An Amazing Date

[May 26th 2011]

It was a Sunday the day after karaoke and Wes and I had decided on going on a date to the aquarium in Osaka because neither of us had been but everyone else had been ranting and raving about it! It’s the famous one with the large tank in the middle that spans 3 floors (although I still think the Aquarium in Beppu was more impressive).

Anyway, the weather was shite but that didn’t stop us going ^^ We got there and the aquarium was full of school kids. I’m guessing every school across Japan was sending their kids their for educating. We mostly ignored them apart from the kindergarteners who were SO CUTE! They were all so short holding each others hands and all had matching mats and macs! Speaking of cute things the aquarium was FULL of these signs with the adorable…blobs…I don’t actually know what they were, but they were cute ^-^

The first thing we came to were the otters, which were SHO CUTE! I really wish I had had my other lens because all my 50mm photos kept coming out blurry >< Thinking about it the aquarium was full of cute things. I’d warned Wes before that Japanese people in aquariums say “oishi sou!” which means “looks good/tasty!” What? Their diat is mostly fish, of course most of the things in here are gonna make you hungry. But what was really cute was when we came across a small child who said it! One little girl with her mum was SHO CUTE! I just couldn’t not take a pic of them. She was so fascinated with the BIG fish in the tank XD

As we worked our way through we found another adorable family with the dolphins. Dolphins are cute anyway, and are amazing fun to watch. Spend aaaages staring through the glass trying to get a good picture.

As we got to the main tank, the famous one in the middle, which wasn’t as impressive as people made out because it had no plant life at all indie, looked really bare. Anyway, I found one tank opposite the main one and I DID NOT believe my eyes. It was CRAB FISH! Allan from AnimeSoc in Kent had, the previous year, found a fish that had crab legs and no one believed him, so he brought in a video he took of the bugger walking. Not only that but the Japanese crab fish FLEW through the water with BLUE WINGS! Most awesome-est fish ever.

We carried on through the aquarium and got a drink at the café and saw more cute kids and lobsters. I think the best part was the last bit with the JELLYFISH! So cute! It may have also been because I’d recently seen Kuragehime, an anime about a girl obsessed with jellyfish.

As we were leaving the aquarium I got a text from the Japanese girls I’d recently made friends with asking if I were free for lunch. Had to explain I was at the aquarium…they guessed it was on a date with Wes >< FFS HOW DO THEY KNOW THESE THINGS!? Anyway, we stopped off at the gift shop and I had to decide whether to buy an octopus toy or a seal…I went for the tako, the octopus ^^ It wasn’t as cute as the seal but I could get a seal anywhere. And it was a super cute Japanese tako tako octopus~ (Octopus is tako in Japanese)

After the aquarium Wes and I went to the centre of Osaka and to Shinsaibashi to the cinema and watched the latest Pirates of the Caribbean in 3D. It was all in English with Japanese subtitles, and was quite good apart from the fact that the ending was a tad random :/ After that Wes took me to Cold Stones, an American icecream company that sold AMAZING icecream!!! It was soo good, and the shop assistant was super friendly. She was asking us about America and was talking to me about the recent Royal wedding ^-^

After our icecream we headed over to Umeda to meet Gabe because we had planned to go to the Pokemon Centre because NONE of us had ever been before. So we met up with Gabe and wandered through Umeda (saw the apparently famous homeless guy) and headed up to the Pokemon centre which was on something like the 7^th floor of this department building. On the way though we saw an awesome clock water fountain that told the time through well timed water. It was pretty impressive.

The Pokemon centre was not as impressive as I’d imagined it to be. It was quite small and REALLY expensive. And there just seems to be nothing that really interested me. Wes got a Lapras toy and bought me a pokemon phone charm ^^ I got some pokemon shaped pasta for Leo and Fred back home because I knew there were going to be giving me a lift when I got home. Nothing says thanks like Pokemon Pasta.

