So first off, let me apologize for not having posted anything in over a month. I just really had no motivation to write anything. I haven't done too much in the past month anyway. The past 3 weeks alone were pretty boring:

3 weeks ago: Week before midterms. Review review review, study study study.
2 weeks ago: Midterms week. Cram cram cram, write shitty paper.
1 week ago: Spring break! But I, of course, got sick (for the first time in about 3 years, might I add) right in time for this week. Therefore I spent most of it sleeping.

Going back to class this week was a little difficult, mainly because I needed to re-re-adjust my sleep schedule. It shifted almost 12 hours during spring break due to the odd hours I kept. But I think I've finally gotten it back on track.

I got my midterm grades back for my Japanese classes! Basically, I owned that shit IN THE FACE!
In my Spoken Japanese class I got a 96.4% WHICH! was also the highest grade in all 3 of my teacher's sections.
In my Reading/Writing Japanese class I got a 100%. Yes that's right, I am perfect.

As for my two other "classes":
Visual Anthropology of Japan: I got a 38/40 on the midterm. It was a stupid easy test, but since our teacher always tries to be funny, he tried to make jokes on the test. He also worded things in very strange ways. It was hella unfair to the plethora of non-native speakers of English. Also I have yet to finish most of the blog posts for that class. I have done 1 out of 5 so far. Yay me!
Globalization: Well, I have no idea what I got on my paper, because I didn't go to class yesterday. I took a nap in the afternoon, and I set an alarm. But when the alarm went off, instead of getting up I just went back to sleep. Oops!

Today after class I went to the convenience store and blew 2000 yen on various things; mostly gifts :D
Speaking of which! I tend to have difficulties finding good gifts for people. Therefore, I figured I would try and find things that would be useful to my friends. So if you could leave me a comment here or contact me via e-mail/Facebook/etc. and leave me a list of some things you use on a daily basis (at home, at school, at work, whenever). My goal is to find cuter versions of these things in your favorite color! So make sure you let me know what colors you like, as well.

So this weekend I am going to Kyoto for Ohanami (Cherry Blossom Viewing!!!!) I really can not wait. I know it's going to be amazingly beautiful. So be ready for lots of pictures! The RA's of this seminar house have put together this trip to go to two different temples and a park in Kyoto to view the Cherry Blossoms. And it is going to be at night (Yozakura, it's called) so everything will be lit up and sparkle-y. And to top it off, the school is going to pay for our admission to the temple! I'm really looking forward to this.


As far as life goes, I think I have decided that when I get back home I am going to apply for the JET programme (http://www.jetprogramme.org/). I think that it has recently become rather competitive, so should I get accepted, I will be back in Japan as an Assistant Language Teacher as of next fall. So that would give me about a year in the US to work (part-time, or full-time. I dunno yet) and save up some money. I'm not really sure where I will be during the time I am back in the US, but I shall figure that out soon. I can participate in this program for up to 5 years. They pay for your airfare, provide housing (either free or hella cheap, I can't remember), provide health insurance, and pay you about 3,600,000yen for your year of work (about $38k). Doing just one year would earn me enough money to completely pay off my student loans plus leave me with money saved. I'm hoping to save up enough money so that Steph and I can start our own business. It's just kind of a random idea, but it's fun to think about. We want to have a café/bookstore that is home to books from all over the world as well as snacks and stationary type things from all over the world. It will possibly be in California. All we need is a ton of money to start it up and to learn how to start/manage a business! It's fun to dream...


I think that is about all I have for now. I will be sure to update more often from now on.


<3

OK! So I finally got a card reader yay! My dad sent it to me and I got the package today!

So because my internet is so terribad, I didn't want to post all the pictures here because the page would NEVER load for me. Therefore, I have created an album PICTUREZZZ!! AMG!!

The titles pretty much tell what the pictures are, and most are lacking a description. When I have more free time, I will pick some of my favourites and put them on a post here with more detail!

<3

So far I have received two care packages while I've been here. They were both filled with amazing things and the senders are really too kind (espcially since postage/shipping costs are a bitch). I don't think saying thank you is enough, so I want to write about it and share it with other people! I have some free time between classes so I'm writing it up now, and once I get back to my room I will take pictures with my cell phone and post them on here! (Updated: pictures added!)

The first package I got was a large box from France! I picked it up before my evening class that day, so I had to carry it with me. In class, Carlos was like 'what's that!? let me see!' so I passed it to him. When he saw it was from my sister, and upon feeling it's weight, he said 'oh she probably sent you a dress.' I'm not exactly sure where that comment came from, but anyone who knows me would know that the mystery box did NOT contain a dress. Then he tried to read the contents list, but it was in French. But next to him was a girl who said 'Oh I am from France! I will read it!', and so she did. As she read the list aloud, she wondered why a good deal of these things were shipped to me (mainly the cereal box and bags of chips)





But yes, in this box there was a beautiful necklace! It's 3 silver keys of varying sizes on a black ribbon. There is also a watch ring! It is a puple star and I wear it on the middle finger of my left hand because it looks extra fabulous there! Along with these things, there were also 2 bags of chips (MONSTER MUNCH! Ghost shaped chips OM NOM NOM SO GOOD), a pack of this vanilla cream cookies (also delicious), and a box of Special K. Of course, there was also a hand written and decorated letter.

