Hikone Shrine

It's snowing! Again. The blizzard hit last night, and we had some more snow this morning. As you can see, the bonsai garden is covered! I'm hoping it won't interfere with our Kyoto trip...I think we may just go anyway, though. ;)
Yesterday, we went to go see Hikone Shrine (at least, I think that's what it's called...) - it's really close to campus, so we walked. To get there, you cross Ajiroguchi (the main road to JCMU) walk around a creepy old building (complete with tanuki - raccoon - statue), cross another road, pass a bunch of graves, and walk up a mountain. :)
Here's another Japanese cemetary. Isn't it cool? :D I think they're beautiful.
It's impressive how close to the woods we are - I like that we're surrounded by nature here. We followed this path up the mountainside for a little while to get to the shrine. Here's the entrance, surrounded by little statues of some sort. I'm afraid I don't actually know what they are for! But they're everywhere. :) The gate in the back (or "torii") indicates the main entrance.
This (below) is the new shrine structure. As you can see, the shrine is completely empty right now. One of my friends went during the coming-of-age day and it was apparently packed! This building is opened for celebratory times of year.
And here's the older building behind it. I think I like it better...it's more representative of what I think a shrine should look like.
At the shrine, there's a mountain path that leads upward, higher into the mountain. It's a pretty steep hike, but you can get to a lookout point at the top. It gives you a marvelous view of the closest city to Hikone, Maibara. Maibara is about the same size as Hikone, and JCMU is right inside Hikone - the Maibara city limits are just a block away!
I don't have a good picture of the Hikone skyline - there were a bunch of trees in the way! But we were able to see something else that was cool. Fujitech is a company that has its headquarters nearby. It's an elevator company! In fact, it's one of the biggest worldwide. You most likely ride in a Fujitech elevator on at least a weekly basis. And this is their test shaft. You can go in one of their test rides and everything!Once we left the summit, we left through a different way, which had an entirely different shrine area. I likes this one too! There was a little pathway of red gates like Fushimi Inari - apparently shrine patrons will donate money and they get the big gates in return. I'll skip that picture in favor of the real thing on Saturday. ;)We ended up on the edge of Maibara, so we headed back along the lake to JCMU. It was so pretty yesterday! The sky was actually clear enough to allow us to see the mountains on the other side of the lake. It makes me glad that we went out yesterday, since today we might as well be snowed in. I don't really know much else! I hope you all are enjoying the warm weather, and have a wonderful end to your week. :)

A Quest for Baking Soda

Hi! It's still snowy here. :) We're supposed to get snow this evening and tomorrow, so I may not ever be able to ride a bike around here again. I've been walking around town instead, which I kind of enjoy. You get to stop more and enjoy the sights. I love how pretty everything looks with a nice coat of snow. It's really beautiful!
It's the Ogawa River, I think. This river is about 3 minutes away from campus. You can see a guy fishing in the shadows - usually they just catch them, then throw them back.
A Japanese cemetary. All of the monuments are little obelisks and they're clustered really close together. I don't really know the traditions relating to burial here, though I am curious. I feel like it's a little rude to ask, though.

I have to insert a random kanji (Japanese character) interlude today. As a quick background, kanji are Chinese characters that have been adapted to Japanese. A lot of them are kind of pictographic. Most complex characters are made up of a bunch of simpler characters called radicals. Some radicals have a specific meaning in every kanji. For example, all kanji containing イ have something to do with people (ie 使う, use), all kanji with シhave to do with water (洗う, wash), and so on. So, sometimes you can piece together the meaning of a character by looking at its radicals. It's a really clever system. Here's an example we learned today: the character for bird is 鳥. It contains the radical that means white, 白. ((By the way, I hope you can read all the characters...just realized that might be an issue)) The character for "crow" is almost exactly the same, except for one thing: 烏. If you would notice, the white radical has a line missing. That's symbolic of the fact that because crows are so dark, you often can't see them. This is why I love learning kanji - absolutely fascinating.

