Things I'm going to have to stop doing/things I'll have to get used to in the U.S.

This is for my own amusement, really, but I realized there are a number of things I'm going to have to change once I get back to the States. Here's a list, whoo!

- "Konnichiwa" "Ohayou Gozaimasu" and "Konbanwa" are not commonly understood greetings.
-I'll have to stop throwing up the "v for victory" sign in photos, or else I'll look like a doofus.
-I'll have to stop saying "Sumimasen" when I bump into someone.
-I have to remember to consider sales tax when I purchase items (sales tax is already included in prices here).
-Taking off my shoes upon entering a dressing room in the U.S. is generally frowned upon.
-I won't have to separate my recycling and trash by the type of material.
-I'll have to learn how to live without a rice cooker or properly cooked white rice (unless I just eat at my boyfriend's house all the time).
-I'll have to get used to the cars driving on the other side of the road again.
-I won't have to tie up my cardboard and put it out for the paper truck to pick up.

and last but not least...

-I'll have to get used to getting horrible service at stores and eateries again. Nooo!

Kodai-Ji Temple Light Up

Hello everyone! This week went by surprisingly quickly, thanks to a fun outing on Tuesday night. A housemate of mine organized a trip to a temple lighting, which are pretty popular among tourists and locals during the fall and winter. There are fewer Christmas light-ups than you would find in America, naturally, but temple light-ups seem to be the festive thing to do during the holiday season.

I finish class at 11 on Tuesdays, so I sat around and did homework until we met at 4. A small group of us got on the bus to go downtown. Our first stop was at a popular clothing store, called Uniqlo (coincidentally, one is supposed to be opening in New York). Uniqlo is pretty much your go-to source for wardrobe basics and business wear. You can find jeans, sweaters, blouses, coats, tights, etc. I'm not a huge fan of their clothing, but during the winter time they sell "heat tech" clothing that works really well (they were also having a sale! ;D ). Since I wear skirts more than pants, I bought some tights and socks from that line. It was really cool to find tights made that way, since most heavy winter gear in America is regulated to pants and tops or it looks really bulky and ugly.

Funnily enough, I think I'll find more use for my tights back home. Temperatures have been really warm compared to Memphis winters. We're usually in the mid 50s to low 60s. It just gets really cold at night.

ANYWAY, after we did our shopping we went back to Sweets Paradise for dinner. For those who don't remember my first post about it, Sweets Paradise is a restaurant where you pay about 15 dollars and get all you can eat and drink for an hour and a half. There is pasta, soup, curry, sandwiches, a cake bar, a coffee/espresso/hot chocolate machine, sodas, a tea bar, soft serve ice cream, and a chocolate fountain. It's delicious and well worth the price.

Once we finished eating, we made our way to Kodai-ji temple. You pay a small fee to get inside, and then you can stroll along the garden paths. The trees were lit in a way that made the fall colors practically glow. There were three major areas; the first was a rock garden where rocks were arranged to look like a dragon. Certain parts of the dragon were lit up for short intervals, and there were small blue glowing lights and iridescent pebbles strewn through the garden.

The second was a small pond, encircled by trees. The trees were all brightly colored and lit in such a fashion that they reflected perfectly on the still pond. It was literally like looking into a mirror or another world. It was surreal.

Lastly, you could walk up a hill and go through a small bamboo forest that was also lit. The green of the bamboo seemed to glow, and the bamboo itself was at least as tall as a two story building, if not taller. It was beautiful, and I felt as if I'd stepped into a Miyazaki film.

Taking photos in the dark was hard, but after fiddling with my camera and using fence posts to my advantage, I got some nice shots.
Lately the trees have begun to look particularly beautiful. One of the things I love about Japan is all of the natural beauty and the fact that the leaves change so gradually.

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In other news, I'm trying to plan a trip over my winter break. I am off for Christmas (weekend, durr), I go back for one day (I've no idea why, it seems pointless), and then I am off from the 27th until the 6th of January. Originally I wanted to go to Hokkaido, and then a southern Island caught my attention after I saw pictures of this gorgeous mossy forest that inspired the film Princess Mononoke. However, going to either of those places would be EXTREMELY costly. I'm talking at least 100-200 dollars to simply get there. Plus, my ideal travel buddy is on a budget, and I'm not too keen on taking a huge trip by myself.

As of right now, I'm looking at places like Nara or Kobe. They're fairly close by, and I could enjoy the city as well as some more rural attractions.

Saturday in Gion

Yesterday I went with a few friends to district in Kyoto called Gion. Gion is best known for being one of the most prominent Geisha districts in Japan. Although numbers of geisha have dwindled over the years, Gion is known for its cultural preservation and it's preservation of traditional architecture.

Many of the old style townhouses (machiya) remain, as well as the tea houses where geisha entertain (ochaya). There are lots of temples and shrines, and the streets and scenery are lovely.
In the first picture is the Yasaka shrine. It attracts a lot of tourists, and beyond the shrine is a park with many food stands and souvenir stands. At this time of year the fall foliage (momiji) is at its peak. There were also quite a few geisha out and about. If you ask, they'll kindly stop for photos, but most of the geisha had female assistants with them that would gently shoo the crowds away so they could continue with their errands or engagements. I was quite nervous about approaching the geisha, but I snuck a few pictures that turned out well. Most of them were Maiko, who are apprentice geisha; their clothing, makeup, and hairstyle is generally more extravagant and they attract a lot more attention.

A few 'dress up maiko' were walking about as well; in Kyoto you can pay a considerable sum of money to get done up like a geisha, have a photo shoot, and get paraded around the streets for a few hours. It led to an amusing shot of a 'geisha' checking out pictures on her digital camera.

There are a number of shops and restaurants in Gion; most of the shops were too expensive and sold things like fancy ceramics and lacquer ware, and the restaurants were mostly fine dining, it seemed. However, we went to a shop that sold Studio Ghibli merchandise and I bought a Totoro plush, a soot sprite that I can hang on a wall, and a glow in the dark kodama key chain.

My friends and I also paid a small fee to get into a temple to see a large Buddha statue up close. It was quite impressive, but I was amused by the somewhat condescending expression on its face. Upon entry we received a small pamphlet and an incense stick to offer.

We intended to visit a temple lighting, but our timing was off and the line was ridiculous by the time we reached the temple in question. All in all, it was a good day and I got some great shots.

