Freedom!!!

Yes that's right. I am currently done with ALL of my finals and papers. It feels so good... but now I want to go out and celebrate... but tomorrow I have to wake up early to go to Enoshima. That's a beach by Kamakura where we are going to celebrate the end of school, and have fireworks and such. It'll be a group of friends and it's going to be SO much fun!!! I can't wait ^__^ Until then.. just packing and relaxing after a nice jog outside :)

Update

Today I again on the host kid's good side :) Also my final for Contemporary Japanese Society went well I think... Just imagine an exam with 60 questions, and each question is worth 2% of your final grade. Talk about scary...

Ok so tonight is going to be a jam packed night of essay writing! WOOO!!!! and then I am DONE~! Muahahahahaha freedom!!!

Eh..

Ok so one final down. One more to go... plus two papers... both of which I haven't started yet...

I'm currently in a blah mood. I had a small mishap with the host kid. She was doing her daily English exercises and asked me for help, which I had no problem with. She is a really smart kid, but when it comes to forming her own sentences... she gives up too quickly. She kind of reminds me of me in my Japanese class. I understand the problem, and I know what to write, but I have so many options of what to say that I just can't decide on one answer. This leads to frustration and resentment to the assignment in front of me. After struggling with the question, I could see the frustration starting to build up on her face. This turned to tears as she thought of just a single question in English that she could write. I knew she knew the meaning because she could say it in Japanese... well this frustration of course lead to tears as she got up and went to the other room. I didn't know what to do so I left too.

This was again replayed to my host mom during our dinner discussion. She was curious as to what happened and we both explained it to her. I'm a little worried for my host kid... she'll soon be moving to an all English speaking country, and I'm afraid there won't be people patient enough to help her. Especially when she doesn't want to try harder. It's difficult to be upset with her though... she's just a kid, and it shouldn't really be my business.

Only THREE more days until I am free from the binds of finals. Then I can relax and enjoy the last bit of Japan before I go home. I MISS MY FAMILY!!!! But I know I'll miss Japan just as much...

Random

If I could have any pet in the world right now, aside from a cat, I would probably get a Fennec Fox. It's random, but they are so adorable!!!! This photo was found online by the way. Also on a total tangent, it is currently insanely windy and I believe may start to thunderstorm... which is totally amazing cause the heat of the day is just unbearable. I just have to survive until Wednesday, and then I'm free!! My brain just gets tired from walking outside... seriously don't want to study right now :P

Meh..

Today was a so so day. I had my Kanji portion of my Japanese final. Unfortunately I was so nervous my mind went blank when it came time to the kanji. Seriously I couldn't remember even the simplest thing... even Japanese on the whole became impossible. Can't really do much in times like that. Afterwards I went to see the new Ghibli movie with my friends to sort of cheer me up. It was really cute and a great Japanese exercise because there were no English subtitles. I was proud to say that I recovered from the test and was able to understand most of the movie ^__^

Tomorrow I will try to wake up early, go for a run, gotta go to Akihabara to check out some electronics for dad, and then return the rest of the hiking stuff to Yuko-san. If you look at it, even though I don't have any cultural adventures this weekend, it's still going to be insanely busy. A lot of last minute things to do, and packing is so crucial. I have way too much shit... but I must at least finish the major packing by the weekend. Only one more week left! A mix of 'can't wait to go back home' and 'shit I'm not ready to leave yet'. Oh well... I guess some Japanese events will just have to be left until next time :P

Tokyo Bay Cruise!!!

Today I went on a cruise around Tokyo bay. It was awesome!!! If you wore a yukatta, you also get 50% off the price. So the cruise for two hours, plus all you can drink was 1500 yen. Not bad... the food there wasn't too expensive either, and it was delicious!!! Basically it was a night of fun, dancing (kinda), music, and a beautiful view. Check out the photos... although I don't think it did it justice :P

Nikko

I feel that every day this past week has been crazy. Always doing something... so exhausting. Today I went to Nikko, which is also named as a World Heritage Sight. It was beautiful and old looking and quite peaceful, but I wouldn't say that Nikko impacted me in any way. There was nothing too WOW factor about it that I was expecting. Many people that went before us were saying that if you could go anywhere, Nikko is a must. I guess I am happy that I went, and it was a different experience, but since it took us 4 hours to get there, and 4 hours back, we didn't see as much. I felt that we were mostly looking for food the entire time, considering how we didn't eat lunch. All day it was just little bits of random shit. I feel a tad unhealthy.

I did get to see the See no Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil place. It was a lot smaller than I expected. No statue either. The overall vibe was peaceful, and after the scorching heat of the city, the cool breeze that Nikko provided was a nice change. I will upload the photos, and you guys can be the judge. I think I may have been a harsh critic today because I'm just really tired.

Fuji has wiped me out, and I have been so active for the past while that I have no time to rest. I actually don't even have time to rest until I go home. Every day will be filled with something... so crazy. Tomorrow is Disney, Tuesday is farewell party on a cruise in a yukatta (haha get 1/2 off if you wear a yukatta), Wednesday is the Edo Tokyo Museum... and some other museum, Thursday is catch up/ study for finals, and Osaka maybe this weekend to visit my friend Masa. At least the 27th is the last day of finals ^__^ Oh and I have to squeeze in two papers somewhere in that crazy schedule. At least I am seeing everything that I can before I leave. After this week ends, I can cross of so many things on my To do list! Well until tomorrow with the Disney update... peace out.

Amusement Park

Today I went to an amusement park with my host family ^__^ It was a lot of fun... until I got a really bad stomach ache. I think I got some bad stomach bug from bad food :( Oh well... the park was still fun! Also I got lucky and it turned out to be a cosplay day, where a lot of Japanese girls, and guys dress up as their favorite anime character. It was really amusing. I also went on a mini roller coaster (thumbs up). After I got a hair cut.. got my bangs back!! According to my friends, I looked better with bangs.. then I came home, had dinner, and checked email. Not as exciting. I'll upload the photos from today, and then pass out. Tomorrow is a long day... an adventure to Nikko!! YAY!!!

Fujisan cont.

More photos from Fujisan have been uploaded!! Check it out :) Today we had our farewell party for the CIEE program... super sad right? It feels like I just got here. Anyways, I am exhausted... and ready to pass out.

Mt. Fuji Summit

I am currently writing this after coming home from Mt. Fuji. It was seriously the hardest thing I have ever done in my whole life. I wanted to quit so many times along the way, but I continued on the dangerous path and climbed all the way to the top. Unfortunately it was really cloudy so I was not able to see the sunrise, but I did get to briefly see pink clouds.

So let me start from the beginning... I'm writing it now, even though I'm exhausted, cause I figure it would be the freshest in my head. To begin with, if you were to climb Mt. Fuji, I highly recommend bringing:

1.) Money, you need to pay for the bus there and back, also some food, hot drinks, and stamps for your walking pole
2.) Head lamp and extra batteries (THIS IS CRUCIAL!!)
3.) Warm clothes, layers, rain proof gear, extra set to change into later, hat and gloves
4.) Water, snacks, food
5.) sunscreen
6.) small towel
7.) hand warmers
8.) tissues for bathroom, as well as 100 yen coins
9.) BUY a walking pole at souvenir store.... trust me, you are going to want this
10.) a cover for your backpack
11.) Camera!! and don't forget small plastic bags and big plastic bags to put everything in... it WILL get wet.

