Travel Blog.
After a five hour lay over in San Francisco and a twelve hour long flight I finally made it to Osaka, Japan. The airport was crazy madness with everyone trying to exchange money and stay as a big group. Once we got out of the airport we went on a bus who gave us a tea drink that smelled like Gurber baby food and had a cracker-ish taste to it. We arrived to the market near our dorm room where that was just even more crazy madness with so many people shopping and only having fifteen minutes to try and find food for a little bit. It was cool not being able to read what anything was, yet recognizing some packages such as Oreos, pringles, and cup of noodles. We then were dropped off to the dormitory room, unpacked and settled in. People went out to explore but I stayed in and got some extra sleep.
The IBU (International Buddhist University) school here was the next trip we made to see the next day. It is a huge, beautiful, and clean campus. They were mopping the floors outside, which I thought was interesting. There is a main room called 'italk' where the students go to practice their English and study. This room is kind of our home room and meeting area before going to any classes. We were introduced to many students and I have never seen so many people that didn't know me be so excited to see me, it was awesome. In a way some of us felt famous. We got to tour around the campus, the architecture here is beautiful of the building. There is a convenient store, which is basically what the campus store is at SLCC, just where you can get magazines, drinks, and snacks. The students also showed us a garden area that has a beautiful view of the city and is a nice, peaceful place. I have already taken so many pictures it is ridiculous but very good. We are only able to have wifi access while on campus in the italk room, and even then on my laptop I am not able to log into anything on any website. This has been the hardest so far, yet I have enjoyed it because I like the disconnection from the world of reality in Utah. It makes it more of a reality that I am not in Utah anymore. Some of the toilets in the restrooms are in the ground which also makes me realize I'm not home anymore. We got familiar with Fujiidera station which is the main one we use to leave the campus area.
Instead of going to the castle today some of us traveled to Namba and explored after having our overwhelming Japanese class and lunch with the IBU students. Two students met Bethany and I at Tenoji station and took us around that area for one of my best experiences here. We were able to do the photo booths in Q's Mall, which are like nothing at all in America. We were able to enhance our eyes and choose different backgrounds for different pictures. Then we were able to edit them to write anything we wanted on them or make little designs or shapes. Of course with me, we went to KFC for dinner;) The food in this country has been the hardest for me because I am so picky.
We had two low-key days after being submerged into a different time zone and getting introduced to the area and students. We stayed in the IBU italk room for pretty much the two days except for Japanese class and lunch. It was nice to just have a not riding on a bus or train forever and walking all over the place for once. We got a lot of our homework done, my geography assignment on the Okinawa Islands is completed. Three of the IBU students took some of us to a really cool restaurant with rotating food (mainly sushi) passing the tables.
After the cooped up homework day and calligraphy we went on our first excursion was to the Osaka Castle and the Osaka History Museum. The museum was unlike any museum I have experienced, the architecture was outstanding, as I have noticed it is within many of the buildings. The castle's grounds and moat was beautiful. We all got a bunch of pictures and wandered up to the castle. We went straight to the top and got a wonderful view of the city. The pictures don't do it justice at all. The inside of the castle was just like another museum, with information all about the castle, which was pretty cool but I wish it would have been left the way it was when it was an actual castle, I feel as though I would have liked that better.
We were then able to travel all the way out to Nara to Todai-ji, Kasuga-Taisya, and Nara-machi. On our way there we say a bunch of deer, which are sacred to the Japanese culture and people, these deer were not like the deer we are used to in Utah. I was actually able to pet them and feed them. They loved to take maps and paper out of peoples' pockets to eat them so we had to be careful of that. This was an incredible moment as well, to be able to just touch the antlers of a deer. These temples were so pretty, but since there were many people all over it, in a way, spoiled the peacefulness of the temple and the grounds around it. We saw the big, powerful statue of Buddha and I slid through the hole of the pole in order to be 'enlightened'. We had dinner at a restaurant that suited everyone and had really yummy baked potato and steak.
On our first 'free day' some of us went to a festival in Namba and that was so awesome. They had the whole street blocked and filled with excitement. There were different sections of dance, music, fashion, and art. The first dancing groups were a more traditional Japanese cultured dance, but as we moved down the street we found break dancers and beboppers doing all kinds of crazy moves. This was one of my favorite sections. The music section was very powerful too, some boys from our group stayed there for a while and really liked the drums. The art section wasn't very large and neither was the fashion. The fashion was more all about bridal/evening gowns, not really street fashion, although I was able to snag many pictures of just the Japanese people walking around.
Kyoto was the next excursion to another temple with many individual shops with very unique Japanese items such as prayer beads and kimonos. In a way this area reminded me of Park City, Utah. A tourist attraction, older, and many shops. This was a long day of walking a lot and traveling on the subway, train, and bus. We all went our separate ways, shopped and ate, then made our way back to Fujiidera and the dorm.
We were able to get another day of Kyoto in to go through the Bamboo forest and another temple more in the woods and trees. The bamboo forest was so cool, especially since it was raining all day. It made for perfect pictures and the water on the bamboo was very cool. The rain also, unfortunately, made for wet feet and socks the whole way. We then went to the Fushimi Inari temple. This was my favorite temple grounds to see, it was so peaceful and sacred with hardly anyone there so we were able to wander around by ourselves through the tunnels and trees in the rain. We then went to dinner at a buffet type of place that was unique.
