i just had the most incredible day of my life. i feel like i should write this entry all in caps 'cause my day was that exciting, but for the sake of the people reading it, i won't.
yesterday morning at 8am (6pm est), i woke up to the sound of knocking on my door. it was jamal, one of the students in my study abroad group, and he wanted me to come along to nara (which was japan's first capitol, followed by kyoto and then finally tokyo) with him and several other students. i debated not going--after the last 24 hours, i cannot BELIEVE i almost stayed in bed--but grumpily skipped showering and got dressed. we biked to the international atm, dropped our bikes off at the 24/7 bike garage that costs 170 yen/day (which is $1.70/day), and entered the train station. it took us a little while to understand how to buy a train ticket--you get tickets from a machine that operates a lot like an atm in that you put money in, press a few buttons and your ticket pops out. when entering the station, you have to go through automatic gates that only let you in if you send your ticket through one end of the gate and grab it again on the way out. once we figured out which train we needed to board, we got on and rode for about an hour. the scenery outside of hikone is awesome; it was snowing, so the trees at the tops of the mountains were completely snow covered. i wish i'd been able to take pictures, but we were moving too quickly. we had to stop in kyoto and transfer to another train, which we did successfully (how, i don't know). the train system here is run by the government and is so incredibly efficient; it only cost $11.10 to get to kyoto and $6.90 to get to nara from there. once we'd train hopped a few times, we finally made it to nara.
nara is a really neat little town with a lot of history. there were shops everywhere; cell phone charms especially are very popular in japan. the train station was located close to the park we were hoping to visit, and i'd also brought along the guide book i got for christmas (thanks, scott!), and it had a few pages about nara, including good, cheap restaurants to eat at. one of the restaurants, called "the don," served donburi, or rice with meat/vegetables/sauce on top, and we decided we wanted to eat there. the don was located in a shopping center across from an arcade and a mcdonalds, and it took us FOREVER to find this place! we had to ask three different sets of people where it was. luckily the japanese are a very friendly people--one of the people we asked even took the time to draw us a detailed map!--and we were able to find it eventually. instead of little individual tables, the restaurant was composed of one long table and a bar where everyone can sit; a lot of fast food places in japan are like that. the food was delicious, though! i had breaded shrimp and rice with some sort of tomato-y sauce, and hot tea, which most places will serve you for free. i promised myself i wouldn't drink any pop while i was here, and so far, so good!
after don, we made our way to the nara-kouen (nara park). the nara-kouen is famous for several different temples, including the todaiji temple, which is the largest wooden structure in the world. we saw the different temples and gates, all of which are HUGE and i can't wait to post pictures. the architecture in japan is just breathtaking. in america, we brag about buildings that are 200 years old, but here in japan, they have temples over 2000 years old. it's surreal. everything in the park was made out of stone or wood and had to be at least 800 years old.
the park is also famous for the 1200 deer that wander around freely; in japan, deer are considered messengers from god, and 100 years ago, the penalty for killing a deer was death. as we were walking along the main path in the park, we spotted a herd of deer running along the road down the hill to our right. we realized they were running towards a large white van parked beside a small pond, and decided to check it out. the van belonged to an older man and his two kids, who were all feeding the deer leaves of lettuce. there had to be at least 20 deer crowded around the van, and my group and i laughed and took pictures as the deer swarmed around, trying to get at the lettuce. the little boy handed me some lettuce through the window, and the deer descended upon me, biting my jacket and pants and even trying to eat the map of the city i had in my hand! i've never seen more domesticated deer in my life. we fed the deer several more times after that; there are vendors in the park selling shika-senbei (deer crackers) made of dried brown rice for about 150 yen ($1.50), which the deer love. the coolest thing about the whole deer-feeding ordeal? the deer actually bow to you! if you hold the rice cracker up above the deer's head, it will bow in thanks! if you wait too long or back away from the deer, though, it'll get irritated and headbutt you. one of them actually reached around and bit the back of my leg! they're definitely persistent and will swarm even small, oblivious children and take the food right out of their hands.
