they put in front of us. It came out in servings, but the food really wasn't that great. It didn't stop us from having fun.
The three days of the festival was really fun and I was really happy I could be a part of the event. There were all sorts of stands and 10 Tako Yaki stands throughout the Festival. We had a lot of competition, but with the pie throwing, the costumes, and the dancing, our store was the only one that had lines regularly.
Some videos from the three day festival. Please Enjoy.
In Japan, especially here in Osaka, bicycles and motor bikes are a main source of transportation, other than bus or train... Well, my friend Sho has a motor bike and it's absolutely one of the more fun forms of transportation there is... here are some videos. Please enjoy.
Oh, by the way, in Japan you're able to drive between lanes if you're on a bike and often times I find that Sho and I are riding on the wrong side of the road just to get around all the cars in front of us, so that we can take the head of the line at the light...
Finally, after 4 years I'm returning to what I consider to be my home... Okinawa. Of course this means it's been 4 years since I've seen my grandmother, aunts, and cousins. Needless to say I'm extremely excited. I've still got to wait about a month and it's only a short 5 days, but it's better than nothing. I leave after my morning classes on November 6th and return on one of our holidays on Tuesday November 11th.
My friends heard of my decision and decided they wanted to join me. They'll be arriving in Okinawa on Friday and leave the same day as me.
This weekend we once again went to Ichikotsu, the tako yaki restaurant in Kyoto. The only thing is every time we go, not only does the chef, who we call Master, make us his famous Takoyaki, but he always makes a special dish especially for us for an extremely cheap price... it's wonderful. The following is a picture of us enjoying the meal.
The food was delicious as always and we'll be going back again some time soon. We've been having talks of a trip to another prefecture this weekend just to eat some Udon... right now it's still under discussion, but if we go you will soon know via... this blog.
Last week was a very busy week. I had an exam every day of the week, and it was quite exhausting. So, what did I do to prepare for the extremely busy week? Well, the saturday before that week began I became a farmer for a day.
My friend Sho's family owns about an acre of farmland where they grow their own....(drum roll please)... Rice. What else would they grow? It was a very interesting experience. Me, Hide, and Sho went to Sho's home after a night of bowling and didn't go to bed till about 5am and we knew we'd be woken up at 8:30am... Not too bright, but what can I say. 8:30 rolled around and Sho's father, a stout, elderly man about mid 50's with a quiet and kind demeanor, that seems to exude a sense of wisdom, quietly sneaks into the room and wake up sho. I, in my half a sleep state, see Sho go from absolute lights-out asleep to beaming, ready to go consciousness in about half a second... it was amazing. Me and Hide on the other hand remained quietly asleep. As I began drifting back into full REM sleep, Sho bounds back into the room and screams, "Lets go Man!!! We've got to carry rice!!!" Hide and I spring awake and are ready in about the same time Sho was.
We ran down stairs and began carrying 30Kgm or 66 lbs bags of rice one by one to Sho's huge fridge where they keep their year's supply of rice. We carried approximately 24 bags. After that we ate a bit of breakfast then went to the fields. About a 5 minute walk in perfect weather, with the sun beaming and a cool breeze on our backs, we arrived ready to do whatever it was we were supposed to do. As we got closer to the fields, we could see Sho's father in the distance with another man who was riding what looked like an over sided riding lawn mower. What the man was riding on was an automatic rice shaker thingy... I unfortunately in my one day of being a farmer I was not able to gain the lingo that goes along with the title. Our job was to gather the bags filled with rice that the machine filled, and put the bags on the back of the truck. I suddenly began feeling a burning, itching feeling on my fore arms, at which point Sho says, "You should have worn long sleeves..." At which point I thought, "Helpful information at this point." The individual rice pebbles are covered in a flaky shell and this shell breaks off into very fine flakes and digs into the skin and becomes almost like fiber glass. After hauling about 16 bags of rice, we took the truck to a machine that dehydrates the rice and removes the flakes.
The one day of being a farmer was a wonderful experience. I learned a lot about farming rice and about how it doesn't use much ground nutrients, so there is no need for crop rotation and such, so the land lasts for quite a long time. I've now gained a better respect for those that provide us our food.
