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The first post was really just about how we came to choose Augie. I may post that later...
The website I don't think actually goes live until next week...but it's acessible now. You can access it here: www.augustana.edu/blogs/studentlife/
Laying in bed, late at night... And it is the only time I can get Internet... One roommate uses all the bandwith and refuses to acknowledge it. ちょうブウです！
Wow the iTouch has changed their Japanese keypad and it's weird ...
Anyways, Recently I was approached by my boss to potentially write a blog for the Augie website so people can have an inside perspective. I think it would be a lot of fun and I really hope they choose me... Then I would be updating a lot more. Woot! More about my college life! I would need to update at least once a week, so that would be good for me.
My Biggest resolution this year is also to get to 150 lbs by May 22nd. so there will probably be updates on my progress with that too.
But for now, sleep...
Well, I was gonna post it, until the Internet died again
Jyaa~!
Posted via LiveJournal.app.
- Location:Augie
- Mood:Relativly Happy
- Music:Commentary, the Musical
First off, As I'm sure those in the loop know, I have been trying to get to go to Japan this Spring for a Study Abroad term on my own. Well, I finally heard back from the first Scholarship group, and they said I made the final circuit but got cut. So, no funding there.
As much as I want to go, I know that the money just isn't there. So, unless something miraculous happens in the next month, I'm counting this one as a no go.
It would be a lie to say I'm not heart broken, but I only have a year left of college, and this program is just not financially there. I don't want to place that burden on my parents, so I'm probably not going. And when I saw probably, I mean not.
Oh well, JET is just around the corner. And so, I just have to wait. Maybe I will convince Lyon to go with me for a New Years Extravaganza....2009-2010...would be awesome.
Jyaa ~ <3
- Location:Augie
- Mood:
crushed
I'm excited now ^•^
Now just for the money factor...
- Location:augie
- Mood: exhausted
- Music:j-pop
Anyways, I'm so close to going home and I can't wait....But I'm kind of sad this term is almost over, looking back it was pretty fun. I have definatly enjoyed myself, I will definatly be returning to some of these places. Taiwan for sure. However, if I do come back to China, I don't think I will be returning to Beijing... as the Guidebook put it, "If you only visit Beijing, everything appears HunkyDory in the PRC" and I enjoyed real China more.
We found out more about Van this morning, and it just keeps sounding worse...So Malaoshi is back now, and Van is with family, so that is good...but according to Malaoshi he wasn't good when she left. For about 6 hours on Monday to Tuesday he had a heartbeat of 140 bpm. Very high. He also now has Phnemonia too. So, there are a few things he can do. Stay where he is, go to Hong Kong to a really good hospital, but he would have to stay there for about a month and his family can't stay with him. Or he can take a private jet home with Doctors and IV's and Oxygen. That would be like a 14 hour flight. So, I don't think he's going to be healthy for a while. But, we hope he is going to be okay.
Norm is going to the embassy today and then to JAL, but all the papers are fine now so we just have to have them Filed or something...But, that part should be fine.
Just a few fun things, since that was a depressing bit. Filling in the Longman Grottos, I was drawing and I started to put on some lip gloss. I looked over and there was a girl posing next to me. I looked over and her friend had a camera. Just cause, I posed too. That lead into about 30 minutes of picture taking with the 'breautifrul' foreigner. This happened about 3 times. Turned out there were 200 Chinese students there at the same time studying to be Tour Guides. I got my picture taken with about 150 of them. But then I turned around and found a cute Chinese boy and got a picture with him. Yay!
On the way back from Chengde we went to the Great Wall. And it really is Great. We climbed all over it and took some really funny pictures. We walked on a part that hadn't been restored yet and had to stop when we found a wall that said "Free Tibet". Oh wait...it also Said "Military Zone: DON'T CROSS". However, some of our classmates still crossed it. They got chased by like...4 Military men for 7 towers...silly boys. They got video.
Now off to study for a History Exam...and trying to find warm Sweet Potatoes...Yummy.
Less than a week!
- Location:Beijing, China
- Mood:
blah - Music:Little Mermaid Musica
In Louyang we went to the Longmen Grottos. Wicked cool Buddha stuff. I got pictures taken...I will elaborate later. But coming to Asia is a major Ego Buster "You are sooo Bueautifurl"
History Teacher, Van, had a Heart attack about 6 days ago now. We still have paper and test..even though we have no teacher for the last week. Ouchness. He has to have surgery, we can't ask him questions, and that is sad. He is on our group visa. You have to have everyone who is on the group visa leaving, or you can't leave. We have to slingshot art teacher, Malaoshi, around moon to get all the papers signed and offical okay's to take Van off Group visa, or we can't leave on Friday, and you have 81 college kids trapped in Beijing...no fun. That also means we haven't had an art teacher for the part week..and we have a project due tomorrow.
