Continuation from Gyoza-ing

Random picture while waiting for the train to come.

Sorry, I did not completely post all of the pictures for the last post because the security guy in our building kicked us out of the room at 12. (Curfew) But anyhow, I uploaded more pictures to the previous post. =)

This post will be dedicated to Gyoza making. Never have I ever made so much gyoza in my whole life. I think I'll make some when I come back to Calgary. From the dough to the stuffing, I've made it all! Well, maybe not the dough but it's just flour and water. If I can make bread, I can make gyoza dough. >) To approxiate how many we made:

Two gyoza: 150Y (75/each)
First night: ~2,000Y
Second day: ~300,000Y
Third day: ~200,000Y
Total: ~500,000Y (Approx: 6,152.72CAD)
Approximate amount of gyoza made: 6700 pieces

My hand/arm was seriously hurting at the end of the day three, lol. Anyone interested in apple pie filled gyoza? ;D It's actually quite awesome. Hot dog filled? Curry filled? =) It's all good. Just wait! When I come back, I'll make it for whoever that's interested.

SECOND DAY (Japan: Saturday 09 2010):
I already described what happened on the first night. =) So I'm jumping to the second night.
I was supposed to be at the University at 10AM but the bus only comes once every hour during the weekends so I was completely screwed over. I arrived 10 minutes after 10. I guess it's fine. =) The weather was a bit gloomy when we left. Thank god there was only a slight drizzle throughout the whole day. I came to the university with Dinara, a colleague of mine who lives in the same international housing institute as me. We ventured through the halls and stopped by the international center. Apparently the profs marked our exams already and I know what I placed in. Even though that test was extremely difficult, I somehow made it into the level that I wanted. Level II. Yay, yay yay! But after that taking that test, I a) don't know why/how I got into level II and b) how am I going to survive? Dinara got placed into Level I because she's such a pro. She thinks it'll be boring because there's only three people but oh well. =) I guess there's a slight trade off. The other two people who were placed in first place: A Vietnamese girl and a crazy Russian girl who taught Japanese in Russia. Out of the 20 students in our program, only three were placed into Level I. The majority of the students were placed in Level II. Around 5 or so people were placed in Level III. Afterward, I stopped at the room to drop my stuff off, introduced Dinara and started to make gyoza again, lol. I actually bought my camera with me that day, so here are some pictures!

Tray filled with Gyoza.

The gyoza-making table

Shya-chan on the left. Shutto-san on the right.

Picture of Shutto-san taking a picture of me

Gyoza fest

During breaks, I hopped from tent to tent trying food. What can I say, I'm a glutton. =) I also saw some interesting performances on a stage outside which was nice. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures because my camera was in my bag, in the gyoza making room. I was so glad they had tempura ice cream here. I was dying for some after looking at some pictures on facebook of tempura green tea ice cream back in Calgary. Speaking of ice cream. The ice cream here is insanely good. I can taste an obvious difference between the ice cream I eat in Calgary and the ice cream I eat here. I decided to buy a little container of ice cream today because I was lusting for some. It tasted like the milk I drank earlier. Mind you, I bought it at a convenience store. Even convenience store ice cream tastes better than Dairy Queen ice cream. o_o Seriously. So, so so... Good

THIRD DAY (Japan: Sunday 10 2010) Final day:
Damn, I was mighty tired today. I was supposed to wake up at 7AM to get ready but I just couldn't. I somehow rationed another hour of sleep and still made it to the University around the same time yesterday. I figured that since the bus will come at 9:35AM, I'd might as well sleep until 8, rush and get ready to leave the house by 9 then make it comfortable on time to catch the bus without waiting 45min like the day before. So yea, here's what actually happened: I overslept by 15mins. (8:15AM) After my shower, it was 8:40AM. After I got changed, fixed my hair and ate: 9:00AM. After packing and leaving: 9:10AM. When I got to the station, the train came the moment I stepped on the platform. (9:15AM) I was planning on catching the train at 9:00, lol. It takes roughly 15 minutes to go from my station to the station where I'm supposed to get off. (I wanted 15 minutes of casual walking time) But anyhow, I arrived at my designated station at 9:32AM. My bus comes at 9:35AM, lol. I ended up running up the stairs and jumped into the bus just as the bus driver started up the engine, LOL! Oh, that was a close one.