Gabe left us after the Pokemon Centre but not without showing us Osaka tower and suggested we go up. So we eventually found the place and got the lift aaaaaall the way to the top. It was something like one of the tallest buildings in Osaka and people could go up there. So many couples O_O It wasn’t that busy but still quite a few people. I was a bit apprehensive about how tall the observation point was. There were 3 levels, one with restaurants and shops and then an escalator (which was terrifying as it went across the gap between the building) onto the observation point which was inside, then the top floor which was outside. Weather was still miserable but it was awesome being able to see the whole of Osaka at night. And we had each other to keep warm ^^

After getting absolutely soaked in the rain we back inside and hung around a bit wondering what to do about food. Going down to the floor bellow we found a Chinese restaurant. It felt way too posh for our attire. I felt really embarrassed partially because I couldn’t understand some of the menu, and my Japanese had gone completely out of the window. I felt like a stupid gaijin -_- But it was a nice meal and a really nice way to end the day. Least to say we were knackered on the train back home. But it had been a really, really good day ^__^

Quietness, The Flea Market Last Time, Final Aya Goodbyes

[Mid-end May 2011]

The dorms became increasingly lonely without Brittany and Sarah visited less with her gone too. So if Wes wasn’t visiting I tended to venture out to hang out with the other dorm people more. Which was good ^^ I got to know Alena, Stef and Jessie more, a trio of Supernatural loving trouble makers XD They were really cool, and really nice. It’s weird that I didn’t get to know them better sooner, which I kind of regret considering they were in my Japanese class and the same dorm, and had been present the previous term.

Now it might not be that obvious but the last month or so in Japan was incredibly quiet and uneventful. This may be because a large portion of our friends had been forced to leave Japan, or that we’d already been to all the exciting places in Japan, or because everyone had essays and exams to prepare for. Or a mixture of everything. Our get together were reduced mostly to meetings in the CIE and Wes and I spent more time together either studying or watching films. Large adventures in a group became few and far between.

(My amazing Kanji class with Jess, Stef and Wes)

We still hung out at Uni of course! In fact that was around the time I found out more interesting information about couples in Japan. The first incident was when I found out that Gabe’s friend Ya-chan had a boyfriend, who she’s been seeing for almost 2 years but they NEVER talked! He had his own friends and she has hers. He had his own interests and she has hers. It’s as if they were dating because it was expected of them, and they were likely to get married after university. WHAT!? WHY would you date someone because it was expected of you? The same with marriage! If you never hang out or talk with the guy, except maybe once a week on a ritual date/shopping trip, then what is the point? Gabe had never even heard her talk much about this guy. Blows my mind.

SECOND incident, which I think blew my mind even more involved 3 first year girls. They were gaijin catching and came up to us outside and we were joking and playing around. Their couples radar goes off and they can tell instantly that Wes and I were dating (HOW THE HELL!?). But that wasn’t what blew my mind (yes, it’s creepy they can detect this stuff but still…) What was weird was their reaction when, knowing that Wes and I were a couple, I hugged Gabe. Ok, no big deal over here. In Japan though when people are a couple they DO NOT TALK TO THE OPPOSITE SEX. Not even a LITTLE bit because their other half would get jealous. They couldn’t understand why Wes wouldn’t get jealous, and we couldn’t understand why he should! It just…GAH! I had heard a similar story later in the week where the American teacher had made a deal with his Japanese wife not to talk to other Japanese women, but he was allowed to talk to other foreign women. Another incident was that friends who had Japanese friends and took them out to clubs, had to hold the boys back when their girls began to talk to other men. Men and women BOTH got very jealous of the other if they were in a relationship and talking to the opposite sex! I know Japan is pretty segregated when it comes to gender, infact this partially explains why guys and girls rarely hang out as just friends like over here. It’s a whole other culture. New place, new rules.

