Ok so one of the first things i noticed here in Japan was how anal they are about the H1N1 influenza.

Just remove the thing about the Presidents Speech, throw in some unnecessary and
illegible Kanji and you’ve got Kansai Gaidai’s reaction to the H1N1 Influenza

Ok so everytime a gaijin (foreigner) is diagnosed with H1N1, it is immediately announced to ALL students via e-mail.  They do not include the persons name, but they mention the Seminar House number they’re in and how many total cases etc. etc.  Not only that, they tell us to disinfect our hands as we enter buildings and gargle (when? dunno… just gargle dammit!).  They actually have these rubbing alcohol things at the front of just about every building on campus (and even buildings OFF campus! Eg. Hirakata City Hall).  Also people are wearing masks! Everywhere!  People at work, students, general public, my teacher and even the odd gaijin wearing one (which blew my freakin mind maaan! … at first).  But i think i see the mask system now, i wondered why they would wear them at first – initially i thought people wore them all the time out of paranoia, which they do, but not actually all the time.  Usually whenever they get sick, or people around them have gotten sick, they wear the masks – which still kinda makes sense, but i still think its paranoia.  I mean if I encountered someone who did have H1N1, and wasn’t wearing a mask, i wouldn’t actually care.  I’d cut my losses and accept that I was gonna get sick, see the doctor as soon as i see symptoms and ride it out.  If i get sick, then i get sick. If I don’t, then awesome.

So one weekend, long long ago… Actually more like 2 weeks ago or something – I went to the Osaka Sky Building.

You: “What’s that Uncle Jace?”
Me: “Well… look at the picture I posted below…”

Now what’s completely bizarre about this building (more bizarre than me being your uncle) is that you can ride an elevator nearly to the top, and the elevator shaft is outside and MADE OF GLASS!  So you can see everything around you.  Then you can opt to leave, or throw some yen at some important people (aka “buy a ticket”) to then take an escalator further up (also made of glass), then you actually reach the roof of the building and you get an awesumo look-see around.

Bah, been a while since the last blogaroo… unfortunately i can’t write blogs if i don’t feel like them – correction! I don’t post blogs that I write when I don’t feel like it because quite simply i’m not happy with them.  And I only want my best goin out there.

However a few things have happened that i need to blog about.  Such as my trip to Arashiyama and my other trip to see the Osaka Sky Building.  Not only that, Mid-terms are about up (still got 1 left) and i’ll blog about that soon.  Also I’d like to write a blog catching up on what life’s been like lately – because trust me, things have changed.  I also need to start my topical blogs about things in Japan (like trains, buses, mobile phones blah blah).

Patience young ones, things need to be done, but they need to be done right.  You’ll love em when they get there.

Hiroshima (and the surrounding area) was quite an experience.  It was great! However, I think what I had made of Hiroshima was what made it great – otherwise it might have been pretty average.  Read on!

Friday night I went out drinkin with a bunch of guys at the beer park right by my dorms.  It was good fun, had a bit to drink… a bit more… and more… ultimately I ended up going to sleep at 2am, to be woken with a hangover by Mitch at 6:15am – sleeping through my alarm.  I had to be at Hirakata Station by 7:33, the bus left the bus stop at 7:00am, and I had nothing ready.  My clothes were even still in the dryer downstairs!  I really didn’t think that through – guhhhh….

Anywayz, being the super human I am, I managed to slow down time and got myself ready AND made it to the bus stop with a couple of minutes to spare.  I needed food. And drink.  I was pretty hungry and thirsty, but didn’t have much time.. so! Convenience store! I grabbed a drink then spotted something potentially edible.  STEAM BUNS!

Yaaay! So excited I get to go to Hiroshima tomorrow.  I’ve heard great things about Hiroshima, apparently it’s a very beautiful city!  There I’ll be visiting the “Genbaku Dome” (aka Atomic Bomb Dome or Hiroshima Peace Memorial) which should be interesting.  But to top it off, there at the dome I’ll get to sit in on a little presentation/speech from an ACTUAL survivor of the bomb!  So that’s going to be very interesting and potentially moving.  Uhh.. ok so i’ll be honest, not really sure what else I’ll do there.  So i’ll have to do a bit of research tonight.  However I do know that i’ll be staying overnight in Hiroshima then heading to the Island of Miyajima on Sunday, which is supposed to be really nice.

Anywayz, expect a big post by Monday!  I’ll leave you with a video.

Ok so here’s a delayed blog – imagine me posting this exactly 1 week ago.

This weekend (ie. the weekend before last – stay with me kids!) was a great weekend indeed! On saturday I went to Osaka Aquarium, which rocked my sox, went on one of the worlds largest ferris wheels, and ate japanese-made-mexican food!  And to top it all off, on Sunday I ate a meat pie, and watched the Rugby grand final.  Not only that, this week i did something i said i’d never do – i joined a club.  I also confronted my worst fear.

HERE IT GOES!

So on Saturday morning I met up with my buddy Annie at Hirakata station, bound for Osaka.  We hopped aboard the express train on the Keihan line and eventually, after getting off at the wrong stop, arrived at Yodoyabashi Station in Osaka.  We jumped into the Subway and headed to Osakako station – just a 5 minute walk to the huge ferris wheel and the aquarium.

Today I had a field trip to the Osaka Peace Museum (or “Peace Osaka”).  It was great; short but great (much like yours truly).  This was a field trip for my Pacific Rivalry class i’m studying at Kansai Gaidai.  A class dedicated to, you guessed it: Rivalry in the Pacific – think WWII.

So this morning I got up at 7am, snoozed till 7:45, showered, lazed around, and was on a bus to Hirakata station at 9:23.  There i met up with Annie for coffee, who is now a very special person to me: she was there when i lost my Starbucks virginity to a White Chocolate Mocha.  She made the experience as easy and as comfortable as possible – oh and so did the delicious White Chocolate Mocha. YUMMMMMMM!

After Coffee, Annie and I met up with the rest of our classmates waiting with our Professor on the train Platform.  We nabbed the express train to Kyobashi Station, all the way discussing whether or not President Obama deserved his Nobel Peace Prize or not.  (*cough*no*cough* … … well at least not yet anyway).  From there we jumped onto the Osaka Loop Line, clockwise, 2 stops to Morinomiya Station and walked about 5 minutes to Peace Osaka.

Ok, so this isn’t the big post i was promising, that one is still kinda in the works.  But for the mean time i thought i’d just share a video of my bike ride back to the Seminar House through Makino after grabbing lunch.  Enjoy =D