途中En Route

Well, I'm writing this from San Francisco International Airport, so yeah. They have free WiFi.

サンフランシスコ国際空港で書くよ。無料、無線ＬＡＮがある。

So on the flight from Kansai, let's see... I wrote some fanfiction, finally got around to listening to Nanoha StrikerS Sound Stage X, listened to Vocaloids music (again), ate dinner and breakfast...

関空からの飛行機で、何をした．．．さあ、ファン・フィクションを書いたり、なのはStrikerSサウンドステージXをきいたり、色々な音楽をきいたり、晩ご飯と朝ご飯を食べたり．．．

What didn't I do...? Oh yeah. Sleep. According to my watch, it's 4 in the morning over in Japan. I should feel tired. Why don't I feel tired?

しなかったことは？ああ。寝るのは、忘れた。腕時計によると、日本で朝4時だ。眠いはずなんだ。なぜ、眠くない？

さいごの夜The Final Night

Within 24 hours, I will be on a flight back to the United States.

24時間以内、僕はアメリカ行きの飛行機を乗る。

If there is an upside to all of this, it's that leaving soon is a fantastic excuse for parties and missing homework. KCJS had a farewell party on Wednesday, and aside from our professors repeating the "mild sense of disappointment" thing that set me off earlier, it was good. There was food, and pictures, and reminiscing about the sixty thousand yen I've spent on a certain Gundam arcade game (totally worth it), and all sorts of other conversations.

まあ、もうすぐ帰るからこそ、パーティーがたくさんあった。水曜日でKCJSはパーティーがあった。食べ物を食べたり、写真をとったり、私の好きなゲームについて話したりした。

Plus, I've been to karaoke twice over these past two weeks. Rather than the massive parties with beer everywhere that have characterized my earlier karaoke experiences, these were much smaller affairs with a few close friends, a lot of good songs, and no alcohol in sight. And although I never thought I could like karaoke any more than I already did, well...

そして、カラオケを2回した。先のはたくさん友達を来てお酒を飲んだけど、今回は、もっと小さいし、お酒をぜんぜん飲まなかった。

Of course, it's not all fun and games. There's that little thing known as "packing" that's getting in the way, now that it's coming down to the wire. After devoting two packages to stuff that will be shipped home, I think I'll manage, somehow. Of course, I won't see any of that stuff for three weeks, which is why I didn't put anything I'll need soon in there. (I hope.)

でも、全部は楽しいのではない。ちょっと、荷作りしなければならない。僕は郵便で箱を二つ送るつもりだ。なんとか、全部を持って帰る。まあ、送るのは、三週間ぐらいかかるから、何か要る物を入れなかった。

... I think that's it. Not much to say about these last few days. The post office will come and pick up my packages tomorrow morning around 10, and the MK Skygate Shuttle will be here around 12:15. Tomorrow, I return to the United States.

これだけかな。あまり話さなければならないことは無い。明日の朝10時ぐらい、郵便局の人は箱を取りに来て、ＭＫスカイゲートシャトルは12時15分ぐらい来る。明日、アメリカに帰る。

And now, I can think of only one way to express my feelings. You see, it's not that I'll come again to Japan one day. Rather...

今、気持ちを伝える方法がたった一つ。「また日本に来る」はちょっと違う。

Someday, surely, I will come back.

いつか、きっと．．．日本に帰る。

春休みの予定Plans for Spring Break

I don't have any.

無し。

Okay, well, more seriously... a lot of my friends are in Tokyo right now, and in all honesty I would have liked to go with them. But, I've been in Tokyo twice now, and I keep spending too much money, both in the process of getting there and in shopping once I'm there. There are still places I want to go in Tokyo, things I want to see, yes. But I'll wait on the next Tokyo trip. Which, actually, might be soon... there's a certain event coming up...

