Rain, rain, rain, and lots of rain

The rainy season has set in here in Miyazaki~ It rains pretty hard most days and the humidity seems through the roof. Roads and side walks turn into mini rivers in a matter of moments when the heavy rain starts, parking lots turn into shallow lakes. I think shorts might be the best course of action during the rainy season, so the rain doesn't seep up the pant legs, taking forever to dry in the humid weather. But don't get me wrong! I love this weather. The rain is pleasant to listen to and the whole place turns green (with vegetation not mold :). The bugs are coming out and the temperature is getting hotter and hotter~ Summer is on it's way.

神戸の旅行 Kobe Travels

今週末、神戸に行った。　AllisonとJackに会ったり、買い物をしたり、観光したり、友だちに作りました。　本当に楽しかったよ！　水曜日の晩にフェリーに乗った。　あまり人がいなかったから、しずかだ。　Allison とJackは木曜日にじゅぎょうがあたが、私と一緒に行った。　じゅぎょうは日本語のじゅぎょうだ。　おもしろかった、ちがいの文法や単語があた。　先生はやさしかった。金曜日Allisonと一緒い三ノ宮買い物しに行った。神戸のファシオンはすごくすてき！　ぜんぶ買いたい。あぁぁ～～ 神戸で世界に一番大きいのIKEAがある。人が多かった！三ノ宮からIKEAまでシャトルバスがある。IKEAの物は同じだから、日本で人気があると思っている。あとでAllisonのアパートに帰った。友だちと一緒にカラオケした～～すごく楽しかった！私とAllisonとゆいちゃんとひろみちゃん（Allisonのチューター）、一緒に歌った～みなは本当に上手だ！日本の歌難しいが、チャレンジだ！カラオケが好き！
土曜日はゆっくりの日、ゆいちゃんとよーよーちゃんと遊んだり、ケーキを作ったり、お好み焼きを食べました。日曜日はひろみちゃんの誕生日だから、ケーキを作った。Allisoｎのレシピをつかった、おいしかった～、Allisonは上手だ！日曜日、京都に行った～金閣寺にいったり、ケーキを食べしました。ひろみちゃんはうれしかった～帰るの時はさいごのバスをとった。月曜日、Allisonと一緒にアメリカの政治（せいじ）のじゅぎょうに行った。あとで三宮行った、帰りました。

And now for those of you who do not know Japanese or would rather not read my horrid Japanese, I present the abridged version with pictures~

I traveled to Kobe by ferry this weekend to hang out with the other exchange students from Evergreen in Kobe. I did entirely too much shopping but had lots of fun sightseeing and hanging out with friends :) When I arrived on Thursday I wound my way through the subways and railway lines from the Osaka port to Gakuentoshi, a station near the University in Kobe. After making it and trying to shake away the odd feeling that the world was swaying beneath my feet, because I had just spend the last twelve hours on a rocky boat, I headed over to the University to meet up with Jack and Allison to eat lunch. I joined an English study lunch club where I was introduced to several of my soon to be friends and the Japanese professor at the University. I then joined Japanese class after wards with Allison and Jack. Then Allison and I returned to her apartment where I promptly took a nap before we headed out to dinner with Allison's friend from China. On Friday we headed over to Sannomiya, a downtown shopping area in Kobe filled with more stores then I could ever imagine. This being my third time to Kobe, and probably my tenth visit to Sannomiya, I was discovering whole new levels and shops in the area, it is quite a shopper's paradise. We caught the free shuttle bus to the new IKEA on port island as well. The line was a good 100 meters long... I was really surprised. (See picture below)


On our way back from IKEA we were unable to fit onto the first bus it was so crowded! So we waited for the next one and chatted about how we liked the clothing that some people were wearing~ After we returned from our shopping spree we headed out to Karaoke with Yui and Hiromi (Allison's tutor). It was lots of fun! I find that Japanese songs are the best to sing because they are really challenging and can teach you lots of Japanese and is good practice for reading and speaking quickly.


Once we had sung to our heart's content we called it a night and headed home.

