Hello, Kyoto!

WOW I can’t believe I am heading home right now! This past...

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 01:58:00 -0400

WOW I can’t believe I am heading home right now! This past semester might have been the fastest 4 months of my life. This whole morning has been a little surreal; I left my dorm at 7:45am after ALL my friends woke up to have breakfast with me and see me off. A taxi picked me up to take me to the airport and it was so awesome to have all the people I have grown to love waving goodbye to me as I left.

Now that I am returning home, it is hard to imagine that I ever felt frustrated or homesick in Japan. This past week has been so wonderful, having almost no responsibilities and just getting to enjoy my last few days with friends. Yesterday was one of my favorite days in Kyoto. A big group of us all made lunch together and ate in the lounge while watching the Olympics and after that, Kiyo and Noam accompanied me to Arashiyama to eat my very last matcha ice cream and chill out by the river. We decided to rent a row boat and paddle down the stream and dip our feet into the water. We reminisced on all the good times we’ve had and made plans for the next time we’ll see each other (I am going to try my hardest to do a Euro trip next summer after graduation to visit Kiyo and my friends Gabe, Piotr and Chiho). It was such a beautiful day and such a fun afternoon and I’m so happy to have left with one last great memory of Japan.

I’m excited to see what returning to the U.S. will be like. I am also a little worried that when I return, everything will be like I never left and Japan will seem like a dream or distant memory. Even if that does happen, it will be something I’ll never forget.

Thanks to everyone who read about my time in Japan and kept in touch over these past few months. It means a lot to know that people enjoyed hearing about my experiences. Can’t wait to see many of you in the next few weeks!

Today a few friends and I went to Kobe. I’m really glad we...

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 12:10:00 -0400

Today a few friends and I went to Kobe. I’m really glad we did because Kobe has such a different feel than any other Japanese city I’ve been to. Kobe is a port city with a huge harbor which has caused a surprising amount of western influence. Parts of the city were very westernized and it felt almost like I was back in the US. There were also parts that were kind of run down and deserted which was sad because they had the potential of being cool places with nice atmospheres.

Kobe had a huge earthquake in 1995, which was almost to the level of Fukushima’s last year. It caused massive damage and much of the city has been rebuilt. All the damaged and broken down infrastructure and houses were used to make a harbor area dedicated to the memory of the earthquake. We walked around the little memorial park and found that, sadly it wasn’t in very good condition. The whole little park wasn’t maintained very well and it didn’t seem like anyone but tourists ever went out towards the water. We ded enjoy walking along the docks, mostly because there was such a pleasant sea breeze as we walked. Kyoto is in the valley of a 3 mountains meaning the heat and humidity just sit on top of us and there is no escaping it. It was a treat for us to get out of the humidity and actually enjoy the weather today.

After the harbor, we headed to Chinatown and had some Chinese food for lunch. Then we did a little shopping and went to the Kobe City Museum. After learning more about the history of Kobe and the earthquake, we headed home EXHAUSTED. The breeze helped but the sun still took a toll on us. I’m getting a pretty impressive shorts tan these days.

Tomorrow is my good friend Noam’s birthday so we are celebrating the night in Osaka! It will be one of my last nights out with my friends here, which I’m trying not to think about. I can’t believe my time here is really coming to an end, it’s really gone by so quickly. I freaked out when I realized the day I leave is now on my 5 day weather forecast! Now, I just have to make sure I’m packed by then. My least favorite activity…ever.

Today, we went to the flea market one last time and then to...

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 07:53:06 -0400

Today, we went to the flea market one last time and then to Kiyomizudera which is a temple just north of Gion. Today was extremely hot and humid, probably the hottest most humid day I’ve ever experience. We were exhausted when we got home but satisfied with our fun day! I have also started collecting gifts for people back home which has been lots of fun.

Tomorrow we are going to Kobe which is the only Kansai city I have yet to visit. Maybe I’ll try some Kobe beef while I’m there and see if it really is worth it’s hype.

On Monday, a bunch of us went to Uji which is a temple right...

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 07:48:00 -0400

On Monday, a bunch of us went to Uji which is a temple right outside of Kyoto. We visited Byodoin which is a Buddhist temple, famous for being on the back of the 10 yen coin! Uji is also famous for its matcha green tea so we obviously had to have some matcha ice cream after getting hot and sweaty from walking around.