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Here are a few more pictures:

The Golden Pavilion and The Gaijin Plague

Well, it's been a little while since I last posted. Unfortunately, November hasn't been treating me (or many of my friends) very well.
I've been quite sick off and on and I've missed some class, including a test. I'm really worried about my grades and I hope I can catch up/manage to make up for it. I don't cope with stress very well and unfortunately that's been reflecting in my grades lately.
Being sick + stress + homesickness + having to take care of your sick self on your own= not a happy camper.
My closest friend here seems to be dealing with the same things I am, so it's nice to have someone to talk to. Everyone here at the International House is a bit under the weather; we've named this phenomenon "The Gaijin Plague" (Gaijin is a slang word for foreign people).

At the moment, I'm just doing my best and that's all anyone can really ask for. I'm the queen of beating myself up over things, telling me not to worry is like telling a fish not to swim. I tend to want to punish myself for not doing well by denying myself fun activities, when a little bit of fun can be the cure for a bad week. I'm working on getting better, I swear. >_<

But speaking of fun, that leads me to the positive bit of my post. This weekend while everyone was at the school festival, my friend Steph and I went to Kinkakuji, or The Golden Pavilion, one of the most famous tourist sites in Japan. We were both really surprised with how close it was to our university; in pictures it always appears to be situated in the middle of nowhere, but the temple grounds are right near a fairly busy shopping/restaurant area and is within a ten minute walk from campus.

It was also quite crowded, since it was a weekend. We had to wait our turn to get a good spot to take pictures, and there were several American tour groups there that unfortunately were doing a great job at perpetuating the "obnoxious American tourist" stereotype. Steph and I both noted that we can't help but feel a little superior to the standard tourists...

But anyway, the grounds were really lovely, and the temple itself was stunning. We got there in late afternoon, so the sun was at just the right height to glint off the gold on the walls. You could walk along some pretty garden paths that were fringed by trees that were just beginning to get their fall foliage. In Japan the leaves change much later, (fall/winter temperatures set in later as well; the weather has been quite mild so far) and they change much more gradually so you get to enjoy the scenery longer.

Crowds aside, it was a great place to visit and I got some nice pictures out of it. Admission was also reasonable and my entry ticket is large and covered with pretty calligraphy. It's a nice souvenir.

I took a peek at my calendar and I have just about 10 weeks left in Japan. Time is passing so slowly and yet so quickly at the same time. The days themselves seem to go at a snail's pace, but then I'll look at my calendar and suddenly realize two weeks have passed. These past few weeks have been hard (November, I don't like you!), but I hope I can get out of this funk I'm in. School frustrations aside (long story short, I am dying to get back to taking art classes and being sick doesn't make this any easier), I've seen some amazing things and I look forward to seeing even more of what Japan has to offer before I leave.

Next time I come to Japan, it's going to strictly be a vacation! Haha.

I have no clue how many friends/family members read this blog, but a big thank you for everyone who's been so supportive of me. No one ever knows how study abroad is going to turn out, and few people tell you that it's not always sunshine and roses. Aside from being sick and school stuff, I've settled in pretty comfortably and I've made a couple great friends. My only wish is that everyone from back home could be here to share in this with me! Well, except for my plague. I don't think anyone would appreciate it if I shared Gaijin Plague with them. :P

Soni Kogen

This past weekend I went hiking in an area near Nara called Soni Kogen. The selling point of this area is the tall pampas grass covering the hills.
We left the International House a little before 7 to catch the train. We took several trains and also a bus ride to get there, so needless to say it was a long journey. It was at least an hour and a half to get to our destination.
Some of us were quite sleepy.

The hike itself was a little more difficult than I thought it would be. Most of us had brought bento for lunch, but our Japanese friends had not; we got off the bus at a small eatery that was part of the hiking area so they could get food. Unfortunately, that meant we had to do some extra hiking to reach our actual start point, so we walked for quite a while up some steep paths through a forest. By the time we reached the base of the hills, we were quite winded!

There's really no way for me to properly describe all of the sights. Not only was Soni Kogen one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen, but it was very...un-Japanlike. It felt as if we were in a place that was a mixture of the Alps and Peru. The way the pampas grass seemed to glow in the sun was almost surreal, and there were gorgeous mountains everywhere we looked.

Since we were already tired from our trek through the woods, it was a pretty tiring hike. However, the views were worth it! The only truly crazy part of our hike was having to climb right beside an open fire! Apparently workers burn away at the grass on parts of the path to prevent overgrowth and prevent an obstruction of people's views, and for some reason they decided to do the burning on a busy weekend. We had to walk beside the fire and through the smoke to go over the top of the mountain and get back down. It was insane, but kind of cool.

After we reached the bottom (at this point we were all exhausted and ready to collapse) we went to an Onsen. For those who don't know what an onsen is, it's a bath that receives its water from a hot volcanic spring. They're known for their healing properties. The onsen was wonderful. It was a little jarring to walk into a changing room and bath area filled with strange naked women of all ages, but you get used to it. We stored our clothes in a locker, stripped down, and went to a shower area to clean ourselves. Once you're all clean, you go into the onsen. There were two indoor baths, and an outdoor bath, which we chose. It is wonderfully relaxing, and all of the minerals make your skin baby soft.

After the onsen, we got dressed and headed back home. On our way back my friend Emily (who is in graduate school and is on her third trip to Japan) took us to a train station that had a lot of eateries and shops inside it. We ate at a delicious curry place, and then checked out this grocery store that had quite a bit of imported food. I bought toblerone, some gouda cheese, and found pie filling! Huzzah!

By the end of it we were all exhausted, but it was a great experience.

Whoo!
This Saturday I am waking up at the crack of dawn to take a train out to the Nara area and hike around THIS place, followed by some time at an onsen! It's going to cost me about 4,000 yen for the whole day, but a trip like this normally costs about 10,000, so I'm not going to let this opportunity pass by!
I'm so excited.

On Monday I have the Halloween party (I'm going as a penguin), and then it's goodbye October, hello November.

Kitano Tenmagu Flea Market

Today I went to a flea market at the Kitano Tenmagu temple in Kyoto. I've always loved flea markets, because there is always something new to look at and little treasures to find. This one was particularly exciting.

Flea markets in Kyoto are always held at temple complexes, and there are several that occur every month. Kitano Tenmagu is one of the recurring flea markets, so I felt okay with just exploring and taking things in today.