The second package I got was an equally large box all the way from Texas! This one was a little bit heavier, and it had the shipping fees listed on it (gosh, Mary must really love me) which made me feel sooo bad. Now, I knew that she was sending me a pair of boots and slippers, but there was sooo much more! First of all the boots are super cute black rubber (I think rubber, anyway) with colourful polka dots on them! The slippers are these little pale pink knit-like slippers with a bow (super cozy and comfortable). But wait, there's much more! There were also 3 pairs of socks picked out by her son (how he knew the kind of socks I like, I have no idea! Go Collin!), a hand-knitted green hat, M-shaped post-it notes, tiny school supplies (stapler, tape, etc), some embroidery thread (for bracelets), a bag of Pop Rocks (contributed by her daughters), and a card with beautiful words (and washing instructions for the hat!) I am still in awe that she knitted me a hat (which I wore today and received several complements on it) and sent me all of these things!




So thank you to both of you! You are amazing and kind and generous and I love you!

I also plan to take pictures of the results of my shopping spree at the 100 yen shop since everything is extra cute.
[PLACEHOLDERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR]

Oh yeah, there was totally an earthquake this morning. It was at like 7:15~ish am. There I was sitting in the kitchen, eating a bowl of Special K, when all of the sudden I feel this shaking. At first I thought that it was just some kind of large truck or construction outside shaking the building. But it lasted for a good 15-20 seconds and was a bit too intense to be caused by a truck or whatnot (but it still wasn't that severe). Nothing fell; no damage was done. It was a little scary, but mostly confusing and weird. I mean, if you're gonna bother to be an earthquake, you should at least be strong enough to wake people up, shiiiit. Shalonda was the only one woken by it; everyone else was none the wise. But I survived my first (and hopefully last) earthquake! New experiences every day here.

Time for classssssssss~

It seems every time I go to class, I come away with something new to rant about. Ok here goes!

Attention all females in my spoken Japanese class:

Not knowing the answer to a ridiculously easy question is, despite what you think, NOT cute. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not an elitist or anything like that. There is nothing wrong with not knowing an answer. But every time you make stupid guesses and giggle about it, it's just not cute. You may think it gets you attention, but all it does is make people think you are a moron. If you want attention, try studying and getting every answer right in order to wow people. It will have a much greater effect. I promise.

End rant.

After lunch we took the bus back. I got off at school; as I still have another class at 4:40. Shalonda just went back to the seminar house.

I think that's about it for now!

So here is the list of foods that I have been craving since I got here:

• Chicken from Publix with rice and cheese
• Cookie dough
• Chips (anything cheesy or greasy)
• Good milk
• CHEESE
• Anything deep fried
• Anything that will clog my arteries

Mmmm yeah. I could reaaally go for some unhealthy foods. Though I have to admit, the rice here is really good; almost addicting. I think perhaps the secret is that it is laced with crack.

On another note, today I skipped my first class! 2 weeks in and I already don't feel like going to class. So this class that I missed today was Visual Anthropology of Japan. My reasonings were the following:

• It's raining
• I'm sleepy
• I still have to set up the blog for this class
• I forgot to do the assigned reading (and by "forgot to do" I mean "chose not to do")
• I don't want to go

I think these are all pretty valid reasons.

Other than that, tomorrow is a National Holiday which means no class! I think some of us are planning to go to Nara. Apparently deer just walk around and aren't afraid of people because they've become so accustomed to them. I think that sounds amazing and very cute! I can't wait to seeeee them. Hopefully the travel there won't be too long or take too much money.

<3

So, apparently after the review tests on Friday, if you didn't pass and had to go down a level, they had put a letter in your mailbox around 4:30. I finished class at 12:50 and was not about to wait around for 4+ hours. So I figured I would just go early Monday (today) morning before the first possible class to check my mail. No mail! I passed the review test! Yay! Interestingly enough, about half of the students previously in my class were not there anymore. It was old material, but they still failed and dropped a level. We also had about 3 new students who dropped down from level 4 to level 3. I was happy that I passed. I'm also happy that the class moves at such a quick pace! No getting bored for me anymore.

After class was over, I walked back to my room. The combination of the good news + listening to good music + beautiful weather made me feel like an absolute rock star. I was out to conquer the world and a'int no bitches gon' be gettin' in my way! Does anyone else ever get like that from time to time?

Anyway, for now I'm just making some rice for lunch and then I plan to take a nap until I have to leave for my next class at 4ish.

