Japan Week 1-ish
I arrived in Japan on June 23rd though I left on June 22nd. I’m going to assume you know how that works, right? The whole major time change thing? Needless to say, going over and arriving in the afternoon is much easier than going home and arriving in the morning, and redoing the ENTIRE DAY. I’m sure I’ll rant about that after the fact. But that’s 2 months from now. Oh, but wait… I don’t arrive until 3pm because of transfers. Not so bad that way. ;)
Anyway! I get off track a lot. I know. Get used to it.
The night I arrived (LATE) my host Mom took me on the Limited Express Romance Car to Sagami-Ono so I could sit, like on the Shinkansen. It was appreciated greatly. We had ramen at a Chinese restaurant for dinner and I got settled in the house for the night. I had to be at school at 9am the next morning for orientation and the placement exam. My host mom took me as far as my first (of 2) transfer points, as it was a bit of a walk to the station, and then I changed from the JR line (Kobuchi-Machida - 1 stop), where I took the Odakyu Line on an express train to Shinjuku, and changed to the Marunouchi Line to Shinjukugyoen-mae, where the school was located a few blocks away. No jet lag for me, thank you. I’m getting good at this. Placement test SUCKED and the teacher went over everything with me, trying to figure out if she should put me in the level I wanted. My grammar sucks. :( I did get the level (Level 4) that I want, but that is tentative and depends on my test at the end of this 2.5 week pre-semester course. Cross your fingers for me.
Saturday again required me to go to school. We were assigned our classes in the morning (Class D for the pre-course for me, with only 2 other students), and then we toured the area in the afternoon. Sunday I slept late and then we explored around Machida. There are things for me to do there when I have free time in the afternoon after class (assuming I get the morning class level I want). Monday was ALL DAY CLASS and it was hard. D: 930-1215 (with a 15 minute break) and then 1-445ish (with a 15 minutes break) of NOTHING BUT JAPANESE. Amazing, yes, but a bit challenging.
Tuesday was morning class and then afternoon excursion. I chose the Akihabara option, as I’d been to Asakusa and Harajuku before, wasn’t interested in the Shinjuku expedition so much, and wanted to go to the Gundam Café that opened in 2010 - after my last visit to Tokyo in 2009. It’s a bar after 5pm, FYI, and everything is expensive. But it was COOL. Wednesday was all day class (with brief break to do a tea ceremony in the afternoon), and Thursday was morning class with a visit to Hosei Daigaku in the afternoon. By the way, we’re having daily kanji quizzes, homework, and katakana dictation. I’m passing. But so long as my kanji was readable, it never mattered before. It REALLY matters now - I get dinged for everything. :(
Friday was an all-day excursion out of Tokyo. I admit, it was kind of irritating at first that they wanted me to go all the way from my homestay into Shinjuku to ride a bus PAST my homestay when one of the lines I take stops in the same town as the first stop of the excursion. I had fun on the bus ride, though, and we got about nearly 2 hours early because we had no traffic, so I didn’t feel like I was getting home ridiculously late. Within 30 minutes of my usual time. The trip had three stops:
Well, well, well. What have we here? I’ve CAUGHT UP with myself yet again. I’m getting better at this - and this post is only 2 pages long! How about them apples?! Also, Japanese TV is weird. See example.
Today, Saturday, I slept late again - FELT GREAT - and went out shopping with my host mom. I bought a tank top and two shirts - one which requires the tank top under it, as it drapes/gapes open in the front. The other shirt is for Pirates of the Caribbean. Alas, it was not on sale. :( But it was still cheaper than buying in Disneyland. They must have something damn AWESOME for me to want to buy in Disneyland and pay those prices. I like my Pirates shirt. Maybe I’ll post a picture later. I also bought panda toe socks, sakura tabi socks, and a pair of pink socks for my host mom. It was 3 for 735 yen, and I couldn’t decide on a third pair so I got some for her instead. Yeah, like I need more clothes… but I bought the stuff anyway. We headed to a department store where she looked at gifts for my parents, as my host parents want to send my parents something nice, I think as thanks for the awesome name plate my Dad made. We had Afternoon Tea with "full" tea sets and fruit tea as a midday snack, then met up with my host dad to come home.
The evening was really laid back with lots of quiet, reading, and eventually dinner. We made plans for tomorrow to go to Yokohama so I can hit the Hard Rock Café and buy a hurricane glass as is my custom when I travel. :) Sad I missed doing that in China. :( Other things to look forward to in my next post will include Disneysea! I’m going there on Tuesday. If you have suggestions of what bikini to wear under what shirt (red, white, blue bikini or blue, white, green bikini under white tank top or white Pirates shirt) then do post a suggestion. I’ll be flashing the bikini top regardless as the colors will stand out under the shirt.
Anyway! I get off track a lot. I know. Get used to it.
