Since quarter break, my life is back to that of a 大学生 (dai-gaku-sei) (college student). Which means it has been very boring. With nothing else to really blog about, I'll give you guys a Japanese lesson!

How about Kanji?

Some Kanji are more fun to write than others.

楽しい　tanoshii is tanoshii to write. (FUN!) It looks like cute fireworks over a tree.

難しい　muzukashii is muzukashii to write. (DIFFICULT!) It looks like something I don't want to write.

Calligraphy

 I posted this picture before, but this is also what you can do with kanji! I wrote the kanji for love. It's fun, beautiful and is much harder than it looks.

Other ways to write: 

カタカナ(Katakana)： Used for foreign words! Such as place names. ボストン（Boston). Or, as I found out recently... it's also used as italics. Vice versa with hiragana

ひらがな(Hiragana)： The basic alphabet. Kanji can be made from hiragana. Why not use all kanji? Well, hiragana is also used for verb tenses (such as -ed or -ing, in English). They are used for particles (at, in, the, in English) and for other words.

Pronunciation. 

Every syllable is said, basically.

A: Ah (as in the Bostonian way to say CAR).
I: E (as in, EEK!)
U: OO (as in, OOPS!)
E: Aye (as in, HEY!)
O: Oh (as in, Oh crap I left the oven on.)

Time to banish those words often mispronounced in America:

Sake (the alcoholic drink of Japan). This is NOT pronounced Saw-KEY. It's Saw-Kaye.
Karaoke is the same way. The e at the end is an AYE not an EE.


It seems intimidating. Grammatically, Japanese is not like English. But it is a fun and rewarding language to learn. It's a challenge, I won't lie, but if you are interested, please do your best to learn! You won't regret it!

The Japanese know how to have a fun summer. HAO (event planning group) put on a summer festival event.

We first made paper fans and played some games with Kanji. We were put into random groups. I just happened to get an all girls group.

After this, we went outside to smash a watermelon then eat it on the ground like savages. A Japanese summer game is called Suikawari, which literally means watermelon splitting. You spin around with a blindfold, much like with a pinata and you have to smash the watermelon while everyone is shouting directions at you.

Next comes fireworks! Little sparklers. There were so many for us to use! Some were bigger than others, but all of them you can get for cheap at convenience stores or corner stores. Like, 50 of them for 500yen (about $5). They are so much fun to use.

Whoever took this picture had a professional camera.

Overall it was a wonderful event and I can't wait for the next event that HAO puts on!

Since my last letters didn't seem to go through, I've started on my second batch to various friends and family. I still have many more to write and then send. I hope they go through. Sending packages from here is slightly difficult. We have to go down to the post office which is a bus ride away and shipping is rather expensive. I am not sure what to send people either! So for now, I hope these pretty postcards will suffice.

June 23rd was the start of my 48 hour birthday.

The club I am in gave me a wonderful surprise present with so much candy, cute fans and a dancing flower. I got party poppers in the face and they sang to me! So cute.

I then had cake with the Americans, the usual gang from around the country, but I didn't take pictures.
All in all it was a fun birthday with many friends and a lot of candy! I can't wait for the rainy season to end so I can go enjoy the sun again.

This is also a good opportunity to show you some Japanese candies and sweets!

Chip Star (Pringles): Pepper and Bacon!

Pure: Green Apple and Soda flavored gummies. They feel carbonated.

Shittori Choco (In the red bag): Little chocolate rice crispy type thingies.

Cookies in the green and white tubes.

Choco Brownie.

Baked Potato French Fry things (in the green circle container).

Peach cake (The picture... it's in my freezer right now).

A huge bowl of assorted candies.

Senbei, the packaged crackers. (Rice crackers, sweet and salty. There are so many kinds.)

Last day was a visit to Kansai University, which is the school my home university is affiliated with. Due to not having the classes I needed, I did not go there. But, it's a beautiful campus in a lively area.

But, before that, I have a lovely walk up to Kiyomizudera for the 3rd time to find my phone that was lost there probably. No, I didn't actually find it... but it was nice to sit there in the morning hours when no one was there. I then walked back to my professor's hotel even before everyone was up.

We headed to the university and took a tour around the school. My campus has a student body of 5000, Kansai has 50,000. That's terrifying. The campus is huge and in a beautiful area!