We then had another IBU day of Japanese, homework, and lunch with the students. After class we went out to Shitennoji Abeno Nipponbashi and had a great tour of the temple. We were able to experience a tea ceremony practice, this was one of my favorite grounds too, just because of the simplicity of it. This was near the Namba area and we ended up on more of a grunge area with Panasonic and Sony type shops. We were able to find some graffiti for Bethany to photograph too. We went through Namba to get on the train to head to Tenojii station to go to Q's mall to get some of the fluffy socks that are so popular here.
The next two days we were able to work on our projects and homework, since this time is scarce with not having internet access anywhere we go. We had our Japanese class, lunch and a meditation class. Japanese is a really hard language to learn and to be able to pronounce and remember since it's isn't easy to relate it to something you already know, because they are such unique sounds. I really like the language though. Our sensi is very cute and funny. When we try to say a word or sentence and it just doesn't sound quite right she giggles and blinks her eyes. I am remembering more words with each class and some of the way the language is set up to be with the order you put nouns, subjects, and adjectives to complete a sentence. It is hard to fully understand the backbone of Japanese here just because we are so limited on time in the classroom to do so. Therefore we are mainly just learning simple words and phrases.
We did not have Japanese today, but instead a Kado (Kusumoto) class which was a flower arranging class. It was very cool and kind of hard to get the flowers to stay exactly how you wanted them to be. Our teacher was very sweet and a part of the home care department. In partners we made a flower arrangment and of course Bridger and I made the best one. ;) After class we were able to have more homework and computer time as well as lunch.
Excursion to Kobe today was great. On our way there we ran across a carnival type of set up in a park ground with little tents selling food and other trinkets. We were also able to see the earthquake memorial for that area of the city. Shortly after we ventured onward to a China town with many stands of the same food over and over although there was one with yummy fresh pineapple. We then got to Kobe near a bay where there was a fairy type of boat going back and forth people were paying to go on and a shopping area near a ferris wheel. We found a store that had many American things in it such as Dr. Pepper, Doritos, Pez, and even some spray and lotion from Victoria's Secret! Today was a pretty exhausting day from all of the traveling so some of us went back to the dorm, while others stayed to explore more in Kobe.
Free day we went to explore one last time with our JR train pass. We ended up just hopping on a train and landed in a different area of Namba where the dear, temple, and forest/park walk was. I then had a moment of shock that I was totally in a different country when we stumbled upon two police officers trying to get two men whom were either on drugs or really drunk with how lethargic they were. The cops put up with them arguing with them and them trying to assault and push them. The cops also were very caring in a way that they would protect their heads as they fell back to prevent them from getting hurt. We stood and watched this for quite some time and the struggle of the police officers. They soon had three more cops show up and after some time they finally had to lift one of the men up by four of the cops and almost throw and shove him into the cop car without being handcuffed. It was in a way showing they are more powerful yet weaker than the cops here in America because this situation would have been done and taken away quicker and the cops would not have tried to be so helpful or caring toward them. We then got on another train and landed in Kyoto where it was already dark and we were able to experience the night life of Kyoto which was very active and pretty with the lights and the main JR train station.
Today we got up early to see the eclipse which was so awesome, it was very cool that we happen to be in Japan at the time of an eclipse so we were able to see all of it very clearly. We then all left in the direction of Hiroshima on the bullet train which was very nice, it was as though we were on an airplane. Once we arrived we went to the A-bomb dome and Hiroshima museum which were both very powerful and intense. This was one of the most unique museums I have ever gotten to experience. I was surprised to see so many little children there because of certain things displayed showing the burns and the way the victims' skin would be tearing off. After being touched in such a way Bethany and I wandered around the city which was different than where we had been staying this whole time, the people were different too, they were still respectful and descent but they did not seem as nice as in other places we had been which was interesting. We got to our hotel which was right along the beach and very beautiful, but more of a couple resort than an American study abroad group. I am grateful we were able to stay there and have a wonderful dinner over looking the ocean and dock. I absolutely loved walking around the edge of the ocean and along the beach area. Another beautiful and peaceful moment.
We had a great breakfast and headed onto Miyagima Island on a fairy and were able to explore around the whole island which was so cool to be on an island, I had never experienced that before. Lauren, Rob, and I went to the top and hiked around and got an excellent work out in. We then rode our bikes we rented to a swimming area but it was too chilly to swim, I got in the ocean anyway and we found a star fish!! We then rushed back to the fairy to catch the JR train back to our dorm. Great day.
Homework and project time with our last Japanese class, where we made cool little fans and lunch with the IBU students. Finished up our projects and we then went bowling with some of the students in Nambe. I got to put on a bowling pin costume and play around and made everyone laugh which was great.
Last day of classes and our presentations. They all went well and I received a gift from Hitomi and Ayane. They were great gals and I hope to go back to see them or be able to show them around Utah. We all went to dinner and one last little shopping spree for the last time.
Packed up, cleaned, and headed out to the airport. I can't believe our trip has come to an end, long flight ahead of us.
