Day 14: Tourist Is As Tourist Does

As the title of the blog insinuates during my free Saturday in Japan I decided to go be a tourist and explore Tokyo for all it had to offer me. I’d been working all week on an ultimate plan to see as much as possible, and I tried to get some friends to go with me but do some communication errors I mainly went on this adventure alone. My day started early at 7:50 in the morning when I boarded the train to Tokyo Station. I’d been warned all week that it was going to be really crowded since that time was during rush hours. Yet there was hardly a soul on the train or even walking around. I got a seat on the first stop and didn’t have to give it up until I got to Tokyo Station. Now Tokyo Station was one of the original train stations created, and has a very European style due to their influence at the time. Right close by the Tokyo Station is the Imperial Palace and the Imperial Gardens. The walk there was really serene since there was no one really around (in comparisons to the Tokyo I had seen previously). As I approached the Palace however I noticed something seemed off. I had done some research prior to going and knew you could sign up for tours at a specific gate, but today there were police outside the gate and huge tents and security places set up. When I asked the officer about the tour he said I just had to continue to the official entrance. It was only some short time later that I realized I had accidentally come to the palace during one of the 9 days out of the year when it’s open to the public for Sakura viewing (the other days being the Emperor’s Birthday and another official ceremony of well wishing). So along I went with tourists and Japanese alike as we meandered our way to security. Once I got to the table where they were checking bags I learned that in order to make sure no one takes anything harmful in they conduct a sip test for any drinking containers they find. I find this a lot smarter than banning them outright especially since I really needed my water after walking all over the palace and the gardens. It was amazing getting to see this unique insider perspective and I gene got to practice my Japanese a little by asking some of the guards questions. After walking the beautiful path and seeing all the beautiful plant life the palace offered I made my way to the Imperial Gardens. From there I wandered, explorer and learned about the gardens to my hearts content (I was technically waiting for a friend at this point). Not only was everything beautiful and in bloom in some way there was also a rich history to the garden. The Imperial Garden that is open to the public was private land until it was opened in 1968 by the currently resigning Emperor and Empress. They put a lot of work into making it a culturally unique place for people to enjoy. Many of the new sections or the painfully recreated buildings were details managed by the Imperial Couple themselves. One of the most interesting things I think they added was a hybrid of koi fish they created themselves and still relate some koi to date. I enjoyed the Gardens so much and even more the second time I went through with my friend Shika from Taiwan. After reading all the signs and knowing where everything was I was able to teach her all about the gardens and we had a great time exploring them together. After we finished the Gardens we traveled across Tokyo to Meiji Shrine in Yoyogi Park. Meiji Shrine entrance is right next to a very popular part of town called Harajuku so the crowds I had missed earlier came back in full force as we tired to find ourselves a cheap meal at Family Mart. We ended up eating lunch and splitting a cake outside Meiji Shrine in a very cute cafe. After cake though my friend Shika had to leave to meet another friend so I was on my own again. Meiji Shrine was a very interesting place as one of the more modern but equally historic Shinto shrines. Since it is so historic many tourists flock to it to take pictures there. It was amazing getting to see the different parts of the shrine and getting to learn more about what Emperor Meiji and his wife Empress Shōken were like during their lifetime outside what little I had learned in my history classes. I also learned that the area that made up Yoyogi Park and Meiji Shrine was all donated and reclaimed land to honor the Imperial Couple. Thousands of people donated money and supplies so that Meiji Shrine could rest in the beautiful forest. I also was able to buy a Shrine book while I was there. In Japan since there are so many shrines and many people observe Shintoism as their religion it’s possible to buy these books where the people who live and study in the shrine can give you the unique stamp and kanji of that shrine. I had hoped to start collecting the stamps once I bought myself one in Meiji. While I did enjoy myself for the most part there as with any big tourist spot many disrespectful tourist that I tried my best to either ignore and politely correct when they were doing something offense. I guess as someone who loves to learn it’s hard for me to understand why you wouldn’t educate yourself before visiting another place of religion but I know not everyone is the same as me. After the beautiful Meiji Shrine I made my way to Tokyo Tower (a bit like the Eiffel Tower but now really). It was a bit of an odd trip since I had to use the underground subway and walk quite a bit but eventually I made it there. Just like the other big tourist spots I had been to today it was packed with people and since it had already been a long day for me and the tickets were pretty expensive I decided to pass on going up it and just take some pretty cool pictures of it instead. The last stop on my day in Tokyo was none other than the pure wish fulfillment that is the Mega Pokémon Store. Now if you don’t know me well you don’t know that ever since I was little I have been playing the Pokémon games and have loved the franchise dearly. So finally being in Tokyo and going to this legendary store was beyond epic. The entire time I was there I couldn’t believe all the amazing things I was seeing. If I could have I would have bought the whole store no joke but I tried my best to show restraint and buy things that I loved but were also practical. This included two new pairs of socks, some masking tape, a new water bottle, a new wallet, and two indulgent key chains. Even though I managed to restrain myself I still knew deep in my heart I would probably go back at some point to buy more stuff. After the long day I managed to have an easy train ride home back to MISH eat dinner and then crash to bed. The next day I decided to rest, do laundry, and go to the Welcome Party for MISH. More on that in the next blog! 

