こんばんは。
One week since last message because lot of work and a great weekend in Kyoto! First to resume last week's school : Study, Test, Study, Test.......... Very busy but anyway new things in my Japanese life : a Phone & a Bank Account. Actually it isn't a Japanese phone but an iPhone. Yeah I know this is crazy but the Japanese phones that have the same options like WIFI, GPS and lot of applications are sooooo expensive! The iPhone was the best considering I can use Fring (free iPhone to iPhone calls), Skype & Whatsapp. Anyway if you want my Japanese number just send me a message ;)
Wednesday - Pottery time!
WoW this is hard. Pottery making is not an easy thing at least for a man like me. Even with my small hands and "my patience" I had hard times to do a big Japanese Tea Cup. Anyway I could bring something interesting to the Pottery-Master. This week we'll have to polish and light the Tea Cups to finally paint them in two weeks. I will post pictures of my Tea Cup on Wednesday or Thursday depending on my free time.
Weekend - KYOTO! 京都。
I love this city! Everyone who visited it does. We decided to go and visit Kyoto this weekend because the Sakura is coming (Sakura : Cherry Blossom). Sakura is one of the most important thing in Japan. It is sacred. Lot's of event are done during the Sakura time which is pretty small considering that if it rains the cherry trees will lose its petals in a few days but if the weather is fine it can last to 2 or 3 weeks some times. We decided to go to Kyoto the last weekend because this weekend we are heading to Noto Peninsula (North of Kanazawa) with the French students who arrived on monday. These students are from a Management School in Bretagne and are here for a few weeks to study Japanese.
This weekend was the first weekend of the Sakura. 25% of the Sakuras where open in Kyoto (Here in Kanazawa it is colder so it won't come until mid of April) so we could enjoy them at some places. We could find a small Hostel in Kyoto after making 25 calls. It was dormitories but the price was great and the location fine. To go to Kyoto we rented a car at a Mazda rent-a-car dealer (レンタカー : rentaka). I could use my translated driver's license because Japan didn't signed the same International convention as Swiss did so you need to get the license translated for 4000 Yen (40 CHF) at the Swiss Embassy of Tokyo. The price was also very good with everything included. Highway tolls in Japan are known to be expensive but if you travel on Weekends and with a ETC System (Electronic Toll Control) you can get a special price of 1000 Yen for any destination. Thanks to my host family to letting me use it ;)
Arriving in Kyoto we decided to go and visit one of the most visited spot in Japan : Kankokuji Temple (Gold Temple) which was pretty close to our Hotel. After that we headed to Kyomizu which is located in south Kyoto. I didn't went there during my two last Japanese trips so it was a very nice new experience. I liked it a lot. After the temple we wanted to go eat something out and enjoy a Good Karaoke in downtown Kyoto : Gion! We met a friend of Claudio in Kinkakuji who came with us to the restaurant and the karaoke! It was sooooo cool! We had lot of fun but that would mean a short night if we wanted to visit more of Kyoto on sunday...
Here are the pictures of Saturday in Kyoto!
Sunday, to be continued...
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Free comments are now open!
You can now post your comments without using a Google account or whatever. I just made it free to anyone you'd like to post a comment. I hope i won't have to disable this because of spamming problems. We'll see in the future!
Feel free to leave me comments, questions or remarks!
Feel free to leave me comments, questions or remarks!
Week 4 - Sake Brewery Tour & Wrestling
すごい! What a crazy weekend! I had the chance to see two rare things, a Sake Brewery and a Japanese Pro Wrestling Event LoL...
There isn't much to say about these two events that you actually need to see it by yourself to believe it, specially for the Wrestling HaHa...
Anyway concerning the Sake Brewery we had the chance to meet Americans (most of them english teacher for Japanese students) that were organizing a Sake Tour in one of the oldest Sake Brewery of Japan. In this brewery they were still using the same methods and timings as they did long time 300 years ago. This brewery was 380 years old and had never moved yet. This comes from the most important ingredient of the Sake which is water and not rice. Rice is also very important but they import rice from the best rice farms in Japan. But water is not imported, it comes from the mountains around Kanazawa which brings the best water for the Sake. It has a lot of minerals in it and is very sacred for this brewery.