We went to Tienanmen Square, Forbidden City, Old Summer Palace, and Olympic Site today...It is our only site seeing day in Beijing...However, it is also my first day of being sick. It just wasn't a day I was okay missing. I went even though when I woke up I felt like my upper body was in a vice. When I stood up, I wanted to throw up. I felt like that all day no matter the amount of pain killers I took. No fun... but the rest of Beijing is free...for studying.
Anyways...now I am off to have Shabu Shabu dinner, then a midnight test, and then more studying...yay. And that's the abridged version ^_^;;
- Location:Beijing, China
- Mood:
anxious
On our five/seven hour bus ride (It was supposed to be five hours but then there was an accident and we got stopped for an hour...we even turned off the bus. Then we got stopped for construction a little down the way and stopped for two hours...again with the bus turning off. So it was a fun, hope you don't need to use the bano for the next five hours sort of day.) I got to finish reading my book. I was reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. It was really good, for those of you who don't know Gaiman, he is one of the best writers right now. He is the author of Stardust, just so you all know. Anyways, it was a great book, that is totally worth a read if you haven't gotten to already. I also have read the first book of Artemis Fowl on this trip. It's really good, and really easy, since it's kind of for the younger audiences, but at the bottom there is stuff written in the "fairy Code" and so I am translating cause I'm bored. I need a new book....heheh, I'm going to spend like a whole day in Borders when I get back.
Anyways, we travel a lot for the next few days, but I'm in some ways less worried now. I wrote my first draft of my history essay and gave it to the teacher to edit. He gave it back with lots of comments...so I think my first night in Beijing I will go bother him with questions. It will be fun. I just have to hope I can do well on the rest of the stuff. But, I am almost done with my final assignment for art..I think I will work on finishing it tomorrow night, just to get it out of the way...
But, until then, I shall be watching Ranma, and trying to figure out what to give everyone from the random trinkets I have been getting. Yay for random update...but reading a book and Ranma has revitalized me...so even if these people are annoying...I feel better. 8 days till Hawaii! and then Surfing and Seeing Friends (Hopefully)
- Location:Louyang, China
- Mood:
chipper
Anyways...there isn't much I can really think of that I want to say since my last post. I am increasingly worried about my history grade because the teacher has made the class about ten times harder than a foreign term class should be (That's not just my thoughts, it's about 99.999999999% of everyone's thoughts.) and so I am writing my paper to hand in so that he can edit it and give it back to me. Sadly, I don't know like...half as much as I need to know to do this paper. I am really not liking the class, which is sad, because I love history. I'm really worried that one teacher is going to mess up my major for me. Grrr.
Onto happier things. We went and saw the Terra-Cotta soldiers. They were awesome, and the place was really cool. Sadly, the started renovations the day we got there, so pit 2 was closed. There were a lot of uncovered soldiers and they were said that the archaeologists working on the soldiers think that they still have paint on them, so they are trying to figure out a way that they can uncover the soldiers and preserve the paint. Seeing actual painted soldiers would be really cool, so I hope they figure it out soon.
Yesterday, we went up to Yan'an for a little while. We realized that a.) we would like a chance to choose our own food (Yay Western Buffet Tonight!!) and b.) we would like some other kind of food. Everywhere we go, it's the same food. Everywhere. I know it sounds bad...being in China and all...but I have a craving for Americanized Chinese food. Maybe after Enchanted.
While we were in Yan'an (after about an 8 hour bus ride) we went to the Birthplace of Communism. It was really interesting to see the cave houses and everything, how simplistically they lived, but I don't know how much I took away from it. We couldn't really understand the guide...and it was about 20 degrees out....so it was kinda hard to focus. After that, I spent the afternoon working on my history paper...so I didn't get to see much else of Yan'an like I would have liked too. History is taking all my time, and I'm not happy about it. I'm either reading, writing, or thinking about what I read to figure out what I want to write...anyways.
We are going to some Ming and Han tomb sites tomorrow and I can't wait. It should be really interesting. I just hope I can actually take the time to go.
My birthday was a lot of fun. I got three different cakes, and an entire bus singing to me. Of course, with three Sara's on the trip, I think people got confused a little on whose birthday it was at first. But, so far I think I win for most cakes on my birthday on this trip, considering you can count the Red Robin birthday thing right before I left. Lindsey even woke me up with singing happy birthday to me. It was sweet.
