Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Monday, December 1, 2008
Tabehodai-ing in Kyoto
Those of you who have been to Japan will know of the fabled tabehodai. It is a miraculous phenomenon that has somehow only managed to grasp American hearts in the form of cold, rotting Chinese buffets. What is the tabehodai, one may ask? ALL YOU CAN EAT!!! Till you drop. Japan is amazing at making these - and here are some of the best picks I've found so far in Kyoto.
Korean Barbecque
Chifyajya (チフャジャ) - I think that's its name anyways. It is a popular chain that can be found anywhere - two locations include Nijo-eki and Sanjyo-Kiyamachi. You pay about 2200 yen for all you can eat Korean barbecque, and you can pay an added 780 yen for all you can drink. The food part starts out with a set menu of various meats (beef and chicken) and after the set menu, you can freely order (more beef and chicken, scallops, squid, pork, various animal parts, etc). You can also get kimchi, rice, bimambop (or whatever its called - hey I'm studying Japanese, not Korean!) and several other side dishes. After it all, you get to pick an ice cream dessert! The drink selection is not as wide, and is mainly soda-mixed drinks and very little hard alcohol. I find the chu-his very delicious though.
You have 90 minutes until your last order, and 2 hours to eat it all. Great place for a large party - we fit about 30 people at one occasion! Beware: if people come late, their time is not extended, and everyone at the same table has to have the same order setup (if one person drinks alcohol, you all have to do all-you-can-drink!)
Shabu-shabu / Sukiyaki / other meats
Gyuzen (牛禅) - There is one store in Gion, and one at Shijo-Karasuma. It looks a bit fancy and is used often for business parties, but from what I remember it cost about 2500yen. There are many options of all-you-can-eats. We had shabu-shabu : basically Japanese meat hot pot. The selection is not as wide as Chifyajya - you can either order more plates of meat, more plates of veggies, omochi, or noodles. No desserts, no choices of meat (all beef!). A good atmosphere and yumminess. There is an additional nomihodai (all you can drink) option for some more yen, and there is a similar 90 minutes until last order time limit.
Pizza
Shakeys - This is along the tented shopping area at Sanjo-Kawaramachi. Just go straight back from the big Kappazushi （かっぱ寿司）. It costs something around 800yen and is all you can eat pizza. There is also curry rice, salad, and sometimes a dessert pizza (like pudding and chocolate on pizza). You can pay a little extra for all-you-can-drink soda. Honestly I felt it was just like a dining hall, and the pizzas were rather cold, unflavored, and not Western at all (too much corn and mayo!). The highlight was only the dessert pizza for me. If this had a time limit, I sure didn't need to find out.
Dessert
Sweets Paradise - This is on one of the upper floors in a tall building (the hankyu was it?) at Shijo-Kawaramachi. This place is amazing! There are about 20 different types of cakes - all cut very small so you can sample many. It includes short cake, green tea cake, chocolate cake, cream puffs, tiramisu, pudding, jello, fruits, a chocolate fountain, and ice cream. For those of you who want some nutrition, there's also a salad, curry rice, and about 2-3 choices of pasta. All of this for only about 1400yen. However, this place is so popular that, as a rule, you have to put in your name at least 2 hours ahead of time, and there's a usual 60 min or so last plate time limit.
Random
??? - I haven't checked this place out, but there's a semi-fancy, western looking place between Nijo eki and the Nijo subway. It has different special tabehodais on different days, so pay attention to the signs in front of it to see what's coming up. In recent weeks, it's had a sushi tabehodai for about 1900 yen and a steak tabehodai for about 2700 yen! It may require reservations, however.
Not-quite-tabehodai
Kappa Sushi (かっぱ寿司) - Runner up is Kappa Zushi! Not quite a tabehodai, but an amazing conveyor-belt sushi place that I recommend taking any sushi-loving tourist. Every plate, unless a specially marked side-dish, is 105 yen - which lets you pretty much gorge yourself at the price of a tabehodai anyways. Yes, you'll find rather low-end stuff here, but the place is amazingly fresh and has a pretty impressive selection for $1 plates. You will even find uni, some fish caviars, and scallop - depending on the ingredients at the time. Recommendations for the not as adventurous eater include the shrimp tempura roll (3 pieces!), the yaki-sake (lightly braised salmon), anago (yummier than the unagi here, I think), and the vanilla cake.
