Lots of catchup

Hey there, long time no write. Anywho, I have a lot of time to make up for so here goes. For starters, my eye is in fine condition, full-recovery bound. I have one final checkup at the big hospital, and from there on out I will be going to the smaller clinic for any further follow-up.





These first pictures are from an Edo-period museum that we went to, where they had many building models and artifact displays. The ones I have posted are the ones I thought were pictureworthy, at least at the time. The first picture is on the side of a bubble-dome escalator, and this picture is some period clothing.




Old bicycle. Not much more to say.











The first (but not last) samurai armor I was able to see so far on my trip.








Swords. Swords.










Engrish?










This was a poster in the station we got off at for the museum. I laughed.









This is an emakimono(picture-scroll)esque clothes changing privacy divider (or whatever they are officially called).








One of many models










In addition to this indoor Edo-period museum we also took a long train ride out to see an outdoor museum where they have disassembled, transported, and reassembled actual period buildings. I found this to be much more interesting than the previous evening, given that we had an English speaking guide this time when before we had to deal with barely being able to read anything on the exhibits, sans guide.













I basically took this picture because I love how overused this phrase is, even if it is meant literally here.






























This is an example of one of the Japanese's roofing techniques. In order to put pressure on the roofing, to hold it together and make it more waterproof, they lay beams across the top and set rocks on top of the beams. Surprisingly effective.






A different sort of area of Tokyo, where we went for the outdoor museum.









By far, one of the best things we have done so far on this trip is the homestay experience, which was last weekend. Due to limited numbers of Japanese participants, Michael and I stayed at the same house, where we stayed with our friend Yasunori and his mother.

This picture is from the shrine at Mt. Fuji. The family's house is in Shizuoka, which is essentially the Mt. Fuji town.

This is Yasunori and I about to finish up getting groceries. Our homestay kept us incredibly well fed. Like, every meal having food left over that we simply couldn't finish. We are talking like maybe $100 meals, every meal. Insane, but we weren't complaining.








Our first dinner was Japanese style barbecue. You pick up whatever meats or veggies you want, individually, and fry them on the pan placed in the center of the table. Once it is ready, you take it off and put it into one of many dipping sauces. Delicious, and fun. Did I mention filling?








The next few pictures are just some car-shots I took of the mountains and general landscape in the Shizuoka area. It is a beautiful city, and gave me my much-needed nature fix (I've been living in Tokyo, what do you expect?).




























On the very rainy Saturday we drove up Mt Fuji to the fifth station, where people usually depart from. This is a view up the slopes at the fifth station.







This is Michael and I posing at the fifth station departure even though we didn't actually climb it...








The Fuji area is rich in spring water, and so at the Fuji shrine there are areas where anyone can come to collect the water. T'was pristene and delicious.







This is the pond where the spring water fed into at the shrine.









There are many good photo spots in Shizuoka, and we were able to get the Shinkansen (bullet train) in the picture along with Fuji-San and a rice field. Japanese symbols much?







Another of many Fuji pictures










We didn't actually go swimming or anything here, but there is a nice bay/beach here in Shizuoka as well.








We also went up onto Mt. Hakone, a neighbor of Fuji. Besides being able to eat eggs cooked in sulfuric hot springs, we got good views of Fuji and a great sunset.








































The last destination on our list was another Edo-period museum, this one being high in the mountains. I was a bit startled to see this lake at that altitude, since the area reminded me of the cloud rain forest that we visited in Costa Rica.

















This was probably the least extensive of the Edo museums, but they did have a lot of relics (sadly in a no-photo area) which were interesting to see. Lots of military relics, unsurprisingly since the location used to be a checkpoint fortress.






Since the homestay, We had a mostly uninteresting week of classes, but this weekend was/is the school's cultural festival. We were able to see live music, buy food from vendors, listen to a speech from a Bulgarian ambassador, and attend a English speech contest. Last night, we held a party and invited all of our Japanese friends who we thought would be interested, and it turned out well. All in all, things are going well. We are approaching the mid-semester mark, and the acknowledgment of this fact seems to have redoubled our attempts to get what we can out of the experience. I'll try to post a bit more frequently, but until next time, this is whats been going on in Japan.

Oh my me!