Day 12-13: School Preparedness in Japan and Back Home!

(First of all I am sorry for the lack of posting I have been very busy these past few days preparing for school and seeing Japan so I’ll be updating the past few days in two parts, enjoy!) Om Day 12 I had a mug day at MGU campus. We were on campus almost all day doing different kinds of orientations. We all walked to campus as one big group which if you have eve traveled with a large group anywhere you know how long it stretches out (it was really funny sight seeing us wind through Japanese neighborhoods). When we finally got to campus we went to a brief Living Orientation on things we’d need to know about campus. Most of it was stuff I had already online so I was already prepared. They had planned an hour for the orientation but it only took 15 minutes so we just hung out in the room until our MGU Buddies we’re ready to give us the campus tours. If you’ve been reading my other entries you know that I have already meet my buddies so I was very excited to get to hang out with both of them. Once we were together as a group we went on a brief campus tour to all the buildings I would need to know. As always I needed out a little at the library it was really beautiful with big windows and all the books you’d need to have for your studies. They had a lot more rules than libraries in the US, you could only eat in some rooms. After the tour we ate together in the cafeteria. Much like UCA they had many different places to eat (including the International Cafe, Cafeteria, The Student Store, and more!). The most complex was the cafeteria so they helped me get my lunch. We had such a good time eating together talking about everything that came to mind. We even decided to travel together to some local places they wanted to take me to. For lunch I had a friend chicken rice meal with miso soup and a rice cake. It was all amazing and i makes me happy to know I won’t starve for lunch on campus. After lunch I went to my Academic orientation (my Buddies didn’t have to go to this) I learned about how to register and look up classes and all the classes offered. When I was finally able to look at the list I learned they had yet again changed what classes were offered so I had to change my schedule again. (My fourth time doing so). I also learned about different extra academic programs you could participate: such as an internship, and special economic class based on a specialized Japanese business, and becoming a Volunteer TA. Out of all the programs I reached out to the Volunteer TA program because it was very similar to my work with SI back home and it could help me meet more Japanese students. I have my interview later this week so I hope to update with good news soon. Also after much debate I’m not sure I’ll end up joining a club in Japan, most of them meet on Saturday and cost a lot of money so it might not be worth it. I’ll still try my best to get to involved on campus. Also I got my Japanese Placement Test results back! I’m in Level 1 as I expected (it’s the lowest level). I hope being in this will help my Japanese.
The next day I had the welcome party at the MGU campus in Tokyo (they have two campuses one in Tokyo and the other in Yokohama). After a crowded train and bus ride with all the other ISP (international student program) and UC students (University of California) we finally arrived at the Shirokane (name for Tokyo campus) campus. It’s apparently the second oldest university in Japan so it was really cool seeing all the old buildings on campus! It was really beautiful. After a little site seeing we went up the party where there was the most mouth watering food waiting for us. (It was last lunch time and I hadn’t had lunch). We sadly had to wait for all the introduction speeches and ice breaker games to get to know other exchanges, Japanese students, and faculty. I got to meet the Vice President who was really nice and offered for me to join him for yoga, and an art teacher who teaches traditional Japanese art. After that we ate some, though there wasn’t enough for everyone so I was still hungry. While we were still eating some more speeches were needed to be made. One student from each university was asked to spread on behalf of their university. I was asked to do it for UCA and let’s just say it was funny to watch because they never told me what to say so I was rambling as I do. People said it was good though so let’s just go with that. After that the party was over and we were free to go. A group of students I knew from all over agreed we should find something to eat since lunch was weak. The whole thing ended up being a mess though because too many people came and we could go to dinner at the vegan place they wanted to go to (I was open to try their dessert to cover me until I got to dinner at MISH). After walking around exploring Harajuku accidentally we ended up at an ice cream parlor and a Boba Tea Shop. I was convinced to try BoBa Tea and honestly it was pretty good! I got strawberry tapioca flavored, and had s great time hanging with some new friends. Sadly I had to pull a Cinderella and run off from the group since I had to register for my UCA classes at 7pm. I was going to make it on time with some friends but then the train like we use to get home is suddenly canceled! I start freaking out that I won’t make it back in time. So we dashed to the nearest McDonald’s to use their free WiFi. After I was set up we found there were too many people of the WiFi so I had to use my data to register for classes. Luckily after all that trouble (and some fries from my friends) I managed to register for 4/5 of the classes I needed. Which is honestly a pretty good record. Once the train was reopened we tried to rush back to MISH to get in time for dinner. This mean we experienced our first shoving on a Japanese train. You’ve seen them the videos of people getting shoved on train it’s real and I’m a survivor. Luckily I had been smart and put my bag in front of me so I had some decency but let’s just say I was very close to everyone around me. We eventually got to MISH had dinner and I was finally able to sleep after a very exhausting day. The next day I planned to go do some major sightseeing in Tokyo so I’ll update with that later (I have to get ready for my first day of classes right now) ((The pictures are of my buddies and my boba)