I hope this guide was helpful! I will let you know as my culinary adventures continue!
Korean Barbecque
Chifyajya (チフャジャ) - I think that's its name anyways. It is a popular chain that can be found anywhere - two locations include Nijo-eki and Sanjyo-Kiyamachi. You pay about 2200 yen for all you can eat Korean barbecque, and you can pay an added 780 yen for all you can drink. The food part starts out with a set menu of various meats (beef and chicken) and after the set menu, you can freely order (more beef and chicken, scallops, squid, pork, various animal parts, etc). You can also get kimchi, rice, bimambop (or whatever its called - hey I'm studying Japanese, not Korean!) and several other side dishes. After it all, you get to pick an ice cream dessert! The drink selection is not as wide, and is mainly soda-mixed drinks and very little hard alcohol. I find the chu-his very delicious though.
You have 90 minutes until your last order, and 2 hours to eat it all. Great place for a large party - we fit about 30 people at one occasion! Beware: if people come late, their time is not extended, and everyone at the same table has to have the same order setup (if one person drinks alcohol, you all have to do all-you-can-drink!)
Shabu-shabu / Sukiyaki / other meats
Gyuzen (牛禅) - There is one store in Gion, and one at Shijo-Karasuma. It looks a bit fancy and is used often for business parties, but from what I remember it cost about 2500yen. There are many options of all-you-can-eats. We had shabu-shabu : basically Japanese meat hot pot. The selection is not as wide as Chifyajya - you can either order more plates of meat, more plates of veggies, omochi, or noodles. No desserts, no choices of meat (all beef!). A good atmosphere and yumminess. There is an additional nomihodai (all you can drink) option for some more yen, and there is a similar 90 minutes until last order time limit.
Pizza
Shakeys - This is along the tented shopping area at Sanjo-Kawaramachi. Just go straight back from the big Kappazushi （かっぱ寿司）. It costs something around 800yen and is all you can eat pizza. There is also curry rice, salad, and sometimes a dessert pizza (like pudding and chocolate on pizza). You can pay a little extra for all-you-can-drink soda. Honestly I felt it was just like a dining hall, and the pizzas were rather cold, unflavored, and not Western at all (too much corn and mayo!). The highlight was only the dessert pizza for me. If this had a time limit, I sure didn't need to find out.
Dessert
Sweets Paradise - This is on one of the upper floors in a tall building (the hankyu was it?) at Shijo-Kawaramachi. This place is amazing! There are about 20 different types of cakes - all cut very small so you can sample many. It includes short cake, green tea cake, chocolate cake, cream puffs, tiramisu, pudding, jello, fruits, a chocolate fountain, and ice cream. For those of you who want some nutrition, there's also a salad, curry rice, and about 2-3 choices of pasta. All of this for only about 1400yen. However, this place is so popular that, as a rule, you have to put in your name at least 2 hours ahead of time, and there's a usual 60 min or so last plate time limit.
Random
??? - I haven't checked this place out, but there's a semi-fancy, western looking place between Nijo eki and the Nijo subway. It has different special tabehodais on different days, so pay attention to the signs in front of it to see what's coming up. In recent weeks, it's had a sushi tabehodai for about 1900 yen and a steak tabehodai for about 2700 yen! It may require reservations, however.
Not-quite-tabehodai
Kappa Sushi (かっぱ寿司) - Runner up is Kappa Zushi! Not quite a tabehodai, but an amazing conveyor-belt sushi place that I recommend taking any sushi-loving tourist. Every plate, unless a specially marked side-dish, is 105 yen - which lets you pretty much gorge yourself at the price of a tabehodai anyways. Yes, you'll find rather low-end stuff here, but the place is amazingly fresh and has a pretty impressive selection for $1 plates. You will even find uni, some fish caviars, and scallop - depending on the ingredients at the time. Recommendations for the not as adventurous eater include the shrimp tempura roll (3 pieces!), the yaki-sake (lightly braised salmon), anago (yummier than the unagi here, I think), and the vanilla cake.
