I finally have time to write a post! Unfortunately it has been about a month! All of the school work piled up during the last month and I just didn't have time to write any post. Oh, well...lets see, what have I done since November 23...
I spent Saturday Nov. 28 out and about with one of my best friends here in Japan, Myrna. Her and I met my amazing home stay parents and went to a place called Shibamata. It was a really obscure neighborhood in Tokyo that I couldn't find any information about online. It is a neighborhood of Tokyo that is considered the home of "Tora-san" a famous movie actor...I have no idea who he is. We went around the area and saw various temples and such with a "Walking Association." It was a group of elderly people that get together about twice a month to go on walk in different areas for exercise and to enjoy each other's company. I noticed that elderly Japanese people are so much more active then even younger Americans, they motivate me to live an active and full life! We went to this amazing Buddhist temple that had extremely intricate wood carvings, and then ate snacks next to the Edo River "Edogawa." The night ended with an amazing dinner...look at facebook for more pics!
Myrna, Homestay Mother Kineko, and I about to try "Amazake" or Sweet Sake
Me and the Walking Association
Extremely Beautiful and Intricate Wood Carving on Temple Exterior
Meditation Garden of Same Temple, Common Among Temple of the Nichiren Sect
江戸川 Edo River
The next day was spent cooking all day for our study abroad family Thanksgiving dinner! I made a vegetable soup that turned out really well actually, it was quite popular. The dinner was a great success, although the day was quite hectic, running around searching for ingredients. The Turkey's were something like $200 or more!
The Chefs!
Kenny with extremely expensive Turkey...Go UCSD ;)
The next day, on Monday Nicca, Jenny, Christine, a Japanese student named Yukari, and I met in Akihabara to do research for an anthropology class. The topic is something along the lines of how does the Otaku culture affect greater Japanese culture. Nicca focused on sex shops, while I got stuck examining electronics stores, boring in comparison! It ended up being quite an interesting paper to write and think about. I stated that all people are Otaku in some way.
Akihabara, Known for Otaku culture, i.e. Anime, Manga, Videogames, and Pornography, etc.
Attempting to Take a Pic in the Elevator on Way up to a Manga Cafe, that we got rejected from :(
MaiDreamin 2, the Maid Cafe We Ate At (We interviewed the Second Maid from the Left)
The next exciting thing that I remember was the final religion class field trip to the really famous Asaksa area. This area is home to the Senso-ji temple. It's probably not an understatement to say that this is one of the mostly highly visited temples in all Japan, it is highly promoted as a tourist destination. It was by no means one of the most memorable places that I had been to, but it was nice to finally see it. Also, there where models posing, so we got to take shots of Girls dressed like Geisha!
Asakusa! Yellow Tree is a Ginko Tree
This may be the closest I get to a Geisha while in Japan, unfortunately I think she was just modeling for a magazine photo shoot, and not a real Geisha
Two beautiful Buddha Statues built and donated to the Temple in the 1600's
On Friday night December 11 the Farewell party was held in the Landmark Building Plaza Mall in a bar called the Giraffe. It was nice to have a way to say goodbye to the Japanese buddies that helped us so much while we were here. My buddies were very shy, but some of the buddies where very outgoing and I am so happy to have been able to meet them. Some of them I will see in San Diego!!!
From that point on it was studying straight on until just yesterday. I finally finished all of my essays, presentations, etc. so I took a little exploring journey one stop away from Totsuka where I am living to a place called Ofuna by myself. It was a great study break!
Ofuna
Ofuna Kannon, Relatively New
Today I took my Camera with me to class in order to get a picture of a super cute dog I see on my walk to and from school everyday. We call him/her Jaws, although the one time we met the owner he told us his name was lemon. We still call him/her Jaws. I also ended up getting some great pics from Campus ;)
Jaws, A Cutie
Guess Who!
Me and Mt.Fuji from Meiji Gakuin University's Yokohama Campus' Enbobashi Bridge
The ladies that work in the Cafeteria are so sweet, she gave us free cake!
Just one more day of class tomorrow! A Japanese final and then its time to enjoy the last 10 days that I have in Japan! I have a lot planned, like a trip to Kyoto, so expect at least one more blog post, probably once I am back in the states! Speaking of going back home, I am really excited. I can't wait to see all those back in the states that I left. But, as excited as I am to start school, see old friends, and move back to SD, I am also really scared. One, I am going to have to deal with reverse culture shock, I already totally forgot that in the US we hardly every use cash and coins, while here it's common as one example. Also I am really going to miss Japan and the people that I met here, it has been my dream to come and visit Japan and experience it's culture for my lifetime. Mostly however, I am scared about settling back in. The life that I left behind in the US was very different than the one that I am going to return to. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, perhaps too much, and I've been getting really emotional. I learned so much while abroad here. One example is that the experiences that we have in life come and go in an instant. The joys of today, become the memories of tomorrow. From here on, I have to cherish and take in each person, place, and thing with the utmost thought and care, including my last 10 days, and beyond.
生きましょう,
クレマー
Lets Live,
Klemmer
P.S. I took these pictures the next day after writing this post and felt I should include them! The first is another beautiful picture of Mt.Fuji, and the second is of my Japanese teacher, Oikawa Sensei and myself after our last class.
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