守口市駅Moriguchi City Station

Today, I went with a friend out to Moriguchi City Station, near Osaka. It's on the Keihan Main Line. We had plenty of free time today, and the rest of the week is kind of packed, so today was probably the best day for this.

今日は、友達と一緒に大阪の近い守口市駅に行った。京阪本線の駅だ。たくさんの暇な時間があったし、今週はちょっと忙しいと思うから、今日は一番いいと思う。

The trip started around 2:30, when class ended for the day. Well, my friend's class, anyway. We took the subway and the Kintetsu line to Tanbabashi, and transferred to the Keihan Main Line there. Limited express train to Hirakata City, and a "sub-express" train to Moriguchi.

二時半くらい同志社を出る、授業が終わった後で。まあ、友達の授業。近鉄丹波橋まで地下鉄と近鉄線を乗って、そこで京阪本線に乗り換えた。特急で枚方市駅まで乗って、準急で守口市駅まで。

On that note... there are too many types of trains on the Keihan Line. There are nine different types! Rapid limited express (that one requires a special ticket, I think), limited express, rapid express, commuter rapid express,  normal express, midnight express, sub-express, commuter sub-express, semi-express, and local trains. This is ridiculous.

と言えば、京阪電車はたくさんのタイプがある。九つもある！快速特急、特急、快速急行、通勤快速急行、急行、深夜急行、準急、通勤準急、区間急行、普通の電車がある。バカな。

But, the trains are awesome, so it's okay. I mean, seriously. I paid 360 yen each way, and the higher-level trains (like the limited express that we rode to Moriguchi, or the rapid express that we took back to Tanbabashi) are really nice. They're basically similar to the Amtrak trains back home. Except riding on one of those will run you 80 bucks at least. (From Boston to Baltimore, and that's for the overnight train.)

でも、電車はすごいから、いいよ。360円がかかるけど、その高いレベルの電車（たとえば、特急や快速急行）はすごく快適だ。まるで、アメリカのアムトラックという電車みたいだよ。でも、アムトラックを乗るとき、80ドルがかかるよ。（深夜の電車、ボストンからバルティモルまで。）

Anyway, we mostly just took pictures when we got there. I have spent too much money as it is, and neither of us really knew anything about the area around the station. Besides, we had free time, but most of it was spent taking the trains. This is closer to Osaka than Kyoto after all.

とにかく、着いた後で、写真を撮っただけだ。僕はお金を多すぎる払ったし、僕たちは駅の近いの店を全然知らない。そして、暇な時間があったけど、その時間は電車でかかった。守口市駅は大阪のほうが近いよ。

So... why do I care about some random station on the Keihan Main Line, closer to Osaka than Kyoto? So much so that I spent nearly two hours today going there and back, pretty much entirely for the sake of taking a few pictures?

さあ．．．どうして大阪のほうが京都より近い京阪本線の駅を気に入りますか。どうして今日は二時間かかって、写真を撮るだけために京都から守口市駅まで行ったか。

Can't really put it into words, actually. Perhaps one of those pictures is the best explanation.

．．．うまく言えない。もしかしたら、その写真は一番いい説明かもしれない。

For those people who still don't understand... perhaps that's for the best. For those who do... isn't it awesome?

分からない人は．．．おそらく、分からない方がいいと思う。分かる人は、かっこいいでしょう。

(And for those who want a hint... look at the tags.)

（ヒントを欲しがっている人．．．タグを見て。）

大阪城Osaka Castle

First, I really should apologize. It's been a week since I've been to Osaka Castle, and I haven't posted anything about it at all.

まず、誤らなくてはだめ。大阪城には一週間前に行ったけど、全然話していない。

Here's some more awesome pictures to make up for it.

これ、かっこいい写真！

So anyway, this last week has been a week of days off. The 20th was Respect for the Aged Day, so Monday was an off day, and then the autumn equinox was on Thursday the 23rd, which means we get the day off. Considering all the free time that I had last weekend, then, it seemed an excellent time to go check out Osaka.

とにかく、先週は休みの日がたくさんあった。20日は敬老の日だったから、月曜日は休みだった。そして、秋分の日は木曜日、23日だったから、それも休みだった。暇な時間がたくさんあったから、大阪に行けるよ。

And yes, I know that that castle in the picture isn't "real". It was destroyed several times, actually, and the castle that exists today was rebuilt in modern times. Likewise, the interior is a modern museum, and bears absolutely no resemblance to a Japanese castle.

はい、はい、この城は本物ではない。何度も壊した。今日の大阪城は現代の物だ。そして、中は歴史の博物館だし、昔の日本の城じゃない。

But you know what? It doesn't matter. Because that castle looks really damn awesome.

でも、かまわない。この城はとてもかっこいいだもん。

I mean, come on! It's a freaking castle! Why can't the U.S. have any building that looks that cool?

