[Note: I am writing this two years after the fact. I could have sworn that I wrote it all up, but I guess I didn't, and I have a feeling I threw out the notebook with my journal because it was dying. >_> I will do my best to recapture those days.]
Okay, so, Monday and Tuesday my friend and went to various shrines and tourist sites in Kyoto. Wednesday morning our group took the shinkansen down to Hiroshima... outside the station there was a small festival going on, 20 or so food stalls in a large square; it smelled great, and I could see a takoyaki stand. We didn't have much time before the streetcar came and we headed toward the Memorial Peace Park.
During this time, many schools were visiting the area, so between the cranes and museum we were all asked, "Where are you from?" "What does peace mean to you?" etc. etc. Honestly, it hadn't set in that I was at such a tragic site until I entered the museum. I walked through the first floor, reading the info cards and weaving through the middle school kids. Before I headed up to the second floor I stopped and looked at the miniature model of the city before and after the bomb exploded. In my head, I was starting to realize what was going on, but all I could hear was the jargon of young teenagers just on another school trip. They hardly seemed to care, or be affected by the museum. It was an mix of shame and confusion and frustration that I held onto until I completed the tour of the museum. Somehow I ended up ahead of the group, so I waited outside for the others alone. More kids approached me with their questions, which I tried to answer as energetically as possible. Comprehending that day was numbing.
Thankfully, our group assembled again and we returned to the station for lunch. I can't recall if the food stands were still there or not (if they were, I have no idea why I didn't get food from them!!) but I ended up getting a variety onigiri set from the convenience store. We tried to eat lunch in the shade, along with a few other resting individuals. Then the pigeons came. They kept their distance at first, but all it took was one unfortunate drop of rice that motivated them to attack. (Pretty sure I dropped the rice.)
As our small lunch group moved from the shady spot full of pigeons to the fountain in front of the station I noticed a few guys hanging out. They looked at me curiously, cocking their heads as I walked by. I heard "Hara? Hara?" SO CONFUSED. WHY DID THEY KNOW MY NAME? Where they even talking to me? WHAT? DO? I? DO? well. I ignored them obliviously and sat with my friends to eat, just a few meters away from the guy.
5 minutes later I realized that I was wearing a shirt that I had designed. It had my name in katakana along the front side. DERP. That would explain everything.
That night, like many of the following nights up until we left Kyoto, a small group of 2, or 3, or so of us headed down the street to the large shopping area. We browsed and walked around aimlessly more than anything. I fulfilled my intention of having takoyaki that day! IT WAS DELICIOUS. Tasted like yummy chicken pot pie, but better O.o
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Thursday, off to Miyajima! To see the shrine, sure, but I think it was under construction at the time. The rest of the area itself was beautiful: a nice little island that we took the JR ferry to reach. And the deer are super friendly, aka comfortable around humans and trying to score some food. There was one deer that tried to enter a restaurant as we walked by, but the owner kindly led him away.
When we returned to Kyoto, a large part of our group met with our professor at a kaitenzushi (conveyor belt sushi). Every plate came with two good pieces of sushi for about a dollar (100 yen) each. I had 10 plates. 2 of which were actually cake. It was only 100 yen, so I had to try them. They were a bit dry. The sushi was exponentially better. For future reference.
---------------------------
Friday. Oh, Friday. Thank God for the JR pass because we basically spent most of Friday on the train haha. First, my friend and I headed to Osaka. Aside from the Pokemon Center and the digital maps, there wasn't too much to look at in the station so we headed outside. Our goal, on our last day in Japan, was to follow Dr. Hara's advice and get lost.
We wandered down one street, around and up another. Through a shady-ish street of various clubs and small restaurants and the BIGGEST pet store I have seen in Japan. Along with the usual kittens and puppies, they had gigantic fish, birds, and OWL, sugar gliders, rabbits and a couple monkeys. So cool.
From there we continued to wander aimlessly. I did my best not to pay attention to which way we were turning so we would have a chance to get lost. The peak of that venture was a little discount vending machine that sold Gun Gun Gurt for only 100 yen (instead of its usual 120 yen). With some prize in hand we started back toward the station. Despite my efforts, we found the station :/ But before we left we stopped at a rice bowl place for lunch.
THEN WE HEADED UP TO NAGOYA. YUP.
