Well since we are experiencing a typhoon in Japan right now, and my morning class is canceled (thankfully!), so I don’t have to leave until noon now… I thought it would be a good time to make a blog post!
Last night was pretty intense I woke up at like 3am to torrential rain and thunder and lighting and this morning it was still blowing crazy and raining so some of the train lines were suspended, thus morning classes are canceled.
But I want to talk about our CIEE trip we took to Kamakura last week on Wednesday. We had to wake up on a really ungodly hour (because Kamakura is like an hour and half outside of Tokyo), and it was a really rainy day, so I was not all that happy to go at first to be honest, but once I saw the temples/shrines it really was all worth it.
When we got to Kamakura we split up into our “han-groups”, my group, bananaban, includes Jamie, Ken-ken, Chelsea, and Weston. We met up with our tour guide who was this really cute and funky Japanese woman who was an awesome mix of traditional old-school and the modern Japanese woman. She was super informative about all the places we went and she was so sweet, she gave up little cardboard plaques with Kanji for our names that she came up with and then before we parted she gave us cellphone charms her mom made out of old kimono fabric! Plus she kept trying to give us time to either buy sweets or do a bit of souvenir shopping even though we weren’t really allowed to until after the tour was supposed to be over. She was a seriously amazing person and I’m glad we got her for our tour guide.
First stop was the Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shrine I was impressed by the lotus plants in the ponds the most here I think. They were really huge! We had to climb a bunch of steps to get up to the main part of the shrine and I was really worried that I would fall on my face because of the rain. Thankfully I didn’t.
Next we headed off to have lunch at a traditionally Japanese restaurant then we went to the Kotokuin Temple to visit the “Daibutu” or “Great Buddha” statue. It was really awesome to see and we actually got to go inside of the statue and touch it for only 20yen.
But my favorite place we visited was the last temple, Hasedera. There was so much to see there, the Jizo statues (for unborn or babies who have died), koi ponds, beautiful landscapes and views, bamboo areas, a cave you can walk through with statues inside, the giant Kannon (goddess of mercy) statue, etc. I was really touched to finally get to see the thousands of Jizo statues just because I’ve always been fancinated with the concept ever since I first learn about them. There was this amazing view of the bay there, and even though it sucked that it was raining it made everything really green and pretty. I think everyone really enjoyed themselves and had fun despite the rain.
Thursday we started classes. I was placed into the class that is in between the 1st and 2nd year levels of Japanese, which is good because I have forgotten A LOT of the Japanese I learned in the year and a half that I haven’t had a Japanese class. I have Japanese class 5 days a week 9:15-10:45am which sucks because that means I have to get up at 7am at the latest to make the 7:45-50am trains in order to comfortably make it to class in time (since my commute takes about and hour, and I switch trains twice). On Mondays and Thursdays I have another class called Buddhist Traditions from 1:30-3:00pm. On Tuesdays and Fridays I have two other classes, Modern Japan from 11:00-12:30pm, and Approaches to Japanese Society from 3:30-4:45pm. So far I am enjoying all my classes and think they will be interesting.
This past weekend I didn’t do much. Saturday I rested mostly and caught up on tv shows and did homework. But Sunday we did go to a small Omatsuri that was held in our town. We got to see a tradition storytelling dance and I bought a chocolate covered banana which was yummy.
WOOT! I just got a text message from my CIEE program director saying that ALL classes are canceled today!!! Oh my god that just made my freaking day!
Anyways… in other news I have joined a club “circle” at Sophia University called Sophia Communications. We meet during lunch hour on Mondays and Fridays, and basically have Japanese and English speaking tables. I think it will help me in my confidence in speaking Japanese, because I feel like the pressure is kind of off me when I am speaking with Japanese students there. They help me when I can’t remember a word or how to phrase something and it gives me a chance to really practice with people my own age. I have made a good friend, Erika is her name, and she is the “founder” I guess of this club. I first met her at the airport, she was a student volenteer to help pick up and direct arriving CIEE students, and we immeditatly got along once we started taking about various things. Then she was my group’s tour guide for when we first toured Sophia’s campus. We ended up have two of the same classes, and we often have lunch together now. We also like to go hang out and doing shopping with friends togther. I have a feeling that she is going to be a good support for me while I am here. She speaks english almost perfectly, she lived in Costa Rica for 3 years as a child and studied abroad in England. She wants to become an English teacher. We are planning a trip together to Kyoto at the end of this month over Halloween. We have the first three days of November off because Sophia is having a festival, so we are going to leave the night of the 30th after classes, spend 3 days in Kyoto and one day in Nara. We have already booked our Shinkansen tickets and made reservations for Hostels and two tours in Kyoto. I’m really looking forward to the fall colors because I hear they are amazing in the Kyoto area!
Speaking of making plans, this weekend I have plans to visit Tokyo Disneyland with my friend Molly (former CIEE participant, lives in Japan teaching English now) and a group of her friends. Next weekend I may go to an Omatsuri festival with her too. Then on the 24th my penpal who lives in the Gifu area, Ayano, is coming to Tokyo to see me! We are going to Disney Sea and Tokyo Tower. It’s a very busy month for me!
I will post pictures from Kamakura soon!