The flea market sprawled across the temple grounds and on the outer walls as well. There were tons of vendors, selling everything from old kimono (which I did not purchase this time around because I have no knowledge of what pieces I need to buy), to wall scrolls, china, old toys, records, etc. There were also quite a few food vendors, although generally the foods available were takoyaki (octopus balls), okonomiyaki (sort of a cabbage pancake), yakisoba (noodles), candied fruits, dried things, grilled corn, candies, and cakes with custard/bean paste/green tea paste in them.

It was quite crowded. I felt pretty awkward lugging my big backpack around, and a few times I got nudged by a disgruntled old man trying to make his way through.
A lot of families were there; there were a few games children could play, like shooting games and fishing games (pretty much your standard festival/fair activities wherever you live).

I spent the afternoon with my friend Angie, but we ran into several other SKP students throughout the afternoon. Angie persuaded me to try takoyaki; I've always been squeamish about eating anything with tentacles, but takoyaki is one of those standard street foods you find everywhere. I figured that if the majority of Japan loved it, I needed to try it. It was great. We also bought and shared yakisoba and okonomiyaki. I bought two custard cakes as well. The food was relatively cheap, and it was delicious.

I didn't want to make an impulse buy, but I was keeping my eye out for some sort of wall scroll or an item that could be easily packed/shipped. Towards the end of my flea market visit, I came upon a vendor that was selling antique wall scrolls and paintings. Most of them were VERY expensive. I was about to walk away from the tent when I decided to sift through a box of unframed paintings, and I found an ink painting that I instantly fell in love with.

It's not matted or framed, so on my trip downtown tomorrow with Steph I'm going to look for a mat. Otherwise I'll just have to secure it with cardboard for the trip home. According to the seller it is about 80 years old. She pointed out the name of the artist to me on the corner in case I cared to look it up. It cost me 2500 yen, which is not unreasonable for a painting that old. The price was already written on the wrapping, so I feel secure that I got a fair deal.

It's fairly easy to speak with shop workers or vendors in Japanese, but whenever I did they seemed pleasantly surprised. There were many other non-Japanese people wandering about, but probably only about half of them were students or people residing in Kyoto. I heard a fair amount of tourists pointing at things and saying, "HOW MUCH? PRICE?"
It was pretty funny, actually.

We spent about 3 hours at the flea market before we decided to call it a day. Since I spent so much money at the flea market, I decided to walk all the way home instead of taking the train, despite feeling tired. The flea market was a 15 minute walk from Ritsumeikan, and the school is a 30 minute walk from my dorm. Phew. I definitely walked off those custard cakes.


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In other news, my winter coat and new shoes came in today! They only shipped 8 days ago, so I was incredibly pleased that they arrived BEFORE the website said they would. Both items are beautiful and I'm really happy to have flats that don't have holes worn through the heels...

So Halloween in Japan is bigger than I thought it would be, at least in my area. I don't believe trick or treating is something people do here, but a lot of people throw parties or clubs have special Halloween nights. Shops usually have little halloween decorations up, and there are lot of pumpkin flavored candies and things at stores.

Ritsumeikan throws a halloween party every year. It's 1000 yen for exchange students if you buy a ticket before the party, and you have to come in costume.
Originally I wanted to go, because I love getting in costume, most people at I-House are going, and I figured it would be a good night to cut loose a little.

However, now that I think about it, I don't know how interested I am in going. I love Halloween and most years I've done something to celebrate it, but the basic premise of this party is drinking and dancing, like a night club. It's not really my scene. Honestly, I would much rather eat Halloween candy and watch movies like Hocus Pocus and The Corpse Bride that night.

I'm not interested in drinking. Even though it's legal for me to do so here, I don't care for it. The only drinks I really like are these alcoholic fruit drinks...and even then they have a really low percentage of alcohol in them. I just don't see what all the fuss is.

Haha, I feel like such an old lady, now that I think about it. Talking about how I don't care for drinking and partying...and not to mention that I'm going to a flea market with my friend Steph tomorrow. Living the life, man, living the life.

Word of Advice for Those Planning to Study Abroad

The amount of time that you chose to spend abroad makes a big difference.

If you are looking for a fun trip in which you see sights and take in lots of cultural activities, I would suggest that you take a summer abroad or even a short spring break trip if your university offers it.

Taking a year or a semester abroad is vastly different from a short trip. Wherever you end up going, there will be a multitude of things to do and places to see, so it's hard not to go see all the sights in the first week. It's also really easy to get disillusioned with life. Culture shock and homesickness is very real, and the longer you stay in a country the more cycles of homesickness you go through. Also, you have to learn how to balance the "oh my god I'm in this new, amazing country" factor with the reality that you still have to spend a year or a semester studying and just going through daily life.

You may be in your dorm one afternoon while people are off touring some sight, and you're stuck doing homework or laundry and thinking, "what am I doing with myself?" You have to pick and choose. You have to realize that you're not there just for a fun trip, but you're also living there and therefore you have to keep certain priorities in order.

Shorter term trips often have more of an itinerary and people tend to stick with their groups that they came with. When you study abroad for a year or a semester, you may know only one or two people or you may even go by yourself. When people stay somewhere for a year or a semester, little cliques are an inevitable development.

So yeah, just keep in mind what type of experience you want to have. Do you want a somewhat more touristy experience, or do you want immersion. There's no right or wrong when it comes to studying abroad, just pick what works best for you.

Food!

I think I need to start taking pictures of all the food I make. I'm having a lot of fun learning how to make new things and having a variety of meals with limited ingredients. Here are a few of the things I've made so far:

Stir fried chicken and rice
Balsamic cooked chicken with cherry tomatoes, pesto, and cheese
Grilled cheese (sounds simple, but I scored with some delicious bread)
Homemade vanilla pudding
Cinnamon vanilla pancakes
Homemade hash browns
Pasta Carbonara
Bento (edamame with sticky rice and boiled eggs)
Miso soup (made the stock from scratch)
Penne with pesto meatballs and gravy
Pasta salad with cherry tomatoes and creamy balsamic dressing
Pan cooked cinnamon apples
Fried egg sandwiches
Chili (beef, tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, white beans...no recipe, whut)
Breakfast burritos (eggs, cheese, garlic, onion, green peppers, tomatoes)

Pretty much everything I make is with the same basic ingredients. I enjoy going to the grocery store and trying to think of new ways to make things while staying within budget. The internet is great. There are so many ways you can make things.
I think I have the most fun thinking of ways to make desserts without using an oven. We just have convection oven and a toaster oven here.

