FUCK YOU STONY BROOK!

I thought I would have a nice start to my weekend, but due to a lot of FB updates on people getting dorm damage charges on their account, I decided to check out mine.

Lo and behold. I got a hold on my diploma, not that I mind that too much at the moment, because I'm a summer 2009 grad anyway. So, I won't be getting mine till probably late fall. Of course, that means I have something on my account that I need to pay for, other than my summer session II class.

Clickity click. 95.83 buckaroos. What the fuck, Stony Brook? You don't know how to round it to the nearest tenth? Not only did that got my blood boiling, they don't even tell you WHAT the damages are. It's listed under 'dormitory damage'. The charges were updated 6/16, it is now a week and 3 days passed. HOW DID I NOT GET AN ALERT EMAIL SAYING I HAVE A HOLD ON MY ACCOUNT?

What. the. fuck?

That's not all. Right now I'm all the way on the other side of the earth, and I cannot contact Stony Brook until I return in 8 days. All I can do right now is to send them an email and just HOPE that they can squeezzeeee a litttleee bit of their free time to tend to a little student like me.

If you all know me, I'm a money pincher. Especially about things that are not worth the price. I'm not gonna just let it slide like this. I got a few friends to help me and also contacted my suite mates and asked them about if they got charges on their account. J said no, which means that the 95.83$ charge was either only on me, or both me and my roommate Y. I couldn't get in contact with her, but later I received her messages on what the charges were. I'm pretty sure her charges were the same as mine.

About $30 worth of damages on carpets. Excuse me, but the shitty carpet was already stained BEFORE I moved in. What do you think we DO in our room Stony Brook? Conduct science experiments?

Wait for it....THIS is the best part,

About $60 worth of damages on mattress. "EXCESSIVELY STAINED MATTRESS". WOW.

My whole Saturday was ruined. I went on a short trip with my host parents, and the 95.83 charge keeps on popping back into my head. It was just hanging on top of my head like a relentless rain cloud.

A few friends told me that they were also charged for ridiculous things, for example, TOO MANY chairs in the suite! I'm not going to let this go. The first thing I do when I get back to NY is sleep, but the second thing I do will be to call their asses and demand an appeal.

Go to hell Stony Brook.

マグロ大好き!

Finally it's the end of week 1! That friday rolled along pretty quickly. There was no after school activity that day. So I went home quite early. There was not much to do since my host mother had to go back to her hometown, 大阪 (Osaka) for some family gathering. So, my host father decided to take me out to eat sushi and walked around the town a bit.

We went to a sushi restaurant in Numazu, the place I visited just that Thursday. (My apologies! I didn't take any pictures because I was too busy eating sushi!) It was delicious! That was the first time I tried マグロ (Fatty tuna) That fish really DOES melt in your mouth. I've never tasted anything as wonderful as that!

So, Friday was a pretty chillaxed day! Let me talk about what I did the first weekend then!

My host family had as me where I would like to visit. Of course being so close to Mt. Fuji, the first thing I said was Mt. Fuji. So that's where I went the first weekend.

The first stop was the 富士箱根伊豆国立公園 (Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park). This national park is located in three prefectures: 神奈川県 (Kanagawa Prefecture), 静岡県 (Shizuoka Prefecture), and 山梨県 (Yamanashi Prefecture). Some of the sights in this park are Mt. Fuji, Fuji Five Lakes, and Hakone.

First stop at the National Park was 芦ノ湖 (Lake Ashi).

It was so nice!

My host father took this picture =]

After that was onto the other parts of the park. We went to this gate thing. I don't really remember the name of it, but this gate used to be like a town gate. You have to have a sort of pass to go in and out of the town. My host father said that it was especially hard for women to pass through back in the days.

That's the gate in the National Park. It was a musem inside, but we didn't go in because there were other things to see!

Stupid bike ruined a good shot! This was near the entrace of the gate.

This is one of the oldest trails in the National park. I loved the trees lined on both side of the road.

After that was onto the Great Boiling Valley - 大涌谷 (Owakudani). It is full of active sulphur vents. The big attraction is the 黒玉子 (Kuro tamago). It means black eggs. The way they are cooked is they are put into the active sulphur vents and boiled till they are done. It smells sulphuric due to the soak in the vents, but it is deliciou! My host mother said that kuro tamago is known to increase longevity. Eating one will increase your life by 7 years, but eating more 3 eggs will be bad.

Passed by these gates when we were heading to owakudani.

So cool!

My host father and I at owakudani.

Great Boiling Valley!

One of the active Sulphur vents. Smelly.

Let's get some Kuro tamago!

Mmmmm...black eggs...it was awesome!

Big plaque at owakudani.

