Wednesday May 27th, 2009

We went to Nara today, in my opinion the most beautiful place in Japan. There was the deer just wandering around the entire place. They were so tame, you could just go up to them and pet them. The deer are actually considered to be a national monument there, and killing one used to be punishable by death. At the park we went to see the biggest buddha in the world. It was absolutly breath taking. It was just so immense and just being there was myfavorite part of the trip. While we were there, there was this hole that was cut into the base of one of the support poles of the structure, which is the biggest wooden structure in the world. It is said that once you go through this hole you will come out enlightned. I fit through, but barley, the hole was incredibly tight, so much so that I think if I had a big lunch I wouldnt have been able to fit through. After that we went to Kasuga shrine. There was thousands of lanterns ligning the entire place. It was pretty cool, not my favorite place in Nara, but it was still pretty cool. After the temple we went back to Kyoto and wandered around and ended up at a restraunt there. I ordered crab rice, but they made a mistake and told me that the shark fin soup that chris ordered. It was actually delicious, afterwards we got some flasks and went to a arcade. It was fantastic. We played mario kart and guitar hero among others. It was a great night

Tuesday May 26th, 2009

Today we went to three different shrines, the golden pagoda, Kiyomizu, and Fushini Taisha shrine. They were all really beautiful. The first was the golden pagoda. It was a beautiful zen Buddhist temple that was covered in gold leaf. It was located in this beautiful garden. I actually have a picture that I took of it as the background of my computer. After we left for Kiyomizu, there was a large observation deck that gave a beautiful view of Kyoto. On the way back down I was able to do some shopping, I picked up a gift for my parents on the way back. Afterwards we went to the Fushini taisha shrine there were thousands of orange arches. This particular shrine can be seen in the last Samurai and Memoirs of a Geisha. It was a really beautiful place, one of my favorite so far in Kyoto. Afterwards we made our way back into Kyoto and spent the rest of the night just hanging out in the Hotel. It was good to take a night to just relax and recharge the batteries. Tomorrow we go to Nara and the biggest Buddha in the world

Monday May 25th, 2009

Kyoto is definitely different than Tokyo. The nightlife isn't as exciting, but the cultural visits are more interesting. The cultural visits are a lot more of what I expected for traditional Japan. We went to Nijo castle. The tratitional castle housed the Tokugawa shogunate. I really liked the castle, there were places that they showed that ninjas would hide in and keep watch over the castle. The floors were also made to squeak so the intruders could be heard in the castle. After that we had a lecture on immigration policy at Kyoto universtiy, one of the best Universitys in Japan. It was very interesting, and the class rooms were amazing. Each seat had its own individual computer monitor and a microphone. It was unbelievable. After the lecture we went back to the hotel and than went and had italian for dinner. It was a nice change from the Japanese food. I love the food here, but it will be nice to go back home to sandwhiches. After we went back to the hotel and decided that we were going to go and wander around Kyoto. After searching lot of bars, many of which ended up being strip clubs, we finally found one that we decided to go in. It was basically empty, there was two people in the bar. When we arrived one left immediatly and the other stayed. As soon as we sat down four bartenders came out and each helped make the 4 gin and tonics that we ordered. We ended up talking to the bartenders for a while and they were incredibly nice guys. When we went to leave, one of the bartenders walked us to the elevator, then went up the stairs and met us and led u to the door. The people in Japan are so incredibly nice. 

Sunday May 24th 2009,

After a nice long nap to recover from the night before, we decided to make another trip to Doma Doma. This time, they brought out the White Russians out in beer mugs. They were delicious, and I had four of them. Yuya brought us this time. He is too cool to hang out with us though. He looks like a rockstar, he wears a sash, dangling earings and a deep v shirt, but he pulls everything off so well. We went home around 12:30 and packed for the trip to Kyoto the next morning via the bullet train. The train was nice, and there was lots of leg room. When we arrived in Kyoto, we made our way to the Hotel. The rooms are incredible, decent sized beds, private bathrooms, central air, and a T.V. The major draw back was the incredibly slow internet, which got much better by the way. After we got settled in, we went to Gion, this is the Geisha discrict in Kyoto. The is the cultural visit that I was responble for. The tour went ok, and wondering around the district later was even better. We saw a Geisha, which apparently doesnt happen very often. There are only around 1000 geisha left. After that we made our way back to the hotel and took the night off. I really like the Kyoto, but the night life seems to be lacking compared to Tokyo. 