We had the chance to visit the different places where you have the sake polished and then steamed so you get a wet rice called Koji. At this point the rice transforms itself slowly to sake. You'll have to filter it and keep the rice at a certain temperature to get the best sake.
It only takes about 35 to 40 days to get sake. The best sake comes from the best water and also from the amount of polishing the rice. This means the more polished the rice is the better sake you'll get. (I don't know if my english is good, but i'm doing my best :D).
Anyway you can find old sake (5 to 30 years old) which is more like a light Whisky but it is actually rare to find it.
Finally this sunday we had the chance to attend a Pro Wrestling Event in Kanazawa. Thanks for the host-family mother of Jerome-san who invited us because her son is one of the referee in the Pro Wrestling Tour. It is so funny to watch but it was really cold because we were actually in a open stadium and the weather was cold (5 °C!)... Anyway we enjoyed it a lot!
Here are the pictures!
There isn't much to say about these two events that you actually need to see it by yourself to believe it, specially for the Wrestling HaHa...
Anyway concerning the Sake Brewery we had the chance to meet Americans (most of them english teacher for Japanese students) that were organizing a Sake Tour in one of the oldest Sake Brewery of Japan. In this brewery they were still using the same methods and timings as they did long time 300 years ago. This brewery was 380 years old and had never moved yet. This comes from the most important ingredient of the Sake which is water and not rice. Rice is also very important but they import rice from the best rice farms in Japan. But water is not imported, it comes from the mountains around Kanazawa which brings the best water for the Sake. It has a lot of minerals in it and is very sacred for this brewery.
We had the chance to visit the different places where you have the sake polished and then steamed so you get a wet rice called Koji. At this point the rice transforms itself slowly to sake. You'll have to filter it and keep the rice at a certain temperature to get the best sake.
It only takes about 35 to 40 days to get sake. The best sake comes from the best water and also from the amount of polishing the rice. This means the more polished the rice is the better sake you'll get. (I don't know if my english is good, but i'm doing my best :D).
Anyway you can find old sake (5 to 30 years old) which is more like a light Whisky but it is actually rare to find it.
Finally this sunday we had the chance to attend a Pro Wrestling Event in Kanazawa. Thanks for the host-family mother of Jerome-san who invited us because her son is one of the referee in the Pro Wrestling Tour. It is so funny to watch but it was really cold because we were actually in a open stadium and the weather was cold (5 °C!)... Anyway we enjoyed it a lot!
Here are the pictures!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Week 4 - Kimono Wearing and lot of work at school
Hey guys! Sorry for the long time until this new message, I've been very busy this week with school and cultural activities. I was sooo tired at nights I didn't found the energy to update the blog and the pictures but here we are! :D
Before talking about this week activity I'd like to share with you the pictures I took this sunday 14th March at the Kenrokuen Park. The weather was really nice so I decided to head for a new tour inside the Park. Enjoy ;)
16th March - Wearing Kimono
As a man I was going to wear a Samuraï Kimono! This is so nice and difficult to wear. It take around 10 minutes per person to wear a Kimono, oh and, you can't wear it alone of course. You need a Kimono Master to help you out. It is impossible to wear it by yourself. I will let you enjoy the many pictures we took in the International Lounge. This lounge is an old house were some of the cultural activities will be done during this three months. The house is located near the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art of Kanazawa.
We had lot of laughing when we had to go from one house to another because we had to be carefull with the 2000-3000 CHF Kimonos we were wearing and our coordinator had lot of fun watching at Gaijins (Foreigners)... Enjoy!
Before talking about this week activity I'd like to share with you the pictures I took this sunday 14th March at the Kenrokuen Park. The weather was really nice so I decided to head for a new tour inside the Park. Enjoy ;)
16th March - Wearing Kimono
As a man I was going to wear a Samuraï Kimono! This is so nice and difficult to wear. It take around 10 minutes per person to wear a Kimono, oh and, you can't wear it alone of course. You need a Kimono Master to help you out. It is impossible to wear it by yourself. I will let you enjoy the many pictures we took in the International Lounge. This lounge is an old house were some of the cultural activities will be done during this three months. The house is located near the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art of Kanazawa.
