Ani and I arrived in Osaka and for a minute I was reminded of LA! It was a side of Japan you don't get to see in Tokyo. There was barbed-wire on some of the fencing and a lot of homeless people in the street. It didn't help that the directions we had gotten to our hotel from the website were absolutely unhelpful. But luckily the famous Japanese hospitality also applied in Osaka. We entered another hotel and asked if they knew where ours was, and the man behind the counter actually drove us right to the door of our hotel! [View Full Entry]

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(Okay I know this is really really late! I was encountering...technical difficulties...and therefore am only now updating. But yes I am still alive and for now we'll pretend that I wrote this on 10/6...lol!) After an 8 hour bus ride(!) Ani and I arrived in Nara at around 5am. Nara is in the Kanto region of Japan, near Kyoto. When Ani and I stepped off the bus, the place looked like a ghost town. There was barely anyone on the streets. So after a night of no sleep, Ani and I proceeded to attempt to figure out where we were going [View Full Entry]

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I just had to report the first earthquake I’ve felt since my arrival to Tokyo. It was just a little 4.2, so nothing to worry about. It did get some of the other study abroad students a little shaken up though. For those who had just experienced their first earthquake, some were excited and some were a little frightened. I was at Denny’s with Ani and Christine, and might otherwise not have felt it. I was gazing out the window when Christine suddenly said “earthquake”. Of course my so-cal instincts kicked in and I almost dived under the table. Then I [View Full Entry]

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The Edo-Tokyo Museum was very interesting. It held exhibits of different eras of Tokyo (formerly known as Edo). I’ll let the pictures talk for themselves. It was definitely interesting traveling with a group of over 60. It felt as if the Americans had taken over the museum for the day. It was fun though. Right next to the museum was the arena for the Sumo Tournament. The center area is considered sacred, nobody but the participants is supposed to go too near it. It’s not a good idea to pass between the “stage” and the judges. The higher ranking wrestlers went [View Full Entry]

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Tsukimi is the moon viewing festival at the harvest moon. We went to a garden near Yokohama to watch the moon. Unfortunately some of our group was running late, so we missed the moon rising, which is supposed to be beautiful. Once at the garden, it was obvious this was a popular viewing spot. There were quite a number of people. Unfortunately it was too dark for any of my pictures to come out. We went and saw a group of women play traditional instruments. It was nice. Then we took a few walks around the garden, though it was rather [View Full Entry]

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I just have say that we're in the middle of probably the funnest thunderstorms ever! It's right over us so there's lots of lightning and thunder. And lots of rain! It was quite a downpour. It's calmed down now. It's probably just passing through since it came in really quick. So I've now been in Tokyo for two weeks and three weekends. It's been fun and interesting getting to know everyone. Especially everyone from TUJ House (my dorm) and Green House (around the corner). We all live near the Jiyugaoka Station. I just hope things don't start to get really tense [View Full Entry]

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I finally took the time to take some pictures, so this is just going to be a photo tour of where I live and the area around. For all those who have asked, anything mailed to me has to go through TUJ, so make it out to: OIS Office Attn: Shellynne Allen Temple University Japan 2-8-12 Minami Azabu, Minato-ku Tokyo, Japan 106-0047 [View Full Entry]

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So I've had almost a week of classes and I'm already beginning to see how this semester is going to be. Democracy, Capitalism, and Socialism is going to be the class that constantly pisses me off. The professor is biased toward an opinion that I don't necessarily agree with and the text book he assigned shares that bias. What's more is that book is out of print so the only way we can read it is on-line. Every other class one of the students has to give a presentation on some random topic. I've sat through one of his classes and [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday was quite the day. So we started off the day with the group as it was still part of our orientation. We took the train to Shibuya and got off at the station famous for its statue of the dog Hachiko. This statue is dedicated to an Akita who, so the story goes, used to walk to the station everyday to wait for his master to come home from work. One day his master did not ome home due to the fact that he had died from a stroke in a hospital. Even though his master never returned, Hachiko continued [View Full Entry]

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Good news! I finally got the computer thing solved. I don't need an adapter to plug in my laptop and the dorm provides us with plugs that I can plug my laptop into and then plug the other end into the wall. I also discovered that my computer has a slot for my memory card so I finally can upload pictures. (I'll take pictures of the room once my roommate gets here and we organize a bit. So yesterday was orientation, and I hope this isn't an indication of what the rest of the semester is going to be like. It [View Full Entry]

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