I'm sorry I haven't posted anything the past couple weeks, but since classes have started there really hasn't been much going on. I'll give a quick synopsis of the past couple weeks.
After the chaos of orientation, classes began and I finally got to meet my teachers. I'm taking a total of four classes, Spoken Japanese 6, Reading and Writing 4, and two economics classes. My Spoken Teacher, Mr. Okawa, is a wonderful teacher and can speak impeccable english, just not during class... no english allowed in Japanese classes. My Reading and Writing teacher, Mr. Miyauchi, is also a wonderful teacher and keeps a pretty fun class. This brings me to my economics classes, which are both taught by... Dr. Campbell... and for the Woodberry guys, it's obviously not the same Dr. C. I have a very hard time calling my economics teacher Dr. Campbell... so I keep it simple with Mr. Campbell, which he is absolutely fine with. Well, my class schedule is quite crazy and not really what I expected... a little less organized than I would normally prefer.
Other than classes, we've had tons of holidays... this coming week will be the first full week of classes since school began. During these numerous Japanese holidays I've not really done much other than hanging out with all my friends. We did however go to a place called Arashiyama in Kyoto. This place is famous for keeping it's historical Japanese appeal. The day we arrived, it was rainy and I had a blinding headache, but I pushed on and wanted to experience everything. Arashiyama is located at the foot of a valley and is cut in half by a beautiful river, which wasn't so beautiful the day I went... in fact it was brown and quite ominous from all the rain water. We attempted to go check out the mountain Monkeys, but that trail was closed to the weather and we ended up just walking about 2km up the river to a dead end... This was about the peak of my headache, it was about here that we decided to try and check out some Temples around the area, but we ended up bailing on that idea as well. The constant, drizzling rain, the cold, and the ever darkening night canceled our plan to check out the temple fairly quick. The pain in my head was calling for some medicine, while everyone's empty stomachs were ready for food at the restaurant we made reservations at.
After downing some medicine, the 8 of us went to our tiny Takoyaki restaurant. (takoyaki is a fried ball of breading and vegetable with octopus inside) As we walked in to the "V" shaped restaurant that was built feet from the train tracks, the smell of fresh Takoyaki filled the air. Our party of 8 took over about half of the restaurant, and our 3 hour face stuffing began. Although the restaurant is a Takoyaki restaurant, the chef specially prepared a few other meals that he only does for special customers... Thanks to my friend Sho, we became "special customers."
That was about five days ago, and we're planning another trip to the restaurant. I apologize for the lack of pictures, but my camera died at Arashiyama, and I was unable to take pictures. I've got pictures of other things we've done, but I'm sure we'd all get tired of pictures of me hanging out with my friends. I'll be sure to do something interesting soon, so I can have some interesting pictures for you guys.
For the past few days I've been participating in the Exchange Student Orientation. The first day of orientation all 435 exchange students had to gather at the "Multi Media Hall" (a lecture Hall) and listen to a bit of a speech, which I have at the current time forgotten. I then had to stay in the hall to take my placement exam. I ended up doing pretty well and had to go schedule an interview for 2:00pm later that day.
After the placement exam I went to the "SHOMU" building, which I'll refer to as Student Accounts, and fork up 26000Yen (260$). I then went to draw my number for the Registration Lottery. Kansai Gaidai uses a lottery system for students to choose their class. If you unfortunately pull a high number, you'll have a higher chance of not getting the classes you wanted, if those classes are popular. I was fortunate enough to pull a number right in the middle, 241. The girl directly after me was not, she pulled 436. This was out of 438. We were then advised to bring our lottery number at the time specified on the ticket and our receipts from the Student Accounts building tomorrow, to actually register for classes.
It was then that 2:00pm rolled around and I had to head to my interview with Komura Sensei. A wonderfully nice man, of average height and dark hair. He spoke english very well, but made sure the interview was strictly Japanese. I entered his office and sat across from him. I noticed he had my placement exam, a voice recorder, and a file, but despite the somewhat intimidating atmosphere I felt completely fine. He began and just wanted to get an idea of my Japanese academic background, at which point I shared with him that I haven't really had any college level courses other than my first semester at UWF. The more I explained the more he realized that my Japanese reading and writing level was far lower than my Japanese Spoken. It was at this point that he explained that normally those students who are in Level 6 Spoken normally take a reading and writing course at the same level. This became the main topic of our interview where to place me for my classes. At this point I'm still unsure of what level they've placed me, but I should be finding out in about two hours.