Saturday Allison and I spend some time doing homework and studying in the morning before taking a quick trip to the mall to view the stores there. Before heading over to Yui's place to bake a cake for Hiromi's birthday with her and Yoyo. Allison makes wonderful yummy cakes by the way! Yui also taught me how to make Okonomiyaki and we ate that while the cake was baking. The pan-shwoop, where you flip over the okonomiyaki with just the pan, was the most difficult part I think. I was rather nervous, but managed it ok~ Once we finished the baking of the cake, we headed back to Allison's place to let the cake cool for the night. On Sunday morning we arose bright and early to make it to Yui's place by 9am to finish up the cake. With everything complete, Yoyo went of to Kyoto first so we could suprise Hiromi with the cake when she arrived. We then went to Tarumi station to meet up with Hiromi and her friend and buy discount tickets for Kyoto, which cost about half the price that it would of cost to buy them normally.



When we arrived in Kyoto, we ate lunch then headed to Kinkakuji to view the sights and eat cake. We also visited a lot of other areas in Kyoto till it started to get dark and we figured we should catch a train home so we don't miss the last bus. Luckly we all made it back in time for the buses and were safe and sound.

I joined the American Political class taught by the current exchange faculty in Kobe on Monday before heading back to Sannomiya for a little bit of last minute shopping, and then headed off for the ferry. I met some nice people on the ferry and we chatted and shared some food for dinner. It was a wonderful trip and thank you everyone so much for such a good time! I hope to visit Kobe again! It is always a new and exciting adventure :)

Rules of the Road

During my stay here in Japan so far, I have noticed many things about driving which seem to differ from the U.S.A, besides driving on the other side of the road. There seems to be four sets of rules which are fallowed on the road:

First is cars:
As a road was built for cars they have the main say in the end. But driving habits seem to be a bit.... different here. I have often found myself clinging to the sides of my seat praying to live through the experience. Don't get me wrong, there good drivers on the roads but they seem to be young people. When I feel as though I am in a life threating position seems to be when I am driving with older people, particularly women (not a sexist comment, just from my experiences). There seems to be a lot of stopping in the middle of the road randomly or turning from the wrong lane. But other then my scary experiences as a passenger I have observed the social rules of driving seem to be different. People are far more common to stop to let someone to the line, or just driving more passively in general. Also roads are quite narrow so there is often no actual turn lane, so people just stop in the middle of the road to turn and other cars swerve around them. Needless to say I am very cautious about my surroundings when a pedestrian.

Second is pedestrians:
Pedestrians are pretty much the same as the U.S.A. Stick to the side walks and cross walks and you are safe. J-walk at you own risk. Pretty Standard.

Third are bikes:
Bicycles are a mix between the pedestrian and the car. They can ride on the side walk or on the road. Side walks here in Miyazaki are plenty wide enough for both pedestrians and bicycles and are made for both. Most bicycles are one speed and come equipped with at least a basket in front for various things, some have the nifty platform above the back tire and or saddle bags for carrying additional loads. Most mothers have one or two child seats in addition to a basket. The bicycle is really the way to travel here in my opinion.

Fourth, last but not least, is scooters:
These things are a drive at your own risk. They tend to have a max mph of 30-40 and fit into no other group. Most people drive on the very edge of the road to avoid getting mowed down by cars doing twice the speed. When cars stop at a red light most mozy their way up to the front of the line between cars to get a burst of a head start before getting passed by everyone once again. I often see scooters drive up onto the side walk to park. Please wear a good helmet while driving one of these crazy vehicles.

Though I have made the roads seems unbelievable dangerous and should be avoided at all costs, there are actually very few accidents here in Miyazaki. Probably because there is not the shear volume of cars that we have in the U.S, maybe also because all these driving rules seem like something normal so everyone knows what to look out for. I tend to see tons of scooters around the school because in terms of getting a license it is much more affordable then a car. A scooter costs about 300$ where as a car license costs about 3000$. I personally enjoy being a pedestrian or riding my bicycle.

On an ending note.... I have seen one policeperson in my 7 months here in Japan, and he had pulled over a scooter because it was going under the speed limit. This is quite a different place indeed.

