Evil Hamster's Worldly Adventures

Another sad apology

2005-12-04T05:42:00.000-06:00

Well...I gotta say I'm very sorry I haven't updated in awhile...seems I'm always saying that huh? haha
Sooo lets see where did I leave off? oh yes...
Well...for the day of the Halloween concert I made a rather simple, yet shocking and scary costume...very low budget. I just took a skirt I had made during summer and then added some pink net under it and a black camisole and added pink net and bandages to that. Then I made a glove out of some really neat black with pink lighting bolts fabric, added fur trim and did some crazy makeup and nails. bada-bing-bada-boom. One halloween costume. ^-^ haha The live house for this was INSANELY small...am I always saying that? I suppose I am but I still have trouble beleiving it. Its always such a shock. I think this one was the smallest I'd been to yet though. They didn't have lockers here so everyone just threw their stuff in the corner. Phantasmagoria played first, a couple small time bands and kabukichou kids. Then they did the cosplay contest. You had to have a group of two or more. Then each group came onstage and they did a little dance while music played. Then they were reviewed by one of the "panel" aka random band members from the bands that were there and some head honcho from ID Japan as well. Then they handed out awards.
Finally....Vidoll. The band I had wanted to see. They did an awesome live and being front row for it? Even better. I love their music so it was really a blast. It was a great way to spend Halloween...even if we didn't get any candy. Haha Some people on the train were commenting about my clothes...cause I hadn't had time to change after..^^;; a bit awkward that was.
Nov 03.
Met Saskia to go shopping in Harajuku. Had an amazing time par usual...and of course ended up spending mroe ( ^ above photo is Vidoll's guitarist) than I had meant too...^^;; I love that girl. Shes sooo funny. Its always nice every now and then to get together with my YFU friends, speak english, relax...not have to think so hard? You know. It gets easier, but speaking Japanese is still work. Not to mention all the Japanese kids study WAY too much...they never seem to have time to go out. ;-; And it was also during this time that I started to make/purchase various gifts for the members of An Cafe. They had an event for the release of their new album and I decided to get them a little something. ^-^
Nov. 6
I was super hyper from the last concert and I ALWAYS have too see my Miranda-Panda at times like these...Gotta have someone to squeal it all too or I'll go crazy. haha. So although I was crunched with time to finish An Cafe's gifts and was stressing about that...I figured I needed to go see her to get it all outta my system. Soo I took another lil trip up to Chiba-ken. We went shopping...mostly Miranda wanted new clothes. I was just there for company. But I did get a cute little cupcake shaped purse. *^-^* hehe It was also around this time that I started "thinking" about making Bou's new costume. The problem was its VERY elaborate, pretty...but insanely elaborate. And to get the EXACT fabric would be impossible...and I don't like to settle for less than perfection when it comes to my cosplay...soo I hadn't been planning to make it...
Until....
Nov. 9
The day of the release of An Cafe's first full album. They were having an in store event, buy the CD at the certain shop and you get a ticket to the event. First come, first serve. Sooo most girls had their moms go for them, but my mom had to work, so she called in sick for me and I went. hehe. I love my host mommy. I left super early and got out to shinjuku at 7 am. The store wasn't going to open till 11 sooo I had quiet the wait. Lucky for me I had my gameboy and my ipod to keep me amused. Sadly there were people there before me. haha. Only 7 people though. I was walking into the store and what should I see there on display BUT! An Cafe's new costumes. I took some pics with my cell and went all fangirly. haha. But I still was thinking "That would be impossible to make...I won't do it." I got the CD and my ticket and speacil DVD and then headed home. I showered, finished up the presents and wrote them a letter all while listening to the new CD. I gotta say...its AMAZING! Its sooo good! Seriously....wow. yeah, moving on. The event was that night. There would be a small interview we could watch and then we would get to go shake their hands and talk to them...and this is where I started freaking out. I love them to death and all...but what the heck do I Say? My japanese isn't that great andI'll be nervous making it worse...Ah! *freaks out* But I made it through all right...more than allright actually. First was Kanon. Hes really shy and hardly ever talks in interiews or anything...and me being shy didn't help that...*awkward silence* haha. But I gave him his gift and he thanked me and thanked me for comign to all their events..blah blah Teruki...I didn't know what to talk about with him either...he speant most of the time blabbing about how cute I was. Moving on...BOU! (for those of you lacking in memory, hes my fave, the one I dress like all the time...worship, adore, etc. etc.) Soo I was super nervous to talk to him obviously. At the last event he hadn't talked to me very much and I was kinda thinking maybe he didn't like me? But such is NOT the case! As soon as he saw me he got really excited. And he said "Ah! I saw your cosplay of me, the tekesuta uniform! You did an amazing job! Thank you so much, I was really honored!" And yes...I could have died right there. My jaw must have dropped fifty feet through the floor. I only wore that costume to lives...and him noticing it, remembering it? Noticing ME! Out of all the fans there...wow...all I can say is wow. I mean yeah, I worked super hard to make that costume, making sure it was accurate and all...soo to have him compliment it. It meant the world to me. So I told him I loved his style and always dressed like him and he replied "Well, you're really cute, it suits you well!" Kyaa~~ I'm such a happy shmee. Then last was Miku. After my conversation with Bou...I was pretty star struck. So Miku I gave him his gift and the letter and he thanked me..and said some random english and rambled about my super cuteness. *giggle* Its so cute when they do that english thing. Silly Miku. And I told him I'd see him at the next live and he said he look for me, take care, see you again, bye bye! *sigh* This is the life huh? We wanted to do demachi (waiting for the band after the event) but kira and masato wanted to get home. It was pretty late and they live far away, so we left. I rode with masato and kira on the train and we listened to an cafe on my ipod and did the dances. Such Happy little fan girls we are. *^-^* It was at this time that I decided no matter the difficulties I would make Bou's new costume before the next concert (dec. 3...giving me? three weeks? haha I am insane aren't I?) so that we would be dressed the same once again. hehe I'm a sucker for that.
Soo as you can guess the next two weeks were filled with sewing every spare second I had...and some I didn't have. haha. I got to school early and sewed, sewed at lunch, during my free periods and then stayed till 5 sewing after school...insanity? yes. Worth it? Totally.
Nov. 23
Soo this day I was planning to go out to Shinjuku and get some more lace and other sewing supplies but I received a call from my Area rep. that went something like this. "hey, alex what are you doing today?"
"well...I'm going to go get some fabric."
"good, at kinkado? Ikebukuro?"
"Actually...n-"
"Okay, so I'll meet you there, bring your kumon test."
"*starts freaking out cause she hasn't done the test yet* what? When?"
"how about 2 okay?"
*sigh*...sooo I had to shower and do my test and meet her...oh well...
Nov. 28
A glorious day for the Shmee! The cosplay was finally completed! haha soo now I have free time again! Yay! haha I'm speedy...look at me go. Power sewing. (the following photo is of the costume when it was almost finished)
Nov. 29 - Dec. 2
Dad left on a buissness trip and mom somehow got super busy..anyway, that left me to run Yuuka all over the place. Why does a six year old have so many lessons? Jeesh...*worn out*
Dec. 1
With the next concert coming up soon and my wonderful costume all done I figured a trip to the hair salon was in order. Wanted to look my best after all. My bangs had grown all the way down to my chin...it was terrible. Soo I got all trimmed up and pretty.
Dec. 3
The big day! I was really excited...I was trying real hard not to let the fact that this is my last time seeing them dampen my spirits...and I did have an Awesome time. I met my friends at 3 in Harajuku and we all took purikura and hung out till it got later and we walked together to Shibuya where the live was. I was pretty cold with just a short skirt and kimono top...but I knew it would be REALLY hot in the live so I was okay. I was REALLY surprised this time how many people were there...I would say over 1000. In any case it was alot. The hall was set on this large street and looked almost like a parking garage entrance, really big and wide with a giant staircase going up the middle to the second floor. We first went through the crowd to get coin lockers. It was like parting the red sea...it was sooo freaky. As I passed through everyone turned around to stare and murmors of things like "sooo cute!" "pretty." "so pale" and "amazing" followed me. I have to say by the time we got through the crowd to the coin lockers I was about fifty shades of red...I don't think I've EVER been the object of more attention. There are a few groups that cosplay at lives, but no one had the latest outfits and non of them are foreigners...so I'm guessing that had something to do with it. All my friends had like 130ish numbers...except one with 270 and I had 312 or something...but we all went in when they called 220 and no one said anything. We walked up that giant staircase in the middle and there was still probably over 600 people waiting below. ALL of them were staring at me...and yes they began SHOUTING about how cute I was. I blushed some more and ran up and clung to Masaki. Fangirls are dangerous...I don't need anyone fangirling over me.
We got in and had a pretty long wait before the show started. They played "opaningu" while five people in animal suits had a mock battle/dance then the curtain was raised and An Cafe came out. *dance dance* They played all of the new album and few old songs too...and this live...it was big. They even had streamers and a few pyrotechnics. hehe. Aww my boys are all grown up. ^-^ Course after 2 hours of dancing I was beat. I was second row over on Bou's side, dancin my lil heart out. Had an amazing time...as always. Their lives are nothing but superb, every time. Afterwords we talked out front and took some pictures together before everyone had to go home. Of course I'm sad its my last An Cafe live...but at least I had a great time.
Dec. 4
I met Saskia and Cooper for a bit of shopping. Saskia wanted to buy a dictionary, so we met in Akihabara. Just bummed around and looked at various shops. Had a good time chatting and looking around. Took Purikura of course! *^-^*
And there you have it! All up to date on my life! This week is more end of term tests which I'm not too worried about...although my home ec. teacher said my test would be to write a speech...and then i have to give it at the school's closing ceremony...I HATE speeches! WHY!?!?! *cries* But the closing ceremony is the 22 and then I have no school after that...Not sure how I'll amuse myself till the 10 but I'm sure I'll find a way. Hahaha Also Winter Comiket (a big Cosplay event in Tokyo) is the 29. Of course I'm going and I'll wear my newest Bou costume. ^-^ For now, Bed time! Bye!

A bit about time

2005-10-21T06:28:00.000-05:00

Sooo...I bet you have all been waiting, anticipating another update of this glorious blog. Yes? Yeesss?
oh, fear not. For here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for....an update.
So the An Cafe concert on October 2nd.
----------------
The night before my friend Cooper mailed me saying he wanted to meet to go shopping. He wasn't free Saturday, so he could only go Sunday. The concert wasn't until 5 pm, so I agreed to meet him. He then tells me he wants to go to a friends school festival, a ton of foreigners he knows from Rotary club (how he meets these people is a mystery to me). So...I have no choice but to oblige. As luck would have it we weren't the only ones there. This was the school of Francis, a girl with YFU from the Phillipines and Eimy (Swedish), Lara (Swiss) and her German friend and also another boy from Thailand were all there. Lara ended up coming into Harajuku with me before the concert and I introduced her to my An Cafe friends and she hung out with us for awhile.
The concert hall was soooo small. I was really surprised. I actually had seen videos of lives in this live house, but I guess I didn't connect the dots and realize that it was the same. Cause WOW. It was tiny. Like really I think there are rooms in our house the size of this place. It was THAT small. So when we first came in we were about 4th row, right in front of Bou (my fave, the guitarist ^-^). AND I caught his guitar pick! ^-^
So after that I moved up to the second row. The concert was over all AMAZING! I absolutely adore their lives. The fans get really into the dances and its such a great feeling with all the energy and excitement. So great!

On the next weekend I went with my family to some house in the country. It was really cool because it was my first time to stay in a traditional Japanese home. Although it was REALLY cold. Everyone there was speaking Chinese, so I got a little confused. But I had fun none the less.

All this week has been tests...I guess they are kind of like a mid term test? But the Japanese students seem to have these alot. In any case it means half days all this week, so I won't complain. Today Cooper and I went out to Karaoke in the afternoon. Very fun. Tomorrow I'm hoping to meet with Lara. We are going to a concert Halloween night together. The main artist is Vidoll and this concert is sponsered by a very famous company here in the Japanese music industry for making the best stage costumes for artists. Also fans can purchase some of these costumes...although the prices are outrageous (I'm talking like 2000 dollars for a skirt), but for some fans having the exact same clothes as worn by their favorite artist is certainly worth that price. (not for me, I'll make it thanks. haha) But being a big fan of the sewing scene myself I'm very excited for this concert. Since you are supposed to come in costume I can't wait to see what everyone else wears. ^-^ Also this Sunday is a cosplay event at a local theme park. Very cool. Lots going on lately in the land of the Shmee as my time here is quickley burning away. Does the time go so quickley for all you too?