Mind being blown and just hanging out at uni aside, we did go on a trip to the flea market one last time because Wes had never been! Blasphemy! So Ariel, Nadezhda, K, Wes and I took our final trip to the market. With my camera only taking close up shots I didn’t get much of what happened on the day. I do remember Wes trying to meet up with us and we got separated and lost trying to find him, and then find the others >_< It was hot, and busy, and I don’t think I bought much that time. Although did sneak off from the others at one point to look at the new exhibition they had in the temple. They have different ones each month and although I’m normally able to sneak a picture or two (which you’re not allowed to do), I couldn’t this time thanks to the lens, so I can’t remember what it was an exhibit of :P

(Ariel and Wes looking sharp at the flea market)

A few days later on 25^th May we were graced with a final visit from Aya! She was able to make it to the CIE one late afternoon after she’s finished work. It was good to see her again, although since she’d left Uni it had felt like she had become more and more distant from us :( So it was really good to see her again. We decided to go to karaoke (as you do) and on the way found a restaurant that wasn’t packed and had a really nice meal together. Aya had to leave before karaoke though because she had work the next day. But despite Aya’s absence (and Wes and Gabe Rick Rolling everyone, the #@£*$&”) Karaoke was awesome fun!

(My final picture of Aya)

Broken Lens and Birthday Adventures

[May 12th and 14th 2011]

Shortly following the trip to the beach my camera lens broke. I don’t know how, I don’t know when but it broke and I had to buy a 50mm lens because the normal lens to replace it cost a lot. I was most annoyed .
Before my lens broke, however, we did a trip to karaoke again! YAY! Only this time I dragged Yuka and Shizuka along together. I knew they’d get along and they did! They were so cute! (Yuka being the girl who took me to Kyoto for the first time, and who I took to her first castle, and Shizuka being the girl with amazingly good English and a British accent who loves British artists). So the pictures from that evening were good (as good as pictures in the dark karaoke rooms could get), but the rest around early May were sparce and close-ups.

(My birthday melons)

Well, I shouldn’t be ranting about my photos, and although I did have a grudge all the time I couldn’t zoom the photos that did come out with the 50mm were really good (I need to use that lens more). And I was grateful that I even had a lens considering it was my birthday soon after!
The 12th May itself wasn’t too exciting. My friends are AMAZING and put their moneys together to buy me an expensive figurine, while others got me cake and two melons…Yes, MELONS. Lil, Alex and Chris had joked saying they saw the melons and thought of me, so Lily suggested they got them for me. I loved them ^-^ Sad to say I never ate them and they went off (I forgot to!) but I loved the perverted thought that went behind it. After Uni a small group of us did go to Kappu Zushi and I saw the ugliest baby ever! I’m not even joking…

(Ugly Baby! I was pretending to take a pic of poor Lily)

Now, I am a huge fan of 20th Century Boys, both the manga and the films, so I just HAD to go to the Expo Centre for my birthday. But what’s a birthday without some birthday shopping in Denden Town? So once again I dragged people out to my favourite shopping route of DenDen Town and Mandarake over at AmeMura. I tried my very first Krispy Kream doughnuts! They were gooooog. We went to the store in Osaka which normally had a 40min queue outside it, but there was no queue and we snuck in and om nomnom. So sugary!

In the late afternoon we went to the Expo Park (squeee) had a picnic and played frisby (only one small casualty of Theo running over a small child >< He got told off by the park warden). And then we had a stroll around the park, getting lost because WE COULDN’T FIND….errr….I was going to say exit, but we couldn’t find something else, and when we did it had closed because the park was closing in 20mins. I can’t remember what it was we were trying to see though. Oh well.

(Picnic in the park)

We left the park as it was closing and headed back into Osaka to have ALL YOU CAN EAT PIZZA!! Yuka joined us then. It was awesome! THEY HAD PUDDING PIZZA with custard sauce, marshmallows and chocolate ontop.

(All you can eat pizzaaaaa)

I was sooo tired but that wasn’t the end! Oh no! It was Izakaya time! Shizuka was able to join us and we had drinks and kitty ears and cuteness and I just wanted to sleep on the table >< ZZZzzz…

(Lily, Gabe and Ariel chilling in the Izakaya)

For the Beach!

