It's finally here. The last stretch of the program, our final week of classes here at the JCMU.
Outside of speeches, the covering of the final chapter in our textbooks for our final exam next week Thursday, preparations are beginning to be made for the long trip home. My friends and I made a short trip this weekend to the next station over to do some last minute shopping/gift buying. I had my first and last Japanese Subway experience (I cannot emphasize to the extent which I missed Jalapenos in my food. Or rather, flavor in my food. Or cooked chicken.), Rory got to revert to the age of 5 and buy all of the action figures of his favorite show here in Japan, Ashley was able to buy some Harley Davidson merchandise for gifts for people back home, and Jenny got to revisit a overstock clothing store that she loves.
After the shopping fun, Ashley, Jenny and I biked to Caines and bought new suitcases to bring back the extra junk we bought here for you people. The best part? After my decision to get a size and a half larger suitcase (at a difference of 20,000 yen = about 25 bucks) the cashier rung it up as the same price that the smaller one would have been. Hello $50 hard cover suitcase that is the same size as the suitcase I brought to Japan with me.
It's been crowded here for the last two days or so with the Birdman Contest happening over Lake Biwa. Contestants and their teams put together a flying apparatus and see how far over the lake they can fly in it. They even built a huge ramp for the event for them to launch off of. It's quite a big deal and apparently is an annual contest held in Japan every summer.
Instead of sit out in the sun and burn, I've been packing up omiyage (souvenirs) and sorting what I want to go in either suitcase, as well as doing the necessary laundry so that I have clean what I need for my final week, etc etc etc while watching the contest on occasion .
This coming week we have classes until Wednesday, Thursday is our final exam, Friday is closing ceremonies, then Saturday we are heading to the airport in Nagoya (a $50 trip via the Shinkansen) because our flight is so early in the morning on Sunday. The end is in sight! I loved every moment of this study abroad and the time that I've spent here is neither to short nor too long. I couldn't be anymore satisfied, and for that I am very grateful to have been given the opportunity to travel here in the first place.
America, here I come.
Jul 31, 2011
Jul 24, 2011
karma
It was bound to happen, since I complain and smack-talk it's performance constantly, but I was hoping it would hold out for me at least until I got home to the States once more.
My 3 year old (almost to the day) Dell Inspiron 1525 Laptop died.
Or at least the screen did. It is yet to be seen just how severe the damage really is. I'm hoping with all of my being that my hard drive is in tact and my 15 gb of photos from this trip are safe and sound.
On another note, today we called off the journey to Osaka. It was my instigation, since I suddenly realized how low on funds I really was and truly considered how unnecessary a trip it was. Ashley and Jenny were kind enough not to show too much disappointment, and decided on their own not to go either. Instead, we watched movies in my room and had a pretty pleasant day, should I say so myself.
Ashley, being the kind person she is, has decided to leave her laptop here under the guise of reasoning that she was worried she was damaging it commuting with it every day to school in her backpack, and is letting me use it while she is away at her homestay. Jenny offered her own laptop similarly, and I am simply very grateful that I have friends like these. Not like being without a computer for 2 weeks would be the end of the world, but that they are so willing to compensate for my losses is incredibly touching and so very much appreciated.
I'm going to leave my laptop on it's own, to maybe magically recover between now and when I return home, and simply hope for the best. None of the online fixes I could find that weren't "send it in for a new screen" or "take it apart" did any good, so at this point I don't have any other choice.
This week is our final week of class and preparing to present our final projects, our speeches, for the class on Friday. I wrote about my lifetime achievement of witnessing a Camphor tree in person, and hope to print off some pictures for it to share with the class. I probably won't have much to report on until then, so I hope that the weather cools off for everyone and that they have pleasant weeks (ones where nothing breaks and there are no let downs during).
Here is something to cheer everyone up a little:
My 3 year old (almost to the day) Dell Inspiron 1525 Laptop died.
Or at least the screen did. It is yet to be seen just how severe the damage really is. I'm hoping with all of my being that my hard drive is in tact and my 15 gb of photos from this trip are safe and sound.
