I'm still alive! I promise. I'm so bad at this blog thing. xD; Please bear with me.
Anyway here is a bunch of pictures from the past month's events. Theoretically I should have taken a lot more pictures than I did but. Heh. I fail at taking pictures too. This doesn't combine for good blogging, does it? D; But in my defense my camera is being failsauce and suddenly deciding not to take pictures. I mean, seriously camera. You can't retire on me. At least not unless you bring me an opportune (and preferably free) replacement. >_>;
So uh, yeah! Commence picturing. :D
Mishima Street Fair
Shortly after returning from Tokyo (in fact, the day after) there was a nationwide holiday: Culture Day! Of course this meant three had to be something happening in Mishima, so there was a street fair with lots of cheap things on sale and things for children to do. They even had a monkeys doing tricks!
Shortly after returning from Tokyo (in fact, the day after) there was a nationwide holiday: Culture Day! Of course this meant three had to be something happening in Mishima, so there was a street fair with lots of cheap things on sale and things for children to do. They even had a monkeys doing tricks!
Snow on Mt. Fuji!
Shortly after that, snow appeared on Mt. Fuji for the first time since I arrived! And now there's lots of snow on the peak.
Kaitenzushi!
Kaitenzushi literally means rotating sushi--so basically we went to a sushi bar where the sushi goes around on a conveyor belt. Yum! Prices are determined by the color of the plate. I think red was cheapest, and silver was most expensive. Or something like that. haha. They also give you free green tea. :D
Japanese Traditional Dance Lessons
So Keila and I decided we would participate in this totally free (except for the cost of transportation to Tokyo) program where we could put on kimono and learn a style of traditional Japanese dance with a bunch of other foreigners at the Aoi School of Japanese Dance in Tokyo. It's a little difficult, and a little crowded, but fun!
Taco Night!
We had a party at a friends place where we made Spanish food--tacos! There was ground beef, tomatoes, lettuce, beans, rice, and home made tortillas. It was super delicious.
Shizuoka!
So Shizuoka is probably the closest major city to Mishima, only an hour by regular train. It's also the capital of Shizuoka prefecture. We went there to do some exploring, but really there's nothing to do there but shop and see the giant Gundam! :D (Gundam is a Japanese anime that is famous all over the world.) However, Shizuoka was decorated for Christmas, so I thought it appropriate to take a picture. xD We also went to KFC, per popular demand. The general consensus was that it was good but not the same. I didn't eat any, so I don't know how it was lol.
Harry Potter VII-1
OMG so we went to Harry Potter VII Part 1 AND IT WAS AWESOME. Mildly expensive (1100 yen per ticket), but totally worth it. It was so great, like I can't even explain. lol. But anyway, they give you these great little trays when you buy drinks and popcorn so you can just stick 'em in the drink slot, and voila, a handy tray right in front of you as you watch the movie. Also, popcorn and drink portions are way smaller, to no ones surprise. Haha. And just so everyone is aware, there is no smorking allowed in the movie theater. :D
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Potluck!
Shortly before Thanksgiving, we, the international students, had a potluck! It was really delicious. I made Chinese fried rice. :)
Korean food!
A friend of ours invited us to her apartment so we could eat her home made Korean food. It was delicious! This was the non-spicy version, which I enjoyed thoroughly. Supremely delicious. Nothing beats good home-cooked food.
Bicycling Around Mishima!
We learned from our Japanese friend Shoki that you can rent (or rather borrow?) bikes from Mishima Station for free and have them from 10am to 4pm. It's such an awesome idea, we couldn't pass it up! So we gathered some friends and went biking around Mishima, well, along the north-south line of Mishima, since we were short on time. But we found some pretty nice spots too. What we didn't realize was how many hills Mishima has! D;
Nihon Teien Fall Light-up Event
Last Sunday Keila and I went to Tokyo again for dance practice, and afterwards I met my friend Aya, who was the Japanese Fulbright Teaching Assistant at Wittenberg last year. We went to go see the now orange and red trees at Nihon Teien (a park in Tokyo) be lit up
in spectacular ways. It was great! Unfortunately, this was the pinnacle of my camera failage, so I wasn't able to get many pictures. D;
Aya and I also went to a traditional-style tea house in Nihon Teiei, where we drank the above green tea and ate a sweet rice paste cake filled with red bean paste. So delicious. It was really lovely to sit in the pavilion, drinking tea, and looking at the beautiful scenery. What we saw as we drank was the picture on the left in the second row. Delightful.
Shortly after that, snow appeared on Mt. Fuji for the first time since I arrived! And now there's lots of snow on the peak.
Kaitenzushi!