If I think of any more, I will let you know... so my climb started at Station 5. If anyone says this is easy, they are dead wrong. Our bus drove up there around 8:15 pm.... and after we got changed and such, we only started climbing at 9:00, and officially started the climb the mountain at 9:30. It was pitch black, and all you have is your head light and a stick for support... not to mention that your backpack is pretty heavy. Definitely pace yourself. We started out with five members in our group... all girls! This soon turned into 4 girls because one of our friends just couldn't take the altitude and had problems breathing and keeping up. There is no clean path up Fujisan. It starts out pretty neat and has some steps and you think... yeah I can do this. HAH! Just wait until past station 7. That's when the stairs disappear and you are left with climbing rocks. The only way you know that you are going on the right path is if there is a string border... and thats if you shine your head lamp at it. Otherwise, like my other friend, you may end up going the wrong way. A more dangerous way where the rocks are steeper than they are supposed to be for that part. There were times when the rocks were just so steep that it feels impossible to climb or were too slippery or just slipped out from under you. Did I mention that it was also raining?? and getting cold? If there weren't gusts of heavy rain, it was always misty. I felt like a vegetable in the veggie section of a supermarket. The ones that are constantly misted to look fresh? Yeah... kinda like that, except you get soaked.

There are overall 10 stations on Mt. Fuji... but honestly it's more like 1 to 5, then a 6 you barely see, 7, 8.25, 8.5, the real 8, 9 you barely see, and then BAM you're on top. The eight's pissed us off. After climbing so long in the awful weather, and being almost blown off several times, you are still at station 8. It was raining it what seemed like all directions. There was nowhere to hide. Pretty much expect that you will get soaked. No matter how good your rainproof gear is, you will still get soaked. At one point I was so numb that I couldn't even think anymore. I just went from one rock to another hoping that I will be there soon. The past several nights, the wind was also 80 to 90 mph. Can you imagine this?? My friend got blown backwards and fell. Luckily a tour group was behind her so they were able to catch her before she hit her head on a rock. Trust me when I say this... this climb was incredibly difficult. All I knew was the when the wind was blowing, get close to the ground and pray you don't lose balance and fall down.

They also sell oxygen tanks at each station, but I didn't use one. I did have trouble breathing at several points and my head did get light headed, but when I got to a station, I was fine so I didn't buy it. By they way, they cost 1600 yen.

At one point we got stuck behind a tour group... they too were having difficulties. What frustrated me the most was the leader.... every now and then she would say 'あと、もう少し’ which translated would but just a little more... she kept saying this for about what seemed like an hour!! 少し my ass... yeah they were words of encouragement, but when you are being given false hope in such a situation, you probably would be pissed too.

I think I almost started crying with happiness when I saw the red tory, which symbolized the top, and end of the upward journey. By then it was freezing, and the winds were RIDICULOUS!!! I kid you not. There were times when I swear I thought I was going to die. SO scary!!! Seriously... so so scary. "Why am I doing this?" I kept asking myself the entire way... But I made it.... I couldn't stop shivering once they let us into this hut thing. I ordered miso ramen and after such a journey, that was the best ramen I ever had. I also had to buy two hot drinks because I just couldn't stop shaking. My friend cried when she reached the top. She was so happy. We were all so cold...

I think we stayed at the top for about an hour before climbing back down... which was a snaked path where you could easily fall or slide down. At the top there is also a post office, where I mailed two post cards :) and I also got a stamp on my walking stick. Each station has a special stamp... I'm just really regretful that I didn't get it at station 8. I was going to get it, but I figured if I get it at 9, then it would be motivation to keep going... my bad for not knowing that station 9 was barely noticeable.

It took us a total of 7 hours to get from station 5 to the top, and then another 6 hours to get back down. My legs are hurting SO bad right now, it's not even funny. I was also scared the entire time that if my knee pops out at any point during the climb, I'm pretty much fucked. It's kind of like fend for yourself sort of deal. There are first aid stations... but only at the stations. I guess if I pop my knee out between stations I can kind of crawl my way there?? Also you don't really get a phone signal on the mountain.

Obviously we all passed out on the bus back home, and right now, as I sit on my bed writing this enormously long blog, the climb up to Fujisan seems almost like a dream. After going through such an ordeal, I honestly don't know where I got the will to do it, and how I was able to keep going, when everything was screaming for me to stop. I'm happy though... I can now cross another item off of my Things to Do in Japan list ^__^

Nervous... excited... anxious.. omg

So today after class I decided to check out Sunshine CIty and Ice cream City that was in it. I heard that it had 300 different flavors of ice cream... and all different kinds too. I recruited my friends Kelly and Gwen to come with me. I had a simple ice milk flavor, while Gwen had this gewy type ice cream. Kelly had the most interesting... beef tongue. I got to try it, and just as it sounds, it was disgusting... blah. It even had real chunks of meat in it. Other flavors included beer, sake, souchu, octopus, eel, garlic, curry, shark fin, etc. It's like Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean... Ice cream version. Haha it was a lot of fun! Even the place itself was pretty cool. I wish I had my camera on me, but unfortunately I forgot it at home. Or more like I was charging it at home... and do you know why? its because tomorrow is MT. FUJI!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHH!!!!! I'm so nervous!!! Finally I am going to climb to the top of Mt. Fuji. I borrowed the rain/ hiking gear from Yuko-san. We are honestly talking about the whole package. Even a head lamp, which will be convenient because I am climbing it at night. Starting from 8 pm, I will be slowly making my way to the top. Just in time to see the sunrise ^__^ I also plan to send post cards from the top. I'm super nervous... the weather may not be ideal for the hike, but I'm sure it will be fine. I just hope we don't take the wrong path, like all of my guy friends who just climbed this past Friday. Talk about your 'Oh Shit' moment when you end up on the other side of the mountain.

I guess on top of all this worry, I also have two short papers due on Friday, and a Japanese test tomorrow morning. School sucks when you are in a different country and trying to explore. But I did find out that my last final is on the 27th of July, and then I am free as a bird!

Next time I update, I will have hopefully returned from the top of Mt. Fuji safely and with a ton of photos to prove it! :)

Okazaki!!

So finally... after like what? 16 or so years, I return to Okazaki. This weekend has honestly been a whirl wind. In the past two days I have met with 9 different people... and not all at one place. Originally I was going to go to Okazaki with Yuko-san on Saturday, but instead I left earlier in order to see more of Okazaki. So I got there on Friday and Hamano-san and his wife picked me up. At this point... he and his wife are total strangers because I honestly didn't remember them. Luckily Hamano-san knew English and loved to practice speaking it. To my surprise, he also knew Russian!! Well he drove me to Okawara-san's house, where I spent the first night. That night we had a party where Suzuki-san, Yamamoto-san, Hamano-san and wife, and Okawara-san (duh), and the Sobirova family was there too. I took lots of photos so check it out :)

The second day I went to Mitsuhashi-san's house (Michiko-san). Kamia-san then came over and we talked. See pictures... Afterward we went to get my hair done and dress up in a kimono for seijinshiki. This is a traditional ceremony for Japanese people when they turn 20. Normally they spend at least 500 dollars to get this done. To rent a kimono costs so much money! I got to wear Michiko-san's kimono. This blog entry is not as exciting as the photos. On Sunday I met up with Nakamura-san and then Dyadya Anvar came. It got loud after that. Honestly my trip to Okazaki was so jam packed and crazy. Totally awesome. I even got to have 2 kimonos from Okawara-san, and a yukatta from Michiko-san... along with a gajillion presents for home. Mom and Dad get ready... The only things I hated about Okazaki were the damn mosquitoes... I got bit SO many times its not even funny :( Oh well.. the good experience made up for it. So now its 12:30 in the morning. I am so tired and school is tomorrow. I figure I should first upload all the photos and then go to sleep... that way I don't wait a week to upload :)

The next event will be Mt. Fuji. Hopefully if the weather is good I will be able to climb to the top and see the beautiful sunrise! Until then, good night and peace out ^__^ Oh! and don't forget to check out the photos on the side bar!!!!!

