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Blogs from Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Asia - page 2
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December 8th 2010
We arrived in Nagoya and took the train to our hotel. I found out very quickly that many Japanese really did not speak much English. They were exceedingly polite and usually became very flustered when they could not help me with my request just because they do not understand me. I felt incredibly bad. Subway rides are expensive! About 230yen per one way ride. We found out too late that we could actually purchase one day subway passes for 760yen and felt like kicking ourselves after. We arrived at the hotel and was told that we were at the wrong one. Apparently there are two hotels with similar names and it was obviously a common occurrence for tourists to end up at the one we ended up because the receptionist very quickly whipped out a map ... read more
December 3rd 2010
These last couple of weeks have been a bit of a fiasco! It’s not really necessary to go into loads of detail on the blog (since im not entirely sure who the sometimes 100 people are who read it! –many thanks for the support though!) however last Sunday there was quite a drama concerning my host family which resulted in me moving into a dorm mid-term. It’s not fair to them if I go on about what happened on the internet but if you wanna know what happened I’m happy to explain. Anyway, this whole malarchy took a lot of my energy and time just thinking about as well as my moving weekend (I appear to have acquired a lot of things since I came as the number of boxes and cases to move across Nagoya ... read more
October 8th 2010
October Hello! We’re now pretty well into October (half way through the first term according to the exam next week entitled ‘mid-term test’ - yikes!) and despite the fact that the elementary school kids that I see every morning have started wearing their school jumpers, im still plenty warm enough in just the one layer! I was thinking maybe Japanese people like to keep themselves always at maximum temperature until my host mum said to me yesterday how cold it was in the house. I looked at the thermometer it was 25 degrees! So we really are very different. An exciting thing for me last week was getting a package from home. I had forgotten my bikini (theres a nearby beach that I still havent found time to visit) and a jumper, and my brother enclosed ... read more
September 26th 2010
ONE MONTH I absolutely cannot believe ive almost been here a month, its unreal. Whilst talking to Rochelle (my little American friend who rides all my buses and subways with me each day and generally takes care of me) at the weekend who’s only here til Christmas we realised she only has another 10 Saturdays left-which is horrendous, and it means I’ve spent 1/9th of the time with my host family already. Its nuts; I’ll be home in around 10/11months! Anyway that’s the negative thinking over, I just have to do loads of stuff and not waste my time here! This week was fabulous in many ways-much hilarity has been enjoyed. To kick off, the teacher of my festival class recommended we check out the annual festival of a nearby community-Imaike festival. So we toddled along ... read more
September 11th 2010
YO:) Saturday, 11th September I'm still having an absolute whale of a time and could actually write forever! I’ll start from the weekend… Saturday some of us decided to meet in Sakae, supposedly ‘main town Nagoya’. We wandered around town, and found a modern complex called Oasis 21 which was just mega sightseeing galore..(pictures on facebook). Lunch was interesting since once again pointing at pictures on the menu got us not really what we wanted but it’s all an experience Sunday, my host grandmother (お母さん) took me shopping and she sorted me out a beautiful Japanese phone which I still find the most exciting thing ever to play with! I can send/ receive e-mails for free on it which is a wonder that shall never get old…(If you want to make my day that little bit ... read more
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September 3rd 2010
YO :) I'm SO in Japan, and in case you can't be bothered to read on (totally understandable), I'm having a wicked time! it's now Friday evening and I've been here since Tuesday evening..so that's a good couple of days. and also i totally feel like ive been here forever already which must mean I've settled in?! The journey was massively traumatic since at Heathrow I was charged £138 for having a henchly overweight suitcase and no matter how many times I told him 'I'm not fat so it's unfair' he wasn't having any of it. Then it was an overnight flight and I didnt sleep a wink because the large Australian lady next to me was so grumpy that she killed all the excitement that was within me and I couldn't sleep. Then I got ... read more
March 14th 2010
Having arrived in Nagoya in the afternoon on 16 October 2008, we decided to stroll through the grounds of Nagoya Castle. Whilst walking through the avenue, we saw gardeners and planters selling bonsai pots, assembling the loops to present chrysanthemum, and preparing for chrysanthemum festival. It was mild, sunny, and pleasant afternoon. There were many types of shrubs and trees grown on the grounds of Nagoya Castle and we could hear birds warbling and singing tunefully among the bushes and branches of birches and oaks. We couldn't hear the traffics whilst walking on the woodlands. We found a number of old birches and oaks preserved on the site and learnt that they were planted by historical celebrities over 250 years ago. We rambled through the castle's garden, i.e. Ninomaru Garden featuring pine trees, teahouse, hedges, rocks, ... read more
February 13th 2010
Today is our last day in Nagoya. It was a quick stop but we got a lot in to one day. I had read that there was a big Buddha statue in the east end of Nagoya, and after some research, i figured out the subway map and which direction to go. I almost doubted myself for the fact that every person we talked to had no clue what we were talking about. As far as I knew, it was called the Topanji temple, which no one had the faintest idea of what we we saying, but even us mentioning a big buddha, they just shook their heads. Now I find it hard to believe that y'ou live in this city and are completely unaware of a giant buddha statue, more likely we were probably pronouncing ... read more
August 29th 2009
Port Festival (July 20th) Summertime is filled with hanabi (firework) festivals in Japan and on July 20th Simon and I geared up in our yukatas and headed out to watch some colorful explosions above the Nagoya Port area. The Hanabi at Nagoya port is supposed to be the biggest fireworks festival of the year in Nagoya. We got there very early to get a good spot and check out the area. Near the aquarium we found a rocking ice cream shop with 32 flavors of ice cream. Some were strange such as edamame (edamame are kind of like peas). When the sun started to go down tons of people crowded along the harbor near the aquarium to watch the display. The show was great and longer than I thought it would be. It was aso really ... read more
July 18th 2009
I’ve got a new home town! Nagoya, the 4th largest city in Japan in terms of population, is quite different from Marugame. There are skyscrapers, a library with English books, subway, buses, trains and even its own international airport. So many things to see and do: museums, a castle, shrines, festivals and events! I moved here before heading to China in June, but was sick and couldn’t do much for the one week I was in residence. I just arrived back in the city from Hong Kong on July 17th. What better way to enjoy the new city than attending a Sumo Grand Tournament all day on the 18th? ^_^ There is more to sumo than obese men in diapers hugging each other. First off the wrestlers are pretty flexible and strong. They exercise constantly. Secondly, ... read more
