April 19th, 2015
After the placement test was taken, I was invited to join a group of students going over to the Odawara Castle to see the Sakura! I didn't have any specific plans so I joined in. I had never been to Odawara, which is actually the last station of the Odakyu (Odawara Kyuko) train line, (the only train available from Tokai). I had actually never even gone in that direction, which is the opposite of when going to Tokyo. Wait, I did once go to the next station by accident since I had stayed on the train too long.
But anyways, around 1 o'clock, we were all off to Odawara. By "all of us" I mean me and about 15 other international students, including a lot of Italians. I spent most of my time with Nnadi, my Nigerian friend. Mai, who is half Israeli, half Japanese also joined us after a while. It was a nice relaxing time, and it was really beautiful to see this all with Sakura.
I didn't really want to approach the new students just yet, so I kept my distance that day. But besides that, it was good experience.
(Sakura only lasts about 2 weeks.)
(Odawara Castle)
After that, Nnadi wanted to go see if he could get a bike in Machida, so I decided to go with him. We made our way there, and found his bike shop, but it happened to be closed. I then looked up a few other shops to see if they had anything, but they had nothing. We actually walked into some interesting shops. Don't always trust Google Maps haha!
On our way back from one of these shops, I spotted a Coco Curry, and if any of you remember, I had gone there with Chipa in Osaka. So I asked Nnadi, and a few moments later we were ordering curry! But this time, I just took the normal kind, having learned from last time!
(Coco Curry in Machida!)
(Not too spicy, not too mild, just good!)
Nnadi then said he wanted to try finding a hat. Now this is what I love most about being able to speak Japanese. I had no idea where to find hat shops, but I was no longer afraid to ask. I asked about 6 people to give me directions, not because I wouldn't be able to find it on my own, but for fun and practice. We went to a few shops and Nnadi tried a few hats, but we ended up concluding that hats were not for him...
Lastly, he wanted to see if he could find a Japanese textbook to help him learn more grammar. I showed him the one store I knew in Machida I had gone to with Anzu last time. I looked over the textbooks with him, but the one he wanted wasn't available at that store. So I went over to the cashier and found out that another store about five minutes away had it, and made a reservation under my name for it. Soon after that, Nnadi and I headed over there. Now I don't want to brag, I just want you all to realize that this is ALL done in Japanese. These moments are what make me see how much progress I've made. They also are what give me motivation during my study times.
We made it to this new shop, got to the counter, received the book kept aside for us, and Nnadi looked it over. Then we headed to this shop's Japanese book section, and in the end, I helped Nnadi pick another book. After that, we headed back home, waiting for our results of that day's test.
We made it to this new shop, got to the counter, received the book kept aside for us, and Nnadi looked it over. Then we headed to this shop's Japanese book section, and in the end, I helped Nnadi pick another book. After that, we headed back home, waiting for our results of that day's test.
I enjoyed this because I had some good conversations with Nnadi that day. I also was able to just feel my way around Machida without hesitation. I really feel blessed to have this opportunity.
Note: There were a LOT of beautiful women in Machida! ;-)
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