At LAST!!

Haha so after what seems like eternity, I am finally updating. Although it's not as detailed as it could be, it's still going to be a pretty jam packed update ^__^ So to catch up, I have met with Yuko-san, who is the daughter of a good family friend. She took me to a Russian restaurant in Shinjuku, which was totally awesome!! and sooo delicious! Anyways, we took a shot of vodka together (this means that Yuko-san has jumped up on the totally awesome people list.) This Friday I will probably go see a tea ceremony at the place where she takes classes, and then Saturday morning I will take a shinkansen to Okazaki. I am so excited!... and a bit nervous. Okazaki is somewhat of a rural area where hardly anybody speaks English. This will be a true test of my Japanese speaking ability. Hehehe... oh man...

Anyways, so after that the CIEE program organized a trip to Hiroshima and Miyajima. It was a really nice all expense paid trip. Aka... thanks to all the parents who paid our tuition that allowed us to go on this trip ;P On Friday night, we took a shinkansen to Hiroshima, and the trip would have been nice except for the fact that a couple of guys thought it would be cool to pregame a shinkansen. Idiots... who the hell pregames a shinkansen? Lucky for me and my friend... they sat right next to us. The total time it takes from Tokyo to Hiroshima is about four hours. During these four hours, not once did these guys stop talking. It came to the point that other Japanese passengers were starting to complain at how loud we were. They even threatened to talk to the authority and stop the train. Oh snap... they meant business.

So after we got to Hiroshima, we went straight to our hotel. Each person had our own room (big big mistake on their part... and you will find out later as to why.) We got to Hiroshima at around midnight and had to wake up early the next day so pretty much everyone passed out right away. Me included. Unfortunately come Saturday morning, when we had to get up at like 6 or 7, I woke up at 9. Just guess as to how I was woken up.... this gets kind of amusing now that I can reflect on it several weeks later. Anyways, I was woken up by the phone in the room. The CIEE group leaders had to get the front desk to call me and wake me up because I'm such a heavy sleeper that I somehow managed to sleep through the 6 alarms that I set for myself. Yes that's right 6 alarms!! >_<

Sanno Matsuri

So I'm uploading a whole bunch of photos. You can view them on the side bar... and yes I realize that I will never again wear that outfit. Blah... sometimes not having a full length mirror in the house can have its drawbacks :(

earthquake

Just experienced my first minor earthquake. Bed shook and everything... I know I should have been scared, but it was all rather exciting ^_^

cont.

I found the better song... and I found the artist/ band too ^__^ It's Caravan Palace

Awesome..

Ok so I am in LOVE with this CD and electro swing. It is just so awesome there are no words to describe it. You just have to listen... (The CD contains even better music):

Where exactly am I from?

This may sound emo... so lately I have been wondering about which country I belong to. I know it's a little strange to say, but I honestly feel lost. Here everyone asks 'where are you from?' and I reply the US. When finding out I can speak Russian... they ask again, 'wait... where are you from?' to which I reply Uzbekistan. Despite this, I feel that I am more American since most of my life has been spent in the US.

I like the fact that I was born in Uzbekistan. Growing up I realized that being different is more interesting. It's like I don't know where I am. I'm neither a complete American nor Tatar. Rather than saying what country I'm from, I just want to reply 'does it really matter.' I'm just me :)

So weird... yet totally awesome!

Today I bought something at a store and the guy the cashier walked with my purchase all the way to the escalator before handing it to me. I kind of felt like a princess :P

Other than that.. nothing too interesting happened. After classes I went to eat dinner with a friend at a place that turned out to be a bar. The food we ordered was small, but surprisingly delicious and incredibly flavorful. Gotta love Shinjuku and its many restaurants.

Super short yet delicious

So today's post is going to be, as the title says, super short. Today was my friend Justine's birthday so we went out to celebrate. As a cake we bought this Japanese dessert, which is basically a chunk of bread, with a scoop of ice cream and whipped cream on top. It was delicious! The bread is cut into chunks halfway from the top, and the sides of each chunk are coated with honey butter... oh man... it was good ^__^ I took photos with my phone. Before that we also went to this bar crawl type place in Shinjuku, where there are a whole lot of little bars one after another. We are talking about really little bars... maybe sits about 7 people at most. We went to one that had a Ramones poster on the outside. The bartender had a bleached mohawk, which was awesome, and we also got to choose the songs we wanted to hear.

Today was also the last part of the Japanese midterm. I think I did meh... I didn't really worry about it too much, or stress over it until the last moment. I'm just happy it is over. Now I am exhausted and ready to pass out... but I wanted to share my wonderful dessert tonight.

Update on the simple things.

Today I had the speaking test for Japanese. I sort of freaked a little when I realized I forgot one of the crucial props for our skit (cell phone.) Oh well... everyone laughed, but it's all good. Tomorrow is the Kanji- listening- reading comprehension portion of the midterm. Should be studying right now, but I figure I would share with you a really cool link.

This is for all the people out there who have no clue about the World Cup. I am so excited for this! I'm not sure if Japan is as pumped for this... in which case I sort of wish I was in Europe right now. How sweet would that be??? Oh man...

Anyways here is the link:

http://www.dailycandy.com/all-cities/video/83709/The-World-Cup-in-Two-Minutes?refcd=email:452679:12

On a less worldly scale... my stomach still feels kinda like crap. Went to the supermarket and bought a bunch of veggies to make the world's healthiest sandwich tomorrow ^__^ Trying to use the veggie power to knock this shit out.

OH! I also babysat for the first time today :) The kid was cute. She didn't listen to a word I said, but I did get to teach her how to say 'water' and 'five' WOOO Productive! It didn't really help that she was cranky and just wanted to sleep. Haha I did find it amusing when she fought with her brother on who gets to fold the handkerchief. (They were helping mom out with laundry) Overall I made the equivalent of 25 dollars for one and a half hours. Sweet right?

Anyways... time to study some Kanji!

Weirdest Shit at Harajuku

Came across this random shirt in Harajuku today...

Bad timing :(

Tomorrow I have my oral presentation for Japanese. Thursday is the Kanji and listening portion of the midterm and Friday is the grammar part. It's wouldn't be as bad if I didn't feel like shit. I think I may have some sort of stomach bug that is starting to reject food in general :( Couple of other people I know are getting it too... I wonder what it is..

Haha I think maybe my stomach is home sick? Oh well... at least I have made friends with two Russian girls, and we may make plov on Friday! I can't wait!! Today I also made friends with three new Japanese kids. I helped them with their Russian studying :)

Now I'm going to pass out. Good night ^__^

Theme..

Here is another compilation with that Flag song. I absolutely love this:

Toyota Show Case

Today I also went to the Toyota Show Case place for new cars. Some of the things were so sweet! There is nothing more I can say to describe them so just look at the photos :) Since I took the photos using my cell phone, it's a pain in the butt to upload every single one... so I'm only leaving you with a couple. Dad, if you are reading this... I'm sure you are jealous ;P

MTV Awards!!!

So last night I went to the MTV Awards Japan version. A guy I used to tutor worked for MTV and was able to score me a ticket! ^__^ Gotta appreciate those connections. I wish I was able to show you more pictures, but they confiscated our cameras before. Luckily I still had my phone :) I took only a few pictures but it was a little difficult to get anything. The event was amazing!!! I got to see so many Japanese artists and even Kesha. The Japanese artists/ groups included Big Bang, Chemistry, Exile, W-inds, Superfly, Vanness, Jay-ed, Bradberry Orchestra, etc. Many more with Kanji characters, which for those who can't read them probably wouldn't help. Some of them acted only as presenters.

