Classroom Kyoto Day 2

Again, hard to get out of bed, but I remembered how great the day before had ended up being, so I pushed through. Also did more studying on the train, but this time no delays and I got to sit down! This is very important when your train ride is pretty much an hour or more long.

Today was for Manga: A Cultural History class and was amazing. The day before could have been done alone, but today we had an awesome opportunity as a class to hold a class in a room that more people are not allowed access to and meet with a manga/anime artist and researcher who works at the museum, called Yasunori Oya. He was such a fun and nice guy. We started off by saying our names, majors, where we were from, and favorite anime and manga series. When a majority of us gave our introductions in Japanese, he was surprised and so excited. He would also sometimes laugh and clap or excitedly agree at certain series. I admitted that I do not have a lot of manga experience but that one of my favorite American comics is Witchblade and then he was saying he just saw a copy of it and my teacher said he also almost brought it to show today but gave up because there were just too many things he wanted to show us.

Then our teacher did as he usually does and went over time...but this time there was no bell to stop him. So many of us thought we'd do the Manga Museum in the morning and then more sightseeing afterwards, but most of us spent the entire day at the museum (which was awesome). He talked of his research and what got him into Japan. We learned about Transformers, Voltron, how America and Japan have interacted through anime, how merchandise plays along with animation, and more. His current research is how skin color and ethnicities are portrayed in manga and how that translates when turned into anime, primarily in the mega series One Piece.

Then we say a kamishibai performance. Kamishibai is a Japanese performance art that is one of the many influences of manga. This performer had so much energy and welcomed people from all the different countries. First there was a fun quiz show, even incorporating Japanese/English puns. Kamishibai is performed in a way that the performer is narrator, prop-master, and all the voice actors all at once. She told the story, said the dialogue, made comments, had audience participate by laughing for the protagonist, and would slowly and quickly change slides of pictures in a presentation box. Much like the way manga is read, she stood on the audience's left and pulled the paper out that way so that we "read" the pictures right to left, scenes unfolding in that direction. It was a lot of fun.

Then we had a lunch break. The famous and ancient soba place we headed to was packed, so we ate at the museum's cafe which turned out to be super neat because many of the artists who have visited the museum had drawn on the walls and even ceiling of the cafe. I had a don (bowl of rice with toppings) while enjoying friends' conversations and this amazing unique art around us.

Then we returned and heard Oya talk about how performance art like kamishibai and kabuki have influenced manga, anime, and film. Particularly the concept of kamite and shimote, the right side of the screen/page/stage versus the left. Strong, important characters are on the right while weaker, less important are on the left. If you watch, many shows, movies, anime, and manga incorporate this even into fight scenes. You may think someone is going to win, but they don't. Watch again and you'll see they were on the left. If they want to win and get stronger, they have to make their way to the right. It was very fascinating.

Then, we all were able to talk with him and our professor. Oya called someone on his walk-talkie-phone-I-don't-know-what-it-was-thing to bring the Witchblade they have. Turned out he was mixed up but what they brought was still really cool. It is a relatively new edition of Scarlet Witch, set in Kyoto, with Japanese on the cover. A gorgeous cover of a red pagoda in white snow, with Scarlet Witch walking through it. It was so cool. A friend (the birthday one) worked up the courage to discuss interning at the museum with Oya and everyone was so proud of her and she was happy she did because they are looking for people and it is very likely she can work there (our professor also showed Oya some of her works she submitted throughout the semester and he loved them).