That evening, we had our completion ceremony where we received our “diplomas” from the SKP program. It was a fun celebration with food, pictures and some performances. Afterwards, we all went to a close-by nomihodai on the 6th floor of a nice building in Sa-in. From our own little private room, there was a beautiful view of Kyoto. The drinks were delicious and afterwards I went to my first Japanese McDonalds. It was the cleanest, nicest looking, McDonalds with the friendliest servers. I was so shocked at its quality compared to McDonalds in the U.S.

MY LAST WEEK IN JAPAN! What an experience this has been! I am...

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 07:37:00 -0400

MY LAST WEEK IN JAPAN! What an experience this has been! I am finished with classes and I have “graduated” from the SKP program so these next few days will be full of fun and relaxation before heading home to Seattle. I am trying to hit up all the places I haven’t been yet before I leave so its going to be, and has already been, a busy week. Friday was our last big hurrah with the entire program. We all went downtown together for a big party at the same bar where we first went for the program’s welcome party. It seems like we were just there getting to know everyone!

On Sunday, a few of us went to Osaka to go shopping (they have an H&M!) and eat dinner. We had sushi at a delicious sushi restaurant, something that I will miss very, very much.

This past week was also the Gion Matsuri which is the summer...

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 04:28:00 -0400

This past week was also the Gion Matsuri which is the summer festival held down in the Geisha district. Girls and boys dress up in yukata, which is a more casual form of kimono. I didn’t get the chance to go but it sounded like it was super crowded and hot so I’m not too sad I missed out. All the girls in my dorm looked so cute before leaving though. Here’s a pic of Kiyo and my friend Piotr’s girlfriend Chiho!

Last night we played a common Japanese summer game called...

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 04:25:10 -0400

Last night we played a common Japanese summer game called Sukiwari which means hit the watermelon. Its kind of like hitting a pinata but hitting a watermelon instead. Everyone had a turn to be blind folded and spun around and then everyone called out directions to where the watermelon sat. We were using a soft bat so hitting the watermelon didn’t do anything but usually it is hit until it cracks open. We just cut it up at ate it in the end..

Watermelon is pretty expensive here so it was so very nice of the Yoshidas to treat us to it. Eating it made me crave other fresh fruits that I haven’t eaten in a while!

Last Leg..

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 08:27:00 -0400

Unfortunately, I’ve been caught up in finals and end of term projects so I haven’t done many noteworthy things lately or had time to update my blog much. Its really coming down to the end of my time here and I’ve been having mixed feelings about everything. Last week, I couldn’t believe I only had a few weeks left since it really feels like I just got here and got settled in. Somethings seem like they happened yesterday and some seem like ages ago already. This week, however, with the end of school and the weather being extremely hot, I am getting very excited to return to the comforts of home. I also know I have a bunch of friends waiting for me, who I haven’t seen in a very long time.

I have one week left of school and then I have one week to do fun things and pack up before heading back to Seattle. Japan has been such a roller coaster of emotions and I’ve learned a lot about myself in the past 4 months. I know I will definitely return at some point in the future and could even see myself living here for a year or two but right now… all I want is some Mexican food.

Kiyo, Noam and Kiyo’s boyfriend Jonas and I all went to...

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 08:12:00 -0400

Kiyo, Noam and Kiyo’s boyfriend Jonas and I all went to Lake Biwa together Saturday. We had an awesome time hanging out at the beach and swimming in the giant lake. The past week has been unbearably hot and the humidity is something I’ve never experienced. Going to cool off at the lake was just what I needed. It has definitely made me look forward to Seattle’s cool climate. Only 2 weeks away!

Photo

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 08:52:31 -0400

Thanks for bringing all my gear Ma and Pa!

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 08:48:00 -0400

Thanks for bringing all my gear Ma and Pa!

I climbed Mt. Fuji! And now I’m really sore! A group of 50...

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 08:41:00 -0400

I climbed Mt. Fuji! And now I’m really sore!

