Excitement and Sickness

My first week in Japan has been a little hard since it has started with me being sick. My usually nature is to be out doing everything--hanging out with people and exploring. However, I initially found that I just didn't have the energy and then the cold I had been struggling to get over since finals week came back with a vengeance. So I found that even though I was in an exciting new place, I couldn't explore or enjoy meeting new people because my body just wouldn't let me.

I had to take a couple days of rest to recover from college and the trip to Japan. Even with the downtime I have already had some cool experience especially pertaining to food and culture.

Some highlights:

Eating at sushiro. Each plate is only 105 yen or less than $1!!

Trip to Kamkura, an ancient center of Zen Buddhism. Many of the students hadn't been there before so we got to share in their excitement as they saw a landmark of their culture, Daibutsu (a really gigantic Buddha)


After visiting the Daibutsu, we went to the onsen or public bath/hot spring. I thought this would be an embarrassing experience since bathing suits are not allowed in the onsen. However, it turned out to be incredibly relaxing and a chance to talk with some of the female students without any distractions. Unfortunately, travelling to Kamkura wore me out and I was feeling very tired and under the weather by the end of the day so I headed back to my apartment after the onsen. The students and our other SETters (Summer English Teachers) stayed to karaoke through the night and do more site seeing the next day. I spent the day in bed which was definitely a bummer but I know I just needed some extra rest. I am feeling much better today and it's very exciting that I still have six weeks to build relationships with the Japanese students and to see Tokyo and beyond!

Now that I've finally started this blog I will be better about updating so that they will be shorter with more excitement and depth : )