時間がない！

   I really wish there was more time in the day -- with less than a week left in Japan I have been running non-stop since arriving.  I haven't forgotten about the blog, it's just that I was out having many different experiences in Japan.  As such, I will have many things to write about after I return, and I think I'll give you guys a sneak peak of all of the things that I have done here but not yet written about.

  I still have yet to finish talking about our trip to Tokyo, and we are about to go to Tokyo again for a day at Comiket.  We went to the Sumida River Fireworks Festival (after the adventure of putting on a yukata), we spent a half a day in Akihabara, and of course there is the trip out to Tama Town.  Back in Okazaki we visited Okazaki Castle and attended the Okazaki Fireworks Festival.  In Nagoya, we visited Nagoya Castle, ate at a maid cafe, and had a great time at a summer festival.  We even participated in traditional Japanese festival dance!  We took the ferry across Ise Bay from Cape Irago at the end of Chita Peninsula to the town of Toba in Mie Prefecture to visit the Grand Shrines of Ise.  This weekend we will also be experiencing the Northern Japanese Alps by riding the Shin-Hotaka Ropeway up the mountain, and then complete a short 45minute to 1 hour hike to the Nishiho Mountain Lodge, and then we will be taking the bus through the mountains to Tokyo to spend a day at Comiket.  We might even go to a Nagoya Dragons baseball game if we get back from Tokyo early enough.  Finally, the Obon Festival is next week, and I will want to talk about that as well.

Sugarwater at Nagoya Castle

   I have a lot to say about our experience at Yamasa, too.  Even though we are now finished with our studies at Yamasa (due to the Obon holiday, I shortened our study term by 1 week since we would only be able to attend a single day of class otherwise), this school was truly amazing.  I need to talk about the classes as well as the experience of living in Japan for a short stay.  We participated in a homevisit and had dinner with a Japanese family last night, and we might be going to a barbecue with them again before we leave.  Everything is different here from laundry and trash to getting around.  I also need to give my review of the SILAC program and the school, so I will be busy writing for a while after we return.  Of course, there are also the many pictures of Sugarwater in various locations that need to be posted.  So, keep posted, this blog will continue even after my return.

   Until the next time I have a moment to write, see you later!

Tokyo Tower

      Today we are skipping to Saturday afternoon to talk about our visit to Tokyo Tower.  I would love to talk about our Saturday morning adventures in Tama Town, but you will have to wait since I am preparing a different kind of post for that.  Tokyo Tower is the tall orange Eiffel Tower look-a-like structure that until recently was the tallest structure in Japan.  It was built in 1958 to support the television antenna at its center and enabled Japan to broadcast analog television signals throughout the nation.  The Tokyo Skytree, completed last year, overtook Tokyo Tower for the spot of the tallest structure in Japan and went on to take the record for the world's tallest tower and the world's 2nd-tallest structure (after Dubai's Burj Khalifa), and ironically was also built for television -- since Tokyo Tower is surrounded by many high-rise buildings it is not adequate for Japan's transition to digital broadcasting.  Tokyo Tower is still one of the most recognized landmarks in Tokyo, though,  and as expected is a huge tourist destination.

   At the base of Tokyo Tower is a place called Foot Town.  We did not spend too much time here, though, since we needed to return to the hotel by a certain time to change into our yukata for the fireworks festival.  Foot Town is a pretty cool place, though, although the attractions are pretty expensive.  Obviously the main attraction is the observation tower, as well as the second observation tower that you can pay more to go up into.  The first floor features a Detective Conan museum (sorry, I forgot to snap a picture), although tickets were 2200円 so we didn't do that.  There is also a small aquarium on the first floor.  The second floor has a gift shop that surprisingly sells novelties at an acceptable price.  I managed to score a Tokyo mug for 300円 to give to my grandmother and a wall scroll featuring a map of Japan for 550円 to hang at my house, which is really bad at all.  There is also a food court with various Japanese and American (i.e. McDonald's, KFC, and Krispy Kreme) fast food restaurants.  The 3rd floor houses the Tokyo Guiness Museum, on the fourth floor there is a wax museum, and the roof of Foot Town features a small amusement park.  All we did was the main observatory and the gift shop, though.

