Bittersweet Symphony

So we're trying something new.  Since I still don't have internet, I'm going to type entries in text edit and copy and paste later! 

I'm convinced Maison still isn't the best living arrangement, but it got a little bit better today.  I went down to do laundry and they'd unlocked the coin drawers on the laundry machines in addition to the dryers.  I don't have to pay for laundry! Woo HOO!  There are still only 4 washers and 2 dryers (2 are broken) for 5 floors of people, but at least it's free. 

Mom and Dad offered to bring me home for Christmas yesterday.  I would love nothing more than to see my family and friends for the holidays, but the idea worries me.  It was hard enough acclimating to my new environment devoid of familiar faces; seeing them again for just a week and then having to come back might be a bad idea.  Not to mention I'm only here for a year and I don't know when I'll be back again.  It's not like Japan is just a hop skip and a jump away.  It's a grueling 11 hour flight and about $1,500 round-trip airfare.  I think I should experience life here to the fullest.  

... 

I do really miss my family.  Especially my Grandma. 

I don't know. I still need to do some considering. 

On the school front, I've been going to millions of orientations and tours and the like.  The bike ride to campus is 20-25 minutes with a slight incline.  I'm going to have super legs by the end of the year.  

There's this really cool building a little off campus called the Kanbaikan.  It's the location of the law school, but there are lounge areas there too.  One part of it is specifically meant to allow people to nap at school! Hello again nap time.

I'm looking at what classes to register for as I write this.  A basic semester is comprised of 18 minimum units, each class is 1-2 units.  The various classes meet 1 day a week for 1.5 hours each time.  So far I'm taking a required 10 units of Japanese (they break down kanji, conversation, listening, grammar, and vocab into different classes), two language seminars meant to prepare me for JLPT 2, History and Feature of Manga and Anime in Japan, Japanese Traditions and Culture, and Japanese Culture 2.  I'll be on campus every day of the week, but Tues. and Thurs. I'll be done after 12:15. Woo HOO!  Right now I'm registering for the minimum amount of classes, but I might tack on another so I can drop one that I really don't like.  

It's hard picking classes because from level 4 (the level I placed into) there's a limited selection of classes.  As it is, two of the classes I'll be taking are ５程度.  That means level 4 kids can take them, but the language level will be kind of intense.  I've got one class taught in english.  That's it.  Which I'm okay with.  

I was actually kind of disappointed.  A couple of the really cool looking classes are only taught in Chinese and Korean. (T__T)  Figures. 

I'm excited for classes to start though. I particularly can't wait to join a サークル (circle).  Circles are like clubs in America.  They have clubs here too, but that's more akin to the intensity of club soccer you'd find at a country club.  They're really strict.  

Unfortunately they no longer have a Taiko club or サークル anywhere on Doshisha.  I'm thinking I'll just join a random fun サークル and ask at the Taiko Center of Kyoto if there are any community groups around I can play with.  I think that's going to be my best bet.  

I really just want to be a kid this quarter.  I might look into doing some tutoring next quarter, but this quarter I just want to live and go to school and enjoy not being an lady yet.  

I'll try and write more to post more often.  Hopefully the internet will be on at my place soon too. 

Miss you!

Love until later,

Caitlin D.

Go Easy Carly Commando

Sorry I haven't been around! It's been a while since I posted because I was moving to Kyoto (京都).  

It's so different from Tokyo, you wouldn't even believe.  The buildings downtown have a height limit.  The tallest thing is Kyoto Tower next to Kyoto Eki.  You can always find your way if your lost.  If you walk towards the tower you can find your way from the eki.  

I live about 15-20 minutes walking from Kyoto eki.  My place is nice.  I have my own little kitchette and the bathroom is a good size.  I have a decent sized closet too.  Unfortunately I don't have a refrigerator to myself!!  I'm going to have to get a little one.  And my blinds were broken so I had to buy some curtains.  It's not bad though.  I've been able to add my own touch. Now that the photo collage is up I'm feeling a lot better.

I may not have blinds, but I do have a really good view.  I got a room that faces the temple across the street.  It's really cool.  Every morning at 8 or so they start ringing the temple bells.  I'll certainly never be late to class!  I'll also never get to sleep in.