On another note, today we called off the journey to Osaka. It was my instigation, since I suddenly realized how low on funds I really was and truly considered how unnecessary a trip it was. Ashley and Jenny were kind enough not to show too much disappointment, and decided on their own not to go either. Instead, we watched movies in my room and had a pretty pleasant day, should I say so myself.
Ashley, being the kind person she is, has decided to leave her laptop here under the guise of reasoning that she was worried she was damaging it commuting with it every day to school in her backpack, and is letting me use it while she is away at her homestay. Jenny offered her own laptop similarly, and I am simply very grateful that I have friends like these. Not like being without a computer for 2 weeks would be the end of the world, but that they are so willing to compensate for my losses is incredibly touching and so very much appreciated.
I'm going to leave my laptop on it's own, to maybe magically recover between now and when I return home, and simply hope for the best. None of the online fixes I could find that weren't "send it in for a new screen" or "take it apart" did any good, so at this point I don't have any other choice.
This week is our final week of class and preparing to present our final projects, our speeches, for the class on Friday. I wrote about my lifetime achievement of witnessing a Camphor tree in person, and hope to print off some pictures for it to share with the class. I probably won't have much to report on until then, so I hope that the weather cools off for everyone and that they have pleasant weeks (ones where nothing breaks and there are no let downs during).
Here is something to cheer everyone up a little:
Jul 22, 2011
kyoto and the rainy days
This past weekend was our 'vacation' between classes. We had the Monday off because it was one of Japan's national holidays, Marine Day. Taking this opportunity to run rampant all over Japan, many kids in our class took the shinkansen to Tokyo, went to Nara, traveled to Korea, visiting people they knew and or just exploring the country. In our case, we took Jenny to Kyoto.
Ashley and I have been to Kyoto a number of times, now, and so we figured we be okay going without bringing maps or really looking at train station names and things...
Yes, we were a little too cocky.
Once we'd arrived, things started falling apart and very quickly. Earlier in the morning, I had been too pleased with my progress in healing the massive bruise I gave myself dismounting from my bicycle several weeks back, and bashed the same spot again after reaching Hikone station to meet everyone for the trip. Limping was now my only way to get around the big city for the day. Not the best state to be in when the day is going to be demanding quite a bit of walking.
I felt much like this poor pigeon that we saw sitting dazed in the walkway.
It was so nice to just be with friends outside of the JCMU once more. We didn't end up spending very long with them because of homestay curfews, but we did manage to have a fun conversation over dinner. I had my first Moss Burger! Despite being small and a little pricey, it was quite good~ I think Freshness Burger still wins for best Japanese burger, though.
All in all, it was a successful trip full of good food and fun with friends. We're hoping to duplicate the experience (sans 2 hours of wandering) in Osaka this Sunday. Expect another post some time after then!
P.S.
All last week consisted of was rain, blustering high winds and the strange sounds that buildings make when they're being pushed around by the elements. A typhoon passed by and caused the worse weather I've seen in a long time around Hikone, though it did create an excuse for everyone to sleep over one night this past week instead of returning to their homestays, which was fun~ In anycase, it's well past this area now, and we're back to hot miserable weather (though not as bad as I've been hearing Michigan is recently.)
P.P.S.
There are only two weeks left to the program! Can you believe it? It flew by so fast!
Ashley and I have been to Kyoto a number of times, now, and so we figured we be okay going without bringing maps or really looking at train station names and things...
Yes, we were a little too cocky.
Once we'd arrived, things started falling apart and very quickly. Earlier in the morning, I had been too pleased with my progress in healing the massive bruise I gave myself dismounting from my bicycle several weeks back, and bashed the same spot again after reaching Hikone station to meet everyone for the trip. Limping was now my only way to get around the big city for the day. Not the best state to be in when the day is going to be demanding quite a bit of walking.
I felt much like this poor pigeon that we saw sitting dazed in the walkway.
