I got to be a ninja!

I have completed the quest of being a ninja.  Thanks much to the awesome people in Iga for making it happen!

Korankei Bridge

The leaves during the night when we walked down the hill

     Hello all!  Sorry about the long delay, midterms are here so I'm busy slamming Japanese into my head (particles are hard).  Firstly, Fall in Japan is gorgeous.  Me and some other students went to the mountains close by to look and walk around in the trees.  I've never experienced so many different shades in the leaves before, and coming from someone who grew up in an area where tourist flew in to see colorful leaves, it's a wondrous.  The bus ride there was challenging as we all had to stand like sardines for an hour and a half, but defiantly worth the knee pain!
     During the night the area is lit up so all the colors turn into something new as well and many vendors set up making it like a festival. I finally picked up a larger souvenir for myself too, which I will show everyone eventually once I have enough things to make a video about.

Chubby Genes

So at Okazaki Castle there was a goldfish showing and I couldn't help but feel sorry for these fish.  Are they cute? Yes.  They are, however, also barely able to swim because of the tumor looking growths on their bodies.  Even their bodies are oddly proportioned making it hard to swim.  Either way they are fun to watch, despite the genetics that were breed into them.  In some way they had an oaf-like innocence.  I'll post more on the castle later when I have time and midterms are not knocking at the door.  Wish me luck, though it's mostly just papers this go around.

Ninja Mosquitoes

Japanese mosquitoes are smart.  You may think that is a strange or stupid statement, but I am being 100% serious when I say they are the Einsteins of all mosquitoes.  There are a number of reasons I have thought about in depth on the matter, but every time I come back to thinking about every flaw the slow and unthinking ones have back home and review the fact these misquotes have no flaw.  Let me go through the basics for you.

1. These jerks are lightning fast. Seriously I moved my hand to kill one bitting me on my other hand and it somehow dodged, landed, and starting to bite the hand I went to swat it with!

2. They don't rely on numbers but stealth.  Back home the Mosquitoes would overwhelm you with numbers and distract you from killing ones that landed on you as they all frantically tried to bite you.  Here they land nearby and sometimes walk up to you.  Yes not fly but literally hustle their butts over and up your clothes which you think would protect you right?  NOPE.

Found from: https://cameronwebb.files.wordpress.com/
2014/07/aedes_albopictus_stevedoggett.jpg

3. They bite through clothing.  Back home no problem, if I wore long sleeves they couldn't bite me even if they tried.  These efficient brand of Mosquitoes bite through everything - even my blue jeans and North Face jacket.

4. Bug spray is all but like water to them.

5. Normally these bugs are loud, obnoxiously so if you are so misfortunate to get one in your room.  I wish these guys were loud or gave any warning of their presence.  They are completely silent.  In, out, done, no hesitation when it comes to biting you.

6. I hate Flying insects.

I don't actually know if this is the exact type that has been pestering me, but I have seen the one above around while it has been biting my friends.  I suppose if I had one complaint about Japan it is about these guys.

Quick Blurb

Hey all,

Just wanted to give a quick update.  I've been swamped lately with events and class work (I'm enjoying it immensely though) so I have been slacking in my social media upkeep.  Next week I'm going to go to an Onsen which I'm super excited for.  I also got a bunch of children's books to help with my reading practice from a super cheap book store for ¥108.

This is my class list:
- Elementary Japanese I
- Agriculture Science
- Science and Technology in Japan
- Biotechnology
- Special Lecture Series
- Ancient Japanese Liturature
- Modernity and Post-modernism
- Linux functions COMS 252 (from Iowa State)

On top of that, I have a language tutor so I'm super busy academically.

Anyway,
Back to Kanji!

Here is a picture of a storage room.  The spelling is beautiful.

I guess I'll go backwards?

Just another marvelous English instruction set.  What this is trying to get me to do is go to the opposite end of the subway.

Nagoya Castle

Nagoya Castle is hands down one of the coolest places I've been to yet in Japan.  I would recommend this to anyone who comes to Nagoya as it is not only  huge and beautifully built, it has a ton of historical and cultural significance for the area.  The castle is not the only thing within the protective walls, there are tons of side buildings, watch towers, and a beautiful tea house.  I don't think pictures could ever really give this place enough credit.

Nagoya castle from the Eastern side

The castle was constructed in 1612 by Ieyasu Tokugawa to make sure the Tokaido road (one of the five major trade roads in Japan during the castle's construction) was kept under control if something was to happen such as an attack from Osaka.  Due to it's positioning and a collection of other factors, Nagoya castle was heart of one of the most important castle towns in Japan in the Edo period.  During the WWII due to an air raid, a majority of the buildings on the grounds burned down; however a majority of the paintings and a few gates and watch towers survived.  You can still see these when you go inside of the castle which acts as a multistory museum!