Next, we explored the museum. There were people just sitting and reading manga from the floor-to-ceiling, hall-length bookshelves filled with manga. There were examples of the history of manga (a lot of which we had learned in class) as well as the flow of economics in the industry. There was also several rooms for a special exhibit of Ishigawa's works and I LOVED HER WORK. Photos were not allowed, except for in the very front gift shop area. Oh I loved it so much. It had her early works to her newer ones, so we got to see her artistic progression. She started with ballet scenery and flowing women, blocky noses, and drew men the same way she drew women. She evolved and started using new body shapes, mediums, settings, and so on. Incorporating Greek legends and styles or more modern styles. She wrote a manga based off of Prince Shotoku but portrayed him as an androgynous individual who was attracted to men - gorgeous. The art was compared to the Czech art nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha and I wholeheartedly agree, as well as Swedish Jon Bauer. I almost got the $35 art sample book of her work, but it was a bit expensive for a single book and didn't even include all the work on display. Oh but I loved it so much.

Then, I had to hurry home as the museum was soon closing, it was raining, and I had to make it to dinner. I grabbed a delicious snack from a bakery at the station (finally - I've wanted to bite into those delicious smells all semester) as well as stopped by the Miya-tan booth (with Nishinomiya's mascot). Even saw a new batch of babies in the swallow nest at the station I frequent. Also, on the long train ride home, I saw beautiful mist and fog rolling over the green mountain ranges. Misty mountains, oh how I love you.

I had warned my host parent's I'd be late, but they had been eating slow because we had yakiniku so I ended up being able to eat with them (though they were almost done). It was fun and delicious. I love yakiniku, grilled the vegetables and meat at the table, then swishing the meat in this delicious sauce on our plate. Mmmmmm.

Another night of good sleep due to a filled day. It was a wonderful experience, but I had to prepare for...Finals!!!

So although I haven't really hit the must-see places in Kyoto yet, I rather enjoyed Kyoto and am excited to explore it more this coming weekend/week.

More blogs to come!

Classroom Kyoto Day 1

So last weekend I went to Kyoto on both Saturday and Sunday for two different classes. Let's be chronological about this and start with Saturday.

For my Japanese Art class, we went to the Kyoto National Museum. I really did not want to go that day. I was tired, but dragged myself out of bed and forced myself to leave my house on time. Turns out there were train delays, my drawstring broke once (it fell onto an old man's foot - he had an oxygen tank by the way - so I picked it up and tied the string in a new way), it broke again (the corner connecting a string to the bag itself just ripped off), and it would later rip in another way (thus adding to all the little rips it has accumulated), I missed a subway by second because I thought "hey, if I walk down the escalator, it'll be faster" but someone was just standing in the middle, and I was about 40 minutes late to the meet up. Overall, I was not a happy camper during the morning.

However, there was a pick-me-up that helped kick-start the change of mood for the day. I turned the wrong direction when I exited the bus and started to cross a bridge. I was excited to see a heron, and started getting out my telephoto lens. Then I noticed there was a second one! And a third one! Wait, FOUR? Four herons? And a white egret? What is this??? It was amazing! The herons also seemed to be of various ages due to their differences in coloring and some seemed spotted, others more gray, and two were taller than the others. It was so neat. I even saw one fly
at another for no obvious reason. They were both at opposite ends of the embankment, when one just kind of started crouching and flew over, and started flapping its wings and snapping its beak. The other one got away as quickly as possible.

I also noticed the white egret was very polite. It was sticking close to a taller heron (so maybe it wasn't an egret, just a young heron?) and it started to walk away. I, of course, had my lens focused on it, and got to see its excrement. But what was neat was it walked away from the heron to do so and then walked back. So polite.

Seeing them flying around, so graceful and with their magnificent wingspans and necks helped calm me. Then, I met my class...where did they go? Oh, you mean only three other students showed up? Oh okay, that makes sense. Yes, out of a group of about twenty people in the class who said they would come, a total of four students showed up (one other also had ridiculous train problems and was even later than I).

