Hey all!
Sorry I haven't posted for a bit. I've been sick :(. I got some kind of cold or something and I just can't seem to kick it. I even missed two days of midterms at school cause the doctor said I should really rest. Blech. I've still got a cough and I'm really exhausted. No fun at all.
But, in other news, the ryuugakusei are having a Halloween party on Friday! Japanese people don't really do Halloween, so we're planning on frightening them all by wearing our costumes to school :). Should be fun!
I didn't want to spend $50 (the cheapest one I could find!) on a costume for ONE DAY so I bought some cheap little horns and a pitchfork and I'm going to wear a red dress I brought from home. Voila - devil! I'll take pictures! My friend is planning on going as Pikachu. It will definitely be an amusing Halloween. :)
Also, recently I've discovered the wonderful world of Disney in Japanese! I even translated the song "Once Upon a Dream" from the Japanese version back to English, subtitled the video, and put it on Youtube. It was really fun! I've been listening to all my favorite Disney songs in Japanese. I even bought the Japanese version of Aladdin! Good practice, if nothing else :)
This Sunday I went with a friend and his host dad to the Akashi Kohashi Bridge, the longest bridge in the world! It was awesome! They gave us hard hats and special vests and ear pieces. Then they gave us a presentation on how the bridge was built and showed us exhibits about the materials. The presentation was a little hard to understand because they spoke really quickly, but the visual aids helped :). We got to walk half the bridge underneath where the cars were driving. It was kind of scary - above you there are cars and trucks whizzing on the bridge and below you there are boats and freighters sailing on the ocean and all that separates you from these things is an iron grid. Slightly unsettling. But really interesting!
We took an elevator up to the 98th floor of the bridge's first suspension rigging tower. It was so pretty up there! Even though it was raining and cloudy, you could still see INCREDIBLY far. On the one side is the mainland and on the other side is Awajishima, an island that's famous for its museum about the Great Hanshin Earthquake 10 years ago. From the top of the bridge, I could even see a Kofun! Kofun are these ancient tombs from around 200-550 AD. Yeah, really old. They're keyhole shaped and gigantic, so really the only way you can see them fully is from above. I was looking out over the mainland city and suddenly I noticed one and pulled my friend over shouting "Look! It's a Kofun!". We just learned about them in my Art History class, so I was pretty excited to get to see one from the right angle.
It was really fun!
Alright, I'm off to bed because I'm still sick and I really want to get better soon. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired! :)
Love and miss you all!
Love,
Christy
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Midterms Midterms
Hey everyone!
I'm about to enter midterm week, so I'll be benkyou-ing (studying) like crazy.
BUT, I wanted to tell you all about this band my friend introduced me to - The Radwimps (weird name, I know, but they wanted to coin a word that would mean "superlative coward" or something to that effect). They are Japanese (dur. :) ), but some of their songs are in English.
My absolute favorite of their songs is called "Order Made". It's pretty much an idea of what conversation you might have had with God before you were born.
I think it's one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard and the lyrics are simply amazing.
Anyway, here's the video (with subtitles, no worries ;) ):
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=-A28kvuvHks
Try checking out some of their other songs too, I really like them!
As for what's going on here...
I found a used book store! I got 11 manga for $13!!!!! That is an AMAZING deal. I was very happy. I've been curling up with my denshi jisho (electronic dictionary) and having fun translating them to English. My friends and I all sat around today after class and translated our manga together. Our teacher came over and, seeing our dictionaries out, asked if we were doing homework. We sheepishly replied "No.... But at least it's good practice!"
It really is helping me learn lots of new words though. :) I knew being a nerd would pay off somehow ;)
Anyway, I hope all is well at home!
I love you and miss you all!
Love,
Christy
I'm about to enter midterm week, so I'll be benkyou-ing (studying) like crazy.
BUT, I wanted to tell you all about this band my friend introduced me to - The Radwimps (weird name, I know, but they wanted to coin a word that would mean "superlative coward" or something to that effect). They are Japanese (dur. :) ), but some of their songs are in English.