As for my weekend! Well, I went out and tried new things. Saturday night, our RA (Hiroshi) invited the girls in my apartment + 3 of the guys from his apartment to go to dinner and karaoke. In total there were 11 of us. Here are the names just for reference:
Rebecka, Elin, Camilla (my 3 Swedish roommates)
Ogilvie (She is from Chicago and shares a room with Camilla, I think)
Shalonda (My roommate)
Hiroshi (Our RA)
Carlos, Mike, Austin (3 of the guys who live with Hiroshi)
Shoya (I think that was his name anyway...one of Hiroshi's friends)

Ok so we were going to go eat at a restaurant first that is by the Hirakata-shi station. Most everyone had bikes, save for myself, Ogilvie, and Shalonda (we're cheap, what can I say). So they all ride their bikes and the 3 of us catch the bus. We get there at about 6:15 and everyone else is already there, seated (at 3 tables all next to each other). I go to sit down with Ogilvie and Shalonda, but Carlos is like "I don't feel like moving all these coats, so go sit over there". So I go to the other end and sit with Camilla, Elin, and Hiroshi. That was fine. So anyway, this place was mainly chicken and stuff served in chunks on sticks. We had no idea what most of the menu was, so Hiroshi ordered a bunch of plates for everyone to share. I didn't eat too much. I had maybe 2 pieces of chicken, 2 pieces of beef, an onion ring, and this cheese croquette thing (which was really good!). Elin is a vegetarian so he also ordered some stuff that she should eat (corn, cabbage, salad). Shoya showed up a little late and came and sat at our table. He ordered some more stuff. Some of the food seemed very strange to me: hearts of various animals, cartilage, etc. Since I had yet to try anything new since I had been here, I decided to try something. Shoyu put a piece of the cartilage on my plate. Well...it didn't taste particularly bad, but the texture was just awful. Imagine that you are eating a chicken wing, and then imagine eating the joint. But at least I tried something.

After a while we went to pay the bills (each table split their bills). When they told me the bill was 1400 yen I thought it was a joke. I basically ended up paying for other people to eat, and drink, too. I drank water, but everyone else got soda, juice, alcoholic drinks. So yeah I wasn't too thrilled with that. At most, I ate 600 yen worth of food. Now if Carlos had just moved those damn coats, I could have sat with Shalonda and Ogilvie like I originally wanted, and the bill would have actually been fair.

So after that, we go right upstairs and there is a karaoke place. We had to fill out some form to get a card (I guess for people who go there often). Then we went into one of the rooms. It was actually pretty cool. There was a long U-shaped booth-type seating with a table. And at the front was the TV. There was this remote thing you could use to search for songs and choose them to play. People chose songs, sang, blah blah blah. Some people decided to just take the remote thing and choose every single song and sing/shout very loudly. Was kinda annoying and made it not so fun. I sang once. My song was totally Journey lolol. The whole karaoke endeavour was moderately fun, but I feel as if you just need to do that kind of thing with the right people. If it was Me + Steffi + Vi + Ashley we would have torn that shit up!

At about 10:20, I'm like 'Hey, so when is the last train?'. Those not riding bikes needed to catch a train home, since the buses stopped running. So Shalonda, Ogilvie, and myself left (had to pay 1000 yen for that) and caught a train. We got of at Makino station which is semi-close to the seminar houses, but Shalonda and I had never been there and it had been several months since Ogilvie had been there. So it was a bit of an adventure. It was dark and slightly creepy on the walk back. The following conversation ensued:

Ogilvie: So who knows karate?
Shalonda: Ummm I can cut a bitch.
Me: If we get attacked, someone's gonna end up in that canal and it's not going to be us.
Hypothetical Attacker as portrayed by Shalonda: Damn these American ho's is strong.

Shalonda is rather hilarious.

Anyway, we made it back home safely! When we got back, no one else was there so they were probably still at the karaoke place, I assume. I went to bed pretty soon after.

Sunday was just another day. I got up, had lunch, took a nap, and then hung out for the rest of the evening. Sometime during the day one of my other roommates accidentally broke Shalonda's laptop. I'm still not too clear on the details.

I think my rice is ready! More later <3

As of 12:50pm today, I will have successfully completed my first week of class at Kansai Gaidai!

I have almost 2 hours now to study for my review test for Spoken Japanese. So of course, instead of cramming, I'm here procrastinating. Vocabularyvocabularyvocabularyvocabulary.

Another observation: I greatly appreciate my Spoken Japanese teacher's (Miyauchi sensei) sense of humour. He acts almost animated, if that makes sense. He does the hilarious thing where he will ask you a question, and while waiting for you to answer he stands there all expectantly. And when you give the wrong answer he falls over in disappointment (like actually falls to the side, not to the ground, of course) almost as if something heavy fell on his head. I find it incredibly amusing. Also, he can appreciate the students' humour. We were reviewing how to give advice and he pretends to be a sad international student named Han. The conversation goes as follows:

Han: /sigh
Students: どうしたの？ (What's wrong?)
Han: 彼女がほしいんですね。どうしようか。(I wish I had a girlfriend. What should I do?)
Students: ええと・・・・あきらめる。　（Ummmmm give up.)
Han: /falls over

That wasn't exactly the answer (or grammatical structure) he was expecting, but he found it funny none the less.

Ok I'm gonna go study for real now!


Update!


So I did my studying, went to class and took the review test. It wasn't toooo bad. I knew all the grammar, and understood all the listening stuff, but I just couldn't remember all the vocabulary. I explained this to my teacher when I handed my test in. I said that I pretty much learned 5 chapters of the book on my own in the past week, etc. I'm pretty sure I'll still do better than some other students for whom this was actually a review.  We shall seeeeee! 


It's only 1:30 now so I have the whole afternoon/evening to do who knows what! I'm sure there will be a nap in there somewhere. Should anything exciting happen, I'll be sure to share it here!

I greatly need to do laundry. I have about 1 clean shirt left. I have another long break this afternoon (1-4) during which I plan to go to the grocery store to buy some fooood, laundry detergent, etc. I'm actually excited to cook things. It will mostly just be rice and meat, I'm sure, but I want to try to make the occasional extravagant meal (baked macaroni and cheese, tacos, etc.)

I've also noticed that compared to most of the international students here, I act like quite an old lady. I don't like going out on weekday nights, or when it's dark, or when it's raining, or when I don't feel like it. I like getting 10 hours of sleep a night on school days. I like taking naps when I have free time. I don't have a great desire to go out and sing karaoke and drink until 6am every day. Unlike many people here, my main goal is to improve my Japanese. Therefore, I don't want to go down a level in my Japanese classes because they may require a lot of studying. I'm not here for an easy A. I want to speak Japanese and I have no problem working for the results I want. But as you all are probably thinking, "all work and no play..." I also have no intention of just letting this amazing opportunity pass me by. I will go out and explore and experience as many Japanese things as possible. I will hang out with friends and have a good time. But I'll do it on my own terms (mainly on weekends, and breaks). And of course, I will thouroughly document it all. (I swear, I'm working on the pictures!)

Update!

So after class, I went to the grocery store. I spent ￥3100 on, well, not much. I got orange juice, apple juice, spaghetti, half a loaf of Italian-ish bread (which was my lunch), slices of cheese to eat with the bread (noooooot gonna eat that more than once), face wash, laundry detergent, a bag of rice, and some delicious Bonchi rice snack things. The bread was really pretty good, though a little tough to chew. The cheese was just not good. They seem to suck at dairy products here. AND OH MAN! I saw that they had Special-K! I love Special-K. But, I couldn't figure out the milk /: I couldn't tell which (if any) were fat free. So I didn't get it. I'll have to go back another time and try to figure it out.

Right now I need to read some stupid garbage for my Globalization class. And then go to said class. At first I was unhappy about the loonnnng breaks I had during the middle of the day, but I don't mind it so much anymore. It gives me a chance to study, do laundry, go shopping, nap, etc. I really wish I had time for a nap now, but nooo. And tonight after class I need to do laundry and study for my Spoken Japanese review test tomorrow. I've learned most of the grammar from the 5 chapters I missed in the past 3 days, but now I need to cram some vocabulary in there. I do hope I pass because I really like the class and don't want to have to go down a level. Mmmmmmmmmm I think that's it! OKAY!?

Bai~~

"Bitch, please!"

Today, I put THAT kid in his place.

Let me go back to our picture taking endeavour. I met my two partners at the lounge at 1:15 and we sat for a few minutes and talked about hobbies and stuff like that. My original partner, Chiharu, was very nice. She's quiet, sweet, loves cats, reading etc. THAT kid does have a name, and it is Jake. Jake likes music, and reading, and photography, and pretending that he is an expert in each of those areas.

After "getting to know each other" we decided to venture out to find good places to take pictures. Jake was like "well since you two can't think of anything, I'll go first". So he wanted to go to the library to take a picture of Chiharu reading a book. He also decided that it would be a good idea to place a book that has the word "cat" in the title in the picture. He is just too clever. Nothing accurately depicts a persons personality than a picture with excessive props. After that, we go back outside the library and try to figure out what is next. Since he likes photography, I was going to take a picture of him using his camera. Outside he was like "I assume you already got your picture of me when I was taking a picture of her" and I was like "no". And he was so quick to be like "that would have been the perfect opportunity, I was like setting it up for you, I can't believe you didn't take the picture". I simply ignore this comment. I later take a close of picture of him with his camera. When my teacher asked me to explain I said that I took this picture to show Jake's in-your-face personality...pause for a second...and add "but not in a bad way" with a smirk.

Jake then asks if either of us are ready to take pictures. I stop to think for a minute. I didn't respond quickly enough, so he retorts with a half-snort and a "jeez, how hard is it, I came up with my shot in like 2 minutes". Again I ignore his comment. I suppose it is rather easy to come up with a shitty photograph lacking all creativity. Right before I go to take a picture of Chiharu, Jake laughs and says "how many megapixels is that?" I reply with a simple "2" (it was taken with my cellphone). He scoffs. I ready myself to punch him in the throat, but decide against it. I then decide to take a picture of Chiharu standing outside, in a very distinct manner; that is she was standing with her feet turned in. I think that stance showed her modesty and more about her personality than a book about cats ever could. Just for fun, here's the picture:

(I also thought the fabulous woman wearing those BAMF boots in the background was a nice/interesting contrast).

Anyway, we took more pictures, blah blah blah. Jake took another shitty picture of me. This time I was sitting in a chair listening to my iPod, because I like music. Innovative. In the picture you couldn't even see my face. My bangs have grown out quite a bit and he had me look downwards, so I have this emo-hair thing going on that makes me look quite lame and boring. But whatev, I didn't really care about that.

