Money

Today I found out how fast money goes. Bus tickets are way, way, way too expensive. I looked at my money and found I had half of what I thought I had, from what was given to me by my parents. It was to be used for food, but I used some for souvenirs (おみやげ) for people, and a few things for myself, but most has been spent on food and bus tickets (to get food). Thankfully, though, I have a lot saved up, so I just have to keep track of how much I spent on gifts and such, so I know how much I owe my parents once I get back.

Here's to not spending ridiculous amounts of money!

~M

Nagasaki

We went to Nagasaki this weekend. It was pretty neat, saw a lot of museums and stuff. We saw the A-bomb museum, which was really sobering, and some neat statues and stuff. We also went to a museum for some TV show based in ancient Japan, which has been running since the 60's. We had Champon in Nagasaki Chinatown, ate at a buffet, and went shopping at the mall, which was right next to the big train/bus station. I didn't go out, since I was (and still am) sick :(.

I didn't get a whole lot of pictures, becuase I lent someone my camera, but I manged to snap a good number on my crappy Droid camera.

~M

Pictures

Day 9

Today was my first time getting "lost" in a foreign country. All those times when my papa got us lost don't count.

We went to visit a radio/tv tower up higher above the university. Turns out, there wasn't a bus stop that went back, so we had to go all the way around to the train station, then take a bus all the way through town. It wasn't that expensive, and we saw some neat things we might want to do, namely a lot of hot springs in one area.

I also watched my floormates practice for the "World Festival" this weekend. They played some music and danced, and it was really, really funny.

~M

Pictures

Day 8

Nothing of note today. I'll probably be blogging a heck of a lot less starting today. I'll also be living out of cafeteria and convenience store, until we get cooking sorted out.

~M

P.S. Foosball is fun.

Day 7

Today was our first day of only 2 classes, like most of the week. I can see myself running out of things to do very quickly. We're still only reviewing in class. The class starts in Genki I chapter 5, which is before I left off. I'm going to use these next classes until chapter 7 or so to study kanji by myself. Unfortunately, class C starts too far ahead from where I stopped, so I had to make the decision.

We went to downtown Beppu after class. It was raining like crazy all day, with intense fog in the morning and night. The rain wasn't hard, but there was a lot of it. Hopefully I don't get sick.

Our first stop was McDonald's. Countries' McDonald's have local-style food. Japanese McD's have teriyaki burgers, shrimp burgers and Mega Macs (Big Macs with 4 patties). I would have gotten a Mega Mac, but I didn't see it on the menu. Evidently, the ice cream tastes better, but I didn't have that either.

Next we went to a SEGA arcade (majority of my pictures are from it). There were a ridiculous number of crane games, photo booths, and digital Mahjong. The prizes in the crane games are great. Snacks, anime/manga figurines and plushies. Really nice stuff. I have yet to see if they're as rigged as they are in the US. There were a few fighting games, like SSFIV and Melty Blood, but not many. Nor were there many top-down shooters. There was 1 House of the Dead (light gun) machine, and only two rhythm games, Rhythm Tengoku and Taiko no Tatsujin. I was really hoping for a beatmania IIDX and/or DDR. Hopefully the arcade in the You Me town department store will have one of them.

There were 3 very interesting machines. The first was a virtual horse race. Except you didn't ride the horses, you betted on who would win, like when you normally attend a race. The second was "giant Tetris." It was 1/2 player Tetris, but the arcade stick was huge, probably more than half my height. You have to play with both hands on the joystick and buttons are on the top. The last was the best machine I've ever seen. It's super expensive (for an arcade), about ￥６００　to play your first game, and ￥３００ each subsequent play. It's a Mobile Suit Gundam simulator. There were 4 of them in the arcade. You buy a "pilot card" for ￥３００, which holds your player data. The game has a persistent award system, like leveling up in CoD, Battlefield or an MMO. You get points for each game you play, level up, and can unlock and buy new mobile suits and weapons. I was only able to do the tutorial level, but a lot of us got/planned to get cards, so hopefully we can try playing against each other next time we go. The game is a simulation game, with you in the cockpit of a mobile suit Gundam. It's really neat, and pretty hard!