I hope this guide was helpful! I will let you know as my culinary adventures continue!
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thanksgiving in Kyoto
I feel I should make this blog a little more blog-ish. On one hand, I should be talking about my life and reporting back to my homies in America - but on the other hand I should be offering advice to future study-abroaders in Japan, right? So - herein lies how to do thanksgiving in Kyoto!
On a rainy Wednesday night, I googled, "thanksgiving kyoto" and much to my dismay, not much useful information came up. But there are in fact many things you can do!
1) Meidi-ya (明治屋) on Sanjo between Kawaramachi and the bridge to the Keihan line has many imported goods essential for Thanksgiving. Frozen 5 kg turkeys go for about 6000 yen (about $60). You should also make sure to buy croutons (for stuffing!), chicken stock (also for stuffing), celery, gravy mix, jellied cranberries, and pumpkin puree (for pumpkin pie) as these can be hard to find in regular groceries.
2) If your microwave-oven isn't big enough, you could try KFC (for example, the one on Teramachi) for some American-style chicken. I personally think this is too pricey for just chicken.
3) Do what we did - buy chicken breasts at the grocery store and bake it yourself:
1. Combine in a bowl about 3 tbsp cooking oil, 1 tsp of garlic powder and 1/2 tsp of each of the following: rosemary, parsley, allspice, salt, pepper. Basically we bought any spice at the grocery store that sounded good - feel free to combine whatever you want!
2. Coat each chicken breast in the mixture and then place it on aluminum foil. Add some pieces of chopped garlic if available
3. Wrap the aluminum foil around the chicken to create a pocket.
4. Cook at 200 degrees celsius (400 fahrenheit) for 45 minutes (actually probably less but my microwave oven is mad ghetto!)
4) Mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, pumpkin pie - You can find all these recipes online, my friends and I made these / winged them so I don't have many details. I recommend All Recipes which has reviews of every recipe.
5) Croutons are fairly expensive. Instead of croutons, you can buy sliced bread, toast it, and then cut it up into small crouton-like pieces.
6) It's incredibly hard to find pie crust in Kyoto! I recommend making one yourself rather than shelling out money for it. They're very easy to make. As a pie tin, I use a round aluminum shabu-shabu container (you can get one at the 100 yen shop in the basement of the Sanjo Keihan station, below Boof-Off). Then, use this recipe: easy pie crust. I recommend using less salt, like 1/2 teaspoon, for pie pumpkin.
Voila, now all you need is a bunch of friends, something to give thanks for, and you have Thanksgiving in Japan!
On a rainy Wednesday night, I googled, "thanksgiving kyoto" and much to my dismay, not much useful information came up. But there are in fact many things you can do!
1) Meidi-ya (明治屋) on Sanjo between Kawaramachi and the bridge to the Keihan line has many imported goods essential for Thanksgiving. Frozen 5 kg turkeys go for about 6000 yen (about $60). You should also make sure to buy croutons (for stuffing!), chicken stock (also for stuffing), celery, gravy mix, jellied cranberries, and pumpkin puree (for pumpkin pie) as these can be hard to find in regular groceries.
2) If your microwave-oven isn't big enough, you could try KFC (for example, the one on Teramachi) for some American-style chicken. I personally think this is too pricey for just chicken.
3) Do what we did - buy chicken breasts at the grocery store and bake it yourself:
1. Combine in a bowl about 3 tbsp cooking oil, 1 tsp of garlic powder and 1/2 tsp of each of the following: rosemary, parsley, allspice, salt, pepper. Basically we bought any spice at the grocery store that sounded good - feel free to combine whatever you want!
2. Coat each chicken breast in the mixture and then place it on aluminum foil. Add some pieces of chopped garlic if available
3. Wrap the aluminum foil around the chicken to create a pocket.
4. Cook at 200 degrees celsius (400 fahrenheit) for 45 minutes (actually probably less but my microwave oven is mad ghetto!)
4) Mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, pumpkin pie - You can find all these recipes online, my friends and I made these / winged them so I don't have many details. I recommend All Recipes which has reviews of every recipe.
5) Croutons are fairly expensive. Instead of croutons, you can buy sliced bread, toast it, and then cut it up into small crouton-like pieces.
6) It's incredibly hard to find pie crust in Kyoto! I recommend making one yourself rather than shelling out money for it. They're very easy to make. As a pie tin, I use a round aluminum shabu-shabu container (you can get one at the 100 yen shop in the basement of the Sanjo Keihan station, below Boof-Off). Then, use this recipe: easy pie crust. I recommend using less salt, like 1/2 teaspoon, for pie pumpkin.
Voila, now all you need is a bunch of friends, something to give thanks for, and you have Thanksgiving in Japan!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
No longer in Japan... dun dun dun!
Yes you read it right - I'm no longer in Japan! I'm in... Hong Kong!
This week is my fall break and a group of 7 KCJSers and me decided to hit up Hong Kong because of the cheap airfare there from Osaka. It couldn't have been a better time because 8 Hong Kong dollars are fixed to 1 US dollar - what a relief!!
So it's been amazing. In Asia, I have only ever been to Japan, and Hong Kong is such a completely different world. I really love it here, but it's more of a vacation spot than a living spot. In Japan, I feel like I have a grasping on the culture and I know enough of the language to get around, but I'm back to spot zero here in Hong Kong. When I went to Germany over the summer, I felt sort of lost and like a complete tourist, but at least in Hong Kong I don't feel as guilty speaking English to people. The people we've met so far have been really nice, and the food has been really good. And I get the best aspects of China bundled in - like getting fake Mario goods - without the crazy atmosphere of China.
I'm going to be here for another 6 days or so. I'm with a great group of 5 other girls, 2 other guys, and we get along really well. Every day we've been busy (haha not so different from Kyoto!) and we all have to take turns using the internet so it's hard to get done what I need. This year has been quite an amazing adventure and truly life-altering. I'm making such great friends, I'm so happy! :-D
This week is my fall break and a group of 7 KCJSers and me decided to hit up Hong Kong because of the cheap airfare there from Osaka. It couldn't have been a better time because 8 Hong Kong dollars are fixed to 1 US dollar - what a relief!!
So it's been amazing. In Asia, I have only ever been to Japan, and Hong Kong is such a completely different world. I really love it here, but it's more of a vacation spot than a living spot. In Japan, I feel like I have a grasping on the culture and I know enough of the language to get around, but I'm back to spot zero here in Hong Kong. When I went to Germany over the summer, I felt sort of lost and like a complete tourist, but at least in Hong Kong I don't feel as guilty speaking English to people. The people we've met so far have been really nice, and the food has been really good. And I get the best aspects of China bundled in - like getting fake Mario goods - without the crazy atmosphere of China.
I'm going to be here for another 6 days or so. I'm with a great group of 5 other girls, 2 other guys, and we get along really well. Every day we've been busy (haha not so different from Kyoto!) and we all have to take turns using the internet so it's hard to get done what I need. This year has been quite an amazing adventure and truly life-altering. I'm making such great friends, I'm so happy! :-D
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Videos from a Kyoto Schools Matsuri!
Gehhh I'm so bad at posting! I suppose ultimately it's difficult. I have a lot of stuff to say about the KCJS program, KCJS students, etc, but because this is a publicly accessible blog I feel like I have to keep things toned down. And at the same time I feel like I often have to supplement things with background explanations so that anyone can understand what's going on, not just my family friends. Sigh - it's difficult!
But as always, I've been a busy and active girl. This weekend I went to the Suntory Whiskey factory (yum yum yummy!), Nara, and Osaka! What a crazy sightseeing weekend. And yet I still might be able to sleep before midnight tonight? (Haha just wishful thinking.) At Nara there was a crazy cool concert at Todai-ji, a temple famous for having a huge, gold-covered Buddha. Apparently this rockstar was performing right in front of the Buddha and the temple was lit up in all these crazy colors. I sadly couldn't go in without a ticket, but I had fun hanging out with my friends just outside of the temple gate, listening to the echoing music. This weekend was an interesting contrast from previous ones - hanging out with 2, 6, and 1 other person for each respective day of the weekend. Vesus hanging out with 10+, as what often happens.
