The day is about half done, and I feel I've been fairly productive - if only in a "touristy" sort of way. I did achieve all the goals I stated in my last post, however. I visited Osaka castle and picked up some food from a スーパ ("su-pa" or Supermarket) so that I can cook my own meal tonight. I got some bacon (yay) to go with my eggs and some stuff to make a salad. I figure for dinner tonight I'll boil up one of the eggs and cook some of the bacon and toss that in the salad to make it more filling.

I am really enjoying the hostel. It has plenty of open/shared areas like a full kitchen, dining area, a bar area to eat at in the kitchen and a TV area downstairs. The whole place feels very open and there is lots of light. There's a little spot on the balcony of each level with 2 washers & a dryer, and then clotheslines if you prefer to hang dry your clothes.

Though I am sharing a room with 5 other people, it's not a big deal. I was probably the noisiest person in the entire place last night due to my restlessness. I was up at 4 AM and haven't slept since. I did get to talk to my mom on Skype though, so that was good.

Things I have learned about Japan today:

You have to wear different shoes for the toilet room than you'd wear around the rest of the house.*

Everyone in Japan has a camera.

Everyone's camera is nicer than mine. Everyone's.

People stare. Sometimes when you catch them, they stop, but sometimes they just can't help it. I'll admit, it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be (based on what I'd read), but it's still REALLY entertaining when I catch someone mid-stare and they immediately avert their eyes. GAIJIN COUNTER-STARE POWER! Admittedly, it doesn't bother me at all. I just smile and keep going. I am a minority here - not just a gaijin, but one with blonde hair and blue eyes - and that's just how things are going to be. No reason to get huffy about it.

I plan to do a comprehensive post about the hostel. I feel weird and touristy by snapping pics of everything, so at least in the hostel (the place where it makes the LEAST amount of sense to feel "touristy,") I try to snap pics when no one is around. Actually, it's not about feeling touristy... The hostel is so homey that it almost feels invasive to be taking pictures of everything. Nonetheless, I am taking them as I go and so will post that soon. And then some of the NINETY-SEVEN pictures I took today at Osaka castle. In the meantime, maybe this vending machine will tide you over:

*You take your outdoor shoes off upon entering and either wear house-slippers or socks and then when you use the restroom, you switch to the restroom shoes. I could be completely wrong about this, because I'm just guessing, but there is a pair of slippers in every single toilet room. They're green. I have no idea.

I'm heeeeere!

Well, I am in Osaka. It was a long trip and by the time I arrived, I felt so completely gross. My flight took me from San Antonio, Texas to Salt Lake City, Utah. There I connected to Seattle and flew out of Seatac to Kansai International Airport in Osaka. The last flight was so very long. I was extremely lucky, though, because I got two seats to myself the entire 10+ hour flight, which enabled me to attempt some of the more unique sleeping positions on the plane. I'd also brought along a sleeping mask and earplugs because I have a hard time sleeping places that're noisy and bright. Finally, I'd stayed up all night long the night before, so by the time I got on the last flight, I was absolutely exhausted. I probably slept for 4-6 hours, not all in one block but off and on, and that's certainly a good way to eat up most of a long flight.

The plane landed at about 4:30 at Kansai, and within an hour I had all of my luggage and was through customs. And yes, I did declare the 1 LB of coffee and 16 oz. of almonds I brought with me which, while it raised some eyebrows, they did allow through. Another gaijin bought an entire 10 LB bag of rice. I couldn't fathom bringing rice TO Japan, but according to him, it's pretty expensive here. We ended up sitting next to each other on the train and chatting during the ride, which took about an hour. Both the airport and train were very clean, and it was neat riding through the urban areas of Osaka by train. Ordering my ticket for the train was simple too. You can get tickets through the ticket machine, but they are all in Japanese (cursed Kanji), but they had a clerk as well and I just told her I wanted to get to the Fukushima station, and she printed out my ticket and handed it to me. Then it was just figuring out how to use the ticket. It's not just that I'm a gaijin, but we don't have trains in Texas. Well, freight trains, but no subways or rail lines. Learning experience!