I went in search of Osu Kannon, so I could show my friend all the cool KPOP stuff. Did we find it? Nope. Failed. I asked an officer which subway line went there, but he didn't seem too sure, and we ourselves couldn't read the Kanji for it when we found a map. We made do and wandered around Nagoya before returning to Kyoto.
A car was set to pick us up at around 5:30 am the next morning. Like all sane people, I was basically packed and set to go that night. Initially, 6 or 7 of us intended to stay up all night, snacking and chatting and holding a mini hall party. Only 3 survived. The only down-side was that I was so tired in the car that I had a hard time staying awake for a 30-minute car ride that was actually and hour. Then I totally passed out on the 1-hour plane from Kansai Airport to Narita [we were in the best, comfiest seats ever!! Definitely wasn't coach].
Then, we came home... Only with the memories and intention to return again.
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Returning to Japan: September 2013, and counting down the days~~!!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Day 15 - MO-JO-Nijojo?
Today was a big sightseeing day. Three stops
were on our agenda: Kinkakuji, Nijojo Castle, and Kiyomizu-dera. At each one we
kept wondering why there were so many foreigners getting in the way! Only to
realize... we were still, and would forever be, foreigners too.
First off was Kinkakugi, the golden shrine, and man was it shiny! The building was a serious bright yellow, like gold, and it was also sitting out in the pond so its reflection was double the gold. It was also sitting at the edge of another great garden, which would have been more enjoyable minus the 50 or so tourists and dozens of children on school trips. In some ways I think the experience was dumbed down by their presence, but we of course added to it... so I can't shed all the blame.
A short walk away was Nijojo Castle. It was a beautiful and well kept building that we actually got to go inside (after taking our shoes off, and only on the wooden hallways. Many of the curtains were drawn to preserve the highly decorate tapestries and paintings inside. I don't think we were allowed to take pictures on the inside, but given the chance again I wish we could.
Finally, Kiyomizu, the location I was tasked with researching before our trip. I didn't know about the walk there however. After we finally found the start of the street which led up to Kiyomizu we quickly learned it was all uphill and at least a mile long. Both sides of the street were lined with souvenir shops, kakigori (shaved ice), ice cream, and other small stores, but we kept pushing forward (I already bought my fill of presents for home). We did see a couple of the guys who pulled the carts... it would have been a nice ride up, but we walked anyway.
Eventually we saw the stairs up to the temple, several levels of them. I looked at Lynnette, who I was walking with, knowing that we could stop for a moment after the trek up the hill. "Let's keep going!" I said determinedly, then I started up the stairs, swearing not to stop till I get to the top. We made it in one piece with minimal regret.
Kiyomizu was place on a cliff's edge, with a deck that overlooked the drop down to the forest below. From there, you could see a full line of trees before the cityscape and the mountains behind it. Honestly, this was the moment that I really felt like I was IN Japan. It was my top moment, at the top of a huge hill.... really.
After the main shrine area it was a long winding (but enjoyable) walk down through the woods. Once we reached the bottom of the cliff we found the three fountains, of which you are only supposed to drink from two (wikipedia Kiyomizu-dera, there's a ton of info on it). We didn't drink because the line was clogged with touring students, so we started a much slower, relaxed walk down the hill back to our hotel. The ice cream we got on the way was pretty good too :)
First off was Kinkakugi, the golden shrine, and man was it shiny! The building was a serious bright yellow, like gold, and it was also sitting out in the pond so its reflection was double the gold. It was also sitting at the edge of another great garden, which would have been more enjoyable minus the 50 or so tourists and dozens of children on school trips. In some ways I think the experience was dumbed down by their presence, but we of course added to it... so I can't shed all the blame.
A short walk away was Nijojo Castle. It was a beautiful and well kept building that we actually got to go inside (after taking our shoes off, and only on the wooden hallways. Many of the curtains were drawn to preserve the highly decorate tapestries and paintings inside. I don't think we were allowed to take pictures on the inside, but given the chance again I wish we could.
Finally, Kiyomizu, the location I was tasked with researching before our trip. I didn't know about the walk there however. After we finally found the start of the street which led up to Kiyomizu we quickly learned it was all uphill and at least a mile long. Both sides of the street were lined with souvenir shops, kakigori (shaved ice), ice cream, and other small stores, but we kept pushing forward (I already bought my fill of presents for home). We did see a couple of the guys who pulled the carts... it would have been a nice ride up, but we walked anyway.
