Nothing Special, Just Everything

I feel like I owe you guys an entry, so here we go.
I'm a bit under the weather right now, but by no means has that halted my endeavours(much to the dismay of my immune system) and I have a lot to recap, so let's see what we can do.

A quick note: don't forget to check the comments on the previous entries now and again, because it's not like LJ in that you can't reply directly to someone's comment and have it notify them(a feature I desperately miss).

Now, it might be the most painless way for my brain to handle this, so we're going to work backwards. Please put on your wizard caps along with me and let's do this Merlin-style.

Yesterday, there was no typhoon.

On the day before yesterday(ototoi in Japanese), it was reported that a typhoon would hit on Saturday and man, was I bracing. I was pumped up. My first Japanese typhoon! I heard tales of winds that drove the pounding rain sideways, underground malls flooding, people's umbrellas snapping in two... and I had plans! I was going to downtown Nagoya to meet a friend(Mao, for those who know) and I couldn't wait. I bundled up, scarf, gloves, heavy coat, layers, etc., and...

Well, I guess you already know. This backwards thing isn't so good after all.

Yeah, it just didn't hit. It was practically sunny all day. I don't know what happened.
Regardless, we had a good time in Nagoya despite my burgeoning illness and am invited to Kyoto next week... ON A SCHOOL DAY. Dare I accept?  (yes)

So that's an anecdote for you. Now to the meat...
Hm. I haven't really talked about all the castles I've been to. I've seen four in total so far, and by a longshot Osaka-jo takes the cake. Expansive and gorgeous, it just easily takes your breath away as you walk around the grounds. The other castles I've been to were Nagoya, Okazaki, and Inuyama.

If you're a clever one, you'll have realized by now that I've been to Osaka. Yes, last weekend was our first trip out of the prefecture(bye bye Aichi) and we hit up the fabled home of okonomiyaki for 3 days and 2 nights. It was a blast and I was able to meet up with one of my friends, Risa, who lived nearby where we were staying.

Daiki, me, Risa

We went to Dotonbori (bori meaning "canal" in Japanese, this street ran alongside a long river), which is a single avenue that has a host of different foods to choose from. Being near a shopping/clubbing district, there was also a huge amount of nightlife. The streets were crowded and night, and when we returned the following day, it was even busier! Needless to say, I ate my share of okonomiyaki and takoyaki, as well as sampling the udon and other treats that they had to offer. We stayed in a hostel, which worked out great and was quite cheap.

We also went to the aquarium(which is big and famous) and it was very cool. We saw a lot of things I've never seen before(whale sharks, giant crabs, the immortal jellyfish, capybaras) and I did that thing where you get to touch stingrays and little sharks. It was good fun. Also, I rode the once-biggest ferris wheel in the world.


Aquarium-related images:

 

 

Anyways, this is getting long so I'll begin to summarize.
We went to Monkey Park, which is like a zoo with only monkeys. We saw lots of monkeys. We fed monkeys, threw things at monkeys, and walked around in a cage with lemurs. It was fun.

Monkey-related images:

 

 

I starting learning kendo, and attended my first club meeting, which was intense. A lot of screaming.
Badminton is possibly my favourite class during the week. Last week I cut two of my toes open on a metal dolly during the class but, after thieving a couple band-aids from the infirmary I was back and I even got a chance to go 1-on-1 with the sensei. (I got wrecked)
Um, I watched an episode of Kai as it aired... That's pretty cool I guess.
We had a host of halloween parties for the students that us, the Canadians, had to organize. We carved so many pumpkins. I went as Momotaro(pics to come). Google him if you don't know the story.
The school festival was fun: fireworks, food, Japanese rappers, sweaty, oiled-up, shirtless men in horse masks, all that good stuff. You'll see a lot of it when I get my videos up.

Bunkasai-related images:

 

 

Can't think of anything else off the top of my head but I know I left out so much. Hung out with people from school a lot, biked/walked a lot, played some ping-pong, ate things, drank, got a cellphone, etc. etc.

As always, if you have specific questions or whatever, comment below.

I'll leave you with the usual stuff.

Ikimono (living things) I've seen lately:
- Monkeys(not wild)
- Giant butterflies(wild)
- Whale sharks(not wild)
- a teeny lizard(wild)
- Japanese giant salamader(not wild)
- bats(wild)
- blowfish(not wild)
- dogs(domesticated)

Tabemono (food) I've eaten lately: curry ramen, curry udon, curry nikuman(kareiman), modanyaki, negiyaki, takoyaki, ankoman, nato(never again), miso udon, persimmons, grilled unagi, baby fish in my rice, engawazushi, kanikama, maccha soft cream, anko toast, maccha pocky, kibidango, chawanmushi

Topical tango (words):
げんしょうがく　＝　genshougaku ; Phenomenology
あめんぼ　＝　amenbo ; water strider
かぼちゃ　＝　kabocha ; pumpkin
ソース顔　＝　sousugao ; lit. "sauce face", someone with a "light"(as opposed to striking) face
お面　＝　omen ; mask(men is what's called when you strike your opponent in the head in kendo)
竹刀、木刀　＝　shinai, bokutou ; bamboo sword and wooden sword, both used in kendo
とうじょう　＝　toujou ; entrance of a hero on stage

Random shashin (photo) dump: