5/17/2022 0 Comments Week 7: Making New friendsAfter Golden Week ended, some of the other UH students that were attending a different Japanese University decided to plan a day to meet up and enjoy a day together. We chose to go to Maxell Aqua Park because one of us works there. When I went to the aquarium to meet up with them, it was my first time speaking to them face-to-face. We started to learn more about one another. I learned that one of the guys delayed his graduation so he could attend the study abroad program and come to Japan. Another person I met happened to be from my high school and we graduated in the same year, but we never met each other. To add on, we were coincidentally on the same plane heading to Japan. At the aquarium we went to, it looked more like an amusement park at first. There was a large boat shaped amusement ride within the aquarium. Afterwards, we walked through some of the exhibitions and enjoyed how the aquarium used lighting and projections to make the room look really interesting. There was also an impressive dolphin and penguin show. The dolphin show reminded me of Sea Life Park back in Hawaii but better. Later on, we had lunch and walked around Harajuku for around an hour. Shortly after, we called it a day and went our own ways back home. On that same week, I joined a club at Keio University a classmate invited me to. The club revolves around traveling and going to places around the country. Some of the groups they have within the club include the onsen, ramen, foreign cuisine, ferry, railway, and plane groups. Each group surrounds around going to certain types of establishments or traveling using a specific mode of transportation. Before the pandemic, they also planned events to go outside of the country as well. I was happy to join the club because I had too much freetime on my hand that I spent in my dorm room. The club has only recently started planning events, so nothing has started yet. I joined there annual meeting so I could meet with some of the club members. My classmate was there, and I got to speak to some of the other members who understood English. I also spoke to two member who did not speak English, but spoke Mandarin. I took Chinese classes during high school and at UH, and I knew enough to get a simple conversation going. I plan to join many of there events and go to many places outside of Tokyo. The last interesting thing that I did was go to an arcade. I went to an arcade closest to my dorm and spent two hours in there. The thing that I spent the most time on was trying to figure out how to get a game card so that I could save my information and progress so it's convenient when I go to an arcade on another day. I stood in front of a machine that said 'Card Maker' thinking it was the right machine. But apparently that machine was to make a different kind of card. The correct machine was right next to it and I did not notice for a while. Once I got my game card, I played a couple rhythm games and other games. On the rhthym games, most people wore earbuds and gloves. The reason is that the arcade can get pretty loud, so wearing earbuds allows you to hear the song you want to play. For the gloves, the rhythm games requires you to use your hands and slide it around the machine. I played the games for a bit and my hands started to hurts. I plan to bring a pair of headphones with me when I go to arcades, but I don't know if I will get a pair of gloves. I will try to head to the arcades during the weekday since its less crowded during those days.
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5/4/2022 0 Comments Week 5: Exploring the Big CityAs April ends, the weather starts to get warmer and I don't need to wear two layers some days. But for the rainy days, it gets chilly and my friends and I don't want to go out since it can be a hassle. Additionally, I've started to buy clothes that protect me from the rain as rainy season gets closer which begins in June. So far, I've gotten a rain jacket to protect my upper-body. However, I need to buy water resistant shoes because the ones I have get very dirty whenever it rains. I have gotten accustomed to living in my dorm and have come to understand almost all of the rules and etiquette. I have met a few of the international students that live in the same dorm as me and have talked a few times. From the people that I've met, most of the students come from Europe and Asia. The biggest group of people I see are the French students. From what I can presume, they are a group of friends who all planned together to study at Keio University. One thing I forgot to mention in my previous post is that dorm I am in has a cafeteria on the first floor and breakfast and dinner is served on weekdays. The food being served is cheaper compared to if I bought something going out and the quality is still pretty good. There have been many days where I preferred eating the cafeteria food more than going out because it was cheaper and more convenient. The food has been different everyday. While Japanese food is the main cuisine, there is also western food like spaghetti, omelettes, grilled cheese, and other dishes. For the cafeteria alone, I am happy that I chose the dorm I am in. Going out and speaking to people in Japanese has still been a struggle as I still do not have a grasp of the language. Luckily I have been able to get by as the people I speak to get the gist of what I am saying or asking. Through the conversations that I have had, I noticed that most people do not know English. Whenever I go to a restuarant or a store and require help, I start by asking if they know English and everyone I have spoken to says no. This means that it us up to me to try and figure out a way to get my message to them. It often requires me to do a lot of pointing, body language, and trying to understand what they are saying. It usually ends up with getting the message across, but it is difficult. The same thing happens the other way around. Whenever someone asks me a question, I do not know what they asked me so the person I am speaking with needs to figure out a way to explain it to me. The thing that I am currently looking forward to are going to big amusement parks, looking at places to shop, and Golden Week. Tokyo has Disneyland as well as Universal Studios Japan. My friends and I want to go to these amusement parks and have been trying to plan a day for both places. As previously mentioned, I feel very underdressed compared to the people in Toyko. So I plan to go out and find good places to buy clothing. So far, Muji, UNIQLO, and GU have been great places to buy clothes at a reasonable cost. But I plan to wait until summer time to buy clothes that I could wear when I come back to Hawaii. Lastly, Japan has a whole week where holidays are lined up so almost everyone is free. Golden week is form April 29 to May 5. But Keio University only allows students to have days off on two of the days, so we do not have the whole week off.
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August 2022
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