久しぶりだなぁ It's been a while (pt3)

今度日本語でがんばろう！

This time I'll try hard in Japanese!

神戸と大阪に行ったばかりのころ彩ちゃんとディズニーランドに行った。夜行バスに乗ることにしたから土曜日の晩の８時ごろ会って一緒に晩ご飯を食べた。９時ごろ晩ご飯が終わったけどバスは１１時半ごろでるはずだったから、ちょっとさんぽしておもしろそうな店に行ってみようと思っていた。でも、もう遅くなってきたからちょっとずつ全部が閉まっていて別に何もしなかった。名古屋駅にあるマックはまだ開いていたから彩ちゃんはコーヒーを買った。でも、バスでなかなか寝られなかったから、コーヒーを買わなければよかった。たしか、名古屋からディズニーランドまでバスで７時間ぐらいかかったから７時ごろ着いたけど日曜日にディズニーランドは８時半に開いた。名古屋駅のコンビニで朝ご飯を買っておいたから開くまでにそれを食べて,その日の予定を作った。

About the time when I had just gotten back from Kobe and Osaka, I went with Aya to Disney Land. Since we decided to take a night bus out there, we met at around 8 pm on Saturday night and ate dinner together. We finished with dinner at about 9, but the bus wouldn't leave until about 11:30, so thought we'd wander around and check out any stores that looked interesting. However, it had already become late so the shops were starting to close one by one and we ended up not really doing much. There was a McDonalds in Nagoya station that was still open so Aya got a coffee there. But she ended up not really being able to sleep on the bus, so not buying the coffee would have been better. If I remember, from Nagoya to Disney Land it takes about 7 hours by bus, so we arrived at around 7 am, but on Sunday Disney Land didn't open until 8:30. We had already bought breakfast at a convenience store back at Nagoya station, so before Disney Land opened we ate that and made out a plan for the day.

日曜日に行ったのに、混んでいるわくではなかった。多分ちょっと寒かったからあまり人がいなかった。それで、帰る中にアトラクションに１０つ以行った。開いてから、一番行きたいアトラクションはフィルハーマジクという３Ⅾ映画だったからまずそれを見に行った。めちゃおもしろくていろいろな好きなディズニーの歌が入っていたからすごくよかった！歌は日本語ばかりだったのにほとんど意味分かった。それから、イツ・ア・スモールワールドやジャングルクルーズに乗った。ビッグサンダー・マウンテンに乗りたかったけど１時間ぐらい待たなきゃいけなかったからファストパスという切符をもらって後で乗ることにした。ファストパスは切符をもらって後で優先させてくれることだ。例えば、僕たちは１０時ごろもらって１１時半にあまり待たないで乗れた。ビッグサンダー・マウンテンはすごく楽しかったけど、乗ってる間に僕のカメラはポケットから出ちゃった！でも後で気がついてもどってスタッフが見つけてくれたからけっきょく大丈夫だった。

Even though we went on a Sunday, it wasn't really crowded. Probably, since it was kinda cold, not many people wanted to come on that day. But so we ended up going on more than 10 different rides before going back. The thing we wanted to go to most was a 3D movie called Philaharmagic, so after it opened we went to see that first. It was really funny and had a bunch of different Disney songs in it so it was really good. Even though all the songs were entirely in Japanese, I could mostly understand the meanings. After that, we went on rides like It's a Small World and the Jungle Cruise. We wanted to ride on Big Thunder Mountain too, but we would have had to wait for about an hour, so we decided to get what is called a 'fast pass' and ride it later. The fast pass is a ticket that you can get and then come back later and have priority later. For instance, we got ours at about 10 am and then got to ride at about 11:30 without having to wait. Big Thunder Mountain was so much fun, but my camera fell out of my pocket while we were riding it! I noticed later, came back, and some staff members found it for me though so it was all okay in the end.

