Yoshai!
I really wish I could get quote marks to work...then my titles for cuts would be more exciting.
So, here we go, second day of class in Japan.
Got there by bike all right, though yesterday I got lost on the way home. Luckily, I just backtracked and got home all right. Still had to wander down three or four extra tiny streets really close to the house. You wouldn`t believe how (semai) small the streets are, whew. One car and it`s a tight squeeze.
The weather was awesome for Shimegamo shrine and today it rained a little and was cold, but gradually got warmer. I got my host mother to write in the hiragana for my article for class - saved me from a lot of embarrassment. And in the hour before our Newspaper reading class (I keep saying `picture/shashin` instead of `newspaper/shimbun`) we all read it out loud and discussed it. Habezakura (could be wrong on that) are double-sided/extra petaled sakura and our article was about a lady who has childhood memories with them. It was very cool to realize that (with help, yes) I actually read a newspaper article. Huzzah!
Had a super cute obento (packed lunch) again, but today I sorta wish I hadn`t. We ate lunch near Kinkakuji and everybody else (besides Lauren, who also had an obento) got to eat Soba and such... and I just sat there with them and ate my awesome obento, but wanted soba. Tabetai, yo!
Trekked the rest of the way (took a bus from the church/our school to the beginning walkway) and went up to the entrance. Got a lot of pictures of that and all the amazingly gorgeous buildings - and thus used up my camera battery for the first time - and basically had fun. I kept hoping we could go inside, but alas, we can`t. There are good luck little shrine things and I failed. No, not once, but twice. Apparently I`ve got bad luck twice over. And am 11 yen poorer, too. Oh well, only like...1.1 cent, right? Either way, not much.
At the very tail end of the big circle - the grounds are huge, just like all the other national treasure grounds - there are a big collection of shops and things. I tried the mochi twice and dango. Or maybe the other way around, I asked Oshima-sensei which was which, and he said the little white/pink balls were mochi and the other dango, but then my host family said it was the other way around...Either way, it was good.
Got home by bus and then my bike (without any problems this time) and finally met Asuka-neesan. I call her Asuka-san, though. Not sure if that`s wrong or not, but oh well. Through a lot of garbled conversation, we decided to take me to a depatoo (department store) today and hopefully exchange traveler`s checks and then go shopping on Thursday. Well, traveler`s checks were not accepted, so hopefully a bank will be open tomorrow. But with it being Golden Week, eh. Not so sure. Either way, the Depatoo was insane. Four stories - and everything was adorable.
We looked at electronic dictionaries and will hopefully get one on Thursday, talked about what I wanted to get on Thursday, looked at some books about Kyoto, I took only a moment to glance at the two aisles of manga -- they don`t seem to be huge fans, so I didn`t push it -- and then we started perusing chawan`s. You know the little bowls they use for rice? Yup, those are the ones. I didn`t realize it, but they were picking ones out for me and Asuka-neesan to use. So I got a really cute with sakura on it and Asuka got one with Habezakura. Totally awesome. ...and it seems like I get to take it with me too. *resists flailing too much*
Dinner was good, especially since I helped them go shopping (more like I followed them around and asked what some things were). Had some shrimp in a slightly spicy sauce and some cooked veggies with a sauce -- yes, Mom, I ate vegetables out of my own free will -- and basically loved it. Even mixed in some salmon bits with the rest of my rice. And I have a pudding thing waiting for me - they fed me strawberries afterwards so I wasn`t hungry yet. Sad day.
Either way, things are still going well. And tomorrow? I get to see horseback archery. Yabusame, I think. *squees* And then exchange money hopefully. And hopefully eat ramen before that with Meghan. Huzzah!
But I must move onto other things - like my journal...and eventually? Sleep.
...since there`s no class tomorrow I might actually watch an episode of Bleach. *grins* Thank you, Ci! *glomps and flees*
-bel
I love Japan. Just thought everyone should know that.
So, here we go, second day of class in Japan.
Got there by bike all right, though yesterday I got lost on the way home. Luckily, I just backtracked and got home all right. Still had to wander down three or four extra tiny streets really close to the house. You wouldn`t believe how (semai) small the streets are, whew. One car and it`s a tight squeeze.
The weather was awesome for Shimegamo shrine and today it rained a little and was cold, but gradually got warmer. I got my host mother to write in the hiragana for my article for class - saved me from a lot of embarrassment. And in the hour before our Newspaper reading class (I keep saying `picture/shashin` instead of `newspaper/shimbun`) we all read it out loud and discussed it. Habezakura (could be wrong on that) are double-sided/extra petaled sakura and our article was about a lady who has childhood memories with them. It was very cool to realize that (with help, yes) I actually read a newspaper article. Huzzah!
Had a super cute obento (packed lunch) again, but today I sorta wish I hadn`t. We ate lunch near Kinkakuji and everybody else (besides Lauren, who also had an obento) got to eat Soba and such... and I just sat there with them and ate my awesome obento, but wanted soba. Tabetai, yo!
Trekked the rest of the way (took a bus from the church/our school to the beginning walkway) and went up to the entrance. Got a lot of pictures of that and all the amazingly gorgeous buildings - and thus used up my camera battery for the first time - and basically had fun. I kept hoping we could go inside, but alas, we can`t. There are good luck little shrine things and I failed. No, not once, but twice. Apparently I`ve got bad luck twice over. And am 11 yen poorer, too. Oh well, only like...1.1 cent, right? Either way, not much.
At the very tail end of the big circle - the grounds are huge, just like all the other national treasure grounds - there are a big collection of shops and things. I tried the mochi twice and dango. Or maybe the other way around, I asked Oshima-sensei which was which, and he said the little white/pink balls were mochi and the other dango, but then my host family said it was the other way around...Either way, it was good.
Got home by bus and then my bike (without any problems this time) and finally met Asuka-neesan. I call her Asuka-san, though. Not sure if that`s wrong or not, but oh well. Through a lot of garbled conversation, we decided to take me to a depatoo (department store) today and hopefully exchange traveler`s checks and then go shopping on Thursday. Well, traveler`s checks were not accepted, so hopefully a bank will be open tomorrow. But with it being Golden Week, eh. Not so sure. Either way, the Depatoo was insane. Four stories - and everything was adorable.
We looked at electronic dictionaries and will hopefully get one on Thursday, talked about what I wanted to get on Thursday, looked at some books about Kyoto, I took only a moment to glance at the two aisles of manga -- they don`t seem to be huge fans, so I didn`t push it -- and then we started perusing chawan`s. You know the little bowls they use for rice? Yup, those are the ones. I didn`t realize it, but they were picking ones out for me and Asuka-neesan to use. So I got a really cute with sakura on it and Asuka got one with Habezakura. Totally awesome. ...and it seems like I get to take it with me too. *resists flailing too much*
Dinner was good, especially since I helped them go shopping (more like I followed them around and asked what some things were). Had some shrimp in a slightly spicy sauce and some cooked veggies with a sauce -- yes, Mom, I ate vegetables out of my own free will -- and basically loved it. Even mixed in some salmon bits with the rest of my rice. And I have a pudding thing waiting for me - they fed me strawberries afterwards so I wasn`t hungry yet. Sad day.
Either way, things are still going well. And tomorrow? I get to see horseback archery. Yabusame, I think. *squees* And then exchange money hopefully. And hopefully eat ramen before that with Meghan. Huzzah!
But I must move onto other things - like my journal...and eventually? Sleep.
...since there`s no class tomorrow I might actually watch an episode of Bleach. *grins* Thank you, Ci! *glomps and flees*
-bel
I love Japan. Just thought everyone should know that.