  At 1100円 a ticket, we decided to only go to the main observatory, however even though we only went halfway up he tower, the view was still spectacular.  If we wanted to go to the special observatory at the top of the tower, we would have had to pay another 900円.  It is actually possible to climb the outside staircase rather than using the elevator on weekends and holidays (weather permitting), and you get a certificate for accomplishing that feat, but I don't think Erica would have been terrible happy about climbing 660 steps after scaling the hills of Tama Town all morning in the scorching Japanese summer heat.  There are also a few lookdown glasses at the top of the tower, and that picture above was taken through one of the lookdown glasses.  Tokyo Tower was an enjoyable experience, although next time I think I will go to the Tokyo Skytree in Sumida (which was ironically where we went for the fireworks festival...).  Anyways, that is all for today, but I will leave you with more pictures from Tokyo Tower.

東京旅行について・・・ (The Trip to Tokyo)

東京へ来た (From Outside Tokyo Station)

  Well, it has been a few days since I last posted, and I do apologize for that.  We had spent the weekend in Tokyo, and we were so busy throughout each day that when we returned to the hotel, I honestly just did not have the urge to write.  However, this also means that I have a great deal of things to catch up on, as we truly did have a lot of experiences in the world's largest metropolis, so it is too much to write in one single entry.  This week I will be posting twice each day -- once about something we did in Tokyo, and once more concerning the day to day life at Yamasa.

   The first Tokyo post does not have very many pictures, unfortunately, because photographs were not permitted to be taken at the JDK Band Super Live concert in Nihonbashi Matsui Hall, so I will have to post various Nihon Falcom pictures from around the web.  We arrived in Tokyo on Friday evening at around 5:15.  I had the hotel address memorized so that I would be able to tell the taxi driver how to get there, but I made a mistake in the address and it was difficult to get there.  Our hotel was in the Chuo ward of Tokyo in the Nihonbashi area, and I thought the name of the Chome (neighborhood) was Horidome, so the taxi driver could not find the address and he dropped us off in Nihonbashi Honcho (the main Nihonbashi area).  The name of the chome is actually Nihonbashi Horidome, and that is how it has to be found.  Because of this difficulty, it took 2 hours to locate the hotel, even though it was very close to the station.  Luckily, though, this was our only travel difficulty during the entire Tokyo trip.

An old stage shot of JDK Band

   Anyways, even though we were a little bit late in checking in (and consequently a little bit late to the concert), we made it to Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall to see Falcom's JDK Band live.  For those of you not familiar with JDK Band, they are a critically acclaimed band that produces the music used in games developed by Nihon Falcom, such as Ys and Trails in the Sky.  This is the first concert I have ever been to, so it is hard to compare to American concerts, but the feeling was absolutely surreal.  JDK Band has some extremely energetic fans, and the place was completely sold out, as we were treated to 3 hours of Nihon Falcom's music.  Since the music is composed for video games (and especially RPG's), it encompasses a wide variety of styles, however JDK Band is predominantly known for playing mostly rock-style music.  Unlike most rock bands, though, many of JDK Band's pieces center around the violin as well as the electric guitar, giving their music a unique flavor.

Mizuki Mizutani, JDK Band's Violinist

   Speaking of violins, Mizuku Mizutani, JDK Band's resident violinist, plays a mean violin.  Watching her play her violin on that stage is truly inspiring.  Usually when I think of a violinist, my first instinct is to imagine a person playing as part of an orchestra, with the most talented violinists playing the difficult solo pieces in said orchestra, but is usually cued by the composer.  Mizutani, however, is a violinist in a rock band and is a central figure in said band -- a very different environment from an orchestra, and in my opinion this really sets her apart from other violinists.

   The JDK Band experience was highly enjoyable and I would love to be able to attend another JDK Band concert.  I picked up my 那由多の軌跡　(Nayuta no Kiseki -- the latest entry of the Legend of Heroes franchise which was just released last Thursday) shirt at the concert, and the game shortly after.  That was all we did Friday night, as it was pretty late by the time we returned and we were tired from the Shinkansen ride, the hotel-search, and the concert.

   The next entry chronologically would be our adventures in Tama Town, but I am preparing something special for that, so keep posted for Tokyo Tower tomorrow!