Day 10-11: Busy Busy Bee! That’s Me!

These past few days I’ve been really busy as the title attests to. Lots of things to do in preparation for classes and official start of the semester for me. Yesterday was probably the busier of the two. I went to Meiji Gakuin University to go to a club fair on campus (that’s the closest quivalent for what it was st least). During this whole week clubs are trying to recruit new members since the number of members affects the budgets they receive from the school. My buddy Mayu agreed to help me and help translate conversation for me. She’s also supporting the idea of me joining the clubs she is in (English Speaking Society and Cycling Club). But I first had to get to campus on my own. I will admit that there is a bus that will take me to campus so don’t feel too sorry as I regale my tail for you. I decided to use Google Maps which up to this point was very reliable for me, and after this walk is a little dead to me. A walk to campus should take 30 minutes or so but I took almost an entire hour! It kept taking me on odd back streets and through neighborhoods and I kept getting turned around. But I really shouldn’t complain too much because I saw a lot of the beauty Totsuka had to offer. I saw Sakura along the river with festivals stalls underneath an  beautiful houses and the extravagant gardens they boasted (some even had personal shrines!). I even walked through a tranquil Bamboo Forest (I’m telling this was a wild walk but very enjoyable. Eventually I returned to the main road and after a pit stop at a Lawson’s (now is a good time to admit that after seeing Japan’s public toilets I will forever be uppity with US toilets, I mean they aren’t even heated like Japan’s??) I was at the gate of campus. My buddy came to greet me and we were off to the club fair. I do have to admit though that MGU’s campus is just gorgeous in a different way from UCA’s. I love both equally already but one does have a view of Mt. Fuji so... Anyway clubs in Japan are a lot different than clubs in the US but are also very similar. For instance the American Football players act just like their US counterparts. There are some really popular clubs and some clubs struggling to get by, and some very very serious clubs. I think the biggest difference is that the clubs here aren’t just business like I feel most US clubs are. They have a pretty active and social recruitment process and most of the time they meet a lot outside of the meetings put in place. Basically the clubs you join is your social circles on campus so it’s a very important decision that I am obviously struggling (any tips on choosing are appreciated!). Some clubs even did demonstrations in front of the cafeteria. This day I saw Marcjing Band, Cheerleading Club (A real blast from the past for me), and Cheer Up Club (similar to cheerleading but more traditional and focused on cheering at games). It was amazing getting to see the cultural differnces between the things I knew so well back in the states. I can’t wait to see Loren of them and hopefully eventually join a club so I can tell you guys more about it. After the club fair I made my way to Tokyo from campus (more senic routes involved) to go see the famous cherry blossoms at Ueno Park. When I got there the crowds were more insane than I had ever seen them before. It was really cold too so while the flowers were beautiful and I got many pictures I didn’t enjoy myself as much as I would have it had been sunny. Despite all the bad I couldn’t deny the beauty of a full bloomed Sakura tree among fifty or so others. Ueno park is also famous for many other things