Final Email from Japan

Dear friends and family,
I regret to say that the end is here. Two days from now I'll be back in good old Utah. Truthfully, I'm not really ready for it . . . Sadly my last week in Japan has been a serious mix of good and bad. This email will be kind of long, sorry.
This week I had my final test in Japanese. I studied like CRAZY for about 3 days before. I really wanted to do well on it so I spent every spare moment in my books. Even the morning of the test I was up early studying. My brain was so full I realized I couldn't think Japanese clearly so I stopped studying and rested for about 2 hours before the test. Luckily all that studying served me well. I couldn't remember certain things but my subconscious did and I was able to pass the test with 79/100. Yatta! I said my final goodbye to Dan and Brett before my test. Dan and I agreed that we will probably see each other again, in Japan, someday.
Thursday, the day of my final test, Akane planned a farewell party and we ended up having about 25 people attending. A bunch of the exchange students came and tons of our Japanese tutors and friends. Also, many of the tutors received emails regarding their study abroad interviews. Akane passed! We were all so excited and come to find out Norihiro had received an email as well. He refused to open it though. He said he didn't want the night to be ruined if he wasn't picked to do study abroad. He promised me that he would open it with me later. He said he wanted to do it when we were alone. So I waited, very impatiently. We went to BBQ to have dinner. It was a lot of fun but, unfortunately, the night was far from perfect due to Hiroki ruining it. He REALLY dislikes me as he's started to sense mine and Norihiro's relationship so the whole night he was making fun of me and being abusive. Many of the girls were getting annoyed with him on my behalf. I yelled at him around the end of dinner, after he stuck his lighter in my face a few times, very close to my skin. He wouldn't stop so I ended up swearing at him and Norihiro quickly came to my rescue and pushed Hiroki away from me. After that we went to a bar and made reservations at a Karaoke place for around 10. Many people had tests coming up so they had to leave. I had some teary goodbyes, especially with Ayari (Louis's girlfriend) who is such a sweety and one of my language partners, Taisuke, who is so kind. He they both hugged me and when we pulled away we had tears in our eyes. It was really difficult to say goodbye to everyone. Final goodbye with Louis at the bar. As we were going to karaoke many people decided to leave and, Akane told me, it was due to Hiroki. (I found out the next day that while walking to the bar he had bumped into an elderly woman and ended up screaming at her and telling her to F-off in Japanese. No one bothered to tell me this at the time but that was way so many people were angry with him.) Norihiro and I wanted to spend time together though so we choose to go to karaoke, which proved a bad decision. But by the time we realized we should have just left the last train was just minutes away and we wouldn't have made it. So we ended up staying in the karaoke box until 6 AM. Luckily it wasn't all horrible at Karaoke, there were 11 of us so some of the time was a lot of fun. But Hiroki was there and true to his nature. Around 4:30 a few of us had fallen asleep while others kept singing. I woke up to see Hiroki cuddling Norihiro's sleeping body as well as make some REALLY crude sexual gestures over Norihiro. Norihiro woke up to see it too and I had the satisfaction of watching my boyfriend punch Hiroki on top of the head, twice, in a very Japanese like fashion. After this happened I went to the bathroom. When I had come back Hiroki and Norihiro was sitting VERY far apart (which is out of character for Hiroki as he normally is either clinging to Norihiro or very nearby) and there was distinct anger between them. Norihiro had terminated their friendship and Hiroki was furious. The night soon ended, with Ismail being completely drunk and Madison vanishing without his coat or cell phone. So everyone was true to their characters. But I was sad because Norihiro was angry and hadn't had any fun because of Hiroki's behavior. I felt kind of sad for Hiroki because when I first met him he was so kind to me. But slowly, over the semester, I've come to see he's really not a nice person. The night of the farewell party he lost many friends. The last time I saw Sheng was on the train, we both agreed that we're sad to leave Japan.
The next day, Friday, Sarah planned dinner with some of the exchange students and two of the Japanese tutors, Norihiro being one of them. So Norihiro and I met up early and went to Nanba, which is near Shinsai Bashi. While we were waiting for a train I was able to convince Norihiro to open his email. He finally did and all he said when he saw it was: "I passed". We just grabbed each other and hugged and I realized he really had been scared he would fail because his heart was beating so hard from relief! We were so happy! So in the Fall Norihiro will be attending Snow College :) Before meeting for dinner Norihiro took me to Ottaku Lane which is a road full of nerdy Japanese fan shops, Anime, Manga, figurines, and Maid Cafe's. It was really funny and we had a good time together. I ended up asking about Hiroki and that's when I found out Hiroki has yelled at an old woman. Norihiro said that Hiroki is just too troublesome and he doesn't want to be friends with him. I was relieved of course but it really made my day when Norihiro said he also didn't want to see my sad face due to Hiroki anymore either. While we were walking to meet up with Sarah Norihiro got a disturbing phone call from Maho, the other Japanese partner who was coming to dinner. Hiroki had found out about our dinner plans and invited himself! Norihiro told her plainly, I understood him, that he, Sarah, and I dislike Hiroki. He told her that if Hiroki comes we will leave. Luckily Ismail was with Maho and was able to explain to him that we would leave. But Hiroki, being the jerk that he is, said he didn't care if we all left he was coming anyways. They were able to get him to leave but, later during dinner, he text Maho to say he was in Shinsai Bashi and wanted to know where we were. Norihiro advised her to ignore the email and she did. Sadly, Ismail was true to his usual character as well this night. He got WAY too drunk and ended up furious at Maho for not being willing to go out with him one-on-one after we were all going home. He ended up yelling at her and swearing which made her cry and made all of us mad. So my final day with Ismail was negative as well, sadly. He and I had become pretty good friends so I'm sad to see such a bad side of him on my last visit with him. I had a final goodbye with U-chan, Fefe, and Xay after dinner.
Sunday, today, I had lunch with Sarah and her host family. We planned a final visit before both Sarah and I leave (Sarah will be coming back but I won't). Sarah and I played with the little girls for a few hours and we all ate cake. It was a lot of fun as I haven't been around little kids this whole time and I realized how much I miss it. Sarah's family was very sad I'm leaving and made me origami as a farewell present. Her host mom is absolutely so wonderful and kind. I was really sad to say goodbye to them. As Sarah and I walked to the station she took my hand because we were both so sad to be parting. At the station we turned to say goodbye and both of us had to take a deep breath before hugging because it was really difficult. She was my best girl friend here and has been nothing but perfectly wonderful and kind from day one. We both said that our time in Japan would have been completely different and not as good without the other one. Sarah is the first one that it was REALLY difficult to say goodbye to. I cried my eyes out, which made people stare at us even more since we both were crying at the train station. We promised to meet again soon. Sarah is the last exchange student I said goodbye to and the most difficult one to part with.
I've cried more times in my final two weeks in Japan then the 4 months before combined. . . Goodbyes are impossibly hard. Some of these people I know I will never see again and that is just too much to bear.
Tomorrow I'll be having lunch with Ooki chan and some of her students as a small farewell party. Tuesday I'll be taking a bus to the airport with Norihiro, Akane, and Tomi, to spend my last few hours in Japan with them. I'm hoping to have a REALLY big cry, in my bed, alone, the day before so that I can try to keep it together at the airport. It's just too sad to say goodbye to these three! I have really loved spending time with all of them and will miss them like crazy. At 6 PM, I'll be up in the air and returning to America. Sadly, January 31st will be one of the most difficult days of my life and, due to the time difference, I'll be living that day twice. I'm leaving Japan at 6 PM January 31st and landing the US at 4 PM January 31st.
Luckily, while organizing my things to pack, I found my cell phone charger, so I won't be running blind when I'm back in the US. I knew I couldn't be so beautiful and smart for nothing ;) lol just teasing.
Sorry that my final email was VERY long and kind of strange. I look forward to seeing you all again. Although I'm sad to return I'm very happy to see all your faces. I can't wait to hug you all and, yes, with my high emotions right now, I might just cry when I see you all again. Love you all forever! See you in a few days :)
Sayonara Nihon!

