Blogs from Hirakata, Osaka, Japan, Asia

Wow...first two days have been a trip. Where to start...better at the beginning I guess. We left Katie's house in Indiana, PA at around 3 a.m., but we made it to PIT by about 4:30 a.m. Still, our flight got majorly delayed due to some nasty weather that was spanning Ohio all the way out to Maine. After that, we made it to Cincinnati only to be routed through Chicago. Our flight in Chicago though was on the completely opposite side of where we landed, and when we arrived we forgot to check in, so we were put at the back of the line while one of the stewardesses worked that out. Fortunately, the stewardess we had was a vetran of American Airlines, so she managed to not only check us in in record time, but ... read more

Go to Umeda Station and take the train to Arima Onsen Station Enjoy Onsen, then head back.... read more

Not the most interesting journal entry of course- but I'm just very excited for my impending departure to Japan! This fall semester 2009- I will be studying abroad as an exchange student in Hirakata (Osaka prefecture), Japan. I have visited Japan previously, but I have never lived/stayed there for an extended period of time. I leave on August 31, exactly one week from now! =D I'm new to travel blog- so I may be updating this website as well. Uh, depends on my mood. A website seems a bit more lenient about picture uploading/customization. Anway, here is the link. Website Blog In addition- if you are interested, here is the link to my "blog" about my previous trip to Japan. This was back when I was a freshman in college =P 1st trip to Japan ... read more

Okay okay, so I'm not there yet. I'm just making this blog in anticipation of it! As my profile info suggests, I will be on exchange to Kansai Gaidai from August 2009 til June 2010. That's right! as you can expect there will be alot more info happening when that date comes around. Until then. You can read up on my normal blog that will cover pre-Kansai Gaidai stuff. When I arrive in Japan I will make sure I have duplicate entries here and on my blog at - My Kansai Gaidai Exchange Annnd if you wanna check out my normal silly life blog, try here and my directory here. Be sure to check it out when the time comes! Ciao!... read more

Idag skulle det vara varmt sa väderleksrapporten och det var det också. Därför gjorde vi i ordning lite mat till en picknick och tog tåget in till Kyoto imorse. Mami skulle köpa några hårspännen till skolavslutningen så vi hamnade återigen i Gion, som kanske är en av de äldsta (och därmed också turisttätaste) delarna av staden. Nu är det ju visserligen inte direkt någon turistsäsong just för tillfället, men eftersom det var söndag var det ändå en hel del japaner som trängdes på de smala gatorna. Vi hade dock ingen brådska och eftersom vi båda trivs mer än bra bland de många templen och små butikerna i kvarteret spenderade vi några timmar med att gå runt och plocka åt oss av gratisgodiset och få ont i fötterna. När det så blev dags för matintag som vissa ... read more

Här kommer ett inlägg som inte är lika rörligt som det förra, men som istället kanske förklarar lite bättre vad vi har gjort det senaste. Jag har dock laddat upp hur mycket bilder som helst så det ska nog finnas en del att titta på en då. Bland annat några hett efterlängtade på lägenheten. Sedan får Susanna några bilder med konstig mat tillägnade sig också. Ja, vad har vi gjort här egentligen. Att jag pluggar vet alla om så det behöver jag inte skriva mer. Jo, men Tommie kom ju hit som sagt och det innebar ju bland annat en hel del nabe (gryta som man lagar själv på bordet) och karaoke. Kul med kommentarerna på filmerna förresten. Får väl lägga upp någon mer från framtida karaoke besök senare kanske. En dag åkte vi in till ... read more

Så här ser vi ut när vi rör på oss.... read more

So, I've done quite a number of different things since my last entry, from routine things to pretty amazing awesome things. I've experienced okonomiyaki, which... I must say... is absolutely DELICIOUS. Everybody should have some okonomiyaki at some point in their life. Yum. Plus, they cook it right in front of your table. Like, well, ON your table, as it were. Let's see, what else have I done... this weekend was Casey's 20th birthday, so we had a whole big day planned that was purdy fun. We went to Den Den town in Osaka, which, if you know what Akihabara is in Tokyo, that's basically what Den Den town is. A whole section of town that's devoted to electronics and otaku stores, basically. It was pretty much awesome fun. There were a whole bunch of figure ... read more