Kaitenzushi literally means rotating sushi--so basically we went to a sushi bar where the sushi goes around on a conveyor belt. Yum! Prices are determined by the color of the plate. I think red was cheapest, and silver was most expensive. Or something like that. haha. They also give you free green tea. :D
Japanese Traditional Dance Lessons
So Keila and I decided we would participate in this totally free (except for the cost of transportation to Tokyo) program where we could put on kimono and learn a style of traditional Japanese dance with a bunch of other foreigners at the Aoi School of Japanese Dance in Tokyo. It's a little difficult, and a little crowded, but fun!
Taco Night!
We had a party at a friends place where we made Spanish food--tacos! There was ground beef, tomatoes, lettuce, beans, rice, and home made tortillas. It was super delicious.
Shizuoka!
So Shizuoka is probably the closest major city to Mishima, only an hour by regular train. It's also the capital of Shizuoka prefecture. We went there to do some exploring, but really there's nothing to do there but shop and see the giant Gundam! :D (Gundam is a Japanese anime that is famous all over the world.) However, Shizuoka was decorated for Christmas, so I thought it appropriate to take a picture. xD We also went to KFC, per popular demand. The general consensus was that it was good but not the same. I didn't eat any, so I don't know how it was lol.
Harry Potter VII-1
OMG so we went to Harry Potter VII Part 1 AND IT WAS AWESOME. Mildly expensive (1100 yen per ticket), but totally worth it. It was so great, like I can't even explain. lol. But anyway, they give you these great little trays when you buy drinks and popcorn so you can just stick 'em in the drink slot, and voila, a handy tray right in front of you as you watch the movie. Also, popcorn and drink portions are way smaller, to no ones surprise. Haha. And just so everyone is aware, there is no smorking allowed in the movie theater. :D
e
Potluck!
Shortly before Thanksgiving, we, the international students, had a potluck! It was really delicious. I made Chinese fried rice. :)
Korean food!
A friend of ours invited us to her apartment so we could eat her home made Korean food. It was delicious! This was the non-spicy version, which I enjoyed thoroughly. Supremely delicious. Nothing beats good home-cooked food.
Bicycling Around Mishima!
We learned from our Japanese friend Shoki that you can rent (or rather borrow?) bikes from Mishima Station for free and have them from 10am to 4pm. It's such an awesome idea, we couldn't pass it up! So we gathered some friends and went biking around Mishima, well, along the north-south line of Mishima, since we were short on time. But we found some pretty nice spots too. What we didn't realize was how many hills Mishima has! D;
Nihon Teien Fall Light-up Event
Last Sunday Keila and I went to Tokyo again for dance practice, and afterwards I met my friend Aya, who was the Japanese Fulbright Teaching Assistant at Wittenberg last year. We went to go see the now orange and red trees at Nihon Teien (a park in Tokyo) be lit up
in spectacular ways. It was great! Unfortunately, this was the pinnacle of my camera failage, so I wasn't able to get many pictures. D;
Aya and I also went to a traditional-style tea house in Nihon Teiei, where we drank the above green tea and ate a sweet rice paste cake filled with red bean paste. So delicious. It was really lovely to sit in the pavilion, drinking tea, and looking at the beautiful scenery. What we saw as we drank was the picture on the left in the second row. Delightful.Below is a decorated street that goes straight through Shinjuku Station. Very Christmas-y!
Tonkatsu Party!
Some friends came over and we made tonkatsu together. Tonkatsu is breaded pork cutlet fried in oil. It's soo delicious! Our instructor was Yuriko, who is a really great chef. So delicious! Afterwards we played uno. haha.
Tofu for miso soup! :D
So yeah, that's about the summing up of November's events! It's now December, and the spirit of Christmas is in the air! Plans are not yet solidified for our 2-week break but I believe we will probably be going to Tokyo for Christmas and Hakone shortly afterwards. There is also going to be a potluck/slumber party for all girls the day classes end, so that will be fun. I'll try and post in this place more often. I'll shoot for once a week? No guarantees though. Haha.
Some friends came over and we made tonkatsu together. Tonkatsu is breaded pork cutlet fried in oil. It's soo delicious! Our instructor was Yuriko, who is a really great chef. So delicious! Afterwards we played uno. haha.
Tofu for miso soup! :D
So yeah, that's about the summing up of November's events! It's now December, and the spirit of Christmas is in the air! Plans are not yet solidified for our 2-week break but I believe we will probably be going to Tokyo for Christmas and Hakone shortly afterwards. There is also going to be a potluck/slumber party for all girls the day classes end, so that will be fun. I'll try and post in this place more often. I'll shoot for once a week? No guarantees though. Haha.