Well, I'm off to go write the last page of my history paper and then edit it. Yay! Can't wait to see you all in 16 days! Being with the same 80 people constantly is really annoying. I am so frustrated with like 90% of them...
P.S. China's internet scares the hell outta me. You might not get another post until Hawaii or Later
- Location:Xi'an, China
- Mood:
cranky - Music:Disney Tunes
It has been a long time since an actual update, but Hong Kong's internet was in an out cause it was only kind of stolen from next door. And then Guilin didn't have any that we had time to go find. So now, we have it in the rooms, Yay! That means, that in exchange for buffy...Audi let's Sara use the computer to post.
While in Hong Kong, like the dork I am, I went and bought Buffy seasons 1-7 and X-Files season 1-9. I know, really dorky. But, It was cheap. I liked Hong Kong when I finally got out into it, but I was so tired at first that I slept for the first few days. The only thing I didn't like was that Marsha gave us so much money for food (A.k.a. $10 for lunch $15 for dinner) and Norm gave us like none ($5 for lunch $10 for dinner) Now that seems like it shouldn't be too bad...if you eat local like they said. Upon upon that attempt...someone found a hair in their soup, in a very dirty run down restaurant. So, we ate at McDonald's...they only thing we ended up being able to afford.
Hong Kong was really pretty though. We went on a boat ride on the Monday we were there and it was so much fun. I took a picture of our ship, and then there was a pirate ship right next to it. I was going to post it and be like "See that wicked cool pirate ship? Well, the boat next to it is ours." But, sadly I accidentally deleted the picture...sadness. Oh well. We drove around for about 3 hours and had a gay old time. It was really fun just talking and taking stupid pictures. We then went to an awesome Seafood restaurant that was so good. It was the best seafood I have ever had. And they had Kittens! On the one hour trip back we sang songs.....mostly boy bands...Back Street Boys to be specific.
We went and saw Symphony of Lights too. It was fun, but kinda short. But, all the buildings lit up all pretty. And the music was really good. I would love to go back sometime...Maybe for study if I can swing it. I don't think I can though.....Or maybe a certain Padre just won't let me.
After Hong Kong we got a like twenty hour day to travel to the wonderful land of China Proper. I was really tired for all of Guangzhou, which is where we spent most of Saturday after a hour and a half train ride. Some random Chinese college student got my email address...so, we will see how that works. We woke up on Saturday at 6 am, and with our flight getting delayed and the bus ride, we didn't get to our Hotel in Guilin until midnight, yay. I was so tired.
Guilin was nice, but I wanted to see more, sadly, I had to study for my history test...blah. We went out to the Lin Canal, which was the first redirecting canal or something ever....look in the Britannica, they will tell you. We walked in the water...and it was nice, Apparently Augie kids are coming to poke me in Colorado sometime next year now. The next day we went on a boat trip. It was kinda wasted since I spent the whole day studying. We were in like 2 feet of water the whole time, and even scraped across the bottom for a while. That was nice. And Scary. We went to this little Market afterwards that had some awesome buildings, but as our tour guide put it, has been destroyed by westerners and capitalism. I got two shawls (I blame Ingrid) and a set of Chinese pajama's I guess. But, they won't be used as pajamas. It's a silky blue, long sleeved shirt with the knot buttons on the front...with matching pants, yay!
On the last day in Guilin we went bike riding. It was so much fun to ride around the country side and it was quite funny the whole time. I laughed really hard. I just enjoyed riding the bike and being in the kinda fresh/smoggy air.
That night we took the overnight train to Wuhan. On the bus there, in a certain Joke about a certain annoying person on this trip, Leif was joking and asked me to marry him. So, just to be annoying I said yes, since the real answer if it had been annoying man would be no. So, he was like "Right, when we land in Wuhan, lets go!" But, at the 10/10 revolution site, I punched him in the back, so we called off the wedding, but it was a funny joke for a while. And now, he's just weird.
But, Audi wants her computer back, and I must go study. So, that is it for now. Tomorrow's My Birthday, YAY!!!
- Location:Wuhan, China
- Mood: chipper
First:
Rumors are circulating through the media of a forthcoming Doctor Who movie. Billie Piper, rumored to be set to return as Rose for series four, is now being cited as starring alongside current Doctor David Tennant in the film. "It's all been hushed up ... but yes, it's definitely happening," a source reportedly told the Daily Star. "David and Billie were a superb combination on the small screen, so it seems only right that they appear in the film."
