First Date in Japan

Hello everyone!
Wow, so much has happened since I last wrote! So I guess I'll start with last Saturday: I stayed out all night with the other international students finally. We went to a bar, I drank water the whole night, and talked the whole time. It was a lot of fun and I became very close with many of them. I didn't get home until around 7 AM though. I went right to bed and woke up around 11:30 and my voice was gone, much to the amusement of my host parents. Since I woke up so late I didn't go to church, instead we took a trip to Umeda (Osaka). It was my first time going there and I loved it! I was so excited to see everything. It is the largest city I've ever been in. We went to a Imported food store and bought pasta, so I could make it for my host family that week.
Monday, my voice was still gone which got me lots of laughs. Many of the other students said I sounded so cute. Tuesday my voice was back but I was SICK. My throat hurt so badly and I had a really bad cough. So, for a week, without fail, I wore a mask and coughed really badly at night. My host family didn't know what to give me for medicine as I'm used to different things. I told them it was fine since it was only a cold. But many of the students at school, specifically Sarah (the Aussie girl), Xay (the British Chinese boy), and Colin (the Chinese boy) were very concerned about me. They insisted I get stronger medicine then just throat drops or stay home and rest. I didn't do either though and now, finally a week later, I'm starting to feel a little better. In fact last night I got my best sleep in a week. I got nine and a half hours and woke up much later then usual. I'm sure I'll be almost 100% tomorrow :)
Tuesday Xay and I ended up talking for about two and a half hours at school. We had a really good time and in the end I invited him to come to my house for dinner, as I was cooking pasta that night. He agreed but on the way he got very nervous. He insisted that he was "meeting the parents" lol. I told him it didn't count since he's not my boyfriend but he was nervous regardless and when he met my host family he was on the best of behaviors. So I made Fettuccine Alfredo for Xay and my host family. It ended up so good and they were all surprised at how well I cooked. I felt very complimented when Xay even said he was surprised at how good it tasted. He's a harsh critic lol. Since then my host mom has been more trusting with letting me help make dinner. I think I proved myself :)
Friday night some of the students went out again. I was home but feeling like a little kid being left out I joined them at the bar for a few hours. There was only four of us, Sarah, Xay, Ismail, and I at a Jazz bar near the station. It was a lot of fun but I insisted on catching the last train home even though everyone else was going to stay out all night. Xay offered to walk me, he's very much a gentleman, and he also needed some air after taking a REALLY strong shot. When we got to the station I still had time to spare so we walked around for a little bit talking. When I went to leave he asked me how people say goodbye in the US. He explained that in London if it's a close friend or family you kiss on one cheek and hug. I said that I do that with my family and close friends too. He asked if we were close enough that we could do this. I felt that he was making a simple goodbye too complicated, since he was a little drunk lol. He insisted that he wasn't making it complicated he just wanted to know if we were close enough to hug and kiss goodbye. So I gave him a kiss on the cheek and a big hug, he returned both, and left for the night.
No sooner had I arrived home and I received a text from Colin asking why I left the bar. He and Sheng got there only a few minutes after I left. He wanted me to come back but by this point I felt so ill I said it wasn't possible. He asked if we could study the next day together and I agreed. Saturday I woke up and finally caved into buy medicine after a horrible nights sleep of constant coughing. In the afternoon Colin text me and asked if I had plans, which I replied I didn't. He invited me to have dinner together and go to Umeda and I agreed. So, I officially had my first date in Japan . . . with a Chinese boy! lol
We met at his station, Kamishinjou, and took a train to Umeda. We had dinner at a really cool restaurant where you got to cook your own food in a sauce. We ate so much! I ate more that night then any other night in Japan yet. We stayed in the restaurant for maybe 2 hours and talked so much. We are very similar in some ways and it was a lot of fun to spend one-on-one time with him to really get to know him. He was wearing a bracelet made of Tigers eye beads and was very surprised when I knew what it was. He insisted that I'm very cleaver and I only proved it further that night by being able to find my way around Umeda when he got a little lost. He's studying Japanese and English so it's very fun to talk to him as he'll use words in the three languages he speaks. He's going to take the TOEIC test this November (Test of English for International Communication), which is a very difficult test for nonnative speakers, so he likes speaking a lot of English to practice. At one point in the night I thanked him, in Japanese, for passing me something. He said something in Chinese very quickly, more of less chewing me out lol. I asked what he said and he told me to stop telling him thank you because it makes him feel as if there is a distance between us. I explained that in the US we say thank you as a way of telling someone we appreciate them and the things they do for us. He understood and said I could thank him in English then, but not Japanese lol. He said in China they are more casual and don't always say thank you. It was really interesting to talk about the differences between our countries as well as the traditions in Japan which we are currently experiencing. The bill for dinner ended up being a little less then 4,000 Yen (About $45) and he insisted on paying the whole thing. I even offered to help but he refused. We walked around a little bit and upon seeing the big red ferris wheel we decided to go ride it. Colin also paid for my ticket there. . . I'm an expensive date I think . . . but it was a lot of fun and the view was amazing!
Things here are really good, other then having a cold. It was a very fun week. Not sure what else to write. . . I feel like I just talked about boys the whole email . . . lol. Oh well! Japan is, as usual very fun. Hope you're all well. Love and miss you all!