Taleah

Ice Skating and Fishing in Round One

Hello you guys,
Well, my days in Japan are numbered and if that hasn't spoiled my mood then I don't know what will. I'm in my last two weeks . . . but I don't want to talk about it anymore.
Not much has happened, just school and hanging out a lot. Earlier this week we all had to give a presentation on any topic of our choosing, in Japanese, in front of all the Sensei, the office staff, and any of the tutors or friends that wanted to come. There ended up being about 30 people there and it was terrifying! My topic was about experiencing being Japanese in the Kansai area. I seriously practiced my script, with the slideshow I made, a million times. I had it down packed! And then I got up there, started my speech, got a few sentences in, and stumbled on one word . . . and for the life of me I couldn't remember how to say it . . . nor could I remember how to read the Japanese alphabet with 30 Japanese people starring at me! I attempted it a few times and then finally just mumbled my way past it, saying it all wrong which, unfortunately was a key word in the sentence so it probably made no sense after I messed up. It doesn't matter now and I ended up doing well, after the mess up. People got to ask us questions afterwards and I'm glad to say I was able to understand very clearly two of the three and answer without hesitation. One of the questions I had to get clarification on but I answered it right away after I understood. It sucked though because as soon as I sat down I remembered how to say the word I forgot lol. Also, because my adrenalin was rushing, I suddenly felt completely exhausted and was shaking. I never want to give a presentation in another language again! lol
Yesterday, Saturday, I hung out with Akane, Tomi, and Norihiro. (Since I'm leaving soon my next week is completely packed with plans and activities. I probably won't have one spare moment until I'm on the airplane home.) We went ice skating which was so much fun because I've never been. I'm very happy to say I didn't fall once! And not because I just stood there, I got ok at being able to skate around. Tomi and Norihiro are both pretty good at it and can go fast, Akane and I stumbled around a bit at first, screaming at ever misstep when our feet would slide, it was funny. At one point I was skating alone and skated past two middle aged guys who, when they saw me called out to me. The both skated up to me, really fast and skillfully, and so I stopped to hold the side. They asked me, in Japanese, "You're not Japanese?" and I answered that I wasn't. "You're an exchange student?" I said I was and told them I was studying Japanese. "What university?" I told them Otemon Gakuin. One of them asked where that was and the other told him in Ibaraki. I confirmed it was Ibaraki. They asked me where I was from and I said the US. One of them then asked if I was from the East coast or the West coast. I told him west and said Utah. He said he had been to Utah before and I asked where. He said Ephraim. I got really excited and told him that that was my town. He told me he attended Snow college 20 years ago! I was shocked! Around that time Akane, Tomi, and Norihiro meet up with us and I excitedly told Akane, in English, that he had gone to Snow College. She was just as surprised as me and we all got excited and were really surprised by the coincidence. Norihiro said he wanted to attend Snow College next year and the man told him that he should go because it's beautiful. He said there is a lot of snow and mountains. He then asked me if I was LDS which further surprised me because usually people say "Mormon". I told him I was. He said that LDS people are very kind. Around that time two little kids skated up to us REALLY skillfully and the man who went to Snow College said that the boy was his son and the girl was the other mans daughter. We talked to them for a little while and then continued to skate. Later, the man who didn't go to Snow College, skated past me, turned around backwards, and held out his hand. It looked like he wanted to shake my hand so I took it, he then started skating around the rink really fast with me in tow. It was a lot of fun and Akane took pictures. The two kids ended up coming and talking with us again and we played with them a little and laughed a lot. By the time we left I felt like we had made new friends and said goodbye to them.
After Skating we had ramen for lunch and then went to Round One. We bought a pass, for about 2,000 yen ($20 ish) where we could do many things for about 8 hours. We played pool, rode little motorcycles around a ring, played arcade games, ping pong, darts, did Karaoke, tennis, soccar, and even fishing. The fishing is what I want to tell you about. They have a little pool of Coy fish. They provide bate and poles with hooks that have the barbs cut off. The hooks are still sharp but, if you catch a fish, the hook comes out easily so the fish will live and you put it back. Tomi was fishing and Akane, Norihiro, and I were taking turns playing ping pong against a computer that shoots the balls out at you. We heard Tomi screaming Akane's name really loudly and excitedly and ran to the fishing pool in time to see Tomi holding up the biggest fish in the pool! He was freaking out and we all started laughing and he and Norihiro excitedly pulled the fish out of the pool with a net. The fish was HUGE! Nobody wanted to touch the fish though so they ran to get someone to pull the hook out. I worried that the fish would die so I put it back in the water with the net holding it. A man came and helped us take care of the fish and that was that. But it was so funny and for the rest of the night we kept laughing about Tomi catching a fish. We tried to fish again but no luck. I think Tomi had a REALLY lucky chance because, without barbs on the hooks, it was impossible to catch a fish. The day was really fun and I got home around 1 AM, exhausted.
My next week is full of activities and tests and then I'll be flying home. I'll send one more email next Sunday to you all. I hope you're well. Love you guys!

Time is running out!