Japanese Pizza, Dutch Pancakes, and a Night at the Movies

Pizza Hut Pizza in Japan

That trailer above is for おおかみ子どもの雨と雪 (The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki), which we watched tonight.  Anyways, I have to catch up from last night's quest to order a pizza from Pizza Hut and have it delivered right to my Japanese doorstep..  We decided to order Pizza Hut since it is possible to complete an order entirely online (I can only imagine how hard it would be over the phone... if we had a phone to call with), and because we get a 5% discount on the already overly expensive pizza.  Luckily, they have an step-by-step instructions on how to make an order in English in a nifty little PDF file, but it still took an hour to order the pizza.  I finally did it, though -- I ordered an "Eru-Saizu" (L-size -- not 大きい or ラージ or anything else...) and 40 minutes later the equivalent of an American "Emu-Saizu" (M-Size) pizza arrived at my door.  Japanese pizza is a lot different from its American counterpart -- not just the size, but the way it is made and the toppings that are available.  Only in Japan can you try a Tuna, Mayonnaise, and Corn pizza.  In fact, a certain senior chief I know just might go for the mayonnaise pizza, only with extra mayonnaise.  Of course at 2100円, we will not be ordering any more pizza.

View of the Okazaki sunset from my window

   Anyways, today was our first full day of class, and the pressure is really starting to build to keep up with the lessons.  Even though a lot of the material is review for me, I still need to prepare for class ahead of time and practice speaking whenever I can since speaking is my weakest area.  That is part of the trick -- speak Japanese as much as possible and try to avoid using English outside of class if possible.  I just wish my class size wasn't so large -- hopefully this week we will gain enough people to split the class into two (the maximum class size is 15, any more and the class is split).

   After class we finally decided to do our laundry (which was another adventure that can wait for another day) and were invited over to Yamasa Student Village to try some Dutch pancakes from Erica's classmate from the Netherlands.  That is the cool thing about going to an international school -- you meet people from all over the world and get the opportunity to experience small bits of different cultures all at once.  For how thin those things are, they are surprisingly extremely filling and taste excellent.  After only 3 I could eat no more.  As for the Yamasa Student Village, it is basically a large dormitory building with a shared kitchen and community area where any of the students living there can hang out.  It seems like a pretty cool place to stay, although I think I prefer my villa.

   Afterwards, we invited our Dutch friend with us to see the movie おおかみ子どもの雨と雪 by director Mamoru Hosoda (surname first).  For those of you who are not familiar with anime movies, he is the same director that produced The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars, and I have been waiting for the chance to see this gorgeous movie since it the trailer was first released last December.  The movie is about a woman named Hana who falls in love with a man who can change into a wolf, and has two children with him.  Unfortunately, the wolf man is killed when he is spotted in wolf form, and Hana must raise her two children alone.  Since the children can also transform, they move from Tokyo to the country, and the movie follows the two children growing up.  It truly is a fantastic film.

    As for the theater experience itself, it is much different than American theaters.  The ticket prices are slightly more expensive (1000円, or about $12.50) per person, but the concessions are slightly cheaper, so I guess it balances out.  Unlike in the United States, where you buy a ticket and then seek out a place to sit when you get into the theater, in Japan you must choose which seats you want on a seating chart.  Your tickets will actually have your chosen seat numbers printed directly on the ticket.  Also, in the movie theater lobby itself there is a kiosk where official movie memorabilia from released and upcoming films is available for purchase.  Also, the theater is extremely clean -- I seriously think you could eat off of the floor -- but then again, I have yet to see a single piece of litter in Japan.  Trash, and especially recycling, is taken to another level here, but that is a topic for another day...

   Anyways, the night at the movies was quite an enjoyable experience.  I need to finish my 宿題 and get some sleep for tomorrow's class, so またね。  I will leave you with an awesome trailer of the upcoming live-action Rurouni Kenshin film, hitting Japanese theaters soon..... a week after I leave >.<

京都へ行った週末 (Weekend in Kyoto)

   Kyoto really is a beautiful city, although it is incredibly large and can be difficult to navigate at first.  I think after spending the weekend here, I have become an expert on using the 地下鉄   (subway) and 市バス (City Bus) in Kyoto.  We did a great deal of walking the first day, though, since we did not know how to get around very well.  I don't think Erica has walked so much in all her life.