like their Zoo and their complex of shrines. Since I had gotten a breakdown of how to shrine from online and from my buddy I decided to try and participate at a shrine on my own. Sadly as much as I tried to be respectful there were hundreds of tourists who were being very disrecpectful right after me. Mostly using the shrines and it’s different parts as a photo op and not for its significance. I even tried to eat my favorite festival food to cheer myself up but it was hard to focus on the good when you’re alone surrounded by people who don’t care beyond the surface around them. I hope to go back to Ueno Park another time so I can enjoy myself fully with friends I know will respect the different parts of the park. After waking for hours looking at the Sakura and shrines I decided to head back to the dorm since I was very exhausted from the massive amount of walking I did. Luckily dinner at the last night was fired chicken and it was delicious!! I was ready to sleep to my heart contents afterwards but I had to do some studying for my Japanese Placement Test that was today. Beford that though quick side note. I got my first sun burn of the season yesterday. It was pretty light and was only on my face but I didn’t even think it would happen since it was so cold. Today I went to buy Sunscreen which is very complex when you don’t know enough Japanese to read the bottles, but I am glad to inform that I will not be safely protected from the sun. Alright back to the placement test. I will admit before anyone else that I was a nervous wreck for this exam. I wanted so badly to do well on it even with my limited Japanese. After a very long wait to get on a public bus to campus (let’s just say in time it took us to get there on the bus I would have had time to spare with walking) all the Internatonal Students from our dorm were late and slightly embarrassed. As the exam began I was frazzled from my lateness and the sudden realization that oh my god I’m actually going to learn a foreign language here. The exam only made it worse, it said it was for beginners but I only knew maybe 40% of what was on there? Guessing sometimes on it too. I also asked if I could do the interview section (not required of me due to my skill level) and that was even worse. It was pretty discouraging at the time but I guess who have to fail at first to succeed later. I’ll proabbly be put in the easiest class but it will probably be good to review. After the test I helped some of my friends navigate the club fair with my limited and discouraged Japanese. We had a lot of fun though going around as little group trying our best to understand things. After that I took them on the senic routes I went on yesterday and we had a great time enjoying the beauty of the area. We also happened across the same river as yesterday with the festival food. I caved and bought more Takayuki and shared it with them, and some bread I hadn’t bought earlier. Sitting along the river underneath the blossoms I had my first technical Haname with some new friends. The weather was beautiful and I had a great time just relaxing next to the river enjoying food. I understand why the Japanese are such a fan of Haname. After a little bit more shopping I returned to my room where I will be honest I relaxed and did minimal work. In my opinion it’s one the best things you can do after a disappointing exam. Even with the rough start I’m still trying to stay positive and will continue to challenge myself to learn as much Japanese as I can here. Tomorrow is filled with more orientations so I’ll be back with more learning experiences. Until next tine!