To further underline the initial mood of the day, Ashley and I were going off of our 'we'll recognize it as we go' instincts, and for the first hour and a half of walking, we didn't recognize anything. We found the river and following our gut happened to go the right way. We eventually dove underground into a subway line that sounded vaguely familiar and stared at the station names on the route. Bad news? None of them really jumped out at us, I was hurting and the heat was making tempers short. Mine at least. Good news? Two of the stations called out at me, if even just at a whisper, so we decided to travel to them so I could go up and check for the Starbucks across the river that was our main landmark to find the covered mall. If it wasn't there, we'd head back to Kyoto station and figure something out from there.
Luckily for us, it was at the second station that salvation was found. We were finally back in familiar territory, the covered mall that we had walked through twice without really enjoying. This weekend happened to be when the month long Gion Festival held in Kyoto was coming to a head, so there was a large traditional parade of sorts being held right in front of the covered mall, which, while we downed some Starbucks goodies, we watched with deluded interest.
After cutting through with the crowd, we ditched our snacks for some serious shopping. Accessory stores, clothing outlets, pet shops, book stores, nothing was safe from our ravaging. It was fun to just run in every vaguely appealing store and seeing what they had to offer, and we managed to find quite a few good deals, too! Soon we were quite hungry, so we stopped at a Champon squeezed in between the shops down one of the alleys of the covered mall. Nothing quite like some Ramen to make your spirits bright once more~
After gulping down as much of our lunch as we could, we thrust ourselves back into the shopping fray. We only had until around 5pm before we had to head back to Otsu (two stops in the direction of Hikone) to meet with our friend Tori and her friend Elmo, who we would meet for the first time.
Unfortunately we were late because I wanted to try on an outfit before buying it, but Elmo was there to meet us at the station in Otsu, and after a short awkward introduction, Tori came running up the street fresh from work on the Michigan Boat. We immediately became a giant mass of chattering Americans as we walked to a shopping center nearby to eat dinner and generally mess around. I took pictures as we went, not really ever having a chance to bum around in Otsu before.
It was so nice to just be with friends outside of the JCMU once more. We didn't end up spending very long with them because of homestay curfews, but we did manage to have a fun conversation over dinner. I had my first Moss Burger! Despite being small and a little pricey, it was quite good~ I think Freshness Burger still wins for best Japanese burger, though.
All in all, it was a successful trip full of good food and fun with friends. We're hoping to duplicate the experience (sans 2 hours of wandering) in Osaka this Sunday. Expect another post some time after then!
P.S.
All last week consisted of was rain, blustering high winds and the strange sounds that buildings make when they're being pushed around by the elements. A typhoon passed by and caused the worse weather I've seen in a long time around Hikone, though it did create an excuse for everyone to sleep over one night this past week instead of returning to their homestays, which was fun~ In anycase, it's well past this area now, and we're back to hot miserable weather (though not as bad as I've been hearing Michigan is recently.)
P.P.S.
There are only two weeks left to the program! Can you believe it? It flew by so fast!
Jul 13, 2011
these times can be pidgeotto hen
It's time again for a blog post that is more random in nature than most. Outside of school events and trips in Japan, my friends and I have had plenty of our own fun as well.
You can always count on Ashley and me to accumulate inside jokes of sorts. One of which pertaining to the fact that since Japan's weather is so much like the doom summer in Florida feels like that I should have packed one of the several squeeze-breezes that my family has bought on each journey to Disney World. Especially when biking, one of those would be such a great thing to have in your basket so that you can cool down at traffic lights.
This for those of you who don't know what a squeeze breeze is.
During the bike rides themselves, it is quite often that a quite a few types of birds can be seen. Crows, herons, and one hawk. We've witnessed that hawk create quite the ruckus as he flies from Lake Biwa toward the wooded mountains with a fresh fish in his talons, and today during class he swooped past the window.
If you've been keeping up with Ashley's blog, Curiouser and Curiouser, you'd already know all about the murder of crows and their gang battles with the alley cats of Nagahama. We're convinced that the crow gang always has one of their cronies with an eye on us, cataloging our movements. So with that said, we are always seeing crows as well. And collecting their feathers! We try to keep it minimal, only taking the ones from special trips or significant moments, and yes, we are aware that bird feathers carry disease. We aren't putting them in our mouths or stirring our miso soup with them, so rest easy.
