Photos by Huiting Lian (Maryland Institute College of Art), Student Correspondent for AICAD in Japan, Spring 2023
In Japan, there are always so many characteristic hidden in the manhole covers. My school is located in Suita city, which is the city famous of its Tower of Sun. As I’m walking to school from the JR train station, I saw the manhole cover with the engrave of the tower in the middle.
When I visited Ikeda city with CET group, I also saw their mascot on the manhole cover.
On the way to an Okonomiyaki restaurant, we ran into a kindergarten school bus with the appearance of Dalmatian. I feel very much like being in an anime.
My only time getting on a Miffy collaborated JR train. It’s the train I took everyday for school. If I keep riding on the train to its destination, it will take me to Kyoto!
It’s very rare to see snow in Osaka, but we got the chance to have snowy days this year. In the morning, I saw actual fire under the rail to heat it up.
On the second week of the program, I went to Settsu Elementary School with my class to experience the life in an Japanese elementary school. We had lunch in the classroom with a six grade class and gave presentation about our own cultural events.
You can see me presenting about China’s Lantern Festival here.
On the back wall of the class room, calligraphy pieces written by all the classmates are being displayed.
Since I live in a single apartment room, my friend that lives in a share house invited me to make hotpot/お鍋 together at their place after class. The photo shows the boiling scene of the hotpot. The Japanese style chicken flavored soup base has a light but very delicious taste.
I’m also being very much like a tourist outside the class time. I visited the どんぐり共和国 in Osaka during a weekend. どんぐり共和国 sells all kind of goods related to Ghibli movies. This is me and the huge Totoro in the front of the store.