My absolute favorite of their songs is called "Order Made". It's pretty much an idea of what conversation you might have had with God before you were born.
I think it's one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard and the lyrics are simply amazing.
Anyway, here's the video (with subtitles, no worries ;) ):
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=-A28kvuvHks
Try checking out some of their other songs too, I really like them!
As for what's going on here...
I found a used book store! I got 11 manga for $13!!!!! That is an AMAZING deal. I was very happy. I've been curling up with my denshi jisho (electronic dictionary) and having fun translating them to English. My friends and I all sat around today after class and translated our manga together. Our teacher came over and, seeing our dictionaries out, asked if we were doing homework. We sheepishly replied "No.... But at least it's good practice!"
It really is helping me learn lots of new words though. :) I knew being a nerd would pay off somehow ;)
Anyway, I hope all is well at home!
I love you and miss you all!
Love,
Christy
Monday, October 13, 2008
New Pictures!
Hey again everyone!
I just uploaded some more pictures to my Picasa album. They can be found here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ryuusei726/Japan# .
I would add them to the slideshow, but it won't let me for some reason. :(
Hope you enjoy them!
Love,
Christy
I just uploaded some more pictures to my Picasa album. They can be found here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ryuusei726/Japan# .
I would add them to the slideshow, but it won't let me for some reason. :(
Hope you enjoy them!
Love,
Christy
Again with the Late Posting!
Gomen nasai, minasan!
I keep promising myself I'll update on time, once a week at least, and then I go to kendou or on some trip and I get really tired and I don't. I'm sorry!
So to catch you all up since I last posted...
Starting with this weekend and working backwards...
Yesterday, my friend Zoe and I went to the Ashiya Aki Matsuri (Fall Festival). It was amazing! They had this big danjiri - a Japanese parade with these huge portable shrines (mikoshi) being wheeled and whirled down the street. On top and on the sides and all around the mikoshi are dancers in traditional dress with all kinds of lanterns and other decorations, inside the mikoshi are drum players. Everyone chants to the drums and it is REALLY cool. I took lots of videos. One of the guys on the mikoshi even waved at me! It was awesome.
After the danjiri, we shopped around the festival and met up with my host mom who bought us delicious takoyaki (grilled octopus balls - not as weird as it sounds, don't worry :) ), and adzuki mochi (red bean rice ball dessert-y things :) ). We got to play all the kid games and lots of the stall people gave us extra prizes because we were foreigners, an unexpected perk.
Also, on the way home from church last night, my host mom brought me to where the night danjiri was going on. It was even cooler with all the chochin (lanterns) lit up. It is definitely a sight to be seen.
Saturday, I woke up early to go to kendou and what a practice it was. An old sensei separated us from the main group and worked with us on the basic stroke - men - a hit to the head. Then he taught us "Sayuu Men Utsu" - multiple hits to the left and right sides of the head. He taught us the movement that goes with Sayuu Men Utsu, which is one of the basic kendou practices that the experienced kendouka work out with. Then, unprecedentedly, he brought us into the gym during practice. (Usually, during practice, we work with one of the experienced kendouka out in the hall while the main group works out inside the dojo. The dojo practice is VERY loud. Everyone is "kiai!"ing and stomping and the swords and hitting each other and people are running all over. It's kind of scary :)) So, the sensei brought us into the gym and put on his armor and let us practice on him, another first (usually we practice on dummies called ningyo). We practiced Sayuu Men Utsu and a few other strikes. It's very different hitting a person than a dummy. But the sensei was smiling and clearly enjoying himself the entire time. I think he was really happy that foreigners were trying kendou. After that, we practiced with the dummies again and tired ourselves out sprinting up and down the hall jousting with them.
After kendou, we went to a Ryuugakusei (Foreign Students) Aki Matsuri. We all gathered on a really pretty riverbank and ate snacks and talked and played soccer, etc. It was really fun.
