Where I want to Travel + school update

It's a late night for me to post, but tonight I looked up places I want to travel to while I'm here.

KOBE（神戸）

Definitely want to check out this city.

• What to do in Kobe  : When I was researching this city, a lot of the tourist attractions were connected with good couple spots . . . But I think even if I just go with friends it'll be a fun trip!  It's also one of the places many tourists go to (hence it's a big city).

YORO（養老）

There's actually not much here, but what's here is pretty incredible.

• Site of Reversible Destiny : This is a really neat art park - on Wikipedia it says that it can be highly disorienting to walk through.  They even provide helmets at the gift shops!  I think I might be going here soon actually with a friend . . .
• Persimmon Tree : Probably won't get to see this if I go to Yoro (it looks like too long of a walk), but there's a very creepy legend about it.  A murdered victim (a son, who was avenging his murdered father, was murdered himself) was buried under the tree and locals believe that the tree has soaked up his avenging spirit.  Now, if anyone disturbs the tree they'll die of a mysterious circumstance . . . Plus, the tree looks more like a tree with long willow-y hair and at night it's said to have a bluish hue to it . . .
• Kikuisen : It's a famous spring, where it's said to make anyone old feel young again.  Once again, a place steeped in folklore . . . Also where Yoro waterfalls and hiking trails are.

TAKAYAMA（高山）

• Takayama : This is an Edo-styled town, one of the best in Japan.  It's a ways out from Nagoya, but ever since my friend went there for a program trip, I've been wanting to go!  It's probably best known for the crafts, its' streets, and FOOD.  Plus, it's a good place to stay if you want to go to the nearby onsens. 

Tokyo Disneyland（東京ディズニーランド）

• Need I say more?  I want to go to Disneyland on another continent again!  ^__^  HK Disneyland was fun, and I heard Tokyo is a bit similar to that one (only maybe a little bit bigger).  Plus, there's a discount right now over there (about 1000-2000 yen off).

I guess you can sort of tell I'm really excited about going to Yoro one day, but I want to travel to at least the other three locations during my upcoming break in February!  This semester, I have multiple week-long vacations (3 at least).  So even if I don't have time to go everywhere (definitely Kobe may have to wait), I still have time to go!



On a side note, today I took my skip placement exam.  It's the exam a student here has to take if they want to skip a Japanese-language class to a higher level class.  When I went into the exam room, I looked at the incoming spring semester students.  From what I could tell, only 3 of the 20-30 students were male . . . It's going to be an interesting semester.

The exam itself wasn't too bad.  It was the exact same one I took in the fall.  However, this time I managed to push through to the end of the exam and answer everything.  I guess that means I've improved in my Japanese proficiency, right?

The test results come back on the same day as when I schedule for classes (next Monday).

Hope you liked the latest post!  Now it's off to bed for me!  お休みなさい！