Hiroshima Castle

It turns out our bus was at 4, so we ended up spending most of the day in Hiroshima before coming into Kobe around 9, and our hotel around 10. The hotel, for the record, is excessively nice and right on this small island so it is near the water. It also is kind of in this shopping plaza. Most exciting, though, is that the pajamas they provide look like kung fu gear. Haha, so awesome! Moving on, before I talk about Kobe I would like to finish up with my thoughts on activities in Hiroshima, though (at least on the castle).

The castle area is really intense and I personally found it way more cool and interesting than the imperial grounds of Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo even if it was not as outright large and beautiful as any of those three. Basically the castle itself is gorgeous, and its moats are signficantly more like rivers than other castles. The grounds themselves are also somewhat unique, as a lot of pieces were blown away in 1945 -- instead the foundation is still there and the areas of each piece are surrounded in stones, and then the foundation is kind of overrun with grass. People just sit and relax there, which is really cool to see. As for the tower itself, it was kind of moved and then a replica was made, which is now home to a museum. Though, I found this castle museum to be way more exciting than the one in Osaka, as well, for some reason. Each floor is kind of dedicated to a different thing, rather small, and for some reason just way cooler? It starts on the second floor with pieces of the old castle and the history of the township, then it moves on to other things, like there is a floor of paintings, of letters, of weapons and samurai armor, and at the top an observatory -- which is extremely fantastic. Hiroshima is just so beautiful! The mountains are so vivid, and the rivers so lively, it's just an awesome place.

After the castle, we went back to Okonomi-Mura for a final Okonomiyaki before we left. This was a great decision, as the place was way tastier than the first. All the ingredients were freshier, and they did not screw up making mine this time (the first time they messed up an egg so they threw a second one in, which made it pretty weird tasting, although still delicious). I also got it with cheese on it, which was pretty good, and Ben's kimchi looked way better than at the first place. I feel I should give the names of both places incase anyone has the joy of visiting either -- Kazu-chan on the third floor (first one), Shin-chan on the second (second visit).

After that there was just some wandering. We made our way to the station, where Ben quickly came up with an excuse to go separate ways to kill time before the bus -- a pretty obvious ploy to purchase some illicit materials. He did not say particularly what those were, or admit to purchasing illicit materials, but he was a tad too eager to split up, and a tad too impatient when we met up again -- as if he had done his evils quickly and wanted to move on and away from the experience. Once reunited, there was some mishaps with the bus that really shouldn't have occurred, and we were off to where we are now -- much more comfortable ride, for the record. I got to watch two episodes of Freaks and Geeks during it.

Which brings us to Kobe. I cannot say much about the city, as we just got here, save that I am shocked by how different it is from my expectations. I have had very little to go on, save that I expected it to be somewhat of a small, more rural type of city. In actuality it is enormorous, with a large sprawl of buildings and bridges and streets. Absolutely ridiculous! Though, it does remind me how much I am learning about these cities during this trip - and about Japan. I've really only experienced Tokyo before this trip (Hakodate and Aomori was such a short excursion). Pretty much everything I have disliked about Tokyo I have been attributing to all of Japan, and I think I am finally moving away from that with this trip -- by getting a sort of catalogue of the personalities of Japan's other cities. I never realized how big and bold Osaka is -- I used to think of it as just sort of a city that was there, without much purpose. Now I see it as Tokyo's sweet younger sister -- Tokyo being the rebellious teen. When I thought Kyoto I thought of a giant mass of shrines on traditional things just shoved together, but it is more of a trendy, smaller city. It is filled with shrines and traditional kinds of things, but it also has contemporary style -- I have not seen so many upper-class western restaurants outside of Karasuma Oike. As for Hiroshima, I had absolutely no knowledge of the city save that it was bombed. Now I think of it as one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. All in all, I am really excited to continue, and more than a little curious to learn the personalities of Kobe and Nagoya. It is a real shame this trip will end so soon!

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE!

Birthday and Osaka

First of all, obligatory: Woo! I'm 21! My birthday just came and passed so I am past the key ages in becoming a full-fledged adult citizen in the US. Kind of exciting, though it's rather toned down being in a society where that age is 20 mixed with my distaste for alcohol, the main privelage granted. However I am pretty excited that I can basically go anywhere and do most things, as age is no longer a restriction. Being able to join my friends at a nightclub, even if I choose not to drink, will be a welcome change from past experiences (though I am becoming tired of nightclubs and so whatever).

Anyway, for my birthday Ben, Rike, and I went under Ben's leadership to an Italian Restaurant in Shinagawa, where he paid for my lunch.  A few others were supposed to join us, but kind of wimped out at the last minute. It was pretty nice being in just a tiny group, and didn't tire Ben and me out too much for the bus we had to catch that evening. The food was pretty decent, the breads were surprisingly good, and the deserts were tasty. The pastas were a tad lacking, but way better than I would have expected from Japan. It was nice and fun.

