海だ！海ーーーーwhat are you, a dog?

sorry for the only slightly obscure manga reference. which none of you get. anyway! i decided to tick off another place from my "to go to while in japan" list, and thank god for five day long breaks from school yo. for my first solo big adventure that required actual (minimal) planning, i chose kujukuri beach, which is in chiba prefecture, and is known for being the second longest beach in japan.

while i dislike swimming (bathing suits), i really do like the beach, and always had loads of fun there with friends, so i was really looking forward to this trip! it wasn't TOO far away, only 2-3 hours via train/bus/walking, so i figured it would be a good starting point for bigger/further away adventures.

thursday morning came, and i woke up slightly later than planned, but hey, kujukuri wasn't going anywhere, so i got all packed up (letter writing stuff, glass tube for sand collection, bags for shells, and a towel for chilling) and jacketed (you can never tell with japan's weather yo), and then...my bra broke. you know, the REALLY good one that you know you can always count on because it fits you well and you're really close? the wire snapped, and i was SAD. not the best start to my day, but i persevered (GAMBARIMASHITA).

made it to my chosen beach town, oami, without too much trouble. everyone i asked for help from was extremely nice, and even wrote down directions for me :]

this is rural oami from the bus window on my way to the beach bus stop

finally made it there! beach go time yo <3








basically i sat on the blanket and watched the waves, took loads of pictures, collected SO MANY SNAIL SHELLS (that place was a goldmine. found a sand dollar too! IKR?), ate my lunch of onigiri and korokke/spicy chicken from the konbini, and amused myself by playing in the water (slash getting attacked by waves) and doing the "catch me if you can" game.

and older japanese couple saw me doing it and tried too. it was super cute seeing this little old grandma running away squealing when the wave came closer than she expected. i had a bounty of shells, so i walked over to them (probs scared the shit out of them with my "random gaijin wants to talk to you omg what do you do??" moment) and after chatting a bit about my japan situation, offered the lady the seashell (海のお土産ですって) and in return she gave me two sweet sugary candies that tasted like maple syrup. noms. after that they left with 気をつけて帰ってね！(go home safely), and i decided to head back too.

buuuut as i was walking towards the bus stop i saw a bus round the corner and head away in the direction i wanted to go, but i was too far away to run to stop it. and of course, like i thought, it was the last bus for an hour. i drank some coffee while i watched the sun start to set (despite it only being FOUR PM JEEBUS JAPAN), and went to a small corner store nearby to buy pineapple purin and some chocolate. which i demolished while i waited for the bus.

anywho. so then i'm back at home station safe and sound, and realize it would be super fun to leave a trail of sea shells throughout the town on my way home, and see if people would take them. so i left one by the escalator, one by the ticket counter, one on a mailbox by the high school, and about three to four along the walls. i was giggling to myself the whole time :D lolz forever. though i hope i didn't scare some poor japanese person who's seen that uzumaki movie. freaky shit yo.

all in all, despite a runny nose/sore throat from playing in the water/being outside in the cold, i had an amazing time. it was so nice being outside of tokyo, and when i look back, i can see that some of the best japan moments i've had so far are when i'm NOT in the city. no doubt, i like the city experience of shopping and tasty food and loads of opportunities, but nikko, karuizawa, kujukuri: those have been my best days so far. maybe it's just because i like exploring new places, but in truth i think it's because i'm really not a city girl. i prefer being surrounded by mountains and lakes and lots of trees that change beautifully during the seasons. and chilling, chilling with friends is good, especially when you don't have to spend money to do it (although i did for the beach. holy jeebus travelling takes a lot out of your wallet, but it was totally worth it).

tomorrow is my host niece's shichi-go-san七五三の日, so we're going to celebrate by getting her all dolled up in a kimono and then blessed at a temple, then delish food. oooh and i bought her a big totoro plushy as a present :] cannot wait! will try to post about that too! you know, if i don't get lazy again. but i always have my dear roomie to whip me into blogging shape <3

along the rail

since most of my friends have already blogged the karuizawa trip/i'm just too lazy/have fallen behind on blogging and need to catch up NOW, i'm just going to skip ahead to my side trips along the train stops on my tobu tojo line home.

first along my side trips was to nakaitabashi, which from the window looked like it had a cute shopping boulevard, so i hopped off.





nakaita ended up being a small little town with lots of back-end retail stores with clothes mainly for the little obaachans walking down the streets. there was one really adorable one selling takoyaki, and i almost almost ALMOST bought some. i regret that decision to listen to my full stomach. she looked like she could make good conversation. and octopus balls, ya know? but yeah. cute tiny town.

