Going to Clubs During Week 4

During Week 4, I tried out some of the different clubs. Now, as some of you are probably thinking, no, I did not go out to an establishment and decided to have some drinks while dancing the night away; I'm not that kind of person. What I mean by clubs is school clubs.

There are many different types of clubs that are here on campus: boxing, dancing, social groups, etc. The ICE Office allowed us to sign up for six different clubs to try out.  Aikido, Karate, Calligraphy, Sado, Koto, and Kendo. Since the two Aikido meetings we could've gone to conflicted with field trips (I don't know who planned that out), nobody signed up for them. I did, however, sign up for the other five and I did three this week.

On Monday was Koto. Koto is, what I was told, the Japanese harp. The one I played had 11 strings, although it can go all the way up to 25. You wear three picks on your right hand (thumb, pointer, and middle fingers) and use your left to hold down the strings to change the pitch of them. Many of us from the summer program got to try out to Koto.

A film major took a lot of different photos of me playing with my cell phone, searching for the right angle.

There are also videos of my playing the famous folk song, Sakura, and our two teachers playing different songs. However, the videos are too big, so instead, here is a video of someone playing the Koto from Youtube.

On Tuesday, I went to Sado. Sado is the Japanese tea ceremony. We got to try drinking the tea and the proper way of doing so. We didn't go through the entire tea ceremony (with there being so many of us, it would've taken a while), but I did get to watch part of one. I also found a video on Youtube that goes through an entire one.

On Thursday, I went to Karate with one other person from the program. It was a very intense two and a half hours for me. I wasn't able to take any pictures, but my goodness did Gigi (the only other person that went) and I need to take a shower afterwords.

That Saturday, most everyone went on a field trip sponsored by the school to Osaka. We went by train and first had lunch.

This is the hamburger steak set. On the menu, they translated it as Salisbury steak.

There was also some statues near the place we ate at.

I would like to know what they are.

After lunch, we went to Osaka Castle. The ancient Japanese were so thoughtful to put in an elevator. Ha ha! No, what really happened was it was an old castle that got destroyed during World War II that was rebuilt during the Meiji Restoration Period. I felt like we didn't get to spend enough time in the castle itself, but here are some pictures from around and in the castle itself.

This is the Gokurakubashi Bridge. It was burned down back in the Edo Era and was rebuilt during the Meiji Restoration Period along with the castle. 

You can go outside on the eighth floor and take pictures of Osaka.

The globe is the NHK office. They are a news organization that broadcasts globally.

Afterwards, we went to a street that was filled with different shops and food vendors.

I think this street has a name, I just never learned what it was.

While we were there, we went to a takoyaki shop and made wax figures of takoyaki!

Cooling the wax.

Getting close...

Done! Unfortunately, the left piece got really beat up on the ride home.

Afterwards, I went back to Hirakata and found a Baskin' Robins. I got myself some ice cream there and had it a couple of times.

The next day, Yuuka showed me the way to Kuzuha Mall so I could do some shopping. We met her friend, Shiori, there. We went for lunch and I ate omurice.

It looks like a normal, giant omelet with a cream sauce and shrimp, but...

It has rice inside of it!

I then went back to Hirakata to do some shopping at some stores in the area. As I was walking towards one of the stores, I met this nice, elderly lady. We talked a little bit and she gave me some almond cheese crackers. I tried to say no, but she insisted. When a nice, elderly man gave me a mint on Wednesday, I asked what was going on. It's actually part of the Osakan culture for elderly ladies to give candy to children and foreigners.

Pre travel
Week 1 Part 1
Week 1 Part 2
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7