All I can say is that I never knew just how high pitched Japanese girls can scream. It was ridiculous. Unfortunately I had to stand the full 3 hours, and by the end I was ready to peace out. My feet honestly wanted to commit suicide. I barely crawled back home, but it was worth it.

My favorite presenter for the night was the collaboration of K' Naan and AI for the song "Wavin' Flag." It was so good and made me feel so happy afterward. I hope all of you can enjoy it too :)

Ah! I forgot to mention this!!! In the girl's bathroom they had this one room with japanese porn comics all over the walls, and they were selling sex toys, and glow in the dark necklaces... which many people wore.

http://www.ageha.com/

Too much fun..

This weekend was ridiculous. Two all-nighters in a row... blah. Friday is not as exciting, or worth mentioning, but last night was totally awesome.

Last night I went to Ageha, which is apparently the biggest club in Tokyo. Not gonna lie... it was pretty sweet. There were four different dance areas within Ageha that were about the size of one any other club in Tokyo. All of Ageha sort of looked like a spacious fancy warehouse. The room with techno music was accompanied by strobe lights, flashing colored lights, and fog everywhere. It was so cool too in the area with the house music! Randomly, girls in crazy outfits would appear and pole dance on these giant poles that were all the way to the ceiling (we are talking about a warehouse high ceiling here) So cool! Makes me want to learn how... One of the girls had a white costume that was somewhat renaissance-ish. She was also wearing this crazy beaded and lace mask. SO COOL!!

Outside where they had like Beach type music, there was a small pool. Mostly decoration purposes, but people kept pretending to fall in. It was cute at first, but then it just got old. By the way did I mention that Ageha is pretty much in the middle of nowhere?? From Shibuya, you take a free 20 min bus that shuttles you to the club. Basically if you were to look at a map of the metro, I was on the complete opposite side of where I live. At night Tokyo is all lit up and since the club is by the water, the view is amazing!! There is even a ferris wheel that you can see in the distance. Makes me so sad that I didn't bring a camera :( I guess that's just all the more reason to go again right? Gotta document this shit!

On a total side note... my host kid just crashed into my room yelling. Did I mention she was wearing flashing light devil horns? yeah... completely random... but I'm so totally getting my Halloween costume in Japan!!

But back to the club... for anyone out there looking for a cool must-visit club... go to Ageha. It's slightly pricy for the entrance fee, but it's worth at least going once.

Now I gotta study. Test tomorrow :( and an essay still to write.

A bit of emo...

As I try to write my six page essay I realized I have no clue where to start... or what to write. We are given no direction, and no grading guidelines. Basically we are asked to BS 6 pages. Why? Who knows... to evaluate just how little of Japanese women's history we know? or could it be just how well we can pretend to know nothing? According to the teacher... it is probably the first, but I definitely think everyone is practicing their art of BS.

Then I start to wonder about the future. This gets dangerous. My friends are graduating, and I'm thinking that I have no clue what I want to do with the rest of my life. Sure it's easy to say that nobody really knows what they want to do, but they still have some sort of backup path. For example all those foreign affairs students, they have connections to pull them through. But what happens to those that wanted to become doctors? Once that fails... I know there is no way I could be researching. I don't see myself sitting in a chair all day and getting exciting over the tiniest change in cell structure/ function. What's worse is that I love biology. The longer I am in Japan, and the more foreign affairs, and history I am learning, the stronger my need becomes to pick up a science text book and just casually flipping through it. I know I'm crazy.... at least I kno

I feel as if the world is a treadmill, and I just happened to get my shoe lace stuck and fall flat on my ass. What's worse is that the treadmill just keeps going... I'm just currently not on it. It's too late to start all over, and I can never redo the past... nor would I really want to...

My life is honestly like this paper. There are no guidelines, and there are no rules. It's a blank piece of paper (or computer screen) that I am staring at. I have no clue where to start, and no clue what to write about. Despite this, it will get done by tomorrow morning... just a little half assed. That too, is very much like my life.

Blah..

Today I found out I have a six page paper due tomorrow at 9 am. FML. What's worse is that I'm feeling more tired with each passing day. Lol I think it's the culture shock :P but seriously.. no clue what's up. The weather is getting nicer, so you would think I would want to be more active right?

Currently I am watching the Tamagochi show. It's so cute!! I was babysitting my host kid for a total of 30 min... woooo. Anyways, I'm going to peace out. Attempt at writing my essay :P

By the way.... HAPPY GRADUATION!!!! \(^__^)/ You know who you are....

Sanja Matsuri ^__^

Yesterday there was the Sanja Matsuri in Asakusa. A matsuri is a spring festival where people dress up in yukattas, eat lots of amazing food, play random games, and shop :) At this festival there were also traveling shrines that designated people carried and yelled some words. Majority of these people were men... who wore outfits without pants. No underwear either... just like these thong things that cover the major area. My friend was traumatized when one of the men dropped something and went to pick it up... I personally thought it was hysterical. Later we played a game where you could catch a fish with a rice paper catcher. I was unsuccessful :( but the man running the booth thought I was a good sport about it so he gave me the fish anyways :)

(Update to current news... my fish has successfully committed suicide last night, after several attempts of jumping out of the bowl. I woke up with a note from my host dad letting me know that my fish has moved on to the bigger fish bowl in the sky... poor fish. I didn't even get the chance to name it) Anyways... later we had more food, one of which was a takoyaki and had a small whole octopus in it. I absolutely had to try it! and it was yummy :)

By the way, I forgot to mention that on Friday my friends and I went to an Alkatraz/ ER bar. The table where we sat was in a cell, and the waitresses and waiters where in nurse/ doctor uniforms. The food was nothing special.. and neither were the drinks for that matter, but it was the atmosphere that was pretty cool. I thought it was hysterical when they started to play a country song in the background :P Talk about out of place. I took photos so I will post those up as soon as I can.

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Today was awesome. First I had a haircut, so now my hair is shoulder length and easier to manage. Then, I had this awesome tutoring gig that lasted 2 hours and I got paid 9000 yen, which is somewhat equivalent to 90 dollars. SO SWEET! We didn't even teach the first hour, it was just an ice breaker game. Afterwards I went out to dinner in Shinjuku with the people from tutoring. Finally... and this I think is one of the highlights of the day... I went to a Alice in Wonderland themed cafe/ restaurant. It was SUPER cute!! Even the waitresses were dressed up in either mad hatter or Alice. Unfortunately my camera died by this point... so I used someone else's, which means that you won't be able to see the photos until a little later. Anyways, its 1:23 in the morning here and I am exhausted. Tomorrow is another fun filled day! Can't wait ^__^

uploads..

Ok so I uploaded the photos... all 570 or so... obviously it will take some time to write a caption under every single one. There are more photos... but I have to get them from other people, which may take some time. Anyways, you have 3 options: 1.) look at the photos now or 2.) wait until I write a caption under them all and then look at the photos, or 3.) look at all of them twice :)

Golden Week!

I am finally back from Kyoto, and I have to say that the trip was awesome! There definitely is a huge difference between Tokyo and Kyoto. Kyoto is more calm and old-fashioned than Tokyo. Despite the old school Japan feel, Kyoto does have modern buildings.. and some places feel so touristy. I want to talk about all the places I visited, but that may be a super long post, so I will probably write a little about each place under the photos.... I took so many. Actually my camera died half-way through the first day, so most of my photos are scattered between four cameras... gotta hunt those down :P

Currently I am just relaxing in Tokyo... the weather has been amazing ^__^

It's Official.

