Feelin' Bloggish

Only one thing has inspired me enough to post for the first time in nearly a year, and it's the news that Osama bin Laden is dead.

I was watching a recording of the Royal Wedding on my DVD when I checked my phone and got the tweet from CNN Breaking news. It's definitely one of those moments that make you pause and think. And reread.

I'm still paranoid that they've announced DNA results will be available in a few days, while other sources say that they've already done it, which was why Obama was confident enough to announce the death. In the meantime, they've used a facial recognition system and other methods to ID him, but people with giant targets on them have used surgically-altered decoys in the past.

But, I'm hopeful that Obama wouldn't announce this until he was absolutely sure, DNA testing or not. Between the Royal Wedding and Osama bin Laden's death, this is the best news week ever!

Okay, there's no skating around the issue, we all know I am incredibly lazy when it comes to updating.

That said, I haven't chronicled much about my life in Japan because I was too busy enjoying it. And now that I'm back in New York, I need to make up for all the posts I've neglected to write up. Being in Japan is definitely an important part of my life that I want to remember, so I'm going to post about it in my blog. Even if it happened months ago. And I can't remember it as clearly as I used to.

And I'm gonna be sneaky about it and change the dates of my post so that they are more or less chronologically in order. Ohohohohoho... Alright, my main point is not to deceive anyone (otherwise, I'd do it w/o saying anything), but for convenience's sake. I don't want to cram four months into two posts like I do when I'm on vacation; it just doesn't do it any justice. Also, I don't want a million posts about Japan scattered around the summer months in case any other recent stuff I blog about gets lost in the sea of reminiscence.

But in the end, it's my blog, so I'll do whatever I want with it. I'm sure the five or less people who come here don't care, do they? ... *crickets chirp*

Good. And also, if anyone comes to my blog looking for info about studying abroad in Kansai Gaidai University, this should make it easier on them too.

---

That said, I'll be updating this post with the posts I've written, the date it was written on, and the date I changed it to.

First, here are the posts that I wrote while I was still studying abroad:
February 7, 2010 - What to do?
February 14, 2010 - Holiday
March 3, 2010 - Hina Matsuri
March 7, 2010 - Kimono Practice
March 22, 2010 - Spring Break
April 4, 2010 - Nara

New Updates:
2010.07.22 January 21, 2010 - At the Airport

My Korea post is gonna be pretty lengthy, so I'm gonna start with Nara first.

I went to Nara with my host parents two days after I came back from Korea. Nara is known for its deer (shika). The public park was full, so we went to a private one. Before we even bought the tickets, I already encountered some deer!

But before we saw any more deer, we went through Toudaji Temple.

There's a giant Buddha inside waiting for you.

This thing was pretty creepy, but if you touch it in a place where you have pain, your pain will go away.

These deer could be pretty aggressive. If they see the food in your hands, they'll zone in on you. I still remember my time at Monkey Island where the macaques stole my food and followed us around. Yeah, it was almost the same with the deer. Except they're bigger.

(lol)

Some deer were shedding their winter fur.

Lol, these are souvenir chocolate peanuts that are labeled as deer poo.

So many deer!

Some were so full from eating shikasenbei, they just laid down. Some guys teased them by placing the shikasenbei on top of their head

But overall, the deer were more gentle than I thought they would be.

Me and my host parents:

One last thing. They have cute heart-shaped asses! I was searching for a good one, like the ones in a pic my friend sent me from when she went to Nara, but this was the best I could find.

After two weeks of midterms, I finally get to relax for spring break in South Korea!

I was so pressed for time these last two weeks!
1st week:
Tuesday: Negotiation midterm
Wednesday: Psychology midterm, SP JPN test

2nd week:
Tuesday: SP JPN oral exam, Globalization "panel of experts" (talked about tuna for ~8 minutes)
Wednesday: Psychology 2-page report due
Thursday: SP JPN midterm, Globalization 8-page midterm due
Friday: WR JPN midterm and oral exam

For the first week of midterms, I had a lot of reading to catch up on. Before that, I didn't even open the textbook for two of my classes

For the second week, it was all Japanese class midterms. For the speaking class, it was grammar and listening, plus an oral exam where I had to make plans for spring break at a travel agency for 8 minutes.

Then for the writing class, I had to cram for kanji, and the oral exam was reading a short passage from one of the chapters from the Genki 2 textbook (my professor is one of the authors for Genki 2).

I also had a 8-page take-home midterm for globalization due Thursday that I finished right before class

As for vacation plans, me and my friend Alice were thinking about Kyushu, but it turned out that going to Korea might be a better deal. But we stalled on Kyushu for so long that we couldn't get the tour we wanted, since this time of year is when Japanese students graduate and go on their trips.

We ended up buying a plane ticket for Korea for around $300, and we're gonna rough it in hostels. But there's still last minute stuff to take care of, like the re-entry permit, tomorrow at the airport. I'm a bit worried, but hopefully all goes well!

Today, okaa-san (my host mother) decided to help me try on a kimono. We can wear kimonos for the graduation ceremony, so it was a practice run.

I first put on the tabi socks.

Then there are two layers of fabric, and a lot of different kinds of rope and belts to tighten the waist area.

It was so fun!

She said the sleeves were a bit short, and that she can rent (from her friend who owns a shop) a furisode with long dangling sleeves with is better suited for my age.

Okaa-san gifted me with this yukata and obi belt. The yukata seems to be the same shape as a kimono, but it is made of cotton instead of silk. Also, you don't need an extra layer under it, and the waist isn't as cinched.

Hehe, not the most flattering photo.

The back is so cute!

Today is Hina-matsuri (Doll Festival/Girl's Day) in Japan. On this day, families pray for their girls to grow up healthy, kind, successful, etc.

We've had the doll display up for about a month at my host family's house.

(with the adorable Shuu-chan, my host family's wiener dog <3)

In my Japanese class, my teacher gave us some hina-arare, little round balls that have a soy sauce taste to them. For dinner, my host mother made the traditional Hina-matsuri meal: delicious chirashizushi (I helped chop the carrots and bamboo and ushio-jiru (clams in a broth).

Sorry, I don't have any photos, the food looked so delicious, I couldn't wait to dig in!

Happy Lunar New Year and Valentine's Day! They don't really celebrate the lunar new year here, but they are very big on Valentines Day! Chocolate (sweets in general) is only from females to males on Valentine's Day, but guys can give chocolate a month later on White Day (March 14). My host dad brought home a bunch of chocolate and such from his coworkers.

Some Valentine's-related stuff at Namba Station

Anyway, I've decided to just post whatever and backtrack as much as I have to, but it will probably throw off the chronological order of my Japan blog.

I've been in Japan for two weeks already, and I don't even know where to start! The troubleshooting, the orientations, my first impressions, there's just too many things to talk about!

I took photos of random stuff too, from vending machines to sporks in my ramen bowl. Should I backtrack and post about what I did before until I get to the present day?