These reports are coming out following a statement made by BBC Head of Fiction Jane Tranter,who recently told Media Guardian that she is keeping the possibility of a Doctor Who film open. Tranter is quoted as saying, "I would not rule out a film version of Doctor Who, no." There has been no announcements regarding the return of Piper or a forthcoming film released by the BBC.
Second:
DOCTOR Who bosses are set to call back FOUR of the Time Lord’s favourite assistants – including Billie Piper – for a sensational showdown. The old cast members will be reunited to help the Doc fight evil Dalek creator Davros in an explosive finale to the next series.
Leading the way in the line-up will be Billie (Piper) as Rose Tyler along with the rest of the Tyler family; they will hook up with the Tardis traveller’s latest assistants Martha Jones and Donna Noble. Also on hand to help out the Doc will be his old companion Sarah Jane Smith as well as Torchwood boss Captain Jack Harkness. Even the Time Lord’s dog K-9 will make an appearance.
The TV source said: "This is the daddy of all shows. The writer Russell T Davies really wants to pull out all the stops for the finale next year."
Yay, Rose AND Jack!!!
Also, I think a certain Friend should start downloading Dairy of a Call Girl for us to watch....
- Mood: cheerful
On Monday we went over to the Imperial Palace Museum. From what I understand, in 1949, when the Guo Ming Dan fled the Mainland to go to Taiwan, they took most, if not all of the Treasures from the Imperial Palace...and now they won't give them back. China's a little peeved, but they can't really do anything about it, and it just means Taiwan has one of the best Museums in the world. It was amazing.
Tuesday, we went up to the North Coast of Taiwan, to a place called Yeleu...I think that's how you spell it. I can pronounce it ^_^;. It had all these really pretty rock formations and lots of cool geologic stuff. We went up to the top of the 'mountain' and it was really windy. We did some rock climbing, and everyone was surprised at how easy it was for me to get around on the rocks..even though I have done that sort of thing like almost every year. It was a fun hike with some crazy stairs and things. It was so pretty to just sit and look at the ocean. But, then...I slipped on the mossy rock. And hurt my leg. It's all fine and such, but my knee still hurts a lot. And, when I fell, my camera was out, so I accidentally slammed the lens on the rock. It knocked it off it gears, and so I am going to try to get it fixed in Hong Kong (Fingers Crossed). The camera still works...it's just the lens can't retract or expand so it confuses the camera and it shuts down. Sadness. And I don't think I want to buy a new one.....
The big thing this week at been the 10/10 celebration. For those who don't know, 10/10 is the big celebration of the year for Taiwan. It is the day in 1911 that the people rose up and I believe overthrew the last Dynasty of China. I think...I know there was some kind of rebellion. Anyways, this past Wednesday marked the beginning of the 96th year for Taiwan. We went to two major events....and I'm still not sure how we got into the second one. The first event was a 2 hour long celebration in the morning. It had a lot of folk dances and marching bands. There was a fly over and drive by of all of their military stuffs...I think Taiwan is really pushing the envelope for their Independence, so we will see what happens in the near future. It was just a little sad, because we were sitting behind the stage, so we couldn't really see anything.
Later in the night, we went to a party. They gave us these really nice invites, and told us that it was suits and cocktail dresses. None of us were really sure what to expect. We got there and it was like diplomats from all over the world. It was a two hour party that was outside with entertainers, and food, and really high ranking people talking to us. We talked to one of the ladies in the Republican Committee (I think) From Utah. At one point in the night, I was maybe ten feet away from the President of Taiwan, after which some American's came over and pointed out that that could never happen with President Bush. It was amazing. I still can't believe we were at such a fancy party. We were all kinds of confused.
Today we went to Taroko Gorge. It was really neat. We walked threw some caves, and saw a lot of Water falls. It was basically the Grand Canyon of Taiwan...but better. We went down to the beach and played with the water. Our Tour Guide was hilarious, and I loved it. Very pretty.
Anyways, I'm really tired...and if anyone has advice on the camera..send it along.
- Location:Teipei, Taiwan
- Mood: sleepy
- Music:Buffy
So far,
After that little celebration, Alexa and I went to TaipeiEYE. It is basically the Taiwanese version of Peiking Opera. It was really cool. It was unbelievably colorful, and they had tons of things to do. They had clothes you could try on and people playing music and people putting on make-up….and this was all before the show even started! They did some awesome acrobatics and dancing. During the intermission they let us play with Chinese Yo-Yo’s, and I caved and bought one…oops. But, it’s wicked fun. After intermission, they did the story of how the Monkey King “stole” the Divine Pin of the
Of course, when we got back, everyone was like “We wanted to go!” I had asked most of them at BBQ….but they said no then. Frustrating people.