I'm looking forward to going back home and trying my hand at cooking with better access to ingredients and having money to spend on food (provided I get my job back).
Feeling domestic~

Random Stuff

So, today I purchased a dry erase board that I can stick on my fridge to write reminders on and a few dry erase markers. I've never seen dry erase markers like these before. You have to click a button like you would on a mechanical pencil to make the ink run down to the tip of the marker...

I seem to be spending a lot of money on groceries. At least, I always feel like I'm grocery shopping. It's tough on me because the first 4 weeks here I've spent money on clothing I needed, paying fees, buying textbooks, and renting my bike. Money goes STRAIGHT OUT THE WINDOW. On top of that, I have seven days until I am to receive my food stipend. So, all the money I brought with me has been going towards feeding myself.

I'm kind of picky about food in the sense that I cannot live happily on rice and noodles every day. I like variety. Food also costs more here. I bought a bunch of grapes today because they were on sale for 198 yen. This was one tiny bunch of grapes...they were also kind of tart...and they also had seeds in them. However, grapes usually sell for around 358-458 yen.

When I make meals, I try to buy things that I can make in a large amount that will last me for several days. For example, I made chili tonight. I spent about 1400 yen, and I already had the meat (which I bought a pound of for about 290 yen). I bought two packets of spices, hot peppers, onions, garlic, beans, and crushed tomatoes. Thankfully, it turned out delicious even though I didn't use a recipe...also, I have enough to last for 3-4 days, and I still have leftover spices, peppers, tomatoes, onions, and garlic. So I guess it works out.

Oh, and this weekend we have some sort of festival where the university students can go in a parade, dress up, and hold a shrine. I kind of wanted to do it, but it's hard to take pictures when you're in a parade. Hopefully I'll get some good shots.

That's it for now!

An Afternoon at the Kamogawa

This afternoon I took a sort of last minute trip to the Kamogawa River with my friend Delaney. A big group of people went to Nara to see the deer, but I didn't know about those plans until the morning of (and I didn't want to pay train fare to get all the way there).

Anyway, a small group of girls were all going to picnic by the Kamogawa River, but it ended up being just Delaney and I. We left around 1 and took the bus to the Kawaramachi area, which a downtown area with lots of shops, sights, etc. It's basically downtown Kyoto. (I think I mentioned that in a previous post.) Many of the International students hang around the Kawaramachi at night, drinking and watching the street musicians and performers that sometimes come out there. The section of the river that be picnicked by was very grassy, and very beautiful. Many families and couples were out by the river, just enjoying the nice weather.

We found a nice spot with some shade, and at lunch. As we sat there, a man parked his bike under a nearby tree and took out a bag of bread. He stood by the river bank waving his arms and making whistling/clicking noises, and in a matter of minutes, about ten or eleven hawks started circling around. He started throwing bread in the air, and the hawks swooped down and snatched the bread midair. It was amazing. He kept it up for about half an hour.

(There was also the most precious little boy chasing pigeons, laughing and having the greatest time. )

After we finished up our picnic, we went to this little bookshop on the second floor of a building near the bus stop. Delaney noticed that she sign mentioned used books, so we thought we would take a look. It ended up being a bookstore that bought and sold used ENGLISH books, so we were pretty excited. All I bought there was a little post card, but I may go back and buy a book. They were all pretty cheap, and there were some books that I liked there. They also sold coffee, tea, and hot chocolate for only 300 円. If I go down that way again, I would love to pick out a book, drink some hot chocolate, and have some quiet moments. They were playing songs in English that I was fond of, like some stuff by Ok Go, Feist, and Matt and Kim. It almost felt like I was sitting in a tiny bookshop somewhere in New York.

After that, we took the bus back to our area of town, and went to a local bakery called Peter Pan Bakery, where I got this chocolate chip muffin...thing. I will definitely go there in the morning when the selection is bigger. There were also little tarts, and Delaney told me they often sold baguettes.

People in Japan really seem to love French food and little cafes, so there are little coffee shops, French Style cafes, and bakeries everywhere.

That's all for now. I miss everyone so much!

IJL Class E

These are all of my classmates. We are all in class E, which means we have all of the same classes together. We're a pretty diverse group; we have people from China, Korea, America, Germany, Sweden, and Iceland. In the back wearing the tie is Hirai Sensei, who is my second Comprehensive Japanese teacher (I have three); he's definitely my favorite teacher. Last week he had us all gather around for a group picture, and he emailed the pictures to us.

Myoshinji Temple

By chance, I'd heard about a garden lighting event that was happening at Myoshinji Temple tonight. I asked a couple of girls if they were interested in going, and after a delicious meal at a curry restaurant we went to the temple to take in the lights.

It is still astounding to me that in Kyoto you can ride your bicycle through the grounds of a temple in the middle of the night. We saw several joggers, and people just taking a stroll along the winding stone pathways. At night, the pavilions and building seem even more awe inspiring, quietly standing there in all their beauty.

We ended up losing our way along the path, so we asked an elderly man who was walking by. It turns out he lived/worked at the temple, and instead of just giving us directions, he led the way for us, slowly walking with the aid of a cane. It was so kind of him. The temple grounds are absolutely enormous.

Once we reached the area where the lights were, we paid a fee to enter and walked down a small path to a building where we removed our shoes. We walked through the quiet hallways of an old building along the tatami mats, to an area where the doors were slid open and you could walk out onto the deck to view the garden.

The view was simply...astounding. It took my breath away. Flickering candles were set all through the garden in beautiful arrangements, with paper lanterns scattered among them. There are really no words to describe how beautiful it was. My friends and I simply sat down on the deck for some time, looking out at all the lights and listening to the sounds of crickets and soft drum beats.

It was one of those moments that I know I will carry with me all my life, one of those moments when you become aware of things so much bigger than yourself. At times I had to fight back the tears that were beginning to well up in my eyes. Every single sensation felt magnified, from the candle lights glittering in my eyes, to the creak of the floorboards and the texture of the tatami mats beneath my feet.

Video!

It's a short one, I explain why in the video.

Shopping, Buffets, and Cat Cafes, oh my!