Outside of that, I'm pretty sure (and Ashley is, too, for we both thought this when we first moved into 126) that there is a ghost in residence here. He has been deemed Laurence and turns on my touch sensitive desk lamp some days. We've also both seen cats in this room either darting under the little kitchen table or out from under the bed, and I've heard the same sound that my cats make when they jump down to the floor from the kitchen counters. Today during lunch we unplugged Laurence's lamp, so we'll see if that makes a difference at all in his activity.
My free time these days is taken up by studying unless I have something good to read in my hands like I did these past two weeks. There is a series called Green Rider that my friend Andrea had lent to me my first semester at State and I was immediately addicted to. Back then the third book in the series had only just been released (this was around 08/09) and I read all three books in four days. The fourth book came out this spring, but I hadn't the funds to buy it or anyone to lend it from...until Ashley's mum started reading the series per Ashley's request. She, like everyone else I know who's read the books, caught fire with the burning desire to read all of them and promptly bought and read the fourth book. This I was all well and fine with (as well as quite envious of) because now there were three people I knew who had read it before me, but I was still stuck without or so I thought until out from Ashley's care package comes the latest novel, Blackveil, along with a note for me to enjoy.
I promptly tore through the third novel as a refresher (Ashley had it for me to borrow as well) of the events that transpired before (I hadn't read the series since 09) and then burrowed into Blackveil.
I have not been left so thriftless after reading a book in my life. It is a rare occasion when an author can make me protest where they're going with the book while also agreeing and thinking about what it could imply for the future of the characters and wondering what is going to happen next all in the same sentence. Kristen Britain has earned the top notch of my respect for any author with not only her latest book but the series in general. A certain boy is eager for me to read a series that causes him to react similarly, and after being left in the cold by the cliff hanger of Blackveil, I am very ready to latch onto something that will keep me busy for the next four or so years I will have in wait for the next Green Rider novel.
And yes, I recommend that series to anyone who doesn't mind a female lead and enjoys well written adventure/fantasy with a dash of romance. Oh, and horses of course.
My free time from here on out on this trip is going to be spent traveling and seeing the sights that have yet to be seen, I think. This weekends plans have changed from being Tokyo bound, to exploring Bell Road more thoroughly, movie nights, maybe a day trip to Kyoto, and Harry Potter Part 2. Sure it's not the fun we were planning on having, but it will still be fun and we'll make the most of our last 3 weeks here.
I'll have to make sure I pack everything I need for these trips, too.......
You can always count on Ashley and me to accumulate inside jokes of sorts. One of which pertaining to the fact that since Japan's weather is so much like the doom summer in Florida feels like that I should have packed one of the several squeeze-breezes that my family has bought on each journey to Disney World. Especially when biking, one of those would be such a great thing to have in your basket so that you can cool down at traffic lights.
This for those of you who don't know what a squeeze breeze is.
During the bike rides themselves, it is quite often that a quite a few types of birds can be seen. Crows, herons, and one hawk. We've witnessed that hawk create quite the ruckus as he flies from Lake Biwa toward the wooded mountains with a fresh fish in his talons, and today during class he swooped past the window.
If you've been keeping up with Ashley's blog, Curiouser and Curiouser, you'd already know all about the murder of crows and their gang battles with the alley cats of Nagahama. We're convinced that the crow gang always has one of their cronies with an eye on us, cataloging our movements. So with that said, we are always seeing crows as well. And collecting their feathers! We try to keep it minimal, only taking the ones from special trips or significant moments, and yes, we are aware that bird feathers carry disease. We aren't putting them in our mouths or stirring our miso soup with them, so rest easy.