城だよ！なぜアメリカにはこんなかっこいい物がないか。

北野天満宮Kitano Tenmangu

On the 25th of every month, a large flea market is held at Kitano Tenmangu, a large shrine in northern Kyoto. Being that today was Saturday, I had absolutely no reason not to go. I mean, I could just be a shut-in anime fanatic that leaves their room for food, maybe, but that would just be stupid.

毎月、25日に、北野天満宮でフリーマーケットがある。その北野天満宮は京都の北に大きい神宮だ。今日は土曜日だから、行けない理由がない。まあ、引きこもりになるけど、その仕方は絶対バカなんだ。

I took my usual route into the city, Okubo to Imadegawa by train, and got on a city bus at Imadegawa over to Kitano Tenmangu. The bus was packed. I mean, I'm used to crowds after riding the subway every morning, but this was ridiculous. Let's just say I wasn't the only one going to the shrine.

いつも通り、大久保駅から今出川駅まで電車を乗った。今出川駅で、市バスを乗って、北野天満宮前に降りた。そのバスに、人が多すぎた。毎日電車を乗るから、人がたくさんいることは問題じゃないけど．．．僕だけ神宮に行くことじゃない。

Pretty much right after getting off the bus, I took this picture, of the torii gate next to the road. Sadly, you can't see the taiyaki stall that I made a beeline for right after taking the picture. All the food was out front; all of the stalls visible in the picture were selling food of some kind. And I love taiyaki, so of course I had to get a snack! (uguu~)

バスを降りた後で、この写真を撮った。写真で、北野天満宮の鳥居が見える。残念だけど、たい焼きの店が見えない。その屋台店は全部食べ物の店だ。そして、たい焼きが大好きだから、もちろん食べた！（うぐぅ～）

And right after I bought my taiyaki, I ran into a friend purely by accident. I hadn't really contacted anyone else, so I wasn't planning to meet anyone, but it wasn't at all surprising to learn that I wasn't the only one there. There were a lot of places to buy kimonos, and a ton of food places too. I didn't really see much I had to have... I do want a kimono, but I'd rather have help from my host parents for that. I did buy a small fold-out fan, which is probably not necessary now that it's starting to get cooler.

たい焼きを買った後で、友達を出会った。誰も連絡しなかったから、会う予定がないけど、友達がいるのはびっくりじゃない。このマーケットで、着物の店と食べ物の店がたくさんあった。買いたいものがあまりない．．．着物を買いたいけど、僕のホスト両親を手伝った方がいいと思う。涼しくなるだから、多分必要じゃないけど、扇子を買った。

Oh, and I kind of got lunch... the taiyaki wasn't the only food I bought. A little while later, I picked up a pork bun and ate that. It wasn't great (auuu~), but I felt like I should at least try it. Anyone care to guess why I felt like trying the pork bun?

そして、昼ご飯を食べた。たい焼きだけじゃない。後で、肉まんを買って、食べた。あまりおいしくない（あううぅ～）けど、食べてみたいと思った。まあ、「なぜ肉まんを食べてみたいか」とは答えられるか。

The shrine itself was also packed almost beyond belief, which I imagine is part of the point of having this market. I thought about buying a protective charm and praying at the main shrine building, but I'd rather do those kinds of things when there aren't long lines involved.

神宮も人は多すぎた。僕はお守りを買おうと思ったけど、そんなことは人が少ない時にした方がいいと思う。

Besides, I took some cool pictures. Are those naginatas?

まあ、かっこいい写真を撮った。こんなのは長刀か。

Well, anyway. I had fun. The flea market was really interesting, but I would kind of like to come back and see the shrine when it's not filled with people. So I bet this isn't the last time I'll be going to Kitano Tenmangu.

とにかく、楽しかった。フリーマーケットは面白かったけど、人が少ない時の神宮も見たい。だから、この時は最後の北野天満宮に行く時じゃない。

定期券で一日の冒険One day's adventure, with a commuter pass

I've already mentioned that my homestay is not exactly close to Doshisha University. And it would be nice to live closer to Doshisha. But it does have one perk: my commuter's pass. Okay, yeah, I had to buy it. And at first glance, it costs a fortune: nearly 13 thousand yen for a month-long pass. That little card, though, is perhaps the most useful thing in my wallet, bar none.

日本にいる時、僕の家は同志社大学から遠いね。もっと近い家に住んでいるのはいいかもしれない。でも、一つの恩恵がある：僕の定期券。はい、はい、買った。始めは、「高いよ」と思った、13000円ぐらい。でも、その小さいカードは財布の中で一番便利なものだよ。

Why? Because I can use it to go nearly anywhere in Kyoto. That little card will let me in and out of any station on the subway's Karasuma Line south of Imadegawa, and any station on the Kintetsu line between Takeda and Kutsukawa. That means I can go to Kyoto Station or Shijo (yay shopping!) for free, essentially. "Free" isn't quite right, I suppose. Like I said, 13 thousand yen. But it'll save me money in the end.

