SNOW!!!

We have SO MUCH SNOW! Snow fell all Sunday night and most of yesterday, and it was blizzarding this morning. Everything is COVERED in snow. It’s kind of awesome, besides the fact that I’m snowbound and without access to a grocery store. I went shopping on Saturday, but I forgot to get much in the way of food (like meat or veggies) so I’m pretty sure I will be surviving on vegetarian curry, fried rice and cereal until it clears. XD

It is gorgeous outside, though! It has stopped snowing for a while, so the sun is out. And we got our class canceled for an hour this morning while it was still blizzarding. So, today has been a short day! This afternoon we went out to build snowmen, but were stymied by the bulldozers (all they have to clear the snow!) so we instead decided to just play around by the lake. :D And now I'm back inside with a cup of Mexican hot cocoa and my Engrish sweatshirt, warming back up and thinking that life's pretty great at the moment. :)

Not much else has happened today! We have been given the opportunity to participate in internships - they're a 3-hour commitment one day a week. I'd like to go teach English at the elementary school - there are also some waiter and clerk jobs and a translator job at City Hall. We interview for those tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes. :)

Today I’m doing something a little different with my post. I figured that, after a while, posting every 2 days would get redundant. After all, weekends are exciting but my classes aren’t really. I mean, I learned Japanese today! But I also learned it every day last week as well. Nothing too interesting has happened yet. So, I’ve decided to start some Top 5 lists. Basically, the lists are of random things I’ve noticed about Japan but haven’t really been able to include in posts yet. So, I get to share random pictures and you get to learn more about Japan. Sounds good?

I figured I’d start my lists off positively with 5 Innovations That Make Life In Japan Great. There’s also one on innovations I wish Japan would pick up on, but why be a negative nancy to start with? Here are some of the random perks of living in Japan. :D

Specific Water Heaters

See this little console? It’s really cool, and hooked up to our shower. Basically, you set it to the temperature you want (I like 41 degrees Celsius, personally), turn the hot water faucet all the way on, and in 2 minutes you get the perfect temperature of water. You can also use it to boil water to make tea/hot cocoa/instant meals right in your tap. No more twiddling the dial! Also, as an added bonus you never have to worry about the water spontaneously cooling down because the heater maintains the temperature you set.

Microwave convection ovens

This is the coolest microwave ever! As you can see, it doesn’t have any number buttons – everything is just an option. Do you want toast? Just press the toast button (#4!), and your bread will come out nice and toasted on top. Want to warm up some milk to make hot cocoa? Press the hot beverage button! Want to bake a cake? Press the cake button(#8)! (And while I haven’t tried it yet I’m going to maintain that it works. I’ll get back to you on that!) Just warming up food is a little trickier because the buttons are more difficult to find, but you can do that, too. Just set the power level and time like you would at home (by pressing the minute button at the bottom). Awesome. :D

Lappi Machines

Lappi Machines are in just about every vending machine store ever. They look sort of like a miniature Redbox kiosk or an old arcade game. But they are so much more useful! You can buy all sorts of things with a Lappi machine. I’ve used it to get concert tickets, but you can use it to pay for online purchases, buy merchandise, get train tickets or tickets, make copies, and even pay bills! You can also order concert/event tickets online and pick them up at your closest convenience store. It’s super-cool.

Train Timetables

The subway system in Japan is, of course, legendary. Everyone knows about how you can get anywhere you want in Japan by subway. And it’s mostly true! In large towns like Tokyo, it is entirely possible to get anywhere you need to go by train. In Kyoto the train and bus system combined can get you anywhere. Even smaller towns like Hikone have a train station (and Hikone has 2!). What is really remarkable about it is the train schedule. Pick a day, any day, within the next three months. You can know the departure and arrival times of every train in Japan. And, if you book a trip for some random day in March, you can depend on those times still being accurate. It’s pretty cool. Hyperdia is my new hero – it’s a search engine for traveling Japan by train. I’ve looked up a lot of different routes to get to new places, and it’s a must-have resource if you ever intend to travel in Japan. Timetables rock.

Rice Cookers

This one is also a little less exciting than the others. After all, they have rice cookers in America also! But I’m still a huge fan of rice cookers. They’re versatile enough that you can use them like crock pots (and though I haven’t tried any recipes, they sound intriguing). Also, you don’t have to wait to need rice to start cooking it. You can start your cooker at, say, breakfast and have fluffy, perfect rice available for you for lunch and dinner (and perhaps even the next day, if you push it!). My roommate says it’s also great for making stews. And it’s so tiny! Very portable, very safe for use (as opposed to the fish fryer and open burners we have to deal with otherwise), and so easy. I understand why the Japanese eat rice all the time!

