Nagoya Week 2

We started taking classes this week. I'll be taking a class in Map Appreciation (whatever that is) with a professor who is a little bit off, but is knowledgeable and enthusiastic. My Japanese culture class is taught by a Japanese man who learned Spanish before English, so he will occasionally substitute words. I will also be taking a class in Japanese film history. That's pretty much it until Japanese classes start next today. Now on to the important stuff!
Over the weekend I went to a party which was far too loud and made a random Chinese friend. I was also conversing oddly naturally with Japanese speakers. Almost like I've been learning the language or something. Who woulda guessed?
It was a long weekend, so Sunday I just cleaned my room and did laundry. I have an appointment with one of my tutors where he will tell me how on earth I can get internet.
On Monday a group of us went to Inuyama to see the castle there and any other things that might be there. I happened to drop my camera, and now there's some problem in the connection between the screen and camera. I'll fix it later. Anyways, here's pictures.
Inuyama is a bit out in the country.




After the castle we went to go see the Buddhist Temple, and found this badass little fellow on the way.



The temple was located above a cemetary which was on a hill and was a bit crowded.


The temple was nice and there was a cool Buddah.




But the really cool part was the shrine that we found when we went up a very safe and clearly marked path.



It was very well maintained and there were no large spiders at all.




The shrine itself was beautiful and serene and in all seriousness was my favorite place on the trip.



After that, we went down another completely different well-marked path, and found this. Attention to those of you looking to buy property. It's a beautiful property but is in need of a little TLC.





That's it for this week. After the trip I was extremely exhausted and went to bed early so I would be conscious for Japanese tomorrow.

Nagoya Week 1

Alternate Title: Orientation Hell

I arrived in Nagoya airport at 10:30 in the morning. I was in the back of the plane, so I was among the last to leave and as such, did not have to wait very long for my baggage at the carousel. After that, and with the help of several very patient rail employees, I was on my way to the dorm. Upon arrival, I made the foolish decision of not waiting for the elevator, and taking the stairs up instead... while carrying about a hundred pounds of luggage.
I was doing very well for the first three flights. At the sixth, I was wondering if the stairs would ever end. After I made it up I was rather drenched in sweat.
And then the walk up to the hill began.
By the time I arrived at the dorm, I was quite ready to lay down and never move again, but I was compelled to take a shower in preparation for the meet-and-greet thing. When I arrived at my room, I must admit I was underwhelmed. It is tiny. The bed alone takes up a third of the room and the bathroom looks like it belongs in an airplane. On the plus side, there is an oddly large amount of storage space and the bed is somehow long enough for me.
We had pizza, etc...
Orientations bla bla bla
Japanese garbage system bla bla
the internet is expensive or hard to find bla

WEEKEND!

On Saturday a group of us decided to go to the local aquarium.



We are a rather international bunch. England, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, France, Turkey, Sweden, Minnesota, Minnesota, Minnesota, Minnesota, China, Korea, Uzbekistan, and more are represented.

Anyways the aquarium was amazing. They had an incredible dolphin show, as well as a whole bunch of fish and some penguins.





After that, we visited Oosu and walked around a bunch pretending to shop.
On Sunday, we went to go see Nagoya Castle. I didn't really know we were going, so I didn't bring my camera. We had lunch at a restaurant called "ORYMPIA" and it was average. The castle itself had been converted into a museum inside and was very well done. We went to a sort of mall called Oasis 21 and they were having some sort of live Japanese traditional crafts exhibition. There was a woman extracting silk from cocoons, a man making tatami mats, and a random old guy who talk to me a lot. The moral of the story is that Japanese people are hard to understand when they talk too fast and slur their words.
After escaping from the very nice people who insisted on talking to us, we decided to make our way to the Pokémon Center. On the way, we were distracted by a shop that had a large amount of studio Ghibli stuff. Then we were distracted by the Jump shop next door. We eventually made it to the Pokémon center and there was much rejoicing. I bought a sweet deck box that has Mewtwo fighting that new Ice/Dragon Legendary whose name I can't remember.
Once we returned to the dorm, I made myself dinner and played Hisoutensoku against my Uzbek friend. It was much too close of a game.
I must train.

Notice

I'll be updating weekly instead of daily until I have consistent internet access.
kthxbye

Nagoya Day -0.5

Today has been a day of travel and meeting people. I am writing this from the airport in Guam, while I wait to leave for Nagoya. By some sort of miracle, there is free wi-fi in the Guam airport. Anyways, I have but one leg remaining of a four legged flight from Los Angeles, to Honolulu, to some random island in the middle of nowhere, to Guam, and soon to Nagoya.
On my first flight I sat next to a nice Guamanian couple with whom I made polite conversation. They're cool folks. On the Second and third flights I slept.
In the Guam airport, I am sitting here with my New Super Duper Best Friend Ever (TM) Timmy. Scroll down for a picture of Timmy.






























































Timmy seems to be a pretty cool guy. He's a bit quiet, but he's energetic. It was pretty hard getting him to sit still long enough for me to take this photo. I can't get him to tell me if he's coming to Nagoya or not, but if he is, it'll make my time there that much better.
Joking over, the Guam airport has cockroaches, and they know no fear.

Day -1 Nagoya

Soon.

The FUTURE!!!!

Starting on the 12th, this blog will be hosting pictures of my trip to Italia. That is all.

Edit:
Okay so maybe that was a lie, but when I'm in Japan this blog might see some action.

Day J14 & J15

Since the China students came to Japan for the last week we went with them to an out of the way part of Tokyo where the old architecture still stands. There, we visited a Buddhist temple and got to see the inside of a traditional Japanese-style house.



Afterwards we went to the Sunshine city building in Ikebukuro for dinner and desert. They had the single oddest ice cream shop that I have ever heard of. Its decorations and the such were somewhat ordinary, but the flavors were not. Images start normally, then.....











That's right. Viper. They had ice cream made out of viper.

Anyways, Next day, we had class and discussed things about Japanese culture in light of the last day's visits and such. Afterwards, we, in our small groups, took the China students on a short trip to various locations around Tokyo (each group did one location). My group brought our China students to Ginza and gave them a little history lesson and discussed cultural observations while viewing various venues such as t Itoya and Mitsukoshi stores. This post now concludes.