Antic Cafe event

2005-09-27T19:02:00.000-05:00

right...so let me tell you the whole thing. I didn:t need to freak out as much as I did...well I DID make an fool of myself...but oh well.
So I arrived at the event kinda late...cause I speant too long on aim talking to Sana. So I missed some of the talk. Apparently they:re realsing a new album and something about a DVD with PVs on it...don:t remeber if he said it would be with the album or with a single...moving on.
The two girls who came in behind me...I was afraid that they couldn:t see...so I tried to move and such and apologized alot. But they said it was all a-okay and they became my new best buddies for the rest of the night. So after the talk we waited in a line...to take photos with the band. I think we were supposed to get 5, but they didn:t have time so we only got 1. (I think the people in front of us got more...but thats just me...maybe they didn:t) When it was my trun to go of course everyone does the "*gasp shock* ouhhhh awww! Gaijin! shes sooo pretty! Wow isn:t she pretty?" and I was about to sit down and do the whole holding hands with Bou and Miku thing that everyone else had done for their photos...when I was like...no. I wanna do something different. So you know what?
I MADE AN CAFE DO THE CHARLIE'S ANGELS POSE WITH ME!
hahaha. oh my god. It was soooo funny! I was like "Oh! Please can we do an American pose?" and Miku gets all excited and is like "yeah yeah!" haha so I didn:t really know how to explain it...so I just grabbed them and placed them where they should be. With Kanon and Teruki standing in back and Bou and Miku kneeling in front and me in the middle. haha oh my god and the whole rest of the room, everyone still waiting. They were all laughing so hard. So then I thanked them (and by this time the photo taking lady/mod of the event was really mad that I was taking soo long. but I came a long way for this! So leave me alone!) so I quickley shook their hands and said thank you and gave Miku a dollar with my name and phone number writin on it. And then headed out.
I met my friends outside and we all agreed to stay for demachi (waiting to see the band off). Soo...we went to McDonald's across the street and ate a bit. Then we went to wait by the shop. They all spoke with the manager/staff lady that was there and I went and hung in the doorway watching the band till the shop lady made me go away. Ironically the band's manager lady didn:t seem to mind me at all (I think she liked me...she just smiled and waved when she saw me there). Then while everyone else was downstairs waiting by the car for them to come out...I went upstairs and sat on the steps near the room I knew they were in. Until Bou saw me and I had to act innocent and just waved. So they came out and walked to the car and I walked down with them and talked to Bou. Then Bou got in the car and I stood in the doorway and Miku was like "Okay lets go." and then hes like *shock* "Oh! You're not Bou!" hahahaha I was like..."...ummm no...I:m not" hahahaha oh man but...
MIKU THOUGHT I WAS BOU!
Totally still aughing at that.Umm so right I watched Kanon get in the car and then Teruki and then found my friends that were on up the road a bit. Went to take Purikura and then everyone went home together. They took the same train as me so we taught each other the para dance things (synchronized dances that everyone does at concerts) on the train. I was the only one that knew the Candyholic dance. ^-^ Go me! But they:re all going to the live next weekend so we:re gonna meet up. Yay for more friends! *happy dance*
Oh right...and as you can tell I:m keeping my identity a secret. *evil laugh* Sooo no pics for you! haha. I may eventually break down and let my new "look" slip. But until that day...edited photos. See you all in January! Its not too far away...you can wait. ^-^

The horrid lines

2005-09-21T01:23:00.000-05:00

mood - hyperventilating excitement
music: An Cafe - Merrrymaking

So I got up super early this morning...admittedly earlier than I needed to...
I went to Shinjuku and managed to arrive at the store an hour and a half before it was supposed to open. Joined the already assembled line and sat down to wait. *thumb twiddling* Finally at 11 a man came out and guided the front half of the line into the store in an organized manner. Really Japan is the only place I know where kids when given the oppurtunity to meet their idols calmly follow instructions and don't rush or push in the slightest. Kinda cool huh? haha But seriously that was the SLOWEST line I have ever been in. I didn:t get to the cash register till almost 12:00. Thats right folks somehow it took them an hour to ring up the orders of 50 or so people. I was a little upset cause some people were buying like 6 or 7 of the cds to get extra tickets to the event...and well that didn:t seem fair. But not much I can do about it. So I finally got up there, got my ticket and my speacial DVD along with the new single of course. ^-^ Happyness for the Shmee. Sooo...this Friday at 5 I will indeed be back in Shinjuku to chat and shake hands with An Cafe. *dies* Can you guys beleive all the luck I'm having? Jeesh. I hope they have good security gaurds or I might just all out glomp em. haha =p (umm who doesn't know what a glomp is? Raise your lil cyber hands and I'll explain haha)
So tonight I plan to con my sister into helping me write them a letter and then I'll draw cute stuff all over it and give it to them Friday. Go me! Now I gotta decide what the wear. Ahh! haha

Games games games

2005-09-20T20:06:00.001-05:00

<-Shmee playing games ^-^

mood: excited
music: GO!GO!7188 - Taxi

Well last Saturday was the Tokyo Game Show…and to be completely honest with you there was no way I was going to miss this opportunity. So I dragged Miranda out with me to see the latest and greatest in game technology. It took me forever and fifty years of course to actually GET to Chiba where the show was being hosted. The trains were not only full of people going to the game show, but also everyone going to Tokyo Disney (which was only two stations from where the Game show was). When we first got there we paid our admission fees and were given guides. As soon as we walked in we were greeted by large screens, a million flashy displays and of course the many girls dressed in tiny little outfits and posing for photos advertising for the various companies. The first building contained halls 4, 5, and 6 and such companies as Konami, Capcom, Sega, Namco, Microsoft, Bandai and
Sony, as well as a section for gaming schools and an area dedicated to cell phone games. It was actually pretty overwhelming being there. Microsoft was showcasing the XBOX 360 of course. They were running some promo videos on a huge screen and even had girls in lil XBOX outfits giving out information. They also had areas where you could play a few games such as Test Drive Unlimited, Dead or Alive 4,and Dead Rising. The Playstation area had available an ungodly large amount of titles for testing (I would say over 100) on PS2, PS3 and PSP. Some of the big titles were Metal Gear Solid 3, Biohazard4, Kingdom Hearts 2, and the latest in the Final Fantasy line Dirge of Cerberus ? Final Fantasy 7-. We watched Capcom’s promo videos and got some free DVDs and posters from various other places. The next building contained halls 1, 2 and 3 with such names as Excite, Gravity, and Square Enix, Gravity was showing off its new online game Rose as well as Ragnarok 2 and a new game Requiem. There was a ton of excitement in this area due to Gravity’s (a Korean gaming company made famous for its vastly popular MMORPG Ragnarok online, which is played by people of all ages worldwide) recent sale to the Japanese company SOFTBANK. With the recent launch of Rose Online Beta testing (which I was accepted for haha) and Ragnarok 2’s launch next year, Gravity is certainly a name to look out for. I also got a kick out of playing Minna Daiski Katamari (or the English title “Everyone Loves Katamari”) on the PSP. Although the controls are a little difficult at first, play is still very enjoyable and since the game was never originally graphically driven there isn’t much lost between Playstaion2 and PSP game play. All in all it was a good time. There were even a number of cosplayers wandering around the area.

Sunday and Monday I participated in my school festival. Monday I spent the majority of the morning helping Chon and Jaga with the tennis club’s activity selling Buttered Potatoes (it’s a Japanese thing…don’t ask. Haha). But I got a big kick out of Jaga selling potatoes, since Jaga means potato in Japanese. Later in the afternoon my friends from Waseda (a boy’s school not too far from ours) Yuki, Ryoichi and a friend of theirs came. So I spent the afternoon showing them around and playing card games. I also attended the live of Jaga’s band, Swallowtail, which was fun. Then after the all school after party I went out with the tennis club. We went out for Omiyaki in Ikebukro. It’s basically a restaurant where everyone sits around a large table with a girl in the middle. Then you order the flavors you want and they give you the bowls of…stuff. There are two types of food (I’m sure they have names…but I don’t remember). One type is a flat pancake of egg and cabbage with meat and cheese and such (depending on what type you order) you cook it till its hard on both sides, but soft in the middle then add sauce to the top. The other is cabbage and meat and vegetables and fish with a milky consistency. You first put all the stuff on and cook it, then create a hole in the middle and pour on the liquidy stuff, trying to keep it within the circle. Course we always failed. Haha. But it was very fun none the less. Today I was really super lazy and slept in, did my nails (I'm getting to be quiet the pro manicurist) and such. Tomorrow I have to get up early to go out to Shinjuku and get An Café’s latest single along with the limited edition DVD that comes with it and hopefully the ticket to Friday’s event (fingers crossed). I just have to make sure to go really early cause I know there are a very small amount of tickets given out. So wish me luck ne? I’ll do my best.

The mother of all updates

2005-09-13T17:50:00.000-05:00

Okay. So obviously I haven’t written as much as I should have lately. And all of you were kind enough to remind me of that in my birthday cards. ^-^; I know. I know.
Okay so I’m going to go over the big events in order of oldest to latest and make some comments. If you have any questions on anything, leave a comment and I’ll get to you ASAP.

June 25-26
I was laying on my bed feeling super bored. Cooper had mentioned doing something, but we hadn’t made any definite plans. That was when Miranda sent me a message saying she was free and I should come visit her if I wasn’t doing anything…and well I wasn’t. So I got ready and she sent me the train info and I made my way to Chiba for the first time. For some reason the train I was on stopped at every station for like 10 minutes…so what should have taken an hour took over two. But I did get there, her mother invited me to stay the night and my host mom agreed it was okay. We had a snack at McDonald’s before going on to her house. We had Yaki Niku with her family and watched TV and talked all night. The next morning we did like hours of karaoke before I had to go home.
July 3
There was a YFU event. We met in Takadanobaba and then went to this cultural center place? It had lovely gardens in any case. We had a traditional tea ceremony and folded some origami, before Miranda and I decided to leave early and go shopping in Harajuku. Which was of course much more fun. Haha
July 9
I went to see a kabuki with YFU. Kabuki is a traditional form of Japanese theatre. They speak traditional Japanese that most Japanese people now can’t even understand, so there were screens on either side of the stage rolling subtitles in modern Japanese. I really had NO idea what was going on. This guy turned into a dog? With an army? And then went to heaven in a blast of sakura? I really have no clue. It was fairly dull for the most part. Afterwards we went to harajuku for snacks and drinks and a bit of shopping. Rebecca (one of my room mates in Yoyogi) was there and I took her to Putumayo to get an outfit for her sister. We made plans to see each other more often as well.
July 10
I went to see Star Wars Episode 3 with Chon. We went to this really backwater town to see it. But they had a Mister Donuts there! Oh man! My first donut since leaving America. Haha I almost died it was so good.
July 13
Rebecca and I met in Ikebukuro after school to pick up concert tickets and then found a sweet Manga shop. Spent three hours reading manga and drinking mango frappacinos on the steps. Man I love that girl. Haha
The concert was the stylish wave CIRCUIT’ 05 in Kawasaki’s CLUB CITTA 7/30
Antic Café, Shelly Trip Realize, [FIGURe ;], MASK, doremidan, ImitationPoPs NOIZ, Babylon, R*A*P and a surprise guest.
July 21 and 22
I began the long and tedious and possibly quiet crazed task of sewing an outfit to wear to the concert with Rebecca. I had crazily decided that I would make Bou’s (the guitarist from Antic Café) latest stage outfit. Cause I figured it would be darn cool cause then we would be wearing the same outfit. Anyway…that was crazy of me to attempt to complete in 2 weeks…So I didn’t want to sew all day alone by myself at school. So I asked Rebecca if she would come to keep me company and she agreed. We met at 9 at Otsuka station, walked to a coffee shop on the way and had mango frappacinos while she changed into one of my spare skirts. Then I would sew and we would either listen to music or watch Invader Zim on her portable DVD player. And usually afterwards we would go to Ikebukuro to look around or go karaoke. Such were the good days. Haha.
July 23
I mailed Miranda telling her about Laforet having a giant sale and she said of course she couldn’t miss it…so Rebecca and I agreed to go with her. Sadly at the time I was rather broke and didn’t want to spend any money with two concerts coming up. The place was an absolute ZOO! There were sooo many people. Laforet it self is an 8 floor shopping mall with a million gazillion stores, each playing their own music as loud as possible and then each store had its staff members dressed in multi-colored afros, cat ears, bunny tails, you name it, standing on stools shouting with megaphones. Yes, that’s right each trying to shout over the others and over the music. It was horrid! I had a headache the second I stepped in there. I stood there next to Rebecca while we waited outside a store for Miranda and turned to her and said a the top of my lungs “THIS IS INSANE!” and she shouted “WHAT?” “THIS IS INSANE!” “I CAN’T HEAR YOU!” haha It was REALLY that bad. But then I found out I could sing along with some of the stores music at the top of my lungs, belt it out and no one would hear it. So I had a bit of fun with that. Finally we convinced Miranda to leave, since it was driving her crazy too. Although I must admit, had I had cash at the time it would have been great. Almost everything was 50 ? 80 percent off. Which…yeah is GREAT! Haha.

