The weekend before last, I had a three-day weekend, so I took a trip to Kobe. For over a year, I've been doing a conversation exchange online via Skype with someone who lives in Kobe, so we finally met in person for the first time. It was interesting to meet after only knowing each other online. We frequently switched back and forth between Japanese and English; sometimes I would even speak in English and she would talk in Japanese.
On Thursday night, we saw a movie at the theatre she works at with one of her co-workers. It was all in Japanese of course, so I could only understand about 60% of the dialogue, but it was interesting nonetheless. Strangely, in Japanese movie theaters patrons get assigned seating when they buy their tickets, and everyone stayed to watch all of the credits.
On Saturday, we went to Universal Studios Japan! The best part of it was the Harry Potter World - my friend kindly lent me a Slytherin costume to wear. I also had some of the famous butter beer when I toured the Hogsmeade replica. We went to nearly every ride and attraction, and it was a fun way to improve my Japanese listening. The only bad part was that it rained nearly the entire time.
On Saturday, I hiked a nearby mountain to see a waterfall. Japan has a very high concentration of mountains, so I thought it was only fitting to do at least one mountain hike during my stay. Along the way I passed a temple. I think the monk was very surprised to see me. After the hike, I did some more sightseeing in the city, including a beautiful shrine.
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Finally, on Sunday, I met my friend again to do more sightseeing and, more importantly, eat some world-famous Kobe beef! We chatted with the chef and learned some interesting things about Kobe beef:
(1) Employees massage the cows to make their muscles more tender
(2) The cows get to drink beer (to stimulate their appetite)
(3) Every cow gets a specially-selected diet based on her characteristics
(4) Only virgin cows can become Kobe beef because they are thought to have more tender meet
(5) It's very expensive! I only ordered 60 grams for 2500¥ (about 160 USD / lb)
To save money, I stayed at an Internet cafe, sleeping on the mat in a private cubicle. As you might guess, patrons at the Internet cafe have unlimited access to internet, some drinks, and also comics (even adults read comics in Japan) for a set time. The private cubicles are just big enough for a poor student to sleep in. There were also some, er, interesting patrons. Let's just say there was not much competition for the showers!
All and all, lots of great memories made! Plus my Japanese improved a lot!
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