We have made it to Japan!
It has been a whirlwind 7 days in the beautiful country of Japan. Here are our
Day 1- We survived a 10 hour flight from San Fransisco to Osaka. Then we took quick ferry ride over to Kobe where we checked into our hotel. Exhausted, we went straight to bed to recharge for the adventures to come.
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Flying over Japan
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Day 2- This was our first day visiting the KGU campus.We took a tour of the beautiful KGU campus and were welcomed with an amazing lunch hosted by KGU faculty and students.
After the lunch the KGU students took us sightseeing in Sannomiya and had a delicious Ramen lunch. Afterwards we returned to and enjoyed the Kobe Hanabi (fireworks festival), the fireworks in Japan were unlike anything we have seen before. Absolutely amazing!
Day 3 - We went sightseeing in Nara with KGU students and visited the Todaji Temple. We were surprised to learn that there are many deer that live in the city. There are vendors in the park that sell deer cookies and the deer have learned to bow for food from the park visitors. The Todaji Temple was beautiful! Unfortunately we were too claustrophobic to make it through the pillar hole for good luck, but some of our classmates did!
Day 4 - We spent the first half of the day shopping in Osaka at places such as Sanrio and the Pokemon Center. Students and faculty of Osaka University met us at the Pokemon Center and treated us to Okonomiyaki for lunch. It was delicious! Afterwards we visited the Osaka Castle and had Kushikatsu dinner, it was really great to be able to try so many different foods on this day. We also got to visit Dotonbouri where we stocked up on souvenirs and gifts for our friends and family back home.
Day 5 - This was our first day of lectures at KGU. We went over some case studies and we thought the material was presented in a way that made the information easier to retain. We were able to see on the screen the effects that medications would have on a patient's ECG. Later we visited the fish market in Akashi where we sampled a lot of fresh seafood. We each bought some dried octopus to take home, it was very similar to other dried meat, like beef jerky. Next stop was Himenji Castle, . Our last stop of the day was sake tasting at Nihonshu Kokoromi, we tried about 10-12 of the hundreds of types of sake available.
Day 7- KGU Lecture day 3. We learned about the Japanese Healthcare system and KGU's Pharmacy school curriculum. It was interesting to see the differences between how the healthcare system in Japan versus the U.S. Later we had the opportunity to tour a community pharmacy, a hospital pharmacy, and the ICU pharmacy. We also were shown the "doctor cars", these are similar to an ambulance except that a doctor and nurse will travel in the car and start treating the patient at the site of the emergency. 🚨 At the end of the day, we headed back to KGU where the students and faculty held a Takoyaki party, where we helped make our own Takoyakis. But the best part is when they dressed us in Yukata's, we embraced the Japanese culture and celebrated after with some fireworks at a near by park by the bay.
Day 8- This was an open day where many of us split into different groups to go on our own adventures. Our group decided to go to the Arima Onsen (hot springs) as going to an onsen has been described to us as a quintessential experience of Japanese culture. Heading into the onsen we were apprehensive and self conscious about being in a public bath, but as soon as we were in the hot water all of our tension melted away. Prior to the onsen we had Kobe Beef for lunch, there really are not words to describe how delectable it was, definitely worth the high price!
We have two more days left in beautiful Japan. We will visit Kyoto and Hiroshima in the next couple of days, then our time will come to an end and we will have to head back to Arizona. We look forward to updating you on our next adventure! Stayed Tuned!
-Atefeh, Beth, and Ivette
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