So this morning, I woke up about 2 hours after breakfast because I forgot that I had reset my alarm…but I woke up to Pei-Chi right in my face. She said something, I mumbled something that I think sounded like “Yes,” but…I have a habit of agreeing to things when I’m half awake…as many of you know. She came back some time later, I don’t know when, but, it turned out her parent’s (She’s a Taiwan Native) had brought everyone Boba Tea (Milk Tea Flavor!) And these pineapple cakes, that was like shortbread with pineapple stuff in the middle. It was really good. And it was Boba! The boys where shooting the tapioca pearls off the balcony, into the wind. It was kind of sad, but pretty funny to watch.
For a while before lunch we played with the Chinese Yo-Yo’s. Leif, Pei-chi, Alexa and I were really the big people playing with them. Leif got pretty good by the end of it all. It was kind of funny, he started trying to tell me what to do, and so I would do something he couldn’t and he would go back and practice again until he could. Random people would walk into and play with them, but in the end I’m glad I bought one.
We moved up some classes, so that we could have a free day to go up to the
So we went to class around 1:30. It was the beginning of new classes, so History and Art. I think I am really going to enjoy them. I just think History is going to be wicked hard, but Art will be fun. We got Chinese names for Art. Sadly, I don’t know how to pronounce mine. But, it is the only one with the kanji for snow in it. I asked the Teacher and she said it means Snow Like. But…there was a third Kanji. Maybe I will ask Pei-chi to read it.
Last night, after dinner we, being Alexa, Marsha, Leif, Lindsay, Pei-chi, and I, ended up stealing Ma-laoshi’s (The Art Teacher) computer. And proceeded to watch
This is kind of spanning across two days because Audi is being stupid and is using her computer 24/7 (Which, I understand it’s her computer) but, all she is doing is watching Buffy and playing games… while I would like to use it for something productive. Oh well…Maybe I can steal it when she goes to bed tonight and get something done. So, I have been trying to finish this journal entry for about two and a half days now.
So, it is now Sunday night, the Typhoon is over, and it wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be…probably because I was watching movies. But today, we had class again so that we could free up another day for just free time. After class we went over to the Jade market, which was a lot of fun, but I didn’t have very much money….so that was kind of sad. I am going to try to find more jade stuff in
For dinner we went out and had Shabu Shabu again. I once again got the really spicy stuff…and Vivian and Leif did too…but, they couldn’t handle it. It was kind of funny to watch. I didn’t think it was that hot. It was a really delicious dinner.
I need to go do homework now because one of the teachers is being mean on what he is doing with our journals. But, more later.
~Jya!
- Location:Taipei, Taiwan
- Mood: annoyed
- Music:Stupid Girls
On Friday, I did a lot of group work for an assignment, which...I hate, but I still had to do, and sent a package home. Later that night, it turned out that there was a group of Brits at the same hostel and the were putting on a production of Romeo and Juliet. Now, I know it's supposed to be a really sad play, but...man was it funny! The guy who played Mercucio was awesome. We talked to them on the following Saturday and they said it was nice having us in the Audience because we would actually laugh, unlike the Japanese. It was really cool.
On Saturday, we went over to the Island of Odaiba. It, I believe, is built on Trash. Either way...it was really pretty. We went and saw the tiny Statue of Liberty, and I still don't know why it is there. The signs were in Japanese and French of all things. But we walked by the Fuji TV station and it's huge. We went kinda late or I would have wanted to go up to the top. I think it's just all of my Digimon years piling up. After that we, Serrano, Lindsay, Drew, Audi, and I, met up with Erika and her Boyfriend, Yuu, and went to get dinner. The girls had curry, and Drew and Serrano went to McDonald's and got Mega Macs. Now, if you think McDonald's is gross...they have gone a step farther. They took the Big Mac and added two more patties of meat. It's something they only do like...once every three years for about a month....It was just really gross to watch them eat it. After dinner we went over to Palette Town. It is like, Rainbow Explosion. Serrano and Audi even had a discussion on whether Palette Town was gay or not. I think the conclusion was that Palette town is male...and gay. After all, they had a huge Toyota exhibition inside one of the buildings. We went on the big Ferris Wheel and took a whole bunch of really silly pictures. If I knew where the camera cord was I would upload them...so...later. It was generally a really fun night. I was sad when I had to say goodbye to Erika.
