Regular Posting
Howdy folks! Okay, I will no longer ONLY post when I have a massive batch of pictures to put up. I'll just keep filling everyone in on my daily stuffs going on here. Today is an EXTREMELY boring day, but it's also kinda nice. I slept probably half the day and am just listening to some Dave Matthews Band, listening to the crazy wind blow by my window, and surfin' the web while drinkin' some apple tea. I'll probably study in a bit, since this week is full of difficult tests in school and well... I might as well do something with my time worthwhile.
Last week was normal until... Thursday night I got a hellacious fever when I laid down to bed. It kept me up all night with bad chills, cramps, and even like some convulsions. I got up feeling just really sore and tired on Friday, so I took some Advil and went to class. I slowly got around, but halfway through class I felt it again. The teacher was like, 顔がとても赤くなりましたよ！大丈夫ですか？ (Wow, your face is really turning red! Are you alright?!) I took a walk for the break in the middle of class and took more medicine. I felt "okay" after that... enough to make it to my "date" or really just friendly dinner with a Korean girl from class, but afterward I had to dodge a tea/coffee invitation so I could get home, 'cause as soon as I got on the train, I thought I was going to die. I made it on the train, but after I got to my station, I really really should've taken a cab, but walked the whole like 25 min. trek down the hilly road (I'm not far from the mountains) to my building, and probably could've cried with happiness upon getting to my room. Anyway, this all made it probably the best/worst day in Japan, 'cause the Korean girl, named Kan Jon-Son, was really nice and we'll hang out a little more later since she promised some Korean food, but I was so extremely sick that it balanced the day out.
Anyhow, that night was terrible with me laying in bed from about 8:30, falling asleep about 1ish, and then I woke up at... 10 or 11 Saturday. I felt sooooooo much better. All is well now. I ended up going to the XBox Cafe with some friends in my building over in Kita-Aoyama, and we walked through Harajuku(fashion hipster area) and Omotesando(another fashion place). I noticed when we were in these areas that it felt like I was in an American or European city with all the ENGLISH on everything instead of Japanese, and the Western-looking (non-Asian anyway) people everywhere. I figured they put the Japanese flags all down the street not only for the national holiday but to remind you that it is indeed Japan. Maybe that's why the XBox Cafe was in this area as well, because Japanese in general don't care for American video games. I didn't realize that the area we were in wasn't terribly far from Roppongi and Azabu-Juban, which are VERY foreign. Oh well, you learn something new everyday I suppose. I live out here in the hillz with the Japanese family types, so I don't EVER see non-Japanese except for the handful of Americans and Canadians that live on my floor in this building. It's nice actually, 'cause it's quiet here. Being in Shinjuku everyday can wear on you, but returning to the quiet of Kokubunji (meaning "country temple") is not bad. It still is rather inconvenient. It does keep me sometimes from going somewhere, I think mainly because I'm not close to the train station and so I'm just like.... naaaaaaah, I don't really want to walk a mile or two just to go to some store or whatnot. HOWEVER.. because of the massive massive walking/jogging I do here and the obvious diet difference, I've lost like 25 pounds already. My pants don't fit and I need to go buy a belt somewhat fiercely. New diet plan for all people who want to lose weight... move to Japan! Hahaha.
For you people reading this that are into games/technology/other nerdy stuff, yes I have bought some Japanese manga and have been enjoying it, mainly for the purpose of helping my lowsy reading skills. Books are insanely cheap here at sometimes less than a dollar, but CDs and related media are about double the American price sometimes. I got a *cheap* $33 CD here a few weeks ago... If you really are a geek like me, then you owe yourself a trip to the Akihabara area of Tokyo before you die. It is the holy temple of all that is geeky. It's like a whole city of games, manga, computers, robots, anime... ... and of course there are these maid-girls and anime-costumed girls everywhere in the street that are pretty freakin' easy to look at (in a very normal, mature and innocent way.. at least for me, maybe not for most of the guys there), which call you ご主人様, or Master/My Lord, in Japanese and serve you food and whatnot. There are also usually girl bands performing music on the side of the street that are pretty good actually. I've been there... 4 times thus far I think. I went there to buy this laptop, I went there to help a friend look for a job, went there to waste time at a camera store while waiting to meet up with someone, and I can't remember the other reason, oh yeah, to shop for this laptop but I didn't buy it the first time I saw it.
