Monday, December 7, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Nara to the end
In Nara Sean and I went on the day we were leaving. It was a beautiful place I wish to I could've seen more but one day was enough to see alot for 6 hours. We went to shrines and temples and saw the pagoda and big buddha (for 500 yen). We hiked a little up the mountain and made our way back down the mountain to the station after lunch.
Now for the rest of the trip after that. :)
I suppose I will do it by sightseeing as I've explained a lot of my grievances and thoughts already.
My next trip out was to Odawara with Liz. It was a frightfully windy day but all together nice. Odawara was a pleasent little beach town with lots of nice people. I spoke to an old man briefly in the wind about the town he spoke really incredible english (I don't know why these people don't have better jobs, not that I know what he did he just didn't seem the type to know english.) My only regret with the many brief contacts that i've made especially the older folks is that I could not get to know them better because the were so interested in who I was. After wandering a bit more we found the main street with all the shops and looked around a bit and got some food. After which we decided to go back to the station and go home.
2 days later we went to the yokohama this being our second time, our first time to yokohama was with a group of us and japanese kids. I'll talk about that trip first. Most of the Japanese kids were concerned with shopping, which was a little scary because its just such a captialist society. Shopping is great and all but I'd rather go up a tall building. Anyhow we also went to the ramen museum which was awesome. This place had 9 different kinds of ramen from all over Japan. Now for you americans that think ramen is just that little packet of noodles with flavoring, your wrong, really wrong. Ramen is one of my favorite foods. I've decided that if one day the oppurtunity comes about I am opening a legit ramen shop in the us. Anyhow that was pretty much that trip.
The next time around to yokohama with the whole class we took a tour of a park which the name escapes me. But anyhow it was quite large and we didnt have much time to see because we were attending a tea ceremony. MY pictures on Facebook shall suffice for the tour I will load lots here soon especially when I get back to the US. The tea ceremony was not quite what I wantedm, everyone was loud and boisterous as fuck and it was really annoying and frankly really american, no one really can appreciate the silence and zen like moment that is a tea ceremony. Oh well.
Our last trip this past week was to Kamakura, I definately plan on going there again some day. We visited the Daibutsu which is another giant buddha, and we visited a temple which the name escapes me again as well. But anyhow there were lots of sea eagles everywhere and a really pretty view. Kamakura itself is a beach town with lots of surfers and made me wish I was a surf bum. The beach had shacks and lots of rubbish every where and just made me feel real nostalgic for a time in which I never lived. If i had to live anywhere in Japan it would be kamakura or tokyo.
This last friday we had a thanksgiving farewell party. In which we all got dressed up in tuxes and the ladies in kimonos. I myself not one to be fancy didn't really enjoy it, but the tux was the most comfortable one i recall ever wearing. Though I do believe what makes a tux uncomfortable is the shoes and well we all wore sneakers. It was a fun little party anyhow we all mingled and took pictures and they even had a cake for myself and the 4 or 5 others that celebrated birthdays in japan. There were speaches, handshakes and a small gift for everyone from the school it was a good time and I'm very thankful to the school for putting up with this mangy bunch of americans.
Now I wait. Tomorrow we have the day off and I'm not quite sure what to do. As I've been putting it going home is going back to the real world and I'm anxioust to get to it. I hate the real world but I can't live this fantasy life forever it doesnt work that way and its too fucking expensive. Thank you everyone who supported me and helped me get to experiance this country for the last 2 and half months its been really eye openning. Especially to the travel possibilities it makes me want to explore the rest of the world. I've definately breached some boundaries travelling as an adult. As most of you know I've only travelled as a kid now that I am older I have the power to go anywhere and do anything and I wouldn't have realized that without you who helped me get there. Thanks so much I love you all so much, I look forward to getting back to see you.
Its time to finish this.
Now for the rest of the trip after that. :)
I suppose I will do it by sightseeing as I've explained a lot of my grievances and thoughts already.
My next trip out was to Odawara with Liz. It was a frightfully windy day but all together nice. Odawara was a pleasent little beach town with lots of nice people. I spoke to an old man briefly in the wind about the town he spoke really incredible english (I don't know why these people don't have better jobs, not that I know what he did he just didn't seem the type to know english.) My only regret with the many brief contacts that i've made especially the older folks is that I could not get to know them better because the were so interested in who I was. After wandering a bit more we found the main street with all the shops and looked around a bit and got some food. After which we decided to go back to the station and go home.
2 days later we went to the yokohama this being our second time, our first time to yokohama was with a group of us and japanese kids. I'll talk about that trip first. Most of the Japanese kids were concerned with shopping, which was a little scary because its just such a captialist society. Shopping is great and all but I'd rather go up a tall building. Anyhow we also went to the ramen museum which was awesome. This place had 9 different kinds of ramen from all over Japan. Now for you americans that think ramen is just that little packet of noodles with flavoring, your wrong, really wrong. Ramen is one of my favorite foods. I've decided that if one day the oppurtunity comes about I am opening a legit ramen shop in the us. Anyhow that was pretty much that trip.
