So I had been thinking all week about ways to make this blog more interesting. I have been becoming tired of writing the same boring entry over and over. As the writer, I feel like I am becoming redundant so I imagine whoever has been reading might be a little less than entertained. I thought I had a few good ideas, that might help crack a few smiles. I was thinking I would try some new writing style, or point of view this week and see how well it was received, but then something happened… I had an amazing, eventful weekend. I think this weekend was probably my best since arriving in this country. It was full of site seeing, music, great food, and some more new friends. I am having another one of those evenings where I am feeling bummed that a good time is coming to an end, but hopefully by the end of this post, this reminiscing will have me smiling again.
For starters, school was…. it was school. Pretty normal. Awesome part about this week was I got off 2 hours early on Saturday. Moving on to the weekend…
First off, Saturday evening, I went home to rest and have a snack, while I motivated myself to go to the gym. It was difficult, but I managed to make it out to the boxing gym for a nice work out. It has been really hot lately. Saturday and Sunday it hit 90*F. After my work out, I showered to cool off then went to head home. As soon as I stepped out of the gym I started to sweat bullets again. It was well after dark but still over 80 and extremely humid. I chugged several bottles of water on my way home and hopped into a cold shower as soon as I walked in the door. After that I ended up making way to much pasta and stuffing myself full before passing out earlier than normal. Which was good because I had to get up early to meet a friend.
Sunday morning I headed to the train station around 8 to meet my new friend Roberta. Roberta is from Brazil, she is working on her masters in Europe. She is currently “stationed” in Berlin for the summer and decided to travel around Japan for a few weeks while she had the time. I met Roberta through couchsurfing. She hit me up saying she was coming to check out Nara, so I decided to meet up with her and show her around. We went around to see the deer and check out the temples. I have seen the deer and temples several times now, but it never gets old. I really am impressed every time I walk up to Todaiji temple, which I recently heard is the biggest wooden building in the world.
I have really come to enjoy seeing people’s reactions when they first meet the Nara deer too. Like many others, including myself, Roberta couldn’t help but laugh. We fed a few rice crackers and then they were all upon us. It always gets intimidating when you are feeding one and then several others swarm in for their share. They are relentless, and right now they still have their antlers which only adds to the intimidation factor. We made it away unscathed… this time.
After “The Feeding” we headed out to Osaka for a free music festival. I had heard someone mention something about this music festival a few weeks ago. Then last weekend at the BBQ party it seemed like everyone had plans to go. People made it out to be the main event of the summer in Osaka… and it did not disappoint.
Roberta and I made it there around 1pm and met another person I had chatted with through couch surfing. Valeria, is a girl from Russia, volunteering on a rice farm in Japan for a few months. She lives with a host family that runs the farm and she is the only foreigner. It sounds like she is having quite an adventure. Her farm is basically in the middle of nowhere, and the house she lives in doesn’t have any hot water. A part of me is very jealous of her, and part of me feels sorry for her. I don’t think she has been living there very long but she seemed to have been fairing pretty well. Her farm is only about an hour or so east of me and she says she tries to explore a new place every weekend. So, chances are I will see her again somewhere down the line.
When we arrived at the park there were still not very many people there. My two new friends (who were both really gorgeous girls by the way) and I just chilled out, listened to the music, and had a drink. I saw a bunch of other people I had met around Osaka. It seemed that there were just as many, if not more foreigners there than there were Japanese people. I don’t think the music festival scene has really caught on in Japan. The culture here is very much the opposite the music festival culture. It was a pretty small event compared to some festivals in the US, but it was free and in a very cool location, (right on the water).
I hung out with Roberta and Val for a few hours before Val had to head back to her “indentured servitude”. Then Koichi and some other friends showed up not much later. The music got a little better as the day went on, and people started to get a little more wound up as well. We all had a lot of fun. I made the mistake of wearing a plain white tshirt. I had water dumped on me several times, and with all of the dust in the air, I ended up going home wearing a tan shirt….The shower I took when I got home may have been one of the best showers of my life.
This music festival was well worth the hype though. The music and fun, coupled with meeting some really awesome people made yesterday one of the best days I have had in Japan so far. I am really happy about everything.
Today I slept in for a while. I went to bed at a decent hour last night, but with the short night of sleep I had the night before after my boxing class and the long day of exploring and partying, I needed a good sleep. We went back to Nara to check out a few things we rushed passed yesterday, then to Osaka to see some temples and stuff.
Roberta was heading to Kobe to continue her adventure, so I helped her find her train before heading home myself. She is going to Korea for a few days then coming back to Japan for about a week before heading back to Europe. I am very jealous of her summer travels. Hopefully I can save enough money to take a nice adventure like that sometime after I leave Japan.
Overall this weekend was really a great one. I am a bit sad that some of my new friends have moved on with their journeys, but I have a hunch that I will keep in touch with them and hopefully see them again. Roberta may end up being in Tokyo at the same time as me in a few weeks, and she also offered me a place to stay if I ever come to Berlin, and Valeria said she would hit me up next time she heads to Osaka. As always it was good to hang out with the rest of my crew, I am glad I have a solid base of friends here now. It makes everything so much easier, and so much more fun. I have really been enjoying exploring Japanese culture, food, and other attractions, but my favorite thing about living here so far is all the friends I have made. I feel like I have met so many people from all over the world; from all different backgrounds. I am so happy to be able to be doing this right now. I am upset the weekend is over, but I cant stop smiling about how I have managed to make so many friends in the past few months. At the concert yesterday I really felt at home, I ran into someone I knew every time I turned around. It wasn’t a massive crowd or anything, but it always feels good to have people you know coming up to say hello.
I hope everyone has a great week this week. I think I will. This weekend refresher was just what I needed to pick me up. Not that my spirits were really low in the first place, but I feel like I am more myself again after this weekend. I feel much more relaxed and ready for whatever is coming next… unless it is more sunburn. I don’t know if my fragile ginger skin can take anymore of the sun’s “kisses”…. My Goal for Japanese language learning this week is to learn how to say, and read “Sunscreen”. I have several “mothers” here that gave me a lecture about sunscreen yesterday at the festival. So don’t worry Mom (and Grams) there is someone here to nag me about these things in your absence 🙂
Thanks for reading everyone. Talk to you again soon.