July 24
My host mom came in and woke me up and said “oh at 3 your new host dad is coming in his car to get you, so you need to get up and get ready.” So I showered, finished packing and cleaned up everything. Did you know I was moving? Well now you do. It was a little strange saying goodbye to my old family…but that was okay. We drove with my rep and arrived at my new family’s apartment. Ikeda was their name. They had two children, Kouchirou and Kyouko. Kouchiro was getting ready to leave for Switzerland for a one-month exchange. So the family agreed to take me for that one month.
July 26
When I moved my rep. had given me two tickets to Tokyo Disneyland. So I asked my sister Kyouko if she wanted to go with me. But since that as the day of the tsunami she wasn’t sure if we could go or not. But it ended up being okay in the morning so we went ahead and left. But it rained off and on all day long. Although this made the lines really short…it also made it rather dreary and not so fun. We went on the rides, had some snacks. Compared to the parks in the US this was nothing though. The rides were a lot softer, with less speed and less drops and there wasn’t too much to do. It was kinda sad. But we still had a pretty good time.
July 27 and 29
I sewed again with Rebecca and finally finished my outfit. Okay..see this outfit involves over 200 golden eyelets that then have black and pink ribbons laced through them. But I highly doubt anyone in Japan does home repair, because I found it impossible to find somewhere to hammer where I didn’t feel like I was being completely obnoxious. I tried to hammer on our balcony, but it seemed to echo off all the buildings and be really loud and everything was so quiet. I suppose it didn’t help that the times I was free to hammer (basically 11 pm or 7 am) were not exactly busy times. I wanted to get half the eyelets done one morning in particular, so I got up early, 5, so I could do it. I tried the balcony, but I felt like I was waking up everyone. I went to see if I could get to the roof, but they had it locked, and by this time it was raining slightly. Finally I broke down and walked to a nearby park. There I found a small cement column coming out of the ground. So there I kneeled, in the middle of a park at 5 am in the slight rain kneeling on the ground hammering a small piece of fabric with a white high-heeled shoe. (That’s right folks, cause I had no hammer. That’s improvisation right there haha) But I did get it done. The rest of the rivets I hammered at school with an umbrella. Go ahead laugh, you know its funny.
July 30
The big day! I had no idea where this place was to tell you the truth. All I had was a map I had printed from their website and there was noooo way I was gonna get us lost and miss the concert, so Rebecca and I met a 8 am and then together went to Kawasaki. The concert hall opened at 3:30, show started at 4:30. We got to Kawasaki super early obviously. So we went to McDonalds and had breakfast, did our makeup and talked. After that we wandered around the shops in the area and went to an arcade. We played a few rounds of DDR and that drumming game…which I found highly enjoyable. We went to another shop so I could change into my outfit and then headed to the club. They made us all gather in a hot stuffy parking garage while they called ticket numbers and let people in by tens. Ahhh that was soo annoying. Even though we had fairly high numbers (142 and 141 B) when we got into the club we were able to walk straight up into the front section. The surprise guest was Despair’s Ray and they went first. All in all it was an amazing experience. I really enjoyed MASK’s performance. All the crowd got really into it. In Japan at concerts like this they do a sort of para para…basically a synchronized dance. The band or the fans of the band make up the dance. Usually the vocalist or another member of the band will be on stage doing the dance and then the ENTIRE crowd will copy it. Yes, even if that means spinning around 70 times while head banging, regardless of who you crush in the process. Anyway, MASK had really complicated dances that during one point involved the whole crowd stepping back about 7 paces and then throwing themselves forcefully on top of the people in front of them. I feel sorry for the people in front who got crushed up against the bar. But Rebecca and I got really into it and had a great time doing all the dances and the Japanese girls around us were even pushing us forward cause they were getting to tired to dance as enthusiastically. See, in these concerts it’s considered rude to NOT do the dances. So when they got tired they would move back and allow the more energetic people to support the band in their place. So by this time Rebecca and I had achieved second row. Although I have to admit it was really scary during Imitation PoPs performance. They’re dance was so complicated, but the fans were so into it that they did it anyway and Rebecca and I had nothing to do but cling tightly to each other hoping not to get pushed apart and/or crushed when they all jumped as high as they could and then ran sideways. Last performance of the night was my favorite, Antic Café. I was REALLY excited to see them live. Indeed I was dressed EXACTLY like Bou and that was soo awesome. I was in the second row at this time, but the girl in front of me spent most of the concert with her head down head banging…so I might as well have been in the first row. That was great. Bou even smiled and waved at me. Bad thing though, the concert didn’t finish till 11.

August 2
Rebecca and I met in Harajuku to take some pictures of me in my costume and then met Cooper in Shibuya. We shopped around a bit for Rebecca’s kinda sorta farewell thing. Since she was only a semester student she was due to go home soon.
August 3
I went to the airport to see Rebecca off. How complicated that was! Her host sister told me to meet them at Tokyo international terminal. So I went to Narita and asked the info lady where that was…well apparently it was in Tokyo, not Narita, but I could take a bus from Narita to there. I mailed Rebecca’s sis a bit more and she told me Rebecca had just got on the bus to come to Narita. So I was really relieved I hadn’t totally messed up and I would jus have to wait there for her. I found a big group of YFU kids. I guess summer students. I talked to a few for a bit, until I spotted Rebecca. By this time the ticket line was HUGE. All clogged up with YFU students. So I sat there on Rebecca’s luggage cart and we chatted for 3 or so hours while she waited. But by the time we reached the counter she had about 9 or so minutes till her flight so they expedited her through security and everything. We hugged quickly and she headed off. *sniffles cries* I sooo miss her.
August 6
The Miyavi concert! Ahh I was sooo excited for this. I got there pretty early and met my friend Raki and we saw Miya and his band arrive in their van and they all got out and waved and blew kisses. Then we had a million hours to wait…sadly in the sun. I got a terrible sunburn. The concert was only 2 and a half ours long. The fans were so insane and I got so worn out from dancing that really by the time it was over all I wanted to do was curl up and sleep.
August 8
I took a day trip up to see Miranda again in Chiba. I don’t think I can ever see her enough, she keeps me sane in this crazy place. (total love for Miranda. Haha)
August 12
Chon had gotten tickets for her and I to see the Tokyo Film Festival premier of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (for free too). But the day of the movie she couldn’t go, so Cooper came with me instead. Actually…that movie was really cool. Haha
August 13
The 12th I had gotten an e-mail from an online friend telling me that this weekend was one of two of Tokyo’s biggest cosplay events. Of course I was dying to go. But I had been debating it. I ended up having nothing better to do. So I got up, put on my Battle Royal uniform and then headed out there. I met him and a few of his friends. Most of them were here on the JET program (a Gov. funded program that brings in foreigners to teach English) but one guy was an ambulance driver for the military. We wandered around and looked at all the cosplay and took pictures. I even had my picture taken quiet a few times. Ah! Foreigner! Must snap. Haha. Afterwards we all went out to TGI Friday’s for dinner. Ah! A good burger! It had been sooo long. Haha. And then went out to Shinjuku to go karaoke. It was a total blast and I also realized it was the first time since I’d been here that I had hung out with people older than me…I totally needed that since I’m so used to hanging out with my parents and all their friends.
August 14
John Morgan came down from Kyushu (its far away trust me). Cooper and I went with him to Akihabara (the geek Mecca here.). Then I took him out shopping in Harajuku. (I am now the official Harajuku guide haha) It was a total blast though. John is really a great guy.
August 15
I met in Harajuku with a girl named Hana who I had met at the Miyavi concert. Ironically not only was she two rows behind me at the concert, she is on the same website that I use for chatting with friends and she used to go to Ochanomizu (my school now). Ahh I love these crazy coincidences. So we shopped around and took some purikura together.
August 19/20
YFU 4 month orientation camp at the Yoyogi Olympic Center. Ah takes me back to the day. Haha. This orientation was a bit…pointless, boring, painful but sorta fun. First they had nothing for us to do, so they decided for us to walk…to Shinjuku. A 45 min walk in the heat. And then when we got there, we had nothing to do, so we basically walked around and then came back. Then we were allowed to swim, which was super cool cause I hadn’t been swimming since I left the US. Then we had some chats with the returnees, a sucky dinner and then all the students stayed up till 2 am talking. There was Cooper, Me, Lara (a girl from Switzerland) and Saskia (a girl from Holland) and John (a guy from Germany) and Eimy (a girl from Sweden). I got really fond of Lara and Saskia. Lara likes punk fashion and the same kind of music I do, while Saskia is just crazy. She has a really funny sense of humor and we just had a great time talking.
August 26
I went to the YFU headquarters to discuss my next move. After my host family and my rep and I went out to dinner.
August 28
Moving Day! I packed up all my stuff and set off for my new family. Noda-san. I now have a mother, father, and two sisters, 18 and 6. But…they’re Chinese. They speak Japanese to me, but sometimes the mother’s accent is a little difficult. But I really like them, they’re very kind to me and help me with whatever I need.
August 29/30/31
Another YFU camp. This time it was in Chiba…actually really far from central Chiba. It was some…like center in the middle of no where. But I got to see the Ocean! Even though YFU split us into stupid groups and made us do dumb skits…it was okay.

Which pretty much brings you all up to the present. So there. That was my summer. Now school has started up again and our school festival is next weekend. I really have NO idea what’s going on…something about fortune telling? Anyway, I don’t have too many classes right now, mostly study halls. Our regular classes are being taught by student teachers…who do a terrible job for the most part. So its incredibly boring and pointless.
And as you all know last weekend was my birthday. I am now standing at a sturdy 18 years. Woah…old huh? Ha. For my party Lara, Saskia, and Cooper and I went out and took a million purikura and then did an hour of karaoke. We then met Chon and Jaga and went back to my house for pizza, chicken, sushi, fruit and cake. It was sooo yummy! Ah! Happyness. And that morning Jordan called me and so did mom and dad. It was really nice to hear from them, just being away from home made it feel like…well not like my birthday. I know Christmas is going to seem so strange.

Rainy Days

2005-06-19T17:33:00.000-05:00

Well a long time has passed. I know, I haven’t deserted you. Today I went out to Harajuku with my Australian friend Cooper. I saw him again at the YFU 3 month orientation a while ago and we found out that we lived rather close to each other. So on weekends when we both don’t have anything else to do, we get together to go shopping, see the sights, take pictures and such. This weekend we met in Harajuku, walked around Yoyogi park taking photos and then headed out to Ginza. We ate lunch there and went through the Sony building. They had a few models of the latest laptops, mp3 players and such, but I really got a kick out of playing with the new model of Aibo, the moist intelligent Ai robot developed to look and act like a dog and playing the new Bleach fighting game on the PSP (umm its an anime…). Then we headed over to Ueno and looked around the markets. They had shops selling fish right next to shops with golfing gear. It certainly was strange…and a bit smelly too. Haha. I drug him into a seven floor toyshop and had to listen to him complain about how much of a dork I am while I looked at all the Gundam models (but that is rather geeky, I admit haha). But we then went and did an hour of karaoke, which was a blast.
As for the YFU orientation, it was a bit dull…but I suppose I shouldn’t say that should I? I should say I enjoyed the culturally enriching historical experience…but whatever. We participated in the carrying of the Mikoshi. A mikoshi is basically a portable god, if you can imagine that. Each temple has one and on the day of that god’s festival people gather to carry the mikoshi down the street, lead by the priests and chanting. Then afterwards everyone gets together for food and drinks to relax. It was interesting to see the various types of mikoshi from the different temples and all the people dressed in traditional clothes.
As far as the Sports festival…I actually had a pretty good time. Although for the most part I was really hungry and it was really hot so I was thirsty too. But the events I competed in were really fun. Although my class lost terribly ^^; It was fun. I think they put me in the most dangerous events on purpose! One of them was this…fight over large bamboo stick. Two classes faced off against each other, each team having 8 or so teams of three people. These groups of three would then run from their spot behind the line towards a bamboo stick in the middle. Your team’s goal is to get the bamboo stick back behind your side. Of course the other team is trying to do the same, so you have to drag them with you. Once you get your stick behind the line you can go help the other teams. So by the end we had a giant blob of forty or so girls tugging and climbing all over each other trying to get to drag this stick. It was really fun though…
Lately I’ve been busy studying. I have my exams coming up this week and next, so I’m trying to cram all my Japanese notes to make sure I’m ready. But soon it will be Summer. Although the Japanese school’s summer isn’t as long as summer in the US, I’m looking forward to it. Right now is rainy season, keeping the weather a bit cooler, but as summer comes around the wonderful land of Tokyo will be getting even hotter. The last week has been almost unbearably hot and humid at school, so I’m glad for the rain…although it does make things rather dreary.