実は、僕の友達は今、東京にいる。本当に行きたかったけど、もう東京に二回行った。東京に行くたびに、買い物とか新幹線とかお金を使いすぎる。行きたい所や見たい事はまだある。でも、次の機会はいい。実は、この機会は今にもあるかもしれない．．．とあるイベントはもうすぐだ．．．

One good idea I had was to go the other way, to Hiroshima. I do need to go there sometime. Of course, I can't ever seem to plan ahead, and so I have no actual plans. I'm almost tempted to use the shinkansen's speed to make it a day trip (it's less than two hours away on the Nozomi) but then I don't know what there is to see there. I'd hate to miss something because I was trying to fit everything into one day.

いいイデアの一つは、広島に行く事だ。いつか行かなくちゃ。でも、まだ予定を立ててなかった。新幹線の速さで、日帰りをしようだと思う（のぞみで二時間以下かかる）．．．しかし、見なくてはいけない場所、まだわからない。

Or I could just stick around in the Kyoto area and do as little as possible. Somehow, I still haven't been to Kiyomizu-dera or Fushimi Inari Taisha, both of which I really do need to go see. Or there's Ise, which is only one of the most important shrines in all of Shinto, period. Well, now that I think about it, that would also be a day trip, two hours away on a Kintetsu limited express train...

まあ、京都で何かをしてもいい。なんとなく、まだ清水寺と伏見稲荷大社に行ってない。行かなくちゃ。しかも、伊勢神宮に行ける。これも日帰りかな．．．近鉄の特急で二時間くらいかかる。

Well, whatever I end up doing, I'll post about it. Unless I end up doing nothing. I imagine everyone has better things to do than read a blog post about me sitting around eating Pocky and reading fanfiction. (Heh.)

何かをしたら、ここで何かを書くよ。まあ、何もしなかったら、何も書かない。多分、みんなはファン・フィクションを読んだり、ポッキーを食べたりしたについてのブログ、読みたくないな。（笑）

秋葉原Field of Autumn Leaves

Pretty much since I got to Japan, there’s been one thing that I absolutely wanted to do: go to Akihabara. And now? Now I have. I will say this: I’m glad I chose to study abroad in Kyoto. Because if I had gone to a program in Tokyo, I would be going to Akihabara every day, and probably would have run out of money within a week.

日本に来たときから、絶対にしたい事がたった一つある。それは、秋葉原に行きたい。行ったよ。僕は京都に留学したことはよかった．．．というのは、東京のプログラムに行ったなら、毎日秋葉原に行ったし、多分一週間で僕のすべてのお金を払った。

Along Chuo-dori, the main street, there are at least five arcades. I have been inside three different ones, although really the differences are minor. I did finally get to play F-Zero AX, on a machine that I found in Akihabara. I did not know before that the seat would move, for that game... I was kind of wondering why there was a seat belt on the machine.

中央通に、ゲームセンターが五軒以上ある。僕は三軒に行ったことがある。まあ、違いは小さいけど．．．やっと、秋葉原にいるゲーム機、エフゼロエーエックスをした。席が動くことを知らない．．．どうしてシートベルトがあると考えてた。

And that same arcade had the Star Wars Trilogy arcade machine, Time Crisis 4, and Bonds of the Battlefield. If the first two weren’t horribly overpriced, I might play them... but really, 100 yen for a game that costs a quarter in the U.S.?

そのゲームセンターはスターウォーズのゲーム機もあるし、タイムクライシス4もあるし、線上の絆もある。スターウォーズとタイムクライシスはすごく高い．．．アメリカで、クオーターがかかるけど、日本で100円だ。

As for Bonds of the Battlefield... the Internet lies. According to information I found on the Internet, you needed 8000 pilot points before you would be promoted to... Private again? E-2, whatever that is in the Army. (Can’t believe I’ve forgotten...) And yet, somehow, I was promoted again today... I don’t even have three thousand, much less eight!

戦場の絆は．．．インターネットはうそつき。インターネットの情報によると、一等兵に昇進するために8000パイロットポイントが必要だ。（英語の「一等兵」はなんとか忘れちゃった．．．）でも、今日はまた昇進した、一等兵に。3000さえない！

Oh, and in one of the other arcades, I got to battle someone at DDR. My status as unconquerable DDR master remains intact... well, among my friends, anyway.

