When you think of Japan, what do you think of?

Tokyo? Kyoto? Hiroshima? Mt. Fuji? Cherry Blossoms?

You probably think of everything but Nikko, a small city located up in the mountains that is about a 3 hour bus ride away from Tokyo. On November 1st, my program arranged a day-trip to Nikko – we were scheduled to see waterfalls, Tokugawa’s grave site, and the beautiful autumn foliage. I didn’t know what to expect, considering I’ve never even heard of Nikko in the first place, but I knew I was excited because Japan has never failed to amaze me.

To begin, we can talk about how my day started off. I woke up at 5am, 2 hours before the scheduled meeting time at Takadanobaba Station. I managed to eat breakfast, get dressed for the cooler weather expected up north, and have an extra thirty minutes before I had to arrive at the station. Apparently, 6am-me thought that slipping in a 30 minute nap would be a good idea before I left the house, so I took a short nap. That short nap ended up being 50 minutes long, so when I woke up, I had ten minutes to get the Takadanobaba Station. The walk to my closest station that would take me to Takadanobaba would take at least 15 minutes, so it was absolute hell trying to arrive on time. Luckily, I made it before the group departed for Nikko, but I’ve learned my lesson about taking short naps very early in the morning…

Other than the terrible sprint to the station at 6:55am in the morning, the rest of the trip went smoothly. Everyone got on the bus and arrived at Nikko safe and sound. Our first destination was the temple that the famous Tokugawa Ieyasu was buried at.

Here, there were beautiful temples and artwork that were made to protect the grave of the famous emperor:

There were huge crowds here, as there were many beautiful historical relics. Tokugawa’s shrine was located at the top of a mountain, so we had to take a short hike to get there. It was an incredibly peaceful area. There were trees that blocked out the sun and the site itself was very clean. I don’t have pictures of the grave itself, due to the fact that it is disrespectful to take pictures of it, but you can take my word for it when I say it is a huge burial site. In the end, we stayed around the area for about 2 hours before grabbing a traditional Japanese lunch. My program coordinator booked us a full traditional Japanese meal. There was soba, rice, tempura, fish, and miso soup. There was also pickled vegetables, along with tofu skin and fishcakes.

After lunch, we went on Nikko’s famous winding roads. Each curve and road is named after a Japanese hiragana character. There are forty-six characters in total, meaning that there were forty-six very sharp turns. There’s not much to say about this except for the fact that there were beautiful mountain ranges and amazing autumn foliage. Unfortunately, I don’t have many pictures because I got motion sickness…

After the roads, we took a stop at one of the biggest waterfalls that Nikko had to offer. There, the group took a ton of pictures and selfies to send back home to their families. It was an amazing site to see – the waterfall fell at a height of ~320 ft.

The trip ended at this last waterfall and it took a 3-hour bus ride to get back to Tokyo. Everyone fell asleep on the bus, so there’s not much to say about the ride home. Overall, the trip was super fun and I would definitely recommend visiting Nikko, especially if you decide to visit Japan sometime in the fall.

The days are getting colder as October flies by. It seemed just like yesterday when I complained about the unbearable heat.

For the past few mornings, I have been waking up to chilly winds and cloudy skies. I’m not sure if the sudden change in weather was due to the typhoon, but as a result of the dip in temperatures, I have caught another cold.

Fun.

Now even though this doesn’t come off as surprising to me (considering I always got sick back in California), it’s still troublesome to deal with. At the school I am attending abroad, we are only allowed a certain number of absences. We are required to attend at least 2/3 of the classes–if you miss more than 1/3 of the classes, you automatically fail. In addition to that, ALL absences MUST be proven true with an official doctor’s/government’s note. If there is no note from a certified person, the absence is not excused.

Because of this, I refused to miss class. My uncompromising personality in regards to school would not allow me to do that. So, despite being sick, I dragged my half-dead body to school today. I crawled out of bed and somehow made my way to school.

This was my first mistake.

The moment I got onto the crowded trains and was squished between people, I felt severely lightheaded. It took me a good minute to pull myself together on the train. I seriously thought I was going to suffocate and die in there. However, even with that, I forced my feet to make its way to class.

