Entertaining Errors Compilation Part Three

My students often say really funny things.  Sometimes it's on purpose and sometimes it's by accident, but it always brightens my day.  I've posted these on Facebook as they've happened, though, of course, not everyone who reads this blog is a friend of mine on Facebook.  I don't post these to get a laugh at the expense of my students, but rather to record some of the amusing quirks of teaching English as a second language, as well as the creativity and sense of humor my students often display.  Enjoy!

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Student: Hey, you see those girls over there?  The one in the orange shirt looks like my extra girlfriend!

Me: Sorry, you added a sound.  It should be EX-girlfriend.

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Me: So, where are pearls cultured?

Student: Pearls are cultured in the Kinky Peninsula.

Me: Sorry, you're a little off – it's the Kii Peninsula.

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Student: I learned a new word!  Your tie is favor…fav…fabo…

(Student checks her magazine again, then grins triumphantly.)

Student:  Fabulous!  Your tie is fabulous!

Me: Well, thank you!

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Student: One of my patients was very shocked today because he got a sup…super…suppose…

(Student checks his electronic dictionary.)

Student (loudly): Suppository!

Me: Really, a suppository?

Foreign Coworker (overhearing this): Suppository?  What?

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Student: For our next outing, we're going to Russia…oh, sorry, sorry!  We're going to Glacier Point.

Me: Yeah, good!

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Student A: Do you want some more water?

Student B: No thanks, I'm done here.  I'm going to go shit in the sauna.  Are you coming?

Me: Let's try that again with more 'see.'  SIT.

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Student: Don't worry, you can take care of the bill.

Me: Actually, here you're offering to help me.

Student: Oh, right!  I'll take care of the bill.

Me: Much better!

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Student: I'm so jealous of you!  I'm a horrible cock!

Me: Er, it's COOK, actually.

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High school girl: I'm interested in my math teacher.  He makes everything easy to understand.

Me: Okay, good, but just so you know, 'interested in someone' usually means romantic interest.

(Cue look of dismay and vehement denials)

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Me: Welcome to my pet shop!  Which animal would you like to see?

Student: Can I see the crocodile eating the chicken?

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Student: I eat instant ramen almost every night.  To tell you the truth, I'm pretty tired of you.

Me: Good, but it should be 'it.'

Student: Hm?

Me: I'm pretty tired of IT, not 'you.'

(Student realizes what she said and bursts out laughing.)

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Me:  How about you?  Did you go anywhere?

Student: No, I'm bland, so I stayed in Boston.

Me: Sorry, it's 'broke,' not 'bland.'  But good overall!

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Student: I invited my friend Ryan to the party.

Me: Really?  Where is he?

Student: He's the guy coming on the door.

Me: Er, it should be 'in,' not 'on.'  Coming IN the door.

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Student: I have worn okonomiyaki.

Me: Actually, 'worn' was the last card.  This one is 'I have TRIED okonomiyaki.'

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Me: So, what do you think about city life?

Student: Shitty life…hm…

Me: Sorry, CITY life.

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Student: I'm going to turn in my timeshits.

Me: Little more 'e' – timeSHEETS.

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Student: I visit my mother twice a week.  I like watering the flowers instead of her.

Me: Ah, I see.  Just so you know, that sounds like you like watering the flowers more than watering your mother.  I might say, 'I like watering the flowers FOR my mother.'

Student: Oh my goodness!  How did you understand my bad English?!

Me: Well, that's my job!

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Student: I have a sister who is an alien pilot.

Me: Er, it's 'airline pilot.'  I didn't know you were an alien!

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Student A: For my last vacation, my family and I went to Aquamarine Fukushima. (An aquarium in Onahama)

Student B: Do you have a season pass?

Student A: No, but if my kids grow up, I'll probably get one.

Me: Um, I'd say 'WHEN my kids grow up.'  'If' sounds like you don't expect them to get any older.

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Student: Every summer, I go back to my hometown for my mother's funeral service.

Me: Actually, I might say a memorial service, or to visit my mother's grave.  'Funeral service' sounds like she gets back up every year and you have to bury her again.

