What I hope to do in Japan

I am back from my vacation! Sorry for the long delay in posts. I ended up not bringing my computer because all of my Visa paperwork had been taken care of (and we didn't have much room in the car.)

Though I am not much of a beach person, I did enjoy my time with my family. Aside from sitting on the sand and watching the waves, I got to go Parasailing! That was awesome! I loved being up 800ft in the air and it was so peaceful. My sister and I did it together and we even got dipped in the water of the bay. I also boogie boarded for the first time in years. I had forgotten how fun it was to ride the waves. Aside from that, I went to a night club called the H20. The interior had cages and a second floor. It was pretty sweet to finally dance at a club but it was mad expensive. Like, $20 which was obnoxious. It wasn't THAT nice of a club. But anyway...

So, I am back and now I have a little less than a month until I am in Japan!! :D
Now that I have the opportunity, I feel like it is finally time to write that "What I hope to do in Japan" entry. I will write it all in list format:


What I hope to do in Japan (listed in no specific order and by place)
** All of this is of course money pending and based around my class schedule. I know I will have a lot of time off in February and March, so that may be the time to do most of this.

1. Osaka- Countless times I have driven through Osaka but I have actually never been there, if you know what I mean. Luckily, it is just a short train ride away from Kyoto and friend of a friend's family offered to take me around the Kansai area, so I will probably go to Osaka enough times to make up for all of those instances I just drove through it.

2. Nikko- Nikko is a very interesting city. It is north of Tokyo and it has some of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen. I saw model replicas of the buildings in Takayama and thought "Why aren't we seeing the real thing?!" Theses buildings are actually old Shogun homes, I believe. They are so elegant and lovely. I think though that when my family comes to visit me in Japan next summer, I will be able to go up with them to see this city. Of course, if I can go more than once, that would be sweet!

3. Fukuoka- The hometown of one of my dearest friends and my favorite singer. I have another friend who lives in Northern Kyushu so maybe I can go visit her and we can go to Fukuoka together. I have always wanted to go to Kyushu.

4. Fukushima- A good friend of mine who use to live in my neighborhood had to suddenly move back to her home in Fukushima because of her husband's job. I never really got to say bye to her and her family so I would like the opportunity to see her once more.

5. Shikama- This is in order to visit my lovely. Shikama (along with Fukushima) are both in norther Honshu. Going to these places will defiantly be a Christmas and/or February/March trip. I can go there and meet all of my boyfriend's friends and see the place he works. That will be fun! Shikama is also near Sendai, which is another city I would like to see.

6. Tokyo- I will probably end up taking many weekend trips to Tokyo. There is so much to do there so I know I will be amused. There is one special person I want to see in Tokyo. My best friend lives there and it has been three years since I last saw her. It would be great to spend another day with her in Tokyo.

7. Hakone- A place with wonderful hot springs. I have a friend who lives there and actually works at an onsen. She is very sweet and I would like to see her again. It is funny, after I told her I was from a place named after a planet, she found it hysterical and had this strong desire to visit my hometown. I think that Hakone is either south of Tokyo or on the same latitude as it. Maybe I will also see Mt. Fuji since it was super cloudy and the rainy season when I went to see it the first time. All I saw were clouds.

8. Hiroshima- This one is pretty self explanatory. I am a history buff so going to Hiroshima, seeing the memorial, and the museum will be an enriching learning experience. However I also can finally pay my respects. Something I feel like I should do as an American.

9. Kobe- Another city close to Kyoto. Many of my Pitt friends are doing their study abroad there and I would love to see them and get a tour of Kobe. And I will do the same for them intern when they visit Kyoto. :D

10. Sapporo- This one is perhaps the most important place I want to go to. My host family, who I stayed with four years ago, lives in Sapporo. I miss that city so much and I want to go back. If I can go, I plan to fly up there in February for the Yuki Matsuri. I have only seen Sapporo and Hokkaido in the summer. Now that I will be living in Japan for a year, I want to take the opportunity to see it in the winter. Aside from that, I also want to revisit all of my favorite places in the city; Odori, Shin Sapporo, the second hand kimono store, my favorite CD shop, Fujiya, the sweets shop next to my house, the list goes on! And of course, the best of all, I will stay with my host family. I plan on also FINALLY paying a visit to a certain bar I have wanted to go to since I was sixteen.

That is pretty much all the places I hope to go to during my year in Japan. Most of this will probably take place during the months of February and March. The closer cities, like Kobe,
Osaka, Tokyo, Hakone, and other places near to Kyoto I will probably visit throughout the year. And of course, I will do a ton of sight seeing in Kyoto, that is a given. :D

I have another friend who I plan on going to MANY Jpop concerts with. Specifically, to see w-inds. but that will be next Spring/ Summer. w-inds. does performances throughout Kansai so I know that seeing them will not be an issue. :D

I have three other ambitious trips I want to take, however, I know that going to these three locations is slim and unlikely to happen but I figure I will list them anyway. Regardless, I would like try to travel to these places partly because of my location and how much cheaper it would be. Of course, this also depends on my visa and how much money I can make at R-Pool.