the only negative thing my group noticed about traveling around without any of our teachers or a native speaker was the fact that we couldn't read any of the signs or information about the temples and gates we were seeing; this is where the day went from neat to awesome. shortly after jamal and i made that observation about the signs, a man approached our group, and, in decently fluent english, told us he his name was yuki and that he was a "good-will" guide and wanted to offer us a free tour throughout the park! the other 8 people with him were guides-in-training, and he wanted them to get more experience speaking english and talking about the park. we of course took him up on his offer, and since there were 9 guides and 9 students, we all paired up and set off to explore. i chose yuki to be my guide, and he was kind enough to teach me everything he knew about nara-kouen. there are over 1000 stone pillar-lanterns lining the main path through the park, which are lit up two nights out of the year: once in february and once in august. there was also a beautiful fountain in the shape of a deer with water pouring from it's mouth; the fountain is used to purify one's mind and body. there are several ladles you fill with water to pour over your right hand, then your left, then you rinse your mouth and spit, and then dump the remaining water back into the fountain. the water was so crisp and fresh, i couldn't help but feel purified afterwards.
we stopped at one of the main ceremonial areas, which had a large wisteria tree growing in the middle of it. the wisteria is a symbol of the fujiwara clan, who founded the area. the maidens working the gift shop wore intricate headdresses with wisteria dangling off the front, and i would have gotten pictures, but they asked me not to (the last thing i want to do is become an obnoxious tourist. by the way, the best way to ask permission to take pictures is to say, "shashin o totte mo ii desu ka?" which means "may i take a picture?"). every year, they measure the wisteria blossoms to see how long they get; they call the tree "the sand sweeping wisteria" because sometimes they grow so long they brush the ground. near the wisteria was the gift shop, where you can buy fortunes written on a long piece of paper. if your fortune is good, you can hold onto it; if your fortune is bad, however, you can tie it to one of the many posts along the fence lining the wisteria tree to pray for a better one. there is also an offerings box in front of a large open space where the deity lives; this is where you can go to pray to a deity for good fortune/health/whatever. there is a certain way to pray, too: you toss your coin in (whatever denomination you choose), bow twice, clap twice, wish, and bow again. my guide showed me how, and then i tried it out for myself. :)
next, we walked to the todaiji temple, which was probably the biggest building i've ever seen, and like i said, it's the largest wooden structure in the entire world. the temple has burned down twice in the past during civil wars, and is now 2/3 its original size (but still gigantic). the walkway in front of it is made of tiles brought from india, china and korea as well as japan, to represent the origin and expansion of buddhism. on top of the temple are two giant golden fishtails--many temples in japan are topped with these--to ward off fires. the todaiji is also home to the great buddha, a HUGE statue that's at least twice as tall as my house. the statue is casted with bronze and used to be coated in pure gold. it was beautiful! the way the buddha's hands were arranged meant "do not be afraid, your dream will come true." there were several other large statues surrounding it, two of them being guardians of the east and west, who look out for the buddha. the inside of the temple was just so spacious and open; usually there are hundreds of people visiting at once; we got lucky and were among the only people there. there was also another offering box, so i made sure to make another wish. in this temple, however, you only need to bow once and make your wish.
after the tour, our guides led us back to the train station where we got back on the train to kyoto. we were all exhausted, but decided to stop in kyoto for something to eat. kyoto is a much bigger city than hikone (where i am) or nara, and there are tons of restaurants and bars all along the main streets. jamal, jake, gina, dillan and i split off from the rest of the group and went to a small, authentic restaurant called nyuuebisuno (the rest of the group went to get curry instead). the atmosphere was amazing and the wait staff was super friendly and hilarious. one of them spoke english and we had a blast talking to him. we ordered food--i had chicken with onions, we all split a huge salad with raw egg and tofu, edamame (which are boiled soya beans), and dillan got a mound of mashed potatoes which, frankly, looked very phallic--and we all had a round of sake. sake is rice wine and is popular in japan, especially hot sake during the winter seasons (to me, it's gross, but i've heard it's interesting to cook with, which i'll hopefully try while i'm here). the staff even gave us a round of sake on the house. it was probably the most fun meal i've ever had; the five of us mixed really well. red-faced and happy, we paid our bill, and as we were leaving, one of the cooks came to the door and thanked us loudly and animatedly; we all got a big kick out of it.