Hey you guys,
Sorry it's been a while since I've sent a good email. Things here are good. Not been up to much, just studying, hanging out with friends, and laughing with my host family.
Recently, which will probably be no surprise to anyone, I decided I wanted to return to Otemon in the Spring with Ron and do another semester here. I talked to Fukuda san, one of the main guys in the Otemon International office, as well as emailed Snow's International office Director, Sam. Fukuda was really eager for me to come back and gave me a lot of really nice complements about my behavior here. So he and Sam have been working things out to see if it's possible. I explained to both of them that the only thing holding me back would be finances as it cost me about $7,000-$8,000 to come here. I was keeping the info of me wanting to return on the down low, in case it didn't work out, but unfortunately Fukuda san gave me some information update in front of Norihiro, so he found out. He then got really excited and, for a few days, kept telling me to come back. He even started singing to me on the bus, quietly, a random song about coming back lol. Unfortunately, the Financial Aid office FINALLY responded to my email about my eligibility to apply for more student loans and I can't. To make matters worse, I got this email and calculated my finances right before Norihiro came over to my house to hang out. He was there when reality, that I can't afford to come back, hit. I tried to play it cool and be happy but he could see I was really upset. He asked me "Daijobu?" (Are you ok?) I answered "Hai, daijobu." (Yes, I'm ok) but he insisted I wasn't and gave me a big hug. I then started to cry which upset him a lot. So he held me while I shed a few tears, maybe my first good cry in Japan. After I finished crying we watched a movie, ate some takoyaki, and had a lot of fun, but with a distinct underlying of sadness. He promised to meet me at Snow College next year.
Today I emailed Sam to let him know it wouldn't work out. He emailed me back and asked me to wait until Wednesday to tell Fukuda san. He said he was going to attend a meeting Wednesday morning and there might be a solution for me to come back. So, despite SOME OF YOU hating the idea of me returning please send prayers, good vibes, and love (whichever you believe in) into the universe for me. I hope to have a resolution on Wednesday. . . I don't have much hope but it would make my year to come back for another semester, especially to experience Japan with Ron :)
Some good news: The woman who taught me how to tie a Kimono left me a present the other day. I came home to find a Kimono that she was giving me! Not only that but a red Obi, and the two Yukata (summer Kimonos) she is giving me as well! I was so happy! As a thank you, the day before I leave, I will make pasta and Ooki chan is inviting many of her students. Most of her students have taken an English lesson from me and given me presents so I'm happy to cook for them. So I'll be coming home with some fantastic Kimono's which I will randomly wear around the house because they are pretty :)
Other then that, not much to tell. I'm doing well and dreading leaving. As well as dreading my final test and the presentation I have to give, in Japanese, to all my teachers and the other students. . . wish me luck! It's this Thursday . . . SCARY!
Love and miss you all! I'll see you all soon!

Taleah

P.S. My flight should be arriving in Salt Lake City, January 31st, around 4 PM. Who wants to be the lucky kid who comes and picks me, and my three big suitcases, up? I'm guessing either Mom or Naomi, with Tamirrah and who knows who else. Someone let me know though. I don't have a phone charger here so I'll be running blind . . . hopefully you can find me :)

Happy New Years! 2012!

