PRE-DEPARTURE; Summer begins

I. Semester update
The spring semester at CMU has now ended and the summer before my study abroad for fall has started. I plan to save up as much as possible for my ticket and other expenses during this time.

So I am continuing to write for Central Michigan Life as a staff reporter during this time, and am also searching for a summer job that can give more hours. Since we are paid per article not per hour CM-Life is great in addition to a summer job as a choice for me to save up money.

Also, I will hear about the winners of the Gilman and Bridging Japan Scholarships later this month. 

II. A Note on Food and Nara Plans
I have been in contact with Ryan Boundless who has a YouTube channel and Facebook dedicated to helping foreigners in Japan through videos on obscure things such as grocery shopping, and other cultural notes. Anytime you can look at what are called J-Vlogs (Japan Video Blogs) I would recomend it, since they have so many little and big tips about Japan-things you hardly hear about elsewhere. 

Other J-Vloggers I follow are Brother Annie,  Afternoon no Hirusagari a bi-lingual Japanese/English miniseries, BC Podcast, and many others who Vlog on Youtube about their experiences as foreigners in Japan.

Screenshot of the group page

Ryan Boundless suggested a Meetupsite called Vegan Kansai Meetup Group which is not just for Vegans, but also Vegetarians, and people just wanting to eat healthy. The group caters toward helping people to find other like-minded healthy eaters in the area where they share tips, and great food!

I also came across a great Organic Farmers Market find when I was searching on healthy foods in and near Nara! It has been in operation for about 2 years and is right in front of the JR Nara station. Nara Organic Farmers Market.

I absolutely plan to make my own foods, and want to meet the farming community in Nara so it is a logical step for me to frequent the market. Plus, I know this is a healthy and affordable alternative to relying on ready-made foods constantly. Foods like rice, tofu, eggs, and homemade Ramen are a sure way to make your money last while eating healthy.

III. Weather and info on Nara
I looked up the coordinates for Nara, knowing it would be similar to the weather in the southern United States but wanting to know more. Basically it was similar to South Carolina as far as the temperature goes.

I know Wikipedia isn't the best source of information, but it had the simple statistics I was looking for and a general overview of the terrain and climate information nicely organized Wikipedia Nara info.

Population comparison

*Nara Prefecture

Total population: 386,636 people

Density: 3,448.8 per square mile

*Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Total population: 26,016 people

Density: 3,361.2 per square mile

*Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo

Total population: 193,091 people

Density: 44,217.8 per square mile

So Nara has a pretty similar amount per square mile, but is a larger area with more people since the numbers I got were for the prefecture and not the city itself. 

This makes me happy to have an even more relaxed environment in comparison to my Tokyo experiences, even though the area of Tokyo I was in wasn't as metropolitan.

Also the region of Nara I will be in, according to Wikipedia and my friend Eric in Nara right now, is pretty mountainous. I'm excited since I miss the hills and mountain areas of Tennessee where I spent several years and love wooded hill-side areas, and would love to see areas like this.

Rounded Comparison figures from 

Wikipedia and The Weather Channel (fall semester)

Nara's Temperature & Precip.

*Sept. 66-83°F & 6.4 Inches

*Oct.   54-72°F & 4.4 Inches

*Nov.  44-62°F & 2.8 Inches

*Dec.  35-53°F & 1.9 Inches 

Michigan's Temperature & Precip.

*Sept. 50-72°F & 3.2 Inches

*Oct. 39-59°F & 3.1 Inches

*Nov.  29-45°F & 2.8 Inches

*Dec.  20-33°F & 2.14 Inches

I will be starting classes September 2 the month with the third highest rainfall during the year next to June and July in Nara. My semester ends in late December.

IV. Plans to Explore
During my 'researching' on Nara I found another place I want to go; Kasugayama Primeval Forest.

Screenshot of Kasugayama Google Image Search

I just read an article that gives a deeper look on Nara, Japan and they mentioned this beautiful wooded region that reminds me of something from the Japanese film Princess Mononoke.

Article screenshot at cnnasttraveler.com

And here is a video of the forest from BUSSYYYY's  YouTube channel.