The next time around to yokohama with the whole class we took a tour of a park which the name escapes me. But anyhow it was quite large and we didnt have much time to see because we were attending a tea ceremony. MY pictures on Facebook shall suffice for the tour I will load lots here soon especially when I get back to the US. The tea ceremony was not quite what I wantedm, everyone was loud and boisterous as fuck and it was really annoying and frankly really american, no one really can appreciate the silence and zen like moment that is a tea ceremony. Oh well.
Our last trip this past week was to Kamakura, I definately plan on going there again some day. We visited the Daibutsu which is another giant buddha, and we visited a temple which the name escapes me again as well. But anyhow there were lots of sea eagles everywhere and a really pretty view. Kamakura itself is a beach town with lots of surfers and made me wish I was a surf bum. The beach had shacks and lots of rubbish every where and just made me feel real nostalgic for a time in which I never lived. If i had to live anywhere in Japan it would be kamakura or tokyo.
This last friday we had a thanksgiving farewell party. In which we all got dressed up in tuxes and the ladies in kimonos. I myself not one to be fancy didn't really enjoy it, but the tux was the most comfortable one i recall ever wearing. Though I do believe what makes a tux uncomfortable is the shoes and well we all wore sneakers. It was a fun little party anyhow we all mingled and took pictures and they even had a cake for myself and the 4 or 5 others that celebrated birthdays in japan. There were speaches, handshakes and a small gift for everyone from the school it was a good time and I'm very thankful to the school for putting up with this mangy bunch of americans.
Now I wait. Tomorrow we have the day off and I'm not quite sure what to do. As I've been putting it going home is going back to the real world and I'm anxioust to get to it. I hate the real world but I can't live this fantasy life forever it doesnt work that way and its too fucking expensive. Thank you everyone who supported me and helped me get to experiance this country for the last 2 and half months its been really eye openning. Especially to the travel possibilities it makes me want to explore the rest of the world. I've definately breached some boundaries travelling as an adult. As most of you know I've only travelled as a kid now that I am older I have the power to go anywhere and do anything and I wouldn't have realized that without you who helped me get there. Thanks so much I love you all so much, I look forward to getting back to see you.
Its time to finish this.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Osaka
The day Sean and myself went to Osaka we checked into our hotel and found it without too much of an issue because the directions I was able to decipher better then the previous. We were staying in Super Hotel Osaka City and I will just have to say that those hotels are impressive. After we checked in we walked around the city of osaka around our hotel and then decided to go to Universal Studios Osaka. After much consideration from myself because it is so expensive we went in. Not much to say but that its exactly the same but in japanese, the people were very interesting to see because of the vast amount of school kids. Never the less it was a good day. After which we went back to the hotel to pass out.
The next day after some conversation the previous evening sean and I decided to go to Himeji and Kobe this day. Himeji was fantastic being my favorite castle through out the trip. Very huge and pretty and white. The castle itself is very well known because it is so white.
After the castle we took the train into kobe where we wandered the docks and decided to watch the sun set from kobe tower. At the top of tower I sat down for a break and ended up talking to an old gentleman who I could barely understand but could loosely tell that he was asking me if i liked japanese and french food because kobe has a lot of french food a long with its world famous steaks.
We decided to wonder toward china town where we so happend upon a kobe steak restaurant this being the first one we found I said whatever lets eat here though the prices extreme I expected this. I also expected a very very small portion. But it was well worth it something to knock off my bucket list because it was incredible. After wards we walked around china town and decided to try the cheaper steak which was good but nothing in mere comparison to the magnificent 60$ steak i purchased from the previous place. This place had steaks ranging from 40 to 120$ or 12000 yen. We then made the trek back to our hotel.
The next day was our Osaka exploration day. Sean and I went to Osaka Castle and explored that. This castle being a remodeled castle in recent years because it was wrecked during WWII. Never the less it had some interesting art and really cool 3D videos on one of the floors. After we explored the castle sean and I split up. I decided to go to the floating garden in osaka which was incredibly tall and very cool. There I watched the sun set and took several videos and photos and if I can ever get to it to be put together I will post online. After then I went and played around in osaka yodabashi and went back to the hotel.
In my next post I will talk about Nara.
The next day after some conversation the previous evening sean and I decided to go to Himeji and Kobe this day. Himeji was fantastic being my favorite castle through out the trip. Very huge and pretty and white. The castle itself is very well known because it is so white.
After the castle we took the train into kobe where we wandered the docks and decided to watch the sun set from kobe tower. At the top of tower I sat down for a break and ended up talking to an old gentleman who I could barely understand but could loosely tell that he was asking me if i liked japanese and french food because kobe has a lot of french food a long with its world famous steaks.
