May 30th

I oughta be ashamed, only two posts this month!! I'm getting lazy :P. Braden and I had a really fun weekend (Despite it raining cats and dogs both Saturday and Sunday). On Saturday our friend Ed came over from Izumo and together we visited Matsue Castle. Braden and I had walked around the castle grounds before, but this was our first time inside the castle itself. It was pretty cool. On the ground floor we took our shoes off, presented our tickets, then proceeded to the first exhibit. The first room had an old well in it, and some large decorations that used to be outside the castle. The bottom of the well was filled with coins, so we also dropped in a coin and wished for good luck. On the next floor they had lots of old armor and weapons on display. The helmets were the coolest, some of them were so elaborate. The next floor had a lot of old artwork depicting the history of the castle and some more antiques. The next had photos and facts about various castles in Japan. I think the next floor was mostly empty, and the top floor was a lookout area with openings on all four sides, and we could see all of Matsue. All in all, it was very neat. Although the castle has been renovated to be safe for visitors, it still retains much of its old self, and it is one of only 12 original castles remaining in Japan. Our tour guide was very nice. She did the explanations in English, and halfway through the tour our friend Chieko (who also works as a castle tour guide) caught up with us and explained some of the paintings to us. After visiting the castle we went with some other foreign exchange students to an event featuring traditional Japanese performing arts (the school got some free tickets to it which they offered to the foreign exchange students :D). At the event we saw a couple of fan dances, a taiko drum performance, a short Noh play about the Shinto Diety Susanoo who slayed a dragon and saved a princess, a short but fun sword fight between ancient samurai, some princesses singing J-pop, a march of Sumo wrestlers (well, they were dressed like sumos, but they weren't really big like sumos), a song and dance about fishermen, and another traditional Japanese dance featuring a dancer in a mask and a cool kimono. The event was pretty long, and some of the performances were more entertaining than others, but it was all in all a pretty cool experience. After the event we went and had some dinner with Ed then finished off the day by watching anime (also culturally significant! lol). On Sunday we rode our bikes through the wind and rain to get to church. Then after church we rode through more wind and rain to get to a High School band concert that we'd been invited to by one of the students of our English conversation class at the church. The concert was excellent. They played two marches, a song by Ravel, and the hymn "Come Ye Children of the Lord" in the first half, and Whistle While You Work, the theme of the anime Gegege no Kitaro, the James Bond theme, and a couple more I don't know the names of, in the second half. It really was the best high school band performance I've ever heard. Course, they are Japanese high school students, probably the hardest working students on earth! Our friend in the band said that they practiced long hours everyday. And it really showed! Well, I guess this post is long enough for now. I'll try to post more in June ;).

May 5th

Osaka is an awesome place to shop. Seriously, there are huge malls all over the place! So first I guess I should mention why we were in Osaka. Our friends Kim and Ed decided to make a trip to the Costco in Kobe, and there were some shops in Osaka that Kim wanted to visit, like the Snoopy shop and a shop called Johnny's, so we went to Osaka first. We found Johnny's without too much trouble, but the Snoopy shop was a pain to track down. We explored three different malls, and in the third one we asked a security guard if he knew where the shop was, and he said yes, he did know, and so he kindly led us through several city blocks worth of underground shops and restaurants, and then voila, we were there! But man, did it take us a while! It was worth it though, it was a neat little shop. I got a couple of pins for my purse and Kim bought a cute snoopy bag, Ed got a cool tie, and we just perused the shop and admired the cute merchandise. Before going shopping though, we went to the Outback Steakhouse in downtown Osaka. It was DELICIOUS! I don't think I've ever actually been to an Outback Steakhouse, and after eating Japanese food for so long, it was super tasty. Japanese food is super tasty too, but sometimes I crave western food. Like steak and garlic mashed potatoes. Yum. So after dinner and shopping we went to our hotel. A capsule hotel! For those who don't know, a capsule hotel is a special kind of hotel, where you rent a "capsule" instead of a room. The capsules were really cheap, only about 30 dollars a night (way cheaper than any regular hotel rooms in the same area). The hotel is split up into different sections for men and women, and each section has a shared locker room, bathroom, powder room, and shower/bathing room. There was also a small lounge, and even some laundry machines. Then there were a few hallways of capsules. Each capsule was basically just a bed set into the wall, and each one had a small TV, radio, air conditioner, and a screen you could close for privacy. We had to wear the hotel robes in our capsule, not our own pajamas, I guess for sanitary reasons. The hotel was really quite nice. It was clean, and the staff was friendly. The only downside was the noise. Not that the women were that noisy, but in the early morning there were constantly alarm clocks going off and they kept waking me up :P. But still, it was a fun experience. The next day we went to nearby Kobe and went to the Costco there. It was so crowded, just as crowded as the last time Braden and I went. It was a holiday too, so everyone was out shopping! I forgot to mention before, but today and the last three days have been holidays. Constitution Day, Green Day, and Children's Day, but all together they're just called "Golden Week". Fun times :). After getting lots of yummy American food at Costco we came home. Tonight we're going to Kim's to eat some chicken and cake that she and Ed bought. So excited.