Yesterday I went out with a group of friends to a downtown shopping area in Kyoto called Shijo-Kawaramachi. There is a big main street where a lot of higher end stores and department stores are located, and there is also a huge grid of covered streets where many smaller shops and restaurants are located. There is a HUGE variety of stores. There are trendy clothing stores, stores selling traditional goods, drugstores, arcades, pachinko parlors, restaurants serving Japanese food, cafes, coffee shops, etc. The list goes on and on.
Random: There was a Gap, a Claires store, a Baskin Robbins, and a Body Shoppe.

So, we started off the day by going to a buffet called Sweets Paradise. It was on the sixth floor of a sort of deparment store building. The cost to get in was 1400 円, which is about 15 US dollars. It seems kind of expensive, especially since you have a time limit of 70 minutes, but it was actually a really good deal. In Japan, getting a meal usually costs around 600-700 円. Desserts usually cost anywhere from 150-300円, and portion sizes for desserts are a lot smaller than the states. You want a cappuccino or a latte? It can run you as much as you would pay for an entree.

So, Sweets Paradise was really great. For 70 minutes you can eat all you want from a selection of pasta, finger sandwiches, rice dishes, and soup. There was also a HUGE cake buffet. There were probably about 20 different kinds of cake, and all of them were really good quality and beautifully decorated. (There was a ton of pumpkin flavored things in anticipation for Halloween! In fact, the whole restaurant was really nicely decorated.) There was also a popcorn machine, a chocolate fountain, a soft serve ice cream machine, a wide selection of teas, and a coffee machine that made anything from lattes, to cappuccinos, to hot chocolate. Needless to say, I ate quite a bit.

After that, we began shopping. We hit a big department store first, but we spent so much time on one floor that we didn't even get to see all of them. I ended up buying a really cute winter hat with a furry pom pom on it. In the states I can never find hats that fit over all of my hair and look good, but it seems like a popular style in Japan is for things to be a bit looser. Floppy hats, over sized sweaters, and big jackets are a popular look. My theory is that girls look cute and endearing when their clothes look like they've been borrowed from someone or seem a little too big (in a well fitted way of course, you can tell things are made that way on purpose).

There was a wide variety of clothing styles in the department store on the top floor. I checked out a gothic lolita vendor (google it if you don't know what lolita is), because the ruffled blouses and skirts appealed to me. Unfortunately, they were very expensive, so I didn't try on anything there. Lolita is very much a lifestyle, and every piece is extremely well made and is considered a huge investment. One dress I liked cost over 250 dollars.

Aside from the top floor that seemed to cater a bit more to the fashion subcultures, the popular clothing styles in Japan are very much the same everywhere. There is some variation, but if you find a sweater at one store, you will likely find something similar to it at the store next door. Lucky for me, I like a lot of the clothing styles here! It's hard for me to find clothing in America that's as cute as clothes are here.

I ended up purchasing a hat, a jacket, a dress, and two pairs of tights. The jacket was a bit of a splurge, but it's pretty warm and has a removable hood and fake fur lining. The dress was a risky purchase. I bought it at a shop that was having a huge sale. I saw the dress hanging from outside the store, and immediately loved it and a couple girls said that it was really my style. I checked the price tag and it was originally over 4500 円. It was on sale for 945. The catch was that I couldn't try it on. It looked like it would fit, so I just went ahead and bought it. I took it back to the dorm, and it fit perfectly. Huzzah!

The best part of my day was going to a cat cafe. A cat cafe is basically a place where a person can pay a fee to spend a period of time inside the cafe petting and playing with cats. It cost 1000 円 for half an hour, and it also included one drink. It seems a little ridiculous, but many people in Japan live in places where they can't keep cats or can't afford them, so it is a small price to pay. I miss my cat like crazy, so it was wonderful to cuddle and hold cats. All of them were extremely soft and very used to people. I had a little cat sit in my lap for a while, and there was one that had a little face kind of like golem (but in a cute way...I called him smeagol the whole time). Another cat started drinking out of my drink, which I found hilarious. I left feeling so relaxed and happy, and needless to say I'm going to return there when I need a cheering up.

_________________________


On another note, I've noticed how much of a bother it is to shop for myself. With no real source of income, I'm always worried about groceries and what is best for me to buy. I've been avoiding purchasing any processed food for the sake of my health. Cooking is annoying, and sometimes things like meat is expensive. I've been going for things I can cook in large amounts, such as pasta, soup, or rice. I don't always feel like cooking, so having leftovers really helps. Grocery shopping has been kind of a hit-or-miss learning experience. The first time I went shopping I paid way too much for some items that I didn't even really use. I didn't set my fridge correctly, so my lettuce went bad. Little mishaps like that. Now I generally know what I can do with food. For instance, I can get two bags of pasta for less than a dollar each, and I can get four servings of pasta out of each bag. I also bought ingredients for miso soup, because aside from tofu and green onion, I can get over ten servings out of it.

I've always been eating in a more of a "European" style (using this word because this is how I often ate in Russia), having one or two big meals a day and snacks in between. I either have a big breakfast or dinner, and then munch on things for the rest of the day, like fruits. I also drink a lot of milk tea and coffee. Not eating processed food so much has been great. I can eat less, but I get more fuel from what I eat. Eating a big apple over some chips keeps me going longer. I do feel I could be eating a bit more, but until my food stipend comes in (which is retroactive, yay!), I've been wary about a budget.

Another thing I find bothersome about dorm living and shopping is all the random little things you realize you need! Laundry detergent, tissues...I realized today that having a laundry bag or hamper would be nice, but I didn't want to buy it, so I'm making do with a large shopping bag I have. I also realized I need a garment bag for my bras and panties. It's weird not having things that I'm used to having around the house, like pledge for dusting or something random like a lint roller. I figure when I move into an apartment I'll have to buy a lot of things like that, but it feels a little bit more...permanent. When you're only living somewhere for a few months, buying something like a laundry hamper seems like such a waste because it's going to get left behind when I leave.

When I return home, none of those things are coming with me. In fact, aside from my makeup and very basic products that I can use to freshen up on the plane, I'm not taking any shampoo or toiletry items to save on weight. I've made a few clothing purchases and I know I might buy a few souvenirs, so I have to cut down where I can and cram as much as possible into my carry on bag. However, paying baggage fees would be better than trying to ship stuff. My family and I found out the hard way that mailing things to me would cost an arm and a leg.
Call it vanity, but I'm really bummed about that because I recently found the combination of hair products that makes me hair look perfect when it's down. I may just have to pull my hair up for the last part of my stay.