We decided to wonder toward china town where we so happend upon a kobe steak restaurant this being the first one we found I said whatever lets eat here though the prices extreme I expected this. I also expected a very very small portion. But it was well worth it something to knock off my bucket list because it was incredible. After wards we walked around china town and decided to try the cheaper steak which was good but nothing in mere comparison to the magnificent 60$ steak i purchased from the previous place. This place had steaks ranging from 40 to 120$ or 12000 yen. We then made the trek back to our hotel.
The next day was our Osaka exploration day. Sean and I went to Osaka Castle and explored that. This castle being a remodeled castle in recent years because it was wrecked during WWII. Never the less it had some interesting art and really cool 3D videos on one of the floors. After we explored the castle sean and I split up. I decided to go to the floating garden in osaka which was incredibly tall and very cool. There I watched the sun set and took several videos and photos and if I can ever get to it to be put together I will post online. After then I went and played around in osaka yodabashi and went back to the hotel.
In my next post I will talk about Nara.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
In Summation the Past 3 weeks (ish)
To start I will speak of my trip to Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and Himeji in somewhat of an order.
Day 1 of Kyoto.
October 31st we left for Tokyo train station to catch the shinakansen to Kyoto. Shinkansen for those that do not know is the bullet train which travels at a speed of 188 mph and it takes about 2 and a half hours approximately to get from Tokyo to Kyoto. We left around 930 and arrived a bit later. Whitney, Allison, Sean and myself had the same hotel. We discovered that most the touristy type cities train stations have english speaking guides who are surprisingly volunteers and will help you find your way to where you are going hotel, subway anything. It was quite pleasant.
Our hotel was called Super Hotel Kyoto and was right in the middle of the shopping district of kyoto, and for its price it was quite nice comparitively to every cheap hotel in america. After wandering in the rain a bit we found our hotel which was not on a main road and so it took a bit of time.
After which we met up with the others back in central kyoto as well as Gary our teacher and went looking for dinner. After actually being turned down at several restaurants some whom gave the excuse of no english menu, theres a party we all ended up at Sukiya or Yoshinoya dont remember which name it was, but one of the chain diner like restaurants. After eating we all split off went wandering a bit then headed back to the hotel being quite tired from our little journey.
The next day sean and myself decided to not meet up with the others to do sight seeing but decided to do our own thing. We first hit a really big shrine which my name escapes me but the pictures will do the talking. After the shrine we wondered a bit then went to the local zoo; which I won't lie was terrible, they treat there animals like hell it was a blow to the gut to me to see a tiger kept in a small cage with barely any room to move same goes with the lions and leopards but the tiger worst of all, too sad.
Anyhow after that infuriating experiance we went to a temple which you had to pay to get in and did so very pretty and quite large I ended up losing sean along the way and waited for him outside for a bit and decided to leave and probably missed him about 15 minutes later which I later found out. Being on my own was nice anyhow. I explored all the major temples and shrines in the area I was in and climbed a mountain to a nice view point of the city where a graveyard was not sure if I was supposed to be there though but it was well worth the risk, after wandering my way back down the hill to the main city I found myself on the same road as our hotel and made my way back there to rest up at about 5 pm. Found whitney and ended up getting lunch.
The next day Whitney, Allison and myself decided to do some sight seeing ourselves and did our own thing. Of which I found out that the previous day was a reck because the group was too large and got nothing done compared to what I did. Anyhow the girls and I made our way to the imperial palace and the park there and apparently the palace is rarely open and was open that day so we were quite lucky. Afterwards we went to nijo-jo or nijo castle which was the main castle in town, for some history kyoto was the previous capitol of Japan during the Tokugawa era before the Meiji era don't ask for dates I won't give them. Somewhere in there we got some awesome ramen of which I've become obsessed with more on that later. After the castle we wandered our way to the Daiso which is Hyaku (100) yen shop which had a lot of cool little cheap things of which I got many (great gifties cause everything else is expensive) Then we made our way back to the hotel.
After a bit of a rest we went and got dinner which consisted of OKONOMIYAKI. Now let me explain a bit on what this is. You are given a selection of foods which consist of meat, fish, poultry or veggies, or a mix, I got meat and seafood. pork, beef, fish and some other sea creatures, there is a batter involved in this mix along with some veggies and you grill it on a griddle in front of you and put a bbq like sauce on top once sufficiently grilled (photos to come whitney has them) It was very fun and very tasty I highly reccomend it.
The next day sean and I made our way to Osaka which I will talk about in my next post tomorrow and will update everything with photos because I am too tired to do right now.
Photos of the trip can be found on my facebook. Facebook
Day 1 of Kyoto.
October 31st we left for Tokyo train station to catch the shinakansen to Kyoto. Shinkansen for those that do not know is the bullet train which travels at a speed of 188 mph and it takes about 2 and a half hours approximately to get from Tokyo to Kyoto. We left around 930 and arrived a bit later. Whitney, Allison, Sean and myself had the same hotel. We discovered that most the touristy type cities train stations have english speaking guides who are surprisingly volunteers and will help you find your way to where you are going hotel, subway anything. It was quite pleasant.