Eventually we saw the stairs up to the temple, several levels of them. I looked at Lynnette, who I was walking with, knowing that we could stop for a moment after the trek up the hill. "Let's keep going!" I said determinedly, then I started up the stairs, swearing not to stop till I get to the top. We made it in one piece with minimal regret.
Kiyomizu was place on a cliff's edge, with a deck that overlooked the drop down to the forest below. From there, you could see a full line of trees before the cityscape and the mountains behind it. Honestly, this was the moment that I really felt like I was IN Japan. It was my top moment, at the top of a huge hill.... really.
After the main shrine area it was a long winding (but enjoyable) walk down through the woods. Once we reached the bottom of the cliff we found the three fountains, of which you are only supposed to drink from two (wikipedia Kiyomizu-dera, there's a ton of info on it). We didn't drink because the line was clogged with touring students, so we started a much slower, relaxed walk down the hill back to our hotel. The ice cream we got on the way was pretty good too :)
Monday, May 30, 2011
Day 14 - Imperial Palace
For our Kyoto assignment we had to visit five
places from the list and write a little information on each. To be honest this
assignment could have been done in a day. After a late start our group went
from four down to two by the time we reached the Imperial Palace. We missed the
tour by barely 10 minutes so we grabbed some lunch and came back for the 1 o'
clock tour. Unexpectedly we met a girl from Canada who was travelling around,
but we didn't see her much after the tour. We only walked around the perimeter
of the Palace, viewing each decorated gate that served for a different class.
Large orange columns held up the outside structure, and we could see the open
courtyard between the doors. At the rear of the building we saw the gardens,
stretched out across the way with interconnecting ponds and heaps of flora
wherever you looked. There was so much beauty in this place, it would have been
nice to just stay and observe it a little longer, but soon the tour ended and
we returned to the Kyoto streets.
From the Imperial Palace we took a bus to Ginkakuji The landscape and gardens were amazingly pretty but the building itself was... underwhelming. We didn't even know we passed it until we reached the end, and then it was like, wait... That's it? It was kind of hidden, and a less shiny silver than we expected, but it was still in good shape. The part that threw us off was the trail took up all the way up a mountain where we tossed some 1 yen coins and tried to get them into a bowl for good luck, and then all the way back down to a small building right before the path became lined with towering bushes (like they would be in a maze, only there was no getting lost here).
By now it was almost 5 o' clock so many touring locations were closing for the day. Since we were unable to visit anymore stops we returned to our hotel. We went wandering around the shopping area again, but this time we had a chance to talk to some of the workers. We had a long surprise conversations with a girl who worked at a bag store (I eventually bought my awesome backpack from her since I needed another bag for check-in). Then a few minutes later, when we were looking for a hat for Lynnette we had a conversation with a different guy... he was probably just trying to convince to buy the hat in the end but we didn't so it was kind of awkard. We also stopped in a store that was decked out in soccer swag- I searched for a jersey for my brother, but they didn't have any of Rinaldo's and I wasn't about to drop $70+ on a shirt he didn't want.
This was the day that we discovered milk tea, it should not be consumed in large quantities.
From the Imperial Palace we took a bus to Ginkakuji The landscape and gardens were amazingly pretty but the building itself was... underwhelming. We didn't even know we passed it until we reached the end, and then it was like, wait... That's it? It was kind of hidden, and a less shiny silver than we expected, but it was still in good shape. The part that threw us off was the trail took up all the way up a mountain where we tossed some 1 yen coins and tried to get them into a bowl for good luck, and then all the way back down to a small building right before the path became lined with towering bushes (like they would be in a maze, only there was no getting lost here).
By now it was almost 5 o' clock so many touring locations were closing for the day. Since we were unable to visit anymore stops we returned to our hotel. We went wandering around the shopping area again, but this time we had a chance to talk to some of the workers. We had a long surprise conversations with a girl who worked at a bag store (I eventually bought my awesome backpack from her since I needed another bag for check-in). Then a few minutes later, when we were looking for a hat for Lynnette we had a conversation with a different guy... he was probably just trying to convince to buy the hat in the end but we didn't so it was kind of awkard. We also stopped in a store that was decked out in soccer swag- I searched for a jersey for my brother, but they didn't have any of Rinaldo's and I wasn't about to drop $70+ on a shirt he didn't want.
