Back to Toronto :(

Here I am, heading back to Toronto!  I can’t believe the month in New Brunswick/Japan ended so quickly, it literally went by in a blink of an eye!  The twelve of us spent our final week in Japan working on our final projects and preparing for the presentations (good thing we did, because the past Vice President of Panasonic came in as a panel member and questioned some of us to death!).  There’s still a load of work we have to do after we get back, so we’re not finished the course quite yet, but everything feels pretty final now that we’ve all said our goodbyes. 

Right after our final presentation, we were taken to a really really good restaurant where we had our farewell party with all our professors.  Afterwards, we packed our bags and headed off to a baseball game – Hanshin Tigers verses the Carps (sounds terrifying right?).  It was a sad game, the Tigers played worse than the Blue Jays (say what!!?), but it was amusing to watch anyways.  In Toronto, people cheer...but never the way the Japanese cheer!  The Japanese fans had full on songs for each player which they sang in unison and echoed through the stadium.  Then the carp’s fan section had an actual dance that they did in unison, it was literally one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.  The fans varied from extremely old people, to men who clearly came straight from their job and were eating dinner in the stands.  Afterwards we had our own final farewell in the 24 hour pub we spent some time in over the past two weeks.  Afterwards I tried to catch some zzzzs before seeing off my roommate at 5am, while others chose to YOLO it and pull an all nighter doing crazy stuff like climbing mountains (literally) while they still had the opportunity.  It was a pretty fun night with all of us no longer scared of the crazy rules – we snuck out like pros (without setting off the alarm this time) and we didn’t give a hoot about getting caught...yup...pretty badass. 

The next day we all went our separate ways and said our final goodbyes which was bittersweet.  After a full month of seeing each other literally every second of the day, it was hard to say goodbye and even harder knowing there almost definitely won’t be an opportunity to see everyone all together again.  Some Canadians stayed in Japan while others took direct flights to the states.  I headed to Tokyo where I caught a bus from one airport to the other.  Then I checked into the airport hotel for the night and headed back to the airport bright and early this morning. Check in literally took 22 minutes and I got to go home on Japan Airlines (I’m loving it – new movies and really good food...it’s as close as you’ll get to 1^st class without being first class!)!  

This trip has been so much fun – it’s had the ups and downs, but I’m so grateful to have experienced an exchange trip before graduating.  Making the personal connections, and meeting 11 really close and amazing friends is something which would probably be much harder during your typical traveling adventures. Overall, I think the hardest part about being in Japan was the language barrier – in some ways I think it would be easier if I looked western as most people assumed I was Japanese.  I’m so sad this summer ended so quickly, but I can definitely say this has by far been one of the best summers of my life.  From Toronto to China, New Brunswick to Japan, I’ve seen so much and learned even more along the way. To whoever has been reading this blog, thank you for coming along on my adventures with me and I hope it hasn’t been too boring.  I will of course continue blogging (this thing addicting...and a wonderful procrastination tool) but I don’t expect anything exciting enough to happen anytime soon...so until then have a good one xD 

-M

Nara :)

So, I'm awkwardly posting all of these at once, but basically I have no internet except in the classroom.  So my friend and I went to one of the buildings (we were given a key) to use the internet...and here we are at 10:30pm internet deprived and desperately trying to get everything done before heading back to the residence!!! 

Anyways, I'm finally caught up!  Today we took a field trip to Nara where we saw a number of attractions as well as visiting the Sharp Corporation.  Sharp was kinda cool - we got to see a lot of their products including their vaccuum cleaner robot (the one in all the videos with the cats riding on top) and their super high definition TVs.  We also learned about the history of the company as well as seeing the advancements in energy saving technology that Sharp's been involved in.  

