How to mix school and travel

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It has been quite awhile since I have had a moment of peace to sit down and write. I will open up and say that this blog was written in a period of one week because I have been so busy with school and everything. April has been an amazing month and I can't believe how quickly time flies by. I have just finished my 2nd complete week of school (the first week was only 4 days and most of it was orientation) and I have settled into a nice little routine. I haven't had much time to write due to many things, but the top 3 are easily school, travel, and the fact that everyone in I House has been sick for the past week and a half. It is changing seasons everywhere and colds have been quite common in the school, as well as allergies. I think we are over the worst of it now, which is great because it is just starting to become really warm here in Kyoto.

The first week of school was full of new experiences and it took some time to adjust to the new rhythm. I am currently taking the Intensive Japanese Language track at Ritsumeikan and that consists of 3 basic classes: Japanese Comprehension, Speaking and Listening, and Writing. All the classes are an hour and a half and they are also taught in Japanese, so it really helps if you have an electronic dictionary nearby in case you do not know a word. I have the Comprehension class 5 days a week, Speaking and Listening 2 times, and Writing once a week. In class we cover new grammar points, vocab, conversation, and kanji. The class moves quite quickly so we have at least 2-3 hours of homework a night to keep up in class. I study with other members in the dorm because there are several people in my class and we can all talk about the assignment. It also helps that there are other people in the lounge and many of them have more experience with Japanese and they will help us if we get stuck on a particular assignment. I have learned to adapt quickly to the new learning structure and I have been amazed by how much more I understand now in a short time. I am still at a beginning level (2nd year of Japanese class) so I can't say very much, but I know this class will really help me out in conversation. In addition to the Japanese classes, I am also taking Japanese Economy and Japanese Politics. These two classes are taught in English and they do not have a large amount of homework, so it makes it a manageable workload. I have really enjoyed the program so far and I hope these feelings continue throughout the semester.

Travel has also been a big part of my life here in Japan. I have gone to Teramachi (a shopping area about 30 minutes away) several times with friends and we always find good food and sometimes I find something else that I like. Last week I went out shopping a couple times to find some new clothes and I finally found some stores that didn't just carry size 2's. Over here there are many tiny boutiques and they almost always only carry one size of clothing. Needless to say, I am not the target audience so I found it quite difficult to find clothes over here. Last week I discovered some larger stores and they carry many sizes and I walked away with some new, cute, and inexpensive clothing for my trip in Japan. It is always fun to go out because we get to have some time with friends, and a break from the homework. I have also gone out to Karaoke with friends and I had a blast doing that. Karaoke here isn't like what we have in the US. Every party has their own room and they can pick from an almost endless song list and sing with friends. Karaoke is a popular activity in Japan, and it was a ton of fun to sing off-key in Japanese with a group of friends. I also found it quite funny to listen to people in other rooms belt out songs.

On the weekend of April 18th I had a big travel experience because I went to Tokyo alone. I took a night bus there and back because it is the least expensive way to go far distances in Japan. When I arrived here back in March I took the express train into Kyoto and a one way pass was over $100 US dollars. The night bus was full both ways and it took about 8 hours to get to Tokyo. I was able to sleep a little bit in the bus on the way there and it reached Tokyo at 6:45 in the morning on Saturday. I needed to go to Mitaka first because I had tickets to see the Studio Ghibli Museum. I was lucky because I had spoken to the woman next to me on the bus and she was from the same area. She helped me navigate the train lines (which was more difficult that day because it was a small holiday) and her stop was the same as mine. We talked about our lives a bit and I found out that she just got back from a trip to the US and that she works as a nurse so she was able to speak a little English. She helped me and then we parted ways and I spent the next few hours in a McDonalds recharging my phone and doing homework.

At around 9:15 I started to walk towards Ghibli. Mitaka is a small, but beautiful city that felt like a suburb to Tokyo. The area was filled with trees, parks, and I even saw a zoo. The museum was small and tucked in between a park and a tennis court. The architecture was very Studio Ghibli and you could see all the movie inspirations scattered around the outside. I took as many pictures as I could outside, as you are not allowed to take photos inside of the museum. I was admitted at 10 in the morning and I was done in about 2 hours. The museum was nice, it consisted of 3 stories and a few exhibit halls. You also get to watch an exclusive movie that is only available at the museum. I had a lot of fun but it took less time than I thought it would. After getting out of Studio Ghibli I needed to figure out what to do with the rest of my afternoon. I wanted to go to many places in Tokyo, however I saw that Shinjuku was on the way to Kiba (I stayed in Kiba Saturday night), and it was a convenient railway for me to take. On the train I decided that I wanted to go to Shinjuku Gyoen, which is a national park that has beautiful gardens and trees. I spent most of the afternoon in the park walking around and taking pictures. The park was huge and I spent easily 2 hours just walking around the whole thing. I also sat down for awhile and relaxed by watching the clouds and listening to music. It was very peaceful and it was a nice addition to the trip.