So today, we go to class and we look at everyone's pictures and explain why we took our pictures. The teacher get's to Jake's picture of Chiharu and is like 'excessive use of dumb props, and you can't see her face' and he was like 'but man, she likes cats!'. The teacher also said his picture of me was terribad. On the other hand, the teacher rather enjoyed MY picture of Chiharu taken with an inferior camera.

Today, I took down THAT kid just one level. Perhaps from now on he will think a little less highly of himself and carefully consider that which he says. Perhaps, but most likely not. But let those two little words proclaim my vindication: "Bitch, please!"

-Fin-

My first day of class was both good and bad; but mostly good. My first class was Spoken Japanese at 11am. I got up at 9:30, ate some breakfast (rice lolol) and left for class. I kinda really loved this class. The level may be a little bit too advance (about 5 chapters ahead of where I am) but so far it seems fine. I understand just about everything our teacher says. Also I really like this teacher. He's funny, energetic, etc. There will be a review test at the end of the week and if I fail that horribly, I will go down a level. We shall see what happens.

That class ended at 11:50, and since I didn't have another class until 4:40 (boooo) I went back to my room. When I got back to my room I took a nap! It was quite lovely. I got up at umm 3ish and hung around my room until 4:00, when I left to go back to class.

When I left the Seminar House it was raining (booo) but I had bought an umbrella a few days ago, so I was good to go! I walked walked walked back to campus and found my class. Now this class was not one of my first choices (in fact I'm considering dropping it for something else). Anyway, this class was Visual Anthropology of Japan. Now, personally, I feel that the title 'Visual Anthropology of Japan' is quite self-explanitory. But apparently not! Our teacher spent 70 out of the 90 minutes of class defining both 'visual' and 'anthropology'. During this time, I learned that Archaeology (one of the 4 divisions of anthropology) is not accompanied by Indiana Jones-eqsue adventures. Damn! I was rather disappointed; my dreams had been crushed.

We also looked at a picture and attempted to analyze it. Now this picture was of a Japanese family huddled together posing for a picture. In the background there was a gate to a shrine. And in the foreground was, oddly enough, a group of pink-faced monkies. Yeah, I dunno. So everyone attemps to pull some deep meaning out of this picture: "you can see the similarities between the human and primate family and it shows how we're not that different" and "this picture really portrays Japanese culture by emphasizing the group aspect of Japanese people. No one is off on they're own, they are together with others". Ok, so I guess I could understand where some of that bullshit comes from, but honestly, what family/group of people would NOT huddle together and pose for a picture in a similar fashion? But I felt that if I had said that, several people would have shanked me. My interpretation of this picture is as follows: it is a metephor for the struggles of the working class.

Anyway, to make this class even better, I happened to be sitting next to THAT kid. Yes, you know THAT kid very well, I'm sure. THAT kid feels the need to comment on or reply to everything the professor says in order to show how much he/she knows about "insert class subject here". And of course, THAT kid also thinks that they are VERY funny. And surely enough, you always just happen to get seated next to THAT kid. And if that all wasn't enough torture, our teacher decides to assign us some last minute homework. But not just any homework; GROUPWORK. And not just any groupwork, GROUPWORK to be done OUTSIDE of class. The assignment is to get together with your partner, get to know them, and take a picture, NAY, a portrait of them and submit it. There are a few students in the class who are natives of Japan and I happened to be paired with one. She seems very nice. But of course, because no one wanted to work with him, THAT kid gets stuck in our group as a 3rd member. Can you tell how much I'm loving this class? The subject is rather interesting, and the teacher is actually not bad at all, but his class and lectures seem to be tailored for morons. I don't think I'm a genius or anything, but everyone just seems very dumb.

Finally that class ends and I get to walk home. It's 6:15 so it's already dark, but I can deal with that. It's still raining, but that shouldn't be a problem since I brought my umbrella. Well, it shouldn't have been a problem. But, of course, someone stole my umbrella. I got to walk home in the rain. It was incredibly fun. Upon returning to my dorm, I took a warm shower and chilled until I went to bed at 11.

You have to take the good with the bad, I suppose. I can deal. Though, I'm really hoping to drop that class and join one with a better time on better days, and hopefully one that does not force me to work with obnoxious students inside or outside of class.

As for today, I had my Spoken Japanese class again, along with my first session of Reading and Writing Japanese. Well, if my Spoken Japanese class was too advanced, this one very well may be too easy. I have already learned the material from the first 7 weeks of class. But I'm pretty sure the next level of class would be way too advanced. So I get a 7 week review. Yay!

Right now, I'm just waiting until 1:15 so I can go meet my partners for my favourite class and take their pictures. Also, our teacher never said anything about writing to explain the meaning behind the pictures. I'm pretty sure I will just take a picture and leave, in that case. After that, I will hang around and possibly study until 4:40 when I have my next class (oddly enough, with the same teacher as the other class). This one I actually did choose, though. Perhaps it will suck less. I sure hope so. Then I get to go home. I have to do laundry since I have maybe 3 shirts left and that's it.

Until next time!