Each week Kay (my apartment mate) and I throw fun dinner parties, but they can sometimes get so hectic. This week we cooked Vietnamese-style spring roles, and Hiyashi chuka. Each week, we usually have 10 people come to our dinner parties or so because various people are busy each given week. But then the dinner parties started to gain momentum, and last week 20 people came! There are even a lot of people who want to come but we don't tell them about it or leave them out... which makes me feel a little bad. So we tried to keep it on the down-low this week and told people not to tell each other and not remind other people. But still somehow, one Kyodai student told another, and we ended up with 13 people (7 KCJSers, 6 non-KCJSers). It was cool and I met some nice Japanese guys (woohoo) but I hope we can keep up the dinner party tradition without it getting out of hand each week.
So, last weekend I went to a festival for universities in Kyoto. It was fun, and I thought I'd share some videos I took with the phone of the matsuri. First, there was a parade, with a band, some dancers, and below I have a video of some university students carrying a small wooden shrine-like thing (called a mikoshi). I made a wish the day before and tied it on - I hope it comes true! (I've been making so many wishes here in Kyoto, with all the temples and shrines I've been going to!!)
There were a lot of performances at the matsuri, especially with Kyoto sodefure. Here's a taste of what sodefure is (sorry for the terrible quality!)
This next week is going to be crazy - three tests (two of them three hours long blahhh), a presentation, two of Kyoto's largest festivals, two job opportunities, and then on Saturday I leave for Hong Kong! We have fall break so I'm going to Hong Kong with 7 other students for 10 days. I hope I make it through this week!
But as always, I've been a busy and active girl. This weekend I went to the Suntory Whiskey factory (yum yum yummy!), Nara, and Osaka! What a crazy sightseeing weekend. And yet I still might be able to sleep before midnight tonight? (Haha just wishful thinking.) At Nara there was a crazy cool concert at Todai-ji, a temple famous for having a huge, gold-covered Buddha. Apparently this rockstar was performing right in front of the Buddha and the temple was lit up in all these crazy colors. I sadly couldn't go in without a ticket, but I had fun hanging out with my friends just outside of the temple gate, listening to the echoing music. This weekend was an interesting contrast from previous ones - hanging out with 2, 6, and 1 other person for each respective day of the weekend. Vesus hanging out with 10+, as what often happens.
Each week Kay (my apartment mate) and I throw fun dinner parties, but they can sometimes get so hectic. This week we cooked Vietnamese-style spring roles, and Hiyashi chuka. Each week, we usually have 10 people come to our dinner parties or so because various people are busy each given week. But then the dinner parties started to gain momentum, and last week 20 people came! There are even a lot of people who want to come but we don't tell them about it or leave them out... which makes me feel a little bad. So we tried to keep it on the down-low this week and told people not to tell each other and not remind other people. But still somehow, one Kyodai student told another, and we ended up with 13 people (7 KCJSers, 6 non-KCJSers). It was cool and I met some nice Japanese guys (woohoo) but I hope we can keep up the dinner party tradition without it getting out of hand each week.
So, last weekend I went to a festival for universities in Kyoto. It was fun, and I thought I'd share some videos I took with the phone of the matsuri. First, there was a parade, with a band, some dancers, and below I have a video of some university students carrying a small wooden shrine-like thing (called a mikoshi). I made a wish the day before and tied it on - I hope it comes true! (I've been making so many wishes here in Kyoto, with all the temples and shrines I've been going to!!)
There were a lot of performances at the matsuri, especially with Kyoto sodefure. Here's a taste of what sodefure is (sorry for the terrible quality!)
This next week is going to be crazy - three tests (two of them three hours long blahhh), a presentation, two of Kyoto's largest festivals, two job opportunities, and then on Saturday I leave for Hong Kong! We have fall break so I'm going to Hong Kong with 7 other students for 10 days. I hope I make it through this week!