next was wakoushi! from the train you can see these awesome graveyards and the surrounding shrines/temples, and since i'm into that stuff, i got off, bought broguen a hippo from cute store, and then i walked. and walked. and walked. and walked some more. bought some coffee from a vending machine. walked some more. no lie, i had about 20,000 steps on my meter when i got home!

i didn't find the big temple that i was searching for, but wakoushi is full of smaller ones, so i at least got to take some pictures, and scare some elementary kids along the way (they thought i was following them, but really, we were just headed the same way hahaha~) :D

also made sure i apologized to the graves before taking their pictures too








SO. my most recent stop along tobu line was a last minute decision to get off (on my way home from a failed attempt at ghibli museum with maddie, which ended in picnics and cat cafes) at shimoakatsuka to see the daibutsu my okaasan had told me about. it was about 7 pm when i got there, which in japan time means it's already pitch black. a little chilly too, but i was able to subsitute coffee and lots of fast walking as a warmer up-er on my walk.

the walk looked a little far (from top to bottom of the map, basically), but i was determined to see daibutsu-sama! after some second-guessing, thanking signs that told the poor gaijin where to go, and asking for directions, i made it there...except the park to see daibutsu-sama was closed. SAD SAUCES GALORE. watched people at batting range for 20 minutes instead, then headed home. i shall try again soon!


here are some treats along the roads though:

oh hai thar pikachu?


JV! YOU CAME BACK FOR ME~~~~ even after i treated you so bad. (for those who don't know, this is my car, JV (jank van) <3)

what up world heritage

nikko is hella beautiful. since we had a school holiday (not that it mattered much, considering i don't have classes on thursdays anyway) i went with the ICC group for a one day trip up there, which is considered to be a necessary experience while in japan, and has been on my places to go list for a long time. plus, world heritage site! can't go wrong with that.

i got to the meet spot super early, which was silly considering we were already meeting SUPER EARLY. 7:45 early. drank some milk coffee, texted lucy (who had a far more adventurous time than me, haha) and then we bus-ed it up to nikko. and i made some friends along the way, and we commented on how many motion-sickness inducing turns the nikko mountains had.

arrival, gift shop, bathroom, and then we were on our way for the boat ride on Chuzenji. while it wasn't total fall colors yet, we did see the beginnings of some, and thus took millions of pictures! not that i don't do that anyway...




we were joined by about 200 elementary schoolers at one of the boast stops, who were all super cute, and within minutes were grabbing us foreigners to get in their class group pictures, and, with the encouragement of their teachers, greeting us in english, to which i replied with a "nice to meet you" and handshake. western style yo.



after that it was onto the main temple area. i have never seen such awesome forest/moss in my life. no joke.



i love old stuff, and nikko's temples were gorgeous. there was gold and red and pretty pictures everywhere. i goes slightly against my ideas of perishability and simplicity and all that stuff that i learned about Japanese art back in school, but it's still a fascinating sight. my favorite part of the temples was looking up at the ceiling in one larger one and seeing a giant ink painting of a dragon leering right down at me.







it was a little sad that some of the temples were under construction, but you gotta do what you gotta do, i suppose! also, nikko is REALLY NICE, and i REALLY WANNA GO BACK, but next time, hopefully without such serious time constraints and large groups of tourists.

we shall see~~~ i think winter wonderland nikko sounds nice :D

p.s. - sorry guys, i'm not good with words/expressing what i think about places. i just take pictures and let those speak for me haha

an update?

COULD IT BE??? nah. BUT. this is a promise to update. very soon. pinky swear promise yo :D

ADVENTURE

seeing as i didn't have any class today, i designated it "go do something adventure-y like lucy always does." it was 大成功: big success~

after picking up our gaijin cards (YAY WE'RE OFFICIAL ALIENS), my okaasan dropped us off at asakadai station, and broguen and i walked down towards the kuromegawa river. okaasan kept telling us it wasn't anything special/pretty, but it was definitely more fun than she let on.

first was a picture stop for a cute shrine:


then we grabbed picnic materials at a grocery store and nommed them by the riverside (i had crab cream korokke [i know, broguen was a little weirded out by the name too~ hahaha], veggies, and delish chocolate covered macadamia nuts; broguen had tsukemono and tempura):


then we took artsy pictures and waded in the river:








after a few hours of chilling we headed back to shiki, where we watched taiyaki being made, and chatted with an old lady who was highly amused by our love of anko, seeing as she hated it. "あなた達は変な外人、私は変な日本人ですよねー" "you are weird foreigners [because you like anko], but i am a weird japanese person [because i don't]."


and finally, after a fabulous day at the river looking for pottery, taking pictures, and being stared at by nihonjin, i headed home. BUT. on my way back, two women walking towards me suddenly freaked out: one had dropped a contact, so we all got on our hands and knees to look for it (the people on bikes trying to get by were not too pleased). we eventually found it (YAY), and コンタクトさん proceeded to thank me profusely (like, hand grabbing and bowing with tears in her eyes PROFUSELY. they were super sweet:D) while being very impressed by my japanese (more like amazed i could actually speak coherent sentences in such a TAIHEN DESU YO [difficult] situation~ haha).