We had lot of laughing when we had to go from one house to another because we had to be carefull with the 2000-3000 CHF Kimonos we were wearing and our coordinator had lot of fun watching at Gaijins (Foreigners)... Enjoy!
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Day 15 & 16 - Tatsuyama Temple District Kanazawa
おはよございます! (Ohayo Gozaimasu - Good Morning)
Yes I am waking up while you are maybe already sleeping :P I have posted new pictures of the last day in the Tatsuyama Temple District in North-East of Kanazawa near my house. I met Jerome-san over there and decided to go with the bike because it was sunny! Again!? WoW two days sunny! I assure you today is not sunny, it is very rainy and windy ;)
Day 15 - Sakuda Workshop Decorating Chopsticks with Gold Leaf
Thursday 12 March 2010 GOLD! Yeah! We went to the Geisha district where the Sakuda Workshop was to create our own gold chopsticks. This was a great experience. There are a few steps to but gold on anything. First the design, you let your own creativity talk and you use scotch tape with a cutter to create your future design. Then you apply the scotch tape on the chopsticks with the different holes, lines or squares for the gold. Then you put some paste on it, I didn't understood what the Gold leaf Master told me, anyway it is kind of sticky. Then you apply gold slowly and with love :D You have to roll one chopsticks from one side to the middle of the gold leaf and then take the second one and roll it from the other side to the middle. Finally you slowly brake the gold leaf in the middle and you use small brushes to be sure the gold is correctly place. Finally you take of the scotch tape and you're done ;) It take around two weeks to have them completely dry. I loved it :D
After the gold leaf workshop I went back home and on the way back I saw small boys playing Baseball near my house. I tried talking with them but I could only have a small contact because they were a little afraid of me. I am a がいじん (Gaijin - stranger)! But anyway they used english words for bases positions, stikes and balls. It was funny and cute to see :)
Day 16 - Tatsuyama Temple District
Yesterday afternoon we went to the Tatsuyama Temple District. Yama means mountain and it is a small mountain in the north east of Kanazawa with an incredible view of the "Small City of Kanazawa" which is Huge comparing to our cities :P I took my bike from the house and I met Jerome in the Geisha district, from there we went all the way up and visited kind of abandoned temples which was really special if you consider that all the temples and shrines here are really clean and taken care of. For example in the Kenrokuen Park, they clean the rivers and clean the grass which is amazing.
After this amazing afternoon I took my bike and went to a Bike shop to buy a lock for it. I went to an enormous PACHINKO Slot Machines center and also a GOlf Practice. Huge!
Here are a selection of the pictures I took. I already need a new hard drive to back up my 65GB of pictures! LoL
Today we will have to be "Tourists" for Tourist School students. We are going to assists students who want to be English Tourist Guides for the Kenrokuen Park and will have to give them a feedback of their visit. But it rains a lot! I hope it'll be fun anyway :P
Yes I am waking up while you are maybe already sleeping :P I have posted new pictures of the last day in the Tatsuyama Temple District in North-East of Kanazawa near my house. I met Jerome-san over there and decided to go with the bike because it was sunny! Again!? WoW two days sunny! I assure you today is not sunny, it is very rainy and windy ;)
Day 15 - Sakuda Workshop Decorating Chopsticks with Gold Leaf
Thursday 12 March 2010 GOLD! Yeah! We went to the Geisha district where the Sakuda Workshop was to create our own gold chopsticks. This was a great experience. There are a few steps to but gold on anything. First the design, you let your own creativity talk and you use scotch tape with a cutter to create your future design. Then you apply the scotch tape on the chopsticks with the different holes, lines or squares for the gold. Then you put some paste on it, I didn't understood what the Gold leaf Master told me, anyway it is kind of sticky. Then you apply gold slowly and with love :D You have to roll one chopsticks from one side to the middle of the gold leaf and then take the second one and roll it from the other side to the middle. Finally you slowly brake the gold leaf in the middle and you use small brushes to be sure the gold is correctly place. Finally you take of the scotch tape and you're done ;) It take around two weeks to have them completely dry. I loved it :D
After the gold leaf workshop I went back home and on the way back I saw small boys playing Baseball near my house. I tried talking with them but I could only have a small contact because they were a little afraid of me. I am a がいじん (Gaijin - stranger)! But anyway they used english words for bases positions, stikes and balls. It was funny and cute to see :)
Day 16 - Tatsuyama Temple District
Yesterday afternoon we went to the Tatsuyama Temple District. Yama means mountain and it is a small mountain in the north east of Kanazawa with an incredible view of the "Small City of Kanazawa" which is Huge comparing to our cities :P I took my bike from the house and I met Jerome in the Geisha district, from there we went all the way up and visited kind of abandoned temples which was really special if you consider that all the temples and shrines here are really clean and taken care of. For example in the Kenrokuen Park, they clean the rivers and clean the grass which is amazing.
