Just because I'm no longer in Japan, doesn't mean that this blog isn't getting any attention. Please be sure to check out my current blog:
About My Trip
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Monday, July 14, 2008
Leaving Japan...for real this time :-(
Well...I'm out. But my 6 and 1/2-week stay in Japan ended wonderfully!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
So its time to say 'goodbye' for the summer :(
NUSIP 2008 has officially ended...and we went out with a BANG! (literally) After an Amazing Farewell Party hosted by the program, most of us went out in Sakae for a final time, and one last karaoke (and with Sensei!).
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Final Plans
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Last Weekend in Nagoya
Wow...the past week has really gotten me down...only because I'm not ready to leave this place...or these people! The biggest difference from my other study abroad programs is how many international students I have met during this trip. Not to be too much of a downer, but I know its very unlikely that I will get to see many of my new friends again after this trip. This group has been amazing! Fun, intelligent, and everyone is so nice and get along so well! The reason for these thoughts are because I had another Amazing week/weekend!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Mitsubishi Tour
Ok...so I'm cheating with 2 posts in 1 day...but so much has happened!
Return to Kyoto!
Wow...I don't know where to start with this incredible weekend! On Friday, I left the comfort of Nagoya and my NUSIP group to visit a contact in Kyoto, Glen Kaufman. Glen-san was actually one of Nancy's professors. He has been living in Kyoto and working as the Director of Japan Study Abroad for The University of Georgia. He has been a tremendous help as I prepared to visit Kyoto and left me with lots of advice for other visits, including a map of some of the must-do's in Tokyo.After class on Friday I went straight to the train station to board my first shinkansen! 35 rapid minutes later, I was in Kyoto. I knew that I was arriving earlier than Glen-san could leave the gallery, but waiting patiently to meet him...for 3 hours! Oops...not having a cell phone is rough! I was not positive what time we'd be able to meet, but around 9:00 I realized that we must have missed each other. I was able to grab a taxi to the Ryokan I was staying at (Rakucho Ryokan). When I arrived, a message from Glen-san was waiting...we certainly had just not been able to find each other...which is easy to do in one of the largest train stations in the world! I spent the night on a futon in a tatami-filled room (very traditional). There was a computer with Internet available so I was able to contact Glen as we decided on an 8:30 meeting time for the morning. I woke up early and explored the area of the Ryokan. What a great location! I was right by the river where there were tons of people up early for morning walks, runs and fishing. I grabbed a pastry from a local bakery and enjoyed the morning.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Toyota and DENSO Factory Tours
Today we had another early start in order to visit the Toyota and DENSO factories. We first went to Toyota and took a tour through the assembling lines of the plant. This area was very catered to visitors with a tour guide as well as audio and video stations to explain the sections that were not visible from our path. The exciting part of this tour was at the end you could "challenge the champions". This was a series of skill tests that was timed against plant workers via video recording to see who could accomplish the simple tasks most quickly. The champions could not be beat!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Toyota Museum and Electricity Museum
On Sunday, after a tiny chance to sleep in from the long weekend, Victor and I decided to do some sightseeing since it was our ONLY free day until the program is over. We headed to the Toyota Museum, which was awesome! They did a wonderful job of showcasing the cars of the past in a beautiful facility.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Factory and Laboratory Visit Tour in Kanto Area
From Thursday through Saturday our group left Nagoya for a very exciting adventure! With a very early morning start by bus, we first landed at Koito Manufacturing Co. (Shizuoka Factory). Here we received a brief introduction into the world of advance LED headlamps and a short factory tour. I had never really looked at a headlamp beyond the exterior shape, but what goes on inside is amazing and Koito is at the top of the industry producing for Toyota and the top-of-the-line Lexus models as well as LED lighting for the aircraft industry.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Company Visit at Guilford Mills (Japan)
It has been a VERY busy week of classes and outside of class work. While in Japan, I am still trying to keep up with some of my grad school responsibilities. This includes working on a research paper and presentation for the Textile Futures International Conference when I return in August. It was an honor to have my abstract selected (my topic is the seat design for The Splinter all wooden supercar concept...see the Link to the right), but now it has been time to really get through the writing process since the paper is due June 30. So this is where much of my "free time" has been going this week. Tonight I made significant progress and feel like I'll be able to make the deadline.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Home Stay (HIPPO) in Tokai City
I have to admit, I have been a little nervous about my weekend Home Stay since the day I signed up...but I am SO GLAD I participated! My host family was Mizuyo (the mom), Yuri (10, girl), and Mistuki (6, girl) Sato. Masaaki (dad) works in China...so it was just a weekend with the girls! They were all so cute and sweet! I met them at the University with the rest of the group. A friend of Mizuyo's came with her and helped with translation... which was wonderful, but also had me very concerned because we were going to have a very difficult time understanding each other over the weekend. Once at their house, Mizuyo opened up a bit more, and it turns out her English is much better than she thinks. Unfortunately, my Japanese is still not good enough to form sentences. The girls did not understand any English and were very shy at first. We made it through the weekend with lots of charades!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Busy, Awesome, Week..Including Kyoto!