when we made it back to the train station, we couldn't find the rest of our group, so we just hopped on the next train home by ourselves. when we got back to hikone, we grabbed our bikes from the garage and biked home in the dark--luckily the streets of hikone aren't that busy at night, and we all have friction-activated bike lights. we biked through some of the back roads of hikone, past a karaoke bar i hear is a lot of fun, and finally made it back home. i was so exhausted that i went right to bed, but not after a hot shower and a quick recap of the day with my roommate. i bought a little stuffed dear to commemorate what was certainly one of the most exciting days of my life, and i really hope i have a whole bunch of souvenirs to help me remember my trip when i finally head home.
today, though, i think i'm just going to lay low, maybe make some phone calls. i have homework to do, too, and perhaps some shopping for the week. i'm curled up next to my space heater because it snowed last night! there are at least 4 inches on the ground! i wonder if people will want to have snowball fights later. we'll see!
miss and love you all. :) hope things in the states are going well! i'll be sure to send postcards sometime soon, as well as post pictures when my camera cable gets here. thanks again, mom, for sending it through the mail!
sarah
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
stars
konbanwa, minasan (good evening, everyone)! as per your request, here's my address:
The Japan Center for Michigan Universities
CO Sarah Lindsay Room #226
1435-86 Ajiroguchi, Matsubara-cho
Hikone, Shiga
522-0002 Japan
i can't wait until i start getting mail! hinthint. ;)
I FINALLY HAVE A SPACE HEATER! since the japanese concentrate on heating the actual person rather than the entire house or room, there isn't any central heating in the dorms, but space heaters and leg warmers (which i also now have!) are a great way to beat the cold. i slept really well last night, though i keep waking up at about 4 or 5 am every night and have trouble falling back asleep. hopefully by the end of the weekend i'll be over the jetlag.
today was the first day of classes! or at least, the first day of one of my classes; my history and culture class doesn't start until next wednesday because of monday's holiday. my japanese class (i tested into the level 2 class, by the way!) starts at 8:40 am and lasts for three hours. it sounds a lot more hardcore than it really is. i've got two different sensei (teachers): aizawa-sensei and kitasaka-sensei. kitasaka teaches the first two segments of 50 minutes and aizawa teaches the last one. aizawa-sensei happens to be a man, and i'm especially interested in learning from him because i've never had a male japanese teacher before. all of the japanese professors at state are female with the exception of one, and he either teaches the 101/102 courses or used to and already moved back to japan. anyway, i know a few of the people in my class here, so i felt pretty comfortable for the first day. there isn't much homework (so far) and we're covering the material at a managable pace, so i'm looking forward to the rest of the semester and to building a stronger foundation. there are several different friday activities we'll be doing throughout the course, and one of them includes a trip to an elementary school!! i'm so excited and i can't wait to take pictures!!
after class, i decided i wanted to go exploring to the left of the dorms, because so far i'd only been to the right. as i was walking down the hall towards the bike area, one of the other students, jamal, asked me where i was going and then wondered if he could come along. the two of us set out on our bikes and within the first 100 yards, he spotted a cemetery on the opposite side of the road. we pulled in, locked up and wandered into the wooded area the cemetery was built into. there was bamboo everywhere! further back into the cemetery, we found a hiking trail, which we climbed up to find a hidden shrine! there were stone statues everywhere, and several wooden buildings made for praying in. past one of the largest gates, however, was another hiking trail that lead us up for at least 20 minutes until we came to the very top of the hill. the view was spectacular and definitely worth the climb; we could see EVERYTHING. lake biwa was all around us, and beyond the water is an amazing mountain range (i should ask the teachers which mountains they are). the air was so fresh and crisp, the sky was clear and the sun was out; it was the perfect temperature and time of day to find that place. i took so many pictures, and as soon as my camera connector cable makes it here from the usa, i'll be sure to post them. tonight, though, we're going back to the top of the hill to see if we can spot any stars. the japanese don't use street lights (or so jamal says) and therefore the light pollution isn't so bad (in this part of hikone, at least; i don't think tokyo is anywhere near as dark at night).
