The Journey Home

A mere 3 hours of sleep was how I started Sunday morning. Rising out of bed around 6:30 I got right to work getting the apartment ready for my departure. My bags were packed the night before, so all I had to do was clean and keep a drunk Alex moving on his packing. It got done though, and we were one of the first apartments done. I checked on who else was up, and upon discovering Seth and Mike were still asleep, woke them up and warned them they had only an hour to clean. I ended up helping them out as one by one, Keiwa students arrived to say their final good byes.

With the apartments cleaned we waited out in the parking lot until James and Nabe-chan showed up with their respective vehicles to haul our luggage over to the school. We crammed the cars full of bags and then turned to say good bye to our friends. For the most part I'd already said good bye to the friends I'd made in Japan, but I still made sure to talk with Yuka and Megumu one last time. The good byes took a little bit longer then expected but finally we were off, walking to the school one last time. It was a quiet walk. Upon reaching the rice paddies I gazed at them, thinking about how high the rice had grown since we arrived. I felt that it meant something, perhaps how much we had grown on this trip.

At Keiwa we said good bye to James, boarded the Keiwa bus, and were off to Niigata Station. Once at the station we bought our tickets (just barely missing the previous Shinkansen run, this would matter later) and waited for the train. Just after 11 we boarded the Shinkansen for Tokyo, saying good bye to Nabe-chan, who was as energetic as ever. Much of the ride to Tokyo was spent dozing, intermittently interrupted by beautiful views of the Japanese countryside. At Tokyo Terminal we dragged our bags down to the lowest level of the station where we met the Narita Express. On the express we once again rode quietly, occasionally joking around, for this was the last time we'd be together as a group. Seth and I prepared ourselves for our arrival at Terminal 1, for we had a small problem.

The problem Seth and I had was actually realized at Niigata Station, but too late still. Because we had missed the 10:00am Shinkansen and instead had taken the 11:00am, our train to Narita would be getting to Terminal 1 at 3:00pm. Seth's flight left at 3:50, mine at 3:30. Mike's advice summed it up pretty well, "The first thing you wanna do is run as fast as you can." Thanks Mike. Upon reaching the station everyone wished us luck and I was off, moving up 5 floors to the departure lounge as fast as 25 kilos of luggage would allow (that's 55 pounds for you Americans). In the end it didn't matter, check-in for my flight ended at 2:30pm, before the train even arrived. I guess Seth made his, I never saw him again. The wonderful stewardesses at the Delta counter helped me get on the same schedule the next day. They said it was JR's fault for slowing me down (I had admitted it was my fault, you can't blame Japanese Railways for being late, it never happens) so no extra cost to me.

Having nowhere to spend the night I hopped on a bus to the Narita Hilton. I knew the twins were spending the night there and after contacting them from the front desk they allowed me to spend the night on their floor. I'm ever grateful to them for taking me in, while I could have easily gotten a hotel room for myself somewhere, I was glad to hang out with friends for one more night, and I was physically and mentally at my limit for the day (remember, only 3 hours of sleep, I had planned on sleeping on a plane).

After a night sleeping on the floor with a pillow (it was actually not that far removed from the futon at the apartment, but the pillow was more comfortable here) I woke with the twins at 9am. They headed down to breakfast while I said good bye and made my way back to the airport via shuttle bus. At the airport I browsed the mall inside for a Japanese-English dictionary so I could start translating some of the manga I was bringing back. After I found the dictionary I headed up to Narita Airport's amazing observation deck. Here I was back in my element, for I pulled out my camera and enjoyed one of my favorite hobbies, taking pictures of planes. After a while I got hungry so I headed inside and found a convenience store where I bought my last meal in Japan. The clerk handed me a spork so I asked for "Hashe" (chopsticks). She was a bit surprised and added them to my bag. After I ate I went back outside where I took more pictures until it was time to head to the check-in desk.

A 747 takes off from Narita International.

I got through check-in without problems, checking 2 bags this time (I had come here with one). Security and customs were also cleared without problem and I browsed the duty-free shops as I headed for my gate. I found my gate and then wandered back to where I could plug in my laptop to recharge and check the internet one more time. Eventually it was time to board the plane so I headed down and got in my seat and prepared myself for another excruciatingly long flight. I ended up watching movies most of the way, unable to sleep for lack of space. We left Narita at 3:30pm and 12 1/2 hours later landed in Atlanta at 3:20pm (now all I need is an orange vest and a DeLorean and I'm set).

In Atlanta I got to enjoy the wonderment of U.S. customs (it was actually not bad, getting my luggage was the longest part, and that wasn't really Homeland Security's fault). I got back through security and proceeded to my gate where I waited for 3 hours for my flight, desperately trying to not fall asleep. I called some family and friends to let them know I was back in the U.S., giving them a hint of how amazing my trip was.

While waiting for my flight I became acutely aware of the fact that I understood everything around me. I could read the signs, know what the food was on menus and what it tasted like, understand the conversations around me. I found all of this to be, well, boring. I realized how much I had enjoyed the adventure of being in a foreign land. This, if anything, was evidence enough that I had made up my mind on future travel plans. I will definitely travel the world once out of college and on my own (time and money permitting, blah).

After an hour delay to replace a tire and brake on my flight to Daytona Beach we finally boarded and took off. I was fairly delirious for this flight, my body and mind unable to agree on consciousness or not. I managed to pull myself together as we started final approach into Daytona around 9pm (10am in Japan). In the terminal I met my roommate Mike who was immediately bombarded with my nonstop chatter on how awesome Japan was and why. He will likely experience this every time he sees me for the next month. We gathered my affects and drove to Steak'n'Shake for we both hadn't eaten in a while (I wasn't quite sure what meal this was for me, either breakfast or lunch).

Once home I immediately began unpacking, despite the fact I should have been crawling into bed. After unpacking most of my things and talking for a few hours with my roommate I finally flopped onto my bed at midnight (now 1pm in Japan). It had been 28 hours since I had woken in Narita. Needless to say, I was out like a light and sleeping soundly within minutes. My Japan adventure was now officially over.

The Last Day

I slept in as best I could today but knowing what today was had me out of bed only an hour later then usual. After cleaning myself up and otherwise getting ready I headed over to Seth's to see if he was ready to go. Since Takuya had spent the night at Seth's, he, Mike, Seth, and myself piled into his car and drove over to the school. People began to slowly gather, the Katagiri's showed up pretty early as well. Anne came, but after last night I didn't have the resolve to talk to her yet. Eventually most of the group and friends were gathered so James Brown led us to the cafeteria.

In the cafeteria I sat with the Katagiri's. Hisako's husband gave us each a 3 pack of sake, not the most surprising gift from him. Nabe-chan gave everyone a fan with a message from him written on the back. It said, in Japanese, "Don't forget me," which is a bit amusing considering we couldn't forget Nabe-chan and his antics even if we wanted to (we don't). James gave a short speech and then presented us with JCLP course completion certificates. After the speech was time for food.

Before getting my food I went over to Anne and just said thank you, since I had told her the night before that I really wanted her to come today. After eating I asked her what she was doing the rest of the day. We tried to figure out something to do locally. It would have to wait though as it was time for the last group photo. What followed was probably the longest group photo of the entire trip, literally dozens of cameras had to be gone through so everyone could have the memory. Eventually it finally ended and everyone broke up into smaller groups for more photos. After the party died down I spoke with Anne again.

The last group photo.

We decided to go to a local karaoke place, or at least she did, karaoke definitely isn't my thing (can't sing for shit). We walked over and spent the next couple hours doing old fashioned Japanese karaoke. About a half hour from the time Anne had to go we stopped singing and just talked. It was the sort of serious "this is the last time" sort of talk. The outcome was that we agreed to be friends and keep in touch. Its not like I had much of a choice, I was counting down the minutes until the last time I saw her. A taxi came for her and she dropped me off at Matsumi where we said good bye and good luck. The taxi drove off and she was gone.