Busy Busy Busyness

It has been quite a while since I last posted in my blog. My mom came to visit me in Japan for the last two in a half weeks, she is currently on the way back to the U.S now. We have traveled to many places and did a lot of shopping! We visited Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Fukuoka, Kagoshima, and many sightseeing areas around Miyazaki. So many places in so little time! I think I shall take the next few days to relax and recover from all the traveling. I acted as a translator for my mom while she was here, it was great practice for my Japanese. I could go into many details of the trips, but I will just post some pictures with descriptions~ I shall start from the beginning~

The first day we went to Kyoto. The shrine is called kinkakuji. I visited it in the fall last year, but it looks completely different in the spring.



After visiting a few temples and shrines, we went to the Kyoto botanical gardens. It is rather off the beaten path of tourists but it was great weather and we got to take a leisurely walk through the flowers. We also visited the large green house in the botanical garden. oooh pretty flowers~

We visited Kobe on the second day. I feel as though Kobe is much more fashionable then Osaka. We traveled up the Kobe ropeway (a gondola that travels to the top of a mountain) and walked down through the herb gardens. We also did a bit of shopping in the area~

After a few busy days in the Kansai area, we took the shinkansen and headed down to Fukuoka. There we met up with my friend Midori and went out to sushi. It was my mom's first time eating sushi so it was fun :)

In Fukuoka we also went to Dazaifu in Fukuoka. Much like Kyoto, it was almost like a different place in spring rather then winter. There were about three different high schools visiting the shrine, but luckly we were able to get in and visit the shrine before it was swarmed by students.

After a week of busy traveling with suit cases we finally arrived back in Miyazaki. But the busyness didn't end there. We continued to travel around the area visiting shrines and beaches in Miyazaki prefecture.

On Tuesday the 29th we headed down to Aoshima, on foot. It is a rather long hike taking about 2 hours we arrived at the beach. It was full of surfers and the waters where clear blue. We went seashell hunting and walked down the beach to Aoshima. The island is surrounded by the "Uni no sentaku" or "devil's washboard" in English. It is a natural rock formation that is found along the coast just south of Miyazaki city.


Thursday the 1st I had no classes so we visited Kagoshima. It was a bit rainy but we were able to visit some places that Anthony and I were unable to see so it was quite interesting. The volcano, Mt. Sakurajima, was surrounded in mist and clouds so it was quite pretty. (You can see it in the back ground of the picture)


We also visited Udo Shrine on Sunday, it was golden week so there were many many people there. I was able to land one of the little clay balls into pool of water on a rock below the shrine~ Each time I visit the shrine it is always calming and pleasant, I wish it was a bit easier to get to from Miyazaki city.


And here is Miyazaki Shrine~ It is interesting because you can always tell where shrines are because they tend to be little forests in the middle of a city.

Other then sightseeing we did a lot of shopping. And I do mean a lot of shopping. It is shop till you drop here in Japan :P especially during golden week. It's dog eat dog in Aeon shopping mall here in Miyazaki.

Now my mom is on her way back to Seattle and I am gonna get back on my routine of classes and homework and living in Japan. I have decided to keep a nature journal to help me get through these next few months. This year has gone by so fast. When I reflect upon it so much has happend and I have learned so much. I am hoping to make the best of the last few months here. And I miss cheese so much!

Shiva's farewell

For the past month or so I had been trying to find a new home for Shiva. He has grown up to be such a good kitty, and he needs more space and loving family to be with. Yet when I had to give him away it still hit me hard. He went to his new home on April 6th. He has moved to Nichinan, about an hour and a half drive away form Miyazaki Univeristy. I sent him off with some of his favorite toys. He was scared when he first got there, hiding under the table for a little while. But he is such a good kitty who loves people that he crawled out shortly and curled up in his new people's arms and took a nap. I have been keeping in touch with his new family and they sent me some pictures and reports on how he is doing. I am glad that he is in a good home with loving people :)

I am glad that I was able to help him recover from his sickness and find him a good home. I talked to my vet and he recomended contacting the Miyazaki dobutsu no inochi wo momory kai, a group in Miyazaki who helps find homes for abandoned pets. It was a relief to find this group here, I was worried about all the abandoned animals that live in Miyazaki, but now I am glad that they have people helping them. Anyways, I called them and gave them information on Shiva and sent a picture and they helped find him a new home.

