tsank you my friends

when i decided to stay in kyoto an extra day i expected it to be a quiet lonely one.
and that was ok. i had a bit more shopping to do and i wanted to relax.
but then sayaka called me in the evening and i met her eiko kunimi masumi and a new friend chisato.
we didnt do anything special. just hung out and talked. but we didnt have to. thats what makes kyoto feel like home.
im ready to come home. im tired and broke and long for my bed cat family and friends in california. but i will never forget my dear kyoto friends.
i truly love you all. yoroshiku ne ^_^
btw- richa i told kunimi to tell everyone you miss them.
i also got to see a lupin movie on tv ^_^

nihon wa totemo takai!

hey all, I decided to spend one extra day in Kyoto, as I do prefer it to Tokyo.
Tokyo is big and wonderful but a bit too big, Kyoto is far more homey.
Probably spending this day alone as most all the students that supported us are quite busy with work and school. But thats alright, I need a quiet day. I probably will spend the last couple days rather quietly, as I am quite broke from buying omiage and just the general expense of living in Japan.
Tomorrow I go to Tokyo where hopefully my hostle will now have internet access and Ill be able to upload at least some of the pictures and comment on them. I really need to as my memory cards are quite full.
I may even get my palm online from my room, so I will be able to play around at night. Im really tired and pretty ready to come home. Friends, family, I love you all but expect me to spend a day or two sleeping. If you want to see me come to my room. Me and Oscar-sama will be chillin ^^
And yes, mom, Ill be asking you if I can go a bit more into debt. While I will take it eazy I do want to enjoy my last few days in Japan. A half decent meal is ~$10, can easily become 20 with a gaijin sized stomach. Drinks (although I dont plan to do much drinking) are easily $5 and up to $10 is quite normal.
Im definately comming back tho. I think I might plan a trip in may for the sakura blossoms, and I want friends and family to come with me this time! so plan well!!

cya for now

finally the roach has come back to teramachi

the ryokan that the lovely and talented yosshi found for me ROCKS
within walking distance from everything includin teramachi st which is sure to make my ijp friends jealous
on a sadder note today is my last chance to see my former fiance and right now i feel rather alone in a crowd going to shoot off fireworks as japanese flies by my head
maybe you cant go home again
guess ill find out soon...

im going home！

yup thats right
i write this from a shikansen bound for kyoto after i change trains in osaka
its going to be great seeing all my new friends again- ive missed them since i left
yoshi and nobuko are so wonderful as to meet me at the station
yoshi even spent 2 days finding me the perfect royokan
i really must buy them dinner
dont worry i remember i live in ca but kyoto is quickly becoming my 2nd home
( ~っ~)ノ

meccha nemui

Went to Miajima island today, it was absolutely beautiful. Its an island basically dedicated to temples and shrines for over 1000 years and of course now has tons of tourist shops.

I finally got to see a beach! it was about 5 feet of beach but it was a beach! The waves were (not)breaking steadily at about 3 inches, my surfer friends are sure to be jealous. I also finally got to hike!! Of course it was up a MOUNTAIN.... >.< thankfully not NEAR as big as Saddleback (definately far more beautiful tho) but definately tiring with no water :P Btw Jason if youre reading this, I met Jeff the god of air conditioning on Miajima. I came up on a small buhhdist shrine in the middle of nowhere on the path and al of a sudden my legs were cold, it was like sitting in front of an air conditioner- so of course I sat down a bit. Jeff is my new hero too. (the only explination for this that I can think of is that the crack nearby lead to the top of the mountain, but an hour later the top wasnt NEAR that cool.)

By the time I got back down (btw it WAS worth it) most every shop and restraunt was closed (hey it was REALLY LATE.... 7pm... >.<) BUT the place I saw in the morning that I said "thats where I"m having dinner' was still open- so I got to have Hiroshima style okanomiyaki for dinner!!! (sorry to all my Kansai friends, I prefer Hiroshima style.) I also got to watch LIVE Inu Yasha and Detective Konan, sure to piss off all my otaku friends.

Miajima is designated as one of the 'three most beautiful views of Japan' No, I have no earthly idea where the other two are. But I know where the most beautiful people of Japan are- Kyoto. I really cant wait to go back.

But it has to wait. Tomorrow I'm going to see the big hole in the ground in Hiroshima and see if I come back glowing in the dark (wont I be a hit at raves then!) I hear the museum is a sight to behold, so Ill definately be doing that too.

