Japan Update!

Hey everyone! Sorry for the long wait between posts! I have been very busy here! Two weekends ago we took a class trip to Todaji in Nara. Todaji is the largest wooden building in the world, and very famous throughout Japan! I'll let this sign explain to you a little more about it!


Me in front of Todaiji. It is huge!

Large Buddha statue inside of Todaji. Also huge.

Nara is also very famous for something else... its deer! These little guys are everywhere, and they are hungry! Tourists can buy snacks to feed them, but at the risk of being mobbed! My coat and scarf both got munched on, and people lost tickets, maps, bags, etc to the deer! They were very cute and fun to pet though.

Classmate Ethan being mobbed by hungry deer!


This past weekend I was supposed to do a weekend homestay with a family in Shiga. Unfortunately, the family's daughter came down the the flu, and it had to be canceled at the last minute. I ended up helping out with a "Cooking in English" program at the local high school instead. They brought volunteers from the Michigan Center to practice speaking English with the high school students who are studying it. Of course what better way is there to spend time with each other than while making cookies? It was a lot of fun (and the cookies were delicious)! I was very impressed with the high school students' English abilities.


Finally, today's adventure! Tried out a new restaurant with some friends. It is an Indian restaurant about 15 minutes away from our school. It was delicious! I got vegetable curry and nan, and I was so full afterwords! Definitely going there again.
When we got back from the restaurant we had a party to welcome the new students. JCMU is hosting some Japanese students who are taking a short English course here for the next few weeks. It was fun meeting and talking to the Japanese university students. One of the students I met is actually going to America and visiting Grand Rapids next month! I'm glad I am getting the chance to meet and talk to more Japanese people!

To wrap this up, I leave you with a photo I snapped of Hikone Castle yesterday!

No more snow!

The past two weeks it has been very snowy here! It was so bad that our politics class had to be canceled twice since it is about a 20 minute bike ride away. They do not plow the sidewalks here, so riding your bike is nearly impossible in the snow, as it was well over a foot in some places. Of course this did not stop some of the more daring (or maybe not so smart...) students (such as myself) from braving the snow to go shopping over the weekend. It just involved a lot of riding your bike in the roads which had been plowed, or walking it through the snowier spots.

They use bulldozers to clear the snow.

Fixing downed power lines


The snow finally started to clear up this week, and I was able to go to politics class yesterday! I am also finally able to go running again! The back roads which run along the edge of the lake are perfect for jogging as there is little traffic and the view is amazing! I took a few pictures during my jog!





Tomorrow we are having a class trip to Nara! It should be a lot of fun! Look forward to details and pictures in my next post!

Kyoto

On Sunday Kat and I took a trip to Kyoto! Kyoto was the capital of Japan until the late 1800's when it was switched to Tokyo. Needless to say it is an old, large city with a lot of history! Kyoto is only about an hour away from Hikone by train, so it is very easy to access!


Once we got to Kyoto our first stop was Kiyomizu Temple (Clear Water Temple in English). True to our nature Kat and I ended up finding a way to get ourselves a bit lost. We made it to Kyoto fine, but when taking the bus to Kiyomizu we accidentally got off a stop early. It ended up being a good experience though, because we happened to get off right near a delicious smelling restaurant, where we decided to eat. Of course the food was just as good as it smelled, so we were grateful for the mishap. We also got a good walk in since we opted to walk the rest of the way to Kiyomizu rather than pay the bus fare again.


Kiyomizu temple was amazing. It is over 1,000 years old. There were many different buildings to visit, we were there for about an hour and didn't even get to see everything.








After we left Kiyomizu we explored the city and did some shopping. We went to a part of Kyoto called Kawaramachi that was very lively! It was a good shopping district, tons of different kinds of shops! And I am proud to say we made it there (taking 2 different subways!) without getting lost. Once we were done shopping we got some dinner and headed home. We definitely want to go back to Kyoto though! There are so many more great sites that we haven't seen yet!

Japanese Daily Life

So far I have been having a great time in Japan! Here is the view from the window of one of my classes, nice huh?



I am slowly getting used to all the differences between here and America! There are a few things that I've noticed are very different here.

First is shoes. Everyone here needs to have three pairs of shoes! One pair is for wearing outside, the second for wearing in the building (to class, in the hallways), and a third pair to wear in your room. The reason behind this is that Japanese people traditionally spend a lot of time sitting on the floor (often times they have [or used to have] low tables, so they would sit on the floor to eat). Because they spend so much time on the floor, it is important to keep it very clean! Therefore, shoes that are worn outside are never ever worn inside, because they could track dirt in! Most Japanese houses (and our room) have an area to store the shoes right inside the door, and then you will step up into the room.