Our hotel was called Super Hotel Kyoto and was right in the middle of the shopping district of kyoto, and for its price it was quite nice comparitively to every cheap hotel in america. After wandering in the rain a bit we found our hotel which was not on a main road and so it took a bit of time.
After which we met up with the others back in central kyoto as well as Gary our teacher and went looking for dinner. After actually being turned down at several restaurants some whom gave the excuse of no english menu, theres a party we all ended up at Sukiya or Yoshinoya dont remember which name it was, but one of the chain diner like restaurants. After eating we all split off went wandering a bit then headed back to the hotel being quite tired from our little journey.
The next day sean and myself decided to not meet up with the others to do sight seeing but decided to do our own thing. We first hit a really big shrine which my name escapes me but the pictures will do the talking. After the shrine we wondered a bit then went to the local zoo; which I won't lie was terrible, they treat there animals like hell it was a blow to the gut to me to see a tiger kept in a small cage with barely any room to move same goes with the lions and leopards but the tiger worst of all, too sad.
Anyhow after that infuriating experiance we went to a temple which you had to pay to get in and did so very pretty and quite large I ended up losing sean along the way and waited for him outside for a bit and decided to leave and probably missed him about 15 minutes later which I later found out. Being on my own was nice anyhow. I explored all the major temples and shrines in the area I was in and climbed a mountain to a nice view point of the city where a graveyard was not sure if I was supposed to be there though but it was well worth the risk, after wandering my way back down the hill to the main city I found myself on the same road as our hotel and made my way back there to rest up at about 5 pm. Found whitney and ended up getting lunch.
The next day Whitney, Allison and myself decided to do some sight seeing ourselves and did our own thing. Of which I found out that the previous day was a reck because the group was too large and got nothing done compared to what I did. Anyhow the girls and I made our way to the imperial palace and the park there and apparently the palace is rarely open and was open that day so we were quite lucky. Afterwards we went to nijo-jo or nijo castle which was the main castle in town, for some history kyoto was the previous capitol of Japan during the Tokugawa era before the Meiji era don't ask for dates I won't give them. Somewhere in there we got some awesome ramen of which I've become obsessed with more on that later. After the castle we wandered our way to the Daiso which is Hyaku (100) yen shop which had a lot of cool little cheap things of which I got many (great gifties cause everything else is expensive) Then we made our way back to the hotel.
After a bit of a rest we went and got dinner which consisted of OKONOMIYAKI. Now let me explain a bit on what this is. You are given a selection of foods which consist of meat, fish, poultry or veggies, or a mix, I got meat and seafood. pork, beef, fish and some other sea creatures, there is a batter involved in this mix along with some veggies and you grill it on a griddle in front of you and put a bbq like sauce on top once sufficiently grilled (photos to come whitney has them) It was very fun and very tasty I highly reccomend it.
The next day sean and I made our way to Osaka which I will talk about in my next post tomorrow and will update everything with photos because I am too tired to do right now.
Photos of the trip can be found on my facebook. Facebook
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Rantings of a white man in Japan
Afternoon all. Finally got down to writing another entry. Sorry its been so long since I've posted anything but I've been unable to gather my words correctly. Anyhow since last I spoke on here the school trips have been very fun, we went to a couple of art museums which has given life to my thoughts on going to museums again especially the photography ones because as a kid your mind cannot process the complicated thoughts and emotions evoked from certain artistic pieces.
We went to the tokyo metro museum in Ueno and the mori art museum. Both good, but the mori art museum I preferred, simply because it had an amazing exhibit and very controversial pieces from a chinese artist named pei wei wei (that could be spelled wrong). Anyhow the mori art museum was at the top of a building in roppongi which gave fantastic views and was pretty awesome to see. I'm considering to go back at night.
In Ueno we went to the museum saw some history and walked around the town itself. Myself, Liz and Alex, decided to just wonder cause we got separated from the others and found ourself back in akihabara which is where we went the week previous after roppongi. I love akihabara it is the mecha of electronics. Especially at yodabashi camera there are things you can get that are on display that you would have to order online its rediculous. Anyhow that was goodtimes I picked up a lens cleaner and a remote for my camera which is working great. I'll really be able to take advantage of my tripod when i get home now.
I find it interesting that on a daily basis if you walk around at night you will see kids talking and making out on corners. Reason being they don't have the personal space to do this in there own homes because they live with there family. It makes the whole dating process much different and also gives a boost to the love hotels. Love hotels are places people can go to get it on for a price and they are usually some sort of theme. Walking home is kind of funny because you have that awkward moment where you walk by these people and they're just like weird random american just walking by.