I had to switch trains at the Nishikujo station, which caused some confusion for me because while it was very clear that I had to get OFF the train at Nishikujo, and had to get ON to the train going to Fukushima, it was less clear about which train that was, or how to find it. I got off at the station and many trains passed me, but none were labeled Fukushima, and none of the overhead speakers said anything about Fukushima when trains arrived. There were two platforms, each with a train arriving pretty frequently. I didn't want to get on the wrong train because god knows where I'd end up. In the end, I just asked someone which train went to Fukushima, and he pointed me in the right direction. That trip was very short, as Fukushima is only about three stops from Nishikujo. The hostel had sent me directions on how to get to the hostel from Kansai, including the train change and then walking directions. It said to exit the station and go left at the Mr. Donuts, but then the road forked. One area was well lit and had lots of restaurants, bars and shopping. The other seemed a bit quieter and perhaps more residential, so I went that way.

It was the wrong way. I only went about three blocks in the wrong direction, but by this point I was positively exhausted and was towing five months' worth of luggage. I stepped into a small shop and asked the shopkeeper where the J-Hoppers was. He looked confused, so I switched tactics and asked where there was a hostel (ho-su-te-ru). His eyes lit up with comprehension and he sent me on my way. The people at the hostel were very polite and helped me check in and get my luggage up to my shared dorm room. The hostel is VERY clean. I took a shower right off the bat, as it was my priority. My priorites going something like this: SHOWER, food and/or sleep. After the shower I felt pretty invigorated and wanted to get some dinner. I walked a couple of blocks away from the hostel and found a small restaurant/bar that was hopping. Well, I had been looking for something a bit more traditional, but you can't see into many of the establishments from the outside, so I wasn't sure what I was getting into. I opened the door to check and literally every single person in the place stopped and stared.

The bartender asked if I was alone (Hitori?) and I said yes. At that point, the group at the closest table jumped up and insisted that I sit with them. I hadn't really planned to go to a bar, my main objective at that point was food, but it felt rude to decline their invitation, so I sat with them. The mainstay of the table was a woman who's name I've forgotten (I'm a terrible gaijin), but they all had nicknames anyway. One was a salary man who went by the nickname gorilla (gorira, heh). Another was a server for the bar that the woman kept telling me was a "bad boy with a good heart." A third man was the woman's boyfriend ("honey," "sweety," etc.) I said "Kare?" which means boyfriend, and she nodded affirmatively. There were other people too but this was the core group. Most people in the bar were introduced to me. Everyone was really nice. I drank my Asahi and realized I was about to faint from hunger, so I asked if there was any food.

The girl at my table asked me what I liked, and I said everything. Surprised (and perhaps unsure whether I understood her or not), she went down the list. Pork? Yes. Chicken? Yes. Vegetables? Yes. Then Gorira asked if I had eaten Udon, and I said "Yes! I like udon." Within a few minutes a big bowl of steaming vegetable/tofu udon was at my table. They at least pretended to be impressed when I started eating with chopsticks, then all of them laughed hysterically when I burned my mouth on the hot broth and exclaimed "Hatsui!" ("hot," obviously). I made an over-the-top frowny face and said "Urusai!" ("Shut up!") The udon was really good, and had big, flat squares of tofu floating in it. The woman at my table explained to me two things: 1) that tofu was going to be REALLY hot, so I should blow on it and 2) that I should cut it into pieces.

As a foreigner, one should be aware of when you just don't know how to do something. It's okay to ask for help. My dinner didn't come with a knife (but they did offer a fork, which I politely declined), but I was confused as to how to cut the tofu with chopsticks. I knew it could be done, but I preferred to not look like a total ass and mishandle the chopsticks, so I asked the woman next to me how to do it. She held the chopsticks together and pushed them into the center of the tofu, then opened them up so that the chopsticks went in opposite directions and tore the tofu. I copied her tactic and had success! The tofu was REALLY delicious, sort of a sweet and savory mixed flavor. The udon really hit the spot overall.