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Student A: I called you last night, but you didn't answer.

Student B: Oh, sorry!  I was eating my son.

Me: I think you mean 'eating WITH my son.'

(Student B looks horrified as she realizes what she said, then bursts out laughing.)

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Student A: I don't think I can do that.  Tomorrow, I'm going to be in Osaka today.

Student B: Tomorrow today?!

Student A: Sorry, sorry – for two days!

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Student: Chiba is known for its penis.

Me: Sorry, peanuts.

Student: Oh right, peanuts!  Also, it's known for its bitches.

Me: Beaches.

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Me: Say, what's that in your hair?

Student: It's a Beretta!

Me: Oh, a barrette!  We'll, it's very cute!

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Me: 911 emergency.

Student: Hello, I'd like to report an emergency!

Me: What's the problem, sir?

Student: There's a man in a bad mood.

Me: Er...actually, he's having a heart attack.

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And that's the end of my Entertaining Errors series in Japan!  To see the previous posts, go to:

Entertaining Errors Compilation Part One
Entertaining Errors Compilation Part Two

It was wonderful teaching all of my students in Japan!  I miss Iwaki, but I'm also very happy to be home.  I hope to have many more funny mistakes from Korea soon!

Finished!

Well, that's it: my last class taught, my final paycheck collected, my things returned.  There have been so many difficult goodbyes, but I don't quite feel like it's over yet.  Maybe it's because we still have the party on the 14th; maybe it's because I haven't finished my goodbyes; maybe it's because I'm still in Japan and not at home yet.  In any case, I'm looking forward to a few days of rest before the party and my flight.

To all my students: thank you for the laughs, your hard work, the shared experiences, the stories you told me, the memories, and most importantly, your friendship.  I don't know when or if I'll be able to return to Japan and Iwaki, but I hope that we can meet again someday.  Keep studying hard: I'm confident that you can all achieve your goals someday!

My schedule from here on out:

7/14: Welcome/farewell party, where I'll say my final goodbyes
7/16: Flight back to San Francisco

Flight information:

Singapore Airlines, Flight 12
Depart: 07:15 pm  Tokyo, Japan (NRT)
Arrive: 01:30 pm  Los Angeles, CA (LAX)
   
1 Stop - change planes in Los Angeles, (LAX)
Connection Time: 2 hrs 35 mins


Virgin America, Flight 933
Depart: 04:05 pm  Los Angeles, CA (LAX)
Arrive: 05:20 pm  San Francisco, CA (SFO)   
       
Total Travel Time: 14 hrs 5 mins

Spa Resort Hawaiians

Yesterday, I went to Spa Resort Hawaiians, a famous Iwaki theme park near Yumoto Station, for the first time.  (The Yumoto area is well-known for its many hot springs and onsen.)  I first heard about it early last year from a student who works there.  He encouraged me to go when it reopened, though it was closed to repair the damage from the earthquake for a long time, only reopening in February this year.  While it was closed, however, their famous hula troupe toured Japan, performing at refugee shelters and other places, and they opened the hotel to people evacuated from their homes.

 

My timing with trains was lousy - I had to wait 40 minutes for the train to Yumoto, and almost 50 minutes to get back to Iwaki.  Fortunately, my luck was much better with the free shuttles between the station and the resort; I waited about 15 minutes for the shuttle there, and there was a line of shuttles ready to take people back when I left.    The entrance fee changes depending on when you enter (later is cheaper,) but I got there pretty early, so the fee was 3150 yen.  As it was after noon by the time I arrived, I decided to get lunch first and change into my bathing suit afterwards.  I poked through some souvenir shops, noting the long lines for overpriced food and drinks, and finally settled on some half-decent miso ramen.  I was really looking forward to relaxing in the hot, humid air in the main area, since my throat had been killing me all week for no reason I could decipher.