I left the park around 4 and started heading towards Kiba because I didn't want to get there after dark. I found Kiba easily and I checked into the Tokyo Kiba Hotel. The Kiba hotel is a capsule hotel, which means you spend the night in a tiny capsule that only has room for you to lie down in. The bathrooms are communal and the shower is public. It was a very interesting experience, but I slept fairly well on Saturday night. The only drawback for me was that I had several things to charge at this point and the power outlet only worked when the TV was on. I managed to get most of my things charged, but I kept my phone off for the majority of Sunday.

Sunday's travels were more straightforward as I already knew where I would spend the entire day. I went to Tokyo Disneyland and I had the time of my life. I got up at 6:30 on Sunday morning and then left the hotel about an hour later to catch the bus for Disney. I was slightly confused by the buses by Disney, but luckily a very nice person came and helped me read the Kanji for the bus stop. I got to the park around 9-9:30 and it wasn't too crowded. Tokyo Disneyland is very similar to the Magic Kingdom in Florida, but some of the rides were also different. A few of the things that they don't have in Florida that they have in Tokyo are: Chip and Dale's Treehouse, Gadget's Roller coaster, a Pinocchio ride, and Rodger Rabbit's spinning taxi. I managed to ride everything on that list and more. I also saw an Easter parade and the Electric Parade at night. I had a very fun day and I was easily as happy as the children at the park. I also learned some interesting things, such as the princesses are not as popular over here and that they do not do the pin collecting. The animal characters are also more popular here due to the fact that Japan loves cute things, and I am taking advantage of that and stocking up on Chip and Dale items that I like. I also was surprised by the fact that there was little to no English support at the park. This surprised me because in Disney World they speak many languages to support the varying tourists. I think this is due to the fact that when people travel abroad to Disney, they do not go to the locations outside of the US. Either way, I had a ton of fun and I walked out riding 12 rides, seeing 2 shows, and watching 2 parades. I know I will go back again because I still have some things I want to do and I also still want to see Tokyo Disney Sea as well as go to other areas of Tokyo.

After a long day I left Disneyland at 9 pm. I had a night bus to catch at 9:40 and I had no idea where the pickup was outside of the park. Luckily I found it easily and I even had some time to wait. I got on the bus and then I slept for a good chuck of the ride home. I got back to Kyoto on Monday morning around 7:50. I got on the train at Kyoto station and then headed back home. By the time I got back to I-House I had about 1 hour of turn around time before class. I got ready and then immediately left for school. I only have one class on Monday so that was very helpful, but I was very tired. I got back home and then I slept for most of the afternoon. I really enjoyed Tokyo and I know I will be going back in the next few weeks.

I have been working on this blog on and off for this past week. Last weekend (April 23th-25th) was very busy because it was Gemma's birthday, and we went to Teramachi 2 times during the weekend. I also started a language exchange at my school, where I meet up with Japanese students and I talk to them in Japanese and they talk to me in English. I work with 2 girls and they both are fluent in English so it is both very helpful for me, but also intimidating because they are so good. I spend about 2-3 hours a week working with them and I think that pattern will continue. I will write more about my last week in the next few days because it is late. It is currently Golden Week here, which means I get a few days off of school. I am not traveling far during this break because everywhere is very crowded because everyone is traveling. I am doing local trips around Kyoto and I am realizing how much of Kyoto I haven't seen. Today I went to Arashiyama, a small tourist town by a river and I had a ton of fun. Tomorrow I plan to go to Kobe with friends, and then to Osaka on Monday and Nara on Tuesday. I know today we got back at a reasonable time, and I think we will tomorrow as well. I have a big section test in Japanese this coming week so I am trying to travel but I also need to make sure to study over break. I am still having a ton of fun and I know this blog is very long, so thanks for reading and I hope to update soon!

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