The whole gang, Kansai and BSU!

We watched a Kendo performance as well. Kendo literally means, the way of the sword. The same Do as in Dojo. (Long o sounds in all). Kendo is what samurai practice. In sport, instead of a katana, a bamboo sword is used. It's like a very loud, very terrifying fencing. It's as much a female sport as it is a male sport and there really is no age to start or stop. It takes years to master, literally. You have to wait ten years between each rank.

These two students started at the age of 5. They are 20 now.

It was sad to say good bye to everyone. I want to thank my professor Dr. To for showing my friend and I around! He really went the extra mile to make sure I was safe at my hostel, felt welcome with the group and truly runs an amazing study tour. He is a professor who is for the students! One of us! One of us! So thank you Dr. To! My honorary professor because I've never taken a class with you before.

Selfie with Dr. To!

Today I walked around Gion in Kyoto with Dr. To and the study tour group. Gion is actually where my hostel was! Although it is a city, it's very traditional, with lantern lined streets, Japanese style roves and architecture.

Gion is known for it's Geisha, so what better way to learn about Gion than from a Geisha herself. She was not in dress for this, but was very sweet and took us on small streets, told us about Geisha and took us to a few temples.

Geisha Hairpieces

Street in Gion

Beautiful Lanterns

After that we visited Sanjusangen-do temple which had a beautiful garden outside. I could spend hours just sitting in these gardens, in the shade, relaxing. Well, except for the screaming school tour groups that like to talk in English to us foreigners. Inside held an amazing amount of statues. It has 1001 statues of the goddess of Mercy (Kannon) painted in beautiful gold. They have 1000 arms to better help with human suffering and 11 heads to help understand the suffering. The statues have 42 arms actually, minus the 2 normal ones, times the 25 planes of existence and you get 1000!  (You could not take pictures of the statues and I am not legally able to post pictures of them on my blog. But trust me, it was stunning.)

Beautiful Garden

We then ended the day by going to Kiyomizudera. This is my second time (not my last either). This time I went with the group though and enjoyed just walking around and enjoying it rather than rushing to take pictures everywhere. Here are a few though:

On day three we parted ways with Akane and her family and met up with my honorary professor Dr. To and his study tour group! It was nice to see familiar faces!

We went to Nara, which is famous for the deer that bow for cookies! They get impatient and whiny about cookies. Petting them is okay but some can be spoiled brats about it. They will bow for you though, which is really really cute!

So many deer

Deer can kill old lady and children

Jenny and I feeding the deer.

We went to a nice place for lunch and had chicken and rice (put simply).
There is a flame under the chicken and rice, you wait for it to go out, then flip the timer which is 3 minutes long. After that, dig in!
I dislike pickled things, so that pickled something or other I did not eat. I did have miso soup but already ate that by the time I took the picture. I forget what the thing that looks like tofu is. It's not tofu though. It's good, but had a nutty taste. Chestnut something or other.
Manju is made with chewy squishy rice flour and this had anko inside (sweet red bean paste). I like it taste wise, but it's so squishy and soft that the texture is a little odd to me.

I have never had chicken and rice in a bowl like that. Usually already in a large bowl.

Still in Nara, we went to Todai-ji which is a Buddhist temple completely made out of wood. For this picture we were very far in front of it actually. It's a massive complex. It houses the largest bronze Buddha statue (called Daibutsu Lit: Giant Buddha). There were deer.

Here is the whole gang!

After that we headed back to Kyoto. Dr. To and I found my hostel after some searching and asking. Surprise surprise, other APU students were staying there! (In Kyoto, not even my island). I stayed at A-Yado guest house in Gion, Kyoto, which is a fun place to be, with coffee shops, restaurants, flower shops and many little antique shops. Since I slept there only, I didn't really go to the common areas. I stayed for 2 nights for less than 4000 yen (about 40US.) 

We then went to a nice hole in the wall restaurant (that I do not have a picture of). I got karaage (car-ah-ah-gey) which is just fried chicken. Good fried chickens. 

And finally, I went back to my hostel (which no, I do not have pictures in since it was a room filled with girls...). It was nice though. Very clean, air conditioning, nice showers and soft beds. WESTERN BEDS.

