D.A. Maxwell (awickedmemory) wrote, @ 2008-08-31 15:22:00

Current mood:

sore

Japan: 8/30-31/2008
     It's hot as h-e-double-hockey-sticks, but I love it here! I'm in Hirakata City, in Osaka prefecture. The flight didn't feel as long as I expected it to, although I ran into some issues in Taiwan when my carry-on was over the size and weight limit of what their dinky little shuttle could handle.

     Classes haven't started yet, but I feel like a chicken running around with its head cut off. @_@;

Hirakata, Osaka: August 30, Saturday

The FLIGHT:
- PDX to LA: United Express. Gate E-1, I think it was. Seat 14D. Spicy tomato juice, no meals. Arrived at about 9:30 PM and called mom so she could quit worrying and get some sleep.
- LA to TPE: Malaysia Airlines. Gate #121. Dinner was served with rice and chicken and a dinner roll, and breakfast was served with noodles and chicken and a croissant. The female flight attendants were dressed in adorably traditional dresses, while the males were in formal green suits. The colour was odd, but still looked cool. Drank orange juice and coffee.
- TPE to KIX: EVA Air. Gate D-6. A meal was served, which I hadn't expected, but I can't for the life of me recall what it was. The strange thing was that there was HELLO KITTY EVERYWHERE! It was like a huge Hello Kitty endorsement of a plane. What the eff?

     I arrived at ten minutes after noon and found my pickup group. There were some others already there: William, who went to school in Ohio but had lived in N. Carolina until a week before he left for Japan, and went to school in NJ; Eugene, who is the only one I'm still in touch with now and is geeky and cool; Towa, who is my polar opposite (really girly, into fashion and boys and jewelry and hates studying and following rules); and Paulina, who is quiet and sweet and from Ecuador. We ran around the airport taking photos, and it turned out there was a festival going on. This festival included a girl in a REALLY cute pink maid outfit (oh, gosh, the otakus must've been overjoyed), and a dance contest.
     This dance contest was hip-hop.
     And a dance contest of kids. So there were, like, eight year olds dressed like punks and skanks, with crazy amounts of make-up and dancing like sleazebags. It was really cute in a really messed up way. But man, could those kids move. What the heck?
     On the bus ride in to Hirakata City, I met two more people: Kim, who I've run into a few times but haven't talked to, and Charchy (Charshi? Charshy? Her name is Charlotte, but her sister nicknamed her Charchy...), who is from the UK and is wicked awesome.
     The strangest sight I saw on the bus ride was the truck drivers. I'm used to the huge, hulking truck drivers-- male or female-- from the U.S., but two trucks drove by to my left in succession. The first truck had a scrawny little stick of a guy driving, and the second had a pretty, slim and petite girl driving. Trippy.
     Met two of my roommates: Ann and Yui. Ann is nice, and from Pennsylvania. Yui is SUPER cute, and a native Japanese-- one of the few who live in our seminar houses.
     In the evening, took a tour of some local supermarkets and such.

Hirakata, Osaka: August 31, Sunday
     Woke up, went to the 99 yen shop (which is really a 104 yen shop because of taxes) and bought some cheapie groceries. We're not allowed to use the kitchen so all we can really do is microwave things or stick instant food in the fridge.
     Went on the Makino Station tour with Yui and Ann, which turned out to be like the Kuzuha Station/Mall tour instead. We went to the 99 yen shop (きゅうきゅうショップ), were introduced to where a few other things were, went by a few bike shops, hopped onto the train, and went to Kuzuha Mall. It was a nice mall-- large, and pretty cool-looking-- but it was all... fashion. Blah.
     Afterward, we got to have our first okonomiyaki! And it was TASTY! Yui and I were both not super hungry, so we just split a large buta-tama. (An order of pork okonomiyaki.)
     After everybody was nice and full (and everybody took a zillion photos), we went back to our Seminar Houses.