tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25570327036405279492024-03-13T07:37:21.884-07:00Rotary Youth Exchange to Kawachinagano, Osaka, Japan 2013-2014Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-750121203364569072014-05-26T06:36:00.000-07:002014-05-26T06:36:32.556-07:00My Second Home<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Hey there! It's been awhile and a lot has happened. We'll see if everything fits...</div>
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The traditional Japanese inn that I lived in for two months had a hot spring. This was one of them with a great view of the river.</div>
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My host dad is a flower arranging teacher. I got to sit in on one of his classes!</div>
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My flowers...</div>
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I went skating with the Tani family and a bunch of friends of theirs from college. Papa's brother and niece also came along. This is Rene</div>
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Everyone put their money together and they rented out a dome for a couple hours.</div>
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Michimoto-san took my friend Mika and I to see Awaji Island which is located in Osaka Bay and is connected to the main island of Japan by the biggest suspension bridge in the world.</div>
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Monkeys!!!</div>
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A botanical garden</div>
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It must be a fantastic product...</div>
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Evening on the ocean.</div>
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I went with my host parents (the Yamasaki family) to the Sakai city hall. It's 21 stories and has a small restaurant at the top. The cool thing about Sakai is that there are a lot of ancient tombs located around the city. The biggest one in Sakai is also the biggest tomb in the world.</div>
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The restaurant in the city all serves curry in the shape of the tomb.</div>
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The entrance to the tomb. You can't go in because it is a sacred site. It is also surrounded by three different moats.</div>
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Feral cats</div>
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Hiking!!!!</div>
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Still some snow.</div>
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I was invited by my friend Mika's family to make udon with them! </div>
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This is a museum near their house that is modeled after a wooden ship.</div>
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Mika's host mom and dog!</div>
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We went to view displays of the festival for girls, ひな祭り, at an old house.</div>
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Rolling out the udon dough.</div>
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Cutting the noodles.</div>
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Yummy!!!</div>
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I was able to go hiking on my own for three or four hours. I missed the mountains!</div>
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This is a smoking/relaxation room in the hotel.</div>
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Tani Jiji invited some of his customers and I to go and watch the Mizudori Festival at Toudaiji Temple in Nara Prefecture.</div>
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I got see some friends.</div>
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The sunset was incredible! The building in the picture houses the largest Buddha statue in Japan.</div>
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In the festival, young men carry long bamboo poles with burning pine branches on the end of it. They hold the pole way out over a balcony and then run. If the sparks from the burning pine land on someone below, that person will not have an illness in the following year.</div>
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Here's a video of it:</div>
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<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://i1.ytimg.com/s_vi/ppbMZ2oub0g/default.jpg?sqp=CPSejJwF&rs=AOn4CLC3clwJNoi3yNr0DRaKIPUW7T4oVg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/ppbMZ2oub0g?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/v/ppbMZ2oub0g?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br />
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The city from the temple.</div>
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I went with my friend Mika's family to Kyoto. This temple hosts a bow and arrow shooting contest annually. The competitors have to shoot their arrows the length of this pebble garden.</div>
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Traditional Japanese meal</div>
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Udon-kun!</div>
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Japanese plum blossoms</div>
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Matcha ice cream!</div>
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I bought my own Aikido uniform. This says "Wesley" in Japanese.</div>
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I went and hung out with my next host family for a day. This is Ryuji. He's 21 and loves reggae.</div>
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A package from home! Yummy!</div>
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I went with my host mom to see Gagaku, traditional Japanese music and dance. I think it was written to put the listener to sleep.</div>
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Putting out a fire at a safety demonstration.</div>
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My friend Ron's last day at school. He went home to Australia after living in Japan with his family for three or four years.</div>
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I explored Osaka with Okada. He studied at Carleton College in Northfield for a couple months last summer. </div>
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The Yamasaki family and I went out for yakiniku with a former exchange student of theirs. This is cow tongue. It's so good!</div>
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The bags are packed to move...</div>
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My class! 1-7</div>
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I stayed at my counselor's house for a couple nights because the Yamasaki's were busy and the Tawada family wasn't ready for me. This is the view from the very large apartment building my counselor lives in. </div>
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A temple in Kawachinagano</div>
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The tani family invited me to go skiing in Fukui prefecture.</div>
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So much fun! Nanako and I snowboarded while Mitsuki and Papa skied.</div>
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Her first time and she's amazing!!!</div>
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A little break</div>
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Papa and I went up the mountain a little bit to have more of a hill.</div>
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All of the inbound and outbound exchange students and ROTEX went to Osaka Castle together.</div>
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Miyuki (on the left) is going to Minnesota next year!</div>
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Party!</div>
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I moved to the Tawada family's house. This is my room and bed.</div>
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Pet turtles!</div>
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My aunt and cousin have 15 cats living in their apartment...This is the most friendly one.</div>
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This is Nanami, one of little cousins.</div>
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Huge koi!</div>
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Dressed like warriors!!!</div>
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Japanese garden</div>
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Okaasan!</div>
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A bonsai tree</div>
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My host sister, Momoka, is on exchange in Minnesota right now. Her best friend, Natsumi, and I went out to eat okonomiyaki and to see the movie Frozen. So much fun!</div>
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"Big" and "small"</div>
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Family day-trip to Wakayama</div>
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The most southern point on Honshu, the biggest island of Japan.</div>
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Drinking water for a long life.</div>
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A giant fortune teller</div>
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The cherry blossoms are out!</div>
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Climbing through a tree for good luck</div>
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It's about 800 years old</div>
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Soba noodle flavored ice cream</div>
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Hanging out with school friends. This character is based off of an actor from a comedy sketch.</div>
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Going to the science museum!</div>
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The tallest building in Japan!</div>
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Coolest bathroom ever</div>
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Americans making burritos!</div>
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Burrito party!</div>
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Exploring parks</div>
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The cup ramen museum. You can make your own ramen and design the cup that it goes in!</div>
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The creator of instant ramen.</div>
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Takero, the smallest cousin.</div>
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This is the neighborhood that the Tawada family lives in. There are a lot of apartments and parks.</div>
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Surfing in the Sea of Japan!</div>
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The biggest crab in Japan</div>
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Rotary picnic!</div>
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It's hard to say goodbye</div>
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Sakura!!!!!!!!!!!!</div>
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Aquarium selfie</div>
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The river in Kawachinagano</div>
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The Nagano High School band playing during lunch</div>
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Natsumi, a bunch of friends from middle school, Brianna, and I hung out and ate sushi</div>
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School uniform frisbee</div>
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Jiji and I participated in a hiking race. It was a lot of fun! There were tons of people either hiking or running.</div>
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A grass-covered mountain</div>
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We finished!</div>
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Horse meat</div>
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Family trip!</div>
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A sea-shore that reminded me of the north shore of Lake Superior. All of the rocks are hexagonal pillars.</div>
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2,800 year old trees. So big!</div>
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Tea and snacks</div>
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Dino museum!</div>
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Rotary trip to Kyoto!</div>
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In Kyoto, we met exchange students from Kobe, Nara, Kyoto, Shiga, Fukui, and Ishikawa prefectures. It was awesome to meet so many new people!</div>
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A Mr. Obama mask</div>
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Kyomizu-dera</div>
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ROTEX and out-bounds!</div>
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In front of Nijyo Castle</div>
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Riding old bikes at a bike museum</div>
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Maybe a little small...</div>
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So cute!</div>
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Koi banners for Children's day. They represent family.</div>
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The Kobe Aquarium. The entire family went as well as Brianna and Natsumi.</div>
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Giant octopus senbei!</div>
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TURTLES!!!</div>
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School field trip. The second-years had a barbecue in the mountains.</div>
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Preparing fried soba</div>
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Cooking fried soba</div>
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Yakiniku</div>
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Takoyaki party with Natsumi 1, Natsumi 2, and Brianna</div>
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Some of the 15 cats...</div>
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Why hello there</div>
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Home-made cake!</div>
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Harvesting bamboo shoots with Brianna's family</div>
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Siblings and a friend!</div>
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Found one!</div>
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They're so furry!</div>
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Husking the shoots</div>
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Boilin' 'em</div>
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International aikido festival.</div>
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Jean from France</div>
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Some of the high-schoolers from my dojo</div>
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Jean performing</div>
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Flip</div>
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Flip</div>
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Fip</div>
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Everyone eating lunch</div>
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I moved back to the Tani house. The morning afterwards we went to the Citizens Festival of Kawachinagano. Mitsuki climbed across the Boy Scouts "Money Bridge".</div>
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Japan's defense force mascot</div>
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A mini locomotive!</div>
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The Kawachinagano Mikkaichicho Aikido dojo performed at the festival.</div>
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Barbecue with the Tani family and their friends!</div>
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Nanako and Kanna</div>
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Mitsuki!</div>
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This spider would easily cover the palm of my hand. I like spiders until they get to be this size.</div>
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Dinner with foreign aikido students</div>
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Rotary trip to Hiroshima</div>
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Shinkansen/Bullet Train</div>
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Hiroshima style okonomiyaki</div>
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The atomic bomb was detonated 600 meters above this spot.</div>
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The atomic bomb dome.</div>
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The memorial to every person who's life was lost due to the effects of the bomb.</div>
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The Hiroshima Peace Museum</div>
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A quote in the museum that reads "Water, please".</div>
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The view from the hotel. You can see the dome in the background.</div>
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Itsukushima Shrine Gate</div>
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Bukaku, Japanese traditional dance.</div>
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A huge rice spoon!</div>
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They're basically 1,080 yen...</div>
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A new friend!</div>
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Hiroshima Castle</div>
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Shinkansen dinner!</div>
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The dome at night</div>
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I've been having a wonderful second half of exchange. Everything is incredible, the people are nice, and I swear there are only 12 hours everyday. It's amazing. It will be incredibly hard to leave this beautiful country and all of the fantastic people I have met. Thank you, Rotary, for this absolutely incredible experience. </div>
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I am under the fifty day mark now and I have no idea where all the time went. </div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-80274937062753460512014-02-19T06:44:00.001-08:002014-02-19T06:57:21.527-08:00An Update in Picture Form<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Hello world!!! It's been quite a while since you've been updated. It's been just over a month and that sounds like a good time to catch up!</div>
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In the beginning and middle of January I had to say goodbye to some exchange friends who started their year abroad last spring. The first ones to go were two friends from Germany.</div>
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Mizuho (Nuredin's host sister. She came to MN two years ago with AFS), Nuredin (German, tall, afro), Mika (Rotary, Ohio), yours truly, and Nuredin's host father. Nuredin's host brother was actually in Germany at this time scouting a dance school.</div>
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Of course, Peanut (the hat) had to be worn before going home.</div>
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Wiebke was also going home to Germany on the same flight. </div>
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The last view of the Germans as they departed. So long!</div>
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The following weekend was an even harder goodbye because it was for another Rotary student. Jaimee from Australia went home. She had been here since last January. Not only do Australians talk backwards but they switched the time of international exchanges. </div>
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Exchange students! Left to right: Talithat (Indonesia), JAIMEE (Australia), that kid, Mika (Ohio).</div>
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It was a hard goodbye. Some school friends came and said goodbye as well as all of her host families.</div>
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Jaimee's school friends!</div>
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Heading out! 寂しい!!!</div>
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I guess that sadness didn't last for long because is soon found fun in this.</div>
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I had the opportunity to practice my pottery at a local artists house. It was very fun and it was my first time using brown clay! My teacher has her very own kiln in a small shed that she fires up every couple months. I made a couple bowls, cups and plate!</div>
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A classmate of mine and I went out together to a large arcade. There were all sorts of sporting options. You could play mini-golf, soccer, basketball, roller-skate, ping-pong, or bowl. It was very impressive! </div>
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Here's a bunch of goldfish that were part of a game at a festival. I can't remember what that festival was for though...the Japanese like to celebrate quite a bit. I'm not complaining though! It provides a great source of delicious food and culture education!</div>
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A yummy last dinner at Michimoto-san's house. It was great staying there! I had a fun time and there were many fun events that happened in his studio.</div>
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My current host family owns a traditional Japanese inn in southern Kawachinagano. It's pretty much as far south as you can get and still be in Osaka. I love it. There are international guests that stay there every night.</div>
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This is my current room. The floor is all traditional tatami and my bed is a futon. The doors and windows all have paper shutters and the table is quite interesting to sit at for long periods of time.</div>
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The inn from outside! It's 100 years old and it used to belong to one of the train companies in Osaka. After there was a big flood it was taken apart and moved to Amami, Kawachinagano, a small suburb of Kawachinagano. It was designed by the same architect that built Tokyo station. It is also built of all wood. that includes every nail.</div>
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The name of the inn (南天苑, Nantenen) comes from this plant with the red berries. The bush is scattered all over Nantenen's grounds and is bright red throughout the winter.</div>
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There are a couple party rooms that can be rented out for various events. This one is in a separate building right next to the small river that runs through Amami. </div>
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There is a very extensive Japanese garden that wraps around most of the inn and is very well taken care of.<br />
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The view from my room.</div>
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I was invited to go watch an exchange student Japanese speech competition with the Akegami family. Hiroko (left) came to Minnesota last year and her sister (Shiho) has spent time in Colorado. They hosted my friend Kiana from Northfield for a large portion of her exchange last year. They also hosted Jaimee from Australia. The entire family speaks incredible English and love all things international.</div>
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Talitha and I enjoyed listening to straight Japanese for a couple hours.</div>
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All the participants. Most are YFU, AFS or Rotary exchange students. The winners were all AFS students from Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.</div>
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I was able to see my friend Kou from Minnesota. I flew to Japan with him six months ago and hadn't seen him since. </div>
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Erika also spoke. She is from Mexico and in my Rotary district.</div>
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This is one of the tallest buildings in Osaka. In English it's known as the Floating Garden.<br />
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The competition was held at the best school in Osaka. Apparently the current mayor went there so there could have some hook ups...</div>
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The express train to Koyasan.</div>
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Here's a picture that's long over due from Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu. My senseis are on the far left and the far right. The two guys to the right of me are from an aikidou doujo. The one on the right actually lives in Texas and was in Japan on business and to visit family.</div>
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There was a fundraiser held for the Philippines with a lot of dancing and singing as well of tons of international food. It was absolutely delicious! I went with quite a few international friends and some Japanese ones.</div>
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This two goofs are missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The one on the left is from Mexico and the one on the right is from Utah. They're both 19 and had both completed a year of college when they decided to become missionaries. They get moved around every couple of months to a different location. They are both in Japan for two years and both started last year in September.</div>
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This is my friend Aina from Spain. She is living in Japan for about six months with her grandparents and she will be attending school at Nagano High School for a couple of months. </div>
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Michimoto-san had chopsticks made with my name on them! On one it has my name and on the other it says "The important person of Wesley". It looks like Annika and I have to eat a lot of Japanese food now!<br />
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English humor is not lost for the Japanese.</div>
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At the beginning of February, beans are thrown out the winter to get rid of bad luck. The action of throwing beans outside drives away the devil.</div>
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Next, a long sushi is eaten while facing a certain direction. Every year the direction changes. This year the direction was 60 degrees or E-NE with a little bit more East thrown in there. Doing this is said to bring happiness.</div>
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Otousan (my host father (Kazuhiro Yamasaki)) let me come and watch him practice Iaidou. It is the art of the katana. There is no fighting. It is all about being smooth and doing the moves the correct order. It looks very beautiful when it is being done.</div>
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There were snow flurries!</div>
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Every year, the first years of Nagano High School take a trip up Mount Iwawaki. It is quite an impressive feat that the school can do that. I've tried to imagine that happening in the US and I just can't. It was very impressive that all 300 students got out there. The other amazing thing is that the students did not have to pay anything. They just had to be properly prepared. I suppose I should mention that this is in mid-February and this is a mountain which is 898 meters (2946 feet) tall. </div>
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This is half of the school. Luckily we spread out pretty quickly and get some space between us.</div>
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It was pretty warm on the way up!</div>
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We were split up into groups of four or five people. Go team!</div>
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The top!</div>
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Back at the bottom waiting for the bus.</div>
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A yummy snack that Okaasan (Host mother (Yukiko Yamasaki)) gave me from Kyoto.</div>
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Mount Iwawaki in the morning!</div>
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Rotary took all of the inbound, outbound, and former exchange students on a trip the Ise Shrine in Mie prefecture. It was a little over two hours to get there by express train, but it was worth it! Ise shrine is the center of Shintoism in Japan. It is were Shintoism originates from which means that is a place that all Japanese want to visit atleast once in their life. As the Japanese put it, it is a place that is the home of many gods. </div>
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Cleansing the hands and mouths.</div>
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Every twenty years a new shrine is built to replace the most important one. Last year was the year of a new shrine, so tons of people are visiting right now.<br />
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Trees in Japan are very special, so you see a lot of old-growth. Many of the smaller trees in Ise-shrine are around 300 years old with many giants much older. I think we may have seen some one to two thousand year old trees.</div>
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A guy with his hair cut like a samurai</div>
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Lunch! Very traditional with sashimi, grilled fish, and miso.</div>
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This car is small even by Japanese standards...</div>
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One of the clearest rivers in Japan. Many people wear 50 yen coins on necklaces for good luck. They are dipped in this river for even more.</div>
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Twins!!!</div>
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The tallest and shortest people in Rotary! Chiharu went to Prior Lake High School in Minnesota. </div>
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Many of the steps leading up to the shrine buildings were made of this beautiful stone. Hey mom, ask Mary what this is!</div>
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It was a little crowded...</div>
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In the tourist section of Ise, all the buldings are in the old-fashioned style. Even the convenience stores!</div>
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A good view at the inside of a traditional wall around a house.</div>
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This is one of the most sacred hills in Ise. I'm not exactly sure why, though...</div>
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The first big of actual snow!!!</div>
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I found Momoka's name tag! I am staying with her family her in Osaka while she is back home in Minnesota.</div>
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A friend of mine and his home-made Viking-man suite. This is from a cartoon based on bread superheros. I think that is all the explanation that is kneaded.</div>
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A bit of home!!!</div>
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Harukasu, the tallest building in Osaka.</div>
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Japanese Kit-Kats come in all different flavors. These are green tea, black tea, pudding, and cookie flavored</div>
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Someone likes their winter biking.</div>
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Takoyaki!!!</div>
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The takoyaki stand had very amusing music blaring.</div>
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Karaoke</div>
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A look at Japanese money. This is all of the lower amounts of money. The 1000 yen bill is about equal to 10 American dollars. </div>
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Here's a better look at the coins. With current exchange rate the 1 yen is about equal to 1 cent which buts them about equal to each other.</div>
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It snowed a lot! This is a massive amount of snow for western Japan. Most of Japan freaked out at this because there is no real way for them to take care of it on the roads. There are front-loaders, but no trucks in the lower altitudes. Many trains were delayed and the streets were crazy empty.</div>
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Can't forget your umbrella when it snows!</div>
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English teachers and their extra buckets....</div>
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Snowball fight!</div>
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Kind of fun having tropical trees in snow.</div>
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VERY few cars. It was an excellent time to walk.</div>
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Fancy Rotary Valentine's Dinner</div>
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So pretty in the snow!</div>
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I got to play with Nagano High School brass band in their final concert of the year!</div>
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There were a couple pop songs played.</div>
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This is a very popular song in Japan right now.</div>
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Now I'm caught up to a point where I can start referring to days! Yay!</div>
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On Sunday night, Nantenen hosted these two musicians that play the Shamisen. A Shamisen is a three stringed instrument that is played with a large pick. The sound it makes is very rhythmic and has a very cool beat. The two musicians that performed are the best in Osaka and usually perform in large concert halls. I was very lucky to see them up close. They perform at Nantenen once a year. It was incredible!</div>
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With the concert was an amazing array of food that was very traditional.</div>
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This is shrimp, fish, peas, tamanegi (scrambled eggs fried into a block), and a hazelnut cream block.</div>
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This is sashimi with Japanese radish, squid, and sea urchin.</div>
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Nabe is my favorite style of Japanese cooking and is boiling food in a certain liquid. This is milk nabe.</div>
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All the food going into the Nabe: beef, fish, mushrooms, tofu, chicken, oyster, shrimp, cauliflower, broccoli, radish, peppers, and leeks.</div>
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After the food is cooked, it is dipped in sauce. This night's had a tomato base.</div>
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The radish.</div>
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Tempura! Deep fried vegetables.</div>
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Otousan's hobby is flower arranging. He's really good at it! Every flower vase around the house is set in a particular way.</div>
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This is one of the party rooms all set up for the nights event.</div>
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My friend Helena visited Kawachinagano! She is on exchange in Sendai further north. Last year Hiroko stayed with her family in Minnesota. It was so much fun to see her! Yay! Minnesota party!</div>
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Saxaphone Sempai! The "Thumbs up" doesn't have meaning in Japan, so this became a "Wes" thing...</div>
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I'll leave you with this pretty bush from this morning. There was a light dusting of snow with made the Nanten berries even more colorful. I am loving my time here at Nantenen. It is absolutely wonderful. I have been very busy with school and clubs recently but now I have six weeks of vacation to talk some time to myself. That should mean more inciteful and numerous blogs!</div>
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Happy Valentine's Day!<br />
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Wes<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-77683785268117384902014-01-06T21:57:00.002-08:002014-01-06T22:14:25.478-08:00Happy New Year!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Hey everyone! So.....it's been about a month and a lot has happened! This post and the following will all be done as picture blogs instead of essays as I have become more accustomed to everyday life and find it unnecessary to blog about a normal day. I do realize that is not the case for those of you outside of Japan, but please bear with me as I'm not a fan of writing about my daily activities.</div>
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First off: Happy New Year!</div>
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Second off: This last month...</div>
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The Folk Song club at my school had a Christmas performance where all of the groups played a set of a couple songs. It was really cool! They all but a lot of work into it.</div>
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I happened to find this typo in some music we are preparing in band...I don't know where we will find the cow.</div>
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A beautiful sunset as I left school.</div>
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A handbell choir from a private school in Kawachinagano came to play at my Rotary Club! It was really cool!</div>
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We found Eldest in Japanese!</div>
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My host dad had a Christmas party. I got to invite some friends!</div>
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The cake! Yummy!</div>
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Our Rotary District of Osaka had a Christmas Party for exchange students. Left to right: Mika (USA), Erika (Mexico), me, Brianna (USA), Talitha (Indonesia), Jaimee (Australia). Unfortunately, Maya (Germany) couldn't make it.</div>
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We enjoy each others company.</div>
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Current inbounds and next years outbounds! A couple will be coming to the US and one will be coming to Minnesota!</div>
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This picture is for Dan Forsythe. They forgot the orange.</div>
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Nanba Parks illumination</div>
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I went to Jaimme's school to listen to her give a speech! She doesn't like to cooperate for photos...</div>
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In Japan it is common to eat cake on Christmas Eve. This one has a base of Japanese sweet beans. It was really good!</div>
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This is my host dad's girlfriend's dog. She's adorable! She just accepted me.</div>
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This table is called a kotatsu. It has a heater built in with a blanket over it. It's very common for Japanese houses to have one these because there are no furnaces; just space heaters.</div>
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Nanba parks puts up lights in the winter. Yay! A waterfall!</div>
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A canal that runs through downtown Osaka.</div>
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Plastic trumpets at a music store in Shinsaibashi.</div>
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Early Sakura in Nanba Parks</div>
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It's a tall building.</div>
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This is a keychain of the station that I go through everyday on my way to school. It is the main station for my city, although there are others as well.</div>
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It snowed a little!!!</div>
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At midnight on New Years Eve, everyone eats soba.</div>
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Making mochi! Mochi are sticky rice cakes made only from crushed rice.</div>
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First you soak the rice for four days and then drain it.</div>
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Then the rice is steamed for about an hour.</div>
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next it gets all mashed up with a wooded hammer. Japanese rice isn't sticky when there is water, so everything that the rice touches is coated in water.</div>
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Next, the rice dough is squeezed into little balls. They are then shaped by hand and put on racks to dry. When they cool, they are very hard and cannot be eaten.</div>
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On New Years Eve, we hiked up a mountain to an old tree. Gigi makes the climb every year.</div>
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Gigi made an offering to the gods (I don't know which one this was for).</div>
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Gigi gave Sake (Japanese strong alcohol), dried persimmon, tangerines, and some huge mochi to the gods.</div>
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To eat the mochi, it has to be heated up again. Then you can eat it in soup, with Japanese sweet beans or in soy sauce.</div>
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The New Years Meal is the most important meal of the year. All of the food has a meaning, although most of them no one can remember because there are so many! One of them is a rooted vegetable with holes in it. You are supposed to be able to see your future through the wholes. The shrimp mean that the person that eats them will grow old so old that their back will become curved like the shrimp. Kind of a funny thing to look forward to, but it makes more sense in Japanese.</div>
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This fish is called a Tai. It is one of the most popular fish in Japan because it is very tasty. It is also very expensive and most people eat it on New Years Day. </div>
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My siblings with hats that my biological mom made!</div>
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New Years Day!!!</div>
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On New Years Day, everyone receives a ton of cards in the mail. To make sure that all business relations are kept up, cards are sent to all acquaintances. It is a bigger deal than holiday cards are in the US.</div>
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We went to a shrine in Takihata for the first prayer of the year. The climb with long!</div>
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Here is the ceremony. On the steps in front of the platform are a bunch of bottles of Sake that are being blessed. The Japanese take their alcohol VERY seriously.</div>
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After the ceremony, there was a random draw for who got to take bottles home. Nanako got to pull the numbers! </div>
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In the afternoon we went up Mount Kongo to go sledding.</div>
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We cheated and took the cable car.</div>
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Weeeeeee! Snow!!! We had an hour and a half long snowball fight. It was so much fun! </div>
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The munchkins in their hats.</div>
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Michimoto-san took me skiing in Fukui prefecture! It was a long drive (four hours), but it was worth it! The first hill we went to was high and had a lot of snow coming down. So much fun!</div>
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The view from our hotel in Tsuruga. The Sea of Japan is out there somewhere!</div>
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The Sea of Japan is just visible there.</div>
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Lake Biwa</div>
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This tunnel was one car wide and over a kilometer long! The traffic was also two way so cars had to wait for five minutes on each end. We went through it in a camper van.</div>
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My host grandmother and I.</div>
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Yesterday, I went with Jaimee, Mika, Talitha, Erika, Brianna, and Nuredin, a YFU (Youth For Understanding) friend from Germany, to Nanba as a going away party for Jaimee. She's been in Japan for a year already. We went to a place called The Cat Cafe where you pay to drink coffee and pet cats. It was a lot of fun! So many cute cats!</div>
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These two were my favorite. They were huge! and very cudley.</div>
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After the Cat Cafe, we went and sung karaoke. </div>
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Here are the thugs you can find in a Japanese McDonald's. Don't worry, we didn't eat all that food by ourselves.</div>
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Jaimee's last purikura in Japan!</div>
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Yesterday was a lot of fun. My host dad and I are going to the airport on Sunday to say goodbye to Jaimee. That will be hard! She is a fantastic friend and it will be weird to not have her in Japan. </div>
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Thanks for reading! With this picture-style blog, I should be more willing to post more since it takes less writing. Well just have to see! Happy New year!<br />
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If you have any questions or want me to write about something you've been wondering about, just ask in the comments below! I love to hear from people.</div>
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Wes</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-82585325132653125052013-12-06T17:36:00.000-08:002013-12-06T17:36:16.095-08:00Forest Fires in December<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve been at Michimoto-san’s house for about three weeks
now. I think I am properly moved in based on the condition of my room. It
definitely looks like I let a monkey organize for me. I suppose the next step
for completely settling in is learning how to organize it. I’ll get on that in
the next three months or so…<o:p></o:p></div>
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The last two weeks have been very busy! Mostly with school,
that is. There has been no club activities after school because everyone in
preparing for tests, so I’ve been on my own for the evenings. Even so, it’s a
wacky schedule! Transportation has become a big part of everyday. I spent at
least 2 hours in transit everyday. By the time I move to my next family(at the
rate of 5 school days a week), I will have spent a total of one hundred and
twenty hours or five days walking, sitting in a car, or riding the train. I
don’t mind it at all. It’s a great time just watching and looking at
everything. I sometimes listen to music, but I’ve found that it’s so quiet out
that it’s nice to just walk in the silence.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The other night I was walking home from aikido at nine at
night with my headphones on. It was completely dark and I realized that there
was no background noise behind the music I was listening too. When I took off
my headphones, the only noise I could hear was my footsteps. It was incredible!
Even with the train tracks not one hundred feet away and trains zipping back
and forth the silence was incredible. Japan is one of the most populated places
I’ve ever been and to have that paired with being one the quietest is very
impressive.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Speaking of aikido, I’ve now started to attend more classes.
I was originally going to two children’s classes on Wednesdays and Fridays and
then an adult class on Saturdays. I’ve started to go to adult classes that are
right after the children’s classes on Wednesdays and Fridays, so now I am doing
about six hours of aikido a week.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Last week, a Frenchman named Jean was visiting the
Kawachinagano aikido dojo. It was really great to be able to be taught in
English, but it’s more fun when you don’t understand anything! We talked a lot
about aikido and I learned that he comes to Japan every once in a while to
practice aikido. The style of aikido that we practice is called daito-ryu aikijujutsu
and is not as common as what is known as just aikido. Both aikido and
aikijujutsu are from the ancient form of daito-ryu, as are many such branches
of self-defense martial-arts in Japan. Aikijujutsu has managed to stick more
closely to the original form of daito-ryu than other branches. It is
fascinating learning about all of the history of daito-ryu through the classes
I go to!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Last Saturday, I went with the members of the adult class
out for a small party at a restaurant after aikido practice. It was really
great to spend more time with them. All of them are very fun and excited to
share their knowledge of aikido with me. The dinner was delicious! The best way
to describe it is that it was a stew that you made yourself at the table over
gas burners. Common foods that go into the stew are mushrooms, tofu, beef,
oysters, clear noodles, and udon. There was also sashimi (raw fish) as an
appetizer.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I was able to do a little bit of translation for Jean during
aikido and dinner! It was very exciting to be able to do that!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Last Friday, I went a Rotary sponsored event at the local
concert hall. There was a performance by a local youth choir. Their focus was
on musicals, so they performed a couple pieces from Japanese musicals and
finished with “Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music. The next performance was a
lion dance by two middle school boys. They dance to the music of taiko drums,
bamboo flutes, and small cymbals. It was very impressive! A lot of the dance
was about flexibility and strength. The two boys took turns picking each other
up and then switching places without setting each other down. I don’t really
know how they did it or if that sentence even makes sense, but that’s what they
did!<o:p></o:p></div>
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After the Rotary event, I went out for dinner with Gigi and
Baba. They treated me to Shabu-Shabu (Hot Pot) where you have a bowl of boiling
water in the center of the table on a gas burner. Then, meat and vegetables are
dropped in one at a time and cooked. Then they are dropped in sauces and eaten.
It was very delicious! I love seeing Gigi and Baba because we have a lot of fun
together! I’m happy that they are able to find time to spend with me even
though I am not staying at their house anymore.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On Sunday, Michimoto-san and I walked up the road that runs
past the house to look at the colors of the trees. It was a beautiful day and
sun made the leaves absolutely glow!</div>
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At the end of the road was Enmeji Temple.
The temple was beautiful with the bright colors.</div>
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We spent a little time there
and then climbed up the small mountain next to it to get to a park. So pretty!
We get the autumn colors in Minnesota, but they pass really quickly. Here in
Japan, they are more gradual. Right now it is December and there are still
trees that are green! It seems that the process is spread out over the course
of a couple months. I have never seen such bright orange and red colors on
trees before! If you had a campfire next to the trees, the trees would have been brighter!<o:p></o:p></div>
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When we got home, we went to a concert by the Kawachinagano
Blue Winds band. It was really fun hearing them! They played a couple
classical-style band pieces and then did some covers of pop songs. They were
also called back for two encores!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Next, we went out for dinner at Kura Sushi, a sushi shop
that has a train of sushi that snakes around the room and you pick what you
want (See my blog from <a href="http://wesbrakerjapan.blogspot.jp/2013/09/stay-classy-kawachinagano.html">September
3</a>). Then we went to Teregaike Park Illumination. It is very popular in
Japan for public areas to have a showing of Christmas light decorations. We
showed up just after a brief rainstorm, so there were very few people there. It
was super cool! They had lights in fountains and covering trees. There were
some cool reflections that occurred with the pools of water from the rain. At a
neighboring house to the park, there was an enormous amount of Christmas lights
and decorations. Someone clearly likes the holidays!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Part of this week and next week I don’t have school because
everyone is having tests. Yesterday, I wandered around Kawachinagano and looked
at some parks. It was a beautiful day for it! I love Japanese forests! There
were very few people in the parks because it was a Friday. I’m hoping to be
able to get out and explore more with some of the free time I have!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Right now, I have some difficulty with writing English
because I’m out of practice. There are some moments when I want to write something
in Japanese because it is a lot easier to explain than it is in English. A new
milestone! I’ve also begun to talk to myself in Japanese….hmmmmmm<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thanks for reading!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Wes<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-81029200625242793272013-11-27T01:03:00.002-08:002013-12-05T05:42:20.496-08:00Change<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="background-color: #444444;">Last week was sad because it was my last time living with the Tani family. They are an incredible family and so nice. They really know how to take care of an exchange student. They took me anywhere they could think of without hesitating and the hospitality they showed me was really something. It's amazing to think that three months ago we we're complete strangers that did not understand anything the other was saying. Here's all of us except for Baba and Yoshino on the day I arrived. </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--ROZfsoKg_Y/UhGNjkKwt6I/AAAAAAAAAQY/H-cDv35Szgk/s1600/IMGP0666.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--ROZfsoKg_Y/UhGNjkKwt6I/AAAAAAAAAQY/H-cDv35Szgk/s320/IMGP0666.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">The Saturday leading up to the last week was fun. Mitsuki and Nanako had school. It was a day set aside so parents could come watch a school day. I went with mama Akane to see school. The name of the elementary school is Takou Elementary School. When I first herd the name, I got really confused because I didn't hear the "u" on the end. Takou means tall. Tako means octopus. Unfortunately, it's not the elementary school that teaches sea creatures, just small, jumpy, terrestrial human larvae. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">When we first arrived, we walked around the small school and past the gym to the entrance. Along the wall of the gym were all of these awesome contraptions. </span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EUU3_hqEjfY/UpWp6yhcjhI/AAAAAAAADIU/J7w-Tsv70VU/s1600/IMGP3211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EUU3_hqEjfY/UpWp6yhcjhI/AAAAAAAADIU/J7w-Tsv70VU/s320/IMGP3211.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">Pogo sticks,unicycles, and stilts! Quite impressive for an elementary school to be teaching those!</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JtCaU7B9PFQ/UpWp-b-J2BI/AAAAAAAADI4/K-LbPmAakCE/s1600/IMGP3231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JtCaU7B9PFQ/UpWp-b-J2BI/AAAAAAAADI4/K-LbPmAakCE/s320/IMGP3231.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">After spending time watching all of the worms learn, they all crowded around me and started climbing on me! I had know idea being a jungle gym could be so hard! </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">When all of the climbing had been done, all of the parents and kids cleaned the school. It was incredible how much effort everyone put into it! Because I'm tall, I had the job of unscrewing the ceiling fans so they could be </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">cleaned. During this time, a visiting sibling had quite the nap. </span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EauVCFhlQT4/UpWp95giBjI/AAAAAAAADIo/pf8J_U-n1XQ/s1600/IMGP3228.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EauVCFhlQT4/UpWp95giBjI/AAAAAAAADIo/pf8J_U-n1XQ/s320/IMGP3228.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">When school was over, Nanako, Mitsuki, Nanako's friend Kanna, Mama Akane, and I went to see the One Direction Movie. One Direction is a band that is extremely popular all over the world right now. Japan is definitely no exception and might have some of the craziest fans. At the mall where the movie theater was, they were already setting for Christmas. </span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p2thzzAUnws/UpWp_mwCuFI/AAAAAAAADJE/25K4n5YyZ-U/s1600/IMGP3252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: black;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p2thzzAUnws/UpWp_mwCuFI/AAAAAAAADJE/25K4n5YyZ-U/s320/IMGP3252.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">Really, Japan? November barely started! Pretty crazy, but Japan doesn't have a holiday in for almost two months: November and December. That's a really long time for Japan! They just want to party! The is thing is that they don't even have a national holiday for Christmas, yet there's more celebration for it right now than the New Year. Christmas lights have been working their way up everywhere and there is Christmas music playing.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">The movie was excellent and I actual have respect for the guys in One Direction. They are aware of thigs that happen both on and off stage and they aren't stuck in their own bubble. Good job, guys! We finally have some pop music celebrities that can be looked up to!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">On Sunday, Papa Kazuhiro planned to take Nanako, Mitsuki, and I to a place called Kansai Cycle Center. It's an amusement park in Kawachinagano that is near Takihata. The special thing about it is that all of the rides are powered by the riders. There are all sorts of things to do! You can pedal vertically up a tower or bike through the woods. Unfortunately, we didn't get to go because of rain an wind. Instead, we drove to the Osaka Museum of Natural History. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">The museum had a ton of great information about the history of the Kansai area (Osaka prefecture as well as some surrounding prefectures). They also had an abbundance of skeletons from dinosaurs to whales that died recently. The collection of sea creatures was especially impressive. What really stuck out to me was an Oar Fish that they had on display. They are the longest fish in the world and have only been seen when they come to the surface to die. There was also this giant crab.<span style="color: black;"><img border="0" style="max-width: 90%;" /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">And this big squid. </span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P8uk7zwjN8I/UpWqHMymefI/AAAAAAAADKg/ahBXbOubxKY/s1600/IMGP3288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P8uk7zwjN8I/UpWqHMymefI/AAAAAAAADKg/ahBXbOubxKY/s320/IMGP3288.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">The amount of native insects was also very cool. </span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s0tsmDmK_bM/UpWqDURxRyI/AAAAAAAADJ4/Th_2cIK-Aeg/s1600/IMGP3268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s0tsmDmK_bM/UpWqDURxRyI/AAAAAAAADJ4/Th_2cIK-Aeg/s320/IMGP3268.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">Gotta love those giant dung beetles. </span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lyJ5pFGgbzU/UpWqIkAel4I/AAAAAAAADK0/SHo4n0NJ-Dw/s1600/IMGP3292.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lyJ5pFGgbzU/UpWqIkAel4I/AAAAAAAADK0/SHo4n0NJ-Dw/s320/IMGP3292.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">On Monday night, the Gigi took the whole family out for
sushi for my birthday. This wasn’t just cheap sushi that you pull off of a
train moving past the table. This was the kind where you sit at a bar and talk
directly to the chef who makes it right in front of you. There were ten of us
there all together; the entire Tani family. It was absolutely delicious and it
was such a wonderful gift! Fresh made sushi is absolutely delicious! I ate so
much!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">The rest of this week was spent packing up my room in
preparation for moving to my new host house. Here's a look at my room with all the stuff still in it.</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wThZvqMqvfU/UpWqQ1LBSZI/AAAAAAAADMA/VSNZGjuWAPY/s1600/IMGP3343.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: #444444; color: black;"><img border="0" height="89" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wThZvqMqvfU/UpWqQ1LBSZI/AAAAAAAADMA/VSNZGjuWAPY/s320/IMGP3343.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">On my birthday, we celebrated with a chocolate cake. Yummy!
It even had my name on it! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">On my final full day with the family, Papa Kazuhiro, Mama
Akane, Mitsuki, Nanako, and I drove to Kyoto to climb Daiyamonja Mountain. We met up with friends of Mama and Papa's from college. It was a lot of fun! In August, there are five mountains that are light up with fire in the shape of characters. Daiyamonja Mountain has the character for "big" on it. It was very beautiful and it waas great to see Kyoto again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">When we came down from the mountain, we walked through Kyoto to the subway station. On the way, we saw a lot of interesting things. First, there were TONS of foreigners walking around. Second, we past this little carriage thing that was a sleeping place for cats....only in Japan.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">Third, we went over this big railroad that helped haul material from Lake Biwa to Kyoto.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">Last, there was this river crossing over a river.....</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">Two Sundays ago, all the Rotary Students got together to try wearing Kimonos and trying a tea ceremony and flower arranging. It was really interesting to try everything. Flower arranging is really hard!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">Instead of returning home to the Tani family, I went straight to my new house. I am now comfortably moved into Michimoto-san's house. Two nights a week bands practice in the studio at Michimoto-sans house. Here's one of them. They're a lot of fun and really good!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">This last Saturday I went to a band festival with Nagano High School brass band. It was a lot of fun and interesting to hear other high schools perform. I also got to hang out with my classmates all day!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">On Sunday, ROTEX and Rotary Students went to a place called Nara park. It's full of very tame deer and tourists feeding them. A little strange.... We also went to Toudaiji Temple which is massive! It has one of the biggest Buddhas in Japan in it and the biggest lawn I have seen in Japan!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">We also did traditional dying of fabric using indigo. So many cool designs!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">I'm sorry that this blog is brief, but it's something, right? I will try and do a couple throughout the week so I can do everything justice.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #444444;">Thanks for reading!</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-22559377977705923572013-11-19T15:37:00.001-08:002013-11-19T15:37:35.474-08:00My poor excuse for failing to provide on-time reading material.Man. I don't even know how to begin this apology. Let me just say that I'm frustrated with my lack of blogging. I just changed host families and I was avoiding the Internet throughout my last week with my first host family. Now that I've moved, I have constant access to the Internet, but there have been problems and I have been unable to post something. I'm writing this on my iPod, which is slow and not easy. That being said, I think I can get it figured out shortly. To save you time and patience, I will be writing several shorter posts to keep your and my sanity. Please don't lose hope on this blog! It is not going to die out. I am just in a time of transition and figuring out my new schedule. <div><br></div><div>Thanks for your patience! I'll try not to sound like a computer error in the future!</div><div><br></div><div>Here's some pictures so you know I've actually been busy!</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-8MRzY0toSYs/Uov2LACh8rI/AAAAAAAADG4/tcRW9A0cwAw/s640/blogger-image--620581027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-8MRzY0toSYs/Uov2LACh8rI/AAAAAAAADG4/tcRW9A0cwAw/s640/blogger-image--620581027.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-8MRzY0toSYs/Uov2LACh8rI/AAAAAAAADG4/tcRW9A0cwAw/s640/blogger-image--620581027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-MfQUccRiHsA/Uov2PffPGjI/AAAAAAAADHY/PusMROnFS2k/s640/blogger-image-1996682908.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-MfQUccRiHsA/Uov2PffPGjI/AAAAAAAADHY/PusMROnFS2k/s640/blogger-image-1996682908.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LxYKUFEbx-4/Uov2MFrnxKI/AAAAAAAADHA/pecyy3B1gnY/s640/blogger-image-1820783598.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LxYKUFEbx-4/Uov2MFrnxKI/AAAAAAAADHA/pecyy3B1gnY/s640/blogger-image-1820783598.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-pGYMYqrW9gc/Uov2KPlBBsI/AAAAAAAADGw/HfRW9GoPl60/s640/blogger-image-1389020359.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-pGYMYqrW9gc/Uov2KPlBBsI/AAAAAAAADGw/HfRW9GoPl60/s640/blogger-image-1389020359.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Gm8m8IqVLIQ/Uov2IzvY7DI/AAAAAAAADGo/updiGTOF_PE/s640/blogger-image-2125312707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Gm8m8IqVLIQ/Uov2IzvY7DI/AAAAAAAADGo/updiGTOF_PE/s640/blogger-image-2125312707.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">My new room has a piano!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-rORtw82t8Pg/Uov2OP9uhAI/AAAAAAAADHQ/LBFIx8XSSvA/s640/blogger-image--338338665.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-rORtw82t8Pg/Uov2OP9uhAI/AAAAAAAADHQ/LBFIx8XSSvA/s640/blogger-image--338338665.jpg"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aMV9qsPVDJ0/Uov2H5bkCOI/AAAAAAAADGg/5BRiFKNinvE/s640/blogger-image--1241586382.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aMV9qsPVDJ0/Uov2H5bkCOI/AAAAAAAADGg/5BRiFKNinvE/s640/blogger-image--1241586382.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-yj-qr8npm5E/Uov2Nfop69I/AAAAAAAADHI/iFu5TH-8Rvc/s640/blogger-image--1052935414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-yj-qr8npm5E/Uov2Nfop69I/AAAAAAAADHI/iFu5TH-8Rvc/s640/blogger-image--1052935414.jpg"></a></div><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Thanks!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Wes</div><br></div><br></div><br></div><br></div></div><br></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-3175442215409021902013-11-08T04:27:00.002-08:002013-11-08T04:27:48.289-08:00富士山 Mount Fuji<div class="MsoNormal">
Let me start this out by saying that nothing that you are
about to read will do anything that has been done, seen, or talked about
justice. There is no way that any of it can be reproduced by the 10-45 minutes
it takes for you to read this depending on your distraction level. This is also
me trying to make up for ten days of not writing. They happen to be ten days in
which everything under the sun did happen, so here we go…<o:p></o:p></div>
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Last Friday I didn’t have school because of school on the
previous Saturday. I spent the morning at home and then took the bus into town
for a Rotary meeting. The meeting was fun. I was able to communicate with
people more than usually, so hopefully that gave some of them the idea that
they want to maybe do something with me. That day there was a new Rotary member
that was being acknowledge as now being a full member. He sat at the guest
table with me and it was fun talking with him. I was able to use my Rotary
business card to show them where in the US I come from (on the back is a map of
the US)! Thanks Rotary! I also had a nice long chat with my next host father.
He is a busy member of Rotary and is very excited to have me coming. Yay! I
told him a little about what my daily schedule is like, so hopefully that will
help with the transition. I will moving there in about a week (Sunday, November
17). It will be a very short week as I pack up my room and spend as much time
with the Tani family as possible.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After the Rotary meeting, I decided to explore Kawachinagano
a little bit, seeing as I really don’t know where anything is or how anything
connects. It turned into a three hour expedition that was super fun and helped
me figure out where some stuff is. I started out by walking to the library and
checking out a couple books. We’ll see if I can actually get through them very
fast. They were Eragon and DUNE. My next destination was Teragaike Park just
uphill from Nagano High School. It was beautiful!</div>
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There were fountains and a
large pond. I made my way around the pond and investigated a bunch of spider
webs with really spectacular spiders in them.</div>
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In the pond there were a bunch of
turtles that must have been habituated
(if turtles can be habituated…that’s seems like an odd thing to say…) because
when they saw my shadow the call swam over and poked their heads out of the
water expectantly.</div>
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Sorry, guys. No food! There must have been some elementary
school field trip because there were a ton of elementary school kids in the
park with their teachers. As I passed, some kids piped up and said “hello” to
me. I responded with “konichiwa” and proceeded to watch and laugh as their eyes
got as big as dinner plates and starting whispering to each other about how I
could speak Japanese. My favorite part was when their teacher told them that
not all foreigners speak English. That teacher deserves a ton of respect!<o:p></o:p></div>
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My next point of exploration was Nagano Park. I was about
two kilometers away, but it was worth it! It covers this small mountain right
next to the train station. The view was incredible!</div>
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There was a really cool
playground and some very decent open and flat space. It made me wish I had a
Frisbee! When I left the park, I headed south and walked around through a large
neighborhood. It was very pretty and the sun made it all look San Francisco.</div>
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I
think the hills were the main contributors to the feeling. I ended up walking
to Mikkaichi station which is one station south from Kawachinagano station (2
kilometers). There I randomly ran into Jaimee, the exchange student from
Australia. She had to go to school that day and was just returning home. We
talked for a while and then I took the train back to Kawachinagano station.
That evening I went to aikidou and then returned home.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The next day was pretty relaxed. I thought about blogging so
you wouldn’t be reading so much right now, but then I decided to make you all
suffer. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!... Anyway… I went to to lunch with Nanako,
Mitsuki, and Mama Akane. The restaurant we went to has an all you can drink
bar, so I made sure I became very hydrated. The highlight of my hydration was
this bright green drink. It’s melon flavored Fanta! In the US, we only have
orange flavored Fanta.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On Sunday morning Baba, Gigi, and I all got up and left the
house at five AM. Why, you may ask, would someone in their right mind get up at
five AM on a Sunday morning. Well, there is only one good reason for that and
that is that we went to see Mount Fuji!!! WOOOOOOOO!!! I’m going to start this
off by just stating how grateful I am to Baba and Gigi for taking me on such an
incredible trip.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Right, we left at five AM and picked up my host uncle,
Yu-chan, and host cousin, Rene-chan, and then started the six hour drive. It
was a beautiful drive. I’d only ever seen the Kansai area, so seeing areas that
didn’t have ten people per square foot was refreshing. There were mountains
everywhere as well as ocean views. At one point we went past this famous name.</div>
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That is the actual city where those cars are made. Yay!<o:p></o:p></div>
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The prefectures that were new to me that we traveled through
were Mie, Aichi, Shizuoka, and Yamanashi. That means that I’ve been to ten of
the forty-seven prefectures in Japan. That’s kinda cool!<o:p></o:p></div>
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When we first saw Mount Fuji, I almost fell out of my seat
in the car. It was so impressive! When you see pictures of Mount Fuji and think
“Where are all the other mountains”, that’s exactly what happens in real life.
In reality, there are some pretty tall peaks around Mount Fuji, but they really
don’t compare at all. Fuji-san is breath-taking, jaw-dropping, pant-wetting,
and brain-busting. I can’t really describe what it was like. It was just so
big. 3,776 meters (12,356 feet) tall to be exact. No other adjective really
describes it’s size better than abso-ginourmously massive. Yes, that is right
out of my Japanese-English dictionary. In fact, that’s what the direct
translation of <span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">富士山</span><span lang="JA"> </span>(Fuji-san) is. I fact-checked with
multiple sources, too, and the only difference was whether they chose to add
“-freakin-“ in between “abso-“ and “-ginourmously”. Ok, I’ll get back on track
now and keep what little credibility I have left.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We worked our way around the south and east sides of the
mountain to get the where we could drive up it. As we got closer, we were able
to see some significant snow on the top. We finally left the cities on the
south and east bases of Fuji and began to work towards the north side. We went
through what had to be a five to six kilometer long tunnel and emerged into
beautiful countryside. All the trees were changing to orange, red, and yellow.
It was gorgeous! At some points the trees gave way to fields of Susuki grass
(Japanese Pompous grass) and the view was even more impressive.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On the north side, we got onto the road the goes up part of
the mountain. At the entrance they had this song that played as you drove over
different sizes of grooves in the road. It’s a little hard to hear because the
GPS is talking and the car was speeding up, but it’s a song about coming to see
Mount Fuji.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We passed through the entrance gate and began the thirty
minute trip half-way up the mountain. Along the way there were places to rest
at certain altitudes. They are the traditional heights for hikers to stop at. The
road stops at the fifth out of eight resting spots (2,305 m). There are a bunch
of restaurants and gift shops.</div>
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It was also a mite big chilly and Rene-chan ran
around trying to stay warm. We had lunch in a little cafeteria and then Gigi
and I went for a two-hour hike. It was easy going because so many people hike
the same route.</div>
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There has been a lot of work done to prevent erosion, so a lot
of the walking is not at a very extreme angle. There is also a lot of infrastructure
to prevent more erosion during the spring melt. Erosion is a huge problem on
the mountainside because it’s all volcanic rock-crumble and none of it sticks
together well. You could push your index finger all the way up to your knuckle
right on the mountainside.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Because of volcanic soil, there are very few varieties of
plants that grow there. The only ones that can are these. This also includes the
few animals that adventure the harsh terrain.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Gigi and I climbed up into the treeless area of Mount Fuji
and made it between the sixth and seventh stations before having to turn back
because of time. You can’t go to to top of Mount Fuji between September 2 and
June 30 because this sign says so.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It was so gorgeous! The summit always had a hat of clouds
sitting on it while we were there. We were also able to hear the wind from our
position a thousand meters below it. I was sad to not be able to get to the
snow, but the fact that I was even on the side of Mount Fuji is enough for me.
It was so kind of Gigi and Baba to take me.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When we returned to the fifth station and had snack. I was
able to consume all of Mount Fuji while we sat there at 2,000 meters on it’s
slopes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After quite a bit of souvenir buying, it was time to head
down. The surrounding landscape had begin to fog over and the surrounding
midget-mountains were poking up out of it. What a fantastical wonderland!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Since Mount Fuji has a welcome song, it was only appropriate
to have one the way out to say goodbye with. Again, a little hard to hear
because of the GPS. It was also an amusing rendition because we had to slow
down for some bikers. The road really had it’s key changes down!<o:p></o:p></div>
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We drove to our hotel. Japanese hotels are quite fancy and
incredibly hospitable. The only curious thing was that check-in time starts at
five, so the lobby is full of families waiting for their rooms until then. It
was worth it, though. We had this view of Mount Fuji from our balcony.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This is what a Japanese hotel room looks like.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The platform has tatami mats on it and a short table to sit
around on cushions. The closet behind it is full of futons that can be put down
on the tatami for more sleeping places. Other than that, everything is the same
as an American hotel room. EXCEPT: There are little chocolate cookies provided
to eat with morning tea/coffee. OH! They also supply these cool sleeping gowns.
This picture makes it look like a hospital smock, but they are like
light-weight kimonos.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Dinner was all-you-can-eat and all sorts of delicious
Japanese food. I might have eaten more than my fair share, but it’s a buffet.
What do you expect? Rene-chan had quite a good time at the dessert table.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After Gigi and Baba went to bed, Rene-chan, Yu-chan, and I explored
the hotel. We first went to the gift shop and snooped around. There was Fuji
EVERYTHING. Here’s a small list.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Fuji soda<o:p></o:p></div>
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Fuji KitKat<o:p></o:p></div>
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Fuji Hello Kitty<o:p></o:p></div>
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Fuji Sake<o:p></o:p></div>
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Fuji Chocolate<o:p></o:p></div>
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Fuji Swim Suit<o:p></o:p></div>
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Fuji Towel Holder<o:p></o:p></div>
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Fuji Carabiner<o:p></o:p></div>
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People are willing to buy anything. Next, we went to the
hotel arcade. There were many different ways to through your money out the window,
so we did some of that. I think my favorite machine was this
rock-paper-scissors game. There were many people who were in the arcade alone,
but I don’t think any of them were so lonely they would play it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This was a “big prize” you could win.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In the morning, the weather was rainy and Mount Fuji was not
in the least visible. We had all-you-can-eat breakfast of everything under the
sun (or rain, as it turned out). We then visited the hot spring at the hotel. It
was outside and beautifully decorated with trees and rocks. If it were not
rainy, we would have had the perfect view of Mount Fuji. I would have taken a
picture, but there were other people in there when we were. Here’s a substitute
for it just outside!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Mount Fuji has five decent-size lakes around it. We drove
around one and stopped to look at swans investigating their older cousins.</div>
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Rene-chan was brave and investigated a little more closely than I’m sure any of
the adults felt was safe, but they were extremely used to humans and just
wanted a little bread.</div>
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We also saw the older cousin’s older cousin. Apparently
the price for riding the oldest swan cousin is half when you can’t see Mount
Fuji, so we went for it!<o:p></o:p></div>
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It was a fun ride around Yamanaka Lake and we had some great
views of the surrounding hills.</div>
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Near the end of the ride, some mountains began
to peak their heads out. At one point a whole bunch of dogs got on. It was
hysterical to see them all in their sweaters and shirts!<o:p></o:p></div>
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In the water by the dock were a bunch of koi that we bought
some fish food for. They were very ravenous and did not hesitate to pig pile on
one-another. They were huge!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Next to the koi and minding it’s own business was this
beautiful swan.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It was enjoying the fish food. I think it’s ok that all this
wildlife was being feed this food because it is all one size and highly unlikely
for the animals to choke on them. It’s much better than them eating any random
food that people want to give them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The rest of the afternoon was spent visiting the other four
lakes. They were all beautiful and would have had magnificent views of Mount
Fuji had it been visible. The sun was out where we were, but at the top of
Mount Fuji, that was a different story. Here’s the last lake we stopped at and
ate lunch at.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In the little store connected to the restaurant, I found
this box of Fuji chocolate.<o:p></o:p></div>
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By loving people, you too can continue to have symbols from
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That was pretty much our trip to Mount Fuji. It was so nice
of Gigi and Baba to take me! I can’t believe how nice it was of them! It has
been the most incredible experience I have had so far in Japan.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ok, so now for a quick thought: traffic signals. They work exactly
the same as they do in the US and all the colors mean the same thing. The only
difference is what they are called. This signal right here means “go”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Japanese say that the color of this signal is blue. Yes,
they do realize that the color of it is green, but they call it blue. I’m not
sure at all why. Is it called that in Europe, my Rotary friends? It’s a mystery
to me.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I decided that I wanted to run from the Tani family store in
Kawachinagano to the Tani’s house in Takihata (8 km away). This morning I
walked with Gigi to Tani Tool so I could see the route. It took an hour and a
half to walk, but was through beautiful forest and small neighborhoods. After
school, I ran it. It was a really fun run and I was happy to be outside and in
the forest. It’s sad that I won’t have another opportunity to this because I’ll
be switching to Michimoto-san’s house next week. <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">L</span>
I’ll have to come visit the Tani’s by running there!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thanks for putting up with my ultra-long post. I hope you’re
still awake or actually reading this! The gaps that I didn’t cover during the
week were filled up with school, soft tennis, band, or eating, so you didn’t
miss much. I’ll try and post a little more frequently so you die from boredom
or have cobwebs growing on you.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Again, I’m so happy and thankful that Gigi and Baba took me
on such a great trip. It was such a special experience that I will definitely remember
it as one of the big parts of my year.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">またね!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Wes<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-28201057923337805912013-10-29T04:53:00.005-07:002013-10-29T04:53:59.972-07:00Koyakaido Matsuri<div class="MsoNormal">
Last Saturday Nagano High School had a short day of three
periods in the morning. I don’t really understand why they bother for that
short amount of time, but it meant I went to gym, had Japanese B (literature
class), and a study period. It was pretty fun and I always enjoy being able to
spend more time talking with my classmates. After that short bit of school, I
return to Tani Tool and had lunch with Papa Kazuhiro, his brother, and Baba.
Yummy! It’s a good thing that I like fried noodles because it’s a very popular
dish for both lunch and dinner. I returned to school and met up with a student
representation of the intercultural class at Nagano High School and the English
Speaking Society. There were seven first years and three third years. The
second years were excluded because they had to get ready for their school trip.
I suppose it would be helpful to mention why we gathered. That Saturday, junior
high school students from Nagano Junior High School were visiting to see if
they wanted to attend Nagano High School next year. We spoke to a group that’s
interested in joining the Intercultural Course that’s offered. It basically
means that there is a stronger focus on learning English and they have a lot of
interaction with the international teachers. They also have the opportunity to
travel abroad as a class to Australia. It was a really fun time. I was the
current exchange student representative because Soo-jin (YFU exchange student
from Korea) was busy. The three third years that spoke had all participated in
some sort of exchange in the US the year before. One had spent a week or two at
a leadership building workshop in San Francisco, California. Another had spent
a month in St. Louis, Missouri, doing a homestay. The third had done an eleven
month exchange with AFS to Detroit, Michigan. All three of them have absolutely
superb English and it made me envious to speak Japanese at the same level. I
hope that the three of them can influence some of the first years to consider
an exchange. I’m currently working on it!<o:p></o:p></div>
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The first years had a variety of things they presented. One
talked about the Australia trip that the first years can go on in which they do
a ten day homestay. Three others presented for the English Speaking Society. A
pair talked about the Intercultural program and why the junior high kids should
join it. The last three presented the presentation they gave at the
Kawachinagano English Festival (See October 8 blog). After the presentation, we
split all the junior high kids into two groups. I went with Darryl’s (the
English teacher from Australia) group and a few of the first years and a third
year. Darryl held a model class so the kids could see what English classes for
the intercultural class are like. I think they are much better run than the
normal English classes at the high school because they actually get kids
involved and talking as opposed to just listening to a lecture about the
language they are learning to speak. It makes a lot more sense to be thinking
about what to say and actually saying it rather than just hypothesizing if it
is right or not.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After the junior high kids left, I spent a while talking
with my friends about exchanges and Aikidou. I then walked back to Tani Tool
with two of my friends. I don’t think I’ve continuously talked in Japanese for
that long yet. The two friends are both in my class and have very good English,
so they were able to help me where I got stuck. I’m really beginning to get a
little bit of a rhythm down. It’s exciting!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I took a break from Aikidou on Saturday night because I was
still recovering from my illness last week. When I got home from school, there
was a package for me from Michelle Fredrickson! Thanks so much Michelle! It was
wonderfully decorated and full of all sorts of Halloween goodies! The peanut
butter tastes delicious and so do the skittles!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sunday was a long day! I spent the entire morning laying
around on the electric carpet in my room reading a book and being nice and
warm. After lunch, Baba and I drove to Tani Tool and met Mama Akane, Papa Kazuhiro,
Mitsuki, Nanako, and Nanako’s Friend. Mama, Papa, Mitsuki, and I then walked to
the area around the station to see Koyakaido Matsuri. It is a festival where
people walk from Kawachinagano to Koyasan in Wakayama-ken. Kawachinagano has
been the gathering point of many pilgrimage routes for centuries. Around
Kawachinagano Station, there were street vendors everywhere. They sold
everything from hand-crafted mini bento boxes to fresh fish, fruit, and
pastries. It was incredible! There were tons of people everywhere. You’d think
I’d be used to staring by this point, but there was more staring on Sunday than
I’ve ever experienced so far! It was very strange.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Along with all the people at the festival were the three
Kawachinagano mascots; Mockle, the happy tree, Kuromaro, the happy history
mascot, and Fururu, the happy Kawachinagano botanical garden flower.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We visited Nagano Shrine right next to the station. It had
an absolutely massive tree stump with a tree growing in it! Yay for symbolism
in the right place!<o:p></o:p></div>
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We walked from Kawachinagano Station to Mikkaichi Station
along the Koyakaido route. The asphalt along the entire way is a different
color so you can easily find your way. There are also engraved stones with
”Koyakaido Matsuri” imbedded into the pavement.</div>
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We had some amazing views of
the mountains and some old houses. This was my first time doing a little bit of
wandering in Kawachinagano. You can get a lot of places in a car, a train, and
a bus, but you really don’t see all the cool stuff without doing a little bit
of walking. The path follows a tiny road that winds it’s way through the city
past small forests, tiny shops, historical markers (English and Japanese),
decrepit buildings, and farm fields.</div>
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It was (and I’m going to say this without
worrying about being cliché or corny) charming. I think I also found my
favorite part of the city. The old neighborhoods are so pretty and full of
traditional houses. Along the path, we came across the first police station in
Osaka Prefecture. It is made of wood and is now a small museum.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When we reached Mikkaichi station, we discovered that these
days pilgrims don’t actually walk all the way to Koyasan (some 25 km), but they
walk from Kawachinagano Station to Mikkaichi Station, and then ride the train
the rest of the way. A little cheap if you ask me. I mean, come on. Kobo Daishi
did set up a pretty freaking awesome temple out of the way of bustling Japan
and here people are just riding a train straight to it in two hours. So much
for seclusion.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When we returned to Kawachinagano Station, Mama, Mitsuki,
Nanako, Yoshino and I went to a barber shop so I could get a hair cut. Yay! My
first Japanese hair cut!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Baba joined us and we went out for dinner. Afterwards, Baba
and I went to Morishita-san’s restaurant for a concert by a friend of her son.
It was very good even in the tiny space. The musician played guitar and piano.
He had taught himself the piano and is absolutely incredible! Morishita-san
even bought me a CD! It was great!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Today I made an incredible discovery. I stopped by a
convenience store on the way home from school today and bought these chocolate
crunchy/gooey things.<o:p></o:p></div>
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At home I was sitting there eating them and suddenly saw
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HOLY COW WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF IT EARLIER!!!<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s just like a Reece’s cup and now I can explain some
American candy to my friends! Yay! Success! Now just to make sure the peanut
butter lasts long enough to share it……<o:p></o:p></div>
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Tonight I also went out for ramen with Baba and Gigi. It was
delicious! I had a bowl of ramen that probably would have flushed a toilet
three times! I also had two rice balls and a bunch of dumplings. I love ramen!
The kind I got was kimchi ramen. Yummy! Here’s the picture.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ありがとうございます!来週の日曜日、富士山へ行きます。私はたのしみです!たくさんしゃしんをとります。富士山は車で七時間にです。</span>O.o<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">またね!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Wes<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-80712858703632210152013-10-24T01:14:00.006-07:002013-10-24T01:15:43.468-07:00Koyasan<div class="MsoNormal">
Sunday was an incredible adventure! I went with Gigi and Yamamoto-san
(a client of the family business) to Koyasan in Wakayama Prefecture. I think I
have just found my favorite place in Japan so far!<o:p></o:p></div>
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We woke up early and picked up Yamamoto-san in
Kawachinagano. The drive to Koyasan was about two hours but it was through beautiful
countryside. The road up the mountain is two lanes and winds all over the place
as it follows the topography. It rained all day and was cold, so we were happy
to have the car. I’m not a person that usually gets motion sick, but there was
so much back and forth that I unfortunately was a little out of it during our
visit to Koyasan.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The entrance to Koyasan is a 25 meter tall gate called
Daimon. It is where pilgrims that have walked to Koyasan enter from. On either
side of it are two statues that depict protector deities carved out of wood.</div>
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It’s
extremely beautiful and it was incredible way to enter into this sacred city.
As we drove in, we immediately began to pass buildings that are used for
different parts of the temple. I suppose I should mention that Koyasan is one
big temple and city combined. It was established almost 1200 years ago (the 1200<sup>th</sup>
anniversary is happening in two to three years) by Kobo Daishi as a place for
Buddhism to be practiced away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Koyasan
itself is a remote and elevated mountain valley that is about six kilometers
long and surrounded by serene forests. It also has it’s own little climate
where it usually about ten degrees Celsius cooler than the surround areas.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The first building we went to was Kongobuji, the head temple
of Koyasan Shingon Buddhism. The Buddhism practiced there is a mix of Shintoism
(Japan’s national religion) and Buddhism (Kobo Daishi studied Buddhism in China
and brought teachings back). This is a popular form of Buddhism and Shintoism
in Japan. It is believed that the Shinto deities are early forms of Buddhist
deities, so the two work out well together and create a well molded religion.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anyway, Kongobuji was very pretty and there were many tour
groups filing in, so we didn’t stay long.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our next stop was my favorite place in all of Koyasan. Okunoin
is a cemetery with over 200,000 gravestones and memorials and more are still
being added.</div>
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Okunoin is two kilometers long and has some of the most massive trees
I have ever seen in my life! They were incredible and most were at least a couple
centuries old. It was a beautiful place. We walked all over between large stone
graves and massive trees. The most famous grave that we saw (as far as I know
because everything was in Japanese!) was that of the emperor Toyotomi Hideoshi
who built Osaka Castle. Hideoshi had an interesting history with Koyasan.</div>
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He
originally went there to conquer it, but a monk there convinced him otherwise.
Eventually, Hideoshi became a patron of Koyasan and was buried there when he
died. It was surprising to the see the small size for such a great leader.</div>
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At the end of Okunoin is the Torodo and the Mausoleum of
Kobo Daishi. When Kobo Daishi passed away, it was believed that instead of dying,
he entered into eternal meditation and is forever meditating in Koyasan. The mausoleum
is where Kobo Daishi meditates and is off limits to outsiders. In front of the mausoleum
is the Torodo or Lantern Hall which is a prayer chapel. The ceiling of the Torodo
is covered in paper lamps that have been donated since the beginning of the
temple. Visitors are allowed to enter the first part of the Torodo, but the
back section is used for prayer. At all times of the day there is a fire burning
and a monk reciting a prayer in ancient Japanese. Twice a day, a meal and tea
is offered to Kobo Daishi as he sits in eternal meditation. The building is
incredible and you could feel how special of a place it is. Unfortunately, you
can’t take pictures, so I’ll leave it up to you to do the web searches. There
were also more massive trees surrounding the Torodo. It was an absolutely fantastic
space.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As we walked back through Okunoin, we passed the area where
corporate executives were buried as well as memorials to various events in
Japan’s history. This memorial is for all those that we lost in one of the more
recent devastating earthquakes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This one was for Nissan, the car company.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This one was for a Japanese coffee company. I kid you not.
There were giant stone coffee cups.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It was a little weird to have the business memorials, but I
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Just outside Okunoin we had a quick snack and then drove to
a lookout tower about 30 minutes south of Koyasan. It was very cool even though
we couldn’t see very far because of the rain and mist. The wind was fairly
strong and it was absolutely pouring rain. I was able to pick up some pamphlets
about Koyasan from their small gift shop.</div>
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We then returned to Koyasan where we
had a lunch of tempura udon and stopped at a gift shop. I picked out a couple
things and Yamamoto-san very generously insisted in purchasing them for me after
quite a bit of protesting on my part. It was extremely nice of him.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We stopped next at Nyonido, the only female temple left in
Koyasan. Originally, women were not allowed to enter Koyasan, so seven temples
for women were built just outside of Koyasan. Next to it was this giant Buddha.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our final stop in Koyasan was the Danjo Garan Complex, which
is right next to Okunoin at the top of the list of the most important places in
Koyasan. It is the place where Buddhist monks train. The center piece of the
complex is the Kondo, where ever important ceremony is Koyasan is held. It is
the main hall for Koyasan.</div>
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The tallest building on the premises is the Konpon
Daito. It is a fifty meter tall pagoda that is a bright orange. In the center
of the pagoda is a giant, gold-plated Buddha (Dainichi Nyorai of the Matrix
Realm) that is surrounded by four smaller Buddhas (The four Buddhas of the
Diamond Realm). On the massive pillars around them are painted the Sixteen
Great Bodhisattvas. It is a very impressive room that did not allow cameras to
share it’s glory.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Koyasan is an incredible place. If anyone finds themselves in
Japan for any reason at all, they should make a super huge gigantic effort to
make there way to Koyasan. It’s pretty much right in the middle of Japan, so
you can’t argue that you went to the wrong end of Japan. Also, the public
transportation there is great, so saying that your mom wouldn’t drive you isn’t
an excuse either. Seriously. It’s worth every minute of getting there.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When we left, the rain had almost stopped. The clouds were
still there, so Koyasan was a misty wonderland. The road down the mountain was
also misty. And this just made it all the more difficult to transverse the
snake of asphalt. We were behind a bus the whole the time which almost
jackknifed into the mountain on every curve. Finally, we stopped and had a
snack of fried mochi (Japanese rice cakes). They were quite delicious.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The next part of the day was spent driving north through
Nara prefecture and then west to Kobe to drop of Yamamoto-san off. He had been
picked up by Papa Kazuhiro the day before and had no easy and fast way to get
back. The cool part of the drive was that we went past the Diamond trail and
Mount Kongo where Gigi and I had hiked a couple weeks before. It was fun to see
the other side of the mountain range. It was beautiful in all the clouds and
mist that hung around them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In Kobe, we had dinner at a sushi restaurant. The food was
incredible and I ate more than my stomach was ready for, but every bite was
worth it. Wasabi, rice, and fish taste so good together! We said goodbye to
Yamamoto-san and drove back to Kawachinagano.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This week in school I discovered that the teachers don’t
mind if I read during class! It’s a great way to spend my time and it’s very
difficult to stay focused on studying Japanese for so long everyday. I love it!
I also found out that I will be giving a speech to junior high school students might
come to Nagano High School about the difference between Japanese school and
American school. I’m excited to give it!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ve been feeling a cold coming on these last few days and
today it really hit. I stayed home from school and mostly slept all day, but I’m
feeling better. I hope my host mom will let me go to Japanese class tonight.
Then I can actually do something today!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ありがとうございました!またね!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Wes<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-29756934683830885512013-10-18T21:50:00.000-07:002013-10-18T21:50:04.524-07:00Danjiri Matsuri and the Chicken Dance<div class="MsoNormal">
Last Friday, I went and explored the dam that is above my
house. It was a beautiful day to go!</div>
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I walked up the road to it and walked out
on it. From there, I could see my house, the entire lake, and this giant slug
that was drying out.</div>
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It was gorgeous! The road across the dam is only for
pedestrians as well as most of the road that the dam leads to. It was a
beautiful stroll through the woods and it actually felt like I was in a city
park. Most parks in Japan are extremely small and don’t have grass. This one
had grass on both sides of the path as well as in the little alcoves that had
benches and tables. There were even sculptures! There were also very few people
when I went. I would guess this is because it was a weekday and also because
Takihata is a 20 minute drive from Kawachinagano (a long distance in Japan).</div>
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Later
that day, Mama Akane and I went to a little museum about the history of the
Kawachinagano area. They had a lot of cool artifacts on display. The museum has
a cool activity where you can carve shapes from stone. Mama Akane decided to
make a stone knife that was traditionally used for cutting rice from the stalk.
I made a small stone necklace.</div>
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It was really fun creating something out of a
solid block of stone with nothing but files to work with. After we carved our
stone, we looked around a little. There were tons of artifacts that had been
found in the Kawachinagano area including a pair of swords and some VERY large
ceramic pots! It was fun to see how people lived way long ago in Japan.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After that, we returned to Takihata and went to a
traditional Japanese house that’s in the center of Takihata.</div>
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It was super cool
to see it! Houses were usually home to more than one family, so there were many
rooms and sliding doors to give privacy when it was needed. I think that the
roof is the coolest part of these traditional houses. It is made entirely from
Susuki grass and weighs many tons.</div>
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The grass comes from Mount Iwawaki just a
couple kilometers away. You can actually see the top of it from the house, so
it’s a great place to have the house.</div>
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The house’s floor is all tatami mats and
the doors are both wooden and traditional paper. The cooking area was super
interesting. There was a large concrete area with holes in the top of it for
pots to fit in. There were also holes in the side to insert wood into for the
fire. There was a rice cooker, a steamer, and a soup pot.</div>
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Next to the house
there was a little museum about the building of traditional houses. It
explained the cutting of the Susuki grass, the drying, and the installation. I
wish I had paid a little more attention because I don’t remember the specifics!
It also showed another kind of traditional roof that used tree bark. Both
methods are still used for temples, shrines, and traditional houses.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Last Saturday, Pap Kazuhiro and I drove to Wakayama to go
surfing. It was a beautiful day, but unfortunately there were not many waves.</div>
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There were tons of other people there surfing though! I was able to surf on my
stomach a little bit. It was my first time, so standing up would have been very
improbable, especially considering the state of the waves. It was a ton of fun
though! I was surprised by the amount of debris on the beach. There was trash absolutely
everywhere. It was pretty gross! There was also a large number of dead animals
on the beach which included a bird, a stingray, tons of squid, and a sea turtle.
It was sad to see them. I wonder if all beaches in Japan are like this?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Last Saturday was the first day of Kawachinagano’s Danjiri
Matsuri festival.</div>
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The festival goes for two days and each day starts at 6 AM
and goes until 10 PM with only a short break for lunch. I found out a little
more information about the festival since I last wrote about the Kishiwada
Danjiri Festival that I went to. Danjiri are wooden shrines that are pulled
around on large, wooden wheels. The idea is to spread luck around the
neighborhood that they are in. The Danjiri weigh about 2-4 tons and are pulled
solely by man-power. I went to the night part with Mama Akane, Mitsuki, and
Nanako.</div>
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We met up with Nanako’s friend, Kana, and her mother and walked around.
Each neighborhood in the city had their own festival. We were in the Takou
neighborhood of Kawachinagano which has three Danjiri. All three of them wound
through the streets making a huge ruckus! On board were two drummers and a bell
ringer as well as dancers and some people egging on those pulling and pushing
the cart. The drummers and bell ringer sit there and drum/ring the entire time
the Danjiri is moving. I don’t think they switch people either, even between
the two days. At night, the Danjiri become lit up with lanterns that advertise
what part of the neighborhood they are from. At various times of the evening,
the Danjiri all meet at intersections and go through a routine of spinning the
Danjiri in the center of the intersection. It’s a wild scene! The Danjiri are
first rolled to the middle of the intersection, then everyone on board helps to
lever the Danjiri up onto two wheels. Finally, they all start pushing and
pulling the Danjiri so that it spins in a circle at a very high speed. It’s
incredible that they can do it since it weighs to much! It was a very
impressive showing!<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Danjiri go absolutely everywhere in the city. They have
set courses, but there are more than just a couple routes that they take. The
streets vary from tiny crevices between houses to large, two lane roads. It
doesn’t matter where they are, though, because all traffic has to stop for
them. I think the general rule is that if you are driving anywhere during the
festival, you are responsible for avoiding any Danjiri. There are no signs or
detours, just a giant crowd of people that mark where you can’t drive for the
next 10-30 minutes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Everywhere the carts go, they leave marks on the street from
their wooden wheels. It’s really fun to be walking down an extremely skinny
street and realize that a Danjiri managed to squeeze through there!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Last Sunday I went to Universal Studios Japan (USJ) with
Rotary students and Rotex. I met up with Jaimee (Australia) at Kawachinagano
Station and from there we went to Tennoji where we met up with all the other
students. In total, there were fourteen people; seven Rotary students and seven
Rotex. We all rode to USJ together and I’m sure we look absolutely crazy since
we were just a huge clump of foreigners speaking a mixture of English,
Japanese, and, occacionally, Spanish or German. It was a really fun day! I don’t
really know what to say about it other than that USJ is a huge theme park that
attracts more people than the Minnesota State Fair. There were so many people
that we only had time for two rides in a little over six hours. We waited in
line for the Jurassic Park ride for two and a half hours and the Back to the
Future ride for an hour and a half. The lines were worth it, though. The rides
were incredible and we all had a lot of fun. The one downside of the day
(although it was completely worth it) was that during the next couple days I
had a sore throat from talking so much. For those that are curious, there was
both English and Japanese spoken, so the day was a complete drain on my
Japanese.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That night, I went to the closing ceremony for the Danjiri
festival. It was just as crazy with more spinning and streamers and throwing
people in the air. It was very entertaining. I made a short video about the
Kawachinagano Danjiri festival for those that would like to actually see what
it was like. I added a little bit of during it so it’s not just a complete
waste of time. Oh, and sorry for the “vertical video”, dad.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This week was relatively normal. On Tuesday I had a Japanese
test in school to make sure I’m actually learning stuff. The unfortunate part
was that there was quite a bit that I had never seen before and wasn’t in the
study packet I had been given. I’m not exactly sure why this is. I wonder if
most tests given in school have a bit of new material to see if the kids can
infer using what they learned for the test.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On Thursday after Japanese class, I went to Morishita-san’s
restaurant for dinner. Morishita-san is the exchange student organizer for the
Kawachinagano Rotary Club. Dinner was delicious and the conversation was
incredible! Her son works at the restaurant and he went to school in New York
state. It’s really fun talking to them. I think that dinner there will become a
regular thing for me after Japanese class. I’m greatly looking forward to it.
It’s great to use the Japanese that I’ve just been studying in the real world.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Everyday I come home completely exhausted. I’m totally fine
with it because it means that I’ve actually been doing something during the
day. Attempting to listen and understand everything that anyone says is so
difficult and tiring that sometimes I zone out. It’s so hard not to sometimes
because the conversation has new vocabulary, but if I really try, I can get the
generally idea of what is being talked about.<o:p></o:p></div>
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School is great. I’ve started talking to classmates more and
they are extremely willing to help me understand something if I don’t get it.
They ask me all sorts of questions, too, about life in the US and what I did
the last weekend. It’s great and I love my class.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thursday marked the two month mark for me. It’s incredible
to think that it’s been two months already! Time absolutely flies! It’s so
crazy. Thursday also marked the one month that I left with the Tani family. It’s
sad that I will be leaving, but I am excited to experience a different
lifestyle! It will be a little bit of a shock and almost like starting over. My
host grandfather did inform me that my room here will be kept available if I
ever need it. He also mentioned that I should come back on some weekends to see
them. It was a fantastic invitation! <o:p></o:p></div>
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Here's what the view looks like when it's beautiful and rainy!</div>
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I love my family so much! I just spent a good 20 minutes with them teaching them the chicken dance. It was so much fun! I think my little brother might have a new favorite song now.</div>
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Thanks for reading! I’m hoping to not let my blog sit this
long again. Although it didn’t feel like it, 10 days is a long time!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">ありがとうございます!またね!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Wes<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-68903064244141792502013-10-09T18:53:00.002-07:002013-10-09T18:53:18.489-07:00Botanical Japan<div class="MsoNormal">
Since I wrote just two days ago, this post will have more
information about my regular life here in Japan as well as what I think or am
noticing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On Tuesday I went to the library with Mama Akane to get a
library card for me. Yay! It worked! I can now get whatever I want out of the
library and stay literate in English! I’m hoping to get out some Japanese children’s
books so I can improve my reading. I got out <u>Airframe</u>, by Michael Crichton,
and I’m already finished it because it was so good! Hopefully I don’t exhaust
the English section of the library in a year…<o:p></o:p></div>
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Yesterday, Mama Akane and I picked up Nanako, Mitsuki, Yuki
(Mitsuki’s friend), and Kana (Nanako’s friend). Yuki and Kana are siblings, so
it works out quite nicely. We all went to the Kawachinagano botanical garden. </div>
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It was really fun! Earlier in the day, there was heavy rain and wind because of
a typhoon that was blowing through and we were not sure if we would be able to
go. When we picked them all up, they sun was shining and there was a slight
breeze. The botanical garden was very pretty and had tons of plant varieties.
In the entrance, there was a huge marigold garden. It felt like being in
Minnesota in the fall! We walked around for a while and eventually came to the
main greenhouse. It is a huge pyramid structure that is all glass. You can see
from a couple kilometers away.</div>
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The inside was even hotter than outside! But it
was worth it to see all the plants. The greenhouse’s focus is on rare plants, so
it was exciting to see everything. My favorite plant that were displaying was Welwitschia,
which is a desert plant native to southern Africa. It only has two leaves and
it can life for 2,000 years. When I visited my aunt and uncle in Namibia ten
years ago, we saw a few Welwitschia in the wild.</div>
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The centerpiece of the pyramid
is a large indoor waterfall that you can walk behind. There were different
orchids around it was well.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There was also a large variety of carnivorous plants that
included Honeydew, which are native to Minnesota. Yay! A little piece of home!
We had a lot of fun wandering around the botanical gardens. I’m sorry for the
bad photos, but I forgot my camera at home and was stuck with my ipod camera. My
favorite part of the day was when we were sitting on some benches taking a
break. On the trees around us were tons of snails! There had to be at least fifty
of them! The trees were covered in a spider-web of slime tracks!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I suppose I haven’t really given a great description of what
an average day is like. The truth is, everyday is different and I don’t have a
very fixed schedule, but I’ll try my best to organize it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Monday through Friday I usually attend school from 8:30 to
around 3:15. On Tuesdays school ends at 4:15. There are six classes throughout
the day with Tuesdays having seven. The classes that I can actually get
something out of are PE, Japanese Salon (1-to-1 teaching), and the occasional
lesson in biology, chemistry, and math. In all my other classes, I study
Japanese. It’s hard to try and learn a bunch of stuff all day and keep focused.
There are some classes where I do completely zone out and daydream, but what do
you expect when you can’t understand Japanese history and your brain is still
processing the Japanese lesson you just read. In PE, we do a weekly rotation.
PE occurs on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Mondays are Judo, Wednesdays are
soccer, and Fridays are some sort of activity in the gym. In Judo, we really
haven’t done a lot yet. It’s mostly just been rolling around and the teacher
showing us what we should be able to do by the end of the year. Nonetheless, it’s
fun to tumble around and get dizzy! In soccer, we have three different teams.
My team is all the boys from my class because there are so few of us and we
like to stick together. The other two teams are one class that has been split
up. They have a LOT of guys in their class! Each team is nine or ten members.
Every week, we have to come up with our own practice plan for the hour. If we
don’t have a plan, we have to spend the hour running around the track. It’s
great motivation! The field that we play on is all dirt, so after soccer, your
school uniform is almost certainly going to need washing just from the dirt
transferring from your skin to it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Japanese Salon basically just an hour of talking in Japanese
with my Japanese teacher. We use a textbook to somewhat focus the studies, but
when we have practiced one thing for a while, we branch off with it and use it
in a conversation. It’s great practice and I feel like I improve greatly after
it! That is, until some classmates or a teacher start to talk to me in English.
Oh well! It will get there! I think my favorite class of the week is Calligraphy.
It’s on Thursdays and is two hours long. Japanese (or Chinese, I guess, since the
Japanese got their writing system from them) calligraphy is very difficult.
Unlike English calligraphy, it is done with a brush and requires and extremely
steady hand. Most of my classmates have no problem making very accurate copies
of the template, but I have yet to make something that even resembles the
correct characters! I really enjoy the process of creating the characters. To begin,
you have to make the ink. To do this, you pour some water onto your ink pallet
and, with your ink “block”, you begin to add ink into the water. This turns it
black. You rub the ink block on the pallet for about ten minutes to get the
right mixture. Once you have the ink prepared, you fold your paper into eight
parts that guide you and act as partitions for drawing the characters. You smooth
the creases out a little by running a heavy metal rod over it. Then you can
begin! It takes patience and a lot of drafts. In an average class, I probably
produced around 15 completed masterpieces that aren’t in the slightest
readable. It’s still a lot of fun though! At the beginning of each class, the
teacher hangs up three or four of the best works from the last class period. My
goal for the year is to have one up there.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After school, I usually go to either band or soft tennis
club. I think those are pretty self-explanatory. Tennis finishes at 5 and band
finishes at 5:30. After that, I walk the two kilometers to the store my host
family runs. On Mondays and Tuesdays I get a ride home from my host mom,
grandpa or grandma. On Wednesdays and Fridays, My host father drives me to
Aikidou class which starts at 6:30 and goes until 7:45. On Thursdays, I walk to
a building near the train station for a two hour Japanese class that is held
for foreigners. It’s a lot of fun and I’m learning a lot as well as meeting
many people. After that it’s homeward bound! Saturdays are usually relatively
quiet because it’s still a work day, but Mama Akane, Mitsuki, Nanako, Yoshino,
and I usually do something. Sundays are the most fun because we usually do
something with the family like go see something. It sometimes involves driving
a long ways to see something. I love spending all that time with my family! It
makes me feel so welcomed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That pretty much is how my weeks works with a little bit of
change all over the place. Some Fridays I miss part of school to attend Rotary
meetings and occasionally school has something prepared for me. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Something else I’ve noticed in Japan is all of the bugs.
There are tons and so many of them I have never seen before. I think the one
that is most intriguing to me is one that is the size of a small humming-bird
(yes, I do realized that they are already small!). It has a large body and a proboscis
like a butterfly that it uses to get inside flowers with deep openings. It has
a loud thrumming noise as it moves around. I’d love to hear if anyone knows
what it is!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Driving through the country is like being in a room with a
million crickets. There are so many! At night when it’s quiet, you can hear
them with the car windows shut and it sounds like it’s open! It’s absolutely incredible!
Unfortunately, I don’t think a lot of Japanese have much appreciation for insects.
The most common reaction I’ve seen is to scream and get as far away as possible.
Even if it is a harmless butterfly, they are taking no chances. It’s very
interesting and I don’t quite understand it. Although, there are certainly
times when I do understand it, because there are many species of wasps here. Some
of them are at least 3 inches long and have a massive stinger! They are very
beautiful I hope I can get a good picture of one to post at some point.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Something I am constantly amazed at is the road system in
Japan. There is absolutely nowhere that they will not build a road. I’m curious
as to where all the money comes from, because I think that about 25% of the
roads are bridges. Another 40% has probably involved the removal or addition of
either dirt or concrete so that a flat surface can be achieved. They also don’t
seem to care about how big the roads are, either. The smallest road I’ve see
had about a foot on either side of a car going down it, and there isn’t just
one of those, either. The biggest road is the highway, and that doesn’t even
have a shoulder! Sidewalks are only in places where there room between the
street and the buildings, otherwise pedestrians have to share the road. I’d say
that’s the case 80% percent of the time. Also, there is no grid system. I’m
guessing this is because there are so many hills and valleys that it just
wouldn’t work. I would also place money on the fact that they are streets that
may have been established for several centuries (also before cars), so houses
were built where people wanted them. It’s amazing how willing the Japanese are
to make car inaccessible places accessible. Most mountains in my area have at least
one road going to the top.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m going to let that segway into talking about the driving
habits of the Japanese. I think I talked about them already early on as I was
getting over the shock of it all. Now that I’ve had sometime, I’m realizing
that the key to successful driving in Japan is patience. If you are impatient,
it will only lead to a possible traffic accident, which only makes the day
worse for everyone because you can’t pull over anywhere to access the damage
and have to do so in the middle of the road. If someone is trying to pull out
into traffic, everyone lets them quickly. If you are traveling down a one-lane
road, you have to be ready to pull over at any moment to let others pass. If you
are impatient, you might cause someone’s house damage. It’s an incredible
system where everyone works together to achieve the highest possible efficiency
as well as satisfaction for everyone.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’ll take this moment to a little self check-up. So far, my
year has been fantastic. It’s a lot of fun being able to meet new people and
see new places. I’m really connecting with my first host family and I’m so glad
that I’m able to stay with them. Right now, my moving date is actually being
discussed. It will either be on November 10 or 17; both Sundays. It will be sad
to change houses, but it will also be a new chapter of this adventure! In
school, I’ve been talking with more and more people in my class. Everyone is
very nice and excited to talk to me in Japanese. I am a little worried about
connecting as fully as I can. I’ve been fitting in ok, but I haven’t made
strong relationships yet. It seems that no one really knows what to do with an
exchange student or exactly why I am here. I think some of my problems come
from talking so much English with my friend Ron from Australia. It has been
great that he is there to help me translate, but I need to start speaking with other
students more in Japanese. I have been feeling some twangs of homesickness, but
I don’t expect a full on landslide of emotions. I felt some of that while I was
on my canoe trip this summer as I thought about the upcoming year and I’m
hoping that was all I will deal with. Having the other exchange students here
will help since we all know exactly the way each other is feeling. I’m so happy
that I am able to have this experience! It is amazing and it is opening my eyes
to new cultures and ways that things are done. I’m trying to keep an open mind
so I can experience everything without having a bias against it.</div>
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Here's a silly picture to break the monotony or reading.</div>
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Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have any questions!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">またね!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Wes<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-42799653270396488252013-10-07T18:16:00.004-07:002013-10-07T18:16:38.425-07:00Mount Kongō and Stairs...<div class="MsoNormal">
Wow! It’s already been over a week since I last wrote! That’s
crazy! This last week has just been school. It was actually the first full week
of school since it started for the fall. That’s kind of weird to think about. Japan
has a TON of holidays and schools have to close on those days. I’ve been a
little surprised about school here in Japan. It’s so erratic when it occurs.
There are many four day weeks and then you’ll have school on a random Saturday
for only half a day. My high school seems very big on half days. It seems that
a half day is sufficient enough for them to call it a full day. The day before
testing is a half day so the students can have more time to study. It’s very
different from the US where we do a lot of our studying in the classroom.
During the week before testing and the week of, clubs are not allowed to meet,
so very few students hang around after school. That’s another difference
between Nagano High School and Northfield High School. When there is testing at
Northfield, clubs happen as scheduled, but it means you have to find time to
study later in the day.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Anyway, this weekend was pretty awesome. Friday was Annika
(My girlfriend) and my fourth year anniversary, so I got to Skype her in
Ireland. She is there WWOOFing (World Wide Organization of Organic Farmers) on
a small farm near the western coast. It was super fun to talk with her!<o:p></o:p></div>
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On Saturday, Mama Akane and I went to the Kawachinagano
English Festival held at the library. It was really cool! The festival is a
competition between elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools
to see who can come up with the best presentation on something of their choice
in English.</div>
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We were only able to stay for about an hour, so we heard the
elementary school students performing. It was very impressive! Here’s one of
the skits done by them. It was about how to be more environmentally conscious.
In the clip, the two kids on the left want their “mom” to drive them to the
store so they can buy a new video game.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There were also singing performances by middle school
groups. Here is “It’s a Small World”. You can tell that the students like the
repeating section more than the other parts by their volume.<o:p></o:p></div>
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They also sang John Denver’s “Country Roads”. It was very impressive
that they had memorized all of it!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Later in the day, two of my classmates were giving a
presentation on social networking. I had recorded myself saying they’re parts
so they could hear a native English speaker saying it. I’m not sure if they won
or not, but I hope it went well!<o:p></o:p></div>
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After seeing the English festival, Mama Akane and I walked
to a concert hall called Novalty Hall to hear the Osaka Symphony Orchestra have
an open rehearsal. It was splendid! There were only string players there and
they played part of a Mozart piece that included Ein Klein Nautmusik (Maybe I
spelled that right?) They were later joined by a bassoon soloist who was absolutely
incredible! She played so smoothly it sounded like a slide whistle except five
octaves lower. My favorite part was when she was playing a melody in a high
register, but in between notes she would bounce down and play a couple low
notes. It was a very impressive show!<o:p></o:p></div>
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On Sunday, my host grandpa and I did a huge hike. We left
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It is a very long trail that
starts near Takihata (the small town I am living in) and follows the border of
Osaka Prefecture to the east and north. We started on the trail around 6:30 and
climbed to the top of Mount Iwawaki, the tallest mountain in the Nagano area
(897 m/2,943 ft) (Nagano is a southern area of Osaka Prefecture). The Susuki
grass on top is now brown and beautiful. The view was incredible and the
mountains were absolutely gorgeous!</div>
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We didn’t stay long because we had a long
way to go. Much of the day was spent going up and down along the ridge that
marks the edge of Osaka. We had amazing views of both Wakayama Prefecture to
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We had bento lunch a little before
half way as well as a bunch of onigiri. Yum! We saw many people on the trail.
Some were doing smaller hikes and some were out running the trail. Almost
everyone that we ran into stopped and talked to us. They were all so friendly!
At one point, we rain into a man who had been to Minnesota before and new about
all the lakes! He even knew that the Mississippi started there! That was really
cool.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The day was really hot and we eventually ran out of water an
tea. That wasn’t the greatest, but we only had about an hour and a half left,
so we survived. Our end point was Mount Kongō, the tallest mountain in Osaka
Prefecture (1,125 m/3,691 ft). It took us nine hours to get there, but it was
so worth it! It was very rewarding to site at the top and eat soft-serve ice
cream. There is a road that goes all the way to the top of the mountain, so
there are a bunch of buildings at the top. We actually had to walk another
kilometer to get to the top of the mountain because it has some flat(ish) area
on top of it. We went to what we though was the top and then turned back.</div>
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It
was actually the second highest peak. The highest was down the road another
half a kilometer. There is also a shrine there. That would have been cool to
see, so I think I will have to make a second trip there! The view from the
observation deck was incredible! We could see Mount Iwawaki, but it was hard
because of the afternoon haze. We walked down to the gondola that goes down the
mountain and went down. That was rather humbling to go down that fast without
any effort after spending nine hours fighting to gain just a couple meters. We
also went a total of about 25 km/16 Miles of ups and downs and more stairs than
there are in the Empire State Building.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We caught the bus back the Kawachinagano Station and then
walked to a sumi restaurant. Sumi is Japanese barbecue over an open fire with
shish kebabs. We met Obaasan, Mama Akane, Mitsuki, Nanako, and Yoshino there.
It was delicious! We had fish, beef, pork, onion, and cheese kebabs. I also had
a rice and chicken dish that was super amazing. The head chef was really friendly
and he and Gigi talked the whole time. It turned out that he had down a
homestay in Las Vegas when he was a teenager. He had very good English! This meal
was one of the happiest moments I have had so far. Eating at an amazing
restaurant with family after an amazing day and having great conversations with
strangers was so much fun.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It turned out that Sunday night was the practice for the
Kawachinagano Danjiri Matsuri festival next weekend, so as we walked back to
the family store, we passed several carts being hauled down the street with
much enthusiasm. It was really awesome to see them at night. They were all lit
up and pulled but people of all ages! I’m very excited to watch it next
Saturday and Sunday!<o:p></o:p></div>
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This week, I only have school on Monday because of testing,
so I will most likely have another update before the week is done.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Today I’m going to be getting a library card so I check out
whatever I want. Yay! It’s amazing what a small liberty can mean. I will have a
whole new world opened up to me!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Oh yeah, I noticed that comments were only allowed if you
had a Google account. I changed some settings around, so feel free to comment without
the hassle of making an account now!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">またね!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Wes<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-26104184625032696992013-10-01T05:25:00.002-07:002013-10-01T05:25:39.998-07:00Kayaking the Big Lake<div class="MsoNormal">
This last Sunday, Papa Kazuhiro and I drove to Lake Biwa in
ShigaPrefecture. It was a long drive, but it was completely worth it! Lake Biwa
is the largest lake in Japan, which isn’t a lot to say, I suppose, with how skinny
Japan is, but Lake Biwa is actually very large! It’s 670.4 km^2 (258.8 mile^2)
and surrounded by mountains. There are fish in it; mostly Largemouth Bass which
were introduced at some point and ate up all the native fish. We drove up the western
side of the lake and met a friend of Papa Kazuhiro and Mama Akane’s, Higuchi-san
and his family. We visited Shirohige Shrine while we waited for a restaurant to
open. It’s a cool place and there were many people there having children or
cars blessed. The coolest part was the archway. It was in the lake about 30
meters from shore and the setting was perfect for it.</div>
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I think that Shirohige
Shrine is the best name for a shrine you could have. The name means White
Beard. I have no idea why it’s called that, but why not?<o:p></o:p></div>
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After lunch, we drove further north to a small drive in
campground right on the lakeshore. There were a bunch of people there already. A
small kayak shop was having a kayaking renting day and Higuchi-san brought his
two kayaks to splash around in. It was a lot of fun! The most interesting part
about the kayaks was that they were foldable. Instead of having a hard body,
they were built of tough rubber and had a removable frame that was put together
like tent pools. There are also a couple of inflatable air sacks that get stuck
in the bow and stern compartments. The kayak, when folded, fit into a large
suitcase. They are surprisingly durable , but have the limitation of balance
because they are extremely skinny and shallow.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We paddled around all day and had a blast! I had the
opportunity to try three different kinds: a short black one for rivers, a long
yellow one for the ocean, and a long green one that was designed after the
kayaks used in the Aleutian Islands, meaning it was very skinny and tippy.
There were many interesting people there and it somehow got around that I
canoe. I got to talk with the kayak shop owner. He teaches telemark skiing in
the winter and kayaking in the summer. This summer, he went spent three weeks
paddling around Queen Elizabeth Island off the coast of British Columbia. How
cool is that! I also got to share photos from my canoe trip to the Arctic this
summer with everyone there. I think they enjoyed seeing another country as well
as learning about cano<span style="font-family: inherit;">eing.<o:p></o:p><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">It was super nice of everyone there to let me
try the kayaks and I’m very happy that Papa Kazuhiro was ok with driving that
far.</span></span></div>
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There are several topics that I’ve been wanting to write
about but haven’t had the chance too. I’ve been too busy writing about my
adventures!<o:p></o:p></div>
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First off, food! Yes, Japanese food is absolutely incredible!
There are, however, foods that are questionable both by foreigners and Japanese
people alike. I have finally found foods that I dislike! It’s a weird feeling
to say that because there really are very few. One of these unfavorable foods
is a dish called Natto. Natto is made from fermented soybeans. It smells ok,
but as soon as you start to prepare it, anything that made you think this was a
good idea to try goes out the window. The consistency is like hot rice crispy
bars, except that as you stir it, it becomes more and more sticky. The taste is
the least favorable part. I can swallow the majority of a mouthful alright, but
the slime sticks to the roof of your mouth and is very difficult to get rid of.
The taste stays for the rest of the meal! This is a food that I will be
avoiding for the rest of my stay. Fortunately, it is not eaten as a regular
part of the meal.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A food that I have found I am quite partial to is Udon. Udon
is hand-rolled noodles that about the thickness of a pencil. They are absolutely
delicious and are served in a soup with leaks. Also in the broth is some sort
of meat. My favorite is Tempura Udon, which is Udon with some sort of fried
vegetable or meat in it. At most restaurants that my family and I go to, I
order Udon because I cannot get enough of it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Another topic that I’ve been itching to write about is the
flora and fauna of Japan. It is completely the opposite from that of the Midwest
USA. There are many deciduous trees with very thick leaves and they grow
everywhere where there isn’t concrete. Nothing stops them. After a landslide,
they move right back in! It’s a good thing there are so many, too, because
without them, Japan might slide into the sea. My favorite plant in fall so far
is Higanbana. It has red flowers in the fall. You’ll see it next to golden rice fields
and in between the two lanes of traffic. It is very pretty and many children
make necklaces with them. The animals that are in Japan that you will not find
in the Midwest include wild pigs, monkeys, and poisonous snakes. It almost
makes it scary to go for a walk in the country! You see snake carcasses
everywhere on the roads. On several occasions, my family and I have seen monkeys
swinging off into the forest as we drive by. There are also signs that warn
about them crossing the road. The birds hear are very odd. It seems like there
are very few or just very few varieties. I think the most populous are the
crows and pigeons. They are everywhere and can be heard at anytime of day
within a mile or two. There are also Black Kites that fly in groups and can be
seen hunting fish on reservoirs or lakes. At Lake Biwa, we saw one skimming the
water for fish.</div>
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There are also a ton of waterfowl on Lake Biwa including herons
and swim around in flocks.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The last topic I will talk about in this post is thinking in
Japanese. With every week that passes, I’ve been thinking more and more in
Japanese. It’s been very interesting and I don’t understand how it happens. As I
learn new phrases and words, they begin to pop into my head instead of what
they would be in English. When Mama Akane and I went to see Les Miserables in
Osaka, I accidentally bumped into a man in the subway station. I immediately turned
to him and apologized in Japanese and continued walking. It wasn’t until a few
moments later that I realized that he had responded in English and was an
American. I’ve started to feel comfortable with the language! It’s a great
improvement! I’ve also began to understand what everyone around me is talking
about. This isn’t always the best thing, because, as a foreign student, I tend
to unintentionally be the topic of many conversations. Yesterday, I was walking
home and passed a group of students. They immediately began to talk about “that
foreigner” and if anyone had talked to him yet. It’s nice to know that people
are interested in me, but to not have the courtesy to talk about me out of
earshot isn’t so great. I may not understand a lot of Japanese, but I can
understand high schooler’s language.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It feels great to finally be understanding what people ask
and say to me! It is going to be a long time before I can properly carry on a
conversation, but it’s a start!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">またね!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Wes<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-65764734004817837192013-09-28T05:43:00.001-07:002013-09-28T06:04:13.712-07:00Rotary Students, UNITE!!!<div class="MsoNormal">
Holy cow. So much has happened this week I don’t even know
where to begin. I want to share every little piece of info, so this is a
warning that this will take a VERY long time to read. Good luck! <span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">がんがて!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Last weekend was fantastic! Saturday was spent fretting over
my speech on Sunday. I wrote and received much need help from Mama Akane on how
to say certain things. She was very, very, very, very, very, very helpful. I
wouldn’t have been able to give a speech in Japanese if she hadn’t helped me.
What a great thing inference is, because I think she would have been able to
figure anything I was trying to say out without it. It took a long time and
practice, but we finally figured it out.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That evening, I went to an adult Aikidou class. The
Wednesday and Friday classes I have been attending have been for young people,
usually in elementary and junior high school. I have been going to those
classes instead of the adult ones (which are immediately after the younger
class) because my host brother and sister go to that one and I get to spend
time with them. I also kind of have to because they are my ride! The adult
class was a lot of fun! All of participants were black belts and very willing
to go teach me. Everyone was willing to slow down the entire class so I could
figure out some of the moves! It was a very fun and educational experience. I
think it helped that Kiana Asada (RYE student 2012-2013) went to the same dojo
last year. Everyone speaks a little English and there is an English teacher in
the dojo, but I can usually get by with just actions. This seems to be the case
for most sports. Not a lot of communication is necessary to understand what I
should do next because I can just watch and learn. I think I will continue to
attend the Saturday adult classes because they are two hours and what else am I
going to do on a Saturday night? (For the Americans reading this, that was
actually not sarcasm)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sunday was a fantastic day. Papa Kazuhiro and I drove to
Izumisano City for the first Rotary Student Orientation meeting. Izumisano is
located right on Osaka Bay near the Kansai International Airport (KIX). The
meeting was held in a building full of meeting rooms. We were the first to
arrive, so we sat and drank water. The governor of my district was already
there as well as a few counselors from various clubs. Eventually, more people
trickled in along with Rotary Students! Yay! The first to arrive were Jaimee
from Australia with here host family, the Akegami’s. Hiroko Akegami was an
exchange student to Minnesota this last year, so it was a nice reunion. The
other students that arrived were Erika from Mexico, Maya from Germany, Brianna
from Illinois, USA, Mika from Ohio, USA, and Talitha from Indonesia.</div>
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Altogether,
there are six of us and I am the only boy. This doesn’t bother me so much because
my class in school has only seven guys out of 35 students, so I am used to it.
The meeting started out with every student singing their countries national
anthem in front of everyone with a microphone. Woot! Next, we each gave a three-minute
speech about ourselves, our country, why we came to Japan, and what we want to
do this year. That was followed by the RYE students and Rotex (former RYE
students) gathering into a group and talking about Japan. All the adults went
to the other end of the room and discussed what to do if there was trouble with
a host son or daughter. Overall, I think that we had the most fun! We all
exchanged country pins and various small gifts from our countries. I gave novelty
bills about Minnesota and Minnesota Twins baseball pins. I received pens from
Australia, a bookmark from Indonesia, and personalized pins from different
countries. It was a lot of fun meeting up with other students that are going
through the same thing as I am. It was also really refreshing and I feel like
it renewed my own reasons for actually being here. There was some doubt on my
part as to why I had actually come to Japan, but I know now that I want to help
something make progress in Japan. I’m not sure what that is yet, but I hope I
can figure that out by the time I am comfortable with Japanese.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On Monday, there was no school because of a national
holiday, so Papa Kazuhiro, Mama Akane, Nanako, Mitsuki, and I went sight-seeing
in Nara and Wakayama Prefectures. We drove south out of Osaka Prefecture into
Nara. Our first stop was Totsukawa,a giant pedestrian suspension bridge.</div>
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It is
the longest steel wire suspension bridge in Japan, at 297 meters in length and 54 meters high. It was very scary walking across
it. The floor is made of wood planks that bend under the weight of people.
Also, with every step the bridge swings from side to side. Dad, you wouldn’t
have liked it one bit! Nanako, Papa Kazuhiro, and I went across while Mitsuki and
Mama Akane stayed behind.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our next stop was Kumano Hongu Taisha, a Shinto shrine in
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It is a very important place for both Buddhists
and Shinto practitioners because they believe that the remote mountains are
home to ancient Japanese deities. In fact, Shinto and Buddhism have joined
together in this region and are a combined religion. There are many shrines in
Southern Wakayama. In fact, there are quite a few pilgrimage routes that run
through the area, with most ending at Kumano Hongu Taisha. The entire network
of routes is called the Kumano Kodo and have been used for thousands of years
by pilgrims as they have traveled to shrines to worship. The symbol for the
Kumano Hongu Taisha shrine is crow with three legs. Usually, crows are thought
to be a sign of bad luck in Japan. But a three legged crow is good luck,
because crows are very smart and, with a third leg, they are able to get more
done than one with just two. This is also the same symbol that the JFA
(Japanese Football (Soccer) Association) uses, so there is a lot JFA related gear
in and around the shrine.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Kumano Hongu Taisha shrine used to be located on an island
in the middle of the Kumano River, but a flood in the late 1800s destroyed it.
It is now located just up the mountain from the original location. You can will
walk through the ruins of the old shrine and there are many old-growth trees
lining the path. At the entrance to the old shrine is Oyunohara, the largest
Shrine archway in Japan. It is, indeed, very tall.<o:p></o:p><br />
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We continued to drive south to an area full of hot springs. There
is such a large amount of geothermal heat in this part of Wakayama that you can
dig a well and create your own personal hot spring. We went to a river called
Kawayu Onsen (hot spring). It is full of hot springs.<br />
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There is a small stony
beach on the side of it and many people have dug pits for sitting in. It was
great fun! The river is very deep at that point and it was almost surreal
swimming through warm, clear water with fish everywhere. The great thing about
Japanese Onsen is that it is a chance for people to finally relax. A lot of the
time everyone is running around being efficient and working. At an onsen, the
only thing you can do is sit there and relax. It is a great way to unwind after
a long week.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Our final stop of the day was just up the road from Kawayu
Onsen. It was a small village built around a large hot spring. There is also a
temple and public bath there. We bought five eggs and walked down to the spring
where we set them into the water. 12 minutes later, we were eating hard-boiled
eggs! It was really cool to use water straight from the Earth to cook food!<o:p></o:p><br />
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On Wednesday, I went to soft tennis club after school.
There, I learned how to serve and I participated in my first doubles match. It was
a small round robin of four pairs. I was first placed with the sensei of soft
tennis, but he later switched with my friend Kei. The losers of the round robin
had to run, so the stakes were very high! Sensei and I won our first match,
which brought us the championship round. At that point, sensei switched with
Kei. The championship was an hour long battle, but eventually we won! Wow! It
was really exciting winning my first tennis match!<o:p></o:p></div>
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On Thursday evening, I went to a Japanese class that is sponsored
by the city of Kawachinagano. It is for foreigners that want to improve their
Japanese. My private Japanese teachers that come to Nagano High School during
the week invited me. It was tons of fun and I learned quite a bit. In attendance
were students of all ages from Sri Lanka, Egypt, Germany, Italy, China, Thailand,
and Malaysia. It was refreshing to know that I was not the only person
struggling with Japanese. The Japanese class is held weekly, so I expect to be
a regular in order to hit my learning curve as hard as possible.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The week was relatively normal, except for the fact that I
was preparing for another speech on Friday at Nakamura Elementary School. I was
told it had to be 15 minutes and about the US and Minnesota. All week I spent
writing it. It was such hard work to write that much in Japanese! Mama Akane
was also a humungous help! She spent a late night and early morning helping me
to finish it. I am so grateful to her for giving me that much of her time.
Along with speech, I prepared a PowerPoint presentation. On Friday morning, Soo
Jin, the YFU (Youth For Understanding) exchange student from Korea that goes to
Nagano High School, and I were picked up by the principal of the elementary
school. We drove to Tondabayshi where the school is located. On the way I
learned that my 15 minute speech had to be shortened, so I quickly ran through
it and crossed out difficult passages and uninteresting information for
children. Nakamura Elementary School is very small. There are probably only 10
classes of 30 kids each in the school. When we arrived, we were shown to a
break room where we had a little time to prepare ourselves. Also there was
another YFU student from Germany. Her name is (phonetically) Vibka. It turned
out that we had met each other the night before at the Japanese class.<br />
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It was
fun to talk with both of the YFU students and learn more about their exchange
year. They both arrived in March and will be returning to their respective
countries in January. Finally, we went to the second floor to give our
speeches. Our first audience was a group of fourth graders. They were all so
excited and talkative! I gave my speech first. I think the highlight for the
kids was finding out that Snoopy (A Peanut’s cartoon character) is from
Minnesota! Next, Vibka gave her presentation on Germany. She talked a lot about
the location and weather of the island she lives on to the north of Germany.
Soo Jin finished up the rotation with her presentation on Korean food and pop
culture. She brought along a Korean kimono that she surprised the students with
by putting on a random girl. It was tons of fun and all of the students were
eager to ask us questions. In the next hour, we repeated the same process to a
fifth grade class. Before we did so, however, each of them introduced
themselves in English (!), gave their birthdate, and something that they like.
It was really cute!<o:p></o:p></div>
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We ate lunch next. Soo Jin and I ate with a first grade
class while Vibka ate with a second grade class. Elementary school lunches are
new to me! The students serve one another and the servers are required to wear
face masks and kitchen garbs.<br />
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Once everyone had a lunch in front of them, we
simultaneously shouted “ITADAKIMASU” or, in English, “LET’S EAT”! It was an
awesome lunch period. The meal was bread, soup, milk, pasta, and fruit punch
(it has actually fruit pieces in it!). Every student introduced themselves in English
by stating their name and one thing that they liked. Their pronunciation was
excellent! It was super cute to see them all sitting at their desks chattering
to one another and to Soo Jin and I. After lunch, it was recess. The first grade
class we ate with had Soo Jin and I play dodge ball with them. They built the
court by pouring water in the dirt in lines to make the boundaries. I don’t
think I’ve ever had so much fun playing dodge ball before! I was hit a few
times but didn’t manage to get any of the jumpy kids! After recess, the three
exchange students retired for a brief break. We all agreed that elementary
school is way better than high school. Everyone is more talkative and the
teachers seem to actually want to connect with the students. Also, there is so
much energy floating around that it’s impossible for anyone to fall asleep
during class! The lessons are very interactive as well, whereas high school is
just straight lectures.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Next, we went to a third grade class where we played a game.
It was great to see all the smiling faces and hear the endless chattering.
Plus, elementary school students are very touchy. I haven’t been touched this
much since I reached Japan! They gave hugs, shook hands, high fived, and
climbed all over me. To finish up the day, we went to a fourth grade class
where we built giant origami cranes from gold and silver paper. The students
were great teachers and made sure I understood how to make another again in the
future! After we made them, the class presented each of us with a gold and silver
crane, a bunch of paper cranes on strings hanging together that have an origami
panda on top, and a book with origami bears, mushrooms, a photo of Nakamura Elementary
School, and our names. It was such a nice gesture! I feel like I need to do
something in return because of how nice they were. When we tried to leave, it
was really hard. None of us wanted to go back to high school because of high
awesome the elementary school was and the students didn’t want the foreigners
to leave because they were apparently fun. Some students came up and gave us
origami flowers. Everyone was so great! Today was probably the most fun I’ve
had since I’ve arrived in Japan. I definitely want to visit Nakamura Elementary
School again!<o:p></o:p><br />
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The vice principal of Nakamura Elementary School was walking
around taking pictures all day, so when I get ahold of those pictures, I will
post them to the full album which you can find to the right side of the text.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When I returned to school, the day had just ended, so I walked
to my host family’s store. From there, Obaasan and I walked to a concert hall
nearby for a concert that was sponsored by Rotary. It was an incredible
concert! The band was called Knit and played traditional Irish music. They were
made up of a guitarist, a flautist (classical and Irish), and a fiddle/Irish
drummer.<br />
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It was an incredible performance. In all honesty, I was almost moved
to tears by how beautiful it was and how precisely everything was played. I
loved it so much! After the Irish band, a local dance company took the stage.
The dancers ranged from 8 to 25 and all of the dancing and music was hip-hop. I
was surprised to hear some the music that was played. Quite a bit of it was
American and I don’t know that they would have picked the music if they
realized what exactly was being said in it.<br />
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The dancing was impressive! Before
and afterwards I was able to carry out a couple conversations with different
Rotary members! Improvement!<o:p></o:p></div>
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This Saturday, I met up with Rotary students that I met last
Sunday. We all went to Namba together. In attendance were Jaimee, Mika, Erika,
and Risa (Rotex that went to Australia last year).<br />
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We walked around Namba and
mostly shopped. It was a lot of fun! There was a lot of English spoken, but we
did have some Japanese conversations. We went to a store that had Purikura
booths. Purikura is a photo booth that you can go into with a bunch of people
and take pictures. When you are finished, you can edit the pictures. Part of
Purikura is that everyone’s eyes are increased in size. It’s a very weird thing
that looks super strange!<br />
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We also went into a SEGA arcade and played Mario Kart
Racing on giant arcade racing machines. In Dotombori, we took a lot of pictures
in front of the famous Glico running man who is the symbol for a Japanese sweets
company. We also went to an area called America Town that has many stores of
clothes. We went to an international foods store there. There was food from
everywhere! I bought an extra-large dark chocolate Hershey’s bar because I
couldn’t help myself!<br />
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We went to a place called Party Time, which sells frozen
yogurt in bulk. You serve yourself into your bowl and then it is weighed so you
pay for however much you decided to take.<br />
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I might have taken a little more than
I thought I was! Today was tons of fun and it was really sad to say goodbye to
everyone. I can’t wait to hang out with everyone again!<o:p></o:p><br />
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This week has been long and I haven’t had a lot of time to
write, so I’m sorry if this blog is your source of excitement for the day. For
the sake of myself and your reading queue, I will try and write more often so I
am able to add more personal thoughts and keep the amount of writing lower.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Oh, by the way, it looks like I’ve been in Japan a month and
11 days! Yay!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">またね!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Wes<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-48172030662884102832013-09-20T17:32:00.000-07:002013-09-20T17:32:11.994-07:00City Parks and Japanese Musicals<div class="MsoNormal">
I think that I am definitely making friends and finding my
place at Nagano High School. Of the seven other boys in my class, all them are
willing to talk to me and step forward if I don’t understand something or need
help. I think that all of them have helped me at some point or another and all
of them have checked on me all on their own to make sure I was fine. They even
make sure that I eat lunch with them! The age difference between us is not
getting in the way at all. In fact, it could be helping because they are not
working on college tests and quitting clubs in order to study more.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This week has been really short. There was no school on either
Monday or Tuesday because of Respect for the Aged Day and then there just wasn’t
school on Tuesday. On Monday, Papa Kazuhiro, Mama Akane, Nanako, Mitsuki, and I
went into downtown Osaka to visit Namba, the main area of the city. Mama Akane
also had an art piece on display in the Swissotêl, a large hotel in Namba who’s
home is Switzerland. They held a competition to create a picture that fit
inside their logo, which is the “^” that fits over the “e” in Swissotêl. Mama
Akane made it into the top 50 contestants and the winner was left up to passersby
in to lobby that had the time to look and read about the display. It was
awesome to see the logo ideas and of course I voted for Mama Akane!<o:p></o:p></div>
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We walked around in an underground (no windows so it was
hard to say) shopping mall and stopped by a skating/snowboarding/surfing shop.
Papa Kazuhiro wanted to check out traction pads for surfboards. We then went
outside to an area called Namba Parks. It’s this multi-story shopping center
that has a tiered garden on top of it. </div>
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We climbed around on it for a while and
then went inside. There was a shop for absolutely everything! Pets, wine,
candy, socks, incense, you name it! It was really cool but tiring. We ended the
day with a meal of pizza and pasta at a restaurant. Pizzas in Japan are about
half the size of the ones you can get in the US, but they make up for the size
with an incredible taste!<o:p></o:p></div>
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On the way home, we passed Tsutenkaku, a 103 meter tall
tower in downtown Osaka. During the day, it looks like a tall tower. But at
night it is lit up with neon lights! It’s really cool! I tried to get a picture
but we were driving so it didn’t turn out very well.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On Tuesday, Mama Akane and I took the train into the
business district of Osaka where city hall is located. It’s a beautiful area
and there is a river that runs through the center of it with walkways along
both sides. </div>
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A comfy rock-pillow</div>
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Mama Akane had gotten tickets to the Japanese version of Les
Miserables, the famous musical about the French civil war! It was being
produced in Festival Hall in Osaka. Festival Hall is a new building as of this
summer. It is a very tall building with offices in it, but the first ten(?)
stories are taken up by a large performance hall. It is also home to the Osaka
Symphony Orchestra.</div>
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When we first walked into the building, we were greeted
with a long flight of stairs that were covered in a red carpet. I certainly did
feel like a celebrity!</div>
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We handed in our tickets at the top and entered a long hall
with many chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. </div>
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At the end of that, we went up
three stories on one long escalator. When we finally entered the hall, it was
incredible. There were sound blocks all over the walls to help distribute the
sound. In that way it reminded me of Orchestra Hall in Minnesota. It was not a
super deep hall, which meant that where ever you sat you would have a pretty
good view of stage and didn’t have to bring binoculars to make out what was a
person and what was a chair. We were seated on the floor in the second of two
tiers. There were three stories of seats, with the floor having the most. The
pit orchestra was about ten feet below the level of the stage and consisted of
a trumpet, a tuba/trombone, two French horns, a flute, a clarinet/saxophone,
two keyboards, a violin, a viola, a cello, an upright bass, and a percussionist
in a cage of instruments. They were incredible and could produce just the right
volume. It was a good thing that I have seen the English movie of Les
Miserables, because otherwise I would not have understood a single thing going
on! All the lyrics had been rewritten into Japanese. All of them except for
some particular lines like “lovely ladies” and the chorus to “Red and Black”.
The show was spectacular and I don’t know that I’ve ever seen such an applause
before. Japanese people are very shy, so they don’t stand up right away. After the
fourth or fifth curtain call, everyone finally stood up. The clapping also rose
and fell when an actor came forward to bow. When we left the hall, we hurried
to the subway station to try and miss all of the commuters. Unfortunately, we
had quite a few and were a little squished, but when we got on the train to
Kawachinagano, there were very few and we were able to sit down.<o:p></o:p></div>
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These last three days of school have been pretty low-key. We
haven’t really done a lot, but I’ve been learning more Japanese in both my
self-studying and private teacher sessions. I’ve also been preparing a speech
that I have to give at a Rotary Inbound Student Orientation tomorrow. It’s been
slow going, but I think I have all of what I need. I’ve been asking for help
from my host mother and friends at school. They are all very willing to help me
improve and clarify what I want to say in Japanese. One of my friends wants to
learn better English, so we’ve worked out a system where I speak Japanese to
him and he speaks English to me and then we correct each other. It works very
well and I’ve already learned a couple new patterns in Japanese.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Today I was planning to meet another RYE student and go to
Namba, but she was unable to go, so now I get a free day. Yay! They are hard to
come by because there is so much going on. This week I went to band and aikidou
on Wednesday and Friday as well as tennis on Thursday. Band goes from 3:30 to
5:30 and it’s fantastic getting two hours of straight playing in. I love
playing with other tuba players. We mostly just sit in a practice room and go
over the music over and over again. I’m not sure how often the entire band
plays together yet. It doesn’t seem like it is super often, but they work
really hard to make that time worthwhile! Aikidou starts at 6:30, so I have to
hurry from school to the family business where Papa Kazuhiro drives me to my
doujou. There is so much going it’s insane! When I return home, I have to work
on my speech, eat dinner, shower, and sleep. By then it’s already ten or eleven
at night! I love having a schedule and things to do. It makes life easier when
you have stuff to do and can interact with people. Today I am going to go to my
first adult aikidou class. The ones that I go during the week are for younger
kids. I’ve been going to those because that’s when my host brother and sister
go and it’s fun to spend time with them. There is an adult class after it, but
Mama Akane is my ride back to Takihata so I can’t stay for it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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With the last typhoon that came through, we received enough
rain to fill up the dam. For the entire time I’ve been here, there have been
about 8 feet of lake bottom showing. Now there is none and it makes the lake
all that more beautiful, although there is a lot of debris floating in it now.</div>
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Before</div>
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After</div>
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The weather has also been a lot cooler. Although it still gets into the upper
20s and low 30s, it is much more bearable. I’ve started wearing the long sleeve
shirts that go with my uniform. They are much more classy and look better than
the short sleeve shirts. You can’t tuck the short sleeve shirts in because they
don’t have any coattails. I’ve also been sweating less. This could be from less
heat but I may also be acclimating. I could also just not be noticing the
stickiness as much! <o:p></o:p></div>
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I am very much looking forward to meeting other RYE students
at the orientation tomorrow. It will be a great chance to make friends and make
connections. I may also find more opportunities for me to try stuff. There will
be many Rotarians there. My second host father, Michimoto-san, will be taking
me there and Papa Kazuhiro and Mitsuki will be going as my host family. It will
be a blast!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m so happy that I am able to participate in so many
activities. It is not normally acceptable for a student to regularly be in more
than one club, so it is fantastic that the teachers are willing to let me have
both experiences. I am also really happy that my aikidou sensei has let me join
his doujou. I love practicing it and have learned a lot already. It will also be
a great way for me to see Mitsuki and Nanako after I move on to my next host
family.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I think that’s all that I have to write about right now. Thanks
for reading!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">またね!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Wes<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-54822653096123840772013-09-15T21:07:00.001-07:002013-09-15T21:07:19.295-07:00School Festival and Danjiri<div class="MsoNormal">
On Saturday Nagano High School had it’s cultural festival.
It basically involved all of the classes making some sort of activity or
display. Friends and family of students were allowed to come and there were many
things to do. There was a stage setup in the courtyard for various performances,
as well as food stands that sold yakisoba (fried noodles), fried chocolate
dumplings, takosen (octopus dumplings in a hard shell), bubble tea, caramel
popcorn, pancakes, coffee, and waffles. They were all delicious! To obtain the
food, you had to purchase tickets that were worth 20<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">円</span> (20¢
US). Some food was over priced and some might have been under, but it was all a
lot of fun! On the stage, bands played rock music and groups danced to pop
music and wore crazy outfits. Inside the school, classes had classrooms set up
for different things. There was a café and a bazaar. The tea ceremony room was
being exhibited and all of the art that had been created recently was out for
display. In the gym, the stage had been extended out and bands were performing
in there. The taiko drum club had their show there.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It took my class a while to prepare. We had to heat up the
big takoyaki pan that we were using and cook the takoyaki. It was a riot to see
everyone crowded around the pan flipping the dumplings!</div>
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I was not allowed to
cook because I had not taken a cooking sanitation class, so I just took tickets
and walked around handing out fliers. I think the fact that I am not Japanese
may have help me with how many brochures I was able to hand out and people were
more willing to take them. While doing this, I ran into a Canadian who has been
teaching in Japan for 20 years. How cool! He said that kindergarten was the
most fun. He teaches all over the Kansai region, which is centered around Osaka.
I also met two exchange students that are through the program YFU (Youth for
Understanding). One of them was from Indonesia and lives in Kawachinagano but
goes to school closer to Osaka. Her host sister is a third year at Nagano High
School. The other student was from Finland and lives and goes to school in
Wakayama, the prefecture south of Osaka, which Kawachinagano borders. YFU does
shorter exchanges that Rotary International; only five months compared to ten
months, respectively. Unfortunately, I did not give them my Rotary business
card, but at the time I was trying to think of a way to stay connected, so I
should at least get credit for that!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Part the preparation that has happened in the days leading
up to the festival was the organization of group T-shirts. Every class and club
had their own. Because my class’ number is 1-7, we had <span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol";">壱ノ七</span><span style="font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol";">
(1-7) on the back of ours.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The wind orchestra ordered light blue T-shirts and painted
on them. On the front was written “Nagano Wind Orchestra” with stars and music
notes sewn on. The back had our names along with two flutes and a trumpet
painted on. You’ll see that in later photos. For both T-shirts, I received a
size XL because the sizing chart is so different here!<o:p></o:p></div>
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The day was very, very, very hot and humid. Here’s the
thermometer that was in the band room on the fourth floor.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I had the opportunity to play with the Nagano Wind Orchestra
at the festival. It was very fun and I am super impressed by all of them! About
90% of the orchestra had their music memorized. Wow! We played four songs,
including a Jazz medley that included “Sing, Sing, Sing”, by Louis Prima.
Here is a link to the performance. It’s 20 minutes long, so wait until you have
time to enjoy it! <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfZFgs0emKk">Nagano Wind Orchestra </a><o:p></o:p></div>
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After we were finished, we carried all of the equipment back
up to the fourth floor of the school. That included three timpani, the full
drum set, a heavy set of bells, and all the extras. What a workout! There were
pictures taken of all of us once we got back to the room. Here is me with the 2<sup>nd</sup>
years:</div>
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And the 1<sup>st</sup> years:<o:p></o:p></div>
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When the festival ended, my class had to clean up all of our
stuff. That meant tables scrubbed of char, dishes washed, food put away, and
the grill disassembled. It took a while because everyone was exhausted from the
heat! Many of them slept through the closing ceremony that was held in the gym
where different classes were recognized for selling the most food. When we
finally made it back to the classroom, the last of the extra food was handed out
and we took a class picture and headed home.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On Sunday, Gigi took me to see the <span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">だんじり</span><span lang="JA"> </span>(Danjiri) festival in Kishiwada near Osaka Bay. We took the
train from Kawachinagano station north to Kishisatotamade, and then back south
to Kishiwada. It was kind of a round about way, but it got us there and we did
not have to drive. We went through Sakai City on the way. I will be living
there in May. We took a commuter train on the way to Kishiwada and it was very
crowded! Many people were most likely headed to Danjiri. When we got off the
train, you could immediately hear the noise. There were drums, whistles, and
shouting in unison. Just as we left the station, we glimpsed a giant wooden
carriage whip around the corner and disappear down the street.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Danjiri (carts) are modeled after temples in the city that the festival is taking place in. There is a cart for every neighborhood and all the runners are from that neighborhood. The Kishiwada Danjiri Matsuri festival is the most famous in Japan because it has large Danjiri and is very fast paced.<br /><div class="MsoNormal">
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I suppose I should also mention (before getting to into
detail) that it was pouring rain all day. This wasn’t just a Midwest sprinkle,
this was a downpour from the typhoon that is coming through. Anyway, just imagine
all the water while you read this.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We wandered through the crowd until we found a long street
that was covered. It was a pedestrian street that was lined with shops and
restaurants. There were also hundreds of people lining it. </div>
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We found a place along
the side and waited. Soon, we could hear shouts and see a tall pole with a lantern-like
structure on top of it being carried by a man. There were others around him
carrying flags and just behind them there was a hoard of people pulling on a
thick rope that was about 100 yards long. Attached to the rope was a large carriage
on four giant wheels that didn’t turn. It was crawling with people! There was
someone playing drum and another playing flute. On top was a man carrying two
fans. Behind the carriage there was a shorter rope with more people. All at
once all of the people pulling started a chant and began to run! They carriage
reached a very fast speed and then they went around the corner. To do this, all
of the pullers had to hug the turn very closely and the people at the back had
to swing far to the outside. The carriage didn’t have any wheels that turned left or right,
so it was dragged sideways around the corner until it was facing the correct
direction. As it turned the man with the fans on top was dancing around and
jumping from one side to the other. It was quite frightening! When the carriage
passed the ground shook from its’ weight and the pounding feet. How exciting!<o:p></o:p></div>
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This is the tradition Danjiri dress</div>
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You can see videos of it here: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oW4sjvyyOjY">Video 1</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms76PTYeHYM">Video 2</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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We watched four or five Danjiri groups race through the city
streets. It was quite the experience! Kawachinagano will have their Danjiri in
October. I’m looking forward to it!<o:p></o:p></div>
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All last night it rained! It didn’t stop raining until about
9 AM. This morning most of the family took a walk to look at the small river
that flows out of the dam near our house. The river was huge! The river bed is
very wide, luckily. I think that is because this happens relatively frequently.
The water was brown from all of the sediment being picked up in the hills. Many
gutters were practically overflowing with the water! As we were walking back up
the hill towards the house, we started hearing noises coming from the dam. They
must be opening it up more from all the rain. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Typhoons are exciting! They bring a ton of rain and wind as
well as cooler weather. It’s quite a bit cooler than it was on the day of the
festival.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I am understanding more and more Japanese everyday! I know
it gets repetitive when I say that in every post, but it’s true! It just keeps
getting better! <o:p></o:p></div>
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School work has been tough. I’m still trying to figure out
what I am expected to do and what I’m not. My class schedule seems to skip some
classes that I participate in on other days. I think the hardest subject is
history, but that’s also really hard for Ron, the Australian who’s lived here
for a couple years, so I don’t feel too bad about not understanding.<o:p></o:p></div>
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At the moment I’m preparing a couple speeches to give at
different events. One is at an elementary school in Kawachinagano and the other
is for the first Rotary Youth Exchange orientation. I’m pretty sure both have
to be in Japanese…<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thanks for reading!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">またね!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Wes<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-73210042443001603852013-09-13T05:49:00.001-07:002013-09-13T05:49:11.214-07:00Mount Iwawaki<div class="MsoNormal">
I didn’t realize it until Papa Kazuhiro said it, but I’ve
been in Japan for just about a month. On Monday I will have my one month
anniversary with Japan. That’s also one month away from my parents, Annika,
Northfield, home. It’s really incredible how fast time flies. I don’t know that
I’ve ever experienced this speed before. It’s rather terrifying, but a lot of
fun! I’m making friends and my Japanese is improving. Everyday I pick up new
words and phrases. It’s such a great feeling being able to communicate with
people! This morning I was reading through the binder that Rotary supplies the
exchange students with as a source of information and I came across several
quotes from students that were outbounds in 2011-2012. One in particular stuck
out to me. It may have been because the student was actually in Japan, but I
think it was more the content that clicked with me. She talked about how to
really get involved and learn your host countries language. Part of that was
the fact thata English should not be spoken. Today I tried as hard as possible
to not speak English and I think it worked! I found that I was able to communicate
as much as I needed without using English. For me, this also includes using my
dictionary when either side needs help explaining. The biggest problem I have
is that when I speak to someone in Japanese, they speak back to me in English!
How confusing! There are many times when I have asked for the Japanese instead.
It can sometimes even be easier because I know a vocab word in Japanese that they
don’t know in English.<o:p></o:p></div>
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My host family is very easy to communicate with. I understand
their accents very well and have gotten used to it. This has been a big help in
planning various things that I do.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Last Saturday, Papa Kazuhiro and I hiked up Mount Iwawaki.
The top of it is visible if you walk 50 feet down the road from our house! When we started
out, it was raining slightly and we were in clouds. </div>
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They eventually thinned out
and we were able to see other peaks. The climb took about 45 minutes and was
well worth it. We could see all of Kawachinagano-shi, as well as Osaka and KIX
airport. To the north-east was Mount Koya, the tallest mountain in Osaka
Prefecture. Down below us we could see Takihata Dam, which is right next to the
house. We could also see the PL tower, which I did some research on and I said
I would follow up on (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PL_Kyodan">Check out this link for more info on the PL religion</a>).<o:p></o:p></div>
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The top of Mount Iwawaki is covered in Suzuki grass which is
used to make grass roofs. In the fall, the entire mountain-top turns brown and
workers harvest the grass. The mountain is then burned so the next season’s grass
grows well. It’s very impressive that people can harvest the grass when it is
growing on such a steep incline. It had to be more than 45 degrees!<o:p></o:p></div>
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There is very little space on top of the mountain and the
only larger flat area has benches and a large stone marker with maps about the
surrounding areas. Papa Kazuhiro and I ate a small snack and took pictures.
Then, we hiked down. We took a different route than when we came up. Instead of
heading back to the visitors center, we hiked down towards Takihata, where the
trail also pops out. On the way down, we went past a snake which Kazuhiro said
is poisonous to humans. Do the biologists out there have any idea what kind it
is?<o:p></o:p></div>
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We went through many dark woods made up of cedar trees. They
are planted to be logged and they create a much different environment from that
of the native. The native has many deciduous trees that allow for an understory
of ferns, grasses, and shrubs. The cedar trees allow very little light through
and moss doesn’t even grow under them. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When we reached to bottom after winding downward for about an
hour on a narrow track, Mama Akane came to pick us up. We came out near the
opposite end of Takihata Dam from where the house is. There were many Osakans
at a large park picnicking. Kazuhiro says many come out on the weekends. I
guess Kawachinagano is Osaka’s playground.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That night, the family had a barbecue. There was Obaasan,
Kazuhiro, Akane, Mitsuki, Nanako, Rankin (Nanako’s friend) and Kazuhiro’s
brother and his daughter. Ojiisan was out golfing and Yoshino was at a friend’s
house. There was so much food! We had beef , pork, chicken, shrimp, green
peppers, and corn. There was also a smoker that was made out of a cardboard
box. We had smoked cheese, eggs, and Japanese radish pickles. It was delicious!
I later taught everyone how to make a banana boat (banana, chocolate chips, marshmallows
all melted together). We also had grilled orange slices and pieces of
pineapple. I had never had hot pineapple before but it was actually really
good!<o:p></o:p></div>
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When we were done with dinner and had walked the dogs, we
set off small fireworks. Most were sparklers of all different kinds. There were
a couple that spun as well as some fountains. It was a lot of fun and all the
kids enjoyed it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This week has just been school but we are preparing for the
school cultural festival on Saturday. I’m gaining more and more information
about it everyday. It sounds like there will be food, displays, and
performances of different kinds. I will be performing in the band and with my
class in a small performance of some sort. There will be a lot of pictures
taken, so I will be able to better explain it this weekend. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Today was my friend Kei’s birthday, so some girls in our class
bought him his favorite drink from the school coffee shop. He didn’t really
know what to make of it!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I feel like I’m really starting to fit in with my class.
They are more willing to talk to me now that I have a slightly better grasp on
the language. The English teachers at Nagano High School have been a tremendous
help. Whenever there is something I don’t understand or someone is trying to
ask me something, they are always willing to lend an ear. It would be very
difficult for my classmates and I to understand what the other was asking in
some situations!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I’m looking forward to seeing great performances and eating
good food this weekend!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Have a great weekend!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Wes<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-17821239988017295332013-09-07T16:47:00.001-07:002013-09-07T16:47:07.878-07:00Temple Town<div class="MsoNormal">
This has been an amazing couple of days. So much so that I
don’t even know how to begin, but I suppose sticking to chronological order
would make sense. Because I didn’t have school on Wednesday due to testing,
Mama Akane taught me how to use the bus system in Kawachinagano. There is a bus
stop right outside the house and Mitsuki and Nanako get on there every day. We
took the bus into town. It took about 40 minutes to get to the station, which
is 15 to 20 minutes longer than driving. Kawachinagano Station is a thriving
place. It is the central hub for all city buses, taxis, and trains. There is
also a multi-story shopping center nearby as well as pedestrian-only streets that
are covered in case of rain.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We spent the afternoon browsing through the stores which
involved stopping at the Kawachinagano Visitor Center. There, I got my first
map of the city. What a big help! I’ve been very confused as to the layout of
everything since there is no set grid for streets (not that it would even be
feasible with how many steep hills there are). In all of the stores, there were
various cartoon characters covering all of the merchandise including Hello
Kitty, One Piece, Miffy, Sesame Street, and Moomin.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When we returned home, it began to pour outside. It was
nuts! It rained very heavily for about half an hour and then slowed down to a
drizzle. Here are some pics from it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When we went to walk Ringo and Ryu later that evening, the
sky was a brilliant orange color. It was beautiful! Of course, the camera came
along so y’all can see what it was like.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The next day I didn’t have school either because of testing.
Mama Akane and I went to see Kanshin-ji Temple. It is the most famous temple in
Kawachinagano-shi. Because it was a week day, there was nobody else there. All
of the pathways were smooth gravel that had been raked recently enough that the
lines were still visible.</div>
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Before visiting the main building, we cleansed our
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In front of the main
building there is a small pit with a candle and incense that you can burn for
the luck of others. I chose one that will help friends entering college, so
those grades better be good! Inside the first building was an area for tea
ceremonies that was blocked off to the public. It was full of very intricate
designs and shiny things. </div>
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The whole place had a very calming effect on me. We
walked around and visited various spots on the grounds, including walking the
88 steps that represent all of the sins in life from the perspective of Buddhism.
We walked back to the entrance and fed the extremely large carp that were in a
pond. We also met a overly friendly cat that followed us for the rest our
visit. When we climbed up the mountain that the temple was built on to visit
the cemetery for part of an Emperor’s family, the cat came too! I even carried
it all the way to the top so it would quite it’s whining! Kanshin-ji Temple is
a very cool place and I definitely want to return before my year is up.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Apparently snails really love rain because tons of them were
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Friday was an especially good day. I went to school but left
after three periods to attend the Rotary Club meeting. We had bento for lunch. Yum!!!
When I returned to school I mostly worked on studying Japanese through my other
classes. I don’t think the teachers minded because I was just practicing
writing characters over and over again. After school, I went to talk to the
band director about joining the club. Ron (the Australian that has been going
to school here for a couple years but is of Japanese decent) came with me to
help me figure out scheduling. I’m not very interested in participating in a
club on the weekends so I can have time to do other things like travel with my
family or participate in Rotary activities. I also want to try and join the
soft tennis club, but doing two clubs is pretty much unheard of. Lucky for me,
I had played with the band a couple times last week to see if I wanted to join.
This gave the band an idea of my playing, so when the band director said I
would have to try out, the older students immediately told her that it was
unnecessary because I was good enough. Thank goodness! I’m am so grateful to
them for this. What this does mean is that I will have to prove that I can actually
play well enough. Nagano High School’s school festival is next Saturday and the
band is performing. Yup, that includes me. Yay!!! I’m so excited to perform with
them! It will be such an experience to play with such a talented wind
orchestra!<o:p></o:p></div>
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After club, Mama Akane took Nanako and I to Aikidou (Mitsuki
fell asleep in the car). Aikidou is very tiring but fun and rewarding. I come
out of every session feeling like I’ve been punched all over because of how
demanding it is. I’m very impressed by the stamina of the small children the
participate!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Saturday, Mama Akane, Papa Kazuhiro, Yoshino, Nanako,
Mitsuki, and I piled into the car and drove to Kyoto. On the way, we past a
very large tower that is apparently part of some religion. I’m still trying to
figure out what the religion is and I will keep you all updated on my findings.
If anyone has information on it, I would love to here about it. The name was PL
(Perfect Liberty).<o:p></o:p></div>
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The highway to Kyoto was interesting. It had walls on both
sides to keep the noise down in the surrounding neighborhoods. This isn’t that
unusual I suppose, but the walls were glass the entire way. It was nice to be
able to see what you were driving past.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When we got to Kyoto, we went to Mama Akane’s parents house.
Mama Akane grew up in Kyoto and her sister and parents still live there. We had
sushi, sashimi, fried veggies, tea, and giant grapes for lunch. Afterwards, we
left to go visit Kinkaku-ji Temple, which is the most famous temple in Japan.
The afternoon was rainy, but that didn’t seem to stop tour buses full of people
from joining us. There were many Japanese tourists, but there were also Korean,
Chinese, American, and French. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gh217WACEKE/Uiu368sj9eI/AAAAAAAAA6g/KBqMPBe3XDY/s1600/IMGP1860.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gh217WACEKE/Uiu368sj9eI/AAAAAAAAA6g/KBqMPBe3XDY/s320/IMGP1860.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The temple was stunning. It was originally built
as the house for a statesman, but it was eventually converted into a temple.
The main pavilion is the centerpiece for
the entire temple. It is three stories tall with the upper two stories covered
in gold on the outside.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6Vj5IcZLtkQ/Uiu4CcUYgFI/AAAAAAAAA7s/It9wVmrynG4/s1600/IMGP1869.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6Vj5IcZLtkQ/Uiu4CcUYgFI/AAAAAAAAA7s/It9wVmrynG4/s320/IMGP1869.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RnOIAKQGX2I/Uiu4K7ydZdI/AAAAAAAAA8I/2qd2dOeJ2j8/s1600/IMGP1878.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RnOIAKQGX2I/Uiu4K7ydZdI/AAAAAAAAA8I/2qd2dOeJ2j8/s320/IMGP1878.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Each floor is designed resemble a certain section of
the Muromachi-period. In front of the temple is a lake with small islands with
very carefully trimmed trees grow. It’s an amazing place, although there is not
a lot of liberty one can take in exploring on their own, as there is a strict
path with fences on either side. There are small streams running everywhere and
the path is mostly made from small smooth stones or large stone steps. Also along
the path are a couple shrine-like stone structures with a stone cup in the
middle. If a person can toss a coin into the stone cup, he or she receives good
luck. There are many gift shops lining the path all of which sell different
things relating to the temple. One sells small charms and good luck prayers.
Others sell small bags, key-chains, postcards, books (English and Japanese),
and, on the more expensive end, masks used for various celebrations. There are
also numerous vending machines which is very common for Japan. They sold many
types of beverages and ice cream. I’ve been told that in the winter there are
vending machines that sell hot soup. Yum!!! Another cool thing about the temple’s
garden is that all of the larger stones were donated by provincial lords during
the time that it was built. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lkEuPURKHmU/Uiu4eiRbI0I/AAAAAAAAA9g/8O1_5qdBHaY/s1600/IMGP1902.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lkEuPURKHmU/Uiu4eiRbI0I/AAAAAAAAA9g/8O1_5qdBHaY/s320/IMGP1902.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Visiting Kinkaku-ji Temple was fantastic. I love seeing the
historic buildings and gardens in Japan. The Japanese are very aware of garden
aesthetics and have a balance of letting nature do it’s own thing while gently
coaxing it to take a certain shape.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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So far my exchange has been incredible. I don’t know what I
would do without all of the wonderful people that have helped me see and do
different things in Japan. I am so grateful that the RYE program exists and I am
looking forward to helping with it in the future.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
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BTW, I suppose I should mention that my host grandma and grandpa
will be taking me to climb Mount Fuji in November. I am
sooooooooooooooooooooooo excited!!!!<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-72256926276890143862013-09-03T17:46:00.001-07:002013-09-03T17:46:28.240-07:00Stay classy, Kawachinagano<div class="MsoNormal">
I finally received my school
schedule as well as all of my uniforms. Yay!!! Here is me in my school uniform.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The suit-coats buttons have the
Nagano High School seal on them which is an “N” of some sorts. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1NBKeg_f8EQ/UiaAmyRvRyI/AAAAAAAAAq4/ncKATe_9oCM/s1600/IMGP1673.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1NBKeg_f8EQ/UiaAmyRvRyI/AAAAAAAAAq4/ncKATe_9oCM/s320/IMGP1673.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Along with the suit I will be
wearing everyday came gym clothes. Included were a pair of green shorts, a
white shirt with “Nagano High School” printed on it in green, green running
pants, a green pull-over, a pair of green swim trunks, and white gym shoes with
green stripes on them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /></div>
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Each of the grades at Nagano High
School has their own color associated with them that they use for all three
years that they are at the school. The first years are green, the second years
are blue, and the third years are a dark red. It’s an interesting way to
separate everyone. As far as I can tell, there are no school colors, so what
happens in sporting events I don’t know.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This last weekend I was invited
to a piano concert at a hall that is owned by a Rotary Club member. The Man
that invited me was Nishimoto-san, a piano tuner and Rotary Club member. It was
a fantastic concert! There was only one piece played and that was Brahm’s Piano
Sonata. The pianist was the piano teacher from the Osaka Music University. He
was incredible!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The program.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Yr4mQgKTiZ0/UiWFWG4mh5I/AAAAAAAAApA/KLbUy3206J0/s1600/IMGP1648.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Yr4mQgKTiZ0/UiWFWG4mh5I/AAAAAAAAApA/KLbUy3206J0/s320/IMGP1648.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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The piano (a sweet-sounding
Steinway).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R67Dh5NKRA4/UiWFWHBZtWI/AAAAAAAAAo0/d-GMb1MwFeI/s1600/IMGP1650.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R67Dh5NKRA4/UiWFWHBZtWI/AAAAAAAAAo0/d-GMb1MwFeI/s320/IMGP1650.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The hall.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6bql7lsclmw/UiWFWFldWkI/AAAAAAAAAo4/gEDKH4SmGAo/s1600/IMGP1651.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6bql7lsclmw/UiWFWFldWkI/AAAAAAAAAo4/gEDKH4SmGAo/s320/IMGP1651.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
School is still going pretty
well, although I can’t say I am not bored at times. The only classes I can
really follow are chemistry, biology, English, and math (Thank you Mr.
Bengston!). Speaking of school, here’s my schedule:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Monday<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Tuesday<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Wednesday<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.95pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Thursday<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.95pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Friday<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
First Hour<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(8:40-9:30)<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Biology<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Interculteral<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(English)<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Japanese History<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.95pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Calligraphy<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.95pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Self Study<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(Japanese)<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Second Hour<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(9:40-10:30)<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Japanese B<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Self Study<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(Japanese)<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
English A<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.95pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Calligraphy<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.95pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Math 1<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Third Hour<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(10:40-11:30)<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Physical Education<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Japanese Geography<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Japanese Geography<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.95pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Salon<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(Private Japanese lessons)<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.95pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
English A<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Fourth Hour<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(11:40-12:30)<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Chemistry<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Math 1<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Math 1<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.95pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Interculteral<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(English)<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.95pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Physical Education<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Lunch<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(12:30-1:15)<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Lunch<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
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Lunch<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Lunch<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.95pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Lunch<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.95pt;" valign="top" width="104">
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Lunch<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
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Fifth Hour<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(1:15-2:05)<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
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English B<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
English B<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Physical Education<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.95pt;" valign="top" width="104">
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Self Study<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(Japanese)<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.95pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Self Study<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(Japanese)<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Sixth Hour<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(2:15-3:05)<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Salon<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(Private Japanese lessons)<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Japanese History<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
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Japanese B<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.95pt;" valign="top" width="104">
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LHR<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(I have no idea…)<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.95pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
Chemistry<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
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Seventh Hour<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
(3:15-4:05)<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
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<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
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Biology<o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.9pt;" valign="top" width="104">
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<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.95pt;" valign="top" width="104">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 77.95pt;" valign="top" width="104">
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<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
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I get to do this for the next
year. Yay!!!! It will be interesting to see if I can actually begin to take in
anything that isn’t said slowly and intermingled with English!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Last night Mama Akane, Mitsuki,
Nanako, Yoshino, and I went out to a sushi restaurant. It wasn’t your average
sushi/udon/ramen shop, though. The room was filled with booths and on the wall
between two joining booths there was a track that carried sushi around the
room. You just grabbed a plate off of the track and ate! It was fantastic!
Above the continuously moving track there was a smaller one. Next to that was a
touch-screen where we were able to order certain foods if we didn’t want to
wait. The food can rushing out to us on a little cart on the second track. What
service! We ate a ton. It was all very cheap too: ¥100 ($1) per plate. All
together we ate 35 plates. Wow! When we finished five plates, Mitsuki would
drop them into the return bin. When five plates went into it, a game started on
the touch-screen. If you won, you received a small toy from a large bin above
the screen. With 7 games, Mitsuki won once and gave me the toy. It was a small,
plastic sushi! The food was fantastic. Some of the different things I had were
onion rings, soup with small mollusks in it, roe sushi, cabbage sushi, salmon
sushi, shrimp sushi, edamame, and a cream puff to finish it off.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Mikun next to the sushi train!</div>
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<br /></div>
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Yummy!!</div>
<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mrynriAaQxY/UiaAeSvAqXI/AAAAAAAAArk/4aC5BtVy3Ls/s1600/IMGP1661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mrynriAaQxY/UiaAeSvAqXI/AAAAAAAAArk/4aC5BtVy3Ls/s320/IMGP1661.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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Touch screen</div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
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Nanako eating sushi</div>
<br />
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What to choose...</div>
<br />
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Creampuff</div>
<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gwlf1lSgmUY/UiaAm6YAKrI/AAAAAAAAAq0/q78RJ6wJFZg/s1600/IMGP1668.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gwlf1lSgmUY/UiaAm6YAKrI/AAAAAAAAAq0/q78RJ6wJFZg/s320/IMGP1668.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This morning I went for a run
around the reservoir that Kawachinagano uses. It was beautiful! I went our
before anyone was on their way to work and there was no rain. At the end of a
bridge, I discovered a bunch of centipedes (correct me if I’m wrong, mom!) that
appeared to be mating. It was fascinating because it at first looked like very
tall centipedes until I found that there were two on top of each other for
every mound. At that early hour, there were clouds hanging low and mist still
coming out of the forest. It was also very quiet. The cicadas weren’t even
making noise!</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As I’m typing this, it is raining
outside. We’ve had rain on and off for the past week and I’m really enjoying
it! There is very little wind, so all the windows in the house can be open
while it is pouring. I also don’t have to be in school today or tomorrow
because there is testing that my grade has to do. Mama Akane will be teaching
me how to ride the buses. Yay! Public transportation!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Weather update: The typhoon is
still moving closer but there hasn’t really been much concern about it so I
think that it has died down. On the other end, though, there was a tornado
somewhere in Japan. I think it was towards Tokyo. It appears that the damage
was pretty local and I don’t believe anyone was hurt.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Congrats to my parents for 24
years and to my cousin Dorian for this upcoming wedding!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">またね!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Wes<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-25288116032909944222013-08-31T00:53:00.001-07:002013-08-31T00:53:05.437-07:00I may finally agree that school rocks.<div class="MsoNormal">
School is probably the greatest
thing that has happened so far. I know that a year ago I definitely would not
have said that, as I would be gearing up for my senior year at Northfield High School.
However, now that my grades do not matter and I can learn at my leisure (or as
I understand), I am thoroughly enjoying school. Yes, it does get boring sitting
in a classroom for a couple hours without doing anything besides studying
Japanese by listening, but the end of school makes it worth it. Since we have
shorter days due to the hot summers, school finishes at 12:45 PM. Most of my
class eats lunch in the classroom and then goes to their various club
activities if they do any. This has provided me with the chance to get to know
them. The last few days I have walked down to the 7-11 convenience store that is
adjacent to school and bought some items for lunch. I then return to eat with
my class.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Walking anywhere is strange
because everyone stares at you. As a white male that grew up in Minnesota, I’ve
never experienced being a minority. Now I can say I have. Walking down the
street, I never see anyone that is not of Asian ethnicity. The only place I see
outsiders is at school or the surrounding streets. Even then, there are only five
of us. There are so few you can count us! It’s quite an experience. Fortunately,
I have not had any negative experiences because of this. One thing I have
noticed, though, is that everyone from Nagano High School recognizes me and
says “hello” in English. It’s very cool! I feel so welcomed to the school.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I feel like I am being well taken
care of. The students keep on eye on me in the case that I make a mistake or
don’t know where to go. They are all willing to help. My first full day some of
my classmates walked me to the room I was supposed to be in. Many times my
homeroom teacher has checked on me just to make sure I am doing well. She has
also helped me find the correct people to talk to about joining clubs.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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On Thursday, I went to soft
tennis club. I think that it is only a Japanese sport because I’ve seen any
mention of it before anywhere else. It is exactly like normal tennis except the
ball is very rubbery. It is the same size as a ball used for racket-ball, but
it is the consistency of a stress-ball. I followed a student from my class
named Kei and he helped me out with it. I also met a third-year named Maho. She
was actually the one that invited me to come the day before. She is apparently
interested in teaching Japanese in foreign countries. Soft Tennis was fun and I
think I will go to it on some days after school.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
On Friday, I went to the Nagano Wind
Orchestra’s rehearsal. It was incredible! The group is made up of about 30-40
students and is conducted by a third-year. As far as I can tell, the only
direction is given by a Nagano High School alum that hung around this year to
help out with music. For rehearsal, they leant me tuba and I got to play with
the two other tuba players for an hour. Then, I was given a trombone and I
practiced with the trombones and euphonium player. They are very, very, very,
very good. At the end of the rehearsal, I was given a private concert of their
main piece, a jazz medley that included “Sing, Sing, Sing”. Ever note was precisely
where it should be and (for a group this size this was very impressive) completely
balanced with one another. When they were finished, they had me critique them.
That was very difficult to do in both English and Japanese! I gave up on my
Japanese and gave them my praise in English.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I suppose it would interesting
for people to know that there are very few boys in some club activities. For
example, both soft tennis and the orchestra have only one boy in them (well,
now two). Both are very good at what they do and have no problem with being the
only male in their clubs.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I went to aikidou last night with Nanako and Mitsuki. It was a lot of fun! It's really hard work, though.</div>
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The Kawachinagano Rotary Club puts out a newsletter every week. I was in it along with the speech I gave and a biography of Northfield.</div>
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So I guess that when I said fall
was on it’s way, I might have been a little early. These last couple days have
had more wind and clouds than usual. This is because of a typhoon (hurricane)
that has been working it’s way up the coast of east Asia. We may not have
school next week! Yay! While it is a hurricane (yes, that IS rather scary),
there should be no issue and it should blow itself out before reaching Osaka,
therefore there should be no hastily written emails or worrying. I do hope that
Zoe Webb in Taiwan, Logan Regnier in South Japan, and Wren Kruse in Hiroshima
are not too affected by it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">じゃない!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Wes<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-51283710530097140592013-08-29T02:21:00.003-07:002013-08-29T02:21:36.833-07:00ながのこうこう<div class="MsoNormal">
It has been a little bit since I
last wrote but not a lot has changed except for my attitude. My first week and
a half was almost as if I was in a dream or just on vacation. I met a lot of
people and saw a lot of places, but never really felt like I was settling down.