This was my second mistake.

Apparently, I felt so bad that it physically showed – all my teachers were concerned about my well-being. One of my teachers asked me if I was okay for a total of seven times (yes, I counted) within the 2-hour class period. Clearly, I wasn’t okay. I felt like my head was going to smack onto the table and I was going to fall into deep sleep right then and there. My brain could barely process English, let alone Japanese. At one point during the class, my teacher asked, “What days do you not have class?” in Japanese. I was praying that he wouldn’t call on me – in my sick state, I wasn’t able comprehend what he had said. I prayed he’d take pity on me. Unfortunately, life wanted to throw me a curve ball because he proceeded called on me to answer the question.

Now, normally, I would have been able to answer the question with ease, but today was unlike any other day. I was terribly sick and (what felt like) dying. I stared at him blankly for a solid 10 seconds before assuming that he had asked, “What do you like to do on the days you don’t have class?” Eventually, I stammered out: “I like to sleep in on the weekends,” in Japanese. It wasn’t the answer to his question and I only realized that when my classmate nudged my arm and told me that I misunderstood his question. It was quite embarrassing, but he was nice about it and changed the question to match my answer.

The rest of my classes passed by in a similar fashion – I was constantly embarrassing myself thanks to my lack of attentiveness. By the end of the day, I realized how foolish of me it was to go to class. I should’ve stayed home. There’s no point in going to school (besides for the attendance) if you are unable to understand what is being taught.

Even so, I have to applaud my own stubbornness. I still can’t believe I stumbled out of bed in that kind of state. Anyhow, the lesson of “take a break when you need it,” was learned the hard way after I almost failed to make it home today due to my tiredness.

Never go out when you’re clearly too sick to. Like my roommate said to me before I started my terrible day, “don’t be an idiot,” and stay home when you need to!

Imagine it’s eight in the morning. You have slept through your alarm and you have no time to fix up your daily cup of coffee. You rush out of the house in hopes you’ll catch the bus on time and will be able to purchase a coffee from a nearby shop. Unfortunately amidst your panic, you forget to bring money – your wallet is at home on the kitchen counter. This means that you are unable to buy yourself a cup of coffee, and the sick feeling of dread settles in your stomach. However, before all hell breaks loose, you’re able to pause for just one second and remember something vital. You’re in Japan and you’ve got your Pasmo.

Relief floods your system. Why?

To simply explain it, it is vending machine galore over here in Japan. They have machines waiting at every street corner. From soda to tea, these machines will sell hot and cold drinks for prices ranging from about $1 USD to $2 USD. However, for such cheapness, the drinks offered at these machines can either be a hit-or-miss. You could end up with a refreshing drink that you’ll end up being addicted to or you could end up with a drink that you’d want to throw in the trash after one sip. This phenomenon happens way more frequently if you can’t read any Japanese and you happen to feel particularly adventurous that day.

Today, you’ll be hearing me gush about these vending machines.

When I first got to Japan, I was amazed by the diversity of drinks. The drinks in the vending machines are not only limited to water, soda, and energy drinks – they have tea, coffee, lemonade, vitamin drinks, and even corn soup and ice cream. Not only that, but I hear that there are special vending machines that can even spit out steaming hot ramen for you to eat on the go. It’s mind-blowing. I wish I had a video of these special vending machines (especially the ramen one), but sadly, I have yet to visit any of them.

Anyhow, these vending machines are a huge life saver. The other day, I was on my way home from classes when I noticed my mouth was getting dry and my throat was getting rather scratchy. I figured I was catching a cold, so I decided to make my way to the nearest convenient store for a warm drink. Just as I was turning a corner, I spotted a vending machine. At the time, I didn’t know that the vending machines in Japan served warmed drinks, so it was a surprise to me when I saw the word あたったかい, which meant “warm” in Japanese. To make things even better, one of the drinks that were offered was warm lemonade with honey – a drink that was perfect for my throat. The drink itself cost only 110円, which is roughly about 1 USD.

It was the best 110 円 I have spent so far. The drink was sweet and warm, and it did wonders for my throat.