We also went to Book-Off again. I found the 3 light novels (novels designed for teen-aged kids) I was looking for, which have been adapted into my 3 favorite anime (Durarara!!, Baccano!, and Toradora!. Yes, the exclamation points are part of the names.). They were about ￥３００ each. I also got some manga for souvenir gifts. Each was ￥１０５, which is 20% of the price of used manga in the states. New, manga is about ￥６００ or so, which is about half the price of new manga in the states. Weekly manga collections are about ￥５００, and other magazines are the same price as in the states, but some come with lots of little extras, like toys, pencil cases, other books, and collectibles.

We went to another bookstore called Tsutaya (つたや）which is like a Barnes and Noble. They have music, movies, games, magazines, and some electronics, and they also rent movies and music (which I hear is popular here). They sell a lot of used and new movies and music. The movies and music are super expensive, ￥３０００ for a movie and full album, and ￥１２００ for a single. I can imagine why renting is so popular.

I still haven't gotten things to cook with, but I'm just going to get them from the co-op store on campus tomorrow, instead of wasting tickets going to town and not even getting what I went down for. It seems like most people are into the idea of many of the "Gateway" program students eating/cooking dinner together, which is good, and will save lots of money.

Soon I plan to try a few Japanese foods. There's a takoyaki (fried octopus balls) stand by the stop we get off the bus at downtown, and every Friday some people come to the university to sell, one of whom sells yakitori (chicken kebabs). Some of us also want to get together to go to the Korean BBQ place in downtown, and try karaoke.

For the record: I've spent about $400 so far, a rough estimate based on how much money I've changed. Everyone I've talked to has spent about the same amount of money, so I'm not worried that I have a problem. If anything, I'm worried that we'll do so much in the first few weeks, we'll run out of things to do, and I'll start spending less than ￥５００ a day, and spending my time in my room. Most of it has been food, gifts, and bus tickets. Unfortunately, there's no cheaper way to get bus tickets than buying "the triple" which is 3 tickets for ￥１０００ (about $12). I'm sure that as I get settled in and stop exploring, my cost will drop to about ￥１０００ or less a day, ￥５００ for lunch (should I decide to get it at the cafeteria), and about ￥５００ for other misc costs. Buying things is tempting, since there's so much cool stuff, most of which is relatively cheap compared to the states, but I have to remember that I need to pack on the way back.

I plan to join the "Nihongo-net" club, which is a Japanese language/culture club, and the Supernatural club, which investigates the paranormal. They seem fun, and will serve mostly to help me have things to do, as well as meet speaking partners/friends. We're also planning a small weekend trip to Fukuoka, and a LAN party.

Long post!

~M

Arcade <3. I'll get better pictures next time.

Video!

Day 6

Today was the first day of classes. It wasn't bad at all! Except for the part where my alarm didn't go off and I was late for class. I got lucky, the teacher was super nice about it. I found a better way to do my alarm, so it won't (or shouldn't) happen again!

I've got 12 Japanese language classes a week. Monday and Thursday there are 3 classes, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday there are 2. In Japan, college/uni classes are on a period schedule. Each period is about 1 hour and 30 minutes long. That makes it good for planning events, because you know when people get out.

At lunch, we went to the cafeteria, which reminds me of elementary schools, but there's a lot more food. You get what you want then pay at the register. I had tonkatsu curry and a melon pan, for about ￥４００. It was a lot more food than I would have gotten in the states for the same price. I ended up eating a lot, though. From now on I'll get a small portion.

After class I went walking with some friends. We ended up going to a road up above the school where people get dropped off. Saw some wild/stray cats. They looked like they were going to fight, but just ended up talking.

Tomorrow we're going to town after class, hopefully to go to another ramen shop or something, exchange money, go to some of the book shops (Book-off and Tsutaya), and get some things to cook with.

~M

KITTIES! And an energy drink.

Day 5

Today we went to the onsen (hot spring). Or, we were going to, but they're all small. We had about 20 people who wanted to go, and the onsen only had 3 spots in the male bath open. So some of us split off to find another one, but the rest were closed. They're closed on the 5th for some reason, maybe cleaning. So, we ended up doing the rest of the plan early.

We went to a ramen shop that was super delicious. I got char siu (Chinese BBQ pork) ramen in a salt broth, and it was amazing. In Japan, you're supposed to eat the ramen audibly, and finish it all. Not finishing it is like flipping off the chef, spitting in your food, and giving it back without paying.

