京都 Kyoto

Our program began in Kyoto ( where I found a new charger and was able to take photos again!).
My group had been in Japan for over a week and had traveled form Osaka to Nara where we saw most of the tourist sights.

A few of us were surprised at how much our traveling depended upon walking but I think honestly we were all glad of it. We also decided to visit Iga Ueno to visit a castle and a ninja house, the day was rainy but the best part was the train ride to and from Iga Ueno. The mountains where amazing and covered in mist and drifting clouds, it was so beautiful it nearly made me cry.

The walk back from Iga Ueno

A sign for the Ninja House

To get to Kyoto we had to take a very long ( and a little confusing for a beginner) train ride from Nara to Kyoto. We took a few wrong trains, milled about in confusion and finally hopped on the correct train.

A sign we saw while we were lost

We arrived at the main Kyoto station, we were surprised at how large it was. We had to find our way to the hostel but had no idea where it was. Taylor found a payphone and we called Andrew and Adam Procter who had already arrived. We met a few of the other program participants in a covered shopping area ( I found a shop selling sony camera battery chargers) and then we were on our way to the hostel. The hostel was the nicest we had been in yet. Despite the shared rooms I preferred this hostel to any of the higher end hotels I've stayed in. The attendants where nice and friendly as where the fellow guests.

The youth hostel and the "lucky" stone

When our professor arrived we all went back down to the main train depot and met the rest of the group. Our professor had planned several group outings to temples and shrines in Kyoto and the surrounding areas and off we went.

Me, A statue Stephanie and I ran across on a random walking adventure, Austin God of Thunder

Amanda and Cody at a Zen Buddhist temple we visited

The Giant Dai (大) on the side of the mountain, apparently they catch it on fire during Obon

Amanda, Taylor, Cody and I went down to the river where Amanda remembered playing when she was a child.
We played on the back of stone turtles and watched little kids and their families catch crayfish

Amanda and I went off to find her childhood home and we found it, we also found a train shop while searching for a candy shop she remembered

A nest of baby swallows, it's seen as a blessing to have swallows build a nest at your home or business.
Nests aren't removed but are instead tended after and the birds watched over.

More 大阪

One of the first things I noticed when I arrived in Japan was that I had forgotten my extra camera battery and charger at my Father's house....charging. So I began to conserve my battery life and looked for a place selling Sony battery chargers.

Unfortunately most of my Osaka experience is not documented with pictures but that didn't make it any less fabulous.

First we checked into our hotel/youth hostel ,ホテルチュオ. We had a little trouble explaining our reservations and figuring out how we were to pay ( up front). We were issued our keys even for the non-present individuals. Although we were allowed to wear our shoes in the hotel, there were mini-genkan in our rooms for us to remove our shoes and a pair of fresh disposable slippers to wear inside of our bedrooms. I changed my clothes and giggled like a nut as Amanda and I expressed our disbelief at where we were.
We all went out to explore Dotonbori and then back to bed. The next day we explored Osaka and made plans for the rest of the week.

We visited the aquarium, where we saw thousands of fish and other aquatic species. I took the longest to go through the aquarium as I took over 600 photos and examined every display.

After the aquarium we went to the shopping mall next door for lunch and for some shopping, in the mall we saw a ninja store and "spy house" and a pet shop/petting zoo where you could pay to pet the animals (everything from dogs, cats, and birds to goats and sheep).

Amanda & Cody in the food court, TOTORO!, Cody & the Colonel, The men and their bags


A giant ferris wheel was attached to the shopping mall so we all went for a ride and viewed the city of Osaka from the top.

Arriving in Japan

A few classmates and friends and I had been making plans for our arrival. We would get there a week or so before our school program began. Our idea was that it would be exciting and help us get ready for the program. A few of us decided to meet in Osaka ( at the airport actually)... Going through customs by yourself when you can barely read kanji and are too scared to try out your language skills is a bit horrifying, but you have no choice...you still have to do it and this was one of the most beneficial things I've experienced.



Taylor, Amanda, Denise and I met at the airport and were on our way. We took our first train ride ( except for Taylor who had been to Japan previously) to a station near our hotel. We put our things away and chatted about what to do, go out? or stay in and relax after our long flights. Of course, we went out.