Well, that's all I have to say for now. I start my second week tomorrow, and I'm worried because I don't have my books yet. I went to purchase them a little late, and when I went to the bookstore they were all sold out! I hope they come in soon. I feel really behind and like I don't understand lessons because I don't have the books to study from.

Rainy and Grey

So...today was pretty crap. There were some good moments, however.
Today is the 30th, which means it's been six months since I started dating my boyfriend, Josh. Hooray! I'm sure the people who follow me on other sites are sick of hearing about it, haha. I've been talking about it all over facebook and tumblr.
I can't help it; he did the sweetest thing for me imaginable, and that was having a big arrangement of roses and a card delivered to my dorm today. It was a bunch of roses and these tiny white flowers. I had to take them out of their arrangement to put them in water, though. It's important to me that they last as long as possible. Of course, I took pictures of them.

I'm glad I got the flowers, because I needed a pick me up. Today I made my way to the bank by myself to exchange my traveler's checks for yen. I was basically going off directions that my advisor here gave me and the promise that I could do it without a Japanese speaker.
Well, getting off the train I put my money in the wrong slot, so a worker had to come after me and give me my fare to pay at the correct place. I got so flustered that I forgot to zip up the change section of my wallet, and when I tried to put it back in my bag all of my change fell out and several people had to help me.
Then...I took a wrong turn down a street and got really anxious about finding the place. Thankfully I did (it was right across the street the whole time...I just couldn't read the sign. -_-)
I went in, took my number, and when I got called up I basically just handed them my checks and followed their instructions the best I could.

I'm glad I was able to do that myself, and now I finally have money to buy some more groceries. I also found out today that I'll receive my food stipend on October 20th, and it will be retroactive so I'll get money for September as well. That was a relief to me. My money has been going down the drain with buying food and extra expenses.

Anyway...after that I took the train to campus and sat in the cafeteria to finish a homework sheet. I got really frustrated with it because I don't have my textbooks yet to use as a reference (more on that in a bit). Well, when I went to my one class of the day it turned out the teacher didn't even collect it. I have three different comprehensive Japanese teachers, and my Friday teacher is my least favorite so far. My Monday and Tuesday teacher is very soft spoken and makes things pretty easy to understand. My Wednesday and Thursday is really nice, and he's pretty funny too.

This class...sucked. She started us off with talking back and forth, and I don't know if I missed something or what (I had a feeling it was probably in our book) but I was totally lost. My brain just shut down and I was this stammering, red-faced mess. THEN she gave us a "level check" test, and I found myself staring at the page, not understanding a bit of it. She asked me to answer a question, and I just sort of sat there helplessly like a deer in headlights.

If these "level checks" continue, I think I'm going to end up moving down to beginners or something...but hey...at least I wouldn't be embarrassed in there.

Ever since I got here, I feel like everything I've learned has left my head. I feel pretty much clueless all the time. Studying gets me really frustrated, because I feel like there's not much of a point to it aside from just trying to pass. I feel like I'm wasting my time on Japanese when I'm dropping it as my minor when I get home in January...it takes a lot out of me. I just hope I can pass or I start to remember stuff better.

On the topic of my books...I went to the bookstore today to get my textbooks, since I could finally afford them. ...they were sold out of what I needed. Augh. I feel so behind. I have a photocopy of our first lesson, but I have no idea when they're getting more books. I couldn't understand what the woman at the store was telling me, but I think I filled out an info sheet so they could contact me when the books came in? I was so embarrassed...I could feel my face turning hot because I was so red. I wish I could use my genki textbook. I guess I'll try to study out of that for now. It's the best I can do, really. Besides, comparing the genki book to the photocopy of the textbook I have, I understand genki so much better.

I wish I didn't have to drop money on a book I'm not going to use after a few months. I think I'm just going to leave it at I-House for some other student to use.

So, I left class just feeling really low about myself and just thankful that it's the weekend. Tomorrow I'm going out shopping with a few girls, so I think I'm going to look for a coat (my parents can't mail me mine because it's too expensive) or a sweater. I could also use new flats because mine are wearing out quickly.

I'm just trying to take this one day at a time. The days just need to go by faster.

Class, yakiniku, and pumpkin ice cream.

Well, I started class. My schedule is pretty light. This is a good thing, because I have a feeling I'm going to end up studying my butt off...
I have comprehensive Japanese five times a week for an hour and a half. That's mainly studying grammar, doing a little speaking.
I have speaking and listening twice a week for the same length of time, and that's pretty self explanatory. That class is going to be the death of me. I hate speaking under pressure. My oral comm class last year was in English and I still had a hard time with that!
Finally, I have writing, which meets once a week.
I would tell you how writing is, but I actually missed my two classes today. I woke up this morning feeling really sick. I have to admit that I have not been eating well, and when you pair that with walking a lot every single day and staying up to study, it was a recipe for disaster.

So, tonight when I got invited to go eat yakiniku, I thought to myself, "forget my budget, I am eating well tonight." It was the best beef I've ever eaten in my life. The portions are pretty small, but the beef is so rich. Apparently the cut of beef my friend Jen and I ate is the muscle from the cow diaphragm. It was so delicious. I had that with some properly made rice (I am horrible at cooking rice). Afterwards we stopped by a 7-11, and I noticed there were halloween themed ice cream treats in the cooler. I found one that said it was pumpkin flavored and snapped it up. It was amazing.

One thing I really like about Japanese desserts is that they never overdo it on sweetness. Even their chocolate bars are pretty delicate. You get just the right sized portion, and you never feel like you need to drink water or something to wash down all the sugaryness.

Another random thing...
Ritsumeikan has classes set up much like high school. At Memphis, there are only so many set class slots, but classes can overlap. At Ritsumeikan, they actually have set periods. You still choose your classes (well, I'm in the intensive Japanese track, so classes are set for you, but anyway) and you can have all of them together, or far apart, etc, but class periods never overlap. There is also a set lunch period, so even if you have class all day, you'll get an hour for lunch.
There are also chimes that tell you when class begins and ends.