Another big difference is transportation. In America obviously we use cars to get everywhere. Here bicycles and public transportation are the most frequently used. Everyone at JCMU was issued a bike, and I first I thought "I am never going to use that thing..." It has been a long time since I rode a bike, so I wasn't very confident about it. There is also a shuttle bus we can ride that comes to the hotel next to our school about once an hour. However, we took a group trip to a shopping center, and had to ride our bikes there. After that I realized they were not so bad, and have only rode the bus one time since. Biking is actually a really good work out, besides the fact that they are so convenient.




Japan also has a very good train system, which I have become quite good at navigating during my time here. It seems a bit intimidating at first, but once your figure them out its not too bad. Most places have signs in English too, which is helpful. However, even experienced train riders such as myself can get confused at times! Last weekend Kat and I went to Kusatsu to go shopping. Well, we got there just fine, but on the way back we happened to jump on the wrong train! Fortunately we realized it once we got to the next stop and thought that it didn't sound familiar. We jumped off the train and decided to try and make a U-turn back to where we started. Luckily we happened to run into another foreigner (and Michigan native!) who was living there teaching English. He was surprised to see non-Japanese people at that station since it was in the middle of nowhere! He was kind enough to ride the train with us back to our original station and show us the correct train to get on! Overall I think the train system is very good and convenient. It would be nice if we had better public transportation like this in America.

Also, here are some other genius ideas that they have in Japan that I think America should pick up:
#1 heated floors! We stayed with a host family for a week, and their house had heated floors, it was amazing!
#2 heated toilet seats! Nothing better than sitting down on a nice warm toilet. :)
#3 extremely deep bath tubs. They are so nice and relaxing!
#4 check my future blogs for more great stuff about Japan!


Bonus: A snapshot of lake Biwa (the lake that our school is on!) during the sun set.

Arrival in Hikone!

So, I have finally arrived in Hikone, the location of the Japan Center for Michigan Universities and the place I will be living for the next few months!

My friend Kat and I had a bit of trouble on the way here, but we finally made it safely. We decided to stay at a hotel in Hikone the night before moving into our on campus apartment, but we got some bad directions. The hotel was supposed to be a one minute walk from the station, so when we got off the train that took us here from Tokyo I thought, it can't be that hard to find, we don't need to ask for directions! After 20 or so minutes of walking we finally gave up and went back to the train station to ask only to find out that it was a one minute walk from the next station over! We had to take another train, but once we got to the right station the hotel was visible right out the window. It was a good learning experience; always ask for directions, even if you think you know where you're going!

Now we are safe and sound in our apartment. We took a taxi here from the hotel so we would have no chance of getting lost! We also had our first experience grocery shopping in a Japanese grocery store yesterday! There was lots of yummy stuff that we don't have in the U.S. though also some stuff that Kat and I thought we would never want to try. It is hard for me being a vegetarian in Japan though because most of their dishes include meat or fish. I bought some different kinds of Japanese noodles though, and next time I go to the grocery store I'm going to get some fresh produce so I can make some stir fry.

I took a video of our apartment so if you are interested in what it is like please take a look!



We had an orientation this morning to learn the ins and outs of the school, and we got issued bikes so now we can bike to the store! Tomorrow we take our placement tests to find out what level of Japanese we get in to! Wish me luck!

Pre-Departure

Exactly one month left until I leave for Japan! I am so excited! There is so much left to plan still though. I need to figure out how I will get from the airport to JCMU, what I need to pack, and a whole host of other things.

I got some good deals on luggage during Black Friday. I got two new suitcases, one of which is HUGE! My little brother fit all the way inside this one, and asked if I would take him with me. :) I am going to miss my family while I am gone, but thankfully I will be able to keep in contact with them through the magic of skype. We will have to coordinate times to do this though since Japan is 14 hours ahead of the U.S.

I am leaving on December 28th. It seems really soon but far away at the same time. Organizing my packing and planning around all the Christmas festivities with my family is going to be pretty hectic! It will all be worth it though.

Oh, and in case any of you were wondering, this blog posts in Japan time! So for those of you reading this from the U.S. it may seem like I am writing from the future!!! Spooky, huh?