Hello from Japan

Dear Family and Friends,
Another email from Taleah! I'm trying to limit my emails to maybe once a week, unless something amazing happens, because they are so long. Hopefully you all enjoy reading them though. I promise that if you write me back I will respond.
School started on Thursday and it was a lot of fun. My first class was Japanese Affairs and we talked about the differences between a Japanese work place versus the work places in our countries. My teacher is, I believe, half Japanese half Italian. His name is Mr. Tamburini and his English is perfect! He doesn't even have a Japanese accent. He said that he did work as a translator so he must be amazing. He was very laid back and fun to talk with. I only had one more class that day and it was Japanese. I have a new Japanese teacher every day of the week, so I'll have 5 teachers overall. The first teacher was Mrs. Washimi. She only spoke Japanese to me, which is good. She was very encouraging and I think it went well. I still feel stupid though because I can only say things like: "Kyou wa Kyoto ni ikimasu." (I went to Kyoto today). Oh well. It will come.
During one of my breaks between classes I went to the International Center and there sat an exchange student I had never seen before. I realized he was the missing boy who never showed up at the airport and left Yukiko-San, one of the Directors assistants, waiting for 4 hours. Fukuda-San, one of the main guys in charge, was really angry. So without a phone call or anything this boy shows up a week and a half later then he's supposed to. I introduced myself, his name is Ismail, and I tried to make conversation. His mood was very bad and despite how obnoxiously friendly and outgoing I can be I found it difficult to talk to him. He was seriously in the dog house! I could see Fukuda-San and the Director in their offices talking, they both looked really angry. Ismail said he might not be able to stay, which frankly, I think is fair. In the end he was permitted to though and we have all tried to make friends with him, which is proving to be a little difficult lol. When he met everyone else he immediately began bragging about how wonderful his Japanese is and even lectured the Aussie boys on being "very rude" for talking on the bus. I'm worried he might not live through the semester. Louis, the French boy, and I joke all the time that we have to hate each other on principle as he is French and I'm American. But at lunch on the first day we ended up having a chat, just me and him, and it was a lot of fun. He's much more calm then the Aussie boys and a bit of a gentleman as well. Everyday though he tosses my hair, fluffing it and putting it all on top of my head. He loves to mess with me.
My next day, Friday, I had three classes. My first class was Japanese Science Fiction. My teacher ended up being a WAY tall French guy named Mr. Taillandier, he told us to call him Dennis. He was really down to earth and fun. My next class, which I was really excited for, Japanese History, Customs, and Culture, was canceled for the week so all of the International Students ended up hanging out for an hour and a half chatting. We ended up making plans to go out drinking and maybe do Karaoke. My last class was my Japanese class which went well again, with my other teacher Mrs. Hibi.
Friday night we went out. There was me, Sarah (the Aussie girl), Louis (the French guy), Xay (the Chinese boy from London), Dan, Madison, Brett (all Aussies), Ismail (despite the fact that only Xay seems to like him because they are both smokers), Shen (the Chinese boy), and Shen's friend who's name I can't remember because he is also Chinese. We went to a Mexican themed bar so the boys could eat dinner and drink, Sarah and I had already eaten as we live with host families. Everyone was having a lot of fun and it was exciting to see some of the usually more quiet people, like Shen, be really noisy. Dan, of course, who is always the loudest, was even more loud lol. Xay (pronounced "Say") started asking me questions about my religion. He insisted that I should go "wild" and try everything while I'm still young. I assured him that I was having fun even though I was only drinking water. He didn't seem convinced and began asking what I could and could not do because of my religion. When I told him I don't smoke or drink he then asked with a very concerned look, "And no sex before marriage right." I told him that was true. He insisted it wasn't worth it lol. Sarah jumped in and said that I know who I am and seem very happy so it's not bad. Xay wasn't being mean, he's one of the nicest guys there, so he agreed but again insisted that sex is an important part of a relationship. It was kind of funny because I told him I had my "wild" time once and it wasn't worth it. He was surprised to know it and insisted the guy wasn't nice if I wasn't having fun, which I said was true lol. He kept pushing the fact so much that I finally had to tease him. I gave him a big smile and said, "Xay, don't be mad just because I won't be having sex with you." He grinned and seemed a little embarrassed. He told me to not be so sure which made me laugh so hard. I think Xay and I will get along fine lol.
Saturday I went on a hike with two of Ooki-Chan's friends, Yumiko-San and Sachiyo-San. We went to Kyoto and hiked around Arashiyama park. It was so beautiful! There are tons of pictures on Facebook, under "Japan 3" so go check them out. When I got home from the hike I was so tired I fell asleep on my bed on top of the blankets lol. I woke up just as Oniisan and Ooki-Chan got home for the evening. They had played Tennis with friends and were as tired as me. Ooki-Chan made Okonomiyaki and Yakisoba for dinner (oishikatawa!) which is some of my favorite Japanese food for sure. We watched RED with Japanese subtitles and then went to sleep.
Today is Sunday and I have church but I think I'll be late because instead of getting ready I've been writing an email, hehe. But I'll be there eventually.
The weather is finally starting to cool down, which I'm very happy about. Fall is coming and I can't wait to see all the leafs change. I'll be taking SO many pictures so please look forward to them. Sorry that I've only been here 2 weeks and already there are over 400 pictures on Facebook. Luckily I have two memory cards for my camera, they might both be full by the time I get home.
As for me personally, I'm doing great! I'm having a lot of fun. Missing some people very much and wishing I could see you guys and hug you. I'll write again soon. I love you all very much. Hope you're all doing well. Those in school, study hard! Those working, be safe. Those who stay at home and work EXTRA hard for their families, thanks for all your difficult work. I'll write again soon :)