I met up with some other JCLP students at the apartments and we went to the sushi restaurant for one last meal. I ate my fill, then Andrew and I headed out for some quick shopping. We went to a local hobby store and bought some model kits, then went to a sporting goods store so I could buy another bag to help carry all the things I had bought home. We went back home where I spent much of the night packing and cleaning the apartment. Alex, Mariko, and some Japanese students stopped by for a while as they had one last drinking party. I just kept packing until they decided to go bowling. I declined their invitation and instead wandered from room to room, seeing how everyone was doing. I eventually returned to my own room and went back to work. Around midnight Seth returned with Yuka so I ended up at Seth's room until 3am. I finally came back to my own room and passed out.

Anne once wrote to me, meeting and good bye are the same. Today after Anne left at first I was immensely sad. However, I thought about how lucky I was to have spent the last couple weeks with her, and the sadness turned to joy. Every thing has a beginning and end, its what you make of the time in between that matters. I enjoyed my time with Anne, we shared many laughs and smiles. Later she wrote to me in an e-mail that our lives are separate adventures that we had to live on our own. My own life is waiting for me back in America and hers will lead her back to Thailand. No worries, don't look back, only forward. Ganbate Anne, and thank you for being my friend, it meant more then you will ever know.

American Style

Friday came and we were off on our final field trip. Under cold and rainy skies we headed south along the coast. The drive afforded us a view of the Niigata coastline which, like much of Japan's coasts, is covered in cement things (I already forgot what they're called) which prevent the erosion of the beach. Japan is obsessed with erosion prevention, they literally are fighting back the sea. Eventually we reached our destination, Yahiko Shrine.

Yahiko Shrine dates back over 2600 years. It was established by the first emperor of Japan. Needless to say, it's a bit of a tourist attraction. Even on a rainy weekday there were plenty of people about. We even ran into a group of young Americans, who exclaimed they were glad to see other English speakers. To tell the truth, I like being away from the groups of American tourists, I really don't see us as tourists here. Unfortunately Yahiko Shrine was a guided tour, which meant we had to be led around and it didn't give me much opportunity to explore. That and our tour guide liked to talk, a lot.

Yahiko Shrine

After seeing the shrine we took a bus up a rather perilous dirt road to the Yahiko Cable Car. Here we rode the cable car up to the top of the mountain. It wasn't the funnest ride in the world as we all had to cram into one car and at the top of the mountain we were in the middle of the overcast sky so there was no view to be had. We enjoyed lunch at the restaurant on top of the mountain, which I'm sure would have had an amazing view of the area had we not been encompassed in a gray quagmire of cloud. After lunch, with no reason to stick around, we took the cable car back down and, once breaking out of the ceiling, took many pictures of the local area from up high. At the bottom we got back on the bus and took another perilous journey down the mountain road. We were given a half hour to browse local shops, but all they sold was cheap trinkets that weren't worth buying.

Our next stop was a place called the Northern Culture Museum. It's actually the old estate of a land baron whose dominion was broken up by McArthur after the war. Here many of us relaxed in the beautiful gardens, taking in the peacefullness of the flowers and flowing water. After everyone had a chance to walk around we boarded the bus and headed back for Shibata.

I rode the bus all the way back to Keiwa where I met up with Anne and Hitomi. Anne presented me with a couple of children's learning books, as a thank you for dinner I suppose. Then she took me to the library where she had me help her pick out books on various aspects of English. I did my best to pick books I felt held useful information, but it wasn't the easiest task in the world. My main concern was finding a book to help her with tenses, as she has some trouble them, and I recall myself having plenty of trouble with them when I was younger. After the library we waited for Momo-san and once she arrived we went over to Matsumi Heights.

At Matsumi the American students were putting together a party to celebrate the end of the trip. We tried to do it American style, outside, loud music, booze. Apparently because I suggested it in the first place it was my party, which people reminded me of every time a problem occured. In the end though it worked out well, with plenty of food being served and everyone in general having a good time. I pulled Anne to the side before she had to leave and tried to talk about some things. I don't really know right now what to make of the conversation, other then I felt as if she didn't have the same feelings I did for her. If we'd been alone I think it would have been much easier to understand, but she tends to act differently when friends are nearby. After Anne left Seth and I talked, which helped, and we went back to the party and cracked out the sparklers I'd sent him out to buy earlier. The sparklers didn't last long but were fun, as burning things always are.

The rest of the party was spent letting the drunk people make asses of themselves (and maybe me, but I wasn't drunk). Still, it was good fun, and I think most everyone enjoyed themselves. Eventually the party started to break up and people headed home. I went back to my apartment and basically passed out. This wasn't the best day of the trip for me. Tomorrow is the day we say good bye, I'm going to be as positive as I can for it.

Last Day of School

Our last day of school at Keiwa had finally arrived. I wandered over to class with Seth where we had an enthusiastic 2 hours with Onuma-sensei. Today I believe she broke her record for papers handed out as I watched the pile grow and grow on my desk. Maybe it was her way of saying good-bye, maybe not. Either way, at the end of class many of us lined up to have our picture taken with her. Onuma was a wonderful teacher to have and I'll miss her childish antics.

A picture with Onuma-sensei after class.

At lunch I walked around and hung out with the many different groups of people I had met during my stay. Anne was absent again today as she had another meeting, but at least this time I knew about it. Seth walked around with Professor Brown's video camera, capturing some memories for him as he was busy in class. Lunch ended and it was time for us to take our Japanese language final.

We headed up to the exam room (which just so happened to be the same room Anne was having her meeting in) and waited for test time. I talked to Anne briefly as we passed by. I asked her why she hadn't told me "ganbate" (good luck) and she answered because I didn't need it. The test was actually bullshit. Half of it was in katagana, which we had not been required to study. Many of the katagana questions were on terms that we had never seen before, thus making them hard to answer even if we could read them. Those who already knew Japanese (Seth, Alex, the twins) all said that it was completely unfair to test us in that manner. Needless to say everyone is pretty angry about the test, even before the results.

As most of us finished the test in less then 20 minutes, we had a lot of time to kill. We wandered down to the cafeteria where we found Onuma-sensei and Nabe-chan. I sat and talked with Nabe-chan while the others talked with Onuma-sensei for a bit before joining me. Takuya dropped by and we went over to the gym and played basketball. I started getting sweaty and nasty after we started playing 3 on 3 so I quit and headed back to the cafeteria. I ran into Anne on the way and followed her inside. I talked with Mariko and some other JCLP students about the test before joining Anne and Hitomi. Eventually they had to go to class so I went up to the conversation partners room and upon seeing it empty, headed back downstairs. I hung out with some JCLP students before going home as a light drizzle started.

The light drizzle became light rain as I left the apartments to do some local shopping. I went to another bookstore that I had never been in and finally found some manga I had been looking for. Then I headed to a clothing store called Uni Qlo. I found some shirts I liked and bought them (hoping upon hope that they fit) and then walked home. At home I cleaned myself up and put on one of my new shirts before heading back to school. At 6 I met up with Anne and we rode the Keiwa bus to Sasaki Station. From there we rode the train to the next stop, Nishishibata Station (West Shibata Station). We walked in the rain under Anne's umbrella across the street to the mall.

Once Anne and I reached the mall's restaurant area (not the food court but actual restaurants) she asked me where we should eat. This led to a humorous argument as I had no clue what each place served, neither did I care. Eventually we both decided on a Chinese restaurant. Inside, much to Anne's frustration, the menu had very view pictures and lots of kanji. To give you an idea of how difficult kanji is, Anne has been here for 3 years and she still has trouble with menus, and that's not saying she's not bright because she's the smartest person I've met here. We decided to share a sort of "All You Can Eat Provided it Happens in 1 Hour" dinner. She ordered off the list (sometimes guessing) and I watched. She actually made some great choices and I was absolutely stuffed by the time we finished. Surprisingly Anne nearly kept up with me in food consumption, which is pretty damn remarkable considering her size. After our hour was up I paid the bill and we wandered out into the mall.

