Blog #8: My second visit to Milano

Hello, this is Naoko.

During my stay in Italy, I visited Milan with my mother. Milan is well known for Duomo, the fourth largest cathedral in the world. It was my second time visiting Milan. When I visited there for the first time with my family, it was snowing that we couldn't get on the top of Duomo. So, my mother and I went to Milan for revenge.

We bought tickets at the Turin station and left for Milan. The weather was great and we managed to get on the top of Duomo :) After that, we walked around and found a funny tailor. Here is the picture of it.

It's called SuperdryStore 極度乾燥（しなさい）! My mother and I laughed when we first saw tailor's name XD

We ate lunch there and went to Intel fan club shop to find uniform of Nagatomo, a great Japanese soccer player who belongs to Intel soccer team.

Here is the picture of his uniform with his autograph! I was really happy to see his uniform because I love soccer<3 I bought Intel's uniform and we headed home to Turin. It was a nice trip :)

Blog #7: Izu

Hi, this is Yuki Shirai.

This summer, I could not go anywhere far from Tokyo since I was working most of the time. However, I went to Izu with my best friend and had so much fun there! We stayed there for two days. On the first day, we went to "Cactus Park" (シャボテン公園). There we saw many animals such as monkeys, bambi, flamingo, and so on. And of course there were many types of cactuses since the park is named "Shaboten" park. This picture is the cactus which I liked the best. The flowers around look very cute<3

Next day, we took a cableway at a place called "Oh-muro yama" (大室山). I'm afraid of heights so I couldn't take pictures of how high the mountain was, but I was able to take a photo of Mt. Fuji. I was very touched when I saw Mt. Fuji, because it was the first I saw it so closely.

Although it was only for a short time, I had so much fun with my friend :) I wish I could go there again when I have time and money.

Blog #7: Cruciani

Hello everyone, this is Naoko.

I visited my parents in Turin, Italy, during this summer vacation and stayed there for about a month. When I arrived in Turin, my mother gave me a white bracelet which looks very cute and she told me that the bracelet is popular in Italy. As she told me, I saw many people wearing this bracelet and it seemed to be in fashion. So, I thought I'd like to tell everyone about the bracelet by writing about it on this blog.

The bracelet is called "Cruciani". There are 28 different colors and there are different designs. Four-leaf clover is one of the most popular designs. Here is the spell of the design, "A wish for every-leaf a four-leaf clover for every wish. The first being reputation. the second wealth, the third health and the fourth true love".

The bracelet can be worn with any kind of clothes. In addition to that, they don't cost a lot (about 1,000 yen each) in spite of the high quality and its cuteness <3 Moreover, it is people's trend to wear two or more bracelet, so when I found a shop of Cruciani, I bought another bracelet for myself. I bought many Cruciani for my friends in Japan for souvenir.

If you are interested, please check it out!

Blog #8: Visiting Shanghai as an exchange student

Hi, I'm Tomohiko Ebashi.

I was in Shanghai during August from 4th to 25th, as an official exchange student of  Global Campus Asia 2012 program hosted by Gakushuin University. We took China Eastern Airlines to Pu-dong International Airport, and stayed at a hotel near Fudan University, where we took our Chinese lessons. It was located at a fairly nice environment beside an avenue with trees. I went there with a experience of studying Chinese for only 2 months, so I was very worried if I can keep up with other intermediate students from other countries. However, the lesson was set at a level for students who have been learning the language for 5 month, I was able to follow along.

 

It was such a precious experience to be able to communicate with local Chinese people, in terms of political prejudice. China and Japan is now in a severe relationship mainly because of  Senkaku Islands, so I was afraid if the Chinese people attack us physically or verbally. However, they never said anything bad to us; they were rather interested in Japanese cultures, and we all had a good time communicating with them. I will not believe in media anymore, in terms of international relationship.
Also, I strongly recommend this exchange program for anyone who are interested in studying abroad, especially in Asia.

Blog #7: Enjoying the spiritual air of Nikko

Hello, I'm Tomohiko Ebashi.

Just after the summer vacation started, my whole family went over to experience the famous Kinugawa hot spring in Nikko for the first time. I was so excited to see all the historical sites in the area, which were mostly related to Tokugawa dynasty of Edo period.

On July 29th, we headed over to Kinugawa-onsen station by an express train called "Tobu Spacia"(the picture on the left). After a long journey, we finally got to the destination, and had the local Japanese noodle, "nira-soba" with tofu-like "yuba" as topping. Then, w went to a peaceful themepark called "Tobu World Square" to see all the well-made miniatures.  (the picture on the left is the miniature of Narita International Airport! Isn't it realistic??)

 Next day, we went to one of the most spiritual places in Japan : Nikko Tosho-gu Shrine. This place is well known as a "power-spot", since it is said that this shrine was made specially for Ieyasu Tokugawa as his mausoleum. Of course, I saw the tomb itself, but I also saw the famous "san-saru (three wise monkeys)", which symbolizes three keys to smartness. Going around every single site was such a exhausting mission, but all in all, it was such a wonderful experience to learn more about Japanese history. We finished the trip with a refreshing cup of Nikko's 100% natural "kaki-goh-ri (scraped ice)".

If you are interested in learning more about Japanese history, or just interested in cold treats, Nikko is the place where I strongly recommend you to check it out.

Blog #8 Trip dunring the summer

Hello, this is Yuma. Today, I would like to talk about summer vacation's memory in this year. On September 5th, I went to Kanagawa prefecture with my friends looking for Japanese traditional castle and hot springs.I departed at Mejiro station at 12:00. I used Shonan Shinjuku to go in Odawara, which is famous for Odawara castle. We didn't get in the castle because it needs ticket for pay. However, outside of the castle was beautiful of white wall, and the castle's gate was great.

The above picture is Odawara castle's dungeon(本丸）. The left side of picture is frontside of the castle and right side is backside of the castle.

This is a waterfall nearby a hot spring. The right side of the picture has same water of the waterfall. This water gives the power of longer life who drinks the water. I had this water and I felt the taste is totally diffetrent than general other waters!





Also I got to Hakone nearby Odawara. There is a lot of hot springs and delicious foods. My friends planned that we would like to walk at the place of the hot springs because we had likely to walk to find any famous places. However, We took the place of hot springs at two hours long, so we have tired that the hot spring was great and comfortable. After that, we we took a bus to back to the Hakone station and we had some ice creams. We get back Shinjuku station at 19:00. The daytrip was a bit of tired, but it makes me lot of fun and greatest memory in the summer!

Blog #7 Fireworks festival in summer

Hello, this is Yuma Yamada. I would like to talk about a fireworks festival in August 10th at Jingu Stadium, Shinjuku. This festival purpose for charity event of the earthquake in March 11, 2011. This event started at 19:30 and end at 20:30. I went this event with friends. Actually, this festival's fireworks need Jingu stadium tickets to watch fireworks clearly, but I watched without ticket and watched at Meiji Park because the ticket price is much higher.

Here is the picture of the fireworks, but this park has a bit covered a tree leaves and not see clearly.
However, I haven't watched a fireworks long time, so I really enjoyed this festival and the fireworks!