Fushimi Inari Shrine Adventure

So I'm way way behind on blogging for those who follow this thing... Right now I want to talk about my lovely day at Fushimi Inari Shrine! Fushimi Inari is a super famous shrine in Kyoto dedicated to the "Inari" kami, whose servants are foxes.

Lots of fox guardians!

The shrine is at the base of a mountain, and as you climb the mountain you will pass through hundreds of red "torii" gates. Each of the torii is donated by a local business or shrine to try to gain Inari's favor. I went together with some of the other exchange students - Nia, Daniel, McKayley, and the two Christines.

Daniel is ready for adventure time!

We first had to take a bus to Kyoto Station which takes a good 30-40 minutes. Then there is a subway that stops right in front of the shrine, but of course all the route info was in Japanese and we couldn't find the stop on the map. We were about to take a bus, but some friendly old Japanese tour guide told us how to take the subway, which was great because the bus apparently is super slow and the subway only took a few minutes. So we arrived and explored the main shrine. The main shrine itself is beautiful even though the shrine is more famous for the torii gates surrounding it.

What a beautiful day! And the leaves are just starting to turn!

Peace cranes at the shrine.

Mini torii gates! I think you write your wish on them and then hang it up at the shrine.

After walking around the main shrine, we set off on the main trail of torii gates up the mountain. We took several detours to explore the sites though! There are many different hiking trails other than the main trail with the gates, and the surrounding forest is very beautiful and peaceful even though it's such a  popular tourist destination (the torii gates were even in the movie for Memoirs of a Geisha). Along the way there are tea shops, some of which had great views of the mountain. We stopped for snacks and drinks a couple of times but not for a sit down tea because they were a bit expensive. 

One of the little teahouses!

When we reached a stopping point maybe 1/3 of the way up, the two Christines decided to turn back because they had plans for the rest of the day. But we were determined to get to the top! I have to say the top was a bit anti-climatic though haha. But as we walked through the gates up the mountain, there were tons of smaller shrines, family altars, and cemeteries.

At one of the shrines along the path, you could draw a face on these foxes and write your wish and then hang it up!

The donor's name is painting on a newly donated gate.

The sight of torii gates was unavoidable... I think these were family altars/graves near the top of the mountain.

The famous view of seemingly endless torii gates! It was beautiful with the sunlight peaking through.

The entire mountain was beautiful and had a very mystical, spiritual feeling. It was worth it to do the whole path, and we all want to go back in the future and explore more of the side paths along the mountain. It was such a nice day with nice weather and good friends. Only downside - I was attacked by mosquitos! I was so covered with bites that I had to take Benadryl because I couldn't sleep because of the itching. Now that its a  few weeks later though, mosquito season is pretty much over I think.

Shiatsu Massage

After the party Friday night, I was super excited for my Shiatsu massage the next day! Earlier in the week, I twisted my shoulder while sleeping, and my neck and shoulders and back were really tense. So I looked online for a place to get a massage in Kyoto. Some of them seemed sketchy (like maybe not just massages? haha) and most had only Japanese websites. One that was reccomended on a forum was Asahido Massage Clinic in downtown Kyoto. They had a page in English with the basic info and a map, so I made an appointment (in Japanese like a bamf), copied down the info, and headed down there. I was running late though, because we went to school to try to turn in our Co-Op forms (that didn't happen though haha). Anyway, I sort of almost made it but the bus I got on didn't go all the way to where I needed to go, so I had to transfer to a subway but I got on the wrong subway... but eventually I made it to the right station downtown.

Then I had my little map copied from the website, but it wasn't very helpful because most of the streets weren't shown. I wandered a lot and asked around, but finally I found it on a quiet side street. It's in a nice Japanese style building remodeled from an inn. I was really worried about being late, but the owner didn't seem too busy and wasn't upset at all. We talked a little (in English!) and then I went in to the massage room. Unlike Western oil massages, it isn't done nude. I had little pajamas to change into and I didn't take them off. Which was good, because my massage therapist was male! That was a first haha. I was pretty surprised. And he was handsome! *doki doki* He was wearing a very doctor-ish uniform and he spoke a little English. He asked me to lie on my back right away and then he started.

At first it mostly felt like him pushing certain pressure points. He felt from my spine outwards with a little rubbing, then he would find the pressure point and start pushing on it. Some were a lot more tender than I expected, like around my hips. Sometimes he would push on one spot with a few fingers, and kind of hold his other hand on another part like a counter-pressure. I also changed positions and he stretched my arms or legs. And it wasn't just me using my whole body - he used his legs and feet to stretch me too. (I couldn't help thinking how well groomed they must be in this profession lol. He was super clean and didn't smell like anything at all).

This was me. Lol.

I turned on my sides and put one arm behind my back and he did more pressure-point massage from there. It all felt really good, except that my neck was so tense that it hurt to lay with my head on one side. But after the massage, I could turn my neck all the way without it hurting! I felt more energetic and way less tense in my back.

 They had a little tea room to relax in afterwards. You won't be as sore after a shiatsu massage as a regular massage, but you still need to drink a lot.

Cute little tea room

I thought the shiatsu massage was really interesting, because it involves very different techniques based on Chinese acupressure and there is more manipulation of the body. Overall, I thought it is a little more clinical than a spa massage and the massaging is not really rubbing but mostly pressure. But, it was totally more effective than a regular oil massage. I felt like my whole body was realigned and energized. I have a lot of respect for traditional Eastern medicine techniques. They have really been studied and used for a long time and they can be really effective. Sometimes it's good to try something different for your body. Anyway, I got a membership card so I will get a discount from now on. Yay! I tried to take some pictures of the inside as I was leaving, but the owner was doing deep formal bows so it was too awkward lol. I'll take pictures next time! I had a really good experience and I'll definitely try to go back.

Orientation Week~

I got a bit behind on blogging, sorry! Last week was all orientation all the time, from Tuesday to Friday. I started every day at 9 or 10 and then we finished at 5 pm or later. Then I had to figure out dinner and whatnot so I haven't really had the time/energy to blog. But although it was a tiring week, it was pretty successful! I talked a bit about the listening and written test and the welcome dinner on Tuesday already. On Wednesday we had our interviews. I wasn't that stressed out because I am used to speaking Japanese, but the questions were really hard. Apparently they were based somewhat on the essay you wrote, so not everyone had such hard questions. I was a bit bummed out afterwards because I hadn't been able to answer everything well.

