Monday, December 5th: SPJ Lesson 15/16 Test
My last weekend in Japan ended up being pretty fun, despite the fact that I spent it inside, studying. I didn't really study very much on Saturday. It was just Okaasan and me all day. She slept most of the day, and I read and...contemplated...studying.... Then we went out for Okonomiyaki and yaki soba for dinner. The restaurant was called Kokoyanen, which is Osaka-ben for 'It is here' or 'Get it here'. The table had a hot plate type thing in it, and when the brought the food, that's where they put it. There was no chance of it getting cold! First was small portions of yaki soba, Okaasan had squid in hers and I had a mix of seafood. The menu was mostly seafood based, with only a few chicken or pork options. Okaasan had a seafood mix in her okonomiyaki, and I had shrimp. A very enjoyable dinner was had by all!
Sunday was a study-all-day-until-my-eyes-fall-out day. But my reward was going out with everyone to Kaiten Sushi, or Conveyor Belt Sushi, for dinner. The restaurant was very crowded even though we were there at 6pm, an early dinner by our normal standards. We had a half hour or so wait, and then got our seats. We sat in a row, sort of like at a bar, with a counter and then the conveyor belt on a raised platform in front of us. You could pick up plates as they passed, or order specific kinds off the touch screen that was in front of every two seats. Each station of two seats was assigned a color and your order would come around on a raised plate of your color. It was very fun and yummy!
Well, as you can see above, my finals are all done. I've got the rest of today and then all day tomorrow and then I get to wake up super early and get on a plane on Saturday. However, then I get to do a bit of time travel. :) My flight leaves Osaka at 8:20 am on Saturday morning and I land in Chicago at 8:30 am on Saturday morning! Who knew it would only take 10 minutes to hop over the Pacific Ocean and most of the US? As a going away party, a few friends and I will be hitting a karaoke room on Friday afternoon. So I have one last fun Japanese experience, before I have to say goodbye.
Safe travel wishes are much appreciated! I'll let you know when I've arrived home safely, but I probably won't write much for the rest of the month. Thanks for listening to me talk about all sorts of random stuff this semester. I hope you enjoyed it! Tune in again at the end of January to hear about my adventures in France!