Spring Rain

It's raining again. Now, you might wonder why I'm writing a journal just because it's raining. Well, don't ask me. I don't know either. For some reason, I just want to write an entry today. Maybe it's because I've been tinkering with the look of my journal again. Or maybe it's because I've been thinking about a lot of different things lately, and when I think about them, I go: Hey, I should write a journal entry about that! But then when I come to the pc, I almost always forget what I wanted to write about. Gah. I'm getting old!

Anyway, just a few minutes from now, we're going to have a meeting about the welcome party for the new exchange students here at the dorm. The party is going to be on Friday. Yay, eating time again! LOL. We each have to pay 300 yen each, but since you can't even buy a decent lunch for 300 yen here, that's already a very good price for an eat-all-you-can kinda thing.

It's amazing to think that we have less than 5 months to go here. Phew. I'm not homesick, but you know, it's just different. Annie and April both say that they've been here long enough. I don't know what I feel about that. Of course, I'm not exactly happy-happy about being here, but it's also not as if I can't wait to get out of here. There are just certain things I miss about the Philippines, that's all. Being out of your country is really a wake-up call. No matter how much your country sucks, when you're away, that's the time you realize that it still has its advantages.

Our time here has been both good and bad until now. People are always asking us if we want to come back to work here or live here in the future. For now, April, Annie, and I all agree that we don't want to work or live here again. But who knows what's going to happen? Everytime I think about it though, I know I'm gonna miss some of the things here in Japan. It's not home, but it also has its advantages.

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Oh joy!

Ahehe. I'm back to blogging after a long time of... not blogging! XD

The past week has been fun, in my opinion. After almost a whole week of rain, Saturday and Sunday were sunny. And, since it's spring, cherry blossoms are now in bloom. To my surprise, there's an American Naval Service Facility (NSF) not very far from my dorm. Maybe just about a 30-40 minute walk. Back home, that distance would be from my house to the downtown area of Dumaguete, but look here now: I'm describing it as not very far. Things have certainly changed.

Well anyway, in that area called Kamiseya, there's a long stretch of street lined with cherry blossoms. Every year, the NSF which is located there holds a flower-viewing festival. I heard about this on the radio (AFN - Armed Forces Network) which I've been listening to almost 24/7 here. (Thank God for this station else I would have gone crazy with boredom!) So off we went to the festival last Saturday, and it was heaps of fun! ^^; Yay, yay, yay! (And with cute servicemen! *evil laugh*) There were booths with food for sale, some presentations, demonstrations, and the Pacific Air Force Band, which totally rocks! =)

Here are the pictures from that event:

The cherry blossoms up close. Aren't they pretty???

I love this picture! ^^; So there was a demonstration at the festival, and Annie took this picture with my camera. Look at that mouth wide open and ready to take a big chunk out! *shudder*

The cherry trees along the road.

While Annie and I were walking home, we spotted this dog in its doghouse. It was so serene that I thought it wasn't real, but it is! And look, it's even got an umbrella! LOL

Yesterday, Annie and I went back again (this time using bikes) cause we were hoping to take a picture of the trees without lots of vehicles/people around. But it turned out, there were still a lot of people in the place. I think the Japanese made it into a two-day activity. There were no more Americans around but there were still booths and people were still having picnics. This Sunday, we're planning to go to the Yokosuka Naval Base's flower viewing festival. It's a bit far this time, we need to take two trains, but it'll be even more fun, I bet!

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MyTownMap Contest

Remember that website of Dumaguete I submitted for the MyTownMap contest? Well, guess what? Out of the apparently more than 700 entries, it got selected to be in the Top 30! LOL. Not too bad, huh? It's one of 3 entries about foreign places that got in. The other two were from Italy. Anyways, so they gave me a token, which is a radio clock, *yay!*, and a certificate. We also got listed in one of the papers. But, they're Japanese though. Heheh. It's just nice, because it proves that I haven't been completely useless here!

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Okinawa Report

Once again we were asked to submit a report about our recent trip to Okinawa. Here is mine:

Helicopters about to land at one of the US air bases in Okinawa

Impressions on Okinawa

The moment we landed at the Naha Airport in Okinawa, I fell in love with the place immediately. The airport was beautiful. It was new, and all around the area there were beautiful Cattleya orchids. These flowers, the weather, the palm trees, and the overall look of Okinawa itself reminded me so much of home. I think it is for this reason, plus the inherent beauty and pleasant ambience of the place that made me love it immediately. However, as we toured around Okinawa, we saw something that looked out of place—this was the steel barrier which lasted almost endlessly: the fence of the American Military Bases which separates the uniformed Americans from the Okinawan civilians.

Even before we went to Okinawa and read the handouts about the trip, we already knew about the American bases on the prefecture. It’s even as if the only thing people know about Okinawa is that it’s a place filled with military installations. This is certainly very sad, and I am very thankful that I was able to learn more about this enchanting group of islands.

