This is my final post, as I leave tomorrow afternoon to go back home.
On Wednesday night, we set off fireworks at the park one last time.
Then, yesterday I had lunch with a few friends and I went to the shopping districts one last time to finish off お土産 hunting. Later on, I was treated to dinner by the very kind and generous former 留学生, Yusuke and Megumi!
Hope to see you soon! (Assuming anyone is actually reading this...)
Friday, August 5, 2011
7-31-11: Hiroshima
Last Sunday, I went to Hiroshima as a final trip before I leave Japan.
I met up with the always adorable Yukina-chan and she was kind enough to show me around Hiroshima. We spent most of the time at 宮島 (Miyajima) and was very beautiful.
Later on that night, we went to have Hiroshima's famous お好み焼き for dinner!
I met up with the always adorable Yukina-chan and she was kind enough to show me around Hiroshima. We spent most of the time at 宮島 (Miyajima) and was very beautiful.
Later on that night, we went to have Hiroshima's famous お好み焼き for dinner!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
最後
お久しぶりにのってなくてごめん！
Everything lately has been extremely busy with classes ending and trying to enjoy things as much as possible, so I haven't had much time to post much of anything.
The first set of photos starts with when I attempted to teach my 日本事情 (basically a Japanese History course) class how to make an origami rose.
Next, continues the origami theme, with a collection of all the origami that I made while I was in Japan, which I gave to all the students who came to the farewell party as a small token of my appreciation.
Next, is a slightly older set of pictures that I had to take off facebook (I didn't have my camera at the time) of when some of the Japanese students let us practice Calligraphy.
There is a lot of random filler shots mixed in and then pictures of the farewell party.
Followed by this past Saturday when a Vietnamese foreign exchange student I spent some-time doing some more origami (it's a little ironic that she is pretty much the only person in my entire time here with even the slightest interest in origami @_@). Afterwards, we had 焼肉 at considerably cheap restaurant.
Finally, today we went to an interesting restaurant and then went to a カラオケ屋 for about 7 hours. I'm not sure how they make any money off their daytime rates, as there is all you can drink beverages and it was only about 800円 for each person for the whole time. I'm really going to miss Japanese カラオケ, to say that it is superior over what little we have in U.S. is a dire understatement...
Everything lately has been extremely busy with classes ending and trying to enjoy things as much as possible, so I haven't had much time to post much of anything.
The first set of photos starts with when I attempted to teach my 日本事情 (basically a Japanese History course) class how to make an origami rose.
Next, continues the origami theme, with a collection of all the origami that I made while I was in Japan, which I gave to all the students who came to the farewell party as a small token of my appreciation.
Next, is a slightly older set of pictures that I had to take off facebook (I didn't have my camera at the time) of when some of the Japanese students let us practice Calligraphy.
There is a lot of random filler shots mixed in and then pictures of the farewell party.
Followed by this past Saturday when a Vietnamese foreign exchange student I spent some-time doing some more origami (it's a little ironic that she is pretty much the only person in my entire time here with even the slightest interest in origami @_@). Afterwards, we had 焼肉 at considerably cheap restaurant.
Finally, today we went to an interesting restaurant and then went to a カラオケ屋 for about 7 hours. I'm not sure how they make any money off their daytime rates, as there is all you can drink beverages and it was only about 800円 for each person for the whole time. I'm really going to miss Japanese カラオケ, to say that it is superior over what little we have in U.S. is a dire understatement...
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
7-9-11 & 7-10-11: 根羽
For the second of two posts, we went to 根羽（ねば）, a tiny village about two and a half hours from Nagoya, where one of the American teachers at Chukyo University has in-laws who own a large, historical home. Around thirty people went, mainly Japanese students from the professor's seminar class.
It was very beautiful and relaxing with a very scenic river within a few minutes walking distance (sadly that scenery at one time included some naked guys...).
At night, there was a 祭り with some really magnificent fireworks; they were so close that it almost seemed that the embers were going to land upon some of the nearby houses. There was also an event where the people who were in charge threw a ton of mochi out of the second floor of the town's municipal office. Anyone who got a mochi with a pink slip in it, received small prizes.
It was a really great experience, probably one of the best of the semester so far. The professor and his family were extremely kind and considerate to all of us.
It was very beautiful and relaxing with a very scenic river within a few minutes walking distance (sadly that scenery at one time included some naked guys...).
At night, there was a 祭り with some really magnificent fireworks; they were so close that it almost seemed that the embers were going to land upon some of the nearby houses. There was also an event where the people who were in charge threw a ton of mochi out of the second floor of the town's municipal office. Anyone who got a mochi with a pink slip in it, received small prizes.
It was a really great experience, probably one of the best of the semester so far. The professor and his family were extremely kind and considerate to all of us.
7-5-11: The Fourth of July
Sorry for the long gap in-between posts, so here is two in a row. The first is of the celebration that some of the international students had, setting off fireworks on fifth of July...(it must have still been the Fourth somewhere).
There are also a few random pictures thrown in below.
There are also a few random pictures thrown in below.
Monday, June 13, 2011
6-11 & 6-12: 京都
This past weekend Chukyou University hosted a trip for the exchange students to go to Kyoto and visit some of the sights.
We left early Saturday morning by bus and it took about three hours to get there. We first visited a 湯豆腐 style restaurant and had several different types of tofu.
Next, we went to 三門寺, which I honestly don't know much about, besides that there is a temple building you can climb. There's also an aqueduct that I wonder when was built, as it seems much more recent than the rest of the temple area.