Monday, October 6, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Oh my this is getting out of hand
I'm wiped out, so it shall be a textual post for now. But MAN! When I last posted, I was feeling a little gloomy and lonely. It felt sorta claustrophobic living in a single apartment with no colorful decoration or exciting entertainment, and my worries of money didn't help me remedy the situation. But then bam! The following week started and I geared into uber active mode somehow. I found excitement in creating my obentos, and I bonded with people I hadn't with before. The people in this program are really great. There's one large amorphous group that most people hang out in (some stragglers stay out of the group) but so you're always guaranteed to have many friends around.
But anyways, for the past week and a half I don't think I've spent more than 2 hours of wake time in my apartment any single day. Once I'm done with one day's activity, I'm whisked off to another glorious thing with other exciting people. Sometimes I feel bad for using money on these things or not concentrating on getting my act (aka, apartment + schoolwork) together but I'm doing such exciting stuff with these people and I feel like I'm learning so much about Japan through this method of exploration. It sucks though when I buy food expecting to use it before its expiration or when I put my necessities in the laundry expecting to get home in time to dry it though... Activities of the past weeks include:
- all you can eat Korean barbecque!
- Kyoto University museum + National museum field trip
- Sanjusan something temple, with the 1001 Buddhist statues (featured in Big Bird in Japan!)
- Spa World in Osaka (amazing herb-filled onsens, saunas, and swimming pools!)
- karaoke in Shijo
- all you can eat cake (too many of these all you can eats...)
- gyoza-making party and movie night (we have a croquette-making party planned for tomorrow!)
- Kyodai circles festival (random though)
- Kyoto Imperial Palace tour
- special feast at a friend's parent's izakaya
- flea market at Toji Temple (I got a yuzu plant and Japanese chestnuts, "kuri")
- hanging out and talking by Kamogawa (river)
- exploration around Kyoto station
And other things that I'm forgetting.
I'm sort of hoping the pace will cool down, but at the same time I feel like a sudden drop would be boring.
But anyways, for the past week and a half I don't think I've spent more than 2 hours of wake time in my apartment any single day. Once I'm done with one day's activity, I'm whisked off to another glorious thing with other exciting people. Sometimes I feel bad for using money on these things or not concentrating on getting my act (aka, apartment + schoolwork) together but I'm doing such exciting stuff with these people and I feel like I'm learning so much about Japan through this method of exploration. It sucks though when I buy food expecting to use it before its expiration or when I put my necessities in the laundry expecting to get home in time to dry it though... Activities of the past weeks include:
- all you can eat Korean barbecque!
- Kyoto University museum + National museum field trip
- Sanjusan something temple, with the 1001 Buddhist statues (featured in Big Bird in Japan!)
- Spa World in Osaka (amazing herb-filled onsens, saunas, and swimming pools!)
- karaoke in Shijo
- all you can eat cake (too many of these all you can eats...)
- gyoza-making party and movie night (we have a croquette-making party planned for tomorrow!)
- Kyodai circles festival (random though)
- Kyoto Imperial Palace tour
- special feast at a friend's parent's izakaya
- flea market at Toji Temple (I got a yuzu plant and Japanese chestnuts, "kuri")
- hanging out and talking by Kamogawa (river)
- exploration around Kyoto station
And other things that I'm forgetting.
I'm sort of hoping the pace will cool down, but at the same time I feel like a sudden drop would be boring.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Friday, September 5, 2008
Finally moved into my apartment!
Now orientation is almost over - I have moved into my apartment and just one more day of a placement test. I think also last night was my last night of adjusting to the time difference and regaining an appetite. Things have been so busy that I haven't had time to watch Japanese tv or take a nice, long Japanese bath so I can't wait to settle down and have a more normal life. The 49 kids in this program are crazy! And for a good portion of them, this means crazy cool. I'm really looking forward to this year and I hope each day feels as jam-packed with awesome so I can really cherish it all to the fullest.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Starting off things in Kyoto soon!