Day 8-9: Much Ado About Bureaucracy

The past two days I haven't really did much in regards to fun adventures in Japan so I decided to just combine the two blog days. Yesterday was a chill day for me, since I had gone pretty hard the last seven days I decided to just take the day to relax get laundry done, and get anything last minute done before I had the onslaught of paperwork this next week. Laundry was very interesting, Japan is one of many societies who are a big fan of hanging your laundry up to dry, and I did not have the equipment to hang it up yet so I was forced to use the dryers which did not work very well at all so I still ended up air drying some things. After the frustration of drying my laundry on a million hangers, I went with a small group of friends to go get more supplies we all needed. I found it very funny that almost every store or mall you walk into has absolutely everything you need, even down to the small convince store. It took under an hour for all us to get the study we needed from laundry lines, extension cords, and cookware for our rooms. If you can say one thing for Japan it's that they don't like wasting time looking for stuff in different stores. After shopping we dropped our stuff off and went again to Suishiro (the conveyor belt sushi place). I think as college students we can't help but like it since it is pretty cheap to eat there. This time I tired some new sushi that I already know I will sorely miss in the US and surprisingly Warm Sake! I expected them to ID since I look so young but I learned that checking someone's ID isn't really a thing here, it's all one big trust system. The warm sake we decided to share though since it was bit expensive and we all just wanted to try it. Much to my own surprise it was pretty good, and I look forward to trying more later. After that it was back to the dorm and off to bed. Well I actually stayed up quite late trying to buy Disney tickets online which was a nightmare. I wasn't even able to buy them! I had to ask a very nice store clerk to help me (after looking for the tickets in seven different connivence stores). The next day waking up early for breakfast was awful in all honesty. But breakfast was surprisingly good. A very simple spread of a over easy egg, salad, bacon, and a roll. I did cop for the Western breakfast but that's because I plan to switch between the Western and Japanese breakfasts since they are the same every morning and I need some diversity in my life. After breakfast we were off as one big group to go face the bureaucratic engine of Japan. As holders of long term visas we have to register as residents with out addresses. So as I have many times in the US I had to go to big office and sit and wait for my turn for paperwork. But the university had prepared for this and had called the office ahead of time so all we had to do was walk up in groups and give them our residence card we were given at the airport. It was that easy! With all the free time we had left the students in charge of us showed some different english speaking hospitals in the area and where the post office was. We also explored a little bit and visited a local cemetery which threw me off a little bit since it was so similar to the western world but so similar. They had a bell that is rung so people can pray and talk to the dead, it was truly spooky sounding. I didn't take any pictures out of respect. We then went on to buy our Hanko (a personal signature used for signing official papers). However since as people form the West we don't have a kanji list name to select from the Hanko so we just got to pick what we wanted. I picked Se-I (the closest sounding to my name) which means in simple terms riverside. I thought it was pretty cool but the poor man who helped me stamp some papers had no idea what it was. (Even Japanese people get stumped by Kanji). After that we had more paperwork in the form of signing up for a bank account. This took the longest and has by far been the most painful so far. I am just saying if you want to open a bank account in a foreign country... just don't? Though my table tried to make it a little fun by cracking jokes the whole time. After that I had my first dinner at MISH which was really good (broiled fish, a soup of some kind, strange rice, and more I didn't know what was but ate it anyway). At dinner I talked with some girls from Sweden and Australia about just about anything. After a little bit though I was so tired I came up my room to get some stuff done and write this blog. Tomorrow holds more exciting so I will have a more exciting blog tomorrow. Until next time! (Also please tell me if yo think these are too long because I am starting to worry about how long they are getting...)

Day 7: The Adventure (And Paperwork) Begins!

