first field trip

this weekend i have wonderful news to report! i was lucky to go on a field trip my school was putting on the beautiful countryside of gifu prefecture. we went to a world heritage site/historical site called suganuma village that had gassho-style houses. for reference what a gassho-style house is, i bring you pictures of the houses:



gassho-style houses are known for their roofs as they help utilize space and are perfect to protect from severe weather in which this area is known for (VERY cold winters and humid summers). they were also famous for the raising silkworms and the silk that came from them. they are not made with any metal, not even nails, just rope and wood.















they were very tall














these are the sticks put into the roofs


this is still used today by residents as their actual houses. these houses were in danger after WWII, so it was placed that these and a few others in other areas of japan would be become national historical sites. we went to two different parts. the first part was more like an actual small rift in time to the past. the scenery was amazingly beautiful all around and it was extremely peaceful.

then it was time to go to another area of the village. this village was actually rather large, but there weren't that many houses. an entire section was almost entirely surrounded by water, however, because of the time we were visiting the village, the waterbed was very dried up. in the spring it's full and brimming with fish of all kinds.

at the second part of the village, it seemed a lot busier. cars were very present in the streets as residents were starting to come home and many tourists were walking around. almost all of them were japanese, but they still stared at the rather large group of gaijin (foreigners). one old man even pointed in disgust as my legs (i was wearing a skirt that day) and another old lady glared at my friend for showing a little cleavage.

however, the day was still wonderful. here are just a few of the sites we saw inside the houses that we were allowed to go into. they were all famous for their raising of silk worms and their creation of the silk back in the older times (circa Edo era)

this area was purely for decoration and did a good job at it













such detail in such a small part of the house













and even in the screens were so decorated














this is an old fire pit were food was cooked













old shoes. the ones on the right were for the snow













the silkworm eggs. no they're not alive anymore













giant table in the middle of the room that i sat around

















where the wall met the ceiling. it was really large at the top floor

















the family shrine inside the house. it was amazing


so this was only a few of the things that i saw and experienced while out at the world heritage site. it lasted all day and the bus ride was 2 hours one way and 2 hours back, with bathroom breaks where a japanese man approached me and talked to me in japanese. i was so surprised that i forgot to speak japanese and fumbled like a stupid foreigner.

after we got back, i ventured out to get drunk for personal reasons as well as it being a resident's birthday. it was a lot of fun and we even found freshmen at the school i attend, so we exchanged phone numbers and i invited them to visit at my dorm. it was very fun.

all in all, i learned a lot and had a wonderful time going back in time. the second place was a lot more of a tourist trap, but it was still very fun with a lot of delicious food. i managed to buy a LOT of things for friends and i even nabbed the item i wanted most while visiting japan: a traditional japanese umbrella. it's purple (though i kinda wanted the red too) and has a design of flower petals wafting across the fabric. i also bought some postcards, so to a few of you, expect a few nice postcard coming your way from these beautiful places

this upcoming week is a holiday and i finally start my real classes on thursday. this week, though, is going to be full of trips. tomorrow, i'm going to osu and hunting down new places to job and, apparently, a very large anime store around there. i think it's the animate store. if that's true, i'll be able to find a crap ton of hetalia. i won't be buying any until next month when i get more scholarship money...unless i really want it RIGHT NOW (like an iggy plushie or the iggy cd)

that's all i have to report. sorry it came a day late, but it was busy today too. look forward to more reports and pictures!

~星子☆

a typical day?

nothing really special to report here, but i felt it was needed a little.

it's my last day of no classes here in 日本, and i wanted to go out exploring the town since yesterday i lazed around at the dorms all day with friends. i woke up and talked on skype for awhile with family and friends, then went to the school to have lunch with some japanese classmates we've come to know.

one of the guys invited me to play basketball and we messed around for an hour. we taught him some bad english words (heh heh), and he helped us in japanese. it was really fun and i was so happy when they said my japanese in improving. even my friend who visited tells me this as we text in japanese every day.

however, once i got back to the dorms, no one wanted to go out. two of my friends then said they were going shopping for food, so i tagged along to get some more cereal, milk, and some other stuff. a friend of mine said she'd teach me how to make doria, which is a dish i've REALLY come to enjoy eating over here. i got the ingredients needed and headed home.

at first, it seemed simple: put the rice in the rice cooker, once it's done, put the sauce and cheese over it, add the egg for the final touch, and stick it in the toaster oven. now, my bowl said that it was okay in ovens, so i put it in. i was worried the egg would explode. nope.

