Thursday, May 29, 2008

Machida

Yesterday I sadly had to say goodbye to my host parents when leaving Saitama. They were pretty much amazing and incredibly nice to me just like 3 years ago when I was here. On Wednesday, they took time out of their entire day to take me on a two hour excursion out into what seemed like in the mountains. First was the Tomihiro Art Museum, and then they took me to see Tokugawa Ieyasu`s grave which was DAMN breathtaking!! After a long and tiring day, they still made an amazing Ramen dinner. There was also a pre-dinner that consisted of sashimi, potato salad, cucumbers with miso dip, and Kodabashi beer and Sake (yes they were getting me tipsy before dinner). If you`re not salivating yet, you will when I post pictures later!
On a different note, I relocated to Machida on Thursday and finally go to meet with Yuki, my host brother! It was so awesome to see him, and I`m currently crashing at his apartment near Machida. He took me shopping, spent lots of money, and then cooked dinner for the two of us. Today I`ll be going with him to class at Obirin University and then have dinner with him and his girlfriend. Pictures later.. Yuki`s computer is a bit on the slower side.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Natsukashii

Finally! I`ve made it to Japan safe and sound and currently staying with my host parents from summer 2005 in Saitama prefecture. After twelve hours of sitting on a plane, I was on the next bus to Ota station which was were my host mother would pick me up. The bus ride to Ota was an additional three hours and costed me a hefty 4300 yen. Besides insanely running around the airport and trying to figure out exactly which Ota station to meet my host mother at, everything went smoothly. And despite hauling ass out of the house this morning, I have yet to discover something that I may have forgotten back in Dallas..

Being back in Japan seems completely surreal. I`m still in disbelief that I`m here again. My host parents are the nicest people and made me an incredible dinner that involved grilled salmon over white rice, miso soup, potato salad, salad, and strawberries. Most of the ingredients like the potatoes and strawberries came from the amazing garden they have out in front of their house. The strawberries were so good and freshly picked! (I went out and helped her pick off some strawberries).

My host brother Yuki called here today to talk to me. He`s living in Tokyo now and I will go join him starting Thursday. His English is pretty damn amazing now and simply puts my Japanese to shame. I realize I`ve lost a great deal of my conversational skills that I developed in Japan a few years back. Very sad indeed..

Anyhow, enjoy my first few pictures in Japan!
About to leave DFW for NRT!

Boarding the plane


Who doesn`t love plane food? I made sure not to touch that `sushi` in the top left

Wings for flight!

My stuff and my journal

Ticket bound for Ota Station. 4300 yen.


Waiting at Bus Station 10 for the bus headed for Ota


Bus

More scenic stuffz

Read up to page 24

Amazing room my host family had prepared for me!

Dont`t forget we drive on the left side here!

And this is me exhausted about to die into sleep until the next, Junjourney!

Monday, May 26, 2008

A New Journey

I started this blog in order to document the many exciting journeys that are to come in the next six weeks of my life for both myself and anyone interested!

But first, what is a Jun Journey?

Let's break it down:

Jun [juh-n] or [joon]
-noun
1. Sleepy boy who pulled two consecutive all-nighters before his plane trip attempting to be minimalistic in his packing with the result of two tightly packed suitcases.
2. He feels nervous, excited, adventurous, and most of all, sleepy.
(http://junjourneys.blogspot.com)

Journey [jur-nee]
-noun
1. a traveling from one place to another, usually taking a rather long time; trip
2. a distance, course, or area traveled or suitable for traveling
(http://www.dictionary.com)

Put the two together, and what do you get?

Jun Journey [juh-n/joon jur-nee]
-noun
1. A thrilling adventure or experience that often involves trekking through deep forests, surviving the jaws of a wild alligator, treading through mysterious lakes, and/or saving wildlife from forest fires.
(http://www.sarasensei.com)

2. The journeys or travel experiences that are to come in both the next six weeks and after!

Since I'm not the best at writing, I'll do my best to keep that part of this blog minimal and let the pictures speak for themselves!

First destination, 日本!(Japan)


It's 7:5 AM and shit, I'm supposed to be at the airport around 8:00 AM. This certainly proves how much dedication and heart will be going into this blog, not matter the circumstances!!

Next post will be in Japan, until then...


TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAAIIINN!!