Then off to Kyoto!!!

EDIT: cara, I just saw your blog and pictures- CONGRATULATIONS!!! http://www.dragoneyes.net for everyone that doesnt know what im taking about

im here

got to my hostel in Miajima
it wasnt my 1st choice and isnt as cheap as my 1st choice but still a bit cheaper than my place in tokyo
seems extreemly quiet in hiroshima but thats ok i could use the rest
assuming i can find a convinie to feed myself that is
once again this is from my cell but since i know it works i tried a bit harder ^_^;
to all those thinking of me i love you

sometimes on this trip i get the feeling someones missing
i may never truly know why but i guess our paths and destinations are different
i truly hope yours is fruitful
i miss u

hi there

Well, tomorrow I leave Tokyo for Hiroshima. Im at an internet caffe overlooking Gas Panic (an over rated bar, Shinjuku is better than Roppongi) atm trying to upload my pics but its VERY slow, I dont think Ill be here for 5 hrs thx so no pics right now sorry.

Yoshi-sama, the wonderful person that she is, found me a nice cheap Royokan to stay at while in Kyoto. It was definately on my list of must-do`s in Japan and Yoshi really came thru for me. I owe her forever.

Last night I was out a bit late in Shinjuku so I stayed till 6am rather than take a taxi. It was fun, stayed in "The Hub" till 4am when it closed talking to two Japanese guys so I could practice then decided to walk to the government building. I was tempted to call Jeff at 4am just to mess with him but didnt (and arent you glad)
At around 5am I came across some skateboarders and watched them a bit. Then got home around 7 adn slept for two hours before hitting a few temples and having a nice dinner. But now Im tired, so I dont think I`m going to do much with my saturday night. I have to be out of the hostle by 11 anyway.

Winston I wanted to email you but Im over-time on my hour as it is. Theres plenty of time for me to let u know what little I know about Tokyo ^^

Ja

best laid plans 2

everythings good got a hostel in roppongi disney sea was cool but brief
decided 2 stay in tokyo till mon cuz friends r here
4give typing its on a cell phone and im not sure itll work

just a few things

well, Im out in about 2 hours, hopefully get to tokyo in time to make it worth going to disney sea.
 
Amanda, I know youll never read this but I will always consider you a good friend and I`m sorry for your loss.
 
Mom, I get home Aug 2nd- guess you dont miss me too much if you forgot eh? ^^
btw- its much muggier here than Ca. 
 
Frank, thanks but I think you have the newer files. Do still keep them, but I got a friend online to get the rest.  (nice job on the laptop btw)
 
Andrea, best of luck, I will be there for you and I`m glad for any help I can give you.
 
Winston- be a survivor! They cant all be like the bitch from the 3rd floor ^^
 
anyway- ja

the best laid plans

well I`m still here and its monday night. It was `marine day` so most banks were closed, and it was just too much to do all I needed to do AND go into town to the bank and leave today.
So I leave tomorrow and wont get to disney sea till the afternoon, but thats ok.
I spent the $200 to send a 25kg bag back to the us, there was no way I could carry it and do all I wanted to do.
Tomorrow morning I leave with Jeff and will spend some time on the train calling a few hostiles to find out where I`m staying for the night. I have two hours and 5 potential places so im not too worried. I just hope I get the one in Roppongi I want.
 
Talked to a few friends today, glad to see Jeannine and Adam are doing well. Stay pure girl! lol
 
Anyway as I warned before after today the likelyhood of pics going up is low, but I WILL have internet access. Still, the best way to reach me is to send short messages to my cell phone ( check an earlier post for the address, it has a 7777  in it)
 
I will enable email blogging so I can at least post small messages from time to time if nothing else, but it looks like all the places I want to stay allow me to have inet access.
 
Anyway, thats about it. Till next time take care.

So sad....

well, I leave tomorrow.
Hopefully Ill upload all my pics today, but not now (i took about 700mb worth of pics and video in the past two days)
 
For those that notice this blog is a little empty these days, realize that the gallery is really a secondary blog, its much better to have pics to go with topics ne? (and you can post comments- DO SO!! (be sure to leave your name if you post annonomously))
 
It was really sad seeing everyone say goodbye yesterday. Most people leave today, I am staying on so I can take care of some things monday before I leave for disney sea.
 