Friday May 22, 2009

We had a lecture on Fiscal policy today, which is my policy area, so I made sure to pay close attention. The lecture was interesting, but it was difficult to follow because he got well into the details that even a Daruis, a finance major, said things were difficult to decipher. The lecture was enjoyable for the most part. Afterwards we went to the U.S. Embassy for a meeting with an employee of the U.S. embassy. The meeting was very interesting. In the meeting we discussed the job of this man, which was to monitor the Japanese media and to report on it. It seemed like it would be an intersting career path to look into. To represent the United States at an embassy in a foreign country. After this we went home and took a nap to prepare for the all night adventure that we were about to embark on. We planned on attending an all night club and going to the Sushi market at 6 am. The club was crazy, there was three floors of the club each with a different theme. There was a top 40 floor, a house music floor, and a hip hop floor. The hip hop floor and the top 40 floors sort of rotated in their music styles, but all in all it was awesome. After we made our way out at like 5 we made our way to the fish market. Everyone was exhausted, but the market was awesome. There were massive tuna that were being auctioned off, as well as tons of other different types of fish. The view from the top of the fish market was a really good view, and afterwards we had sushi at this place right near the market. I really like sushi, but eating it at 7am was not fun. It cost 21 dollars as well, but over all the night and morning were alot of fun. I need to pass out now.

Thursday May 21st, 2009

Today we had our lecture with Professor Horikane, the Professor who Professor Wallin is coordinating this trip with. The lecture was on the History of Japanese foreign policy and was actually very intersting. It was especially intersting to hear a differnt side of the events that took place during the war. She has a lot of pride for Japan, and it was very different to hear the other perspective. After the lecture we went to Ueno park. This park had the a few museums as well as a zoo. We went into the Tokyo National Museum, and inside there was art work, samurai, artifacts and a Buddah room. It was a really cool museum, and it was interesting to see so much of Japanese history. Afterwards we tried to go to the zoo but it closed at 4:30 so we didnt to in. I got a churro and we ended up walking around this busy street near Ueno park. There were lots of crowded shops and food stands. We went back after about a half hour and hung in for a while that night. Around 10 we decided to go do some Karokee. We went with Yuya, Jason, Darius, Marissa, Andrew, Ahmed, and his friend. Its sad that I can remember the words to Nookie by limp bisket but have difficulty remembering things I learn in school. We left around 2 because we got a deal that we could stay all night. Usually karokee wouldnt be my style, but I really enjoy it here.

Wednesday May 20th 2009,

Today we started off the day with a lecture on the education system in Japan. The lecture was more interesting than the previous two this week, I enjoyed it. She seemed a little nervous at first but as the lecture went on she seemed to relax. The systems of education are competly differnt in the areas of what they focus on versus what the American education system focus' on. After the lecutre we had lunch at the Hawiian place again, I didnt like fish in the U.S. but the Mahi Mahi burger at this place was amazing. After we had a lecture at the office of a newspaper that was the equivillant of the wall street journal in Japan. It was really interesting, but difficult to focus due to the lecture being in Japanese then translated. The content of the lecture and the answers to the questions were very interesting. That night we went into Shibuya and ended up in a club called Casablanca. It was completly empty except for us, but it was still fun. Some of the Meiji students came with us, so it was still fun. We made it back on a decent time and just went to bed. Thats all for now