I was overwhelmed with sleepiness by this point (about 9:30pm), so I asked if they would be at the same place tomorrow evening. They said they would, so I plan to go back again tomorrow although this time I am going to eat beforehand. My bill of two beers and 1 bowl of udon was about $21.00 USD (1,800 Yen). I plan to find a grocery store at some point today and take advantage of the kitchen we have at the hostel.

It's 5 AM now, and I've been awake since about 4. My clock is still adjusting, but I at least slept from 10p-4a, which isn't so bad. I will probably grab another couple of hours of sleep if I can this morning, and if not I'll take a nap later today. My objectives for today is to find a grocery store and prepare my own meal in the kitchen, and then maybe find Osaka castle - it's supposed to be about twelve minutes away. Oh, and have some Okonomiyaki, Osaka's famous food!

Jaa mata ne (see you later)!

Don't be so hostel!

Today has been very busy, and before I get into the primary topic of this post I want to say that today I sold my car! There was a lot of confusion with the title and what-not as far as my bank is concerned, and even though I started this last Saturday it took until today to get things cleared up, but it's done! Oh, and a sentence you don't want to hear from your bank: "Well, if we have lost the title, we can get you a new one, but it won't be until Friday." If you've what-the-what? How the four-letter-expletive would you lose my title?? Anyway, they didn't lose it, but I was edgy until it was "rediscovered" (I won't say "found" because that implies that it was "lost" -- see what I did there?). So, that has been taken care of and I'm quite relieved because I'm leaving in eight days and I simply did not want to start this whole process over again, and my buyer was getting antsy/impatient.

Anyway, let's talk about Japan. My flight into Kansai International Airport (KIX) is scheduled to land on April 1st at 4pm. From KIX, it's two hours to my dorm. It could easily take over an hour to get through customs and get my luggage. So, best-case scenario; no flight delays, no luggage delays, no customs delays, no missed-the-train-connection delays, I won't be getting to the dorms until 7pm at the EARLIEST. I would feel less nervous about that if the cut-off time for check-in wasn't 9pm. So two hours of delay from ANYTHING would have me landing in Japan with nowhere to sleep. Additionally, the dorm doesn't do check-ins on the weekends, so I wouldn't have a place to sleep for three nights. Needless to say, this possibility made me quite nervous.

I started Googling around for some hostels around the Kansai airport and what I found was two-fold; one, they are expensive and two, they are booked for that weekend. So, I started looking in Suita, Osaka, and was finding that some had rooms on one of the three nights, but not on all three. I found full-on hotels, but they were upwards of $60/night. Which is a decent option if you can't find a hostel, but still, a bit above my price-range. Then I found J-Hoppers. J-Hoppers is a chain of hostels around Japan for people who want to "hop" around the country. Their rooms start at $32/night (for a 6-person dorm style room) to about $50 for a twin bed room. The Osaka location is about 1 hour from KIX and about 1 hour from my dorms, so it's a decent location. When you Google J-Hoppers, you find it's been reviewed frequently and received 4-stars consistently -- save one person who complained it was difficult to sleep due to other noisy patrons -- hello? You're staying in a hostel. Earplugs!

With the great reviews, good location, inexpensive rates, I decided to forget about the dorms until Monday, and spend three nights at the J-Hopper Hostel in Osaka. Now, their check-in time ends at 11, but I figured that would at least give me two extra hours to get there. Further, if you reserve but never check in, they only bill you 10% of your overall cost (so $10 for me) plus one night's stay (out $42 total then, instead of losing the entire $100). That seems pretty fair to me, so I booked three nights; Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The reviews on the place say it is extremely clean and the staff is very polite and helpful; it's near Osaka Castle and other tourist-y attractions, and it comes with a slew of amenities: bicycles you can rent, full-use shared kitchen, free internet access, computer access you can rent by the hour if you don't have your own, free coffee and tea, and clerks who all speak English. When they say they speak English, they mean it. How do I know? Because I then noticed that they have a Skype account so you can call them via Skype for free from anywhere in the world.

