TOKYO >> KYOTO >> HIROSHIMA >> OSAKA >> NAGOYA >> TOKYO

Hey people! Just wanted to let everyone know that tonight I am leaving for my trip around Western Honshu... I won't be able to update -- like, at all -- until I get back. So, for quick updates and blurbs check out my tumblr here...

http://estahl.tumblr.com/

CLICK IT AND BE ENLIGHTENED.

Finals and the Beginning of Spring Break

After the amazing Winter Break, we were greeted by Finals. These finals sucked. I had six "technical" finals -- three of which were Japanese related. First we had the oral presentation of Japanese which was a skit. The next day was Japanese Final Part 1 -- kanji and listening comprehension. The following week I had Japanese Part 2 and Religion and Society. Then two papers -- one 8 pages, the other 15 pages.

Overall, they kicked my ass. I have learned that I got an 89 on my Japanese final -- all three parts combined -- and I'm pretty stocked about that. I did shit on my midterm -- a 68 or high D -- and I'm glad that I could pull such a turn around. My Japanese, I believe, has indeed gotten better. Par the course for being in Japan, eh? I have yet to hear back on my other exams, but I did the best I could; ultimately, however, I am just glad to be done with them. I felt as if I never really caught up due to me being in the hospital. C'est la vie.

During this last month of the semester, we got to celebrate Evan, Noah, and David's birthday -- and we did it in style. Two friends, Takuya and Marina, set up this big meet up in Shinjuku where there'd be drinking and Karaoke. As the title bar above suggests, it was a great time. Two songs of great importance have entered our lives, one of which is Country Roads. That's right -- THE Country Roads, you know by John Denver about West Virginia. We as a dorm have taken this song and made it our own. The title bar above is of a picture taken during "Country Roads" -- specifically the "Roads" part. Did you know there is a Japanese version? Master film maker Hayao Miyazaki wrote the lyrics for the movie "Whispers of the Heart." You should check it out, it's pretty cool.

Here are some pictures from that infamous night.

Evan on Aaron's lap

David was very drunk...

This is called a Boat Race...

Jean-Claude and Johnny

With finals behind us, a somber moment hit us all. Some people were going home and not coming back... The people returning were Johnny Stowellman, Zach Chung, Jean-Claude Mueller, and Giuseppe Ingrilli. We, I'm speaking for the dorm here, will all and already greatly miss this "nakama" (comrades). We had a "Going-Away Party" for these guys... It was a very tough time... Our first stop was "Gut's Soul", our favorite izakaiya and nomikai place (Korean food and Drinking). We ate a ton. But, our rampage wasn't quite done. Next was another fan-favorite, "Alps." Although we aren't generally liked by the wait-staff, they tolerate us and we tolerate them -- a love-hate relationship. They hate us but love our money, we hate them but love their beer.

Myself and Noah

Australia flag (as it should be)...

We drank there until it was time to mosey back, making it before the trains stopped. We head back, but not without some mischief. Stowellman decided to represent Australia with Pride. See photo to the right then one below and draw your own conclusions...

It was a cold night, too...

 With that, the following week we said goodbye to all of these lads, no friends. You guys are awesome and helped make this semester the greatest of my college career and the best 5-6 months of my life. Thank you.




Spring Break officially started February 5th, and as today is technically the 15th, these 10 days have been WASTED. Well not wasted per se, but recovering. This break, a few of us have quite the agenda planned. On the 20th, an adventure begins. Aaron, Greg and I are heading to see Western Honshu (the main island of Japan) with stops in Kyoto, Hiroshima, Osaka, and Nagoya. We will be gone until the 10th of March -- with that said, I probably won't update again until after that. But, rest assured, I'll have plenty of pictures and great stories to tell.

Until next time, guys! Cheers!

-Gregor

Mount Takao and Kamakura

Sorry for the delay in updating, Finals kind of came up and kicked me in the teeth -- I'm okay now though. Here's a continuation of my Winter Break Story, starting where we left off...

Having arrived safely from my trip to Sendai, I met up with other fellow dorm-mates and we strategized on what should we do with the remainder of our break. Kamakura and Mount Takao came up. So, the next day we woke up early and made our way to Kamakura!

Aaron, Giuseppe, Noah and myself made our way to the trains early in the morning. We arrived in Kamakura and made way to our first shrine. The image to the left shows Guiseppe, Aaron and I at the end of a walkway that goes down the middle of the road. The walkway is surrounded on both sides by trees that, I'm sure, look beautiful during spring. They were quite bare then. We meandered through the various shrines in the area, eating Sweet Potato Ice Cream and trying a mystery button on a vending machine. I got some shit tea, haha. Below is a picture of the walkway with Gigi, Noah, and myself.

The walkway of bare-trees. Not to be confused with the walkway of bear-trees, that's quite dangerous...