and this has been my day of adventure~ next thursday i will hopefully (if i get all the forms in order) be off to nikko!

shaddup and press 1

i think being surrounded by american friends and taking classes in english has warped my mind a little. today i was rather surprised to look around in my level three japanese class and realize that i am the only american/person who's first language is english (we've got koreans, taiwanese, chinese, an italian, and a guy from switzerland [i know right? cool stuff yo]. not that i mind of course, but it was a little odd considering.

now i am the go-to-for-english-assistance person, despite the fact that everyone in that class speaks it too. need an american opinion, see kiah. want to know what american college to study abroad at, see kiah. best american food, see kiah. even the sensei-tachi (teachers) consistently make comments about how they wish they were as good at english as me.

i'm feeling a mix of awkwardness/shame/amusement from the whole situation: awkwardness stemming from that fact that i don't want to give a wrong impression of america when i give my opinions on issues (i'm just one!); shame because i can't believe i was so pompous to think that just because i know lots of people from other countries who speak english, doesn't necessarily mean that they feel comfortable speaking it (or even want to), and i shouldn't have assumed that just because america has a lot of influence in the world that everyone already knows all about it; amusement because i have no doubt that my classmates know far more about english grammar/sentence-y stuff than i do, despite it being my first language.

lesson that kiah was taught ages ago but actually learned today: america is not the greatest country. certain things about it are certainly nice, like really tasty mexican food right down the road from my house, but yeah, it's only one nation out of about two hundred.

ahhhhh i need to be careful to make sure i don't become that obnoxious gaijin. for now, i shall continue being super jealous of my chinese friends for knowing a billion kanji already~

a little more on the home life

my neighborhood, with the lovely blue preschool right next door (from which tiny children occasionally look out from the windows and wave at me, the curly-haired gaijin.)


my otousan (dad) with my host-nephew, on said host-nephew's first birthday! see the cake? THE CAKE OF DELICIOUSNESS AND STRAWBERRIES? yeah, so good. my okaasan (mom) always wonders if i'm okay eating japanese cakes, since they're "not as sweet as american cakes," which is true, but ya know, it's still damn tasty and not at all overly sugary. delish.


my host-niece cheesin' it up, with her new engrish tshirt.


broguen often comes over to play/party, since we're technically cousins now (what with her okaasan and my okaasan being sisters).


more tasty cakes. not that i'm complaining, but hey, i thoguht i'd be losing weight here with all the walking. gah. i literally had to tell my okaasan that i'm dieting now so she won't feed me ten tons of food every meal. it's like, i know americans are seen as the kind of people who can eat EVERYTHING on the table and more, but in japan its different, for some reason. wakarimaseeeeeeen (i don't get it).

anybody want a peanut?

i am a bad blogger. bad bad bad. but you guys love me anyway, despite my lack of updates, yeah? yeah~ ww

well, tokyo is pretty great. i wish i could bring back milk coffee to the states. there's far too much that's happened in the past month and too little space, so i'll just say that we've finished our japan study group orientation, moved in with host families, and have started classes at waseda university.

classes include: japanese level 3, comparative cultural studies (in which we watch godzilla movies), japanese diary: blogging about your life (ironic, i know, considering i'm such a terrible blogger here), and environmental politics and policies (which i am technically not in yet because the registration system here is RIDICULOUS). they lied when they said classes were easy here. that environmental class is gonna kick my ass, no joke, and i get the same amount of homework in it that i did back at earlham. most classes are an hour and a half long and meet twice a week, but japanese class is THREE HOURS LONG. and we have class on saturdays (though luckily that one is only an hour and a half) gah. i will never compain about earlham class length again. happily, i have thursdays completely off, and am thus using my free time to chill, actually update my blog, and write letters.

host family is great! both parents are principals of the preschool next door (from which i can currently hear kids singing), and my older sister miki (21) is a teacher there (as well as my older brother masaki (30) who lives with his wife maya and has two ADORABLE KIDS, yuuma and kouya, who are now my host niece and nephew).
my okaasan (mom) makes me delicious breakfasts (today was onigiri and melon) and drives me to the train station when i have 9 am class or when it's raining. my otousan (dad) is a cool guy, and he's always playing with our two dogs, bob marley and arare and helping me understand whatever is happening on tv.