Class trip

2005-05-23T17:32:00.000-05:00

All right, long time no updates…I know. First, shopping with Miranda was a blast. Although I fear we ran out of time way too soon. We went around Ikebukuro first, then Shibuya then Harajuku. Basically we just looked at all the shops. But it was really fun to get to go out with someone who has the same taste as me.
I had an awesome time on my class trip. We went to this really rural area called Aizu (probably spelling that wrong sorry). First we visited an old temple where we had lunch. I really enjoyed that cause where we ate was really traditional. The big tatami mat room with rows of little individual tables and everyone ate on the floor. The meal was really good too. I’m really not sure what most of that stuff was, but it was very interesting. Of course Miso soup, tea, rice and there was some salmon, but also some jellyish stuff (ok like jello..but not) and some dumpling like things. After that we visited a samurai school/ museum. But that was really dull for me. All the information was in Japanese, so I really missed out on the whole historical background of it, which I probably would have found interesting. Afterwards we drove to the hotel. Let me just say it was amazing. It was extremely traditional. I shared a room with Tashi, Jaga, Chyoun and Rina. It was pretty small, but we had a little balcony that overlook the river flowing through the mountains. It was gorgeous. The river was really green and it looked wonderful in contrast with the gray stone of the mountains, the green pine trees and the blue sky. We talked and relaxed till dinner time. Dinner…it was just wow. The hotel ladies kind of made me nervous because they walked up and down the aisles the whole time checking on everyone. But they were also very good about refilling tea. Haha. But the dinner was huge. I kid you not, we had four soups. The first was miso,. The second was some sort of noodles with a partially cooked egg over it, which was strangely sweet. The third was really rich. It seemed to be almost pure fat with bits of vegetables and meat inside, so I really couldn’t eat much of that and the fourth was this type of mushroom soup my host mom makes every now and then, which I really like. Then there was sashimi (raw fish) and raw scallops, salmon, some cabbage, rice (obviously), and this strange little thing. It was like a layer of salmon, a layer of egg, a layer of potato and then bacon on top. It looked so weird, but it tasted really good. There was also some tempura. After dinner, we took our baths down in the public bathhouse and spent the night teaching the girls different card games and talking.The second day we went to a pottery factory and were given some clay to do as we wished. I made a rockin box with spiky teeth and a tail. (mostly because I had failed to make a decent goblet and was running out of time. But it turned out really cool) Afterwards we went to a really rural town to look around and have lunch. It was really cool to see how some people are still living the old fashioned way. The town had built a little walled stream flowing down either side of the central (and only) street, and people had baskets of vegetables and drinks tied to it, the running water keeping them cool and fresh. It seemed like many of the houses didn’t even have electricity and they were all traditional with thatch roofs, tatami mats and sliding paper doors. We stopped in one restaurant and had Tempura udon for lunch before heading back home.Lately I’ve been extremely busy. Since I started my formal Japanese lessons with University student tutors, I’ve been getting a lot of homework. But I really enjoy it and it helps me to learn even more. The Sports festival at school is coming up this Saturday so I’ve also been busy going to dance practices and all sorts of meetings I can’t understand. A part of me really wishes I could be sick that day, but I know I can’t.

Miyavi Event

2005-05-04T19:46:00.000-05:00

Well, today has most probably been the highlight of my trip. Ok, no lets rephrase that, the highlight of my life. Because after all, how many people get the chance to meet their idol? Oh, yes I am very proud of myself.
I had a horrible time sleeping the other night, I was way too excited about the event. If anyone doesn't know what I'm talking about, today was the release of Miyavi's (my fave rock star babah) latest single, Freedom Fighters. In celebration of the release he was holding a nifty event. You were given a map with several places around the Shinuya area highlighted. We had to wear a white shirt and were told at 1:30 at several places in the area they would begin to hand out white flags. The flag would serve as entrance to the event, but they were only giving 2000 out. Anyways, I got up at 9 ish. Got dressed in my most punk outfit and headed out to Shibuya. I was supposed to meet Chyoun at 11:30 at 109 2. I was really happy that she agreed to come with me even though she doesn't like him. When I got to 109 there was already a couple groups of girls gathered waiting for the event. Sooo I started to get nervous, I mean I really reallly really wanted this. But I found Chyoun and dragged her over there and we talked the the girls a bit. They were all really surprised that I even knew who Miyavi was and immedietly loved me. Haha I went over to the record store near 109 and picked up the new single. I was bummed that they were already out of posters, but in retrospect it really doesn't matter much. I can always get a poster. I let Chyoun get lunch, but I was too excited to eat and we headed with the rest of the assmebled fans over to the front of Shibuya station.

At some point before 1, one of the girls got a call from a friend that the road was being blocked off over by HMV and there were camera crews there. So the whole group made a mad dash for the area. And I mean MAD DASH, all out run. Once we got there...woow There were sooo many people. Like its difficult to explain, fangirls as far as the eye can see...well look for yourself. I had to stand on a fence to take these pics.

Finally I spotted a pair of girls walking past discreetly holding white flags. I immedietly grabbed Raki (ahh Raki is a girl I met when I first got there)and Chyoun and made a run in that general direction. Sadly my running wasn:t very discreet...and the rest of the mad crowd began to run as well. What followed could quiet possibly only be compared to a bull run. Imagine if you will over 2000 screaming fan girls dressed in mostly black and white with many spikey accessories running at full speed with a determination only described as "obsession". Needless to say most of the innocent bystanders ducked into the alleyways and shops. Soo I ran along with all the girls for a good 20 minutes...maybe more I wasn:t really keeping track, until I saw Raki again. She pointed me to a corner where what should I see, but a man quietly giving out flags. YATTA! Soo I grabbed one (and a map) and Raki and I headed off. We called Chyoun, but she didn:t get a flag (I really don:t think she minded at all) soo she went home and Raki and I went on the Harajuku. We followed the map to Miyakichi. When we got there we showed our flags and were given a card with instructions to go to Shibuya Park by 3:00.
Ahh, this day involved alot of running as you can see. So we ran to Shibuya park (well half ran...we were pretty tired). When we arrived there was already a large crowd of fans assembled and they had blocked off the front half. So we were in the front of the back. After waiting maybe a half hour Miyavi finally came out. And yes, I waved my flag and screamed my head off like a good little fangirl. Haha. But it was seriously awesome. We didn:t have the greatest spot but it payed off, because after he sang three songs we were ushered inside the building and since we were towards the back, we were towards the front to go in. We probably waited inside for almost an hour while everyone else came in and took seats and went up front to buy the new CD. Then a man came on the mic. and told us to get out our CD jackets and that Miyavi, yes MIYAVI HIMSELF, would be stamping them for us. AHHH! My heart did such a jump. So we were the second group to get to line up to go see him. It went really fast though, or maybe it just seemed fast. I was really nervous and I couldn:t stop dancing around, singing his songs. I really hadn:t expected to be this lucky, and I was really afraid I wouldn:t get up there in time, because I knew he had a radio show later and would only be there a short time. But my lucky day continued to be just that, LUCKY. The line moved along and pretty soon I could see him, only a few feet away from me...ahh I could have just died right then. Obviously I didn't. And I snuck a picture too.
(Yes sitting at that table is Miyavi YATTA!)
I had been thinking of what I would say to him when it came to my turn, but really I couldn:t think of anything and I was so nervous anyways I was sure I wouldn't be able to speak. So when it came to be my turn I just smiled really big and thanked him alot. And WOW. All I can say is wow. For that moment when he looked into my eyes and smiled so big...I was so happy, just because that smile was for me. I don't care if he smiles at every girl that comes through there (cause I'm sure he has to LOL), that was Miyavi's smile just for me! Haha. YAY! He looked a little shocked to see me actually when he first looked at me....I know I know. Its the foreigner thing, but oh well. He smiled soooo big. Haha. That made me uber super de duper happy. I was surprised I got to actually stand there so long, like no one told me "move along now" or anything. I waited outside for Raki and when she came out we hugged and held hands and jumped up and down shouting YATTTA!!! As loud as we could haha. Then another camera man stopped us and asked some questions to me. I just let Raki talk since I really couldn't understand him at all, but then he asked me specifically, soo I just said in english how I was from the US, so I was really happy I got to meet Miyavi while I was here. But I guess that guy was like Miyavi's official camera man or something...ehh...makes me kinda nervous. When I came back I was soo happy my host family was all like "What? Why are you smiling and laughing and jumping up and down?" Haha soo I explained to them, they said they don't mind if I go to the concert. Soo...I'm really excited about that. Tickets go on sale on the 20th soo I'll have to try to get there really early and get a good spot. Raki said she is going too, so I'll probably meet her there. All the other fans were really nice to me though. Ahh I love this country haha, but really everyone is really nice. Anyways, I:m going shopping with Miranda tomorrow, So I:m uber excited about that too. This Golden Week is turing out better than I had ever imagined. Haha. I know I'm soo lucky to have gotten into that evet, so lucky to find a flag, so lucky to get to meet him. I'm really really LUCKY. Haha and now I'm really really happy too! Haha.
(I was really glad I had the world's smallest camera with me too haha, cause I got to sneak pictures when I wasn't supposed to haha)

A Little Sun

2005-05-02T08:35:00.000-05:00

Golden week is now upon us. I'm really not sure what this holiday is for, I've asked a few people and no one seems to remember, but it's a week off school...so I'm not going to complain. It was very pleasent the other day and I had no plans, so I enjoyed relaxing on our balcony listening to my ipod.
Yesterday Jaga invited me to come shopping in Harajuku with her. I was actually very proud that I was able to find the meeting place with no trouble (Because I rode the bus to get there and she wanted to meet at the train station...it was a bit of a walk). We walked down Takashita street, a tiny street crowded with all sorts of punk shops. I really loved it. I even found a store that sells replicas of all of the famous rockstar's tour and music video clothes. Then she took me to her favorite secondhand store. I was really surprised. It looked more like a yuppie trendy store than a Goodwill. Everything was very organized, all the shirts organized by style and then color. But I couldn't help but laugh when I saw a Joe's Crab Shack shirt and a shirt from Estes Park (umm thats where Jo's uncle lives, goota love it eh). Then we met up with Tashi and had lunch at Wendy's. (Haha I just can't get away from America can I?) And we wandered around all the little shops all day. You'd all be proud of me that I bought nothing. (And let me tell you that was tough haha) We helped a lost french couple and took a purikura.
Today I'm meeting Chyon at four and Wensday is the super speacil Miyavi event. Ohh sooo excited. Haha. Soo Many more updates of the fun to come.

tired

2005-04-23T10:00:00.000-05:00

I apolgize I haven:t been updateing recently, but I haven:t had much to say. I guess I:ve gotten really used to being here, so everything seems pretty ordinary to me. Although I guess to everyone back home its not ordinary at all. Well the past week was really busy. Last weekend I went shopping in Shibuya. I asked Remmy where her favorite stores were and she said Shibuya, so I figured I:d check it out. Its really popular for teens apparently, but it was very croweded and really expensive. I went to a big shopping mall and then wandered around the area all day. Oh and I visited Tokyo Hands, a giant craft store. They are a few of them around here, but the one in Shinjuku is the biggest I:ve seen so far. Its 11 floors. So I speant a few hours in there drooling over all the art supplies.
Monday I went to Ueno with Chyoun. Since my host mother has class Monday nights, we all are responsible for getting our own dinners. So Chyoun and I wandered around some stores there. One store sold very nice oriental stlye dresses for only 20 or 30 dollars. Chyoun says she loves Ueno cause the stores are more affordable. So then we went to karoke for 2 hours and had dinner at a burger place she loves. Teriyaki burger. Haha. It was really good though.
Tuesday I went to Soft Tennis practice with Chyoun and Jaga. Wow...I:ve never been so tired in my ... ok maybe thats an exageration. But I was really tired and to this day my arm muscles are still screaming in pain. Haha. Practice was about 3 hours long too and the couch drilled me mercilessly because I:m new. Soo...now I have practice Monday, Tuesday and Friday. *whew* But its super fun.
Wensday Chyoun went with me to Ikebukuro. We went to HMV cause Wensday is double points day (HMV is a music and video store, they have a point card. 500 yen = one stamp. you get 1000 yen off at 100 and 10000 off at 500... I think at least). And I tried to find another pair of shoes for gym class...but was unsuccessful. They were all really expensive import brands.
Thursday I went to rock club. I really only listened this time, but they wanted me to sing. But I didn:t know if I knew any of the songs they were going to play... so I just said next time. But they are really good. The bass player is awesome and one of the guitarists is super amazing...since she worships Hisa she oughta be. Haha ( Oh lets see who gets that reference) Since Jaga left early I decided to leave with her. We were walking to the station together when we heard a sweet little sound...the ice cream truck. LOL. Soo we ran to catch it. I asked her waht she likes and she said "Ice-dog". Its two scoops of ice cream in a toasted hot dog bun. Wierd huh? But I decided to have one for kicks and its pretty darn yummy. Not to mention that maccha and melon surprisingly taste good together. Who woulda guessed?
Ahh and Friday. I decided to skip tennis practice since I was still in pain and opted to come home and be lazy and watch TV all afternoon.
Today I:m going to head out to Shinjuku to a big fabric store to get fabric for my home ec. class. Once again I apologize for the lapse in posts. But I have been super busy as you can see.