  After the visitation of a few more shrines, we headed through the "forest path" to the Great Buddha! This was a marvelous adventure through trees and nature that I, and the others, began to passionately miss in our stone metropolis known as Tokyo. We had a few jokes going through, 「木の根がこんなところまで？」 (which means nothing outside of a few people; it's a joke from "Laputa", a fantastic Ghibli film, where the villan says "The roots are at such a place as here?")

 We stopped along a wonderuous statue of a man looking at the valley of Tokyo. He was a Morimoto, if I recall correctly. He was a lad of a man.

We finally made our way to the Great Buddha and even made it to the inside, for a mere 20 yen ($0.25). Our adventure at Kamakura came to an end with the Great Buddha, we were quite tired from the adventurous walk and shrine visiting. We hoped on the train back to Tokyo, but unfortunately some drama developed for me on the way back.



The train was quite crowded, but once it dispursed a bit, I made my way to a seat in the priority section -- an area of seats reserved for the elderly, handicapped, and pregnant. I sat happily, listening to my iPod when I glanced at an ad. The ad a familar kanji, one of which I knew I studied but couldn't remember the direct meaning. I pull out my iPod, which has an app called "Kotoba!" which is a Japanese Dictionary. I was looking up this stupid kanji when out of no where, this old lady stops the train conductor who was walking by and told him to make me stop. The conductor, in the best English he could muster, told me to put it away I was in the Priority Seats. I responded, in Japanese, that my iPod was not a cell-phone -- which aren't allowed in the section. He folded his arms in an "X" shape and said "No. You can not." I politely asked, still in Japanese, "I can not what?" He pointed at my phone, and finally saying Japanese, that me conjuring spirits or whatever it is the old lady thought I was doing was not allowed. I pointed out that the man sitting next to the lady was, in fact, listening to an iPod himself. I was seconds away from telling the old lady herself, superceeding the conductor, that it was none of her business. I refrained and put it away, shooing away the conductor. But, I would not give up without a fight. This old lady chose the wrong gaijin on the wrong day to discriminate. I was pissed at this blatant discrimination, but instead of shouting at the old lady I used a much more proven gaijin tactic: intimidation. Now, quite simply, I scowled at the woman. My goatee was in full douche-mode and my eye brows were pressed, my frown was worn proudly and my eyes were fixated on the cause... The old lady knew she had met her match. Now, with eyes unclouded, I starred her down. If I could conjure spirits, cast magic, or whatever it is she thought I was doing with my iPod -- heaven forbid I was actually trying to learn her own f'n language -- then I was doing it, this time to her. She got of the the train at the next stop, which was two minutes after telling the conductor her nonsense. That infuriated me more. Not only did she not mind her business, but she chose to right before getting off the damn train. I should have told her to go f' off --in German or something.

My mood fouled of Kamakura due to this old bat getting in my business. I returned to the dorm with a new hatred for old people who think they're entitled to shit. Give my seat to an old person, nope this lady ruined that for you. Previously, I would've been happy to give my seat for an old person -- probably because they just scare me -- but NO MORE. Move out of the way so an old person can walk by, NOPE I'M GAIJIN I'M IN YOUR WAY. LOL.

Seriously, though. Old People, mind your business; or at least be equal about the business you're minding. That guy next to you is much more of a threat to you then I am sitting adjasent to you.

Noah, Rob, Ciran, and Alex

Moving on, the next day we made our way up to Takao-san. Recently, I learned that the "-san" suffix on the end of the name for a mountain is not the same as the "-san" suffix for people. It is actually the chinese reading of the Kanji for mountain, 山. The more you know. This walk killed me, haha...  The group who decided to tackle Mount Takao was Noah, Rob, Ciran, Alex and myself. As I stated, the climbing of the mountain was tough. We decided we were manly men and ascend the path instead of taking the lift. We felt like kings once we reached the top, very tired kings. There was quite the line for a Shrine at the top, we couldn't figure out why though. A view from one of the paths can be seen below...

Tokyo is truly big and wonderuous

 The view from the summit was extraordinary, one could see for miles as it was a clear beautiful day. Once at the top, we were greeted by a magnificent view of the original Lad, Mount Fuji.

Fuji looms in the distance while a Ferris Wheel sits in the foreground.

 Our descent of the mountain was met with no problems; we were, however, running out of daylight. We made it in time for the the sun to set and we happliy boarded the train. This time, I steered clear of the priority section and old people. We were only told that we were noisy twice on the trip. One time, we confronted the person who mentioned it and they panicked. "Uh, oh! They're learning our language!" Listen, Gaijin are here to stay -- deal with it. We weren't even loud, either, we were just conversing in English.

With Mount Takao and Kamakura done, the Winter Break was nearing its end. New Years Eve was upon us before we knew it and plans were set into motion. I don't remember the night too well, but I celebrated the New Year with a Beer in hand and welcomed 2011 happily. 2010, a year of many changes -- a lot of them bad -- ended. 2011, a New Year one of which will bring us happiness and renewal is upon us!

Happy New Year Everyone! Until next time... The next topic is Finals and the beginning of Spring Break (yeah, I know it's already here...)