First two days in Japan

I finally made it to Japan! The first day was exhausting and a true test of my speaking capabilities in Japanese, which I found are somewhat useless for navigating Japan. So no one ever told my Japanese teach that it would be useful to teach us what normal signs say and what to ask people when you are looking for the right train. I figured it out though figured it out though.

Last night we went out to a local restaurant and I got some fried rice and pot stickers. It was excellent. Today I had takoyaki for a snack. Takoyaki is basically a ball of batter with octopus and mayonnaise and some other things inside. Its a pretty awesome snack.

Earlier today we went to Osakajo which translates to Osaka castle. Its gigantic! Its basically a museum inside but the outside its really impressive. I stopped at a cup vending machine. You put money in, choose your drink and it dispenses a cup, then ice then if fills it to the brim. I was awed by it, needless to say.

Then we came back to the hostel and Dave showed up not to much later. We were mildly worried about whether he would make it or not, which if you know Dave that should make sense haha. That about sums up the past two days. I'll get some pictures going in a while, but I only have a few at the moment.

Later.

7 days and counting...

So the past few days now, since I am starting to get close to my departure date, have been spent at work, the gym and hanging out with my friends. When I am actually involved in those things life just seems like its gonna go on the same without any change. However, when I zone out for a second and stop and think, "You only have 7 days left in the USA.", all of the sudden I get that feeling. The one were it feels like you just ran through a meadow collecting butterflies for an hour an then gorged yourself with them. I hope that conveys it well enough. Unfortunately the time periods of not realizing that I am going to Japan are great enough that I don't feel a need to open my textbooks and practice nearly as often as I should. I'm hoping that writing that down in this post will help me come to terms with that. Upon reflection, I think not. I have been practicing my capacity to eat Japanese food though, much to the dismay of one of the other students going to Japan. We ate a sushi house today and Tyler, a guy that went to Japan last semester, and I made the other student eat tuna nigiri - basically raw tuna on top of a nice ball of sticky rice. He made one of those gagging faces coupled with the "Oh my god what did I just eat?" looks. Classic!

Well thats about all that has been going on in my life. Hope it was at least slightly amusing.