This last week I was feeling a bit homesick. :( A couple of my classes I’ve been struggling with recently especially my Japanese Language class. I feel like the class is just a bit above my level and the text book has no English in it so I feel like I am always guessing at what I am doing. Also, my teachers don’t speak English so it’s difficult to get clarification sometimes. It seems like most of the students in my class are already familiar with the books and these books are very much new for me. However, yesterday I had a meeting with my Japanese Language teacher and one of my International advisors to discuss my worries about the class, and I am feeling a bit better. I’m a perfectionist and I don’t like to get bad grades, but this class has me a bit worried. I really am trying my best to follow along with them. Anyway, after a hard week at school and dealing with some slight homesickness and mild depression I’m feeling better! Today was a fun day. :)
Here are some pics from my Kimono class today:
And then after class I decided to go take a walk to my favorite place I have discovered within walking distance to the University. I originally found it trying to look for this one particular castella cake shop that I was trying to find in order to mail some castella back home to my boyfriend and his family. However, I discovered that this market is totally hidden and super difficult to find. It’s like a little secret place that is only known to those that have been there before….mainly locals, because from the outside it just looks like a big white building with no signs at all. There is absolutely no way anyone would know it was a second story open market from the street! So when I first looked for it I walked and walked and walked and walked and finally I was about to give up but decided to see if I could communicate well enough to ask the police officers at this station for directions. I knew I was close but I also knew I was totally not going to be able to find it on my own. So I managed to communicate well enough with the police officers where I wanted to go, and since they knew how hard it is to find I think thats why one of them decided to walk me there and show me himself. It was so nice. Japanese people are seriously genuinely very kind, and I truly love it here. So the first day I went to this market I bought this Castella:
Then I went back to the area a week or so later and found a place to get a haircut. :) Here is my new haircut:
And today I went back to the open market so I can visit this little bakery in there that has the most amazing bread and things in it I could just cry every time I eat something from there because it tastes so good. So I am going to show you a little guided picture story of what the shop looks like from the street and then when you get upstairs….it’s so crazy! You just would never guess it was there! So here is the building from outside. Its just a pretty plain white building:
Right next to this mini stream that you can see when you get closer to it.
Then you go inside/through the building in this kind of tunnel that kind of feels like your going somewhere a little shadey.
Then up the stairs.
And then viola! Market! Whaaaat?????? It’s so very random, but I love this place. There is a big grocery store and all kinds of stuff. Here is the castella shop:
Then the rest of the area:
And then my favorite bakery ever!! They always give me free stuff too because I always tell them I love their store >.< Seriously everything is amazing! Custard filled bread, cheese bread, milk bread, bread with cheese and ham. OMG it’s the best! However, today is my last stop there for a little while because I want to still be able to fit into my clothes.
Also on my walk back there was a lady walking the most adorable little shibu inu dog that looked like a little red and white fox. She was nice enough to let me pet him and play with him a bit, and I swear the dog just had this huge smile on his face. It really made me miss my puppies back home, but I was grateful I was able to spend a moment in passing playing with this dog. I wanted to take a picture, but I wasn’t sure if that would have been rude or not. I’m going to ask my friends here if they think it would be considered rude and maybe if I see the nice lady and her dog again she will let me take a picture. Also, there was a 90 year old man (about) doing splits on one of the hand bar things in the park. It was so impressive! It really made me realize I need to be more like him and up my exercise game! I’ve been slacking! Next week its going to be worked back into my routine regularly, especially since I have another fitness group starting up Monday.
I was also able to visit with the kitties today that hang around the University and that made me happy. :)
All in all it was a good day, and this weekend I have a live Sumo tournament trip to look forward too in Fukuoka, and then a class field trip to some Shinto and Buddhist shrines for my field studies class on saturday.