After consulting her little train schedule, Anne discovered the next train stopping at Nishishibata and going the right direction wouldn't be for another hour. So we spent the next hour sitting on a bench in the middle of the mall talking. Most of it was fun conversation, lots of us making each other laugh. Anne did manage to squeeze in some questions I can only describe as "difficult". Suffice to say they were designed to make me tell her I liked her, but for more then one reason I managed to avoid the final answer she was looking for (yes, one of those reasons is that I'm a wuss). Eventually it was time to go and I walked with her to the station. We sat inside the platform building together and waited for the train to arrive. More jokes and conversation followed. She handed me her umbrella since I would be walking about 2 kilometers home in the rain. The train arrived, right on time (as all Japanese trains do), and I saw her off, telling her to be careful. As the train left I wandered off into the night, getting home around 10pm. I talked with Mike for a bit about tonight before heading to my room to call it a night.

Tonight in the platform building, sitting together in the little blue bench/chairs I felt closer then ever to Anne. She's and absolutely amazing girl, and completely unlike the Japanese girls. The culture she comes from is incredibly deep, and she herself is uniquely deep as well. From the way she uses a napkin to cover her mouth when she chews to the hilarious faces she makes when she doesn't understand her electronic dictionary, I just can't stop liking her more and more as I get to know her. Saying good-bye to Anne will be incredibly painful, but meeting her, spending time with her, and tonight, have made it worth the pain.

Links of Friendship

I headed into school early today to help Dani with her homework. I didn't feel 100% because of the late arrival last night but I shook it off as best I could. In Yamada-sensei's class we spent the first hour on the dreaded videos and tapes. At the break we wandered down stairs for some breakfast and found the belated Seth awaiting us. After the break we headed back up to class where Yamada had us make a sort of memory board. We wrote in hiragana some sentences describing our time in Shibata. Some of the students then had people sign them like yearbooks. I honestly didn't care that much and just left for lunch.

At lunch I ate my usual chicken and rice bowl and then went looking for Anne. I searched high and low for her as I wanted to talk to her but she just couldn't be found. I gave up and wandered back to the cafeteria where I waited for our culture class to start.

Today's culture class was Introduction to Japanese Calligraphy. Our calligraphy sensei had us practice writing out one or two saying of our choice out of about seven. I chose "Friends in Japan" and "Link of Friendship" because they seemed to epitomise my journey here. After practicing several times we wrote the kanji out on long pieces of paper. I think mine came out alright, although the Japanese students were "suguoi"ing to their heart's content (they did it for everybody). Just as I finished Anne walked by and waved. I met her in the hall where I found out she'd had a meeting during lunch and she was going to eat now. I told her to go eat while she could and went back to cleaning up my calligraphy equipment.

Seth shows his kanji skills, he's really good.

After I was finished in the cultural class I wandered over to the cafeteria and sat down with Anne and the two friends who were in the meeting with her. They looked at my kanji as well and were impressed (or acted impressed). Eventually the friends left and I had some time alone with Anne. It didn't take long for and interruption though when her Chinese Language sensei (I think) sat down and chatted. She spoke pretty good English but because she was there talking Anne couldn't get up and leave for her class (in America I don't see this being a hindrance, but for some reason it is here). Although the chat with her sensei was enjoyable, I wished she would leave, and she eventually did.

Finally getting the chance to talk to Anne alone and found myself too nervous to ask her some question I thought were important. It was odd that this was my first time in a foreign land and the moment where I'm most nervous is trying to talk to a girl. It didn't take her long at all to figure out something was up but Hitomi interrupted us and kept it from going any further. With Hitomi there I poked fun at her drunkenness the night before and showed Anne some pictures of it. They both tried to make me study Japanese but I was in no mood to. Honestly, this whole country is a homework assignment. I guess throughout the conversation I had been hinting that I was sad about leaving soon. Hitomi had class so she left, leaving me alone with Anne once more. I asked her out to dinner tomorrow night and she agreed. I'm not entirely sure I got the point across that it was kind of a date. Anne, sensing I was down decided to try her hand at making me laugh. She managed to succeed and made me feel a lot better.

The 5:00 bell rang eventually so I walked with Anne to the bus. I said good bye and headed home. Once home I met up with my room mate, Alex, and Roshan. We all went out to a local bookstore where I picked up a couple mangas (which I plan on translating once home). Alex and I then went to the grocery store and picked up some dinner. Back at our apartment, remembering that our microwave sucks, we went up to Dani's room and hijacked hers. She, Toniya, and Amanda were watching The Last Samurai (its a popular movie among the JCLP students I guess). I stayed for a while before getting bored and wandering back home.

In my apartment I lazed about surfing the internets and such until Seth got back from a shopping trip in Niigata. Right before he got back though, I got an e-mail from Anne in which she told me how happy she was that she made me laugh and not to think about the end of the trip but to enjoy the time I had left. Once again she had raised my spirits, and I sent a thankful e-mail back. Seth came over and we hung out for a while before I wrote this entry. I doubt much more will happen tonight, and I'm really excited about tomorrow, so "ja nei".

Parties

Tuesday came without much fan fair, just another day at school. Yamada-sensei had us for the 2 hours in the morning and it went about as well as Yamada's class could go. Mariko felt ill during class so Dani took her home so she could lay down. The rest of the class passed without incident.

At lunch I sat with Anne like usual and we joked and talked like usual. Seth and Yuka were having some sort of dinner party and we invited Anne, but once again she was much too busy with school work. She promised she'd be free from Thursday on, but that didn't exactly give us a whole lot of time. After lunch I walked with her to class and once again forgot to ask if she'd be coming to conversation partners.

For once Onuma-sensei didn't pass out a crap ton of papers. She did, however, give us another homework assignment. After Onuma's class Seth and I wandered downstairs to kill time. We noticed everyone was walking around with their cellphone cameras out. Right after wondering aloud what they were taking pictures of, everyone started asking to take a picture of us (well, mostly Seth). I guess they had some sort of project, but it was weird being asked to have your picture taken every time you turned a corner.

Conversation partners wasn't very educational today. Nabe-chan came by and quizzed us on geography from some map book he had obtained. Getting bored of that I talked with Hitomi and Alex for a while. Hitomi helped me figure out Onuma's homework, which seemed a bit difficult at first, but was actually quite easy in the end. Seeing no point in staying when I wasn't learning anything, I left conversation partners early. I went downstairs to the cafeteria where I studied on my own for a while before walking home. I honestly had been hoping to run into Anne but couldn't find her.

I went back to the apartment and laid down until 7:15 when some of Yuka's friends picked us up to go to the small dinner party. Nate or Austin...I don't remember which, managed to finagle Megumu into coming. The dinner was at a small restaurant in the mall. Eventually Yuka and Seth arrived from the beach and we went to eat. The food was good if not filling, and we were there for a few hours just talking. Eventually it was time to go and the girls drove us home. Yuka and Seth left for Yuka's house while we gathered with a larger group that was going to a drinking party.

The drinking party group consisted of almost every JCLP student along with Chihiro, Hitomi, Daisuke (different Daisuke), Abe, Saiyu, and the girls that drove us to the dinner party. Megumu tagged along as well, for reasons unbeknownst to me. She is such a terribly shy girl, on the drive over she almost looked on the verge of a breakdown. Once there I made sure the twins talked with her, as they were good friends.

This drinking party went far better then the previous one. Half the group elected not to drink and just relaxed and had fun. The other half got drunk and had fun. Hitomi managed to get trashed pretty quickly. The one time I sat next to her and tried to talk I practically had her crawling on me taking off my hat and calling me "kawaii" (cute). It was uncomfortable to say the least considering she's Anne's friend. The Americans didn't really get drunk, most of them only managed a good buzz as Japanese booze are weak to say the least.

The "drunky" table before the drinking commenced.