There's still a lot of things I need to get (like internet) but that will have to wait just a little while.  I have one more day of vacation before orientations begin.  Tuesday is a placement test and some other informational meetings.  That evening we get to have a party with other international students and some Japanese students.  Wednesday we have the interview portion of the placement test.  Later that day I should be getting my bank account which means lost of money from JASSO too.

Also, the guy that helped me move in (Hideaki) told me that there IS a taiko club at Doshisha! I'll have to keep asking around and find it! I can't wait.  I really want to start classes so I can make some Japanese friends.  Don't get me wrong, I love all my friends, けど日本語はペラペラになりたい！

I wish I had a bit more time to explore where I'm living.  There aren't any obvious super markets around.  Kind of ironic that now that I have a kitchen in which to cook, I can't get any ingredients! Oh yeah... no oven.  Which means no cookies. 

I get stared at a lot more here. The odds are quite high that at some point I'll get to tell someone ジロジロ見ないで下さい.

I'm hoping to plan a trip to the Costco in Hyogo soon.  I want to get a rice cooker and a fridge there.  

Well, I think that's it for now.  I'm a bit distracted right now.  There's 4 of us in my friend's room borrowing his wireless internet for tonight.  One of them is running all the "Shoes" and "Let me borrow that top" youtube videos.  Random and dumb, but it's like a train wreck. You just can't stop watching...

Love until later!

Catliln D.

(sorry... the name is a throw back)

Wet and Rusting Bullets

So it's kinda wet and rainy here.  I don't know if that's what caused my cold, but it doesn't really matter.  I'm sick, but it's cool.  I'm not terribly sick.  I spent ¥1029 on cough syrup (せきシロップ) today.  I feel a bit cheated, but I needed it.

I went to Costco again yesterday.  I didn't get sucked into Nishifunabashi (西船橋) this time, so we had extra time.  We stopped by the beach before going.  It was a nice beach.  Kind of looked like an abandoned water park which made me think of Spirited away.  It was a little too hot to be creepy so we just had fun.  There was this awesome sandbar like 20ft. off shore.  It was really fun. We were thinking about doing a beach party for all the ILP kids, but then we found these signs that said you couldn't swim in the ocean! What's the point of having a beach if you can't swim!? 

So that plan went down the drain.

Oh well.

I've spent all day inside today.  I'm okay with it because I figured out that my window opens up all the way! So I've been sitting in it and leeching off of wireless.  

Class tomorrow.  Only two more weeks and then I'm off to Kyoto.  I have my bus ticket.  I'm excited to settle into my place for the year.  I compared the sizes of my room here and my room there and I should get another 3.5 m^2! I'm super duper excited.  

That's all for now. 

Love until later,

Caitlin D.

Circles

So I figure it's about time I post an update.  I've been sadly negligent of my blog (is that proper english? I don't even know anymore...).  

I've been hoboing it around Tokyo for the last couple of weeks.  School then play everyday.  I've made lots of new friends, actually.  I met up with Joon from UCR and he introduced me to some people from Waseda University (where Arito goes) who studied at UCR last semester, one of whom is coincidentally Arito's former roommate.  Their names are Dan and Shima.  It's a small world.

And as if that wasn't coincidence enough, I ran into two Jodaiko members in Shibuya after hanging out with Dan and the clan.  It was so surprising.  Just walking down a random street in Japan and low and behold, some people from Cali.

But wait, it gets better, I was in Asakusa before the Gaijin 祭りand 花火大会 and I ran into Hideto from the Kendo Club at UCR! I sware, it's like I didn't even cross an ocean! Ridonculous! 

Apart from the random encounters of the SoCal kind, I've visited Odaiba to see the Gundam, been to my first Festival and fireworks festival, painted a handbell, done lots of shopping, and been to the Costco in Chiba... which brings me to my NEXT story!

So Jannice and I hooked up on Sunday to check out the Costco in Chiba (yes, they have Costcos in Japan).  We met at Kameido station around 10am.  We left the station at 10:20 or so.  We didn't arrive in Chiba until probably 2pm.  Why did it take so long, you ask? Because Nishi Funabashi is the Bermuda Triangle of the JR Train system!! 

We get to this station and the track splits (it also shares track with the Keiyo line) and hop on the train we THINK is the right direction... NO. It took us BACK a station.  So we get off and hop a train back to Nishi Funabashi.  So we hop on the other track and head in the right direction (after much deliberation over maps).  It stops at Minami Funabashi and everyone on the train rushes off and onto another train.  Usually that's a sign that something is amiss... but we thought, "No... This is right... This line ends at the stop we want to get to." So we stayed.  The doors close and we head BACK to freaking NISHI FUNABASHI! aaaaAAAHAHHHH!!! 

At this point we're bordering on hysterics.  So we get BACK on the train and head BACK to Minami funabashi and hop trains to take us ONE more FREAKING stop that the line we WERE on SHOULD have taken us to but DIDN'T because of some retarded weekend schedule. 

It was harrowing to say the least, but when we finally got there, we were QUITE happy.  I've never been so happy to go to Costco in my life.  It was amazing.  I came back with Nutella, cheese, refried beans, a baked chicken, and some potato salad!  I've been eating well since Sunday.  

So now I'm in the planning stages of Mt. Fuji.  We'll be heading out early Saturday morning to climb to our lodging, stay the night, hit the peak on Sunday and climb back down.  Arito mentioned an onsen... I imagine that will be marvelous! 

On a side note, I just downloaded the new As Tall As Lions CD and it's most wonderful.  Kind of fitting for my situation.  That band will forever be associated with Sara, Anthony, John and the other Taikonauts, but now I've got a new batch of songs to associate with Japan.  It's a happy blend of old and new.  

I'm definitely going to miss having Arito, Hiro and Jannice close by to call up when I want to hang with some familiar faces after I move to Kyoto.  Jannice will come visit, and hopefully Arito and Hiro as well, so that's a plus, but still.  I am excited to have Jannice stay with me sometime.  We can hit up some cool joints in Kyoto and rock the Old Capital together.  

There's a lot in my future to be excited about, I just need to keep my eye on the prize to keep the sad stuff out. 

I was watching Mushishi (an anime Anthony and Liz recommended to me) the other night and I got really excited for the rest of my year here and realized how quickly it will go.  

Life is good right now and I'm grateful for it.

Love until later, 

Caitlin D.

Life and death, Skinny Love, Life and Death.

It's sunny days here in Tokyo now. Typhoon 9 came and went. It was nice having some rain in the summer, and boy did it rain! It was muggy the whole time, though, so the overall experience was not that pleasant.  Still, unseasonable weather amuses me.  

I went to Tokyo tower yesterday.  Apparently its a full 10 meters taller than the Eiffel tower.  I didn't know that.  They have this creepy mascot... it's a conehead. No joke.  I wish it had been clearer, but it's alright.  I'll be heading back there again with Jennifer most likely at night.  That'll be awesome.  On the way back from Hamamatsucho there was a delay on the Yamanote-sen.  Chihiro said that based on the announcement being made, it was likely a suicide jump onto the train tracks.  Morbid.

School gets out an hour early today to go to the Natural Disaster Building.  Rumor is that there's an earthquake simulator there.  I'll let you know when I get back if I have the skills to not die in a major earthquake here.

Speaking of earthquakes, we've had quite a few lately starting Sunday with a 7.1.   Monday an 8.something hit around 5am and Thursday some kind of tiny aftershock came.  I barely felt anything on any of these instances.  Buildings in Japan are built on sliding foundations, so buildings shift with the ground.  The higher floors just kind of shuffle around, but it maintains balance.  It was interesting being inside the building while that happens. 

I found out that Taiko Center of Kyoto's main branch is located about 2 minutes from where I'll be living! I may have to pay for lessons, but that's something I'll have to decide after making a decent budget.  If I can't find anywhere else to play for free, then I may just do it.  Maybe I'll take some lessons even if I can find another place to play...

Anyway, I love and miss everyone so much! I'm hanging out with Jannice and Hiro tonight for Jannice's birthday.  We're going to hang in Shinjuku.  Should be fun.  I can't wait.

Shoot me an email if you have time! I'd love to hear about life back home, no matter how mundane. A year is an awful long time to be left out of the loop. 

Love until later,

Caitlin D.