Today I had to officially resign from the tennis team. This included me explaining how I have no time for tennis to every person on the tennis team. We all stood in a circle and all eyes were on me while I spoke... talk about strict. After I did that, I don't think I had a time when I felt more empty. Almost as if I was left behind... I just got so sad. It's strange how the longer you stay in Japan, the more foreign you feel. I was walking down the street and even though there were people all around me, I felt like I was put in a bubble. A "gaijin" bubble. It is the same feeling you get when you are treated as a guest in someone's house... and no matter how close you become to your Japanese friends, you are still the outsider.

Even though I have been here for a month already I feel that my Japanese has not improved. Some days it almost feels like I'm back to square one and don't understand a thing.. and on other days I can understand all the conversations. It's so strange. Language is such a large barrier... and Japanese is definitely difficult. The more vague you are in a conversation, the more polite you are. I can feel myself leaning towards more foreigners and I have to force myself to stop every time. I guess it doesn't help the fact that I quit tennis... all the girls there were so nice. They all said we should still be friends, but knowing their grueling schedule, I am afraid that meeting up may be difficult.

At least without tennis I am free to choose what I want to do now. Speaking of which, I may be heading to Kyoto this weekend :) If I buy my ticket tomorrow everything should work out ^__^ and not to leave on a sad note.... tomorrow I am making veggie pizza for my host family!!! I am so excited!!! ... and so is my host mom. She was like "I don't have to cook tomorrow??!! (happy face)" I'll make sure to take a photo :)

Yay!!

So following up on previous blogs... I have quit the tennis team!! Yay!!! Since quitting, life has gotten better and less stressful. Today CIEE had a picnic for all the kids and their host families. I even got to dress up in a Yukata. I took several photos so check them out! I feel as though my entries are less frequent... lol cause they are, but still... it's not quite as easy to write everyday.

On a totally random note, I am going to tell you some train stories. Yesterday I saw the most perfect couple/ family ever. Both the wife and husband were young and were dressed up. The dad had a suit, and in front had this pouch carrier with a tiny baby inside... and the wife had a stroller. SO CUTE!! Oh and the day before yesterday I saw a woman in the train wearing insanely high shoes. After a little while, the train jerked a bit, and the woman fell on her face. Major face plant. Her hands were on both sides too... I felt so bad, but nobody helped her up. One lady asked if she was ok, but the woman just said she was fine. Here in Japan... if you help someone its kinda weird. Especially if I was to do it. Since I am in fact a Gaijin and thus an outsider. I found out that a lot of people here hate foreigners. For example a girl from my CIEE group constantly gets dirty looks, and one old Japanese woman even spit at her feet and told her to "go back (home)."

By the way... I MISS FRUITS!!!!! I miss being able to eat a bunch of fruits... even though its Japan and you think you eat healthy... the fruits and vegetables here is so expensive that its not common to eat one with a meal :( There is also no such thing as Salad Works... or any place where you could have a salad with a meal. It just doesn't exist.

Well that's all for today. Tomorrow I pick up my alien registration card, and my national health insurance.

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I can't do this.. I just can't quit. I don't know why I feel so guilty in quitting. Maybe I should stick it out for a little longer? AGH!! I don't know!!!

I have been going through this so many times in my head... the Japanese practice is perfect for me... the dedication in being in the match... not so much. To quit or not to quit... that is the question. I think my brain may explode before I reach the answer.

:(

Ok so I am most definitely quitting the tennis club. As super sad I am to leave all the wonderful people, I have a short time in Japan and I want to be able to explore. With practice and its other daily activities, I barely have time for anything let alone hw. The only scary part now... is to break the news to everyone. This really kind of sucks.

Also I want to quit for the sake of my blog. It might get a bit too boring if all I write about ever is my experience with tennis. Ugh... such a tough choice. Any input would be appreciated.

Tennis Match!

Today I had to wake up at 5:30 in the freakin morning to get ready to go to a tennis match. Since I'm not a regular, my sole purpose is to be like the energizer bunny. I cheer and clap ALL day. In order to not fall asleep on the train, my soundtrack was as loud and crazy as possible. Example:

This is a current favorite ^__^ Great for all you joggers out there. I am so exhausted... luckily I got to watch an amazing tennis match! Unfortunately, that comes with a price. The captain has asked all the freshman/ newbies to write a reaction paper regarding the match today. Basically I have to write about any mistakes I saw, any positive aspects, and also improvements. Blah. Talk about strict right? If I can't make a practice, or if I will be coming late, I have to report to my captain ahead of time to let her know.

I am getting better at remembering the names of my team members.. and I think they are starting to understand that they can speak to me in Japanese. They are even trying to improve it when I speak!! I'm so happy!

The club is insanely time consuming... but it's also awesome. They really do form a tight knit bond... even with the courts too. I never knew just how lucky we had it back home... with all of our courts being all-weather courts. In Sophia, the official tennis club uses courts made out of clay. A good hour and a half of our 5 hr practice is dedicated to 'bonding with the court'. Since it is clay, if it is too dry it will crack so we have to water it at the end of every practice. It's just like crafts class... while making your clay pot you cover it with a wet cloth to prevent cracks from forming. Same deal.

So anyways, if it rained one day, the next day we go around poking the ground to see where it is the mushiest. Also the rain usually means that some of the clay/ sand got washed to one side... so us being the dutiful freshman, we have to fill in those gaps to make sure it doesn't get worse. Then if the court is a little mushy in areas you must put sand on top. Afterward there is this mini truck/ car thing that acts as a rolling pin that you must drive around the court and flatten it. The final step is to clear up the white line markers on the court.

As you can see, we take care of our baby. If some idiot does shit to it, you bet we'll get pissed off.... especially after we slaved away at it for so long. It really really makes me appreciate the courts back home.

Today I almost died laughing when a girl on the team pointed to my eyes and said you have such long eyebrows... she meant eyelashes :P She was so cute and got so embarrassed afterward. Oh man...

I do kind of miss the way we talk in the states. I don't think I could get away with dirty sarcasm here at all. Or just even sarcasm in general... I feel like a bit of me died a little..

So today overall was a beautiful and productive day! It was sunny and I even got a nice rosy glow to my face. Tomorrow is going to be another awesome day, but after that... rain :'(

Freezing my Ass off...

Yeah so it's incredibly cold. Not only did it rain ALL day today, but the rain has turned to ice. Many of the cars in the parking lot by my apartment are covered by a thin layer of ice/snow. Even the ground is starting to get a bit mushy.

Today I had basketball practice, where I met a bunch more new people, and everyone was very nice ^__^ I didn't want to risk the knee so I just sat and watched the practice. Afterward I went to dinner with a friend who showed me a great little restaurant in west Shinjuku. Then we met up with more peeps to sing karaoke. I found out that after seven, karaoke prices go way up :(

This entry is a bit short. Tomorrow I have tennis practice again :) Aside from the shitty weather, I did get a package from home... which I have yet to pick up, but I know it's there ^__^ Can't wait until Monday!!

Random..