This is their website:
http://www1.bbiq.jp/m-doubutsu/
and this is something pretty funny for those who like cats~ http://www1.bbiq.jp/m-doubutsu/cat%20commandments.html

I am sad that Shiva is gone, I wont hear his little padding feet running around the room at night. Or his happy meows and cuddles when I come home. But knowing that I helped him get well and find a loving home makes me happy.





さいよならシバちゃん I will always remember you.

P.S:
I think I am going to do some WTF cat photos with some of the pictures I have of Shiva hehe. He is just such a cute and slightly odd kitty~

Miyazaki Graduation

On March 24th I went to the Miyazaki graduation held at Sea Gaia, a fancy hotel/resort by the beach in Miyazaki. Several of my friends were graduating including Kaori, Midori, and Satomi. It was rather short compared to Evergreen's graduation I think, just a few speakers and a small musical performance. All the girls were dressed up in kimono and hakata or pretty dresses and the guys were all in suits. It was pretty fun to see everyone all dressed up. It was so packed and busy with everyone rushing around. Anyway here are some pictures~



Ahhhh~~~ Everyone is starting the next step of their life's journey.

Karaoke~

Hello guys~ I know I haven't blogged in about a month >< Sorry! I will try to do some catching up soon.

Last night it was once of my friends birthday so a group of us all went out to dinner and Karaoke. We went to eat sushi at a hyakuen, about 1 dollar, sushi place. It was so yummy and we all ate more then we should have! After eating our fill we headed over to Round-One, an entertainment center near Minami Miyazaki. Entertainment centers are quite popular here in Japan I believe. They have pretty much everything, karaoke, darts, arcades, bowling, and a multitude of other fun things to do. I often wonder how they fit it all in the building.

We headed for the Karaoke and sang our hearts out for a good three hours. If anyone wants to practice reading Japanese quickly I recommend doing Karaoke. The words zoom by so fast but most of the Kanji doesn't have furigana so you might be making up some sounds a long the way if you don't know much kanji. Along with a few microphones, there are Congo drums, little tambourine things, and maracas so people can accompany the singer/singers. It was super fun and we all had a great time~



I will try to post more of what happened in March after this.

Hina Matsuri

Oops I forgot a little adventure! I should blog more often hehe.

On Sunday the 24th, the day after Anthony and I returned from Fukuoka, we went to go see the hina matsuri dolls at Aya, a little town north of Miyazaki, with Satomi. Satomi and I where dressed up in kimono and it was great fun! We went to a little lunch and tea restaurant before starting our walk around town.

There were a lot of people there and a lot of different displays. Some where owned privatively and others belonged to a company. There was also a little contest you could enter if you went to and collected stamps to fill out a post card and then mail it in. I'm not sure what could have been won, but I thought it was kinda cool.

Satomi and me in Kimono~


Fancy display in side a temple and me.



A road~


Kapa playing igo.
Sorry it's a bit blurry.

After we visited the main area, we went up to a old castle. It sat on a high point and the only way to get to it is to cross a bridge. We went in and explored the castle for a bit. The stairs were rather hard to clime up and down in a kimono. But we all made it to the top and saw a great view of the area surrounding the town.

Way to the castle.


The magnificent view~


...Tri-force?

After that we headed home. Satomi was heading to Singapore the next day and had to wake up at 3am. There was a lot of interesting things to see and wearing a kimono is always fun.

GSO retreat, Part three: Kumamoto

On Sunday the 2nd of March we were given free time at the cycling inn to ride bikes around the area. There was a small 300yen cost, about three U.S dollars, and we could ride for as long as we wanted. It was beautiful and the sun was shinning. We rode around the bike path, I think we lost it at one point but we managed to find our way back just fine.

This is the group I rode with~

I realized how out of shape I was after that bike ride hehe, but I wasn't as bad as I had thought I would be. We pettled up some steep hills at the end which I was able to conquer so I felt pretty good. Once we got back and returned our bikes we were all ready to nap on the bus as it drove to our next location: lunch.