Sunday was relatively uneventful for being our last day. I slept and went to Roppongi, which isn't as fun as I was hoping. I spent a lot of time packing as well. There was a really cute waiter at dinner. We confused him a lot when we ordered in Japanese...poor guy. It was raining, and I didn't want to leave.
Monday we had a huge travel day to Taiwan. The flight was kinda boring. There was a movie called Kisaragi on that I should have watched, but I was stupid and watched 1408...which was a really bad movie. Sadness.
So, far Taiwan has been fun, but in between studying and such..I haven't gotten out too much. Big tests tomorrow and such...so I should go study. Until the next time I feel like updating. Maybe something fun would have happened.
~Jya
- Location:Teipei, Taiwan
- Mood: apathetic
- Music:Disney's Happy Haunted Halloween Parade
I am sitting in the Middle (Well...kinda left side ish) of Shibuya (BooYah!) paying for internet at a...sexist? internet cafe. It is only 100 Yen for women per hour, but 200 Yen per hour for boys. Mwahahaha. But I still had to pay a 200 Yen Membership fee...boo hiss. Oh well, I will keep it for next time I am in Tokyo with no internet.
A lot has gone on from the last time I posted, and most of it has been way fun. I can`t even think of it all now...maybe the Aqua playing in my ear isn`t helping. Okay...No longer calling Dr. Jones.
So a brief overview of Matsuyama. We took the Ferry, which was like 2 and a half hours but it was really fun. On The Ferry.....
The Teachers Pretending to work..
Leaf Sleeping...awwww...what? I`m not obsessed....
It was hot...we climbed a mountain. But, a bit more detail. We got there and we each got our own room (Yay Privacy!). I did a lot of studying since I had that McDonalds Assignment due the first day, and then tests like right in the middle of the week. We decided that wanted to see Matsuyama Castle, and ended up doing a really steep mountain for 20 minutes. It was really hot. Later that night, We hung out with some of the University Students and I got to go bowling, which was really fun and I realized I need to go bowling more often. We ate Okonomiyaki and did Purikura with our guy. It was really fun.
When we went to Tokyo We flew. I got to see Mt. Fuji from the Plane and it was really big!
Pictures...
When we got to Tokyo, we got to find out that we were in a Youth...Fortress as Audi put it. I have been like almost every where but the nerd girl in me still wants to go to Roppongi. Harajuku is way fun, and Shibuya is huge...but I just wish I was small and Japanese...so I could wear the clothes.
We went to Disney and that was loads of fun. It just ended up being Erika, Audi, Jake, and I because everyone else on this term is stupid (But, don`t tell them I said that...) And didn`t catch when we changed the meeting time. Oh well. We saw a whole lot of shows, including the electrical parade, and went on toons of rides. I think we planned it the best, cause everyone else who made it to Disney stood in line a lot...We didn`t. We went to Space mountain and BIg Thunder mountain...and I spent way more money then I should have...but some of you have presents coming from that.
Anyways, a few words in closing since...The internet time is running low...
Parentals: I got your card and I laughed so Hard I cried. Audi did too. But nobody else thought the blood part was funny when I told them. Sadness.
Friends: I have like...two of your addresses so...Mere, Pam, Rina (If you want some postcardage) And Lindsay....can I have them? Just email me. Also, you all should be happy I love you as much as I do....
Be expecting mail soon! And Parentals...I think you shall be getting two packages from me....mwahahaha.
And now in closing...Pictures!
This is the scooter that I have decided...I need. It`s just so green. And Mere...I almost freaked when I saw who it was that was standing by it. I think Audi is getting sick of my `Proposal Daisakusen This, Proposal Daisakusen that,` but can I help it is the theme song is playing when we walk into a resturant...or when I finally find the Mongol 800 CD with the song from the 2nd episode?
One of the shirts I bought...I like it...It has a pretty crossy thing in the back ^-^
Maybe this is the diet I should do....
Erika and her boyfriend Yuu. So cute!
We did fireworks on Saturday night...so much fun!
Tradition! Yay! And then everyone thought I was crazy..Oh well. I went and I wished and we listened to her sing.
Cute Halloween...Aww.
The Show was called `One Man`s Dream.` It started in Black and White and just erupted in Color. It was really cool!
Yay Electric Lights Parade ^-^!!!
The group at the Golden Temple in Kyoto. Spent most of the Home Stay weekend with these girls...all three of which I had never met before.