Next, I found my way to the changing rooms and put on my swimsuit.  I had to pay 100 yen to take my key and wristband from the locker, and I wound up paying twice because I forgot to put my coin purse away the first time.  The whole facility was very crowded; just about every pathway was lined with towels and plastic mats full of people eating, drinking, talking, and sleeping.  There was very little swimming to be done in the swimming pools - mostly a lot of wading - but I got to swim in short bursts when larger gaps opened up.  There were so many kids with their parents that I couldn't tell at first if they were general pools or kiddie pools.  They were all packed with water tubes - some small and some enormous - and many people were playing water volleyball with beach balls.

My favorite was a long and relatively narrow pool with a current that moved people along at a fairly brisk pace.  Because of the shape of the pool, the current was stronger in some places and weaker in others, which caught me by surprise more than once.  It also passed through a 'cave' and under a bridge, and in both places water would sometimes fall from above on unsuspecting bathers.  I went around that one several times!  There were slides as well - one where people rode down on tubes and one without - but the lines were so ridiculously long that I didn't bother.

I guess going swimming right after eating wasn't such a good idea, because my stomach started bothering me pretty soon after I got in the pool.  I took it easier from then on, and spent a couple hours in various pools.  The muggy air didn't feel so hot after getting out of the slightly cool water, and I was actually quite chilly between pools.  Later, I wandered into another area where the water was warmer.  This part of the facility also had several outdoor pools, jacuzzi tubs and an 80 degree C sauna.  The last area I visited was the Edo-style open-air bath, which is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest open-air bath in the world.  It also had a sauna, and I don't know what they were burning, but it smelled amazing.

I finally had enough water and got dressed around 4 pm.  I bought a bag of black figs (from California, if I understood correctly, which I find funny) and a small jar of peanut butter.  I also caved in and bought a coconut (with holes drilled in it and straws added so you can drink the fresh coconut water directly from it) for 980 yen.  A tourist trap, I know, but it was novel and tasted pretty good besides.

I caught the shuttle back about 4:45 pm - it had really cool fold-out seats in the aisle that let passengers sit down instead of having to stand - and got back to Yumoto Station at 5 pm.  The train got me back into Iwaki around 6:10 pm, and I was home by 6:30 pm.  A worthwhile and enjoyable adventure!

One small snag was that I brought my umbrella with me, since the forecast was for rain in the afternoon, but I somehow managed to leave it on the platform at Iwaki Station.  I asked about it when I got back, but no one had turned it in.  As it so happens, there was no rain that day - it was cloudy in the morning and then turned sunny in the afternoon.  Oh well, time to buy another umbrella.

Entertaining Errors Compilation Part Two

My students often say really funny things.  Sometimes it's on purpose and sometimes it's by accident, but it always brightens my day.  I've posted these on Facebook as they've happened, though, of course, not everyone who reads this blog is a friend of mine on Facebook.  I don't post these to get a laugh at the expense of my students, but rather to record some of the amusing quirks of teaching English as a second language, as well as the creativity and sense of humor my students often display.  Enjoy!

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Me: So, what did you get for #7?

Students: (enthusiastically) Shut up!

Me: Actually, it's pronounced SHOOT up.

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Me: Why is Jim so mad?

Student: He's upset about the erection results.

Me: Election.  ELECtion results.

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Student: You're so spicky about food!  (Pronounced like the racial slur)

Me: Er, let's do that one more time.  SPIcy!

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Me: So, we're having a birthday party.  How can you offer to help?

Student: I'll bring a dress.

Me: Remember, you want to help in some way.  Maybe 'I'll lend you a dress'?

Student: Okay.

Me: Alright, great!  I'll be A, please be B.  We're going to have a birthday party!  We're going to need gifts, music and a cake.

Student: I'll lend you a dress.

Me: (looks at clothes carefully) Well, if you think me cross-dressing will make the party better…

*Student finally understands what she said and cracks up.*

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Student: Look at that gay by the water fountain! That's amazing!

Me: Actually, it's pronounced 'guy'...

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Student: Can I shit here?

Me: Remember, it's 'si,' not 'shi.'  SIT.

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Student: Hoover Dam was built by over sixteen people.

Me: Sorry, you missed a word.  It's sixteen thousand people.

Student: Ah, sorry!  Hoover Dam was built by over sixty thousand people.