Chikashiku-in Temple

http://www.pref.kyoto.jp/visitkyoto/en/theme/sites/shrines/temples/m_chishaku/    We woke up on Saturday morning and searched for a place to enjoy breakfast, however we happened across a temple called the Chishaku-in Temple not far from our 旅館  (Japanese inn), so we checked it out.  There were not so many tourists at this temple since it is a little far from the popular tourist sites, so it was not so crowded at all.  This temple features a museum, the temple itself, and a beautiful garden with a pond (in fact, it is most well known for its garden).  After realizing we forgot to bring Sugarwater, we headed back to the hotel to retrieve his and had our first おにぎり (rice ball) for breakfast.

しゃけのおにぎり (Salmon Rice Ball)

Chikashiku-in Garden

On the Imperial Palace Grounds

   Well, it started raining at about that time, and it would not let up for the rest of the day, so it started to impede on the places we could go.  Added to that, it was our first time in Kyoto, so we spent a fair bit of time being lost as well.  We did make our way to the Kyoto Imperial Palace (walking from Gion-Shijo), though, only to find out that you need a reservation to enter the main palace.  There are plenty of places on the grounds that you can freely enter, though, and we rested in a small secluded temple in the southwest corner of the Imperial Palace grounds.

  After leaving the Imperial grounds, we began a quest to seek out the International Manga Museum, since Erica wanted to go there.  It was difficult finding it, though, since the directions we got were incredibly vague and for some reason the Japanese like to have maps everywhere pointing everywhere except for north.  Seriously, most maps here have "North" pointing to the right, and one even had north pointing down.  To make it worse, unless you knew 北 was the kanji for North, you would not even realize it.  I will say, though, that walking around Kyoto is really good exercise, and you really learn your way around after you do it all day.  We did not find the museum on the first day, though, and the rain continued to fall, so we returned to the hotel and watched コクリコ坂から and did our weekend homework.

Us at the 金閣寺(Golden Temple) in Kyoto

  The next morning's weather was much better, so we went to the 金閣寺　(Golden Temple).  After all of that walking we did the previous day, it was easy to figure out how to get just about everywhere in Kyoto by subway, so this time we actually used the public transportation.  For those of you who have Apple computers, the Golden Temple is featured in one of the screensaver themes that comes packaged with Mac OSX.  The Golden Temple was truly breathtaking -- both the temple itself and the scenery around it.  It is surprisingly very affordable -- only 400円 per person and you can see one Kyoto's best temples.  I wish we could have seen more temples during our short stay in Kyoto, but we had one more stop to make before returning to Okazaki.

   We finally found it -- it is on Kurasuma-dori north of the Kurasuma-Oike subway station.  The Kyoto International Manga Museum used to be an elementary school, but then it was converted to a museum commemorating manga and comics from around the world.  They probably have a copy of every manga since 1945 in there, and they also have comics from other countries and even America.  It's a 3-story library of manga and comics, and for only 300円　you can read any manga within the museum during your stay.  I found the perfect souvenir for Martha there, as well, so I went ahead and bought it.

   Anyways, I am now back in Okazaki, preparing for tomorrow's lesson.  I will leave you with a ton of photos from the weekend, though, in no particular order.  Until next time... じゃね。

First Day of Class and the Journey to Kyoto

      Today marked the first real day of classes, although since it is Friday our last class ended at 11:50.  My class is pretty crowded -- there are 14 people (the maximum class size in 15).  I am the only American in my class, however there are several people from the UK, several people from Taiwan, two people from France, two people from the Netherlands, and one person from New Zealand.  Even though there are a lot of people in my class, I still got a solid amount of speaking time during the exercises.  The material is stuff that I have already gone over before (we were covering volitional form), however I feel that I was placed in the right class as I found my ability to actually use the volitional form in conversation was actually really awful.  Erica is lucky -- there are only 3 people in Basic 1, so she gets no shortage of individual attention, although I doubt she will see it that way after a week or so.

