Erica Abroad

Better late than never

2008-01-24T14:24:00.000-08:00

I've finally decorated the wall by my bed:

And here are two pictures of Teddygraham I can't wait to print out and hang up:

My new coat!

2007-09-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

Costumes!

2007-04-19T04:30:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday Gabby, Dana, and I dressed up in Japanese fashion trends for our final presentations. Gabby was ganguro, Dana was lolita, and I was visual kei. Rather than changing right after class, we decided to stay in our costumes and walk around Teramachi and all over downtown Kyoto. Most people acted like we weren't even there, but others (some really hot guys we pass by every day, actually!) took pictures with us! And any foreigner who saw us laughed hysterically – one man almost fell off his bike as he passed by us!

宮島と広島*

2007-04-02T08:14:00.001-07:00

*Miyajima and Hiroshima

京都桜*

2007-04-02T07:54:00.000-07:00

Kyoto has become absolutely breathtaking.

*Kyoto sakura

Odds and ends

2007-04-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

My adorable friends: Maho, Taka, and Shrek.

A sign you will never see at an American music store:

東京　Take Two!

2007-03-19T06:48:00.000-07:00

Three hours into the eight-hour drive to Yokohama from Kyoto!

Mount Fuji!

Shinjuku, I think... I forget. The crosswalk is about fifty-feet wide, and when you're there it's so crowded, you can't even see your own feet!

The Imperial Palace, where the Emperor still lives.

I love the juxtaposition of old and new.

Roppongi, the place the US government warns you about, but it didn't seem very dangerous.

Just wandering along downtown.

And my last stop: Akihabara, or Electric Town! Boring during the day, but gorgeous at night!

Portraits!

2007-03-19T06:19:00.000-07:00

Here's a random bunch of pictures I've been meaning to post for a while. They span the past couple weeks.

Up first is the latest: Gabby, Alex, and I at a foreigner bar on Saturday night.

Gabby, I, Dana, and Nyssa at a bar a while ago.

Dana and I at the cutest store in the world.

Alex and I at our favourite bar.

Gabby and I being jackasses (we're in the process of falling down in this picture, although it looks like I'm simply farting) in Nara, which is officially Japan's Middle of Nowhere. Notice the hideous tights in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

This is me holding a mattya (green tea) parfait at a really popular place in Gion, Kyoto's traditional district. We had them in celebration of finishing midterms, and they were delicious!

And last, Gabby and I at our favourite bar!

マホロとタカ*

2007-03-07T09:46:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics of my new friends Maho(ro) and Taka!

Maho stole the purple flag he's proudly holding in the photo below. He took a running start down the street and jumped ridiculously high to grab it off a building on our walk home tonight, and now it has a place of honor in my apartment.

The next two pictures were taken at McDonald's, which is suprisingly enough a very cool place to hang out in Japan. Each McDonald's is its own architectual/design masterpiece over here.

Aren't Maho and Taka absolutely adorable? The two of them are even more fun in real life than they appear in the photos!

*Maho and Taka

アパート！*

2007-03-02T23:06:00.000-08:00

Finally, pictures of my apartment! Today I spent a couple hours cleaning and rearranging, so it all looks pretty nice right now. I doubt it'll last long, though. Heh. Let's take a tour!

This is what you see upon entering my apartment. To the right is my "dresser" (I was told it's for shoes, but I put my clothes in it), and to the left is my washing machine. You're not supposed to wear your shoes past the brick part, but sometimes I forget. My Japanese friends get annoyed when I do that.

This is my kitchen! Never complain about the smallness of yours again, Mom! I took the picture from inside my bathroom, so that's why you see the towel hanging on the door. See that white cube on the lower right? Yup, that's my fridge. Notice the lack of an oven and drawers.

And this is what the bathroom looks like from the kitchen. My shower (on the left) is a nice size, but there was no way to get a decent picture of it.

And this is my main room – well, only room, since the rest of the apartment is a tiny hall. For just one person it's pretty spacious, I think. It's more than twice the size of a Hamilton single.

And here's the view of my room from my deck! Ignore the clothing on the kitchen floor; I moved it from my bed to there so it wouldn't be in another picture but then forgot about it...

