I am in a cafe and have some time, so I will blog. recently I have really really been craving hugs. Hugs are not a part of Japanese culture, so you will never get them typically.
On Saturday, I finished packing, and went to Japanese class with my backpack and suitcase, luckily I did not need my textbook. After class, I went and got lunch with my friends, Eliot, Cameron, Jon, and Kevin (not Japan Study from Texas). They all gave me a hug after seeing my facebook post about it. We wished eachsafe travels and a merry christmas, and departed. I headed to Haneda Airport. My smart phone is proving invaluable, without it, I am not sure I would have made it to the airport. I just carried my bag, so skipped about an hour in line. The Japanese version of TSA is so lax compared to the US TSA. The 787 was really nice, but made a strage high pitched whining at take off and landing. I arrived in Matsuyama, took a bus to the station, then use my phone again to try to find my hotel. It is actually a pretty nice hotel, especially because it was only $30 a night. It even has a sento, a large communal (gender seggregated) bath. I went to a food court by my hotel and ate Korean food, then returned to my room. I decided to take a bath in the Sento. After chatting briefly with a possibly drunk old man in the changing room, I had this bath all to myself. It seems like a lot of the other residents of this hotel are young couples.
The next day, Sunday, I had breakfast in the hotel, really good breakfast buffet actually. I then used my phone map again to get to St. Catarina, girls' high school where I met up with my friend Mizuki. We walked to a shopping area for lunch at a Udon place. Then we walked around a bit, but neither of us are much for buying clothes, so we went to a book store instead. After that, Mizuki had never been to Matsuyama castle before, so we walked there. We walked around the castle, which is amazing, then got ice cream. After that, we had no idea what to do, so I suggested walking along the river, so back through the shopping area down to riverside parks. We walked along the river until we culd not anymore, then turned back. We chatted most f the time, but Mizuki is a woman of few words, so I ended up talking most of the time. She would mostly only talk if asked a question. Afterwards, we went to a mall and browsed all but clothes. Then she went back to her dorm for dinner at 5 and I went back to my hotel. We hung out for a good 6 hours. I craved some American food. I chatted with another American who was living in Matsuyama who had the same idea. Appatently I was one of the first Americans he has seen or talked to in a long time. He invited me out to go drinking with him, his treat, and I had no idea what to do, so I paniced, made an excuse, and fled back to my hotel. It was all in all, a really fun day. It was nice to see Mizuki again.
Even though it is afternoon, good night. (?)
On Saturday, I finished packing, and went to Japanese class with my backpack and suitcase, luckily I did not need my textbook. After class, I went and got lunch with my friends, Eliot, Cameron, Jon, and Kevin (not Japan Study from Texas). They all gave me a hug after seeing my facebook post about it. We wished eachsafe travels and a merry christmas, and departed. I headed to Haneda Airport. My smart phone is proving invaluable, without it, I am not sure I would have made it to the airport. I just carried my bag, so skipped about an hour in line. The Japanese version of TSA is so lax compared to the US TSA. The 787 was really nice, but made a strage high pitched whining at take off and landing. I arrived in Matsuyama, took a bus to the station, then use my phone again to try to find my hotel. It is actually a pretty nice hotel, especially because it was only $30 a night. It even has a sento, a large communal (gender seggregated) bath. I went to a food court by my hotel and ate Korean food, then returned to my room. I decided to take a bath in the Sento. After chatting briefly with a possibly drunk old man in the changing room, I had this bath all to myself. It seems like a lot of the other residents of this hotel are young couples.
The next day, Sunday, I had breakfast in the hotel, really good breakfast buffet actually. I then used my phone map again to get to St. Catarina, girls' high school where I met up with my friend Mizuki. We walked to a shopping area for lunch at a Udon place. Then we walked around a bit, but neither of us are much for buying clothes, so we went to a book store instead. After that, Mizuki had never been to Matsuyama castle before, so we walked there. We walked around the castle, which is amazing, then got ice cream. After that, we had no idea what to do, so I suggested walking along the river, so back through the shopping area down to riverside parks. We walked along the river until we culd not anymore, then turned back. We chatted most f the time, but Mizuki is a woman of few words, so I ended up talking most of the time. She would mostly only talk if asked a question. Afterwards, we went to a mall and browsed all but clothes. Then she went back to her dorm for dinner at 5 and I went back to my hotel. We hung out for a good 6 hours. I craved some American food. I chatted with another American who was living in Matsuyama who had the same idea. Appatently I was one of the first Americans he has seen or talked to in a long time. He invited me out to go drinking with him, his treat, and I had no idea what to do, so I paniced, made an excuse, and fled back to my hotel. It was all in all, a really fun day. It was nice to see Mizuki again.
Even though it is afternoon, good night. (?)