Me: Let's try that again...

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(A and B are roommates)

Student A: Can I talk to you for a minute?

Student B: Sure, what's up?

Student A: Could you pick up my handkerchief?

Student B: You can pick up your own handkerchief!

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Me: Okay, we're roommates, and we're at home talking about hypothetical situations.  So, what would you do if…

Student: What would you do if I changed the locks?

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Student: I got boned in the meeting.

Me: Sorry, it's 'bored.'  I got BORED in the meeting.

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Student A: I'm going to lunch.  Do you want to go?

Student B: Sorry, I can't.  I'm meeting my girlfriend for lunch.  I think she's more important than you.

Me: That might be true, but it's not very nice!  Let me teach you 'no offense'…

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Student A: What do you think that woman is?

Student B: She must be a man.  She has an Adam's apple.

Student A: She could be a woman.  Her skin looks silky smooth!

Student C: I think she's a man.  She has a five o'clock shadow.

Student B: Actually, she might be a woman.  I don't think that's an Adam's apple, I think it's a tumor.

Me: You mean she has throat cancer?

Student B: No, a good tumor!

Me: Okay, let's wrap this one up.  Also, let me teach you 'in drag' and 'drag queen'…

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Student: How do you like your job?

Me: It's great!  I have to wear a suit every day, though.

Student: Do you have to clean my apartment?

Me: I should hope not!

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Me: If you don't know the name of a place, you can talk about its location instead.  For example, the Italian restaurant on Main Street, or the one on the corner of Birch and Pine.

Student: Ah, okay!  Bitch and Pin.  *Starts writing this down.*

Me: Whoa, not quite!  It's Birch and Pine, with an 'r'.  If it had a 't', it would be a very bad word.

Student: Oh.  *Crosses out 'birch' and writes 'bitch'.*

Me: No no no, you had it right!  I just didn't want you to use a bad word by mistake.

Student: Okay, I see.  What does 'bitch' mean?

Me: Well, mostly we use it to talk about women we don't like…

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Me: Also, we can link 'had an'…

Student: Had an…

Me: …and 'an electrician.'

Student: …an erection.

Me: Sorry, one more time.  Electrician.

Student: Electrician.

Me: Okay, good.  So, 'I had an electrician.'

Student: I had an erection.

Me: Er, let's try that one more time…

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Student: So, does it snow in your hometown?

Me: No, it hasn't snowed in San Francisco for over 40 years!

Student: Wow!  Do you remember it?

Me: How old do you think I am, anyway?!

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Me: When anime comes to the US and gets an English dub, Kansai accents often get changed into southern accents.

Student: Why is that?

Me: Well, they're both often seen as 'hick' accents.

Student: Hick?

Me: It's a negative word that means people who live in the countryside.

Student: Oh, okay!  (Brightly, as if learning a new favorite word) Hicks!

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(Me getting grilled by the child of a student, with a great deal of prompting from his mother)

Boy: Where are you from?

Me: I'm from America.

Boy: Do you know Bon Jovi?

Me: Yes, I do.

Boy: Do you know Jon Bon Jovi?

Me: Yes.

Boy: Did you see Bon Jovi?

Me: No, I have never seen Bon Jovi.

Boy: Do you know New York?

Me: Yes, of course!

Boy: Do you like New York?

Me: It's okay.  I have never been there, though.

Boy: Do you know New Jersey?

Me: Yeah.

Boy: I love—like Matt!  Do you like me?

Me: Sure I do!

Boy: How much?

Me: (changing the subject) Say, do you like One Piece?

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Me: So, we're planning a dinner party with our classmates.  What's a can or should question we could ask?

Male Student: Should I wear a dress?  Wait, sorry – should I dress up?

Me: Okay, nice correction!  I don't have time to teach you the words about men wearing women's clothing today.