last night, i made fried rice with two of the girls who live nextdoor, alana and kaitlyn. alana's really cool; she told me all about some places in tokyo i want to see when i finally figure out a weekend i can go. i especially want to visit harajuku, which is one of tokyo's main attractions. harajuku girls are known for their crazy sense of fashion and hairstyles, and i can't wait to see them in person. anyway, we chopped up onions, carrots and broccoli, threw some rice we cooked into a frying pan, added two eggs and stirred them around in margarine, since we don't have any cooking spray. butter is VERY expensive here because there are so few cows in japan, which makes sense because it's such a tiny island and cows need a lot of space. tonight, though, i made rice by myself for the very first time! the rice cooker's buttons are all in japanese, but by following the pictures, i was able to figure it out pretty quickly. 1 cup of rice and 1 cup of water made enough to last me at least two days. i'm pretty excited. :) also, i bought little cups of green tea, vanilla and strawberry ice cream! delicious.
here's a random fact: at a japanese take-out restaurant or any store in general, there is a tray attached to the cash register where you place your bills and coins in order to pay; you don't hand the money to the cashier. i, of course, made the mistake of handing my money to the cashier the first time i bought something on the bus ride to the dorms, but luckily i've figured it out since then and haven't made an idiot out of myself in the check-out lines at kainz.
also, the orange juice here is very watery! i bought a quart to bring back to the dorms, and when i poured myself a glass, i noticed that the consistency of their orange juice is a lot different than that of american orange juice. they put ice cubes in it here! also, bananas are smaller and shorter, but apples are HUGE! they're about the size of both my fists pressed together, like the size of a human brain. radishes--called "daikon"--are white, and about the length and width of my forearm. i'll be sure to take pictures!
hope all is well in the states! i miss you guys. i'm hoping to go to kyoto this weekend; according to lauren moll, it's definitely a must-see. can't wait!
sarah
The Japan Center for Michigan Universities
CO Sarah Lindsay Room #226
1435-86 Ajiroguchi, Matsubara-cho
Hikone, Shiga
522-0002 Japan
i can't wait until i start getting mail! hinthint. ;)
I FINALLY HAVE A SPACE HEATER! since the japanese concentrate on heating the actual person rather than the entire house or room, there isn't any central heating in the dorms, but space heaters and leg warmers (which i also now have!) are a great way to beat the cold. i slept really well last night, though i keep waking up at about 4 or 5 am every night and have trouble falling back asleep. hopefully by the end of the weekend i'll be over the jetlag.
today was the first day of classes! or at least, the first day of one of my classes; my history and culture class doesn't start until next wednesday because of monday's holiday. my japanese class (i tested into the level 2 class, by the way!) starts at 8:40 am and lasts for three hours. it sounds a lot more hardcore than it really is. i've got two different sensei (teachers): aizawa-sensei and kitasaka-sensei. kitasaka teaches the first two segments of 50 minutes and aizawa teaches the last one. aizawa-sensei happens to be a man, and i'm especially interested in learning from him because i've never had a male japanese teacher before. all of the japanese professors at state are female with the exception of one, and he either teaches the 101/102 courses or used to and already moved back to japan. anyway, i know a few of the people in my class here, so i felt pretty comfortable for the first day. there isn't much homework (so far) and we're covering the material at a managable pace, so i'm looking forward to the rest of the semester and to building a stronger foundation. there are several different friday activities we'll be doing throughout the course, and one of them includes a trip to an elementary school!! i'm so excited and i can't wait to take pictures!!
after class, i decided i wanted to go exploring to the left of the dorms, because so far i'd only been to the right. as i was walking down the hall towards the bike area, one of the other students, jamal, asked me where i was going and then wondered if he could come along. the two of us set out on our bikes and within the first 100 yards, he spotted a cemetery on the opposite side of the road. we pulled in, locked up and wandered into the wooded area the cemetery was built into. there was bamboo everywhere! further back into the cemetery, we found a hiking trail, which we climbed up to find a hidden shrine! there were stone statues everywhere, and several wooden buildings made for praying in. past one of the largest gates, however, was another hiking trail that lead us up for at least 20 minutes until we came to the very top of the hill. the view was spectacular and definitely worth the climb; we could see EVERYTHING. lake biwa was all around us, and beyond the water is an amazing mountain range (i should ask the teachers which mountains they are). the air was so fresh and crisp, the sky was clear and the sun was out; it was the perfect temperature and time of day to find that place. i took so many pictures, and as soon as my camera connector cable makes it here from the usa, i'll be sure to post them. tonight, though, we're going back to the top of the hill to see if we can spot any stars. the japanese don't use street lights (or so jamal says) and therefore the light pollution isn't so bad (in this part of hikone, at least; i don't think tokyo is anywhere near as dark at night).
