Ahhh! It's been too long!

Man! I really seem to have a tough time keeping this thing up!!! I don't know why either... maybe it's because I am busy with classes and part-time jobs and sleeping nowadays :)

Well, after my last post, I still had a good couple weeks until I had to start back up with school, so naturally I made the most of it! After my friends left, I had a couple days to work in my lab and get some things taken care of, but then after that, my dad came to visit! It was soo great to see him! It was also pretty funny seeing him get off the plane, and just tower over everyone else. Ha ha! When Dad came to visit, of course I took him to all the local attractions...



These are from Kashii Shrine. This shrine is very close to where I live now, only a short 15 min. bike ride away! We also went Ohoori Park, and the weather was absolutely beautiful!

After the park, we went to a traditional Japanese garden, tucked away right next to the park... I didn't even know about it!


After a day or to of local things, we headed out on a real trip, and it was definitely one of the more fun things we got to do while Dad was visiting: travel to Kyoto and Osaka, which is up on the main island of Japan. And... Guess how we got there? By Shinkansen! That's right, we got to take the bullet train! It was absolutely amazing, going at 300 km/hr, and taking a mere 2 1/2 hours to travel all the way up to Kyoto!

It was so incredibly fast! And I took WAY too many pictures :)

Once we got to Kyoto, we met up with my tutee, who had hooked us up with a room in a really nice hotel (Palace Side Hotel), and we checked into the hotel. We settled in a bit, and relaxed after a long trip. We then got ready to go meet my friends Ana and Hiro in Osaka for dinner. For those of you that don't know Osaka, it is quite a unique place! And... uh... not always in a good way (a little too much sometimes for me). This picture speaks volumes about this city:

This is one of the busy streets near all the shopping. Osaka is known for its night life more than anything. Once we got to Osaka and met up with my friends, we went to dinner at the Showa-period themed restaurant place. Basically, how it works is you go into this building, kinda buy foods as you go, and it was so much fun! And the food was great too :)

The next day, my Dad and I had a little bit of time in the morning, so we checked out one of the shrines that was within walking distance of the hotel we were staying at. It is called the Heian Shrine, and I have to say, I think this is one of my favorite place we visited!
After that, we met up with Hiro, and we started making the rounds to all the famous temples and shrines in Kyoto! Our first stop was the Silver Temple. No silver... but still pretty sweet!


Can you see the English translation on the sign about the moss? :)

We traveled around a bit more with Hiro, had some good food, and then had to say bye for a while :( But, we then got to go have a traditional Japanese dinner with my tutee. It was pretty great, in my opinion, and I think my Dad liked it too! :) The next day, my Dad and I went on a tour bus that went to the three typical attractions in Kyoto: Kiyomizu Temple, The Golden Temple, and Heian Shrine. We also stopped at some other places along the way, if I remember correctly... and really got the "tour bus" effect... but I didn't like that part so much :) It was fun being able to at least partially translate for my Dad as we went along though!
Now, the Golden Temple, if I may add, IS really covered in REAL gold!!! WOW!

Kiyomizu Temple is very famous, and is actually being considered for one of the "new" 7 wonders of the world.
After the tour bus, Dad and I had some time on our own, and so we just went walking around, and happened to stumble upon a light festival! It was gorgeous, and the people were great, and we even saw some Geisha!
The next day was the last day in the Kansai region :( It was tons of fun, so I won't complain! Oh! Did I mention that we changed Hotels for the last night? We moved to the Kyoto International Hotel, which happened to be right next to a castle! Wow! I really liked both of the hotels, and I owe a lot to my tutee for helping us out to get reservations and discounts at both of them!!! Anyways, for the last day, we decided to go visit the castle, then go get our bags and stop in at one more Japanese garden on the way to the Shinkansen platform. As you can see, Dad doesn't quite match with the typical Japanese body frame...

It was really gorgeous in Kyoto, and I am glad we got the chance to travel there together :) Once we got home, it was time to finish up showing Dad around Fukuoka... We went to Fukuoka Tower, and then we made a trip to Dazaifu (a shrine that is pretty famous, and not too far away!). We went on a little adventurous mountain path, and found some pretty cool things... Not to mention a really creepy ghost amusement park!!! It was just like it was from a horror movie or something!


After that, sadly, Dad had to go home :( But, it was really great to get to see him and have so much fun with him! I love you Dad!