Then we had lots of paperwork to do, a lecture on bicycle and general safety, a library tour, and an introduction to the University Co-Op. I guess for the Co-Op you pay a fee to join, then you can get some general services and earn points on Co-Op purchases to get money back. Since you get the fee back anyway when you leave, there's no reason not to join really. I just need to figure out the paperwork this week. Finally, students receiving a scholarship from Ritsumeikan had to attend an extra session basically about how to get the scholarship money. We had to open up a bank account at the Japan Post Bank so the money can be deposited there.

Thursday morning I had to go to the Ward Office to get my alien registration and enroll in the national health care. Lots of paperwork and waiting. We also had a crime and safety seminar, disaster preparedness session complete with earthquake simulator, and a campus tour.  On Friday, a couple buddies took us to the bank and helped us get our accounts. Japanese bureaucracy can be pretty frustrated but now I have my account. 

 Then we had a health center session and a club activities session. I really want to join a club to make Japanese friends. But in Japan some clubs are super serious, and they won't let in members who are beginners or who can't commit for four years. Other clubs or "circles" are a lot more relaxed though. But most of the club information is in Japanese so it's pretty challenging. It seems they have a fencing club though! I'd like to do fencing or maybe Aikido, or a movie club or something. I'll definitely have to look into it more this week. 

Finally, we got our Japanese class placement. I was disappointed because I was placed in level C. The levels go from F to A. But USF told me that I could not get credit for level C because it would be a repeated level. I don't really think that's true (that the content is all a repeat of stuff I've already learned) so now I have to argue with them to make sure I can get the credits and keep my scholarships. I was also placed into the lower C level, which means we will go more slowly (yay) but not cover as much content, which might make it hard for me to move up to B level next semester... We also got our traditional arts courses placement, and I was happy that I got into Ceramics (the only one I applied for). It's off campus on Saturdays, which is a bit inconvenient but also maybe a bit more relaxed and fun. I'm figuring out all my classes now. I have a lot of good options. The weird thing about classes in Japan is that the registration deadline is later than when the classes start. You also can't add classes after the registration period, only drop them, so I may start with 18 credits or so and then drop whichever one I don't like.

I have met some really cool people that I think I will become good friends. I also met a lot of awesome Japanese students who were our SKP buddies. They even took us out to a nomihoudai (all you can drink) party on Friday night! It was pretty crazy lol. There were huge pitchers of beer at the tables and then you could also order specific drinks from the bar. Some people were definitely past their limit haha. After the event we went down to the riverbank where there were some street performers. It was some kind of festival that night so the atmosphere was nice. But I was a bit stressed about making it home before the last bus and making sure everyone else got home safe too. It was a good bonding experience though! I feel like so far it's been easy to meet people and make friends. We are all kind of going through the same experiences and feelings right now, and we need a lot of help from each other. And so although it's only been two weeks, my new life is starting to feel pretty natural. Next week school starts, so that will be a whole new thing though!

Orientation Day 1!

SKP Orientation started today at 9 in the morning. I got up at 7:30 and showered. I even had time to eat breakfast. Lol. Then Chirstine, Sindre, and I walked to the school together. But it was super rainy! I didn't have an umbrella so Christine was sharing with me but I think we were both kind of getting wet haha. Luckily it's a pretty short walk to school from the apartment, probably 15 minutes? We were early, yay! And Sindre knew where we were going, yay! Then we sat around anxiously waiting for the test~ Finally we started with a 40 minute listening section. It was pretty stressful because the dialogue was only played once so it was easy to miss information. I also didn't know the vocabulary of some of the harder questions. I think I did reasonably well though. Then we had a short break, and then the written part. I was most stressed about this, but I think it probably went okay?? There were three sections with progressively harder questions. I felt like I did well on sections 1 and 2 but once I got to the third section (page 9/13) I really couldn't answer any of them. Some people guessed and put down answers for all of them but I didn't really see the point. Anyway, glad it's over with! Then we had a lunch break! Except none of us had campus maps or knew where the cafeterias were (I felt like this could have been better planned...) We found one cafeteria but it was closed, and eventually we made it to the on-campus subway. Lol. I had a teriyaki chicken sandwich which was reasonably good although the chicken had a weird texture like over-processed meat. After that, we had our first orientation session where we went over the schedule for the next days and general boring info. The introduction to life in Kyoto was decent though. Next we had an apartment living session and then we were allowed to go home before the "welcome dinner."

Christine and I relaxed a bit then went to the Lawson 100 yen store. I got a couple frozen things for emergency meals, apple juice, salt + sugar, and "peanut cream." I hoped the peanut cream would be like peanut butter except maybe creamier, but it has a really weird texture more like caramel sauce lol. Maybe too sweet. Then, I wasn't paying attention to the time and we were late to the dinner! Of course then we got lost trying to find the building. We made it though, but the food was mostly gone! It was kind of snack food anyway, and people were standing and eating with little plates so I would not call it "dinner" haha. It was a bit awkward trying to meet people... Some people have distinct groups already based on their apartments or dorms and then there were some people who seemed like they didn't know anyone. I think I was probably a bit overly boisterous for some of the Japanese people lol. But I got compliments on my Japanese which raised my confidence for tomorrow's interview~ We definitely freaked out one of the buddies... We were kind of curious about him and a couple girls thought he was cute but he kept disappearing so we decided to hunt him down lol. Ayame introduced us awkwardly and then I awkwardly asked him a couple questions in Japanese and he answered briefly and then we took an awkward photo lol. His face in the photo is like "WTF..." But actually I think he's probably shy! But he definitely thinks I am pretty weird now lol. Oh well. It's hard trying to meet people just randomly introducing yourselves! (Said awkward photo can be found on facebook). Then we got kicked out around 8 and headed home. A couple peeps from the other building wanted to get some food and I decided I was hungry too so we went on a search. But after 8, almost everything was closed! Eventually we gave up and microwaved some food in my apartment. Everyone was tired so they headed home soon after that. I have another early day tomorrow, so I need to sleep too!

New friends!

My Apartment!

Today I did more shopping for my apartment with Christine. We went back to the area with some recycled home goods stores. I bought a stand-up mirror for my table, a dish rack, and some other home stuff. Then we came back to the apartment and after I ate lunch we went out shopping again. Haha. Lot's of shopping to get the apartment ready. We went downtown to Shijo Kawaramachi area, looking for 100 yen shops and for a school bag for me. We found two different Daiso 100 yen shops, and I got a lot of stuff for my apartment - utensils, sponges, more school supplies, a laundry basket... I didn't find a school bag yet though :( Then we got dinner! It was a place called Suzeriya or something... It had pasta and Western style food. I had minestrone soup, salad, and spicy (ish) red sauce pasta. It was yummy and super filling and pretty cheap! I'll definitely go back if I see one again. The soft drinks are free also. The deserts looked so yummy but I was super stuffed!

Anyway, here's the room as of this morning, aka before I bought more stuff and messed it up again.

My bed! It's quite big actually! Maybe a Japanese "full" size or so. The sheet I bought was the biggest I could find and luckily it was the right one. (But even though it said sheet "set" it was only the fitted sheet... lol). I like my fluffy pillow and pink pillowcase. It has roses on it. Hehe. Behind the bed is kind of an awkward space so I'm just storing my luggage and laundry back there. 

This is my tiny little balcony! I guess it's for hanging clothes to dry or for smoking... It's hard to access though because the bed is only a few inches from the glass doors. 

My  living room area! A nice big window and a table with two chairs. But if you look out the window ...

There is a cemetery! It doesn't really bother me though; there are lots of cemetery's in Kyoto - there is even one on Ritsumeikan's campus.

In the hallway area there is the fridge and microwave, another window, and the closet. Also, this ghetto lamp which is hung from the window. Lol. I am hanging my laundry drying thingie there too. 

Inside my closet... I'm still trying to figure out how to organize my clothes. Right now I have socks and tights/leggings in the basket and my other clothes hanging, but I need some racks or drawers to put pants, pajamas, etc... 

The "kitchen"! There is a single gas burner and sink and that's pretty much it. No oven or toaster. I still need to get cooking stuff so I haven't used the burner at all yet. It's not fancy but it works. The hot water is on-demand from the water heater on the right. 

The bathroom! There is not much wiggle room in here! There is a tiny little medicine cabinet and that space under the sink where the toilet paper is, but other than that there is no real storage room. The lighting also isn't great - it's pretty dark and yellowish. That's why I got the mirror for my table - which has great natural light from all the windows. Still, I'm happy to have my own private bathroom and shower. Overall I'm happy with the apartment itself as well as the convenience of the location. I'm starting to get it more decorated and organized. I really want it to be nice (and clean...) because this will be my home for a year! 

But right now, I need to study for my Japanese placement test! Ahh! Tomorrow is the first day of orientation, so I'll be pretty busy from now on! I'm Nervous and excited about meeting new people and starting classes. I'll be happy to have the placement test over with very soon.Later then!

Shopping around Kyoto~

This morning I was supposed to meet my neighbor Christine to go to a nearby department store for some apartment shopping. But we both overslept a little so we met close to 12 instead of 11 haha. It's not a very far walk but as usual it was hot and humid! Everything in the home goods section was so confusing... I realized I didn't know what size my bed was (for buying sheets). It's pretty big though, so I bought the biggest sheet I could find. Lol. And I almost accidentally bought a futon cover instead of a mattress sheet. The pillows were a bit easier because I could choose the pillow then just pick the matching cover size. I'm going with my landlord's theme of pink and light green lol. Then I bought two hair/hand towels, one face towel, and one body towel. I also bought one glass and one plate. I felt like things were a little overpriced, but maybe that's just how much things cost in Japan... Oh, I also bought an electric kettle! This is very important because now I can make tea! And instant noodles! Lol. There are still a bunch of things I need though - I haven't bought a trash can, cooking supplies like pots and pans, some kind of drawers to organize my clothes and basics like toilet paper and paper towels. Lol. I figured I need to do more than one trip because that was about the maximum I could carry home. I didn't buy a blanket though! It was too confusing. Some things that I thought were blankets turned out to be mattress covers, and a lot of the blankets were too thick/warm for the weather right now. Most of them were also for smaller beds. So I'll have to try again later for that. Still, my apartment is looking much better and homier already!

Christine bought a cell phone from SoftBank. As I expected, it was much cheaper at the store than the airport - about half the price!!! But at the airport they set it up for me in English, enrolled me in the unlimited messaging plan, helped me get a mail address etc... so it was kind of worth it. Then, we were meeting some SKP peeps at the big Kyoto Station to go shopping downtown with one of the SKP buddies (a Japanese student who helps the international students). We had to really rush because we were meeting them at 3 and it takes about 40 minutes to get to Kyoto Station from our apartment building. We caught the bus (the right one thankfully) and got there just at three. But for once it wasn't me who got lost! The other two girls and the SKP buddy got on the wrong bus or something and were running really late. Lol. Luckily we were able to communicate through texting so Christine and I went into the station, got a bus map of Kyoto, then sat down at the Mister Donut and had a snack break. Finally we met around 4:15 and headed off! We went to electronics store and the two girls bought electronic dictionaries. They looked really cool and useful, but I couldn't really justify it since I have the dictionary app Kotoba on my iPhone which works reasonably well.

Then we *tried* to go to the main downtown shopping area, Shijo Kawaramachi. But we got on the bus going the wrong direction! We got off and got on the right bus, but it went back to Kyoto Station first and we ended up stuck in a line of buses for more than half an hour. So it was late-ish by the time we finally got to Shijo. We were all hungry too! But first we took purikura. I'm still so bad at it. I asked Ayame (the buddy) for her tips but she said she didn't have any... But she looks good in every picture and I look weird! Lol. Some I wasn't looking, some half my face was cut off... lol.

This time I'm not the one cut off... lol

Then we ate dinner at a weird tofu specialty restaurant.... I had a tofu "hamburger" (no buns) with sides of fried tofu, soft tofu (weird + gross), miso soup with tofu, rice and salad. Tofu, tofu, tofu, and more tofu. Lol. The tofu hamburger patty was good, the rest was questionable for me lol. After that we went to a store called Loft and we got some school supplies. We were exhausted by then and it was almost 9 so we took the bus home. It's actually only about 30 minutes to Shijo if I go directly from the apartment, so I'll definitely go back soon. The shopping right near my apartment is adequate but not great. Anyway, I cleaned up my room and unpacked some more so I can take some pictures tomorrow! (I want to take some pictures from the windows too so I'm waiting for daylight). That's all for today I think! The promised apartment pics will be up tomorrow!