Sometimes I feel a little bit like the odd person out at my dorm.
Last night, for example, most of the people in my dorm went to a nomihoudai, or an all you can drink party at a local restaurant. The stories I heard the following morning were pretty hilarious, but I felt a bit like a fish out of water.
I've never really drank, even though being a college student I'm sure I could've gone to parties and such where I had the opportunity. It's just never been a big deal to me. For one, breaking the law is rather stupid. It's really not that hard to wait until you're 21. And secondly, getting drunk off my butt and making a fool of myself doesn't seem all that appealing. Even if you're only tipsy or pretty much sober and just watching the action unfold, it must be pretty weird watching all of your friends act out or puke their brains out or whatever.
Here in Japan, going out drinking with friends is a common way to have a good time; being drunk is the best icebreaker, I suppose.
But...I'm just not interested. I'm even legal here, and I don't care at all. The first time I ever actually get drunk, I would prefer to be in the company of close friends, people who will say, "hey you've had a bit too much" or who will make sure I get home safely, won't judge me if I say something stupid, etc...
Drinking seems like such a waste of money as well. You spend a lot of money on drinks that may or may not taste great, and that's it. There's no tangible object to take home with you, no quality memories...I'm in Kyoto, for heaven's sake. I could go somewhere really cool or buy something for myself with the money. Or -gasp- I could even spend it on things I need.

So yeah...it's weird being around a bunch of people who want to hit the club or play tipsy twister or go to nomihoudais. I feel kind of like a stick in the mud for saying no and chilling in my room, but it's how I am. I've never really enjoyed partying, and I've stated how I feel about excessive drinking. There are better things to do with my time. Sure, I'm in this new place and I can go on adventures and all that, but I'm not going to suddenly change who I am because I've been dropped in a new country.

Bah.

I feel a little out of place with the language thing, as well. I was a little disappointed by my placement in classes today. I only got upper elementary, while some people who studied the same amount of time I did got into advanced classes. However, I was not feeling well all through testing, I hadn't studied all summer, their classes were probably different, and I'd just made the decision to drop Japanese as my minor when I return to Memphis.
So yes, it was a blow to my ego, but in the grand scheme of things I don't care all too much.
I just feel weird about it. Most of the people here are majoring in Japanese, linguistics, International relations, or Asian studies. I'm a photography major who just came here because I like Japan and I like the language. And now I'm not going to even take it anymore. Less pressure on me, I suppose. I'm just going to try to enjoy the ride.

Well, we've had a lot of rain in Kyoto the past two days. I figure most people know that a typhoon passed over the country. My Dad told me there were some evacuations? I've been too preoccupied to read anything about it. But, aside from being constantly soaked and suffering from awful humidity, things are fine here.

Sooo, biggest piece of news. I'm returning home at the end of the semester instead of a year. Taking a year off my major is REALLY going to keep me from graduating on time, so I'm trying to work how I'm going to get enrolled in Spring semester at Memphis. Our spring semester concludes on the first day of February, so I'm looking into taking my exams early or seeing if I can start late. Hooray for different school calendars.

What else have I been up to?

I went to downtown Kyoto a couple of days ago. It's very nice, with a lot of covered shops that sell things from anime figurines, to trendy clothes, to traditional wares. There are also lots of restaurants.
I also went to a maid cafe! Well, the group I was in had no clue it was a maid cafe at first, we saw a girl in a cute waitress outfit on the street showing people a menu; we were hungry so we decided to check it out. Upon entering the restaurant we realized that the clientele was entirely male, all of the waitresses were in frilly uniforms (even the female cook had booty shorts on under her apron!), and there was J-Pop and K-Pop music playing. I only bought tiramisu, but it was quite good and cost only 200 yen.

I just finished my second day of orientation as well. I'm all done with my placement tests, thank goodness. It was very nerve wracking, but I tried not to worry about it too much, since I'm really just taking Japanese for my own personal enjoyment and don't need the credits anymore since I decided to focus on my photography when I get home. It takes off a little bit of pressure. We've learned a little bit about campus during some seminars. There are two more days to orientation, and on the final day I'll find out my score on the tests and what classes I am to be placed in. Supposedly the teachers who conducted our interview portions will most likely be the ones teaching our classes, and if that's the case my teacher seems quite nice.

I'm starting to miss food from back home quite a bit. I try to cook for myself, but on campus I don't have much choice but to purchase from the cafeteria. The one open right now serves only Japanese style food, but there are other cafes and we have a Subway on campus (don't hurt me Josh, I really want a sub sandwich and you can't airmail me Lenny's...) I've been eating lots of rice, pasta, curry, tofu...I need a steak. Or a slice of pizza.

Time Difference

In Memphis I was something of a night owl. I would usually stay awake until 2, 3, 4 in the morning. Some of it was stress related, but staying up late became so ingrained in me that even when I wasn't stressed out I would be up in the wee hours of the morning, surfing the internet or watching netflix. I would often stay at Josh's house pretty late, because I figured if I couldn't get to sleep I would at least enjoy my hours of wakefulness by spending time with my boyfriend.

Now with this huge time change, my internal clock seems to be flip-flopped. I find myself getting sleepy around 8 o clock, and I wake up around 6 or 7 without a problem. It's such a change for me. Some of the grogginess I still attribute to jet lag, but otherwise I'm doing all right, physically. I wake up around 6, surf the internet until 7, go down to the basement and take a shower (Showering early is a good thing because no one else is in there at that time. There is only one shower room per gender and all the shower heads are open.), go back up to my room and finish getting 'primped' and then I just do whatever.

Things are still kind of lonely and time seems to drag on. Having class will be nice because then I'll actually have things to do. Missing my family and my boyfriend are at the forefront of my mind because I don't have anything else to focus on. It doesn't help that the weather is rather grey. I look forward to having class and things to occupy my time.

Right now I've been avoiding going out because I've spent a lot of the money I brought with me on groceries and other necessary items. I won't have a bank account until Tuesday at the earliest and I don't know when my food stipend starts. Some Japanese students from Ritsumeikan came by my room yesterday and invited me to go out to get drinks and dinner (FYI for my relatives who don't know, 20 is the legal drinking age here, so it's perfectly acceptable to go out to a bar. They also have beer at vending machines, and although I'm curious to try a Japanese beer, I'm hesitant to spend my money on something I don't like.), but I can't afford to spend my money freely.

Hopefully the few groceries I bought will tide me over. I have to go by 7-11 today and pick up some sugar for my coffee, some juice, and lunch meat.
I want to explore the neighborhood, but I'm afraid to do so by myself because I don't want to get lost.

