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My Japanese Bucket List

Whether you are young or old, everyone has a bucket list! I just turned 21, but studying abroad in Tokyo has been on my list for two years and I am excited to finally cross it off. I leave tomorrow. I want to see everything, do everything, eat everything and experience everything. I only have four months so it’s going to be tight. Here is my list of all the wonderful things I hope to cross of my list.

  • Visit Shibuya Crossing. I want to visit Shibuya Crossing and absorb the energy, the smells and the sounds and, of course, to make sure I remember everything I will take thousands of photographs. I have been to Time Square, so after this I will be able to say I have visited two of the busiest and most iconic travel locations in the world.

Shibuya Crossing Tokyo

  • Climb Mount Fuji. I am not an outdoor girl, but I have climbed Mount Nittany at Penn State because it is tradition. It would seem a shame to travel all the way to Japan and not even attempt to go hiking on Mount Fuji.

Mount Fuji

  • Experience Kabuki theatre. I love Broadway, Off Broadway and live entertainment. In Japan Kabuki is a traditional cultural entertainment experience that I would not dream of missing.

Kabuki Dance featuring Bando Kotji with live music at Japan Society

  • Visit Okinawa. Much like we visit the shore in the summer, Okinawa is the beach destination for the beach-loving Japanese. While I am not a sunbather or surfer, I can still appreciate the beauty and the sounds of the rolling waves.

Okinawa

  • Travel on a bullet train. Surprisingly and disappointingly, there are no bullet trains (called Shinkansen in the Japanese language) in the United States; therefore, I must experience the ultimate speed of a bullet train, which travels up to 320 km/hr!

japanese_bullet_train

  • Go to a sumo wrestling match. Watching a sumo wrestling match while in Japan would show me a piece of their culture as well as one of their most historically beloved sports. It will surely be an amazing experience as it is the only country to practice sumo professionally.

Sumo Wrestling

  • Go to a Japanese baseball game. After a little research about sports and popular events in Japan, I learned that the Japanese also love baseball. I am interested in seeing the similarities and differences of what goes on during a Japanese baseball game!

Tokyo Dome Baseball

  • Visit a temple. I wish I could visit every temple in Japan, but there are simply too many to squeeze into four months! Hopefully, I will be able to visit Sensoji Temple and the Meiji Jingu Shrine in Tokyo as well as Kinkakuji Temple in Kyoto.
  • Go to Tokyo Disneyland. I discovered that Tokyo Disneyland is extremely close to my university and it would be ridiculous not to visit a traditional American destination that binds us together.

Tokyo Disneyland

  • Go to a Starbucks and order in Japanese. I have taken three semesters of Japanese and feel that if I can correctly order a complex coffee at Starbucks then I must know a good amount of Japanese. Also, I am interested in the similarities and differences in the food, drink and atmosphere of a Japanese Starbucks.

sutaba_02

  • Eat as much sushi as possible. In the land that created so many fantastic dishes, I hope I can try as much traditional Japanese food as possible.

I take off on my plane tomorrow (Monday) at 11:25am and arrive at Narita Airport at 2:45pm on Tuesday. I will let you know if I survive the 14-hour flight. Wish me luck!

Firenze (A Bit Delayed)

Ciao Tutti!

I have had this entry written and ready to post for a week now, but the internet in my apartment was not working.  I apologize for some of the references which seem a bit late…

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I am sitting on the train on my way back from Florence, but before I get into that let me start with the first week of classes.

I am taking five classes (16 credits) in Rome.  IES requires you take one Italian class and four other classes called “area studies courses”.  The area studies courses are anything from art to classes on the European Union.  My schedule went over a lot of revisions over the past week as I was in a few art classes that were over my head, but I’ll describe the classes I am currently enrolled in.