After this amazing afternoon I took my bike and went to a Bike shop to buy a lock for it. I went to an enormous PACHINKO Slot Machines center and also a GOlf Practice. Huge!
Here are a selection of the pictures I took. I already need a new hard drive to back up my 65GB of pictures! LoL
Today we will have to be "Tourists" for Tourist School students. We are going to assists students who want to be English Tourist Guides for the Kenrokuen Park and will have to give them a feedback of their visit. But it rains a lot! I hope it'll be fun anyway :P
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Day 15 - Gold Leaf Chopsticks and Geisha District (Preview)
こんばんは!
I am very tired tonight, so sadly no message but only pictures. I will edit this post tomorrow ;)
I am very tired tonight, so sadly no message but only pictures. I will edit this post tomorrow ;)
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Day 11, 12 & 13 - Kanazawa Kenrokuen Garden, Castle
Hey all!
Yesterday I couldn't post any new message because we had a really full day until the night and I was so tired (つかれました : Tsukaremashita - I am tired). Anyway this afternoon we didn't had any activities so I took time to sleep almost 2 hours when I came back from school and now I am writing you this message.
Day 11 - Sunday (にちようび - Nichiyobi)
This sunday was an important day for me because I was going to meet new members of the family. We woke up a around 12:00 and we ate a brunch with the whole family. It was a special brunch because of the rice and other Japanese meals but I really enjoyed it like everything. After this we talked a lot and because of the weather I decided to stay at home and go to bed not as late as always.
Because the husband had to leave for Tokyo not too late, we went to a local restaurant and again this was incredibly good. It was on tatamis with typical food.
Day 12 - Monday Kanazawa Kenrokuen & Castle
First outside cultural activity! Visit of the Kenrokuen Park and Castle with a Japanese Tea Ceremony. The weather was awful. All gray of clouds! But I was hoping for some sun later. And yes, the sun came in the end of the afternoon when finishing the visit of the Kenrokuen park. Anyway I tried to take pictures with this weather which is very difficult, anyway I am happy of some of my pictures.
The Tea Ceremony was really interesting. You have to say some things and then take the bowl with the right hand, turn twice clockwise and then drink. When you drink you HAVE to make some noise. If you don't this means you don't like it. After drinking, you clean the place you drink and turn twice counterclockwise. After this you thank the Tea-lady in Kimono and you're done. I think this ceremony was more a tourist one than a usual Tea Ceremony. Anyway it was cool, we could also visit the small house inside the park. After this we headed to the Castle which is Huge! I really like the architecture of these white castles.
Day 13 - Snowy day!
Nothing special today unless we are in a snow storm! This is amazing... Maybe tomorrow I'll head to the Kenrokuen park and Castle to enjoy the place with snow which is said to be very special when snowy ;)
Yesterday I couldn't post any new message because we had a really full day until the night and I was so tired (つかれました : Tsukaremashita - I am tired). Anyway this afternoon we didn't had any activities so I took time to sleep almost 2 hours when I came back from school and now I am writing you this message.
Day 11 - Sunday (にちようび - Nichiyobi)
This sunday was an important day for me because I was going to meet new members of the family. We woke up a around 12:00 and we ate a brunch with the whole family. It was a special brunch because of the rice and other Japanese meals but I really enjoyed it like everything. After this we talked a lot and because of the weather I decided to stay at home and go to bed not as late as always.