But, finally, I got to see some beautiful art. I could only take pictures of two room dividers on display in the front (one of which had a variety of animals often not seen in Japanese paintings such as tigers, leopards, weasels, black deer, boars, rabbits, and possibly tanuki as well as actually textured clouds), but here are some of the things I saw:

• A giant Dainichi Nyorai statue which excited me since I compared two Dainichi Nyorai (or Mahavairocana/Vairocana) statues for my final in the art class. It was even using the duality mudra that my sample pieces used.
• Another huge statue, a Fudo Myoo. Very colorful flames with firebird faces in the flickering flames BUT they looked like the faces of the creepy red puppets from The Labyrinth. Also, he was so big, rather than using string or carving it, they gave him an actual rope in one hand and created actual jewelry that were attached to his carved collar.
• The two statues mentioned above were on display only because a temple in Osaka is under construction - I am very grateful.
• There was a small portable shrine set with a 1000 little Jizo Buddha statues carved on it surrounding a main Buddha, an assistant, and a deity guardian of the underworld (I would say literally 1000 but apparently 6 or so have broken off throughout the years...but nearly a 1000 tiny little engraved figures - it was stunning).
• Well preserved and detailed Buddha statues with various icons, some a medicine jar, others a sacred gem (looks like a peach), and so on.
• Special exhibit of swords and I LEARNED SOMETHING: sometimes you will see Japanese swords displayed with sharp edge facing up and sometimes facing down. This is based off of the sword itself. Katana and short-swords are displayed facing down because they were used primarily for thrusting and, when thrust, they would be used with blade pointing down. Other blades, like the longer ones, were slashing weapons and so the blade is displayed facing up. Super interesting.
• A room of letters and calligraphy. Although I know they are art in and of themselves, I am never particularly fascinated by these pieces. However, my teacher pointed out something he noticed. All the letters written by men and male emperors had lots of kanji while the one by an empress used primarily hiragana alphabet. Of course we learned how hiragana was more of a women's alphabet at first in history, but it is different to actually see it. Also, we saw a huge long scroll and wondered "Is this how they wrote, is this supposed to be emotional and beautiful, or did people look at this person's handwriting and go "wow this sucks"?" I guess we will never know.
• Illustrated scrolls depicting various bodhisattvas, buddhas, and heavenly kings/guardians as well as how they are represented and should be drawn/scuplted
• Illustrated scrolls depicting the tale of a man going through many fantastic adventures like fighting a giant centipede (drawn like a dragon), fighting people and demons, and so on - very vivid colors
• Monochrome ink paintings and room dividers
• Dotaku!!! Ancient bells! I love them!
• Bronze Mirrors!!! Also ancient and awesome and I love them! There was also a hands-on activity where we could hold a replica. They are relatively heavy, extremely smooth on the bottom side that we never see, and (I felt blind that I never noticed) there are holes in the bump in the middle of the mirror through which a rope would be threaded. I never knew this!
• Jomon pottery, Yayoi swords now green, sacred jewels, burial jars, porcelain, and more.
• Another hands-on activity showed us how the eyes are put in Buddha statues. There is the gem itself put on the inside, then thin pieces of paper (the color of which determining what type of buddha/bodhisattva/heavenly king it is - blue for buddha and wisdom, red for rage and Myoo, and so on), then more paper, then wood, then more paper, then wood, and wooden pegs to hold that wood in place. It was very interesting. Also, the whorl of hair (what we assume to be a symbol of the third eye) sometimes seems like a colored gem but it is the same clear-ish gem that is used for the eyes. It is more of a peg shape and the peg hole is painted with a color so that once the crystal is placed inside, it looks like that color. Very neat!

We took a break after going through together, talking about our favorite pieces, and we ate at the museum cafe (after getting UV stamps in the shape of the museum building, invisible, on our wrists). A friend and I had delicious club sandwiches while the rest had various curries. It was so nice talking
with people from different backgrounds, one of which who speaks 4 languages and has spent half their life in Nicaragua and half in  Sweden, as well as learning more about and connecting with our awesome teacher. At one point, we thought he left to use the bathroom, but when we got ready to leave, we found out he had payed for our lunch. It was so nice of him! He admitted though that he was happy to do it but could only do it because we were such a small group and would definitely not be able to do it the next field trip day.

