Going Home Orientation

It was a bit early, but at least we won't have to deal with it during Finals. Today, we had out "Going Home Orientation." It was shorter than I thought and most of this information was covered in the initial orientation, but was a good reminder.

Next week is Study Abroad Student Week in which there will be many fun activities (like Calligraphy, Ghibli Film Screenings, Origami, International food in the cafeteria, and Speeches on Friday). I thought it would be a neat experience, so I signed up to give a speech on the Friday of Study Abroad Week! I've been working on it almost all semester, but have not yet truly memorized it. Thankfully, it's around three minutes and I have a detailed Power Point. The day we had to pick a theme was kind of rushed so I picked something that I was consistently learning about and in which my interest was piquing: the history of manga. I'll do my best!

Today, when I came home to a delicious dinner of gyouza and fresh vegetables, my host family surprised me with a case with a built-in inkpad for my personal seal!

I was so surprised! And blue is my favorite color and I love fish and it's perfect! (Of course, the ink is red just like all other seal inks, but the case is blue on the outside!)

Yesterday night, I went on a little free adventure of attending the kickboxing club! It was within walking distance and I went with some friends. Unfortunately, the teacher was an hour late so we did not do kicks, but we did learn punches. It felt great! At first, I was nervous, but I quickly got into the rhythm with everyone else and then, when we were punching pads, I felt amazing. Everyone was cheering each other on too, which helped. Then, at the end, some of the students did a speed round with the teacher in which he circles around the room with you and tells you quickly what moves you have to do - and I did it! It was so much fun! I think I'm going to try again; it released stress and uplifted my spirits.

On top of that, I'm really getting the hang of the songs I've been learning on guitar and bass. I've been practicing while listening to the song and I can actually keep up. It's such a nice feeling.

I have to start studying and doing more homework again - the peace after midterms has come to a close. However, I am still trying to plan trips for my remaining time here. This weekend. I'll be trying to go to Ise Jingu with some friends (practically the most important shrine complex in Japan and the resting place of Amaterasu - head of the Shinto pantheon).

If anyone was interested, here are some things I've found at convenience stores lately (wonderful places they are):

Osaka Aquarium

Yay! We went to the Osaka Aquarium yesterday! This has been on my to-go-list for a while so I am so happy that I was able to go.

On on way there, I bought an IC card. This is a card you can put money on and use in pretty much all of the subway and train systems. It is easier to use and more efficient than buying a ticket everywhere
you go.(That's a picture of it in front of the penguin enclosure because the card has a cute penguin on it.)

The aquarium was really cool and fun but, unfortunately, a few of the habitats were insufficient. Especially the penguins: there were a bunch in a small area and all I could think of was the film "Happy Feet."


Once we made our way to the aquarium (passing by a Ferris Wheel, Lego Land, and a building with robot statues and a Jar Jar Binx in the window), we entered and I saw a stamp station. There were several throughout the aquarium, so I got some cute ones. Thankfully, I wasn't the only person over five doing it.

One of the coolest parts of the aquarium were the two whale sharks. They were huge and adorable and so cuddly-looking. Watching them swim slowly was so peaceful.


Watching the stingrays and manta rays swim was also peaceful and magical. They have so much grace, it's astounding. I love the ocean and its creatures and being surrounded by them, with an
ever-present blue color and either quiet or the awesome, calming music they had playing was a great experience. I felt the inner merfolk showing.



We came right around feeding time for some of the animals, including a large otter, white sided dolphins, and a capybara. There was a very active leopard eel who was just gorgeous in its grace and agility. It was like watching a dancing dragon - loved it! At one point, there was also a very playful leopard seal. Someone had brought a cat toy (a stick with some short strings on the end) and was sitting on the viewer side of the glass, playing with the seal through the glass and the seal was like a floating cat! It was adorable.

There was a section where we could pet stingrays and small sharks (which I did). Their skin was more rough and textured than I remembered, but it was awesome. I had a conflicting experience though. A child beside me really wanted to pet the animals, but they were always too far. Then a stingray was kind of close, but she didn't notice until it was swimming away. She reached out to pet its tail and almost grabbed it and I instinctively grabbed her arm to stop her. My friend said I shouldn't feel bad about it, but in my performance organization, we are taught to never touch someone's kid, even when we are trying to make sure they avoid injury. It was conflicted. 

After that area we found a Finding Nemo themed section full of animals from the movies! They were so adorable and colorful! I didn't get many good pictures of them though. 

