This Blog

In this blog, an international student from Japan used to write about what she felt lovely in Ann Arbor (A2), Michigan. Although she graduated in 2007 and went back to Japan, she still loves A2 and continues to write her recent situation, comparing to her life in A2.

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日本語版 (Japanese ver.)

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About Me

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I graduated from The University of Michigan (umich) in 2007, and now work as a TV reporter in Japan. I went to the U.S. in Jan. 2005 to study communication - it was the first time for me to go abroad.
I got an A.A. degree in speech communication in California, and B.A. degree in psychology at umich (+ music minor).

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Car in A2 !?

So much to write, so little time! Well, I probably did have some time, but I have been out of condition for a week or so…

So, for that reason, I will go back to the beginning of this week to tell you how inconvenient it is to have a car in A2!!!



On Monday night, I watched a DVD with my classmates (eating pizza), and because it took until late, my professor gave me (+ another classmate) a ride. It was a great help for me since it was raining, but I was surprised when I heard that she paid about $500 (I forgot exact price... It may be $600) to the Univ. for parking per year... In spite of her payment, the prof. sometimes has trouble finding a parking spot. I should have prepared for my next day's parking when I heard this...

On Tuesday morning, I went to school by my roommate’s car because I had been asked to pick her up at the airport after school (She had been in her country for some days). I parked the car in the center of the central campus, in front of Sushi.come, 10 minutes before my class started. I got out of the car and fed the parking meter. It said "15 minutes for a quarter," so I should get 90 minutes for $1.5 (6 quarters), right? Was I wrong? ...Yes, I was wrong! The meter seemed to be satisfied with only 2 quarters and stopped adding the minutes at 00:30 (30 minutes) even though I fed 4 or 5 quarters! After a while, I noticed that there was another sentence under "15 minutes for a quarter" saying "No more than 30 minutes" (What the heck
).

I however knew it was the only spot I could find around there. The class I was about to attend was very small and there would be a guest speaker on the day; it meant I would not be able to run back and forth between the classroom and the car to feed the meter every 30 minutes. I got the car started and left there to find a new spot: After all, I couldn't find it.

The big reason why I could not find a spot might be that I didn't usually drive, so I cannot insist that having a car in A2 (around our campus, to be exact) is a very bad idea. Since big grocery stores such as Kroger and Meijer are not so close to campus (20-30 minutes by bus from central campus), your grocery shopping must become easier with a car. HOWEVER, keep in mind that parking charges are not cheap around campus, including residential areas, and looking for a parking spot is so stressful!!

Then, what should we do? One of my friends comes to school by bus even though he has a car; it may be a smart choice. Or you don't even need a car (I don't ). The prof. said the Univ. didn't pay for faculties' parking because they recommended university members, including students and faculties, to use buses saying that we could ride both the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) buses (city bus) and the U-M buses, aka the Blue Bus (operated by the Univ.), for free. I actually know some faculties (and many students) who do not own a car. Although taking the bus is not super convenient and comfortable, I think these bus services are good enough to be used in everyday life; JFYI, the Blue Bus operates every 5-20 minutes from about 7am to 3am (completely depends on the route: See the link for more details). In addition to the buses, the Univ. and the AATA offer free or inexpensive($5) shared-ride taxi services during nighttime hours (See this link). I used the free ride home service last night! I will write about these bus & taxi services in the near future


BTW, I got a call from my roommate just after I started to the airport saying that her friend would be able to pick her up

Link: ・ University of Michigan Parking & Transportation Services
Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA)

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Saturday, October 13, 2007

Squirrels

Average temperature in Ann Arbor:

Oct. 8th - 74°F
  ↓
Oct. 10th - 48°F   [Data from AccuWeather.com]

W-What's this gap!? 8O

It was 34 degrees last night... It's getting so cold these days... :mrgreen:


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