Afterwards, we took a small peek inside a thrift shop (it was exactly the same as the ones here, with crappy clothes), and went to the grocery store. Japan is green in that the grocery bags cost money (which some of us didn't find out until after). They're ￥5 each, which isn't too much, but could add up. I only got a few things that were fairly cheap. A bag of raw bean sprouts cost ￥59 or so, a pair of chopsticks ￥100. We also got a bag of rice to split, since cooking is going to be healthier and cheaper. We just have to decide how to split up cooking, and split the cost for buying pans and such.

Finally, we studied a little, since classes start tomorrow. The book I'm using for my class is the same as what I used at NAU, and starts just before I finished, which means I'll get review of some of the stuff I don't remember well, and get through what I'd learn in JPN201. One of the other American students in the program helped us study, since she's 2 levels ahead of us and has been in Japan practicing speaking a while.

I've learned how much I rely on my phone in America. In Japan, phones are used for literally everything, much more than they are in the states. They're a lot more simple, too, most phones having a T9 pad instead of a QWERTY type pad, and many aren't smartphones, although they can surf the internet. I've heard the Japanese don't pay texting/SMS fees, preferring to send email using data plans. Of course, if anyone in an American phone company suggested that *coughVerizoncough*, they'd be shut down and probably taken to a small island to "disappear." Someone said a rented phone with unlimited talk/data is about $150, which I might consider doing.

Today was the first clear day (other days have been too foggy or cloudy), so I got some pictures of the bay from the top floor of the dormitory. It's really pretty.

The people are really nice. I've noticed especially when you're in someone's way on the street, they pass you and don't seem angry. They might just be hiding it, or it could be it really doesn't bother them. I've really been enjoying my time here.

Hopefully once classes start and we learn a little more Japanese, we'll be able to use it more in speech. The past few days we've made an effort to use more, but it still comes out as some sort of Japanglish speech with most of the words being English, and a few basic phrases being in Japanese. I'm also hoping the excitement and fun doesn't die down once classes start, and that I'll have things (and time) to write longer posts and post pictures, rather than going days without posting anything.

~M

Pictures for June 5, 2011

No video. I'm finding it pretty hard to find time to take videos. Usually by the time I get my Flip out, whatever I wanted to take video of has passed.

Day 4

(late post, I got back late and was tired!)

Today we went to the You Me town mall. It's a huge department store. It was strange, a multifloor department store with a lot of other shops right in the middle of the store. Like Storeception or something. There were a lot of cheap clothes (and some that were super expensive), as well as a few bookstores, an arcade, a grocery store, and a hobby store (with a giant Slime statue!). I can't wait to go back.

We went to a sushi boat restaurant, where each plate was under ￥200. It was really good. I had somethings I wouldn't normally try, like Eel, and a few that I didn't really like. My favorite was an almond jelly with strawberry topping. It was very busy, so I'm guessing it's the "good" place to go. I also had what we think is a vegetable donut at a donut shop. It was actually pretty good. I didn't find any Touhou stuff at the mall, but I wasn't expecting to since it's not exactly mainstream, nor did I look very hard.

Afterwards, we came back and cooked some (instant) food, since the store was closed, and some of us didn't go to the grocery store. We'll probably go tomorrow to get food and cooking stuff. Then some of us watched Tangled on a laptop in the tatami room in the lobby. It was really comfy and I almost fell asleep.

~M

Day 3 pictures (I lied about not taking any, but they're not super exciting)

Day 4 pictures (not as many of the mall as I'd like, I'll get more next time)

Day 3

Today was the placement test. I did well, and placed into the appropriate class for what I know. A lot of the people I've gotten to know better in the last few days are also in that class.

I also went to the beach today, with some people from the program. They were going to drink and go to the club. I didn't have anything to drink, since I'm underage here, too, but they didn't card the few who were underage as well. A few of us came back and didn't go clubbing, but sitting on the sidewalk with an Aussie and a half-drunk person waiting for the bus was entertaining.

On the way to town I saw a bunch of shops and restaurants I want to try. Hopefully I can try them on some weekends. The Kyoto/Tokyo independent weekend trip also looks like it's going to get started being planned soon.

~M

No pictures or video today D:. I was too busy!