Then, there was a whole section devoted to jellyfish and I knew I had entered paradise. Red jellyfish (long tentacles), Calypso Jellyfish, Flower Hat Jellies, and the Flame Jellyfish.

Okay. Now that I'm done fawning over jellyfish, we can continue. We saw many more species, including interesting fish I have never seen before. I couldn't catch all the names, but they were neat to see. 

As we left, many of us had Whale Shark - themed ice cream: and it was blue!!!! It was some of the best ice-cream I have had in my life and none of us could decide on the flavor. But I kind of felt like

Percy Jackson, which made it all the better.
Also saw a one-piece themed shop on the way to the station and was excited (though really only saw figurines).






We made our way to Dotonburi, a famous district in Osaka, for dinner. It was neat to see it at night, however, we made the mistake of listening to a "guide" and ate at a "restaurant" that turned out to be an expensive bar. We thought we all got one free drink (my mango juice was awesome, by the way), but they were 400 yen each and then we were each charged 480 yen table charge. Even the Japanese
students with us were confused and it took us a long time and questioning the servers to figure out what it was. They eventually gave us an informational card (only in English and Korean, not Japanese), saying that everywhere in Osaka has a table charge and this establishment's was cheap...none of us had ever experienced said "table charge." Today, my host dad said it is not uncommon for dinners in bar-like establishments in Tokyo to do it, but it's rare here and we should be careful. Well, we know now.

Next, the two Japanese students who came with us (and were both extremely helpful and nice the whole day) took us to Purikura - cheap photo booth machines. To be honest, it was okay and a little awkward. We walked down one of the mall streets of Dotonburi and then go to the basement floor of a make-up store and are met with huge advertisements of extremely altered, barbie-like faces of
young women (and one smaller picture of a man) as well as a bunch of young Japanese women giving us weird looks. Half of the group seemed to have a lot of fun and it didn't take long, so I think it was worth it. Also, it is a popular thing in Japan, so I'm glad to say I tried it. It should be noted that even before adding stickers and affects and whatnot, the machine altered our faces - structure, complexion, coloring, and shape. One gave me an extremely sharp diamond face while someone else's face was turned into an alien structure - it was quite funny.

Then, to make up for some of our frustration concerning the bar and the purikura, we went to a Torikizoku (cheap bar at every train station). I had some matcha-chocolate icecream. In fact, the three people on our side of the table all ordered it while the other side didn't order any food. We also tried some famous jiggly cheesecake that the Panda bought at Dotonburi. However, I disagree. It is not cheesecake. It was a fluffy, heavily egg-tasting sweet bread or cake with raisins in the bottom. We played a fun game called Hot Seat (Truth or Dare without the Dare). Stayed out a little late, but it was a Saturday and I've been missing hanging out with friends.

Today I slept in super late (past 10). I had the portions of bamboo root dishes and shrimp tempura I had helped prepare the day before (our aquarium plans ran late so I couldn't make it in time for dinner so decided to eat out....unfortunately). Anyway, I didn't do much else today because, around 3, my host mother and I started the long and fun process of making...sushi! There were so many steps and we were preparing and making sushi from 3 right up to dinner at 6:30. Washing and cooking the rice, making tamagoyaki (difficult and involves slowly adding layers to this rolled omelette), preparing the shrimp (sometimes de-veining ones that had been missed), chopping vegetables, searing mushrooms and eel, and so on. Then, when the rice was ready, I manually fanned it while she poured a sauce mixture of vinegar and something else into it. Finally, we sat down and started rolling, wetting a strip of the seaweed with water to bind it and keep it together. Oh, also, before sitting down, we had to swish the seaweed over open flames a few time - that was scary but she did most of it. It was a lot of fun and we bonded a lot, giggling and learning from each other. And thanks to my host dad's sister who was visiting again, we had matcha mochi with azuki and cream filling. A very Japanese dinner. The sushi was so good and filling. I also learned why Japanese people don't eat it that often - it takes a long time to make! And that was two of us working together.

Since I had midterms last week and plenty of free time during the school week, I did not do any schoolwork this weekend. It was both extra relaxing and slightly stressful (knowing I could have worked ahead even though knowing there's plenty of time and I don't necessarily need to get everything done over the weekend).

It was a fun weekend. I'm still working on my sleeping schedule, but other than that, I'm doing fine. For now, good night and good day!

