Gujo Trip (Part 1)

So this past weekend I took a trip to Gujo Hachiman, a town in Gifu Prefecture and about four hours away from Nagoya. It was... steller.

Let's me be honest when I say leading up to the trip I was not having a great time. I've been pretty stressed out for various reasons and just overall tired of everything. Like not just like- Oh man today is a crappy day. More like- Geez why is this happening here this is all stupid.

So Friday I was getting ready and didn't really complete it until 4am. This is because I was doing laundry at 2am. At least the dryers were free for once. I finally managed to sleep a bit before waking up early over viewing everything and making sure all was in order then I went to the lobby. Everyone was pretty tired, but we went to Nagoya Station, then transferred to the JR Line and eventually went on a mountain train.

Nagoya Station before we boarded the JR Line

Throughout the time it took to get up there I mostly talked to the other students from Broadway, Disney Music, Disney Princesses, What we were planning on doing, International Students, Japanese Classes, and so on. Sometimes I played Harvest Moon or listened to a song or two on my ipod. By the time we got there, Tero and Lucas were waiting for us casually. Michael and Raine joked about something and I caught some great photos of Raine. It was just a lot of fun. As we walked through the town on our way to the center It was obviously in the mountains but I didn't see the big deal about it until we got to the main section.

Waiting Game

Gujo is famous for it's  Pristine Water. It flows through the town, you can hear it everywhere. Koi live in the grates near the houses, and it is just stellar. Beautiful... so pretty...

We first stopped by the hostel to drop off our bags. On the way in Raine noticed a double halo around the sun. I've never seen anything like it. A clear halo around the sun and a second one like a circular horizontal rainbow. It was like a good omen or something. After that we went to the river bank. We waded through the water which reminded me a lot of NC rivers, just cleaner. The water was so clear, and it was so cool to the touch. Very Soothing. The rocks were slick with Algae (just like NC) so you really had to watch your step. We skipped some stones, and chilled before finally getting out and walking around the town in search for lunch.

What a sight

We finally ended up at a restaurant where we were seated in a more traditional room next to a garden. The only annoying thing was the yowling cat, but otherwise it was good. I ordered this chicken dish that was the restaurant specialty. Imagine my surprise when the dish came out covered in fish shavings.

The room with a view

Yowling Cat

Now for those of you who haven't known/been told- I hate seafood. Ever since I was a kid I jut didn't like it. Recently I've been able to tolerate the smell and eat some things with some Dashi in them however seafood as much as I want to eat it... grosses me out.

You can't see it, but that seafood dish was totally moving yo

And now I have paid for a dish.... about 8-9 dollars or so (750yen) And it was covered in the thin fish shavings that moved from the heat of the dish. I got used to the smell first soon I didn't notice it and so I just sucked it up and stirred it around and ate it, using the rice to kinda wipe out a lot of the taste. After a while I wasn't really thinking about it. Overall a victory! I was extremely happy with myself.

((Pictures will come soon, between midterms and everything else posting about Gujo is slow but I need to do it before this weekend! Kyoto Trip coming up soon))

Updates And Plan Changes

Well Well it seems like yesterday was a bit of an overreaction. For those of you that did read it before I edited it- here is what I wrote-



Such was today. Usually when I am tired my subconcious runs wild and it landed on my classes. Specifically how we are supposed to have 10 minimum in order to be a full time student. Now I know what you are thinking- You have 10 classes, Ash. Why worry?

But this is where things get sticky. One of the classes is the non-credit supplemental class.

Non Credit... 10 classes needed... my mind was haywire. I could've sworn they never stopped or warned me. I had 11 classes including it when I began was not allowed in one- 10. Switched one to Badminton... still 10. But thing is - IS IT REALLY 10?!

Overall I am just really worried, I emailed the people at the International Center and hopefully this mistake doesn't cost me something dear. I really can't afford any more bad news right now. For now I doubt I will be able to even sleep tonight. My mind will be too flooded with the horribleness of the worst case scenario.
------------

Luckily for me it was just a subconscious going wild deal. It turns out that the 10 requirement is not a requirement at all but a recommendation. So talk about relief. I think it really shook me up cause I was just so worried. But I think Justin put it in the correct words-

Unfortunately there's no sugar coating it. Just move forward and try to enjoy yourself.