Yesterday, after class Amanda and I finally caved and had to go to the grocery store. It was still treacherous getting there by bike, so we decided to walk. No big deal, right? It was a 40-minute walk to the store. Honestly, though, it wasn't bad! I totally didn't notice the time until we got there and then I was a little surprised it took as long as it did. Once we got there, we tried this little snack called taiyaki. They're little fish-shaped (not -flavored, thankfully) pancakes that are filled with something. I tried the custard- and red bean-filled, but I've heard the chocolate ones are also good. :)

I was doing pretty well with finding things in the grocery store, except for baking soda. I needed it for Amanda's cake, and while I found the baking aisle (which is really about a third of an aisle, and full of sprinkles and not much else) I could not find the baking soda. So, Beisia shop clerk to the rescue! Sort of. In our pidgin Japanese, Amanda and I attempted to explain what we wanted. "For baking a cake." We started with. He grabbed a fellow clerk to come help us. We tried to tell him its name in Japanese but apparently garbled it because they both looked at us funny. Then, I tried to explain that it makes the cake rise, but ended up just saying, "When you're making a cake..." and making rising motions with my hands. They were still confused, not surprisingly. I told them the name in English, and they said, "Aa! Baking powder!" "No, not quite..." I answered, at which point he started grabbing boxes off the shelf to show us. And, wouldn't you know it, the baking soda box had "Baking Soda", in English, clear as day, written on the side. Fail. But, the important point is that we now have baking soda, so I can make her cake tonight. And Japanese grocery store workers are exceptionally helpful. I cannot tell you how many times I have asked them, "Sumimasen, ____ wa doko desu ka?" (Most useful phrase ever: "Excuse me, where is ____?", and they are always super-nice and usually take me right to it. I love Japanese customer service.

After shopping, we grabbed dinner (because every grocery store here also has a food court!) - I had ramen while my roommate had McDonald's. Remember the Texas burger? It's not the only one! There's a whole series of 'em: Texas2(with chili; they had the original Texas burger last year with fried onions and barbecue sauce), Idaho(with a hash brown and bacon), Manhattan(with what looks like a deli sandwich crammed in there), and Miami(with nachos on top). :D They all look unappetizing to me!

So, after that adventure (and buying TONS and TONS of food, it seemed like), we took a cab back to JCMU because it was cold and icy and we had lots of groceries. And my roommate called a cab all by herself! I was very impressed. Hopefully I will get to that level of confidence in my speaking skills someday.

Today's been pretty uneventful so far! Besides a bread adventure for lunch. We walked through sleet to go get Vidal, and I have now had tasty custard-filled bread and an orange-chocolate loaf waiting for me for breakfast tomorrow. :D We just had 2 hours of class (and a listening worksheet to complete on our own) today, and besides a quick meeting with one of my teachers I have a free afternoon. My plan is to make something new for dinner (gyuudon, a rice bowl with marinated beef and onions on top, mmmm), bake a cake, and play 42. I promise to have pictures of the carrot cake odyssey...I'm hoping it turns out okay, because I've been craving cream cheese icing.

Have a lovely week! Enjoy staying warm...I keep seeing the weather in Dallas and being a bit jealous.

Vidal, YonBanCho Square, and Other Delights

Konnichiwa! Or, according to the time in the US right now, konbanwa!

Yesterday was one of my short class days so Amanda took me to City Hall to submit my Alien Registration stuff. I should get my card back the first week in February, which is good for 2 reasons: I can legally be here as a student (yay!), and I can get a cell-phone. It's a little daunting to go on random adventures to the middle of nowhere when you have no way to call anyone for help. So, City Hall is an important place to go. On the way, though, we stopped by a little bakery called Vidal. Vidal is actually run out of a woman's house - she sells all sorts of sweet and savory concoctions and all of the old JCMU students rave about how good her bread is. So we got some, then had lunch out by the lake. :)

Biwako! Or Lake Biwa, to English-speakers. I find the waves mesmerizing, probably because I've never lived so close to water.
Lunch buddies Sarah and Amanda (my roommate), as well as the conveniently-placed park benches for our eating pleasure. :)

Pizza bread! Japanese pizza is not at all like American pizza, but this tastes a lot like the real thing. Delicious. :D
For dessert, I had an-pan, which is bread with red beans. Red beans are common in Japanese desserts. If you've never had them, they're kind of hard to describe. They don't have much flavor beyond being really sweet, and their texture is a little strange...sort of an acquired taste. I've grown to love it, though.

Vidal has tons of types of breads and I intend to getting around to most of them before I leave. The woman also makes an orange-chocolate bread, and that's definitely on my list.

Next stop, City Hall! It was pretty uneventful, and afterwards Amanda and I didn't want to head home yet so we went back to Castle Road to do a bit of shopping. Sadly, a lot of the shops are randomly closed on Wednesday (and no, I have no idea why) so we didn't have much to do along the main thoroughfare. There was a random alley at the end of Castle Road, though, so we decided to explore it. We ended up stumbling across this really cool other area for shopping/eating. It's called YonBanCho Square (#4 street, maybe? Or district), and it's apparently brand-new. It reminds me a lot of the European shopping districts.

