Sakura in Saga!!

Hello readers far and wide!

As it seems like we've just jumped into summer in the past two weeks, it seems like an appropriate time to sum up the wonderful, yet tearfully-fast spring I've enjoyed in Japan. I wish sakura season could have lasted until the end of time. It was absolutely lovely, no how much sneezing I had to go through to see all those beautiful cherry petals.

Since explaining what sakura is like in real life is far beyond my writing capabilities, please take a browse through the petaled streets, schools, and shrines I visited during cherry blossom season. It's a must-see!!

About to embark on some sakura tasting!

The first full-blooming tree I set eye on; right after returning from Osaka.

Pretty in pink

 An interesting quote I heard quite often from my exchange student friends: "I thought all sakura were supposed to be pink. That's how they are in manga..."

While on my trip to Fukuoka to apply for my Chinese visa, I found a beautiful weeping cherry tree in a shrine.

A sole cherry tree among the hundreds of peaches and plums planted at Kodenji Temple in Saga.

On the university campus

Actually I lied. These are double plum blossoms.

A plum tree in full bloom, far before any cherry trees

Plum blooms

Pink cherry blooms

These are also plum blooms, "ume", not to be confused with "sakura."

Snacking on yummy blooms

Outside of Honjo Elementary School

The borders of the old moat of Saga Castle are completely surrounded by cherry trees

A pink afternoon

The trees in full bloom at Saga Castle

It rained while the sakura were in full bloom, resulting in most of the petals prematurely falling from the flowers. What a sad day that was.

New leaves

Jofuku Cycling Road in Saga. A must-see in Saga. Kilometers and kilometers lined with a tunnel of cherries.

A late-blooming weeping cherry in a temple in Saga City.

From the inside looking out

The sad end to sakura season

Loving the Kansai Region!

by Josie Losh

Flying away from Kyushu and towards Honshu on my first domestic flight within Japan.

Hello, Readers! My first travel of spring break has just finished and do I ever have a lot to share with you!

Along with five of my friends, I set out on a 6-day spring break trip to Osaka, with day trips to Nara and Kyoto. Our group composed of two Japanese, Swedish, Armenian, Belgian, and American exchange students. For most of us, it wasn't our first time in the Kansai region, but it was our first REAL stay there, and boy was it worth it!

Shades of Autumn

by Josie Losh

#nofilter

Welcome to fall in Kyushu! I apologize to my readers at the loss of pertinence of this topic. It is far past fall. The fall season felt like time doubled, tripled, quadrupled, and then snapped back on itself, and BAM it was winter. I enjoyed this long autumn though, especially with the exceptional fall colors and sunny weather.

Hitting a few bumps on the road... (setbacks and culture shock) & field trip!

by Josie Losh

I can’t believe it, but it’s been a month since I’ve come to Japan. Somehow, it feels like I’ve been here longer than a month. Every day seems to stretch out inconceivably longer than a day in America, even with going to bed earlier and getting up later than I typically do at Pacific University.

A Very Asian Non-Asian

by Josie Losh

An aerial view of Saga University (picture obviously not mine). [INTERCOH]

In a little less than a month, I'll be studying abroad Pacific University's only science-based exchange university in Japan: Saga University （佐賀大学）located on Kyushu. I have been studying the Japanese language and culture for 6 years and I just recently made the decision to make Japanese my second major (my first being Biology).