お昼ご飯にあるレストランに行きたっかたけどすごく込んでいたからほかのレストランにした。そのレストランでハンバーガセット食べた。食べてから、ちょっと地図に見て行きたいアトラクションを選んだ。午後中にいろいろなアトラクションに乗りに行ったけど一番楽しかったのはスペース・マウンテンだった。でも今度ファストパスを取らないで乗ったから１時間ぐらい待たなきゃいけなかった。待っている間、僕はずっと楽しみしていたけど彩ちゃんはどきどきしていたってｗｗｗ。スペース・マウンテン以外にバズ・ライトイヤーのアストロブラスターやスター・ツアーズも乗った。

For lunch, we wanted to go to a certain restaurant, but it was pretty crowded so we went to a different one instead. At that restaurant, we got hamburgers. After we ate, we looked at the map for a bit and decided on the rides that we wanted to go to. Throughout the afternoon we went on a bunch of different rides, but the most fun was Space Mountain. However, this time we didn't get the fast pass so we had to wait for about and hour. While we were waiting, I was really excited, but Aya was saying (although she was looking forward to it) she was a little nervous =P. Other than Space Mountain, we ended up going on a bunch of other rides including Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blaster and Star Tours.

晩ご飯を食べる時ほとんど全部はちょっと高すぎるか込んでいたからホットドッグの店に食べに行った。それから、まだおみやげ買わなかったしそれに寒かったから近い店に行って友達やホストファミリーにおみやげを買った。最後にエレクトリカルパレードと花火を見て、またバスに入った。帰っている時すごく眠かったからちょっと寝られた。７時ごろ名古屋駅に着いて、家に着いたらすぐ寝た。全部はすごく楽しかった！そしてあまり人がいなくてすごくよかった！また行きたいけど１万円ぐらいかかったしそれにあまり時間がないから多分行けない(T_T)

When we were going to eating dinner, pretty much everything was either busy or a little expensive so we ended up going and eating hot dogs at a restaurant. After that, since we hadn't bought souvenirs yet and it was also kinda cold, we went to a nearby store and bought souvenirs for our friends and (host)families. Finally, we watched the Electrical Parade and fireworks and then got back on the bus to go home. Since we were really tired on the way back, we were able to sleep a bit. We got back to Nagoya station at about 7 in the morning, and when I got back home I went straight to sleep. Everything was so much fun! And there weren't many people which was really nice! I want to got again but it costs about \10000 ($120) and I don't really have time anyways so I probably can't go... T_T

Okay, I think that's good for the Japanese part, but I have class starting in like 15 min so I'll have to translate later...
Yeah translation!

久しぶりだなぁ It's been a while (pt2)

So I have to start off part 2 by saying that if you ever want to feel good about yourself when you're learning a language, keep a blog/diary in that language and look back at some of your first posts after you've been studying a while. I just looked at some of my first posts on this blog and... wow... just wow...

Anyway, back to the interesting stuff. This isn't exactly chronological, but I figure I'll talk about Kobe and Osaka next, while I'm on the topic of travel...

About 3 weeks ago (around Feb 7) I went with my Aussie friend, whose name also happens to be Daniel, to Kobe. We, once again, caught an early bus in the morning and arrived at Kobe around noon. After getting in, we went to the hotel to drop off our bags (although we couldn't check in yet) and then went out sightseeing. (I thought ahead this time and wrote down the names of the places I visited XD) First we went to Ikuta Shrine （生田神社）, which was only about 5-10 min from the hotel.

Ikuta Shrine 生田神社

Here I found the most interesting ema （絵馬） I've seen in Japan so far...

My translation for the text on here is "This year for sure I'll begin to bud..."

After that, I was pretty hungry, but Daniel had eaten a late breakfast and wasn't hungry yet, so we stopped at a McDonalds so I could grab a quick lunch. (On a side note, McDonalds in Japan are having a 'Big America' campaign in which they have themed burgers (Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Beverly Hills, and Broadway) with the special burger changing every 3 weeks or so. I've eaten all 3 they've already had and am looking forward to trying the Beverly Hills burger =P). After lunch, we went through China Town （南東町） on our way to Minatogawa Shrine （湊川神社）.

The outer gate of the shrine, with Daniel in the corner there

 Afterwards, we checked out a few shopping places (although we didn't buy anything) and then went back to the hotel to check in and relax. After about an hour of resting, I went back out by myself to roam the streets a bit and check out the Flower Clock （花時計）, at which I also discovered that Seattle and Kobe are sister cities =P.