Eventually the party ended and we headed out. I caught a ride with Yuki home and promptly went back to my place where I passed out. It was probably 2am before I was in bed. Tomorrow would bring yet another adventure I'm sure.

Not Over Yet

Meh...Monday. Last week. No, I'm not thinking about that, I swear. Dammit.

I got plenty of sleep last night after finally collapsing into bed from an amazing day. I awoke pretty refreshed although later then I usually do. I actually haven't used an alarm clock since I got here, waking up on my own around 8am every morning. Seth walked with me to school and I made sure to compliment his excellent blog (despite his lackadaisical updating). At school we had Yamada-sensei for the morning classes. Tyler and Mike were home sick, they'd been hammered by a bad cold that had been going around the American students. In class I kept up pretty well and actually enjoyed myself. Not that I wasn't happy to finally be dismissed for lunch.

I wasn't too hungry today because I had eaten a lot the night before, so I just had a rice bowl with fried chicken which Joy wonderfully helped me order. I sat with Anne and Chihiro and after eating I copy-edited some English projects for Anne. Poor Anne had no idea how much I enjoy editing so her paper was a bit marked up after I tore it apart. I guarantee she'll get a great grade on her paper though. Most of lunch was spent copy-editing but Anne did show me a picture on her cellphone of her when she did a Geisha experience in Kyoto. While I don't usually see the beauty of geishas, Anne looked wonderful. Then again, she looks wonderful sitting right there next to me, no need for fancy dresses and gobs of makeup.

After lunch was a quick hour with Onuma-sensei, who once again loaded us up with a small forest worth of papers. Still, she managed to keep class fun and informative. Afterward I found no one at conversation partners so I joined Joy's movie class instead. The movie was Kramer vs. Kramer, which I found a bit...well...the little bit I saw affected me. Anyway, I helped the students to understand the movie as best I could. Of course Joy had to mention this would be our last time helping her class, which was a bit of a downer. Still, it was good to have a positive effect on the students' learning.

The class ended and I wandered downstairs and found Anne in the cafeteria. We spent the next hour talking and tutoring each other. Mostly though it was just Anne trying to teach me Japanese despite my inability to remember anything. Regardless it was a lot of fun and the time flew by. Eventually Hitomi joined us and I helped her with her English homework. After the last class bell rang I walked with Anne to the bus where I said goodbye and then walked with Hitomi part of the way home. We parted ways at the main road and I ran home to drop off my school stuff before going grocery shopping. I ran into Hitomi again at the grocery store and then some more JCLP students out in the parking lot. Before going home I walked over to to Book Off and looked around for a while before giving up on anything remotely in English.

Entering my apartment I found Alex, Dani, and Robbie already hanging out so we watched The Last Samurai. Dani and Robbie left after the movie and then Megumu stopped by to finish her English homework with Alex. Mariko and Andrew stopped by for a bit before everyone eventually headed home.

Tomorrow is another day, part of me can't wait, part of me never wants it to come.

Shibata by night.

Silly Girl

After a very long night’s sleep I awoke at 7am unable to sleep anymore. I finished yesterday’s entry and prepared my day in Niigata. Eventually I was all cleaned up and ready to go, so I walked out the door, said good bye to the other group of JCLP students gathering to go to Niigata, and started my hike to Sasaki station. Sasaki is just over 2 kilometers from the apartments and I took me about 30 minutes to walk the distance. I made it to the station with 15 minutes to spare so I relaxed until the train arrived. I got on the train and headed out to Niigata. I met up with An-san on the platform in Niigata station.

From Niigata station An led me to the Bandai district where most of the city’s shopping areas can be found. For the rest of the morning we wandered the malls and shops as I bought gifts for family and a few friends. She made a valiant effort to teach me Japanese as we shopped but I’m really a terrible student, so most of it was forgotten by the time she quizzed me later.

After getting most of necessary gifts we decided to get lunch. An asked if I’d had breakfast and I answered “No,” to which she gave me a mix between a horrified and surprised look. Here everyone eats 3 meals a day, but I never eat breakfast no matter where I am. We headed to another Japanese take on Italian dining where we enjoyed omelet on rice and hamburg steak. I finished early because I eat army style (thanks Dad) so An handed me her Chinese language book and made me read from that (aloud). Getting bored of the lesson in a language I didn’t really want to learn (not that I could, Mandarin Chinese is a nightmare) I opened the book to the back where there was a map of East Asia. I pointed to each country and named every one of them off, much to An’s surprise. After An finished I grabbed the bill and paid for the meal and we headed out.

More shopping followed lunch, we just made it inside as it started to rain. We wandered about, teaching each other more of our languages and buying souvenirs. Outside An pulled out her umbrella and tried to hold it over both of us. Me being 6 foot and her being the typical height of a Thai woman I just took it from her and held it over her instead. I was getting tired from walking and I was very sore from the kite battle so we decided to stop at a local coffee shop. It was here I called An a “Silly Girl” to which she extracted her electronic dictionary and typed in “silly”. The answer it provided was “baka” meaning fool. I would spend the rest of the night trying to prove to her that it was a good kind of silly not a bad kind. It was also at the coffee shop that I would discuss with An the realities of the coming week. We talked about where we truly belong and the pain of saying good bye. She was honest, and for that I am thankful.

She really is a silly girl, but she's also strong and kind.

After we stayed a bit too long in the coffee shop (as opposed to American coffee shops where one can sit and relax for hours, Japan is a country of efficiency, so the hour we spent there talking was really too long) we headed out to one more department store before heading back to Niigata Station. At the station we went to a couple of electronics stores and then a book store. Eventually it was getting close to the train’s departure time so we headed back down and bought tickets. While I was waiting for An to use the restroom Seth and his friend Takuya showed up. We talked and found that we’d been all the same places today, just at different times. An returned and everyone made fun of me in Japanese (I think) and then An and I headed for the train.

The train ride back was peaceful and pleasant. We talked all the way back to Sasaki Station where I said good bye and got off. I walked back to the 7-11 where I bought some dinner and then headed home to eat it. At home I discovered my microwave’s power cord was 2 feet short of the wall jack so I borrowed Robbie’s for a bit. Then I met up with Seth and Takuya and joined them at Saizeriya where I had a dessert while they had dinner. We headed home where I relaxed in Seth’s room the rest of the night.

Today was the first time in years that I was able to spend an entire day alone with someone of the opposite sex. But it felt more like a day enjoyed with a good friend then anything. I mean this in the best possible sense. The reason I call An silly girl isn't just to tease her (although that’s fun) but also because she really does make me laugh and smile. I love making people laugh and smile, and I love people who can make me laugh and smile. My deepest hope is that I leave a positive memory in An’s heart and that she remembers me for being a kind friend. It’s the best anyone can hope for.

The First Goodbye

Another early morning for another field trip. Unfortunately, because we were at Saiyu's until 2am, there was little energy to be had. Professor Brown knew the story as soon as he saw us get on the bus, even after he'd told us the week before not to stay up all night with friends. We just shrugged, put on our iPods, and settled in for the drive.

Our first stop was the Minotopia Museum located in the Niigata port area next to the old customs house. The museum detailed the rise of Niigata area from ancient times to what it is today. There were some intresting parts and it was neat to compare this sort of museum to the same types I had seen back in Indiana. Once done in the museum we loitered outside, waiting for our ride.

To get to our next destination we would be taking a water shuttle up the Shinano River. Soon our nifty looking shuttle boat pulled up and we boarded. The ride took us through the center of Niigata city and under the famous Bandai Bridge. Eventually we reached our destination, Furusato Mura.

We ate lunch and then were given 2 hours to explore. I'm not entirely sure what Furusato Mura besides a conglomeration of things. Its part gardens, part cultural center, part fresh produce store, and part outdoor vendors. I spent the time buying gifts for home and wandering about the gardens taking pictures. Everyone was finished exploring a little early so we gathered up and headed back home. On the ride home I slept for more than half the drive.

Pond waterfall at Furusato Mura.