なぜ？と言うのは、京都の中で、この定期券を使って、どこでも行けるからだ。そのカードは地下鉄烏丸線の今出川駅の南で、なんでも駅で使えるし、近鉄線で竹田から久津川まで使える。それから、京都駅や四条駅に行く時、お金が要らない。まあ、「無料」はちょっと違う。13000円ね。でも、お金を節約出来るよ。

For example, today... I was particularly indecisive today, and ended up taking the subway a lot. First, the trip I have to take every day: Okubo to Imadegawa in the morning. I'm pretty sure that's about 500 yen. After classes were over today, I went down to Teramachi and the Nishiki market, so Imadegawa to Karasuma Oike... 220 yen, I think?

例えば、今日．．．今日に、僕はちょっと煮え切らないから、地下鉄をたくさん使った。まず、毎日の必要な通い、大久保駅から今出川駅まで。これは、500円ぐらいかかると思う。授業の後で、僕は寺町と錦通りに行ったから、今出川駅から烏丸御池駅まで地下鉄を乗った。220円、と思う。

When I was done there, I wanted to go to the post office, and I knew that there was a post office outside Kyoto Station. I mailed a gift to my twin brother today. But on that first trip to the post office, I forgot my address, so I had to go back to Doshisha to get Internet access. Shijo to Kyoto Station: probably about 250 yen; Kyoto Station to Imadegawa: again, 250 yen or so.

その後、郵便局に行きたかったし、京都駅の近くに郵便局があることは知っていた。今日は双子の兄に贈り物を送った。でも、郵便局に行く時、住所を忘れたから、インターネットを使うために同志社に帰らなくちゃ。四条駅から京都駅まで、250円、京都駅から今出川駅まで、また250円ぐらい。

Once I had looked up my address, I went back to the post office to send my brother's stuff out. That was kind of awkward, actually, because I had to ask the employee about getting an envelope... and because I used the word for "box", he thought I wanted an actual cardboard box rather than the little cushioned envelope. Oh well, I learned a new word today! Imadegawa to Kyoto Station: again, 250.

住所を調べた後で、郵便局にまた行った。今回はちょっと恥ずかしい．．．封筒は要るけど、どこがあるか知らない。郵便局の人を聞いたとき、「箱」を使ったから、段ボールの箱がほしいと思っていた。まあ、今日は新しい言葉を習った！今出川駅から京都駅まで、また、250円。

After my post office adventure, it was about 3 in the afternoon, and the plan was to meet my host mom for dinner at 6:30. It was too early to go back home, so I went back to Doshisha to hang out and play Pokemon Black. Kyoto Station to Imadegawa: really, do I need to repeat myself?

郵便局の冒険の後で、三時ごろだった。お母さんと晩ご飯をレストランで会う予定があるから、早すぎた。だから、また同志社に帰って、ポケモンブラックをした。京都駅から今出川駅まで．．．本当に繰り返すことが要るか。

Finally, it was 5 in the evening and people were starting to leave Doshisha. I decided that, even though it was early, that I should be heading back anyway. So I got on the train for Shin-Tanabe, which I can ride all the way from Imadegawa to Okubo. But, since I was early, I decided to waste time and go one more stop, to Kutsukawa. When the weather's nice, I can walk from Kutsukawa to my home. The bus is cheap, but nothing's cheaper than "free". Imadegawa to Kutsukawa: 500 yen or so, I think.

五時ごろ、同志社でだれもいなくなるから、僕は帰ると決まった。だから、新田辺行きの電車を乗った。その電車は、今出川駅から大久保駅まで乗れる。でも、早いから、久津川駅に行った。天気がいいなら、久津川駅から家まで歩ける。バスは安いけど、無料の方が安いよ。今出川駅から久津川駅まで、500円ぐらいと思う。

... But, I was meeting my host mom at a restaurant closer to Okubo Station. So after staring at the map outside Kutsukawa for about a minute, I got back on the train, one stop, from Kutsukawa to Okubo. Probably a waste, but hey, I have a commuter's pass, right? Kutsukawa to Okubo: ... I don't actually know, so I'll tag it as 130. It's probably more than that.

でも、レストランは大久保駅の方が近い。だから、久津川駅で一分待って、電車をまた乗った、久津川駅から大久保駅まで。まあ、もったいないかもしれないけど、定期券があるでしょ？久津川駅から大久保駅まで．．．知らないから、130円を書く。多分、それ以上だ。

So the total cost for my adventures today: 2350 yen. One. Day. That little card really is convenient, isn't it?

合計：2350円。一日だけ。その小さいカードは本当に便利ね。

帰る場所A Place to Return To

... Life in Japan is very different from life in the U.S. Yeah, I know, it's obvious.