I will be there first to admit, that compared to my other blogs there just isn't as much actually going on in this one. Today I hod orientation for my dorm in the afternoon so I really couldn't plan any trips, and I was very tired from the past few days so today I decided to relax a little. When I woke up this morning I had a sudden realization though. I was really in Japan in my own space about to start this wonderful adventure of studying at a whole new semester in a whole culture. It was a little surreal, but sadly it didn't last because my dorm wasn't serving breakfast yet and I was pretty hungry. After getting breakfast from a convince store (they are truly superior to the US version in every way) I settled into the study/multipurpose room. There more students were hanging out and I started to make some of my first MGU friends (besides my cake buddies from the night before). They were from the UC program so they were all from California. It was fun talking about the different things we had experienced so far, and what we were looking forward to. We also all had to go buy wifi routers together so it was a fun bonding experience. After that we had our orientation in the cafeteria. It was the basics like how to use certain things, rules, and any extra paper work we had to fill out (The first of many I presume). The most exciting piece of information for me was the trash system, for the many days I had been here it had puzzled me. I was never quite sure where to put my trash, and here at the meeting was given the Bible fo sorting trash of Japan. Hopefully when this Monday comes around I will do it correctly. After the orientation a big group of us decided to get dinner. I suggested a ramen place nearby that had been recommended to me by my Japanese Buddy. On the way there I lost the whole group and thought I was going to eat alone. It was strange for me, a moment before I was confidently leading the group to some good ramen and the next they were all gone and I felt this weird brief sadness come over me. Perhaps it was me realizing that even though I was enjoying all these new people and their company they didn't really know me, or even notice if I would walk off if I did. After a while I just realized that I shouldn't take it personally after all they were all excited in nervous in their own ways, and that feeling that way meant I had the capability to care for these new people in my life. In the end I had a great dinner with some friends who had noticed my absence and wanted to eat with me. The ramen was really delicious and I can't wait to go back again. After dinner we did see shopping the others needed to get done, I personally bought some snacks for my room. I am a firm believer in proper snacks in your room at all times. After the shopping we all agreed to go to bar, and seeing I was now freshly legal in Japan I decided what the heck let's go for it and have my first drink. We settled on a bar close by called Bar Bebop. It may sound like a rinky dink bar but it was actually really fancy bar with slow jazz to set the mood. I had really wanted to try Sake but unfortunately they did not serve so I settled for for a simple glass of red wine. As a chased the wine with water the whole evening I enjoyed fun conversation with people from all over the world. I may latter not remember what we exactly talked about or what stories made us laugh so hard, but I will definitely remember how happy I felt at the end of the evening and even now. As my first official day of an MGU closes I look forward to the next four months with this fun group or people. Tomorrow I had very vague plans so I might not update, so until I see you next time!

Day 6: Moving into Yokohama (And My Birthday!)

After drifting the past few days between AirBnBs and Capsule Hotels I finally got to move into my dorm today! Although I will admit to missing my capsule a little, it was such a fun experience. The dorm I’m moving to however is called Meiji Gakuin International Student House (MISH) and it’s located in a town called Totsuka. It’s a short train ride from Yokohama though this morning it felt much longer since I was carrying so much again. After I regained my strength with a quick breakfast (this yummy bread with cream inside and apple slices) I got to check into the dorm. Throughout the little orientation they gave I couldn’t help but be amazed at everything they provided there. Not only was there the usual laundry and study rooms, there was also the cafeteria and a public bath! (Public baths are like really nice hot tubs in Japan). When I got to my room there was so much more room than I expected I had lots of space, a small kitchen, and my own bathroom. After I got partially settled Jordan and I headed out on a dorm supply run. I didn’t need to get much but there were a couple things every dorm needs that you just can’t bring on a plane... like toilet paper (I haven’t ventured to try the bidet yet). After shopping we went to a conveyor belt sushi restaurant. It’s there instead of having normal servers you order from a tablet and your order comes around on the little conveyor belt. They keep track of your bill by counting the number of plates you have and what color they are. I was so amazed about how smoothly the system worked, and how cheap the sushi was. I finally learned to enjoy sushi today after my terribly experience previously. Jordan was really sweet and while I was finishing up she bought me a little strawberry sherbet to eat. After lunch I went to a bakery near my dorm and bought myself a birthday cake (because why not?. After unpacking completely I went downstairs to find some people to share it with. At first I was very unsuccessful, but then I finish these two men in the lobby. One was a Japanese RA for the building and the other was from China. We all enjoyed the cake together and talked about culture and different things through our limited knowledge of each other’s languages. After a while I saw another new person come down and I offered him some cake as well. He was from Australia and had also been in Japan for a few days. I had such fun talking to them and learning about their cultures. It was a fun little birthday party. I know I will probably disappoint some of you reading when I say I did nothing else today. Even though I’m legal here I just haven’t found the right crowd to drink with yet. We will get there eventually I have four months to try it. Tomorrow not much is planned but we will see what adventures we get into. Until next time!