This was the day that we discovered milk tea, it should not be consumed in large quantities.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Day 13 - We Leave For Kyoto
Today was the day that we were going to leave
Toyohashi and go to Kyoto. It was a very strange feeling to be leaving my host
family, even though we had barely spent a week together, they made me feel
really comfortable and I think with more time we could have become better acquaintances.
As we left the platform with our families and headed for the shinkansen (bullet train)
platform. As we waited for the train a new government official of Toyohashi
came to see us off. Apparentely, he had studied in America for a year in
highschool so he new a little more English. We briefly talked: when I said that
my name was "Hara" (In Japanese) and he asked if I was related to Dr.
Hara which was clearly a joke. After that it was hard to hear what he was
saying as the train pulled in and took over the sound waves.
The train came and went and then we were in Kyoto. It was raining and by the time we made it to our hotel I think a lot of us were tired. I know the first thing I did was take a nap for a couple hours.
With a little daylight left we went exploring and found a shopping center down the road and across the bridge. As far as I was concerned I had finished most my shopping in Tokyo, so I wouldn't be buying much here. I bought pasta shrimp from Family Mart for dinnerand spent the rest of the evening watching TV and planning our week.
The train came and went and then we were in Kyoto. It was raining and by the time we made it to our hotel I think a lot of us were tired. I know the first thing I did was take a nap for a couple hours.
With a little daylight left we went exploring and found a shopping center down the road and across the bridge. As far as I was concerned I had finished most my shopping in Tokyo, so I wouldn't be buying much here. I bought pasta shrimp from Family Mart for dinnerand spent the rest of the evening watching TV and planning our week.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Day 12 - Osu Kannon, Nagoya
THIS PLACE EXISTS!
I say this because I was unable to find the same place when I came back a week later... But that's a different story.
Since the day was Saturday we had the whole day to spend with our host families. Sakiko, my host sister, and I took a two-hour train from Toyohashi to the city of Nagoya. From there we took a subway to Osu Kannon; which, had a very large shopping area like an outdoor/indoor mall. We window-shopped mostly, I found a store that specialized specifically in Korean pop merchandise. At the moment they were loaded with Big Bang. We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant, which was pretty good as far as I can remember; then we returned to Nagoya and explored the bigger city.
The night before, when my host family asked me whats one of the things I want to get in Japan I said an electronic dictionary, not knowing that they would take my answer somewhat seriously. I think they tried to give me one of their older ones, but I wanted one with a writing pad. Its still embarrasing when I think about it. In any case, while we were in Nagoya we went to Big Camera and checked out its prices while waiting for my host mom. We eventually met her in the station; she bought us a tapioca drink, which I thought was going to be amazing but it turned out slimy, weird, and not as sweet as lets say... tapioca pudding. For a while afterward we went around looking for electronic dictionaries. After seeing the prices I did my best to change the subject and end my search. I did end up getting a KAT-TUN CD We had dinner on a restaurant on the 14th floor. My host mom ordered "Unagi No Hitsumbushi" for all of us, which was an eel dish on rice it was probably the best meal I had had yet. I might have ruined the experience a little by experimenting with the seasoning dishes that were provided. Oh well, next time.
I say this because I was unable to find the same place when I came back a week later... But that's a different story.
Since the day was Saturday we had the whole day to spend with our host families. Sakiko, my host sister, and I took a two-hour train from Toyohashi to the city of Nagoya. From there we took a subway to Osu Kannon; which, had a very large shopping area like an outdoor/indoor mall. We window-shopped mostly, I found a store that specialized specifically in Korean pop merchandise. At the moment they were loaded with Big Bang. We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant, which was pretty good as far as I can remember; then we returned to Nagoya and explored the bigger city.