And this is what I see when I'm actually on my deck. Today's a pretty cloudy day; it doesn't normally look this gloomy!

じゃ〜、どう思うの？**

*apartment
**so what do you think?

彼！*

2007-02-24T21:57:00.000-08:00

This is my boyfriend, Shinji.

可愛いな~？**

*boyfriend
**Isn't he cute?

Miscellanea

2007-02-20T10:15:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures from a bridge over the Kamogawa, the main river that flows through Kyoto. I cross it every day on my way home from Kyodai about twenty minutes into my walk. きれいやな！*

Here's some random building I saw with Alex in Osaka last Friday. I honestly have no idea what it is.

And this is Masashi, my friend. I know I always say that my friends are much better looking in person, but it's honestly true. I think my camera is cursed!

*Isn't it pretty? – for the Japanese-able, yes, I threw in a little bit of Kansai-ben!

今週末東京に行ったよ！*

2007-02-12T08:58:00.000-08:00

東京 (Tokyo) was absolutely amazing!

This is downtown Tokyo. 新宿 (Shinjuku), to be exact.

On Sunday Shinji took me to 東京ディズニーシー(Tokyo Disneysea). It's just like Disneyland but surrounding and surrounded by the ocean – right next to Tokyo Disneyland, actually. Here's the bay area, which is the first thing you see when you enter. To get to that side, you have to walk over a bridge or take a boat.

This is from the Indiana Jones area:

And this is from the Aladdin area:

These are from the Little Mermaid area, by far the prettiest part.

And this is the bay area at nighttime. It was gorgeous.

Here's the Tower of Terror at night.

Here's a picture of Shinji taking a picture of the Tower of Terror. He wasn't cooperating for photos, so I had to sneak it really fast, and that's why it's so blurry.

This is another part of Tokyo by the ocean.

And this is Tokyo Beach, where we took a walk today. すごいね？**

*I went to Tokyo this weekend!
**Cool, eh?

オレンジな髪の男性*

2007-02-07T03:37:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of Dana, Gabby, and our friend "the Orange-Haired Guy." He works in an awesome clothing shop in Teramachi, and we like to chat with him sometimes. Every day I wave hello on my walk home from KyoDai.

His style's rather typical of the guys here in Kyoto. It's not the best picture of him, but Gabby, Dana, and I think he's one of the most イケメン** guys we've ever seen!

*orange-haired guy
** hot

Random

2007-02-03T08:49:00.000-08:00

Here are some random pictures I just decided to upload.

First is a picture of my friends Dana and Alex. This is at karaoke Friday afternoon.

This is a picture of the Kaiten Zushi (revolving sushi place) that Gabby, Dana, and I frequent. Isn't it cool?

These little guys freak the hell out of us every time they roll on by. The idea of eating shrimp doesn't bother me, but do they have to keep the eyes on them?

Here's a section of the menu from the bar I went to last night with Gabby, Dana, Alex, Jeff, and Will. Just when you don't think you'll see English any weirder than you've already seen, BAM!

And here's a picture of Koichi that I took about an hour ago. This is also the first glimpse of my room that you've gotten. Isn't he cute?!

Catching up.

2007-01-28T05:53:00.000-08:00

I finally uploaded pictures from my camera, spanning from my very first days in Japan up until yesterday.

Here are some nighttime shots of downtown Sapporo. Isn't it gorgeous?

And here's a picture of Koichi, whom I absolutely adore. It was taken at a karaoke club, and it's blurry for two reasons: I was drinking, and he wouldn't sit still. I spent the past weekend in Shiga with him but forgot to take any more pictures.

Last are some pictures from Kinkakuji, a golden (yes, real gold!) Buddhist temple that Traufler-kun and I journeyed to on Saturday. The pictures really don't do it justice; in real life it's infinitely more gorgeous.

We took pictures of each other in front of the temple too, but they're on his camera, so I'll have to wait to upload them until later.

Welcome!

2007-01-24T08:21:00.000-08:00

Rather than sending the same pictures to everyone over and over again and filling up all the space in my inbox, I've decided to simply post them on this website for everyone to look at at their own leisure. Enjoy!

Here's my very first picture taken in Japan. It's a purikura that I did with Ranga in Sapporo.

And here's another one we took at an izukaya (pub), if I remember right.