Gas Panic

Tuesday May 19, 2009

Today started off with a lecture on environmental policy. It was interesting enough, not as good as some of the other lectures that we have had but the video was interesting. It was about the different environmental incidents that have occurred in the recent history of Japan and the effects that they had on the population. Once such incident was Mercury poisoning in a lake that a company dumped waste into. It showed the effects on the local community, and on the environment. The video was the most interesting part of the lecture. Afterwards we rushed to the Edo Tokyo museum, with a McDonald's stop before hand. We were rushed for lunch because some of the people in the group needed to get to the Bunraku show that was happening at 4. The museum was interesting, it had a lot of models of traditional Japanese towns, as well as different eras of Japanese history and art. After the museum we made it back to the hotel and decided on an adventure to Shibuya. Nine of us went on our own and started off the night and a British pub called Hub. It was kind of boring so we left after one drink. We ended up at a small dance bar called gas panic. It was a lot of fun, we all did some dancing and had a good time. We had an adventure making it back because we missed the direct train home. So I navigated the way through the immensely confusing Japanese subway system, making a transfer and got us on the last train to the stop near Meiji University. It was an adventure, but definitely a good night. 

Darts and Party

Monday May 18, 2009

It was buisness as usual today, we started off the day with a lecture on the Aging society of Japan. The subject area was very interesting, but the Professors power point was massive, and he flew through the slides in record pace, making it impossible to take very detailed notes on any of the information. Afterwards we went to Ropongi Hills, but got a little lost along the way. We met up with Youyah, (spelling?), Ryohei, Daisuke, and a few of the other Meiji students for lunch at this place in Ropongi. It is a little bit expensive for what it was, but the food tasted good. Afterwards the group split up, some went to a mondern art Museum, while we went to Asakusa. There was a traditional Japanese temple there along with alot of souvenier shops. It was a really cool place, and one of the most "Japanese" places that I have been to. The architecture, food, and the enviorment was what I expected more traditional Japan to be like. We went back to the Hotel and relaxed for a bit, then went to a place called darts and party. We played electronic darts, had a few drinks, and called it a somewhat early night. 

Sunday May 15, 2009

We woke up at like eight oclock and had the buffet style breakfast again. Chicken nuggets and hot dogs for breakfast. After that we had the our group discussion and people wrote down questions to ask each other. These questions could be anything that we wanted, no matter how controversial. The session went really well. It was interesting to hear what Japanese students wanted to know about American students, and to see the reaction of the Japanese studets to our questions. It was difficult for the students because typically Japanese dont like to talk about their feelings. Afterwards we took the bus, back from Yamanka and went up to Mt. Fuiji. It was typhooning at the top of the mountain so we couldnt really see what was going on. The gift shop and food was nice though. Afterwards we had an uneventful bus ride home for three hours. Afterwards we were all wiped out so we just hung in and watched a movie. Yamanaka killed me this weekend. 

Yamanaka Retreat

We started off the day with an early 8am breakfast. The breakfast is so strange there, they mix all the foods of the day. Pot roast, scambled eggs, bacon, fish, etc. After that we had our policy and Nathan presentation. They weren't too bad, but the discussions were much more interesting after. After that we had dinner. The dinner wasnt too bad, but it will be nice when im able to pick what I want to eat. Afterwards we had a "drinking party" with the Japanese students. They were so fun, but hanging out with Roc and Professor Wallin was fantastic. It was so much fun interacting with the Japanese students in a non formal way. I had so much fun this weekend, but it would be good to come back to Tokyo. I ended up wresteling with Andrew infront of of everyone. I held my own even though he wrestled in high school. I have a massive brush burn on my elbow now, but it was fun. Afterwards we just hung out with the students for the rest of the night. We leave to go back to Tokyo tomorrow, and we will be stoping at Mt. Fuji tomorrow on the way home. I hope the weather will be better. 