[Early May 2011]

We had been wanting to go to the beach since the beginning of the semester and it was FINALLY happening! With Golden Week at the start of May we had almost a whole week off to run amok in Japan (although I spent most of it recovering from all the homework we had!). As I said, discussions of going to the beach had been going on for a while about where would be suitable to go to as a large group and it was finally decided that going to the actually sea side would be expensive and near impossible considering the nearest beach by the sea we could get to would likely involve the need to stay overnight, and because the weather was getting good all the cheap places were booked out. So where did we go if not the sea? Only the largest lake in Japan! Lake Biwa!

(Gaggle of Gaijin at Hirakata station)

I’d been to Lake Biwa before in the winter with Hannah when we were coming back from Tokyo, but this was different. It was in a different place with different people and warmer weather instead of snow, rain and winds.

So we all got up very early, swimming gear ready and met up at Hirakata station and preceded to take the almost 2hour train ride up through Kyoto and onto a rickety countryside train out to the middle of no where. It was awesome! Who doesn’t love a huge gaggle of gaijin on a train? Well probably the Japanese, but there was almost no one on the country side train.

When we had begun to get into the mountains we had arrived. The beach itself was a gritty sandy beach on the shore of the lake with pine trees lining the edge. There were quite a few other people there, mostly with barbeques. The sun was shining, but it was still early May so it was still really cold. Lily dipped her feet in but soon found it to be way too cold! Chris was the first stupid one to try jumping in for a swim, followed by more of the guys who all quickly jumped back out again. No surprises non of the Japanese locals were taking a dip.

(Lily decides the water's too cold so Chris jumps right in)

We mostly hung around, chatting and lying down. Wes tried to find a toilet but instead found a Golgothan lurking in the depths of some shack O_O A while later and people began to get hungry…no one had been smart enough to bring much food so a large group gathered together to go find the nearest konbini, which are everywhere, how hard could it be? HA! We were in the countryside remember, and the nearest one was at least over a mile away. It took them a while to get back in the mean time leaving me, Wes, Taylia and Lily to our own devices. Taylia went exploring and I eventually went with her to look at the mountains and the lake, when we got back Wes and Lily had made friends with the drunken Japanese guys at the BBQ next to us. They were nice but a bit pushy with the alcohol. What was really funny was one of the girls began to flirt with Wes until her friend pointed me out and she stepped right back XD Strange thing is Wes and I hadn’t been doing anything couply! Japanese women have this scary sixth sense when it comes to couples O_O

(Badminton with Elizabeth, Alex and the random Japanese guy from the BBQ over)

The others eventually came back and we were able to excuse ourselves from the drunken badminton and hung out more with the others. Many hours of scuffles, teasing, joking, a poor attempt at building a sandcastle (Alex) and the rest of us jumping on it (mostly Me) and it was time to go. So walking back we picked blossoms and put them in our hair, talked about random stuff and got the train home. Wes and I played eye spy on the last train before almost falling asleep. A few of us then decided a trip to our favourite restaurant Kappa Zushi was in order, so me, Wes, Gabe, my RA, Nadezhda, Chris, and Alex went and filled ourselves of nommy nommy sushi before heading home. Twas a good day ^-^

(Wes, Gabe and Alex drool while we wait for Kappa Zushi)

Oh yeah....that blog thing I was doing in Japan

Now, I always warn people...and myself, when I do something like a diary or where I have to commit to writing something regularly, that I am terrible at doing so! I would LOVE to be able to keep ontop of these things but to sum it up: I SUCK at it!

But despite that I AT LEAST want to finish this story of Japan off. Not for anyone else, but for myself. So I have a record of what I did. From now on it'll be in the past tense and I will try and remember as much as possible what I've done.

THIS STORY SHALL GET FINISHED >_< Now, let's get cracking!

The Origin of the World, Super Sentai and Kobe Laughs

After Spring Break (same time as the behind the scenes drama) we dove straight into April Fools and me running around making everyone believe I had dyed my hair blonde! HAHAHA! There were a few who could tell it was obviously a wig and others who just had no idea! Mixed responses as well as to whether it suited me or not, but don’t worry I am NEVER going blonde ^^

April also brought about the sakura season, which I must say I don’t like as much as the plums. We went for a hanami (slower viewing) trip to Osaka castle with the Seminar House which was kinda meh. But at least I can say I’ve done it.