日本の生活はアメリカの生活ととても違う。まあ、明らかでしょ。

Admittedly, being out in Japan isn't the only difference. I have to commute to school now, for one thing. At Brandeis, I lived in the dorms, so my "place to return to" was never more than ten minutes away on foot. Now that place is a 45-minute train ride away. I can't just go back home whenever I want. As a result, I don't go home until there's nothing more I want to do in the city.

でも、日本にいるとは一つだけの違いじゃいない。一つは、通学しなければならない。ブランダイスに、寮に住んでいたから、僕の「帰る場所」は歩いて、10分以下かかった。今、その場所は電車で45分ぐらいかかる。いつでも帰ることが出来ません。それから、もう京都でしたいことをした後だけで帰る。

And the word "early" has taken on an entirely different meaning here. During high school, "early" meant being home by around 3. Here... yeah, today I got home at 6:50 in the evening, and tried to apologize for being late. But no, I was slightly early. Dinner isn't on the table until 7ish, normally.

そして、「早い」と言う言葉の意味は違う。高校生の時、「はやい」の意味は3時ごろ帰る。ここで．．．今日は6時50分に帰って、遅く帰ると思った。でも、違った、ちょっと早い。晩ご飯はたいてい7時に食べる。

And speaking of dinner: now that my lifestyle has changed, I've changed too. Back in the U.S., I tended to not eat much at mealtimes, and make up for it with snacks during the afternoon. But it's kind of rude not to finish your meal, and it would be too embarrassing to admit how many foods I've actually eaten before.

晩ご飯って．．．生活が変わるから、僕も変わった。アメリカで、たいてい食べ物を少ない食べた。昼にたくさんクッキーやお菓子を食べた。でも、日本で全部を食べないことはちょっと失礼だし、食べたことがある食べ物を教えてあげることは恥ずかしいよ。

Or to put it differently: when you don't have a choice, you tend to eat rather than not eat. Regardless of what you do or do not like. So even though I've never even seen half of these foods before, much less eaten them, I eat all of the food I'm given.

つまり、仕方がない時、食べるの方がいいと思う。好きな食べ物も、嫌いな食べ物も、多分食べる。だから、そんな食べ物は見たことないさえ、食べたことないけど、僕は全部の食べ物を食べる。

And I've learned a few things in the process. I like cucumber, apparently. I do not particularly like tofu, although I'll eat it. (It's hard to eat with chopsticks, though.) Curry can go either way; my host mom's curry was not all that spicy, and thus eatable, while the curry that I got out in Osaka was too spicy.

そして、新しいことを習う。例えば、キュウリが好きだ。豆腐はあまり好きじゃないけど、食べられる。お箸でちょっと食べにくい。カレーはまあまあ。ホストのお母さんのカレーはあまり辛くないから、食べられる。でも、カレー店で買ったカレーは辛すぎた。

Oh yeah, and those meals at which I'm eating a greater variety of food? I've been eating a lot more food too. If my host parents keep insisting on giving me these gigantic meals, I will be fat by the time I go back to the U.S. I am not kidding.

そして、アメリカの晩ご飯はもっと小さい。ここで、食べ物を多い食べる。こんな大きい晩ご飯を何度も食べれば、アメリカに帰るとき、僕は太ってる。冗談じゃないよ。

My host parents are really interesting people. My host mother is an English teacher, so she can explain things in English if I'm not understanding something. I almost never use English myself, of course... the point of me being here in Japan is for me to learn Japanese, right? But even in Japanese, she's generally very easy to understand. As is typical for Japan, she's the one that knows everyone's plans and keeps everyone organized.

僕のホストの両親はとても面白い人だ。ホストのお母さんは英語の先生だから、分からなければ英語で説明できる。僕はあまり英語を使わない．．．というのは、日本にいる理由は日本語を習うことだからね。でも、日本語を使う時も、お母さんはとても分かりやすいだ。日本的に、お母さんは皆の予定を知っている。

My host father is much harder to understand... he uses the Kansai dialect, which I've only just started to learn. He seems to have a love for cultural kinds of things... if I recall correctly, he has an interest in history. On top of that, I know for a fact that he draws/paints pictures (I've seen them) and can play some musical instruments too (I've heard him play).

ホストのお父さんはちょっと分かりにくい．．．お父さんは関西弁を使う。勉強し始めるから、まだ分からないことが多い。お父さんも日本的なものが好きだ．．．記憶は確かなら、歴史は興味がある。そして、絵を描くことが出来る（見たことがある）、楽器を引くことも出来る（聴いたことがある）。

It's kind of a pity that that's it... no children or younger adults in the household. It would have been nice if there was someone at home that I could talk to anime about... But it's fine. I got a good host family. And you know... everyone has to have a place to return to. I'm glad that the one I've got for my time in Japan is a good one.

