April 26- May 2, 2010
This is the Nissan Cube...I think it looks a little funny!
You may have seen the Nissan Cube on the road in the states as well... but notice which side the full corner window is on... it's different on the cars in Japan so that it still works for the driver to have perfect visibility.
This is a Suzuki Alto. . . do you think that the Japanese person who named this car knew that the name means "stop" in Spanish? It just seams silly to name something that goes, 'stop'.
And my personal favorite... the firetrucks! They are Kei-trucks and they are so small. The truck I used to drive would crush it.
At Taiko this week there were only 2 newcomers, myself and my friend Katie. We were practicing along with the group on the practice pads and they told us were doing well. Then we made the mistake of attempting to practice on the actual drum, which also means playing with much heavier sticks and with our arms up, instead of down. They told us were "very bad" and then they rambled of something in Japanese to Katie and I only caught bits and pieces but she translated it to me as "We're very bad but we have 4 months so maybe we will be okay to play in public then". Yikes, I guess we've got our work cut out for us! It's very common for people to be brutally open and honest here, I'm getting used to it, and learning not take it personally! My skin is getting thicker by the minute!
We finalized all of our travel plans for our trip to Tokyo next month, I feel much better now that it is set. The MCAT is stressful enough on it's own without having to make travel arrangements! It's all sorted out now though and I can just focus on the test!
Eric had Thursday off this week :) for the National Holiday "Showa Day" which celebrates the remembrance of a previous Emperor. The weather was so beautiful so we took a nice long walk in the afternoon. Here are some of the pictures from our adventure that eventually led us to the ocean :)
A walk in the neighborhood.
Look it's SPRING!! Beautiful things are growing everywhere!!
Eric under a Japanese Cherry Tree (not in full bloom yet) at a Shrine in town.
One of the town Cemeteries. They are just headstones, no remains. I love the red arches going up the hill to the shrine :)
Part of our little seaside town we currently call home.
Us Now....
Us, 100 years from now!
Thursday night our tutor/barber cut my hair!! He is so excited to practice cutting women's hair that he cuts mine for free :) I certainly appreciate it! My hair was so long, I let him cut about 4 inches off the bottom and he added layers which took about 6-7 inches off the shortest layer! I love it!
On Friday, my Final Exam Study Marathon officially began. I just want May 10th to come and go peacefully! Then I can focus on just the MCAT! <- In case you haven't noticed... it's a 4 letter 'word'.
On Saturday day I FINALLY had my first job interview with a small school in Hirosaki. They are only looking for someone to work 4-5 hours/week and they are interviewing 5 people! The interview was pretty complex and quite intimidating, but we'll see how it goes! We picked up a Pizza Hut picnic and had intended to take it to the Castle Park and have a nice picnic under the beautiful Japanese Cherry trees that are now in full bloom... unfortunately EVERYONE else had the same idea, and the wind was a little wild. So, while stuck in a very long, slow-moving, line of traffic, we had a Pizza Hut picnic IN the car, AROUND the park! Other people laughed at us a little when they figured out we were eating Pizza in our car, but we enjoyed it, after all we had about 40 minutes to view the trees on the perimeter of the park. I was SO glad we decided to reschedule some time IN the park and didn't fight the crowd. If you think Disneyland is overcrowded, you should probably avoid Hirosaki Castle Park on the weekend before Golden Week during Hanami Blooming! Fortunately, Eric is a masterful photographer so he also took pictures out the window! Many other people were doing the same, but they even got out of their car to be in the picture!
On Sunday night I took a break from studying to go see fireworks at Kanagi park! Kanagi park is also a popular place for viewing the Cherry Trees in bloom. It was a beautiful park and I really want to go back sometime during the day, they had paddle boats that really caught my eye! We were quite excited to find a food stall with Turkish Pita's with Chicken Schwarma! It was a delightful change from the other noodle options!
The fireworks show was so different from shows I've seen in the past. The fireworks would go off for 2-3 minutes at a time, and then they would pause for an announcement explaining who sponsored each section. It was also interesting because they would launch the same sequence of 2-3 designs OVER and OVER during each segment. I'm not sure why they didn't mix it up more, but it was certainly new to me. My favorite was of course Mickey Mouse and the pretty ones that have a huge explosion and then spiral off into oblivion. I was very impressed by the Hello Kitty design! Eric and I got tired of sitting and listening to announcements we didn't understand so we devised a plan to beat the crowd out of the parking lot, see the fireworks, and miss the announcements! We started walking during the announcements and then we would stop and look when the fireworks went off again! It was perfect. We sadly discovered that the best view of the fireworks was not from the spot we had to stake out in the park, but rather from the dirt lot where we parked! We were the first ones out of the lot! It was perfect!
