Blogs from Gifu, Japan, Asia - page 9

Thursday 7/13/06 So the last few days have been fairly uneventful, but fun all the less. I have discovered that living with a host family is definitely the way to go if you want to learn a language. Total immersion baby! Shouchou speaks English really well, but Okaa-san, Ojii-san and Masenori-kun don’t speak any at all really, which means I’m forced to use Japanese and find ways of understanding what is said to me. Every day Masenori drives me to work. I’m really glad I got the chance to know him better because at work he is really quiet and I didn’t get to talk to him much. However, at home and in the car he’s so nice and really smart! In the evenings I take the bus home, which I was really scared to do ... read more

Monday 7/10/06 Well it has been another eventful weekend here in Gifu city. Friday night I went out with Asai kun to dinner at a cute little ramen place and then to a CD shop. We just hung out and talked and it was really fun. He showed me some really good Japanese bands, which was cool, and it turns out that we both like the blues brothers ;) Saturday was the BBQ at Adachi’s house. It was amazing!! First of all it’s way up in the mountains about and hour and a half outside of Gifu city. Its beautiful, green trees and mountains everywhere you look, and so peaceful. When we arrived the girls set about cutting the vegetables while the boys set up the BBQ and tents, chairs, etc. Then Iwata and Asai started ... read more

Monday 7/3/06 Wow, What a weekend, well, Saturday actually…!!! The day started at 10am when everyone met up at Mos Burger in Gifu station. Our group for the day was me, Charlene, her friend Helen, Mike and Asai. It was so much fun! Everyone rented bikes from this little place next to the station so we could tour Gifu. Well, everyone except me that is, because I had one : ) We spent the next three hours seeing loads of stuff around Gifu, some that Mike had shown me before, and some that he hadn’t. Mainly the tour consisted of a few temples, some really pretty parks (Gifu Koen being the main one), the river, and Gifu’s famous daibutsu--which is this giant Buddha statue. Getting to see all the temples was great and at one of ... read more

Wednesday 6/28/06 Well Monday night I lost the key to the bike and felt just horrible b/c obviously the bike isn’t mine, it’s Adachi-san’s. He was really nice about it though, and helped me look for the key. When we couldn’t find it after a while he suggested we go to the bike shop the next day and see if they could remove the lock. This meant of course that I had to walk home. Yech :P However, I was saved by a very nice girl from the first floor who offered me a ride home, and, even though she didn’t speak a word of English, we managed to get there somehow!! Yesterday morning it took me half an hour to walk to work, but it was still early so at least it wasn’t too hot. ... read more

Saturday 6/24/06 Well I have been here a week and 2 days already and I thought it might be time to start keeping a journal so I don’t forget everything! The last week has been absolutely amazing, and I really don’t want to leave ever! Last Thursday night, after the plane ride from hell I was picked up from the airport by Mike, Keiko and Hayakawa-sensei. Mike turned out to be a lot younger than I expected, and is super nice and outgoing! Keiko is also very young it seems, although in the week I’ve been here I’ve noticed that the Japanese seem a LOT younger than their true ages! I’d say by at least 10 yrs. After changing my money at the airport we ran for the train which would take us to Gifu station. ... read more