The night before, when my host family asked me whats one of the things I want to get in Japan I said an electronic dictionary, not knowing that they would take my answer somewhat seriously. I think they tried to give me one of their older ones, but I wanted one with a writing pad. Its still embarrasing when I think about it. In any case, while we were in Nagoya we went to Big Camera and checked out its prices while waiting for my host mom. We eventually met her in the station; she bought us a tapioca drink, which I thought was going to be amazing but it turned out slimy, weird, and not as sweet as lets say... tapioca pudding. For a while afterward we went around looking for electronic dictionaries. After seeing the prices I did my best to change the subject and end my search. I did end up getting a KAT-TUN CD We had dinner on a restaurant on the 14th floor. My host mom ordered "Unagi No Hitsumbushi" for all of us, which was an eel dish on rice it was probably the best meal I had had yet. I might have ruined the experience a little by experimenting with the seasoning dishes that were provided. Oh well, next time.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Day 11 - Middle School, Brush Factory, Yoshida Castle and Art Museum, oh my!
It's Friday. Today we went to visit a middle
school. Our group was divided between two middle schools, so Lynette and I were
seperated this time around. Fortunately, however, Dr. Hara was part of our
group. After a very brief tour, we went to one of the English classes taught by
a former student of Dr. Hara's. We introduced ourselves and walked around the
room allowing students to ask us questions. One girl asked me if I liked
tennis, of course I said I did which made us both very happy. A few questions
later, one of the boys asked me what my favourite cheese was. Thats right
cheese. I don't know where he got that from either. My answer was pepperjack,
because for some reason I couldn't think of any other cheese. Though, I wish I
had since he had no idea what pepperjack was.
There were six of us and six rows of students. To start off we each stood in front of a row and that became our team. We played a game very similar to telephone, but using a sentence in English. I remember I was team number 5 and Bobby, who was next to me, was team 99. My team was very close to winning but of course the team with the teacher as their leader took first place. After that we got to play another game, one that I had not played before. How lucky that these students got to play games all day today. The next game was mutiny and involved cards with different activities on them. The goal was to get the most(or maybe least points) in your hand. At one point during the game, Dr. Hara one rock, paper, scissors against one of the female students. Instead of just taking a card, he looked at her hand and stuck out his tounge and laughed and choose not to take any. He probably won.
Before leaving the middle school we were offered lunch; they had already prepared us trays of food. A bun with a hamburger, a slice of cheese, a bowl of soup, milk, and a dessert. Since the hamburger was suspicious and possible had pork I traded it off for more cheese. The case was the same with the soup and dessert so I ended up with a cheese sandwich and milk for lunch. I'm not complaining it was actually pretty good. After lunch we left the school and met back with our whole group at the bus. From there we headed over to the brush factory.
The "factory" was on the second floor of this really tiny building. Amongst the three to four open rooms there was a variety of animal hairs, brushes (new and old), and caligraphy. We were given the opportunity to make our own brushes-either a traditional caligraphy brush or mini brushes that could be used as keycharms. I already had a caligraphy set so I decided to make two mini brushes, one for myself and another to give as a gift. I think I spent more time actually picking out the colors than actually making them.
After the brush factory we all got back on the bus and headed to Yoshida Castle. To be honest, the castle wasn't really much to see; it was only one standing building near the river with a small courtyard and the building was closed. It just so happened that down the parkway was Toyohashi's Art Museum. We explored the museum for a couple hours, which had its own collection of modern art and some historical artifacts.
That was the end of the group tour for that day.
Tonight when I returned to my host family's house, we quickly went over to their grandmother's they were preparing eggplants in the back of the store. When I first got there the man who I believed was their grandfather was cutting the eggplants on a stool. My host father asked if I wanted to help so I pulled up a chair and started my own cutting. I think together we probably cut up about 20 boxes of eggplants which they were going to use the next morning. I didn't mind the work; I actually enjoyed it. However, their work was far from being done for the night so they brought me back home where I spent the rest of the evening.
There were six of us and six rows of students. To start off we each stood in front of a row and that became our team. We played a game very similar to telephone, but using a sentence in English. I remember I was team number 5 and Bobby, who was next to me, was team 99. My team was very close to winning but of course the team with the teacher as their leader took first place. After that we got to play another game, one that I had not played before. How lucky that these students got to play games all day today. The next game was mutiny and involved cards with different activities on them. The goal was to get the most(or maybe least points) in your hand. At one point during the game, Dr. Hara one rock, paper, scissors against one of the female students. Instead of just taking a card, he looked at her hand and stuck out his tounge and laughed and choose not to take any. He probably won.