I've been keeping a low profile mostly just making trips with people into town on different occasions. Went and got my jr tickets in shinjuku. Went to a dive bar in hon atsugi that was really really amazing, very 20s jazz atmosphere would be a real throw back if i wasnt with a bunch of crazy americans. But the coolest thing about this place is that the bar and tables were fishtanks, it was straight out of a james bond movie. Anyhow the drinks were rediculously expensive like you would expect so i only had 2 of the fruttiest cheapest drinks just to try because it was rediculously tasty; cocktails are an art form here and I was quite impressed. I didnt get any photos but I will go back and take some soon.
Anyhow its halloween now not much is going on, might go with my roommate into shinjuku then go do stuff elsewhere not sure leaving today open. Might not do anything at all. I need to pack for kyoto, I leave tomorrow so that will be an interesting little trip. Considering whether or not to bring a suitcase or the 2 carry bags i have.
Will be sure to update with photos from kyoto and the majority of the photos I've been taking in the last while but I'll load some on here for now.
nick
We went to the tokyo metro museum in Ueno and the mori art museum. Both good, but the mori art museum I preferred, simply because it had an amazing exhibit and very controversial pieces from a chinese artist named pei wei wei (that could be spelled wrong). Anyhow the mori art museum was at the top of a building in roppongi which gave fantastic views and was pretty awesome to see. I'm considering to go back at night.
In Ueno we went to the museum saw some history and walked around the town itself. Myself, Liz and Alex, decided to just wonder cause we got separated from the others and found ourself back in akihabara which is where we went the week previous after roppongi. I love akihabara it is the mecha of electronics. Especially at yodabashi camera there are things you can get that are on display that you would have to order online its rediculous. Anyhow that was goodtimes I picked up a lens cleaner and a remote for my camera which is working great. I'll really be able to take advantage of my tripod when i get home now.
I find it interesting that on a daily basis if you walk around at night you will see kids talking and making out on corners. Reason being they don't have the personal space to do this in there own homes because they live with there family. It makes the whole dating process much different and also gives a boost to the love hotels. Love hotels are places people can go to get it on for a price and they are usually some sort of theme. Walking home is kind of funny because you have that awkward moment where you walk by these people and they're just like weird random american just walking by.
I've been keeping a low profile mostly just making trips with people into town on different occasions. Went and got my jr tickets in shinjuku. Went to a dive bar in hon atsugi that was really really amazing, very 20s jazz atmosphere would be a real throw back if i wasnt with a bunch of crazy americans. But the coolest thing about this place is that the bar and tables were fishtanks, it was straight out of a james bond movie. Anyhow the drinks were rediculously expensive like you would expect so i only had 2 of the fruttiest cheapest drinks just to try because it was rediculously tasty; cocktails are an art form here and I was quite impressed. I didnt get any photos but I will go back and take some soon.
Anyhow its halloween now not much is going on, might go with my roommate into shinjuku then go do stuff elsewhere not sure leaving today open. Might not do anything at all. I need to pack for kyoto, I leave tomorrow so that will be an interesting little trip. Considering whether or not to bring a suitcase or the 2 carry bags i have.
Will be sure to update with photos from kyoto and the majority of the photos I've been taking in the last while but I'll load some on here for now.
nick
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Just some thoughts
You know living here for the couple months I am really is a blow to the mind. First of all half my mind wants me to go all over travel and do things all over the country but the other half of me knows I can't do this every day or I will end up broke. It's really quite confusing, I'm in such an amazing place and I want to go and do things but I must reserve myself for the time that I can do things and the time that I can't. After that its the language it really doesn't feel like I'm living here because I am basically a literate to the point of a 1st grader and I don't even get to wear* the cool hats that they do. Then there is the homesickness not having any of my family or friends around is a real blow to the head also. It makes me rethink things over and over and over and I just have to put my mind elsewhere. Anyhow I go to hakone tomorrow so afterwards I'll post all the pics that I haven't in my picasa as well as some videos and such. Take care.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Tales From The East
Hey everyone! Everything is going well here. Just booked my hotel in osaka and kyoto for the week off about 200 dollars for 2 different hotels 3 nights each. Not terrible at all bout the same as a cheap hotel in the US. I will be rooming it up with sean for the week. Today we went to Mt. Takao which is I believe the closest mountain in the area about a 2 hours drive from town by bus. Ofcourse on top of every mountain there is a temple and all the goodies along with a temple. Cool place not much in the ways of vantage points which was slightly dissapointing but it was a fun trip. We got up the mountain by cable car which is apparently the steepest cable car trip in the country.
The previous night Jonathan and I went into hon atsugi to get our keys because we missplaced them. Afterwards we got dinner then attempted to walk to toys r us which was a failure because it was closed when we got there. Then started walking towards home in hopes to catch a bus. Ended up walking most the way missing one bus and catching another which just took us about 2 stops near my apartment.
The last weekend was pretty fun. There was a sports festival that was going on so we watched some of us participated to. There was a food race where students ran to eat something at 2 stations that were nasty concoctions of curry marshmallow and calpis(a popular local drink company that makes soda) and coffee beans. I played a little basketball with our roommate and some other japanese students.