I gave them a ring, since I had some questions. My primary question, the thing that had been nagging me since I started looking for alternate accomodations, was what happens if I miss check-in? No problem, the clerk told me. She gave me a pin code that I can use to get in the front door, should I get there late, and informed me that if I miss check-in, there will be a key on a card with my name on it waiting for me on the front counter. So even if I'm late, I can still get into the hostel and get into my (shared) room. I will just have to keep quiet so's to not wake the other guests. I also asked what would be done with my luggage while I was out and about in Osaka, and she said they have a luggage room which locks, where they store large luggage, and each guest has access to a locker in their room to store valuables.

Not only did she alleviate my fears, but she spoke perfect English, and answered all my questions competently and politely. Further, the picosecond we got off the phone, she sent me an e-mail with a ton of information in it (including the PIN code and what to do if I get there past check-in). So. Amazingly. Helpful! I haven't step foot into a J-Hopper Hostel yet and I'm already a happy customer. That's awesome.

Not only am I relieved that I have a place to sleep for the first three nights in Japan, but in a way it sort of puts off the whole "being at school" thing. I mean, I'm sure they'd leave me be at the dorms until the 6th, which is when orientation and such begins, but this feels more vacation-y. I'll have 2 full days (and three full nights!) to not only adjust to the time-change, but to explore Osaka on foot, bicycle, or public transport. I'll have 48+ delicious hours that belong solely to me, where no one will have to account for me and I won't have to account to anyone. This is going to be sweet.

Japan.

I wrote a post on Japan the day after the quake hit. I didn't post it; it just doesn't feel right. There's not really anything that I can say. Thousands of people have died and more are injured. And after the twin tragedies, the quakes and tsunamis, Japan sits on the precipice of radioactive meltdown. And yet on my side of the world, my itinerary hasn't changed. In a way I feel like it should have, as if it's perhaps irreverent to run things "business as usual" in the face of such a tragedy. My anticipation, fear, and excitement about going to Japan is supplanted with a sort of nothingness because I don't know how to feel.

On March 31st, I'm boarding a plane and heading to... to what? What state will Japan be in when I get there? It's true that Osaka is a good distance from the Fukushima reactors, and even further from the quake; but though Osaka and in fact most of Japan may be physically untouched, the spirit of Japan - a country of immeasurable national pride and self-assurance - must be hurting.

Personally, I am going to donate through UNICEF to support the relief efforts. My donation won't be substantial because I don't have a lot of money, however if everyone were to donate even an unsubstantial amount, it will make a difference. For example, if even 0.01% of the U.S. population were to donate only $1, that would be $3,070,065 in funding to help. You can donate to UNICEF here. Also, if you're concerned (as you should be), the most recent numbers I found for UNICEF state that 92% of their funding goes directly to people in need. And hell, if you don't donate through UNICEF, donate through the Red Cross or something. There are plenty of charities out there, so pick your favorite.

Inks Lake State Park - A++ Transaction, Highly Recommended, Will do business with again!

Camping was awesome. Sure, there were some trials and tribulations, but it's overcoming those little issues that crop up that make it all the more worthwhile. That said, I don't want to talk about the poodle.

Inks Lake is absolutely pristine. It is the cleanest park I have ever seen, and it's also really gorgeous. The terrain is red rocks cut with lines of quartz (quartz is just all over the place, pick up a rock - it's probably quartz or at least has some quartz in it), cedar and pine trees, along with oaks shedding their leaves. The leaves were quite handy for making our fire and keeping it hot enough to burn the logs.

The lake was gorgeous. The weather was almost perfect. We had some light rain Saturday morning, but none of it got into the tent and it was gone within a couple of hours. There wasn't even any mud or wet earth by early afternoon. Saturday night got down to about 34 degrees, but I was snuggled warm in my sleeping bag so that didn't really affect me. In the morning we just got the fire up and sat around it eating venison sausage with biscuits (food we'd brought and prepared on the fire) and coffee we bought from the on-site convenience store. Oh, that's right, they have an on-site convenience store that opens at 8 AM every day and sells pretty much everything a regular convenience store sells (save alcohol) and some additional camping supplies. They also rent out canoes and kayaks and the likes to hit the lake. We were thinking about doing that, but Saturday it was so windy that the lake was choppy and Sunday it was too cold.