End of Midterm Week...but not testing apparently

As soon as I typed that title (I was referring to a previously unknown online Midterm that we were assigned today and is due by the 8th), I realized I had to finish the take-home part of an assignment due at 11:59 pm...and I started this last blog of the night at 11:36 pm. I have never done that before, even when I was in online high-school or taking online college courses where many people would say they often turned assignments in at 11:58. This was my first (and ideally last) time doing such a thing. I felt awful! We had our Listening/Speaking Course Midterm today in which we recorded a conversation with the teacher and then were assigned to type it up, write corrections on it, and turn it in electronically...the day of. The day of!! And Fridays are my busiest days - 4 classes back to back and then dinner with host family as soon as I get home. The classes and slight lack of sleep pushed it out of my head until I typed that title. Thank goodness I remembered though.

Anyway, today was interesting since I was pretty tired but I made it through my speaking midterm all right. It's hard to talk at a regular speed or converse extemporaneously when you're nervous and know you are being graded, so listening to my broken sentences on my recording made me a bit more nervous. But the teacher is really nice and I think everyone had similar problems. Next was a class that I fought to stay awake in: lately, what we do, is write an essay out of class and submit it to the teacher, and then we read our essays in class and she corrects it in class. Basically, when it's not your paper on the projector, there's nothing for you to do. And it's not like you can do homework for other classes, read, or anything, because you are technically in class and it would be rude. Delicious lunch during the crowded lunch period passed by very quickly. Then onto third period for which I had to bring my laptop to school to show the progress on my digital portfolio so far (he said we could not use the class room projector) and then fourth period, which was the most interesting of the day.

I had planned to go to K-ON but was so tired, I got some ice-cream and sat in the garden. I was planning on going home straight after finishing my ice-cream and figuring out what I had to do when a Japanese student approached me and started a conversation. He just wanted to practice his English and it seemed like he was really nervous. At some point, he said it was his first time actually talking to an English-speaking student; before, he had only talked with teachers and fellow English-learning classmates. It was a nice conversation. I would say serendipitous. He would say "ichigo, ichie." This is a Japanese expression for meeting someone once in a lifetime and conversing with them sincerely knowing it is most likely only a one-chance encounter.

I'm also including a few more garden pictures, since it was just so beautiful today as well.


Came home and had a delicious dinner of mentai spaghetti (remember that? fish egg spaghetti?), salad, sugar-snap peas, potatoes, and bread. I also tried some white wine and found that it was like the sake I tried, just slightly grape-flavored and slightly more bitter (not more bitter than the blue bottle *shivers*). I don't really like the burning sensation alcohol leaves going down the throat or the overall alcohol flavor. It was there, they often drink with dinner, and I was curious, so I tried it and am glad I tried it. Afterwards, we had mini costellos - originally from Portugal, these little sweet-bread/cake treats are dense and delicious and great with tea.

I was feeling so productive (especially concerning my blog) and good and ready to go to bed when that stressful scare hit me. It only lasted about twenty minutes, but it was like a race and quite nerve-racking. That's why I don't like procrastinating and why I love planning ahead. At least it's over now.

Now I'm going to try to get some good sleep and wake up without an alarm tomorrow (and actually sleep in rather than wake up before I want to). Good night!

Takopa

Takopa is the abbreviation of takoyaki paatei (Takoyaki Party - I wonder what it means?).

Monday night, my host family bought a small Takoyaki grill for the table and we had both Akashiyaki and Takoyaki. My host mom said she really wanted me to try Akashiyaki and knew I wasn't able to find it both times I went to Kobe - she also wanted me to be able to try to make it. I was so grateful and we ended up having a lot of fun!

So Akashiyaki has a lot of egg in it and not much else. Once done grilling, it is put in a soup-like
sauce. The texture is very soft, especially compared to takoyaki. It is not as solid and doesn't really hold together once you try to pick it up. I do not exactly remember what was in the soup/sauce, but those green vegetables are a plant literally called "three-leaves" and have an interesting, strong flavor that mixes citrus and mint...maybe? It's hard to describe, but refreshing yet savory.

Next, we made takoyaki together! The akashiyaki was very hard to flip and turn since it is much softer, but we all soon became pros at grilling and flipping takoyaki. It felt like we were crabs playing with sand, with our stabbing and turning motions with our little sticks. We filled the batter not only with octopus but ginger (which is dyed pinkish red in Japan for some reason), green onions, and tempura topping. Once grilled, we added a green herb, a brown seasoning, and a delicious barbecue-like sauce (I apologize for lack of details!). It was delicious though it made for a dinner longer than usual, ending around 9 pm. Thankfully, I had been studying before and time managing and all that joy so did not have to worry too much.

