2008年3-4月

春休みの終わり - Spring Break's End

Yeah, believe it or not, if your checking this page right now your actually finding something different than the snow in February, which is good especially because its MAY and I haven't gotten on to do any computer work since the end of February. But rest assured, I am sorry for the delays and I hope that this (albeit small) entry on the rest of the goings on of spring break will be sufficient to cover any forgotten material.

1. ジブリの美術館 - 三鷹　GHIBLI MUSEUM - MITAKA

Click the above link to go to the photos section where I have provided a few of the photos from the event. It was simply the best museum I have ever been to in my life. Click here for the link to the English site. Though there aren't that many pictures available for the actual museum (photography of any kind is strictly prohibited and policed) it was an amazing trip. I'm so glad that Christina and I went and we will be making another trip. The whole museum is set up to go through current Studio Ghibli movies, events and film making history from the company. The best part about it all is that its a child's paradise as everything is done with all ages of minds involved. You progress from the bottom of the museum up stairs, elevators and or tunnels that can be accessed only by crawling and all of it has an intended meaning. Never before have I seen something so...well done! Many of the rooms delved into the Studio's history to show visitors the process that is making two pieces of animation go in different directions while still filming. Everything from pens and quills to coloring and painting that is done for all of the backgrounds lined the walls. Color swatches abound and piles of paper are everywhere; it is as if you are stepping into the rooms of the designers themselves. If you go to Japan, go there. You will not regret it. Go to Shinjuku Station, Hop on the Chuo Line Express and its Mitaka Station. They can give you directions from there.

2. 新幹線 - The Bullet Train

Close to the end of the break, Christina and I returned once more to Kyoto to do some shopping and drop her off for classes. Speaking of classes, I wanted to return in class so we went and spent a little more money for Shinkansen passes (with a student discount of course *wink*) to go back to Kyoto in style! It was a rather fun ride and there is a picture of us in it in the photo's section as well as a video too! Go see!

3. 京都を戻る - Returning to Kyoto

We came, we saw, I left. Alas, with school on the rise, time was short in Japan's most aesthetic of cities, but we got a it off to a great start by going to Christina's church in Kyoto as well as the Kyoto Flea Market again! We even had the opportunity to go to the Imperial Palace in Kyoto and look around, but all of this will be on Christina's page soon enough, so I will let her recap it for you instead.

2008年5月02日

春学期 - SPRING SEMESTER

Thats right. And with the Spring Recess Finally over...I've alot that I should have updated since then! But since you all saw that above (with aforementioned apologies, I'm getting back to work and to web with normal (hopefully) updates.

My First Hockey Game! 初めてのホッキーの試合

And we won too! It was the school's final game of the season in Tokyo and we were neck and neck with Waseda University, the other leading school. This was the faceoff, this was destiny, this was the first time Josh had ever seen hockey live, and he didn't know the rules.　Thankfully I had several fellow foreign exchange students there to help me as well as one Japanese girl who really knew her stuff. It was a fantastic game that had us all screaming in Japanese, English and even French (for the exchange student Natalie) up until the very last moment. Waseda had a band, they even had a cheerleading team, but that didn't stop us at Toyo; we had school spirit and a great deal of little flags to wave around. The foreign students (myself included) began to think up chants to drown out the Waseda band and eventually the Japanese were joining in too! It was one of the most theatrical events I've ever been to and we swore by the end of it that we were instrumental in their victory (this of course was not the case as the Toyo team had very skillful players who had put hard effort into mastering the game that is hockey, and we just said our school name over and over again with interspersed clapping). There are pictures for the game as well though I'm not in them because I was taking them!

My Precious Church - 私の大事な教会

Tokyo Baptist Church is an amazing place. The word of God is preached there in such an amazing way, the people are all so happy and inviting and there are so many opportunities to serve. It really is amazing. God also gave me the opportunity while I am here to be a part of the Sound Team, which, for those of you who know me know it must be an act of Him because I don't know the first thing about sound and lighting. Yet, here I am 2 months into it and I almost can do the services on my own now! I'm so glad that I can help out there and be a part of something over here! I will have photos soon and I'm working on a video of a recent wedding that we had at the church (Japanese/English Style) and I would love to show you! Keep checking back!