Day 2

I went to town with some people I met who are in the program. It's a pretty small town, I'd say maybe the size of Flagstaff. It's pretty long, though. We went to a bookstore called Book-Off that had a bunch of different books, manga, music, dvds, and games. I know where to go if I need to get people gifts!

We also went to a sort of fast-food restaurant called Oita Karaage (大分からあげ). They had the tempura-fried chicken that Oita is famous for. It was delicious! We also saw a takoyaki (fried octopus balls) stand, and I want to try it. One of the people I met on the flight went to town to get some ramen, so I'll have him tell me what's good and report back on that, too.

I ended up not taking as many pictures as I would have liked. Got too distracted. I also noticed how loud Americans are, when we were on the bus. Maybe it's just because we were a group of 9 people.

I also met my room mate/next door neighbor. His name is Hideto, and he's from America but is Japanese, and is a more permanent student than me. He's the floor's RA. I think he moved when he was little. His English is very good, and he likes all sorts of music. He seems really nice.

It's still hard, since I don't know the language well enough to know what's going on at all, but hopefully I learn fast. The placement test for what Japanese class we get into is tomorrow. Hopefully I don't place badly and have to take Japanese A and have to sit through learning all the Hiragana and Katakana again. All the people I met seemed to have about 1 year of Japanese on them, some a little less, some a little more. My guess is most of the people will get into the Japanese B class (which is the class I hope to get into).

~M

Picasa album (day 1) https://picasaweb.google.com/106211306392551862915/Jun12011#

Picasa album (day 2) https://picasaweb.google.com/106211306392551862915/Jun22011#

No videos today D:

Day 0-1

What a flight. 1.5 from PHX to LAX, 3 hours in LAX, 12 hours to Tokyo, 2 hours in Tokyo, 1.5 hours to Oita, 1 hour bus ride from Oita to Beppu. I'm pooped. All the people here are really nice, but I still don't know enough Japanese to be able to communicate in Japanese. Hopefully that'll change in a few weeks. On the flight from LAX, I met a few people who are in the same program as me. One of them had a seat right next to me. Lucky! I don't know where they went, as we separated in Tokyo to go our own ways to get here. Hopefully I see them tomorrow.

I didn't eat much today. I got 4 hours on the flight to Tokyo, in an attempt to stick to JST to avoid jetlag. So I spent the rest of the day (after a short tour/introduction/meeting people) in my room, hanging out on Skype with Eric and Trevor. I had a canned coffee and some cheese-flavored "string potatoes." i would have gotten more, but I didn't have enough small Yen coins. Then I was too lazy, tired, and nervous to go out and walk to the coop store on campus to buy some food. Maybe tomorrow. Now I'm watching the GSL and chatting with some Aussie friends. Being in the same time zone as Korea is pretty awesome, so I'll be able to watch the GSL every night.

The internet is blazing fast. I uploaded some videos, and each took less than a minute to upload. Granted, they weren't very big (not HD or anything), but it's still a lot faster than at home. Hopefully I'll be able to make some good content and take advantage of the fast internet. I'll probably do a tour of the dorm in few days, a week tops. The plugs in my room are American style (3 prong, 2 polarized and 1 grounded), so worrying about plug converters and stuff wasn't a big issue, but that's probably not true for most of the rest of the country. I'm guessing they have American style plugs because APU is an international affairs school, and American plug converters are super, super, super easy to find.

The pillow is really neat. It has little beads inside that are kind of like melty beads. I found the company that makes them online, and they're called "Corma" beads. Supposedly they're better for sleep and ergonomics and stuff. I can't wait to try it. If I like it enough, I'll try to buy one if it's not too expensive.

There's a kitchen, which I could use to cook, but I'm not a great cook, nor do I plan on buying cookingstuffs for the 2 months I'm here. Luckily, though, there's a refrigerator/freezer in the room, so I can keep stuff in my room. I was only taken around the dorm area, so I didn't get to see the cafeteria, but the study program is providing breakfast in the cafeteria, so I'll see it tomorrow.

I wrote a lot! Hopefully it's not boring or poorly written. I'm hoping to get more video and pictures every day I'm here for this first week.

~M

Youtube: http://youtube.com/rpglover101

Photo album (hopefully it works): http://rpglover101.imgur.com/OHIRA#vfuXH