Monday we had off so I hung out with folks and relaxed. Tuesday was most difficult because our launguage teacher decided to test us and basically show all of us in the advanced class that we suck. Never the less it wasn't a serious class.
Forgot to tell this story that I told to my ma the other day. Justin, Michael and I were in shinjuku going to our train and this mild mannered japanese man asked us if we spoke english then asked if we could give him three hundred yen, then he preceded to bow down on his knees and beg for the money, totally unnecessery but we gave it to him because whats 300 yen gunna hurt. Anyhow it was weird but it just goes to show for a very stubborn honorable country you must dishonor yourself if you are begging for someones money. Its just one of those experiances.
Thats about it for now will update in another few days anda I will have a video coming soon as well. Take care!
The previous night Jonathan and I went into hon atsugi to get our keys because we missplaced them. Afterwards we got dinner then attempted to walk to toys r us which was a failure because it was closed when we got there. Then started walking towards home in hopes to catch a bus. Ended up walking most the way missing one bus and catching another which just took us about 2 stops near my apartment.
The last weekend was pretty fun. There was a sports festival that was going on so we watched some of us participated to. There was a food race where students ran to eat something at 2 stations that were nasty concoctions of curry marshmallow and calpis(a popular local drink company that makes soda) and coffee beans. I played a little basketball with our roommate and some other japanese students.
Monday we had off so I hung out with folks and relaxed. Tuesday was most difficult because our launguage teacher decided to test us and basically show all of us in the advanced class that we suck. Never the less it wasn't a serious class.
Forgot to tell this story that I told to my ma the other day. Justin, Michael and I were in shinjuku going to our train and this mild mannered japanese man asked us if we spoke english then asked if we could give him three hundred yen, then he preceded to bow down on his knees and beg for the money, totally unnecessery but we gave it to him because whats 300 yen gunna hurt. Anyhow it was weird but it just goes to show for a very stubborn honorable country you must dishonor yourself if you are begging for someones money. Its just one of those experiances.
Thats about it for now will update in another few days anda I will have a video coming soon as well. Take care!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Live From Japan
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| From Japan |
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| From Japan |
Hello everone Nick Strite here straight from Japan. Lately I've just been doing a lot of living and relaxing, its been raining a lot which led to my first typhoon which is just japanese for hurricane, no big deal I slept through this one just like I did my first hurricane in florida. Anyhow after the typhoon it was gorgeous out so my roommate, alex and I did a bit a grocery shopping. Then I went to have a look at the temple and graveyard next to our house. Quite the ominous and peaceful place.
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| From Japan |
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| From Japan |
Anyhow the previous day was our field trip to the metropolitan museum of photography, the travelers shrine in meguro and shibuya! Quite the inspiring visit to the museum though I may just go back because there was one particular exhibit that I wanted to see and did not have the time they had a lot of tasty lomography cameras there as well. The shrine was quite nice right in the middle of it all but it was very cool with all the rain. Its almost too coincidential that all this nice weather headed our way after the sickness and typhoons comes after a visit to the travelers shrine. Anyhow shibuya was cool lots of fashion concious japanese even though it was gloomy with all the rain. Afterwards we all split off and headed for home.
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What else has been going on hmmm. OH my roommate and our language partner went out for a family sushi dinner which was awesome, a very family sushi dinner indeed lots of kids very loud. We also played some games with her and such lots of slots and other awesome games like card games that you play with cards that are read by a screen and produced onto a monitor, I was quite impressed and really wanted to play. OH yeah our language partner trip part 1. We went to Akihabara and Ginza. Ginza is a very rich area with lots of dept stores. Akihabara is electric town filled with everything electronic you could want and all the manga and anime you can fill your head with. This was all very fun. We also went to one of the maid cafes which was quite hilarious for a substantial amount of 1200 yen a person you can take a picture and have a drink in the company of 18+ year old girls dressed as french maids.
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The most bothersome thing though on my mind has been the language. I have fun learning it and all but it really gets to me daily when I can't understand the box of cereal or bag of rice because I don't know the kanji. Oh well so be it. I can still get by.
Everything is vastly more expensive then I thought, especially the food and transport. The typical foods like hunny and peanut butter are crazy expensive 12 dollars for a tiny thing of honey*. I guess that explains the lack of bees. Still WTF? Though I am a good frugal capitalist and should be ok; but if anyone is feeling particularly generous you can donate money to my japan travel fund on paypal which sends money directly to my savings account. It'll definately help with my week long trip to kyoto, osaka and nara. I'll also be willing to get souvenirs for anyone thats wants something straight from japan LET ME KNOW. Thanks.
Now thats it for my sales pitch.