On Monday I was talking to Mom and Dad and Dave and Denise on Skype. Dave and Denise were asking us lots of questions about Japan and Dave asked about our car. I told my dad to look up a "Pleo" online, which is the model of our car, and what he found was not a car, but rather a cute little dinosaur.
Pleo- a small robotic dinosaur
Dave laughed and asked why we get around by Dinosaur! haha! I will forever think of our car as a tiny little robotic dinosaur. But really, this is it... it's got about as much gusto as my Dad's old lawn mower. . . no offense to the lawn mower.
Subaru Pleo- Our small, funny little Japanese Car.
Subaru Pleo- Our small, funny little Japanese Car.Which leads me to this:
In Japan, cars are typically classified as either a White-Plate or a Yellow-Plate car and it is based on engine size. Engines bigger than 660cc are White-Plates, and smaller than 660 cc are Yellow-plates. I'm pretty sure all American Cars would be white-plates. For example- a Honda Civic is a white plate and considered a large vehicle in Japan. Whenever we see a Honda CR-V on the road it seems HUGE!! Our car is a yellow plate as you can see in the photo. I also just learned that there is a classification for even smaller cars, called the blue-plate, they are also called micro-cars and often have 3 wheels instead of 4! That's pretty insane! You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcar
When I first got to Japan I was a little concerned about the size of our car in terms of safety, it just seems like there is no wiggle room if it were to get smashed into... but then I quickly realized that most of the cars on the road are of equal size, which calmed my nerves! Then I also thought about the speed limits: 30km/h in town... that's an insane 18.6 mph, 50km/h on the 'highways' = 30.1 mph and on the expressways 80 km/h = 50 mph! I'm not too worried about a high speed collision! The next time we are back in the States the roads will probably seem scary! I'm quite accustomed to our 2 lanes 30mph highways! It always makes me think of a close friend who lives in a small town in PA. During one of her visits to Phoenix, after a long drive on the frightening 101, she was commenting that we were finally on a nice sized freeway, and it was actually just the McClintock exit ramp from the 101-60! That is going to be me in just a few months!
In Japan, cars are typically classified as either a White-Plate or a Yellow-Plate car and it is based on engine size. Engines bigger than 660cc are White-Plates, and smaller than 660 cc are Yellow-plates. I'm pretty sure all American Cars would be white-plates. For example- a Honda Civic is a white plate and considered a large vehicle in Japan. Whenever we see a Honda CR-V on the road it seems HUGE!! Our car is a yellow plate as you can see in the photo. I also just learned that there is a classification for even smaller cars, called the blue-plate, they are also called micro-cars and often have 3 wheels instead of 4! That's pretty insane! You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcar
When I first got to Japan I was a little concerned about the size of our car in terms of safety, it just seems like there is no wiggle room if it were to get smashed into... but then I quickly realized that most of the cars on the road are of equal size, which calmed my nerves! Then I also thought about the speed limits: 30km/h in town... that's an insane 18.6 mph, 50km/h on the 'highways' = 30.1 mph and on the expressways 80 km/h = 50 mph! I'm not too worried about a high speed collision! The next time we are back in the States the roads will probably seem scary! I'm quite accustomed to our 2 lanes 30mph highways! It always makes me think of a close friend who lives in a small town in PA. During one of her visits to Phoenix, after a long drive on the frightening 101, she was commenting that we were finally on a nice sized freeway, and it was actually just the McClintock exit ramp from the 101-60! That is going to be me in just a few months!
Here are some other cars we often see that either have silly names or just look a little funny!
This is a Daihatsu Naked... it's a pretty special name.
This is a Kei-Van... they seem so big to me when i see them in context. . . but I'm sure if you saw it you would think it was so small!
This is a Kei Truck! They are really popular in our area with the farmers and fishermen.This is a Daihatsu Naked... it's a pretty special name.
This is a Kei-Van... they seem so big to me when i see them in context. . . but I'm sure if you saw it you would think it was so small!
This is the Nissan Cube...I think it looks a little funny!
