The Castle, The Park, and the Creepy Things!

11/22/11

Today was our last “free” day before training, so we decided to see the other side of the train station that we hadn’t been able to explore yesterday. Plus, there was a castle and a famous park nearby too, which, though a little tourist-y, was supposed to be really famous and beautiful.

So, after getting hot tea at a vending machine (which is still the coolest thing ever), we headed off across the station and ended up walking through this covered street marketplace, like those outdoor malls in England where they have stores on either side, but there is a roof covering everything. We went to a hyaku-en (100 yen) store, which is like a dollar store here, and bought gloves and looked at all the other weird things. :) Then we found a yarn/knitting shop and Chelsea, Rosie and I went in to look at it. There was a really cute kid, a man, and I think his mother who owned the shop. We saw a beautiful scarf and the lady showed us the yarn it was made with. I decided to get some, because it was really reasonably priced and looked amazing! The best part was that the lady then proceeded to show me how to make the scarf we were looking at (which was surprisingly easy), and even gave me a free pattern! It just blew my mind how nice she was! Even though my Japanese wasn’t very good, she just smiled and was super helpful and friendly.  If I lived in this area I would buy yarn from her all the time!

The "Sky Mall" :)

Chelsea, Niki, Dane, Cat, Rosie, Ayumi, and Chris

It took a while to get to the castle, but we finally did. It was located in a gorgeous park with a river next to it. The castle is called Okayama-jō (here, “jō” means castle). It was built in 1597 and is called “crow castle” sometimes because the outside is black, and it had beautiful white and gold edging, which really made it stand out. In World War II it was destroyed in air raids, but then they made a perfect reconstructed it in the 1960s. There was an area before you actually got to the castle where there were outlines on the ground where there used to be buildings before they were destroyed, and they had reconstructed the foundation stones as well. The castle was beautiful from the outside, but we didn’t go in because it was a little bit expensive. Instead, we went to the Korakuen garden, which was located right next to Okayama-jo. (Shift+ Left Click the picture to bigger original size)

Me! At Okayama Castle

The park was absolutely stunning. Words can’t really describe it, so here are some photos, and I’ll try to put up a ton more soon (I took like 70 photos today!).

There was a wooded part of the park as well, and although it was beautiful as well, it was also a little creepy… The bamboo and trees everywhere made it very dark in comparison with the rest of the park. And then there were… the creepy things. So, we were walking through the woods and suddenly we come upon this:

Ok, so obviously it’s some kind of art sculpture. A little ominous but, ok cool. But then when you get close to it you see:

A Brain!!!!! :O

No, not a real brain, but that is a rather realistic depiction of one. It was really weird and a little creepy. But we kept going, and found a little building… with tall metal spikes on the ground outside. Again, obviously artistic but a bit un-nerving.

Rosie was the bravest among us, and went first. :)

But not as unnerving as what was inside of the building. There was a lattice on the front and a mirror behind it, but the mirror was angled so that if you stood on the left side of the building you saw your reflection only on the right hand side. Plus, when you looked at the floor:

WHAT ARE THESE???

They were really creepy, but also kind of cool. The woods started to give us the creeps so we headed back toward the sunny fielded area, and passed by another house exhibit. You could only go up to see it 3 at a time and there were, of all things, playing cards lodged in the wooden slats of the porch. We asked the staff lady who was there what the significance of the cards was, but actually she said they had no meaning originally but that for some reason, now, people come and put them there as a kind of good-luck thing. It was really interesting, but I was a little disappointed that there was no other explanation for it or a clue as to the other art exhibits we had seen.

Also, as we headed out of the woods, we found a small lake full of dead lilies… eek! Scary!

Everyone was super tired after our excursion, so we headed back toward the training center, and stopped for ramen on the way. Yay! My first Japanese restaurant! :) You had to order pay for the food at a machine, then give the ticket to a waitress inside. Unfortunately, everyone who knew Japanese ordered first and went to sit down, but I was one of the last ones and I was like, “Hey! Come back, I can’t read!” Sigh, I definitely need to improve on my Japanese. After eating we went to an electronics store and I bought a stylus for my tablet, then we headed home.

After all the walking yesterday and today I was SO tired when we got back. I fell asleep at 5pm and didn’t wake up until 11! Training starts tomorrow, though, so hopefully the extra sleep will help. :) I had an amazing time exploring Okayama today, and hopefully tomorrow will be an adventure too!

Until next time!

Sunnyside Up or Sunnyside Down?

..................................

Ugh, after years of saying that I hate blogs and blogging, here I  am writing one. :-/ I guess it was only a matter of time, but it still feels a little like a defeat. 

Oh well, I guess this is where I put an introduction...

Hey Everyone!

My name is Shawna, and this is my blog dedicated to my preparation and eventual departure for JAPAN! :D Graduation is creeping up on me (only two months to go for the diploma!), and after five years of struggling through classes, transferring to different colleges, and that whole messy ex-boyfriend business, it looks like things might be falling into place after all. 

Back in March, I drove down to Atlanta, GA with my mom to interview with Amity, the children's branch of AEON (one of the leading English education corporations in Japan). I've been planning on going to Japan to teach for most of the time I've been in college, but this was the first time I had applied, let alone interviewed for a position. I'll write a post later about the interview process, but for now let's just say that I got an offer of employment that will eventually turn into an actual school-placement once I mail them my diploma. In the mean time, I'm finishing up my last few college classes and reading everything I can get my hands on about Japan.

It's actually been relatively difficult to find other bloggers who have worked for Amity, so details on what to expect over there are slim so far. But what has concerned me the most are the number of EXTREMELY negative blogs about teaching in Japan at all. The guy who writes "Japan it Up" (one of the ones I do enjoy) said it best in one of his posts: "Although there are a handful of great “foreigner in Japan” blogs out there, I found a lot of people talking as if Japan sucks, the world is against them, and there’s nothing they can do about it besides complain and have a pity party."

This is basically what I've found online too. It seems like almost everyone who writes a blog about their experiences in Japan use it as a way to vent every little bad thing that happens to them, and it's really discouraging to read. I'm not saying that we should only post happy, "japan-is-the-best" type blogs, but that we should balance both the positive and the negative experiences. After all, life is made up of both, right?

I live by the philosophy, "you get what you concentrate upon," meaning that whatever you focus on will be actualized in your daily life. I want to love my experience in Japan as a whole, so I want to bring positivity into whatever circumstances I encounter, even if some are "bad." In every post, I will write a balanced account of my experiences, with positive ones being "Sunnyside Up" and less-positive ones as "Sunnyside Down." This way, I can focus not only on the sucky experiences, but also on the awesome ones. :)

Anyway, that's all for my introduction. Time for our first Sunnyside Report (and yes, you must love my happy smiley eggs)!

Sunnyside Up: It's a 3-day weekend for the Fourth of July! I have time to study AND have fun watching movies and playing minecraft. I get to go see my mom and my sister preform at the Ohio Historical Society tomorrow, and apparently there will be free Jeni's ice cream (if you've never had it, you are missing out)!!!

Sunnyside Down: Midterms are coming up on Tuesday, which worry me a little bit. I've done some studying this weekend, but procrastination is soooo easy...

Future Eggs (things I'm looking forward to):

-End of classes July 20th!
-Buying my Amity suits    
-Going to Japan!              

See you next time! (Isn't that what the Reading Rainbow guy used to say?)