Hey everyone,
It's actually January 2nd here so my email and New Years greetings are a little late. Hope you don't mind.
Since I last wrote I really haven't done anything at all. It's been very relaxing. I've hung out with my host family and Norihiro. Norihiro and I wanted a lot of movies this week in our free time, one of them being The Shining which he's been asking me to watch with him since I met him. I think Tamirrah and I should dress up as the little girls next Halloween and freak out everyone on Snow Campus lol. I've studied a bit and been reading the last book for my Japanese Literature Class which is over 600 pages and really confusing. So yeah . . . I'll tell you about my New Years.
New Years Eve Norihiro invited me to hang out. He had some plans with Hiroki to go to a temple. I went to his house and we waited for Hiroki to arrive, he's always late. So he showed up late, as usual and then ended up relaxing in Norihiro's room. Yamamuro san, Norihiro's Mom, cooked us Soba noodles to celebrate the New Years and I spent some time with everyone talking and laughing. I also helped Norihiro with some of his paperwork for study abroad.
When we left Norihiro's house Hiroki wanted to go to Ikea before the temple to buy a bookshelf. Since it was still pretty early we went a long. Also since Hiroki was driving me didn't have much say. But our plans still stood that we were to meet a few of the other boys in Umeda at 11:30 and go to a nearby temple. So we went to Ikea, walked around for over an hour, and Hiroki bought a candle. . .He then wanted to go to his house for something, which I couldn't really understand why. So we drove PAST Umeda to get back to Hiroki's house. Then we stayed there. . . waiting . . . while we met his family and drank some coffee. Norihiro, being the under classman, couldn't really say anything but as the clock started ticking closer to the time we should leave finally, very politely, asked Hiroki if we should go. Hiroki ignored him until the third time Norihiro asked. We ended up leaving the house at 11:15 and, much to mine and Norihiro's surprise, DIDN'T take Hiroki's car. He expected us to run quickly to the station and catch a train to Umeda and be there on time. We ran for a little while but I stopped and refused to run, since Norihiro isn't supposed to run. He could die for crying out loud. Since I stopped Norihiro also stopped. We got to the station at 11:30 and waited for the train. I've never seen Norihiro mad before but he was seriously annoyed with Hiroki. On the train he told me "I don't want to spend my New Years on a train". He explained that normally for New Years he goes to Nagoya, his home town, and spends it with his grandfather. New Years is very important to Norihiro I realized and, unfortunately, we arrived in Umeda and had enough time to get off the train and down the escalator and then it was midnight. So, we didn't spend New Years on a train but we spent it in a deserted station while everyone else in Japan was at temples. Hiroki apologized but, his apologizes are always very sarcastic and not really sincere. He patted Norihiro's back and said, in English, "sorry" with a little laugh. Norihiro said, in very clear and cut English: "Don't touch me".
We met up with Brett and Madison (two of the Aussie boys) and went to a tiny temple near the station, which was completely packed with people and so small that it wasn't really special. Norihiro's mood was so spoiled, he was severely disappointed, that he didn't really want to do anything at that point. I was really let down as well. I'm in Japan and, on the greatest holiday of the year, I spent it inside a train station, because of Hiroki. We did our best to cheer each other up and have a good time while, more or less, avoiding the reality of Hiroki's existence. We would look at Hiroki and say "Redrum" and laugh (thank you Shining!). Norihiro said to me, when no one else was around, "I should have spent New Years with only you." He and I always have a good time, plus we're not usually late for things. I promised him that next year we could have a fun New Years, in the US, and he agreed.
We met up with Ismail later and went to a restaurant and stayed there until around 4 AM. The boys all drank a ton, besides Norihiro and Ismail, and were having a great time. By the end of the night Norihiro was much happier, at least with everyone except Hiroki, and the night ended well. We all took trains at 5:20 AM to head for home. Unfortunately I ended up on the train with only the other foreigners and Brett and Madison were so drunk I was worried they wouldn't be able to make it home. Ismail and I were talking and Brett asked us a question and when Madison didn't like our responses he ended up screaming at us, insulting us, calling us names, and swearing at us. I told him to stop personally attacking me but when he didn't and continued to be a complete inbreed moron I told him to go "F" himself and walked to the other end of the train car. Ismail stayed but defended me and chewed Madison out for talking to me like that, which I really appreciated. Of course it did no good because Madison is an absolute narrow minded idiot without consideration for anyone and in his own mind can do no wrong. But I didn't let it bother me because I remembered that no one likes him :) My New Years was, overall, just ok.
Yesterday, the 1st, I went to Oniisan's mother's house with the family. Masato, Ooki chan and Oniisan's san is in town so it was a big family get together, which I was invited too as well. We ate SO much food and I took a 3 hour nap on a heated rug and woke to eat more food. It felt like Christmas and Thanksgiving rolled together. Today we're doing it again, but with Ooki chan's family. I sure do love this holiday!
Tomorrow, the 3rd, Norihiro and I have plans. Not sure what but he mentioned possibly going to an indoor rock climbing place and a hot spring. We'll see :)
Sorry my email is spastic. I've been going to bed around 3-5 AM the last two nights and waking up in the afternoon so I feel a little crazy. Hopefully I can go to sleep at a normal hour tonight and try to regulate because I feel like I'm on a sugar rush right now.
I hope you all had a great New Years. Happy 2012! For me, 2011 was one of the best years of my life. Good things happened and one of my greatest dreams, to come to Japan, came true. It was the year of the rabbit, which also happens to be the year I was born so, naturally, it was a lucky year for me. Hopefully 2012 brings wonderful things as well. I wish the best for all of you in this new year! Love you!