last night, i made fried rice with two of the girls who live nextdoor, alana and kaitlyn. alana's really cool; she told me all about some places in tokyo i want to see when i finally figure out a weekend i can go. i especially want to visit harajuku, which is one of tokyo's main attractions. harajuku girls are known for their crazy sense of fashion and hairstyles, and i can't wait to see them in person. anyway, we chopped up onions, carrots and broccoli, threw some rice we cooked into a frying pan, added two eggs and stirred them around in margarine, since we don't have any cooking spray. butter is VERY expensive here because there are so few cows in japan, which makes sense because it's such a tiny island and cows need a lot of space. tonight, though, i made rice by myself for the very first time! the rice cooker's buttons are all in japanese, but by following the pictures, i was able to figure it out pretty quickly. 1 cup of rice and 1 cup of water made enough to last me at least two days. i'm pretty excited. :) also, i bought little cups of green tea, vanilla and strawberry ice cream! delicious.
here's a random fact: at a japanese take-out restaurant or any store in general, there is a tray attached to the cash register where you place your bills and coins in order to pay; you don't hand the money to the cashier. i, of course, made the mistake of handing my money to the cashier the first time i bought something on the bus ride to the dorms, but luckily i've figured it out since then and haven't made an idiot out of myself in the check-out lines at kainz.
also, the orange juice here is very watery! i bought a quart to bring back to the dorms, and when i poured myself a glass, i noticed that the consistency of their orange juice is a lot different than that of american orange juice. they put ice cubes in it here! also, bananas are smaller and shorter, but apples are HUGE! they're about the size of both my fists pressed together, like the size of a human brain. radishes--called "daikon"--are white, and about the length and width of my forearm. i'll be sure to take pictures!
hope all is well in the states! i miss you guys. i'm hoping to go to kyoto this weekend; according to lauren moll, it's definitely a must-see. can't wait!
sarah
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
biking!
hello again! my roommate was nice enough to give me one of her five adaptors, so my laptop is fully charged and should stay that way the whole semester. :)
i'm still trying to get used to the time difference between michigan and japan, but i think i'm starting to get the hang of it. it's 3:30am in detroit right now, but it's only 5:30pm here! i'll have to be careful when i start calling people. i set my skype account up and have $15 to spend on phonecalls, so maybe this weekend i'll ring a few people. :)
this morning we had breakfast and orientation, where we met our teachers and learned a little more about the program's regulations and expectations. i met a few more people; most of them seem pretty friendly and eager to explore the country. as to be expected, there are definitely a few anime dorks here, but the majority of the group seems pretty well-balanced.
after orientation, we were assigned bicycles! they're japanese-style schwinn-esque bikes, with baskets and bells. once everyone had their bike and helmet, we set off in groups to explore the city. my group stopped in at a little restaurant on lake biwa, which is the largest lake in japan and also the lake my school/dormitory is on. the restaurant, called shiruman, serves tempura, soba and udon, which are pretty basic japanese dishes. tempura is fried shrimp, soba is buckwheat noodles, and udon is noodles usually mixed with some sort of meat in a soup broth. i ordered katsudon, which was fried pork on top of rice. most traditional japanese meals served at restaurants come with green tea or miso soup at the beginning; this time we got green tea. the waitress taking our orders was awesome; she tried some english on us and got a good laugh out of it. :) in fact, most of the people we've come across have been friendly and love chatting briefly. the tables here are much lower to the floor than american tables, and we sat on cushions instead of chairs. for women, it's appropriate to sit on your feet with your legs together and your toes crossed, and for men, their legs can be slightly apart so there is room for their hands to be placed between their knees. similarly to americans, japanese take their shoes off when entering their homes, but instead of walking around in socks or barefeet, most people wear house slippers. japanese people also take off their shoes while eating at a restaurant. it's a lot more comfortable to sit and eat with your shoes off; it's supposed to simulate eating at home. there are separate slippers used for the bathrooms, too, and you're not supposed to wear those around the house because they're "dirty" from the bathroom!