At home I relaxed for a bit before meeting up with, Saiyu, Mariko, Nate, Austin, Alex, Abe, and Yuu for Yuu's farewell dinner. We went to the Chinese restaurant where Yuki met up with us. We enjoyed an amazing dinner and had a great time. Outside we took pictures and then Yuu gave each of us a hug and told us to visit again the next time we were in Japan.

When Yuu left she didn't say good bye. She said "Ja nei" which can be translated to meaning, "See you later". It was a little detail, but it was noticable to all of us. Yuu was the first Japanese friend I made here, and now she is the first I had to say good bye to. But I didn't say good bye, because just like Yuu, I didn't want this to be the last time. Thank you Yuu for being such a wonderful, strong, kind friend. I will never forget the 3 weeks I spent getting to know you. Ja nei.

Battle of the Giant Kites

What the hell did I do this morning? Actually, for once I know because this morning I was up typing yesterday's blog. I finished it just in time to get outside at 9am to head off on today's field trip. We were supposed to go into Niigata and go to some museums. However, the weather today was beautiful, and it was supposed to rain tomorrow. This meant we would be going to the Shirone Giant Kite Battle today instead of tomorrow.

We drove through Niigata to a smaller town on the Shirone river. Here we went to the Kite Museum and took the tour. We learned the history of the kite battles which date back long enough that I don't remember what it was. After walking around the museum for a while we got to make our own kites. After we assembled them we took them out to the museum's parking lot and tried to fly them, emphasis on try.

Lunch was at a local sushi shop. Sushi isn't my favorite but I can't say that lunch wasn't good. I did have a little trouble getting the squid down. It wasn't because it tasted bad, but the damn thing took forever to chew. They brought us tall glasses of ice water and I told everyone at my table to make sure to drink it all and then some. The day was getting hotter and hotter, this would be the highest temperature since we got to Japan.

Once lunch was finished we went to the actual kite festival. Once up on the river dyke we were met with what could only be described as a true example of the Japanese culture. Teams would run down the dyke on both sides of the river, desperately trying to loft massive kites into the air. Assuming they got airborne without smashing into the river, houses, or spectators, then once the kite lines crossed one team would let their kite fall. The entangled kites would fall into the river and then it became a massive game of tug-of-war. The kite lines would extend down the side of the dyke into the city streets as both teams struggled to drag the most kite debris to their own side. The best part was that spectators could join into the tug-of-war, in fact, the teams would recruit people.

After taking photos from the stands two huge kites got tangled and a big battle started. I wandered over to where they were pulling the rope to take pictures. Almost as soon as a team member saw me I was drafted onto the team. About half the JCLP members got in on it, pulling as hard as we could and hoping the rope didn't snap too violently, sending us hurdling down the ramp. The battle ran out of time and it ended up a tie. I wandered back up to the top of the dyke, out of breath from the battle, while shaking the hands of the team I just helped. I resumed taking pictures, staring in awe as almost 20 large kites battled in the air above us. One huge kite lost lift and crashed into the ramp about 10 feet away.

The big kites take off.

I decided to go down and checkout what the festival booths were selling down on the street. I met up with some other JCLP students and we wandered. It was mostly food and silly trinkets, nothing worth even buying as souvenirs. Everyone pretty much bought snacks and we wandered to the bridge that marked the start of the battle area. From here we enjoyed an amazing perspective of the battle.

The small kites battle.

As time neared for us to leave we wandered down the dyke toward where the rest of our group was. This was a hazardous journey as kites were falling from the sky all around us and teams were running by blowing their whistles as loud as they could manage. Eventually we got back to the ramp just as another big battle was starting. This time it was a different team, but even they drafted me as soon as they laid eyes on me. I only stand out a little bit in this country.

After the first pulling fight we got a break for about 5 minutes. During this time a camera crew suddenly appeared in front me. They asked me to describe what I thought of the festival and why I was there. I honestly was in a little bit of shock at this and did my best not to look like a complete idiot (I failed). This tug-of-war also ended in a tie and once again my team members shook my (now rope burned) hand and thanked me for the help.

It was time to leave so I grabbed some Yakiniku (bits of chicken cooked in sauce on a stick) and we headed home. I ate my food and then passed out for most of the ride. Seth and I took the bus to the school instead of getting off at the apartments with everyone else. I found Yuu and she gave me An's e-mail, just as she promised she would. I tried finding An, but I couldn't, and I lost Seth in the process. After wandering around school for a while I finally headed home.

I met up with Seth again at home and he, Roshan, and I headed to 7-11 for dinner. We bought a mediocre meal which we ate as we sat out on the curb. There were lots of high school kids around as Shibata Chuo was just around the corner and clubs and activities were finally letting out. After dinner we walked to a local game center where we blew some money just goofing around with the arcade games.

We headed home and relaxed at Seth's place until midnight. I headed back to my room with the intention of sleeping but instead I ended up in Saiyu's place with Alex, Yuu, and Abe. Yuu leaves tomorrow night so I've been trying to hang out with her as much as I can. She's such a great friend, I'll miss her so much. Yuki did her hair tonight and she looked absolutely beautiful. If I ever come back to Japan, the first contact I'll look up will be Kawai Yuu, the best Japanese friend I ever had. Tomorrow night will be really hard on me, I'm not looking forward to good-bye.

Playing Games

Today I finally had energy in the morning. I'm not sure what was different but it felt great. I headed over to school with Seth and the twins for Onuma-sensei's class. She spent the morning playing games and handing out enough papers to have consumed a small forest. Eventually class ended and she gave us homework once again.

At lunch I sat down with Ronnie and An. As I had already eaten during the break I just had a snack and worked on my homework. Onuma saw me working on it and complemented my hard work (I think). I didn't get to talk to An much at lunch as we had gotten out of class late.

After lunch we had Dr. Hayashibara's lecture on the history of Japanese aviation. Not many Japanese students showed up for this lecture, which isn't too surprising as Keiwa is a liberal arts school. The lecture was pretty good and gave a brief run-through of Japanese aviation. The central theme was the WWII era aircraft. At the end we watched a little bit of a documentary on the Shinkansen bullet train, which was designed post-war by former military aeronautical engineers.

Instead of conversation partners today we attended a demonstration of classical Japanese instruments. I apologize as I can't remember what any of them were called. The performances give were absolutely beautiful and it was a very enjoyable demonstration. At the end of the final performance they allowed us to try out the instruments. It was very interesting, but I prefer drums to stringed instruments.

Demonstrating Japanese classical instruments.

I ran into An and Hitomi after class and hung out with them for a bit. An gave me a Niigata city restaurant guide which I found pretty interesting. Apparently Niigata has a Canadian restaurant. Eventually it was time for them to go to their last class and I told An I'd be back at 6 to meet her for something she had planned.

I walked home and relaxed for a while before going back to school to meet An. She had a hiragana learning game for us to play. She told me to invite everyone, which I did, but only one of the twins showed up. Needless to say I was angry and ashamed after she not only got this game for us to play, but several Japanese students showed up as well. I apologized and An just smiled and told me no apologies. We played the game anyway (it was a lot of fun, especially when Yuu started yelling "Hai!" every time she got one). Around 7 we ended the game as An needed to catch the bus to Sasaki station. Unfortunately she left in such a hurry that I wasn't able to get her e-mail or as her if she wanted to do something Sunday. Back at the apartments I told Yuu this and she agreed to get her e-mail for me tomorrow since I'd be gone all day on a field trip.

I hung out in Robbie's room with him, Austin, Megumu, and her friend until the girls had to go home. Then I headed over to Seth's room and hung out there, shooting the shit all night long. I finally got back to my place around 12:30 and called it a night.

Arrangements

I got up this morning with the resolve to keep myself on my toes all day. A third of the way through Yamada-sensei's class I failed this resolve. I'm almost sure I'm fighting some sort of cold, or maybe I haven't been eating enough. I basically have no energy despite getting a full night of sleep. I managed to drag myself through class even though I had forgotten my notes as well. Both Yamada and Dr. Hayashibara were checking to see if I was alright. It also didn't help that I didn't understand anything today in Yamada's class as she was using the dreaded videos and tapes.

