Friday
Went through so much trouble to meet up with the group: missed my flight from Narita airport riding the train going towards the opposite direction (my lesson learned: even local Japanese are confused with the transportation system sometimes). So then I took another 2 hour ride to Haneda airport to catch the next available flight, and finally arrived in Kobe Ariston hotel around 10:00pm and joined the group out to late dinner. Long day but finally reunited :)
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Saturday
Our first day meeting Kobe Gakuin University students and faculties! They were very welcoming and spent quit some time setting up the lovely conference room for our orientation :)
I was very excited to meet my penpals: 3rd year student Tomo Umemura (on the left), and 2nd year student Orie Shimamoto (on the right). Both were very cute, polite, and friendly :)
After BBQ lunch on campus, we went sightseeing around Sannomiya station. Orie and her friends took us to LOFT, which is a popular stationary shop in Japan. At night, the locals clothed in their traditional custom Japanese Yukatas for their big holiday花火大会, an annual Noryo fireworks festival that lasted for an hour. It was a very exciting and fantastic experience to the spectators.
Homemade snacks were provided (left), Tomo dressed in her beautiful Yukatas(right)
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08-07-2016
Sunday
Gorgeous Nara Park with adorable bowing deers
At the temple, I lit a candle and made a sincere wish. My fortune of the day was BEST OF LUCK大吉. I guess it was my lucky day ;)
Ramen for lunch: with such large of a group, I feel like everywhere we go, we tend to dominate the entire restaurant. Usually we split up into smaller groups, which was the case today. Sarina and I both ordered ramen which tasted great. Kimberly and Aubree ordered chicken topped rice and 饺子dumplings. We all enjoyed the rest and the food after walking for so long.
08-08-2016
Monday
We had two lectures today: Physical assessment with Dr. Shirakawa and Practical training with Dr. Fukushima. Picture below, Dr. Shirakawa demonstrating reflexes on Eric.
The overall experience was almost like a power hike, resting and rehydration needed much!!
Reboosting our blood glucose level with waffles on our way back to Kobe.
Peach flavored (left), cream and cookie (middle), matcha (right)
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08-09-2016
Tuesday
We continued with lectures in the morning: Novel therapies for dyslipidemia by Dr. Kume, and Japanese Pharmacy Curriculum by Dr. Yuan.
We were all super excited to have lunch at student cafeteria, and wished we had these options for lunch in school. It was worth every penny, not saying that it was already relatively inexpensive.
Pre-dinner at Gontaro for the second time. This place was recommended by Sari sensei. Relatively cheap and great quality sushi that we had to come back!!!
View from the back of the train on our way back to hotel from Sonnomiya station after exchanging out JR pass.
Takoyaki party: I'm dressed in the Yukatas handmade by talented Tomo, she said that it took her 2 weeks!! I was amazed!!
Fire works at Kita park.
Overall experience so far: All students and faculties and the local residents were extremely kind, humble, polite, helpful, friendly and welcoming. I find myself liking the culture even more, after being around the locals for just a few days. I love my pen-pals!! They're both very easy to talk with and are open with conversations, felt lucky that both Tomo and Orie speak good Engish :) I truely respect the faculties, working with our schedule from day to day and hosting us so well!!! We walk on average for about 10 miles everyday for these first couple of days. The humidity was something totally different from dry heat in AZ. Some of us showered up to 3 times a day! The hotness kept us going with eating ice creams every single day.
I am liking the city and the culture thus far (expect for having to hold on to trash since trash cans are so difficult to find in public areas)and I am looking forward to the upcoming events.
Sunday
day spent at Nara 奈良
Waiting in line at the station with Japanese students.
our day started around 8:30. The train from Kobe to Nara was one hour long. Either jet lagging or just simply didn't get enough sleep, many of us were taking advantage of the long ride.
Dr. Katz buying Takuyaki (Japanese squid ball) to share, while many of us were line buying ice cream.
At the temple, I lit a candle and made a sincere wish. My fortune of the day was BEST OF LUCK大吉. I guess it was my lucky day ;)
On our train back, Sari Sensei whom has accompanied us all day, bought us all red bean stuffed matcha ~~it was deliciousss, ありがとうございます ^_^
Monday
We had two lectures today: Physical assessment with Dr. Shirakawa and Practical training with Dr. Fukushima. Picture below, Dr. Shirakawa demonstrating reflexes on Eric.
After lectures, we then proceeded to Uonotana fish market, where we had the famous Akashiyaki for lunch. Matcha ice cream for myself again ^_^
Hemeji Castle was our next destination: a hilltop Japanese Castle that is considered a National treasure and a world heritage site. Simply beautiful and historic!!!!
Reboosting our blood glucose level with waffles on our way back to Kobe.
Peach flavored (left), cream and cookie (middle), matcha (right)
08-09-2016
Tuesday
We continued with lectures in the morning: Novel therapies for dyslipidemia by Dr. Kume, and Japanese Pharmacy Curriculum by Dr. Yuan.
We were all super excited to have lunch at student cafeteria, and wished we had these options for lunch in school. It was worth every penny, not saying that it was already relatively inexpensive.
Our first visits at the local community and hospital pharmacies were fantastic.
Pre-dinner at Gontaro for the second time. This place was recommended by Sari sensei. Relatively cheap and great quality sushi that we had to come back!!!
View from the back of the train on our way back to hotel from Sonnomiya station after exchanging out JR pass.
Fire works at Kita park.
Overall experience so far: All students and faculties and the local residents were extremely kind, humble, polite, helpful, friendly and welcoming. I find myself liking the culture even more, after being around the locals for just a few days. I love my pen-pals!! They're both very easy to talk with and are open with conversations, felt lucky that both Tomo and Orie speak good Engish :) I truely respect the faculties, working with our schedule from day to day and hosting us so well!!! We walk on average for about 10 miles everyday for these first couple of days. The humidity was something totally different from dry heat in AZ. Some of us showered up to 3 times a day! The hotness kept us going with eating ice creams every single day.
I am liking the city and the culture thus far (expect for having to hold on to trash since trash cans are so difficult to find in public areas)and I am looking forward to the upcoming events.
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