It was a blast...no pun intended.

Thanksgiving, came and went, without much of a wimper. A brief dinner with nothing familiar mixed with being homesick was not a recipe for success. After hanging out for awhile with the other international students, I trudged upstairs and went to bed.

Friday, I woke up at around 9, talked to Jessica, and started packing for the trip. Talking to her was a good start that made up for the lackluster Thanksgiving. After Sean and I packed, we met up with our Aussie friend, Michael and talked about the travel plans. We all quickly decided to skip our class so that we could get into Hiroshima a little earlier then previously planned.

When we made it to the rental place, we paid, and loaded the car in what was a quite painless procedure. At 3pm, we hit the road.

We took the side roads to forego paying the ridiculous tolls on the highway, but, as a result, we got to see a lot of the country side. We drove through Hofu, Shunnan-City, Iwakuni and the view was beautiful. The colors on some of the trees we passed were the brightest I think I've ever seen.

After hitting some bad traffic, we arrived in Hiroshima 4 and a half hours later. However, it took us quite a while to find a hotel. We tried several hotels, all of which were full. Whether they were actually full or not friendly to foreigners is unknown. Eventually we settled on a quaint traditional style hotel that wasn't too far from the train station. We checked in our bags and headed out to find something to eat. There was a 12pm curfew as well.

We walked around for 20 minutes or so and settled on a lovely hole-in-the-wall restaurant. We all had お好み焼き which was quite delicious and a speciality of Hiroshima。Shortly after dinner, we strolled the downtown strip and found a cool little dart bar . We hung out there for an hour or two and I killed both Sean and Michael at darts. At 11:40, we made our way back to the hotel.

On Saturday, we woke up fairly early to some chilly weather. We checked out of the foreigner-friendly hotel and made reservations at another hotel nearby. This new hotel was even friendlier which we all were glad for. After we dumped our stuff, we drove to the Peace memorial park where the A-bomb dome and museum were located. We took pictures of the beautiful park and made our way inside to the museum.

The museum was simple but well-made. It was full of artifacts, pictures, and models of the atrocity that happened August 6th, 1945. I never knew what completely happened, but afterwards I felt quite humbled. The third floor was the most difficult to look at. This floor was lined with graphic pictures, models, and stories of what happened to the people of Hiroshima. Also, Yamaguchi was one of the original choices for the dropping of the bomb. Kind of makes you think...

A few hours later, we left the museum with everyone being humbled in there own way and made our ways to the shopping district. The shopping disctrict was huge with hundreds of shops stacked next to each other. I saw some crazy shit like several teenage girls dressed up as maids walking around with their mothers among other things.

After shopping we headed back to the hotel and chilled for a little bit before going out to the bars. When we did go out we ran into some other shady americans but we quickly ditched them. Eventually, we settled at a cool, but seedy-looking bar called Barcos. As the night went on, the bar became very packed and very fun. Everyone I met there was really friendly and we all had a great time together. When we left the bars, according to Michael and Sean, I laughed at a Yakuza who was getting tackled by the cops and we exchanged some "friendly" words. Good times..

We staggered back to the hotel by 3, snuck inside and went to bed.

Sunday, we packed up and headed back home. On the way back, we briefly stopped at Miyajima which is supposedly one of Japan's top 3 tourist spots. It's famous for it's large Tori gate and it's supposed floating shrine. Anyway, we took a ferry to this small yet impressive island and looked around for a bit. There were tame deer everywhere you turned..craziness. After about an hour we left and headed back home. The weekend was a wonderful change of pace..

The pictures from the trip are up...

Minor ephiphanies.. / Quick update

A person learns most when they're isolated from the people and things that they love. Thoughts clouded by the everyday mundane become much more clearer; lessons learned more visible. Ultimately, self awareness becomes more pronounced.

These minor ephiphanies have helped me to step back from the anger displayed in last post and focus on what is really important: the time that I have here in Japan.

The experience would be a wasted one if all I did was compare Japan to the preconceived idea of Japan that I previously had. I'd learn nothing and would keep perpetuating the stereotypes that I held previously. I'm ready to move on and grow up.


For those people who actually read this blog, I'm sorry for the lack of real updates on what I've been up. This blog has turned more into a therapy for me rather than a travel journal. Rest assured, things are going better. Classes are silly, not unlike OU. It's freezing outside and inside my dorm. I've become better friends with some of the international students. I've met some Japanese people who have offered to help teach me Japanese. And lastly, I'm going to Hiroshima next weekend for 2-3 days. So if you don't here from me. Enjoy your time off, eat more than you should, enjoy time with friends and family and have a wonderfully Happy Thanksgiving.

Step 3...Culture Shock

I've definitely come down from the previous high and I find myself very frustrated. This post is just me primarily getting shit off of my chest..Don't leave comments because this shit is just temporary..
I can't stand... (at the moment)
paying $15,000 dollars for classes that are teaching me things I've learned back in Oklahoma
the language barrier
the coldness of Japanese people
the constant excuses Japanese people give
the non-straightforwardness of Japanese people and conversationsthe constant stares, especially since noone will fucking even say hello
the shyness and mass conformity of the japanese
the constant dull routine of everyday
how damn cold the dorms are at night
being stuck in the dorms
how fucking expensive everything is
the fact that pizza in japan sucks
the fact that I can talk or see family and friends
the fact that I keep getting volunteered to go to stupid ass events where I have to talk in English and yet nobody understands a damn word
the fact that I have yet to be anywhere outside of yamaguchi

People reading this, I dont need your sympathy, criticism, or smart remarks..

I know what I need to fix, but it takes time and at the current moment..I'm fed up with a lot of shit. ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!

Reflections from the land of the rising sun

I've made it; I'm here and I don't want to leave.

The month mark has come and gone and I'm all the better for it. Reflecting on last week's attitudes, it seems that a sea change has occurred on how I view Japan.

I think the change, honestly, coincides with a rather simple, yet peculiar event. On Friday, a whole slew of people went to the cultural parade in downtown Yamaguchi for National Culture Day, an annual holiday in Japan. The whole town seemed to step out of their quiet houses and routine lives to come and gaze at all the culture that this small town holds. To my understanding, this was the first time, this huge cultural festival has been held in Yamaguchi, and I'm glad I'm here while it's going on.

For the first time, I really stood back and took all in the pleasing aesthetics that Japan has to offer and I want to see more. The history, the culture, the people are all beautiful and I feel honored to be experiencing it. I sometimes feel like an outcast, yet I feel at home at the same time; a paradox but I care not. Hell, I feel more at home than in America. Maybe this will change with time. Regardless, I'm cherishing every moment.

I've already decided a few things, however. I am coming back here as soon as I can. Maybe after college I'll come back for grad school or maybe for the JET programme. I'm going to e-mail OU, and see if there is a way that I can possibly finish my degree here or stay for another year. I wish you all could experience what I'm experiencing. I know now that I did make the right choice.

I took heaps of pictures at the parade, 200-300 photos, so expect a lot of those on my flickr account within the next few days.

Until then,

Matane.