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.