Week 1

It has been the first four days in Japan, and I've already done so much.

I left Denver, took a flight to Tokyo, and from Tokyo went to Nagoya.  In Nagoya I was met by my IES Nagoya program coordinator, and about nine other students taking part in the study abroad program. We ran to the train, went to our hotel in Nagoya, and after about 24hours I slept.

The next day, we learned to utilize the train system in Nagoya, and went to a another hotel in Inuyama, "dog mountain), which is right next to Inuyama castle.
This is what I did for the days in Inuyama:
We got to tour Inuyama castle, and learn about the surrounding area's history from local Japanese residents.

We got to watch cormant fishing, which is a traditional fishing method where a fisherman controls up to 10 birds. The birds swim in the water, and "eat" the fish. The fisherman brings the bird into the boat, and the bird spits it back out.  

Before cormant fishing, we had dinner on the boat. This is the food, and the view!

Inuyama castle:

I've also been sleeping in the Japanese inn on a futon in a tatami room, and have been to the onsen in the inn every night. Awesome!!

Otherwise, my experience has been very interesting. I've realized that as a Japanese American, my experience will be a very different experience than other peoples study abroad experience.  I look Japanese, and therefore local residents in Japan think I'm Japanese. Often times people speak Japanese to me, however, I have a difficult time understanding and responding. Today while I was out with other study abroad students, I was immediately thought of as the "translator", however my Japanese is either as good or worse than my peers. They know I'm not a local Japanese resident as soon as I open my mouth. However, I think that being here will change the way I think of myself. Here I look Japanese but I'm American. In American, I look Japanese, but I'm American. The next few months will be definitive.  

There has been al lot more that I've done, but honestly, it's hard to put it all in this blog without going overboard in details. For the sake of time, I'm not going to write it all.  Ask me if you want to know more. 

I'll attempt to blog more next week, and put up some art. 

Peace.