P.S. Oh yeah! I totally sit next to the 4th Jonas brother in my two Japanese classes. His name is Jet. Tell me that's not perfect! Jet Jonas. Except his last name isn't Jonas...details, details.

So, there are like a lot of Japanese people here.

So Thursday I finally met with Sayaka! I met her and 2 of her friends at the McDonald's on campus. She speaks about as much English as I speak Japanese. So at first communicating was a little difficult, but the more I talked with her and her friends it became easier to hear/understand them. She really loved the bracelet I made for her. After McDonald's, Sakaya and I went with one of her friends to meet her speaking partner in the CIE lounge. There we just hung out and talked some more. We probably hung out for about 4 hours. It was difficult, but fun! Afterwards, her and I walked back to my Seminar House. I wanted to show her the place, but because it's still during orientation week we weren't allowed to have visitors yet. So I told her that she can come over next time!

Friday, Shalonda and I got up and went to the convenience store to buy cell phones! They're white and pretty and Japanese! They ran out of chargers, so we will go back tomorrow to get those. Anyway, the cellphones here don't come with many minutes; maybe 60 minutes a month. Most people don't use their cellphone for talking, especially not in public or while on buses/trains! Everyone just sends e-mails from their phone. It's similar to text messaging, except each phone has an e-mail address and you use that to send it (you can also send mails to non-cellphone e-mails).

After that, we ran into our temporary room mate Heewon while making our way to the waiting spot for the Kyoto trip. Each group of international students was accompanied by a few Japanese students. Our guides were named Hitomi and Chisato. They were both very nice (and gorgeous, too!). We took a bus, then some trains to get to Kyoto. We walked over to Kiyumizu temple (or maybe it was shrine...I don't know). It was absolutely beautiful. I can't really do much to describe it, you'll just have to wait for the heaps of pictures I took (they're coming! I promise!!). While we were there, some creepy old white dude asked Chisato if he could take a picture of her. She was nice and said yes, but the rest of us were like '..uhhhh creeepy!'. After walking around there, we walked backed towards the train station and had some dinner on the way. We ate omuraisu (the name comes from the combination of omelette and rice). It's pretty much an omelette-looking egg wrapped around rice, vegetables, and topped with various sauces. Ketchup is a popular one, but I said no thanks. Mine was just chicken and rice inside egg with tomato sauce on top. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't my favourite thing either.

We got back to our rooms at about 8:30, and I passed out early once again at 9. Then, I woke up at 7 on Saturday, but I went back to sleep from 8 until 12. Shalonda and I went to the grocery store and I bought some rice, orange juice, and delicious rice snacks called Bonchi!! After that, I took another nap from 4-6! I just hung out around here on my computer until 2:30am-ish which is when I went to bed.

Today I woke up at 8:30, had some rice and orange juice, and now I'm about to go downstairs to do my official check-in for the seminar house! Then I am probably going to go meet a friend and hang out.

More soon!

P.S. Don't drink milk from vending machines. Just don't do it.

Want to buy 1 pair of rain boots size 10 (US). Yellow is prefered but not necessary (Morton Salt Girl!)

I learned the hard way that my boots, are in fact NOT water proof. I would think rain boots are avialable here, but I have such huge monster feet that anything here may not be in my size. A few of us haven't even ben able to find slippers yet because they are all too small.

I walked to school early this morning with Shalonda. She's currenty opening and savings account and I'm waiting in the computer lab. We have 2 "manditory" meetings today, and then I finally get to meet Sayaka! She seems to excited! I am, too. I also need to buy a cell phone today. They had run out the past two days, so hopefully they will have some today! In Japan, most people do not talk on their cellphones. They only get about 60 minutes of talking time per month. But text messages and phone e-mail are unlimited. I've seen people texting while riding their bikes! That's pretty hardcore if you ask me. Also many phones have TV on them, so you'll see people watching that while on the trains.

The other night our 3rd (temporary) roommate moved in. She was shocked at how nice and accomidating Shalonda and I were. We cleared out space in our closets and on our desks for her. And basically told her what's ours is hers. She's only staying with us until she moves in with her Homestay family this weekend, but until that time it's her room, too! So she should be entitled to everything we have. Apparently, past roommates (roomsmate lolol mmmm references) of hers were not as nice.

I can't wait until classes start. I feel like so far I have just been playing it safe and sticking with what is familar (i.e hanging out with the USF students, or English speakers). I think as soon as classes start, and I meet more people, I'll be speaking more Japanese and hanging out with more people. I really want to push myself to step out of my comfort zone (within reason, of course!) The spoken Japanese classes are all 5 day a week for 50 minutes each. In all Japanese classes, you're only allowed to speak Japanese. I'm nervous about this, yet excited at the same time. Because I know from first hand experience that if you want to speak a language you need to speak it, and speak it often. I also feel as if I'm tragically behind most other people. I have been studying for 1.5 years and so have many other people, but at USF the classes moved soooooo slow. Other people that have been studying for the same amount of time probably know twice as much as I do. For example, I can read and write about 150 kanji (recognize maybe 175), where as the other students I mentioned can read and write 500-700. I find that so crazy. But these classes are intense and move at a fast pace. I'm hoping to see improvment rather quickly!