Chantel and I in front of Himeji Castle. It was really cool and the inside was really nice. I just wish that is was still furnished and not just empty. There was also the really sad story of a girl who was killed and thrown down their well.
Today we went to Miyajima across the water from Hiroshima (That's actually it in the background). That is the floating Torii, but it was low tide so we got to walk out to it and play in the ocean.
We went through the Temple first. Don't ask me why but Pei-chi wanted to pretend like we were drinking tea....maybe she was thirsty?
Leaf out in the water doing god knows what. He ended up getting a picture of me though..I'm not sure how. (Side note...damn is he a cute Norwegian Boy!)
There were wild deer everywhere...and they had no problem just walking right up to you and staring you in the face...just so their little deer friends can eat your tickets. Poor Leaf...never saw it coming....and now he only has half a ticket for the Temple at Miyajima.
This is the A-bomb dome. It's one of the last building standing from the bomb. Most of the buildings were wooden and burned down.
This is the Sadako Memorial. They had a huge thing for her. You can't see it but there is a little thing for all the cranes that people bring with them under around her.
And the last picture "The Flame of Peace". The guide said that it would burn until there are no more nuclear weapons on the earth....It's gonna just keep going.
Jya!
- Mood: cheerful
So far the trip has continued to be fun. In the Higashiyama Youth Hostel (still in Kyoto) Audi and I met a girl, Jess, from London. She was absolutely fabulous and a great deal of fun. We ran into her at a drug store one night, ended up getting milk tea and, because I wanted to hang out at the river for a bit, headed over to the river. We sat in nice silence talking for a bit, before about 100 drunken, are you starting to see a pattern, Japanese college students came from a party nearby. We ended up getting swarmed by them and spent the rest of the night talking to Japanese guys as they tried to convince us to go have beer and play karaoke with them. Of course we declined...but it's always fun to have cute Japanese guys tell you how cute you are for like 2 hours. And on that note, there have totally been lots of Japanese guys taller than me. YATTA!!!
Back to a few more academic things. For the last few days of Kyoto we visited Nara and saw Toodai-ji temple, which is the largest wooden structure in the world. At least that's what they told us. It was really neat to get to go see such a big Buddah with such history, and to be in a place that I have learned about on multiple occasions.
When we returned to Kyoto, we had about 10 minutes to pack our bags and ship them to Matsuyama. With all the rush, I accidentally put the notes I need for a paper in my luggage and the assignment is do about 3 hours after we get to Matsuyama. That should be interesting. But, I will steal some one's notes and just do it tomorrow night.
After that was all taken care of a few of the girls and I went out to go shopping. We ran into Jess as we were leaving and set a meeting spot and time. But, by the time the time came around, most of the girls were exhausted and decided to go home. I almost went home as well, but when Jess was happy that I stayed when the others were gone, I decided to stay as well. It might have been a bad idea since I bought a cute little 30's style dress, but it was a lot of fun, and we got to talk so much. I really enjoyed the night.
Yesterday was mostly a travel day, but I got to ride the Shinkansen which was pretty sweet. I got a crush on a guy here on like...Sunday and I am pretty sure that it is gone now, but I sat next to him on the first train ride, and it was a bunch of fun. When we got to the hotel it was just a little frustrating because we had all been told we would be in doubles and then most of the people are in singles, maybe 4 are in doubles, and then 22 of us are in a tatami room. It's neat, but ten in one room and twelve in another is pretty cramped. Especially when there are people in singles with private baths and mini fridges with balcony's. It's a little annoying because it's the people in the posh rooms that are like "What's so bad about being stuck in a room with 11 other girls and a bathroom with 2 toilets and three showers?" But, C'est-le-Vie. We move on on Saturday anyways.
Today we spent most of the day at the Memorial Peace Park. It was really nice, not quite as cool as Nagasaki, but then Hiroshima was all wooden so it burnt to the ground. They do have some pretty cool monuments, and I just hope everyone was actually touched by it and we don't just hear "Well, Pearl Harbor was worse." Like the last time I went. It was neat to go to the Children's Memorial with the thousand cranes and Sadako's statue. We got to see actual footage of her and pictures. They also had a whole bunch of the cranes that she had actually folded and they were so small! And just for the record...I still haven't read the book.
Tonight we went out to dinner and the bill came and because one of the girls didn't want to split the check equally (Interestingly enough her's was the second most expensive, but she said she "Didn't want to pay for food she didn't eat." ) and so we ended up with a huge math problem because it just wouldn't add up. But we ended the night by going to an arcade, and I was the only one who realized it was five floors. On the third floor they had a SuperNova 2 Machine for Dance Dance Revolution. It was pretty exciting. Then I found the fifth floor that was all Purikura machines. They also this cute little booth were you could check out maid or school girl, or random outfits. Sadly, when I came downstairs....nobody cared. So, it will be something they don't get to experience.