Then, we all went our separate ways but three of us stuck together, seeing parts of the museum we had to rush through or didn't see then exploring Pontocho, a famous section of Kyoto. It was a large shopping district but had random shrines and temples here and there and many informational signs.

One was pink and was a traditional "women's temple." Another, on the inside, was full of the smell of incense, the glow of candles, small statues, and gold. It had a hand washing station with a dragon (not uncommon) but what was neat was the little orange orb in the dragon's mouth. (I couldn't help but think of the famous Dragon Ball Z as well as a book series Eon).

There were so many shops! A hedgehog cafe, a store just for umbrellas, two filled with electric guitars and bass (had to pull myself away), two stores full of gems and rocks and crystals (lot of will power), and just tons of random stores (at one of which I finally was able to get my hands on some souvenirs for people I haven't gotten anything for yet as well as a Karuta set!!! One of the things I really wanted to buy while here!!!).

We also had matcha ice cream and my first plain red bean taiyaki. I've had various types of taiyaki while here, but this was my first plain original one. It was very delicious.

Then, after our birthday friend got the rose quartz bracelet we had set our hunt out for and we started thinking about taking the long train ride home, a massive storm hit. The day had been nice and sunny and a bit hot all day and suddenly it was pouring rain, whipping wind, thundering and lightning. Thankfully, most shopping districts here in Japan are like outdoor malls with these long halls of buildings with a tunnel-like roof covering the passageways. This kept us out of the rain while we searching for a subway/train station (which was still under the roof thankfully).

After only one or two stops, we were out of the rain and could see a massive dark cloud and combination of mist and fog behind us.

I made it in time for dinner and we ate outside for the first time! It was so lovely! Though, despite our use of an incense to keep mosquitos away, I got six new bites. But the karaage and rice was so good and the atmosphere felt so nice. Listening to the cicadas was interesting, though I was scared when they all suddenly stopped at once. But apparently that's just a normal thing here.



I was exhausted. Thankfully I had studied on the train ride there, but threw in a bit more between anime and then succumbed to an early sleeping schedule.

Fun story, while studying kanji, I use my fingers to spell out the kanji. I was doing this on the train and a middle or high school student standing near me (it was a very packed train) stopped her conversation with her friend, kind of nudged her friend, pointed at me, and started moving her finger and giggling. So, I made eye contact and she just kind of froze. I smiled and said "Sorry. It's a bit weird, but I have a final." And she was kind of surprised and a probably a little scared and just was like "Is that so?" (In Japanese that's not a sassy phrase). I then said "Yeah, kanji can be so hard, you know?" and she replied "Yeah, I know. It really can be. You are studying Japanese" "yes." And we just kind of faded out of the conversation, and she and her friend started talking again. I bet she used to do this when she was learning kanji, albeit she was probably like 6 but we all start somewhere. It was an interesting experience.

Anyway, before moving onto day 2, here are some pictures of Kyoto and tucked away temples and shrines:

Being Sick in Japan

Before getting to my class-related Kyoto trips this weekend, this post will be about how I was sick last week! How exciting!

It was not fun. I figured it was just a little thing with my throat, so skipped the gym and just tried to rest; but I woke up Tuesday and realized I couldn't talk. These voice issues lasted for two days and my throat continued to hurt. At the request of my host parents and my own frustration with the lack of a voice, I went to the clinic on campus for the first time.

It looked like a very old elementary school for some reason on the inside.

After consulting with the front desk, I took off my shoes and put on the communal green slippers and headed up the stairs. The second floor desk attendants were a lot friendlier than the first floor (not that the first floor were mean - just not very friendly). It helped put me at ease a bit - I am always nervous when going to doctor offices. And of course, as I sat in a little chair, holding my coughs, there was a billboard about diseases across from me and a picture of mosquitoes next to JE. And of course, my mind being what it is, I started thinking "what if this little cough is the beginning of JE? Even though I got a vaccine, I've been bit by a few mosquitoes. But I got a vaccine." Of course, I was not serious about this speculation...I think. Anyway, then I was called in.