You may have seen the Nissan Cube on the road in the states as well... but notice which side the full corner window is on... it's different on the cars in Japan so that it still works for the driver to have perfect visibility.This is a Suzuki Alto. . . do you think that the Japanese person who named this car knew that the name means "stop" in Spanish? It just seams silly to name something that goes, 'stop'.
And my personal favorite... the firetrucks! They are Kei-trucks and they are so small. The truck I used to drive would crush it.
At Taiko this week there were only 2 newcomers, myself and my friend Katie. We were practicing along with the group on the practice pads and they told us were doing well. Then we made the mistake of attempting to practice on the actual drum, which also means playing with much heavier sticks and with our arms up, instead of down. They told us were "very bad" and then they rambled of something in Japanese to Katie and I only caught bits and pieces but she translated it to me as "We're very bad but we have 4 months so maybe we will be okay to play in public then". Yikes, I guess we've got our work cut out for us! It's very common for people to be brutally open and honest here, I'm getting used to it, and learning not take it personally! My skin is getting thicker by the minute!
We finalized all of our travel plans for our trip to Tokyo next month, I feel much better now that it is set. The MCAT is stressful enough on it's own without having to make travel arrangements! It's all sorted out now though and I can just focus on the test!
Eric had Thursday off this week :) for the National Holiday "Showa Day" which celebrates the remembrance of a previous Emperor. The weather was so beautiful so we took a nice long walk in the afternoon. Here are some of the pictures from our adventure that eventually led us to the ocean :)
A walk in the neighborhood.
Look it's SPRING!! Beautiful things are growing everywhere!!
Eric under a Japanese Cherry Tree (not in full bloom yet) at a Shrine in town.
One of the town Cemeteries. They are just headstones, no remains. I love the red arches going up the hill to the shrine :)
Part of our little seaside town we currently call home.
Us Now....
Us, 100 years from now!On Friday, my Final Exam Study Marathon officially began. I just want May 10th to come and go peacefully! Then I can focus on just the MCAT! <- In case you haven't noticed... it's a 4 letter 'word'.
On Saturday day I FINALLY had my first job interview with a small school in Hirosaki. They are only looking for someone to work 4-5 hours/week and they are interviewing 5 people! The interview was pretty complex and quite intimidating, but we'll see how it goes! We picked up a Pizza Hut picnic and had intended to take it to the Castle Park and have a nice picnic under the beautiful Japanese Cherry trees that are now in full bloom... unfortunately EVERYONE else had the same idea, and the wind was a little wild. So, while stuck in a very long, slow-moving, line of traffic, we had a Pizza Hut picnic IN the car, AROUND the park! Other people laughed at us a little when they figured out we were eating Pizza in our car, but we enjoyed it, after all we had about 40 minutes to view the trees on the perimeter of the park. I was SO glad we decided to reschedule some time IN the park and didn't fight the crowd. If you think Disneyland is overcrowded, you should probably avoid Hirosaki Castle Park on the weekend before Golden Week during Hanami Blooming! Fortunately, Eric is a masterful photographer so he also took pictures out the window! Many other people were doing the same, but they even got out of their car to be in the picture!
On Sunday night I took a break from studying to go see fireworks at Kanagi park! Kanagi park is also a popular place for viewing the Cherry Trees in bloom. It was a beautiful park and I really want to go back sometime during the day, they had paddle boats that really caught my eye! We were quite excited to find a food stall with Turkish Pita's with Chicken Schwarma! It was a delightful change from the other noodle options!
The fireworks show was so different from shows I've seen in the past. The fireworks would go off for 2-3 minutes at a time, and then they would pause for an announcement explaining who sponsored each section. It was also interesting because they would launch the same sequence of 2-3 designs OVER and OVER during each segment. I'm not sure why they didn't mix it up more, but it was certainly new to me. My favorite was of course Mickey Mouse and the pretty ones that have a huge explosion and then spiral off into oblivion. I was very impressed by the Hello Kitty design! Eric and I got tired of sitting and listening to announcements we didn't understand so we devised a plan to beat the crowd out of the parking lot, see the fireworks, and miss the announcements! We started walking during the announcements and then we would stop and look when the fireworks went off again! It was perfect. We sadly discovered that the best view of the fireworks was not from the spot we had to stake out in the park, but rather from the dirt lot where we parked! We were the first ones out of the lot! It was perfect! 
yeah i got to see some of these pics before you posted them!Awesome blog miss ya both bunches.
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