probably the most interesting thing about eating a japanese-style meal--to me, at least--is the protocal you have to follow when dealing with chopsticks. it's very easy to be rude while eating; messing with your food is considered offensive, as well as rubbing your chopsticks together--most chopsticks are made of wood, if you rub them together, it looks as though you're trying to smooth out splinters and therefore insinuating that the restaurant supplies cheaply made chopsticks. also, they don't accept tips in japan, mostly because giving a waitress a tip implies that you think she is in need of money and unable to support herself.
after lunch, we biked through the city streets and found the post office, the bank, and several other restaurants i want to visit at least once before april. we stopped again at the kainz shopping area, which is a huge super-store a lot like meijer. they have food, clothes, appliances and dvds/cds/books all in one location at decent prices--at least for japan. i stocked up on food; mostly ramen and other microwave-ready foods, but i bought some special k cereal as well as orange juice and milk, which come in small cartons and cost about $2.00 each. i'm still surprised at how much english is used on signs and labels! it's everywhere! i don't mind, of course, since it makes things a lot easier when you're shopping around for essentials.
when i got to the cashier and she started to scan my items, i realized the cashiers themselves bag your items in a specific way. if you have towels or other kinds of sheets/blankets/hand towels, they fold them up, place them in a small bag and tape the open end shut. if you have paper, magazines or dvds, they place it in a separate bag from the rest of your items so nothing gets torn. also, they scan and place all of your other items into a plastic cart and give you your own bags to put them in yourself. it's pretty intense, haha.
it's still cold here, and i wish i'd brought an electric blanket... maybe i'll buy one sometime this weekend, since we don't have class on monday because it's a holiday: "international coming of age day"! all 20 year olds are celebrating by going out to the bars (20 is the legal drinking age here).
i'm gonna get some more sleep, though, because tomorrow is the placement exam and i want to be as awake as possible so i don't get placed into the level 1 class! yikes. wish me luck!
sarah
i'm still trying to get used to the time difference between michigan and japan, but i think i'm starting to get the hang of it. it's 3:30am in detroit right now, but it's only 5:30pm here! i'll have to be careful when i start calling people. i set my skype account up and have $15 to spend on phonecalls, so maybe this weekend i'll ring a few people. :)
this morning we had breakfast and orientation, where we met our teachers and learned a little more about the program's regulations and expectations. i met a few more people; most of them seem pretty friendly and eager to explore the country. as to be expected, there are definitely a few anime dorks here, but the majority of the group seems pretty well-balanced.
after orientation, we were assigned bicycles! they're japanese-style schwinn-esque bikes, with baskets and bells. once everyone had their bike and helmet, we set off in groups to explore the city. my group stopped in at a little restaurant on lake biwa, which is the largest lake in japan and also the lake my school/dormitory is on. the restaurant, called shiruman, serves tempura, soba and udon, which are pretty basic japanese dishes. tempura is fried shrimp, soba is buckwheat noodles, and udon is noodles usually mixed with some sort of meat in a soup broth. i ordered katsudon, which was fried pork on top of rice. most traditional japanese meals served at restaurants come with green tea or miso soup at the beginning; this time we got green tea. the waitress taking our orders was awesome; she tried some english on us and got a good laugh out of it. :) in fact, most of the people we've come across have been friendly and love chatting briefly. the tables here are much lower to the floor than american tables, and we sat on cushions instead of chairs. for women, it's appropriate to sit on your feet with your legs together and your toes crossed, and for men, their legs can be slightly apart so there is room for their hands to be placed between their knees. similarly to americans, japanese take their shoes off when entering their homes, but instead of walking around in socks or barefeet, most people wear house slippers. japanese people also take off their shoes while eating at a restaurant. it's a lot more comfortable to sit and eat with your shoes off; it's supposed to simulate eating at home. there are separate slippers used for the bathrooms, too, and you're not supposed to wear those around the house because they're "dirty" from the bathroom!
