Day 21, 22- Osaka

Transformers

Day 21- A Big Surprise

So I woke up at around 10 am and hung out for a while until 3, when we went to Namba, a city near Tondabayashi. There we went into some really cool back alley shops. There was a place for companies, like restaurants and such, to buy the various signs you see around like "No Smoking" etc. I got a little sign that says "Push" for my room.
We then went to a place called Namba Parks, which is really just a collection of semi small malls and stores. I wasnt allowed to take many pictures, so I didnt, but we did go into a special Toys R Us Store.

on a side note, I have to say this: In all the stores with toy departments, they always have Gundam Models, or gandamu no pura moderu. I used to make those when I was little and loved them, but they got too expenisve. They are a lot cheaper in Japan and there are a lot more. Also some places have supplies such as air brushes, paint, and sanders to make the models look the best they can. I am really envious. The thing is, is that I cant take em home because they are too bulky and if I build them here, they are too fragile to move. Ahh well... when I live in Japan I will have a room devoted to Pura Moderu.
After that, we went into a bunch of shops where otaku normally go. The first place we went to was this really cool shop tat had a bunch of collectibles. The things that come from the little toy vendors were lined up wall to wall. I got a little Mario Mushroom. I would have taken pictures, but I was not allowed to. The highest level had the oldest stuff, like Godzilla models and other stuff fromt he sixties and seventies. It was really cool. Kie said she really liked those kinds of stores.
Then we went to a used manga store, where you can buy Manga for the equivalent of about a $1.10. There was also some really old manga there, like the first Doraemon comic book. I bought about five books there. Kie said she also liked those shops, I was starting to get a little suspicious.
Then we went to this one two level store devoted to Gundam. It had Gundam DVDs, Comic Books, soundtracks, and one full level devoted to Gundam models and accessories. There they had a ton on display, and it all looked really cool. Some people to an artistic twist to it and maybe painted them different colors, or added parts of different models. It was all so cool. I really want to make one of those. If there was more space in my house I would have them, but there are too many books and such in my room. Kie also said she was reallly interested in this stuff. Suddenly it hit me: Kie is an Otaku in disguise!!! She told me how she is really ineterested in all this stuff, and how she doesnt own any manga, because she reads her friends' manga. There are a couple of Samurai Champloo (an anime) soundtrack CDs, and this entire time I thought they were her brother's, but they are hers!
As we were walking home, I talked about how I would live in Japan and have a room dedicated to these things, and everything. She said that when I visit Japan again, I could stay in her room, since from April 2008 she is going to live in Tokyo because of her job. I said I would get rid of everything in her room, except the tatami bed and the desk and I would put Gundam Models all over the place, and just to make it harder, I would have them fill the guest room (a completely empty room besides a dresser and a floor of tatami). Joke after Joke after Joke.

Day Two- Yukari

Today a lot less happened. I stayed in the house the entire day doing random stuff and at 4 Yukari, one of Kies friends I met two years ago, came to visit. She just recently came back from Hokkaido, and gave us all some souvenirs. The entire tIme I was here she was trying to find a time to meet me again, but she has a job and is really busy, so we could only meet today. She was surprised at my Japanese and how it has phenomenally improved and we talked about a ton of stuff. The japanese have a word, hai tenshon, and that is exactly was Yukari is. She was always laughing, clapping her hands, and full of energy. We just hung out at the table for a while talking, catching up, and exchanging stories. She had really big bangs, and then at the end of the meeting she took it off! It was a hair piece, we were all incredibly surprised and had no clue it wasnt real. Then at 7 she left.
From there, Kie and I went to the Japanese class thing that I went to a while ago. There I did the practice for the japanese proficiency test, level three (there are four levels, four is the lowest and one is the highest, and I did pretty well on it. I passed through it quickly and did fairly well, though I did ask for the definitions of some words alot. It is really confusing to read words without Kanji, because I use kanji a lot of the time for cues to the meaning. There were a lot of words I didnt understand, but then when i found out there definition I thought "Oh! I can write that in Kanji! I really knew that word!" Then I tried level two, but it was too hard. After I learn more Kanji I could do it, though.
After that I didnt really do much, just ate dinner.


I hvae been listening to a lot of sermons recently, and tehy have all be really good. Check out Mars Hill Church of Seattle, whoever is reading this.

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