I hope this was enlightening. :) Have a wonderful week, and hopefully by the next time you hear from me, I will have been able to leave campus(and will maybe have an internship!).

First Exam and More Viva City!

I'm afraid I don't have any Kyoto pictures yet - our trip has been postponed to next weekend, unfortunately. But that's ok! I still have lots of pictures to post. :)

First things first! We had our first exam on Friday - I thought it was pretty easy, so it went pretty well. After that we had our first cultural activity/presentation thing. It's on ikebana, the Japanese art of flower-arranging.
There's a big difference between Japanese and American floral arrangements. In ikebana, the basic structure of the arrangement is a dish filled with water with a little disk in the middle filled with needles. You stick 3 branches on the needles (which impale the branches/flowers to allow them to stand up) to form sort of a triangle, then you just add flowers as you wish. To the Japanese less is often more - your focus is on making each individual flower stand out instead of putting a bunch in a vase.Here's mine - we each got to make our own after a brief demo. :) The name card has my last name in katakana ("Uitto"). Also, you have a lot of creative license here. The 3 branches (and their lengths and arrangement) are required, but the rest is entirely up to you!

I was up late last night teaching some friends to play 42 - they ended up really liking the game, so I'm sure we'll be playing again soon. :D I'm glad I have someone to play with again, because I was missing it.

Instead of Kyoto today, Amanda and I went to Viva City for some shopping. I had less restraint this time so I bought a lot of stuff. But now, I have pictures to prove to you why it's so hard to NOT buy things.

EVERYTHING is just so darn adorable! There are 3 shops on the first floor dedicated to cute stationary things and jewelry and such. A lot of times things will come as part of character sets - there are several "character sets" that appear on a lot of different things(pens, pencil cases, notepads, etc). One example is Sanrio's Hello Kitty (though you actually can't find a lot of her stuff at random stores). They range from the heart-meltingly cute to the really really strange. I've found 3 sets that I really like - the Alice in Wonderland theme and the Fairytale theme(chibi/miniature versions of Snow White, Peter Pan, Ariel, etc.) are everywhere. But my very favorite is pretty new (and so so so so cute): Sentimental Circus.:3 I love it. It's all cute animals and old-fashioned circus-looking things. How can you not like it? I just looked at the kiosk for a while to figure out what to get. I ended up getting a pencil case, a little elephant phone charm, and some stickers for starters. Honestly, though, I wanted to buy out the whole thing.

Besides oohing and aahing over cute things, we also had lunch! At McDonald's. XD I know, I know. I feel like a bad study abroad student for going. But their fries are delicious! And I actually had something not offered in American restaurants, so it counts as acceptable. :P It made me laugh that they had this outside, though.

I'm pretty sure this is the lovechild of a cheeseburger and a barbecue ribs sandwich. First of all, throwing barbecue on something doesn't make it Texan. I kind of felt the need to defend my state. There are so many better Southern food items you could advertise. Like sweet tea. :P

We also went clothes shopping, with limited success. Japanese clothing is cut differently from American clothing, for two reasons. The first is, of course, that the majority of Japanese women are short and slight in build. Curves don't really factor in to Japanese clothing design. The second reason is due more to fashion. Japanese fashion works towards a different "ideal" than American fashion does - different parts of the body are accentuated. So there are plenty of things that fit...they just fit oddly and don't seem flattering in an American sense.

However, I did find a sweatshirt. Amanda and I stumbled across some really spectacular Engrish clothing, and I found this beauty.
I don't really know where to begin! There are so many parts of this obnoxious sweatshirt that give it cool points. First, there's the screaming bright pink color. Second, there's a rainbow - a glittery rainbow (and I know you can't see the glitter but it's there!) - and some glittery stars. Third, random turtle. Fourth, there is so much Engrish ("I want study something from this beautiful ocean", not to mention the random words). And last, but certainly not least, the shirt contains the words leniency AND undulate. I decided I needed it. And it was less than $10. So I'm wearing it right now. I doubt I'll ever wear it out in public, but it's fuzzy and warm and perfect for cold days where I just stay inside. :) So, yay for garish sweatshirts!

Today was one of those days where Japanese is kind of starting to click some! I'm able to understand a lot more than I used to (even compared to starting out here a week and a half ago). For example, I could read the train marquee that asked if I had eaten crab yet this winter (do I know why this is important? No. It's a start, though. :P). I was able to understand when the crepe lady told me that they didn't have chocolate ice cream and wanted to know if vanilla was an acceptable substitute. And I was able to overhear a father telling his crying toddler son to "Try your best for your mother, okay?" It's a really good feeling to know how much you're learning. I can also order properly in a restaurant, ask for stamps at a convenience store (which took a TON of practice to get right, let me tell you!), and follow directions in a grocery store when I ask someone where something is. I look forward to seeing how my language skills improve over time!