So the tentative plan is to go to Tokyo monday afternoon, go to disney sea on tuesday with a big group of dorm mates,  then head off across the other side of japan the next morning to go to Hiroshima. However, I havent planned anything yet. Ill have time for that today.
 
I really wanted to go shopping today, but I think I`m just out of time.
 
After I leave tomorrow, internet access may be non-existant for the rest of the trip. If thats true, well I love you all ^^;;;
 
Im going to set up so I can blog by email and maybe send short rants from my cell phone (i only get ~75 characters) but if you get pics consider yourself lucky.
 
I MIGHT swing back by the school on the way back to Tokyo from Hiroshima if my memory cards are full.
 
Thank you to all that support me and think of me. I know that life goes on and you have things of your own to do, thanks for thinking of me.
 
To any of the Japanese that read this, thank you so much for opening your homes and hearts to me. It was an experience I will never forget and I hope we can keep in contact. Now its your turn to come see me!
 
Athena- congratulations on the wedding. I believe it was just a few hours ago your time.
 
Cara - the oven should be about done ne? I hope everyting goes well.
 
Mom & Dad, thank you so much for everything. I am lucky to have you.
Andrea, take care, I`m thinking of you.
Frank, get a job so you can give me $$ and I can buy you electronics (theres a really cool mini disk player...)
 
Jeanine, Adam, John, Izhar, Scott, Kevin and the rest- wish you were here.
 
Oscar, you kick ass cat, I`m sorry to abandon you for so long. I`m comming home I swear.
Willie, Hary- you too.
 

My parents rule

Thanks MOM!!!! My care package came today, of course with more food than I can possibly eat before I leave, but theyll make nice gifts for the Japanese ^^

Im beginning to pack up my things to ship them out- I think its going to cost quite a bit..... we shal see....

On the Japanese front, I have my oral final tomorrow which shouldnt be TOO hard, last full class was today. It was just too short, theres so much more I want to do and learn here.

But with class over, I wont be here much longer. This weekend is the Gion Matsuri which is a HUGE festival in Kyoto. I am going with Natsumi and her friends tomorrow afternoon but I went with Johnathan tonight (study? whats that?) because its his only night to go as he leaves tomorrow afternoon. Actually, Ill probably be going every day this weekend. On Monday, I leave to go meet up with some of the dorm rats to go to Disney Sea Tuesday. Then from there, I really dont have a clue till I can meet Johnathan in Tokyo the 23rd. I want to go to Hiroshima tho.

Once I leave Kyoto, I have no idea how or if I will be able to upload pictures or blog, so please keep that in mind. However, I do have my cell phone email, and on that note:

ADAM EMAIL ME YOUR ADDRESS

Please keep emails short, I cant send (and therefore I guess I cant recieve) emails over 100 chars (sometimes as little as 77)

Btw new pics ARE up, but theyre on a new page under the Japan gallery.
Just go to the Japan gallery and hit the next page like you would inside any gallery to see the two new ones.

Oh and for those who might be offended by any of my pics- sorry, this is a chronicle of my journey here, VERY LITTLE gets left out- basically only pics that didnt come out or long uninteresting movies. You dont have to look at them you know.

Thats it for now, jya

booo....

Well another interesting weekend, and once again I`m lagging on pictures.
Took Natsumi-san out Friday night to Kyoto station for shopping, but everything there closes at 8pm >.< so it was an early night.
Saturday was touring a couple temples and making Japanese sweets. Saturday night was a big party, Jessica from the 4th floors birthday (hmm Ill have to ask her how old) she was QUITE drunk, I carried her up 2 flights of stairs to her bed.
Sunday was the monkey park and a few more temples, then doing homework.

I still havent written my speech that needs to be given Wednesday.

and I woke up sick today...............

Anyway sorry for the short post, but I do have one big announcement- I bought a cell phone. Ill skip the rant on how much better Japanese cell phones are for now and just tell you my cell phone email address.

edroach.7777(put@here)k.vodafone.ne.jp

the (put@here) should be ENTIRELY replaced by an `@` for those of you who dont know why, its to prevent spam.

still got things to do b4 class so bye!

^_^

Last couple days have been fun and tiring, theres no sign of it letting up either.
Huge Japanese test yesterday, I believe I did pretty well on it. Mostly due to the lovely and wonderful Natsumi-san (the one I proposed to) who came over on thurs to help me study.