The night I arrived (LATE) my host Mom took me on the Limited Express Romance Car to Sagami-Ono so I could sit, like on the Shinkansen. It was appreciated greatly. We had ramen at a Chinese restaurant for dinner and I got settled in the house for the night. I had to be at school at 9am the next morning for orientation and the placement exam. My host mom took me as far as my first (of 2) transfer points, as it was a bit of a walk to the station, and then I changed from the JR line (Kobuchi-Machida - 1 stop), where I took the Odakyu Line on an express train to Shinjuku, and changed to the Marunouchi Line to Shinjukugyoen-mae, where the school was located a few blocks away. No jet lag for me, thank you. I’m getting good at this. Placement test SUCKED and the teacher went over everything with me, trying to figure out if she should put me in the level I wanted. My grammar sucks. :( I did get the level (Level 4) that I want, but that is tentative and depends on my test at the end of this 2.5 week pre-semester course. Cross your fingers for me.
Saturday again required me to go to school. We were assigned our classes in the morning (Class D for the pre-course for me, with only 2 other students), and then we toured the area in the afternoon. Sunday I slept late and then we explored around Machida. There are things for me to do there when I have free time in the afternoon after class (assuming I get the morning class level I want). Monday was ALL DAY CLASS and it was hard. D: 930-1215 (with a 15 minute break) and then 1-445ish (with a 15 minutes break) of NOTHING BUT JAPANESE. Amazing, yes, but a bit challenging.
Tuesday was morning class and then afternoon excursion. I chose the Akihabara option, as I’d been to Asakusa and Harajuku before, wasn’t interested in the Shinjuku expedition so much, and wanted to go to the Gundam Café that opened in 2010 - after my last visit to Tokyo in 2009. It’s a bar after 5pm, FYI, and everything is expensive. But it was COOL. Wednesday was all day class (with brief break to do a tea ceremony in the afternoon), and Thursday was morning class with a visit to Hosei Daigaku in the afternoon. By the way, we’re having daily kanji quizzes, homework, and katakana dictation. I’m passing. But so long as my kanji was readable, it never mattered before. It REALLY matters now - I get dinged for everything. :(
Friday was an all-day excursion out of Tokyo. I admit, it was kind of irritating at first that they wanted me to go all the way from my homestay into Shinjuku to ride a bus PAST my homestay when one of the lines I take stops in the same town as the first stop of the excursion. I had fun on the bus ride, though, and we got about nearly 2 hours early because we had no traffic, so I didn’t feel like I was getting home ridiculously late. Within 30 minutes of my usual time. The trip had three stops:
- Odawara-Jo (Odawara Castle): The castle, located in Odawara, has a long history of standing against invasion and is now a museum. I enjoyed taking a lot of pictures of the outside of the castle, including the various entrance gates I saw. No pictures allowed inside the museum.
- Owakudani (hot springs/volcanic steam vents): These hot springs - not the kind you bathe in - are located about 1050 meters above sea level in Hakone and smell highly of rotten eggs (sulfur). Asthmatics and those with week constitutions are advised against visiting. It is famous for these black eggs that are cooked in a spring. Nothing changes in the egg - it’s just a chemical reaction to the shell. They were yummy. It was a lovely place to visit with great views.
- Hakone Jinja (Hakone Shrine): The shrine/temple was set in a heavily wooded area and included numerous red torii gates. There was even a water gate, like in Miyajima. I was especially excited to see that, as I had no idea there was another one. This one is on a lake, not the ocean. We wandered the big shrine, saw a small shrine and another, then hit the water gate for various pictures before finally going back to the bus beyond the koi pond.
Well, well, well. What have we here? I’ve CAUGHT UP with myself yet again. I’m getting better at this - and this post is only 2 pages long! How about them apples?! Also, Japanese TV is weird. See example.
Today, Saturday, I slept late again - FELT GREAT - and went out shopping with my host mom. I bought a tank top and two shirts - one which requires the tank top under it, as it drapes/gapes open in the front. The other shirt is for Pirates of the Caribbean. Alas, it was not on sale. :( But it was still cheaper than buying in Disneyland. They must have something damn AWESOME for me to want to buy in Disneyland and pay those prices. I like my Pirates shirt. Maybe I’ll post a picture later. I also bought panda toe socks, sakura tabi socks, and a pair of pink socks for my host mom. It was 3 for 735 yen, and I couldn’t decide on a third pair so I got some for her instead. Yeah, like I need more clothes… but I bought the stuff anyway. We headed to a department store where she looked at gifts for my parents, as my host parents want to send my parents something nice, I think as thanks for the awesome name plate my Dad made. We had Afternoon Tea with "full" tea sets and fruit tea as a midday snack, then met up with my host dad to come home.
The evening was really laid back with lots of quiet, reading, and eventually dinner. We made plans for tomorrow to go to Yokohama so I can hit the Hard Rock Café and buy a hurricane glass as is my custom when I travel. :) Sad I missed doing that in China. :( Other things to look forward to in my next post will include Disneysea! I’m going there on Tuesday. If you have suggestions of what bikini to wear under what shirt (red, white, blue bikini or blue, white, green bikini under white tank top or white Pirates shirt) then do post a suggestion. I’ll be flashing the bikini top regardless as the colors will stand out under the shirt.