Next was 清水寺. The street leading up to the temple area was littered with various interesting soveigneir shops. The temple itself was sprawling, wide open, with several 鳥居 and shrines. The name of the temple comes from the water springs that run throughout the area and three flowing fountains that visitors drink from in order to gain good grades, long life, or love. There were also a few 舞妓, 芸者 in training that Kyoto is famous for.
Probably the most impressive part of the trip was 三十三間堂（さんじゅうさんげんどう), a Buddhist temple where 1,001 cypress statues of the Buddha 観音 are housed. There are also 28 attending deities, including 雷電 and 風神. Regrettably, photography was forbidden.
We stayed at Villa Hotel, probably the highest quality hotel I've ever stayed at.
On Sunday, we went to 二条城,the former castle and residence of the Shogun/Third great unifier of Japan 徳川家康. The actual building wasn't very impressive, especially after 三十三間堂, but the adjacent gardens were accompanied be some very nice scenery.
Next was the most famous temple in Japan, 金閣寺. The temple is entirely covered in gold-leaf paper and sits in the middle of a small lake.
It was a really nice trip, but it was a bit too much to properly take in during such a short time period and it would have been nice to have some more time to look around in the shops, as it was I didn't have any time to get any souvenirs or see everything. Also, everything closes really early in Japan, save for the パチンコ parlors and bars, so even though we had some free time in the heart of the city on Saturday night, we weren't able to anything.
I'm thinking about going taking another trip someplace by myself, but haven't decided when or where to go yet. I would like to go to Hiroshima and maybe see some of the exchange students from last year if possible. It would also be nice to go Osaka...どうしようかな
We left early Saturday morning by bus and it took about three hours to get there. We first visited a 湯豆腐 style restaurant and had several different types of tofu.
Next, we went to 三門寺, which I honestly don't know much about, besides that there is a temple building you can climb. There's also an aqueduct that I wonder when was built, as it seems much more recent than the rest of the temple area.
Next was 清水寺. The street leading up to the temple area was littered with various interesting soveigneir shops. The temple itself was sprawling, wide open, with several 鳥居 and shrines. The name of the temple comes from the water springs that run throughout the area and three flowing fountains that visitors drink from in order to gain good grades, long life, or love. There were also a few 舞妓, 芸者 in training that Kyoto is famous for.
Probably the most impressive part of the trip was 三十三間堂（さんじゅうさんげんどう), a Buddhist temple where 1,001 cypress statues of the Buddha 観音 are housed. There are also 28 attending deities, including 雷電 and 風神. Regrettably, photography was forbidden.
We stayed at Villa Hotel, probably the highest quality hotel I've ever stayed at.
On Sunday, we went to 二条城,the former castle and residence of the Shogun/Third great unifier of Japan 徳川家康. The actual building wasn't very impressive, especially after 三十三間堂, but the adjacent gardens were accompanied be some very nice scenery.
Next was the most famous temple in Japan, 金閣寺. The temple is entirely covered in gold-leaf paper and sits in the middle of a small lake.
It was a really nice trip, but it was a bit too much to properly take in during such a short time period and it would have been nice to have some more time to look around in the shops, as it was I didn't have any time to get any souvenirs or see everything. Also, everything closes really early in Japan, save for the パチンコ parlors and bars, so even though we had some free time in the heart of the city on Saturday night, we weren't able to anything.
I'm thinking about going taking another trip someplace by myself, but haven't decided when or where to go yet. I would like to go to Hiroshima and maybe see some of the exchange students from last year if possible. It would also be nice to go Osaka...どうしようかな
Monday, June 6, 2011
6-2-11 through 6-5-11: Museum, Fireworks, and Matsuri
This past Thursday (6-2-11), my 日本事情 class went to the 徳川博物館.
Yesterday, I bought some fireworks (well, sparklers) for some of the other foreign exchange students and went lit them on the nearby bridge.
Early today, there was a fairly large 祭り(I think 熱田祭り-あつまつり). It was unbelievably crowded.
I was actually surprised at just how similar it was to the State Fair, it was mainly just a long line of vendors selling foodstuffs, there was very little in the way of anything traditional beyond a group of taiko drummers by the temple and a group carrying a small cart of lanterns.
I was also given the impression that Japanese fireworks were far superior to U.S. ones, but the display at the 祭り fell far short of my expectations; rather than having a short, continuous chain of fireworks, it was more like they set them off in ten second intervals and just kept at it for a long, long time. Ultimately, a lot of us, not to mention many the other spectators, just got bored of it and went home.
If I seem a bit jaded, its probably due to standing in the middle of crowd that refused to budge for over an hour. The food was excellent, though.
Yesterday, I bought some fireworks (well, sparklers) for some of the other foreign exchange students and went lit them on the nearby bridge.
Early today, there was a fairly large 祭り(I think 熱田祭り-あつまつり). It was unbelievably crowded.
I was actually surprised at just how similar it was to the State Fair, it was mainly just a long line of vendors selling foodstuffs, there was very little in the way of anything traditional beyond a group of taiko drummers by the temple and a group carrying a small cart of lanterns.
I was also given the impression that Japanese fireworks were far superior to U.S. ones, but the display at the 祭り fell far short of my expectations; rather than having a short, continuous chain of fireworks, it was more like they set them off in ten second intervals and just kept at it for a long, long time. Ultimately, a lot of us, not to mention many the other spectators, just got bored of it and went home.
If I seem a bit jaded, its probably due to standing in the middle of crowd that refused to budge for over an hour. The food was excellent, though.
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