Whew...tired

2005-04-14T05:25:00.000-05:00

Another wonderful day for the hamster. Not sure I mentioned it, but my host parents asked me to cut down the internet time, and now I'm using their laptop...so this causes a few problems. (such as I can't download Stanely, sorry Haley...) In any case, I really wanna get a cell phone cause all my friends keep asking when I will, because they all want to be able to message me. But I don't know how to ask my host parents about it. But anyways, my day was awesome. I slept in a bit, but still managed to have extra time in the morning. We had PE first and played tennis. I talked with Shiori and she invited me to go to Ikebukuro with her and a few other girls. I was kinda sad because I missed Rock club, but I had tons of fun. So we all went Karoke and shopping and took a Purikura. Ahhh! I love karoke! Its soo cool. I'm not sure how long we stayed, but I know it was awhile and the time flew. But we split the cost so it was 250 yen each (divided by three thats something whatever). Then we met her friend Izumi at Sunshine 60 and she came shopping with us. We basically wandered around. I'm not sure if Izumi was shy or if she just didn't like me. Anyways then I took the bus home, had dinner. I was talking with my mother and apparently she is going abroad this summer so I need to find a friend to stay with or I will be staying with my area rep. Ehh...although I wouldn't mind all that much, I'd rather stay with Remmy. Anyway, had a great day, but now I'm super tired. So I'm gonna go crash.

Yatta!

2005-04-10T10:37:00.000-05:00

I had the greatest day today! Remmy invited me to spend the day with her and her family. So I got up early and headed out on the subway to Mita station to meet her. I met her at 11 and then her mother drove us to their apartment…And wow…She said it was small…and it sooo wasn’t. It was amazing! All wood floors and a ton of giant stain glass windows. It was beautiful. And apparently her father loves growing roses, their balcony was full of rose bushes and other pretty plants. She showed me many pictures of her family and herself during all sorts of festivals and she let me try on a Yakata (not sure if I spelled that right, but it’s the traditional Japanese summer wear). Then her mother cooked us an amazing lunch and drove us to Baskin Robbins and we all had ice cream cones. Afterwards we went to Roppongi shopping center. She took me to Tokyo View; it’s a 53 story tall building with an art museum and a giant observatory where you can see all of Tokyo! It was amazing! We went window-shopping because Roppongi is a very ritzy area and everything is extremely expensive. I mean REALLY ritzy. It was a lot of Giorgio Armani and Louis Viuton. Soo… yup can’t afford that. Haha. While there we tried a tofu parfait. It was Japanese tea flavored and surprisingly delicious, her mother suggested we get one because Remmy said she had never had before. Then when we got back her mother invited me to go with them for dinner, and of course I accepted. We went to the bottom level of Roppongi to a very nice sushi bar. It was amazing! The table was set about a foot above the ground with a cut out area below to put your feet, but because it was tatami mat you had to take off your shoes before entering. We had an individual booth and there was a little space in-between the wall where the conveyor belt went by. The plate’s prices were decided by their color, depending on the dish. We had traditional Japanese powder tea, and there was a tiny faucet on the table that gave hot water. Then when we were finished a girl came by with a little scanner and ran it over the piles of plates. The scanner then added up what we owed. I thought it was pretty darn nifty. I mean how does the scanner know what color that plates are? But yeah that was cool. They wanted me to try everything and her mother enjoyed very much teaching me the Japanese name for everything. ^_^ I liked her mother very much, she was amazingly nice. So I tried the crab (raw crab is a little strange), tuna, unagii (eel, of course! Haha its Timmy’s favorite too! Its soo much better here!), salmon, octopus, this egg thing… and wow sooo many more. And Melon! They had fresh melon! It was sooo much fun though! Remmy says she loves spending time with me. She first wanted to know if I was going to switch families ever, but when I said no, she said she hoped then that I would come stay with her sometimes anyway. I will! I really like her. Her sister doesn’t speak much english, so she was very shy. I hope soon my Japanese is better so I can talk to her too! Her father is an engineer in a steel plant (oh fancy that eh, Timmy?). Oh Oh! And I rode the subway all by myself, bought my own ticket and everything! Ha! Be proud of me everyone. I am still the goddess of all directional goodness. *whoot whoot mega whoot* When I came home my father says, please sit down I want to talk to you…and I was afraid he was upset because I had been out late or something, but it was just that they are going to start speaking Japanese in the house all the time and they want me to make an effort to speak Japanese to them all the time as well. Which I’m thinking is going to be very difficult…but I told them I would try…and I will. But they were very happy I had made a friend. They want me to spend less time on the internet too. Sooo…less frequent updates. Sorry ya’ll. In any case I’ll be typing these in word and then posting them later…soo It’ll probably be like no updates, then all the sudden *poof* a million updates. Haha Anyway, I was out late and I have school tomorrow…I’m gonna be soo tired I know. You know here it is very common to eat dinner at 8. Its soo late! Many times when Megu goes out she does not come back till 9 or 10. But I'm really happy, I hope I can spend lots of time with Remmy and her family! In any case I gotta get to bed now. Bai Bai!

School time

2005-04-08T18:59:00.000-05:00

So today was my first sort-of-full day. First I had Ancient Japanese…which was oh how shall we say…impossible. Haha. But the teacher gave me an “easier” book to “read” (aka She gave me a book and I looked at the pictures.) Then we had Math B. It was pretty much the stuff we did a few months ago with Mr. Shick so that wasn’t a problem…although the crazy guy kept sticking kanji into all the equations and confusing me. I’m sure it made it easier for the other students in some way though. But it wasn’t too bad. Then we had Japanese History, which they had a test in. The teacher just asked me to write what I thought about Ochonomizu (my school), my host family, and Japan. (aka busy work). But I didn’t mind. She is really nice, she was one of the younger ladies that showed me around the first day. Then we had Biology. I really understood nothing that man said…I think he was a new teacher because he was introducing himself and kept making jokes (which I didn’t get obviously). But at one point in time he said, “chrome” that was the only thing I understood…the entire time. Haha. Next we had English. The teacher is really nice, I like her a lot. But she asked me to come up to the front of the class and talk about where I’m from and my hobbies. I was very surprised at myself and how I managed to talk very calmly about my school and our home. Then she asked the students to ask me questions. It was a little awkward, but I actually did very well. I think that after delivering a speech to the whole school, talking to my class was nothing. Then we had lunch. Chyon, the girl who I sit next too, went with me over to the campus store so I could buy a sandwich and then we ate with another group of girls on the roof. (Made me think of Suicide Club a lot LOL (And now that I type that I wonder how many people will understand that reference…)). I really like the way their schedule is set up. We have only five classes a day and there is an 8 min. break between each class with a majorly long lunch break. And the students only leave the classroom for certain classes, like science or art. So it is very relaxing compared to an American school where we only had 4 mins. to rush to each class. And instead of having a bell the intercom plays this soft melody. It is very nice. After lunch it was time for the club presentations. Each club came up and gave a short demonstration and talked about when they meet. I really didn’t understand much of what was said…but Chyon explained some to me. I really liked the Japanese Harp club’s presentation as well as the choir that sang “Zippa-de-doo-da”(sp?). It was funny to hear them sing with such an accent, but they did a very good job. The club presentations were finished at 2, so we had until 3 to sit around and talk. I talked to a girl who was amazed that I knew manga (She was a big fan of Saiyuki and almost died when I named off all the chars. Haha). A few girls were trying to convince me to join choir, but I’m afraid I couldn’t sing as high as they do. I am not sure now which club I want to join. I would enjoy playing volleyball, because I know how to play…and I’m not too bad (all right I know, I stink OK.) But many of my friends are in the tennis club, so I might enjoy that, although I also think that the Rock club would be very fun! I wanna be in the rock group! Haha. I’m not sure when I have to pick, so maybe I’ll ask when all the clubs meet and chose then. I know sports clubs usually meet everyday and then have games on Saturdays or Sundays… so that would keep me very busy. I am not sure I want to be that busy because then I would not have time to go out with my friends, but being in a sports club is a good way to make more friends…so it is a hard choice.After school Chyon and Nao invited me to go to Ikebukuro to get a Purikura (Print club, you know?). Nao wanted also to go Karoke, but Chyon could not tonight. So we just got Purikura. It was very fun! I have been e-mailing with another girl, Remmy. She is very nice! I really like her alot! She has invited me to come spend the day with her, so I'm really excited. I am very happy to be making so many friends. I also got a letter from a girl named Shiori. She says she is very sad we are not in the same class, but she really wants to be my friend, and another girl loaned me a CD. Hehe. I bet ya’ll didn’t know I could be so popular did ya? Another girl had heard I liked GLAY, so she ran over to me today saying “I LOVE GLAY! Lets go to concert together!” haha. I am having trouble remembering everyones names though. It is very difficult because it isn’t names like “Mary, Beth, Amy” Ya know? Its Mizuki, Yuki, Nao, Hisano…most of the names I have never heard of before…and I am introduced to about 30 people each day…so I keep forgetting who I have met before. I am starting to remember a few names though…I know when I was first at Notre Dame I forgot everyone’s names… I even forgot who Alison was! But after awhile I knew most everyone…it just takes time. I was very happy that I found my homeroom without any problems and I wasn’t late. I was not sure what time I should get up…but I guess I was ok. Anyways, I am going to go shopping tomorrow. I need some new shoes for school, a school sweater and also an obento lunch box (So I don’t have to buy my lunch!). Wow…long post. Sorry…

Ring Ring

2005-04-06T22:48:00.000-05:00

First day of school ne? Well first we had a big ceremony, which took about 30 mins. Lots of sitting down-standing up- bowing-sitting down again. And they sang a few songs...which was kinda cool and then a girl played piano accomponied by a girl on clarinet. Then afte that we all went into the gym and they introduced some student teachers. Then the third year class gave an introduction to the first years and vice-versus. Then the teachers introduced themselves. Then it was time for my speech. *eep* It was in front of the whole school...soo I was nervous. But I tried my best. And only stumbled a little, which is a big thing considering it was all in Japanese. Then we headed to our homerooms to clean. I really didn't clean much I mostly busy being surrounded by different girls and asked all sorts of questions. But I was really happy. A few girls were shy, but then their friends drug them over to talk to me anyways. ^_^ But all the girls were really nice, so I'm not nervous about school anymore. hehe.

Sakura

2005-04-06T06:33:00.000-05:00

I am now officially the queen of all directional goodness, because I have yet to get lost! Whahah
So today was the day all gaijin look forward to, the day that the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. It was an amazing day, sunny and warm. So I took my newly attained bus pass and went out to Harajuku. And ummm wow. I've never seen so many stores in my entire life...it was...breathtaking. I found the Candy Stripper shop, but sadly the shirt I liked was 120 dollars...sooo maybe no and the Metamorphse Store...I did a giddy little dance and the shop girl stared at me. I think I confused her alot with my random excited english, but she was nice and super cute. Soo then I walked over to Yoyogi park...and wow. I don't really know what to say. It was amazing. There were these little lakes and fountains and all around the sakura trees...it was so pretty. And a ton of people were all laying out on blue tarps or playing frisbee under the trees. It was just amazing. I really can't describe it. But the pics. I took were with the real camera, so we'll see how they turn out. lol. In the meantime, heres a shot of some Sakura at a Shrine I found.

And Ikebukuro

Insanity

2005-04-05T06:35:00.000-05:00

In a stroke of rash confidence I decided to walk out to Shinjuku. Yes...if anyone has a map near you of the Tokyo area, thats a looonnngg way from Nishisugamo. In any case I figured I had lots of time to blow today so I could do it. Sooo I set out at about 11 am this morning. With a quick stop at Ikebukuro first I headed on my merry way. Well the way was merry. It really was a nice day, not too hot, a bit of a breeze and I got to see plenty of scenery and even a shrine. Soo it was fun, but it was extremely tiring. The walk out to Shinjuku took about an hour and well lets face it, I'm not in the greatest shape of the world. Sooo it was extremely tiring. Shinjuku was nice though. Plenty of small shops clustered together and I would have headed on to Harajuku but it was already 3 and... I was very tired and hungry, so I took the bus back to Ikebukuro, picked up a snack at the Seven Eleven and headed home. Mom tells me that the news said the cherry blossoms would be blooming fully tomorrow, and that it'll be very warm as well. So maybe I'll find a nice touristy place to take a few pictures for everyone.
In any case I learned a valuable lesson today. Don't walk to Shinjuku. Take the bus.

Tanjyobi

2005-04-02T21:30:00.000-06:00

Soo...since yesterday was Megu's birthday, tonight we went out with Grandma and Grandpa to celebrate. It was a nice Italian restaurant and the food was wonderfull! And then when Megu ordered her cake they brought it out with a sparkler and sang "Happy Birthday" in Italian...with lots of tamborines. Haha. She was very embaressed. It was funny. And I discovered how everyone keeps from getting cold...they walk...really really fast. Haha. But it was fun.