Once my interview ended I filled out my Alien Registration Form and rode my bicycle to the Hirakata City Hall, to receive my card. About half way there, the dark clouds above opened up and spilled water all over me. I arrived to the City Hall drenched and dripping. The wonderfully nice man at the desk offered his umbrella, but at that point it was far too late. He took my form, pass port, and I think some money, and after a few minutes of waiting he handed me a sheet of paper that said I needed to return between 9/24 and 9/30 to retrieve my card. This I believed was essential for me to purchase a cell phone, so I was fairly bummed.
The next day I had to rush to my registration time and went through the system without a problem. I then hurried to the on campus cell phone store, where I learned that there was another form that substituted as the alien registration card, until you actually receive it. Once again I had to take the time to make a trip to the City Hall, but this time I rode the bus. At the City Hall I coughed up 300yen (3$) and received a piece of paper with a bunch of Japanese on it. I then took all my paper work to the cell phone store and was able to purchase my pre-paid cell phone, but I had to wait a few hours for them to set it up for me.
Around 3:00pm our opening ceremony began at the Multi Media Hall and I snuck my friend Honami in with me. After a speech from the President, U.S. consulate general, Australian consulate general, and two student reps. all 435 student were ushered to the lawn for a commemorative photograph, which my friend Honami (a regular student) gladly joined in.
Later on that night I eventually was able to receive my phone and spent a good hour and half entering my friend's e-mails and phone numbers into my cell phone.
Below are some pictures of the campus and my dorm, Seminar House 4.
Exchange Student's Commemorative Photo, I took this one... I'm in the back with Honami
U.S. Consulate General
Australian Consulate General
Faculty Member... He was very funny
Exchange Student Rep.
Kansai Gaidai Student Rep.
Me and Kohei, (a student assistant and my old resident)
A wonderufl atrium, where students gather and do shows... pretty cool
Inside the Multi Media Hall for the Opening Ceremony
The Japanese Man in the Blue Suit, sitting down is Tanimoto Sensei, the president to his right is his wife and to her right is their son Tanimoto Sensei, the acting president... I was confused too.
El Presidente giving his speech
A really sweet activity court on campus, with astroturf and about 5 basketball goals
Part of our Campus near the East Side
The Multi Media Hall... has classrooms and the Library
SHOMBU... administrative offices and all that stuff
Me and mami another one of my old residents.
The Kitchen in my dorm...
I will soon have pictures of the actual Seminar House that I'm living in... but until then please keep reading THANK YOU!!!!!
The day after my last post I woke up to a very hot day. Having no plans for the day, I really wasn't sure what to do. There was one thing that nagged at me, and that was to ride the train and get lost by myself. My girlfriend had work that night and all my friends were busy, so after about 6:00pm I'd be completely on my own.
Around 7:00pm I gathered my things and took a step out the door and decided that I would do this adventure on my own. The previous day I boarded the trains once with Mayu and went to a mall, so I had a good idea how things worked, so I wasn't too worried. Luckily the train station is literally a block away from Mayu's apartment, so I was there in no time. I got to the ticket machine and stared at it for a few minutes as I tried to decipher the Kanji, which I've always had trouble reading... I eventually gave up and went with the, I'll just do what we did last time, plan. I put in the 150Yen and one of the buttons lit up with exactly that amount of money, so I pressed the button and out came my ticket. Having succesfully overcome my first obstacle I felt confident that I could really do this.
My first stop was Hirakata Train Station. I got off the train and followed everyone else, which lead me to the exit. As I walked into the ticket gate I slid my ticket in the slot and suddenly the gate slammed shut in front of me, not allowing me to pass through. At that moment I realized that there was no way I was going to be able to go anywhere on 150Yen. This knocked me off my high horse, but I got right back up and started trying to figure out how I was going to get out of this place. I eventually saw another ticket machine that read, "fee adjustment." Using this machine I was able to change my ticket to the right price and exit the station.