Drinks aside, the best part about these vending machines is that they accept IC Cards. With just one scan of a Pasmo or Suica card (popular IC cards used for the trains, subways, and buses), the vending machine will display your current balance on your card and tell you which drinks you are able to afford.

Talk about technology. It’s super convenient and it makes me feel spoiled because in California where I live, such a concept is completely foreign to me.

The ease of getting a nice drink in Tokyo makes me wish that my school back home offered the same services. Could you imagine how much better life would be if the vending machines in California were more common, technologically advanced, and offered healthier alternatives? It would be great.

Everyone would be able to easily get their drinks for a decent price.

Everyone would be happier.

Jokes aside (and in all seriousness): Japan’s vending machines are truly a blessing. If there’s one thing you should take from this post, it is that I love this country’s vending machines galore.

I was warned ahead of time that eating in Japan would be expensive – especially the fruits. So I thought this applied to eating out and less fruits. Little did I know that they meant eating in general, including grocery shopping.

We’ll start with the fruits. A single apple can cost 150 yen (~$1.50) and up. In America, an apple is typically no more than a dollar. Of course, these apples in Japan are large, beautiful, and crazy sweet but really, I just want an apple that doesn’t cost more than a soda. Health over cheap junk, right? Not so easy here.

Then there’s the meat aisle. It’s a little amazing honestly. All the meats – pork, beef, fish are sliced appropriately, boneless, and neatly packaged on clean styrofoam trays. But – yes, you guessed it – it’s expensive. And if you’re a fan of the rich flavor in soup that bones give, you might have a hard time finding any in your typical supermarket. Vegetables are also packaged appropriately, but unlike in America, they tend to sell the cabbages in halves or fourths. So while the prices look similar, the portions sold differ a bit more.

Their sliced bread is wonderfully soft though. It’s fantastic for making egg and mayo sandwiches. Cereal is also only sold in small portions, but I suppose I can live with that.

So far as I have seen, there is always a cashier at a register. Where I’m from, they have 10 registers and maybe 3 cashiers. At the cash register, they mark up your items while transferring the items from your basket to another basket which you bring to a stand designated for shoppers to sort their items from basket to bag. Plastic bags cost me 6 yen and with a store card, I get 10% off my purchases (excluding alcohol).

The grocery markets are very efficient, clerks and cashiers always give A+ service, and vegetables, meats, dairy, etc. are always fresh and perfectly packaged. Often towards the last hours of the market, the bentos are marked down with further discounts to ensure it’s all sold by the end of the day.

It’s more expensive than I initially planned for in my budget, and because everything is in Japanese, it took me about an hour trying to navigate the market, but the environment is friendly, the food is fresh, and hey, I’m improving my Japanese.

Typhoon Hagibis–a typhoon expected to match the intensity of the previous typhoon that hit Japan back in 1958, killing about 1,200 people. One of the most powerful typhoons to hit Japan this year is banging on my front door.

At the moment, it is 3:57pm. The winds are howling outside my apartment and the windows are being assaulted by the heavy rain. If I listen very carefully, I can hear what sounds like soda cans being knocked around on the streets. It’s a very interesting to sit through, especially since California doesn’t get attacked by typhoons.

The news said that the typhoon isn’t supposed to pick up in speed and intensity until later this evening, but warnings about possible evacuation have already been sent out. According to my program’s coordinator, if the level of intensity should hit 4 (out of the 5 levels), I should be prepared to make my way to the evacuation center.

Even though it is a serious situation and I should fear what’s to come in the later hours, all I can feel right now is calmness.

But why?

All of my life, I have been panicking about the smallest things. I overthink about what is going to happen and what needs to be done. Yet, right now, I’m sitting calmly while my apartment groans and moans from all sides.

As I’m typing this out, I’m starting to think that I’m calm only because it’s a new kind of experience. I have never been put into a situation where I needed to stock up and shelter myself indoors; it’s interesting. I’m strangely curious about how this storm will play out and what will happen next. Though this whole situation may be a bad thing, I believe that it’s giving me the true study abroad experience in Japan.

Who back at home can say that they’ve faced the severe tropical storm, Hagibis? Not many.