The first week of Winter Break

Hello family and friends!
Merry Christmas! I had a very busy week :)
On the 22nd I went to Eigo Rakugo with my host parents. Rakugo is a Japanese style comedy where one person acts out and does the voice of many characters in a story or a joke. They kneel on a pillow and are allowed only two props: a fan and a small towel. The Rakugo we went to, as I said, was Eigo Rakugo which means English Rakugo. So it was very funny and enjoyable. The theater was quite small but beautiful. I laughed so hard. Ooki chan and Oniisan both liked it as well, especially Ooki chan. She and I laughed and laughed about it, even after. I would like to see it again some day if I can.
On the 23rd I went to ShinsaiBashi, a famous street in Osaka, with Norihiro, Hiroki, and Akane. Since it was the current Emperors birthday the roads were packed! It took forever to reach Osaka. Akane's English is very good so she translated for me the whole night, which made hanging out with Hiroki even more fun. But since she was there to translate Norihiro didn't hardly speak any English the whole night. Either way it was a lot of fun and I didn't get home until 4 AM so the next day I was exhausted.
On the 24th I was invited to go see a Japanese Traditional play known as Noh. Noh is about 600 years old and, since it's traditional, it hasn't changed in all those years. The actors sing and it's almost like Japanese Opera, instead of speaking. The music is REALLY cool! They use only 4 instruments: 3 different types of drums and a wooden flute. They also sing and the back up singers seem to do almost a chant while others make the strangest noises like whoops and calls. It was really interesting to watch.
On the 25th I did as all other Japanese people do on Christmas: at cake and went on a date :) Oh yeah, that's right! Ooki chan bought Christmas cake so before my date the three of us ate together. The cake in Japan is seriously so pretty, you feast with your eyes before your mouth. For my date I went to Fushimi Inari shrine, or in English, the 1,000 Tori Gate Shrine. It was so beautiful! It was one of the places I've always wanted to see in Japan so I was really happy that my date agreed to take me, despite it being VERY cold! Since it was Christmas and cold the shrine was not very busy so it ended up being a really romantic date. We walked around almost the whole shrine though, which took over 3 hours so we were exhausted by the time we finished. It was a lot of fun. We ended the night by watching a scary movie in my room.
On the 26th, today, I woke up and Skyped with the family at Mom and Dad's house. I was able to talk to Mom, Dad, the little kids, Tanith and her boys, Tamirrah and Kendall, Trent, and KC and uncle Tom, and Grandma and Grandpa Williams. It was really nice to talk to everyone. I also received the package Mom and Dad sent me for Christmas, thank you so much! Yuka sent me a Christmas card as well which was a WONDERFUL surprise. Thank you so much Yuka! After I Skyped with everyone I went to lunch with Ooki chan and 4 of her students and friends. They bought us lunch which was so nice. I ate a ton and we laughed and talked a lot. They are always so happy to practice English with me so they are so kind to me and get very excited to see me. I feel very special around them :)
After lunch, right now in fact, I had to pay my phone bill so as I was walking it started snowing! Aww! The day AFTER Christmas, really Japan?! But it's ok :) So I got to see a little snow in Japan. And now, I'm just relaxing as it's Fuyuyasumi (winter break). Ahhh :)
Not sure what my plans are during winter break, other then studying a lot, but it will be very nice I'm sure. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I miss you all very much and love you. Talk to you again soon!

Nagashima Spaland

Hey everyone!
What a week! I've seriously played hard! Here's what happened: Norihiro was scheduled to get out of the hospital Tuesday. He insisted that he wanted to go play as soon as he was free. The thing he wanted to do was see the colored leafs before they fall. So we planed to meet up and choose where to go on our way to the station. We ended up going to Kobe to see their big Illumination show they do every year. They have set this huge light show up every year since the big earthquake in 1995. It was really fun! The lights came on at 6 PM, all at the same time, with a big burst of music. It was really cool and made me finally feel like Christmas is here (There's no snow in Japan so it doesn't feel like December to me). We walked around and ate SO much food from all the stalls they had set up in the park. I'm used to getting looked at but poor Norihiro might get stared at even more then me when we're together. We speak English to each other, (his English is much better then my Japanese. But he teaches me and we use both.) so he REALLY stands out! It was a cold night but a lot of fun. It was so packed though that almost the whole night we were heel to toe in crowds. It's part of Japan, be warned for anyone who wants to come visit. If you like your space and feel uncomfortable in crowds, you won't like sight seeing in Japan.