There are certainly other interesting places in Tokyo, but that one was on my mind at the moment and so I typed it. If you're into fashion and such, you can probably go anywhere here, but the places that will destroy your bank account with all the big Western names are probably Ginza, Omotesando, and the area near Shinjuku Station. Shinjuku Station is THE largest and busiest train station in the world, with something like maybe... I dunno almost 30 train platforms (I don't know if that counts the subways too or what), around 70-something exits, and I think I've seen FIVE shopping malls in it. Millions of people go through this place just in one of the rush hours alone. It's quite a zoo sometimes. I actually hate the place, but there IS the only Mexican restaurant I've seen so far in Japan near there just outside the South Exit by the Odakyu Department Store. I don't know what my favorite part of the Tokyo area is yet. I felt at home in Tsukiji because we were at a fish market on Tokyo Bay, and I felt like I was back in New Orleans or something, with that fish smell, the water running out of the river right there with big buildings all around it, and fishing ships... I'm told Shinjuku Gyoen (the city's largest park) is awesome, but I walk a block from it every day and haven't been. It's so cold that I usually don't feel like sitting or walking through a park and just want to go inside.
Right now, I've got 2 trips planned out with the school and one I'm setting up on my own. One trip is with my classmates that are the Chinese and Koreans, and it is to some big farm in Chiba Prefecture. They say it's beautiful and there are lots of animals(though if you know me, this is no attraction or anything at all new to me, lol), and then some rides like go-karts, a big ferris wheel, etc. The US Program students in a couple weeks are taking a trip up to Aizu-Wakamatsu in Fukushima Prefecture, which is to the north and in the mountains. We're staying at a traditional inn where there's an onsen and other such olde skool Japanese cultural things to check out. My independent outing I'm getting people to go on, is out to Kamakura, which is southwest of Yokohama and Yokosuka, on the Pacific Ocean. It's an oooold samurai town that is supposed to be beautiful and a huge tourist attraction. It's on the beach and has lots of shops and restaurants, and of course castles, temples, and the Daibutsu(big buddha). I'm definitely going there next month.
Well folkses, I guess I'd better stop typing for the moment and get back to doing some studying. I hear my neighbors moving around, so we'll probably head out for some dinner soon, since there's no cafeteria food on Sundays. See ya'll later!
Last week was normal until... Thursday night I got a hellacious fever when I laid down to bed. It kept me up all night with bad chills, cramps, and even like some convulsions. I got up feeling just really sore and tired on Friday, so I took some Advil and went to class. I slowly got around, but halfway through class I felt it again. The teacher was like, 顔がとても赤くなりましたよ！大丈夫ですか？ (Wow, your face is really turning red! Are you alright?!) I took a walk for the break in the middle of class and took more medicine. I felt "okay" after that... enough to make it to my "date" or really just friendly dinner with a Korean girl from class, but afterward I had to dodge a tea/coffee invitation so I could get home, 'cause as soon as I got on the train, I thought I was going to die. I made it on the train, but after I got to my station, I really really should've taken a cab, but walked the whole like 25 min. trek down the hilly road (I'm not far from the mountains) to my building, and probably could've cried with happiness upon getting to my room. Anyway, this all made it probably the best/worst day in Japan, 'cause the Korean girl, named Kan Jon-Son, was really nice and we'll hang out a little more later since she promised some Korean food, but I was so extremely sick that it balanced the day out.
Anyhow, that night was terrible with me laying in bed from about 8:30, falling asleep about 1ish, and then I woke up at... 10 or 11 Saturday. I felt sooooooo much better. All is well now. I ended up going to the XBox Cafe with some friends in my building over in Kita-Aoyama, and we walked through Harajuku(fashion hipster area) and Omotesando(another fashion place). I noticed when we were in these areas that it felt like I was in an American or European city with all the ENGLISH on everything instead of Japanese, and the Western-looking (non-Asian anyway) people everywhere. I figured they put the Japanese flags all down the street not only for the national holiday but to remind you that it is indeed Japan. Maybe that's why the XBox Cafe was in this area as well, because Japanese in general don't care for American video games. I didn't realize that the area we were in wasn't terribly far from Roppongi and Azabu-Juban, which are VERY foreign. Oh well, you learn something new everyday I suppose. I live out here in the hillz with the Japanese family types, so I don't EVER see non-Japanese except for the handful of Americans and Canadians that live on my floor in this building. It's nice actually, 'cause it's quiet here. Being in Shinjuku everyday can wear on you, but returning to the quiet of Kokubunji (meaning "country temple") is not bad. It still is rather inconvenient. It does keep me sometimes from going somewhere, I think mainly because I'm not close to the train station and so I'm just like.... naaaaaaah, I don't really want to walk a mile or two just to go to some store or whatnot. HOWEVER.. because of the massive massive walking/jogging I do here and the obvious diet difference, I've lost like 25 pounds already. My pants don't fit and I need to go buy a belt somewhat fiercely. New diet plan for all people who want to lose weight... move to Japan! Hahaha.
