Onuma

Just got back from Onuma, which was a lot of fun. First there was the Onuma Park, which unfortunately the group of people that I was with was not able to explore, since our lunch took so long to get.
But afterwards at the hotel we had a lot of fun. There was karaoke, sport slide, and onsen. Although it was quite embarrassing in the beginning, the hot water made it worthwhile. Definitely thinking of going to one again.

Update

On Wednesday, I went to kudou lesson, Japanese archery. It was a lot of fun, but at the same time very hard since it required the use of muscles that I don’t normally use. I would love to go more practices, if the practice place wasn’t so very far away. Today, family celebrated father’s birthday, which I found compared to US a very small occasion. I got the family some nice sweets.
I also tried out sumie painting with the person Ill be interviewing in the future. It was quite hard, but hopefully the next meeting will be better.

Update

I just got my cell phone, which is not very expensive.
The weekends were great. My host dad took me to see mountains and an Onuma park.
After that grandmother came, and I helped mother make some Japanese food. I tried the nato, but didnt really taste a lot. As far as the other dishes went, they were quite delicious.
I definetely got lucky with the host family, since they are all quite open and preparing meal with them was fun.

Host Family

Yesterday I met my host family. There were nice people and very talkative. The only problem was the information sheet, which stated that I was supposed to have a sister (6 years old) but ended up with a sister (1) and a brother (6).
Their house is slightly far away though.
As far as classes go, I got into the level I was supposed to, but there is a lot of unfamiliar kanjim which is making my life hard. Plus, added to that there are people who already took two years of Japanese in our class.

Climbed the mountain/Soba

Today, climbed the Hakodate Mountain. It was too foggy to see the main view. However, walking in the clouds was surreal and interesting.
Also tried some soba noodles, but didn't like them very much.

First Day/ Placement Tests

Today we arrived at Hakodate, which is pretty chilly. The funniest was arriving to the airport and seeing all the Russian, which made me realize that out of 3 labguages (Eng., Jap., Rus.) in the airport, I could freely read only two and the second was not Japanese.
The Hakodate International Foundation, furthermore, shares a building with the Russian university, whose cafeteria smells exactly like that in my Moscow school and kindergarden, which is also bizarre.
The weather here is chillier than in Tokyo.
And I guess the good news are that the placement is over, which is great.

Shiodome and Roppongi

Today my feet are tired yet again. I was able to visit Shiodome and Roppongi areas.
In the Shiodome area, there was a pretty interesting garden (Hama detached palace garden), sitting on water. The rest of the areas were pretty straight forward: big skyscrapers, etc.

The garden, by the way, smelled fishy (much more than Fish market, which actually didn't smell like fish at all. Fishermen cigarette were much more dominating there.) Also the pond water had a large amount of tadpoles, which you can hear here:::

And then the Imperial Palace and the adjoining Hibya Park, the first wasn't that interesting but the second was quite pretty.



And then finishing with the famous Mitsukoshi shopping mall, which had a lot of free samples.

Then I walked to Ginza, which was not that exciting. It was very similar to the Fifth Avenue in New York, some interesting building though in the area, like Kabuki-za theater::::

My feet are killing me, but today was awesome.
I started out in the morning at Tsukiji fish market, the largest fish market in the world. I was unable to catch the restaurant auction, because it was at 5:30 and traveling would mean landing in the Tokyo rush hour, which is horrible. But even then it was exciting and a great place for photography. I also met a very nice pair of people, an ex-patriot and her niece, who helped me find my way, as well as treated me to the freshest sushi dinner in Tokyo.


The fish market big view.




Some crazy fish.



That line in the upper right corner is water sprayed by this clam.

At first I didn't want to include any of my "master shots" (pictures out of which submissions to Yale Globalist will be made) but here is a shot of another strange creature;;;;

That gate as larger picture

Other pictures too lazy to post

Buddha's shoe

Shinto wedding

Shinto washing of hands place

Incense burning at Sensoji Temple.

Today was much better, I was able to find a good hostel. I also managed to get a free tour of Asakusa Temple and a pretty good deal for electronic dictionary at duty free Laox store in Akihabara. All the good dictionaries, by the way, do come with vague English instructions like the Yellow Brochure (Light issued) says. Learning all of the functions is complicated, but the few things that I can do now are pretty impressive.
As far as traveling, I was surprised how little I got lost along the way. Some stations and transfers are a pain, like Asakusa on Ginza line to Asakusa line. But most are rather painless. As far as fares go, I think going with cheapest rate and then using fare adjustment was the best idea. As far as comparisons go, I would say that Japanese subway system is less complicated than that of New York but more than that of Moscow.
Streets are perhaps harder to navigate, because of the "chome" system. I pretty much need a map every time. But then again blocking things tends to do that.
Dining was also an interesting experience. A word of advice: Do not choose the store with a lot of people nearby, because the owner will not have much time to figure out your mumblings and will become upset. Another word of advice, just say it was very delicious after its all done [my grumpy hostess actually smiled].

First day in Japan could have went better. Getting to the place where I was supposed to get to wasn't very hard. A combination of helpful people and good directions led me pretty well to the place where I was supposed to be. The only problem was once I got to my destination, apparently the place booked me for August and not June.
But since New Yorkers are supposed to survive anywhere, I have to stay for one night in one hotel, and then I am moving to a better hostel nearby
I am storing this blog, until better internet access.

Reasons for blogging/Leaving for Japan

One of the main reasons I decided to keep this blog was in order for my friends, my family, and myself to keep track of all my experiences during this summer. Plus with the time difference, it is a much easier way to contact people in US than telephone or Skype.
I only have two days left until my departure to Japan, and I am both anxious and excited. Hopefully some interesting posts will come up soon.