Kubi jizo

Today's exitement was a quick trip to see the Kubi jizo, a Buddha's head statue. It was a small but very beautiful place tucked away down a narrow street in town. Okaasan tells me that you pray to this statue to cure illness.

We also went by the post office and the shopping mall. I found that I CAN use my debit card to get money from an ATM here! Woo! Now I can pay for my books tomorrow!

Apparently my host family's sons are coming home tomorrow. Their eldest son is having a week of vacation from his job as a bank clerk, and he younger son is going to be in an internship for his three weeks of summer vacation from school. Apparently he goes to college in Tokyo.

Tomorrow's gonna be quite a day. I'll meet new folks and go to school again.

Oyasumi nasai! I'm off to bed!

An Unexpectadly Long Day

Today is apparently a Japanese holiday, so I did not have to so to school. I was planning on just lounging around and relaxing since I had such a long and frustrating few days. Well, after a late breakfast consisting of toast, yogurt, and fruit, I was asked to go to a shopping mall so that I could buy detergent. This was all well and good.

Unbeknownst to me, we were also going to a Buddhist shrine. Though this was a surprise, it was not at all an unwelcome one. We drove up into the mountains to get to the place, and immediately I knew it was gonna be a beautiful place. Especially after I saw the main gate.
The entire place is just as pretty.








Anyway, after we were done there, we went to the shopping mall. I got some detergent, and was surprised to learn that you can get refills for your empty jug for significantly less money. My host okaasan has a discount card, which is very nice. I also bought a towel handkerchief/sweatmop. My host faily bought a vacuum cleaner. Their 5th vacuum cleaner. Hardly enough, if you ask me. On the first floor of the mall, we had a late lunch.

What did I have, you ask?

McDonalds.

I got a Big Mac with fries and a Coke. It tasted just like it does at home, if a little better. And i certainly LOOKS better. My burger looked like a display model. Japanese McDonalds stores also sell a shrimp burger. I need to try that sometime.

A little later on we went for a walk. They didn't tell me that we were gonna be out for about an hour. Maybe more. We walked past the City Hall I went to yesterday and to a nearby river. There is a bicycle trail there that leads all the way to the sea. Across the street and on our way back home there is a large park complete with playground. Their toys are better. I'll try to get some pictures next time.

When we got back we had supper. My Okaasan made me fried rice. It was the best I've ever eaten. With it I had raw tofu, pickles, and melon. After supper we watched another Hanshin Tigers baseball game and Okaasan and I played Othello. I won!... twice...

After the game ended, Otoosan metioned that they have a home kareoke machine. It was promptly broken out and used thoroughly by yours truely. The American songs fell into a few categories: Hymns, Christmas Songs, Old Songs, Nursery Rhymes, Pop, and Everything Else. Hotel California was on there!

But now it is past midnight and I need to get some sleep. You now have the latest news.

First Day of School

Here we see my home in Japan. It's a very nice place. My first morning here presented me with the most American breakfast I could ever think of: Bacon and scrambled eggs with toast.

Anyway, my first day of school in Japan went very well. I went to class and at lunch I met my Nihon-go Partners who are two very nice girls. For lunch I had soba noodles in soup. Very yummy and only about $1.50. After we ate I was taken to the book store to buy some supplies.

Once class was over for the day, I met with my Nihon-go Partners who were to help me get my Alien Registration Card and a Commuter Pass for the train. They took me to a photo booth where I got picures for the card, and then we went downtown via train to the City Hall. I was happy to have the girls with me while I was filling out the papetwork, as they know enough English to help me communicate with the lady behind the counter. Also, in some blanks where Kanji was required, they filled them in for me, and very quickly, might I add.

Once we were done, we walked back to the station to catch a train to one of the larger stations where I could get a commuter pass. Fortunately I could get it on the Visa, so I didn't have to spend even more of my cash, which is starting to run kind of low. At this station one of my Patners had to go, since she had to get to her part-time job.

Eventually we got back to my house after getting kind of lost not far away. At least Mika-chan knows how to ask for directions. For supper I was given breaded chicken pieces, pork, melon, and soba noodes with soup. This time, however, the soup was served seperately, and cold. I mean COLD. I mean my host mother put ice cubes in the soup. the noodles were served on a small tray, and I put them from there into the broth, than ate them.