Afterwards we had lunch and visited two temples: the Horyuji Temple and Tokuji Temple, both of which were really cool and again we got to practice the temple rituals.  The Tokuji Temple was especially cool where there were massive statues of Buddha and Gods, as well as an open deer park (deer represent the messengers in the Shinto religion).  It was a lot of fun, although the deer were pretty crazy at times.  You could buy crackers to feed to the deer in the park, and as soon as the deer knew you had crackers, they were after you like sugar deprived monsters.  More matcha ice cream; gonna miss that stuff <3  

KGU Campus!

-M

Osaka!

I forgot to mention that this weekend has been absolutely gorgeous weather.  Closer to Toronto's weather; mainly because it's been raining like nuts - but hey, I'll take rain over heat any day!  Also the mosquitoes are completely in love with me....I look like I have some disease...or chicken pox or something...I hate bugs.  

ANYWAYS. Our Japanese hosts took us to Osaka today which was tons of fun. We mainly spent the day shopping, but it was neat to go to the malls and I finally had the chance to pick up some souvenirs which was great.  First we went to a massive mall with tons of clothes of course (but I honestly can't see myself wearing most of those styles...) and then we rode a ferris wheel which went above the mall.  Normally I'd be peeing my pants on a ferris wheel, but it went soooooooo slowly I barely noticed it was moving.  Afterwards we went to those Japanese photo booths where they basically airbrush the photo (tons of fun trying to fit 10 people in a booth).  Then we went to the equivalent of New York in Japan which was pretty neat to see before we headed back to another mall closer to our residence since we had to make it back in time for curfew (tons of rules and restrictions at this residence, but I won't go into that...). Also, Japan is really really busy on Sundays - completely opposite to Toronto.  Most people work on the weekdays and shop on the weekend so the store hours and commute time is much longer. 

-M

Day Trip to Kyoto

On Saturday we had a day trip to Kyoto which our Japanese hosts organized for us. It was extremely fun and really really really well organized on their part which was great.  Kyoto was quite different from Nishinomiya where we're staying - for one, there were foreigners in Kyoto which seems to be less common here.  First we went to the Kinkaku-ji temple where we walked around the gardens.  The place was packed with people holding umbrellas stabbing each other with the metal part....lucky for me, being vertically challenged means I get to avoid being stabbed and instead I get to do the accidental stabbing ;D.

Afterwards we had lunch at a restaurant (I had Udon with tempora) and we walked past theYasaka shrine.  Once we got there we had to purify ourselves by dipping a wooden spoon in water and using it to wash our hands by transferring the water from one hand to the other.  We then had to put water in our hands and transfer it to our mouths where we rinsed our mouths before washing the wooden spoon and placing it back in the trough.  Then we went to a gong and rang it to awaken the Spirits.  Afterwards we put a donation in the box, bowed twice, clapped twice, said our prayer on the second clap, and bowed twice again.  Complicated?  Yep....

Then we headed to the Kiyomizu - dera temple up a mountain.  On the way up there were tons of vendors and markets (obviously made for tourists) where we bought a ton of souvenirs and delish matcha ice cream.  At the temple some people got their fortunes told, and then we went to drink in the fountain of wisdom, love and longevity.  Finally, we went for dinner at a burger joint before heading back to our residence.  All in all, it was an awesome day and it was nice to do some touristy stuff after a week of studying and working on projects!  

-M

Kwansei Gakuin University

I haven’t had the chance to write much since we unfortunately don’t have internet at the place we’re staying but to be honest, since I’m in school; nothing too revolutionary has happened. I met up with the rest of the group at the airport and we went straight to the KGU campus which is pretty nice. Unfortunately just like Mt. Allison a lot of stuff is under construction during the summer so it seems a bit weird. Oh! Also! Notice how I haven’t mentioned the heat yet? It’s because China was hotter! That’s right...I’m not totally dying yet!!! :)