Osaka Trip Days Three and Four (2/12/2012 - 2/13/2012)

I woke up Sunday morning and didn't want to go back to the café for breakfast, so I walked to the closest station and found a bakery.  I picked up a few kinds of bread, including a very tasty sweet potato-and-poppy-seed roll, and a bunch of bananas.  As I mentioned in my previous post, I had to go back to Umeda Station to pick up a second ¥2000 unlimited pass before heading to the Tennoji area.  My primary (main) reason for going there was to see the Shitennoji Temple, but there was also a park, zoo, tower, and art museum that I had free access to, and I had until 4:30 PM to see everything I could.  Besides, how long could it take to explore a zoo?  Boy, was I wrong about that.

Thinking that the zoo was smaller than it was, I fully intended to see all of it.  It ended up being much larger than I had thought, and I spent close to three hours wandering around it.  I started out taking pictures of almost everything, but as my enthusiasm waned and my boredom increased, the number of photos I took quickly dropped off.  It wasn't a bad zoo, just not a great one either.  The animals didn't exactly look thrilled to be there, and some of them didn't look all that healthy.  The most interesting exhibit was a dark indoor area full of nocturnal animals, and it was interesting to see a tanuki (Japanese raccoon dog) as well.

To protect my throat, I wore a face mask for most of the trip to trap the moisture.  Fortunately, Osaka seemed to be more humid than Iwaki, so I'd had almost no problems while I was there.  In fact, I woke up on Sunday morning with no trace of pain or discomfort, which was very welcome indeed.  Unfortunately, I made the mistake of eating lunch at the zoo, and it was some of the worst concession food I'd ever had.  Whatever was in the cold, seemingly half-cooked okonomiyaki and unpleasant tasting meat bun made my throat flare up again, and despite my best efforts I felt lousy the rest of the day.

I finally left the zoo around 2 PM and headed over to Tsutenkaku Tower, passing through a surprisingly seedy area in the process.  One minute I was on a shopping street, and the next most of the buildings had pictures of naked women on them.  When I got to the tower, I found out that it had a 45-minute wait, so I gave up on seeing the view from the top.  I walked over to Shitennoji Temple, stopping at a very interesting little temple on the way.  One amusing thing I noted there were the offerings of junk food to the statues; it felt very 'ancient meets modern.'

Shitennoji Temple is a reconstruction like Osaka Castle, but it was quite interesting.  It had some enormous Buddha statues (which were inside no-photo buildings,) and a very impressive five-story pagoda.  In a pleasant surprise, I was able to climb to the top of the pagoda.  Each floor had hundreds of small, pagoda-shaped bronze tablets inscribed with characters, and they were carefully arranged in neat rows in glass cases all along the walls.  The sheer number of them in total was a little overwhelming.  I had used up more of my camera's batteries at the zoo than I had thought, and had to switch to taking pictures with my phone at the very end.

I exited the temple around 4 PM, and I briefly considered going to the Osaka Museum of History.  I was feeling pretty rundown (tired) by that point, though, so I instead chose to go straight to the spa.  It was a long walk from the closest station, and I was very relieved to arrive and get out of the cold.  I got in for free thanks to my unlimited pass, though I did have to pay ¥150 for a towel and a ¥200 deposit for the shoe and clothing lockers.

The spa had a very wide array of indoor and open-air outdoor baths.  Indoors, there was a 'standard' (40°C) bath, a Jacuzzi bath, a blue floral bath (for Valentine's Day,) an extra hot 43°C bath, a cold 18°C bath, and two sauna rooms, a big one with a TV and a smaller rose-centered one (also for Valentine's Day.)  Outdoors, there was another regular bath, along with a sulfur bath and three individual 'tubs' that looked like big flowerpots.  They also had a very interesting flat, bumpy area where you could lie down and let hot water run down your back, as well as a similar seated foot bath.  It got a little cold when the wind picked up, but I found it quite comfortable and relaxing.  I stayed for a couple hours, long enough to try out all the baths and relax under the night sky, then headed back to the guest house.

