Exploring Hakodate

This Saturday, my friends and I have went exploring the Hakodate region. Our stops were mostly of the touristy type: the jinjas and the temples. Afterwards got some Italian food, although the Ditallini that I made today with my host mom was much better than the garlic chicken creation in the restaurant.


P.S.Мама, папа, долго от вас ничего не слышала. Как вы поживаете? Чего хотите в гостинцы?

The weekend

This Saturday I went to the cooking class, which was a lot of fun and we learned how to make two types of Japanese sweets: Manju and some other whose name I forgot. Both of them were very sweet, but quite delicious.
The master chef also made some similar sweets, but in much more challenging shapes, like mushroom and a lotus.
In the evening, my host family took me to kaiten sushi for dinner, which was amazing. The favorites of the evening were hotake (muscle) sushi and the salmon. But I have to say that the uni (sea urchin) was also quite good and reminded me of custard. Although it was about 10 times more expensive than any other one there.
Afterwards we went to the onsen (hot spring), which was quite relaxing.

the week after the break

Not much has happened. There were tests and lots of homework assignments. But over the weekend I am going to the Japanese sweets making class, which should be a lot of fun.

test and the break

On Thursday, I had my test. It went pretty well. For the break, which was four days, my friends and I went to Sapporo. It was definitely a nice break from the small Hakodate. There we went to karaoke, the old "historical" village (where I got to carry old fashioned fish barrels), some gardens, chocolate factory and the beer museum. Although I have to say my favorite was getting some Starbucks' chai latte and exploring the city.

Final Tests and the week past

I was unable to update the past week, just because there were so many things to be done. Also, last week was the time of the finals.
Past Wednesday, I went to a kimono culture class, and although the kimono might look pretty, it is actually rather hard to wear. Sitting is hard, and the belt feels almost like a corset. But overall, a lot of great information learned from that class.

Traveling with Host Family

On Saturday, my host family and I went on a little trip. First they took me to see a geiser, where we also took a foot bath/onsen/hot spring. Afterwards we went to see some ruins/excavations. I didn't really understand their history well, because everything was in Japanese. But from my host dad I understood they were approximately 3000 BC.
Afterwards, host dad made some Japanese styled BBQ. It was delicious and I got to try out some new seafood, like kagi. It was good, even though slightly bitter. But apparently not even all Japanese people can eat it, like my mom. In any case, once again they are great and I got lucky with them.

Asahi Elementary School and Sumie

This week was rather exciting. On Wednesday, everyone went to Asahi ELementary school for a visit. The kids were cute, if rather boisterous. We also learned the ika (squid) dance, which Yale kids are now planning to dance sometime in Yale (if we dont get bogged down with work.

On Friday, I went to meet with a sumie painter/teacher for my independent study. What I thought was going to be a one-on-one interview turned into a large discussion with the rest of her class. I loved the teacher and the painting. Other people were nice, although all of them were ancient. It also bothered me that they would translate the simplest of things to me in horrible English, even though they knew I am studying Japanese. I think I can understand [One only] in Japanese by now. But coming back home, I saw sunset over Nanae [place where my host family lives] Hakodate, which was pretty spectacular.