It was really very tasty. I ate more for supper than I had thus far. I was always so hot at meal imes that I had no appitite. This time I mentioned that t my host mother and she immediately turned on the AC. In minutes I had my appitite back. They always give me so much food, I'm beggining to wonder if I'll start to put on weight. =P

That evening I visited one of my classmates, Willy from Indonesia, whose host family is a 30 second jog from here. He and I plan on walking to and from school together so neither of us gets lost. We chatted for a while about various things before I went back home. His host family invited me back at any time. Everyone I've met in this country so far is very nice, or polite at least.

From Detroit to Japan

To say that my voyage to Japan got off to a bad start would be something of an understatement. I boarded the plane, we taxied to the runway, and the Pilot promptly informed us of an equipment malfunction. We taxied BACK to the terminal, waited to see if the could fix it, and eventually left the plane.

In the end I wound up staying at the Weston hotel located at the airport overnight to wait for a similar set of flights the next day. I watched Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel while reclining in a very comfy bed.

The next day, and after one full hour of sleep, I went back to Smith Terminal at 4am. I was surprised to find another person waiting at the United counter. It was a middle aged Japanese woman who was really very nice and who spoke English quite well. We chatted on and off for the next two hours until the flight boarded.

THIS plane was NOT broken! We took off and got on our way very promptly. I go very sleepy once we were at altitude, and resolved to catch some Z's on the next flight. The next flight, by the way, was very easy to get to. I just had to go down the terminal that I arrived at to a different gate.

On the flight to San Fransisco I watched part of "Prince Caspian," which was mildly entertaining. I spent a good long time looking out the window. After a few pretty cloud formations went by, we got int the clear and I got to see the landscape. You'd be surprised how beautiful the Western US is from the air. I saw more geologic features than I'd care to say. I saw everything from mountains, to canyons, to landslides, to what I think was a nuclear testing ground! It's interesting just how many of these things look Photoshop'd from the sky...

My flight to Japan boarded not long after I landed in San Fransisco. I had wanted to get some food before I left, but it turns out that he first meal on the flight began not too long after I took off. It was really quite good. Beef and mashed potatoes. Anyway, this flight was 10 hours, so I did what I could to sleep. I also read some of the Star Trek novel I brought along and watched two movies on the personal media staion: Kung fu Panda and Iron Man, both of which were good.

I landed at Osaka International ahead of schedule. After getting through customs I was surprised to find that there wasn't anyone there to pick me up as I had been lead to believe. I looked up and down the lobby and tried to call the school multiple times before attempting to see if KIX had free internet. Luckily they did, because I had recieved an email from the school informing me with instructions on how to get to a station via a bus. That bus was scheduled to leave 30min. after I got the email.

I got on the bus and made it to Hankyu Sation. There I met my host family and Sean, a school representative and American, who gave me some papers to read. I rode to their house in their car, and promptly upon arriving I was shown around and to my room. I have a fairly large room all to myself! I was given curry for dinner that was very tasty, and that evening I watched part of a Hanshin Tigers baseball game.

My host parents are very nice people and are very inviting. They gave me a house key so I can get in when noone else is home or when I "stay out all night drinking," as my host mother said. They don't speak a whole lot of English, but we can usually figure out what eachother are saying. I've already taught them a new English word: Muggy!

It's very hot and humid here, and I will probably wind up spending a fortune of bottled water. Anyhoo, I'm gonna go and do some stuff. You can expect to see another post very soon about my first day at school and my trip to City Hall. Oh, and later I may add pictures, which I haven't taken yet.

And.... Action!

The time has finally come. In less than 13 hours I will be boarding the first of three connecting flights that will take me to Japan. I doubt that it is hard to understand that I'm feeling a little strange at the thought of flying to a country on the other side of the Earth without having any previous experience with passenger airlines. Though I am fairly confident that things will go quite smoothly, the fact that I have spent almost my entire life within less than an hour's drive of Napoleon is making the great distance quite mystifying.

Anyway, once I arrive I plan on making far more posts here, documenting my experience on a weekly or perhaps daily basis. I'll post interesting (I hope) stories and pictures to keep my audience entertained. All of this providing, of course, if I have consistent internet access.

Without further delay, I say Saiyonara, for the next time I post I will be in Japan.

My, that was fast!

The nice people who run such things informed me that it could take up to a month to process my visa application.

It took them 8 days.

Any good bureaucrat doesn't take less time than he has been given! I should have gotten it back the day before I left! I must be dealing with substandard officials here to have gotten such a speedy response...

For those of you who did NOT get that Futurama reference, I am quite pleased that I got my passport w/ visa back in such short order. Everything is beginning to fall into place like the bricks of an expert Tetris player.