i know so many of you saw this coming, but here it goes.

the damn bowl melted in the fucking toaster oven. i mean REALLY melted. the food turned out awesome (save for the egg since it didn't cook long enough), but the bowl was just...yeah. it looks like a modern deco cigarette dish now. i managed to catch it before it COMPLETELY melted as i was watching to make sure the damn egg didn't explode, but my stupid lying bowl. god...

so what do all my wonderful new friends do? FUCKING LAUGH AT ME AND TAKE PICTURES! oh man, i was so... yeah, i was sad and made i couldn't cook, but i was laughing so hard. oh man, i haven't laughed that hard since i left the States. it was amazing. and then, because they laughed, i made them take me out to dinner so i could get the REAL doria. when they saw what it was MEANT to look like compared to my version, they just laughed more. oh man...

so we go back afterwards and stay up chatting about room mates and psychotic british people (clair) and just funny stories only to have the british boys tell us some really raunchy things that made some of us go bright red in the face. it was really really funny.

now, tomorrow, i have afternoon classes that i may or may not be taking. since i get the opportunity to sit in before i officially sign up for the class, i'm going to see whether or not i'll enjoy these classes. but before that, in the morning, i'm going to sakae to change my phone's e-mail as well as help a friend buy her new phone. only to have to come back, go to school, get out of school for an hour so i can make some cookies, go BACK to school for another hour, come back home, give the cookies to my friend, and then...i dunno. nothing?

friday i have a FIELD TRIP! whoo!
expect a lot of pictures and information about that on everyone's friday (my saturday)

sorry for the boring post.

～星子☆

p.s.
...no, i will not show any pictures of my stupid bowl/plate. god, i don't know why i kept it...

電話けいたい！！！

today i FINALLY got my cell phone! it is the phone of my DREAM! i love this phone!

i cannot make phone calls to america, but you can all call me. hit me up on facebook for my number (parents, i'll e-mail you guys)

here's the picture of my dream phone:














ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL! and yes, i put all my phone charms on there, including the one you made me, ali <3

















the inside! when it opens, the keys light up and make it look like snow falling and these pretty blue lights go across the top

















this is the menu. every different option i pick changes to a firework display of a different character while fireworks go off in the background. when i close and open my phone, a cute jingle goes off too.
and my phone ring tone is the electric light parade! <3

anyways, i also went around a new city today and got to have some good ol' coldstone! but no more spending any more money for the rest of the month unless it's for food. i am goooood! this phone cost me quite a bit and...yeah.

anyways! i got into the highest of the intermediate japanese kanji and language class so i'm EXTREMELY happy with myself! and best of all, i'm in it with my senpai (upper class mate) who lives with me and is helping me out quite a lot.

love you all

~星子☆

things i've started noticing

so i went out with friends yesterday to sakae station and nagoya city. it was just the four of us and we had a really good time (save for the fact we got lost trying to find big camera in nagoya city, but hey, we got home in one piece and no arguments), but while out, i people watched like crazy. usually, when i go out, it's always in a massive group of foreigners and i can hardly see over anyone's heads. when i'm in a smaller group, it's much easier to notice my surroundings.

i've begun to notice just how amazing japanese girl's feet are. they must be made out of some super substance because i have never seen anyone wear high heels voluntarily all day...in the rain. i mean, sure it looks nice and it goes with their outfits, but...it's pouring. now i'm sure it's not as if they planned for it to rain, but that doesn't make it any better. that just means they planned to walk around on a normally hot and humid day in high heels. and not just any high heels. we've got some high heel boots, high heel sandals, high heel high tops, high heels for prom, high heels for a cocktail party, and so on.

whereas the men wear crocks. dunno what's that about. but there are some guys that wear fashionable shoes too, just not as often. GRANTED i am looking at their faces more than i look at their feet.

however, there is more that i noticed.

the other day while we sat in the station at a small cafe, we saw that there was a couple that had the ability to sit down near us, but they stood and waited until a seat was made open for them to sit in and it took them awhile. i was sitting there talking to my friends about how there could be throw up near a seat or a seat open near a foreigner and they'd pick the seat near the throw up instead.

it's just a little humor i found here in japan.

AND NOW SOME PICTURES!

i went to the top of sakae station while it was raining and was watching the fountains go!



























while walking around lost in nagoya station we all randomly found a small aquarium with SHARKS in it!

~星子☆