Because most places were closed and it was in the middle of the workweek for most people, it was pretty much a ghost town but we got to do some wandering. I'd like to go back when it's more populated!

Here's a really random(but cool!) fountain. Not too much else to say here. XD

Today was a lot less eventful - I had both classes so now I'm just chilling and trying to find the motivation to study. I am learning a lot in both my classes. In Japanese I'm filling in the gaps of the random things I missed learning the first time around. And in my culture class we're speeding through Japanese history, which is fascinating. The best part is that because all of the previous capitals of Japan (Asuka, Nara, and Kyoto) are fairly close to Hikone, we're literally surrounded by history. Most of the sites Professor Morris mentions in class are close enough to take a day trip(or even an afternoon trip) to see.

This weekend should be pretty good. :) We have our first exam tomorrow, but after 10 I'm done with class. I will need to do some studying, but because I'm not being graded for this course the pressure is totally off. :) We also have a "cultural activity" - this week it's ikebana (flower arranging). And my roommate's birthday is on Thursday so I'm making her a carrot cake. In our microwave-thing. I'm not entirely sure how that's going to work but there is a "Cake" button (like there's a "Toast" button and a "Hot Drinks" button), so I guess I'll just use that. I'm going to try and make it on Sunday so if there's a fiasco I have time to recover from it. We're going all-out - cream cheese icing and everything.

Also, remember how I said I wanted to go to Kyoto? Well, guess where I'm going this weekend! :D A friend of mine had her wallet stolen(with passport) in Kyoto so she has to go pick up some bureaucratic paperwork to go about getting a new one. We're just going up for the day, but we're going to see Fushimi Inari and Ginkakuji. :D I can't tell you how excited I am. Kyoto is one of my FAVORITE cities, and I've been dying to go back and see Fushimi Inari. So, on Saturday I will be in heaven, and I will probably just post lots and lots of pictures upon my return. Until then, enjoy the rest of your week!

Hikone Castle!

Ahh, weekends are nice. :) I slept in until 11 on Saturday, which is so much better than having to get up at 7 AM for class.

Yesterday I went with Amanda (my roommate), Jade, and Addie to Viva City, the nearby mall. Well, sort of nearby. You take a shuttle/bike to the station (20 minutes away by bike), then ride from Hikone Station to Minami Hikone(South Hikone), the next station over. Viva City is right across from that station. We didn't get past the food court and the stores full of cute things, but it was a lot of fun! I forgot my camera so I have no pictures (though I will return so I'm sure I will have some later), but it was amazing how many cute things there were. Pencil cases, phone charms, plush keychains, hair things, earrings, purses, and more. Disney is a big favorite over here, and Studio Ghibli stuff is everywhere as well. I didn't get much because I'm trying not to spend tons and tons of money the first few weeks, but it was so tempting! I finally caved for a Totoro phone charm and a watch. We also stopped to do some Puri Kura (short for "Print Club"). It's like the American mini photo-booths, just on steroids. You take your photos first, then go over to another area to decorate your photos with words, cartoons (of crowns or hearts or donuts or bunnies), add bubbles and sparkles and other ridiculous things, then print them out. Most people have little sticker notebooks to put their Puri Kura in - I need one soon. :)

Today, the big adventure was to Hikone Castle. Part of the adventure was not having gone anywhere by bike by myself before. I wasn't entirely alone - my friend Jess was with me - but neither of us have done much biking and we both just got here. But I took my map, asked my roommate for a quick rundown of directions, and we set off around 10. It's a fairly easy route - go straight to the grocery store, take the next left, and follow that street to Castle Road, which leads directly to the castle. I was worried we would get lost anyway, though - I stopped a few times to make sure I was going the right way. We ended up riding straight to it! There are 3 parts to the castle - the grounds, the museum, and the garden. We decided to get tickets for all 3! And rather than ramble on, I'll just post some pictures. :)

Here's the castle moat. :) We rode past a good portion of it to reach the front entrance.

It's Hikonyan! The Japanese are big fans of cartoon characters. In addition to anime characters and icons like Hello Kitty, mascots are sometimes also immortalized in cartoon form. Hikonyan is Hikone's mascot, sort of as a nod to the castle that started the whole city. His name is a play on words - Hikone and nyan (the Japanese version of "meow"). Hikonyan comes in plushie form, as well as on phone charms and keychains. He's kinda cute. :)


Here's an example of the stuff in the museum - it's all a lot of artifacts from the castle. Curse the windows that don't have an anti-reflective coating. Besides artwork, there were pieces of armor, swords, Noh theater costumes (kimonos and masks), dinnerware, and more. Pretty cool stuff!