We ate lunch at what seemed like a tour bus rest stop. There were about four other tour buses that came in after us. We ate another Japanese style meal and got to see some pretty plum blossoms and shop for omiyage before heading to Kumamoto Castle.

Look at me! I am a pretty plum tree!

The main part of the Kumamoto Castle was, to me, not the most inpressive part. It was redone to be a modern museum on the in side with concrete walls and floors. On the other hand some of the outer buildings were kept the way the castle was originally built. With the old wooden floors and super steep stairs. These parts of the castles are more interesting to me then the modern looking exhibits on the inside. I like seeing how the castle was traditionally built by looking at the structures on the inside. The grounds were really pretty though and you can see the whole city from one tower. It was quite amazing.

One part of the city view.


The main part of the castle.


The cute little mascot~

Once we finished at the castle we all settled in for the 3 hour drive back to Miyazaki University. Once finishing this trip, I have traveled to each prefecture in Kyushu, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Oita, Kumamoto, Fukuoka, Saga, and Nagasaki. Where next shall my adventures in Japan take me?

G.S.O retreat: the end~

GSO retreat, Part two: Nagasaki

On the 1st we walked around Nagasaki, visiting the peace park, atomic bomb museum, and Glover garden.

The peace park was the first place we visited. It was built on the exact place as the epicenter of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. It makes me sad to think of the devastation caused by it. The peace park is a reminder of the some of the devastation. It has part of the old church which was obliterated by the bomb as well as many statues donated from around the world and chains of 100 paper cranes(for peace).

This is a statue of peace.

This is a fountain in the shape of dove wings.

The fountan above is dedicated to all those who couldn't find water after the atomic bomb. It is in the shape of dove wings to represent peace. Not only was the city destoryed but many surrounding areas were damaged and there was not enough food, water, or medical supplies to aid those in need.

We walked to the atomic bomb museum from the peace park, they are connected. We were not allowed to take pictures but it was very shocking to see the amount of damage inflicted. Not even the makers of the atomic bomb knew what damage it could do. They felt regret after making such a horrible weapon to be used on people. What saddens me is that even after this destruction happened and, not only people but also the environment was harmed horribly by it, but people still wanted to use the bombs. Talk about short sited. Sure kill the planet and everything on it, that's one way to stop wars for sure. Anyways, it was a very emotional thing to see and I recommend anyone coming to Japan visit either the Nagasaki or Hiroshima atomic bomb museum.

After this sombering experience we visited the very lovely, Glover garden. It has out door excilaters going up to the part and covered moving ramps up to top so you can walk down from there. It was a lovely day with the sky just speckled with clouds. The park was beautiful with a great view of the city.

This is on the way up to the top.
To the right is a covered ramp way.


This is the view of the city from the top.
There is also an old European style house behind.


There was a place where you could dress up in
old European clothing and take pictures :P
Sadly we didn't have enough time.

The garden was built by the Glover family when they came to visit. It is a really beautiful garden and was a nice relaxing place to go after the atomic bomb museum.

Once we finished up at the garden we headed on over to Kumamoto. We stayed in a cycling inn in the country side, which was in the traditional Japanese style. Once we had all settled in and eaten dinner we headed off to see the lantern festival that was being held in town. It was hard to take pictures, but they were very beautiful.

There are little tea candles inside the bamboo pieces.

This picture only took 4 or 5 tries to get a nice one~
Tea candles on the ground in the bamboo but
lanterns are behind the large paper umbrellas in the back.

Awwww... aren't they cute!
I believe they are made out of little pods of silk.
They are sitting inside a piece of bamboo.

The festival was quite large and there were a lot of people. We were also on a time limit and wanted to make it to the onsen before we had to go back (the showers at the hotel were very, very small.) Once we had finished up we packed back on the bus, made a quick stop by 7eleven to get some snacks and drinks for the group party/announcements thing that night, and headed back to the inn. The group gathering was mostly about the new group of international representatives, a group that organizes going away parties and sports events for the international students, and just to learn everyone's name and get to know each other. But after a long day many people where tired and I think wanted to go to sleep hehe. The next day was going to be another fun filled day.