We made our way down to Dotonburi. We were excited and a little nervous but mostly ecstatic ( I was kind of in a fog, I couldn't believe I was really there). Taylor led as he had been there before, had stayed in the same hotel had walked the same streets.

We wandered the streets for a few hours until we realized we were all starving. We stopped at a small restaurant for our first Japanese meal and then headed back to the hotel. Meanwhile we had begun to worry about two members of our group who were supposed to have met us several hours before but who hadn't shown. None of us had cell phones or any other way to contact people. We stayed up chatting and snickering all of us too excited to sleep. Finally Brian and Stephanie showed up and we all went to bed.

大阪 Osaka

大阪 I arrived in Osaka alone, a bit scared and more than a bit overwhelmed. Two hours before I had touched down in Tokyo at Narita airport. We sat on the tarmac for over thirty minutes as they prepared to send a group of doctors onto the plane. Because of the Swine Flu panic all planes entering Japan were being boarded and the passengers examined. The doctors dressed in scary looking haz-mat suits seemed more than a little intimidating. They asked the passengers if anyone felt ill at all, and if they did to raise their hand. No one raised their hand. The doctors walked the length of the plane scanning the rows looking for tell tale signs of illness. Fortunately no one was obviously ill and we were released from the plane.

I had been told that I would need to go through customs in Tokyo, as I left the plane I got to go through a series of checks. They scanned my forehead for a high temperature, perused my visa, asked me why I was here, etc and then I was off to find my luggage. I couldn't find it right away and I began to panic. A security guard noticed my confusion and although he didn't speak English he gave me a paper with English directions on airport basics. I soon found my luggage and went through the customs line, they didn't bother to look through my belongings. The customs official just asked if I had brought produce and why I was here. When I said that I was in Japan to study Japanese puppetry he laughed and waved me ahead.

I got on my transfer and was on my way to Osaka. On the plane I was seated next to a woman and her daughter. After a while they asked me where I was from. They thought I was from England, when I told them I was from the US they asked where. I tried to explain where Missouri was and they giggled. We talked (in Japanese only) about Paris, Yuzu, why I was in Japan, Puppetry, and a random of assortment of chitchat. Of course in the middle of all of this I spilled an entire cup of juice in my lap....yes I am awesome. We arrived at the airport and they wished me luck and were on their way. Meanwhile... I was in Osaka. After running around I began to relax and followed the signs that I could read to find my luggage, to go through customs and to find the exit to the main lobby. I ran into Taylor near customs and we exited into the lobby together. We found an exchange center and changed our money into our first fistful of yen.
Soon after we ran into Amanda and Denise and began our search to find the correct train to get where we needed to go, somewhere in the heart of Osaka.

I'm going where?

This summer I spent over two months in Japan. Although I had internet access rarely, I honestly was too busy to post. So here are some posts relating to my summer.

How did I get to Japan?

Well.....

One day when I was a little kid I decided that I was going to be Japanese when I grew up ( great....right? How about another dream I can't attain) shortly afterwards my peers informed me that was impossible. My interest in Japan didn't diminish however and I became fascinated by the rural lifestyle in certain parts of Japan.

I grew up ( supposedly) had been in college for what seemed ages and had just transferred to a new University to eek out a few more miserable years until I could attain my degree. After a year and a slow slip into boredom I realized that the school offered Japanese. I had always wanted to take Japanese and said "what the hell" so I enrolled. I was horrified at first, I couldn't read most of the words in my textbook, I had no idea what to do. Soon I fell into the swing of things and found that 1) I wasn't bored 2) I was pretty decent at learning the language 3) I didn't want to quit school and live under a bridge anymore.

At my last job I had fallen in love with Giant Salamanders and was especially fond of Andrias japonicus ( Giant Japanese salamanders) but thought I could never seen them in person. Now that I had Japanese under my belt I realized I could do anything (not just with Japanese but with any language, I can go anywhere!).

Now my professor is especially pushy about getting his students to study abroad and of course his stories peaked my interest but there was no way I could afford it. I decided that I might as well try and see if I could get financial aid.... I couldn't but I had already filled out all my papers and had been accepted. So, I took out a school loan. Yes I know that may seem foolish but to tell you the truth, it's one of the best decisions I've ever made.

My dad bought my ticket to Japan as a gift and I was on my way.