Outside of that, I'm pretty sure (and Ashley is, too, for we both thought this when we first moved into 126) that there is a ghost in residence here. He has been deemed Laurence and turns on my touch sensitive desk lamp some days. We've also both seen cats in this room either darting under the little kitchen table or out from under the bed, and I've heard the same sound that my cats make when they jump down to the floor from the kitchen counters. Today during lunch we unplugged Laurence's lamp, so we'll see if that makes a difference at all in his activity.
My free time these days is taken up by studying unless I have something good to read in my hands like I did these past two weeks. There is a series called Green Rider that my friend Andrea had lent to me my first semester at State and I was immediately addicted to. Back then the third book in the series had only just been released (this was around 08/09) and I read all three books in four days. The fourth book came out this spring, but I hadn't the funds to buy it or anyone to lend it from...until Ashley's mum started reading the series per Ashley's request. She, like everyone else I know who's read the books, caught fire with the burning desire to read all of them and promptly bought and read the fourth book. This I was all well and fine with (as well as quite envious of) because now there were three people I knew who had read it before me, but I was still stuck without or so I thought until out from Ashley's care package comes the latest novel, Blackveil, along with a note for me to enjoy.
I promptly tore through the third novel as a refresher (Ashley had it for me to borrow as well) of the events that transpired before (I hadn't read the series since 09) and then burrowed into Blackveil.
I have not been left so thriftless after reading a book in my life. It is a rare occasion when an author can make me protest where they're going with the book while also agreeing and thinking about what it could imply for the future of the characters and wondering what is going to happen next all in the same sentence. Kristen Britain has earned the top notch of my respect for any author with not only her latest book but the series in general. A certain boy is eager for me to read a series that causes him to react similarly, and after being left in the cold by the cliff hanger of Blackveil, I am very ready to latch onto something that will keep me busy for the next four or so years I will have in wait for the next Green Rider novel.
And yes, I recommend that series to anyone who doesn't mind a female lead and enjoys well written adventure/fantasy with a dash of romance. Oh, and horses of course.
My free time from here on out on this trip is going to be spent traveling and seeing the sights that have yet to be seen, I think. This weekends plans have changed from being Tokyo bound, to exploring Bell Road more thoroughly, movie nights, maybe a day trip to Kyoto, and Harry Potter Part 2. Sure it's not the fun we were planning on having, but it will still be fun and we'll make the most of our last 3 weeks here.
I'll have to make sure I pack everything I need for these trips, too.......
Jul 11, 2011
non-stop weekend
This weekend was a busy one. After Friday night's excursion at the Tanabata Festival in Hikone, I spent all day Saturday with Rory and his host family in the city of Taga and went to another festival (with fireworks!). And if that wasn't enough, all day Sunday was the class field trip to Otsu.
I left the JCMU around noon after Rory had finished his English assisting class that occurs every Saturday morning here, and we met at the Hikone Station to head down a private OHMI Rail line to his homestay in Taga.
At the festival grounds, Misaki-san treated us all to snow cones (!!), and we perused the tents for a little while before heading back to the cars to watch the fireworks. As the fireworks began, the group of them all set up a picnic area for us to eat our dinner. Two picnic tables were set up as well as some folding chairs set out for us to sit and watch the fireworks in if we wanted.
Dinner was really delicious, onigiri (rice balls), fried chicken, shrimp, corn on the cob, vegetables and cherries were all laid out for us to eat as we wished. Over dinner and through the din of the fireworks, Rory and I talked with Yoko-san and Misaki-san more extensively, and it was the most fun conversation I've had in a long time. We talked about interests, family, where we'd been in the world, etc. as well as teaching and learning new vocab. For example, "What do you call hanabi in English?" "Fireworks." "Fia......what?" "Fi-ahh worr-kss." "Ahh that's difficult!" I mentioned I was born in California, and it turned out that Yoko-san was there on study abroad (she's 37 now, and her husband is 31--though he looks like he could be 20 or so.) when I was 2 in San Diego area. Go figure, haha.
Poor little Ha-chan was exhausted from playing all day, and had simply resigned herself to curling up into her momma's chest and sleeping through the hour and a half of fireworks. Ko-chan on the other hand, was overjoyed by the fireworks and couldn't contain his excitement after every single burst. "Sugoiiiiiiiii neeeeeeeeeee" or "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ookiiiiiii" followed every boom from the sky. (Amazing! So big!)