そして、他のゲームセンターに、友達とDDRの勝負をした。僕はDDRのこと、最高よ！（まあ、僕の友達の中に．．．）

And there are uncountable masses of game/computer stores. There's the one store, Sofmap, that has a main branch, and then four or five more stores (all within five minutes' walk of the main branch) that sell just games, or just music, or just computers... it's ridiculous.

そして、ゲームとかパソコンの店がたくさんある。ソフマップと言う店がある．．．本館があるし、歩きで5分ぐらいの領域で、五つのほかの店がある。それはゲームだけとか音楽だけとかパソコンだけを売る。バカなこと．．．

We've also discovered new trading card games. I suppose that my friend and I are compelled to buy stuff related to our favorite games/anime. He bought Touhou trading cards, and I bought Nanoha ones. (Well, and some Fate/stay night and Key... but mostly Nanoha.) Sadly, they're from different games, so we can't play one another.

最後に、僕らは新しいトレーディングカードゲームの興味がある。まあ、僕らの気に入るゲームやアニメのものを買いたい．．．友達は東方のカードを買って、僕はなのはのを買った。（そして、フェイトステイナイトとKeyのカードも買って．．．でも、大体、なのは。）残念だけど、違うゲームだから、勝負を出来ない。

At least not with our cards. He bought enough Touhou cards to make two decks, so we played a game. I'm sure we ignored half the rules of the game, and neither of us had any strategy to speak of. It was kinda silly.

でも、友達はデッキを二つ作れるから、僕らはゲームをした。多分、規則が分からなかったし、作戦がなかったし．．．ちょっと浅はかだった。

So yes, I'm vastly enjoying my time here in Tokyo.

さあ、東京にいる時間はとても楽しいよ。

東京へようこそ！Welcome to Tokyo!

The day started at 9:30ish, when I met a friend at Kyoto Station. Twelve minutes later, we were on the Nozomi number 116 super-express train to Tokyo. (Side note: while "super-express" is still used in English, the equivalent Japanese "chotokkyu" isn't really used anymore.) This was my first time on the shinkansen, and it was certainly awesome.

今日は九時半に京都駅で友達と会った。12分後で、僕らは東京行きののぞみ116号超特急を乗った。それは、新幹線の初めてだ。すごかった。

The Nozomi ("nozomi" means "desire" in Japanese) shinkansen only makes three stops between Kyoto and Tokyo. So we were in Tokyo by 12:15, about two and a half hours after the train left Kyoto. It really didn't feel like we were going all that fast... but clearly we were. I mean, 500 kilometers in two and a half hours... that's an average speed of 125 miles an hour, which is a lot faster than the other option, the bus. (Airlines are too annoying.)

そののぞみ新幹線は駅を三つだけ止まる。だから、京都から東京まで2時半ぐらいかかって、12時15分ぐらい東京に着いた。速くないって感じけど．．．まあ、本当に速いよ。2時間半で500キロを行って．．．バスより速かった。（飛行機は面倒くさい。）

Once we got off at Tokyo station, we proceeded to get horribly lost. Somehow, despite Google Maps having the right address, it sent us off into Chiyoda ward, when our hotel was in Sumida ward. The difference? At least a mile, if not two. Oh, and different wards in Tokyo might as well be different cities. So yeah... very, very lost.

東京駅で降りた後、迷った。すごく迷った。なんとか、正しい住所があったけど、グーグルマップは「千代田区に行け」。僕らのホテルは墨田区にある。違いは．．．まあ、5キロぐらい。そして、違う区は違う都市みたいね。だから、すごく迷った。

Thankfully, the police officers that we asked pointed us in the right direction, and we had time to spare. So it didn't ruin the trip or anything. Our hotel is nice... kind of expensive, but I don't mind. And it's literally right next to a train station, so it's very convenient.

交番を行って、正しい指示を教えてくれた。だから、大丈夫。ホテルはいいね．．．ちょっと高いけど、かまわない。そして、駅の隣にいるから、便利よ。

Hmm, what should I do next... of course. Did I mention that the Akihabara station is literally two stops away?