Day 5: Sakura Blooms And Food Wonderful Food

Today was a very busy day. Not in the usual way where I go see as many sights as possible or when I am busy with work and class. Today was busy because I was meeting both of my assigned Buddy’s that were from MGU (the univeristy in Japan that I’m studying). While I was really excited to meet them both I was also really nervous. I wanted to get along with them so badly, what if didn’t work out  or something went wrong? With all these thoughts running through my head I started to face the day. Now for the past few days I haven’t been able to eat much. On some level I think my body was still messed up due to jet lag and so food wasn’t always my faorite. But this morning I had my first proper breakfast in six days or so. And boy was it glorious to have. I bought it at a cafe that was founded in Kobe Japan in 1930 (Now a chain called Precious Moments). I had scrambled eggs, salad, ham/bacon?/ and toast. It was devine after so little food the past few days. After breakfast I was off to meet my first Buddy. Her name is Fuka she’s 19 and a International Studies Major. We went to a fancy cafe/restraint in a famous shopping section called Queens Plaza. Their specialty was fruit based dishes. I had this beautiful strawberry cake and she had a lovely mango ice cream dessert. Both with amazing and I learned that I have seriously been missing out on how wonderful mango is. The whole time we talked and got to know one another (with Jordan too). She was very nice and although we were only able to hang out for a little bit I’m extremely looking forward to being her Buddy this semester. After our breakfast dessert Fuka had to leave for an important meeting so Jordan and I decided to kill time by going to Yokohama Chinatown (the biggest in Japan). We didn’t do much there though because it was really crowded and we weren’t really that hungry for food. So we expired some more and discovered Yokohama’s Necklace Garden Bear the ocean. It was a beautiful massive garden filled with so many different kinds of plant life. The Sakura teees were the most popular of course but I really enjoyed seeing all the different types of flowers, they even had some Daffodils there! In one part of a garden was this fountain that lead to an amazing piece of garden and archtiure that was blended together. It reminded me a lot of Gaudi’a work in Barcelona. We had a lot fun walking through the different ins and outs of the park. After a while we grew tired and decided to go our aperate ways since I needed to go back to my hotel and we wouldn’t be meeting my buddy for a while. My other Buddy’s name is Mayuka she’s the same age and is also an International Studies Major. When I asked to meet up she decided to take me to see Sakura Blooms along a river in a different part of Yokohama and to take me to my first shrine in Japan. We accidentally went into the side entrance so I wasn’t able to do all the traditions properly, but she was very impressed that I knew as much as did about shrine rituals. We even made an offering to say prayers, and I bought a fortune. The man who sold me it said it says a lot about the person based on the fortune they buy. I’d like to think he said that because I stuck with the original fortune of the shrine. After that it was time to see the Sakura blooms. Although I’d seen many blooms already these were much different. It went on for miles just tree after tee along the river. Some were bright pink, some were white, some were light pink but all were so beautiful to look at. Mayu and I took lots of pictures of them. Along the trees were also these food stalls that you would normally only see during a festival. Each of them sold yummy Japanese food or offered games to play. After a while I decided to try Takoyaki and it was so delicious! I also got a candy strawberry from another stall and accidentally ate it whole. It was a lovely time of enjoying the Sakura and some really good street food. After it had gotten dark Mayu suggested we go try more Japanese food (called Okonomiyaki). She took me to the second floor of this building to a very cozy restaurant where for my crust time in Japan I had to eat sitting on the floor. In the middle of the table was a hot plate and the cooks (a lovely couple who ran the resurant) made the food right in front of you. It was superb and I can’t wait for the next time to go back! Mayu was extremely kind to me the whole time and we talked about so many different things. We basically agreed we are going to travel a lot together. After dinner we went our separate ways and I went back to my hotel where I tried the Sakura Mochi she had given me. It was very sweet with a  very odd texture. And that finally brings me to the end of my day. So much happened today and I’m so half it all happened. I can’t wait to see what adventures hold for me tomorrow. Tonight as I came into to hotel I randomly got shoe locker #19 (17 is my usual but it was taken). Funny how today is my last day being 19 and tomorrow started my adventure into “adulthood”. Here’s to the future then!