Day 1 So let's continue with Obon 2009. The next morning, my companion and I headed up, very early; like 7:30am early, to the Takamatsu train station to see what we could do to get on to Tokushima and the rest of our trip. We were met with the news that the trains still wasn't running to Tokushima. With this news in hand, we headed to the bus station, which seemed to be our only option, to see if they were still going to be running. Lucky for us, they were. We managed to get on the bus bound for Tokushima [View Full Entry]

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Well, this journey could have started with better circumstances, but in the end it turned out great and a fun time was had. With companion in hand, we set out to the last big island for me, Shikoku. The shinkansen rolled out of Sendai at 7:15 in the morning for the start of a 7 hour train journey across Japan. I could tell you how beautiful the scenery was as the train moved from prefecture to prefecture. I could tel you about how entertaining with was to be in a train with a bunch of high schoolers going on their summer [View Full Entry]

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I should probably start this entry with a little explanation, I love the anime show Mobile Suit Gundam. I love the writing, the action, the message, political intrigue, characters, and the freakin awesome robots. There is nothing about that show that I don't like because it's so well thought out and put back together to tell a really good story and makes a strong statement about war. I know the primary reason why the show makes so much money is because they can sell robots to kids and make a lot of money from it, but these other parts make it [View Full Entry]

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The second half of my Golden Week was a quickly put together week in Seoul. I had been to Seoul before when I was at Kansai Gaidai. I went for 4 days and didn't really have any plans for when I was there. I basically did the same thing again. I had 6 days and I had a LP. That was my whole plan. Tuesday I got into Seoul around 3:30pm, got a bus into town, dropped my stuff off at my tiny hostel, and went out and got a quick bit of sightseeing in before the day was over. I [View Full Entry]

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It's a pretty quick and beautiful trip from Inuyama to Takayama; which was where my historical Japan tour was going to end. The limited express train goes through some beautiful gorges and the weather was nice and sunny. It was the prefect day to go around and enjoy some more samurai district history and everything that goes with it. Or so I thought. Apparently, Golden Week started that day and it was packed. Hard to move, hard to see things, and more importantly, I was pretty disappointed in the city as a whole. The samurai district; which is what the city [View Full Entry]

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After spending a couple of wonderful days in Kanazawa, I continued on my history themed trip and went to Inuyama to the famous Inuyama Castle. Inuyama Castle is a UNESCO world heritage site because it is the oldest wooden castle in all of Japan. When I went to Sapporo for the Yuki Matsui last year, I saw a reproduction of the castle in snow and when I was flipping through my pictures recently, it made me remember that I really wanted to see it before I left Japan for good. So after I had some problems finding a place to stay [View Full Entry]

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I love being surprised by a city. Usually I have a strong mental picture about what a place is going to look like. Over active imagination is a must in being a teacher and it has spilled into other areas of my life. Kanazawa was a city where I really didn't have any real expectations and I ended up having the best time there! Wednesday morning I set out for the long 5 hour train ride to Kanazawa. I passed through wide farms, beautiful mountains, and little cities that dotted the train tracks. Mostly, I tried to keep to myself, watch [View Full Entry]

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I have never had much of a fondness for the color pink. Never really being very comfortable with the expectations and behavior that I saw in those who actually wore the color, I chose the more pleasing, and lets not forget eye matching, blue. Since coming to Japan though, I have developed a grudging acceptance for the color. With it flashing out of the corner of my eye this last week, it's not hard to see how it happened. Along with the rest of Sendai, I headed out to enjoy the cherry blossoms that are blooming all over the city. Families [View Full Entry]

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If there is one thing to be said about Tokyo, it's that it's one hectic and crazy place. The sheer mix of people and tourists that run around are confounding and mind boggling. Even with Sendai being a large city, I always get a little amazed seeing so many foreigners whenever I'm in Tokyo. Who knew that seeing people who looked like you would be slightly unsettling? Anyway, I spent my weekend with friends and seeing my friend Raven for the first time in over a year. She just got into Tokyo this last weekend and I wanted to see her [View Full Entry]

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I love my students. Especially my Mom students. They are so welcoming and willing to share anything that they think I would find interesting. Since I have already done some study on Japanese culture and language, they like to ask me questions about what I think about certain aspects of Japanese culture, and it's great for class. Tonight I had a Mom that only has a 30 minute lesson and all we do is talk. Sometimes our conversations are a bit strained because her English is a bit low, but tonight it was a great night. I shared my plans for [View Full Entry]

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