Friday, I went to karaoke for the first time!!!! I LOVED it. We sang Queen and Journey and the Backstreet Boys and a bunch of crazy Japanese songs. It was a blast :). I can't wait to go again.
Last weekend...
I studied most of the day Sunday while talking on Skype to friends and family at home (If you don't have Skype, you should get it!)
Saturday, I went to kendou and out to lunch with my friends. Saturday night I walked about two and a half miles to get to the church that has Saturday night Masses. It was very nice weather though, so I didn't mind. :)
Also, last weekend, the host sister that is teaching preschool in Korea came home for a very short visit. She really liked my bracelet! Also, she brought a bunch of cute gifts for me from Korea - an adorable, bejeweled mirror, a keychain with a bunny dressed in pretty Korean clothes, and a princess tiara headband. She is really pretty, too! I can't wait to talk to her more when she comes home for good in March.
The weekend before last...
The ryuugakusei spent the entire weekend on top of a mountain (Koyasan) at a Buddhist temple! It was an educational experience, to say the least! We got a guided tour of this gigantic Buddhist cemetery called Oku-no-in. It was very peaceful - mostly because of the GIGANTIC and gorgeous cedar trees that grew everywhere throughout the graveyard. That night, we told ghost stories in the dark, a tribute to our cemetery wanderings. Spooky!
We also saw LOTS of Buddhist temples, most gorgeously painted and decorated, and went to a Buddhist meditation ceremony (at 6 in the morning, augh) at the temple we stayed at. The temple we stayed at, like all Buddhist temples, was vegetarian, so we had no meat - lots of tofu and veggies, though. :)
The trip there and back was absolutely gorgeous. The view of the trees, the lakes, and the mountains from the train was breath-taking.
AND before that...
We took a trip to Nara this week with my Art History class. It was spectacular to see all actual art in person as I've seen so many pictures of the various pieces in so many textbooks. We went to the oldest wooden building in the world, among many other places. Inside the oldest wooden building in the world - also known as Todaiji - is the biggest statue of Buddha. It is gigantic! The entire building is mind-blowingly big. There's a deer park around it as well, so we got to feed the deer, which was really fun. I was feeding the nice does my deer biscuits when I got headbutted in the butt by a big, mean buck. I ran away while throwing my deer biscuits behind me, hoping to distract him. It was really funny. I even bought a deer hat complete with antlers - by far the highlight of my trip ;D!
Besides all my trips, I've been going to kendou religiously and studying a lot when I'm not hanging out with my friends or my host family.
All in all, it's been a very busy, and very fun, month!
I hope you all are doing wonderfully and I miss you SO much!
Love and Hugs,
Christy
I keep promising myself I'll update on time, once a week at least, and then I go to kendou or on some trip and I get really tired and I don't. I'm sorry!
So to catch you all up since I last posted...
Starting with this weekend and working backwards...
Yesterday, my friend Zoe and I went to the Ashiya Aki Matsuri (Fall Festival). It was amazing! They had this big danjiri - a Japanese parade with these huge portable shrines (mikoshi) being wheeled and whirled down the street. On top and on the sides and all around the mikoshi are dancers in traditional dress with all kinds of lanterns and other decorations, inside the mikoshi are drum players. Everyone chants to the drums and it is REALLY cool. I took lots of videos. One of the guys on the mikoshi even waved at me! It was awesome.
After the danjiri, we shopped around the festival and met up with my host mom who bought us delicious takoyaki (grilled octopus balls - not as weird as it sounds, don't worry :) ), and adzuki mochi (red bean rice ball dessert-y things :) ). We got to play all the kid games and lots of the stall people gave us extra prizes because we were foreigners, an unexpected perk.
Also, on the way home from church last night, my host mom brought me to where the night danjiri was going on. It was even cooler with all the chochin (lanterns) lit up. It is definitely a sight to be seen.