That said, I’m in awe about how much I’ve learned about myself in emergency situations. I always thought I would panic, but instead, I’m sitting in my apartment typing up this post. It’s a surreal feeling. I am the most grateful for being safe enough to do this.

With the storm still berating my apartment complex, I learned that I am very optimistic when it comes to moments like these. Some thoughts that run through my head at this very moment are:

1. Imagine the story you can tell your friends after this typhoon.
2. Even if this ends up badly for you, it’ll be quite a memory from your study abroad experience.
3. You can’t get hurt if you make good decisions–just stay away from windows and relax.

I learned that there’s no point in panicking. I wish I was able to say this about many other things I have to face in my life, but in this situation, there is nothing else you can do besides be calm and wait it out. Why waste your energy panicking when you could be doing something productive instead?

I’m about one month and a half into this study abroad, yet I have been learning so many new things. I only hope I will be able to run into new experiences and learn more about myself as the year progresses.

Have you ever been shoved so fiercely into a train that for a good second or two, you’re lifted off the ground and you’re being held up by the surrounding passengers?

I sincerely hope you haven’t.

Ever since I arrived in Japan, I have been actively avoiding rush hour. The sight of white gloves makes me shudder.

Why are white gloves so terrifying you may ask?

Well, during rush hour in Japan, there are train staff standing on the platform. Once the train arrives, they stand near the doors and patiently wait for people to file into the train. What never ceases to amaze me is how many people attempt to shove their way into the train. Even though they know they won’t fit, people still try to squeeze their way in. When someone doesn’t fit, that is when the white gloves come on. The staff members standing near the door will slip on their gloves and begin to push the people standing at the doors. People are packed like sardines during rush hour.

It’s terrifying.

To show you how it is actually like, here’s a video from Youtube:

That said, rush hour in Japan is terrible. I wish I was able to avoid it for the whole year, but it was deemed impossible after my classes started.

My classes start at 9 A.M. sharp and end around 6 P.M. That means I have to face both rush hours almost everyday of the week. I thought about going to school earlier to try to avoid the whole ordeal, but it turns out that the school gates don’t open until 8 A.M.

Therefore, I had to deal with this whole process every time I went to class.

It went like this:

1. Wait behind a ton of people.
2. Train arrives.
3. Get squished inside the train and possibly suffocate because of how many people got into the train.

It is an incredibly tiring process to go through–I’m genuinely impressed by how Japanese people seemed to be unfazed by it.

In all honesty, I would much rather sit through the horrible traffic back in California because at least then, I’d still have the space to breathe. Even so, I’m thoroughly impressed with the Japanese transport system. Despite the huge number of people that board the train everyday, it’s clean, organized, and efficient. Everyday without fail, these packed trains bring people to their destinations.

Besides the rush hour horror, Japan’s transportation system is admirable.

One day, I hope the same kind of transportation system will be made available in the Bay Area.

Ever since I have arrived in Japan, I have had a friend by my side to lead me around the confusing streets and stations of Japan. It was something I was incredibly grateful for since I didn’t have data on my phone.

Japan is partly known for it’s amazingly organized subway and train system. Even so, it’s common for locals to get lost at times. That said, could you imagine how lost I would’ve gotten if it weren’t for my friends?

Well, I’ll tell you now, I got incredibly lost without them.

It all started at Takadanobaba station. The day started out perfectly fine and it was generally a good day. I got to see Godzilla in Shinjuku and I went out to eat okonomiyaki with the Japanese students at my school. However, by the time the sun was setting, the good day took a sharp turn.

My friends and I decided to complete our commuter passes. It costed each person $250 to set up their commuter pass. As if taking $250 from me wasn’t enough, life decided to throw another curve ball at me. As soon as my friends and I were done paying for our new commuter passes, we split up. They went back to their homes while I headed to mine.

Now, why is this a bad thing for me?

Well, for the past couple of days, my friends have been staying at my place. This enabled me to become dependent on them for directions because they would always use their phones to take us home. I didn’t have to scrounge for Wi-Fi because of their help. Most importantly though, I started to follow them blindly without question whenever we had to go somewhere. They became the human version of a GPS for me.

This proved to be a mistake on my end, especially after I was left alone in one of the most popular stations in Shinjuku.

The moment they left, I started panicking.