Some acts are preformed at the castle too, such as ninja and samurai battle reenactments and shows for kids.  I came during the latter, but still had a great time watching the dramatic ninja sword fights.

In the surrounding area, you can tell the influence of the castle just by the important places such as Meijo park and university.  Other buildings dedicated to the arts are also within close proximity to the castle.

The moat that surrounds one side of the castle as viewed from one of the towers.

Flush Sound

Doors

Let me spin you a tale of irritation and personal growth.  I was standing around with some friends and we collectively decided to leave the current place we were.  You know that thing people do in a group where you just kind of start moving without thinking by following the frontward person?  Yeah, well, I walk abnormally fast for someone with my short legs, so I almost always end up as that person. This situation was no different, and I found myself just walking ahead of the group kind of just wandering toward to exit.  If anyone knows me well enough, they know I have a long history with traveling and automatic doors; for some reason no matter where I go, I always manage to have some misfortune fall upon me with these cheeky doors.

So back to the story, we approached the doorway which should just slide, conveniently, out of the way.  I stop for a brief moment out of muscle memory for the timing of the ones back in the states and my body just kind of continued forward and I pulled a Tarzan right into the glass.  The freaking door still hadn't opened!  Not even close! How do you recover from that?

I just kind of stood there, glasses askew, staring at my beautiful face art on this pristine glass panel.  No one said anything.  Not a single word as I just slowly turned around and said, "I'm hungry."  Yep, so we got lunch.  No one brought it up, until during class when one of them started making bird jokes.  Oh well, better luck next doorway I suppose.

New Friends!

Don't worry I've made plenty of human ones too.  

Mysterious Sirens

I have come to the sudden realization that I am already starting to ignore the many sirens and announcements made.  I have no idea what they mean or are, but when sirens go off so does this announcing man.  I've just kind of accepted that if something happens I will have no clue and hopefully my floor-mates will alert me.  My CA already said that she will make sure I know if something is amiss.

They are constant at about 1 per 15minutes.

Luckily the important sirens sound super unique and I will know those right away so nothing to fear there.  I hope by the end of my time here I will understand what they are saying on my own.  I guess it's just a personal goal now.  Anyway, I'm going to go study for my test coming up.

Oh Language

Just a fun little sign posted by the elevator in my dorm.

Kōshō-ji Temple

     Hey all, yesterday I ventured to Kōshō-ji which I kind of stumbled upon after exploring for a bit.  The grounds were massive and there were so many different buildings; it was stunningly beautiful.  I guess I must have gone at a good time as well because there were absolutely no crowds or really people.  There were however some food vendors giving away free samples which were amazingly good!  There was this special tea that an older lady offered me which was absolutely delicious.  I'm thinking of going back there later today to see if I can't buy some from her since she said he is frequently there.
     Once my Japanese reading skills are better I hope I can go back and read some of the signs that were around and learn some of the names of the temples without having to ask every time.  Also there was this super nice older lady who told me a little about the place and general customs and cultural practices that were used there.  The Temple itself dates back to the 17th century and was made by the Tokugawa clan.  Every 5th and 13th there is a market that happens there with local crafts and food;   also annually the 1,000 lantern festival takes place.

 

Room Tour At Long Last

Finally I was able to upload a video since I now have wifi in my room.  I think I'm going to go out and see some of the shrines and temples today either by myself or with some of the people I've met recently.  Who knows, not me.  I basically had to crash Starbucks' wifi to do my COMS 252 homework, which was mostly do to connecting to the server back at Iowa State.

Quick Update from No Wifiland

Heyo everyone,

I have been making videos and such however I can't really find any wifi that will let me do anything more than open google.  Homework has been a real struggle here and I am hoping that I can find wifi soon as I can't really download anything unless I want to chill by Starbucks for 8hrs (not even kidding).  You should have seen me yesterday trying to open a server on the wifi!

Everything is super good here, and everyone is really nice.  I am the only American staying in my building so that is a bit odd for me.  Seems like no matter where I have traveled there is always another American nearby.

I'll upload the video's in a bit.

Video Test and Quick Update

Hey, this is just a quick test video and a very brief update on what's going on with me.  By tomorrow I will be on the plane to Nagoya which is both a little nerve wracking and calming all at once.  I know that sounds weird, but I can't really explain it better than that at the moment.  Did I forget to mention it is 1:32 AM?

Another thing, before I forget, if you check out the Where Am I? page then you can actively see where I am in Japan!