Saturday I went to Arashiyama again, (the place with all the bamboo), because they are doing a light show there as well. They had the mountain lite up as well as lanterns on the streets. The bamboo forest had lights in it too and it was so beautiful. But freezing! It was a very cold night. Kyoto is colder then Ibaraki. On the train ride home I ended up so packed in I was pressed on everyone around me. it was really funny.
Sunday, yesterday, I went to Nagashima Spaland with Hiroki, Shyuu, and Norihiro. Norihiro and I are both punctual people and don't like to make others wait so we were on time. . . Hiroki and Shyuu were over half an hour late . . . but we can't complain since Hiroki drove. (Random fact: Norihiro is very traditional when it comes to respecting his elders. Hiroki and Shyuu are both his Senpai (upper classmen) so Norihiro makes it a point to never complain to them about their behavior and to always be patient and show gratitude. Poor guy takes a lot of beating from these two lol. Hiroki and Shyuu are so crazy sometimes.) Nagashima Spaland is a theme park with an Onsen/hotspring as well. In the day we went to the theme park. They have a rollercoster there called Steel Dragon 2000 that, when it was built, was the tallest and longest running rollercoster in the world. It's no longer the tallest but it's still the longest. It was intense! It's 318 feet with the first drop being 306 feet. It's 8,133 feet long and lasts 3 minuets and goes 95 MPH. It was VERY scary and seriously cold all the way up there. Shyuu doesn't really like rollercosters so afterwards he was so angry at us he yelled at us. I couldn't understand him, mostly, but when I asked him if it was fun he insisted it was scary and continued to chew me out, even though he knows I can't understand lol. Norihiro and I laughed because he was so mad.
Once the rides closed we went to the Spa. I ended up alone, of course, being the only girl. Hiroki and Shyuu both offered to be "lady boys" for me and join me on the girls side. I told them I would rather go alone lol. The previous onsen I went to was in Fukui, at the hotel, and it was really small. This one was HUGE! And, of course, I was the only foreigner in there. So, there I am, walking into the locker room and there are hundreds of naked Japanese women who all seem to turn a look at me with surprised eyes. But I didn't care. Once I was naked I was comfortable and took my shower, soaked in the hotspring, and got dressed. No worries :) We were supposed to meet at 8 o'clock on the main level to go home so I hurried because I figured I would be slower then the boys. I got out to the main floor 15 minutes before meeting time so I walked around a little. After a while I sat down, I was really tired and very warm, and waited. . . and waited. . . a n d w a i t e d . . . . . Finally, around 8:30, I text Norihiro. They were just getting out of the onsen! They finally came out at around 9. Hiroki and Shyuu both started apologizing right away (in over the top ways) and, in front of tons of people, dropped on their knees and touched their foreheads to the ground. Tons of people were looking at these two Japanese boys bowing to a white girl. I was so embarrassed! Shyuu even jokingly offered to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) for making me wait. Stupid jerks lol. By the time they got out, since I had waited for so long, I was cold, tired, hungry, and, obviously, annoyed from waiting. I think since I wasn't smiling a lot they were very scared of me. They kept apologizing and even bought me tea and soda as a present to apologize. Norihiro seemed very concerned and kept asking me if I was cold, if I was alright, etc. I wasn't smiling so he kept asking. When I would tell him "Daijoubu" (I'm fine) he would ask "Honto?" (Really) and wouldn't believe my answer. Poor guy. Caught between two Senpai and an annoyed American girl. I cooled down and once I had some food I was back to my normal self lol.
All that fun came with a price. You can't expect to be outside for three days in one week, at night, in December, and not have consequences. I woke up with a head cold! My right side has so much pressure I can't even blow my nose! So I'm officially missing my first day of school this semester to stay in bed and rest. My ears hurt a little but other then that I'm ok. I'm sure by Tomorrow I'll be perfect :)
Not much else to report. Hope things are well at home. Miss and love you guys!