The primary reason (laziness excluded, of course) that it has taken so long for this post to be made is the same reason that I now have an appreciation for the affordability of Japanese health care. I went in to the doctor on Wed. the 22nd, because my right eye had been quite painful all day. What I found out was that I had accrued some cornea damage, and that they were worried it might be infected. They gave me some eyedrops and I came back the next day, and apparently they were alarmed that it had gotten worse so they sent me to the Tokyo University Todai campus hospital, where I received all sorts of antibiotics, in both eyedrop and pill form. As I said, they were a bit alarmed at this stage and so I was to come in the next day, with the understanding that I might need to stay there if it continued to worsen.

Luckily, however, the next day I showed promising signs of recovery, and was allowed to go home after further examination and distribution of medicine. For most of this time I was to be seen walking around with a jerry-rigged gauze eyepatch, as the patch made it easier to just open one eye, and I was still a little photophobic. I was still coming in for a checkup every day, and continued to recover admirably. I was eventually allowed a day off from the hospital, and after the next (most recent) checkup I was allotted a 5-day window before the next one. At this point I am walking around with both eyes open, almost totally recovered. The right eye is still slightly blurry, so small print is sometimes difficult if it isn't too close, but it is still getting better every day and my worries have pretty much fallen to nearly zero.

The doctors were extremely nice and helpful here. I still haven't even paid for my last visit to the very first clinic, as they wanted me to get over to Todai as soon as possible. All in all, this ordeal has cost me probably in the ballpark of $5-600, including medicine and doctor visits, all without any kind of insurance. They apply insurance after the fact here, so the overall cost is likely do drop to an even more dramatically low price. My last checkup barely even cost $15 (1200 yen), less than the usual co-pay back home.


my eye's current condition

also, as the title of this post states, eye in japanese is "me", pronounced may





Sad to say, I don't have all that many pictures from this last week, as my looking around was at a minimum. I was able to go to sumo though, despite my condition, and got some pictures and videos of that.























2 Sundays ago we also participated in part of a Shinto festival, dressing in... interesting attire whilst shouldering a portable shrine (oh my aching shoulders).
I have to run off to class now, but I'll keep updating this with anything I may have forgotten. Sayonara

Karuizawa






















These are pictures taken from the bus window on the way to Karuizawa, our first real glimpse at the more rural Japan. This trip provided a nice breather from Tokyo, but was truly a beautiful area in it's own right. We were able to see a small waterfall, walk around a volcanic park, and visit an On-sen spa.

Our bus left at around 1, and it was to be a roughly 3 1/2 hour bus ride from dorm to dorm, and we were to stay from Saturday afternoon until Monday afternoon. We were treated to a varied meal in the dorm building (which is owned by the school) with the Japanese students who accompanied us, and then we were free to end the night however we desired. After a group trip to the 7-11 for snacks and drinks, a night of card/party games ensued. The next morning we were off to a small waterfall, with a nearby trail area as well.























below are pictures of the trail's "stairs of death", which were a bit challenging for our groggy bunch











Lunch was "master-crafted" soba noodles, which were apparently very good if you liked them at all. Sadly, many of us did not care for them in the slightest, myself included. They were cold, and the sauce smelled of preserved animal organs, ripe for student dissection. On to more pleasant things.

After lunch we went to Mt. Asama's volcanic park, which was spectacular, though we were given far too much free time for how hot it was there. In addition to the natural features, there were several Buddhist and Shinto shrines in the area to look at.






















After this trip we went to the On-Sen, that is the public hot spring bath. Yes, that kind. It was incredibly relaxing, and welcome after a couple of days of busing around and sleeping on beds even less comfortable than the ones at our main dorm. We left the spring weighing significantly less than when we got there (sauna was involved) and headed back to the dorm for a similar night to the first. The next day was essentially a strip-mall day, with some ridiculous clothing shops (The Bathing Ape Pirate Store, with a sign featuring, well, a pirate ape), and more importantly a bowling alley, where we spent most of our 3 hours. Then, sadly, it was time to head back.

The school week didn't provide anything particularly noteworthy, though we seem to be on our way to befriending this store owner how lives a couple of blocks away. One of the most "Japanese" moments so far was the purchase of a coffee cup which came with a Batmobile toy... that was a windup... and magnetic:

On a related note, Alrae has some of the best sayings, as evidenced by the end of the video.
Yesterday (Saturday), we went to the Tokyo Game Show, which was an enormous video-game convention. It took an hour and a half to get to it by subway, but it was well worth it. 3 huge halls filled with people and kiosks, with cosplayers left and right. It was a blast. I'll let the pictures talk for themselves.






















































I have to go now to get food before helping to carry a portable shrine for today's festival, I'll try to get some pictures of that as well. Later.