Negiyaki on the grill

For lunch we ate at a place called お好み焼(Okonomiyaki) between campus and our villa.  This place was absolutely amazing.  Each of the tables have their own grill, as well as two timers and all of the sauces you need to use to make a good 焼そば (yakisoba) or ねぎ焼 (negiyaki).  When you order your food, they bring everything out ready to be cooked and you cook it yourself.  Everything is already prepared -- you just slap it on the grill and set the timer for 6 minutes.  After 6 minutes, you flip it over, put whatever sauce you want or soy sauce on it, and then set the timer for 3 minutes.  After that timer is up, you can enjoy one of the finest meals you will probably ever eat -- and you cooked it yourself!  Also, rice, curry, soup, and drinks are free on the drink bar when your order an entree.

   Afterwards our trip to Kyoto commenced.  We took a short train ride into Nagoya, and then a 45 minute ride on the Shinkansen to Kyoto, and arrived at about 4 PM.  Shortly after confirming the directions to Higashiyama ward on our map, we headed towards our hotel.  This was probably the most interesting part of the trip so far.  On our way to the hotel, we were approached by an elderly man.  To be honest, I thought he was about to try to bum some money, but he never did.  He was actually a really cool guy -- he spoke English exceptionally well and wanted to talk to us because we were foreigners.  When we said we were Americans, he told us all about his travels in the US.  He had several pieces of paper with handwritten Japanese phrases translated into English, and he asked us to read each phrase and comment about whether or not they sounded natural.  He was especially interested in learning English idioms that do not literally translate well into Japanese, as well as our thoughts and comments on some of the translations.  Since I know a little bit of Japanese, I also tried to read some of the Japanese since the sentences were simple enough for me to understand them.  We ended up talking to the guy for a good hour and a half or so, and he told us how to get to some of the best spots in Kyoto as well as led us to our hotel.  After all of that time, too, he did not once ask for a single yen. 

Our hotel room in Kyoto

  Our hotel is called Ryokan Ohto, and it is a traditional Japanese inn in the Higashiyama ward of Kyoto.  It is situated in the middle of a quiet neighborhood, and there are many local shops and houses in the neighborhood.  Personally, I don't think I could have picked a better place -- it really is a nice find.  As you can see, I have posted pictures of the hotel on the inside and outside.


   We went out to downtown Kyoto for a little while, however the bulk of our Kyoto trip is likely to occur tomorrow, so until then..... また明日ね。

The First Class Treatment

Sugarwater at 35,000 feet.

    Earlier this afternoon,  I officially embarked on my journey to Japan, and I am currently staying overnight in Dallas, TX with my grandparents.  The flight out here had a surprise to it, though.  Apparently, American Airlines thought that I got an overnight layover because of a scheduling conflict on their end, and as a valued member of their frequent flyer program, they sought to appease me by upgrading me to first class.  Of course, little did they know that I actually engineered my flight itinerary that way, but no looking a gift horse in the mouth -- Lucky me!  It was my first time flying first class, too, although I suppose if I wanted to travel in uniform (which will never happen) I would probably get to fly in style more often.  I could also suddenly come into vast amounts of wealth and be able to afford the absurd price of a first class ticket, but that is even less likely.

First Class food -- and it was free!

   First of all, I just want to let all of you folks that regularly fly first class, whether it is because you are ridiculously rich or your job pays for it for you, you guys have it good.  The seats are extremely comfortable, recline back really far, and there is enough leg room for me to completely stretch out.  It is nearly impossible to sleep in coach class, but I could sleep like a log up there.  Why waste the opportunity to enjoy all of the perks that come with first class, though?

   When you fly first, you get everything for free.  That meal over on the left would probably cost about $10 in coach class and would not taste nearly as good.  The stewardess told me to get as many drinks as I could, since they are all free, but since I do not partake I stuck with all I could drink orange juice.  Also, before we ate we were served hot towels with which ot wash our hands and face with.  It felt good to be pampered, it truly did.  I think I might fly American more often.
 

Erica and I

Leah (エリカのいもうと) and I

   Well, that is all for tonight, I have to wake up bright and early for my flight to Japan.  The next time you hear from me, Erica and I will be in Okazaki!