これだけだ。子供や若い人はいない。家に、誰ともアニメのことを話せないから、ちょっと残念ね。でも、平気だよ。僕のホストファミリーはいい。まあ、誰でも帰る場所が要るよ。僕のはいいから、よかった。

カラオケKaraoke

Karaoke is perhaps the most enjoyable form of entertainment known to man. That's what I think, anyway.

世界の中にカラオケは一番楽しいことだと思う。

Last night, there was a KCJS welcome party at Kyoto University, more often just called "Kyodai" (Kyoto Daigaku). That was pretty interesting; we got to hang out and meet Kyodai students, make new friends, etc. But after that, we went to do karaoke.

昨日の晩、京都大学（たいてい、「京大」と呼んで）で京都アメリカ大学コンソーシアムのパーティーがありました。そのパーティーでは京大の学生を会ったり、新しい友達を作ったりするから、楽しかった。でも、その後、カラオケをしに行った。

That was awesome. I've now done karaoke twice here in Japan, and every time I go, I end up having a great time. I mean, I like singing, and I like anime theme songs. And the karaoke places in Japan have pretty much any song you could think of, which means I can sing anything I want.

それはすごく楽しかった。カラオケを二回しって、しに行くたびに、楽しすぎた。僕は歌うのが好きだし、アニメの曲も好きだ。そして日本に、カラオケ屋は曲がたくさんあるから、何でも歌いたい曲が歌える。

Last night... I sang a few different songs. Nana Mizuki, as always... she is my favorite J-pop artist after all. If I remember correctly, I sang three of hers: Eternal Blaze, the opening to Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's, Don't be long, an insert song from the Nanoha 1st movie, and Young Alive!, from her most recent album.

昨日の晩、色々な曲を歌った。さすが、水樹奈々。一番好きな歌手だね。思い出は確かなら、三つ．．．ETERNAL BLAZE、魔法少女リリカルなのはA'sのOP。そして、Don't be long、なのは1st MOVIEの挿入歌。さいごに、Young Alive!、八つめのCDの曲だ。

Then there were the well-known songs. I make it a point to sing Zankoku na Tenshi no Thesis and Hare Hare Yukai whenever I get the chance. Everyone knows those songs. Or at least, they should. The Kyodai students sang the Dragonball Z theme song, too, so I wasn't the only one going for anime songs.

そして、人気がある曲を歌った。チャンスがあるたびに、残酷な天子のテーゼとハレ晴レユカイを歌う。誰でもその曲を知ってる。まあ、知らなければならない。京大の学生はドラゴンボールZのOPを歌ったから、アニメの曲を歌いたい人は僕だけじゃない。

But I sang less well-known ones too. There was a song called True Blue, the ending theme to Sky Girls, and LEVEL5 ~judgelight~, the second opening to To Aru Kagaku no Railgun. And then there was an older one: the opening theme to the original Space Battleship Yamato anime.

でも、僕はあまり人気がない曲も歌った。True Blueと言う曲はスカイガールズのEDとLEVEL5～judgelight～、とある科学の超電磁砲のOPを歌った。そしてもっと古い曲、宇宙戦艦ヤマトのOPを歌った。

In between the songs I sang and the ones everyone else sang, we started at eight in the evening and didn't finish until one in the morning. Nothing like doing karaoke for five hours straight.

カラオケは、午後八時に始まった、朝の一時ぐらい終わった。五時間もカラオケをした。

In sum: whenever anyone wants to do karaoke, as long as it's okay, I will quite gladly come along.

だから、カラオケを行きたい時、よかったら、僕と一緒に行こう！

授業Classes

I've been here a week already, and yet I haven't talked about some really basic things. You know, classes, host family, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Joyo... Now is as good a time as any to start fixing that, and I'll start with my classes. I would go for Doshisha first, but I want to take better pictures before I get around to that.

一週間日本にいますけど、とても基本的なことをまだ話してない。例えば、授業や僕のホストファミリーや同志社大学や京都市や城陽市．．．今はこんな事を話し始める。まず、僕の授業。同志社のことを最初になるのに、前にもっといい写真を撮りたい。

Anyway, here at KCJS, everyone has Japanese class in the morning. I can't speak for how it compares to other universities, but it's certainly harder than Brandeis's Japanese classes were. (I hear that Columbia's Japanese classes are even harder...) There are five classes, A class through E class; E is theoretically a fifth-year level. I'm in B class.

京都アメリカ大学コンソーシアムで、誰でも朝に日本語の授業があります。この授業も他の大学の授業もどちらの方が難しいか知らないけど、ブランダイスより難しい。（コロムビアの学生によると、この大学の授業の方が難しいそう。）日本語の授業が五つあります、AクラスからEクラスまで。Eクラスは日本語の五年生の授業だ。僕はBクラスにいます。

The class meets for about two hours every day. In true Brandeis style, it starts at 9:10 and runs until 10:00, at which point we get a break. Most of the time that break is just ten minutes, and we start up again at 10:10, but occasionally we have the time from 10:00 to 11:00 off and we have class again from 11:10 to 12:00. What can I say, I didn't create the schedule.