Thursday May 14, Friday May 15th

The day started off with the quiz on the Nathan book, it wasnt bad at all. I definatly got an A. After that we went to the Tokyo Metropolitian office building. It is one of the tallest buildings in Tokyo, and you could see almost all of the city from it. It was absolutly enormous, I knew it was big, but I had no idea that Tokyo was this massive. After that we found a really cheap sush place, 130 for everything. It was great, and after wards we went to Karoke. It was a blast. I hate the sound of my voice but you couldnt hear it with everyone else singing. It was incredibly fun. I woke up the next morning with no voice, and boarded the bus to take us to the Meji University Guest house. Upon arrival we had an introductions. That lasted for about an hour, and then we all played a massive game of dodgeball. The Japanese students were so quick and really good at dodgeball. They said its not common for them to play it at this age, but it was really popular when they were younger. Afterwards we all had dinner and prepared for our presentation that is to take place tomorrow. We finished that at about 930, and afterwards everyone got together and had a few drinks. It was fun talking with the Japanese students, and even Professor Wallin outside of a formal setting. Hes a really cool guy. After that we went to sleep around 1 oclock, and woke up this morning and had some breakfast. We have the policy presentations at 9 this morning. Once these are over, we will be able to relax a bit, until the end when we have to write the powerpoint. Thats all for now. Ill update again tomorrow

SUMO

Wednesday May 13th

Today we did one of the coolest things that I could have imagined when coming to Tokyo. We went to sumo match. There is nothing like watching enormous fat men in thongs running into each other. It was exactly how you would think it was. Before the sumo, we had our third lecture by Professor Nakamura. It was one of the best lectures that I have ever attended. He was well spoken, extremely interested in his subject area, and entertaining. After the lecture we went to Akihabara, better knows as electric town. It was full of electronic stores, video game arcades, and five story sex stores. Seems like a strange mix, but all in all it seemed like a pretty cool place. After this is when we went to SUMO. I was so excited to go and it lived up to all of my expectations and more. Towards the end, we ended up betting 10 yen on who was going to win the match, based just on the looks and size of them. I think I ended up down 10 yen. Afterwards Professor Walin took us to his favorite Chinese restaurant. The food was amazing. Afterwards we came back and worked on our policy research and studied for the quiz on the Nathan Book. Even though it ended with studying, I think this was my favorite day in Japan thus far. 

Tuesday May 12th, 

So it turns out studying for the quiz was a complete waste of time. All of the questions were incredibly easy, and information that I would have known had I not studied. After the quiz we had out second lecture with Professor Dairokunu was just as good as the first. After the lecture we went to the Yasukuni Shrine/War Memorial. This museum is considered very controverisal because of its open support and glorification of World War II. The museum was very interesting, but the most interesting part was that at one point, an olderJapenese man asked me why I would come to a place like this. I responded by saying that by living in America, we only get to see one side of the issue. It was very interesting to see the opposite thought on a subject as intense as World War II. After walking aroudnd the Museum and shrine, we went back for dinner. I had sushi again, I can never have enough of it here. After dinner we went to Shiboya, the times square of Tokyo. It was crazy, you come out of the subway into one of the busiest intersections in the world. Its kind of overwhelming at first. We just went out to a bar there and had a drink and some snacks. We had to come back early becasue the subway stopped running at 12. Tomorrow is sumo, i cant wait.

Monday May 11, 2009

A lot happened in the past two days. On Sunday we visited Harajuku as well as the Meiji Shrine. The walk to the shrine was through the woods, and there was these structures that held barrels of Sake and Wine. The shrine itself was very beautiful. You had to cleanse your hands before you could enter the temple. Once inside, there was a traditional Japanese wedding going on. Afterwards we went to Harajuku. It is a shopping district that had anime/gothic clothing stores in the beginning, and a nicer shopping area as the road continued on. We ate Okonomiyaki, which is a type of Japanese pancake that you make at the table. All the ingredients came out in a bowl and you mixed them and cooked them on the grill that was in the middle of the table. After lunch we went and took photos with the Japanese students in a photo booth. This is apparenty very popular in Japan. It was a lot of fun. On Monday we had our first lecture by Professor Dairokunu. Afterwards we went to the Japanese Parliament (Diet) and had lunch in the dining room there. This is the equivalent to having lunch in the Senate Dining room. We took a tour of the Parliament building and afterwards we returned home. The night was spent preparing for the quiz the following day. All in all this month in Tokyo is turning out amazing, but it is flying by. 