Unfortunately, the foot of Mt. Fuji was the closest I could see of Mt. Fuji. There were just way too many clouds blocking it. My host father and I tried to wait till the couds drifted and even tried driving around to another location to see if we can see it better. No luck =[ Hopefully he'll bring me back there before I leave.

The Japanese government planned to plant trees around the Mt. Fuji area. I think it was called like the 100 year green plan or something. It will be done around 2090. Long. way. to. go.

That Sunday, I mostly chillaxed at home. Studying and updating my blog and such. So that has been the 1st week in Nihon. Almost 3 weeks have passed and 1 more week to go. I can't believe how fast this month passed by. 1 more week and I'll be back in NY. I better enjoy this last week and a half in Japan!

Be patient! Tokyo trip will be coming soon!!

Maggie out~

Teriake Burger please~!

Finally back in Mishima! Tokyo was fun and all, but I did miss the slower pace in Mishima. I did do a little shopping, but it was definitely not enough. Need to shop more!

Anyway, before I get to the Tokyo trip, I'm going to stick to my plan and write about everything that comes before Tokyo first.

So, sensei brought the class to Numazu, Shizuoka. It is basically the next town over from Mishima. We didn't stay there for too long. We had lunch there and looked around.

That's the train we took to Numazu.

Tickets to Numazu and back to Mishima. I wish I can keep one, but you have to put it into the machine when you get out at your destination. Japan's train system is similar to HK. You can either buy tickets, or you can charge it on a card. You can leave the card in your wallet, and all you have to do is to take out your wallet and place it onto of the gate. You'll be charged a different price depending on the distance.

So if you have one of those cards, you just place it right on top of the little booth things you see up there. When you run out of money, all you have to do is go to the nearest station and add some cash onto your card. Super simple.

Sam being adorkable.

Louis and Nina.

Train ride to Mishima. The trains are pretty nice right?

Arrived at Numazu. This is one of the streets for shopping. Lots of shops. Lunch first though.

McDonald's~! They are nothing like the ones back in NY. First off, they are a cheaper. Second, prices are all the same no matter which store you go to. You can go o the one in Tokyo, or the one in Mishima, prices will be the same. The clerks actually serve you if you decided to get seats first. They will bring the food to you.

I got a Teriyaki burger! It was really good.

I also got a Bacon Potato Pie. It was really good too.
After that, we went to Mister Donut. Sort of like the Dunkin Donuts in NY, but 10,000x better.

Sam and Chris had a donut eating contest! Sam 4, Chris 3.

My wonderful donut. It was SO GOOD!
At the bottom of the hill which I pass by to and from school every morning and afternoon.

Walking up the hill back to the house.
Lion-san would like some orange juice too I think.

Things I got while I was at Numazu. Lion-san (he's one of the mascots of Mister Donut. I couldn't resiste getting him. His donut/fur is detachable.) Little anime toys for friends and A.

One of the rare sightings of Mt. Fuji. This was taken during sunset I believe.

Got home that night and watched Lady Gaga on Music station.

That was my day at Numazu. Hopefully I'll finish the rest of week 1 and also week 2 by the end of this week, so I can write about my trip to Tokyo. I'm still so exhausted from the trip!! I've already finished half of the study abroad program here. Only 2 more weeks! Crazy!

Oh yea, I just got dissed by my host dad. He was saying how my english is easy to understand. Okay, great! Then, he said that my Japanese is sort of hard to understand, but we can still communicate because I can understand their Japanese. I hope I heard it wrong because he sort of said all that in Japanese.

I have a pretty strange accent, and it is my fault that I didn't study up for this trip, but at least I'm trying! But that was a really big blow to my self-esteem.... *tear* I know I'm not very good at speaking, but he didn't have to tell me I'm hard to understand..... I usually try to speak a bit more Japanese with the TA's that help with the class, but I guess I don't speak as much Japanese with my host parents because I don't want them to misunderstand me. So, that's what got me in this stupid slump. *sadness*

I'm going to try to get some rest and try to retrieve my JPN111 information from my brain.

Maggie out~

Tokyo~

Hey everyone!

Going to Tokyo for the weekend tomorrow. I'm so excited! Don't worry, I'll remember to get everyone a little something! It is almost the end of second week, and we only have 2 more weeks here! One summer session is not enough! I've been thinking about taking the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (Level 4), but I will also have to think about studying for my Anesthesia Tech. Certification exam, but I'll see how it'll go. I definitely want to apply for JET again. So, it would be great to take the JLPT.

Anyway, let me show you a little bit more about the Nishimura's house. (I have yet to take pictures with them!)

My own little make up counter room, with my own laundry machine! Amazing!

My own bathroom!

Yes! That is a sink you see behind the toilet bowl~

You can wash your butt if you want. (I have yet to try this out for myself...)