In addition to being scenic and beautiful, this park was completely devoid of litter. I don't know how they do it, because humans are so disrespectful to nature, but I seriously didn't see any litter in the park. They also have full shower and restroom facilities that were cleaner than some hotel bathrooms that I've used. HoJo, I'm looking at you. Oh, and HOT water in the showers. There was even SOAP provided by the park to wash your hands with in the restroom. You know, just in case you forgot your own. So, this is a camp site that is breathtakingly beautiful, clean, tidy, has all the conveniences and amenities we have a hard time getting along without, and it's about 2.5 hours outside San Antonio. Not only that, but the camp site was $14/night and then $4/night per person. For five of us to camp, it was $68 to cover entry and site fees.

I want to go back to Inks Lake. It's my new favorite place.

We fished (didn't catch anything, but eh, we brought tons of food), hiked, camped, sat around the fire telling stories. The park doesn't allow the "public consumption of alcohol." I don't know if that means drink in your tent, or if it means don't drink at all, but we put our drinks in Dixie cups and didn't get intoxicated or obnoxious. I really wasn't at the park to party anyway (I was there to witness and be surrounded by the natural splendor that is South/Central Texas), although some in our group did stay up until 5:30 AM the first night. Jes and I were asleep by around 11:30 both nights and maybe had 1-2 drinks each in the evening.

There were moments where I'd look out over the lake, the sun dipping down to the water, giving it a satiny sheen, and I would just be literally taken up by the beauty of it all. I love my state, and I'm going to miss Texas when I'm abroad. I'm glad I got a chance to be out in nature and experience that one more time before my trip. I know that Japan has natural wonders all its own, but there is something unique about my part of the world, and I'm going to miss it.

These were taken by one of my fellow campers, Pam, and really capture the beauty of Inks Lake.

(The above images are © Pam Hunt, and are her intellectual property. Distribution or usage of the following pictures without permission is forbidden. You can view more of her photos from the trip by following this link.)

Panic Mode

Here are some things I have to do in the four weeks I have remaning:

1) Find someone to rent my apartment. I have an apartment in Bryan that I have been paying rent to despite the fact that I haven't lived there since December. I'm having a lot more fun in San Antonio, so I'm glad I'm here, but it sickens me to literally throw money down the drain like this. My roommate also recently informed me that he's struggling to pay his part of the rent, so it looks like we're going to have to find a way out of this place. The leasing agency allows you to break your lease with a fee (not to exceed 80% of one month's rent, which isn't really that bad). I suggested this early on, but he was lax to move for various reasons (despite constantly complaining about the place, I thought he'd be ecstatic to get out). I even offered to pay the entire fee, whatever it might be. Now he can't afford the rent, I'm leaving in four weeks, and my lease doesn't run out until August. That's right, the lease will run out just in time for me to get back from Japan. Unacceptable. I had tried to find someone to take over my 1/2 of the lease, and got a few hits, one of which was especially promising. He jumped through all the hoops (and there were many) but in the end he couldn't pass the credit check. Nor could his co-signer. Nor could his OTHER co-signer. This is not the fucking Hilton, so I don't know what they're looking for. I am frustrated by this.

2) Get my student's visa. Now, before you start to lecture me about waiting for so long to get my student's visa, you should know that to do this I require a CESR from Osaka University. I just received this YESTERDAY. Now, I have to go get a photo taken and then mail a couple of forms, the CESR, my photo AND my passport (this makes me more than a little nervous) to Houston so the consulate there can send me back a student visa. The only other option is to drive to Houston and I have no idea where I'd cram that in over the next few weeks (remember, this weekend is already taken).

3) Get to BCS (Bryan/College Station) to get some items from my old apartment. There is some stuff there that I forgot and that I want, and if we're going to get rid of this place, I am going to have to retrieve my stuff post-haste.

4) Get Enrollment Verification Forms for Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 to the company that's handling my federal student loans. Happy day.