次はどうすればいいかな．．．あ、もちろん。秋葉原駅は近いね。

一週間の活動One Week's Activities

This last week has just been pure chaos. Every day, there was something going on. So, the highlights...

今週は大混乱だった。毎日、何かしたよ。さあ、総集編は．．．

Tuesday was a day for teaching English. Well, that and a trip to the arcade... yeah, I spent too much time in the arcade this last week. Anyway, I went back to Rakuto Middle School for another day of helping to teach English. This time, it was just me. Since I had to do everything, I wonder if maybe I'm not quite energetic enough to really be a good teacher... oh well, I have time (and the chance) to practice, right?

火曜日には英語を教えた。そして、ゲームセンターに行った．．．多分、行き過ぎた。とにかく、洛東中学校に英語を教えに行った。今度は、僕だけ。もっと元気にすればいいかな．．．まあ、練習の時間があるね。

After that, I was planning to meet my language exchange partner late in the day for dinner. Since I had time to kill, I went to the arcade and played another round or two of the Gundam game. It's addictive, and expensive to boot... which means whoever made that game is certainly good at their job.

その後、ランゲージパートナーと会う予定があった。暇な時間があったから、ゲームセンターに行って、また戦場の絆をした。

Anyway, my language partner. He's a student from Kyodai who wants to learn English... our conversations are interesting, to say the least. His English pronunciation needs a little work, but I feel like he has a better grasp of vocabulary than I do... We met at a McDonalds at the intersection of Imadegawa and Kawaramachi streets; I tried their teriyaki burger. It was okay, I suppose.

とにかく、ランゲージパートナー。彼は京大の大学生だ。僕らの会話は面白いよ。彼の英語の発音はちょっと．．．でも、僕より単語が上手だ。僕らは今出川川原町にあるマクドナルドで会って、僕は照り焼きバーガーを食べてみた。まあまあだった。

Oh, and on the subject of "interesting conversations"... somehow a discussion on environmental problems turned into power sources, and from there into nuclear weapons. To be fair, he brought up the atomic bomb first... but how am I supposed to answer "we've had a nuclear weapon used on us"?

そして、「面白い会話」って．．．なんとか、環境問題についての会話は発電所についての会話に変わった。その後、原子兵器！まあ、彼は最後の話題を始めるけど、「日本は原子兵器を使われた」の返事はどうすればいい。

His topic was better than mine... I wanted to talk about Japanese schools and universities, but realized in short order that I didn't have all that many things to ask about. So that was also awkward, although for a different reason. I did learn that in Japanese universities, students will refer to themselves as fifth or even sixth year students if they end up repeating their senior year. Don't American universities kick you out if you have to repeat a year more than once?

でも、その話題は僕のよりいいと思う。僕は日本の教育を話したかったけど、早く何も聴きたいことがなくなった。違う理由だけど、その話題もばつが悪い。でも、面白いことを習った．．．日本の大学で四年を留年したら、五年生と六年生と言う。アメリカの大学は、一回以上留年したら、除籍しないの？

That was it for Tuesday... on Wednesday, I got sick. Ugh. Just a cold, but I felt kind of off all day... and then on Thursday I was completely out of it. It didn't help that I had to wait for my class at 5 in the evening. Both days were interesting... I went to a fire festival on Wednesday and worked on plans for fall break on Thursday. But I also went to bed about as early as I could manage both nights, which worked out to around 10. I don't think I've gone to bed around 10 since high school.

それは、火曜日の終わり。水曜日は、風邪を引いちゃった。うぐぅ．．．風邪だけ、でも、機嫌がちょっと悪かった。そして、木曜日は、めちゃくちゃだった。しかも、木曜日にすごく遅い授業があった。水曜日に護摩に行って、木曜日に秋休みの予定を立てた。でも、すごく早く寝た。まあ、10時ぐらい。そんなこと、高校生の卒業した後からしたことがないかもしれない。

Thankfully, I felt a little better today. Which was good because I had two midterms to take. Japanese came first, and actually wasn't all that hard. There were a few questions that I just didn't answer, but on the whole it was fine. The other midterm was my Japanese Religions midterm, and that... I don't know. Maybe. I probably wasn't detailed enough, but I wrote all I could.