To repay her I took her to the Kyoto station yesterday night and we did a little shopping and eating. Problem was everything closed at like 8pm >.< So we got home rather early. (the whole dorm was mostly empty because everyone went out drinking) A couple things I DID find at Kyoto station were a battery for my camera (tho I still need to buy more) and a food importers shop that actually had pasta sauce! I told Natsumi-san I would cook dinner for her one day this week since she likes Italian food.

Something I havent done is a speech I was supposed to write by the end of yesterday, I was just too tired and lazy. Its a `hajimemashite` (introduction) speech so it shouldnt take too long once I start, but I leave for an all day walking tour in 20 mins and I`m SUPPOSED to go to a party after it at the river for lots of drinking and posible swimming (and fufillment of Targens request...)

Problem is, its pouring rain atm......

oh well, we shal see.

Sunday were supposed to go pet monkeys about an hour away from here and that evening will be my one chance to write my speech. Monday and tuesday I`m sure will be more intensive Japanese then wednesday I give the speech I havent written, thrusday I have no idea and friday is an oral test >.<

And ya, things should quiet down after that, except its our last weekend here and theres a huge festival on sunday- so I highly doubt it.

I want to spend lots of time with Natsumi-san too....

parental units- did you get my email? Its rather important... hmm maybe Ill call you now.

nothing too exciting... yet

Yesterday was quite humorous but I`m not going to tell you why just yet. Not until I can add a second part to the story and save some face.

Japanese is a hard language to learn in a month. It takes me a while to learn vocab and right now thats hurting me a bit. Still, overall I`m doing well, and the wonderful Natsumi-san is going to come over to help me study tonight. Everytime I stump her (apparently the Japanese have no word for `hang out`) she scrunches up her face and nose and I just want to melt.

Anyway, I figured out how to charge my apparent ONE rechargeable camera battery (the other two are disposeable it seems) so I can continue being a Japanese tourist again. Much thanks goes to Marissa from my floor for letting me borrow her extra battery for two days.

Some random notes on Japan:
This is the land of personal electronics. EVERYONE has a minidisk player (or mp3 now) and a cell phone. BUT, few have compuers. You go to information desks at train stations and everythings written down, no monitor anywhere. You watch tv and pretty CNN graphics are replaced by posterboard. In this electronic land, my Palm always gets stares- they`ve never even heard of them for the most part. Instead their electronic kanji dictionary (denki jisho) is always at their side (because even the Japanese cant remember 2000 kanji)
On the cell phone front- you havent lived till you`ve seen a guy on a scooter smoke a cigarette with one hand while typing email on his cell phone with the other AND DRIVING. Now I know that either Americans are idiots or cell phones cause no problems driving. Also, no-one talks on their cell phone. Dont bother asking for `her` number, she probably wont answer. (its expensive) Instead, get her cell phone email and youre in. (till you get the all kanji response)

anyway- sorry for the lack of posts, things are busy yet much seems un-mentionable. The program is already mostly over- one week left. Its rather saddening.

Parents- warning, the care package request will come after class today. If you can send it out friday great but monday should be ok too. I`m also going to have to ship a ton of stuff back. Its basically a few shirts and some camera related stuff, im guessing (not sure) walmart should have all of it.

yes, I`m alive

and loving it.
Sorry long time no post, Ive been busy and tired.
Lagging on the picture upload too, maybe tonight if youre lucky.

The homestay was FREAKING GREAT, finally got to see the Japanese countryside and had a BLAST. The night we got there we went to the onsen which was nothing like anime (all concrete) but probably twice as nice because of it. Then after helping Fumie with her english (shes got some hard words like ambiguity (who the hell uses that) and affect and effect (which americans screw up all the time) ｗent to sleep.
Next day went to Ueno to see a `ninja mura` (town) the ninja house was very cool with all sorts of cool tricks and traps. The ninja show was kinda cheezy but still cool. Then we had soba for lunch which I love and them made ceramics with a somewhat famous ceramicist (???) whos name I cant read the kanji of. Of course most of my pottery sucked, but I made one square bowl that I put my thumbprint in the side and signed my name then had Marie, Fumie and her father do the same on the other sides on. It will be a cool momento.

Speaking of Fumie san`s father (and family in general) I am forever in their debt, they were WONDERFUL hosts with a BEAUTIFUL authentic Japanese house in the countryside and her father wouldnt let me pay for ANYTHING. I really have to find somehting special to do for them.