The finale came too soon, as that meant our conversation had to end and we packed up left over food and the tables within minutes. The way back home was quiet, as Ha-chan was in a sleepy stupor and everyone was tiring at this point. After changing back at Yoko-san's house, I ran over to the neighbor's to return all of the items she lent me, and to my surprise and certain pleasure she gave me the hair piece I had in to match my yukata as well as the bag she lent me as gifts! She even sent a bag full of munchies back with Rory and me to school.
Rory's host mum talked to me about maybe coming back out for another festival (a big one at their local temple in the city) the first week of August, and I'd absolutely love to. She said to bring friends, too. I can't wait to see them all again, and I am so very happy that Rory is lucky enough to enjoy those wonderful people every day.
After such a late night on Saturday, Sunday morning came very quickly. All of the students going on the class field trip were to assemble in front of the residential building before 9 so that we could go pick up the homestay students early and be on our way to Otsu. Luckily, our bus was really cool and comfortable!
Our first stop on our field trip? The Biwako (Lake Biwa) museum. It had an aquarium! So you can bet Ashley and I ate that up.
I left the JCMU around noon after Rory had finished his English assisting class that occurs every Saturday morning here, and we met at the Hikone Station to head down a private OHMI Rail line to his homestay in Taga.
Rory's host mother, Yoko-san, was home with her two kids Ko-chan (a five year old boy) and Ha-chan (a 2 year old little girl), and eagerly welcomed us into the fairly new, modern, modular house. There were brief introductions while Ko-chan assaulted Rory with attention and both kids looked at me warily. Yoko-san was considerably busy the whole while we were at the house (from around 2pm until 5 or 6ish) so I didn't get to talk with her much, but the kids soon accepted me as a play thing like Rory and it was nonstop kid action as soon as we had finished the ramen (really good legitimate Ponyo like ramen) that Yoko-san made us for lunch.
In the midst of throwing the kids around, playing hide and go seek, chasing them around the house and watching Anpanman (He's a guy with a bread roll head.. Think of a Dora the Explorer like educational program.), Yoko-san told us that we'd be heading over to their neighbor's house to get ready for the festival and that the wife of that family would do my hair and everything around 5pm or so.
5pm finally rolled around and the whole group of us sauntered over to the neighbor's (literally right next door) and Misaki-san immediately took us in and got busy on my hair. She was so happy to see us and excited to be helping out. She herself had three boys ranging in age from 14 or so to 6 years old, and was a very enthusiastic and kind person. After braiding my hair (which unfortunately was a mess because of playing with the kids for so long despite my shower earlier in the day) beautifully, she promptly helped me into my yukata. Last time I wore it, I was able to fake my way around it so that it was still comfortable and looked sort of right. Misaki-san immediately stepped in after seeing my fumbling and I was dressed so much faster than the first time I tried putting it on. She pulled out ribbons to tie the yukata in place, a wrap to keep it further in place and keep your posture correct, a little front almost armor like piece that supported the weight of the bow (to be attached later) better, and then after all of that was done and I was in my yukata feeling very Japanese, she produced a perfectly matching traditional Japanese purse and told me to use it for the festival.
Could I have been taken care of any better? I think not.
Oh did I mention that we then proceeded to play video games until everyone was ready?
Yeah I was a happy camper.
Being a little shy like I am, it took a little while for me to get comfortable really talking with them in Japanese, but the more time I spent with all of them, the more liberal I was with it. At 7pm, we all jumped in the car and drove a short ways out to the festival grounds.
At the festival grounds, Misaki-san treated us all to snow cones (!!), and we perused the tents for a little while before heading back to the cars to watch the fireworks. As the fireworks began, the group of them all set up a picnic area for us to eat our dinner. Two picnic tables were set up as well as some folding chairs set out for us to sit and watch the fireworks in if we wanted.