Our days usually consist of a lecture and group work in the afternoon. Lunch is super cheap which we eat on campus, and sometimes after class if we have time to do something (the place we’re staying has a shower time and curfew so it’s a bit restrained) we’ll go out and cause chaos in the city ;) . Yesterday we went out for sushi which was awesome – it came around on a conveyer belt and we could also order stuff which would suddenly appear on another belt. After we ate five dishes (disposed the dishes down a vent thingy) we would watch the screen and a little game would come up. If we won the game then we would get a little toy. We won once, but considering we played 9 times (45 dishes! Whooo!) it was a teeny bit sad. Afterwards we went to a mall which I guess can be compared to the Eaton Centre (English store names included) with tons of clothes and other fun things. So far it’s been pretty awesome – although we haven’t seen much of Japan yet (we’ll get to that during our day trips) it’s nice being somewhere different and of course living with 11 other people you now know pretty well is a lot of fun too! 

-M

Tokyo to Osaka

So, everything in Japan seems to be fast - really fast.  The trains are on time right down to the minute, so even if I can't understand what station they're announcing, I can look at the time and match it to the expected arrival time!  Anyways, this morning I left the hostel and went back to the train station where I got a direct train to the Haneda airport.  There I expected I would need to be at least an hour earlier, if not an hour and a half to go through security and stuff.  Man was I mistaken....first of all the train didn't break down like I'm used to in Toronto - so I got there way earlier - at the expected time listed at the train station.  Then the security and check in basically took less than 15 minutes making me wayyy early; kudos to Japan! I spent a while watching the TV screens in the airport which was playing baseball, but something seemed a bit weird....all of the players looked really really young.  It took me a while to figure out they were airing high school baseball - the stadium and crowd were so full....I never would have guessed!

The flight was wonderful - Japan airlines is officially the best of the best.  The flight attendants were so incredibly nice, and polite....I wish the flight was longer than an hour and a half!  Right now I'm waiting to meet up with the rest of the group at Kansai Airport before we head to campus.  I'm unfortunately super duper jetlagged and once again the mosquitoes devoured me last night; but other than that Japan's been pretty awesome so far!  Definitely hotter today than yesterday which is why I don't plan on venturing outside until it's completely necessary...


-M

Toronto to Tokyo!

So, not much blogging since PEI unfortunately, but in all honesty, besides working on our project and random fun stuff along the side, nothing too much to report.  Well okay....that's a lie, we did a ton of stuff, but I was too lazy/busy to blog every day.  Sackville was lovely, and I'm definitely going to miss the comfort of a small town!  I'm especially going to miss the university res life which I got to experience for the first time, and I'll definitely miss the amazing wifi on campus!  



Last night, four of us from UofT flew from Moncton to Toronto (stopping along Montreal along the way).  I had about 12 hours before my flight to Japan & spent most of the night repacking and packing again - trying to get ready for intense heat.....again ;) Unfortunately this morning began on a pretty bad note.  I was supposed to travel with a friend to Japan where we would arrive a day earlier in Tokyo and stay over in a hostel.  Lucky for me, my friend understands a bit of Japanese, and all would be well.  BUT she wasn't able to get through the American customs as she didn't have a US visa (she's not a Canadian citizen), so here I am at the Chicago airport psyching myself up for a solo trip in Japan.   I'm equally nervous and ridiculously excited at the same time.  This should be interesting..... 
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Well the flight wasn't as bad as I thought!  It was a bit hard to sleep at times, but the guy beside me was quiet (thank god, the worse is when they start talking and you don't know how to get them to stop) and the food was moderately edible.  I was excited thinking the flight would be Japan Airlines as I heard they have really good service but unfortunately it was American Airlines instead :(  Ah well....

I took a direct train from the airport to the hostel (Guest House Shinagawa-shuku) and here I am in Shinagawa!  I was really excited to explore Tokyo a bit, but unfortunately when I got here it got a lot darker than I thought it would be, and a lot of things in the area were closed.  I walked around the main area and saw some noodle shops, regular shops and the Princeton Hotel (which is apparently the place to be if you're rich) before heading back and getting ready for my early flight tomorrow morning to Osaka!  The weather tonight is gorgeous, definitely cooler than China with a nice breeze; unfortunately it's quite unusual.  

-M