probably the most interesting thing about eating a japanese-style meal--to me, at least--is the protocal you have to follow when dealing with chopsticks. it's very easy to be rude while eating; messing with your food is considered offensive, as well as rubbing your chopsticks together--most chopsticks are made of wood, if you rub them together, it looks as though you're trying to smooth out splinters and therefore insinuating that the restaurant supplies cheaply made chopsticks. also, they don't accept tips in japan, mostly because giving a waitress a tip implies that you think she is in need of money and unable to support herself.
after lunch, we biked through the city streets and found the post office, the bank, and several other restaurants i want to visit at least once before april. we stopped again at the kainz shopping area, which is a huge super-store a lot like meijer. they have food, clothes, appliances and dvds/cds/books all in one location at decent prices--at least for japan. i stocked up on food; mostly ramen and other microwave-ready foods, but i bought some special k cereal as well as orange juice and milk, which come in small cartons and cost about $2.00 each. i'm still surprised at how much english is used on signs and labels! it's everywhere! i don't mind, of course, since it makes things a lot easier when you're shopping around for essentials.
when i got to the cashier and she started to scan my items, i realized the cashiers themselves bag your items in a specific way. if you have towels or other kinds of sheets/blankets/hand towels, they fold them up, place them in a small bag and tape the open end shut. if you have paper, magazines or dvds, they place it in a separate bag from the rest of your items so nothing gets torn. also, they scan and place all of your other items into a plastic cart and give you your own bags to put them in yourself. it's pretty intense, haha.
it's still cold here, and i wish i'd brought an electric blanket... maybe i'll buy one sometime this weekend, since we don't have class on monday because it's a holiday: "international coming of age day"! all 20 year olds are celebrating by going out to the bars (20 is the legal drinking age here).
i'm gonna get some more sleep, though, because tomorrow is the placement exam and i want to be as awake as possible so i don't get placed into the level 1 class! yikes. wish me luck!
sarah
Monday, January 5, 2009
finally.
i made it!
after 13 long hours on the flight--from 1pm to 2 am est--and a 3 hour bus ride, i'm finally in my apartment in japan.
i don't really know where to start first... i sat next to an elderly couple who were going to visit their adopted daughter at her homestay family's house in taiwan for a week or so. they had hosted several exchange students over the years, from china and taiwan. the flight itself wasn't nearly as bad as i thought it would be; previous flights to arizona have seemed a lot longer to me. i read the stand by stephen king for most of the trip, and slept for a few hours towards the end. luckily my ipod's battery held up really well; i think i've got about half a charge left over.
once we landed it was pretty easy to hook up with other people from the program. we took the airport shuttle to customs, which didn't take very long to get through since it was so efficiently run. they scanned my fingerprints, took my photo and stamped my passport and i was on my way to baggage claim. once i had my two suitcases, i went through the duty-free and out the door to find the director and his assistant waiting for us. after that it was a 3 hour ride to hikone, which didn't seem all that long since i slept through most of it. i couldn't see much out the windows because it was so dark, but we did stop at a convenience store on the way to the dorms. the vending machines here are insane! they heat and despense hot dogs, sushi, french fries, whatever! there are also machines for ice cream, coffee/tea and other drinks. soda's not very big over here; i have yet to see any pepsi or coke products, which means dr. pepper's out of the question. boo.
anyway, the apartment i'm staying in is pretty spacious, and i have a room of my own! yesss. i don't think i could have gone back to sharing one after having my own room/bathroom last semester. all of my clothes are unpacked as well as the rest of my things. the only problem i've run into so far is the outlets! they're meant for two prong appliances, and my laptop battery is a three prong. oops. i talked to the director, though, and he says it'll be fairly easy and cheap to get an adaptor, so no worries.
it's FREEZING in here! my roommate, pamela, who is from georgia, was smart enough to steal the space heater from the lobby, but it's not nearly warm enough to keep the whole place insulated. guess i'll just have to wear a hoodie tonight. the weather outside is much more pleasant than michigan was when i left, though, which is awesomeee. there's no snow here! i love it.
