Shiva's sad day

If some of you don't know, Shiva is the little kitten that I adopted and took to the vet here in Japan.
He has been doing well, eating a lot, very energetic, but now that he is seven months old I was thinking it is about time to get him neutered. So I called the vet and made an appointment for yesterday, the 24th of January.
I decided to get him tested for two common viruses found in cats, Feline Leukemia Virus and another one I can't remember the name of now, while he was there just as a precaution. So we left because he was going to have the operation. Anthony and I were on the way to lunch when the vet called me. He informed me that he has Feline Leukemia Virus and that there really isn't much we can do about it. Most cats die with in three years of contracting the virus and kittens are most at risk. I decided not to go ahead with the surgery that day because Shiva has been sneezing lately and his breathing has been odd, and with the virus he has a greater risk of having complications with the surgery. We have him on antibiotics for his sneezing now and plan to take him to get neutered in about half a month.
Satomi helped drive Anthony and I back to the vet to pick up Shiva around six o'clock. The vet gave me some information on the disease and the medicine. When we got home Shiva ate and then curled up into a cute little ball to sleep after an exhausting day at the vet.
I keep thinking that I did something to make him have this disease by letting him share food bowls and the kitty litter with other cats. But I know that he might have gotten it from his mother, or before he came to the dorms. I am going to give him a good life though. I also won't spoil him just because he is sick! The vet said that he was a very good boy and that I can be proud of him. It made me feel a lot better to hear that despite the fact that he is still ill.
I will continue to do well in my studies though despite this emotional hardship~
Shiva at 7 months old (below left) Shiva at 4 months old (below right) My how he has grown and he still plays with his tail!~

So I haven't really posted in my blog lately. I caught a cold when Anthony and I were in Kobe a few weeks ago and have just now gotten over it. So nothing much happened during the sicky time. But a lot happened in Kobe and Osaka so I will post about the Airport adventure in a little more detail.
Anthony and I stayed in a hotel on Rokko island for a night before heading to the airport. Rokko island is another man-made island designed for tourists it feels like. It is a little odd though. There are lots of shops and shopping centers both empty and full with not many people around. It feels little like a ghost town sometimes. Anthony and I explored around this little flat square island for a while before heading to the airport around three o'clock. (Below: A picture of Rokko island's little watter fountain. They have a lot of water fountains and streams at Rokko island, in buildings and out side.)
The trip to the airport was the usual long journey full of the elaborate dance of the subway transferring followed by a long ride on an airport express train, which stops many more places than the actual airport but the airport is the final destination. After a small train adventure, we arrived at the airport around fifteen minutes to five and were greeted by a massive line in front of and winding around the Uninted airlines counter. After queuing up in line, we asked one of the people working what the line was about, because it seemed a little long and slow just for checking baggage. They handed us a peice of paper stating that the air plane had operational problems and would be unable to make the flight that day. Along with that information it also gave us a number to call for information, which conveniently closed at 5pm. So we pulled out books and game boys and got ready for the long wait a head.
There was a group of mid twenty somethings in front of us whom we started to chat with. Two of them were from the JET program and a friend of theirs was visiting. After the first hour or so we started to take shifts watching the baggage. The Kansai airport has a huge shopping and restaurant area that is accessible by all people in the airport. After hour rather lengthy wait in line we finally reached the counter. All of the employs looked exhausted, understandably so after dealing with probably a thousand people wanting to change their flight to the next available. Anthony offered to take a flight three weeks later. The man working at the counter was so happy when we asked for that. He upgraded Anthony's ticket to a flexible business class ticket. Once we got out of line, around 11:20pm or so we sprinted to the airport hotel. The hotel restaurant's last order was at 11:30 and we were very hungry. We made it just in time and ordered yummy food. Once we ate we went up to the room and crashed, preparing for the busy few days a head of us in order to get back to Miyazaki.

A summery of winter break busieness!

Happy new year!　あけましておめでとございます！

I'm sorry I haven't posted anything over the break. It has been so busy here. Anthony and I have been traveling around and seeing lots of Miyazaki and the Kansai region. We visited Kyoto and saw kinkakuji and hein jingu. We explored the city and shopping areas of Osaka's Shinsaibashi area, and saw some amazing fashion! I wanted to ask if I could take a picture, but Osaka is so crowded, stopping was a bad idea at 6pm on a Saturday with a lot of sales all around. Kobe is a bit less crazy then Osaka, but doesn't lack any part of the amazingness! The ferry is a whole experience of it's own. We chatted with people in Japanese, tried the on boat Onsen, and were very perplexed by the "casually frozen food". After all the hustle and bustle of the Kansai region, I was happy to return to the calm, laid back atmosphere.

The busyness didn't end in once we left Kansai. We explored the Miyazaki culture and sights to no end. We experienced the "young peoples" culture with the Christmas eve date. We visited some illumination around the area, went shopping, ate dinner, and caught the bus to the train station (which was full of the other couples). We spent a nice quiet Christmas chatting with family, opening presents, and attempting to cook a large Christmas dinner with the equipment and ingredients available. It ended up being some spaghetti, miso soup, and apple pie. Not quiet the U.S.A version of Christmas dinner but it was oishii! Max joined our little Christmas dinner as well, most of the Japanese students and other exchange students had left for the break.

A few days after we visited Takachiho. Satomi (my touter), her boyfriend, Anthony, and I all made the long twisty road to the area in the rain. We got to learn the legends around the gorge and the omaterasu cave. We got to take a tour of a few temples and learn about them. At the Omaterasu cave, we built little stone towers for our wishes. There were tons of them! They covered almost every surface, it was hard to find any spare rocks or an empty place to build new ones. We also road the little boats through the gorge, despite the fact that it was raining cats and dogs.

New years was an adventure of it's own. We went to an Isakaya with a few friends, Max and Midori, for Yakiniku. It was an experience in the way of Izakaiya in Miyazaki! It is nice because many restaurants in Miyazaki have coupons for discounts such as all you can eat or drink for 3500yen. I love the way that so many Japanese foods are interactive. Such as cook your own meat, make your own okonomiyaki, dip your own tempura; I wish we had these sorts of restaurants in the U.S! Once we finished eating, we caught the last train home after having fun with puri-kura, the little pictures that you decorate with a bunch of sparkles and writing. Once we grabbed some warming clothing, we headed to the temple near the college campus. There was a bunch of omikushi, fortunes, that people would pick at the turning of the new year, and we could drink hot sake, and pray at the temple. People brought good luck charms from last year to burn ad buy new ones for this year. Someone brought one of the many cats that live around the dorms as well. The shrine was a small one, but we were still able to experience the culture around new years in Japan.

Basically this winter was a blast. I have studied mostly Kanji with a little bit of grammar. But most of my learning has been though experience. I believe that experiencing a language or culture is really the best way to learn. I am glad that I have such a wonderful opportunity here in Japan and I am going to use it to the fullest!