Because the husband had to leave for Tokyo not too late, we went to a local restaurant and again this was incredibly good. It was on tatamis with typical food.
Day 12 - Monday Kanazawa Kenrokuen & Castle
First outside cultural activity! Visit of the Kenrokuen Park and Castle with a Japanese Tea Ceremony. The weather was awful. All gray of clouds! But I was hoping for some sun later. And yes, the sun came in the end of the afternoon when finishing the visit of the Kenrokuen park. Anyway I tried to take pictures with this weather which is very difficult, anyway I am happy of some of my pictures.
The Tea Ceremony was really interesting. You have to say some things and then take the bowl with the right hand, turn twice clockwise and then drink. When you drink you HAVE to make some noise. If you don't this means you don't like it. After drinking, you clean the place you drink and turn twice counterclockwise. After this you thank the Tea-lady in Kimono and you're done. I think this ceremony was more a tourist one than a usual Tea Ceremony. Anyway it was cool, we could also visit the small house inside the park. After this we headed to the Castle which is Huge! I really like the architecture of these white castles.
Day 13 - Snowy day!
Nothing special today unless we are in a snow storm! This is amazing... Maybe tomorrow I'll head to the Kenrokuen park and Castle to enjoy the place with snow which is said to be very special when snowy ;)
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Day 3 : Honda Asimo Robot Demonstration
Honda Asimo Robot Demonstration
Mise en ligne par arismaroonian
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Day 9 and 10 - 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art (SANAA)
こんばんは!
Another two days in Japan! ^_^ So many new things every days! Here is a short preview of these two days :
Day 9 : School - First and second Unit Test. The test was pretty easy and I can feel my Japanese improving every time I speak with my host family or outside. Anyway my vocabulary is still small and they speak pretty fast here... After school we met Yoshida-san (Our coordinator for the trip in Kanazawa) to chose our future stamp! Yes in Japan they are not used to sign, for official papers, they use personal stamps. And to open the bank account or get a cell phone we absolutely need a stamp. I will post a picture as soon as I get mine.
We went to Kanazawa-downtown to visit the shops and department stores. We ended playing Time Crisis 4 in a Video Games Center :P After coming back home I decided to take the bicycle to go the Geisha district near the house. I took a few pictures but on monday we will go there and enjoy a Tea Ceremony in a Geisha House.
At 5.30 pm I had to come back home because I had to attend the english-course for young japanese girls my host family mother was giving. She wanted me to present myself in Japanese and english. It was sooooo funny! They were so cute. I had to sign authographs and stand for pictures. I made a few pictures and a video to show you the energy these young girls had! This was amazing! At the same time they were soooo shy! One almost cried when I spoke to her in english... LoL
After all these emotions we went to a Yakitori restaurant which was also amazing! So delicious (おいしいです - Oishi desu - It's delicious). They had a crazy machine serving the beers automatically, I loved it ;)
Day 10 : 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art - Architects : SANAA (http://www.kanazawa21.jp/en/) and Samurai district
Today we decided, Claudio, Jerome and I to go visit the SANAA Museum. SANAA is the famous Japanese architects who built the new Rolex Learning Center in EPFL. The building is nice with lot of spaces for expositions. Many things are similar between the Rolex Learning Center and the 21st Century Museum. I'll let you enjoy the pictures. The current event was by the Danish/ Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson : "Your chance encounter". Completely crazy art but we loved it! I took a few pics of inside art even if it was forbidden just to show you the most incredible stuffs we saw.
After this we decided to head down the Downtown to the Samurai district which is very nice with old houses. We could enter in some of them which were converted to gifts shops etc...
Tonight I should meet the two daughters with the husband and the new baby born. I am tired but I am sure the night will be as great as all others I passed here. There is still a strange feeling of not knowing the day because everything is always open. All days until midnight so there is no real sunday to rest like in switzerland...
Enjoy the pictures!
Another two days in Japan! ^_^ So many new things every days! Here is a short preview of these two days :
Day 9 : School - First and second Unit Test. The test was pretty easy and I can feel my Japanese improving every time I speak with my host family or outside. Anyway my vocabulary is still small and they speak pretty fast here... After school we met Yoshida-san (Our coordinator for the trip in Kanazawa) to chose our future stamp! Yes in Japan they are not used to sign, for official papers, they use personal stamps. And to open the bank account or get a cell phone we absolutely need a stamp. I will post a picture as soon as I get mine.