I needed to find Wi-Fi as soon as possible so that I wouldn’t miss the last train home. It took me a good ten minutes to get connected to the Wi-Fi so that I could search for directions. Even after I connected to the Wi-Fi though, I was still confused and lost.

I had no idea how find the entrance of the subway line I was supposed to take, let alone how to get onto the correct platform. I wandered around helplessly until I found the gate that matched the Japanese characters on my phone.

My problems would surely end here, right?

Wrong.

Even though I entered the correct subway line, I was on the wrong platform. With just a few seconds to spare, I had to sprint to the correct platform before the train took off. It didn’t help that it was rush hour and there were crowds of people waiting for the train.

In that moment, I truly missed driving my car.

When I got onto the correct platform, I rushed into the train that was about to take off. I only had to take the train one stop over to get to my house, so I thought it would be a relatively easy ride.

Little did I know I was completely wrong.

The train I got on took me two stops over instead of one; it completely skipped my stop. It dropped me off at a station that I wasn’t quite familiar with. It became clear that I was on the wrong train and that I had to quickly hop onto the next train that took me back to the station I started at.

At this point, I was sweaty and annoyed. The stations were ridiculously crowded and the humidity tested my patience.

Eventually, after turning back to Takadanobaba station and finally taking the right train, I was able to get home. The whole struggle of trying to figure out what train to get on and where to go made me realize I shouldn’t have been so dependent on my friends in the first place. I should’ve tried being the GPS for the day to try to get familiar with the stations. I also should’ve paid more attention to where I was when they were taking me to and from certain places.

All in all, I learned a very important lesson from this experience.

Moral lesson of the day: try to figure out things for yourself so you don’t suffer when people aren’t able to help you.

It took me around an hour to get home when it should have only taken me 10 minutes. Even so, it proved to be a good lesson.

I guess you just live and you learn.

Despite living in the dry state of California where the sun is always visible, the heat hits you differently when you are in a different country.

It has only been two weeks into my study abroad and I have already faced the dangers of heat exhaustion while searching for an apartment.

You would think a twenty minute walk in a foreign neighborhood would be a relatively nice experience considering it’s not a long walk and the skies are clear, but unfortunately, it is not. It was terrible, and I found out the hard way.

When I exited the station near the agency that was going to help me find my apartment, I was still under the impression that it wouldn’t be too hot. I thought walking would be fine and that I wouldn’t need to take the bus. However, I quickly realized how wrong I was when the cooling effects of AC wore off. Within five minutes of being outside, I was sweating buckets. The sun was harsh, the humidity was high, and there was very little wind.

It felt like I was standing in a sticky oven.

I tried to brush off the heat, but was ultimately unsuccessful. The nausea hit me after a good ten minutes and my head started to throb. The sticky kind of heat that I wasn’t used to made my head spin and I sweated more than I ever did back in California. The fact that I was lost and had to wander the streets for another 10 minutes did not help me feel any better.

Throughout the walk that I considered a hellish experience, I noticed that there were a ton of Japanese people that had their umbrellas out. At first, I wondered why they were using umbrellas when it was clear out, but I soon understood why when I nearly collapsed on the streets that day.

They used it to cover themselves from the harsh sun and to stay cool.

Color me impressed.

After seeing that, I knew I needed to quickly prevent myself from any further suffering by following the life hacks of the country that I was in.

Talk about an “improvise, adapt, and overcome” type of situation.

I didn’t expect to be put in this type of situation from the get-go, yet here we are.

In the end, through much sweat and perseverance, I managed to get to the agency safely. I didn’t collapse on the road (thankfully), and I managed to find an apartment.

As uneventful and boring as this whole thing sounds, that day was what made me realize how fearful I am of Japan’s hot weather. I do not want to pass out in the middle of the street during the hottest months of Japan.

Hopefully, as the year goes by, I will get more accustomed to the heat. For now, the best I can do is go out and buy an umbrella to avoid burning to a crisp.

I am improvising and adapting. Soon, I hope to overcome this fear of Japan’s heat.

One would think getting to their country of choice would be relatively easy. I, for one, thought I’d be able to get to Japan without a hitch, considering I planned out for months what I was going to do, where I was going during my layovers, and what I was going to do when I arrived in Japan. Little did I know how wrong I was.

