So I arrived in Okayama on the 20... I already told you guys about my first night, so I will start from the 21.
I had to get up a little early, but not compared to when I was staying in Tenri.. I think I got up at about 8:30 and snoozed until 9. Ayumi and I left at about 9:30 or 9:45 and headed for Okadai, or the Okayama Daigaku College Campus. It was raining REALLY hard that day... Ayumi had to do interview practice for about an hour, so I wandered around the campus and took some pictures.
 |
| From July 21 - 22 |
This campus is one of the places that I could be studying abroad at next year, so... It made me really happy that I could come see it before I apply. So far I have seen part of Waseda Daigaku and Aoyama Gakuin Daigaku. For sure Okayama is the biggest... And there were lots and lots of bicycles. It was pretty cool... Ayumi mentioned that it doesn't normally rain in Okayama, so I guess I'm pretty lucky, huh? My shoes were completely soaked, along with my jeans all the way up to my knees, just from walking around. I even had my umbrella, but it was pretty pointless after a while. Even with all the rain, it was still bloody hot! Yay for being on a giant island in the middle of the ocean.
After we left the campus we went back to Ayumi's house to change clothes and then headed back out to do some shopping and meet Kaori, an exchange student from last year, at the station and hang out. It was really nice to see her again! We had a really good time... We did some Puri-Kura, or Print Club pictures... Here is one of them.
 |
| From July 21 - 22 |
After that we went to this really cool store called Loft... Its like Target on steroids. I LOVED IT. Then we picked up Naoko and went out for some dinner at this really cool restaurant... Of course, I think most of the restaurants here are super cool. And really DERICIOUS.
 |
| From July 21 - 22 |
Ayumi is on the left, Kaori in the middle, and Naoko on the right.
=)
Yesterday Ayumi's parents took me and Ayumi to this cave... It was about two hours away by car. The cave was pretty cool, but I think that the U.S. might have some better caves... Oh well, now I can say that I have seen a cave in Japan!!
I DID bring my camera with me on that trip... I even brought extra batteries. However, I forgot my memory card... Luckily, Japanese are always equipped with cameras and LOVE taking pictures of everything, so there is definitely not a lack of pictures for the trip. Not to mention I took some pictures with my phone.
 |
| From July 21 - 22 |
There were some crazy-narrow parts of the cave... And some crazy short parts as well. It wasn't a very long walkthrough but good GOD there were a lot of stairs...
Since its been raining a lot, the waterfall was pretty big too...
 |
| From July 21 - 22 |
I don't know if any of you know this, but there was a Solar Eclipse yesterday that was visible here in Japan, for the first time in 50 years. After we emerged from the cave we walked around the shops... It was pretty deserted, but luckily some of the shop owners came out with the eye-film thingies so we could see the eclipse without hurting our eyes.
Here is a picture I took with my camera... Its not a very good picture, but its a picture nonetheless! That was really cool. I thought we weren't going to be able to see it since it was so cloudy that day, but we got really lucky.
 |
| From July 21 - 22 |
On the drive back we stopped at this other waterfall and this really good Soba restaurant... Ayumi's parents treated me to EVERYTHING... It was so nice. They were very welcoming and her mother was very very sweet... She wouldn't let me pay for anything. I'm really glad that I was able to give them a present for letting me stay with them. She really wants me to study abroad at Okayama University so I can come see her.
After we got back I took a rest... And Ayumi's mom made the most amazing dinner. She always makes sooo much food. I really want to stay with her and her family again! It was so much fun. =)
After dinner Ayumi and I went out to Karaoke with some of her friends... That was a lot of fun. They all gave compliments to me and my ability to sing japanese songs. Yay! I guess my practicing has paid off. We went around 8:30 and didn't leave until about 11:15 or so... From there I stayed at Naoko's place. I will post more of my stay here at Okayama next time.
Thanks to everyone who has been patient with me and my lack of updating for several days at a time! I have been trying, but lately I have been really lazy. Until next time!
Here is the link to this post's album.
Nicole
Next time it's raining, wear a skirt! Most of where you get wet is knees-to-ankles, and it's WAY less of a hassle in a skirt. I learned this living in Midtown Sac and busing/walking to work in Downtown. It's actually one of the reasons I have/wear so many -- I hate jeans when it's raining. Nothing worse than soggy denim, with the water slowly working its way upward!
ReplyDeleteA skirt and tall boots (so the wet hem never touches your legs) is ideal... next best is a short skirt. Never, ever jeans in the rain!
And so much for my unsolicited big-sisterly advice! ~laughs at self~ I'm just FULL of unsolicited advice on any number of topics. Tell me to shut up if I get obnoxious.
And your "job" is to enjoy yourself. That you're blogging for the rest of us just makes you really amazingly considerate, and makes the rest of us really grateful.
I want to tell her that the place she went makes me think of something. Makes me think that's an awesome place. (NOTE: He wanted to call you, but I convinced him to just write it.)
ReplyDeleteFinal comment, I swear... as we were cycling through the slide show of the album, Colette came to sit in my lap, and started babbling about "AUN-tie!" Poor Arthur doesn't get the concept of time-zones, or international phone issues, or just how VERY far away you are. He really wanted to call and/or go visit you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice... I hadn't really been wearing jeans up until recently... Mostly skirts everyday. But I don't have any rain boots here so that was kinda crappy. I think what I should have done that day is wear my skirt and the flip flops I brought.
ReplyDeleteAlso... Feel free to call me! I know the long distance is kind of expensive, but... Well, as long as its not a completely crazy hour! I really miss those little monsters. =)