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!! >_<