Nothing too new or exciting going on in the school department, but I did buy my Japanese text books today. Three books cost me 80 dollars... and I have to buy the second volume for the second half of the semester. Luckily my friend is lending me one of the books, so I don't have to buy it :) and all my other classes use this website called Moodle to update PDF files. Hehe... moodle.... that's such a funny word. It makes me giggle every time I say it :P

Speaking of random, during dinner my host mom, Mayuki-chan, and I watched the most bizarre show ever. I think they were comedians... or at least I hope they were getting some money for what they were doing. The show consisted of three guys going to a restaurant and eating every item on the menu that the restaurant offered. They had a time limit and a couple short breaks. I never knew that there were so many different types of curry... by the 20th or so plate, my host mom and I were kind of disgusted... but we kept watching anyways. The three guys also had to have the sides, appetizers, desserts, and everything off the children's menu too. It was so gross. You could actually see their stomachs grow. Talk about your food coma... I don't think I would ever be able to eat as much as they did.

Tomorrow I'm trying out a class that starts at 9 in the morning. I'm going to have to wake up a WHOLE lot earlier than what I'm used to, but I would rather finish up all my classes early than have to stay at school until 8 pm. That way I can explore the wonderful city of Tokyo ^__^ Tomorrow I also have basketball practice, followed by dinner with friends and KARAOKE!!! WOOOO!!!!! I'll make some ears bleed tomorrow. hehe oh well. The price of my friendship :P

Well... since I have to wake up early, I can't write a whole lot.... so GOOD NIGHT!!!

School Life

Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay on the blogging... I've been a tad busy. A lot has happened since I last blogged. School has started!!! I already picked out three of the four that I am supposed to have, and I still need to get one more... blah. It's a lot harder than it sounds. For starters, the block type scheduling here is so frustrating because all the interesting classes are at the same time :( Also some that I want to take have nothing to do with Japan, so I won't get credit for it back home. The rest of the classes are just way too freakin hard and too much work. I'm trying to take it easy ;)

Also club wise... I joined the official Sophia University tennis team!!! It's a club and they are SUPER intense. I love it. We meet three times a week, and the practices run for 5 hours. On the days that we don't have practice, people are encouraged to go to the weight room and lift. This Sunday the regulars have a match that the freshman go to to act as cheerleaders. Everyone on the team is so AMAZING!!!! On of our girls is in the 16th place in all of Tokyo area. The coach that comes to train us once in a while has trained some pro Japanese tennis players. They are so fun to watch! I can't wait for the Sunday match. Oh also on the TOTALLY random note... I popped my knee out during practice yesterday. Of course it would happen to me of all people. It was pretty swollen yesterday and I had to limp... but today the swelling has gone down immensely and doesn't hurt as bad. I still went to today's tennis practice though. I didn't actually play tennis, but I did go to the weight room with another girl and we did upper body lifting. I am going to be so jacked in a month. Haha just kidding... :P

Anyways when I came home, which was around 10 pm, my host mom made Taco rice. The taco in this case is referring to the Mexican taco.. and not the octopus 'taco'. It was so good. Basically its rice, then you put cheese, tomato, taco ground beef, and then salsa on top. It was so good especially since the last time I ate was at 12:30 and consisted of a cup of tea and one lonely onigiri. It was really good though.

So I can't write too much because I have a Kanji quiz tomorrow, but I am meeting new people from all over the world, and have experienced my first all you can eat Okonomiyaki place! Kimchi okonomiyaki is SO good!!! I highly recommend :)

Tennis, and Karaoke ^__^

Yesterday I had my first tennis practice!!!! It wasn't that intense... which I'm a little sad about. It was very short, but still fun. After the practice, we had a ohanami, which is a picnic under the cherry blossoms where we got to know the members better. It would have been more fun if it wasn't so damn cold. At least it didn't rain :)

After that we had a nomikai... that's an all you can drink gathering, and there was food too. I think this part of the night was the funniest. Japanese people are truly cheap drunks. At least the ones that we hung out with. Most of the guys got drunk and then tried to hit on all the new girls. Haha like peacocks fluffing their feathers. At one point of the night they even started to show off their 'skills' at dancing... I can't even describe how funny that looks. I don't even know if what they were doing was considered as dancing.... I almost choked from laughing so hard. Dancing was followed by impersonations of the Dragon Ball Z characters, and the kamehameha thing. (totally butchered that spelling.. my bad.) I have no clue how they can get so drunk. The juice to alcohol ratio was probably like 9:1.

The nomikai ended at 9 pm, and everyone wanted to go to a karaoke afterwards. I am proud to say I was able to read the hiragana fast enough to sing some of the Japanese songs too :) The last song we all belted to was A Whole New World.... Sho funny :P Also in the karaoke room they give you these half tambourine things, which are incredibly loud. One of the guys was so drunk that he went crazy with shaking those tambourines to the point where his knuckles and hands were bleeding. Now that is some hard core karaoke-ing.

The rest of the tennis club was going to pull an all nighter singing, but I left early. I was so exhausted and ready to pass out. Overall yesterday was a great day to work out my laughing muscles :D

By the way... if any of your comments are regarding the blog, please comment on this site rather than Facebook.

Thank you for all your previous comments! ^__^

Oh Shit its an..... EARTHQUAKE!!!

Haha just kidding... we just had an earthquake simulation. It was pretty awesome, and considering how our group was second to last to go, our earthquake was a shallow one.... which basically means it starts off right away, and gets bad really fast. The simulation was done in a room that resembled a kitchen. As soon as we felt the tremors of an earthquake we had to cover our heads with a cushion... that was oh so conveniently on the kitchen table. Didn't you know? All families just HAPPEN to have a cushion on their tables... duh... our simulation was of a level 7 earthquake. Some pots even fell down. The last group to go experienced a blackout during their earthquake. Even though I was supposed to be frightened... it was pretty sweet.

Anyways, before the earthquake simulation, we had a simulation of a house caught on fire, and what you would do. To help us out with this, we watched an education film... where the main character died and passed out in almost every situation. Rather than being the 'how to stay safe' video, it was more the 'how many different ways can you die' video. So after the video each group went into a room where a smoke detector sounded. As soon as you hear that you have to crouch low and go towards the walls... also if you have any cloth, cover your nose and mouth. You have to make sure you crouch low or else a buzzer sounds saying you are too high up.

There are several doors in the 'house' but only the one we need is open (they try to trick you). The best part about these simulations is that you can see the group before you on a TV screen. Haha it's like a game show. There are cameras throughout the simulation so you can see everyone laughing from all angles. One of my friends brought a camera in with him, so when we watched his group on the screen, you can see several flashes go off. The smoke is turned on at the start with Group 1, so the later groups have a smokier 'house' to go through.

After those simulations, we were taught how to use the extinguisher. Instead of the white foam, they filled them with water. Then they projected a fake fire on a screen that we had to put out. At the end of all the simulations, we got to watch a video. It was supposed to be really serious, but everyone laughed. You probably would too if you heard a Japanese person's voice dubbed over in English with an Australian accent. Also the English lines were so limited... one of the characters kept asking this one woman "are you ok? are you ok? lets go." and "Pull yourself together." The woman was directing these questions towards a grandmother who was trapped under a bookshelf. Then the lines repeat again in the street ... and then again throughout the video. So.... that was the end of that.

By the way, today I joined the tennis team, and also the SISEC club :) There are like 15 different types of tennis teams, depending on how serious they are. Unfortunately I was rejected from 4 of them because I am here for only one semester :( So sad... oh well.

Blah..

Nothing too interesting happened today... but I will clue you in on a random fact. For one thing, unlike America's whole aisle of cereal choices, Japan has about 3 or 4 different types. I am craving some lucky charms... or even Honey Bunches of Oats. Oh and I also got the results of my Japanese placement test! I scored into level 2... which is not super, but it's not bad either. I'm content with my placement. Other than that... there are no more life changing events that occurred to me today.

:(

I had such a nice long blog entry... but then the internet froze, and I lost it all... :( No I have a headache and am just too tired to write it all over again... but no worries... I will still update the photos. Hope everyone enjoys them ^__^

Picnic, Karaoke, and way too much food...