That evening Ben and I caught our bus to Osaka, which was the worst of the nightbuses so far -- the seats were all narrow and there area infront of us was blocked at the bottom, giving us no leg room. Thankfully it was relatively short (8 or so hours, about an hour and a half of that spent off the bus at service areas) so the bus itself wasn't much of a problem. It got us to Osaka rather early, though, leaving us rather tired...but unable to check-in to the hotel (about 7AM for those wondering). Instead we wondered the city, eventually making our way out to Osaka Castle.

Eventually I'll put pictures of both up, but Osaka castle looked a lot like the Imperial Castle to me, only the architecture seemed slightly nicer and the gardens slightly less so, though I am inclined to believe my opinion on that would be opposite if I saw both when the sakura were in full bloom. We were able to enter the main tower itself, which was a kind of dull museum with a very few really cool pieces of art and samurai helms. The best part was undoubtedly the observation deck at the top of the tower, where you could see parts of the castle against the modern city. On our way out we ran across one of Ben's classmates from last year, who is studying abroad in Kyoto at Ritsumeikan. It was a pretty strange coincidence, but kind of cool.

After the palace we attempted to get to our hotel...but we had printed the wrong address. We ended up taking the subway to the wrong part of town and exploring, on foot, for something like 2.5 hours. It was kind of ridiculous, as we were both still really exhausted. However, the trains were rather nice and the area we explored was kind of cool to see - rather residential, a bit quieter than most similar Tokyo neighborhoods. I guess we wouldn't have seen it otherwise, and everything worked out so it is alright in the end. Though we crashed RIDICULOUSLY early (Ben was out by like, 4:30, I was out by 5:30). Haha, it was crazy.

My intial thoughts on Osaka: it basically feels like they took all the quieter machi (neighborhoods) from Tokyo and shoved them together, which is rather nice. Walks seem like they can drag on as there isn't as clear a line between an active city neighborhood and filler area as exists in Tokyo. If that doesn't make sense: Tokyo is basically a lot of small, active city neighborhoods connected with long roads. Between each neighborhood there is basically nothing interesting going on, often the streets widen up and all the area is filled with a lot more gray and such, and perhaps some small homes and businesses and such, spread out. The divide between the two is very distinct and obvious. It is much less so in Osaka, I am finding, which kind of makes it feel more unified. Also there are a few rivers in the middle of the city which is really cool and pretty.

As for today, I don't really remember everything Ben said he wanted to do, but I think we are supposed to go down and do...something, maybe go to the water front, head to the Otaku area, and later head to the gay club/bar area? It could be pretty cool, though I guess I am mainly looking forward to seeing the water and eating some Osakan food. Takoyaki, fried octopus balls, are supposed to be amazing/cheap here, so I guess I will be eating some of those. I kind of like them in Tokyo, but the octopus is always so chewy I don't really ever particularly want to eat more than one of them. We'll see how it goes!

P.S. I got my grades back! All of them A or A+ so I will have a 4.0 Fall 2009 Semester! I think I am supposed to be registering for classes this week or next week, either way I should have my next semester schedule ready by the end of the month.

America

Hahaha, it has been ridiculously long since I posted. In the time since my last post: The semester ended, I went home to America, and as of yesterday, have returned to Japan. However, there is honestly very little to say. I might have my grades available now, but I may not for another few days. Not sure if I'll share them or not. Anyway, I'll briefly go over everything of importance.

Classes: Not much to say. I got all my work in, and know how I did in all but two courses -- both of which I could have gotten anything in.

After classes: Just kind of read Kant and watched some South Park before going home. A bit after classes ended I went to Bang/Tama's joint-birthday party, and some of my Japanese classmates, coincidentally, showed up. I also took another walk to Rainbow Bridge -- this time with Viivi, we tried to get there before the sunrise. Started at about 4:30am and got to the water around 7, the bridge between 7:30 and 8. It was too cloudy to see anything so we didn't rush after we got to the water, it was pretty fun but we got there too early to cross...so I have to go again. We did take the train across though, so at least I technically went to Odaiba again?

Home: Did a lot here. I mainly rested and watched Freaks and Geeks, and later RuPaul's Drag Race. However I had mainly come home when I did to catch the Tibet House Concert -- Patti Smith and Iggy Pop!!!! Also a lot of experimental music acts. It was pretty awesome. I stayed with my brother and ate good food, so I cannot complain about the trip. My mom also threw me a sort of 21st birthday party with this cake:

It was pretty tasty - thank you Lisa Boehle! I feel I should now mention I also got an adorable Valentine's Day card from Zoe, my step-sister, as I don't know when else to put that in. Thank you!

Now: I am back in my room. It has been completely undone so they could change out the carpets, but on the plus side it seems I am neither getting a new roomie or a raise in rent? The sign telling me this was a tad confusing, but I am fairly confident it will stay constant. Which brings up the other thing -- a bunch of cool people, including Gen, have left the dorm. Hope you are all doing well!

Future: Ben and I have laid out our trip and made all of the reservations. We leave on the 11th, my Birthday!, and get back on the 25th (I think). The plan: Hit up Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Kobe, Nagoya, then head back to Tokyo. It should be pretty sweet.

Anyway, that basically is everything important (that I can think of). Maybe I will have a rush-edit later, though?