Well, I tell you, the fun never stops... The same day that Dad left, I went to Korea!!! I went to visit my boyfriend, and IT WAS SOO GREAT TO SEE HIM!!! At that point, we'd been apart for about a month, and I was missing him terribly! On one of my first days in Korea, we went to this small river in the middle of the city that was very cute! There was also something going on, like some kind of festival, and tons of people were dressed up like different Anime characters. CREEPY! But still interesting I guess... At this point, we also had the chance to meet up with two of our friends from JTW program who were also in Seoul. It was great getting to spend time with them! Oh, and just for an inside joke: I will never forget about that farting bus :D

We got to go visit a market street, and we happened upon this: Korean Mochi! Oooo!
Then, Ilhwa took me to visit a famous castle in Seoul! I think one of the most striking things about Korean ancient architecture is the amazing colors! Absolutely amazing!

Aww :) Isn't he cute? Kinda like a model or something... :)
Another thing I got to do in Korea was go with Ilhwa to visit a zoo! I really like zoos, and this one was particularly amazing! It was kinda strange though to see raccoons in a zoo...

I also got to go to Ilhwa's school, and see his campus and meet some of his friends :) They were really nice!


Oh, and did I mention one of the best discoveries I made while in Korea? They have Mountain Dew!!! Oooo I like that stuff!

Unfortunately, I had to go back to Japan :( I really enjoyed my time in Korea though, and I am very glad I got the chance to go!!! It was especially great seeing my boyfriend, and spending time with him! \(^o^)/

When I got back from Korea, it was just in time to see the start of the Cherry Blossom season! Which means beautiful flowers everywhere, in huge quantities, and lots of outdoor Sakura (cherry blossom) parties! Woohoo!


Around the beginning of April, we had another study trip to kind of welcome the new students who are joining us just for this last semester. We went to Beppu, the place with all the onsen! It was really fun, and I only wish that Ilhwa had gotten to come too!

You know, I think I finally found a flower that smells good to me!

This brings back some memories from my last trip to Japan... EWWW! Do people actually like these things??? And, in case you were wondering... I did NOT touch it!

Oh, and we also got to see the Pools of Hell, which is one of Beppu's major attractions. They are these extremely hot springs that create interesting colored water... They are each said to have a different meaning, and they are soo hot that you can cook things in them!


We also got to see a crocodile farm near the onsen :) There were tons of em! And babies too, cute!

You know, I was smiling... but the smell was SOO bad!!! Sulfur... mmmm.....

The foot onsen was really nice though! I'm thinking about installing one of these in my house... whenever I get one :)

Next, we got to go to a monkey park!!! Monkeys running around everywhere! Cute... but I have to admit that I was still a little scared!


It was lots of fun though, a great once-in-a-lifetime thing for me at least :) After the monkey park, we went to an aquarium that was right across the street from the monkey place... It was soo cool! I think aquariums are quickly becoming my favorite :)


Uh... I think it was a sea cucumber... but all I know is that it was gross and that when you squeeze it water shoots out of the end... ew.

This has to be one of the best shots I've ever gotten! I am soo proud of it :) Doesn't it look professional? Oh, and this one is for you guys, Becky and Katie, I thought you'd like Nemo!

Well, that was it for the study trip... But of course, you remember those sakura parties I was telling you about... Well, I went to quite a few, and they were all absolutely amazing! I really like this whole Sakura season :)


Well, the only other thing to do after the sakura blossoms was start school up again :( Aww Man! But, I guess it's a good thing... Or at least I'll try and convince myself! So, the classes I'm taking this semester are East-Asian Relations, Enculturation and Education in Japan, Linguistic Description of Japanese, Japanese Life Through Tea Ceremony, Japanese Language, and a new one... Korean! That's right, I am taking Korean this semester, and hopefully soon I'll be able to say something :) The classes are good, and I especially like the East-Asian and Linguistic classes; they really make me think! After about 3 weeks of classes, guess what? We had another week off of school! Yep, Japan is cool :) It was a week off for Golden week, which is a week dedicated to festivals and appreciation to the gods... However, I took the opportunity to go to Korea again! WooHoo!!! You know, I just couldn't stay away! It had been another month since I'd seen my boyfriend, and I couldn't wait to see him again! This time, he was a litte busier, but it was still absolutely amazing to see him.

This is of a fountain that was in sync with music, near Ilhwa's home, and I love this picture! So cool!

These flowers were in bloom while I was in Korea, and you know, I think I really like to take pictures like this!

Oh! And this is of one of the sidewalks on Ilhwa's campus at night! SOO PRETTY!!! I wish UM could have some things like that...

Now, before you get surprised... I also decided that it was just about time to get a new haircut! I got it done when I was in Korea, and Ilhwa helped me pick out the style! Isn't it cute? Now, it doesn't always look like this, but I did buy a curling iron and I am learning, so soon I'll be able to make it look as good as this :)


The rest of the time with Ilhwa was great :) I got to do a little shopping, and see some more sites, but the best part was just getting to see my boyfriend and his family again! I guess I'll end this post then with one of my favorite pics from the trip! Enjoy, and talk to you again really soon... I promise! For real this time! No joke! :)

~Whitney