7/18 - 7/22 Presentation Week

7/18
Today I got up relatively early and headed down town to check out some of the many museums in the Kanazawa area. First was the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art. Or something. It's a circular building very white. There were definitely some awesome and interesting things. For example, a pool that was not a pool. It looked like a pool but when you looked into it, it was into a blue curved room and there were people! So it looks like there are people just chilln underwater. I also got to go down and be in the blue room hehe.





There were two main exhibits. Rather, there were two artists on display in the museum. One was very obsessed with bugs, crosses, skulls, and skulls eating dead animals. One room was full of crosses and skulls that looked like they were made out of bugs. Scary. Another artist was really into wood carving people. Large pieces that all kinda looked the same. And then drawings of those carvings. I think the most interesting things were the permanent installations to the museum. There was one room that was dim and has a slanted wall that had a large black spot on it and it looked like an endless hole. Another room was slanted and had a perfect square opening in the ceiling and was just...beautiful.



There was also a long term project room that was very dark and had part of a Japanese house in it, but more like the frame. It was very open. And it has someone speaking and in the house there was blue lights showing up on the floor where people were walking. You could see their foot prints and stuff. It was all prerecorded, of course. But it was really cool.

Outside there were some interesting things toooo and the gift shop had some very interesting things.

After resting a bit I headed up to the Ishikawa Prefectural Art Museum. This was museum was a mish mash of many different mediums and time periods. Anything that was made there, I assume, was there. Or some such. There were kimonos and samurai outfits, very modern paintings and dishes, and also lots of sculpture. I spent the most amount of time here. There was just so much! It was very interesting. =D

After this museum, I went to a Samurai museum. It was small and close to closing time so I didn't have much time. But it was basically the collection of one samurai family. The name escapes me just now. Upstairs there was the full regalia for a horse laid out. It was neato!

It sucks, but most of the museums did not allow photos. Sadness. Soon after the museums, I headed back to school cause I was exhausted.

7/19
Today I got up super early to go see The Borrower Arietty. Oh my god amazing. We got to the theater around 9 am for the first showing at 9:40 am. The mall wasn't open, but there was already a long line at the theater! You stand in line. Take the elevator up. Stand in line. Pick your seat in the theater and pay for the tickets. My ticket was only 1000 yen (about $11). Then I got a small popcorn and a small soda for 450 yen total (around $5.50). Cheap!!

This movie. Fucking amazing. It was GORGEOUS! The music was all celtic and <3 <3 <3 The art was gorgeous as always but even more so this time because of all the various color. I am so in love with it. Favorite. Ghibli movie. Ever. I bought the sound track. =D The movie theaters in Japan do it right because they sell stuff from the movie in the movie theater. ^_^

I don't believe anything of note happened after this except that I bought some steampunk jewelry.

7/20
Today we had our exit test in the morning. It was exactly the same test we took in the beginning. Everything. So, it was easy just like it was the first time. Boring. I was done pretty quick.

After this, I think some sort of lunch thing went on. And I also talked to the Service Center about all the places I need to get to. The lady was nice and helpful and wrote out a whole detailed itinerary for me. :D And then Rpro where we practised our presentations. It was silly. Afterwards, I asked Fudano sensei to explain the itinerary and she did so. She was shocked that I was travelling alone. XD Tokyo?! Alone?! Yeah, whatever. hah =D

After rpro, I went to club and bummed around for an hour and a half before going to the lounge for a dinner of instant ramen. I proceeded to print out every bit of information I could possibly need on all my hostels, trains, and directions. That was pretty good. I felt accomplished. ;D

7/21
The dreaded day of the presentation.

Woke up around 9 am, had a quick breakfast, and headed to the classroom for practice. I proceeded to practice as little as possible by talking to people online. However, I already had my presentation memorized. I ended up staying pretty late so I could go over it with a teacher, anyway. I got some hints on pronunciation and minor word changes so I'm glad I stayed.

Then lunch. Then. *gasp* Presentation.

We were split into two rooms. The "good" class (the one the teachers wanted the President of the school to see) and the other class. Or so everyone else said. Fortunately for us, the President could not show up. Also, we did not have to dress up. Also, no one except us students and our teachers showed up. It was awesome. I totally blacked out during my presentation in the sense that I have no memory of it. However, I am told I did well. I was number 10 in the "good" class. My presentation was on solar powered heating.

After that was over, it was like...NO STRESS ANYMORE! Sarah Stewart, Ruying, and I then planned to take on the down town. GIRL'S NIGHT OUT! We did a little bit of shopping, ate food, saw a movie, and went to karaoke! I also traded in my JR exchange order for my real JR pass and got a huge JR time table book. It is bamf.

We did nomihodai at karaoke and it was pretty epic. 5 hours of nonstop singing and drinking. X3 We left the place at 4 am and got back by 4:15 am by taxi. My voice was SO RASPY is was barely there! I then proceeded to stay awake till at least 6:30. ;D Screw 9:40 am class

7/22
Today was the very last day of classes for KIT. I was absolute exhausted from the late night previously. And my voice is still god awfully raspy. =x Teague says I sound Tara Reid raspy. It's true.

Got up just in time for class and printed out my paper. Then. Class. We discussed our feelings on the trip, the classes, the program, Japan, and the Japanese. It was an interesting discussion but I'm pretty sure everyone felt like it was a waste of time. During the break, almost everyone lied down and fell asleep. It was ridiculously hilarious. I will try to post a picture if I can find one. Apparently we were all up until stupid.




After class I grabbed a quick lunch of cold udon and was off to the Service Center to get my train tickets. It was really easy. I just showed them my Japan Rail pass and gave them my itinerary and they said to come back at 2 pm.

I came back to the apartments and bummed around on the internet for a bit before turning in my post-program travel form to OIP (Office of international programs). The one woman there also helped me fill out my luggage shipping form. =D Then it was back to the service center to pick up my tickets. Now I have 6 or 7 JR tickets. X3 After I picked them up I bought a KIT shirt for myself. Cause, c'mon. That is necessary.

I left and as I was outside I looked through the small stack of papers I had. And my little envelope with JR tickets...was missing. I flipped a shit and ran back up to the book store. And there the envelope was, sitting nicely on the floor in front of the tshirts. ><; fuck, I can't believe I almost lost ALL MY TICKETS!! Lucky for me I noticed so soon. *sigh*

After this I came back and waited around for everyone to figure out how we could ship our bags (have them picked up or go to convenience store). In the end, we headed to Family Mart. Shingo was very nice and carried my bag for me the entire way (which weighed over 60 lbs). When we got there (a bunch of ryuugakusei with bags and a few Japanese students), we kinda dominated the conbini. I felt bad. Anyway, I luckily brought a duffel bag with me and dumped the 10 lbs extra stuff into it, paid for my bag, and was all set.

Upon my return I have learned all about some fun internet stuff going on on 4chan. I am literally giddy over this whole mess.