We went to Kanazawa-downtown to visit the shops and department stores. We ended playing Time Crisis 4 in a Video Games Center :P After coming back home I decided to take the bicycle to go the Geisha district near the house. I took a few pictures but on monday we will go there and enjoy a Tea Ceremony in a Geisha House.
At 5.30 pm I had to come back home because I had to attend the english-course for young japanese girls my host family mother was giving. She wanted me to present myself in Japanese and english. It was sooooo funny! They were so cute. I had to sign authographs and stand for pictures. I made a few pictures and a video to show you the energy these young girls had! This was amazing! At the same time they were soooo shy! One almost cried when I spoke to her in english... LoL
After all these emotions we went to a Yakitori restaurant which was also amazing! So delicious (おいしいです - Oishi desu - It's delicious). They had a crazy machine serving the beers automatically, I loved it ;)
Day 10 : 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art - Architects : SANAA (http://www.kanazawa21.jp/en/) and Samurai district
Today we decided, Claudio, Jerome and I to go visit the SANAA Museum. SANAA is the famous Japanese architects who built the new Rolex Learning Center in EPFL. The building is nice with lot of spaces for expositions. Many things are similar between the Rolex Learning Center and the 21st Century Museum. I'll let you enjoy the pictures. The current event was by the Danish/ Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson : "Your chance encounter". Completely crazy art but we loved it! I took a few pics of inside art even if it was forbidden just to show you the most incredible stuffs we saw.
After this we decided to head down the Downtown to the Samurai district which is very nice with old houses. We could enter in some of them which were converted to gifts shops etc...
Tonight I should meet the two daughters with the husband and the new baby born. I am tired but I am sure the night will be as great as all others I passed here. There is still a strange feeling of not knowing the day because everything is always open. All days until midnight so there is no real sunday to rest like in switzerland...
Enjoy the pictures!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Day 8
こんばんは!
A short message to tell you that today we went to the City Hall to get our Alien Card but it'll take a long time to get it. March 23rd will be the date. So until this I won't be able to open a bank account nor get a japanese phone... Anyway we went to visit Kanazawa's downtown which is very nice with lot of shops.
I also tried the Japanese Donuts (Mister Donut) but I was a little disappointed. Food portion here is small but it is efficient. You don't feel heavy and not anymore hungry but with the Donut I was still a little hungry after so I am not convinced of this American Japanese Food :D I prefer traditional deserts :P
Anyway tomorrow we have our first Japanese test. So now it is time to sleep :)
おやすみなさい!
A short message to tell you that today we went to the City Hall to get our Alien Card but it'll take a long time to get it. March 23rd will be the date. So until this I won't be able to open a bank account nor get a japanese phone... Anyway we went to visit Kanazawa's downtown which is very nice with lot of shops.
I also tried the Japanese Donuts (Mister Donut) but I was a little disappointed. Food portion here is small but it is efficient. You don't feel heavy and not anymore hungry but with the Donut I was still a little hungry after so I am not convinced of this American Japanese Food :D I prefer traditional deserts :P
Anyway tomorrow we have our first Japanese test. So now it is time to sleep :)
おやすみなさい!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Day 7 - Kanazawa
こんばんは!
Back from my first photo-day in Kanazawa. We had our first activity this afternoon : Photo Workshop. The idea is that we will have to take pictures and submit them to the teacher. After submitting 54 pictures we will have to produce a poster with any of these pictures. I don't know the theme of my pictures yet but I have a few ideas...
Anyway after the class Claudio and I decided to go for a Walk in 金沢 (Kanazawa). We went to the Omicho ichiba market. You can find fishes (Sakana : さかな), vegetables (Yasai : やさい) and fruits (Kajitsu : かじつ). After visiting the small market, we went to the Oyama Jinja Shrine which is a small but very nice shrine dedicated to the first lord of Kaga (Old province where we are right now).
The weather today was much better than the first days. A little sun but still clouds in the sky. I hope there will be more sunny days so we can enjoy the Sakura (さくら) : Cherry blossom in Japanese.