The next day I took my camera to school because I had noticed the lotuses in the pond of the campus garden were blooming! So beautiful! Little white, symmetry, graceful flowers popping up with bright green lily pads out of shallow and muddy water - gorgeous. I also like that side of the pond because the two large koi fish of the pond like to sleep under the lily-pads and are pretty adorable. Another adorable thing: the tiny creatures everywhere in the pond right now! Baby snails, baby turtles, baby fish, water striders, damselflies, gem-like dragonflies and the occasional duck. I love how bustling it is. Even the plants are more abundant: you can see forests of algae that the fish and baby turtles navigate. It's its own world.








I love this garden so much. The sound of the mini waterfall, the look of the ripples, the lush colors, and the lively ecosystem is so beautiful and peaceful.

I have also been enjoying practicing in K-ON club. I'm finally getting the guitar songs for our July concert down as well as have memorized a few bass songs (specifically, Panic at the Disco's Don't Threaten Me with a Good Time and Gorillaz's Feel Good Inc.). The campus life is different from back home, but it is still enjoyable. For instance, very time I head to K-ON, I hear every other club's activities since their club rooms are pretty much all in the same building. So many interests and hobbies converging near each other just creates a sense of passion and fun. Tuesday was tough since it was the day before my two midterms. I was pretty exhausted after my two tests, especially since I haven't been sleeping easily - but I think I did well.

Kobe Field Trip - Tokagawa + Extra Tower

(Round two for the night, here we go!)

So this past weekend, I had a mandatory Field Trip for my Environment class. We walked along the Tokagawa River in Kobe, which is an artificially reconstructed river. What we were focusing on was how many cities in Japan have tried to turn flood management and drastic alteration of natural landscapes into something beauty and recreational. Like Shukugawa, which I walked in cherry blossom season, it was very beautiful but reminded me of a prettier and 'safer' version of the drainage ditches back in Las Vegas. I put the marks around the word "safer" because in times of heavy rain, this artificial rivers can experience flash floods. There was a severe one a few years ago in Tokagawa in which the area flooded within minutes and a group of children playing were caught in the flood. I believe two children and one adult were killed in the flood and others injured. Despite this danger, people are still inspired to go down to the river to play (see what I did there..get it...'cause it sounds like "going to the river to pray"...that awesome song...no?...okay).

We saw a heron (scared off just as I clicked my lens into place), ducks, finches, and families playing in the water. It was very nice but very unnatural feeling. There were frequent blocks sticking up so people could cross, and the rocky riverbed was completely constructed - all the stones connected with cement or some other material. It was an interesting mixture of natural flow and man-made construction.


We left the river for a minute in order to meet up with it again higher-up. We entered the Rokko Mountain Range (which I've hiked a bit when I went to Kobe and Nunobiki Falls last time - but today, we were on a different mountain). Before reaching the mountain in order to see three of the twelve dams in operation for the Tokagawa River we passed by the yakuza headquarters of Kobe. I kid you not, this was the most secure building I've seen in Japan so far: high walls, enclosed by trees completely as well as a fence, and security cameras everywhere. Our teacher explained to us, however, that the yakuza having their headquarters there meant that the neighborhood was one of the safest (of course, Japan is already pretty safe, but even so). There was also a nice view of a different section of the river!

Anyway, I wish I had known that we were going on a little hike because I would have worn long pants. I wore shorts and ended up with three bug bites and I'm pretty sure two of them were from two different spiders...Oh well. (Since I'm typing from the future, I can say that I'm fine now and that only one of the bites gave me any 'trouble').










It was very beautiful. The lush greenery, markings left in certain places from boars' early morning excursions, birdsong, babbling brooks, wind in the trees, and beautiful views. We saw three of the dams in the twelve dam system and each one was different. The first resembled a castle facade, another a large wall, and the third was like something out of Jurassic park - tall, slanted, and surrounded by greenery.

We ended up walking through that third dam, which had a few steep steps (thank you split stretches for letting me take those big steps despite my shortness). There was a rope down the middle just in case and slits separating the sunlight filtering down into the narrow space. I felt like a rebel from a sci-fi movie (and of course a character from Jurassic park, but I tried not to focus on that part). Our teacher was saying that apparently the hike keeps going even further back and you can see more of the dams as well as some beautiful views. Not only was it a beautiful hike, I enjoyed some wonderful conversation with some UNLV students,
a Japanese student, a French graduate who is working on her third or so degree, and a student from Iceland. I love it.