Here's a quick look at the hotel I stayed in at Osaka. I'm now in a hotel in Kyoto meeting all sorts of KCJS students and the room is pretty much the same. The students here are so cool!! The demographic seems very different from PII's though, and I'll discuss this more later. I've already made a lot of friends though and I'm almost dreading the beginning of the serious orientation (in ten minutes) because I'm enjoying just getting to know people and exploring Kyoto together.
So sorry this video is pretty short and uninformative. My uncle (from Tokyo) helped escort me from the airport, and we stayed over in Osaka for a night and then he brought me to Kyoto. I didn't want to talk too much or be too loud in my vlog because I didn't want him to hear me through the wall and think I was psychotically talking to myself, haha.
I miss you all very much! Ja ne!
So sorry this video is pretty short and uninformative. My uncle (from Tokyo) helped escort me from the airport, and we stayed over in Osaka for a night and then he brought me to Kyoto. I didn't want to talk too much or be too loud in my vlog because I didn't want him to hear me through the wall and think I was psychotically talking to myself, haha.
I miss you all very much! Ja ne!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
What will I miss?
I keep planning this week like "what will I miss while I'm in Japan?", trying to get in all the things I don't think I'll find in Japan. But this is what I expect to miss and not miss while I'm abroad for 9 months.
What I think I'll miss in Japan:
5. My family. This gets number 5 just because it is a big duh! It would be number 1 times infinity because it's a big deal to me. My sister is starting her freshman year in college too, so I'll miss learning about a lot of her life. Along with this also is my home, home cooking, etc.
4. My school. I feel like I might be missing a lot by taking a year off. Many of my friends are graduating, and it looks like my school will grow a lot in this year that I'm away. I also have always been a year younger than everyone in my year, but taking a year off will finally use up that "extra year" and put me at the right age for graduation (22 instead of 21). It makes me sad to part with my youth, but I suppose this is one of the last times that age really aligns with year anyways.
3. American pop culture. While I was in Kanazawa last summer, I missed the coming of Soulja boy. I'm sure I'll miss a ton of other things while I'm in Japan. What I'm bummed most about missing is the election. This will be the first presidential election I can vote in and I'll miss the entire race.
2. American fashion. *Stereotype alert* A lot of Japanese people ultimatley get away with booty shorts, and some can rock V-necks, but this is possibly because of the tendency for flatchestedness and butt lackage. Unfortunately I'm not really like that... so I've been shopping like crazy for coverups and understhirts for my halters and spaghetti strap dresses. I don't like the look of layered clothing, but I'm gonna have to give in and become a clothing conservative for a year.
1. Heterogeneity. No matter how amazing at Japanese I get or how familiar I become with Kyoto, I will always be seen as a stranger, tourist, and foreigner. It'll make me smile when random people practice their English with a "hello" to me, but I wonder if I'll feel lonely, being always singled out.
What I think I won't miss in Japan:
5. American food. Japanese food just feels so much healthier, yummier, and even cheaper. I had my final meals of peanut butter, ribs, chicken tenders, cheese, and American hamburgers, but I won't be missing any of that. Cooking at home was generally Japanese, so Japanese food is fantastic for me.
4. American television. I'm sorta curious how the next seasons of the Office and Heroes will be, but American TV is full of such junk these days. A couple of months ago while working out at the Davenport gym, I remember watching "I Know My Kid's A Star" and realizing I was finally sick of all the reality TV and ready to move on. Even with just basic channels, Japanese tv is great - hilarious variety shows and addictive dramas.
3. Transportation. Though the DC metro is pretty awesome, public transit can still take forever. Kyoto looks like a compact enough city for me to be able to use my newly learned biking skills everywhere - and if I'm lazy one day I can still take the bus.
2. American epidemics. ADD, obesity, anorexia, terrorism paranoia, religious fanatacism, emo culture, hip hop culture. I'm happy to leave these behind for a year in exchange for freeter, hikikomori, aging population, otaku culture, and ganguro culture.
1. American boys. I'm excited for all the Japanese hotties! Psychh - I love men from all around the world! Still, not complaining about being forced to mingle with Japanese guys for a year. ;-)
This post may become a video blog post later on. I'm going to be in Boston for a week but I wanted to get these ideas down, so this is why it's all text!
