Totoro & Candy Lane

23 May '16

Finally made it to old town!  We just had Japanese at TIU in the morning then headed back to explore some of the older parts of Kawagoe.  This part of the city used to be used for storage.  This architecture was used for warehouses, but has now been adopted on stores as well as some residential areas.

Just another sneaky photo I took of a person without their permission.  He was creating a lovely painting of the storefront across the street.

Candy Lane!  Famous but small and just a bunch of sugar.  I was more interested in the two temples we went to afterwards; at one, I paid about a dollar and got a fortune and a little figure (a turtle) the size of my pinkie-nail.

We found a wooden Totoro figure standing at the "bus stop," and we discoveredd that he was actually attracting us to the entrance of a Studio Ghibli shop!  I found... more sticky notes.  

The well-marked entrance to Crea Mall, as mentioned in an earlier post.  We made a reservation at a restaurant in the Mall; seeing it at night was a different experience than the day time but still just as fun!

"Pancakes" for dinner:

24 May '16

After our morning classes (some Japanese review of helpful words and phrases to use/understand at the incineration plant, as well as our sustainability lecture/discussion class in English with our professors from Willamette), we headed to Tsubasa-kan to 

First we met some of the people who work there, and they we all introduced ourselves (in Japanese!) in an introduction meeting.  We went over what types of materials that the facility deals with.

Pictured below is one of the main drop off locations in the treatment center.  Each car is weighed before and after entering and leaving the facility, respectfully, to determine the amount of waste the plant is treating.

This is the chimney where the gas product is released.  The ppm of dioxins satisfies the standards to be released back into the air.  A lot of plastic is incinerated at the facility which, since it is made out of oil products, burns at a high temperature and decreases the amount of dioxins released.   The trash is also thoroughly mixed by means of a giant claw (like the claw arcade game that I didn't get a Neko Atsume plush from).  Mixing the waste makes sure moisture is evenly distrbuted so that the waste burns evenly.  The mixing process also helps slowly release methane and other gases to keep them from building up later.

Watch the video below to see the mixing process that I mentioned!

We left the facility around 4pm and when we stepped outside I was super excited to see this permeable and more environment-friendly (relative to asphalt) suface in the parking lot!

When we got back to the hotel, Loftus Sensei and I walked to the train station to recharge my Pasmo (used at food & drug stores, as well as to pay for public transit on field trips and excursions of our own) card with some yen.  Afterwards, I went back to my room and was able to take my first nap since I have been here!  I was able to enjoy dinner (steamed pork and bokchoy, miso, rice, and macha ice cream) and people, and am staying up a little later (it is 11pm here) so I hopefully won't wake up at 4am for the third or so time in a row.

The nap definitely helped a lot, with the homesickness as well.  It is still difficult but having more energy and sleep in me definitely is helping me enjoy our excursions and all the social interactions.  I still, of course, am taking time for myself.  Before my nap, I listened to an audio book and had some hard candies I bought at a market the other day.  I also found an erasable pen (it works really well!) and erasable highlighters (not as great at erasing but still nice) today, which was a cool find.

All caught up for now,

アナ