At lunch I grabbed some food and basically chowed down as much as I could to get some energy back. After eating a sat down with An and talked with her. She brought in a travel magazine of Niigata for me today. I couldn't understand it but I could at least flip through the pictures. We talked through till the end of lunch until I had to go to culture class.

Today's culture class was Ikebana, or Japanese flower arrangement. Joy had her ikebana sensei come in and show us how to create flower arrangements before giving us our shot at them. I put mine together without too much deep zen thought like one should use in ikebana, but I think it looked pretty good. Not that I know when flowers look good or not. When I finished I took some of my leftover flowers back to the cafeteria where An was studying. It was felt ridiculously childish to give a girl flowers but Japan does that to you. We talked for an hour before leaving for conversation partners. First we stopped by the cafeteria side room to show her my ikebana.

At conversation partners we worked with several new terms. I learned quite a few useful things today, despite the fact that Alex and Seth kept working with complicated terms. Despite this, conversation partners just flew by. Afterward we hung out in the hallway with An and Hitomi for a while before everyone wandered off to various places and events. I sat with An and talked with her until 5:00 when she had to catch the bus to go home. We talked about our careers and what we would be doing in our own countries once we graduated.

I went back to the apartments and relaxed with Nate, Mariko, and a few others until 7:00 when we met Yuu outside to go to a pizza party at Saizeriya. We took a big group consisting of most of the JCLP students along with about 5 Japanese students. Dinner was fun and filling, and of course many pictures were taken. Afterward we all walked over to 7-11 for no real reason other then to maybe scare the shit out of the clerks. I found some little Gundam trading models that cost a leg and a half to have imported in America. I bought a couple just for the hell of it.

More proof that Japan rocks, I got these at 7-11.

We walked back to the apartments where Alex, Mariko, Abe, and Yuu went into my room to do some drinking while I took my laptop and hung out at Seth and Mike's along with Andrew and Dani. We kicked back and joked around until my laptop died and I headed home to finish this out. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow, and I hope for the rest of the trip.

Swords and Fireworks

This morning was not kind to me. I think I've been blessed with a cold that has been going around the school. Japanese cold feels shittier then American cold, that much I can assure you. Once again I struggled in Yamada-sensei's class, and the less I understand, the more she calls on me. Today I managed though, and I'm getting much better and reading and writing Japanese in hiragana. If only I had more time here to study I know I could get it all down. Well, maybe not all the kanji, but at least the language and the basic characters. I've found that I have a bit of an advantage over some of the other Americans because I'm an air traffic control major. In the ATC classes, a lot of emphasis is placed on memorization of sectors, radio frequencies, and a plethora of other information. So I've been able to pick up the hiragana pretty fast, thankfully.

At lunch I sat with An, who presented me with about 10 pages of local attractions. I had barely mentioned the other day that I was looking for something to do locally with some friends and she went out of her way to print all this out. I was amazed at her kindness. An had to leave school early for something but not before Seth told her that I was wondering if she was married, much to my embarrassment. I still felt pretty shitty at lunch, so I basically just sat around after An left and avoided much conversation.

Onuma's class came and went, I felt even worse there, but she did manage to lift my spirits a bit with her antics. The real fun of the day was after Onuma's class.

Our culture lesson today was a presentation by local Kendo sensei. Kendo can be called Japanese fencing. A more accurate description would be that it is what remains of Japan's samurai culture. Instead of teaching one to kill with the sword, kendo teaches one to better oneself through the sword. The sensei gave us an overview of kendo and proper bowing practices before giving a demonstration with real swords. They sampled a few of the best techniques for us. Once this was done we were given shinai (bamboo swords) and we began to practice moves with the sensei. There are three places you can strike a opponent; the top of the head (men), the wrist (kote), and the side of the abdomen, on the armor (do). As one strikes each area the strike is yelled.

Kendo Sensei duel with real katanas.

After practicing the kendo moves, the sensei took four volunteers to bout in a mini tournament while wearing the kendo equipment. I volunteered, I really had no idea how to dual but I thought "What the hell". First Dani and Roshan fought with Dani landing the two winning hits. Then it came my turn versus Brett. I managed to win but put a nasty bruise on Brett's arm. Next was the final match between Dani and myself. It was a long match and I was already tired. Dani finally got the last hit on me, much to my relief. I wouldn't have minded winning, but I was done by that point. Everyone who volunteered got to keep the head bands we wore inside our helmets. They have kanji written on them and look amazing, even though I have no idea was it says. The whole experience was amazing and I'm very happy I volunteered to try the dueling. I'm considering joining the Kendo Club back home for my final semester.

I didn't have any plans after school so I changed into athletic clothes and went back to play soccer with Roshan, Mike, Mariko, and some Japanese students. It was a good time, but I suck at soccer, and I was already very tired. I played for about 20 minutes before calling it a day and went and shot baskets for a while. I went upstairs and watched the twins do karate with Yuu and the karate club for a bit and then headed home.

At home I went up to Dani's room and joined her, Amanda, Toniya and a bunch of Japanese students for dinner. They were making American omelets and pancakes. Chihiro was there so I spent a lot of time talking with her. Eventually we decided to go set off the fireworks that one of the Japanese kids bought. We gathered up a big group of students and walked way out into the countryside. We spent the next hour or so lighting off every kind of kick ass Japanese firework you can think of. Finally we got to the "bomb". The bomb was created by taking and empty can, poking a hole in the side, filling it with sparkler powder, and attaching a fuse. In America we call this a pipe bomb, and an act of terrorism. In Japan it's just good fun. The bomb detonated not so much like a firework, but like a quarter stick of dynamite. It was yabe (Japanese slang that can be loosely translated to "bad ass").

We walked back to the apartments and I spoke with Yuu along the way. I tried teaching her how to say "microphone" but when she had trouble pronouncing it she just said "microdenwa" (denwa is Japanese for phone). Yuu will be leaving for social work next Monday and won't be back until after we're gone. This is incredibly sad for me, she's been such an awesome friend and she won't even get to see us off. I can say without a doubt that Yuu is the best friend I met here.

Once back at the apartments I went from room to room hanging out until finally getting home around 12:30. It was a good day, and it thoroughly wore me out, and tomorrow should be just as fun.

Yopparai

Monday morning a few JCLP students went to Sue's first year English class (a different one then the previous class) to help out. We discussed the differences between Japanese and American cultures. I really was at a loss at describing my own culture, America is such a mix that its hard to trace one definite answer. The first year students have impressive English skills, many of them rival the fourth years, which I don't entirely understand. That's not to say that the senpai are all bad at English, but not as advanced as you'd expect from 4 years of college perhaps. Then, I can't really say how hard the English language is, having grown up with it.

After Sue's class we had Yamada-sensai for the rest of the morning in our typical Japanese language class. I couldn't keep up with her at all and when she called on me to give an example I was at a complete loss. She had to go through all the info again before I was able to answer properly. I felt embarrassed and angry that I couldn't understand but later in the day I found out the rest of the class had felt the same way, they just hadn't been called on.

Lunch lifted my spirits as I sat with Yuu and An. I checked with An to make sure everything was alright with her family (which it was). I told her about my weekend and asked if she was coming to conversation partners. She said she would if I went so we agreed to meet. I was at lunch a little too long so I got to Onuma-sensai's class just in time. I handed in my homework and we went through her typically silly and simple lessons.

Seth, Andrew, and I went to the computer lab after Onuma-sensai's class to kill time. This was my first time logging into the campus network so it was interesting to say the least. While the keyboard has a typical QWERTY layout, many of the commonly used side keys in English (comma, period, etc.) are located elsewhere. The @ symbol is somewhere on the right side in the top row. It makes things fun.

