Gifu Castle and Hanami

花見（はなみ）When translated it simply means "flower-watching". Once a year in Japan, the cherry blossoms bloom, and it's a big deal. No one is ever exactly sure when Hanami is going to be celebrated, but it's usually around mid-April. I am incredibly fortunate that my relatively short stay of three months fell during this glorious period. Unfortunately, I only really had the opportunity to take pictures at night, so you can'y really see the real beauty of these flowers. 

I was shocked at how short of a time they bloomed. I think it may have been around two weeks? Three? No idea really, but was certainly faster than I thought it would be. 

Also. Gifu Castle. It was bound to happen, guys! It was actually smaller than I thought it would be! 

Recently I've been very busy with school. I'm not 100% sure, but I'm almost positive I'm going to be taking midterms for all my classes in about 2 weeks. Definitely have a Japanese midterm, if nothing else.

So I've started to put a bit more effort into my classes. But I must admit, it's not easy at all. Learning World History, Biology, Modern Lit, you-name-it. Take any class and conduct it in Japanese, and you're simply not going to do well. 

Studying abroad forces you to readjust your opinion of whats a "good grade". It spins your "satisfaction wheel" out of control. For example, a D grade would have sent me crying to my room back home. Actually, I think I would have died... haha

But in Japan, getting even just one out of five points on a Biology quiz is a success in my book. In fact, usually getting that one point takes at least 30 minutes of studying. I know. It's that hard. (last time I got 2 points I studied about 10 sentences for over an hour) And it's not like I'm just studying for once class, here..

The problem with tests(and classes in general) is that:

a.) you may know the material, but you will likely not know the vocab. in Japanese

b.) even if you do know the vocab, there is no way you're going to know all the kanji you'll see in the questions

c.) I don't have any textbooks, unlike other students. I have to borrow from my host sister, who also needs to study

d.) I've already gotten into the college I wanted to... A.K.A motivation issues (...does it really matter?)

But for me what it really comes down to is improvement. Already my comprehension, ability to write, and speaking skills have improved. And that makes me happy. I'm still a long shot away from even touching fluency, but being even somewhat proficient is good enough for me (for now).

Anyway, on to the photos!

 Past all the rows of cherry blossom trees were food stands. Soo delicious! I had meat :)

 Gifu Castle is lit up epicly.

 I look like such a dork in this picture :B

The following pictures are of the inside of the castle:

 These hollow gourds are a huge deal in Gifu

 Obligatory Samurai statue!

 A map of Gifu from the old days. 

 You can see my taking a picture of this scroll. Creepy..

 Swordssss

 Gunssss

There were plenty of art scrolls with angry men

 Just look at that expression

 A picture of a picture

 Sometimes Japan really has the creepy thing down pat

Last but not least, cool pictures. Is that vague? Take a look for yourself, I'm tired xD

 Who says you can't switch up camera poses every now and then? The peace sign gets kind of old...xD

Anywhoodles, I've got 5 tests tomorrow that I need to go battle. 

See ya!

P.S. Who is this? Guess in the comments! (And yes, I already know the answer ;P )