Supermarket

Well, I took a trip to the supermarket this morning. I was a little nervous at first, not having been out shopping on my own before. Nor did I have any idea about prices. I'm also on a pretty tight budget right now until I can open up my bank account. the food I bought today is going to have to last me a little while...I'm not going to get my food stipend for a little bit.

It really sucks, because the money I've saved up to do things in Japan is going down the drain because I need food. :/ I've spent a lot of money in the past few days, from train fare, to paying for my taxi to the international house, to renting my bike. Bah. Stupid money. Well...since I expect to go home at the end of the semester, my meager budget will hopefully stretch a little farther.

But...back to the supermarket. It was really cool. Everything is very brightly colored, and they have so many products. It took me a while to figure out the layout of the aisles, and I had no idea what some of the items were. But, I managed to figure it out.
Prices are...okay, but I still died a little on the inside since the exchange rate kind of sucks right now (so what I had saved is a lot less in Japan). The most expensive items were meat. They come in pretty small portions, definitely not enough to feed a family or someone for more than maybe two meals. The larger portions were astronomical.

So, needless to say I skipped out on meat.
But, I did find pasta! I bought a couple bags of penne for about a dollar. I bought some eggs, some fruit, some lettuce for salads, some tomatoes and Parmesan to eat with my pasta, yogurt and bananas, some bread, butter, cheese. Oh, and olive oil and balsamic vinegar. And nescafe. Hooray for basics. I anticipate losing weight while I'm gone, being on such a tight budget and walking everywhere. Hopefully when my food stipend kicks in I can go out to eat sometimes...

A Little Improvement

This morning I was still feeling rather crummy, but I went with other people from my house to go fill out some paperwork on campus and get our alien registration forms completed. I got to meet a few other girls and they were all very nice.

Meeting them has helped me feel a little more positive about being here and Japanese in general. I'm going to try my hardest to make the best of this and enjoy my time here. I still feel depressed about not being at home, but I enjoyed being out and about today and getting to know a few of the girls I'm living with. I also rented a bicycle. It has a cute basket and a bell..so when I feel down I think I'll just ride my bike.

I still feel that staying for the semester will be a better option for me. I miss home too much. I still am not sure about continuing with Japanese when I return home, but only time will tell.

I hope that the busier I get, the faster time will pass.

My journey and arriving in Japan.

Well, here I am in Kyoto. It's 3:oo am here, and even though I'm exhausted, jet lag is keeping me restless and awake. Thankfully, I went to bed around nine, so I'm not completely running on empty.

I would be lying if I said my trip went smoothly. Okay, on paper it did; I made my connecting flight, went through customs without a hitch, retrieved all my luggage, and managed to fumble my way through getting to my taxi.

I left my family, Josh, and Arielle at the airport this morning. Leaving all of them behind was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I had to force myself to let go of Josh's hand, and I cried most of the way through security. Going through security, I accidentally left a set of headphones and a pack of gum in my pocket during the body scanner, so I got a pat down. Yaaay.

My flight to Seattle went okay, I put my ipod in and dozed most of the time. When I got to Seattle I ran to catch my connecting flight to Osaka. I'm pretty sure I was one out of maybe four non-Asian people on the plane. It was quite jarring.

The ten hour plane ride to Osaka was pretty miserable. I forced myself to eat and drink, even though I felt like I was going to be violently ill most of the ride. (I probably would've felt better if I'd thrown up, but I didn't want to vomit on the plane and draw attention to myself.) I was tired, I couldn't get comfortable, and I felt pretty depressed. Most of the day the recurring thought that came into my mind was, "Did I just make a huge mistake? I want to go home."
(I am still SO grateful that if I happen to not adjust well, my parents promised to get me home at the end of the semester. Or whenever I seem miserable enough to rescue.)

After the plane landed, I had to go through customs. It took nearly and hour, and the room everyone was in had no air conditioning. I felt like I was going to pass out. Thankfully, once I got through the line, the process was very quick and everyone who worked at the airport was very kind to me. It probably helped that I had a lost/ill/terrified expression on my face. After fumbling around with my luggage cart (the man who helped me get my luggage off the conveyor belt neglected to tell me to push down on the handle to release the brake) and getting lost several times while searching for the taxi service, I got on the airport taxi and made my way to Kyoto.

I sat up front, which thankfully prevented me from getting any more motion sick than I already was. The taxi driver was also very kind, even though he spoke hardly any English and I spoke hardly any Japanese, we communicated well. It took about two hours to make it to the international house. When I arrived, the house managers and one of the 'house buddies' greeted me. They got me up to my room, had me fill out a form, and the house buddy showed me around. Mrs. Yoshida, one of the house managers, gave me some iced tea, apple juice, and cake because I looked so tired.

I was so exhausted and disoriented that all my Japanese was pretty much shot to hell. Honestly though, how much I thought I'd taken was nothing. The people at the house dumbed down their Japanese for me a tad, and I could understand most of what they were getting at. Speaking back was another matter. But, I'm here to learn, and I did not pretend my Japanese was better than it is; everyone is very friendly and obliging; things will improve with time, and there's no reason to set the bar too high and end up struggling later.

I'm a little nervous about meeting people at the International House; most of the students here are Korean or Chinese, and most of them seem to know much more Japanese than I do. Hopefully when orientation or class starts, I'll find a few people who are in the same boat that I can connect with.

Here are some things that I've observed about Japan so far:
People are MUCH more polite drivers there than in Memphis. There are tons of bikers and pedestrians, so everyone is very careful around them. However, traffic is still pretty heavy; despite that, everyone drives within the speed limit, and when passing through narrow streets everyone is polite and takes turns pulling to the side to let others pass.

Japanese cars have an AMAZING turning radius. >_>

Most of the buildings are not that attractive, aside from the more traditional styled houses. The streets are very narrow. However, everything is kept very tidy and I did not see a single piece of litter.

A lot of the signs are very big, bright, and colorful. Quite a change from living in Germantown.

So...that's all I have to say for now. I'm very homesick and very lonely. I hope that changes as time passes. I miss my bed, my cat, my neighborhood, my family, my friends, and Josh. As soon as I got situated in my room and hooked up the internet, I called Josh. Seeing his face and hearing his voice is such a comfort to me, but I long to just be able to hug him or hold his hand. No matter how wonderful of a time I end up having here, I'm still counting down the days to when I'll be reunited with all of the people I love.