5) Completely tidy up the room I'm in so it can be used as a guest room. This sounds simple, but if you knew the way I live in my room, you'd know better.

6) Pack! This is going to be complicated because I am going to a foreign country for 5 months, so I need to make sure that one, I have everything I''ll need (and I do mean NEED) that I can't get in Japan (such as clothing that fits, etc.), two that I don't have anything that will piss off customs and three, that I have enough of everything for five months, but that I don't try to take everything but the kitchen sink.

Are we feeling a bit overwhelmed today? We're feeling a bit overwhelmed today.

This has nothing to do with Japan, sorry :)

I keep waking up in the middle of the night out of a solid dream that I'm suddenly IN Japan already. I know one day very soon this will be the reality of things, but I don't appreciate my brain playing tricks on me. I had a difficult time falling asleep, and when I did, I woke up about 5 times last night alone. This is not acceptable behaviour for this far out; I've got four weeks still before I board that plane. I can see this being reasonable 1, 2 or even 3 days before the trip, but COME ON.

This weekend will be good, I hope. I am trying to get time in with friends and such before I go. Months ago, my friend Maggie and I started musing about a camping trip. In reality, what I wanted was to find some gigantic state park and spend 2 or 3 days hiking. You know, the sort where you can pack your tent and all your belongings with you, and follow a trail, resting where you need to, to set up camp a couple of hours before dawn. I have my fishing pole and license, I thought it would be neat to bring along staples such as beef jerky, nuts, maybe spam or canned meat equivalent, but to really try and see if we couldn't fish what we'd need for the main protein source. This was my idea.

I am not in the best shape, but the point is that spending three days hiking would be a challenge, and we could go at our own pace. It's not like we'd have to continuously be on the move, and in Texas even in March, the weather is pretty mild. Well, we had some specifications; I wanted to hike where we'd be close to a river most of the time, especially when we camped. She wanted a site that was within three hours of both of us (her in College Station, me in San Antonio). We invited friends and more specifications came along: the park must allow dogs; there should be shower facilities; etc. So, my hiking idea will have to be put on the back burner, at least for now.

We plan to camp at Inks Lake State Park, which is 1200 acres of state-owned park land in Burnet, Texas, along the Colorado river. There IS 7.5 miles of hiking trails including 1.5 miles of backpacking trails, so I suppose that's not too bad (although at a normal pace, one can walk 7.5 miles in around 3 hours). I want to get some hiking done, for sure. I have never been to Inks Lake, so I'm not 100% sure what to expect, but I have been to several state parks and they're generally run about the same way. We'll be tent camping, however we will have access to full shower facilities and bathrooms, water at the campsite, and even electricity if I recall correctly.

Here's some images to give you an idea of what Inks Lake is like:

I love my state.

Anyhow, there will be five of us in the group, Maggie (I've known her family for years but we became closer when I moved to College Station, where she's lived for about the last ten years), Jessica (good friend I've known for about eight years now, if my math is correct), Pam (Maggie's friend whom I've not yet met), Mary (who is super-cool and I met through Maggie) and myself. We made this specifically an all-girls camping trip because both Maggie and I were lamenting the fact that many of our lady-friends have a difficult time disjointing themselves from their respective significant others. I mean, like ever. It's frustrating for us single gals when our friend becomes our friend+boyfriend on all occasions (think the character(s) Richandamy from the comic Zits). Even if the boyfriend is SUPER cool and they're not all PDA about things, we want and need some time where it's just us friends.

Inks Lake is a pretty good sized lake, and I can't wait to fish it. Plus hiking, and camping. Maggie's picking up all the food and then we'll split the bill. The campsite for 2 nights is only $30, so divided among 5 people, this is going to be a pretty inexpensive little vacation. We're taking my parent's idiot poodle, but I think he'll behave himself once he's distracted by all the NATURE and SIGHTS and SOUNDS and SMELLS and PEOPLE!! If he barks during the night though, I will play "let's filet the puppy." No guys, it's just chicken, trust me. What do you mean, 'where's the dog?'"

Oh, and by the way... 28 days.