今日、もっと元気になる。よかった。というのは、中間試験が二つもある。最初は日本語の試験だった。答えられない質問があったけど、大体だ丈夫だと思う。他のは日本の宗教の試験だった。それは．．．まあ。多分もっと詳しく答えればいいのに。

Also today: the Festival of the Ages, Jidai Matsuri. One of Kyoto's biggest festivals (alongside the Gion Festival), the Festival of the Ages features a procession of people dressed in historical costumes, from the time of Heian-kyo's founding up to the Meiji Restoration. About the only word that suffices to describe this particular festival would be "awesome".

そして、今日は時代祭りがあった。時代祭りは、京都の三大祭りの一つだ。歴史的な服を着て、行列する。その歴史は、平安京の創立から明治時代まで。かっこいいよ。

The costumes were beyond description. Actually, I went a little early with some classmates, because the teacher of our Kyoto history class wanted us to interview some of the participants in the parade. So we got a close look at the costumes. And we interviewed people. Mostly Meiji-era heroes, like Sakamoto Ryoma and Nakaoka Shintaro.

その服は．．．うまく言えない。すごかった。実は、僕はクラスメートと一緒に早く行った。というのは、京都歴史の授業のために行列の参加者をインタビューした。だから、服をよく見えた。僕の場合は、明治時代の志士をインタビューした。たとえば、坂本龍馬と中岡慎太郎。

So yeah, it's been a crazy week. And things aren't going to change, because this weekend will top everything I've yet done in Japan. You see, fall break is starting; I have all of next week off. But I've been to Osaka twice, climbed Mt. Hiei, gone to Okayama Prefecture, seen the Jidai Matsuri... what could possibly top that?

だから、今週は大混乱だった。そして、今週末も．．．今週末は、今前のすべての活動よりかっこいいよ。秋休みは始まるから、来週は全部休みだ。でも、大阪に二回行ったり、比叡山を登ったり、岡山県に行ったり、時代祭りを見たり．．．全部より何のほうがいいか。

Next up: Tokyo.

次、東京。

ようこそ、岡山県へWelcome to Okayama Prefecture

So this last weekend was one hell of an interesting one. Every year, KCJS students go off on a trip to... pretty much somewhere other than Kyoto. Okayama Prefecture seems to be a popular destination, considering that they went there last year too. My hosts in Okayama Prefecture had a picture of some of last year’s Brandeis students at a festival that’s held every year around this time.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Two caveats: one, as you may have noticed, this post will be the one exception to my posting in English and Japanese. I do not have the time to do my actual Japanese homework and translate a post of this length. Second, since I didn’t really have an Internet connection there, I had to merely write this post day by day, and now I’m posting it all at once. So this is going to be very long. Prepare yourselves!

Friday

We left Kyoto at nine in the morning. We gathered at Doshisha and were loaded onto two buses, one heading up into the mountains and one (the one I was on) making for the coastline.

Japanese highways are really not that much different from American ones. I mean, there’s the whole “drive on the left side of the road” thing, but that’s about the only difference. The highway did have a lot of tunnels though. I suppose that’s to be expected in a country with so many mountains.

We drove through Himeji City on the way... it saddens me to realize that the White Heron Castle, Himeji Castle, is undergoing renovations, and will be for years. I wanted to see that castle... *sigh*

We got lunch on the way, and arrived in Asakuchi City around 1:30 in the afternoon. I didn’t think this would be all that special, but apparently it was... there was a welcome ceremony with all sorts of Asakuchi City people making speeches. In Japanese of course. And we met our hosts for the next three days too. My hosts were really nice people; I would have been perfectly happy staying with them for a lot more than just three days.

Once the speeches were over, we all went over to a nearby school, Konkou Academy, and were given a tour of the school. Words cannot describe how awesome this was. My host family and I were one of the first to get there, so while we were waiting, I had some of the Japanese students peering out the windows at myself and one of the other KCJS students to arrive early. I love being a source of amusement for Japanese students...