Conversation partners with An and her friends was very productive. I made sure not to just sit around and talk but actually learn, and I think An is a very good teacher. I've been trying to learn different types of sentences while also trying to fill them with useful verbs, nouns, and adjectives. I wish it were as simple as it sounds. The main focus was the use of the "tai" verb. This is used to indicate something is wanted. A very useful thing to know in my opinion.

After school we waited around for everyone to gather for a drinking party some of the Keiwa students had put together. During this time we were told to guess An's age. I guessed 20, other guessed 20 or 21. She told us she is 28(!). Needless to say I'm still floored by this. Once everyone gathered we headed off to the apartments and then the bus stop to head to Shibata City. An couldn't join us, so she said she would do something with us Thursday night.

The drinking party, while filled with great food that completely filled me, was still a drinking party. Pretty much everyone but three of us got completely trashed. The Japanese girls didn't take long at all, usually one drink before they were drunk. The party lasted long into the night before we finally stumbled outside. We split into groups and headed home. Seth, myself, Andrew, and a drunk Brett walked Yuka and her friends home before walking home ourselves. It was 1am by the time I got into my apartment where I promptly passed out.

I don't drink, I don't like alcohol or its effects. I also don't like seeing my friends get stupid drunk. In America it doesn't happen to often, but it does. Seeing my Japanese friends in the same situation, I felt a little sad. While drunk people can be humorous sometimes, they're still drunk, and that's not all that funny. I probably won't be attending any more drinking parties in Japan, unless its to make sure everyone gets home alright.

Matsumi Heights, home.

A Glass Half Full

With no plans made for Sunday I decided to sleep in and play it by ear. As far as I knew almost everyone was off doing something today. Nabe-chan was taking a large group to the hot springs, Dani and a few others went to Sado Island with Professor Brown's son, and Mike and Roshan went to the beach. I woke up around 10 and found my roommate was back from the dance party he and a few others had gone to. I hadn't even heard him come in last night, I was completely out.

After Alex got up and after I did some laundry, we went next door to see if Saiyu wanted to go get something to eat. He and Ronnie joined us and we went over to Saizeriya. Little Ronnie managed to out eat all of us guys, although I'm not entirely surprised, seems like everyone in this country can eat more then me. I asked Saiyu and Ronnie some questions about China (they're both Chinese students studying abroad). Ronnie was actually kind of surprised that I knew of the area she was from (Dalian). They both want to travel to America to attain graduate degrees in English some day. I hope they do, I think it would be a good experience for them.

We took Alex to Saiyu's favorite hair salon to get him a haircut. It was pretty much exactly like an American hair salon, except the service was probably better. After the haircut we headed back to Saiyu's place and hung out while watching Lord of the Rings 2. Yuu came down and joined us for a while. I headed back to my room to study but I ended up taking a long nap. I woke to hear Seth and Alex talking outside so I headed out. The bus with the spa group showed up as I walked out and they announced we had been invited to a barbecue hosted by the Katagiri family.

I convinced as many people as I could to come to the barbecue, I really wanted them to meet the Katagiri's and experience the kindness that I had over the home stay. Even Yuu agreed to come along with us. Hisako and a friend came to help haul us over to the village. She was as full of energy as ever, such a wonderful woman. Once at the village we parked the cars at the new house and took the scenic route over to the old house. I played tour guide as best I could, although I hardly had to say anything about the old house, it was impressive without a word being spoken about it. I took Seth, Alex, and Yuu up to the shrine and then back down the mountain. When we got back to the house food was just starting to be served.

At the house we met Justine, a Canadian that was apparently teaching English locally. She was very friendly, I'd like to talk to her more about how she came to be here. The entire night was filled with amazing food and good fun. I wandered into the kitchen a few times to joke around with Hisako and Nabe-chan. Hisako's husband got drunk once again and had most of the guys drinking with him. Eventually all the food was eaten and the night died down to small talk and joking around. We got together for group pictures, an all too common thing these days, but something we all desire. These pictures along with our memories will more then likely be all that binds our lives together after these last 2 weeks end. Hisako's friend and Nabe-chan drove us back home and we all wandered into our individual apartments.

This ends my first two weeks in Japan. Half of my time here is now over. I haven't regretted a single second of it. Every new experience has been outstanding, I feel like my mind has opened farther than I could ever imagine. 15 days ago I had never travelled overseas, never visited a country where no one spoke my language, never submitted myself to a continuous torrent of new experiences. My only regret now is that I waited until I was 22 to do this. The places I have seen, the people I have met, even the food I have tried, I know has changed me in some way. No matter where I go now I will never see the world the same. We are strangers from the other side of the planet who don't speak the same language, yet tonight I was able to make people smile and laugh, which is one of the best parts of life in my opinion. The definition of friendship has been redefined for me, its a much more powerful thing now. I will spend the next two weeks making these friendship strong enough that they will last forever, that is my dream.

This trip isn't over, I'm not going to countdown the days to the end. I'm going to get up every morning ready for a new adventure, and I'm going to keep going all-out. No regrets, no quitting, no looking back. Live everyday as if we'll never see each other again.

Everyone after a wonderful dinner. I'll never forget
the Katagiri's and their incredible kindness.
Thank you.

Aizu Wakamatsu

Today we gathered outside the apartments to head to Aizu Wakamatsu. The bus showed up around 10 and we headed off. The drive to Aizu Wakamatsu is about an hour and a half from Shibata. Most of us settled into our mp3 players and relaxed on the long drive through the Echigo mountain range. Eventually we reached Aizu Wakamatsu and Nabe-chan (the Nabe-gator) managed to get us only slightly lost. Eventually we did reach our destination.

Aize Wakamatsu Castle was our first stop. It's a feudal era fortress basically that was destroyed during the civil war with the feudal lords. It was rebuilt in the 1960's and now seems to be a popular tourist attraction. After taking a guided tour around the grounds we went inside the castle itself. Inside is a multistory museum dedicated to the history of the castle. We went all the way to the top of the castle which afforded us a great view of the surrounding cities and the mountains that encompassed us. After the museum we had a great lunch in the museum's cafeteria and headed off to our next destination.

Group photo in front of Aizu Wakamatsu Castle

Up next was Aizu Bukeyashiki, which was a restored samurai manor. It was a little boring to tell the truth, most of the stuff there was common in Japanese society. The mixture of gardens was rather relaxing though, and the Coy pond was fun. Outside the manor we got green tea ice cream before getting back on the bus.

Next we drove to the local train station where we boarded a steam engined train which we rode back to just outside Niigata. The ride took us through the mountains and villages of the Niigata countryside. People were out all along the tracks watching the train go by. On board I spent most of my time in the observation car with Seth. The observation car was also used as a little crafts area for kids to keep them occupied. We took plenty of pictures of the scenic views and the kids. Nabe-chan spent a lot of time there too, acting like he was about 8 years old. Saying "hello" to two young girls ended up earning me and Seth two little friends. They didn't talk to us much but they were still fun, following us around the train cars. When we finally got to our station I waved goodbye and received the same in return. Once again, kids here are so flipping awesome.

The Keiwa College bus was waiting for us at the station. We drove back to the apartments where we dispersed. I ended up hanging out in Mike and Seth's apartment the rest of the night, shooting the shit as it were.

School Visits

Today was a field trip to a variety of local schools to catch a glimpse of the Japanese education system below the college level. To be honest, I was a bit reserved about the trip. Experiences with kids in America haven't exactly had the most positive impact on me. However, as everyday is a new in adventure in Japan, so would this day as well. We met Joy, Dr. Hayashibara, and Nabe-chan at the school before heading out.

Our first stop would be Hasuno Elementary School. This was probably the scariest part of the trip for me. Images of hundreds of Japanese children tearing me limb from limb were coming to mind. Needless to say they were more then a little excited at seeing American college students for probably the first time in their lives. They had recess around the time we arrived so we wandered around watching them play and goof around. Many came up to us and messed around, playing around and being kids. We were just in awe of the absolute cute overload. The principal gave us a tour of the classrooms we would be each visiting. I took many pictures as I wanted my sister, an American elementary school teacher, to see what it was like in Japan. After this we went back to the meeting room where we waited for a representative from each class to come and retrieve us.