There was a doctor and a nurse, both wearing masks the entire time. The doctor had his own office, with a desk and I walk in and sit on a little stool next to his desk (it reminded me of a principal's office but less formal). We talked about symptoms and tried to overcome the barrier of me not knowing medical/body terms. Then at one point, they were asking for me to raise my shirt so that he could listen to my breathing and then there was an awkward conversation where I tried to explain that I did not want to take off my shirt because I was only wearing a shirt and was not comfortable and they were just kind of trying to figure out what was going on and what we should do. It was interesting. But eventually, figured out I could lift without stripping. That might have been what they meant from the beginning, but I don't know. They were very nice, but I don't think I knew the proper etiquette for talking with doctors in Japan because there would often be overly long moments of them expectantly staring at me after I had finished talking. But I was tired, my throat hurt, and I had fourth period so I didn't want to ask "how do people usually talk to doctors in Japan?"

Then, I got some tablets with strict schedules and, interestingly, cough drops and a gargling solution to be used at my own disposal. Thanks to insurance, all of this medicine and the consultation cost me less than taking an hour-long nap in the nap room of my university clinic back home, after I was given an anti-nausea shot for food poisoning that basically incapacitated me. And the medicine helped immediately. I only had to take the tablets for three days (after every meal and before bed) and now, about a week later, am pretty much all healed. Just the occasional cough.

So I feel like my experience was lucrative.

I NAPPED AGAIN! WHAT IS UP WITH THIS??? I took a three hour nap on Wednesday and then went to bed and slept until 10 or 11 the next day. What? Of course, sleep is pretty much the most important tool for healing and it helped a lot, but it was still discombobulating.

Another nice thing was how understanding my host parents and teachers were. After hearing me talk, my teachers would avoid calling on me that much and later inquire about my health and if I had seen a doctor. My host parents kept urging me to rest, took my dish washing duties away, and served me food to help with health and the throat. It was incredibly nice. My host mom even made foods that she said her mom made her when she was sick. They were amazing.

One of the down-sides was not being able to work out for another week, but I'm going to work out this week and try to do some sort of physical activity in the gap between end of the semester and returning home. Just doing nothing is not the best option since I realize working out really helps my emotional stability and energy levels.

I almost forgot one of the most important things about being sick in Japan: I had to wear a mask. To be honest, it did not bother me that much. Maybe if someone else had worn a mask, I might not have gotten sick. Knowing that me wearing a mask is helping keep others from getting sick made me feel a bit better. I wish we did this in America. I will probably continue to do it - though, from what I've seen on campus, those who do it are bullied or made fun of. And in movies, people wearing masks are often portrayed as either suspicious characters or people with extremely dangerous diseases. But no one likes even the small colds so I think masks would be very helpful. The downsides were because of the humidity and the mask, sometimes my breath or speech would fog my glasses or my nose would feel a little too cleared up. 

Well, I must get to sleep soon to prepare for a day of studying. I had two finals today and will have two more Wednesday. I cannot tell if that faint, distant buzzing is just regular electricity, or a continuation of the crying of the cicadas that has been going on since the weekend. Hmmm. More on them later.

Here are a few pictures of the extra-healthy foods my host parents made me!

You've already seen the goya (left) and I have had this dried and re-hydrated tofu (right). Below is fu, literally just glutin. Soft and easy to eat with a sore throat.

 This is a jiggly, cold tofu custard dish wish a sweetish soy sauce - also perfect for a sore throat, for the heat, or for when your teeth hurt.

 More of the cold tofu dish alone with salmon and a soup/porridge mix full of vegetables that was extremely delicious. It was then topped with onions, ooba, and plum.

 Natto (extremely healthy as well as easy to chew and swallow), chilled tofu with green onions on top, a vinegary salad of rooty veggies, cucumber, dried fish (eat all of it~), and miso soup.

Most of our dinners look like this, with multiple side dishes and many small plates.

