四国 Adventures in Shikoku!

今年のお正月は本当に楽しかった。ひろきと言う友達のおかげで日本のお正月の経験ができた。この経験は日本の家に始めて訪問しておもしろかった。友達の家族の家は西条にあるから大分から松山までフェリーに乗らなくちゃ行けなかった。松山に着きてともだちが迎えに来てくれた。This year New Years was really fun. Thanks to my friend Hiroki I was able to have my first New Years in Japan Japanese style! Since his house was in Saijou, I had to take a ferry from Oita to Matsuyama. As soon as I got there, Hiroki, his dad, and William came to pick me up.

松山でさいしょのところは道後温泉。千と千尋の神隠しと言う映画の温泉は道後温泉見たい。サンディエゴから来た同級生も来た。The first place we went to right away was a place called Dogo Onsen. The hotspring in the movie "Spirited Away" was apparently modeled after this one.

次の日にかんこうした。ひろきのお父さんは車でしまなみ海道に連れて行ってくれた。この所は四国と本州間に小さい島からおもしろくてきれいだ。The next day Hiroki's dad took us to the Shimanami Islands to go sight seeing. The small islands are located between the north part of Shikoku and Honshu. Its a very interesting and pretty place.

大島の店でいろいろなおみやげ食べ物を食べて見た。

At a shop in Oshima there were all sorts of good foods to sample!

伯方島で面白いお寺を見た。木戸銭は高すぎて外で遊んだり写真を取ったりした。

At Hakatajima we found a really cool temple, but it was too expensive to go in. However, we still took a bunch of pictures and played outside.

生口島ではサンセットビーチと言う所に遊びに行った。このすなはまはきれいだけど曇りだった。しかし写真がいっぱい。We went to a place on Saguchishima called Sunset Beach! This place was really nice but a little cloudy. We still took alot of pictures.

ひろきのお父さんはとっても親切！

一日中車で案内してくれた！

Hiroki's dad was really nice, he drove us around all day!

その後帰った。ひろきのお母さんは優秀なシェフ。晩ご飯はなべとさしみだった。食べ物はおいしそう！もちろんおいしかった！ After our adventure we came back home. Hirok's mom is an excellent cook! For dinner we had Nabe and some Sashimi. It looked delicious and it was!

レストランのさしみ見たいですね。

It looks just like restaurant Sashimi right!?

三日目もおもしろかった。

ウイルとひろきと松山で遊んだ。

Day three of my trip was also great.

For the day, Hiroki, William and I went to Matsuyama.

目が閉まりながらひろきは運転が好きだ！

Hiroki likes driving with his eyes closed!

大きなまちゃアイスよ。

Big matcha ice cream please!

黒ごまアイス、実は悪くないよ。

Black sesame ice cream... not bad actually.

へんなマネキンを見つけた。たぶんあの店のずぼんをはきたらお客さんはセクシー

になるよ。

Uhh.. we found some weird mannequins.

シナモンメルツとバニラアイスは一緒においしい。

Cinnamon Melts and Vanilla IceCream.. nuff said.

ウィリアムは自由人だぜ。

４２０と言う店を見つけた。店人が怒してまでサングラスと遊んだ。いろいろへんな写真を取った。

We found a nice little shop called "420"

Had a photo session with sunglasses until the lady working there got mad.

マットさんの家庭教師も会った。みなはえひめから来た。

We also met Matt's tutor! Her hometown is also in Ehime Prefecture.

夜に僕たちはひろきの車でアドベンチャーした。高い所できれい夜景も見つけた。

That night, Hiroki also took us on another crazy car adventure. Driving through almost pitch-black mountain roads with abandoned looking government facilities was pretty scary. We did find a nice romantic view at the top though!

夜はおいしい晩ご飯も食べた。真夜中前にお風呂に入って特別のお正月番組を見た。そばを食べた後で寝た。That night we also had another delicious dinner. We watched a special New Years program on tv and ate Soba noodles before going to bed.

お正月：

新年の朝僕たちはきれいな神社に行った。始めの初詣での経験ができてうれしかった。神社の建物は面白くてきれい。空気は祭り見たいだってみんなは元気。Ne w Years day was also great. We went to a nice shrine as I got to exprience my first Japanese "Hatsumoude" (Shrine visiting on New Years). All of the buildings at the shrine looked interesting and really pretty. The atmosphere was like a festival since everyone seemed so energetic.

ひろきの弟も来た。

Hiroki's younger brother also came to spend New Years with us.

誰かは馬の頭をかぶっていた。あの人はとらじゃなかったから謝った。

初詣で後でひろきの親戚の家に行った。西条の景色はすごいね。

After visiting the shrine, we headed to Hiroki's relative's place. Saijou's scenery looks pretty doesn't it?

親戚の家でひろきのおばあさんとおじいさんに会った。全部の親戚はとてもやさしい。

I also met Hiroki's grandparents! All of his relatives were really nice too.

おいしいすき焼きを作っていろいろな食べ物を食べて見た。おじいさんは酒とビールを注してくださいました。We had a huge sukiyaki dinner complete with so many foods iv'e never eaten before. It was all really good too. Hiroki's grandpa kept on pouring beer for me too!