Saturday, I woke up early to go to kendou and what a practice it was. An old sensei separated us from the main group and worked with us on the basic stroke - men - a hit to the head. Then he taught us "Sayuu Men Utsu" - multiple hits to the left and right sides of the head. He taught us the movement that goes with Sayuu Men Utsu, which is one of the basic kendou practices that the experienced kendouka work out with. Then, unprecedentedly, he brought us into the gym during practice. (Usually, during practice, we work with one of the experienced kendouka out in the hall while the main group works out inside the dojo. The dojo practice is VERY loud. Everyone is "kiai!"ing and stomping and the swords and hitting each other and people are running all over. It's kind of scary :)) So, the sensei brought us into the gym and put on his armor and let us practice on him, another first (usually we practice on dummies called ningyo). We practiced Sayuu Men Utsu and a few other strikes. It's very different hitting a person than a dummy. But the sensei was smiling and clearly enjoying himself the entire time. I think he was really happy that foreigners were trying kendou. After that, we practiced with the dummies again and tired ourselves out sprinting up and down the hall jousting with them.
After kendou, we went to a Ryuugakusei (Foreign Students) Aki Matsuri. We all gathered on a really pretty riverbank and ate snacks and talked and played soccer, etc. It was really fun.
Friday, I went to karaoke for the first time!!!! I LOVED it. We sang Queen and Journey and the Backstreet Boys and a bunch of crazy Japanese songs. It was a blast :). I can't wait to go again.
Last weekend...
I studied most of the day Sunday while talking on Skype to friends and family at home (If you don't have Skype, you should get it!)
Saturday, I went to kendou and out to lunch with my friends. Saturday night I walked about two and a half miles to get to the church that has Saturday night Masses. It was very nice weather though, so I didn't mind. :)
Also, last weekend, the host sister that is teaching preschool in Korea came home for a very short visit. She really liked my bracelet! Also, she brought a bunch of cute gifts for me from Korea - an adorable, bejeweled mirror, a keychain with a bunny dressed in pretty Korean clothes, and a princess tiara headband. She is really pretty, too! I can't wait to talk to her more when she comes home for good in March.
The weekend before last...
The ryuugakusei spent the entire weekend on top of a mountain (Koyasan) at a Buddhist temple! It was an educational experience, to say the least! We got a guided tour of this gigantic Buddhist cemetery called Oku-no-in. It was very peaceful - mostly because of the GIGANTIC and gorgeous cedar trees that grew everywhere throughout the graveyard. That night, we told ghost stories in the dark, a tribute to our cemetery wanderings. Spooky!
We also saw LOTS of Buddhist temples, most gorgeously painted and decorated, and went to a Buddhist meditation ceremony (at 6 in the morning, augh) at the temple we stayed at. The temple we stayed at, like all Buddhist temples, was vegetarian, so we had no meat - lots of tofu and veggies, though. :)
The trip there and back was absolutely gorgeous. The view of the trees, the lakes, and the mountains from the train was breath-taking.
AND before that...
We took a trip to Nara this week with my Art History class. It was spectacular to see all actual art in person as I've seen so many pictures of the various pieces in so many textbooks. We went to the oldest wooden building in the world, among many other places. Inside the oldest wooden building in the world - also known as Todaiji - is the biggest statue of Buddha. It is gigantic! The entire building is mind-blowingly big. There's a deer park around it as well, so we got to feed the deer, which was really fun. I was feeding the nice does my deer biscuits when I got headbutted in the butt by a big, mean buck. I ran away while throwing my deer biscuits behind me, hoping to distract him. It was really funny. I even bought a deer hat complete with antlers - by far the highlight of my trip ;D!
Besides all my trips, I've been going to kendou religiously and studying a lot when I'm not hanging out with my friends or my host family.
All in all, it's been a very busy, and very fun, month!
I hope you all are doing wonderfully and I miss you SO much!
Love and Hugs,
Christy
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