Rant #1: Bikes

2005-04-02T13:54:00.000-06:00

Ok, First of the whole idea of riding bikes everywhere is great. It's healthy, economical, enviroment friendly and all that. The Japanese surely need credit for their ultimate riding skill. Not only for the buisness women riding in heels, but also for everyone that smokes while riding and my personal favorite, the people that play games and text message on their cell phones while cruising down the side walk at top speed. Now maybe this wouldn't seem like such an amazing feat, but also consider that they all have to weave in and out of all sorts of obsticals including, but not limited to, crates of fruit, old ladies, stacked recyclables, unaware gaijins, women with strollers, vending machiens, parked bikes and occasionaly packs of schoolgirls. Just be aware that while walking downhill you want to keep a keen ear for the occasional bike bell warning you to move or get run over by the great unstoppable force. Apparently they are not supposed to use cell phones while on the bike because occasionaly I have noticed a police officer posted on a corner stopping any who are. But its all very interesting, if not dangerous and scary. This probably explains a bit of why they have such a low obesity rate.

And this is all we need Nitanita Therapy

2005-04-01T00:05:00.000-06:00

So another fun filled day for the Shmee in Tokyo. I wasn't planning on going out today, since I went shopping yesterday I figured I'd stay home and study extra hard today. But my mom suggested I take the bus to some art museums since I only have a week left of break, she wants me to be out and seeing things. Well I asked where I big bookstore would be and a music store, so we decided the art museum could wait. So I walked back out to Ikebukuro and man. Let me tell you one thing, the Japanese know how to make one killer department store. Seriously this place was about 3 blocks long and 12 stories high. And yes, I admit I got lost in there. Sadly the english book section was minimal, but the music floor was wonderful. I picked up Soul'd Out's CD For All the Dreamers and Daichi Miura's new single Keep it Goin' On. Then headed out to explore the other half of Sunshine City (with a short stop at the ATM haha). And oh, what did I find but all the designer shops like Hysteric Glamour and Super Lovers (Ok Eric, go turn on the Gwen CD again haha.) Well I loved the Super Lovers stuff. The theme for this season seems to be skulls and pandas. Haha. In any case I got the cutest tank top. Its white and then it has the super lovers logo in red and says "Love is the Message" and I got a lil red bow for school there, cause they were on sale for 7 bucks *whoot* Score! So Miranda and I decided that we'd meet in Shinjuku so we could walk through Yoyogi Park (The big Lolita park) and then walk to Harajuku and all that stores around there. *whoot* I'm all excitd and stuff. And School starts in a week! YAY! haha. So I'm gonna go eat my nice lil Lawson's bought lunch and listen to ma music before studying some more. Bai Bai.

Adventures.....ohhh snaps

2005-03-31T17:47:00.000-06:00

So I'd been debating the right way to ask "Hey, do you mind if I go out and get lost today?", but this morning when I got up after breakfast my mom just said "Hey, why don't you go out today? Go buy some stamps or something." Sooo that solved that problem. It was very warm today so I didn't object at all. But to tell you the truth, I was really really scared I would get lost. I mean this place is HUGE! And Japan doesn't have street signs.
But I got dressed and headed out anyways, secure in the fact that I "kinda" knew the way.
So I walked all the way out to Ikebukuro (about 20 mins. And that's the giant shopping district for those viewers who are just joining us. ^_^) And I wandered around there for a few hours hitting the "Sanrio Gift Gateway" and "Pixy Dance". Then I headed my way down to Sunshine City (The large underground mall) where I found the Studio Ghibali store (and got Timmy a little gift hehe) and I managed to spot a group of Americans outside the post office. They were kind enough to show me how to buy the stamps (see nice americans lol). They were really nice though, they said "We've been here two weeks and you're already doing better than us." haha. So now I can send letters. Yay! Except stamps are expensive, I got 20 and it was like 14 dollars. I still have yet to locate a music store or a bookstore with books in English. So then heading back I stopped at a 100 Yen store to pick up a few things and headed over to "Granny Street". I found the cutest little stationary store that had Cinnamaroll Sketchbooks and a Kirby Coloring book. Ok really who can pass that up? So I had fun. And only got hit on a few times and stared at alot. But other than that...no troubles. And most importantly I DID NOT get lost! Haha. I was uber super proud of myself.
So maybe next super nice day I'll go out again. I wanna go to the arcade. haha. ^_^
Oh and I got a gift from my Grandma (Hiroshi's mom) in the mail today. Apparently mom asked her to take Megu and I out sometime during break, but Megu hasn't picked the day. She wrote me a nice note...that I can't read umm...maybe mom would read it for me. But now, dinner time!

snore

2005-03-27T19:32:00.000-06:00

Dear Diary,

Today I learned katakana.

No I'm not joking.

I did sleep in *again*. And then I studied katakana for about an hour, studied vocab for an hour and half and then katakana again for awhile. So, now I know katakana *whoot*. Then Dad and I watched TV all afternoon. Ahhh relaxation.

Milk?

2005-03-26T02:47:00.000-06:00

So today mom had to work so it was up to dad to make dinner (yes I'm laughing). Megu went out shopping in Ikebukuro and I went with dad to get the groceries. So we went down this street notoriously known as "Grandmother's Street". It is actually very lovely, but it's obvious where the name comes from. The street begins with a giant traditional archway and cars are not allowed. The street is lined all along with strings of paper flowers and brightly colored lanterns. It's basically a collection of little shops, vendors, and a few grocery stores. Most of the shops cater to the fashions of old ladies, but there are a few that sell second hand clothing or books and a few drug stores as well. So I helped dad get the groceries, because half way to the store he forgot what he needed and then he didn't know where everything was in the store (See the irony here? I do. *sigh* Men! hahaha). But we got back in time and he picked up a few snacks at a vendor he wanted me to try. The first was a lovely treat. I'm not exactly sure how to describe it but its a breaded fish (not real fish but in the shape of a fish) stuffed with a sweet bean paste. It's real yummy! And the second was these little breaded balls stuffed with vegetables, crab and octopus (Which were yummy too). And the greatest achievment of the day, I lead the way home, correctly! haha. Shmee is no longer defeated by the big city! Whahaha *insert evil laugh of triumph here* So Dad has successfully cooked curry for dinner (And we're all proud). You know I'm amazed at how little they drink. You know aren't we supposed to drink like 6-8 glasses of water a day? Yeah they usually have like one tiny cup of tea in the morning and maybe one with dinner...I'm constantly refilling my glass. Ah and we went through my sister's old books and found what I needed for school. I was really surprised that all the text books were really small. They're all paperbacks and about the size of a small fiction novel. And Dad helped me understand my schedule. Apparently I'm taking regular classes for about a month and then I chose which classes I want to take and the ones I chose to skip I replace with japanese lessons. So I'll end up with 2-4 periods of Japanese study per day. Each day's schedule is different too. It's sooo confusing! Each class is 45 mins. long with an 8 min. break between each. I'm sure after awhile I'll get used to the new school and the classes and everything will become mundane. haha. crazy thought ne? I've been keeping in touch with Miranda and we're thinking about meeting downtown tokyo some weekend to go shopping. Wouldn't that be awesome? Well, time for dinner. Ja ne!

Meet School!

2005-03-25T02:28:00.000-06:00

Have you ever riden a bus in the morning in Tokyo? You don't want to. Really just take my word for it. I seriously think that was violating some sort of saftey rule, but everyone just kept shoving onto the bus until there was absolutely no space to cram another person...and yet, they found a way to squeez in twenty more! And walking down the street I noticed an interesting crowd of mostly 20 - 40 year old men standing along the street. Apparently they were waiting for a popular Pachinko parlor to open up. Umm...its a gambling parlor, with as far as I can see just rows upon rows of slot machiens. In any case I was surprised to find such a crowd on a Thursday morning.
So today I went to meet all my teachers at my new school. We first had lunch in the campus cafeteria and mom showed me the campus store. Yummy Snacks! Haha. Then we met my area rep. She really is very nice, even if her English isn’t the greatest. So then she came with us to meet the teachers. When we came in there were three ladies, two younger and one older. And really I have yet to discover what their names are or what exactly they do, but I gathered the elderly woman teaches home ec. (And speaks English very well) and the younger two coach volleyball. I got my schedules and some more paperwork. Then they showed me all around the school (All 5 floors!) and introduced me to all the teachers and a few students who were there for club activities. Most of the students were shy, but very nice and the teachers were wonderfully friendly and helpful. And I went out and got my school shoes (indoor ones now) and some gym clothes. And I found out I have to give a speech to my class during the opening ceremony. Ahhh! Sooo nervous! I’m not sure if it will be the whole grade (being 100 or so students) or just my class of 32. Either way, I hate speaking in front of people. And it’ll have to be in Japanese. So I’m really scared I’ll mess up.
I gave my area rep. all the Kumon I had completed. She was really surprised I had finished so many. So she tells me to do my best and try hard, but not work so hard. I have to relax a bit she says. Haha. So now I think I’m all ready for school to start. Only one week left. (I need to start practicing my speech! Haha) It still seems very odd to think "Oh, that is my school now." But I know it is. I’m afraid I’ll get lost in a school so big! I have a tendency to get lost everywhere though, so perhaps I’ll just have to ask people for help.

Aliens Everywhere!

2005-03-24T02:30:00.000-06:00

So, today I got to sleep in again. But at 3 I had to go and register as a foreigner…I guess its one of those weird Japanese laws. In any case I filled out all the paperwork and confused the poor guy working there to no end with my American address. But oh, to get there I rode the bus. That’s right all alone. Ha. Be proud of me. Because I was soo for sure I was going to get off at the wrong place and be lost for days. And since mom had to do some shopping on the way home I came home by myself as well…and finally got to use that key. *Whoot* In any case I think I’m starting to get a little more used to the idea of living in the city. I guess at first everything is just really big and loud and scary, but after I get over all that, it’s fun. So tomorrow I have to go meet my teachers and my area rep. It’ll be the first time I’ll see my school too. I’m really nervous about meeting them because my mom says I’ll have to speak Japanese while I’m there…and well lets face it. I’m still reading the kindergarten flip books. I am learning, but I also have only been here for all of what like 6 days? They can’t expect me to know that much. I hope not at least. And I can give my area rep. all the Kumon I’ve been working on so she can give me more. YAY! I finished level 3A and now I’m half way through 2A. So maybe in a few days I’ll be ready to move on to level A. See how darn easy these are? Yeah. But it’s good for me to pick up the vocabulary and all that. Wonder what’s for dinner? You know, my favorite part of the day has got to be the shower. Cause it’s so cold out and the bath is so warm. Ah, and the whole time we were at the foreigner’s registration bureau, I only saw one non-Asian…and I think he was English. Yup…I am defiantly a minority.
So tomorrow I have to get up at like 9 something. And I guess we are spending most of the day out. So I'll keep ya'll posted on my soon to be embarassement. Since I'll probably try to say "nice to meet you" and instead say "you're a fat cow". Oh, come on. You all know I will.

back it up back it up you got it you got it

2005-03-21T07:23:00.000-06:00

Ahh so so. Today we went shopping! We walked down to Ikebukuro, which is a giant shopping area about a 20-minute walk away. Since my sister Megu, needed to get her new uniform and some other things we went first to a store called East Boy. It is a very popular store for schoolgirls to get clothes at. It has mostly skirts, blazers and other uniform items, but also some regular clothes too. I got my bag there (ahh its so cute too. Navy and pink to match my navy skirt) and I got some tall socks and such in the mall. And the mall is underground, while many more shops are up above. Mom wanted to go get a pirikura (print club) picture, so we did. The arcade was very cool, bright and full of noise. I also found a 100 yen shop (haha it’s totally like a dollar store) where I got some school supplies. Then we walked over to Makurodonarudo (McDonald’s) to get drinks. They had a 100 yen special on shakes for their 50th anniversary…I dunno. Something like that. It is very strange though. You order downstairs, then walk up and a "manager" seats you. Afterwards we went to Megu’s English class. It actually was very interesting to see from another point of view. And on the way home we stopped for sushi. I was actually really excited to see a true rotating sushi bar. It’s sooo cool! And then they charge you by the number of plates you have at the end. I love sushi too. My family was very surprised to find out that I already knew what sushi was and that I liked it. They were also very surprised I could use chopsticks. Oh! Oh! And I read my first kanji today. I saw on a street sign. 　川　(　かわ kawa　) means river! Ha! I win. It said kawagoei... So seeing that just made the whole idea of kanjii make sense to me...cause before I had been very confused.
So they say tomorrow is our relaxing day. So we can sleep in. They keep saying I can walk to Ikebukuro anytime I want…by myself. Ahh! Exciting. And I actually saw a few Lollita girls as well. And umm let’s see I saw one other foreigner…the whole day. Yes that’s right, one person that wasn’t Asian. Haha. See how much I stick out? Mom says that because my hair is a color that is popular here now many people might not notice I am a foreigner right away. So I guess that’s why they only stare when they see my eyes. But I’m used to it by now. And I’m surprised I am not homesick yet, but I am keeping very busy. School will be starting soon too. I think I’m going to play Volleyball. And here I will be tall too! Haha. So I can be a good player.
You know it is very strange for me to see so many buissnessmen and women riding bicycles. Like riding in high heels and skirts and suits...It looks a bit odd. Makes me giggle.