Now, a few days into school, I feel like I am finally finding my place.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Two days ago I had an
introduction to the school. That involved meeting with a small board of
teachers to come to conclusions about certain things regarding my education and
to go over the rules. I also received a tour of the school by three of my
classmates.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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My schooling here is a little
awkward. Having graduated from high school, I am already on the edge for
participating in Rotary International’s youth exchange. One the rules at my
school (Nagano Prefectural (Public) High School) is that exchange students may
not have classes with third years. This is because they are all studying and
preparing for taking university entrance exams. Oh yeah, I suppose this would
be a good time to mention that high schools in Japan only have three grades: 1<sup>st</sup>
years (10<sup>th</sup> grade), 2<sup>nd</sup> years (11<sup>th</sup> grade),
and 3<sup>rd</sup> years (12<sup>th</sup> grade). The school year also starts
in April and ends in March. This means that because I am starting in the second
trimester, the only way to prevent me having a 3<sup>rd</sup> year class is by
enrolling me as a 1<sup>st</sup> year. I will then move up to be a 2<sup>nd</sup>
year in the spring. Back to the awkward part. I didn’t realize this when I was
chosen to go to Japan (not that it would have changed my mind), but I am now
working on retaking 10<sup>th</sup> grade. That means classes with 10<sup>th</sup>
graders (ages 15 and 16). Please take this moment to reminisce on your 10<sup>th</sup>
grade and realize just how chaotic and crazy it probably was.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s not a big deal that everyone
is younger than I am. It does help, though, because it means that they actually
have time to talk with me and not study all the time.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In the words of fellow RYE
student Logan Regnier, it was my second last first day of high school.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That first day was quite an
experience. Luckily, I spent quite a bit of time in the CALL (Communication and
Language Learning) office which is where the English teachers have their
offices. There are two native English speakers. One is from the US (Upstate New
York) and the other is from Australia. There are also 3 or 4 English teachers
that are Japanese but whose English is absolutely incredible. They have helped
me figure a ton out that I otherwise would have been completely stuck on.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That first day there was an
assembly for the whole school in the gymnasium. There were awards presented to
various club leaders and the school counselor said a few words. Then I had the
absolutely wonderful opportunity to speak in front of all 1,000 students. It
should be noted that the last line should be read in the most sarcastic voice
your brain can produce. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Having already experienced being
the new kid in school when I moved to Northfield, MN, from Poynette, WI, I
figured this wouldn’t be that much different. That said, it would have been 10X
easier had I been able to understand a single bit of the lesson. Japanese
history is complex and complicated, but it’s even more-so when it’s in a
language you don’t understand. Thankfully my classmates all agreed that it’s
not a fun subject. After school I had decided that I would look into joining a
club. A couple of my classmates are in Kendo (blunt sword fighting) and it
sounded interesting to me. I talked to them and one, Ron, turned out to have
been born in Japan, raised in Australia, and then moved back to Japan for high
school.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That first two weeks of school
are only half days because the weather is so awfully hot. This means that club
activity schedules are all screwed up and they all start at different times
after school. As I waited, several of my classmates sat around and talked to
me. They were very anxious to see a picture of Annika (my girlfriend) and, upon
seeing the picture I produced from my wallet, all the girls screamed <span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">かわい</span> (cute!). I’m sure they are very jealous of her red hair
and blue eyes, as many of them would love to dye their hair a lighter shade and
several wear colored contacts.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Watching Kendo was a very
interesting experience. The uniforms are modeled after those of the samurai, with
very wide pants and half-length sleeves. The premise behind Kendo is that you
bludgeon your opponent with a dull sword. The armor that the participants wear
is very hard and solid. It would take a lot of force to hurt someone through
it. The face-mask is metal bars that are each about a centimeter apart. Combat
involves whacking the opponent as hard as one can on their head or on their
oblique muscles and stabbing under their chin. It is incredibly scary to watch
and I imagine to participate in. The sound that is produced from sparring is
incredible because both opponents are screaming and there is the thwacking of
the bamboo swords on armor.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When I returned to the Tani
family store after school, I found out I would be going to Aikidou with Mama
Akane, Mitsuki, and Nanako. It was fun and I learned some defense. It also
turned out that it was the same Dojyou that Kiana Asada (RYE 2012-2013 from
Northfield, MN, to Kawachinagano) attended during her exchange. It was fun to
meet her senseis and they invited me to join. I will be attending classes with
a group of adults that are all the highest level in Aikidou, so I should be
well taught.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Japan is incredible. I reached a
new happiness today and I feel very welcomed by the student population of
Nagano High School. When I walk past anyone student they say “Hi” in English.
They are very accommodating to my limited Japanese and are patient with me as I
figure out what to say. I have already met quite a few people that I feel I
will make strong relationships with.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The weather has been cooler these
last couple days (25 degrees celcius) and the Tani family all say that fall is
on it’s way. I am excited to see the colors of the trees!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here are some pics from school.</div>
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Pictures made from tons of toothpicks stabbed into styrofoam.</div>
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The girls take pictures all day on their phones and every single one looks like this.</div>
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The guys. I think I've found the right crowd.</div>
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<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">またね</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Wes<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-54948273443608706192013-08-23T19:15:00.004-07:002013-08-23T19:15:41.957-07:00Welcome PartyThe people of Japan are so
wonderful. I am having a fantastic experience and it would be absolutely
nothing without my host family and all of the Rotarians that are helping me get
acquainted with Japan. Yesterday was a big day. I went to my first Rotary
meeting. The Rotary club of Kawachinagano is very small in comparison to
Northfield’s. It has 30 members whereas Northfield’s has at least 100. The
meeting wasn’t an ordinary one, though. It was the first time that the club was
meeting me, but that wasn’t the most important part. The Rotary International governor
from this past year, Yasuharu Nakamura, happened to be visiting from Tokyo. It was a great honor to meet him and I
think it pleased him to meet an exchange student. As the governor for all of Rotary
International, Yasuharu Nakamura had to host the international meeting. It is usually hosted in the country of
the current governor’s origin. Instead of having it in Japan, Yasuharu Yakamura decided to have
it in Portugal to celebrate 300 years of peace between Japan and Portugal. My
counselor here in Japan was actually the Kawachinagano Rotary Club
representative at the meeting.<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Anyway, enough history. I was
scheduled to speak at the meeting so I brought along a speech that my counselor
in the US had written for all Japan Outbounds. My speech went great! So great,
however, that the entire club thought I was fluent in Japanese. Apparently I even
used a Japanese accent. Oops! After my speech I exchanged Rotary club banners
with the president of the club. Then Nakamura-san gave a speech. I wish I could
have understood it better. What I inferred was he was restating the mission of
Rotary International and was saying that Rotary needs to get the younger
generation working through Rotary so it may continue in the future.<o:p></o:p></div>
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When the meeting ended, there
were many people that came and talked to me. One man had heard that I play tuba
and he told me I should get involved with the brass band at my school, Nagano High
School.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It was so overwhelming and nerve
racking. I think I may have even been shaking before I went up for my speech. I
truly hope I made a good impression on the club and that they will be
interested in spending more time with
me. I will have another chance to tell the entire club about myself in about a
month when I give a speech about myself and home. Yikes!<o:p></o:p></div>
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That night, Gigi and Baba took me
to a tea shop in downtown Kawachinagano that is run by Morishita Hiroko, the
exchange student coordinator in Kawachinagano (for those in Northfield, she’s a
Vicki Dilley equivalent). She was hosting a welcome party for me and had closed
down her shop for the party. It was an incredible gesture of kindness. There
were 13 members of the Rotary club there including Baba, Gigi, Michimoto-san,
Hiroko-san, and Okita-san. One of my host mothers whom I hadn’t met in person
before, Yukiko Yamasaki, was also there. Hiroko-san had prepared a lot of food
for the occasion. There was sushi, noodles, takoyaki, vegetables, and pasta. It
was all very delicious. The son of Hiroko-san taught me to make takoyaki. That was
super fun and cool! It was also very hard to make perfect round balls.
Hiroko-san’s son, it turned out, went to a college for two years in New York
and spoke very good English.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I feel so welcomed by the club,
although I can’t help but wonder if I will mostly do things with adults or if I
will make friends my age as well. From what I’ve heard high school students
start running out of time to make friends with exchange students in their
junior and sophomore years.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Speaking of school, I start on
Monday. Originally I thought I would start on Tuesday, but there is orientation
for 2 hours on Monday. I will receive my uniform and sign up for various clubs.
Scary!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Last night it rained. I’ve never
seen such rain before! It poured and poured and poured! There was also thunder
and lightning. The thunder made the night feel like there was a war going on
because the cracks and bangs were so loud and close. When I woke up, the clouds
were covering the tops of the hills around the house. What a sight it was!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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It really doesn’t feel like it’s
been a week already. I don’t know where the time went! I’m hoping that my
jetlag has started to wear off and I will be able to focus on everything more.
I had heard that being an exchange student is the most tiring thing you will
ever experience. Now I would have to agree! You have to be alert every second
you are awake and you can’t afford to tuck yourself away.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">またね!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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Wes<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-22710654665595510472013-08-21T18:59:00.000-07:002013-08-21T19:30:54.994-07:00すごい!<div class="MsoNormal">
So because I don't have constant internet access here (which is absolutely wonderful) I will be writing offline and then posting when I am able to. I will post the dates above the entries. It's basically gonna be journal style.</div>
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<br /></div>
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8/20/2013<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Four days have gone by already
and it doesn't seem like any have past. It’s incredible. Even though it’s only
been that short amount of time, I think my Japanese is improving slightly.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Today I meet Okita-san in person.
I emailed with him before coming to Japan. He and his wife (Hiroko-san) gave up
a whole day to spend with me. First, they took me out to an udon noodle
restaurant. It was oishi (delicious)! They were served in a broth with leeks
and a piece of deep-fried shrimp. Next, we drove to Osaka harbor where the
Osaka aquarium is located. <o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VjWhNp-Exzk/UhVz8l7m0-I/AAAAAAAAAX8/0PxrVp8NMK8/s1600/IMGP1440.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VjWhNp-Exzk/UhVz8l7m0-I/AAAAAAAAAX8/0PxrVp8NMK8/s320/IMGP1440.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
This was our primary destination and we spent most
of the afternoon wandering through it. I don’t know that I've ever been in an
aquarium with such active animals. It was fantastic! The otters were wiggling,
the sea lions were diving, the capybara was capybara-ing, and the jellyfish
were jelly-ing. The aquarium’s main exhibit was based on the “Ring of Fire”
around the Pacific Ocean. The main attraction was a 5,000+ ton tank in the
center in which live giant stingrays, groupers, several shark species, and many
other fish. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--xrCfXQNjRQ/UhV0FdXbpYI/AAAAAAAAAZA/KTC-v-zWVeE/s1600/IMGP1480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--xrCfXQNjRQ/UhV0FdXbpYI/AAAAAAAAAZA/KTC-v-zWVeE/s320/IMGP1480.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Although that may sound rather normal for a tank (minus the fact
that it’s 5,000+ tons of water), there was one species of shark that you would
not find in your normal aquarium tank. The Osaka aquarium manages to house not
one, but two wale sharks. Holy. Cow. They’re so cool!!!! I’ve never seen such a
large fish before. The best part was that we were there for whale shark feeding
time. I knew that they sucked in water and filtered it, but to see the quantity
that they pull in is astonishing. I thought the divers arm would be sucked off!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3q0CUF0xf5U/UhV0I9k_HvI/AAAAAAAAAZk/N6NbnyJgqM8/s1600/IMGP1496.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3q0CUF0xf5U/UhV0I9k_HvI/AAAAAAAAAZk/N6NbnyJgqM8/s320/IMGP1496.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
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If going to an aquarium weren't
big enough treat, Okita-san and Hiroko-san also brought me to see Osaka Jyou
(Osaka Castle). <o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gIrgGB3UpSc/UhV0SJedCdI/AAAAAAAAAao/qktLNqJvAuk/s1600/IMGP1514.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gIrgGB3UpSc/UhV0SJedCdI/AAAAAAAAAao/qktLNqJvAuk/s320/IMGP1514.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
This relic was built over 400 years ago and has survived a
couple wars. It’s an incredible building. It once was used for city purposes
such as housing the police department, but now the entire complex is a city
park. Complete with two moats and one-foot thick metal gates, I can’t see how
it could be penetrated with today’s technology. It was phenomenal to read all
the extensive history behind it and I wish that I could spew it all onto this
page. Unfortunately, the lineage and wars between families is so complex that
there’s no way I could remember most of it. If you’re ever in Osaka, I would
highly recommend it as a place to visit.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H9zjqlUh0tg/UhV0Xj8NtdI/AAAAAAAAAbU/RQXhY0aDwqw/s1600/IMGP1526.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H9zjqlUh0tg/UhV0Xj8NtdI/AAAAAAAAAbU/RQXhY0aDwqw/s320/IMGP1526.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
So many things are different here
from the US. The only way that I think that I can make it clear just how
different it is, is to make a list. I may or may not have stolen this idea from
Mari Arneson (RYE Germany).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Roadways<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Driver sits on the right side of the car (unless
it is an American car. Then they sit on the left). I jumped when I first
noticed this.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Automobiles drive on the left side of the road.
This scared me more than a.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->c.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Seatbelts aren't mandatory in the back seats.
This means that the kids clamber all over the place. My little brother sits on
my lap every time we go somewhere.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->d.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->The road is about 1/8 to ½ the size it is in the
US. This also goes for car size.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->e.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Lines are painted but they seem to be only
suggestions. If everyone followed them precisely, there would be pile-ups
everywhere.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->f.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Telephone poles are made of concrete as opposed
to a long log.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Dining<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Chopsticks. Best invention ever. You can throw
away that knife and fork now.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->If you leave a little bit of food, you will stop
getting food. Very useful when you don’t know the language well and need to
communicate that you are full.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->c.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Food is continuously thrown at you. Maybe not
literally, but it is offered so many times that it’s hard to tell what to do
with it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->d.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Dining is a leisurely activity and it seems to
be a time of contemplation. This is a bit of a change for me, especially after
my canoe trip where you want to eat as much as possible as fast as possible in
order to get more food. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->e.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->So many noodles!!!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Personal
Care<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->The bathroom and the toilet are separate rooms.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->The bath and the shower are separate but in the
same room.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->c.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Toilets have <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">a bidet</span> built in. At least I think that’s what
it is. I’m just getting that from the pictures that are on the control panel.
It’s all in Japanese so I actually don’t have any idea.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->4.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Interaction<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->I don’t think I've ever bowed to anyone in my
life before. That fact has now been changed as handshakes have been replaced with
bowing. It happens in any kind of interaction with anyone else and is a sign of
respect.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->I haven’t seen any sort of argument yet.
Everyone is very patient with one another and keeps their voice very low.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->5.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Living<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->a.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->When you enter each house, you take off your
shoes and put on a pair of slippers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->b.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->The floors are either wooden or mad of tatami
mats.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->c.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Wall openings are covered with sliding doors as
opposed to being hinged. They are also made of a thin layer of paper that is
bordered and strengthened by a wood frame.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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This list could go on and on but
I will stop there so you all are not bored with a meaningless list. I would
like to state that the reason I am stating all of this differences is not to
make fun of or look down upon Japanese society. It is merely to show what
differences there are between the cultures in the U.S. and Japan.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
8/21/2013<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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I met Masahide Michimoto-san in
person today. Like Okita-san, I emailed with him before arriving in Japan. He
took me to a large city garden called Tondabayashi Savor Farm (Tondabayashi
being the city the garden is located in). <o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s1l-BOwQPGw/UhV1wGoMRlI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/RWboHLMLns0/s1600/IMGP1551.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s1l-BOwQPGw/UhV1wGoMRlI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/RWboHLMLns0/s320/IMGP1551.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
It was a cool set up. We paid ¥600
($6) to enter into the entire place and then we were allowed into an enclosure
with grape wines. We got to eat as many grapes as we wanted but we were only allowed
to leave with two bunches. <br />
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We each had 3-4 bunches and then went to a Japanese
barbecue-style restaurant inside the farm. The way a Japanese barbecue works is
that you get a plate full of meats and vegetables and then you grill them
yourself on a tiny grill in the middle of the table you are sitting at. It was
awesome. We had tako (octopus), ika (squid), carrots, potatoes, peppers, beef,
and onions. We finished off our meal with soft-serve ice cream that’s the farms
specialty: grape flavoring right from the field. It was delicious!</div>
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Next, we drove to <span lang="JA" style="font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">岩湧の森</span>, a
park in Kawachinagano that has a mountain as the centerpiece. We parked and
hiked up to the visitor center. From there we could see all of Kawachinagano.
We then went up to a lookout point only 30 minutes from the visitor center. The
climb was hard and very steep but rewarding. We could see all the way to Osaka
proper and part of Kobe to the west. To the north we could see where Kyoto
lies. <o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y247vunqXoI/UhV2Ep2c2ZI/AAAAAAAAAf8/wbh01EDe9Rk/s1600/IMGP1592.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y247vunqXoI/UhV2Ep2c2ZI/AAAAAAAAAf8/wbh01EDe9Rk/s320/IMGP1592.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
The park was incredible. All of the paths had very well built stairs of
concrete and there were large rocks in place to hold everything together. It
was an incredible feat.</div>
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Afterwards, Michimoto-san treated
me to a soba noodle dinner, one of his favorite meals. While we ate, he taught
me various useful Japanese phrases.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
These last few days have been
very tiring but rewarding. I am greatly looking forward to getting a better
grasp on the language and having more in-depth conversations. It is very
frustrating to not be able to communicate fully and efficiently.<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-80771149711976775302013-08-18T21:11:00.001-07:002013-09-04T00:35:11.022-07:00こんにちはに日本!WOW! That's the only thing I can think to say. I arrived in Japan at 2:30 PM. Customs and immigration were surprisingly easy to get through and I would give most of the credit to the fact that I was wearing my Rotary blazer. The immigrations officials knew exactly what Rotary was and they lightened up significantly when they understood. After I passed through with my brand new residence card, I went through customs and out into the airport. There I found several of my host families (Tani family, Tawada family, and Masahide Michimoto) waiting for me as well as the president of the Kawachinagano Rotary Club. They were all carrying signs with my name on it and were extremely welcoming. This is my first host family, the Tani family. From left to right they are Nanako, Papa Kazuhiro, me, Mitsuki, Mama Akane, and Ojiisan Gigi.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--ROZfsoKg_Y/UhGNjkKwt6I/AAAAAAAAAQY/H-cDv35Szgk/s1600/IMGP0666.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--ROZfsoKg_Y/UhGNjkKwt6I/AAAAAAAAAQY/H-cDv35Szgk/s320/IMGP0666.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
All in all, it was very confusing after being awake for twenty-some hours and being thrown into an unfamiliar language. Momoka Tawada from the Tawada family is traveling with Rotary to Minnesota and she was leaving an hour after I arrived in Japan. It will be hard to remember everyone that I saw there although I will try my best.<br />
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<div>
The Tani family and I went to the parking garage to drive home. When we walked outside I had to take my blazer off because it was so hot and humid! Papa Kazuhiro and Gigi sat in front while the rest of us piled in back. I guess the laws here require only the front passengers to wear seatbelts. To put my parents to rest, I do still wear my seatbelt. I am especially ok with wearing it because the roads are insane. a lot of the time the country roads are one lane but they still have two way traffic on them. The also follow the curvature of the hills because they are so steep. Mama Akane asked me if I liked roller coasters when we went past an amusement park and I told her that we were on one already!</div>
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<div>
The ride back to the house was quick. We would around through the hills and through a couple tunnels. The Tani house is out in the country on a steep hillside. When we arrived, I meet Obaasan Baba. <br />
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I was shown my room and then Kazuhiro, Nanako, Mitsuki, and I walk the two dogs, Ryu and Bingo. After dinner we went to a night market that happens once a summer in Kawachinagano. It was fun and interesting. There were Buddhist dances being done around some trees in the middle of the market. We had cotton candy and grilled sausages. There was a came in which you tried to retrieve bouncy balls from a bucket of water. The trick was that to get them out you had to lift them on a small tissue paper fan. When the fan got too wet, the balls would fall through and you wouldn't get them. Nanako was able to get 5! We ran into the third child of Kazuhiro and Akane, Yoshino. She was staying at a friends house that night. When we drove back to the house, I fell asleep because I was so tired. When my head hit the pillow, I was out for the night.</div>
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<div>
When I got up it was sunny and hot. Baba made me eggs and toast for breakfast. Kazuhiro, Akane, Nanako, Mitsuki, and I went to a pool nearby. <br />
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It was very refreshing and we spent a long time there. I had my first experience talking with a stranger! One of the lifeguards started talking to me as I was heading to the bathroom. I didn't know anything he was saying and I didn't know what to do! I eventually picked out that he was asking me if I was an American. Somehow I was able to communicate that, yes, I was and that I didn't know very much Japanese. Phew! That was difficult! I am so thankful that the Japanese people are patient and willing to talk to strangers.</div>
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<div>
When we finished at the pool, we went to McDonald's. That was quite the experience. There is a mixture of Japanese and English on everything. The food is also in much smaller quantities than the US. The burgers are about half-sized. I was continuously asked if I had enough food.</div>
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Kazuhiro and Akane had decided to take me to Osaka proper in the afternoon. We drove into the city around 1 PM. It was nuts. Cars were everywhere and the lanes seem to be optional. We parked in a parking garage 2 stories underground. <br />
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If there were American cars everywhere there would be pile ups and traffic accidents everywhere. It's a good thing that everything is smaller here. Except for their malls and stores. The mall we went to was outside and there were people everywhere. We walked past the hello kitty store as well as the Disney store. I've never seen so many stores! This must not count as a true mall because it was definitely bigger than the Mall of America in Minnesota. We went past Glico man and a big moving crab which are famous in Japan. <br />
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Kazuhiro bought a guide book to Osaka for me and Akane bought me flip flops. It was very generous of them. We also went to a restaurant that seemed to serve only appetizers and had takoyaki (deep fried octopus). On the way home from Osaka we past Ikea (pronounced ee-kay-aah in Japanese).</div>
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It turned out that we were not actually going home yet but we were just picking up Yoshino and a friend of hers and going to dinner. The restaurant we went to was very cool. We sat at a booth with a big heated pan in front of us and the servers put okanomiyaki (Japanese pancakes is the only way to describe them) on them.<br />
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These first two days have been very interesting as well as helpful. I know how cliche it is to say the ignorance is bliss, but it is the most true statement that I know right now. There is all this Japanese being spoken around me and I can't understand a single bit of it. Yes, I did take Japanese before coming on exchange and it was from a very good teacher, but I feel that no amount of lessons could have properly prepared anyone for this. It is quite the experience and very refreshing to feel the utter ignorance.</div>
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さよなら!</div>
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Wes</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2557032703640527949.post-45354917530260183112013-08-16T10:12:00.001-07:002013-08-16T10:12:09.267-07:00Leavin' on a Jet PlaneToday's the day! My parents and girlfriend drove me to the airport at 4AM to catch my 7AM flight to Seattle. At the airport I met up with Kou Vang, another RYE student outbound to North Osaka. Goodbyes were had and to be honest I didn't really feel like this was any different than going to visit family for a week or two. I'm sure the reality will hit me soon and I will feel longing for home. Right now I am sitting in the Seattle-Tacoma airport with Kou. It's amazing how fast this day came. It seems like this morning I was sitting down and eating breakfast with my family and preparing to pack for my year. I will miss everyone back home but I am greatly looking forward to my year abroad. I am very excited to step off the plane and see my host family waiting for me. It will be wonderful to finally meet them after emailing back and forth with them. I will sign off for now but I will most likely be posting again within the next couple days.<br />
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さようなら!ありがとうございます!<br />
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Thanks for reading!<br />
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ウエスAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01770945522670678643noreply@blogger.com0