Julie checking in

Thanks, Ben, for setting up this blog! I feel so official, and all cutting-edge-like.

Seems like I might as well tell an Osaka story while I'm here.... Yesterday was a holiday in Japan, and we spent the day soaking in some culture as part of our elective class. First we took the train out to Takarazuka, where we visited the Tezuka Manga museum. Apparently, he's sort of the Walt Disney of Japanese cartoons. I am now a BlackJack fangirl. He's soooo dreamy. They had a lot of original art and old comic books, and a very cool software lab where you could draw and animate your own characters, or play around with a coloring book animation program sort of like the Children's Hospital kiosks that an ETC team made a few years ago.


























Next, we went to a Takarazuka show. It was amazing. The first part was a play, the second part more like a crazy Vegas-style singing and dancing extravaganza. The really unique thing is that all the parts, male and female, are played by women.

Lastly, we shared some excellent Sichuan food for dinner. Oh, and watched the end of Clone High. All in all, a good holiday.