This doesn't really connect to me being sick, but I had some left overs and it felt so good on my throat. These are a type of traditional Japanese sweet that are kept chilled. In the modern age, they are packaged in little plastic domes. You peel off the flat side's plastic, use a thin object and slide it around the edge, and then slide the water manjuu out. It is not mochi but made with similar material, is cool and firm, and filled with red bean paste. Manjuu is often filled with red bean paste or something else, with the exterior being mochi or a type of bread - this is "water manjuu" and is more of a summer treat. Very delicious, though a bit difficult to eat.

My first "gig" and 3rd Month Thoughts

Remember when I slipped and joined a cover band in K-ON club? Well we had our New Members Live (concert) at a live-house in Kobe - basically my first gig.

It was a lot of fun and so neat!

The place was called live-house 108 and had a lot of awesome details. Stickers all over the metal door, mini fish tanks, anime figurines, tanabata bamboo trees, the occasional deep rattling of a train passing over us, and a patient and helpful owner with killer style and a single hoop ear piercing, making me think of the Shadowhunters/Mortal Instrument's Magnus Bane. There was also a clock that had all the numbers except 10 and 8 removed, which I found very clever, as well as an inspirational quote in English on the rafters.

I got to listen to half of the cover bands primarily filled with new members (the other half had performed the day before). Most people were amazing, especially on the instruments (though mainly the senpais in each group were the best). Also, as I've noticed in many actual Japanese bands, vocal skill isn't emphasized - there were not a lot of great singers. Of course, whenever someone sang well, they were praised and applauded - but what the audience seemed to like the most was the passion. How much emotion did someone put into their singing. There were also some killer instrument solos, including parts done by an electric violin, six-string bass, and classic electric guitar and bass. There were a lot of songs that I did not know, but they did play the most famous Fullmetal Alchemist theme song and it just made my morning.

I was too tired to be nervous, but when my friends showed up and then suddenly I had to go in the dark, narrow, under-the-stairs corridor with my fellow bandmates to prepare, I 'got real nervous real fast.' In a rush, I had energy again and butterflies and was tense, while the fellow first timers who had been saying "yabe, yabe, yabe" (basically "oh no" "ohmygods" or "crap") all morning were focused on remembering what we have all been practicing on for the entire semester.

Then, we stepped onto stage and starting adjusting instruments. When we thought we were ready, our drummer started the opening to our slow song and I froze. I had thought we were doing the fast one first and was completely confused (especially since I, the rhythm guitar, leads in the slow one). We, including the audience, laughed it off, and started again. I started strumming and it was great. We really made sure to listen to each other on that first one. Next, between our two songs, there was some audience interaction and when our vocalist handed me the mic, I froze again. We were all supposed to say our year, our major, and favorite band, but I was just so nervous and just said "I'm Alex. A study abroad student. I'm only studying here for this semester, but this has been so great, and thank you all for being nice to me" BUT I MESSED UP THE GRAMMAR AND I THINK I ACTUALLY SAID "thank you all for making me be nice" adlkfjadlkjfal. I SWEAR I SPEAK JAPANESE. I felt "I swear, I swear, I swear, I'm not the foreigner who doesn't know anything!" But time passed and we moved on. Then we played our faster song and that was even more fun. I flew through the chords and realized just how vital all that practice was. Seeing through the pseudo fog, the colorful lights changing above us and on my fingers and the neck of my borrowed guitar (which was so high quality and smooth as butter), and seeing the audience waving and pumping their hands to our song - it was surreal. Such a different experience from my light saber choreography performances, but similar in that we put so much time into it for just a few minutes. But it was so worth it.

After we performed, there were still a few bands left. Listening to everyone and just being in that atmosphere was amazing. I felt like it was the beginning of something new and that I had connected the most in that moment than at any other time before in Japan. It was a bittersweet emotion because as I was experiencing it, I was thinking how I have to leave soon. It also made me think of my club back at home and how I'm glad I didn't have to leave when that was just beginning.