Once everyone had arrived, the school’s band put on a quick little concert as their welcoming ceremony. It was really wonderful; music is one of the things I have a soft spot for, so yeah. After that, we were taken over to see some of the other club activities... first was some martial art whose name I honestly do not remember. All the same, those wrist holds and takedowns looked absolutely painful. I am very, very glad I didn’t volunteer to participate in that.

Then we watched the judo club at their work. Which was mostly grabbing their opponents’ clothing and trying to trip or throw him. This... also looked painful. At least for kendo, which came after that, they got to wear armor of a sort. Of course, when you’re using a wooden sword as a weapon and striking at the head, without armor you’d be killing people. So yeah.

The kendo was also awesome because after the two club members demonstrated their abilities, the instructor offered to let us take a wooden sword and try some of the attacks ourselves. That was awesome. Probably the most fun I’ve had here in Japan yet.

Finally, we participated in a tea ceremony, courtesy of Konkou Academy’s tea ceremony club. With twelve people, it was a little cramped and a little rushed... but then again, the snacks and tea are delicious, so I’m not going to begrudge any chance to participate in a tea ceremony. The Japanese guy sitting next to me seemed surprised when I said I liked the tea... I don’t think he was expecting that.

With that, our tour of Konkou Academy was over, unfortunately. It was ridiculously fun. Okayama Prefecture knows how to make people feel welcome, that’s for sure. I wonder if I’ll ever have a chance to go back there, sometime...

Well, after that my hosts drove me to the coastline. Asakuchi is right on the Seto Inland Sea, and there was a breeze coming in off the sea. It felt great... I really don’t go to the coast often enough, especially considering my home is really close to the ocean. (Well, the Chesapeake Bay. To be precise.)

I met my hosts’ grandchildren, who are (in the true style of kids everywhere) overly energetic. They somewhat awkwardly greeted me in English... it was so cute! They live with their parents, not with my hosts, so we didn’t have long to chat, but I kicked a soccer ball around a little and played some baseball too.

Finally, we made it back to my hosts’ home and had a relaxing evening... dinner was good (nabemono... look it up), and then I showed my hosts where I was from on Google Maps while we were all relaxing in front of the TV.

And this was just one day! If the rest of the weekend is this much fun...

Saturday

“If the rest of the weekend is this much fun” indeed. Holy damn.

The day’s activities started at 10 with a trip to Ryūnan Nursery School in Asakuchi, where one of my hosts’ grandkids goes. They had me sit up front and field some questions about myself, both from the teachers and the kids. I ended up singing the first part of the opening theme to Space Battleship Yamato, somehow.

We then moved on to coloring these little paper doll elephants, and then had them fight each other, sumo-style. That was... interesting. It’s hard to describe. I didn’t win all that often, not that I minded.

Then came lunch. I don’t even remember what we ate for lunch. Rice was involved, and I’m pretty sure there was miso soup too... but this is Japan, practically every meal has those.

Before I left the nursery school, the kids gave me a little card and a paper necklace to thank me for coming... to repeat myself from yesterday, it was so cute! Even though it’s exhausting to hang out with little kids, it was so much fun!

At this point, I could have spent the rest of the day doing nothing and still have had an awesome day. But that was far from it. Next came a visit to the Kamogata Machiya Park. There, I got to play with a kendama! It’s this little toy that’s a ball connected by a string to a little cross-shaped piece of wood. You hold the cross-shaped part and try to get the ball to land on the ends of the cross. For such a little thing, it is surprisingly difficult... although I was getting decently good at it by the time we left.

We also tried walking on stilts. “Tried” being the operative word. I couldn’t manage it. Pity no one had a video camera, or we’d have some interesting YouTube fodder.

There was also a koto lesson in progress when we got there... when it ended, I got a chance to play the koto myself. Now that was interesting. Having played piano in the past, rhythm wasn’t a problem, but it was still kinda hard.

Nothing else interesting really happened until dinner. Of course, dinner was a barbecue party with my hosts’ extended family, so yeah. Yakitori, crab, shrimp, sushi, onigiri... the amount of food there was just insane. Now if only they had had soda, it would have been perfect. There was plenty of beer, but they already knew that I didn’t drink (not even legal yet in Japan, much less the United States), so that wasn’t an option.