tomorrow is orientation. hopefully it won't take all day; it'd be cool to get out an explore a little. we'll also have bikes assigned to us, and i'm really looking forward to riding around town. the cars and trucks here are so small, too! they've very compact. it's easy to tell that the japanese pride themselves in efficiency.
thank you again, uncle ted, aunt deb, jessica and jim, for the yen! it came in handy at the convenience store. :) and thank you, mom, dad, eli, zack and max, for seeing me off this morning.
it meant a lot. ♥
sarah
after 13 long hours on the flight--from 1pm to 2 am est--and a 3 hour bus ride, i'm finally in my apartment in japan.
i don't really know where to start first... i sat next to an elderly couple who were going to visit their adopted daughter at her homestay family's house in taiwan for a week or so. they had hosted several exchange students over the years, from china and taiwan. the flight itself wasn't nearly as bad as i thought it would be; previous flights to arizona have seemed a lot longer to me. i read the stand by stephen king for most of the trip, and slept for a few hours towards the end. luckily my ipod's battery held up really well; i think i've got about half a charge left over.
once we landed it was pretty easy to hook up with other people from the program. we took the airport shuttle to customs, which didn't take very long to get through since it was so efficiently run. they scanned my fingerprints, took my photo and stamped my passport and i was on my way to baggage claim. once i had my two suitcases, i went through the duty-free and out the door to find the director and his assistant waiting for us. after that it was a 3 hour ride to hikone, which didn't seem all that long since i slept through most of it. i couldn't see much out the windows because it was so dark, but we did stop at a convenience store on the way to the dorms. the vending machines here are insane! they heat and despense hot dogs, sushi, french fries, whatever! there are also machines for ice cream, coffee/tea and other drinks. soda's not very big over here; i have yet to see any pepsi or coke products, which means dr. pepper's out of the question. boo.
anyway, the apartment i'm staying in is pretty spacious, and i have a room of my own! yesss. i don't think i could have gone back to sharing one after having my own room/bathroom last semester. all of my clothes are unpacked as well as the rest of my things. the only problem i've run into so far is the outlets! they're meant for two prong appliances, and my laptop battery is a three prong. oops. i talked to the director, though, and he says it'll be fairly easy and cheap to get an adaptor, so no worries.
it's FREEZING in here! my roommate, pamela, who is from georgia, was smart enough to steal the space heater from the lobby, but it's not nearly warm enough to keep the whole place insulated. guess i'll just have to wear a hoodie tonight. the weather outside is much more pleasant than michigan was when i left, though, which is awesomeee. there's no snow here! i love it.
tomorrow is orientation. hopefully it won't take all day; it'd be cool to get out an explore a little. we'll also have bikes assigned to us, and i'm really looking forward to riding around town. the cars and trucks here are so small, too! they've very compact. it's easy to tell that the japanese pride themselves in efficiency.
thank you again, uncle ted, aunt deb, jessica and jim, for the yen! it came in handy at the convenience store. :) and thank you, mom, dad, eli, zack and max, for seeing me off this morning.
it meant a lot. ♥
sarah
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
hello!
hey guys! i'll be keeping a blog of all my experiences in japan for the next four months, since i figured it'd be a good way to keep both my friends and family updated on my trip. i won't have a phone, but i will have skype and an unlimited supply of postcards. :) hopefully once i get settled in i'll be able to post my address.
i've barely even started packing, and i leave in 4 days! crazy. i've got all of my shopping done, though, as well as a subleaser to take my apartment--finally--and now all i have to do is physically pack.
to aunt sandra--thank you again for the check. no one has ever done anything that nice for me before; it meant a lot to me that you went out of your way for me. i'll make sure to spend that money on something worthwhile. ♥
next time i update, i'll be in japan!
sarah
i've barely even started packing, and i leave in 4 days! crazy. i've got all of my shopping done, though, as well as a subleaser to take my apartment--finally--and now all i have to do is physically pack.
to aunt sandra--thank you again for the check. no one has ever done anything that nice for me before; it meant a lot to me that you went out of your way for me. i'll make sure to spend that money on something worthwhile. ♥
next time i update, i'll be in japan!
sarah
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