Part of the path up to the castle. I thought it was pretty, but getting up there was a workout! Tons of stairs.

And here's Hikone-jo (Hikone Castle). It was smaller than I was expecting, but totally gorgeous. There's nothing really to see inside; all of the rooms are empty. But if you climb up to the third level (ascending some treacherous ladder-stairs along the way), you can see panoramas of the city. It's beautiful!

Here's one of the views from the top. I love that we're surrounded by mountains here. The orange and green building in front and slightly off-center is a baseball stadium, and you can see JCMU's campus in the picture too! On the far left, just below the mountains are some green-roofed buildings. That's my campus. :)

And here's the garden. It was lovely, but I'm told it's better in the spring or fall, when the trees have leaves on them (there's a plum orchard as well as cherry blossom trees here). So I guess I'll be back in April!

After the castle, we went to Castle Road for some lunch. I intend to go back to shop there - that's the street where they have all the touristy things(like shops with traditional goods and cutesy things...definitely a place to shop). I was hoping for a print of Hikone Castle to add to my collection, but didn't find one at the castle...hopefully there will be one somewhere. The ride back to JCMU seemed a lot shorter, but it was still tiring.　The whole roundtrip distance was over 4 miles, I think. We also went back to the grocery store later, which is part of a megamart known as Cainz(pronounced "kynes"). Cainz also has a housewares store, a pet shop, the grocery store, a 2nd-level parking garage, a small arcade, a 100-yen shop and a variety of restaurants (including McDonald's and Starbucks). It's huge. The nearest grocery store is surprisingly far from campus - it's about 1.75 miles away. By the time I was heading back to JCMU, I was exhausted - so much riding! However, it was totally worth it as I got the supplies to make Honey Walnut Shrimp for dinner. Tasty!

Before I forget, I have to share some music. :) My friends Jade and Amanda are aficionados of Korean and Japanese music, so they've been sharing their knowledge. I have absolutely fallen in love with one particular song. It's K-Pop (Korean pop music), so it's not quite Japanese music. But a lot of Korean bands are popular here in Japan and vice-versa. A lot of K-Pop bands are boy bands, sort of like the ones that were a big deal in the US in the 90s. But Korea took the boy band idea and made it so much better. They're so gorgeous! And so talented! And their dance moves are awesome. Without further ado, Lucifer, by SHINee (pronounced "shiny"). :D It's my latest play-on-repeat song.

As lame as it is (it's only 10 PM here now), I may be going to bed pretty soon, thanks to my bike adventure. Thanks to a National Holiday, I have no classes tomorrow. I intend to spend tomorrow relaxing, doing laundry, and working on my homework. I have to be responsible sometime. ;)

5 Reasons I Know I'm In Japan, Not Texas

1. The doorsThis is the entrance to my room! It's separated from the rest of the apartment with sliding glass doors. And the quilt on my bed is made entirely by my mother, who is fantastic and knows me all too well. :)
2. The kitchen
This is all the kitchen I have, which is a little depressing. As you can see, it consists of a stove with 2 burners and a tiny broiler for cooking fish. Off to the right is a fridge and a convection oven/microwave. Which means if I want to bake, I have to get creative. And I will! Just...not tonight.
3. The signs
Obviously, all the signs are in Japanese. This is on our bathroom door (the Japanese is "Otearai", which means washroom. The two characters are te, meaning hand, and arau, meaning wash). I will get more pictures of the city at large later - too much rushing around today!
4. The food
This was my lunch today! It was ramen - the real kind. It was delicious! I don't actually know what I ordered...I just pointed at something on a menu and hoped it would turn out okay. I believe it had a soy-based broth (as opposed to salt or miso) and had some kind of meat and green onions. Not sure what the orange stuff is - the theory was some sort of fish roe but it was spicy, so I have my doubts. Also, the little white and blue thing that looks like a tamagotchi? It's the order button! You press it and the waitress comes to you. :) So you can take all the time you want to decide.
5. The snow!
It's the view from my window! I didn't encounter any snow, but there was a lot of snow that fell on New Year's that has yet to melt completely. So cool. :D

I've accomplished a lot today! :) And last night - I totally unpacked so my room feels a little more homey, if lacking in wall decorations. Definitely should have brought my Nightwish flags. :) Here's a picture of the nifty closet thing on the other side of my room. I also have a desk, chair, lamp, and a bookshelf. It's all pretty empty right now! Also, the little gray thing on the bottom shelf is my space heater. We don't have central heating in the dorm, and keeping the room heater on is expensive, so the space heater is the cheapest way to keep things warm. I don't mind the chill too much - it just means I have to snuggle up under a ton of blankets, which is fine with me!I also met my roommate - her name is Amanda, and she's a visual studies/Japanese/political science major at Michigan State (MSU). She's really cool, and we have so much in common it's frightening. The same shampoo, toothpaste, and deoderant, the same winter coat (in different colors), and we like the same authors (including China Mieville) and bands. I think we'll get along really well! I also met her friend Jade, who is a Japanese major at MSU also (at least 40% of the students here are from MSU). I think I'll be seeing a lot of them both. :) I've met plenty of other people, too - we've been mixed up with a lot of different people so I'm starting to get everyone's names.

