The First Week

Yodobashi Umeda in Osaka

Starting the first week, it felt like I had been in Japan for such a long time. In actuality, I’ve only been here for a little over 2 weeks. However, since school has started, it now feels like my time is limited. I think it may still have to do with the immense free time I have in the evenings at home-stay to think about things. Whereas during orientation week, there was always something to do or somewhere to explore which left very little time to think. It guess it also puts things into perspective when you are trying to plan ahead and realize that I only have 6 long weekends to go places. I know that the first month isn’t even half over, but being here for only four months really can feel depressing at times. There is so much I want to do and see and although I will make the best of every single day here, it is still sad to think about when I will have to leave. Alternatively, because of the short time span I have here, it makes me more motivated to live every single day to the fullest.

My blog has rarely been philosophical, but every now and then I think those ideas are important enough to warrant some blog time. Since my last post I have receiving a lot of comments for more pictures of my home-stay house, so please enjoy!

Homestay Garden & House

The steps leading to the house

The Japanese garden at my homestay house

A picture of the whole house

Furthermore, since I have last written I have travelled to Osaka and got a chance to explore the area. Upon arriving at Umeda/Osaka JR Station, I immediately fell in love with the city. There is just so much more to do, places to go, people to watch and things to buy! I have only explored the area around Umeda Station and I plan to go to the shopping district of Namba and Den Den Town (an electronics district similar to Akihabara) next.

Kansai Gaidai University at sunset

This weekend I will be travelling to Kobe and Himeji Castle, so look forward to my Kobe post!