on a normal day, my commute takes about an hour and a half. that's about 15 minutes of walking from house to station, then an hour of train rides/transfers, then another 15 minutes from station to school building. i prefer to take the slower local train so i dont have to deal with the ridiculous crush of commuters during rush hour. first time i saw it, i literally stopped in my tracks. it's kind of terrifying being pushed a million ways at once and squished beyond all comprehension. GAMBARU.

other than that, i love the trains. i can hop on any time and head anywhere between my house and school for free, which includes takadanobaba (the college hangout spot because it's close) and ikebukuro (great shopping yo), and hang out with friends. i hang out mainly with the normal earlham boos (maddie, broguen, and allie), and we've made some really awesome friends from the whole group, including lucy (my hotel roomie <3), karen, jessie, naomi, hannah, liz, rachael, cassie, etc. there are tons more and they're all really fun, but we haven't had many chances to chill together yet. since we were all so busy during orientation, our hanging out consists of shopping, purikura, and eating loads of tasty food (CREPES). next weekend we're having a girl's night out: drinking and dancing!

it's been really fun catching up with old TSA friends~ i've seen ayako and tomoki the most, and reunion dinner was nice. it's a little weird seeing some, like shiggy and oicchan after all this time -- i'm just not sure how to interact with them anymore, ya know? others i didn't know as well, but i really want to because they're just the sweetest (ACCHAN)~

aaaand boys are boys. there's a reason i decided not to date yo. but it sure is nice being surrounded by hot asians, let me tell you. mhmm.

i'm still feeling my way around this whole tokyo thing, and i think once i feel settled, i'll be able to get out more and explore all the places (without getting ridic lost like my lovely roomie, lucy~ hahaha) i've heard so much about: the parks and temples and flea markets, etc :D

japanese tv is crazy as always. rwj continues. postcards are being written/sent. my hair is even worse in this humidity. karuizawa trip in a few weeks. host nephew's first birthday is this weekend, and i'll be meeting an old student my parents hosted.

and that's all for now~ except for pictures, of course:


lucy, kamakura ocean, and me being all artsy



friends at the beach~



tasty noms :D



purikura with ayako <3



waseda's okuma auditorium

departure~

it's kinda weird that i'm actually leaving today (SURREAL MUCH?). i'm nervous, but not as nervous as i should be, i think, considering that i'll be gone for a whole year and SO MUCH CAN HAPPEN while i'm not here.

i'm glad i got to see a lot of my friends and family. i'm glad i ate lots of crabs. i'm glad i worked fulltime (and became a lot closer with my coworkers) so i could have money to spend frivolously in tokyo on purikura and drinking. i'm glad i went to philly to help anika and karen move in. i'm glad i've overcome fears and gone skydiving, sailing, and motorcycling. i'm glad i bought cute new clothes. i'm glad i went to kansas. i'm glad i skyped with maddie and lydia lots.

aaaaaand yeah. peace out bitches (it's an RWJ joke mom, don't get all huffy). i'll update once i'm in tokyo <3

flying down roads and stuff

i just went for my first motorcycle ride with cj! HOLY SHIT THAT WAS COOL. like a rollercoaster, but a million times better and i didn't have to pay for it or stand in a line. bumpin'. the best part was feeling the wind on my (very squished into a small helmet so it gave me chipmunk cheeks lol) face and watching scenery reflect on cj's helmet~

also, i just remembered that i used to call ketchup "tata." that must've made for some awkward dinners with my family.

ONLY 1 DAY LEFT AFTER THIS OH BOY.

ah, i went sailing the other day with my family and the starks (minus anika). guess who got seasick like woah and couldn't even move to put on sunscreen, and so is now sporting a hideous sunburn? mhmm. but it was still a really gorgeous day. and i got lots of awesome pictures, which is all that really matters~ hahaha

oh yeah

BTWS 8 DAYS LEFT OH BOY. but japanese placement test for the suck. that thing crushed my soul into a billion pieces D:

mmmm~

chocolate fudge brownie ice cream. 'nuff said.

3 weeks left!

I CAN ALMOST TASTE JAPAN. it might be the furikake and rice i'm eating, but who really knows.

just made strawberry shortcake as a going away cake for the salon, and spent about $150 on a winter coat (suitable for ski lodge too!), socks, tights, earrings, and lots of deodorant/toothpaste/eyeliner, etc. people tell me i'll be able to find it there, but um, it's gonna be hella expensive, so i'll just stock up in america.

in other news: SKYDIVING. falling out of a plane is the BEST THING EVER, but passing out and going face first into the ground because the parachute's harness was too tight and my blood circulation got cut off...yeah, not so much. at least i was awake for most of it, and got to see all the way out to the appalachian mountains~

also, i miss earlham like woah, and seeing all the pictures on facebook from my friends who are already back there just makes me more nostalgic <3

i want just one more saga dinner and movie night at japan house (brownies and possibly alcohol included) with my group of friends there :D