Hello everyone! I was planning on writing a post earlier than this, but nothing of interest really happened during the fourth week, so I decided to delay the post for another week rather than write about studying more words and taking more tests. The only thing of note during week four was completing Genki 2 for good, and starting Hyaku, which is Columbia University’s answer to Tobira, the more commonly used intermediate textbook. It feels good to definitively say “intermediate” at long last rather than beginner; I feel as though I’ve finally reached a new phase in my studies. This new textbook, however, isn’t really the best for how I prefer to learn, and so I spent a lot of my free time last week adjusting to the new textbook. Thus the lack of interesting content.
My time in Kobe this week, however, more than made up for all of that. I visited Kobe shortly after the conclusion of my test on Thursday, and arrived via the Shinkansen later the same day. Taking the bullet train was an incredibly fun experience and a real time-saver, allowing me to actually go explore the city the first night I was there! Walking around Kobe was quite fun because one of the Japanese students I know at Doshisha University is from Kobe and lives there, so he had lots of recommendations for where to visit and what to do, which I really appreciated. We visited the Chinatown and the local synagogue, which were both fun. Shabbat evening service at that synagogue was amazing, despite us not having enough for a minyan (the 10 person minimum required for prayer), so we ended up having to shorten services quite dramatically as a result. I particularly enjoyed the Halacha study with another rabbi at the table and getting to meet a Japanese Chabad convert–yes, really! My only disappointment with my time in Kobe is that the fabled Kobe beef isn’t all that different from bison in taste, I think, and isn’t really worth the price. Save the cash and the visit for something else if one feels inclined to give it a try.
Next week, I plan to visit Mt. Hiei in the west of the city, and see if I can’t get a chance at getting a good photo of Lake Biwa, or of the Philosopher’s Path.