byebyegaijin.

I've been a bit of a lazy butt when it comes to posting this past week. My bad. Though I've kind of found this week to be a bit like that for my few other fellow bloggers out there so I don't feel too bad. It happens.

My classes are now officially set and thus it's time to settle in. This semester I will be taking Japanese, Japanese Public Choice Theory and Politics, The Constitution of Japan, Social and International Relations of Japan, The Intellectual and Cultural History of Japan (so excited!), and two Japanese electives (one is an extra grammar elective and the other is for conversation practice). All in all, I think I'm taking a few more credits than most people, but I think it will be fine, especially when I compare the work loads with what I am normally used to.  Classes here are definitely different. They have a slower paced vibe, and there is way way way less focus on readings, I don't think I've done a single reading yet and we're at least two weeks in to classes. The school system I would even go as far as to call it adorable. It's so high school-esque that it's just cute, they have class periods, and even have one for lunch! Sadly there are no bells, but it's still really fun.

Let's see, on my weekly Wednesday adventure, I headed out to the end of the Keio line to Mt. Takao to do some hiking! I paid 360 Yen a way, which is about...$4, so a total of $8 or so for an hour each way on the line isn't actually that bad, especially when you compare it to BART.

The mountain itself isn't that big, and there are about 6 different trails winding through the mountain to get you to the top, most take around an hour and a half to reach the top. For the way up, I decided to take the most popular trail, Trail 1. Although it was beautiful (see above!) it was all paved the whole way up. I didn't actually intend to stay on the paved trail the entire way, since that's not really my style, but my second intended trail was closed for trail renovations. This mountain itself was so interesting...I don't know how I should explain it. First off, it's kind of a spiritual mountain, so not only does it have a HUGE shrine in the middle, but a lot of people come here, thus making it a bit of a tourist destination instead of a hiking park, it has the paved trail, and even a Tram that can take you to the top. Also, the whole way up the path, there were vending machines. At about the halfway point, which had a special lookout, there were tons of shops and restaurants, it was like a mini tourist spot halfway up the mountain, it was so strange. 

Here is the start of the second half of the trail after the touristy section. 

Here's the top! It took me probably an hour or so instead of the 90 suggested, but I think it's because I was in serious hiker mode, and most Japanese were using the paved trail as more of a strolling path. At the top, you can see in the back, restaurants and shops for people to chill at. I swear, so weird. 

Here's one of the views I could see. I think Mt. Fuji is in the back of this one..maybe...It was kind of hazy and hard to see. 

After chilling at the top for 10 minutes or so, I decided to head back down the mountain via Route 6 which was such such such a better way. I wasn't feeling the relaxed feeling of nature that I wanted after hiking up the mountain (the reason why I went), so I was glad to get off the main trail and venture down through this awesome canyon following this river. I was also glad I wore my water shoes (KELLY!) because I just walked right in the water when the few other intense hikers were jumping from rock to rock. 

This was a minishrine in this crevice. Although I'm generally not a fan of seeing man made things in my little nature reserves, this one was actually cool. It was obviously built to work with the land around it, and made use of the beautiful waterfall as a part of the shrine. It was definitely different from the big main shrine that was on the other trail. 

After wandering down that trail, I saw the Japan that was so Miyazaki, the winding little rivers and random trails that could lead off in to a weird and exciting Totoro filled land. Venturing out into the wilderness surrounding Japan was really relaxing, and I definitely plan to head out there to the surrounding mountains in the future! 

Let's see, what else have I done? I kind of took it a bit easy on Saturday for the first time, and just chilled at home after Saturday classes. On Sunday, I tried to go out and venture in to the wide world, but when I got to the train station around noon, I was faced with a late train, when it finally came 15 minutes later, I got on, and stood in the crowded train for another 15 at the same stop, after the train announcers finally informed us of an accident, we tried to transfer to the other line, but that one was then informed that we have another 40 minute wait for the accident to be cleared up, so I decided to head out and just walk around my train station for a bit and head home. 

Here is the football field by my house for the school. I don't know how well you can see, but I had to share. It's all mud and the players were so gross. It's super intense. 

While walking around during the week, some little elementary school kid looked at me, and said: "Bye Bye Gaijin" It was absolutely hilarious. 

I'll try and post again soon, especially because I have some exciting plans in the future. =]