Japanese Allergy Attacks

Saturday May 9th, 2009

So apparently my allergies are worse in Japan they they are in the United States. When we went to the Imperial Garden and were surrounded by lots of plant life. It was beautiful, but my I had a massive allergy attack there which was quite annoying. On our walk, we saw the Princess of Japan leave the Imperial Palace. The one Japanese student we were with said that she had never seen the Princess before. After that we walk were in one of the Imperial Gardens, and we happened upon the kids that live in the aprtment above Darius. They were playing guess where the tourist is from, and needless to say Darius won, by narrowing it down to street, city and zip code. After that we had noodles for lunch, and my first sushi experience later that day for dinner. I found out that while sushi in the United States is overpriced and fishy, in Japan it is one of the cheapest and best foods that I will be eating when im here. You order the sushi, and it comes aroud on a convyer belt. They also put random items on there and you just take what you want when it passes. At night, some of the group decided that another visit to Doma Doma was needed. More white Russians and shrimp with eyes. All in all Japan is turning out to be a great place to be for a month. 

Im so drink!

Awesome first day. We started off the day with a trip to bagel and bagel, and I had a bagel with honey and cream cheese. It was a strange combination but it ended up being really good. After that we had our welcome lunch at Meiji University withe some of the faculty there. They had phenomenal food there. They started off with salad, raw salmon, and curry puffs. After that they kept bringing out all different kinds of fried chicken, spicy noodles, and chicken meatballs. They also had hot dogs with egg salad and mustard, which sounds disgusting, but was actually really really good. After the luncheon we were able to meet some of the Japanese students. They were all incredibly nice and cool people. After the greeting we took a tour of the library which was enormous. After that we went to a Yomoiuri Giants game, which was one of the things I was really excited to do here, and Tom Hanks was there! It was at the Tokyo dome, I don't think I've seen a bigger stadium in my life. It was huge. We got tickets last minutes and it was only 1,500 yen, which is about 15 dollars. The seats were in the nose bleeds, but it was still an awesome time. The whole group went, as well as a few of the Japanese students. I talked to two of the students, Ryohei  and Daisuke for the majority of the game. After the game was over we went back to the hotel for a little, and then went to a bar that was close to the hotel. A group of about 21 of us went including Japanese students. It cost 2100 yen and it was all you could eat and drink. They had shrimp(which was really good, but still had eyes), fried chicken neck(also sounds gross but was awesome), edamame, and the incredible pizza. The white Russians in Japan are amazing, and I also had sake for the first time. After that we all went back and crashed. Jet lag is still running its course. We are going to the imperial palace today, and then have the night free. That's all for now

Welcome to Japan

Well after the twelve and a half hour flight and the on plane swine flu inspection, I finally made it to the hotel in Tokyo. The inspection upon arrival was interesting, four Japanese health inspector sporting scrubs and face masks, walked the isles measuring out body heat with a heat gun. After it was detemined that the plane infact was not contaminated with swine flu, we were allowed to finally get off. The bus ride to the hotel from the airport was great, we got to see Disney Tokyo and alot of the city. We got to the Hotel and were welcomed by a few Japanese students. After a quick shower and getting over the fact that four of us are crammed into a tin can of a room, we went to a Japanese noodle vending machine. I got this fried chicken-soba noodle dish, it was really good. My game plan next time is to just to pick something random on the machine. There is no english on it at all so ill just have to hope its good. After some food, we went to Meiji Univeisity to see the view from the top floor. The best view happened to be from this huge window in the bathroom, ill post a picture in a bit, but we got to see a lot of the city. All the girls were in bed, except Michelle, so 10 guys squeezed into our miniature room and hung out for a while. We all went to bed around 11:30, and all woke up at 3 in the morning. It was tough to get used to this time difference. After a few hours of restless sleep, I decided to give up and come down to the cafe. Now im sitting on my computer, drinking a coffee, and getting excited about what the rest of this trip has to offer