That's about all I know for now! To everyone back home, enjoy your weekend and have a wonderful day. :) And drop me a line if you get the chance! I'd love to hear from you.

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!

Taking Classes and Making Plans

Monday was wonderful! I didn't leave the building (and I still haven't left campus yet today), which worked out because it was freezing cold anyway. I chilled out, watched some movies, and made dinner with some friends. And got my homework done in there somewhere. I feel like I didn't do much at all, but that's okay because I'm sure this week will be busy.

Today was my first day of having both my classes. None of my days here are particularly long (especially compared to last semester...8 AM-7 PM twice a week? Yuck), but Tuesdays and Thursdays are my longest. Here's my schedule, in a nutshell.
Monday
8:50-11:40: Japanese
Tuesday
8:50-11:40: Japanese
1:00-3:00: Japanese Culture and Society
Wednesday
8:50-11:40: Japanese
Thursday
8:50-11:40: Japanese
1:00-3:00: Japanese Culture and Society
Friday
8:50-9:40: Japanese exam (every week!)
10:15-11:15: Optional Cultural Activity

I will be so excited if I get that kind of schedule again next semester. I love having free afternoons!

Japanese class is still a little intimidating - really long, for one thing! I don't yet have the ability to focus for 3 hours on one subject. The breaks aren't enough, either. I was screwing up a lot in class today because I would tune out for a second and then the professors would ask me a question that I wouldn't know how to answer. I need to work on paying better attention. :)

I really love my elective class this semester - I got into the one I wanted, Japanese Culture and Society. The teacher is Professor Morris, the director of the program. And he's awesome! A really nice guy with an awesomely dry sense of humor. The subject matter is fantastic, too. We're covering the history of Japan first, which I like because I was hoping to learn some Japanese history while I'm here. We're also going to take a couple of field trips to places like Kyoto and Osaka(all elective classes are required to go on at least one field trip), which is, again, awesome. Today, we had a short lecture on the mythology of Japan - LOVE! I learned about Amaterasu (the sun-goddess, who is also the grandmother of the first emperor of Japan. She's born from the tears of the father god who was mourning the loss of his wife who died in childbirth after producing the fire goddess. The father god even went to the underworld to get her, sort of like Orpheus, except he failed) and all sorts of genetic anthropological theories as to where the Japanese actually came from (the ones who misplaced the native tribes) - it was very basic genetic anthropology, but still. I got really excited. :D This is going to be a really interesting class.

Now that I've been here for a full week (which is crazy! I can't decide if I feel like I just got here or I've been here forever), I've started making plans for traveling in Japan. I definitely want to go to Kyoto (to see Fushimi Inari, Ginkakuji, and Nijo Castle) for at least a day, because I love it so much. Osaka and Nara are on my list as well, because they're relatively close (less than an hour and a half away by train) and I've never been. Plus, they're huge cultural centers. Nara was the capital(before Kyoto was, then Tokyo was), so it has lots of interesting things. And Osaka has a Japanese version of Wicked right now. I'm trying to plan that one soon if we're going because tickets are selling fast! Tokyo will be a little harder to manage (3 hours away!) but I really want to go back because I feel like I missed a lot of it when I was there the first time.

I am, however, definitely going to Nagoya. It's the closest large town, and that's where we flew in from Detroit. My friend Jade is going to see one of her favorite bands in concert there the first weekend in February, and I decided to tag along for the experience. We're also going to do some sight-seeing there! The band is part of an interesting Japanese music genre called visual kei, so it will definitely be an experience. I'll refrain from describing it too much now...that's a whole other post! Here's a teaser, though, with a band photo. Their name is Matenrou Opera (means "Skyscraper Opera"). And, for the record, all of them are guys.


Also, I got my tickets to Sapporo today! We have a 4-day weekend in February, which is conveniently when the big ice festival (Yuki Matsuri) is in Sapporo! I have several friends up there who have offered to take me around town for a few days, so I decided to get plane tickets and fly up to visit them (because it's a 14-hour train ride otherwise). I'll be arriving around 5 pm on Thursday and heading back to Hikone at noonish on Sunday. I'm looking forward to seeing all of my old friends, as well as seeing Sapporo again!