Before leaving the middle school we were offered lunch; they had already prepared us trays of food. A bun with a hamburger, a slice of cheese, a bowl of soup, milk, and a dessert. Since the hamburger was suspicious and possible had pork I traded it off for more cheese. The case was the same with the soup and dessert so I ended up with a cheese sandwich and milk for lunch. I'm not complaining it was actually pretty good. After lunch we left the school and met back with our whole group at the bus. From there we headed over to the brush factory.
The "factory" was on the second floor of this really tiny building. Amongst the three to four open rooms there was a variety of animal hairs, brushes (new and old), and caligraphy. We were given the opportunity to make our own brushes-either a traditional caligraphy brush or mini brushes that could be used as keycharms. I already had a caligraphy set so I decided to make two mini brushes, one for myself and another to give as a gift. I think I spent more time actually picking out the colors than actually making them.
After the brush factory we all got back on the bus and headed to Yoshida Castle. To be honest, the castle wasn't really much to see; it was only one standing building near the river with a small courtyard and the building was closed. It just so happened that down the parkway was Toyohashi's Art Museum. We explored the museum for a couple hours, which had its own collection of modern art and some historical artifacts.
That was the end of the group tour for that day.
Tonight when I returned to my host family's house, we quickly went over to their grandmother's they were preparing eggplants in the back of the store. When I first got there the man who I believed was their grandfather was cutting the eggplants on a stool. My host father asked if I wanted to help so I pulled up a chair and started my own cutting. I think together we probably cut up about 20 boxes of eggplants which they were going to use the next morning. I didn't mind the work; I actually enjoyed it. However, their work was far from being done for the night so they brought me back home where I spent the rest of the evening.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Day 10 - Karaoke
I can't believe we only got to spend two days
with these people, they are so much fun, and I feel like if we had more time we
could really become friends.
Our group met with the Aichi students again today. My group and Lynnette's headed off shopping together. Like most larger stations, there was a shopping center connected to it. It's not like we wanted anything in particular, I mean we couldn't get clothes... we didn't really need them. But after thinking about it, I wanted a hat. Yes. A very cool hat.
We returned to the campus for lunch, yay for rice! Haha, just one bowl since I was still full from breakfast. I also managed to magically drop my mp3 so kpop started blaring next to this table full of guys >_> Great timing? Yup. Why did I have my mp3? Cause we were going to Karaoke and I needed to get comfortable and excited~ we listened to various songs as we walked there. It might have been best to listen to some Japanese, but that didn't really come to mind until I was looking at the song choices and thinking "I dont know any of these lyrics!!"
So I opted to embarass myself with American pop songs. For some reason Backstreet Boy's Everybody sounded like the perfect choice (though it wasn't pointed out till later how awkward that could have been). I'm not much of a singer anyway, but I had to do it for myself. Then I was SHOCKED. Lynnette can SING. Like LEGIT. And then the other girls had really nice voices... whilst we were supposed to be clapping and using the tamborines I would forget and stare at them in amazement, like 'wow, that's good.'
I proceeded to fail by attempting Big Bang's Gara Gara Go, cause it was in Japanese and I THOUGHT I knew the lyrics... but it came a lot faster than I was prepared for XD Then I was thought, 'okay, I should try a girl song' which led to the realization that I really do not know the lyrics to Paramore's Crush Crush Crush. Oh well. It was fun. I'm glad I put myself out there.
BUT! Before the awkward was over, there was one last thing I had to do.
Yesterday, I told Park (the korean exchange student in my group) that I knew the dance to SHINEE's Lucifer, and then on our way to the Karaoke place I told her that if she sung it, I would dance to it.
Well, guess who found the song? :P
Mind you, this was a fairly tiny room, with a table in the middle that took over have the space. Imagine trying to dance in a 2"x3" space. Oh yeah, I bumped into that table a couple times, dropped my hat... made a fine fool of myself. But man, was I glad I had that hat, cause it covered my face pretty well, haha.
After than insanity, high on life and pretty much uninhibited now that the worst was over, we all headed over to the park to set off some fireworks. Sparklers, zipping bees~ We had a great time :)
We returned to the campus again for the farewell Tea Party. Once again, my group supplied several amazing treats, goodies from the convenient stores such as black sugar. One of the girls made a cake, pinapple upside down cake I believe. I received a couple fine gifts too; a plush cat-head keycharm that is used for wiping screens, a letter and picture of Tanaka Koki with it >///> and a beautiful candy display set from a girl whose father works at a candy shop. Its squishy so I suspect there's gelatin.. I haven't eaten it yet, but its better to look at.