Tomorrow afternoon we will go for the Alien Card Registration Office so we can get our foreigner card. We will also have to buy a stamp of our name. With this card and stamp we will be able to open a bank account and get a japanese cell phone.
じゃまたあした!
Back from my first photo-day in Kanazawa. We had our first activity this afternoon : Photo Workshop. The idea is that we will have to take pictures and submit them to the teacher. After submitting 54 pictures we will have to produce a poster with any of these pictures. I don't know the theme of my pictures yet but I have a few ideas...
Anyway after the class Claudio and I decided to go for a Walk in 金沢 (Kanazawa). We went to the Omicho ichiba market. You can find fishes (Sakana : さかな), vegetables (Yasai : やさい) and fruits (Kajitsu : かじつ). After visiting the small market, we went to the Oyama Jinja Shrine which is a small but very nice shrine dedicated to the first lord of Kaga (Old province where we are right now).
The weather today was much better than the first days. A little sun but still clouds in the sky. I hope there will be more sunny days so we can enjoy the Sakura (さくら) : Cherry blossom in Japanese.
Tomorrow afternoon we will go for the Alien Card Registration Office so we can get our foreigner card. We will also have to buy a stamp of our name. With this card and stamp we will be able to open a bank account and get a japanese cell phone.
じゃまたあした!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Day 6 (Day 3, 4 and 5)
こんばんは!
We just came back from a Teppanyaki restaurant. In this place you had to order the ingredients and then cook them in front of you on a Teppanyaki. It was so delicious! おなかがいっぱいです。(Onaka ga ippai desu : I am full!)
Anyway here is a short resume of my last days now that I have some time for you ;)
> Day 3 in Tokyo
We wanted to make a "light walking day" so we woke up late and decided to go to the Odaiba district to go in the Miraiku Museum : Museum of Science and Innovations (Museum for geeks :P)
Anyway we had to took a Monorail train like the Metro M2 in Lausanne with no drivers and go on this built island. In this area we could find Universities and students facilities... The Museum was HUGE! Very interesting with lot of interactive stands and specially a ASIMO Robot Demonstration! Soooo coool :D After the museum we went to Ginza to walk around all the luxury shops and finally we headed to Akihabara to play some Tekken 6 in the Sega Club place.
> Day 4 : THE BIG DAY! Meeting the Host Family in Kanazawa.
Day 4 is for me the most intense day since the beginning of the trip. We were going to meet our Host Family in Kanazawa. Kanazawa is 4 hours away from Tokyo with Express train (small Shinkansen) and is called the "Cold and small Kyoto". It has lot of temples, parks and traditional things to visit. After arriving in Kanazawa train station, we met Yoshida-san, our trip coordinator. This guy is so gentle. He presented us the school and the facilities and after 1 hour we had the chance to met our host families one by one... So stressful! :O
My family : Fujimoto is great. I met the mother first and she is very kind and helpful with me. She speaks perfectly english and it helps me all the time to improve my Japanese. She seems to be happy with me speaking a lot about anything. We took her car to go to their house and I could finally empty my 5 Kilogs of gifts and chocolate of my luggages ;) We ate Shabu Shabu (famous Japanese fondue) and it was sooooooo delicious! Unbelievable. I also met the father and the grandmother which are very nice with me too. Lucky me, I feel good here.
> Day 5 : First school day! No class but meetings and visiting
After meeting the family, we had now to meet our teachers (4!), the president of the school and officials. We had to wear formal clothes because in the afternoon we were going to meet the local VIPs : Director General of Tourism Bureau, Deputy Director General of Tourism Bureau, Manager of Int'l Exchange Division and Managing Director of IFIE (Our school). Everything was planned as an official visit. Swiss and Japanese flags, official photographs and lot of stress. We were going to receive a scholarship and a present from them and I decided to be the one who will thank all of them in Japanese. And it was great. They were very respectful for us and funny. We talked about the Olympics and other things like that. And guess what! I am in the local Newspaper with my name in it (Picture will come soon). This is sooo cool :D
After that we came back to our respective homes to enjoy once again a very nice meal!