平日に、毎日授業が二時間くらいあります。ブランダイス的に、九時十分に始まって、十時に休みがあります。たいてい、その休みは十分だけ。でも、時々授業は十一時十分から十二時まであります。まあ、予定を作る人はコンソーシアムのスタッフ。僕じゃない。

So far, in B class, we've been learning new grammar and doing reading practice. Unfamiliar kanji are everywhere in the reading practice, but it doesn't look like there's going to be any active kanji teaching. We can learn them on our own though, if we're so inclined. Our teacher is an interesting guy; he's fairly young and certainly likes having fun. Although sometimes, the E class teacher comes in and takes over; she's also a great teacher, although much more strict.

Bクラスで、新しい文法を習って、読む練習をする。この練習に、知らない漢字が多いけど、漢字の練習があまりないみたいだ。したかったら、漢字の独学が出来る。先生は面白い方ですね。若くて、楽しみが好きだと思う。時々、Eクラスの先生に来て、教えます。この先生はいい先生だけど、ちょっと厳しい。

After Japanese class is over, we have time off for lunch. Then in the afternoon, there are several classes taught in English covering Japanese culture and history. Every student picks two of them to take. I chose a class on Japanese religions and a class on the history of the city of Kyoto.

日本語の授業が終わったら、昼休みがあります。午後に、色々な日本の文化や歴史の授業があります。その授業は、英語の授業だ。誰でも午後の授業が二つ取っている。僕の選んだ授業は日本の宗教と京都の歴史の授業だ。

The Japanese Religions class looks interesting. I mean, there's not much to say, it's a class on a specific part of Japanese culture that I wouldn't be able to take at Brandeis. Right now we're covering Shinto, and we'll get into Buddhism later. Oh, and we get to take field trips. We're in Kyoto, surrounded by temples and shrines, we practically have to go out and see them in person. The history of Kyoto class is also going to be kind of interesting. I can't really explain it all that well, actually. Certainly, I'll know a lot more about the city I'm studying abroad in by the time it's over.

日本の宗教の授業は面白そう。それだけ言えるかも知れない。ブランダイスにその授業がないから、取りたい。今、神道のことを勉強してる。その後、仏教を勉強します。そして、見学旅行があります。京都にいるし、寺や神社がたくさんあるから、見学はたぶん必要ね。京都の歴史の授業も面白そう。うまく説明できないけど、この授業の終わりに、僕はたくさん京都のことを知っているはずだ。

I mean, I'd be happy just to be in Kyoto, and not have to worry about homework (like the reading practice I should be doing right now...) But since I have to have classes, I'm glad that I get to take good ones.

とにかく、ただ京都にいるだけはいいし、宿題とか授業とか心配しなければよかったのに、授業があります。だから、楽しい授業の方がいいだと思う。

携帯電話Cell phone

Before I came to Japan, I thought it would be kinda cool to turn 20 in Japan itself. Sure, right now there are some things I can't do, but I didn't think there would be any problems or anything like that. So much for that. I mean, I can wait two months to drink... but I kind of need a cell phone now.

日本に来る前に、僕は日本にいる時二十歳になるのはかっこいいと思った。まあ、今は出来ない事があるけど、問題なんてないと思った。違う。お酒を飲むことを二ヶ月待ってもいいだけど、今ケイタイが必要だ。

Needless to say, I'm glad I went with a friend who was, in fact, 20. Otherwise this latest shopping trip would have been nothing but an annoyance. And I kinda hope that there aren't any further issues, because I would hate to have to explain to the police why my friend's name is on the receipt. Technically, he bought two phones and then gave one to me, I suppose.

もちろん、二十歳になった友達とケイタイを買いに行ったから、よかった。友達がいなければ、その買いに行くのは面倒くさいだけだった。そして、「どうしてあんたの名前じゃない？」と聞かれたら、答えにくいだから、その問題は最後のはいいだと思う。まあ、友達はケイタイを二台買って、一台を僕にくれる。

So anyway, here it is!

とにかく、これだ！

It's a SoftBank phone, an 831P. It's a prepaid phone, so I have to be careful about how much and when I use it. Well, text messaging is only 300 yen for a month, so that won't be much of a problem. It can connect to the Internet as well, but that's a little more expensive. And calls are 90 yen a minute.


ソフトバンクの携帯、831Pだ。プリペイドだから、あまり使わないほうがいい。まあ、メールを送ることが一ヶ月に300円がかかるから、大丈夫。インタネットを繋がることも出来るけどそれは高い。そして、電話をかけることは一分に90円がかかる。


I finally have a working cell phone again. Life is good.


またケイタイがある。いいなぁ。

城陽市役所と他の用事The Joyo City Office and other errands

While I'm in Japan, I have to have a registration card documenting my status as a foreigner. So today, after classes, I went with my host family to the Joyo city office to turn in the necessary forms.