Flower Clock 花時計

A totem pole given to Kobe from Seattle (It also had a small plaque explaining this)

Once it was dark, I met up with Daniel and we went set off for Mt. Rokko （六甲山）, although we had to take a train, a bus, and a cable car to get there =P. The view from the mountain was awesome, and the pictures I took don't really do it justice, but it was way too cold and the wind was too strong to stay and look for too long, so we headed back to get dinner.

Kobe Harbor as seen from Mt. Rokko

The restaurants name was The Steak House (I think...) and we got Kobe beef, which is quite famous, delicious, and a little expensive (=__=;). Still the meal was really nice, and I regret not taking pictures... Anyway, after eating we headed of to Kobe Harborland, which had a bunch of lights and was just fun to run around in, even if we didn't do much else.

Just a few of the pictures I took in Kobe Harborland

When we got tired and it started getting too late, we went back to the hotel again, but not before stopping at a コンビニ (konbini) beforehand for a snack. After getting in and showering, we got a call from our Japanese freinds who happened to be sightseeing in Okinawa at the same time and who may or may not have had a few drinks XD. Regardless, it was fun, but before long we had to go to bed.

The next day, we were up and out by about 10 o'clock, and stopped at, you guessed it, a コンビニ for breakfast before taking the train to go to Osaka. Once again, we arrived around noon and went to the hotel to drop off our bags (after a little trouble with finding it =/). While walking around wondering what to have for lunch, we stumbled upon the Hard Rock Cafe, which ended up being surprisingly cheap (\1000 or about $12.00).

Yum~! おいしい〜！

We left the Hard Rock Cafe and took the subway to Osaka Castle. The orginal Osaka Castle had been destroyed in the Summer Wars of Osaka (early 1600), but the one that is standing now was rebuilt shortly after and very similarly to the original. Most of the castle now is a museum about the castle (particularly the war in which it was destroyed), but it was still interesting.

Osaka Castle 大阪城

After visiting the castle, we bought treats for our friends and host families in the gift shop. Also, something very interesting at Osaka castle, was that they have a 5000 year time capsule (no I didn't mistype that...). I don't know about anybody else, but I feel like they are being really optimistic about the future...

So after we had our fill of the castle, we roamed around a bit and then went to check into the hotel before heading back out to Nanba, which is a very lively, popular shopping area. One of the more popular parts on Nanba is an area where there are lots of neon signs, the most famous of which is the Glico Man.

Nanba and the Glico Man

We wandered through Nanba on our way to an okonomiyaki (it's kinda like a pancake, but not really... it's hard to explain, but the ones in Osaka are notably tasty =D) restaurant called Yoshida （吉田）. We both thought the food was a little expensive, so we only bought one, but it was really good and I definitely would have gotten more. But instead we settled on that and headed off for the Umeda Sky Building （梅田スカイビル）. At the top, they have an observation deck and you can look out over the city, so it was a really pretty view, but once again it was a little chilly and the photos just don't do it justice...

キラキラ！

After leaving the Umeda Sky Building, we decided it was too late to do much of anything else in the city, so we went back to the hotel, but stopped at another コンビニ along the way to buy snacks and breakfast for tomorrow.

On Thursday, we had to check out by 10 o'clock, so we were up and out by 9:30. The plan for the day was mostly to run around and see a whole bunch of temples and shrines before heading home. Just talking about the temples and shrines is a little boring, so I'll let the photos do the talking here =D

Unfortunately, I went to too many temples/shrines on the 2nd day and forgot to write down there names T__T; The first 2 pictures are of the same place, and if I understood it right, it was the first Buddhist temple in Japan

Around 3 o'clock, we decided we had had our fill of temples and shrines, and decided it was time to head back. Daniel didn't want to spend a whole lot of money heading back, so he decided to take the bus, but I was willing to pay and hadn't ridden it yet so I decided to take the bullet train （新幹線/shinkansen） back. It was actually pretty interesting, and I ended up making back to Nagoya in just under an hour (compared to the bus' 3 and a half hours).

Wow this is going to take a while to update completely (=___=;)

But I'll keep at it! And when I start to get it mostly updated, I'll start using Japanese again (^o^)

As far as news goes in my life right now, I'm applying for a resident assisstant postion at my dorm back at Notre Dame for next year. I had an interview over Skype 2 night ago and am expecting to hear a decision around Monday or a little later.