じゃ、日本で会う！

Sugarwater

   Well, I am far too excited to sleep and I have been meaning to write all day, so here we are.  I will be departing from Norfolk International Airport in about 12 hours now, bound for Dallas to spend a night with my family.  The next morning, it is off to Tokyo and then Nagoya for a month of intensive Japanese language studying.

Meet Sugarwater, our new companion on our Japanese adventure.

   I suppose you are wondering what the title of this post has to do about anything, though.  We have an addition to our traveling party -- a gnome named Sugarwater.  Sugarwater will be joining us as we explore Japan over the course of this next month, and you will see him in a variety of photos from time to time.  Why a gnome, you ask?  Well, it involves a tradition known as gnoming, where you steal a gnome before going on a trip and send it off into the world, photographing it at landmarks and famous sites.  I did not steal this gnome, though -- it is for a friend of mine's little girl and was given to me for this purpose.  Everyone knows if I tried to steal a gnome, I would probably end up doing hard time.

   Well, the bulk of today involved packing my bags.  I have a lot of stuff to bring, and I would hate to forget anything.  Every time I go on a trip, I always forget something that would be really convenient to have, such as the time I went underway without my laptop charger -- doh! 

    Since I am going to a language school, I had to make sure I brought all of my study materials with me, as well as my Japanese reading material.  As you can see, I have been preparing for this for quite a while!  Hopefully it pays off, as I would like to do well enough on the placement test to be put in a challenging class.

  Of course, that also means I need to bring all of my Japanese entertainment, as well.  You would be surprised how effective watching movies in Japanese and playing Japanese video games is at making new vocabulary words stick.  Nothing is better than seeing the words you are learning being used in in literature, movies, games, and hopefully in conversation too!

   I have also packed all of the necessities - all of my favorite clothes, enough toiletries and supplies to last the entire month, of course my camera and laptop, and anything else that I felt I could not survive a month without.  Just wait, though, I will probably be writing about forgetting something in a few days, now...

   The next time you hear from me will be tonight from Dallas, the first stop on my journey.  On a side note, doesn't that cloud look a lot like Mickey Mouse to you?  Maybe it's just me, but I saw this driving on the HOV today and randomly felt like I had to take a picture. 

  旅行を始まるので、もう面白い日記を書くでしょ。じゃ、こんばんね。

Everything is coming together...

   Well, it is 3AM on a Saturday morning, I cannot sleep, and I have to report to the ship for my duty day in a little over 3 hours,  which means it is the optimal time for making a blog entry.  I only hope that insomnia does not become a habit in Japan, though, as I really really want to be well rested for class every morning (especially since I saved for a long time to be able to make this trip). 

   Earlier this afternoon, I returned from our last at-sea period in a while.  My ship will be entering the shipyard for a maintenance availability while I am in Japan (yay for no more pausing of life to dink around off of the coast of Florida every few weeks!).  I don't want to talk about Navy stuff, though, so let's move on to a much more pressing issue that has me excited in anticipation -- In only 2 more days I will be departing Norfolk for 32 days to embark on the greatest adventure of my life (to date).

   Happily, all of the details have panned out during the past week.  Erica finally received her passport in the mail (you have no idea how nervous I was getting about that!), I have secured a ride to the airport on Monday afternoon, and all that is left is to pack (and do a little bit of light shopping).  Of course, following family tradition, I will end up packing late at night on the eve of my departure.


   I have added a few more events to my Tokyo itinerary (we are really making the most out of the weekend in Tokyo!), and it is looking to be a fully planned out weekend.  I have never planned out an entire weekend before, so I am actually rather proud of myself.  On Saturday after (July 28), we are planning on going to the Ghibli Museum in the Mitaka ward of West Tokyo since I am such a fan of Studio Ghibli's films (as well as original anime movies in general).  In fact, Isao Takahata is my favorite director, and the works of Hayao Miyazaki also hold a special place in my heart.