> Day 6 : First real class day
The class is excellent. We are using the same books as in Switzerland so it is a small review of what we should have learned during our 3 months of Japanese (Which is 24 hours altogether :P). We ate in town and then walked a little around the school. Tomorrow we will have our first activity : PHOTO WORKSHOP! This will be an excellent way to use my camera ;) I am really excited about it.
ありがとございます : Thank you!
じゃまたあした : See you tomorrow!
Here are the pictures for Day 3.
We just came back from a Teppanyaki restaurant. In this place you had to order the ingredients and then cook them in front of you on a Teppanyaki. It was so delicious! おなかがいっぱいです。(Onaka ga ippai desu : I am full!)
Anyway here is a short resume of my last days now that I have some time for you ;)
> Day 3 in Tokyo
We wanted to make a "light walking day" so we woke up late and decided to go to the Odaiba district to go in the Miraiku Museum : Museum of Science and Innovations (Museum for geeks :P)
Anyway we had to took a Monorail train like the Metro M2 in Lausanne with no drivers and go on this built island. In this area we could find Universities and students facilities... The Museum was HUGE! Very interesting with lot of interactive stands and specially a ASIMO Robot Demonstration! Soooo coool :D After the museum we went to Ginza to walk around all the luxury shops and finally we headed to Akihabara to play some Tekken 6 in the Sega Club place.
> Day 4 : THE BIG DAY! Meeting the Host Family in Kanazawa.
Day 4 is for me the most intense day since the beginning of the trip. We were going to meet our Host Family in Kanazawa. Kanazawa is 4 hours away from Tokyo with Express train (small Shinkansen) and is called the "Cold and small Kyoto". It has lot of temples, parks and traditional things to visit. After arriving in Kanazawa train station, we met Yoshida-san, our trip coordinator. This guy is so gentle. He presented us the school and the facilities and after 1 hour we had the chance to met our host families one by one... So stressful! :O
My family : Fujimoto is great. I met the mother first and she is very kind and helpful with me. She speaks perfectly english and it helps me all the time to improve my Japanese. She seems to be happy with me speaking a lot about anything. We took her car to go to their house and I could finally empty my 5 Kilogs of gifts and chocolate of my luggages ;) We ate Shabu Shabu (famous Japanese fondue) and it was sooooooo delicious! Unbelievable. I also met the father and the grandmother which are very nice with me too. Lucky me, I feel good here.
> Day 5 : First school day! No class but meetings and visiting
After meeting the family, we had now to meet our teachers (4!), the president of the school and officials. We had to wear formal clothes because in the afternoon we were going to meet the local VIPs : Director General of Tourism Bureau, Deputy Director General of Tourism Bureau, Manager of Int'l Exchange Division and Managing Director of IFIE (Our school). Everything was planned as an official visit. Swiss and Japanese flags, official photographs and lot of stress. We were going to receive a scholarship and a present from them and I decided to be the one who will thank all of them in Japanese. And it was great. They were very respectful for us and funny. We talked about the Olympics and other things like that. And guess what! I am in the local Newspaper with my name in it (Picture will come soon). This is sooo cool :D
After that we came back to our respective homes to enjoy once again a very nice meal!
> Day 6 : First real class day
The class is excellent. We are using the same books as in Switzerland so it is a small review of what we should have learned during our 3 months of Japanese (Which is 24 hours altogether :P). We ate in town and then walked a little around the school. Tomorrow we will have our first activity : PHOTO WORKSHOP! This will be an excellent way to use my camera ;) I am really excited about it.
ありがとございます : Thank you!
じゃまたあした : See you tomorrow!
Here are the pictures for Day 3.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Day 5
こんばんは!
Sorry for the missing Day 3. I have been very busy for the home stay family, school and very tired of the Tokyo trip. I won't be able to upload the pictures on flickr tonight, I need some sleep...
I will post a message concerning the past days tomorrow, keep in touch ;)
じゃまた
Sorry for the missing Day 3. I have been very busy for the home stay family, school and very tired of the Tokyo trip. I won't be able to upload the pictures on flickr tonight, I need some sleep...
I will post a message concerning the past days tomorrow, keep in touch ;)
じゃまた
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