Tomorrow there is a trip for all the international students to Kyoto! We are going to meet in front of the CIE (Center for International Education) building at 2pm. I believe this trip's main purpose is to introduce us to the transportation systems (buses, trains, etc.) I've already had some practice, so I'm like hella pro. I am slightly worried, though. Because there are 460 international students and they are trying to get them ALL to go on this trip. How in the world do you get 460 students on a bus and trains together? Hopefully everyone won't show up. I don't think I could handle it lolol

Last night I actually stayed up past 9pm! I believe I was up until 11:30. And I slept through the entire night! Let's see if I can keep it up. I don't really like going to bed early.

It's time for one of those oh-so-"manditory" meetings! More later.
<3

     I'm pretty sure that in the 5 days that I've been here, I have made more friends than I have during my entire 4.5 years at USF. And the best part is that they are from all around the world: France, Greece, Sweden, Australia, Korea, Japan! Everyone here is basically in the same boat; having come from a foreign country, not completely understanding the language, adjusting and adapting to the new area. I think this makes it incredibly easy to make friends here! And most people I have met are incredibly nice. There are the occasional 1 or 2 people that make me want to punch them in the throat, though.
     Last night we met up with a USF student who has already been here for a semester. He invited some friends, and we all went out to eat. On the way, we ran into people who joined us. One girl asked if she could walk with us back to the dorms and just ended up coming to eat with us! We went to one of those sushi restaurants where the food is sent around on little plates on a conveyer belt type thing. Also, there is a touch screen computer at each table that you can use to order specific things. And when that food is ready, it comes straight to your table on a shinkansen (bullet train). It was so cute! I'm not as brave as most, so I didn't try anything. Eating has been difficult so far since I'm so picky, but I was expecting that.
     Oddly enough, one of the harder things for me to get used to is driving on the left, walking on the left, doing everything on the left. Doing things on the right side is just so ingrained that it is taking a while to adjust. Crossing the street is difficult, too, because I have to stop and think about which side of the street is going to have cars traveling in which direction.
     Today I finished mostly everything that I needed to do during the orientation period; turned in forms, signed up for classes, squared away financial matters, took the placement test. On Friday I will get my course schedule! I really hope I get the classes I choose. If more than 30 people sign up for a class, it becomes a lottery-type system. Also! Tomorrow I finally get to meet my Speaking Partner, Sayaka! I'm very excited! I've been waiting for the chance to get some hardcore Japanese conversation practice. I'm excited to give her the bracelet I made for her birthday, as well.
     This is short, but I'm very sleepy. I finally have the chance to take a nap today and fix my sleeping schedule! It's been very difficult for me to stay awake past 9:30-10:00 most nights. But then I would wake up at 2am, and go back to sleep at about 5. I'm hoping if I take a nap, I can stay up a bit later tonight!