Still trying to think of something interesting... but for now 花金！(TGIF)

久しぶりだなぁ It's been a while (pt1)

皆、久しぶりですね～！忙しかったし、楽しんですぎたし、ブログを書いてなかった。(´∀｀*)

いっぱい楽しいことしてたからたくさん書きたい～！それで、英語を使っちゃうかなぁ～

Long time no see (write, post, whatever)! I've been busy and having way too much fun, so I haven't been writing in my blog. =P

I've been doing so many fun things, so I want to write to a lot! But because of that, I may have to end up using English...

Probably the biggest news (that a lot of you already know =P) is that I have a girlfriend now! ♥ 

♥ 三村彩 Aya Mimura ♥

Unfortunately though, she'll be going home to Mieken for 2 weeks as of today so I don't get to see her again until March 6th (T_T)

My last post (if I remember correctly) was about the festival in Nagoya during fall break. Since then, I have travelled around a bit and gone to Kyoto, Kobe, Osaka, and Tokyo Disneyland. I went to Kyoto in the Fall around Thanksgiving with a big group of both Japanese and foreign exchange students.

This isn't everybody but... oh well \_(ツ)_/

We got up early on Saturday to catch a bus in the morning and then stayed until late Sunday night. The first day, we arrived around lunch time and were planning on eating right away, but because we got in a little later than expected and 2 of the girls (I don't remember the name for this but...) were dressing up in kimonos and turning into geisha, we ended up going straight to the geisha thingy place first.

Nana and Hikaru

After they got all dressed up we took pictures as they posed, and then they got cleaned up and ready to go to lunch. We couldn't really decide on a place for lunch, but eventually settled on a noodle shop where we got (delicious) udon and soba. After eating, (if I can remember right =P) we went to check into our 'hotel' (I use quotes because it didn't look like a traditional hotel; it looked more like a small apartment... but whatever) and then relaxed there while we tried to plan out what we were doing next. Later we went out (after it got dark) sightseeing and ended up wandering into a 'haunted' bamboo garden/trail/whatever, which was actually pretty fun, albeit mostly because the girls (except Aya) were pretty scared XD. Since we ate lunch fairly late, no-one was really hungry until about the time we got back to the area near the hotel, which was I think around 9 o'clock(?). We had a pretty large group and there weren't many restaurants in the first place, so we decided to buy dinner at a コンビニ (pronounced kon-bee-nee: probably one of the best inventions ever. It's a convenience store but they're about 10000 times better in Japan because you can find anything from food (both snacks and meals) to toiletries to flash sticks). We also went to a small supermarket to buy a few bottles of umeshu (which the internet translates as sake with plums; unripe Japanese apricots soaked in spirits) and a few other drinks as well as a couple sweets just because XD. Once we got back to the hotel (I should explain the hotel a bit I suppose =P we had 5 rooms; 4 small ones for 2 people each and a 'big' one for 4 people. And the hotel had one community shower/bath that 3(ish) people could use at a time), we went to the big room to eat and relax while taking turns in the shower. Hardly any of the umeshu actually got drunk but we still stayed up till about 1:30 or 2:00, which was a terrible decision seeing as how we planned on waking up the next day around 6:00 or 6:30.

Just chillin' (^o^)v

We somehow managed to get up when we planned to (mostly because Aya set an alarm and actually tried to get people moving =P) and left to go sightseeing. We stopped at another コンビニ for breakfast (and coffee (=_=)zzzZZZ) before actually heading out. Mostly we went to see temples and shrines (many of the names I have regrettably forgotten T_T) including the 金閣寺 (Kinkakuji).

Hikaru, Riho, Yuka, and Nana at the Kinkakuji

At some point, we stopped at a ramen shop for lunch, and got back to the bus station around the time it was getting dark. At the bus station we bought gifts for our (host) families and dinner (once again at a コンビニ =D) to eat on the bus ride home.

Kyoto Tower as seen from the station at night

I'm realizing now that updating this completely is going to take a reeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaally long time so I'm going to go ahead and do this in parts. Also, right now I'm typing this at school between class and don't have any pictures, so I'll have to add those in later.
(edit: you may or may not have noticed that I added the photos (like a boss, I might add))

So for now, hope this is interesting despite being really old news (for me anyway) and not having much Japanese.

...ummm... till next time?

(I need a catch phrase =P)