It's the end of our first full week of classes, and we haven’t caused an international incident… yet. There are over 500 other international students here, and those students represent 28 countries. I think I have friends from across half the globe now. Oh! Also, it’s Miranda writing.
Nick and I are taking different Japanese classes (Japanese levels 1 and 4 alongside Kanji and Readings 1 and 3). You can guess who is in the lower levels. Together we’re taking History of Modern Japan (from an ETSU alum!), Wa: Rules and Principles of Design, and Culinary Tourism, my favorite class so far. We’re going to talk about chaos theory and tourism later in the semester! It’s heavily theory based, but we’ll also have visits to notable sites. I will be very nerdy about it. We’ve walked to and from classes in the snow, tried our first street food (okonomiyaki, おこのみやき) and Japanese candy (dango, 団子), gotten food poisoning (well, just me), and bought matching yellow sweaters at an eight-story tall mall.
I think my favorite place on campus is the top of the Learning Center. We can look down across Hirakatashi, where we’re staying, Osaka to the south, and Kyoto to the north. Here’s a video of the lights at night!
The food has been fantastic, except for the cafeteria. That has been mostly okay, but occasionally pretty intimidating to my American tastes. Or maybe it’s just gross cafeteria food. I think I might actually like the Indian restaurant we visited best, which is a bit funny. However, I also have to note that the grocery store sushi is the best I’ve ever tasted, the bakery we tried (on our Culinary Tourism professor’s recommendation) was also fantastic, and I will be going back to get おこのみやき very often. Another interesting Japanese food fact, there are vending machines on every corner, taunting and inaccessible. Unfortunately, Japanese culture dictates that drinking anything while walking on the street is rude. Thus, any vending machine drinks must be discreetly stored in a backpack or some other bag until you get back inside. To me, this eliminates the benefit of having so many vending machines.
Our plans for the next week include traveling to Osaka and visiting Osaka castle, an international church, a history museum, and Dotonbori, the best place in Japan to try street food. Osaka is, after all, “Japan’s kitchen.”
We are both still very homesick and miss you all very much. Eight days down, 125 left to go!
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Hope yall are enjoying yourself! Looks fun
I was gonna comment on the matching sweaters, but that’s nothing compared to the sweet mirror selfies. Miss you two so much!
Y'all better watch some anime while you're there
Love the sweaters - looks like you have room for another layer or two underneath. So glad to be able to see pictures & communicate with you. This is a wonderful opportunity for you - grab the moments and enjoy them. if it makes you feel any better - it's cold & rainy here today too. Sending our love and hugs...
We miss you too! Thanks for all the updates and we know you will have a fun adventure, even amid all the challenges :)
Tom and I had okonomiyaki when he visited HOU. It was great! Love the stories.
Love the sweaters! Seems to me you are adjusting to the culture well!
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