星が好き

久しぶり！It's Been A While!

2009-01-10T09:02:00.008-05:00

Well, so, I failed (yet again) entirely at updating my blog with information, and I could provide you will all the usual excuses (I was busy with school, track, etc.; I forgot; I was using other methods of communication rather than this), but in the end the fact still stands: I wasn't using my blog.

So, from here on out, it's part New Year's resolution, part desire on my part to get back to this and post things on a somewhat regular basis (say, about weekly). So, here's to a Happy New Year and many more posts to follow! :D

So, I guess I'll start from what has recently happened, namely this past Winter Break. For break I travelled to 広島 (Hiroshima).

In reality, though, I went to stay with the Hara's in Kure, which is a city about half an hour from the titular capital of the prefecture, in a town called Hiro (広, same character as beginning "Hiroshima"). There, I got to meet the Hara family and relatives, and discovered many things along the way, such as a really nifty 古本屋 (used book, clothing, music, etc. store) and this:

The world's largest Swiss Roll!!! :D

Well, I really don't know if it actually is or not - though it probably isn't - but I couldn't resist buying it as a souvenir.

Anyway, while there, I did many interesting things, of which I'll just give a brief overview and go into more detail later. But, enough talking, let's let the pictures do some talking of their own...

The previous city hall of Hiroshima before the atomic bomb was dropped on the city August 6th, 1945. All that is left in memory is the structure of the building, which was nearly below the epicentre of the blast yet was one of few structures to survive so close to the centre. Now, it stands in memorial to the event as a World Heritage Landmark.

お好み焼き！！！ Okonomiyaki, a grilled vegetable pancake of sorts that is made to order. It's really good, and Hiroshima is famous for it's style of preparing it (layered ingredients instead of, say, mixed ingredients).

初日, The first sunrise of the New Year, A.D. 2009. Only problem: it was cloudy. But, nonetheless, I stood outside in the cold for over an hour waiting to actually see the sun, and in the process I got this really beautiful picture of sun rays shining through the clouds. Definitely worth staying up all night and bearing the cold, both for the picture and to actually see the sun later.

After staying up all night and getting a hour or two of sleep here and there, I was dressed in a kimono （着物, lit. "worn thing") and whisked off to 宮島 (Miyajima, the famous red gate most people would probably recognized if they saw it; see it here on Wikipedia). Needless to say, experiencing this little bit of Japanese culture, as it's tradition to wear a kimono for a special occasion (such as the New Year here), was really great, as it's not ever day you get to wear a kimono (as they are expensive, time-consuming to put on and the like). I even got to wear the cool socks with the big toe separate from the rest and the sandals to go with, which was really cool as well!!

... Though, if you look closely, you'll notice that the sleeves on the kimono are a bit short on me, and though you can't see it, the shoes are quite small as well. I probably looked like quite the sight as a foreigner wearing traditional Japanese clothing that didn't quite match my body shape... :P

At the Yamato Museum in Kure, which was once a big producer of warships for Japan and now has a large commercial shipyard. This battleship was the pride of the Japanese Navy during World War II, as it was the largest battleship in the world at the time and a top secret project, so much so that even to this day not all the details are known about the ship.

Epic Fail...

2008-09-04T04:31:00.004-04:00

So, you know how I resolved to clean my room last time? Well, two weeks later, it's still not clean...

Anyway, as it's looking as of now, I have to finishing painting the house (of which I'm less than 50% done), pack, clean my room, work, and hang out with people before I leave on the 19th, which is nearly two weeks away!

And, not to mention, I'm behind on this as well... -_-

Well, here are some photos to help illustrate what's been going on (in brief):

Yes, you saw it right: Christopher is playing football. What got that idea into his head, I have no idea, as he's the smallest kid on the team and was (at least at the beginning) the most timid. I think he's gotten better about it now, which is good, but he just doesn't really seem like a football player to me.

For example: For those of you who don't know my youngest brother Christopher, let me illustrate. If you know me, you probably know I'm not the bulkiest of people - in fact, I would consider myself on the skinny side, and I think other people would agree. Now, take that idea, shrink it to a 9 year old body and remove even more weight so that you nearly have skin and bones, and that's Christopher.

Now, please, explain the football to me... o_oa

Well, at least he's enjoying it - and he's getting better - so that's the good thing.

And, for my mom's birthday, we went to the Zoo last Friday!! Here's the cat that I wish I had, minus the whole wild and probably vicious part:

We had a lot of fun, even if we didn't get around to much because of the heat, and I found it enjoyable.

Well, that's about all for now. I realize I have nothing interesting to talk about, and I'm just kind of ranting and raving, but I'm hoping it's good practise for when I actually do have stuff to post up, especially pictures from Japan. :) Only 15 more days!!

ようこそ！ Welcome!

2008-08-23T07:06:00.002-04:00

Well, since my original post was deleted when my computer was rebooting after installing something, this one will be a lot shorter than originally intended.

In short, this "web log" is a record of my thoughts, events, etc. leading up to and including my time in Japan.

Please check back for updates later!

ようこそ！Welcome! (Original/Part 2)

2008-08-16T00:38:00.007-04:00

Okay, I found what I originally wrote saved as a draft, and I'll repost it below and add a few more thoughts at the end: (new comments will be in bold)

Well, here is the first entry in my "web log" of my whole experience in preparing for and studying abroad in my exchange with 北九州市立大学 (Kitakyushu Public University). I'll try my best, for those of you with minimal to no Japanese skill, to translate any and all Japanese I post, but don't take it as a guarantee - chances are I will be busy with things from time to time and may get back to translating at a later date.

I guess there is no better place to begin than here. As of today, just one o'clock Eastern Daylight Saving Time, I have yet to purchase my plane ticket to Japan (though, I have found a deal for less than $1,000 to Hiroshima, one-way). I have yet to receive my Visa from the Consulate in Detroit (hopefully that will come soon). Actually, I just got a notice in the mail yesterday that it's waiting for me to pick-up at the post office, so I'll do that tomorrow after work. I have yet to start packing or finish cleaning my room. In short, I have a lot to do still, yet I am on the road towards leaving already.

Let me illustrate for you:

My bed which, unfortunately, I have to clean off tonight before I can go to sleep. And, I still need to clean it off... More than a week later... -_-

All the junk I pulled out of the lower part of the bookshelf that needs to be sorted through.

亜由美's stuff that I need to send to her - it isn't packed here in this image, but I did it about five minutes ago. Consider it sent - it should be arriving in Japan later this week.

The floor in front of my bed littered with random things I threw there when I got back from summer school in Pittsburgh.

So, I think I'll call it a night with that, and leave the rest of my interesting time of preparation to another post on another day when I have more time.

Just one more thing I wanted to add:
Let it be known that, as of now, I resolve to have a clean room by the end of this week, and I hope I have have some nice pictures as proof of my effort by then.