This post won't be as long. Although a fun day, we went to one major place: Osaka Castle. This beautiful castle has a museum in it (that you could not take pictures in). It was a total of 8 floors that we walked. The very top is an observatory where we took gorgeous pictures. Again, there only a few clouds in the sky and it was hot, at least 40 degrees, again. (100 F).

Osaka Castle

View from Observatory

Osaka is about the size of the city of Boston (just the city, not the suburbs around it or the water). 86 sq. miles. To me it looks as though it goes on and on and on. The streets are clean, compared to what I've seen in cities (New York I'm looking at you) and it's exciting.

I will say I enjoy Beppu City much better. Why? Well, walking down the street you can say Ohayogozaimasu (Oh-Hi-Oh Go-Zai-Mas) to people on the street. (That means good morning!) People are friendlier and less city like in Osaka. I still love that city though, very fun and exciting.

Downtown Osaka

Takoyaki Restaurant

We then parted ways with Akane and met up with her dad and brother who took us through downtown Osaka which had amazing restaurants and shops. All name brand stuff including Fossil (a brand on Newbury street in Boston!)

 For dinner that night we made Yakoyaki! Which is very very good. It's a ball of wheat flower with octopus in it. Sometimes beef, with corn, cheese maybe and green onion. Really, you can put anything in it. It's made in a ball shape, smothered in takoyaki sauce and Japanese mayonnaise (which is nothing like American mayo).

It needs a special pan with little holes in it. It's really fun to make and they taste so good! Definitely my favorite snack type food. It's healthier when home made of course, but it really is a festival, going out snack type food.

Please note this trip will be divided into multiple parts, so please check daily for the next part!

Last minute I decided to go to Kyoto and Osaka to with my friend Jenny and Akane (who lives in Osaka). My honorary professor, Dr. To convinced me to go and I didn't once regret the trip! (He is honorary because I've never been able to take his class...) So, I bought the tickets two days before we were planning on leaving.

We took a massive ferry. 12 hours long, but an awesome experience. We stayed in a room full of futons on the ground with about 10 other women. Everyone is nice here, so you don't have to worry as much about losing stuff or getting stuff stolen.

I went from Beppu to Osaka, marked in black.

We arrived in Osaka on Saturday morning and met with Akane's parents. We then went to our first stop which was in Kyoto, not too far away, Byodo-in Temple. Might I also add that it got up to 40 degrees. (Over 90). Every day here was hot, humid and sunny. Not a cloud in the sky!

We then went for lunch in Uiji (where Byodo-in is located) along this really awesome road. It was beautiful, with local shops and restaurants. There were many tea shops, all hand ground teas. Too bad I don't really like matcha (green tea powder, very bitter). At the restaurant we went to I got coffee jelly which is still the #1 reason to go to Japan. Comes with ice cream and whipped cream.

Next we went to Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion) which, as the same suggests, is gold! It is beautiful and the walk was nice because it was shaded. I was sweating awful buckets by now. I bought a good luck charm there, as well as some post cards. Most of the souvenirs I got were post cards because I can hang them on my wall.

No, I am not done yet. It's only around 2pm at this point and we decide to go to Kiyomizudera Temple next, which was the worst, yet best walk ever. It was about a half hour walk up the long road of shops and restaurants. The road was a huge hill the whole time. There were sweets shops, fans, yukata (summer kimono) and many other shops.

About Half way

This temple was my favorite because the view was amazing from the top. It was nice and breezy up there, but still hot. Since we got there a little late, not all the parts were open, but all the good parts were.

The large bowl makes a beautiful ringing noise when hit (above the white marked places) and while it rings you pray.

The fountain (the other small picture) is where you wash your hands then drink. First wash your left hand, then right, then drink. It's sacred water said to clense you. There are small ones at all temples, this was just big and fancy.

No, I am STILL not done yet. After that, we went home to Akane's house. Her mother, Jenny, Akane and I went to the public bath house. Chances are, the first question you ask will have a yes answer. It is separated by guys and girls of course.

We went to the restaurant there first, then to the baths. There was a sand rub and sauna, as well as a carbonated bath. In total there were at least 15 baths. All different temperature. There were TVs, playing Iron Man in Japanese. The best ending to a fun day.

Then finally. We went to sleep.

That was day one.