日本にいる間に、外国人登録証が持っていなくてはいけない。今日は、授業の後で、ホストファミリーと申込書を出しに城陽市役所に行った。

In keeping with government practice, I had to write the exact same thing several times. Is it really so hard to just write important information once? Oh, and one would think that since this was absolutely necessary, that they would be relatively quick about handling it. Nope. I get to wait a full month before it's ready. I can go pick it up on the 6th of October. It would seem that the Joyo city office is a little slow, hmm?

いつも通りの経世だ。同じ事を何度も書かなくてはだめ。大事なことを一つだけ書くことは本当に難しいかな。そして、これは絶対に必要だから、速くした方がいいだと思う。そうだけど、僕は一ヶ月待たなければならない。この登録証は10月6日にもらいます。城陽市役所はちょっと遅いみたいね。

As annoying as the city office was, we did go to what was effectively a mall after that. That was fun. We had ice cream, and then I got to go shopping again! I had less free time for this one, though. Either way, I did go to the bookstore, and picked up a copy of a magazine called Nyantype there. Considering that the chapters of Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force, the newest Nanoha manga, are being released in that magazine, I don't see how I could avoid buying it. Even if it is kinda hard to read.

市役所は面倒くさいけど、その後城陽市にいるショッピングセンターに行った。楽しかった。アイスクリームを食べて、また買い物に行った。まあ、今度はもう少し暇な時間があった。でも、本屋に行って、「娘TYPE」（ニャンタイプ）という雑誌を買った。魔法戦記リリカルなのはForceの新しいマンガがあるから、買わなければならない。でも、ちょっと読みにくい。

寺町通、新京極通Teramachi, Shinkyōgoku

Who wants to go shopping?

買い物に行きたい人は誰？

Classes were over quickly for me, today. I was done by lunch. But I don't yet have a key to the house, and my host father wouldn't be home until around 4. I had to do something, right? So instead of taking the subway all the way back to Okubo Station, I only went as far as Karasuma Oike. I proceeded to walk down Oike to Teramachi street.

今日は授業は早く終わった。昼ご飯まで終わった。でも、家の鍵がないし、ホストのお父さんは４時ごろ家に帰る。何かしなきゃね。だから、地下鉄で大久保駅に行かなかった。烏丸御池で電車を降りて、御池通を歩いた、寺町通まで。

Teramachi is... interesting. It's called a street, and marked as such on maps. But in reality, it's a shopping mall. It and its neighbor, Shinkyōgoku, are home to dozens upon dozens of shops, some that are well known (Kinokuniya, anyone?) but many more that aren't.

寺町は面白かった。通って言うし、地図でも「寺町通」と言います。そうだけど、寺町はショッピングセンターだ。寺町と隣の新京極には、店がいくつもある。この店の中で、人気な店がある（たとえば、紀伊国屋書店）けど、たいていの店は人気じゃない。

I had three main objectives. The first, to find Nanoha StrikerS DVDs. The second, to find the Nanoha Force manga. The third, to track down a game store and buy a dōjin game called Touhou Sky Fight.

目的が三つあった。一つ、魔法少女リリカルなのはStrikerSのDVDを見つける。二つ、魔法戦記リリカルなのはForceのマンガを見つける。三つ、ゲームの店を見つけて、東方スカイファイトという同人ゲームを買う。

The first was only a partial success. I mean, I've already seen the entire series, so it was low priority to begin with, and I did find some of the DVDs. But they didn't have the first DVD, and I didn't feel like getting any of the other ones. The fact that they were nearly 6000 yen didn't help.

一つのは、ミスじゃないけど、勝利もない。まあ、もうシリーズをぜんぶ見たから、最初から低順位だし、小さいマンガの店にDVDを見つけた。でも、第一のDVDがない。そして、僕は他のを買いたくない。というのは、DVDは六千円くらいだ。

The second was possibly the easiest. Kinokuniya is a bookstore after all.

二つのは一番簡単だ。紀伊国屋書店は書店でしょね。

The third was also a success, although it took nearly an hour of searching through Teramachi and Shinkyōgoku to find a decent game store. After the ridiculous price tag on the DVDs, it was nice to get two Touhou games for less money than it would take to buy one game in the U.S.

三つのも勝利けど、ゲームの店の見つけるために寺町通と新京極通を探さなきゃだめで、一時間くらいかかった。でも、そのDVDは高すぎるの後で、二つの東方ゲームを買えるのはいいね。

So yeah, I went shopping today. And I had way too much fun in the process.

買い物に行った。それは楽しすぎた。

僕の部屋My room

I said I'd take some pictures... well, I did.

写真を撮るつもりと言った．．．撮ったね。

Yeah, they're bad. This is what happens when you only have a cell phone camera with crappy lighting. But anyway, that's the one corner of my room...

