Well Linda and Sally came to visit me!!! For those of you who do not know Linda and Sally…
Linda was my favorite communications professor at LFC. I had her for 3 different classes. She wrote a paper, submitted it, and was accepted to come to Japan to present her paper. Her partner, Sally, came along for the trip too! After they spent a few days in Tokyo for the convention that Linda was at they traveled north to Hokkaido. They were up there for almost 2 weeks before flying from Sapporo to Narita. WELL! Narita is a mere 30 minutes HINT HINT to you ALL (COME VISIT ME). I took the train to pick them up and they spent the last 2 days of their vacation with me in Itako!
We arrived back in Itako, bags and all. I knew of a restaurant close to the train station. We tried it out! Considering I am new here I still have not had the opportunity to try out every restaurant. It ended up being Korean. DELICIOUS! Sally only eats seafood so she stuck to more basic foods. Linda and I ordered amazing dishes with salad, rice, meat that you cooked on the grill yourself, etc. It was great! We then went to the cab stand and took a cab back here to my apt.
When we got home, I showed them the place. HAHA. Not much to show but still fun to have visitors nonetheless. We then sat down to watch the Olympics. Women’s softball where Japan beat the socks off of USA. It was a great end to our little visit. I then had errands to run Friday…
Friday Aug 22:
Friday we woke up and Sally was correct we would not leave until noon. We woke up and chatted. It was wonderful having this experience with one of my favorite professors! We then were off to see the Choon Ji. The temple here in my town…remember the really pretty one with all the lanterns? That one. It is very close to my house so we walked to the temple and then to lunch.
We were supposed to be picked up by Yamada-san at 2:00pm to go get my car insurance situation taken care of. I realized we were running a bit late. I also did not have access to my car/ have a keitai (cell phone). I know the word for phone, denwa. I asked the staff at this little ramen joint if they had a denwa. Sure enough, through the kitchen I went!!! I was laughing so hard! I called John so he could communicate to Yamada-san that we were going to be late. He said no problem. Literally 10 minutes later, John called the restaurant back and through the kitchen I went again. John told me that Yamada-san was running late and that our plans had changed to 3:00.
We were then off (Linda, Sally, John, Yamada-san, and I) to the car dealership to take care of business. Once again, as always, interesting encounters. I am trying with this whole Japanese thing! It is hard! I pretty much signed my life away. Yamada-san has been the supervisor of JETs for a few years. He knows what to do with the car! After we took care of the car, we were off to Wondergoo…
Wondergoo (HAHHAHAHAHA) WHAT?! Wondergoo is a cellphone/electronic/everythingyoucouldeverwantmegastore! J They carry every cell phone provider here in Japan. I settled with AU because they offer English contracts. They also have some phones that are free and bilingual. All I had to pay for was the charger. Three hours later with a sleek black and red Panasonic phone…we left wondergoo. I wanted a pink cell but none of them were free or bilingual SOOO I went with another option. I apologized to Linda and Sally but they were enjoying themselves nonetheless and told me not to worry about it!
After wondergoo we all went to Genki sushi, the conveyor belt sushi joint. SUPER GOOD! We had great fun there and of course ate too much J Linda and Sally treated all of us! It was wonderful. Apparently on our way to the sushi place another earthquake occurred. I am assuming since we were in the car that we could not feel it. It was a 5.1 up north in Ibaraki but when it reached southern Ibaraki it was only a 3 J
After dinner we came home, looked up times for the trains back to Narita, chatted, and it was time for sleep.
Saturday Aug 23:
I rode with Linda and Sally to the train station. John helped us hire a cab to the train station. I checked on my bike and sure enough some punks let the air out of my tires. Ibaraki has some of the worst bike theft issues. On a positive note, my bike was still there thanks to the 2 locks I used. I now have to get new tires L
Anyway, I said bye to them and waited for my train up north. I was going to go to the Iwaki beach party but it was raining and a four hour commute for me. I decided instead to go to Mito for the day and enjoy a relaxing time in a café.
Soon after I got to the Starbucks in Mito, more people began to show up. None of us wanted to continue on to the beach. I mean what fun is a beach party if you cannot be on the beach?? We decided to go to a nearby mall and spend the afternoon there. It was great! I found quite a few decorations for my apartment. My apartment is really coming along. I will post photos soon when I have my apartment even more like the way I want it.
I wanted to come back from Mito on Saturday evening. The last train leaves at 8:10 pm. My new friend Emily, she is from Fresno, CA, came back to Itako with me. My other friend Rie came and picked us up from the station and we were off to see her friend’s band play at a local bar in Kamisu (down the road about 15 min). We were there late partying with the locals! I promised Rie that I would drive next time. Japan has a great system of no drinking and driving. Emily and I had a blast!! After the concert, Rie drove us home and it was sleepy time for us!
Sunday Aug 24:
Sunday was my official first LEGAL day of driving. I was a good girl and did not begin driving until then. It is not worth getting pulled over and in trouble. I LOVE driving on the left side! It is really fun J Emily and I slept late and I took her to the Genki Sushi place for lunch. We then came back, napped, and took showers.
I packed my car with a futon and spend the night bag. I braved driving Emily home. Emily lives in Mutsukaido, southwest Ibaraki. All in all, it took a while. We were turned around a bit but it was all fun! We were able to laugh and made it home safe. It is really nice being able to see other people’s apartments. Everyone’s apartments are nice but I definitely still think I got a great deal here in Itako!
Monday Aug 25:
I drove back from Mutsukaido. First I stopped at the big mall by Emily’s house. I once again shopped around for things for my apartment. There is too much blue. I know it’s hard to believe but it needs to be broken up! I am taking care of that with ease.
I then had to figure out how to get back…a few wrong turns and I was back on track and back home. The drive was very fun! I was glad to be able to get out and venture around. I just got nervous when I decided I needed to go in the direction of TOKYO! Yikes! But there was a turn way before I would get into Tokyo to get back to Itako.
I went to a late dinner with John at Coco’s. It is a chain restaurant here in Japan. It is very western style. He had pizza and I had Jambalaya, sound western – heck yes.
I came home and it was time for sleepy!
Tuesday Aug 26:
Today was great! I cleaned a bit and sorted bills then had fun!
John and I ventured to Kashima today. The third biggest shrine in Japan is found in Kashima. Kashima is only about 15/20 minutes away. I asked John if he wanted to join so he did! We walked all around. It was beautiful!
After the shrine it was off to find lunch. I wanted to also go to the beach so we went to this little place that John knew about. The little beach bum area was called Nula. It was great! I now know I am supposed to live by the water. I honestly could just up and join this little community of surfers.
John and I were the only customers at this little joint. We had lunch and coffee and really enjoyed our time there this afternoon. I could really stand to live this lifestyle forever.
My hot new car!!!
We then traveled north to Oarai, which is also by the ocean. It was great being by the ocean all day today! In Itako, I am only about 20 minutes from the coast but having not had a car recently has put my adventures around Ibaraki on hold. We shopped a bit. John needed a small backpack for our adventure to Mt. Fuji this weekend. We stopped and got dinner in Kamisu on our way back.
I am now back in my apartment, exhausted. I am off to Tokyo tomorrow by myself to venture around!! I will find a place to stay!
Until then…
I will be in Tokyo!!! Leaving in about an hour to go venture all the amazing sites and shopping Tokyo has to offer!! I begin school on Monday :) I give my self-introduction to the school! What a great vacation it has been for the past month!! Updates soon. Miss and love you guys! Please come visit! As you can see, Japan is amazing and has so much to offer!
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