Swans and Kings

2005-03-20T02:59:00.000-06:00

Today we visited the imperial palace. It was very lovely. but there was lots of walking and we were all tired very soon. (Man...my english is getting worse fast). And my faher took us to the building where he works for dinner. We also got to see the Japanese Space program information center and some of the rocket engienes. And then we had a very nice dinner there too. Tomorrow we are going to get my school supplies. I'm actually very excited. I need to get my school approved backpack and probably some socks too. I get to choose if I want a tie or a bow thingy. Which do you think?

ahh k pictures now

Check the View

2005-03-19T02:40:00.000-06:00

It was a really long wait while at the building, waiting for my host family to come pick me up. They made us get up at 6 and we had to be waiting in the Central building by 8. But our families weren’t coming till 10:30. It was very sad to say goodbye to Miranda. She started crying too. But Chiba is not so far away from Toshima, so maybe I’ll see her again soon. My host family is really nice. They keep asking me what I like, foods, sports, movies. I said I liked pancakes, so my host mom made pancakes for a snack. She is really sweet. And Timmy was right, they have a wireless network already and the internet is a flat fee so he said I can use it as much as I want. I think Meg and I are going to go out later, but I’m not sure. She has a bad cough. Ahh. Its so amazing here. We are on the seventh floor and my room has 2 giant windows that give me an amazing view of Tokyo. And there are like 5 convenience stores right down the street. Not to mention the bakery and the McDonald’s. LOL. I guess my school is having a ceremony for me in April, and I am going to meet my teachers later this week. I’m really nervous to start school, since I still don’t know much Japanese, but I know it’ll be ok. I’ll learn. People were all staring on the Subway, but I guess I’ll get used to that. Considering I’m a random American in an almost completely Asian society.

Thats the view from their balcony

MY ROOM! haha

The view from my room!

thats right, my room in TOKYO! hahaha.
I'm seriously still in shock, I just can't beleive that all this is real. Its sooo....Everything is soo big! haha. Well except I'm really tall, like taller than everyone. But all the buildings, the trains. Its so busy. Ahh its awesome.

The Naked Vision of Yourself Stuck with One Side

2005-03-18T02:39:00.000-06:00

A bit of engrish there for you.
Ahh the reasons I love Japan. We were walking to breakfast and a group of boys stuck their heads out their window and yelled, “Hi! Good Morning!” So we waved and said good morning back and then they yell, “I love you!”. Haha. That totally made my day. So today we had our second Japanese lesson and a talk about departure and such. Since I’m not going anywhere I really didn’t have to worry about it. Ahh and my “cold” thing is almost all gone now. So that made me happy. And it was really nice and sunny today so we got to walk around. It’s our last night here together, before we all go off to be with our host families. Ahhh! I’m sooo excited though. And I’m really surprised at how fast I’m learning Japanese. It’s just now I can write all the hiragana without even thinking about it. And I can read it all even easier. Although I’m still a little confused by all the verbs, I guess it’ll all make sense soon. But I’m really looking forward to that. And being able to understand all the episodes of Naruto that I’ve been watching. Lol. And all the silly dramas. Japanese TV really is amazing. The shows are so weird. Lots of bright colors and cute cartoon characters.

UNO Lessons

2005-03-17T02:38:00.000-06:00

Today we had our first Japanese lessons. I began to notice today that more of the Japanese students here are beginning to talk to us. Before they had mostly smiled and walked away, but now they say “Hi! Good morning, Ohayou!” It’s very cute. A group of boys walked past laughing when Marie and I were practicing the Cotton Eyed Joe dance. But I understand why. Also the guys are starting to actually come over and talk to us. *insert giggle here* haha. I’m feeling a little better today but mostly because I slept well with my Nyquil. Our lessons were on the 6th floor of the main building so I got a great view of Tokyo. *Chhhhiiii* I still can’t believe I’ll be living here. So tonight we’re going to go chill with our guys for a bit. And tomorrow is our last day! Ahhh…. Excited!
Ahh so after our showers we went up and played UNO with the guys, until some people kicked us out to have a meeting. Hehe. Aww they are sooo adorable. =P

KUMON Testing

2005-03-15T02:35:00.000-06:00

Today we had mostly free time, but we took our Kumon placement test as well. In the morning Miranda and I just mostly walked around the complex here. There s a whole building of actors and dancers practicing which was very amusing to watch. We were hoping to be able to walk through Yoyogi Park but the gate was locked. The Kumon has 8 levels with 4A being the lowest and E the highest. Most of us all got 3A (which is what I got too) but a few had higher and a few lower (Miranda got level D, I’m sooo jealous!). I guess we are expected to complete 10 pages of work a day and send them to our teacher who grades them for us. Then when we complete the level, our teacher will send us more. I’m actually extremely excited that I’ll get to focus almost completely on mastering Japanese for a year! We also finally worked up the courage to go and talk to some of the Japanese students staying here and we watched Naruto with them. =P. It was great to get out and be able to look out over Tokyo, even if we aren’t allowed to leave here yet. And I’ll post some pictures as soon as I can. I feel real bad I can’t call my parents from here, but I can’t do too much about it. I still can’t wait till I finally get to meet my host family. This is all very exciting.On a slightly worse note, I think my stupid father got me sick. I woke up the other day with a sore throat and today my stomach has been bugging me. But it’s not too bad yet. I just get dizzy a lot. I just hope I can get over it really super fast. I don’t want to be sick my first week in Tokyo.

Yoyogi is best

2005-03-15T02:34:00.000-06:00

Ahh, I swear I meant to write something before this…oh well. OK well the flight wasn’t too bad. Miranda and I spent the whole time talking, watching DVDs and listening to my ipod. Which all was actually really fun. So now we’re staying at the Olympic Center at Tokyo. We actually went to the embassy today to thank the minister of foreign affairs for giving us this opportunity, which was a little nerve racking. But it wasn’t too bad and he was really nice. Ironically I met a Korean boy here, who is also staying for a year, who stayed a year in Peoria. And his school is only a block from mine in Tokyo. Really…. isn’t that just crazy? There are so many kids here now from all over the world. Sweden, Germany, Australia, Philippines…Like 100 some kids. And I had my first little bit of awkward culture shock having my first bath in the public showers. It was really awkward at first, but once you get over that the showers and baths here are really amazing. And Miranda and I are currently suffering from cute boy overload…We keep joking with Kristal about going out to look at the "scenery", until the scenery leaves. Haha. But really I’m just amazed that all the kids here speak such amazing English. It shouldn’t be so shocking I guess, but I’m still amazed every time. We leave here on the 19. I’m really not sure what we’re doing here anyway. I think just more conference events, language tests and such. I have to keep reminding myself that this isn’t just a vacation, since it still feels like that. Staying in these dorms and such. But it’s so overwhelming to be surrounded by so much Japanese since I understand so little. I know it’ll get better with time, and I’m sure it’ll seem scary for awhile, right now its just amazingly wonderfully amusingly great and I’m very happy just to be here. I am still really anxious to meet my host family. Everyone here has been so nice to us and very friendly. It is really fun. I’m not feeling homesick yet, just very overwhelmed. It’s a lot to take in all at once. Miranda and I have been hanging out with a girl and boy from Alaska most of the time and our favorite thing to do is watch the Japanese soap operas. Since we can’t really understand it its fun to try and figure everything out or just make up our own story. And I really love the food. For breakfast we had Miso soup, rice, eggs, sausage, potatoes (cold…wtf? Lol) and this fried thing…I dunno it was like dumpling stuffing with batter, but it was really good. And the eggs are really fluffy with something sweet in them. For lunch I had curry with rice and some kind of soup and dinner was salmon with a sweet sauce. Ahhh yummy! Although it’s rather cold here it’s a different kind of cold than in Illinois. Ahh I almost died when we took the bus through Tokyo to the Olympic center. All the buildings, everything is so big, so crowded, so busy. I know I hadn’t slept in over 24 hours and was suffering major, but it was all still very amazing. And just to think "I’ll be living here for a year…" made me giggle. I still can’t even accept it as real. It’s too good to be real. My face hurts from smiling so much. I still haven’t been able to call my parents. I guess you need a certain phone card to use the machines here. So I’ll try to get one tomorrow. For now I’m still tired. It was a very long day and I don’t think I’ve adjusted fully to the time change. I’m soooo happy, I don’t think anyone understands that. It’s just like being surrounded by everything I love. There’s a school staying here with us for some reason. I’m not sure why, but its still cool to see them all and talk to kids our age. It really makes me wish I spoke more Japanese. But I know…I’ll learn.

Sweet Cali Sun

2005-03-12T02:28:00.000-06:00

Well, my first night away from home has passed. I still don't feel like everything has sunk in yet, but I'm sure eventually its bound to. The flight to Chicago was nice. I sa next to a group of kids from Bradely going to Mexico for spring break so I had some one to talk to. Once I got to Chicago I discovered they had dopped me off only a short walk from my gate, so that was a releif. Since we came in a bit late and it would be boarding shortly. There was already one boy there, he and his father had driven there from Wisconsin. So we talked for a bit before a YFU rep. came with another girl, Ginette. Ginette and I had seat only 3 seats apart and all the seats inbetween were empty, so we sa together and watched music videos and DVDs till my laptop battery died. At the San Fransico airport we were met at baggage claim by 3 YFU reps and about 5 other kids. We took a bus (which took forever to arrive haha) to the hotel (which is incrediablly nice) where we had some sandwhichs and chatted with the other kids, I think there are 29 of us in all. And I found out my roommate, Miranda was really into Jmusic, so we've been waching concerts and music videos and I've been putting her music collection onto my ipod. And of course its really nice that we get along well, so I have someone to talk to. Last night they made us do radio exercises...really all I could think of was that scene in Battle Royal were the old guy does the radio excercises and I laughed...alot. "Lights out" at 11 and wake up at 7.30. And now its almost time for breakfast and the beginning of my last day in the US for 10 months. ahhhhh! haha. So we have a fun filled day of all sorts of silly talks and prep courses (the staff is pretty goofy =P). And then tomorrow we fly out after breakfast. Crazy isn't it? Yes it is.

E-mails

2005-03-04T19:49:00.000-06:00

I have some more e-mails from my host family to share with you all! ^_^

~

Hello Alex and Mrs Threw,
Thank you for the emails. I understand very well that there're many things Alex has to know before leaving.
I'm going to answer about school and so on and my husband Hiroshi will explain the situation of cash changing.

As for the high school, Alex is supposed to attend "Ochanomizu Women's Hi;gh school" which is the affiliated school with "Ochanomizu Womens' University" - National university . That's the school Mari has been attending - your Japanese teacher probably knows the name of the school.

YFU asked the school to receive Alex and luckily she was accepted. Ochanomizu receives only one foreign exchange student, mostly they are from Europe, every recent year, so I think they are used to recieving them. Ochanomizu High School is different from that of Meg is going. Meg is attending the private women's junior highschool affiliated with "Japan Womens' University". I bet you want to konw the reason why sisters go to the different schools but it's common in Japan and it'll take a while to explain the Japanese schools situation. Anyways, to enter the Ochanomizu, there're too much competition as a lottery, because it's a very small sized school. Ochanomizu high school is much closer than Meg's school, you take about 30 min. to get there by a train and bus. It's very easy to go and luckily the train you'll use is the very local one so it isn't crowded at all - in Tokyo, subways and trains are jammed in the rush hour like Meg and my husband use everyday. The bus you use is not crowded at all as well.

As for its school uniform, you'd better to bring some sweaters and white shirts with collar, short sleeves and long sleeves and some shoes, leather shoes to go and sports shoes for PE. In winter or maybe spring, you are supposed to wear navy blazer or navy, black, glay, or brown colored sweaters with a white shirt and navy skirt. In summer, you only wear a white shirt with color and navy skirt. If you have a navy blazer and skirts, you'd better bring it, or I hear that Ochanomizu will be able to lend you the blazer and skirt if it fits you. For your reference, I'm going to attach a Mari's photos in her uniform, I couldn't find it in her winter uniform though.
Besides the clothing, I'd recommend you to bring some photos of your face. You'll need for the registration as a foreign resident 2 folds of photo sized 4.5 x 3.5 and probably some more for other purpose at school.

Mari will stay in Melbourne Australia by the middle of December, so she can stay with you for 1 month at the end of your stay. Altough she, after coming back, will have to study very hard for the entrance exams for the universities which are to be held in January, I'm sure she'll really enjoy spending with you.
As for Meg's destination, we don't know yet. She will stay in the U.S. for about 10 months from August to May or June. I hear YFU usually let us know the host family only 2 months before the departure.

To Mari in Melbourne, we don't contact much, we received on the phone when she arrived and we sent her 1 email. The family has a computer but Mari is in restraint of contacting us because she strictly follows YFU regulation. So we also try not to contact her to let her get accuestomed to her new life without us. I understand Alex's parents' anxiety very well because my husband and I are talking all day long about how Mari is doing now. It is the 1st time for us to let our children go so far away so we are having a very hard time now! But her host family seems to be nice and kind - we exchanged some emails before her departure - so we believe she is enjoying her staying and school life.

