Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Typical Day

Wow. I can’t believe that my time here is almost over already. Just one more month and I will be headed back to America. It still feels like I just arrived here!

So far I have blogged a lot about traveling, so I thought this time I would cover a little bit of the day to day here in Hikone. Monday through Thursday I have Japanese class from 8:50am until 11:40am. This class is held here at the Japan Center for Michigan Universities. On Fridays we have a test at 8:50 that lasts about an hour, and afterwards we have an optional “Friday Project” which is a special Japanese culture seminar. Some of these included tea ceremony, playing taiko drums, various martial arts, and trying on kimono.

On Thursday afternoons I have my Japanese politics class once. This class is held at Shiga University, which takes about 15 minutes to bike to from here. This class is very interesting, I feel like I have learned a lot from it. Right now we are starting to prepare our end of the semester projects; my group is covering Junichiro Koizumi who was Japan’s Prime Minister from 2001 to 2005.

Once Japanese language class is over I usually get some lunch. If I’m cooking for myself I usually make instant ramen, yaki-soba, or some rice and vegetables. A difference between Japan and America is that Japanese people go grocery shopping almost every day. I usually go about twice a week, which is much more frequent than I do in America. Japanese food tends to expire quickly though, so there is no other choice. Some of my favorite places to go out to eat are Coco’s, a family style restaurant, Sapna, an Indian restaurant, and Kaiten Sushi, a rotating sushi bar.

For entertainment I usually hang out with people in the dorms and watch movies or tv shows. Sometimes I’ll go jogging or take walks with friends; there is a lot of great scenery around here to look at. If I feel like going out, karaoke is always a popular choice. Karaoke in Japan is a bit different from in the U.S. Here you rent out a room, so it is just you and your friends taking turns singing, instead of performing in front of a huge crowd like in the U.S. If I take the train one stop to South Hikone there is a big shopping mall with a movie theater and arcade, so that is a good way to spend time (and money) too.

Today was pretty normal. Went to class, came back to my dorm and skyped a bit, watched some tv, got dinner at the sushi bar with a bunch of friends, and then came home and did homework. All in all a good day.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Hello everyone! I have been very busy these past couple weeks traveling around to Tokyo and Kyoto! While I was in Tokyo I got to try the unique experience of going to a cat café. Now when I say cat café I don’t mean a café decorated with images of cats. A cat café is a place where, for a fee of roughly ten dollars an hour you can gain entrance into a small café full of living, breathing felines! All while enjoying the beverage of your choice of course (which you are forced to buy at least one of on top of your entrance fee).

Now for someone like me, a student who is studying abroad and misses spending time with her pet cats, a cat café is the perfect concept. Spending an hour with some cute cuddly kitties was definitely a good way to help ward off homesickness! However, homesick study abroad students are not exactly their target audience. So who is? Although to foreigners a cat café might seem like a weird concept which probably has a niche audience of only the most cat-obsessed, the cat cafes patrons are actually just your average Japanese citizen.

Tokyo is a large city with a lot of people, but not a lot of space. This means most people end up living in small apartments, where they either do not have space to keep a pet, or they are banned outright by their landlords. And thus, the popularity of the cat cafes. It’s for those people who want to own a pet, but don’t have the means too. And business is booming! We had to wait a half hour in order to gain entrance to the café since they were full when we arrived. They have a book with all the cats’ names so people can get to know them and feel a connection with them. This way they can feel as if the cats are their own pets. I have heard that these cafes get a lot of regulars! And considering they don’t have to pay for the cats’ food and vet bills, or change their kitty litter, these people may actually be getting a pretty good deal.