Placement test in two more days... X_x

To Kyoto!!!

So I haven't posted in 2 or 3 days because I've been busy/stressed/tired/out having fun. Haha. But I want to catch up a little. I arrived in Kyoto yesterday! It feels like a much longer time than that already... The morning I left for Kyoto did NOT go as smoothly as planned. I needed to be at Ritsumeikan at 9:30 to meet with the International Center staff and sign my apartment contract.  I wanted to leave at 8, which I thought would be enough time to get to Kyoto if I took the shinkansen (bullet train).  I had to stuff all my luandry back into the suitcase and finish cleaning the room... Then one by one I brought my luggage down to the first floor. The house has super narrow and steep steps and my luggage was heavy so that was not fun. But I made it. I only left a little late (1o minutes) but I skipped breakfast... Even just getting to the nearby train station was exhausting. My luggage seemed even heavier than it was before and it was so hot and humid. By the time I made it onto the local train, I was feeling lightheaded and woozy. There weren't any seats so I had to stand. I also didn't realize that it would take 20 minutes just to get to the bigger station in Osaka, and then I had to transfer for one step to get to Shin-Osaka where I could take the Shinkansen. I thought I could go from the local train station to Shin-Osaka to Kyoto so there was another step in between... And it just took longer to find the right platform/train/buy the tickets than I expected. At the Osaka station, I couldn't find an elevator and I saw the train at the platform, so I dragged my 50 lb suitcase up the stairs one by one. Luckily, when I got on the train Shin-Osaka, there was an American couple standing next to me. We struck up a conversation and they were super helpful. The husband helped me get my luggage and buy the shinkansen ticket. By then it was already 9:15 though so I knew I was screwed. I got on the Shinkansen (after almost getting on the wrong one...) and I was in the reserved car even though I didn't have a reserved seat ticket. It was only one stop and the unreserved seats where 6-7 LONG cars away... but I was caught haha. So I pathetically dragged my luggage down car after car, bumping into Japanese old ladies' arms. I got to the station around 9:40 and thus already late... I was so stressed. I found a taxi as soon as possible. The driver was a tiny middle aged Japanese lady. I was sort of waiting for her to put the luggage in, but that wasn't happening. Normally I would be sympathetic but I was so tired and stressed out by then. Haha. So threw the luggage in the trunk and off we went. I didn't feel well still and I sort of rested my head and slept for a few minutes.

I probably arrived around 10:15 at the back(?) of the school. Late late late! I had NO idea where the international center was. I asked a random Japanese girl, and she asked her friends, and this SUPER nice guy looked it up on his phone and walked me there. I saw the cars waiting there and I was like oh crap, they're waiting for me... but at least they are still here... Went in to the building (still with all my luggage!) and one of the international center directors found me and I went into a little meeting room. Luckily the international center directors were nice (and really young?) so I was able to relax a little. I signed some paper work, then we got in the cars to go to the rental agency. I was still freaking out though, because I didn't have all the money yet. I told them I needed to go to the ATM, so after signing everything, I went to 7-11 with one of the directors. Tried to take the whole 70,000 yen out. No luck. Tried 50,000 yen. Rejected. Crappp. The limit I guess applied for 24 hours or something so I had to wait another day. I paid what I had, keeping only about $70 for myself. We drove to the apartment and I moved in!!

I was soo happy when I saw my room. It's a one-room apartment but I got the corner room so I have a hallway instead of just one solid space. I have two windows, and a (tiny) balcony with glass doors. So there is a lot of natural light which is really good for you. The appliances were turned on already, so I had gas and water. Basically, when you go in the door, the (tiny) bathroom is on the left, in front is the kitchenette, and to the right is the hallway with the closet, fridge, and microwave. Then in the bigger area I have a table with two chairs and a (big) bed. The colors are light green and pink for some reason. Lol. I've decided to try and stick with that color scheme. I was pretty exhausted and starving by then. It was about 2pm and I hadn't eaten yet. As I came back up to my room, I met one of my neighbors! He's from Norway and he has already been here for a year so he knew what was going on. Hurray!!! He was SOO helpful. He showed me his room, lent me his old Japanese text books, and gave me an extra LAN cable to connect to the internet. We talked for quite a bit but my stomach was growling so I had to escape to get some food. But first I wanted to Skype my mom and Ron and let them know that things were going well. Mom suggested that I take Norway guy (Sindre) to lunch to say thanks. We were both super hungry but all of sudden there was a thunderstorm!!! It was still raining, so we decided to order a pizza! Haha. There are Domino's in Japan although of course the pizza is kind of different lol. We ordered online (well he ordered) and it came to the door! Very convenient, except it's pretty expensive. It was about 2600 yen for the two of us, which is about $30. Their "mediums" are pretty much personal size pizzas lol. I had half then and half later for dinner. Yep haha. That was all I ate yesterday...

I napped a little and then I was invited to go to karaoke with some of the neighbors and other SKP students. We met the other SKP students at one of the other houses. Nobody really knew where we were going though lol. We didn't find an izakaya (bar) so we did karaoke. It ended up being really complicated though. You pay for a certain number of hours of karaoke - 1 or 3 hours, and then a "drink" plan. The soft drink only plan was the cheapest, but most people wanted to drink alcohol so we did the midrange plan. It's "all-you-can-drink" within that period but it took us so long to figure out how to read the menu, order stuff, wait for the orders, then repeat so nobody had more than 4 drinks (which is probably for the best anyway). I had two Kahlua milks and some kind of fizzy lemon thing. Lol. Karaoke was fun!!! I'm SOOO bad but it was fun to sing anyway, and even more fun to be the audience!! Some people were actually really good at singing/performing. I sang a few songs too so I'm proud of myself! We did a duet of Mika Nakashima's Glamorous Sky (Japanese), then I did I for You by Luna Sea by Luna Sea(but I couldn't remember how it went at all!) Then I helped sing Anarchy in the U.K. which did not work for my voice lol (not that anything does). And finally What's Up by 4-Non-Blondes. That was too hard for me to sing also, but fun! It was stressful figuring out how to do everything in Japanese but it all worked out pretty well. Finally around midnight we left. Some people had gotten food, but it was too complicated to separate the bill so we just split it equally. I put in 3,000 yen which was more than the exact split and there went the rest of my money.

Today I had to go and pay the rest of the apartment fee, so I went to the post office and withdrew 75,000 yen which was what I calculated to be the maximum I could withdraw. 73,800 yen of that went to paying the rest of the apartment fees. So I had maybe 1500 yen left. Enough for the day, but definitely not enough to get stuff for my apartment which I really need to do. It was about a mile walk to the rental agency, and a mile back. Then, I went on a 100 yen store adventure with two neighbors. However, the place ended up being REALLY far. At least a mile and a half each way. Although I didn't have much money, I did get some bathroom soap, hangers, a mug, bowl, cookies, and forks (735 yen!). Then we walked the LONGGG way back. Oh and I hadn't had time to get food yet so I was starving lol. When we got home, I cooled down, then went to the 100 yen Lawson store. This one is just a convenience store with mostly food. I got a pasta thing for lunch, a pack of frozen chicken nuggets, pack of frozen flavored rice, half a loaf of bread (on sale because it's near the expiration date), and jam. That was... 585 yen. I had bought two drinks as well while I was out because I was so hot so I was literally broke again (I have 133 yen...). But, my pasta lunch was good and filling! Then my cute Indonesian neighbor Christine surprised me by coming over with some dinner! My hero! So I survived the day well despite not having much money lol. Tomorrow I can take out more and do some real shopping for my apartment. I don't even have a pillow, sheets, or towels right now so it's pretty urgent haha. Christine is coming with me to a home store nearby tomorrow, then an SKP group is going downtown to shop. I don't know if I'll really shop there but it will be fun anyway. I feel much more careful about my money now... lol. But now I know how to survive cheaply lol. And it's even cheaper if I can do some basic cooking so I'm going to try haha. Sorry for the long/boring entry and thanks to anyone who read it!

Last Day in Osaka - Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine

On my last day in Osaka (2 days ago) I woke up kind of late (10 or 11?) and got ready. I still wanted to see Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine, so I went to the subway station, then to the big Tennoji station, where I bought some sandwiches from a bakery then took a special tram thing to the shrine. But you're not supposed to eat on the trains and I couldn't really find a bench to sit down at, so I just carried the sandwiches around even though I was hungry lol. Sumiyoshi Taisha is an important Shinto shrine that was founded in 211. The shrine is even referred to in Japan's earliest texts, "Nihon Shoki" (the Chronicles of Japan), "Kojiki" (Ancient Chronicles) and "The Tale of Genji." It's a very beautiful shrinewith completely authentic Japanese-style architecture, not influenced by mainland Asia. This style is called Sumiyoshi-zukuri, and it "is characterized by straight roofs (as opposed to the curved roofs commonly built in later centuries) which are decorated by two sets of forked finials (chigi) and five horizontal billets (katsuogi)" (Japan Guide).   

 The main three kami enshrined there are protectors of travelers, fishermen and sailors at sea. Before you enter the shrine, you have to wash your hands and mouth to cleanse them before approaching the gods.

Use the ladles to wash your hands and mouth.

There is also a beautiful bridge called the Soribashi that you have to cross to get to the main part of the shrine. When you cross the bridge, your sins are cleansed so you can approach the gods. It's said to be so steep "because it was likened to a rainbow since it connected the terrestrial world of humans and the celestial world of gods" (Osaka-Info). 

There are four main halls where one could give money and then shake a bell to wake the kami. Then you bow twice, clap twice, and bow again to honor the kami. This was the first time I saw people praying very intently at a Japanese shrine. Often people toss coins and clap, but don't stay and pray for very long. But here, people stayed for several minutes praying. I also saw people going to each hall separately to donate coins and pray. I'm not really sure why this was, except that the shrine wasn't very busy so people could take their time. 

You shake the rope thing to ring the bell and wake the kami

After I walked all around the shrine and prayed a little, I went to buy a charm from the priestesses. The priestesses' clothes and headdresses are always so beautiful but it didn't seem appropriate to ask for a picture so I didn't take any. But I bought a charm for help with studies! I hope it will help me do well on my placement test! After that, I went to take pictures of the bridge. I saw a cat lying in wait for a bunch of pigeons. I snuck up to take a picture of the cat. Right after, he tried to pounce on the pigeons but they got surprised and flew away. haha. He seemed annoyed with me.

Waiting...

I got some nice pictures of the bridge as I left.

Then I took the tram thing back to the guesthouse. Noco and Gandhi were there cleaning up the guesthouse! They invited me to go to dinner and of course I said yes. We walked through some sketchy area to a nabe place. This is how it looked before I cooked it. Soo good. But the meat was too fatty :/ They took such good care of me again. They asked me to pay for the room but they  were insistent that I only pay for the 2 days that I didn't work at the bar. I wanted to pay them the full amount but I was also stressed about money. It's kind of a long story but basically there was a limit on my ATM withdrawals which I didn't know about and I needed to pay a lot of money to move into my apartment... Sigh. I can only take out $500 worth of cash from an ATM per day because of a limit by Chase. But I needed to pay $1800 (140,000 yen!) in cash for my apartment rent, insurance, and setup fees yesterday. I only brought a little cash to Japan and I had spent most of it by then. I was able to take out some money from a post office - but only 30,000 yen. So later that night I had to call Chase and ask them to raise the limit. After wasting time and all my prepaid minutes on hold, they raised the limit to $1000. So I went to 7-11 and took out 50,000 more yen. I was hoping to get the rest in the morning. ( I said goodbye and thanks to Noco and Gandhi. I went back to the guesthouse and did laundry, then tried to clean up and pack everything back up. Went to bed too late - about 1:30 am. Next day --- To Kyoto!! DUM DUM DUM.

Tennoji Shopping

I had a pretty mellow day today. I was still pretty low energy and though I woke up at 11, after showering, eating, spilling my juice + cleaning it up, watching some Mentalist... it was 4pm by the time I left. My only plan for the day was to go to Tennoji area for some shopping and eating. There are a few big malls and department stores right near the station there so it's very convenient. It's a 15-20 minute walk but it was really hot so I took the train for 1 stop haha. I picked a random train station exit (there are always so many... so confusing) and was lucky enough to walk right into Mio, a fancy department store/mall! It's 11 stories tall and is definitely on the higher-end price-wise, but had a couple floors aimed at younger women which were more reasonably priced. I walked around looking at all the cute clothes and tried very hard to resist temptation, telling myself "there is no more room!" I walked into one store and after looking around a bit, the adorable sales girl started chatting me up. Soo cute. Dyed brown bob haircut with peachy cheeks, all fresh-faced and smiley. She asked me where I was from, where I was staying, etc. Eventually I told her about studying abroad, and studying Japanese culture. She said thank you (for studying Japanese culture?) which is kind of a weird reaction and yet not the first time I've gotten it... Then she was fawning over me and my height and my "long legs." She said she thought I was a model lol. So it was fun today to be the celebrity Gaijin and get my ego stroked by the adorable sales girl. I asked to try on a skirt, though I told her I wasn't sure if it would fit in the hips (she assured me noo I was so skinny! I need to keep this girl around.) I wanted a simple black skirt that I could wear with my tops to give me more options besides jeans and my shorts. Usually I have a hard time buying skirts because I feel like they make my hips look wide. But the skirt fit comfortably and looked good, so I bought it!

Girly, but easy to wear!

After that I looked around some more, especially at the makeup/skincare stuff, then went to the top floors for food. The restaurants were on the 10th and 11th floor. Lot's of delicious looking food! Some Japanese style, a few Western style. I was in the mood for more familiar food again, so I went to a grill place and got a "hamburger steak" with some veggies and potatoes and a big fat slice of soft white bread. Lol. Pretty stereotypical western food. But it was good! The sauce was tasty and it was filling. The best part of the restaurant was the view though!

Osaka skyline from the restaurant

Then, I went back to the station and wandered around finding my way to Tsutenkaku Tower. I didn't get too lost. I had a nice night at the bar, although I ran into a bitsies of trouble again... I got a mission to go buy ice from "Lawson 100" but went to a regular Lawson which was more expensive... Oops. Should've realized the 100 was for 100 yen. Luckily, I was able to return all the ice (lol) and the store clerk was really nice about it. After that, talked to Noco, and later some other foreigners arrived! Two guys from France who are living in Japan came in to see Gandhi. The funny part was that the one who spoke better Japanese wasn't used to speaking English so we were speaking in Japanese. lol. Then, I bought a cute little dugong charm for my phone!

Noco sells dugong stuff at the bar to support the efforts to save the Okinawan dugongs. However, she told me there are already only TWO dugongs left in the population, and they are the same gender so they can't breed. :( Seems like it might be too late for the Okinawan dugongs... What a sad thought. She told me about an aquarium in Mie where I could see a dugong in captivity, so I'm looking forward to that in the future. Finally, I didn't get lost coming home! Hurray! Victory! Haha. Tomorrow I'm going to try to go to Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine and the Umeda Sky Tower for my last day in Osaka!

Shinsaibashi Shopping

So I was a little discouraged after yesterday, but felt better after talking to my mom this morning. She was encouraging me to go out and do something fun, and she mentioned to me that there are Marriage Freres tea houses in Japan. This was a brand of tea we greatly enjoyed in France, especially their Fruits Rouge, a black tea with red berries. I looked it up online, and lo-and-behold there was a storewas in Shinsaibashi, Osaka! So, I had my mission for the day. It was an easy trip on the subway to Shinsaibashi, then a short walk to Daimaru (a fancy department store where the tea house was supposed to be). But when I got to the floor that the salon was supposed to be on, it clearly wasn't there. I double checked a few times, then decided to have a snack at a fancy sweet place. I got a strawberry and chocolate frozen yogurt and iced tea. It was good, though definitely expensive for the size!

Note: this is actually only an inch tall.

That wasn't really enough for a lunch, even for a sweet-tooth like me, so I left Daimaru to find somewhere to get some more food. I walk a few feet, and find... another Daimaru?? Oh, the Daimaru I just left was the North Wing or something. This is the main Daimaru. Alright, I go downstairs where they keep all the good food. Mmm lots of tasty stuff going on in here. I'm especially liking the bakeries. They smell heavenly. But I still have my tea mission. After walking around unsuccessfully, I write down the name of the tea shop (because I have no idea how it would be pronounced in Japanese) and ask a random employee if she knows where it is. She pulls out a super-secret store map, and points me just a few stands down. I find it, but it's not quite what I was looking for. Unfortunately, it's not a a tea house, just a shop where they sell the tea. However, they had the much sought Fruits Rouge! Success! Then I enjoyed walking around the various specialty food stores. I picked up things from a couple different bakeries and then decided to try a fancy bento (prepared lunch with different components in a box). I couldn't read the names so I just picked the best looking one. It turned out to be a great choice! It had some kind of mild, tender fish, flavored rice, lightly pickled vegetables, and a weird black thing that looked like it could be sea urchin. (I ate it but I still don't know). They had the fancy overpriced fruits you have heard so much about in Japan! They are packaged very prettily and look delicious, but I don't know if I could justify the prices... Here are some $20 grape bunches!

And here's my delicious food haul! I got a scone (!), fancy egg sandwich thing, tonkatsu sandwhich (you can't see it cause it's wrapped up with a mini ice-pack!), and the bento. Each store wraps up the food all fancy like and puts it in a bag so I was walking around with four bags of food lol.

The yummy food perked me up. After that I walked through the Shinsaibashi shopping arcade, which had some great shopping and some stores from home like The Body Shop and Lush! There were nice mid-range clothing and accessory stores. I'll definitely come back - after I move in! I restrained myself and didn't buy anything because I really have no more room left in my bags!

After that, I went back to the guesthouse and relaxed a little, then went to the bar! I caused a little trouble today by pouring cooking oil down the drain! Uh oh. I'm such a kitchen noob. I think I cleaned it up successfully though. Then I gave Noco and Gandhi their little ceramic cups that I made. They received them very well and Gandhi had an inaugural drink so I was happy. Then he walked me home (they are still worried about the creeper from last night). After that I ate my creme puff and now I'm going to hit the sack! I'm pretty tired because I went to bed at 5am today.... haha. Sleeping early tonight!