I got to the actual station and exited the building, which opened up to a road that formed a half circle filled with taxis and busses. There were people everywhere and so I chose the largest crowd and started to follow. This ended up getting me no where, at which point I decided to take a picture. The rest of the post will be pictures of my adventure the past few nights there will be captions.
Me Walking around Hirakata Station
Me, back on the train to a new and fun place
A Picture of the City right outside of Kyobashi Station, about a 30 minute train ride from Mayu's.
A Picture of the streets as I walked outside the Station.
24 hour Television. I walked into a building with tons of people and ended up walking around this yellow thing without knowing what it was. I got to the front where those banners are and realized it was a donation station so I handed over 300 yen (3$) and received a paper fan... Yes they were filming as I went through
Osaka Castle Hall is the big building
Osaka Castle, from a distance... I was determined to get closer.
I'm getting closer... and there's a bridge that will get me even closer!!!
Osaka Castle
On the Bridge seen in the last picture.
A picture of the entrance to toward the Castle... these walls were very high.
Osaka Castle
My dinner after the Castle at a Ramen Restaurant near Kyobashi Station
THE NEXT DAY
After my night's adventure, Mayu and I decided to head back to the same area, but further away to visit our friend Ai. The following are more pictures and captions of our trip. This was fun as well.
Doutonbori (shopping and bunch of other stuff) Tons of people
More of the Same (famous Sign of the Gurico Man)
Can you eat that by yourself?
Right outside Ai's work place... beautiful view
Ai working Hard
Mayu, me, Hide, and Ai at her work about to take leave
Me in the street infront of the Tsutenkaku (the tower I'm kinda pointing at.)
The from at the top of the Tsutenkaku
Mayu, Ai, Rui at the Korean Restaraunt after our trip up the Tsutenkaku
Me and Hide at the Korean Restaraunt
Remen and Bibinbop... I think I'm spelling something wrong, but It was delicious!!!
THE NEXT DAY ...
The next day my friend Josh was scheduled to arrive at Kansai International Airport and as a surprise me, Hide, Sho, Honami were going to pick him up with Taka. (Josh will be studying abroad at Daito Bunka near Tokyo, Japan, his blog is linked on the right hand side of my page.) Josh thought that only Taka was going to be getting him. I do have some pictures of our trip to Kansai International, but right as Josh met up with Taka, my camera died and I was unable to take any pictures of Josh's arrival.
We ended up taking the very tired, very sleep, and very annoyed Josh (they lost his bags) to a ramen restraunt. We really wanted to go to Muteppo, but on our way there we realized they were closed on MONDAY!!! and went to another place instead called Mario's... Once again it was delicious and excellent and Josh's first taste of Japanese Rmaen went well. After that we headed to Donki Hote (a place that sells pretty much anything... not the same place I spoke up before) and Josh bought some underwear, while I purchased some shampoo and other things. The airline told Josh he would be receiving his bags in the morning so we took him to Taka's where he'll be staying for the next few days.
This morning I found out from Sho that Josh's bags ended up in Amsterdam hahahaha. Both of us died laughing, but did feel bad for Josh considering he's supposed to be leaving for a Ryokan (Hot baths resort) tomorrow morning.
On my next post I'll have some pictures of the dorm and my room, maybe my roommate as well. I hope you enjoyed the pictures and video!!!
I'm half Okinawan and I'm very proud of both my American and Japanese heritage.
I went to the best high school in the United States, Woodberry Forest School.
I'm currently a Senior Finance Major at the University of West Florida.
24 hour Television. I walked into a building with tons of people and ended up walking around this yellow thing without knowing what it was. I got to the front where those banners are and realized it was a donation station so I handed over 300 yen (3$) and received a paper fan... Yes they were filming as I went through
Osaka Castle
On the Bridge seen in the last picture.
A picture of the entrance to toward the Castle... these walls were very high.
More of the Same (famous Sign of the Gurico Man)
Right outside Ai's work place... beautiful view
Me and Hide at the Korean Restaraunt
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