Okinawa is place filled with surprises. It is naturally beautiful, and has a rich culture and interesting albeit painful history that not a lot of people know about. On our study tour, we first learned about the bases and got to see the wide expanse of land that was under American control. We also visited a theme park that showcased Okinawan culture and got to see the magnificent castle of the Ryukyu Kingdom that ruled over Okinawa until over a century ago. However, the part of the study tour that affected me the most was when we learned about the Battle of Okinawa. This included going to an underground limestone cave that was used as a hospital and Japanese military headquarters during the battle, and visiting the various museums on the prefecture that depicted the agony and suffering of the war.

Learning more about the culture and history of Okinawa really surprised me. The Okinawan Prefecture is very much a part of Japan, but I could see that their lives are vastly different to the lives of the people on the mainland. On the surface, someone could even say that Okinawa looks as if it isn’t part of Japan at all. The traditional costumes, the music, the houses, the castles, the ambience—they’re all different when compared to the mainland. To me, it felt like Okinawa was stuck in time, way back into Japanese past where skyscrapers didn’t reach for the skies yet, trains weren’t the main means of transportation, and houses weren’t so close together that they could still afford to have backyards.

To a lot of people, it seems that Okinawa has been sacrificed by mainland Japan, particularly by the Japanese government. I find myself agreeing with this, because a lot of instances support this theory. The Battle of Okinawa is the greatest example. It was the only land battle in Japan during the Second World War. It was a tactic of the Japanese military to delay the American attack on the mainland. As I learned, it was horrible. High school students were deployed as nurses and were forced to work in inhumane conditions. Hundreds of thousands of Okinawans died because of crossfire. A lot were also killed by the Japanese military themselves. After the American Occupation on the island, the Okinawans thought that the bases would be removed. But even after the reversion, the bases are still there. Okinawa holds a very big percentage of the American bases in Japan. That is really unbelievable when you consider the land area of Okinawa.

The war is already far into the past. I’m sure the people who were responsible for starting it have gotten what they deserve, and I’m sure the Japanese government will not allow it to happen again. The museums we have visited are there so that we will all be reminded that war is absolutely horrible and we should avoid it at all costs. The American bases are here on Japan because both Japan and America mutually benefit from this arrangement. When one looks at it, he can probably say that the bases are bad for Okinawa. But we all know that it also has its advantages alongside its disadvantages. The fact that Okinawa has been stuck in time may also have its advantages. However, I wish that the people on the mainland will always remember th? sacrifices that Okinawa did for them and is continually doing for them. I also hope that the Okinawan Prefecture be given equal treatment with all the other prefectures on the mainland. Most importantly, I hope that Okinawans should always be consulted as to what happens with their island, and that it must be their decision that should be followed.

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Onsen Outing

Last Thursday, March 4, we went to an onsen, which is a hot spring/spa that the Japanese absolutely love. It was in Hakone, which is roughly about 2 hours by train from where we live. Even if until now we don't have our allowance yet, we just went on that trip because it had been planned beforehand. It was organized by the Ferris Foreign Students Society so when we told them about our problem, they told us that we could pay the 4,000 yen for the hotel and food (which is pretty good actually) later, when we got our allowance.

We stayed overnight at a nice hotel, and got to use the onsen. Here are pictures of us using the ashi-onsen, which is for the feet only. Of course, everybody's naked in the main onsen so I couldn't take a picture of that! LOL. (Males and females have separate areas, of course!)

The onsen was pretty cool, with bubbles and stuff, but you know me, I'd rather have a pool or a beach over an onsen or a bath any day!

The next day we went to this place with wood thingies. I forgot how they call that in Japanese, but since it's like the "specialty" of Hakone, we went there. They have all these stuff which are solely made of wood with different colors. They also had this museum which had artifacts that dated back to the Edo period. Tables, paintings, dressers--all were amazing! And since I really like wood stuff, I totally enjoyed it there! Then we made coasters out of different bits of wood. They had designs ready, and we just had to glue the pieces of wood together. It was fun!

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Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Wala pa gihapon among allowance! Ano ba toh?!? Graveh na ha! Graveh na talaga!

Hay, naku! Anyways, I'm at the IT center again, and while I was coming here, it was raining/snowing. It wasn't that cold, but it was snowing. It was kinda nice though, and even a bit sentimental, because it's also probably the last time it's gonna snow here. It's unbelievable, but it's already March!!! We've been here for 6 months, and we've only got 5 more to go! I can't believe Spring is just around the corner and the cold weather is almost over! I could still remember last November when the weather was still starting to get cold and I thought I wouldn't be able to handle it. PHEW! It's really a relief that it's not gonna be cold anymore, but I'm sure, when I'm back home, sweating buckets because of the heat, I'll miss and want the cold weather! Hay, ang buhay nga talaga!

I hope muabot na among allowance, because at least, ug naa koy kwarta, I can get stuff to entertain me!

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