So yeah that about sums it all up on my end again keep in touch im me on aim or call me on skype. I miss everyone so much hope to hear from you soon.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Update
Hey everyone just a quick update, we went into shinjuku, harajuku and the meiji shrine yesterday. I took lots of photographs of the shrine and harajuku. I also met my roommate and I's language partner, he speaks a little bit of enlish but still the language barrier is ever present and I am more astonished how things are in this country. Saturday we will be going to roppongi and ginza with our language partner.
Interesting story for yesterday I got lost trying to take a shortcut to the bus stop, so i stopped into a convenience store and asked for directions to the bus stop. There happend to be a man and his wife there who spoke pretty good english that gave me directions. Walking through the rain to the bus stop that probably wasnt going to come by forever the man whose name was Ko happend to be on there way to Hon-Atsugi and stopped by where I was walking and gave me a ride into town which was so nice. It amazes me at how polite people are.
Interesting story for yesterday I got lost trying to take a shortcut to the bus stop, so i stopped into a convenience store and asked for directions to the bus stop. There happend to be a man and his wife there who spoke pretty good english that gave me directions. Walking through the rain to the bus stop that probably wasnt going to come by forever the man whose name was Ko happend to be on there way to Hon-Atsugi and stopped by where I was walking and gave me a ride into town which was so nice. It amazes me at how polite people are.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
The Full On Delayed Scoop
Hello everyone, greetings from Atsugi, Japan! I'm doing awesome. We've had quite the trip so far and lots more too come. Day one we arrived at Narita airport from seattle and hopped on buses to drop my classmates and I at the our apartments which are spread out through the area of atsugi all of which are about 15 20 minutes walk to Kanagawa Institute of Technology. Along the way to the apartments our bus pulled onto the sidewalk to let us off and ended up breaking one of the small sidewalk stones where beneath all the drainage and such go into. 
We finally made it to our stop after they sent another bus to get us within about 10 minutes. Then came the fun part! that 15 20 minute walk we take to the main road became forever with all our awesome luggage for the 6 of us who live furthest from the main street (will post pics of the area and the apartment soon). Our apartment is right next to a temple I plan on visiting. My roommate Justin and I got settled and I went and walked around town with a few others to check out food and convenience stores. After then I made an attempt at sleeping to no avail because of something awful destroying my stomach. Anyhow my stomach repaired it self in a couple days. 
The next day, Friday, we went to orientation, after words the majority of us went into Hon Atsugi, the downtown area which you see above. We explored there and got our Pasmo cards which is a card for the bus and train. Then we began to explore the town and see what we can see while the sun was in our favor. There are so many amazing arcades and restaurants and everything is really clean and the people very friendly. The arcades are everywhere and insane, as well are the bowling alleys. 
The next day a group of about 11 of us went to the TOKYO GAME SHOW which is the biggest game convention this side of the earth. This was no easy task. Very expensive and very far (sort of) we took a long trip to the other side of tokyo near disney land tokyo (which ive no interest in seeing) to the messe convention hall. It was packed with the newest and latest game innovations and lots of booth babes (models hired to show off the games). 
After that we regrouped for the trek back to Hon Atsugi. We split up there and all searched out dinner. Four others and I found a very nice traditional Japanese restuarant with fantastic food and drinks. BEST SASHIMI IVE EVER HAD! The grilled fish was amazing as well though I do not know the name of any of it because I was so zonked out from the trip back. 
The next day Justin, Michael and I went to Shinjuku, wear I picked up a significantly inexpensive new Ipod Touch and we went exploring most of that area. We went up a tower and watched some dancing which was a promotion for the Olympics in 2016 which they want in tokyo. After that we got lost in Yodabashi Camera which is the biggest electronics store in Japan which in Shinjuku is about 8 different buildings with about 7 different floors of things each building had different things. It was absolutely insane. Then once we got outta there after 2 hours we went to Harajuku the big fashion district which was jam packed with people mostly girls. It was intense. We also got caught up in a shinto celebration which was awesome to see. 
After harajuku we ducked back to hon atsugi then hung out for a bit got some ramen and went back home. During the week we are avoiding the trip to tokyo except for field trips. But anyhow this town is still pretty lively. Everything is very expensive so if you feeel like throwing me some money go for it JK i'm ok for the moment key word! The classes are good nothing new for me japanese language, photo and art history interesting things that I'm good at. So far the foods great, the towns awesome, the people are nice and everyone in my class seems pretty cool.
If you want to get ahold of me look me up on skype, email me, facebook, anything internet I'm going to get a prepaid phone at some point but I'm putting it off for the moment. I will be posting an address soon as well as more photos of my abode. Wish me luck and I hope to hear from you all as soon as possible.
We finally made it to our stop after they sent another bus to get us within about 10 minutes. Then came the fun part! that 15 20 minute walk we take to the main road became forever with all our awesome luggage for the 6 of us who live furthest from the main street (will post pics of the area and the apartment soon). Our apartment is right next to a temple I plan on visiting. My roommate Justin and I got settled and I went and walked around town with a few others to check out food and convenience stores. After then I made an attempt at sleeping to no avail because of something awful destroying my stomach. Anyhow my stomach repaired it self in a couple days. 
The next day, Friday, we went to orientation, after words the majority of us went into Hon Atsugi, the downtown area which you see above. We explored there and got our Pasmo cards which is a card for the bus and train. Then we began to explore the town and see what we can see while the sun was in our favor. There are so many amazing arcades and restaurants and everything is really clean and the people very friendly. The arcades are everywhere and insane, as well are the bowling alleys. 
The next day a group of about 11 of us went to the TOKYO GAME SHOW which is the biggest game convention this side of the earth. This was no easy task. Very expensive and very far (sort of) we took a long trip to the other side of tokyo near disney land tokyo (which ive no interest in seeing) to the messe convention hall. It was packed with the newest and latest game innovations and lots of booth babes (models hired to show off the games). 
After that we regrouped for the trek back to Hon Atsugi. We split up there and all searched out dinner. Four others and I found a very nice traditional Japanese restuarant with fantastic food and drinks. BEST SASHIMI IVE EVER HAD! The grilled fish was amazing as well though I do not know the name of any of it because I was so zonked out from the trip back. 
The next day Justin, Michael and I went to Shinjuku, wear I picked up a significantly inexpensive new Ipod Touch and we went exploring most of that area. We went up a tower and watched some dancing which was a promotion for the Olympics in 2016 which they want in tokyo. After that we got lost in Yodabashi Camera which is the biggest electronics store in Japan which in Shinjuku is about 8 different buildings with about 7 different floors of things each building had different things. It was absolutely insane. Then once we got outta there after 2 hours we went to Harajuku the big fashion district which was jam packed with people mostly girls. It was intense. We also got caught up in a shinto celebration which was awesome to see. 
After harajuku we ducked back to hon atsugi then hung out for a bit got some ramen and went back home. During the week we are avoiding the trip to tokyo except for field trips. But anyhow this town is still pretty lively. Everything is very expensive so if you feeel like throwing me some money go for it JK i'm ok for the moment key word! The classes are good nothing new for me japanese language, photo and art history interesting things that I'm good at. So far the foods great, the towns awesome, the people are nice and everyone in my class seems pretty cool.
If you want to get ahold of me look me up on skype, email me, facebook, anything internet I'm going to get a prepaid phone at some point but I'm putting it off for the moment. I will be posting an address soon as well as more photos of my abode. Wish me luck and I hope to hear from you all as soon as possible.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Hello Everyone! Sorry it took me so long to get on I've been soo busy with everything in this country. I'm doing fine I had a little rough time with jet lag and lack of food. I've been taking lots of pictures my little camera has come in quite handy. I was in tokyo all weekend, we went to the tokyo game show, shinjuku, and harajuku. I've got lots of photos and its been quite a task getting to the internet. Everything is on my picasa album even some video. I'll be updating this again tonight as the internet will be fully on in our apartment tonight. If you need to get ahold of me I'm using skype and aim my just look up nick.strite on skype and my aim is nickstrite. Hopefully I'll find a decent wifi place near my apartment so we shall.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Rollin' in Yen
Quick post, today was a good day. I got my last taste of seattle before the trip. Went to Jalpak to pick up my Japan Rail Pass, a discounted pass for travelling about the country by train. I have a 9 days off at the end of October into november where we can go travel about the country and see all the sites outside of the surrounding areas where I will be living.
The photo above is my yen and rail pass I got 40000 yen which is about 440$ american and the rail pass was 312$.
I will be posting lots and lots of photographs, I've purchased a brand new Canon t1i and a Nikon S560 for snapshots. So expect things.
Though I am always worrying about money it feels like I've dropped 800 dollars on nothing it will show itself while I am there. I also basically get that money back with my last paycheck and the 300$ rebate from my camera (whenever that gets here) I'll make sure to contact as many people as possible while I'm abroad and hope to hear from all my friends and family.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Quick Update
I thought I would post a link to the facebook group that the professor who will be teaching us in Japan has made GRCC Study Abroad Japan So anyone whom is interested can keep up with me and others as well. I went to the orientation last saturday the 15th and met my classmates and teacher, we also got some information on the trip hopefully I can post some pictures of where I will be and everything included.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
To Start
Hi, I'm Nick Strite; I'm starting this blog to document my study abroad trip to Japan. I suppose to start with I'll show you where I will be staying. I will be staying the "techno town" of Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. A techno town is a place where several companies base there headquarters such as Sony, Nissan and Canon (whom I will be visiting about my camera). It is also a town filled with college students of which whom are attending the Kanagawa Institute of Technology.
I will be updating photos and video from Picasa
as well as updating video on my youtube account
I will be arriving in Japan September 24th and be staying till December 3rd. I will try to update this blog at best every day but ya never know.
I will be updating photos and video from Picasa
as well as updating video on my youtube account
I will be arriving in Japan September 24th and be staying till December 3rd. I will try to update this blog at best every day but ya never know.
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