Trip to Osaka: Shinsaibashi

During the first week of being at JCMU (Japan Center For Michigan Universities) I somehow found myself going to Osaka and going on a small shopping spree...well it was more like buying one thing...ok...maybe a couple of things! Two students wanted to go to Osaka to find a specific shop called Bodyline, go to Den-Den Town, and also do some general shopping.

FYI: This might be a long post.

City Hall Adventure

There's no sign that says it's the City Hall...so weird....

For some strange reason I was terrified of going to the Hikone City hall, and I'm not entirely for sure why I was. Either way I still had to go, being a international student has it's perks! I have national Japanese health insurance! Along with many other insurances. (Right now this is the most health insurance I've had for several years...it's like what do I do with it?)

First Class: Contemporary Issues in Japanese Politics

In an epic rush to get to the Shiga University campus before class started and to find where the classroom was, a classmate named Kelly ( picture might come later) got our bike helmets and hopped on to our bikes and pedaled through the windy town. It was so cold! and it was the day that I happened to forget my gloves...I was not a happy camper. Also it was my first time being at the campus because I wasn't able to go for the bike tour and Kelly didn't know where she was going ( but knew how to get there) so it was a small adventure.

After finding our way and the main gate we parked our bikes and started exploring with a very terrible map that they gave us. On our map the buildings were numbers, on the signs outside of the buildings they had kanji...the numbers did not help us at all.

Lack of posts

Hi everyone,

Just want to say that I am still here, but I have caught a cold...which really sucks! when I get sick I get REALLY sick. My head hurts, my face hurts, my joints, hurt, chest, hands, everything hurts!  Not to mention I have no appetite to eat...

Then again there are a few students that are sick so I'm not too surprised  that I caught it too, especially the weather difference! The dormitory that I stay in is colder than it is outside! and normally it is around 40-50 degree F! Then again most Japanese homes and buildings do not have insulation in them...so it will be cold a lot. So while I try to combat this absolutely terrible disastrous cold here are some upcoming posts!

• Trip to Osaka
• Shiga Prefecture City Hall adventure
• First day of: Contemporary Issues in Japanese Politics
• How I'm feeling generally ( maybe a video??)

Until then, I'm going to bed!

-A

First...well second problem...

It was more of an adventure actually!

Yesterday after class, and avoiding going to the City Hall (which I am going to do today) I went back to the grocery store to pick up somethings that I decided not to bring with me. While there I picked up some extra things, like a hat because I lost mine when arriving in Los Angeles. I don't even know how that happened, I touched my head and it was gone. I also got a thicker scarf, because the wind from the lake Biwa is crazy strong and my scarf isn't strong enough. I feel like it's colder here than in Wisconsin. I don't live that far away from the lake, but here WE ARE ON THE LAKE. It's behind our dorms. The dorms are colder than it is outside too...I don't understand that, but the good thing is that we have heat!

First post in Japan!

I made it!!!

I can actually say that I am in Japan! There's been a lack of updating due to a lot of movement via changing the planes, riding the train, moving in etc. There was another post I was supposed to finish, but I never got around to doing it because of all of the moving. Well to begin...

I had two layovers, one in Los Angeles, and the other in Seoul Korea. The layover in Los Angeles was terrible, I was already exhausted because the trip was in the evening and I had to wait three hours and I arrived at the airport around 9:35pm so that's around midnight.

The trip to Seoul wasn't any better, but the food was delish! They offered two Korean dishes, and I tried both because I figured having an open mind to food would create a mindset to try new things in Japan(mind you I already decided to eat a lot healhtier in Japan, because of all the dishes with the various vegetables and it's tasty-ness...anyways...)  The dishes they offered was Bibimbop and Sole Fish. I've never had any, but I definitely ate it!

Bibimap

 

Sole Fish

On the way to Japan...
I met someone who was going to the same program as I, and we decided to become buddies. I was actually a little excited to have someone to travel with. When we got to Japan the lines through immigration was terrible and then we had to go to another line because we had certificates. It was such a bummer!  We didn't come from the airport until 12pm. From there my new buddy and I traveled from the Nagoya Chubu airport to Hikone all by ourselves!! 

I can also say that I am proud of myself because I did most of communicating to get us where we needed to go!

I haven't taken Japanese for a semester, and most of the information I did learn I mostly forgot, but having to ask for directions, get my ticket back from the machine, and tell the taxi driver where to take us, I think I can say that I did pretty good! I got us to where we needed to go way before the other students arrived( my buddy and I already ate, unpacked, showered and were in bed. The rest of the students didn't get to campus till around 10pm. 10 points for us!)

I will post pictures in another post, but I just wanted to share some details to update the blog!

-Aki

Two days!

I have been meaning to start posting earlier, but I was postponed by things in life. But now I'm able to start posting!

Two days!!

I have two days before I leave, it's coming up really quick! Just a few days ago I was hanging out with my friends at a Japanese super market, to celebrating New years, to working again! I feel like time is flying pass faster than it was before. A friend and I already did my packing, and we fit everything into one suitcase, but it seems really heavy...I hope I won't be charged for it being overweight (I have no clue how much it weighs at the moment)Of course there are still things that I need to do before actually leaving:

• Compile a binder full of information for my family
• Make sure I have the essentials (The rest I can buy in Japan)
• Don't freak out!

Right now, in a general sense, a lot of people would be excited to study abroad in a country for four months, but I'm waiting til I get there to let my excitement explode. I hold back my excitement, because I as soon as I step on to Japanese soil, and wake up the next day I can say that I am in Japan.

I made it to Japan and I am going to live here for four months.


Next Post: Hikone, Japan