Time Flies...

Minnasan Konichiwa!
First and foremost I would like to say a big congratulations (omedeto in Japanese) to my cousin Brian and his new wife Genevieve, I'm so happy for you guys! I hope you have an amazing honeymoon and even better time enjoying your marriage!

I know I promised to post regularly, but unfortunately I couldn't get to a new post until now, gomen (sorry)! That being said, I did some things definitely worth mentioning from this past week, so I hope you enjoy.

First, my classes this week was pretty low-key, I had to write a paper for one class, but it didn't take me too long, and I think I produced a pretty good narrative, so I was happy with that. Japanese has been going really well too, I have my first lesson test tomorrow so we'll have to see what happens, but I have been doing very well in class and I assume that will translate over to my test tomorrow. Friday night I actually went bowling with some friends and Japanese students here and we had a lot of fun. Interestingly enough, no matter what country I'm in I'm still terrible at bowling. Nonetheless, we had a good time, and after we finished up we went to a do-it-yourself okonomiyake restaurant. Check out the picture below and let me know what you think!
Saturday though was the real highlight of my week. A group of my friends and I traveled to a Shinto shrine that worshiped a fox god in Kyoto (the old capital of Japan). It was an incredible experience, the shrine itself was enormous and there was a ton of people there. The photo at the top of this post is from one of the trails. After exploring the shrine for a little while, we headed out to the Toji temple (or at least, I believe that's the name), which I believe if I am correct is the largest Pagoda in all of Japan. Naturally it was awesome as well. That being said, there was an even cooler event going on near the pagoda. On the 21st on every month there is a huge flea market that occurs on the Pagoda's grounds. We found a lot of cool stuff ranging from kimonos, Japanese sandals, pottery, food, candy, and other collectibles, all at a decent price. I myself picked up some Japanese sandals and some Japanese chopsticks, both are pretty sweet. It was quite a hectic and terrific day. That night I went out with the same group to enjoy and discuss all we had seen earlier in the day.

I think that is going to do it for this time. This was a little shorter than I expected but I do have good news. I will definitely be updating within the next few days. Tomorrow after my test I am planning on taking a trip with a friend to a very important place in Osaka. I'm not going to spill it right now, but I'll give you all a hint. This place may or may not have been something or someone I grew up with and still enjoy today. If you need a bigger hint, just think blue. Hopefully that gave it away for you all, I hope the trip actually goes well and the people who work there allow me to see some cool stuff. Anyway, I'll let you all go, thanks for reading as always, drop me a line if you get a chance. Oh and of course, now for my random, goofy picture of the week, look below