Although unbelievable, I woke up at 6:45 am to go jogging with my host dad while Mayuki took her bike. It was chilly, but a nice way to wake up :) Later we had our first picnic under the cherry blossoms. After our jog, my host dad went back to the park to reserve a spot.

Unfortunately the weather sucked... it was cloudy and really cold. All of us still went a bit camera crazy even if the weather did not agree. Also two birdies from our badminton game broke... but we still had a good time cause we played several drinking games, and sang a whole lot. A group next to us danced too!! Like drunken ballroom style dancing. Even though it was freezing, the kids had ice cream and shaved ice that they bought from the mini tents. I tried the shaved ice and it was sweet and delicious ^__^

After the picnic, where the adults got buzzed... they decided that we should go to a karaoke. In the karaoke room, it's as if my host mom turned into a school girl. She was bouncing around and dancing something her friend and her had previously choreographed. When it was my turn, I realized that my voice totally sucks ass. Despite this, I sang two songs: 'Suddenly I See' and 'The Yellow Submarine.' The book where you can choose songs is MASSIVE!!! You really need to know what you want to sing or you will get lost.

When it was time for the kids to sing, it felt like "Alvin and the Chipmunks" were sitting on my shoulder and screaming in my ear.... but the kids were so cute that I really couldn't complain. They too had choreographed moves. My host dad was hysterical. His tune was way off, but he was so into the song!! After we went over a friend's house and we ate and drank some more.... I am so stuffed. Still another awesome day in Tokyo ^__^

Okonomiyaki Night \(^_^)/

So today I finally got in some exercise. After about two weeks worth of just eating and sleeping, I was definitely out of shape. My jogging consisted of half jogging/ half power walking/ half staring at the the trees and meandering through the park... there is a large park by the apartment, where rows of cherry blossom trees are. Today there was a Sakura blossom festival with large blow up bounce things for kids to go into. There were also various stands for food, and little games. Surprisingly Japan is a huge fan of kabob places... or so it seems because there are kabob joins all over Tokyo, as well as small stands at this festival.

The park is HUGE because there are several tennis courts, along with tennis courts with a wall... for those single players who can't find a partner :( and also a baseball field, a track (although its more like a giant dirt circle) and also golf/ cricket type field, a couple of streams, and also just plain grassy areas where SO MANY people have picnics. Speaking of which... my host family and their friends are having one tomorrow!! I will make sure to take lots of photos :)

Tonight my host dad made Okonomiyaki which was SOOO incredibly delicious. For those who don't know what it is, Okonomiyaki translates to "somethings that I love" ... at least that was what I was told. First you make a doughy substance with special flour, then add chopped up cabbage. After that you just throw in anything you like. For ours we used shrimp, cheddar cheese, and scallions. We had this heated plate, which you could probably get away with using a pancake hot plate, and cooked it. Afterward my host dad cooked small strips of bacon and topped it. But thats not all... once that's all cooked, you get to top it with special Okonomiyaki sauce, mayo (in Japan mayo is actual delicious), fishy flakes, and greens. My lovely meal was accompanied by an apple beer that had 3% alcohol... haha I'm so hardcore :P By the way I took photos so take a look!

Currently I am in a food coma... but it was worth it. Tomorrow morning my host dad and I are going jogging again at 7 in the morning!!!!! After we will have the picnic. Haha I feel like all I do here is eat amazing food.... and take a photo of it. By the way, tonight at the dinner table I heard the story of how my host parents met. It was hysterical hearing their individual sides and the initial impressions. They are way too funny :D

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By the way, just to comment. That guy in the photo is leaning up against a stranger. He later started moaning and talking in his sleep. I had to bite my lip from holding back my laughter...

Just another day in Tokyo

So today I had my Japanese placement test. Glad that's over. Honestly though, it wasn't that bad... kind of. The kanji became really difficult really fast, but the grammar portion seemed easier than I expected. Afterward we had a party to welcome all the international students. It was really cool when the karate club performed.. they asked for volunteers after their performance and this tiny girl came up. But seriously... her kicks were so strong you could hear the contact like BAM! That just shows you should never judge a book by its cover. Even a tiny Japanese girl can have a bit of Jackie Chan in her. After that four people, including me, went out celebrating. Others went too, but we separated.

For food we decided to go to Shinjuku and found this place that costs only 270 yen for everything!! There are also no waiters and everything was done from a electronic pad at the table. Pretty awesome... Before that we also hit a bar and got a drink to toast the end of the placement test ^^ Yay!!! So many people were incredibly stressed for it.

On the way home.. I once again got lost at the Shinjuku station, and this girl with really good English helped out us. Turns out she goes to Sophia too!! and we exchanged infos :) Her friend was the one who designed the cool black and purple bags that Sophia students were giving out. After I finally sat down on the station we went two stops and at another stop.. the train just stopped. Everyone got out. All of a sudden you see these cops trying to drag a girl out. I had no clue what the hell was going on... I just switched to the other train that was heading home. I'll let the cops deal with the situation. On that train though was the most hysterical scene EVER. I almost burst out laughing from seeing this. I posted the photo below in a different post.

Now I am home, updating my blog, checking email, and will probably pass out soon :)

Just another day in Tokyo

Crazy Night of Fun XD

So this happened two nights ago... but I forgot to update the blog. My bad. The night was so crazy awesome!!! I first met up with my friend Mark, and his two friends. By met up, I mean I got lost at the Shinjuku station and had them come find me :P Shinjuku station is one of the biggest stations and has so many entrances... its not even funny. Basically for any possible direction on a compass... Shinjuku has the exit to match it. After asking 4 people for directions, I finally had Mark and co. come find me. I felt that it was the right decision.

After we met up, and all the introductions were over with, we walked to some local bar in what is basically the Red Light district of Japan. I was informed that guys who travel alone through this area are chased down and convinced to go to some (and I quote) "Titi-bar." Luckily this did not happen to us... although I think it would have been entertaining. The bar we went to was really nice, and the drinks and food were really good!! Unfortunately I'm blanking on the name.

After the bar, we walked around and finally decided on staying out all night, and going to a club called Feria. Considering how it was Tuesday night, it was pretty much empty and was more like another bar. The entrance fee is 1000 yen (= 10 bucks) and covers 3 drinks for girls, or 2 drinks if you are a guy. We sat for a bit on the first floor, where the music was blasting like crazy, and after went to the third floor. It was quiet and there was hardly anybody there. We just sat at the bar, and eventually made friends with the bartender. He was hysterical with impressions and his English was really good!! His girlfriend is adorable!! <-- He showed us some photos :)

A little while later this Japanese guy sat down by us. I think he was pretty tipsy at this point and ordered a champagne bottle. The cheapest one starts at 160$$. Craziness. Anyways, the bartender was like you guys want a glass? The guy overheard that it was one of our birthdays soon, so he toasted. After that bottle was finished... one of our friends ordered another bottle. Haha bottle wars ^__^ The mystery man (don't know his name) was just smitten with our AMAZING Japanese speaking ability (total lie) so he ordered another two bottles of red wine, and bought food for us. Even though it sounds it... it wasn't sketch at all.

By the way.... small side note... in Japan if you can say "konnichiwa" everyone automatically says "Jyozu ne!!" which sort of translates to "Wow your Japanese is so good!" This is a total lie and in all honestly your Japanese probably sucks. If a Japanese person were to come to the U.S. and say "Hello," we would probably be like "wuts up?" or "what do you want?" Japanese people are very encouraging ne?