Map for visiting locations in 「耳をすませば」

  Afterwards, I want to visit Tama Town, which is a suburban ward in West Tokyo that the anime film 耳をすませば (or Whisper of the Heart for you English-speaking folks) is set in.  This is another Studio Ghibli film that was directed by Yoshifumi Kondo, and is among one of my favorite films of all time.  The film follows a 3rd-year middle school student named Shizuku who loves reading fairy tales, daydreams of adventures, and is talented at writing stories and song lyrics.  She is curious about a person named Seiji Amasawa who has been checking out all of the books in the library before her, and begins to wonder who this person is.  The story itself is about Shizuku "coming of age" so to speak -- it is about both Shizuku and Seiji discovering who they are and how to achieve their goals in life within the bounds of reality.  I highly recommend Whisper of the Heart to anyone.  Anyways, the locations in the film are actually real places that you can visit, and I intend to check it out.  Besides, I am curious about suburban Tokyo :p

Of course, we have to make it back in time for the Sumida River Fireworks Festival that night, as well.  I still have no idea what we are doing in Kyoto on the first weekend, but I guess we'll play it by ear.  It has also come to my attention that Comiket is being held on August 10-12 in Tokyo, so I think I might try to return for at least a day to take Erica to that.  She is a brilliant cosplayer who is extremely skilled at making her own costumes, so I think that she would love to attend a manga convention in Tokyo.


   Well, that is all for today.  もうすぐ行く・・・待てないんですよ！読めば、書いて続く約束です。じゃまたねぇ。

Return from Sea, Playing Catch-up

That's me, studying Japanese on the boat.

   Well, I am now back from an 11-day stint out at sea (even though it felt like a month), and it feels really good to be home.  The underway was pretty uneventful, and pretty much consisted of me standing watch, going to training, and doing a lot of studying.  With my trip to Japan coming up in only 2 weeks, I need to sharpen my vocabulary and grammar so that I can perform as well as possible on the Yamasa placement exam.  Hopefully I'll be able to place around lesson 40 in みんなの日本語 (Minna no Nihongo, this is one of the textbooks I use and the textbook Yamasa uses up to the intermediate level classes).

   Now that I am back, though, there were a lot of things that needed to be done.  That is how life in the Navy is when you are attached to a sea-going vessel as part of ship's company -- your life completely stops for those few weeks while the rest of the world keeps revolving.  Deployment was the same way, but I was actually OK with that since you make plans for such a long term absence that you don't normally make when you are only gone for a few weeks.

   First on the list was my calculus class that I am taking online through Excelsior College.  I had planned ahead and took the mid-term prior to going underway (which was a week ahead of the actual mid-term date), but I still had a week and a half worth of homework covering integration due this weekend that I stormed through last night.  It is nearly impossible to do it on the boat since the internet connection at sea is so horrible.  Also, with the next term coming up, I need to apply for TA and register for classes so that I can start on them when I return from Japan (I am planning on taking 3 classes, probably Calculus II and Reactor Plant Materials through Excelsior, and Japanese 2002 through Georgia Tech if they accept my application).  I have to finish that BS in Nuclear Engineering Technology before I get out -- you need a bachelor's degree to participate in Yamasa's graduate diploma program and also to apply for the JET Programme, which are both in my 5-year post-Navy plan.

   Then, there are details that I need to take care of before I leave for Japan.  There are the usual end-of-month stuff like my mortgage and condo fee, bills, and that water bill that sneaks up on me because they bill every 2 months and don't do automatic drafts (it's 2 weeks late because I forgot about it... I should really open my mail more often), but there are also small details that need to be worked out for the trip.  Since my Tokyo weekend is pretty much mapped out, I reserved a hotel in Nihonbashi for July 27 and 28 near where the JDK band will play, which is also a relatively short distance from the Sumida River, the Japanese Imperial Palace, and Akihabara Electric Town.  I need to look into getting train tickets from Okazaki to Tokyo that weekend, but I'll work on that later.  I have no idea what to do for Kyoto, though -- all I know is that I want to go there during one of the weekends.

Now, we just need Namco to bring us Tales of Xillia!

     Well, that is all I have time to write tonight.  Before I head off to dreamland, I have one bit of exciting news that caught my eye yesterday.  In my previous write-up about Ni No Kuni DS, I did not think that the DS game would ever be localized in part due to the luscious "Magic Master" tome that comes with it, but I was wrong (at least partially).  Ni No Kuni DS is still not being localized, but Namco Bandai announced a "Wizard's Edition" for the PS3 version coming in January 2013, and it is available for pre-order at Namco's website.

じゃまたねぇ・・・