Would have been my bedroom if my host sister still lives here. I sort of like this tatami room better. I still get sort of freaked out in the room I'm in now because it's just so big!

The bathroom.

The living room.

The dinning room and kitchen.

お父さん (Polite way of calling someone's father) build this cabinet himself. すごい!!

The 西村 (Nishimura) family has been nothing but understanding and caring and wonderful to me. I couldn't as for a better host family. There's been some misunderstandings, but they were just silly little mistakes and made me learn how to speak properly. I always enjoy talking to them at and after dinner.

Anyway, Nagase sensei brought us to 沼津 (Numazu). It is the the town next to 三島(Mishima). We can get there by train. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes.

Meet KP. He likes to eat. Most days he comes in with a giant drink and a snack. That day, he decided he'll have coffee and ice cream.

友達!

I couldn't finish on the rest of my entry. I'll update when I get back to Tokyo~

Maggie out!

Meet n' Greet; 楽寿園 (Rakujyuen)

I figure since it's Sunday, and I'm not doing much other than studying for my quiz, I'll try to write another post! YAY!

So day #3, we met Dean Sato and some faculty members after lunch. I believe he is the Dean of the College of International Relations in Nihon University. We also met a few other faculties of Nihon University. It was quite scary. But they were all very nice people. They set up different things that we can do around Mishima. They are going to bring in a few Geisha to perform for us, and also set up different trips for us!

Here's what I had for lunch:

天婦羅うどん! (Tempura Udon) - The tempura in the udon is not the kind of tempura you think of. Not the crunchy, light, crispy tempura. The tempura in udon are usually more soggy, and it's made of vegetables like carrots and cucumbers and such. Nonetheless, it was delicious!

Ice cream you squeeze out of a tube! It was really good actually.

Krystal-san with her lunch!

After lunch, we were off to meet with Dean Sato!

The class waiting to meet Dean Sato! In the meantime, let me introduce to you some of my classmates! From L to R: Fanny, Louis, Ryan, Mukid, Tina, and Sam. Sam will be the class representative in this event. Since he's so nicely dressed, he will be presenting Dean Sato with a gift from us!

Here are some more classmates! L to R: Anya, Nina, Chris, Dan, Will, and Becky. I didn't take a picture of the rest of my classmates because the faculties came in soon after. Not to worry, they'll be making cameos in my posts~

Sam presenting the gift to Dean Sato!

Staff-sans on the phone. The meeting lasted about 30 minutes. They are all really nice to us, made us feel very welcome.

Here we are at the entrace to 楽寿園 (Rakujyuen). Rakujyuen is located 5 minutes away from the Mishima train station. It is called Rakujyuen Municipal Park. The park was a villa made for Prince Akihito Komatsunomiya. His house is located in the park.

His house isn't the only thing to see in the park. Inside the park, there are over 160 kinds of trees and over 30 different kinds of birds that are observed. There is also the Kohama pond that is next to Prince Akihito's house. The spring water in the pond is dried up, and water is seen maybe every 5 years. Unfortunately, pictures are strictly prohibited inside Prince Akihito's house. I was only able to take a few pictures outside of the house.

There are also many activities that are created to entertain kids. There is a small animal park, and a giant chalkboard that you can draw on! Of course our class took full advantage of that.

There is also a musem located inside the park. It is called the Mishima City Museum of Local History. Pictures will come in a little bit!

Water is not for drinking!

Entrace of the park.

Some pictures of Prince Akihito's house.

Some of the guys: F to B: Brad, Rob, KP, and Louis.

I think crossing the bridge would be more scary if it was filled with water.

Prince Akihito's house. In front of it would be pond Kohama. It was a beautifully made house. I apologize for the lack of pictures.

After the visit to Prince Akhito's home, we walked to the Mishima City Museum of Local History.

Sitting at the interactive corner, playing daruma otoshi! Hours and hours of fun!

The goal is to knock the pieces out from under the Daruma head without knocking the head down. You must start with the bottom piece.

All of us gave it a try. Sensei was really good at it!

We also had fun playing other toys. Can any one tell me what this is called?

Jenna having lots of fun!

The cute little boy outside of the museum that wanted to play with us. かわいい!

Onto the animal park!

There were cute little prairie dogs...
little tiny さる (monkey),

Kanga and Roo...I mean wallaby and baby...

Silly うさぎ (rabbits),

やぎ(goats)...

and RED PANDA!!!!!!! (aka Lesser Panda) He's so cute isn't he??

We also had some fun with the giant chalkboard I told you guys about....
hehe..I was bored...

:D

Ended my day watching Naruto! Everyday there's something new to see, and so far it's just in Mishima! Don't worry, there are many more adventures coming! Our class will be heading to Tokyo on 6/19, and will be staying there for the weekend! I can't wait!

Maggie out~