Kinkakuji and Ginkakuji

Hey everyone,
Things here are great, as usual. Lots of things have happened this week.
First things: When Sarah and I hung out with Norihiro and his family he told us that his lung was hurting a little (Norihiro has lung disease called Pneumothorax, which causes him to have a collapsed lung sometimes. It's something that was discovered a few years ago and bothers him sometimes. On day to day bases he's ok but he can't run or do sports because of it). So the next day he went to the doctors to get it checked, better safe then sorry kind of thing. Come to find out it was pretty serious this time so Norihiro got himself planted in the hospital for a week. He went in on Tuesday and had an operation scheduled for Thursday.
I visited him three times in the hospital. The first time was before his operation, on Wednesday. I managed (somehow) to find my way from Ibaraki Shi to Itami Shimin Byouin all by myself. It is about a one and a half hour trip if that puts it into perspective for anyone. I had to take 3 trains and a bus . . . I'm glad Japanese people are so helpful with stupid gaijin (foreigners) like me lol. When I got to the hospital Norihiro wasn't in his room. When he finally showed up he had been walking around out of pure boredom. He looked SO pale! I quickly got him back to his bed and made him sit down. By the time I left he had a lot more color in his face and seemed happier. The next time I visited I went with our friend Hiroki in his car (no more crazy train adventures). We went on Thursday, the day Norihiro had his operation. I text him and asked if he wanted visitors or if he was too tired and he insisted he wanted visitors because he was bored. When we showed up he was fast asleep. The doctors had but three holes in his side so air could get to his lung and had put a camera in one of them during the operation to check out how he's doing. He had a lot of tubes running through him, one at his side to measure how much blood he lost, one in his arm pumping him full of meds, and one going to his . . . ahem. . . bladder so he wouldn't move for about 24 hours. I woke him up, as I knew he would want, and he talked to Hiroki and I. He insisted that he was fine and that the only thing that hurt was the catheter lol. Poor guy :( The next day I went to visit was on Saturday, yesterday, and he was up and about and very happy. Any time he laughed too hard or coughed, though, he'd touch his side but assure everyone that he was fine. He told me today that they should let him out of the hospital Tomorrow and that he'll be back to school on Tuesday.
Saturday the International Center threw a big party for the Exchange Students. They hired a band and had a bunch of food. Host families and other students were invited. It was a lot of fun. I got to hang out with many of the language tutors, mine and other peoples, that I don't get to hang out with all at once. At one point in the party everyone who attended was bunched together for a big group picture (There was easily 50+ people there). Daiki, one of Dan's language partners, is SUPER genki (energetic). He's hilarious and without a doubt one of the loudest Japanese people I've ever met. He only knows a little English. During the big group picture, he was standing behind me, he jokingly pushed me as if he was going to knock me over for the picture. After the pictures were taken I turned around and smacked his arm, insisting "Nandeanen?!" (What the heck?) He laughed and said "Sorry! Taleah, you're so sexy!" Which made a lot of people around us laugh. This only encouraged Daiki who then insisting again that I was sexy and then proclaimed that he loved me and gave me a huge hug in front of tons of people. I was so embarrassed I turned bright red! He's called me sexy before but never quiet so boldly lol. The party was a lot of fun though and I walked away with aching cheeks from smiling and laughing so much.
Sunday, today, I took a trip to Kyoto with some Elementary School Teachers. Momo Sensei, the school principal, has some kind of connection with Otemon Gakuin and so he takes some of the exchange students out every year. We ended up being a group of 10, 6 students and 4 teachers. Momo Sensei paid for everything (train tickets, taxis, entrance fees, lunch, and a treat) for 10 people! It was incredible! We went to Kinkakuji (the Golden Pavilion), Ginkakuji (The Silver Pavilion), as well as Kiyomizu Temple. I felt so spoiled and very happy to be able to go and meet them. It was a lot of fun. Ginkakuji is something in Japan I've always wanted to see. So when I first laid eyes on that stunning gold structure I teared up a little lol. I was so happy! It was incredibly beautiful! Of course, among all the Temples and Shrines are the wonderful Autumn leafs. I'll never get sick of looking at Momiji (Maple leafs). They are the best! :)
So, another week gone and I'm starting to realize time is almost up. I tell myself not to think about it but it's kind of like an awful gloom looming in the background of a peaceful day. So I hold firm to my dreams of living here someday and being an English teacher. I can't give up! Love and miss you guys. Talk to you again soon!