And after dinner... I believe I mentioned a festival? The Ōura Shrine Annual Autumn Festival (Shūki Reitaisai), at a shrine in Asakuchi City, would be that festival. I believe that all of the KCJS students in Asakuchi attended. And all of the guys helped with the festival.

By “helped”, I mean we helped to carry one of the portable shrines. Those things were heavy. I mean, damn, with a good thirty people all carrying it, you’d think it wouldn’t be all that bad. Oh no. I’m typing this four hours later and my back and shoulder still ache a little.

But it was still great fun. I got taiyaki for my trouble, so I was happy. Everyone (else) was drinking beer and having a great time. If there’s one thing I’m really going to miss when I have to go back to the U.S., it’s going to be the festivals. (If only for the taiyaki.)

One more day... there’s no way anything could top that Saturday, though.

Sunday

Well, today was much quieter. Went on a trip to Fukuyama Castle, mostly because I admitted to my hosts yesterday that I liked castles. Like most currently in Japan, Fukyuama Castle is rebuilt... only a very few survive in their original state, and the only one that comes to mind right off is Himeji. (See above about Himeji’s current state. *sigh*)

The problem with this outing was that the museum is in Japanese. Now, I like history, and I like learning more about history... but I simply can’t translate museum signs from Japanese into English in any reasonable length of time. My translation works best when I’m sitting down in front of a computer with a good two or three hours to spare.

All the same, it was cool. Any traditional Japanese castle with tower is good in my book, and usually the museums show what they looked like back when they were built and/or at their peak. It makes me wonder how anyone ever dared to challenge them. I mean, seriously... a moat, outer wall, inner wall, built steadily higher on a hill... I guess this is why siege warfare was invented.

We also got lunch in Fukuyama Station... I got hamburger, which apparently here in Japan just means a slab of meat. Not that I minded, it was good, and it’s not like I was expecting a bun. Oh, and rice, of course. Although my rice was served on a plate for some reason... news flash, I’ve been in Japan for a month, I can use chopsticks and would like my rice in a bowl where I can actually eat it with chopsticks, thank you very much.

Finally, I got a souvenir to take back with me from Fukujima... momiji manju, these little tasty cake-like pastries with filling, shaped like autumn leaves. They’re filled with all kinds of things... this set was an assortment, with anko (red bean paste, like taiyaki... yay), green tea, chocolate, and mocha-filled ones. (Having already eaten them, considering it took me a while to write and post this... the anko-filled ones were the best. Just saying.)

That was pretty much it... by the time we returned to Okayama, it was time to leave for good. Tearful goodbyes were had (okay, not all that tearful), souvenirs and thank yous were exchanged, and we loaded up on the bus back to Kyoto.

... There’s only one weekend that could possibly top this, and that would be one spent in Tokyo. Oh wait, we have a break coming up later in October...

旅行準備Preparations for Travel

... I have one more day in the United States. That's it. Come Tuesday morning, I will be on a flight to Japan.

アメリカにいる残り時間は一日だけだ。火曜日の朝、僕は日本への飛行機に乗る。

I still can't quite believe it. I've got a visa, so I should be able to enter Japan. With some help from my parents, most of my luggage is already packed. I've got the airline tickets. Tomorrow, I'll go out and buy souvenirs. If reality was an anime, I believe I'd be saying "Preparations, complete!" right about now.

まだ信じられていない。査証を持っているから、日本が入ることが出来るはずだ。両親が手伝ってくれたから、もう荷物を詰めた。飛行機の切符を持っている。明日、お土産を買いに行くつもりだ。現実はアニメのなら、僕は今「準備、完了！」と言う。

Summer vacation is over. This is the beginning of my junior year. A junior year that will be spent studying in Kyoto, Japan. There's really only one other thing I can think of to say.

夏休みは終わった。これは三年生の始まりだ。京都に勉強する三年。たった一つだけの言いたいことがある。

I'm headed off to Japan.

行ってきます！