Day 2 Japan Trip 2015

OKAYAMA 岡山

March 3, 2015

On Tuesday morning, Traci showed me back to the train station. She went to work and I took the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Okayama.

The Shinkansen

Tadaima!!! (I'm back!)

The Momotaro Statue in front of the station

I'd made arrangements to stay with my friend Chistao and her family. Chisato met way back in 2005 when I first moved to Japan! I had put up a notice looking for Japanese people to do language exchange with. Chisato, along with her friend Yuki contacted me. The rest is history! Chisato is now married and has 2 little girls. I met Chisato at Okayama Eki and she took my suitcases and showed me the bus I would be taking to get to her house.


A lot of Okayama is the same, but there are some new big additions. In December 2014 they opened an AEON mall next to the station. It's HUGE and one of the nicest malls I've ever seen. I met my former student, Kana, and her 2 month old daughter for lunch at AEON. I can't believe I taught Kana when she was 17 and I was 22! It's funny because she had no idea that I was that young. I think that's probably a good thing. I really looked forward to lessons with Kana because her English was really good and we mostly got to talk story.

She loved looking at the colorful ceiling

After leaving AEON mall, I walked over to the Nishiguchi (West Exit) side of the station where I used to live. It's really different than when I lived there. In 2005 Okayama Station was tiny any they were remodeling. Now that old little station is completely gone. I should see if I can find pictures from way back then. I walked over to my old apartment and favorite sandwich shop called The Market. I was so sad that it was closed! There were also several "new" cafes in the area. When I lived there, there was basically no cafes to eat at or hang out in. Apparently Okayama is becoming popular for cafes.

The Market still looks the same!

Walking back to the station I walked past these mannequins that have been there since I lived in Okayama. According to Chisato and Hiro, they've been there since they were kids!

I had planned to rent a bicycle and ride around and then do some shopping, but it was cold and raining. I figured that my bike riding in the rain with an umbrella skills weren't up to par, so I took the bus. I'm really glad I remembered how to ride the bus and ask for directions to the correct bus to Tenmaya. I went into the Starbucks that I used to spend a lot of time studying at and ordered the seasonal "Caramely Sakura Latte." It was gross. I only tasted sugar. Starbuck also has free wi-fi but it took me like 20 minutes to get on. Once I did, I was able to text my family and Tara. I had a great time walking around in LOFT (my favorite store) and finding fun stuff to buy. LOFT is where I get all my stationary and cards. Muji is my other favorite store for stationary and random stuff. That's where I buy face lotion, so I stocked up.

I met Chisato that night and we went to her house. I got to meet her daughters, Alyssa (3) and Ellen (1.5) for the first time. Alyssa is zoo shy! Ellen is the total opposite. We had karage for dinner and talked until late. I had forgotten how cold Okayama was. I got to sleep on a futon in the tatami room. It was great!