1. China- I have become friends with numerous Chinese students at Pitt. Many of them I would like to visit in China. I know that this would be a good opportunity because I am close and it would be cheap to fly there.

2. Korea- A good friend of mine, the one who I will go to see w-inds. with, is currently studying Korean and travels there often. I would love to go there with her and goof around in Korea. Like with China, it will be super cheap to travel there rather than traveling from the US to Korea.

3. The Philippines- Something I have always wanted to do is visit my lovely's hometown and see his home country. Once again, I am as close as I will ever be to The Philippines and I want to take advantage of it.

So yeah, this is pretty much Liv's grand list of what she hopes to do while in Japan. Now of course, I don't expect to do all of this. Most of this list depends on my funds. I have to pay for my housing when I arrive at Ritsumeikan and also I have no meal plan. This means that I have to grocery shop and buy my own food. This aside, there are other expenses too, like my textbooks, supplies, and what have you. I really need to watch my money and also make sure that before I venture off somewhere that my school work is done. However, I think that if I save my money, manage my time well, spend wisely, and get that job at R-pool I think I can accomplish most of these things on my list, especially with the locations closest to Kyoto.

All of this, money saving and managing my time, will defiantly be a good lesson for me.

オリビア
8/15/2010

Things are falling into place.

I am happy to inform that my visa paperwork has been officially sent out and my plane ticket has been purchased! I am leaving the States on the 14th of September and will arrive in Japan on the 15th!! Everything is finally starting to fall into place.

Recently, I was sending out emails to all of my friends in Japan and my host parents telling all of them that I will be coming back soon. My host family is especially ecstatic. This will be the first time I have seen them in over three years and I miss them terribly. Especially my host father because he left two or three days after I arrived in Hokkaido on my last escapade to Japan. I think that they may make a journey down to Kyoto to see me around the time I first get there. Nothing is set in stone of course, but it sounds like they want to do that, which, would be awesome if I saw them right away. I want to go back to Sapporo of course, hopefully in February for the Yuki Matsuri. :D My host parents told me in their emails that their house in Sapporo is also my house and that I can come up to visit as many times as I want. (^_^) I feel so loved.

Switching topics, I have been trying to figure out how to split my finances for the next year and it really has me worried. Providing I get a job at R-Pool and that I only make trips up to Miyagi once a month to visit my boyfriend (if I am lucky), I should be able to save my money for that trip to Hokkaido in the winter and go to other places in Japan around Febuary and make all of this work. However, until I get that job, I don't have a lot of money to work with (much less than I thought my dad was giving me) and hearing my dad talk about how he just paid for my sister's schooling and that he doesn't have much cash to work with makes me feel really uneasy. I am afraid that I cannot make my finances work out.

I am still trying to apply to that one scholarship though, so, I hope that I can get some money from that.

I actually feel bad about being such a money vacuum. I hate the strain it is putting on my family. And not having a job doesn't help much either.

I am leaving for my vacation on Saturday. I plan on having my laptop with me in case I need to do things relating to my trip to Japan.

Yes, I know, still no 'What I hope to do in Japan entry.' It will come, don't worry. ;D

September needs to come faster.

オリビア
8/4/2010

Today is a good day: COE and Japanese Class

Like the title of this post says; Today is a good day.

So, I found out that my Certificate of Eligibility (COE) came in today! I am so relieved. It was sent to the study abroad office at Pitt and I have to pick it up there. I can now get to work on that and send it in to the Embassy and receive my visa. I feel soooo much more relaxed now that I have learned that it has arrived. So happy. So excited.

Now for the other reason that today is a good day. I received my final grade for my Japanese class and I got an A! This means two things: First, I have received an A in every single one of my Japanese classes since first year Japanese. Second, my GPA is officially a 3.510! I have a 3.5 GPA again!! So happy. So excited.

And yes, I know. I said I was going to write an entry about what I wanted to do in Japan but I haven't quite gotten to that yet. Just be patient. ;D

But yes, today was excellent. Only one more problem remains that needs to be resolved that is preventing it from being a perfect day: my tuition bill. I still can't seem to get all of that sorted out. I pulled out of my housing contract last week and I noticed that it STILL hasn't taken effect and changed my bill. This is irritating. And Panther Central says it doesn't take effect until like, a few weeks from now? I need it to happen NOW not weeks from now. Ugh, I don't know. Either way, I am going to Pitt tomorrow to finish up my abroad contract, obtain my COE and try to resolve all of this. Hopefully this will get resolved.

Next week is my vacation in Ocean City. It will be nice to be with my family but Ocean City has never been my most favorite vacation spot. Actually, I do not really enjoy being at the beach at all (my dad and my sister are the same.) I am one who likes to explore and find new things, not lay out on the beach. Perhaps it is just because Ocean City seems tacky in my mind. Or perhaps I created a stereo type. I don't know. Oh well, at least I am with my family before I leave.

I guess that is all for now. I promise I will write that 'What I hope to do in Japan' entry soon! :D

オリビア
8/2/2010