Dinner was really delicious, onigiri (rice balls), fried chicken, shrimp, corn on the cob, vegetables and cherries were all laid out for us to eat as we wished. Over dinner and through the din of the fireworks, Rory and I talked with Yoko-san and Misaki-san more extensively, and it was the most fun conversation I've had in a long time. We talked about interests, family, where we'd been in the world, etc. as well as teaching and learning new vocab. For example, "What do you call hanabi in English?" "Fireworks." "Fia......what?" "Fi-ahh worr-kss." "Ahh that's difficult!" I mentioned I was born in California, and it turned out that Yoko-san was there on study abroad (she's 37 now, and her husband is 31--though he looks like he could be 20 or so.) when I was 2 in San Diego area. Go figure, haha.
Poor little Ha-chan was exhausted from playing all day, and had simply resigned herself to curling up into her momma's chest and sleeping through the hour and a half of fireworks. Ko-chan on the other hand, was overjoyed by the fireworks and couldn't contain his excitement after every single burst. "Sugoiiiiiiiii neeeeeeeeeee" or "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ookiiiiiii" followed every boom from the sky. (Amazing! So big!)
The finale came too soon, as that meant our conversation had to end and we packed up left over food and the tables within minutes. The way back home was quiet, as Ha-chan was in a sleepy stupor and everyone was tiring at this point. After changing back at Yoko-san's house, I ran over to the neighbor's to return all of the items she lent me, and to my surprise and certain pleasure she gave me the hair piece I had in to match my yukata as well as the bag she lent me as gifts! She even sent a bag full of munchies back with Rory and me to school.
Rory's host mum talked to me about maybe coming back out for another festival (a big one at their local temple in the city) the first week of August, and I'd absolutely love to. She said to bring friends, too. I can't wait to see them all again, and I am so very happy that Rory is lucky enough to enjoy those wonderful people every day.
After such a late night on Saturday, Sunday morning came very quickly. All of the students going on the class field trip were to assemble in front of the residential building before 9 so that we could go pick up the homestay students early and be on our way to Otsu. Luckily, our bus was really cool and comfortable!
Our first stop on our field trip? The Biwako (Lake Biwa) museum. It had an aquarium! So you can bet Ashley and I ate that up.
We only had an hour to explore the museum because immediately after it we were expected at the traditional Japanese inn for lunch and to try an onsen. The building itself was absolutely gorgeous, and we were all starving and eagerly awaiting lunch, but first the staff insisted that we let the people who wanted to wear a kimono get their pictures taken first.
...though they didn't mention that their interpretation of "wearing a kimono" was having it wrapped around you so it looked like it was being worn properly and having you hold it there with a fan covering any indication of it not being real. A time saver? Sure. What we thought we would be getting? Not in the slightest.
After that let down, we went upstairs and saw... a magnificent spread of traditional Japanese food made just for us.
Now, for those of you unsure of just what 'traditional Japanese food' is, I can now tell you that it includes but is not limited to, raw fish meat, a full fish with salt on it's tail and eyes bulging ready to be eaten, small piles of full crustaceans, fish (small bones included!) wrapped in egg, and tofu with sesame sprinkled on it. Doesn't that just sound delicious?
I had rice and miso soup for lunch.
Following lunch, we were allowed to go down to onsen to bathe, or, if we preferred, stay in the room and karaoke. Ashley and I sang songs for a good hour and a half with our student coordinator, Iga-san, and another kid from our class and had a great time.
After everyone had had their fill of what the Inn had to offer, we were back on the bus to head to our last stop before returning home. There was a really cool almost dock like shrine nearby in Otsu that was incredibly old and free for us to see and enjoy, so we did. And we saw some dogs, ate ice cream, and gave said dogs some fresh water from the vending machines seeing as it was 90 something degrees and disgusting out.
It was a fun, but incredibly exhausting weekend, and with another midterm this week Friday and less than 4 weeks left here in Japan, everything seems to be happening faster and faster and getting more and more difficult with each day.
But we'll all keep doing our best, as we have been during our time here so far.
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