There was an after-party, but I didn't go because it was expensive, I was still very tired and had a slight headache, and didn't think I'd enjoy myself. We all bowed in unison to the owner (Magnus Bane), took group photos, and some of us rode the train home together.

It was truly great.

Also, side note: thanks to my friends who came and supported me. Who filmed this great moment for me. And who threw a goya at me. Like, seriously. (Pandaman meant it as a joke, innocently asking me the day before what my least favorite vegetable is. I said goya because I just recently discovered it and it is extremely bitter though also extremely healthy and helps people get well and happy and all that. Foreshadowing: turns out it was great because I came down with a cold and my host mother excitedly made goya champloo for me to help me heal...so half sarcastic and half truthful "thanks").

This is over a week overdue, but...Third Month Thoughts!

Seeing that I spent my third month in Hiroshima, I feel like I am keeping up with my goals relatively well. Although, I'm starting to get a little tired and will not be sad when I can take a break from sightseeing. It is amazing, seeing new things and experiencing new things, but focusing on daily life and long-term goals seems really nice right about now. I know once I take too long a break from traveling, I will be yearning and itching for it, but that is why we have the concept of balance.

I've been thinking a lot about what I first did and thought and believed would happen in Japan. My mood seemed so different. Everything was new. I expected intensive studying and intimate friendships with natives. I thought I'd join a club, preferably archery or swimming or K-ON. I thought I'd be going to beaches a lot and eating more Japanese junk food. Most of these didn't happen. Though I am still as enamored with and excited by life as I was before studying abroad in Japan, I have become accustomed to life in Japan. Thought everything had that extremely new quality, when I first came, I had a sense of belonging. I really liked the culture and thought "hey, this is a good fit for me." Now that feeling has turned to familiarity and I feel very comfortable here. I have learned that Japanese colleges are very lax and have not had to do as much homework, assignments, or studying as back home (though finals are coming up and I have to study for those, of course - also, last week, when every single class wanted an essay - that was harsh). I joined K-ON and had an awesome time, but despite all my efforts and activities, I have not been able to form any close, intimate friendships with natives. I think if I had more time, I would have been able to do it - but being here only one semester means once they have finally gotten used to me and we can start bonding, I have to leave. And I think many Japanese people know this and thus don't try to get close. Also, I feel, and many people have agreed with me on this, that since Japan is still kind of isolated and their English education is not very effective, many Japanese people are nervous around foreigners. And finally, I have not eaten a lot of Japanese junk food (though lately I've been trying more think from the conbini).

Ah, the food. I may devote an entire post to it soon. I love Japanese food so much.

I feel like I have matured a bit in my time here. I want to write about it in a self-reflective way rather than an arrogant or bragging way. When I went to Hiroshima, I kind of blew up at a friend for something very trivial. We continued on our sightseeing and I was able to quickly think over my actions and realize it was irrational and over the line. I took a few minutes to cool down, and then went up to said friend and said "I'm sorry about before. That was totally uncalled for" and he replied "It was, but you're good" and we continued with our time. This experience for me was very important. I feel like a few months ago, I wouldn't have apologized, let alone apologized so quickly. If I had even realized my own irrationality, I may have been too embarrassed to apologize or try to blame it on the other person somehow in my mind. Also, I feel like if I did apologize and someone had responded the way he did, I would have gotten angry again. But he was right! And he agreed with me on it, but the important thing was that he forgave me and our relationship is okay. And in that moment, I accepted what he said. Although it wasn't a fun experience, I look back and am so happy it happened. I experienced so many different emotions in that one day, from the pure joy on the beach and under the Miyajima torii gate, to the irrational anger, and to the repentance, connection, and acceptance. It's even more important to me because I am pretty sure that who I was three or four months ago, would not have done this.

Little by little, we change throughout our lives, but we can strive and hope that it is for the better.

My personal and deep story is over. Thank you.

Here is an adorable moth and clovers from the nearby park for those who made it to the end: