It's All Up Hill

These songs have nothing to do with my blog they are just ones that have been on my mind lately:

Danza Kuduro- Don Omar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sb-FN_HEFvo

For Good- Wicked
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQX-apsS2sM

Mongol800 (not sure of the name but it's Japanese!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBxjWF4Al20

*Warning* If you are going to read this post I suggest you find a really comfortable spot to sit and buckle in because this is going to be a long one.

First off, I want to quickly apologize for such illogical and irregular blogging. My first few weeks have been crazy busy and to be totally honest I really wanted to just avoid using my computer as much as possible. I have been here for two weeks now and I would like to
look back and sum up some of the bigger events I've experience in the time that I've been here.

First Night (Thursday 16)

The track that sushi is moved along.

On the very first night I arrived my host family packed up the car with my luggage at the airport and we drove away from the main city to more of the suburbs where we live. On the way to our home we stopped for dinner at what my family considers more of a "fast food" sushi shop called Kurazushi. It was a very neat little shop because the sushi was moving around on a little track around the shop and you just grab the dishes you want to eat. If you don't see what you want on the track you order it off of a little screen and a separate track brings it out to you.

Udon

 I didn't know which sushi to choose but thankfully my sister Shiho pulled off most of the dishes for our family to share. My family really enjoyed my lack of knowledge of Japanese food. They would ask me if I would try certain dishes and of course I said yes, most of it was very good sushi. I also tried udon- Japanese noodles with an assortment of vegetables, tempura, and a half done egg on top... and tako- a type of sushi with octopus on it. I have to say I am not a huge fan of

Tako

tako. It was really chewy...

Bangohan (Dinner)

Overall, though, the meal was really good and very filling. I only had a couple pieces of sushi and some udon and I was full.

Another interesting thing about Kurazushi is that once you are done eating two things happen:


1. You put your plates through a little slot in the wall and they will go on a track to get washed.

2. For every 5 plates you put through the slot you can sometimes get a little toy.

We were lucky and got one:

A little key chain of misoshiru (miso soup).

Second Day (Friday 17)
After Hiroko took me to gakkou (school) for my tour we stopped at a little bakery of sorts and got some food for lunch. Unfortunately I did not get a picture of this but I did take a picture of the change I got after spending 1,000 yen on 3 pieces of pan (bakery type items).

Change: 627 yen (out of 1,000 yen I gave to pay for the food) is approximately $8 in change.

Shiho, Okaasan, and Otousan

Bangohan (Dinner)

This day was my only full day with Hiroko as she was leaving for Minnesota the next day on Rotary Youth Exchange. So, that night our family let Hiroko choose where she wanted to eat as her last dinner in Japan (the same thing my family had me do my last night in Mn). We went to a very good restaurant called Daikichori Yakitori shop where they served basically meat shish kabobs (most of it or all of it was chicken- yum!). I, of course, tried a little of everything that my family ordered. 1. I found that I actually really like chicken liver 2. I surprised my family by being able to eat a piece of spicy seasoned chicken- I didn't find it very hot but when my Otousan and Shiho ate it their eyes started to water.

Hiroko and Me- we are pointing at the wood that frames the shop. Otousan explained that it used to be part of train track.

Ice Cream

 For dessert we had the always good... ice cream! I have to note here that in Japan they have Ice Cream and Soft Cream (I have had both). Ice cream is fairly hard and very cold but it still tastes like ice cream back home. Soft Cream is essentially soft served ice cream- it is a bit easier to eat than the dense ice cream.

After dinner they took me to my very first store in Japan! Stores in Japan are different in the sense that they have one building that is multiple levels and each level can have a different type of store- ex. 1st floor is a grocery store, 2nd floor is clothes, 3rd floor is a pharmacy, etc. We went to the hyakkin floor (hyakkin stands for 100 yen which is roughly translated to our dollar stores!) where

Me and my bin

they bought me a bin for things like make-up and jewelery. It was amazing, literally the entire side wall of the hyakkin was full of bins of different colors and sizes to choose from. I settled with a cute little orange bin. They also bought me my hanko! A hanko is a stamp with your last name in kanji on it. People in Japan use it instead of a signature. It turns out my last name is fairly common in Japan, they were able to find it in a dollar store.

My hanko!

Third Day (Saturday 18)
Hiroko needed to be at the airport by mid afternoon. We took a couple of Rotary sister pictures then headed off. It was sad to see her leave so soon (when I had literally met her two days before) but I am glad that I did get a chance to meet her. I know that she will have a wonderful time in Minnesota and I wish her the best of luck. It is pretty cool that she will be living so close to my home, only an hour away, and I am living in hers. Hopefully she will get the chance to meet my family!

Hiroko and Me in our Rotary Blazers

Akegami Family at the airport (2nd time we were at the airport in three days)

At the airport: besides saying goodbye to Hiroko, I met a few more Rotarians and there happened to be a kids dance show going on that my family and I stopped to watch for a bit.

As we exited the actual building part of the airport we quickly realized it had rained fairly hard in the time that we were inside. Everything was wet, there was a lot of moisture in the air, and the sky was covered in clouds. Driving home we got to see this amazing view of the                                                                  clouds rolling over the                                                                mountains.
                                         
The Next Few Days
The next few days were not quite so busy but they had there moments of sporadic fun and a chance to experience something new. I think these will be best described in a list:

1. When I first started to email with my host family before I arrived in Japan, Okaasan (mom) described Otousan (dad) as a very kind man who likes to take walks. He did not disappoint because once the temperatures cooled down a little we were able to go on a walk. Now, normally I don't really enjoy walking just for the sake of taking a walk but I really like my Otousan and it is fun to try to converse with him- I'm still trying to learn little phrases in Japanese and he speaks very little English. So, conversations between us are amusing to say the least. There is always a lot of pointing, noises, facial expressions, and laughing. Anyways, walking with him was a nice, relaxing change of pace. Plus he took me to a place where you can see a lot of tambo (rice fields)! Why is that so exciting? Everything in Japan is done so precisely (it is a perfectionist paradise- dad you would love it!) that the fields just look cool, gohan (rice) is a staple food in Japan which is tied into a lot of Japanese history, and tambo was one of the words I proudly learned when I first arrived and said almost every time we past a field for my entire first week in Japan. All in all the walk was a nice way to spend some of my afternoon.