What was more interesting was our religion trip to Tenrikyou (NOT Shinto or Buddhist). A fairly unknown religion in Japan but I really like their attitudes and beliefs. We went to their central church (I don’t know what else to call it, it’s nothing like churches in England) where apparently the god Tenri created mankind, which is why when you go they say “welcome home”.

Here’s a good outline of what they believe which I stole from Wikipedia ^-^

~Tenrikyo (天理教 Tenrikyō) is a monotheistic religion originating in alleged revelations to a 19th-century Japanese woman named Nakayama Miki, known as Oyasama by followers. Followers of Tenrikyo believe that God, known by several names including Tenri-O-no-Mikoto, expressed divine will through Nakayama's role as the Shrine of God, and to a lesser extent the roles of the Honseki Izo Iburi and other leaders. Tenrikyo's worldly aim is to teach and promote the Joyous Life, which is cultivated through acts of charity and mindfulness called hinokishin.

The most basic teaching of Tenrikyo is kashimono-karimono, officially translated as "a thing lent, a thing borrowed". The thing that is lent and borrowed in this teaching is the human body. Tenrikyo followers think of their minds as something under their own control, but their bodies as a gift on loan from God.

The Joyous Life in Tenrikyo is defined as charity and abstention from greed, selfishness, hatred, anger and arrogance. Negative tendencies are not known as sins in Tenrikyo, but rather "dust" that can be swept away from the mind through hinokishin and ritual. Hinokishin, voluntary effort, is performed not out of a desire to appear selfless, but out of gratitude for kashimono-karimono.~

So they basically live to live a happy life. They don’t force people to join their religions or dislike others for believing something different because everyone has their own path. The building itself was HUGE! The center hall was over 3000 tatami mats large, and it wasn’t the only building there. It was also the cleanest building I have EVER seen. In order to clean away the “dusts” from your soul you’re encourage to do things like clean, so the following were cleaning every inch of the temple non-stop. It was amazing.

A few days after our field trip Aunty Nicky and Cousin Isaac came to visit! I met up with them in Osaka on my trip to Denden town with Gabe and Wes and I showed them Mandarake and we ate amazing Okonomiyaki. They did some more sight seeing while I was at school but I managed to meet up with them again. We went to Kyoto and did some sightseeing including a really nice performance of a collection of Japanese traditional performances like flower arranging, dancing, puppet theatre etc. We also went to the Kyoto Film Village where they film history dramas and show displays of the filming and acting. It included a 30min performance of the new Super Sentai which, although I’m not a fan of Super Sentai or Power Rangers, I have to say was pretty impressive. I videoed it for Leo and all those other fans out there. Hahaha.

After they went back to England the gang got together to go pay Aya a visit in Kobe! It was also the same day the second Gantz film was being released so we went nice and early to get tickets. The weather was piss poor but that didn’t stop us having a great time. We had the most amazing ramen I have ever tasted; walked through the largest collection of shopping malls I have ever seen; ate the most amazing purrin (pudding) ever; went to the Ghibli store; playing tag by the sea front and played around with a water fountain; went to China Town and ate really good steamed buns; then wandered over to the cinema. The film itself had its ups and downs, and there were parts I didn’t understand but really glad I saw it. Everyone was knackard by the end of the day and I think almost all of us fell asleep on the train. It was good ^______^

The final big event of April was going to see Takarazuka for the 3^rd time with Haaki, my speaking partner. I have to say it was the BEST Takarazuka I’d seen so far. I wasn’t expecting it to be any good but I really enjoyed the Brazilian themed Nova Bassa Nova, which is about 2 thieves and a young woman tourist during the carnival of Brazil. As ever the costumes and dances were amazing. I just couldn’t get over how they painted their skin to look Latino, how they actually looked Latino and how that would NEVER work in another country. The second half of the show was a hilarious fairy tale romantic comedy about a princess who’s father is trying to marry her off but she doesn’t trust men so she swaps with her servant, one of the princes also does the same for the same reasons and haijinx ensues. If I can I’d really like to get the DVD of it before I leave, but I have a feeling they won’t be releasing it anytime soon (sadface).

