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!