I'm sorry if you were expecting lots of pictures today...nothing that's that sort of noteworthy has happened since Sunday. :) For those of you already taking classes, I hope your first week is going well. And for those of you who have a few days left, enjoy your vacation! :)

EDIT: Almost forgot! I have a mailing address. :)
JCMU
1435-86 Ajiroguchi
Matsubara-cho
Hikone, Shiga
522-0002
Japan
Just make sure to put my name at the beginning so it ends up in my box! I'll make you a deal...send me a letter/postcard (and yes, I'd love a postcard of a place like Dallas or College Station, XD)/present and I'll send you a postcard back! We can be pen-pals. :D

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. ;)

Made it to Friday!

Hi! This post will not have too many pictures...I've been busy with stuff around campus (read: in this building) so I haven't had much time to explore Hikone yet. However, that should change soon! We have a 3-day weekend ahead (Monday is a holiday, Coming Of Age Day, to celebrate the 20-year-olds in Japan because they've reached adulthood and can now vote, drink, get arrested, etc.), which will give me plenty of time to wander. I do have a few pictures, though.

Here's some actual snow falling...we had snow alternating with rain yesterday, and more snow today. It's not cold enough for snow to stick to the roads, so it's just pretty (if a little inconvenient to ride bikes in).

And another view of my room - sorry about the poor lighting, but it was early in the morning. It's my desk, which is opposite my sliding doors. I have a pretty good view from my window of the lake. Also, note how narrow the room is. The shelf on the left is up against the wall and the armoire on the right is actually nestled into a cubbyhole in the wall so the front of it is where the rest of the wall is.

And lunch today - this is from an udon shop just down the road from JCMU. Gyoza (Chinese dumplings) and chahan (fried rice) - probably 2 of my favorite foods, Japanese or not.
Yesterday was part 2 of our orientation. We briefly went over what the four levels of Japanese here covered and what was expected of us. JCMU essentially crams a year's worth of information into a single semester, so we're expected to study a lot every day and come to class well-prepared. Class is essentially for reviewing whatever is in the syllabus, so the learning part is pretty much done on our own. After the brief explanation we had our placement test. We were given over 2 hours to complete it, but I was done in about an hour or so. It had 4 parts - listening, grammar, reading/writing, and an oral exam. I thought it went fairly well - my kanji knowledge was pretty rusty and the listening exam wasn't great but the speaking part went well, so I figured I was doing pretty well. I ended up placing into level 2, which was not at all what I wanted. I was a little frustrated with myself because I feel like I'm not going to learn very much - technically, I've covered the textbooks used in levels 2 and 3 already. But I guess I should just leave it up to the professors.

After the placement test, we had a brief cooking lesson. Our instructor was a Japanese woman living in Hikone who worked with us to show us how to make chirashizushi. Chirashizushi is an older and more traditional variety of sushi than the type we usually see (the rolls are common here also, but they were invented as a fast food item in the early 1800s). It consists of vinegared rice with vegetables mixed in - the veggies are often pickled. I don't really know what all was in ours because we had a package of instant-ish mix that included mixed veggies and the vinegar "sauce" to mix in with the rice. It's usually served with egg and nori (the dark green seaweed sushi is usually wrapped in), and it's pretty good! Cooking Japanese food was fun - I just need to learn how to make more of it.

Today, we had our first day of classes. Our electives don't start until next week, so it was just 3 hours of Japanese. We have 3 50-minute classes a day, with 10 minutes between each. There are 2 teachers in level 2 that alternate depending on what hour of the day and day of the week it is. The schedule seems sort of random. We started with Kitasaka Sensei, who is a part-time teacher. She's fairly nice, and pretty funny. The class stayed pretty engaging. I prefer the second professor, though - Aizawa Sensei. Everyone who has had him before says that he starts to seem like your dad after a while...he's always wanting you to do well and you don't want to disappoint him. (For the record, our "mom" is Iga-san, a very shrill young Japanese woman who organizes most of the dorm stuff for us and alternates between being really friendly and yelling...kind of like Sensei) He's also really funny. I like him a lot.

Class today was a little daunting, despite the nice professors. I've forgotten how scary it is to be sitting in a rapid-fire Japanese class. The class is basically a dialogue between the professor and all the students, and the prof calls you out by name so you have to know the answers at any given moment. It's a little intimidating, and something I'm not used to, though that's how Japanese 301 and 302 were for me at home. Also, both teachers speak entirely Japanese during class. If you don't understand they either explain it to you in Japanese or move onto the next students. We have homework assignments every night as well as a test every week. This course definitely moves quickly. I think I will find a balance soon enough, though.

As always, there's plenty more to say about what I've been up to, but I'm trying not to write a novel. I'm looking forward to relaxing this weekend - we're going to Viva City (the closest mall) tomorrow, and I'd also like to go to Hikone Castle and explore the grocery store before class starts up again. Who knows what adventures I'll have to talk about next time?

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. :)