My husband will also reply to you and I'll attach some photos soon.
See you Alex and Mrs. Threw

Michiko Horiguchi

~

I attached some photos. One is my family with the cake, the left is Mari and the light is Meg.
One is Mari and her classmate Elina who is an exchange student of YFU last year - she was from Latovia - at the farewell party at her class, and one is with all her classmates.
One is with my grandparents and my brother's family. I have three nieces, 20, 14, 13 year old., unfortunately 20 year-old niece will leave for Canada to attend 1 year university program from the end of April. She also can take Alex out and tell highschool life of Japan if Alex likes.
One is Meg and our foreign guest from Holland playing violin together. Our daughters have been learning violin since 3 year-old.

One is my husband and daughters at the front of our condominium. It's very convenient to get everywhere, we can't keep any animals at home and it is inconvenient though.

I hope these all photos will successfully be received.
Michiko

(If those don't show up I've exceeded my data transfer limit, try back in a few hours. thanks)
~

Hello, Alex,

About Ochanomizu school, you can find your school's HP athttp://www.fk.ocha.ac.jp/users/ryoko2000/or if you have Japanese letterset installed in your computer,http://www.fk.ocha.ac.jp/is the Japanese site. You can find a school uniform you are going to wear athttp://www.fk.ocha.ac.jp/users/chako/seifuku.html

In Japan, the cost of living such as housing, food, education, transportation is SO high compared to other countries, we are sure you'll be astonished.
On the other hand, the clothing is cheep. Last summer, we had two foreign students at home in short term. A high school girl from Australia who was in the exchange program of Ochanomizu stayed here for 2 weeks in June and one 18 year-old girl from Holland stayed here for 1 month in July using YFU program. They really liked go shopping for their clothing and small stuff and eating out with friends, so I heard from them that they often went cashing to Ikebukuro ATMs.

By the way, I heard you will join sophomore class in the high school. I think it is good for you because senior students are too busy preparing for college entrance exam and you could not enjoy your school life with your friends if you were in senior class.

Michiko will attach some photos of Mari in her uniform and of us soon.
Take care!
Hiroshi Horiguchi

~

Hello Alex and Mrs Threw,
Thank you for the emails. I understand very well that there're many things Alex has to know before leaving.
I'm going to answer about school and so on and my husband Hiroshi will explain the situation of cash changing.

As for the high school, Alex is supposed to attend "Ochanomizu Women's Hi;gh school" which is the affiliated school with "Ochanomizu Womens' University" - National university . That's the school Mari has been attending - your Japanese teacher probably knows the name of the school.

YFU asked the school to receive Alex and luckily she was accepted. Ochanomizu receives only one foreign exchange student, mostly they are from Europe, every recent year, so I think they are used to recieving them. Ochanomizu High School is different from that of Meg is going. Meg is attending the private women's junior highschool affiliated with "Japan Womens' University". I bet you want to konw the reason why sisters go to the different schools but it's common in Japan and it'll take a while to explain the Japanese schools situation. Anyways, to enter the Ochanomizu, there're too much competition as a lottery, because it's a very small sized school. Ochanomizu high school is much closer than Meg's school, you take about 30 min. to get there by a train and bus. It's very easy to go and luckily the train you'll use is the very local one so it isn't crowded at all - in Tokyo, subways and trains are jammed in the rush hour like Meg and my husband use everyday. The bus you use is not crowded at all as well.

As for its school uniform, you'd better to bring some sweaters and white shirts with collar, short sleeves and long sleeves and some shoes, leather shoes to go and sports shoes for PE. In winter or maybe spring, you are supposed to wear navy blazer or navy, black, glay, or brown colored sweaters with a white shirt and navy skirt. In summer, you only wear a white shirt with color and navy skirt. If you have a navy blazer and skirts, you'd better bring it, or I hear that Ochanomizu will be able to lend you the blazer and skirt if it fits you. For your reference, I'm going to attach a Mari's photos in her uniform, I couldn't find it in her winter uniform though.
Besides the clothing, I'd recommend you to bring some photos of your face. You'll need for the registration as a foreign resident 2 folds of photo sized 4.5 x 3.5 and probably some more for other purpose at school.

Mari will stay in Melbourne Australia by the middle of December, so she can stay with you for 1 month at the end of your stay. Altough she, after coming back, will have to study very hard for the entrance exams for the universities which are to be held in January, I'm sure she'll really enjoy spending with you.
As for Meg's destination, we don't know yet. She will stay in the U.S. for about 10 months from August to May or June. I hear YFU usually let us know the host family only 2 months before the departure.

To Mari in Melbourne, we don't contact much, we received on the phone when she arrived and we sent her 1 email. The family has a computer but Mari is in restraint of contacting us because she strictly follows YFU regulation. So we also try not to contact her to let her get accuestomed to her new life without us. I understand Alex's parents' anxiety very well because my husband and I are talking all day long about how Mari is doing now. It is the 1st time for us to let our children go so far away so we are having a very hard time now! But her host family seems to be nice and kind - we exchanged some emails before her departure - so we believe she is enjoying her staying and school life.

My husband will also reply to you and I'll attach some photos soon.
See you Alex and Mrs. Threw

Michiko Horiguchi

A Hello From Tokyo

2005-02-15T22:22:00.000-06:00

mood: Giggly
Well, I just got my first letter from my host mother today. I'm very glad to say that her english is wonderful. There are a few minor grammer errors, but nothing that renders it confusing. At this point I'm still so amazingly happy that every reminder of this great change sends me into a fit of giggles and smiles...which leave me gasping for breath. Its...so exciting, so terrifying, so amazing. Its simply amazing. But here is what she wrote:

Hi Alexandra,

My name is Michiko Horiguchi -- I'm the host mother of the family you're supposed to stay while you're in Japan.
We've got some copies of the letter you've written, and I'm writing this to you in return to let us introduce you some.

You must be exciting and a little worrying about staying at the foreign country you've never been before.
I understand that well as our daughter has just left for Australia 3 weeks ago and my husband and I've been worrying so much about how she's going along with her new life.

My husband is Hiroshi Horiguchi who is working at the space company of Japan which is just like NASA. I'm now teaching the family sociology at college as a part-time teacher and also a PhD candidate to finish up my dissertation till this September. Our elder daughter whose name is Mari and 17 years old is in Australia as I told you. Our younger daughter whose name is Megumi - we call her Meg - is 14 years old and she is going to leave for the US this August under the YFU program as well.

We are living in the central area of Tokyo, you'll be surprised to see at so many people living in such a narrow space in Tokyo.
If you have any question, please don't hesitate to ask us. We all are looking forward to seeing you in Japan.

Best regards,
Michiko

Turning Japanese

2005-01-27T22:28:00.000-06:00

mood: Giggly
I was about to grab my coat and leave to go see a movie when the phone rang. It was Mory, the Youth for Understanding rep. in charge of me calling to tell me about my host family (Finally ^_^!). So I'll be staying in Toshimia-kyu, Tokyo with Hiroshi Horiguzha, his wife Michiko and their two daughters (ages 14 and 16). Right now... I can't think of anything. Its exactly as I had requested, its a dream come true, it seems too perfect. When they interviewed me I had requested to be placed in a big city with a family with kids close to my age. I guess its just a wish come true. I really can't think of anything but how lucky I am, not only for this oppurtunity, but also that everything has been going so well. Other than a few kinks I need to work out with my school here. It just seems so surreal to me now, to think that in a little over a month I'll be on a plane to Japan, sitting in a house in Japan, with my new family, a million miles away from the home I've lived in all my life. Its a ot to take in, I'm not sure its all sunk in quiet yet. But I'm sure it will, maybe not until I'm actually off the plane and going through customs, but I'm sure somewhere along the line that wave of fear is going to hit me, I just hope when that happens I can overcome it quickly. I know this is the chance of a lifetime, I've been working for three years now to make this happen, and finally everything is paying off. I'm excited, anxious, nervous, afraid, so many things I can't even describe, but mostly just very very happy. I'm very happy.
We've been making more plans for the big party and everything is coming along great. This weekend I'll make the invitations so people can be formally invited. My last big "hurrah" as Timmy says. haha.

Party Days

2005-01-24T18:52:00.000-06:00

mood: goofy
Well, today we drove ourselves out to the Country Club and reserved the downstairs for my official Going Away for a Long Long Time party. So we'll have all my friends from school, the people from dead guy, some people from camp, friends of my parents (Well they're my friends too ^_^) and of course family all out to the club for a night of food and music and games. Plus we talked the bartender into taking the coin holder out of the pool table so we can have unlimited games free. But I'm looking forward to it. Mikey is going to come down from Chicago and Mike is going to come up from Carbondale. Its just...I know it'll be fun, but it'll be a bit sad at the same time. Ten months is a very long time, I'm not sure how you say goodbye when you know you'll be gone so long.
On a more agravating note, mom called the school again. They still haven't been able to set a date, and personally I think its very rude that they never bothered to call her back, espeacially when its something this important. But we shall see. There is always Farmington, and its looking like a better option everyday.
But I am truthfully looking forward to the party. Its such an interesting mix of people...its bound to be lots of fun. ^_^

Preperations Underway

2005-01-20T20:00:00.000-06:00

mood: Sleepy
Well, another day gone. I found a word document I made a few months ago containing a list of all the things I would need to pack. It seems so simple when its all text on the screen, but I'm sure I'll end up forgetting many things. Its very difficult to sit down and try to think of everything I'll need or want for the next ten months, thinking of all the comforts of home I may miss, pictures of friends, art supplies, even clothes. To think about it, its very exciting and of course very frightening. Its such a big change, for so long.
On another note, my third japanese lesson went well. I still wish my mother had agreed to let me take lessons earlier, but of course no one expected me to actually get the scholarship. But happily I'm finding that I understand more and more. Its very difficult and very confusing, but I can almost read all the hirigana. When I was having trouble with む Musaka, my teacher said "Mu, its very different. Should be easy." I just laughed. Easy...sure. I don't think any of the hirigana are "easy". The more I write them and read them, I can memorize them, but to just look at it and *Boom*. No. Its not that simple, often they all blend together...and I get very lost. Espeacially with very long words like いただきます or even こにちは which really confused me because its written "konichiha" but pronounced, "konichiwa", obviously. But slowly, bit by bit I am learning. I have faith that once in Japan I'll be able to pick it up very quickly, as long as I can keep my sanity when I'm surrounded with people I can't understand.
On the other side I haven't made any headway with my counselor's at school. Everytime I go in to talk to my counselor she does nothing but tell me the same thing, "Great oppurtunity, but you need to finish your work here, of course we can't do much about that now, just do what is given to you day by day. Talk to your teachers, we'll decide what to do later, have a meeting or something." Yeah, great. Its just that there is a required 40 page term paper for the honors British Literature class I'm currently taking and I'm not comfortable with the idea of trying to write that in Japan. I doubt finding sources in English about a British author would be the easiest thing to do in Japan for a person like me. And really I'm not looking forward to doing correspondance work. It wouldn't be a big deal if it wasn't for the fact that I'll be attending school in Japan as well. I'm to be treated like any other student and do all the homework given to me, to the best of my abilities. Which of course will be very difficult. So having other homework, tests, and even finals mailed to me while away...that just sounds like too much. As well as the problem that the counselor doesn't think I can get credits for the classes I take while there because its not on "our system". But I was told clearly from the foreign exchange program that my school should give me credit for classes I take abroad. Which makes sense. I gave the counselor a sheet that discussed just that and gave her a grading scale conversion and such to aid her in giving me credit. I'm guessing she didn't read it, or she is just choosing to ignore that. She doesn't seem to care too much about helping me either. My mother called three days ago to make an appointment to discuss these issues with her and the principle and no one has called her back. It would seem the counselor is too busy. And if the worst comes down to it, I may just have to transfer to a public school to get the credits I need to graduate on time. Also going to a Catholic school now, I'll have to take two religion classes when I return because they are required, which I obviously wouldn't have to do at a public school. Of course these are just a few of the problems I'm having. Since my school is very small (approx. 900 students) having a student embark on a foreign exchange is alomst unheard of, and one going to Japan and leaving in the middle of the year has never happened before. None of the staff know what to do and many of my teachers seem almost angry with me because I am upsetting the lesson plans by requesting to work ahead. Which in a way is understandable, but I can't do much about it. I'm just trying to ensure I get all the credits I need. But I'll just have to do my best, I'm leaving March 11 regardless of how things work out and couldn't possibly be happier. Although all these preperations are very stressful, I know that it'll be very much worth it when I finally step off that plane. As always wish me the best of luck がんばてます
こんばんわみなさん

testing

2005-01-19T21:13:00.000-06:00

testing testing 1 2 3
haha. well... I figured I needed a blog. I suppose its a good way for me to keep in contact with all my friends and family while I'm away. As of right now...I don't have much to say. I'm going to have to work on the html for that sidebar a bit...its kind of annoying. But the countdown till I leave is set at 49 days from today. ::scary::.