* I also got to see one of my favorite houses on the walk- it is just so pretty and the architecture is amazing to me.

2. Okaasan and Otousan took me to buy my school shoes and socks. I guess they are not mandatory to look a certain way but Okaasan thought that it would be a good idea to get some because that's what all of the other girls wear. I also needed to buy a little wallet to hold my bus and train tickets. After purchasing the shoes and socks they took me to a different part of the store for soft cream. Mmmhhhh it was so good!

3. We got a surprise visit from Okaasan's parents and niece. Yudi, my cousin who is the same age as me, heard I was finally in Japan and wanted to meet me (she has also invited me to come stay at her house sometime). During the visit my host grandpa said that I was the most honored guest and that he would like to take the whole family out to eat at a place of my choice. I don't actually know any restaurants in Japan so I simply requested some traditional Japanese food. Of course the food was delicious! I am starting to feel that I really can't go wrong when it comes to eating Japanese food. I had tempura- rice topped with battered and deep-fried shrimp and vegetables, and a glass of apple juice. Ordering food has been pretty interesting, typically I just point at the picture on the menu that looks good, then my family automatically orders me apple juice as my drink. I am not sure how they know I like apple juice when they have never really asked me but hey I'm not complaining. Luckly for me I LOVE apple juice.

My tempura

I found Okaasan's meal note worthy- it is zousui, a soup of vegetables and a raw egg that cooks right in front of you.

4. While driving around Okaasan and I saw one of these run in front of our car...

(It ran by so quickly I didn't have time to snap a picture but thanks to google you can still see what I am talking about) This is an itachi, or a weasel, that is a fairly common rodent here in Japan. Shiho said she has seen one in their yard but only once.

5. Okaasan and I have been watching kids shows in the morning because the Japanese is simpler- so hopefully I will be able to learn a bit while being mildly amused at the same time. These are some of my favorites- sorry I have no idea what the titles are but I am understanding some of whats going on during the shows.
                                                       

6. Saw a lizard on the bathroom window.

7. Eat my oh so healthy breakfast every morning.

                                                                                   8. Made some new friends at a sweets shop.

9. Went to a movie rental shop. The one we went to is really great because it is only 50 yen (about $0.50) to rent a movie for a week. It is a good thing that renting is so cheap because to actually go see a movie in the theaters is super expensive- about 1,500 yen (~$15), except on Wednesdays when it is women only night and it costs 1,000 yen (~$10). Shiho and I found six movies we liked: Harry Potter 7 (both parts), Narnia (2 and 3), Howel's Moving Castle, and Inception.

                                                 
                                                         
                       
                                                                    10. Compared currency

11. Went to the library. I have to say it was the first time I've actually enjoyed going into a library in a long time. It was quiet but not in an eerie way. The building was huge, spacious, clean, and very modern looking. Plus, this library has an excellent selection of English books! Which is great because I have already read 3 out of the 6 books I brought...

12. I got to speak English for two solid hours! It was amazing because not only did I understand the entire conversation but it was with a man named Robby- originally from England, a co-worker of Okaasan's (at a kindergarten), Hiroko's English tutor, and he understands exactly what it feels like to be new to living in Japan. It was great to be able to share my thoughts and make comparisons of our countries.

Sunday 26
I started my day off bright and early for a 6 am run. I had to start my run early because it gets so hot and humid here during the day. The run was nice, it was literally the first time I've been aloud to be alone! It also allowed me to explore the neighborhoods around my house. I must say, running in Japan is quite the experience because you always seem to be running up a hill! After 15 min I was pretty tired so I headed back to my house... up more hills. Once home I was greeted with a nice cold shower and I got ready for the day.

We left for my first Japanese Rotary meeting at noon. The meeting itself was being held in the city and would take about an hour, by car, to get there.... I might have fallen asleep for most of the drive. Once there the meeting lasted from 1:30 until 4:45. I met the other exchange students who all seem very interesting and nice! There are three of us from the US (Tia from MN! and the one boy exchange student in our district), one from England (she is at the same Rotary club as me so hopefully I'll get a chance to see her a lot- we have a welcome party together soon), one from Sweden (she reminds me of Haley Bollum),  and one from Australia (she has already been here for six months). Otherwise the meeting was long and tiring on my brain. It was over three hours of intense concentration to try to understand the Japanese that was being spoken. I also had to stand in front of the entire Rotary Club twice- once to sing our National Anthem and once to give a speech in Japanese, which was terrifying because I know my Japanese isn't very good yet. All of the exchange students were then moved to a separate room for 30 min in order to re-establish the rules of being a Rotary Ambassador and to give us a little more information. Then the meeting was pretty much finished.

Monday 27
Shiho and I headed of to Namba. Let's just say it is one of my favorite places in Japan thus far and that it deserves its own blog post (so to be continued).

Tuesday 28
I went to my very first day at school at Kanan High School. I believe this also deserves it own blog post because there is definitely plenty to talk about.

First Day Of School Picture

Today
Today marks two weeks since I left my comfort zone in Northfield, MN and headed out to the unknown that awaited me in Japan! It has been a pretty good two weeks.

Sayonara from Osaka, Japan.