An adorable little girl came to get me and led me to classroom 3-2 (Third grade, classroom 2). The class was making Sumi, which are Japanese calligraphy. At first everyone was a bit shy, but after a while the bravery kicked in. They had me try a few lines of the sumi-e, which is like painting with a big brush in the simplest sense. The kids were very impressed with my horizontal lines apparently. After this they each presented me with their name in sumi-e (katagana and romanji). As each student handed me their paper they introduced themselves and asked me what my favorite something was. The questions ranged from my favorite book, movie, color, sport, food, and so forth. As I answered the questions the students became more and more interested in me as they found I liked many of the same things they did. My limited Japanese surprised them as well.

After all the sumi-e names were presented (an absolutely awesome gift, I plan on hanging them all up when I get back to America) we talked (tried to) and took many pictures. Then it was time to take me back to the meeting room. The entire class grabbed a hold of me and guided me back downstairs in a mob of Japanese third graders with a 6 foot American at the center. I couldn't stop smiling, it was the cutest thing I have seen in my entire life. Once back at the meeting room I went inside while they all bunched up around the door. I shook hands and gave high fives while saying goodbye. Eventually others had to get in the door as well so we said our final goodbyes and parted. I really miss them, my brief time with them was amazing, something I'll never forget. I can't put into words the effect those kids had on me, other then they are absolutely kawaii (cute) beyond all possible reason.

Me with class 3-2

We ate a school lunch in the meeting room (much more appetizing then the stuff I had back in elementary school) and then got back on the bus for our next stop, Shibata Chuo High School. Shibata Chuo is a private high school located almost next to the Keiwa campus. Two students from one of three classes came to the meeting room and picked us up. Eventually two girls came by to get me and took me to their class where I joined their small group. They all took turns asking me questions in English and I responded as best I could. After a while they took me on a tour of the school and eventually back to the main entrance where all the other groups met up. I asked for them to write down their names (but I can't seem to read their handwriting). After lots of group pictures we boarded the bus and were once again on our way. Although the high school kids weren't as crazy and energetic as the elementary kids, they were still a lot of fun and very enjoyable.

We now headed to Seiro Middle School. This is a brand new public school that is attempting to introduce some American school styles. The two main differences is that students change classrooms with subjects instead of teachers, just like in America. Also, this school has a cafeteria, instead of having the students eat in their classrooms. The school itself is beautiful, built with a clash of modern and traditional. Wood covers almost every surface and emits a warm feeling. We participated in a tea ceremony hosted by the students under the supervision of the Keiwa College tea club. They did an excellent job, but I'll never get accustomed to sitting on my knees for such a long time. After this we were given a tour of the school by the international club. The junior high students were much more quiet and reserved then the high school students, which was understandable. After the tour they thanked us for coming, group pictures were taken, and we were back on the bus, headed for home.

After a short stop at home for a bite to eat we got on a local bus and rode to Shibata Station. From there we walked to the local baseball stadium where we watched the Niigata Albirex (I have no idea how its spelled or what it even means) play some other team. It was a lot like an American minor league game, but both teams weren't exactly very good. The score ended up 2-1 with Niigata winning. It was a pretty enjoyable game, and the food there was very good. We walked back to Shibata Station and then took cabs back home. Back home we relaxed the rest of the night since no Japanese students were around.

This was probably one of the best days of the semester so far, mainly just because of the elementary kids. All the students we met today were polite and kind, great representatives for both their schools and their country. I'm proud that they were all brave enough to talk with and guide foreigners that barely spoke their language. All the JCLP students agreed, this was a great day. I'll never be reserved about meeting Japanese kids ever again, they're amazing.

Happy Birthday Seth

Today would be the last day of actual class for this week, as we have field trips on Friday and Saturday. We spent the morning in Onuma-sensai's class learning colors and object names. We played a game called Color Demon, which is a bit like tag. After class I had lunch with An and Mai-chan. An is very sweet, and she makes me work my Japanese whenever I talk to her. She's a very good teacher. I invited her and Mai to Seth's birthday dinner later that night.

After lunch was Dr. Hayashibara's second culture class. This one dealt with Japanese anime culture. A lot of it was spent discussing what an Otaku is. Otaku is like an obsessed fanboy that does nothing but sit inside a dark room and watch anime day and night. At least that's what Hayashibara told us. He had three examples of anime and I was the only American who had seen them all. I think it was more coincidence then anything, I'm really not otaku.

The anime class was followed by Sue's first year English class. We had volunteered to help with an interview project. First though, we through a short surprise party for Seth, since its his 19th birthday. Then we broke up into pairs and were interviewed by the Japanese students. For freshmen their English was incredible, I was very impressed.

Seth's surprise party, Seth and Nabe-chan.

After class An told me she wouldn't be able to make it to dinner as she had a family emergency, Seth and I made sure everything was alright and told her it was fine. Then we headed to the restaurant for the party. It wasn't just Seth's birthday today, but a Japanese student, Maika, as well. So we ate lots of good Japanese food and had lots of laughs. Afterward we all drove to a local park and brought out birthday cake. Everyone had their picture taken with Seth and after he gave a thank you speech we all headed home. Seth summed up his day as the best birthday ever, and I have to say I'm pretty envious.

Later we just hung out in the apartments talking before finally wandering off to bed.

Day by Day

Back late again last night meant another difficult morning. None-the-less I managed to get up and get off to school. Today we had Yamada's language class all morning, but before the lesson Nabe-chan presented us with tickets to a baseball game Friday. Nabe-chan has really been going above and beyond for all of us, he's a really great guy.

After class I headed down to the cafeteria, but since I ate during the morning break I just grabbed a juice and hung out. I saw my conversation partner from yesterday, Chihiro, so I sat with her and talked for the lunch period. She's a really fun girl and very positive. I invited her to join our afternoon lecture since Japanese students were allowed to join. At the class I found out she was a senior and she was writing her senior thesis on us, the American exchange students.

Dr. Hayashibara gave us a lecture on Japanese Business and Industry, but it was more about bowing, our stereotypes, and the atomic bombs. Afterward I hung out in the hall with Seth, Chihiro, Haruna, and Ronnie as we waited for conversation partners. We all took turns putting on Seth's huge sunglasses and posing for pictures.

At conversation partners I worked with Seth and a girl named An. Her name is actually a lot longer, she's Thai, but An is much more pronounceable. She was very knowledgeable in language and worked us very hard, but we learned a lot and she was very fun. Today was probably the most enjoyable conversation partners I've had yet. I hope to work with An more.

Later we headed to the gym and played table tennis for a while. The guys in the table tennis club are incredibly good, I can't even follow the ball. I contented to playing with some girls at a much more enjoyable pace. Around 6:45 me, Seth, Yuu, and her friend went to Saizeriya, the Italian place I was at the other night. We had a good meal, Seth and me bought the girls desserts, and we ended up being there for almost 3 hours just talking about movies, anime, and video games. Eventually we headed back to the apartments where we hung out with Mike, Dani, and Roshan in Seth's room for a bit before Yuu and I left for our respective apartments. Back at my place I found Alex and Yuki. Mariko came down a bit later, and the rest of the night was spent just relaxing.

Seth plays table tennis with a club member.

I think every day I've been in Japan I've made at least one new friend. Today was An, yesterday was Chihiro. I know its mostly because of our special status at Keiwa that makes it easy to find friends, but the friends that I have found are some of the best people I've ever met. Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Chilean, American, we're all here and we're all having an amazing time. I try not to think about the fact that someday soon this will all come to an end and we'll all have to part ways. I think we all know it deep down, so that's why we're going all out with our friendships, letting them flourish even though we've all just met. I'll never forget the people I've met here, this summer semester has been the greatest time of my life.