When I got back to Hirakata I wasn’t in a rush to get home and ended up taking my time on a slow train. By co-incidence Brad was also coming back and also hadn’t eaten. So I waited at Hirakata station listening to a busker singing waiting for him and then we went for some really tasty burgers and some drinks. It was awesome ^___^

Japan-land Love Story

I fail at keeping up to date on things like diaries. That’s why most of the time no one knows what’s happened to me by the end of the year. I will now stop boring you guys with “I went here on this day and it was nice” and instead give you the more interesting stuff (It also save me telling this story again again when I get back) ^_^

So, after Spring break there was sad times as the earthquake disaster had finally calmed down the final people left. Gilli and Katie went home (sadface), Brittany didn’t come back, but a few other managed to. So I lost my girls and the friend group shifted to Me, Gabe, Arial, Wesley, Alex, Alex, Nadezhda, Brad, Lilly, Chris and Elizabeth. Plus lot of other random loverly people who say a brief high and a hug when we meet in the corridors. And be ended up beginning going to the onsen every week (instead of karaoke like we did with Gilli and Katie).

So we had the onsen episodes and haijinx ensued. The first one started off at the arcade and DDR which is got thrashed at by Wesley and Brad and ended up making a complete idiot of myself because I couldn’t read the fast foot patterns ;;_;; not fair. But that was when I began to take even more notice of Wesley. I had noticed him before Spring break but the fact that he was awesome at DDR and everything else I liked was like…well let’s just say it’s rare to find an hilarious outgoing person who likes DDR, table top RPGs, is a pokemon otaku, likes computer games, anime and manga (shojo in particular), Japanese, comics, sci-fi, novels and is basically a walking Google.

And so it was me and Lily and Nadezhda in the onsen, and what else so girls do when they’re alone together but gossip? A week go by and the girls know I’m interested in Wesley but no one else. So I decide to set up a date…without him knowing (hahaha), and we arrange to go to Denden town in Osaka. Then after one onsen session Gabe decides to come along which was hilarious because Nadezha was like “No Gabe you REALLY want to change your plans don’t you?” But he thought she was hinting that she wanted him to go with her somewhere so he was adamant on not changing his plans. It wasn’t until at the end of the Denden town trip (which was awesome fun and it was actually nice having Gabe there) that he actually realised what was going on. Hahahaha, he was so embarrassed. So to make up for it I hired him as my spy…but Gabe isn’t exactly the subtlest of people ^^;;;

The following weeks had a lot more people going and Gabe ever so not subtly dropping the conversation in the boys bath about relationships and began to gather information. And it was (apparently) obvious that he had had a crush on me too. Everyone knew by this point what was going on. Afterwards we were all hanging out in the lobby drinking milk (you have to drink milk after going to the onsen in Japan) and Lily (who is even less subtle then Gabe) whips out pocky (chocolate sticks) and begins to encourage people to eat them with each other (ie Lady and the Tramp style where a person bites each end). I won’t say exactly what happened but it evolved Wesley getting very close, me chickening out and the Arial jumping in and finishing off where I’d left it. Everyone was very annoyed at the oblivious Arial. HAHAHAHAHA! It was HILLARIOUS!

The following week Elizabeth and Gabe were even less subtle and ended up kicking Wesley and I out into the rain saying “You guys have something you need to talk about” and so he asked me out. Since then not much has changed really. We still hang out with friends, talk about random nerdy stuffs, watch films and anime and just have a laugh. It’s just that now we don’t have to feel awkward infront of each other. It’s nice.