A group of 50 from my abroad program left campus at 7:30 am on Saturday and drove for 7 hours to the 5th station of Fuji. The 5th station is about half way up the mountain and the highest a car can take you. We got to the 5th station around 3pm and started hiking at about 4pm. Our guide led us to the 7th station where we rested and had dinner from 7pm-10pm. We then woke up at 10 and began hiking all…night…long.

The schedule of the trip was not the most efficient because we took our sweet time getting to the 7th station and then had to hike much faster up the rest of the mountain to make it to the top at sunrise. The second leg was much more intense and it was much colder as well. We got to the 8th station around 3:30 am and people who couldn’t go on, stopped there to wait while a majority of us continued the climb. As we got closer to the top, however, the amount of people increased as well. EVERYONE seemed to have the same schedule so we, along with about 1,000 other people, were trying to make it to the summit by sunrise. This basically caused a giant line up the side of the mountain.

Noam and I stayed together most of the way and we got to the very last tori gate, which is one of those red gates that are usually at Japanese shrines, but when we got there, we saw some people from our group coming down. They told us it was a 2 hour wait to get to the top, which was only about 50 meters away. We were wayyy too cold and tired to wait any longer so we decided to start heading down as well.

Although it was very disappointing we couldn’t make it to the top, climbing Mt. Fuji was still one my best experiences here. It was so much fun doing it as a group and helping each other through. Fuji is only open for climbing in July and August and since it was only the second week of July, it was probably one of the most crowded weekends of the season. Towards the end of our hike, it was so crowded it felt like we were waiting in line for a ride at Disneyland, except we were on a giant volcano and it was below freezing. Alas, I am not upset with my decision to turn back.

The trip ended very nicely with a visit to an onsen (Japanese hot spring) and a nice traditional lunch to follow. We didn’t get home until 10pm on Sunday night so we were all exhausted. It was definitely one of the most tired I’ve ever been but I had a nice 10 hour recovery sleep Sunday night…only to wake up with the stiffest legs EVER. So worth it.

Unfortunately, Pris got sick one day so my dad and I had a nice...

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 00:52:40 -0400

Unfortunately, Pris got sick one day so my dad and I had a nice time sightseeing just the two of us. He took me back to Asakusa and Akihabara where we did some shopping and had lunch together. My mom kept mentioning how shocked she was he remembered his way around so well since most of the time, it seems like his memory is awful….

It was so crazy seeing my cousin in Japan! We barely ever get to...

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 00:46:48 -0400

It was so crazy seeing my cousin in Japan! We barely ever get to see him in the States so it was funny that we got the chance to see him half way across the world!

Here’s our old apartment building! Looks exactly the same....

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 00:44:00 -0400

Here’s our old apartment building! Looks exactly the same. Although the entrance is much smaller than I remember as a kid..

This is the curry shop that is down the road from our apartment...

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 00:41:27 -0400

This is the curry shop that is down the road from our apartment as well. I remember the smell of the shop so well and I was so happy to see it was still there with the little giraffe out front!

This is the old toy store that Hobie spent so much time at when...

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 00:39:48 -0400

This is the old toy store that Hobie spent so much time at when we were there. It was down the road from our apartment and there were video games out front that you could try out before buying them. He used to spend hours there playing the “samples” and hanging out with kids from the neighborhood.

Tokyo Pilgrimage

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 00:38:26 -0400

Our weekend in Tokyo was fantastic! We saw all the places we loved so much when we lived there. We also saw some good friends and my cousin Galen who was conveniently on a business trip in Tokyo at the same time! So many memories came back to me after visiting where we used to live and my old school. It definitely felt like home. Surprisingly, I felt much more comfortable in Tokyo than in Kyoto and I can see myself working or living in Tokyo in the future.

I’ll post some pictures to show everyone where we went and what we did!

Goin' back!

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 10:14:51 -0400

I leave for Tokyo tomorrow! My parents are already there, staying with our good friend Claus and they’ve already seen the Griffens, who were some other good friends while we lived there. I can’t wait to see what everything is like now and re-experience my childhood. We are also lucky enough to be there while my cousin visits Tokyo for work so we’ll be meeting up with him this weekend as well! Can’t wait to share everything when I get back.

Wouldn’t expect anything else..

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 00:26:12 -0400

Wouldn’t expect anything else..