Osaka Ryukyu Festival

Yesterday, Noco, Gandhi, and a Japanese girl named Miyuki took me to a very special Okinawan Festival. The festival is only once a year and celebrates the culture of all the Ryukyu islands. Wikipedia says that the Ryukyu Islands are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan. Okinawa is only one of these islands, but it is the largest of the chain. From 1429 to 1607, the Ryukyu Islands existed as the Ryukyu Kingdom. In 1879, the Meiji government announced the annexation of the Ryukyus, establishing it as Okinawa Prefecture and forcing the Ryukyu king to move to Tokyo.

So the Ryukyu islands have a culture and language somewhat distinct from mainland Japan. There is also great biodiversity on the islands and in the sea. However, there has been significant controversy and tension related to the presence of American military bases on Okinawa.

Anyway, the festival had dancing, called the eisa dance with traditional drumming. There were a lot of different performers that did pretty similar dances with traditional Okinawan music. In one of the dances there was a tiny little boy dressed in the festival clothes and holding a little drum! But he didn't really dance or drum he mostly just stood there. Lol. He was so cute. He must have been about 2 years old. 

So confused looking. So cute.

There were performances of traditional music played with the sanshin, an instrument that originated in the Ryukyus and is the ancestor of the Japanese 3-stringed shamisen. Noco plays the sanshin and has had sanshin players perform at the bar. It's a very folk kind of music. There was also singing in a distinctive Okinawan language. Although most Okinawans speak mainland Japanese with an Okinawan accent, there are also little-used Ryukyuan languages completely incomprehensible to most Japanese. 

There were lots of food stalls with some traditional food and some general fried foods. I had a sausage burrito thing and some shaved ice, and sampled a bunch of other things from Noco, Gandhi and Miyuki. Not very healthy, but yummy! The weather was HOT HOT HOT. I drank lots of iced water and sat in the shade most of the time.

Noco's pic's from the day!

The best part for me was when Noco's friend's band played. They do a rock/ballad style with just guitar and piano. He was pretty much a Japanese hippie in baggie clothes and long, wavy hair. lol. Before he started to sing, he said in English, then in Japanese, "We are not Americans. We are not Japanese. We are humans." Even though I didn't understand much of the lyrics, that was the feeling I got from the music and his voice and it was quite moving. Cultural differences aside, in our hearts I think humans are basically alike. He sung for peace and unity, pleaded for mutual understanding instead of anger and destruction. Given the history of U.S.-Japan relations, the message was especially relevant. It was a performance full of both sadness and hope and I was really quite moved. I cried for the second time in two days.

It wasn't a really eventful day per say, but it was one of contentment and friendship.

Save the Okinawan Dugong! 

Getting to Japan: PART 2

Yesterday's entry only covered the very beginning of my long, long travel day. So I'll try to cover the interesting/important bits while not boring everyone to death. The plane ride from LAX to Tokyo Narita Airport was in general quite smooth. Korean Air always has great service and decent food. The leg room around the seats felt smaller than normal to me though. We got two meals, both which were kind of lunch/dinner type food. I had some beef and vegetable thing which was fine, and then later a pasta which was better. I like that the flight attendants come by offering water and juice often, and snacks in between the meals (brownie). So I wasn't hungry, but I did have a small problem: I ate too many fiber snacks and my stomach was pretty upset the whole flight. Woops lol. I felt bad I had to keep making the guy next to me in the aisle seat get up (and he always apologized to me when he did...  killing me with politeness). Other than that little bit, the flight was good. I dozed for a few hours, then watched 2 episodes of PBS's "Sherlock" series and the Disney/Pixar movie "Brave." I have to admit I cried a little during "Brave" in one of the scenes where the mom (who has been turned into a bear) is protecting the daughter. (In my head: "Momma-bear!! *Sob*" - because I call my mom Momma-bear sometimes for being so protective). Lol. I was feeling just a little sentimental.

Then, arrival at Narita airport! Immigration is pretty easy and I am given a re-entry card. After that is Customs, which I am more worried about due to somewhat copious amounts of prescription medications and contacts in my bags. I have the Yakkan Shoumei Certificate which proves that I have permission to bring these in for my own personal use, but I just don't want any drama. Luckily, no drama at all. The Customs agent asks me what the purpose of my visit is, and I say study abroad. He asks me where I was before Los Angeles. (In Japanese). I don't understand the question... I'm thinking "Umm, at home in Orange County?" Then I saw he was looking at the stamps in my passport and I wonder if he's asking about my visit to Japan in January? Finally, I answer, in Japanese, that I was born in the U.S. Lol. Strangely that seems to satisfy him and he doesn't have any more questions (probably because he didn't speak enough English and I didn't understand enough Japanese). Ta-da!

Now the exciting part - getting to my next flight, a domestic flight booked separately through Japan Airlines. But first - I see a Softbank!Softbank is the #1 phone company in Japan and I heard that you can buy a prepaid phone from them at the airport. The advantages of buying the phone at the airport are that you aren't required to have a residence card, just a valid passport, and the staff speak English (sort of). So, spur of the moment, I went to buy a phone. They only sold one model there which was a sleek but not otherwise fancy phone that cost about $100. That's the downside of the airport - only one model and somewhat overpriced. But it was worth it to me to have a Japanese phone right away and not have to deal with going to a Softbank store and trying to get a phone in Japanese. So, they helped me fill out a little paperwork and told me to come back in 30-40 minutes. I wandered around and found a place to sit, then successfully connected to the airport's free WiFi. Success! Chatted to Mei-chan on the Line app on my iPhone. Got thirsty/hungry, bought some weird cold green tea thing.

Kind of bitter. Not recommended.

Soon enough, it was time to collect my phone. It was already charged and they set it up in English for me, helped me add money to the prepaid balance, and helped me get the unlimited mail thing. ("Mail" on Japanese phones is somewhere in between an SMS text message and a regular old email.)

Open!

Closed!