So back to the story, the mystery guy ended up pretty much spending 1000 dollars on us. The bartender drank too and so did another server! Even the owner of the club came down and met with us. It sort of feels like a dream now. It was so much fun!! Haha the bartender even gave us his business card and said that if we came back another night, we should let him know and we can be on his guest list. Aka cheaper entrance fee ^__^ Talk about totally sweet!

Currently it is Thursday and my placement exam is tomorrow :( At 8 pm I was supposed to register for my classes back at GW, but unfortunately I am an idiot. I completely forgot my GWeb password, and after guessing a couple of times, I have been banned. Cry me a river... Now I have to wait till who knows when to sign up for my classes. As I said on Facebook.... this is definitely an FML situation.

Oh Snap...

By the way... on a completely random note: 1.) My nails are super shiny from all the food/ fish I have been eating. and 2.) the little girl Mayuki may have gotten chicken pox :(

Kamakura

Today we went to Kamakura and had to be at school at 8:30 am. With the one hour commute, plus shower, and getting ready, plus food... I had to wake up at 5:50. We took two trains to get there, and it felt like forever. These cute group of Japanese grandmas started to talk to us and telling us all about the train system, Kamakura, and their past adventures... just imagine a group of 20 or so short Japanese grandmas in similar clothing... SO CUTE!!!! They were so nice, and kept saying how good our Japanese is (lol such a lie, but we went along with it :P)

Once we got to Kamakura it was such a cute little town. Kamakura is a place with many shrines dedicated to Buddhism and Shintoism. We had a personal tour guide, who's English was AMAZING. She told us the history and the base practice of Shintoism. I will update the photos later (I know I have been saying this... but I swear I will try to do this as soon as I figure out how.) At one of the shrines there was a LARGE LARGE Buddha. So cool I kid you not. We even got to go to a cave with shrines in it... unfortunately the ceilings were low so we had to crouch most of the time. We also were able to purify ourselves with water. First you pour the water over both hands, and then cleanse your mouth. After I prayed from a handsome loving rich husband ;P at the 'love' shrine. Hehe hope it comes true ne?

I also paid a dollar for a fortune. It said that I would take a while to get better and to 'cousult' a different doctor. The english on it made hardly any sense at all... but it did mention that my wish will come true ^__^

By the way, I tried sweet potato and green tea swirl ice cream!! It was SOO GOOD!!!!! all the food smelled so good!! Tomorrow I meet for lunch with my friend Richard who I have not seen in a while :) When I upload the photos, I will write a description under the photos to understand better... because honestly its difficult to explain without a visual.

Scavenger Hunt!!

Today we had to be at school at 10 am. It was the first day where I had to ride the train on my own. No matter how insane the map of the metro/ subway looks... it's honestly not that bad. After our orientation, the small groups had a scavenger hunt. Sample items on the list: giant egg, big echo, take a photo with a police man, take a photo with a crazy costumed person from Harajuku, eat a weird lunch. There were so many items on the list I am not sure how we were supposed to do them all in just three hours. Our group opted more for the sight-seeing route and just chilled. We tried to get a couple of items on the list, but ... I mean you would stop too if you saw delicious crepes at Harajuku, right? We took a プリクラ too! We chose the massive eye option, and I looked like a bug :)

Afterward we had free time, where I went off with big group. This was where the frustration began. No one really knew where to go, or what they wanted to see. This includes me. I just wanted to explore, but this exploration HAD to have a purpose according to some people. In the end everyone broke off, and I didn't really want to go to Akihabara, so I went home.

Unfortunately the jet lag is still in effect and I am exhausted at random times of the day.

Host Family

This is my host family.. minus the Dad. He took the photo :)

SAKURA!!!!

This is my attempt to capture the Sakura blossoms from a bridge by my home-stay ^__^

The best part... (cont.)

So I got cut off last time, but I wanted to say that so far the best part of a Japanese home is the heated toilet. It is fantastic!! Also a correction, they call me 'Guzie-chan,' which sounds like Goozie not Guzzie.

Today I had a 'practice run' to my school. On the train was this girl with crazy pink hair and the coolest outfit ever! I wanted to take a photo without looking like a stalker, but somehow I just couldn't pull it off. It's also just a tad bit unnerving when people stare at me. For example there was this bald guy who stared at me for four stops. I'm talking about the right-in-the-eyes kind of stare. It's ok for the first couple of minutes, but after about 5 min it starts to get a tad creepy...

Afterward we went to eat lunch at a pretty fancy restaurant in Akasaka. I ordered a lunch box, and it turned out to be the huge thing. So delicious!!! I took lots of photos, which I will update a bit later ^__^ We also visited a large department store and book store in Shinjuku. I bought a small notebook so that I can jot down notes and simple phrases, or basically any kanji that I don't know... which at the moment is A LOT.

Every day I am also learning how to make Japanese cuisine. Hopefully when I come back to the U.S. I will be able to mimic it :) My host mother has already taught me how to make several meals, along with desserts. For my welcome party, I helped my host mother make this really delicious pound cake, and also pudding. Also my host mother's best friend is also hosting a Thai student, who is going to teach us how to make Thai food! Can't wait :)

Currently everyone except for me is playing Mario Brothers on Wii, which is a daily occurrence.... and the arguments that come with it. I think I am learning more game terms than any others... such as "don't jump on me" and "don't go ahead!!!" "I wanted that third coin" "why did you do that??" and my favorite "Yada!!!!" *whine whine whine* or crying... They really get into this.. especially Mayuki, the daughter.

Tomorrow is the first time on my own to Sophia University. I'm a little nervous, but it's only one change from the subway to the metro so I should be fine. Hopefully tomorrow won't be as cold as today, but I may be hoping for too much. The weather here is pretty cold still... I'm running out of warm clothes to wear :( and I also have to join a gym soon... the food here is just too good... and thats not even including the desserts. I want to learn how to make everything!!!

The best part...

After a long wait, I have finally arrived in Japan. Unfortunately I was on the flight that had a broken movie system and spent most of my time either listening to music, sleeping, or browsing through a magazine. I have to thank my friend Ida for sending me the first chapter of True Blood a while ago. That alone carried me through the long flight. My seat was in the center, and all the way in the back so I couldn't look outside. Everyone around me was sneezing, coughing, or snoring (especially the guy next to me). I was so happy to hear the "Enjoy your stay in Japan" announcement at the end of the flight I almost sprinted out of my seat!

The first couple of nights of the orientation were spent at two different hotels. Already the food is very delicious. Our breakfast included an all you can eat combination of both Eastern and Western type foods.

The new students were arranged into small groups of five or six in order to ease into the Japanese culture. Typically in Japan, students travel in these groups from Kindergarden and up. Our group name is "Moshi Mochi," which was a joke off of answering the phone in Japanese "Moshi Moshi" and our love for a rice base dessert called "Mochi."

On the third day we met with our host family. It was one of the most nerve wracking ordeals ever. When it was my turn, we couldn't find my host family... turns out she was right by the door. She later told me that when she saw me, she remembered my big eyes from a photo given to her, and knew that I was the person who would be living with her. She too was a bit thrown off when we walked right past her. The meeting was nerve wracking, as I forgot a lot of my Japanese and didn't know what to talk about.

I have to say I absolutely adore my host family. The father is an attorney from Canada, and they have a six year old girl. SO CUTE!!! The mom is currently singing in the other room. She is an amazing cook and is just too cute. I was initially expecting a shorter woman, but my host mom is taller than me! After a party last night, where my host mom got drunk, I feel like we are already closer :) Everyone here calls me "Guzzie-chan. " ^__^

I'll try to write a little bit more soon!