Today was orientation day! We learned about all the rules and regulations, which was a lot to take in. Mr. Kanagawa then talked to us, praising the glory of Shiga prefecture. It's apparently responsible for 43% of all of Japan's manufacturing though it's only 1% of Japan in terms of land mass and population. What's even more impressive is the fact that the lake nearby (Lake Biwa) is so pristine. This area is really environmentally-conscious, so they put a lot of work into keeping their cities clean.

After orientation, we received our bikes and checked out a lock and helmet. Mine is named Angevine. :) We then went on a bike tour of the city. I was a little nervous because I hadn't ridden a bike since probably middle school, but it ended up coming pretty naturally to me. We were out on the town for a total of 5 hours, including stopping for lunch and getting groceries. It was probably 2.5-3 hours of solid biking, so I am sore and exhausted, but triumphant. I didn't crash or cause others harm, and I kept up with the rest of the group! And I managed a Japanese grocery store pretty well. They're huge! It's hard to tell at first glance what an aisle has because all the packaging looks the same. I really just need an afternoon to wander around. I did, however, get some of my staples - garlic powder, Golden Curry mix, and gyoza. And Frosted Flakes. XD

I'm not sure how much of the map knowledge I'll remember from the tour, but it was nice to see everything(or, glimpses of it, at least). Hikone is gorgeous, and the weather was clear and not too cold! And by not too cold, I mean I was in jeans, tights, tall socks, a long-sleeved shirt, a sweatshirt, and a coat and wasn't freezing. XD And now I'm back inside and relaxing for the night - made curry for my roommate and her friend, and had a bit of a music exchange party. I'm sharing my symphonic metal knowledge in exchange for some J-rock. Good times. :)

We have our placement test tomorrow! I'm hoping to test into Level 3. Interestingly enough, the books JCMU uses are the same as the ones at A&M, so I've already covered most of the Level 3 book. But I have a feeling I've lost a LOT of the language skills I had at the end of last year, so I'm just hoping I held onto enough. :)

8 Days and Counting...

Merry Christmas, everyone! A belated Merry Christmas, anyway. :) Yesterday was nice and relaxing, and I am very glad to be home. But the closer I get to the end of December, the more I realize how soon my study abroad is starting, and how much I have left to do! There's shopping for last-minute extras and figuring out insurance and keeping in touch with study abroad departments, not to mention packing! I don't think I will ever be ready to leave. Right now I'm really nervous about all of this...waiting for the excitement to kick in.

But that's not what I'm here to post about today. I promised I would post some pictures of Hikone! Not mine, of course. But I was browsing a few days ago to see what I had to look forward to, so I thought I'd share some of it with you!

First, JCMU. This is the campus I'll be attending. The residence hall is on the right and the academic building is straight ahead. And that's all there is! The campus is tiny, especially compared to what I'm used to. I'm definitely looking forward to the convenience, especially considering all I've heard about the weather (cold and rainy the whole time I'm there).
Next up is a bit of Hikone itself. Hikone is directly on the coast of Lake Biwa, which is apparently a popular place for windsurfing. And JCMU is right on the water! The residence hall (Apple Hall, in case you were curious - makes me think of Appelt XD) is directly across from a bike path on the shoreline. This is the view of the lake from campus.
And this, my friends, is Hikone Castle. I'm posting a snowy picture with wishful thinking - hopefully it will be that snowy while I'm there. :) Hikone Castle is a National Treasure of Japan, as well as the oldest original-construction castle in Japan. It was built in the 1600s during the Edo era in Japanese history (of which I am completely ignorant, by the way. I'm hoping to learn more of Japanese history while I'm there). I can't wait to see it in person!
Expect probably one more post before I leave. :) My flight is on the 3rd, at 9 AM. Unfortunately, it's not a direct flight. I'm flying first to Detroit, then leaving from Detroit to fly to Nagoya. Most students coming to JCMU will be flying out of Detroit, so with luck I will get to meet some people on the plane.

Have a wonderful day!