Alright, well I figure I should make my way to the domestic terminal for the next flight even though I still have 2 1/2 hours left. After taking a bus to the domestic terminal, I checked my bags at the JAL counter. Thank goodness, they didn't weigh them. Then I decided to go through security pretty much right away, and this is where my trouble started. So, none of the employees in the domestic terminal spoke functional English. I was trying to figure out what I needed to do in the security line, but there weren't any helpful pictures or anything. Laptop? Camera? Shoes? Sweater? Does everything come off? I'm asked for my boarding pass, then I go through the scanner with my shoes and sweater still on. *beeeeep* No go. It's definitely my boots, which have zippers and buckles. Take those off and go through again. All clear. Whew. Off to my gate. Apparently, it's in the hinterlands of Narita airport. I start seeing signs like "No shops after this point." I think, "oh, ok, I'll go to my gate just to check things out then come back for food" (it's been like 6 hours since I've eaten now). I keep going... "No bathroom after this point." Umm.... what?? Then I look back and see I've already crossed the point of no return. I'm not allowed to go back to the place with bathrooms and food and stores. You know, civilization. Oops. So, for the next two hours I hold my bladder and eat more fiber snacks even though my stomach objects and talk to Mei some more. Thank god for Mei Mei being awake late to distract me. It's seriously sooo quiet by the gate (which is in like a mini terminal with only two gates). With an hour to go, even the staff hadn't arrived yet. Apparently nobody arrives early for domestic flights.... Seriously.

After a mini-eternity, the staff arrives, other people arrive, and we board. I'm distracted by my bladder but it's a pretty cool plane. I'd never been on that model of plane before, so it's probably unique to Japan/JAL. It get's cooler when I sit down: the seats have a sliding backrest that is not only really comfortable but let's you lean back slightly without actually pushing the chair back at all. One downside: probably because of the shape of the seats (or just Japan domestic flight rule?) nothing is allowed under the seats during take-off and landing. No problem. The overhead compartments are high and swing out. Cool.

See the cool futuristic seats?

Uh oh - the line to take-off is backed up. We spend at least an extra half hour taxiing. Finally, we take off. As soon as the seatbelt light goes off, I stand up to go to the bathroom. Mr. Grumpy Japanese Business Man next to me doesn't get up even though he has his seat all the way back and the foot rest up meaning I have exactly six inches to squeeze myself through. Finally, TOILET!!! The rest of the flight is easy after that. But when we land, Mr. Grumpy doesn't help/ask me if I need my bag from the overhead bin (I was window again). He takes off and so does the rest of the plane before I can get my bags. Oh well, we all have to wait for luggage anyway, which is painfully slow. Then I took the airport "limousine" (a bus service) to the station closest to my guesthouse. From the highway, I see Tsukentaku Tower which is where my friend's/host's bar is. When we get out, it's quiet and so I decide to walk in the general direction of the tower. Not my best idea because it's not that close and my bags weigh a million pounds by now. Yes, a million. People are staring at the white girl struggling with her luggage and turning red in the face from heat and exertion. And MY GOD Osaka is humid. More humid than anywhere I've ever been.

I see the Tower: salvation!!! I wander a little more finding the bar again and by now I'm totally exhausted. I start to drag my bags up the narrow steps to the bar. They feel so heavy. I don't know if I can make it, but the stairs are too narrow to stop on. Some young Japanese guy appears and carries my bag the rest of the way up while talking on his phone. Thank god. I try to express my undying gratitude but he just wants to finish his conversation. lol. I go in and say hi to Noco and Gandhi, then freshen up in the bathroom. They are having a special live event with music so the tiny bar is packed. The atmosphere is fun but I'm pretty wiped out. After a couple of hours and one awkward request for a picture, Gandhi kindly takes me to the guesthouse with my luggage on his bicycle. We don't ride though, because I have a bad reputation with bicycles now. lol. (Last time I was with them in Osaka, I rode a bicycle to their house and kind of crashed into a grumpy lady.)

And here I am, in the guesthouse! My own room with a stove-top and toilet. I still haven't eaten but I've given up now and succumb to sleep after struggling futilely with the futon. (No alliteration intended). I made, it safe and sound, just slightly wounded in pride and hungry.
(Okay, so I lied about not boring ya'll to death and wrote a novel. But a lot happened, right??)

The Adventure Begins!

I'm at the airport right now waiting to board the plane! My flight leaves in less than an hour. I finished packing pretty early last night (by 10 I was done with everything) so I painted my nails. Lol. Ta-da! I'm not very good but the stickers make it pretty easy. I bought them in Japan when I went in January. Anyway, it was a good distraction from my stress/excitement about leaving. I went to bed around 12 and woke up at 6:30 so I got some sleep too.

This morning I pretty much jumped out of bed. After I showered, I didn't have much left to do so I was ready with plenty of time. I said goodbye to my doggies :( Maya was pretty wound up, so I think she had an idea that I was leaving. Farley was pretty clueless. It was nice to have some time to say goodbye to them.

My luggage. I tried to pack lightly but didn't really succeed lol. I did pack compactly though. My suitcase is 35 pounds and its not that big! The duffel bag is only 10 pounds (it has some bulky shoes and sweaters). My backpack is 20 lbs! Holy crap I don't even know how that happened lol. I have my laptop, a Japanese book, some toiletries, etc. in it. Even my purse is full. And I had nowhere to put my travel pillow so I clipped it to my purse. Lol. I think I'm going to have to pay a little bit for my bags at Japan Airlines for my flight from Tokyo to Osaka because they are just over the limit of 20 kg (together). But you pay per kilogram, so it shouldn't be too bad. I'm a bit worried about my backpack though! It's really wide... I didn't measure it. Hopefully they won't either. 

The airport has been surprisingly quiet so far. I barely had to wait to check in for Korean Air and had no wait at all for security. Apparently I have a membership thing with Korean Airlines too lol. I'm pretty sure I signed up accidentally. That's cool though, I can get miles now. No tears so far, from me or my family! It still doesn't quite feel real. Maybe on the plane it will. Or when I land in Tokyo. Lol.

I'm pretty stoked though! When I land in Osaka I am going straight to my friend's bar. I met them through Couchsurfing when I went to Japan in January. They are such cool people and the bar has amazing decor and ambiance. (It's called Nocosarejima and it's in the Shinsekai area of Osaka, right near Tsutenkaku Tower). They were so kind to me last time and really treated me like family, so it's great to be staying with them (at their guesthouse) rather than alone at a hotel. Maybe I'll even work in their bar again. It was quite fun last time!

Only about 20 minutes to boarding now! It's still fairly quiet at the gate... I'm surprised! I have a long "day" of travel ahead so I just hope everything goes smoothly. So happy though!