 
Once we were done with the "Midterm" (hike) we hopped on a bus and slowly went our separate ways. The two friends from UNLV and I decided to sight-see a little bit since we were already there and had not seen the famous port and port tower yet. So we headed over. We ate lunch by the port since we could not find Akashiyaki (Kobe-version of takoyaki). Then we walked around. It was very nice. There was also a boy band rehearsing for a concert that would go on later (and apparently AKB48 would also perform - all of us wanted to be home for dinner and were not really interested in AKB48). For those who don't know, they are a large idol group in Japan. I don't really care for their music or how they act (super cutesy and like they are trying to be both like children and sexy at the same time - kind of freaks me out). But, the area had various stalls, one of which was selling beetles, including a Hercules!

Here are few things we saw in the port, besides the beautiful water, stage, and fascinating sculptures including female figures, a giant fish, and a raptor with a fish in its talons.

 The famous Kobe Port Tower! It was neat in that it was red, slightly hour-glass shaped, and had a beautiful external framework, almost looking like a digital 3-D model. There were also these large white architectural structures that my friend and I described as "broken roller-coasters of certain death." We didn't go up to the top of the tower, but it was interesting to go from Tokyo Tower to this.

 A double-decker street!!! So cool and futuristic! Also, there was this intricate, modern-style cathedral castle building in the background. We saw later on that it had a French name so it may either be an extremely fancy hotel or some sort of French embassy (the latter is probably more likely).

I just liked this picture.










We saw a few seagulls, pigeons, and crows as well as some sort of raptor (I didn't switch my lens fast enough *sigh*, but its silhouette was very pretty). We also saw a huge bird. I mean huge. I didn't get any pictures of it because I was taking a picture of my friends at the "Be Kobe" sculpture, but I am honestly wondering if it was an albatross because it was quite a ways out but was ginormous. And that broad wingspan was stunning.

Frustrated at our failed attempts to find Akashiyaki, we had Baskin Robbins. (Double-scoop of Blood Orange and Temptation Island (basically a bunch of tropical fruit flavors) in a waffle cone - divine). They were having an event where if you got a three-scoop bowl of these three new flavors, you could also get ice cream-themed planner stickers but...I was tempted by Temptation Island. (Turns out, we learned about two "temptation" islands in Japanese Religion - rasetsukoku (women seduce you and then eat you) and nyogogashima (island of women that want to have sex with you until you die)...I think this Temptation Island was better than either of those).

After spending much of the day walking around in the sun, we were all happy to have had ice cream and head home. I did take another photography break in the station I get off at, however, since there was a rare opportunity.

What are those ugly fuzzy things I wonder? Oh, wait, they are baby birds! There were a whole bunch packed into that little nest. They were pretty much sleeping with their little eyes and large mouths shut, but every few minutes they would begin to twitch and open their mouths, pleading for food. Then, their parent would fly in swiftly, taking a sharp turn over the ticket scanners and around to the light fixture of their nest. I honestly only noticed the nest since the parent flew right in front of my face, inciting my shock and curiosity.

The parent had a lot on their plate: all those babies, but flying on their own and being able to only feed one baby at a time. It was amazing to watch though.

 Overall, it was a very nice day. I accomplished a field trip, some nice photos, and some homework. The day after was much more relaxed - I focused on homework and studying. I did take a "break" before dinner and studied at the nearby Shinkansen park surrounded by clovers and tall grass (as well as children and puppies). Two of them were looking for four-leafed clovers and I saw the remains of flower-crowns. Another pair of siblings kept calling to their dad and I couldn't tell if it was a game or they just kept asking him to prolong the time they spent there. Either way, it was pretty cute. (However, at one point, a different kid was hysterical about leaving the park). I also took a break around lunch-time, helping make okonomiyaki with my host mom. It's relatively easy and I think I'll be able to make it in the states. Takoyaki is a different story though.

After dinner, we had a very interesting tea. It was a gift from their sister/sister-in-law and no one really knew the flavor. The dried leaves reminded me of a dark forest and, once brewed, they were brownish green with an unusual broad shape. There were also dried red fruits in the tea. I'm pretty exploratory and since it was in the tea it is safe to ingest and I tried them. The small more pinkish fruits turned out to be goji berries and the one single large red orb that we were all nervous about was a dehydrated apple. The tea came with cinnamon sticks, so that was an added flavor once we stuck them in our cups. The tea itself was very sweet and had a strange, slightly numbing taste. I kind of liked it, honestly. It seemed to me to be an Alice in Wonderland tea (which I rather like).

It was an interesting day, to say the least! It was also a nice way to relax after my Tokyo weekend without feeling cooped up.