Anyhow, I made it to the University around the same time as yesterday. I went into the room and made some more gyoza and took more pictures. Today was a rainy day so I guess I didn't mind staying inside. Again, during breaks, I splurged the tents trying various things. I've had okonomiyaki (A pancake-like dish which contains cabbage and batter, topped with deliciousness), ramen, crepes, parfaits and a pickle throughout the two days I was at the University... Yum. =) I bumped into Christine and Lisa during my Ramen eating session. I introduced them to one of the members and from there, they were redirected to the room. After eating, I returned to the room and lol, Christine and Lisa were (in my mind) coerced into making gyozas. I ended up joining them and took some more fun pictures afterward.  Today was the last day so I helped clean up. We all went to an Izakaya afterward to celebrate our wonderful achievements the last two days. Before I go into the details: I noticed that Japanese isn't so hard to follow after spending 2 days listening for hours to people talk while making gyozas. My major problem right now is vocab. I need a kick start on vocab asap.

Cleaning time

Picture of Shutto taking pictures of people. I was done drying dishes so I decided to take a tiny break.

The guy with green dress shirt is Alex. He's always wearing a suit and all of us wonder why but he won't tell us.

This be Kent-san trying to be a cat, I think.

A candid picture of Shutto, lol. He wanted to know why another girl and I were laughing so hard, lol.

Lalala... Waiting

Okay, now about the Izakaya... Lisa left before we left the University because she did not want to go. Only Christine stayed behind. There were a total of 4 international students who went to the Izakaya, including myself. Christine, a Russian guy named Alex and some other guy who came from Nova Scotia. We took the train to 豊水すすきの (hosui susukino) a train stop right before my station. During the train ride, another group member decided to poke fun at Bucchi because he was the youngest one in the group. It turns out Bucchi is extremely ticklish. We finally made it to the Izakaya where Kent made a toast. A few people were suckered into a drinking game. We all ate skewer food, salad and potatoes, lol. I ordered two drinks: a pineapple cocktail and a peach cocktail. It turns out that you can eat and drink as much as you want at this Izakaya for 2hrs for 2,500Y. If I knew, I would've forced myself to drink a third one. I didn't feel overly obnoxious after the second one, surprisingly. I also took a few pictures.

How very modelesque of you, Christine. If it's not obvious yet: Japanese love the peace sign. =)

This be Bucchi-san. The baseball jocky, lol.

The guy with the white shirt on the right is fluent in English and Japanese. I was seriously "wtf?! How is he so good at both?" I asked Christine earlier and it turns out that he came from Alaska. His mom is Japanese so he can speak Japanese and English fluently. I was damn surprised.

Near the end of the night

Drunk Kent being fly

People starting to leave.

And to end this photo gallery: A drunk picture of Bucchi.

While waiting for drinks, I decided it would be a good idea to take out my "Dirty Japanese" book to spark a conversation. In a way, it was a good conversation started at our table but it was also embarrassing. I had a fun time trying to explain that the book contains useful expressions and facts but it also contains some adult expressions. Either way, it was a fun night. I also took a bunch of pictures. =) We left around 10:30PM. A group of people decided to go Karaoke but I decided to pass. I needed to take the train and God knows how long they're going for Karaoke. I wanted to catch my train to go home. =(
So in the end, A bunch of us went home. =) I took the train with Maria while everyone else took JR. I guess it's easier to talk on an individual basis than amongst a group. I got back to my room at around 11:30. I turned the hallway light, changed, brushed then laid on my bed. I was planning on doing a bit of studying but wow... I guess I was very tired. I instantly passed out the moment I touched my pillow. I don't remember slowly drifting into sleep at all. I thought only 15 or so minutes passed after I opened my eyes but it must've been around 5 or 6AM since I saw sunlight. And well... crap. I forgot to turn off the hallway light. -sigh- My poor utility bill. Anyhow, I turned off the light then went back to sleep. I woke up at 11AM and felt well rested. =) (Hoorah) Probably the first time in a long time where I slept in until 11AM. And now here I am, typing away. =) That's all for now. Today is a holiday so no school. School officially starts tomorrow! Hohoho. Take care everyone.