まあ、悪いだね。ケータイのカメラだけあるし、照明は悪いだから、当たり前でしょ。とにかく、これは部屋の角で．．．

And this is the opposite corner. The room is on the second floor of the house, and has tatami mats for a carpet; six in all. Thankfully, it has an air conditioner... the weather can best be described as "too damn hot" right about now.

これは向こうの角だ。部屋は家の二階にあって、床は畳だ、六畳。エアコンもある．．．今の天気は暑すぎるね。

This was in the first photo... it's kind of a combination desk/dresser kind of thing. Right now it's closed, so the "desk" part of that isn't really obvious.

これは一つ目の写真がある．．．机と箪笥の物だ。この写真で閉めているから、「机」のは明らかじゃない。

Once you open the top part up, though, it's much clearer.

開けたら、もっと明らかになる。

That's my room. There's not a whole lot of stuff, but it's not like I need a lot... besides, I'm sure that I'll end up buying more stuff later. I'm in Japan after all.


僕の部屋だ。たくさんの物がないけど、たくさんいらないね。そして、買い物に行くつもりだ。日本にいるから。

始まりThe Beginning

It's still hard to believe that I'm really in Kyoto. (Well, technically, Joyo... I'll explain in a sec.) Let's see, what's happened so far...

京都にいるのがまだ信じにくいね。（まあ、城陽市にいる．．．後で説明する。）何があったんですか．．．

Trains here in Japan are really awesome. I mean, I already knew that, but it's one thing to know that, and entirely another to actually ride them. I took the Haruka train from Kansai International Airport to Kyoto after I arrived. They actually cleaned the train before we could get on, at the airport station. And I've ridden on Kyoto's Karasuma line, which is a subway line that's really useful for getting to Doshisha.

日本の電車はすごいよ。もう分かったけど、分かるとこの電車を乗るのは違う。日本に着いた後に、「はるか」と言う電車を乗った、関西国際空港から京都まで。空港駅で、乗る前に、電車の勤務者は電車を掃除しました。そして京都の烏丸線も乗った。それは同志社大学に行くためにとても便利な地下鉄線だ。

And now, I've been out to Joyo, south of Kyoto. Well, that's where my host family lives. So now I've been out on the Kintetsu Kyoto line, to Okubo Station. I'm sitting in my room as I write this. Later tonight, once I've unpacked, I'll take a few pictures.

そして今、僕は城陽市に行ったことがある。まあ、ホストファミリーは住んでいる場所だ。だから、近鉄京都線に乗ったことがある。これを書きながら、僕の部屋にいる。今夜で、荷解きした後で、写真を撮るつもりだ。

But that's today. I haven't said anything about yesterday. Yesterday was... interesting. We took a placement test in the morning. That was, I think, the single hardest test I've ever taken. I did passably well on the kanji questions, I suppose, but the reading ones were nearly impossible. I don't yet know the results, but I doubt I did all that well, at least on the written portion of the test.

これは今日だ。まだ昨日のことは話していない。昨日は．．．面白い。朝は、プレースメント試験を受けた。それは、受ける試験の中に、一番難しい試験だと思う。漢字の問題はまあまあけど、読むの問題は難しすぎた。まだ成績を知らないけど、成績は悪いだと思う。

There was also an interview portion of the test. That was actually, somehow, fun. Well, since I said that I liked magical girl anime, I ended up explaining Sailor Moon. I've said so many times that the words I learn from anime aren't ever going to be used, but when you have to explain anime...

そして、面接試験があった。それは何だか楽しかった。まあ、魔法少女のアニメが好きって言ったから、セーラームーンを説明した。何度も「アニメから習った言葉は全然使わない」と言ったけど、アニメを説明する時は．．．

The evening was also great fun. Why? I went out with some of my friends to a karaoke place. I've been wanting to do karaoke for a long time now. And it was amazingly fun. I repeatedly sung anime songs, like Hare Hare Yukai and Zankoku na Tenshi no Thesis. I also sang some Nana Mizuki songs, and topped it all off with Caramelldansen. (And I did the dance to that last one.) I can't properly express how much fun I had.

夜も楽しかったよ。なぜって？友達とカラオケをしに行った。絶対にカラオケをしたい。そして、すごく楽しかった。僕は何度もアニメの歌を歌った。たとえば、ハレ晴レユカイや残酷な天使のテーゼ。そして、水樹奈々の曲を歌って、Caramelldansenも歌って。そして、Caramelldansenの舞も舞った。うまく言えないけど、すごく楽しかった。

So yeah... this is the start of one hell of an adventure.

これはすごい冒険の始まりですよね。

ようこそ、京都へWelcome to Kyoto

I've finally arrived. I'm in Kyoto.

着きましたね。京都にいる。

It's been a long trip. I'm really tired, actually. Sleep would be good right about now.

．．．長い旅だった。疲れすぎた。今、寝た方がいいだと思う。