But now, it is about 1:00 am and Rudy and I are sitting in the now quiet common area, talking about dinner and the frustrations of being the foreigner. So I will end this blog on that note. I will put pictures up in a better way next time, it's just late and I'm tired. Ja~ne!
- Location:Hiroshima
- Mood: annoyed
- Music:Sweet Silence
My Host family was the Mom, Yuko, the dad, Toru, and the daughter, Mana-chan. The daughter was nine and was really cute. We got to do a lot of really fun things over the weekend. The host family was really nice and we had a lot of fun.
The group that we went through is called "Hippo". It is a group that basically believes that you can learn a language just by listening to it. So, these people constantly have cd's in other languages going in the background. They have songs, games, stories, and just random talking in other languages. I guess it could work, but almost 90% of the time they have no idea what they are hearing. It's a little strange.
On Friday, we meet our host families early in the morning and went to a sort of Hippo meeting. We played a few games and listened to some stories, and generally had no idea what was going on. But, it was pretty fun. That afternoon, Yuko-san and I went to a huge temple complex were we got to see the oldest bell in Japan, as well as this really cool painting of a Dragon on the Ceiling. That night we had Temaki Sushi, which is basicially "make it in your hand" sushi. It was really good and we got to have whatever we wanted on it. It was a very big DIY dinner. After dinner we played UNO for about two hours. It was great. I love UNO and nobody in Colorado will play it with me.
On Saturday, we started the day by going to another Hippo meeting. It was pretty much the same thing as on Friday, but, they did introductions for about two hours in different languages...and it got really boring. But after that I went with a different family and three other girls from Augie and we went to an Italian place and all tried each others meals. It was really good. In the afternoon, we went to the Golden Temple and we got some really neat pictures of scenery and a girl in a pretty Kimono. Later that night we went to a Hippo Party that had 4 other people from Augie and I were at. We did a small Tea Ceremony and then just sat around and talked. We had a little beer, but then when I changed to wanting Apple Juice, they got confused as to why I didn't want more Alcohol. It was kinda funny. During the Party we played some more games and they wanted to play some American games. After much debate, we ended up playing Simon Says.
On Sunday, One of the girls from Augie (Sarah) and her host sister went to the movies with me and we saw the Japanese movie, Hero. Besides the fact that it was in Japanese with no English (But a few words on Spanish) it was a really good though, and now I want to get it in English. Apparently there is a Television Drama that was on a few years ago, so I will need to get that as well. After that we had Chinese food for lunch, and after we went up to Tenryuu-ji (Dragon Heaven Temple). It was really pretty and they had a great garden. We managed to see about Four Geisha while we were there as well. I'm don't know if they were actually Geisha...but they were pretty. After that we went shopping and then they dropped us off back at the youth hostel.
This weekend was a lot of fun and I managed to get friends a lot of gifts from different temples. I found like the perfect gift for a certain goth chip..but then it was 75 dollars...so I shall keep looking.
Still having lots of fun, and the crime has been resolved...we just have no information, cause they don't want to tell us.
And now Pictures!
- Location:Kyoto, Japan
- Mood: cheerful
Sitting at the Youth Hostel in the Unbelievable heat that is Humidity. I have sweat on my arms...gross. So far the trip has been quite eventful. We have found some awesome Ramen Resturants and managed to start a....trend of going there I guess you would say. We went on Monday and by today half the group has already done by our suggestion.
We have acutally had a lot of free time and we have had lot of great experiences. The only bad part of the trip so far has been that our hostel was broken into from the roof one night at about 5:30 in the morning...and they think it was one of our students...which is not good.
We have been shopping and I found a 500 Yen shop and I got a very cute shirt..that acutally fits! We are going to Toyota City tomorrow and it should be a lot of fun. I can`t wait. However there is a three and a half hour bus ride involved. Yay Time for homework.
Pictures should be coming soon...Once I find a computer that will be compatable.
I am now a week away from leaving for Asia with Augustana's East Asian term. We will be going through out Asia starting in Japan then moving on to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China. We finally end in Hawaii for a few days relaxation.
I am hoping to update this at least once a week. Just to let family and friends know what is going on.
I can't wait to leave, it's going to be a blast, so look for the first update soon!
- Location:Colorado
- Mood: excited