It started with the flight. Without informing me of any changes, the flight had changed overnight from 1AM instead of the scheduled 2PM for departure. That meant that I had missed my flight by 13 hours and there was no guarantee of being able to get onto the next available flight. On my way to the airport, I called Air China’s customer service but was left on hold for 30 minutes before they ended the call abruptly. The dead-end customer service (or complete lack thereof) only stressed me out more. At this point, my only option was to demand for an explanation at the Air China desk at the airport.

After much worrying, panic, and debate, they concluded that my flight had not actually been switched over to the 1AM flight, and I was still due for the 2PM flight. Everything was FINE after all.

The flight to the Beijing Peking Airport was 12 hours with a 15 hour layover. We would land at 6PM and head for Tokyo the next morning at 9AM. I obviously did not want to stay at the airport for 15 hours. Plus I was in Beijing for the first time of my life! What I needed was a bed and a plan. It looked something like: temporary visa, hotel, taxi, maybe some sightseeing.

How hard can it be?

Well, bear with me here.

When I arrived in PEK Airport, no one spoke English. But it’s China, so of course they’re speaking Chinese. What was unexpected was how completely done they looked with me when I asked them how to get to the Air China counter for a transit hotel. Some workers rolled their eyes and passed me onto someone else when I asked for clarification, while other people tried to point me to the right direction. But the right direction kept me going in circles. Long story short, I was stuck at the airport for at least 2 hours before I even got to book my transit hotel.

The airport was over 90 degrees, stuffy, and humid. The effort it took to get to the hotel was absolutely worth it though. I have never been more in need of a shower and a bed.

It was my fault that I didn’t set a concrete plan, and maybe it would have helped if I had learn the basics of the language before landing. I was so close to giving up and staying at the airport for the whole 15 hours by the end of the second hour, but I’m glad I didn’t. Plus, the hotel had a free breakfast buffet of delicious Chinese cuisine. A free shuttle to and from the hotel was also provided by Air China, so in all I got a free room, transportation, and breakfast.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to explore Beijing but well – we get some, we lose some.

Lesson learned: Be prepared for language barriers, and ready for complications.

Hey guys, welcome back to my Youtube channel!

— Almost every Youtuber ever.

Sadly (or maybe perhaps luckily?), it’s not a cringe-worthy Youtube video. Instead, this is a pre-departure video before I head to Japan!

I’m super excited about going abroad, but there’s so much to do before I actually set foot in my country of study. That said, I want to kick off this blog and start on the right foot, and this video will help me do exactly that.

This video will introduce who I am and where I am going in detail.

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For those who need it, here’s the entire transcript for the video (because I do realize I’m talking super fast).

Hi, I’m Christine, and this is my pre-departure video for the FEA scholarship!

A little bit about me… I am a student from San Jose State University, located in San Jose, California. I’m majoring in business and minoring in computer science. Hopefully, after college, I’ll be working in the tech industry.

Growing up in the heart of Silicon Valley, I’ve always been influenced by technology because I’ve always been playing games and I’ve always been interested in tech. That’s why I want to be part of the process that help impact people’s lives through technology.

That said, for the academic year of 2019-2020, I’ll be studying abroad in Tokyo, Japan at Waseda University. There, I’ll be taking some international business courses, as well as courses in Japanese culture (so that I can learn more about the country that I am in).

I chose Japan specifically because they are one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world. Their AI development is growing super fast and their gaming industry is huge.

I’ve always aspired to work for a Japanese gaming industry because I’ve grown up playing games like Harvest Moon and Rune Factory, all produced by Natsume.

With my study abroad at Waseda, I am going to squeeze my way into the gaming industry through internships and/or learning opportunities that the school provides. This in turn could help me get more experience that I really need to get myself more involved in that industry.

I’m leaving soon, approximately in two weeks, and I’m looking forward to being so far away from home. I’ll be blogging everything that I experience or that I’ll be running into, so I’m really excited for that.

Thank you so much to the FEA scholarship donors, and please look forward to my year abroad and my adventures in Japan.

Bye!