I stopped for dinner at a Bali restaurant and had some really good tacos and naan.  Admittedly, they were Bali-style tacos, but it was still the closest thing to Mexican food that I've had in almost a year.  The waiter spoke good English and was quite chatty, talking about how he thought Japan had 'too many rules.'  He encouraged me to come back again and gave me a discount card, and I have to let them know that I was going back to Iwaki the next morning.  It's always a little awkward when that happens.  Back at the guest house, some of the guests were watching An Education and invited me to join them.  It was pretty good, and we noticed an amusing coincidence: the main characters were named David and Jenny, and so were one of the guests and his girlfriend.  We made a lot of jokes about how it should've been called "How to Pick up Underage Girls."  And the movie was over, I packed up everything I could and fell into bed, exhausted.

I had wanted to get back to Iwaki as soon as possible, so I got up and left as early as I could.  I didn't want to dally at the café or make the long walk to the bakery (neither of them were really that great anyway,) and none of the nearby fruit stands were open yet, so the only thing I had for breakfast was a snack bar that I had brought with me.  I made the mistake of getting on a non-express shinkansen and got into Tokyo around 2 PM, later than the 1 PM arrival time I had expected.  I grabbed another bowl of ramen for lunch, which helped alleviate (reduce) the tiredness, headache and eyestrain I had been suffering from on the train.  Much refreshed, I caught the limited express back to Iwaki and returned to my apartment around 6 PM.  I felt extraordinarily lazy once I had finished unpacking my suitcase, so I didn't get around to cleaning house, cooking my lunches for the week or writing these posts.  I did at least get my photos and videos uploaded on Facebook before taking it easy for the rest of the evening!

Even though my second day of sightseeing wasn't that great, I still had a really good time overall.  It was a nice town, and there was a lot that I didn't have time to see.  I think that I could have fun going there again, especially if Soee and I were able to go together, and now I know about a few things that are probably best avoided.  I also hear that Osaka has a very impressive aquarium with a rare whale shark that I wish I'd remembered.  Maybe next time!

Osaka Trip Days One and Two (2/10/2012 - 2/11/2012)

Last weekend I took a short sightseeing trip down to Osaka.  The vast majority of (most) Japanese holidays are on Monday, which does me no good because Monday is a regular weekend day for me.  This time, however, we had Saturday off (I still don't know which holiday it was,) so I took Friday off as well to have a four-day weekend.  As I'd mentioned in a previous post, Soee and I had planned to go to Osaka together during the summer Obon holiday, but she ended up having too much work and couldn't go.  She's working unbelievably hard right now and probably won't get another chance to come to Japan before I leave, so I decided to see it myself and share my experiences and photos with her.  A lot of people advised me to visit Kyoto or Nara instead, but I already had my reasons for wanting to go to Osaka.  Besides, I like to get off the beaten track sometimes and see places that are less touristy.

After the adventures I had traveling to Nikko and Seoul, going down to Osaka was blessedly simple and hassle-free.  My biggest challenge was dealing with the umbrella I brought, which was too big to fit in my luggage; I never did end up using it, but I felt better taking it with me.  I took a limited express train from Iwaki to Ueno at 11:20 AM and had lunch at a very good ramen place in Ueno station.  I then took the subway to Tokyo station and caught and express shinkansen to the Shin-Osaka station.  One more stop on the subway took me to Higashi-Mikuni station, a short 15 minute walk from the guest house I was staying at.

I arrived at the guest house around 6 PM that night, a little later than I had expected but not too late.  The reviews had been overwhelmingly positive, noting that it was in a quiet, charming community away from the hustle and bustle of downtown.  It was located in a roofed shopping street above a dry-cleaning place, and was run by a very nice couple with a small child.

They spoke very good English and were quite helpful.  The guest house was quite nice, though the upstairs was a little chilly and the stairs seemed almost dangerously steep.  Including myself, there were only four people staying when I arrived out of a maximum of 12.  My hosts explained that they didn't usually have much traffic this time of year, so it was relatively quiet.

 It was too late to do much of anything that night, and I was a little tired from traveling anyway, so I got some takeout okonomiyaki and takoyaki (octopus dumplings) from a nearby open-air grill and relaxed at the guest house.  Osaka is known as a food town, with okonomiyaki and takoyaki being the local specialties.  The takoyaki I got were underwhelming, but the okonomiyaki was quite good.  I didn't sleep as well as I would have liked, unfortunately, because I only had one very soft pillow (I'm used to having two firmer ones.)  My hosts got me another one the next day when I mentioned the problem, so I slept better the next couple nights.  I got a breakfast of coffee, toast, a hard-boiled egg and some kind of gelatin at a small café nearby.  The owner was friends with a local AEON teacher, and one of the customers had studied in Texas for a few years, so I wound up chatting more than I had expected.