“AH/US 230: Roman Architecture and Urban Design” – This is one of the classes I switched in to half way through the week.  I missed the first lecture, but the second class was great.  We started off with a half hour lecture on the history of the Castel Sant’Angelo which was very interesting and informative.  It is amazing that a monument I can see from my apartment was a part of some of the most important events that shaped Rome as it is today.  After our half hour lecture, we actually got to go to the Castel Sant’Angelo and see everything.  It was originally built as a tomb, but was transformed into a fortress because it was ideally situated for battle.  Then, the Pope made it his safe house when the Vatican was attacked.  He actually built a mini-palace within the confines of the fortress!  After the Church lost most of its influence, the Pope did not need a safe house anymore, so the Italian Government turned it into a prison for a period of time.  Now, it is a tourist site with great views of Rome from the top. 

“IR 341: Italy and the European Union” – This class is great!  It is basically an overview of the formation of the European Union from the Post World War II era to the problems that plague the rapidly expanding organization.  I love history, so I cannot wait to learn all about the European Union.  I think this will be very beneficial for me later in life when I am working in Finance.  I will know the basics of how the EU works and will be able to apply it to my job.

“FS 200: From Viewing to Making a Film on Rome” –  I absolutely love this class.  We are going to watch four Italian films that were filmed in Cinecitt� (the Italian version of Hollywood).  The films were also filmed on site at Roman locations.  After watching all four films and learning the basics on Italian cinema, we are going to film two scenes from the films we saw on site.  We watch “Bicycle Thief” on Monday – I can’t wait.

“CM 330: Memory and Conflict” – This is the other class I switched into.  It is a really interesting class which is taught by the director of my study abroad program.  It is basically about conflict resolution techniques, but uses historical events to put the things we are learning into context.  I would not be surprised if I use the techniques I learn later in life.

This brings me to Florence.  Two of my friends (Sam & McKenzie) and I decided to go to Florence earlier this week.  We left on Thursday night after class.  I found a bullet train from Rome to Florence for only 19 euro.  The train was so comfortable and the ride was so short. 

Train

Picture of the inside of the train.

When we got to Florence, we met up with one of Sam’s friends from her home school, Emory.  He took us to our hostel (which was in a great location).  The hostel we stayed at was running a special where you can stay three nights for the price of two, so I paid 28 euro for three nights at a hostel.  The hostel was called “Plus Florence” and probably the nicest hostel I will ever stay at.  It was very clean, had a nightclub downstairs with a restaurant/bar, game room, a pool, a sauna, and a steam room.

 

On Friday, we woke up early and hit the two big museums in Florence before lunch time.  We wanted to make sure we beat the crowds.  The people I traveled with are studying Art History I school, so I was the beneficiary of a free tour of all the important pieces of art.  We went to the Academia first and saw Michelangelo’s “David”.  It was absolutely amazing.  After the Academia, we went to the Uffizi.  This museum was huge!  We were in it for three hours!

After the Uffizi, we met up with some of Sam’s friends from Emory who were studying in Florence and a few people from our program in Rome.  We had a quick bite to eat and then five of us headed over to the Ponte Vecchio.  They all bought leather jackets, I decided not to get one because I’m hoping to get a suit while I’m over here instead.

Over the past two days, we went to all the major churches in Florence – the Duomo, Santa Croce, San Lorenzo, and Santa Maria Novella. 

Here are some pictures from our trip to Florence.

Ponte Vecchio

 

Ponte Vecchio

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Florence_Day 3 145.JPG

The one thing that really surprised me about Florence was how small it is.  We walked everywhere we needed to go and were never walking for more than a half hour at a time.  Florence was a beautiful city, but I am happy I’m studying in Rome.  As a Finance major, I do not appreciate art as much as I should.  Now that I have seen everything I wanted to see, I am happy to be looking at the beautiful Tuscan countryside out of the window of my train back to Rome.

On another note, I planned our trip to Florence around THON.  I made sure the hostel had wifi and made sure our train would have me back in Rome to watch the final four hours of THON.  I may be 3,000 miles away, but I have been thinking about THON a great deal this weekend.  A lot of my friends are dancing and it kills me that I can’t be there to support them.  gWatching the THON Webcast makes me feel like I’m there and I lit a candle in the Duomo FTK!   I look forward to watching Family Hour from my room and, like all other Penn Staters, will go crazy when the total is raised tonight at approximately 10:00 PM my time.  

Always FTK,

Mike


Location: Florence, Italy