We made our final departures. The girls caught the train with me to my stop. We stopped in the music store for a bit, and then I headed home alone.
For dinner, I was surprised with a bike ride to Sakiko's grandparents' house. Good thing you can't really forget how to ride a bike, even though it was awkward (and dangerous) just booking it through streets without really stopping at the corners. Her grandparents' house was connected to a little storefront with baked goodies and treats. Her aunt made us stew, and it was really tasty, but we didn't stay for long. We returned to the apartment on our bikes, and then got a pack of donuts for breakfast from Mr. Donut.
I learned how to say something broke... kowareru （こわれる）which is a lot better than simply saying "my laptop died."
Our group met with the Aichi students again today. My group and Lynnette's headed off shopping together. Like most larger stations, there was a shopping center connected to it. It's not like we wanted anything in particular, I mean we couldn't get clothes... we didn't really need them. But after thinking about it, I wanted a hat. Yes. A very cool hat.
We returned to the campus for lunch, yay for rice! Haha, just one bowl since I was still full from breakfast. I also managed to magically drop my mp3 so kpop started blaring next to this table full of guys >_> Great timing? Yup. Why did I have my mp3? Cause we were going to Karaoke and I needed to get comfortable and excited~ we listened to various songs as we walked there. It might have been best to listen to some Japanese, but that didn't really come to mind until I was looking at the song choices and thinking "I dont know any of these lyrics!!"
So I opted to embarass myself with American pop songs. For some reason Backstreet Boy's Everybody sounded like the perfect choice (though it wasn't pointed out till later how awkward that could have been). I'm not much of a singer anyway, but I had to do it for myself. Then I was SHOCKED. Lynnette can SING. Like LEGIT. And then the other girls had really nice voices... whilst we were supposed to be clapping and using the tamborines I would forget and stare at them in amazement, like 'wow, that's good.'
I proceeded to fail by attempting Big Bang's Gara Gara Go, cause it was in Japanese and I THOUGHT I knew the lyrics... but it came a lot faster than I was prepared for XD Then I was thought, 'okay, I should try a girl song' which led to the realization that I really do not know the lyrics to Paramore's Crush Crush Crush. Oh well. It was fun. I'm glad I put myself out there.
BUT! Before the awkward was over, there was one last thing I had to do.
Yesterday, I told Park (the korean exchange student in my group) that I knew the dance to SHINEE's Lucifer, and then on our way to the Karaoke place I told her that if she sung it, I would dance to it.
Well, guess who found the song? :P
Mind you, this was a fairly tiny room, with a table in the middle that took over have the space. Imagine trying to dance in a 2"x3" space. Oh yeah, I bumped into that table a couple times, dropped my hat... made a fine fool of myself. But man, was I glad I had that hat, cause it covered my face pretty well, haha.
After than insanity, high on life and pretty much uninhibited now that the worst was over, we all headed over to the park to set off some fireworks. Sparklers, zipping bees~ We had a great time :)
We returned to the campus again for the farewell Tea Party. Once again, my group supplied several amazing treats, goodies from the convenient stores such as black sugar. One of the girls made a cake, pinapple upside down cake I believe. I received a couple fine gifts too; a plush cat-head keycharm that is used for wiping screens, a letter and picture of Tanaka Koki with it >///> and a beautiful candy display set from a girl whose father works at a candy shop. Its squishy so I suspect there's gelatin.. I haven't eaten it yet, but its better to look at.
We made our final departures. The girls caught the train with me to my stop. We stopped in the music store for a bit, and then I headed home alone.
For dinner, I was surprised with a bike ride to Sakiko's grandparents' house. Good thing you can't really forget how to ride a bike, even though it was awkward (and dangerous) just booking it through streets without really stopping at the corners. Her grandparents' house was connected to a little storefront with baked goodies and treats. Her aunt made us stew, and it was really tasty, but we didn't stay for long. We returned to the apartment on our bikes, and then got a pack of donuts for breakfast from Mr. Donut.
I learned how to say something broke... kowareru （こわれる）which is a lot better than simply saying "my laptop died."
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