So much happens in so little time in Japan!
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Nagoya Port
Man oh man have we been busy! Today we got a bit of a later start. Around 1:00 a group of us headed out to Nagoya Port. We got really lucky because the weather was beautiful! We didn't really know what to expect, but heard there was a lot to do there.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Midland, Nagoya Station, and Sakae
Today Seiji offered to lead a group of us to some key spots in Nagoya. We first went to Midland Square, an area of Nagoya with the main building reaching 53 stories at 247 meters. There are 6 floors underground (like many things in Japan) that house high-brand stores and restaurants. We glanced inside but I'd really like to go back to the Observation Deck...the highest in Nagoya.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Meiji-Mura
Today our group went on an excursion to Meiji-Mura, just outside of Nagoya. We joined a group of international students from NUPACE. They have been here for several months already, studying at NU. There are even 2 students in the group from NC State!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
A Little Self-Exploration
Today we only had 1 Japanese lesson (9:30-12:00). It is the only day we are done at noon, so I decided to take advantage. I hurried back to the apartment to grab some lunch, stared at a map for a while, and decided to head towards Nagoya Castle. I didn't know how far it was, or if I'd make it in 1 day...but it was driving me nuts to not know my environment. Our area of Nagoya is actually really easy to navigate. There is a Central Park that is a half block wide and runs from highway to the next. As long as I stay between the 4 overpassing highways...getting lost is virtually impossible. At the beginning of my journey, I came across a bus station with an interesting architecture. I started to walk pass it, but when I looked closer, I realized that the clear rough had a pool of water on top...more than what rain alone could do. As I got closer and looked down into the opening, I was an entire mall underneath. I was actually able to walk to the roof where there was a fountain pool. Known as Oasis 21, this area gave a great view of the city.
First Day of Class and First Nagoya Adventure
On Wednesday, a group of us decided to head to class at 9:30 to allow plenty of time to reach our 10:30 class...turns out 9:30 is the latest we should ever leave. The commute is long, but easy...the subway is only about 3 blocks from our apartment and the exit is 2 blocks from the classroom. We start the day with Japanese. Only 5 of us are in the beginner's class (this was definitely a surprise to me). Our teacher seems very nice, but is a bit difficult to understand, which I guess will help us adjust to the accent better. We jumped into the lesson with a basic greeting and syntax.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Orientation
The day started well...I was in the right place at the right time and met all other International students participating in the program this summer. There are 6 from University of Michigan, 3 others from NCSU, 1 from Kentucky and 1 from UCLA. Out of the 12 of us, I am the only female (no big surprise). We began with an Orientation about our apartments, what is what, how to recycle and dispose of trash (very crucial), who to contact, etc.
Monday, June 2, 2008
The Journey
Looks like I made it! 25 hours of travel time later.