It's hard to believe that almost exactly one year ago I left for Japan... Since it's just around the time of my one year anniversary of departing, I have definitely been thinking more and more about my experience that semester at Kansai Gaidai. And do you know what I realized? That I never wrote anything to conclude my trip! I guess I just got really busy towards the end of the semester, having to pack everything up and get ready to go back home. It was a very stressfult time too, and I had so many different thoughts and emotions going [View Full Entry]

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After finals (which was the most studying I've done the entire semester!) I was really excited to be finished with school...and even more excited because my friend Masa was coming to visit me for a few days! Masa goes to school with me in Tennessee, but he was coming home to Japan for the summer. So of course we had to meet up while I was still there! Oh and Masa is really CRAZY so I knew we would have a lot of fun... On Thursday when he arrived, I met him at the bus stop in front of the Kansai [View Full Entry]

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Well now that it's almost the end of the semester, I guess it would be a good time to write about my room...and my very ummm, interesting, roommate. For some reason I just haven't had very good luck with roommates over here. At the beginning of the semester I had to change seminar houses because I didn't like my roommates, and all I wanted was someone normal. Well, I didn't get normal! But the one good thing is that because so many of my friends live in Seminar House 4, I don't have to be in my room all the time! [View Full Entry]

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On our last day in Okinawa, we decided to go visit the Budokan, or martial arts center, in Naha since Lani is really interested in martial arts. Okinawa is actually where many forms of martial arts originated, so I was also excited to check out the Budokan! And it was conveniently located a couple of blocks from our hotel. So we set out in the morning around 10 AM and walked down to the park that led to the Budokan. We weren't exactly sure where we were going, but eventually we started to hear people yelling and it sounded like they [View Full Entry]

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On Sunday, after learning our lesson the previous day about the ferry tickets, we were able to go to one of the small islands off the main island of Okinawa. We had called the day before and reserved our tickets for Zamami Island, which is part of the larger Kerama Islands. We were so proud of ourselves for planning ahead and were really excited about the island, but the funny thing is that we almost didn't make it to the port... We had gone down to the lobby that morning to eat breakfast and planned to leave the hotel at 9:00 [View Full Entry]

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So I think I have found paradise...and it's OKINAWA! I went there for 5 days with Leilani for the Golden Week holiday, and it was the most amazing trip ever! I was really needing a vacation...and I mean a real vacation, not a crazy week of sightseeing and trying to do as many things as possible. I just wanted to go somewhere and relax and enjoy myself, especially since April was such a long and tiring month. So going to Okinawa was a good way to start off May! We left Friday morning, since it's an hour and a half bus [View Full Entry]

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Hello everyone! So I just got done with the worst week of school ever...this past week I had 2 papers due and a couple of tests and quizzes too. It was not fun at all. The papers weren't even that difficult, but it was just hard for me to think...cause I haven't had to do much of that this semester! My classes are so easy and I haven't had to do much work for them at all. So this whole semester has been like a vacation to me...and my brain must have gone on vacation too! But I'm glad it's finally [View Full Entry]

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Spring is finally here!!! The past few weeks have been absolutely beautiful. Of course, it's the most beautiful time in Japan because of all the cherry blossoms. They're everywhere you look! Unfortunately they only are in bloom for about 2 weeks before they fall off...so I really had to make the most of those 2 weeks and enjoy them while I could. (and that's also the reason why I haven't posted anything lately, sorry!) First of all, you should know that I have a slight obsession with cherry blossoms, or sakura. That's one of the main reasons I decided to study [View Full Entry]

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Konnichiwa!! Well I finally got a little break this weekend from my usual busy schedule of traveling and other things. Leilani went to Tokyo for the weekend so I was left all alone here. But even though I didn't do any major traveling, it turned out to be an awesome weekend! But anyway, that's not the point of this post... I thought I would take some time to talk about Hirakata, the city in Osaka where I live and go to school. Hirakata is to Osaka what Maryville is to Knoxville...except that Osaka is about 10 times bigger and more fun [View Full Entry]

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On Saturday, me, Lani, and her roommate Rachelle went to see the Himeji Castle, and it was one of the best "little" trips I've had this semester! Even though things didn't work out exactly as we had planned, it was still a lot of fun! And we learned an important lesson from that day...to always expect the unexpected! We planned on leaving at 11 AM Saturday morning. But let's be honest, this is me and Lani...so we took our time and had a nice breakfast in the dining room and got to talking about Okinawa and skydiving. By the time we [View Full Entry]

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