For you people reading this that are into games/technology/other nerdy stuff, yes I have bought some Japanese manga and have been enjoying it, mainly for the purpose of helping my lowsy reading skills. Books are insanely cheap here at sometimes less than a dollar, but CDs and related media are about double the American price sometimes. I got a *cheap* $33 CD here a few weeks ago... If you really are a geek like me, then you owe yourself a trip to the Akihabara area of Tokyo before you die. It is the holy temple of all that is geeky. It's like a whole city of games, manga, computers, robots, anime... ... and of course there are these maid-girls and anime-costumed girls everywhere in the street that are pretty freakin' easy to look at (in a very normal, mature and innocent way.. at least for me, maybe not for most of the guys there), which call you ご主人様, or Master/My Lord, in Japanese and serve you food and whatnot. There are also usually girl bands performing music on the side of the street that are pretty good actually. I've been there... 4 times thus far I think. I went there to buy this laptop, I went there to help a friend look for a job, went there to waste time at a camera store while waiting to meet up with someone, and I can't remember the other reason, oh yeah, to shop for this laptop but I didn't buy it the first time I saw it.
There are certainly other interesting places in Tokyo, but that one was on my mind at the moment and so I typed it. If you're into fashion and such, you can probably go anywhere here, but the places that will destroy your bank account with all the big Western names are probably Ginza, Omotesando, and the area near Shinjuku Station. Shinjuku Station is THE largest and busiest train station in the world, with something like maybe... I dunno almost 30 train platforms (I don't know if that counts the subways too or what), around 70-something exits, and I think I've seen FIVE shopping malls in it. Millions of people go through this place just in one of the rush hours alone. It's quite a zoo sometimes. I actually hate the place, but there IS the only Mexican restaurant I've seen so far in Japan near there just outside the South Exit by the Odakyu Department Store. I don't know what my favorite part of the Tokyo area is yet. I felt at home in Tsukiji because we were at a fish market on Tokyo Bay, and I felt like I was back in New Orleans or something, with that fish smell, the water running out of the river right there with big buildings all around it, and fishing ships... I'm told Shinjuku Gyoen (the city's largest park) is awesome, but I walk a block from it every day and haven't been. It's so cold that I usually don't feel like sitting or walking through a park and just want to go inside.
Right now, I've got 2 trips planned out with the school and one I'm setting up on my own. One trip is with my classmates that are the Chinese and Koreans, and it is to some big farm in Chiba Prefecture. They say it's beautiful and there are lots of animals(though if you know me, this is no attraction or anything at all new to me, lol), and then some rides like go-karts, a big ferris wheel, etc. The US Program students in a couple weeks are taking a trip up to Aizu-Wakamatsu in Fukushima Prefecture, which is to the north and in the mountains. We're staying at a traditional inn where there's an onsen and other such olde skool Japanese cultural things to check out. My independent outing I'm getting people to go on, is out to Kamakura, which is southwest of Yokohama and Yokosuka, on the Pacific Ocean. It's an oooold samurai town that is supposed to be beautiful and a huge tourist attraction. It's on the beach and has lots of shops and restaurants, and of course castles, temples, and the Daibutsu(big buddha). I'm definitely going there next month.
Well folkses, I guess I'd better stop typing for the moment and get back to doing some studying. I hear my neighbors moving around, so we'll probably head out for some dinner soon, since there's no cafeteria food on Sundays. See ya'll later!
posted by ザック at 2:01 AM
2 Comments:
I'm definitely looking forward to going back to Kamakura in March when the sakura are blooming. I'll be the gaijin with my eye glued to the viewfinder of my digital camera.
Mike
its me ya boy again just tryin to keep posted on your blog the girl is pretty attractive allot better than some other ive seen well brother we miss you here in the boot email im kinda limited because im checkin my mail via cell phone but ne ways take care brother much love ya boy mark
Post a Comment
<< Home