あした午後四時四十五分に大学の前のバスていでなつみさんに会います。　大学からきょうとえきの前まで行きます。そして、晩ご飯を食べます。　晩ご飯のあとでよふくをかいます。

now dont you wish you could read Japanese ^^
if someone bablefishes it and its funny, be sure to post it as a comment. ^^

It rules to be me ^^

Last nite was freaking GREAT.

Percy-san from the fourth floor threw a party that all of us on the second floor spent the week telling every Japanese girl we could find about, so it ended up being like 3 Jpanese girls for every gaijin. (yay!)
I finally busted out the bottle of duty free only Wild Turkey `Freedom` it was quite entertaining to watch Japanese girls drink 3 drops of 106 proof whiskey and spend 10 minutes complaining about it. Too bad I dont know NEARLY enough Japanese to tell them the secret of drinking. (no matter how much you drink all at once (a tiny bit or a huge gulp) it tastes the same)

But.... the International House kicks all guests out at 10pm, so we had to go.. we went down to the river (Kana-san gave me a partial ride on her bike but I got off cuz I think I was too heavy for her) and shot off fireworks. Fireworks (and gunpowder) are a Chinese invention, so they dont have any hang-ups about it here, basically, the Japanese get the basic concept that if you set something on fire or blow your hand off its because youre a dumbass, (americans seem to INSIST on blaming someone else for everything) so you can get them lots of places, including the 100 yen stores.

Anyway, after the river, I went to a reggae party with Marie-san, my conversation partner. It KICKED ASS, I was the only gaijin in the room. Drinks were weak, and Japanese djs SUCK (guy spent the whole time talking over the music, and apparently mixing is a foreign concept (trainwreck then trainwreck then trainwreck)
Still, I got some great pictures I`m sure all the guys will love. But I`m making you wait till sunday or monday.

Speaking of pictures, I put up a weeks worth in two albums yesterday, I`m not done commenting, but its all good. Go check em out.

Onsen episode!

Yes, yes, Ive been teasing about this for several days, so now I can finally tell you. Today Im going to Koga with Marie-san and her friend (Sayaki-san I believe, I can never hear in loud places) to stay with Fumie-san (another friend of Marie-san) and her family over night before I return home sunday. In the meantime, Im going to onsen tonight (Japanese hot springs) then Sunday a ninja dojo, which is apparently quite famous world wide, and then throw clay on a wheel before returning home tomorrow night.

Admit it, youre all jealous as hell ^^

On a bitter note, I think i finally KILLED all the batteries in my camera, and it seems to refuse to take regular AA bateries, even tho its designed to. So, Im hoping to get Johnathan to get me a power plug while I`m gone this weekend.

Another bitter note, right now I should be hurting my legs at a Japanese tea ceremony, that I was totally and completely awake for, but I lost track of time so I missed. Oh well.

what to blog, what to blog

Today really wasnt too exciting. Yesterday there was a bit of a dinner party which was fun but not overly exciting. There was a Japnese drinking game taught to us which I took some videos of. (no I didnt play, I`m too un-coordinated) We have our 2nd test tomorrow which I should be studying for atm, but instead I`m here uploading pics for everyone.

I`m still not overly worried about the test, out of about 20 kanji theres 2 I havent studied before,(kawa and watashi) and I know ko/so/a/do (tho I have to read a bit on when to use which ending) the only part that kinda bothers me is making adjectives into nouns by adding `no` Sure, its not a hard concept, I just dont know enough english to know WHY the hell I would want to do that (but I can identify the blanks I`m supposed to do it in.)

Said pics wont be officially added until tomorrow, but you tech-savy people can probably hunt them down. No need tho, its better with captions.

Speaking of tech-savy, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO ANIVERSE. I leave for 3 weeks and a mass plague kills aniverse and everyone I knew on it. ICQ, Email or comment here missing friends! (btw my email should work fine now, edroach_at_edamamebeans_dot_com)

This weekend is the onsen episode of David Muyo!, but I think I`ll save the details for fri or saturday morning.

Not much else, oh ya, thanks to my fiance`s (who doesnt like me anymore but oh well) cool friend Taka, I can now get slapped in 3 dialects. Official Japanese (unsure of dialect name) which we all mess around with pick up lines in, Kansai-ben (ben = dialect), which is what Kyoto area speaks, and Hiroshima-ben, which is where Taka is from. Go up to your favorite girl from Hiroshima and say `omae wa ore no onna jyaken` and earn yourself a nice hand mark on your face (literally it only means `youre my woman` but its VERY informal)

anyway, off to study