GSO retreat, Part one: Saga

The weekend after my trip to Fukuoka there was a trip with GSO, Global Support Office for international students, on the 29th of Febuary through the 2nd of March with the other international students. There were 41 of us international students on the trip, so needless to say we took up a lot of room where ever we went and we had a tour bus all to ourselves.

We first headed to Saga. It is a little prefecture in the northern part of Kyushu right in between the Fukuoka and Nagasaki prefectures. We visited the Saga castle which was recently reconstructed about four years ago. In side were also Hina Matsuri dolls which I will talk about later.

Hey guys! It's a hall way.

The castle had exhibits and displays showing how it was reconstructed and it's durability. They sure knew how to made things last back in the day, the castles are built to with stand earth quakes and typhoon. Just don't light a match any where close, they are rather flammable being made mostly out of wood.

Lots of paper and wood....
This castle met is end in flames originally.
Burning seems to be a technique when conquering your foe here.

A video game in a museum.....?

This exhibit I thought was pretty amazing. I have seen several of these sort of "game" exhibits here in Japan. It is a full virtual model of the castle which you can walk through with a joystick and press buttons to open doors. All they are missing is ninjas and samurai and you would have a full on video game. In a museum in Kagoshima you could play as a young student in ancient Japan. Pretty interesting I think.

Oncer we left the castle we made our way down town to see the hina matsuri dolls. They are dolls that represent the imperial court and are displayed at this time of year. Hina matsuri is on the third of March and is also know and girls day. They are very expensive to buy so most sets that you see are old privet collections or owned by a company. Now heres some pictures~

These are actually in the Saga castle.


These dolls depict an old Japanese folk tale of the princess found in bamboo. (also in Saga castle)


And these are my favorite because they are made of flowers~

Once we finished seeing the hina matsuri dolls we headed down to Nagasaki where we were to stay the night before continuing on our adventure. Once we got there we ate a traditional Japanese style meal and headed over to the China town. I believe Nakasaki is famouse for it's China town and population. For one thing I see a lot of Chinese objects and symbols on Nagasaki omiyage, as well as a few exhibits showing the festivals they have there. It makes since, as it is the area closest to China.

In the morning we ate another Japanese style meal, and headed over to the peace park. Which shall be talked about in the next installment of my blog~

Dazaifu

On Saturday Anthony and I made our way over to Dazaifu. It is a town near a very large and very popular shrine, named Dazaifu. It took about 45 minutes from Tenjin station in the middle of Fukuoka to get there, with one transfer along the way. The shrine is for learning and it was packed! We went around time time of College and High school entrance exams, so many people might have been praying for good luck on their tests. As you walk up to the main temple there are a lot of little shops along the side of the street selling omiyage (souvenirs), and food. To me, it had a bit of a Leavenworth feel to it.

The is the little shopping street.
The crowd is rushing up behind us,
so it looks pretty clear hehe.

We walked around the plum blossoms first before heading to the main shrine. The plum blossoms were just starting to bloom so the branches were spotted with little white buds waiting to open into the warm sun.

This is the Tobe Ume. A famous plum blossom
tree in the middle of the large shrine.

The shrine was full of people and easy to get lost in the crowd. Luckly for me I am easy to spot in a crowd of black hair. Once we tossed the five yen coin into the little shine box and prayed for wisdom we headed off to look around the area. There was a multitude of other little shrines past the main one which were almost diviod of people.

I enjoyed the little shrines better then the large more "comertial" shrine. I just felt like they had more personality then the large ones which everyone flocked to. One in particular that I liked was up on top of a hill over looking Dazaifu. It was peaceful and we only saw a few other people.

This is the walk up.

This is a the little shrine.

This is the walk down.

Once we had explored the area and visited the shrines we headed back to Hakata station where we hopped on a bus heading back to Miyazaki. The whole trip was a great experience and I love traveling and seeing different sides of Japan. From the laid back country side life of Miyazaki to the bustling cities of Fukuoka and Osaka. They each have their charm, but I always enjoy returning to Miyazaki after a busy weekend of traveling.