After Raquel’s 30 hour flight from Brazil winter break officially began. Two weeks without school and finally a chance to see Japan. Our adventures took us to the heart of Tokyo in Shinjuku, the countryside of Kamakura for Christmas and finally Yokohama where fireworks over the bay welcomed the New Year. Click the gallery above for many pics including dragons, strange food and plenty of holiday lights.
Adding to an already long list of Colorado visitors, Yasu decided to show up. Together with Shota and Yuki we had a fun time eating nabe and trying lemon vinegar cocktails. Here’s a couple cellphone pics from our night in Shinjuku.
After a long Japanese exam Friday began pick up its usual pace. In the evening all faculty and students of liberal arts were officially welcomed with delicious food, karate demonstrations and a simple speech from the school president. Our celebration continued afterwards in Shinjuku in traditional Japanese fashion. Drinking with colleagues is very much a part of Japanese culture and allows for the type of social environment where words can be exchanged openly and relationships built. It is common and in many ways expected for Japanese business men to go to the bar with their co workers after a long day’s work to engage is such activity. One such place that caters to this type of culture is nomihodai or all you can drink bars( 飲み放題 ). For less than $20 each, we were able to try a full menu of Japanese drinks and various foods for two hours. Of course our night would not have been complete without a little Karaoke afterwards. Continue reading to check out the gallery.
Another busy day in the city as we started off with a scavenger hunt that took us to Harajuku, Shibuya and Shinjuku. We ended the night at Tokyo Dome for some delicious Takoyaki (squid balls). Continue reading to check out the gallery.