かんぱい！！

全部はおいしかった。みんなはおなかがいっぱいまで食べたり飲んだり遊んだりした。

Everything was delicious. I don't think there was anything I didn't like.

後で少しい眠くなった。

After all the food, some of us were pretty sleepy. Specially with the low table, you can't help but to lay back.

ひろきの家族のおかげで楽しいお正月の経験ができたよ。

Thanks to Hiroki and his family I had a really fun New Years experience in Japan!

Happy Holidays!

This year I celebrated Christmas... Japanese style!

No.. there was no cozy fireplace or any pretty trees to put presents under, but there were fireworks! I guess listening to Christmas music (weather its English or the good old Japanese versions of Christmas carols) from stacks of large speakers while watching 花火 is the way they do it here.

So, its my first holiday season away from my usual friends and family, but I think us international students are holding up alright. This year we went to Beppu's firework show. Although Christmas isn't an official holiday here, people still like to put up lights all over downtown and open up booths to sell food, making the occasion very festive. Right on the beach several stacks of speakers were set up. You could hear everything from a Japanese version of Jingle Bells to Jackson 5's Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

For this Christmas occasion, most of still in Oita decided to take it easy. We threw a Secret Santa Party in the Kaikan lobby complete with a few games of 7/11 double. Nobody had to go bankrupt buying presents, but everyone still got something cool. On Christmas Eve we spent the evening eating dinner together at a nearby Izakaya. Later going to McDonald's and Family Mart for ice cream and cinnamon rolls!

Also, for Christmas Day some of us headed to Jun & Jesse's for another evening of fine dining and another game of 7/11 double. Honestly, not a bad holiday experience so far in Japan!

School..school...school

I skype every now and then with a few folks back home and then i remember just how different the things are here with the school system. I can't believe the semester is already over for most of my friends, but i've still got stuff to worry about until the end of January. Even though Christmas isn't a holiday (a huge date day actually), we still get a two week break. To most of us Americans its god awful that we have technically have classes on the 25th. I believe the overall consensus though is that none of us will attend. Luckily though, all of our teachers understand the importance of Christmas for every other country so they are canceling it.

I suppose school in America wasn't so different just ten years ago. I remember when everyone would have a two week break for Christmas, but still have to take finals in January. Then someone finally realized that there is no way in hell that any child, teenager, or grown up would ever consider studying over enjoying the important holiday season. I guess Japan just never adjusted along with the rest of the world. But, to keep things fair, the classes us exchange students take here are for the most part fun. Tomorrow I have a presentation in my Pop Culture class. The topic: Fighting Magical Schoolgirls.

沖縄 Adventures

This past weekend, a few of us decided to spontaneously buy plane tickets to Okinawa. When I came here, I didn't think of Okinawa as a place that would be on my travel list. After this weekend though, I believe if there is any place in "Japan" i would like to move to, it would be Okinawa. It reminds me alot of San Diego, but a foreign country other than Japan at the same time. It has its nice ritzy looking places and its rastafarian worn down places just like SD has LaJolla and Ocean Beach.

The people here are different too. They refer to themselves as Okinawans and they move at their own pace. Some two hundred years ago Okinawa used to be called RyuKyu until Japan took it over, but alot of their original culture still exists. Something about living in a place where the weather allows you to wear shorts while the rest of the country is wearing double layers of jackets might have some affect on the personalities of these people. Though it was only a short weekend, It was great to learn about Okinawa and its people. Its definitely a different side of Japan. While people in the main islands are "go go go" these guys are laid back and seem stress free. Their families are bigger and they never seem to be in a hurry.

Anyway, I really hope that anyone who has the chance to visit Okinawa takes advantage of it. The most expensive part is transportation to get there (200USD). One there, you can find a number of hostels for 12-18USD. The whole trip was a little less than 4,500yen. About $500.

Aquarium with the larges fish ive ever seen!

These things are called Shisa. Every Okinawan home has two of these guarding each door.

Life Aquatic!

Look! You can see other islands depending on what part of the coast you stand on.

Nagasaki!長崎！

From Oita, it is possible to make a weekend trip to Nagasaki for 30,000円　or less. (About 350 USD) This includes the round trip transportation by bus and train while passing by Fukuoka. Two nights of lodging at the Akari youth hostel and transportation within the city is included. Temple entrance fees and food for three days are covered.

Epic Streetlamp

Nagasaki's Cathedral

Spectacle Bridge built in 1634

Peace Park

One of many album covers to come.

Statue near ground zero

Waterfall near the Seaside Park

The picture doesn't do this view any justice

Seeing Nagasaki is a great weekend getaway from Oita as the scenery changes from a busy bustling town to a smaller peaceful seaside community with a strong feel of historical presence. As eight of us galavanted around this small town, we got to see everything from the Peace Memorial to a view of the entire city from the top of a mountain.

Of course, as Americans we obliged ourselves to visit ground zero and the Atomic Bomb memorial. It was most definitely a sobering experience. Most of us in the states or any country don't give much thought or care to how wars affect innocent populations. Yes, its unfortunate that so many people have to pay the price for the quarrels of such small groups of people in power. It was a sobering experience that reminded me or made me realize, wars are never good. I pray that we all can continue to learn from the past. Overall, Nagasaki was a pleasant mini vacation. Im glad I went with the people I did.

Its made out of paper cranes!