Luckily it didn't come to any intense actions but still it shook me up enough that I was so afraid that things were going to fall apart.

However, le's move on to what today was like- Well first I woke up late. See on Tuesdays my classes begin at 9am. I woke up at 8:45.

I made it 10 minutes late which is an accomplishment seeing as I had to take the subway after looking semi-presentable to go to class.

Afterwards I hung out in the International Center and later went home to clean some dishes. One of my plates has a black mark on it... Anyone know a way to get it off?

Then in my next class at 2:55 we learned about the State Origins of Shintoism. Really even though Shintoism was there in Japan, the State really brought it together and asserted it. They used Shintoism as a unifying factor similar to the Western use of Christianity.

Haruna-Sensei said that it is often said of the Japanese that they are born Shinto, get married Christian, and die Buddhist.

Reason behind that is that when they are born there is a ceremony done that is based from Shintoism, and most marriages are western style and Christian style. And Funerals are Buddhist.

I thought it was interesting at least. Then afterwards we were invited to go to the bar with Haruna Sensei and the classmates. At first I wasn't going to go. I had plans to make dinner and go grocery shopping but I moved things around and went to the bar with everyone. It was a lot of fun, I ordered a lot of food and learned I don't quite like whatever beer I had (it was light and Minaye said I might like darker ones).... my Japanese friend drank my share. I instead for the most part drank water and a sweeter drink. Overall it was a lot of fun and I talked to Raine, Minaye, Miki, Ben, and Jimmy as well as Michael. Everyone was very chill and it was a great atmosphere.

However I later left cause I was getting tired. Overall my wrist has been hurting all day. I put a cool pack on it but it didn't seem to help.

I know I am so bad I have no pictures for you... so instead here is one of a random place in Nagoya!

Yaba-Cho! It reminds me of Uptown Charlotte!

 Also I hope the cats are quiet tonight, last night it sounded like someone was throwing them off the roof.

The Good and the Bad...

So today is a double sided coin-

On one side we had a solar eclipse today! It was stunning at first I thought we weren't going to be able to see it. But we were! And I even got some pictures of it. You have to look carefully tho cause it is in the lens flare and not the actual photo.

See?

The Eclipse in Full Swing

I was afraid we wouldn't see it cause of the clouds but here is the view from the roof of my building.

Overall it was wonderful and exciting however I woke up early for it and I was tired throughout the whole day. In Japanese class my notes were barely choherent and this is where Murphy's law stepped in.

Now, for those of you who aren't aware of what Murphy's Law is, let me enlighten you. Basically it is-

Anything that can go wrong, will. And in the worst possible way.

So overall a double sided day. Even reflected in my cooking- the gyoza tasted horrible, the eggs were awesome.

This Weekend

Yea it isn't exactly the other posts I have been meaning to do, but I am telling myself that if maybe just maybe I post today on something that happened recently I might get back in the habit. So here is to hoping I am right lol.

So I finally managed to clean my room to the point where it does look pretty semi decent. I mean the trash still needs to be clean and half my dishes are still soaking but I digress.

Overall I have begun to find a happiness here in Japan on my own. I think the only thing annoying is the finance issues back in America. But hopefully those will be fixed.

Friday was nice, my allergies have been acting up more-so recently so I am relying heavily on the Allergy meds i packed before I came here. We went out to a Chinese Restaurant across the street (it is so yummy there really!)

And afterwards we went to the roof and just chilled. We drank a bit and talked, most of the International Students and a couple Japanese Students were there. It was just really nice. Even if it was kinda spooky being on the roof at first I got used to it. Taro one of the Finnish Students had set up a Hammock on the roof so we all took turns trying it. It was very comfortable! Taro also had a Venom mask so it was just funny to like talk to him about American Comic Book heroes.

Yesterday I went Shopping with Maisoue and Leah. We went to Osu Kannon and we had the best Indian Food I've had in Japan yet! I was sooo happy!

Osu Kannon Temple

Such Good Curry!!!!

Giant Naan!

 I ended up finding a beading shop too which was just amazing. I was so happy! Of course I have a feeling my money will be going there now. XD XD