*Note: The title of this is from the J-Drama Tokyo Love Story which is pretty famous in Japan but I didn’t think it was a very good drama*

March Spring Break

The shock of the Earthquake was quickly covered over with the sudden arrival of Spring Break and my Dad coming for 10days for touristy Japan fun times. I’ll make this as brief as possible because I want to catch up on what’s happening now:

So Dad arrived in Osaka and unfortunately had to wait 2 hours because I didn’t leave on time and then underestimated the train ride from Hirakata to the International Airport -_- But I managed to get him and we took the loooooong trip to Kyoto and from there on a bus to the north of Kyoto, just outside the city, to our ryokan. (Yes I took advantage of the fact that dad was paying to stay in a ryokan, but I also did it so dad and I could experience more Japanese culture). I have to say though, the place was reeeeaaaally nice! The family who ran it were really nice and the food wasniiiiiiiiiiiiiice ^^ That’s the best way I can explain it ^^;; (Although the weather was chilly for the whole week).

Our first big touristy trip was to the Golden and Silver pavilion, and it started to rain in the evening! When we were at the Golden temple I got dad a goshuin, a temple signature. (Also got myself one but I’d forgotten my book so had to get it on paper). He was really please with it (I hope) because I knew he likes calligraphy (they’re painted by professionals) and the moment before he was eyeing up a 90,000yen calligraphy picture. These are more personal I think.

Later in the evening my friends were having a last minuet bowling trip for Aya before she left (I’d missed her graduation the day before getting dad :( ). So had to leave dad to recover from jet lag while I went bowling, but I had a cold and got a terrible fever half way through. It was funny though. Didn’t get back til very late and fell asleep almost straight away.

The following day was going to be a HUGE cosplay march in Nipponbashi in Osaka, but it got cancelled which was a good thing coz it made stuff less complicated and I could go with dad and people to Toji market, the giant flee market. And then we all went to Fushimi Inari. Coz it’s my favourite place and I had to show dad. Only problems were it was raining, I was sick and dad had jet lag. Hahahaha. But all in all it was good.

Then it was another early day for NARA! Home of the Daibutsu (Giant Buddha) and dear! When we arrived we found out the city offers free guides in English, as in a volunteer not a recording. We met a nice woman (whom I forgot the name of) and she showed us around the temples and took us to see the Buddha. She was really nice and bubbly, helped me with my Japanese and told us some really interesting stuff about Nara. Although I don’t think she realised that she sometimes spoke to dad in Japanese ^^;;;

The following dad we went to two really famous temples I can’t remember the name of them...oh and Nijo castle ^_^

Then we were off to Hiroshima! We went to the castle, and wandered through the city to see the memorial park and peace museum. It was really…the city is gorgeous, and the park too. The museum was really…informative. I’ve never seen anything in quite so graphic detail, and I hear the other nuclear museum in the south is even more graphic! The evening was sooo good with a really nice crab meal (the most expensive I’ve ever had in Japan!). At first I was terrified that I couldn’t read anything on the menu, but it worked out fine in the end ^_^

The following day we went to Miyajima, an island just off the coast of Hiroshima which is basically a huge mountain (which we climbed first) covered in little temples. It’s particularly famous for a tori which is on the sea that looks like it’s floating. That temple even had a traditional Shinto wedding! I was too embarrassed to take photos though. Also it wasn’t the best day for a wedding (the weather was a tad chilly and grey again). Then we got the shinkansen back.

Because we were both sooo tired we took the following day slowly with a late start and a short trip to Arashiyama. And the next day we went to Kyomizudera in the morning. (kyomizudera was the place in Kyoto I went to the first time I arrived in Japan). We walked through a really pretty and old style of Kyoto and ran into volunteer guides again at the temple! Three boys who were quite funny. Apparently people believe that if you jump off the platform of Kyomizudera you can go to heaven (survival rate is 80%). Then in the afternoon Dad went to Tokyo! Yeah, all the way up to Tokyo. He got the shinkansen up and met a friend of his who has been living in Japan teaching martial arts for goodness knows how long, and English in Waseda university! I went karaoking with friends again as a last one for Katie who were leaving the following day (waaah I’m gonna miss her and Gilli’s version of Acid Black Cherry!).

