9/20/2008 - Fushimi Inari-taisha
Mostly shots of the torii-ful shrine of Fushimi Inari.
9.23.2008
PIC UPDATE: Pictures from Fushimi Inari, Kyoto.
２００８年９月２０日 （伏見稲荷大社） << click here!
9/20/2008 - Fushimi Inari-taisha
Mostly shots of the torii-ful shrine of Fushimi Inari.
9/20/2008 - Fushimi Inari-taisha
Mostly shots of the torii-ful shrine of Fushimi Inari.
9.13.2008
A brief summary of the past week.
Weekend: Lots of fun. Went to some izakaya (essentially restaurants that serve small to medium-sized dishes, and are really fun to go to in decent sized groups), did some karaoke (also fun to do in decent sized groups, and there are plenty of songs in English and Japanese, as well as Korean, Chinese, and Tagalog), and just generally had fun over all hanging with both our Japanland and gaijin friends.
The week thereafter: Classes and the end of orientation. I ended up getting put a level ahead in Japanese, which means I have about four or five chapters worth of vocab, grammar, and kanji to catch up in. So far, it hasn't been too bad. Grammar was a breeze, and I have a decent part of the vocab down. I've even picked up a surprising percentage of kanji by just tracking down their definitions on my own.
Otherwise, my classes aren't too bad, but I might drop one of my afternoon lecture classes if I maintain my current level of Japanese, given that even the professors recommend that we keep our classes down to four (two Japanese classes + two afternoon lecture classes), as opposed to the five Tiff and I had (Tiff dropped her fifth, I'm still waiting to see if I'll be in a high level for both my Japanese classes).
In other news, we both bought bikes for cheap (I got mine for ￥6500, and Tiff's was ￥7000), and I've started to help Tiff learn to ride. She's been doing pretty well for herself, but I want to make sure she's an expert in steering and braking before she gets out on the mean streets of Hirakata.
Unfortunately, no pictures... yet. I'm gonna try to get out and get some pics of the general area, but my ability to do that will be dictated by what's going on tomorrow and Monday, which we have off (Respect for the Aged Day, YES).
Oh, and one awesome fact: because of TD Commerce and Japan's ゆうちょ銀行 both dropping the ball on charges, I don't get hit with any fees for international transactions.
And last, but not least, our addresses:
(one of our names here, only use one!)
c/o Center for International Education
Kansai Gaidai University
16-1 Nakamiyahigashino-cho, Hirakata, Osaka
573-1001 JAPAN
The town name is quite a mouthful (penful? ... painful?), so here it is, broken up: naka miya higashi no - cho.
Also, I have to stress that you must not forget to write either my name or Tiff's in! Writing both is no good because we have separate mailboxes, and if you just don't put a name, CIE will assume it's theirs and just open it right up. I know you're not sending us bombs or anything, but we'll have to go through a whole ugly bureaucratic process to get it (like everything else in Japan).
The week thereafter: Classes and the end of orientation. I ended up getting put a level ahead in Japanese, which means I have about four or five chapters worth of vocab, grammar, and kanji to catch up in. So far, it hasn't been too bad. Grammar was a breeze, and I have a decent part of the vocab down. I've even picked up a surprising percentage of kanji by just tracking down their definitions on my own.
Otherwise, my classes aren't too bad, but I might drop one of my afternoon lecture classes if I maintain my current level of Japanese, given that even the professors recommend that we keep our classes down to four (two Japanese classes + two afternoon lecture classes), as opposed to the five Tiff and I had (Tiff dropped her fifth, I'm still waiting to see if I'll be in a high level for both my Japanese classes).
In other news, we both bought bikes for cheap (I got mine for ￥6500, and Tiff's was ￥7000), and I've started to help Tiff learn to ride. She's been doing pretty well for herself, but I want to make sure she's an expert in steering and braking before she gets out on the mean streets of Hirakata.
Unfortunately, no pictures... yet. I'm gonna try to get out and get some pics of the general area, but my ability to do that will be dictated by what's going on tomorrow and Monday, which we have off (Respect for the Aged Day, YES).
Oh, and one awesome fact: because of TD Commerce and Japan's ゆうちょ銀行 both dropping the ball on charges, I don't get hit with any fees for international transactions.
And last, but not least, our addresses:
(one of our names here, only use one!)
c/o Center for International Education
Kansai Gaidai University
16-1 Nakamiyahigashino-cho, Hirakata, Osaka
573-1001 JAPAN
The town name is quite a mouthful (penful? ... painful?), so here it is, broken up: naka miya higashi no - cho.
Also, I have to stress that you must not forget to write either my name or Tiff's in! Writing both is no good because we have separate mailboxes, and if you just don't put a name, CIE will assume it's theirs and just open it right up. I know you're not sending us bombs or anything, but we'll have to go through a whole ugly bureaucratic process to get it (like everything else in Japan).
9.05.2008
PIC UPDATE: Pictures from Kyoto trip.
２００８年９月５日 （清水寺） << click here!
9/5/2008 - Kiyomizu-dera
Mostly pictures of Kiyomizu-dera, a temple in Kyoto. Text update when we can/feel like it.
9/5/2008 - Kiyomizu-dera
Mostly pictures of Kiyomizu-dera, a temple in Kyoto. Text update when we can/feel like it.
Small update.
We registered for classes yesterday! On the day before, we gaijin students had to pull a lottery number out of a box... James had 33, I had...317. But I got two out of three of the classes I wanted to take. As for the third one, I'll try it next semester; assuming it's available. I should probably find that out. Fortunately I'm taking another course that same professor is offering, so I can just ask him.