After doing some research, I decided to spend one day in the Osaka Castle area and one day seeing the Umeda Sky Building and the Tennoji area.  The guest house had some information about a special pass that offered unlimited subway travel and free passes to most of the sightseeing places.  The plan was to get the two-day pass for ¥2700, but I needed my passport to purchase that one and I had accidentally left it in my bag at the guest house.  I ended up getting two one-day passes instead for ¥2000 each, which was a lot more expensive but still saved me money.  I also ended up going to the Umeda Sky Building first because I'd seen it from the window of the train.  It's a rather unusual structure, with two towers that connect to a circular top; I understand that it's quite a popular place to get married.  I did get a great view of Osaka from the 40th floor, though!  Plus, it had an interesting exhibit on other 'sky' buildings of the past, present and future.

My next stop was the JR Osaka Station City, which has a very cool computerized water clock one of my Art Institute friends told me about.  It's easier to see than to explain, but basically it has a number of jets of water that are turned on or off to form words, numbers and pictures.

 Since it was around 1 PM by that point, I thought I'd get lunch in the station and then go to Osaka Castle.  It turns out that Osaka Station is a popular place for lunch, though, because even with two floors of restaurants, every place had huge lines.  I didn't want to waste an hour waiting to eat, so I went down to the basement to see about some cheap sushi or a bento (boxed lunch.)  Luckily for me, the bottom floor had an okonomiyaki grill with only a few people waiting!

With some food in my stomach, I went to find the best route to Osaka Castle.  While I was looking at my map, and older gentleman came up and asked where I was trying to go.  He then walked with me for close to 15 minutes to get me to the right line.  I'm pretty sure he worked there, though at the time I didn't know if he was a worker or just a helpful stranger.  Either way, I was very grateful for his help.

The first place I had wanted to see in Osaka Castle Park was the Osaka Peace Museum, which was dedicated to the horrors of World War II.  It had exhibits not only on the American bombing and the effects of the war on Japanese civilians, but also on Japanese war crimes committed in China and Southeast Asia.  It was a very somber and sobering experience, but it was encouraging to see the country taking responsibility for its actions during the war.  A final exhibit on world history after World War II and the Doomsday Clock argued for world peace and the importance of not forgetting the stories of the past.

Next, I wandered through the park and made my way to Osaka Castle.  The original castle burned down hundreds of years ago; what stands today is a concrete reproduction of the exterior (outside) with an eight-story museum on the inside.  The museum has exhibits on the life of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a celebrated general and politician who unified Japan, as well as the history of the castle, time period, and other important figures of the era.  The view from the top of the castle was also quite impressive.

I left Osaka Castle around 4:30 PM, right when all the major tourist attractions were beginning to close for the day.  There were still a couple things I could do that night – ride a giant Ferris wheel on top of a department store and go to a spa.  I decided to save the spa for the next night, and got an excellent night view of Osaka from the HEP Five Ferris wheel.  The staff had taken my picture in front of a green screen before I got on, and when I left they asked if I wanted to buy a picture of myself on the Ferris wheel for ¥1000.  I knew it was kind of a tourist-trap deal, but I went ahead and bought it anyway.  I couldn't find anything I really wanted to eat in the department store, so I headed back to the guest house and got some yakisoba from the same place I ate at the night before.

I spent a couple hours chatting with Soee before going to bed, and was introduced to one of her closest friends, Bomi.  Bomi's going to start teaching English at a public school in Seoul soon, and we joked about what a wild coincidence it would be if we ended up teaching at the same school.  It was definitely good to make her acquaintance!  We talked for a little bit about the respect teachers are given in Korea (and the relative lack of respect in the US,) and then I went to bed to rest up for another day of exploring.