After Dad got back from Tokyo we had a really nice meal at the ryokan. The couple who run it, I said are really nice and the food is amazing. The next day they gave us presents and I had a rather awkward picture with them. Hahahaha ^^;; The spring break was good, it was a nice break although I began to stress about the work I hasn’t done as soon as it was over. It was really nice seeing dad and hanging out with him for the week. Exhausting though!

The Earthquake in Japan –Osaka Point of View

A few months have passed since the Earthquake and a LOT has happened because of it. It didn’t impact us much in Osaka in terms of damage but it has had a huge impact on the whole of Japan’s society, and I suppose you could say the Uni’s society too.

The week after it happened, the week after I wrote that last blog on the 14^th it wasn’t just Italians who left. Every single day more and more people were getting messages that they were being pulled out of the program. First the Italians, and then the French and then most of the Europeans before the Americans started to go too. The thing was that although we had the news all the time here covering the earthquake and as the missing and death toll rose and rose, the thing we were all afraid of was getting that email from our universities telling us we were being pulled out. After the power plant happened the number of Americans who got dragged away was stupidly high. And when I say dragged, I mean dragged. Students were getting blackmailed by their unis to go home. They’d cut their funding, cut their support, take away their insurance etc. It was stupid.

I did get an e-mail from The Uni of Kent saying that if I did want to go back the insurance company would pay etc. But I turned them down, explaining why and begging them not to cancel their program. Thank goodness they have a head on their shoulders and were actually listening to us and why we wanted to stay (unlike a lot of American unis). I get the feeling that they told us that just as a precaution so that if anything did happen they could say that they gave us the option. I think the reasons people weren’t listening to the students out here was because of pressure from insurance companies or from families. Actually one friend of mine, her family were fine with her staying but her uni called her up everyday saying “when is she coming back, it’s not safe etc” and harassing her family and making them paranoid until she did go back.

The most frustrating thing was that our area was safe. It is hundreds and hundreds of miles from the disaster, even if the power plants had gone into melt down, it wouldn’t have been enough to impact us here. But people in foreign countries were seeing just the really bad news and spinning it in a way that made it looked like it was the end of the world, just to sell the news. Even the BBC were making it out to be worse then it was. I’m not saying it was terrible, it really really was a horrible disaster, but the Japanese news was focused on keeping people calm while informing them of what was going on. The Japanese news was great, just like all Japanese news and TV, it’s a very optimistic media in comparison to America and Europe.

Then the end of the week came and I was studying in the library for something and I get a message saying Brittany was going home. She had only found out that morning after telling her parents the situation, and they were so worried her mum booked her a flight on the same day. So she got her things packed and came to uni telling me she was leaving. She said it was a temporary leave but I think in our hearts we knew that wasn’t likely, especially because she didn’t even know when she was coming back, “hopefully before midterms” she said. I tried not to be sad, at least not infront of her, but after she left…

Brittany really did grow to be my bestest, best friend out here. Spring break was after that, and then midterms. I kept messaging her and things weren’t clear until a few weeks later, 3 weeks after she’d gone she said she wasn’t coming back. The problem was the nuclear plant, if that was still in the red her family wasn’t going to let her come back.

I just think it’s frustrating how ignorant people abroad can be, and how much the news blows things out of proportion, I’m never trusting the news ever again.

Since the incident life in Japan has been pretty normal and Japan has been quickly picking itself up. The news here went from “bad” to “things are looking better”. It began to show people and their stories of what happened to them and their families, to people being evacuated to schools, to the slow implication of necessary foods and water. The news began to cover a lot more good things about people after the incident who were picking up their lives. It’s not only the news who is staying optimistic though. It’s nice to see that everywhere I go I see Japanese people in groups with boxes for collecting donations for the earthquake victims and people always give them money. I was in Toyosato the other day for the K-On school again and there was a poster of the K-On girls with “Pray for Japan” t-shirts on. Even anime is supporting the earthquake victims.

A month or so has passed since then and things have gone back to normal. News doesn’t cover what’s been going on much anymore and people aren’t being dragged home, a few even came back! People are still collecting donations, I don’t think that’ll stop for a long time. And apart from missing a lot of my friends who were unexpectedly taken away, things are pretty much just as they always have been.