     Ok so! I left my house at about 3:30am on Friday to get to the airport at about 4:45. When I got there and went to check in, Shalonda and Carlos were there, too. We got our boarding passes, checked our bags, hung out for a little while, took the tram, went through security and waited at our gate.
     The flight to Chicago left at about 7am and was just fine, I think. I can't really remember. It wasn't too long, but I may have napped for a small portion of it. We arrived in Chicago at 9ish (Central time, now). O'hare airport is quite large. We walked around trying to figure out what to do. We had to actually leave the building and take a tram to another building.
     We got our boarding passes at the JAL counter and then met up with Alex, who had left from Orlando. We had to go through security for a second time, and then we headed to our gate. Because there weren't 4 seats available together, we tried to get 2 sets of 2 seats. Shalonda and Carlos were already seated together, so Alex asked to get his seat with mine. Then we got on the plane. It was quite large, and the first class seats were amazing! They reclined fully and had massage things, and very large TV sets. The regular seats weren't so bad, except that my knees were pretty crushed the entire time. Anyway, this flight wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The 13 hours went by pretty quickly. They served us a meal soon after taking off. We had a choice of Teriyaki Chicken with rice, or some sort of fish with noooodles. While eating that I watched 500 Days of Summer. I think I took a nap for a little bit after that. They served us some tiny weird sandwiches later on (one was ham, and one was egg salad...no thanks). I watched UP. I think I took another nap after that. 2 hours before landed, they served us our second meal. It was some pasta with sauce and cheese, salad, fruit, and yogurt. The food was pretty good for airplane food. After eating, I played around with the TV, tried some of the games, and just kind of sat there until we landed.
     In Narita airport, we had to go through immigration. The process was giving a form we filled out, scanning our fingerprints and taking our picture. Then we had to pick up our bags and take them through customs. Again, game them a form and went through. We had to walk to another area of the airport for domestic flights. We had to check in again at the JAL counter and check our bags again. Then we had to go through security for a 3rd time! After that we waited by the gate. We actually ran into 5 other students going to Kansai Gaidai. For this flight, we actually got to take a bus out onto the tarmac and then walked up some stairs into the plane.
     The flight to Osaka was very short. It was only about one hour. While on the plane, I finished the bracelet I was making for my Speaking Partern, Sayaka. After landing in Osaka, the large group of us got our bags and found the guy who was going to take us to our housing. It was only about 7pm, so we had to wait until 8:15 for other students. We left our bags with him and explored the airport. Everyone stopped at a small restaurant to eat. I was tooooo tired to eat. After eating, we walked back and got our bags and walked to the bus. The bus was quite big, but the seats were tiny. Once again my knees were crushed. We didn't leave the airport until about 8:50.
     The ride to our housing was about 45 minutes. When we got there, luckily there were hired vans to take our luggage for us. We had a 5 minute walk to the building where we signed in and then the RA's helped us to our rooms.
     I live in what is called Seminar House 3. When entering the building, we take off our shoes and put them in a cubby according to our room number. Anyway, I went up to my room, and it is very nice (pictures to come). It is an apartment style room, so there is a shared living room, kitched, and bathroom for 8 people (4 doubly occupancy rooms). My actual room is a traditional Japanese style room. The floors are covered with tatami mats, and we sleep on futons (which we fold up when not sleeping). The rooms also have a desk for each person. Shalonda arrived a few minutes later.
     Of course when I got in my room, the first thing I did was take out my laptop and try to get some wireless internet. No such luck. We have to register our laptops in order to use them with the internet. But, luckily, there is a computer lab on the first floor (which is where I am now).
We met one of our apartment mates briefly (Rebecka) and then went to bed. I thought that I would sleep in very late because I had been awake for almost 48 hours before going to bed, but I woke up at 9am.
I got up, took a shower, and met another one of our apartment mates (Elin). Both Rebecka and Elin are from Sweden. They are very nice and speak English so well. Rebecka told us that they planned to go to the grocery store, so Shalonda and I decided to go with them. Before going, we met up with another girl from Sweden (Camilla) who was friends with Rebecka and Elin.
     The walk to the grocery store was about 20 minutes. The store was amazing. It was so clean and neat. We split up and searched for food. It was quite overwhelming at first trying to read everything and figure out what it is. I ended up buying some of this amazing rice! It comes in a microwaveale contained and requires no water! Just cook for 2 minutes. Amazing! I also got some noodle-y things that I haven't tried yet. It all came out to about ￥980.
     We walked back and hung our for a little bit before deciding to go back out. We were headed for a convenience store this time. And also, we wanted to see the school on the way. We got a little lost at first, but we asked a girl how to get there (in half Japanese/half English) and then found our way. Shalonda and I tried to find slippers, but they were all toooo small. Darn tiny Japanese feet. But socks will suffice for now!
The walk back was a bit longer this time, maybe 25-30 minutes. When we got back Shalonda and I ate some chicken and rice while Rebecka and Elin read some magazines they bought. Camila and Carlos both came over and we looked at some forms we have to fill out.
     Amazingly enough, they are giving us what is called the JASSO scholorship. It is either ￥80,000  per month, or ￥160,000 total. It's not too clear. Either way, that is quite a bit of money to be given for free! I love it.
     That about sums up my first two days in Japan. Tomorrow I have an orientation at 2pm for the Language Lab. Then I may head over to Osaka for a bit to explore and what not.
     I have been taking lots of pictures, but unfortunately I am very dumb and forgot the USB cable to connect my camera, nor do I have a card reader. I'll have to find out about getting one of those. When I do, there shall be a million pictures. I have already taken several pictures of cute things with faces.

    A few people have asked for my address, so if you want it, let me know and I'll get it to you.

More to come soon!~

In less than 12 hours I will be leaving my house for the airport. It's about an hour and a half drive to the airport and my flight is at 7am. My itinerary is as follows:


Tampa International (TPA) to Chicago O'Hare International (ORD)
Departure (TPA): January 22, 6:57 AM EST (morning)
Arrival (ORD): January 22, 8:56 AM CST (morning)

Chicago O'Hare International (ORD) to Tokyo Narita (NRT)
Departure (ORD): January 22, 10:20 AM CST (morning)
Arrival (NRT): January 23, 2:35 PM JST (afternoon)

Tokyo Narita (NRT) to Osaka Itami (ITM)
Departure (NRT): January 23, 4:35 PM JST (afternoon)
Arrival (ITM): January 23, 6:00 PM JST (evening)


So this will have me arrive in Osaka at 4am EST. I've never traveled this much or this far ever. It's going to be quite the adventure!


I'm pretty sure that I have everything packed. I'm taking a large duffel bag, a small suitcase, my laptop, and my bag. Oddly enough, I have more socks than any other article of clothing!


People keep asking me if I'm nervous, but as of right now I'm not. I'm not feeling much of anything, to be honest. It's as if nothing is happening. I'm sure once I arrive in Japan I'm going to be like "What the hell am I doing in Japan?". 


I think my biggest fear about this excursion is not being able to understand anyone or communicate with anyone. I feel as if I have forgotten all the Japanese I've learned over the past 3 semesters. Luckily I have a 13 hour plane ride to brush up on it! Also, traveling with 3 friends, all of whom are in the same boat as me, is going to help. And of course I have my speaking partner, Otani Sayaka. We have only exchanged e-mails so far, but once I arrive she will be there to help me get acquainted with the area.


For now, I think I will take a nap. I plan to just stay up tonight until 3am. 


Melissa~