Blogs from Hiroshima, Hiroshima, Japan, Asia - page 15

03-04.02.08 Tokyo - Hiroshima Bevor ich Tokyo per Nachtbus verlassen würde hatte ich noch ungefähr 4 stunden Zeit. Eine dovon verbrachte ich damit kleingeld fur ein Kofferschliessfach zu besorgen. Den rest verbrachte ich in einem Manga Cafe. Um 21 Uhre bestieg ich den Bus und kurz nachdem wir abgefahren waren meldete sich auch schon mein Bauch (grummel grummel). FUCK dachte ich scheiss Aufregung. Gott seis gedankt hielten wir nach 30 Minuten an einer Raststaette. Ich stuermte aus dem buss und rannte auf die toilette. Erste Tuer auf rein und.... NEIN ein japanisches Klo (Loch/Wanne im Boden) egal... explosionsartig entlerte ich mich auf dem japanischen Klo doch fuer mich deutschen ist diese position des auf dem boden, ueber einem Loch hocken, nicht sehr angenehm und so suchte ich mir kurze zeit spaeter ein Europaeisches Klo, auf em ... read more

Whoa, sorry, it's been ages since I've updated. Things have been a wee bit different since the holidays - I think my host family are feeling a bit sick of me, and I've just been trying not to step on too many toes, so... internet use is a bit limited now. I think the hardest part of this exchange is living with a whole different family; you just can't really ever fit in properly. It's interesting, but... tricky. You get really angry sometimes, and just feel like saying 'man, I'll tell you what you can do with your chopsticks...' But sorry. I'll try to keep this as sweet and happy as possible. =) Anyway, this is going to have to be fast. So, New Year was cool. On New Year's eve, we ate a special platter ... read more

Our time in Kyoto had run out, so we hopped a train to Osaka. Osaka didn't impress us much after living in Tokyo - it has many of the same attractions on a smaller scale. So we decided to spend more of our time exploring the incredible surrounding areas of Kobe, and Nara. We arrived - in the rain - and after checking our packs at the hotel decided immediately to head to Kobe. Kobe is a fun town. We managed to squeeze a lot into one afternoon: Chinatown, a walk by the pier, the Earthquake memorial, and most importantly a meal involving Kobe beef! We found a Teppan-yaki restaurant that served Kobe beef along with other types of beef. To try the difference (and to save some cash! Kobe beef = expensive!) we ordered one ... read more

So that's Christmas for another year. Although, in Japan, 'Christmas' was very unlike the Christmas back home. My host sister went to school to study (yes, school, on Christmas day), my host parents were working. I was like, what a bunch of Grinches! But fair enough, Christmas just isn't a big deal here. They do have some Christmas customs though - apparently eating KFC is one of these. On Christmas Eve, we drove past a KFC takeout place, and there was a line so long that it went out of the shop and all the way onto the street. So I wasn't completely surprised when, for tea tonight, there was a familiar looking red and white box containing pieces of 'original recipe' chicken on the table. Merry Christmas, indeed. After tea we had a very beautifully ... read more

I did indeed. And they weren't really the fountains of wonder and beauty I was imagining. It was just a nasty big squirt. It was an 'uplifting' experience though... only because I jumped about a foot high when it actually happened. I wasn't expecting it - first the loo made this weird, mechanical noise (I was like, OMG my host family will totally hear and know what I'm doing!!). Then I got a cold, wet, surprise. Ewww. Question - should I brave the Japanese squat toilets at school? What else have I been doing? I had a Japanese pizza. It was like someone vommed a whole week's worth of meals on the one pizza - there was crab, oysters, seaweed, chicken, corn, cheese, tomato... practically everything. It was a bit interesting. Otherwise, I've been enjoying the ... read more