Blogs from Tsuru, Yamanashi, Japan, Asia

Hisashiburi! (That means it's been a long time!) Sorry! I won't make excuses...even though I've been busy I should have been writing...So, I'll just get started! 08/28/2008 Every year the Tsuru exchange students climb Mt.Fuji. It's grueling, tough, and one of the most memorable experiences that the group shares. The Thursday before the Friday that we were supposed to climb finally arrived...and our climb was canceled because of "heavy" rain in the area. Amongst grumblings about going and climbing on our own and complaints that it was barely raining, the tutors came up with a plan to cheer us up! We would go do Karaoke!!! The biggest Karaoke place in town is called "Tento" and is wild-west themed. The person at the front desk always wears a cowboy hat and there are old black-and-white westerns playing ... read more

Konnichiwa! I know, I know...it's been a while since I've written a new entry. Sorry everyone! It's hard to sit down at a computer and type when I have so many fun things to do here! Gives me lots to write about when I do, though. Without further delay, I bring you more tales from the Far East... Saturday (08/16/2008) Not much notable happened that day, so I wouldn't even bother to mention it except...THERE WERE MONKEYS OUTSIDE MY APARTMENT!!! Real. Live. Monkeys. Just hanging out along the fence in the back of the apartments here. Apparently it's pretty rare to see them, but we were lucky enough to have been about to take a trip to the store or dinner or something and BAM! there they were. About 10 of them scurried past on the ... read more

Hi everyone! Sorry that it's taken me a few days to post a new entry. We had to do a speech for school and I've been spending a lot of time writing and memorizing it, so I've been quite busy. But don't worry--it's definitely not all work and no play! I'm sure you could have figured that out, though. Alright, well, down to business. I'll be picking up this time with my 2nd weekend here in Tsuru. We begin our tale with a quiet Friday evening... Friday: After class, we didn't do much until the evening, when a few of us decided to go to a restaurant that one of the tutors(Mikity--I know. Great name, right?) works at. The name of the restaurant is Yumeman. It was the same restaurant that Allison and I went to ... read more

Konnichiwa! I hope you enjoyed my account of my first couple of days in the land of the rising sun. I will now attempt to further entertain you with my masterful storytelling. (Cue Japanese-ish music to set the mood) And now my faithful readers, we begin with last two days in Tokyo before journeying to Tsuru... 07/31/2008 With our complimentary breakfast coupons in hand, Michelle and I ventured out of the hotel room bright and early thanks to the lingering jet lag. (I really never should have gotten over it, it made getting out of bed at 7 am a breeze) We got our free breakfast of a hard boiled egg, toast, and some kind of an interesting breakfast salad at the same little cafe that we had killed time in the afternoon before. It was ... read more

So this weekend I finally packed up and headed out to - what felt like - the tropical paradise of Tokyo for a weekend adventure and 'Thanksgiving Dinner'. Friday night I took the last train out of Tsuru to Tokyo (midnight on the orient express? Is that PC?). I made it to Tokyo around 0 dark thirty (12:30 am), met Courtney and Jenny (who had come with us to Fuji Q Highland), and we ended up going to bed around 2 am. This is important to keep in mind, because the next morning we woke up at a brisk 6 am! Now, before I continue, I need to apologize to my dad. I don't know HOW I missed this, but I offer my most remorseful, heart-felt apologies that we did not go to this place when ... read more