Anyway, aside from two Japanese language courses, I'll be taking a Shinto class, Japan and Its World to 1860, and The Dynamics of Modern Japan. I met with the Shinto class professor yesterday morning and she was really, I mean REALLY awesome. I also want to take a course she'll be teaching next semester called Death In East Asian Thought.
Well, now that James and I have internet access on our own computers, we'll probably be updating here more frequently. But for now, I should head to the futon.
Anyway, aside from two Japanese language courses, I'll be taking a Shinto class, Japan and Its World to 1860, and The Dynamics of Modern Japan. I met with the Shinto class professor yesterday morning and she was really, I mean REALLY awesome. I also want to take a course she'll be teaching next semester called Death In East Asian Thought.
Well, now that James and I have internet access on our own computers, we'll probably be updating here more frequently. But for now, I should head to the futon.
9.02.2008
Arrival.
So, right now I'm in the Center for International Education's computer lab at Kansai Gaidai. How I got here entails a pretty uneventful story.
First off was the most stressful part: checking in at Kennedy, and even that wasn't so bad. It was just being completely flustered at how much anarchy the check-in desk seemed to be consumed in. That and almost getting denied our tickets right off the bat because United was unaware that we had our visas permitting us to stay long enough for the return trip in May. Fun.
Customs was a breeze on the U.S. end, and soon enough, we found ourselves on the Boeing 757 that just happened to be bound for San Francisco. Can't really say much there, 'cause I either was sleeping, or was in some kind of catatonic unsleep state.
(Also, this was my first time being on an aircraft larger than a Piper, but the only thing that really got me was the sheer force behind the takeoff. Dramamine saves lives.)
San Francisco was easy, too. We didn't need a second customs check, our baggage was taken care of, and we had a bus cart us over to the international terminal. The worst part of California was having to pay $5 for an Internet terminal (airports don't believe in free wifi, and I found that out the hard way -- SAD DAY).
About 20 minutes after that, our Boeing 777 started the boarding process, and we were on our way to Japan.
It only took 10(!) hours.
Sleep was hard to find, and catatonia decided to stay in Cali. So most of my flight was spent either flipping between movies, listening to the crap radio, or staring at a GPS map while listening to crap radio.
I did manage to find some opportunities to sleep, but it didn't make the notion of the flight any easier to swallow.
Then we landed on the artificial island of Kansai International. The Japanland customs check was even breezier than Kennedy's, save for the long lines. Soon enough (after negotiating the meaning of "north exit" with the customs officer), we were in the main terminal, waiting for the bus to university.
It took an hour and a half to get from Osaka Bay to Hirakata City, but the boredom of the bus ride was alleviated by fellow gaijin who were as in disbelief as we were that we were in Japan, halfway around the world from where we had started, at some point in the afternoon the day before, Japan time, where we understood 100% more of what the signs said, but were 50% as interested.
We soon landed at Seminar House 2, which is attached to our dorm, SH1. After quickly registering and getting our stuff sorted out in our rooms, we got our much needed showers and sleep.
For operating on a time zone that is completely opposite what I'm used to, I got a decent night's sleep. Tiff and I took the walk over to main campus in the incredibly humid weather the next morning (today), and here we are.
We're going through the orientation process right now, which involves us being given a stack of papers and then told "GOGOGO," so wish us the best of luck. Expect pictures soon.
-James
First off was the most stressful part: checking in at Kennedy, and even that wasn't so bad. It was just being completely flustered at how much anarchy the check-in desk seemed to be consumed in. That and almost getting denied our tickets right off the bat because United was unaware that we had our visas permitting us to stay long enough for the return trip in May. Fun.
Customs was a breeze on the U.S. end, and soon enough, we found ourselves on the Boeing 757 that just happened to be bound for San Francisco. Can't really say much there, 'cause I either was sleeping, or was in some kind of catatonic unsleep state.
(Also, this was my first time being on an aircraft larger than a Piper, but the only thing that really got me was the sheer force behind the takeoff. Dramamine saves lives.)
San Francisco was easy, too. We didn't need a second customs check, our baggage was taken care of, and we had a bus cart us over to the international terminal. The worst part of California was having to pay $5 for an Internet terminal (airports don't believe in free wifi, and I found that out the hard way -- SAD DAY).
About 20 minutes after that, our Boeing 777 started the boarding process, and we were on our way to Japan.
It only took 10(!) hours.
Sleep was hard to find, and catatonia decided to stay in Cali. So most of my flight was spent either flipping between movies, listening to the crap radio, or staring at a GPS map while listening to crap radio.
I did manage to find some opportunities to sleep, but it didn't make the notion of the flight any easier to swallow.
Then we landed on the artificial island of Kansai International. The Japanland customs check was even breezier than Kennedy's, save for the long lines. Soon enough (after negotiating the meaning of "north exit" with the customs officer), we were in the main terminal, waiting for the bus to university.
It took an hour and a half to get from Osaka Bay to Hirakata City, but the boredom of the bus ride was alleviated by fellow gaijin who were as in disbelief as we were that we were in Japan, halfway around the world from where we had started, at some point in the afternoon the day before, Japan time, where we understood 100% more of what the signs said, but were 50% as interested.
We soon landed at Seminar House 2, which is attached to our dorm, SH1. After quickly registering and getting our stuff sorted out in our rooms, we got our much needed showers and sleep.
For operating on a time zone that is completely opposite what I'm used to, I got a decent night's sleep. Tiff and I took the walk over to main campus in the incredibly humid weather the next morning (today), and here we are.
We're going through the orientation process right now, which involves us being given a stack of papers and then told "GOGOGO," so wish us the best of luck. Expect pictures soon.
-James
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