What I think I'll miss in Japan:
5. My family. This gets number 5 just because it is a big duh! It would be number 1 times infinity because it's a big deal to me. My sister is starting her freshman year in college too, so I'll miss learning about a lot of her life. Along with this also is my home, home cooking, etc.
4. My school. I feel like I might be missing a lot by taking a year off. Many of my friends are graduating, and it looks like my school will grow a lot in this year that I'm away. I also have always been a year younger than everyone in my year, but taking a year off will finally use up that "extra year" and put me at the right age for graduation (22 instead of 21). It makes me sad to part with my youth, but I suppose this is one of the last times that age really aligns with year anyways.
3. American pop culture. While I was in Kanazawa last summer, I missed the coming of Soulja boy. I'm sure I'll miss a ton of other things while I'm in Japan. What I'm bummed most about missing is the election. This will be the first presidential election I can vote in and I'll miss the entire race.
2. American fashion. *Stereotype alert* A lot of Japanese people ultimatley get away with booty shorts, and some can rock V-necks, but this is possibly because of the tendency for flatchestedness and butt lackage. Unfortunately I'm not really like that... so I've been shopping like crazy for coverups and understhirts for my halters and spaghetti strap dresses. I don't like the look of layered clothing, but I'm gonna have to give in and become a clothing conservative for a year.
1. Heterogeneity. No matter how amazing at Japanese I get or how familiar I become with Kyoto, I will always be seen as a stranger, tourist, and foreigner. It'll make me smile when random people practice their English with a "hello" to me, but I wonder if I'll feel lonely, being always singled out.
What I think I won't miss in Japan:
5. American food. Japanese food just feels so much healthier, yummier, and even cheaper. I had my final meals of peanut butter, ribs, chicken tenders, cheese, and American hamburgers, but I won't be missing any of that. Cooking at home was generally Japanese, so Japanese food is fantastic for me.
4. American television. I'm sorta curious how the next seasons of the Office and Heroes will be, but American TV is full of such junk these days. A couple of months ago while working out at the Davenport gym, I remember watching "I Know My Kid's A Star" and realizing I was finally sick of all the reality TV and ready to move on. Even with just basic channels, Japanese tv is great - hilarious variety shows and addictive dramas.
3. Transportation. Though the DC metro is pretty awesome, public transit can still take forever. Kyoto looks like a compact enough city for me to be able to use my newly learned biking skills everywhere - and if I'm lazy one day I can still take the bus.
2. American epidemics. ADD, obesity, anorexia, terrorism paranoia, religious fanatacism, emo culture, hip hop culture. I'm happy to leave these behind for a year in exchange for freeter, hikikomori, aging population, otaku culture, and ganguro culture.
1. American boys. I'm excited for all the Japanese hotties! Psychh - I love men from all around the world! Still, not complaining about being forced to mingle with Japanese guys for a year. ;-)
This post may become a video blog post later on. I'm going to be in Boston for a week but I wanted to get these ideas down, so this is why it's all text!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
My first test blog
Sorry for the low quality video! This is me preparing for my trip, still in Maryland.
Preparing for my trip
So I'm not new to the blogging-about-a-trip thing - last summer, I blogged about my trip to Kanazawa, Japan, sponsored by the Light Fellowship. This time around, for the next 9 months, I'll be blogging about another Light Fellowship trip - this time to Kyoto! I'm very excited for my trip.
However, I realized that just simply writing a blog felt sort of limiting. It takes a lot of time to put a pile of words down and to add in photos and such. So I decided to try to do a vlog - or video blog - where I can easily express my feelings, show my environment around me, and also allow you to see how things change over time. Who wants to read a huge chunk of text anyways?
So here I present my video blog for my trip to Kyoto.
-Wilma
However, I realized that just simply writing a blog felt sort of limiting. It takes a lot of time to put a pile of words down and to add in photos and such. So I decided to try to do a vlog - or video blog - where I can easily express my feelings, show my environment around me, and also allow you to see how things change over time. Who wants to read a huge chunk of text anyways?
So here I present my video blog for my trip to Kyoto.
-Wilma
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