What a Fantastic Week in Japan!

Hello friends and family!
Wow, I seriously can't express how great of a week I've had! I had so much fun! But first, the bad news I'll try to keep this short: Louis, the French guy, got himself an adorable Japanese girlfriend named Ayari. She is one of the language tutors and we all really like her. When we were in Fukui Louis cheated on her with another Japanese girl named Shizuzu, who Dan (one of the Aussie boys) wanted to date. So, after about a week of Louis hiding it and lying to Ayari and Dan, the truth came out. The crap hit the fan and now many of the exchange students here aren't friends anymore as they're all mad at each other. Dan hates Louis and Shizuzu for lying to him. Louis hates Sarah for not being willing to keep his secret about him sleeping with another girl. Sarah doesn't want to be around Louis or Shizuzu because she doesn't like the way they treated Ayari. So all kinds of stupid Gaijin (Foreigner) drama that poor Sarah got dragged into. I mostly stayed out of it, other then standing on Sarah's side and supporting her in telling Louis to come clean. So there's a lot of tension among the exchange students, which is tough because we're always stuck together. So that's that.
Well, now the good news :) Wednesday I went to Nara with Norihiro! It was so much fun! We went to Nara park which is famous for having deer that are used to humans. They were everywhere! Norihiro bought some crackers to feed them and ended up being chased. We climbed on a bench to avoid being swarmed and one of the deer got so impatient for the cracker it bit Norihiro's leg three times. I laughed so hard! Norihiro cussed the deer our, swearing in English that the Aussie boys taught him. It was hilarious! We also went to Todaiji Temple which is the largest wooden building in the world. It has a HUGE gold platted Buddha inside that is almost 200 feet tall. It was so amazing! While we were in Nara I promised Norihiro that if I came to Snow College I would show him around Utah. He put his application in to do a foreign exchange to Snow College this month. Possibly, if he passes, next Fall he will be at Snow College.
Saturday I went to Kyoto with my Language Partner, Akane. The first time she helped me with Japanese one of her friends Inatomi (we call him Tomi) came because he wants to improve his English. So Tomi and I met at Ibaraki Station and went to Kyoto to meet Akane together. Akane had one of her best friends there, Eriko, so the four of us hung out all day. It was so much fun! Akane has really good English so she's so helpful with keeping me involved and informed in all the conversations. Tomi is hilarious! He's the character type where you can tease him endlessly and he just takes it with a huge grin, agreeing to whatever negative thing you say about him and laughing. He is quick to admit his own perverted character traits lol. Akane treats him like a little brother so their friendship is really good and funny to watch. Eriko almost immediately made me feel comfortable. She's really a combination of Akane and Tomi so she's very considerate and funny at the same time. We went to Kiyomizu Temple which was amazing! It's this huge wooden temple with a stage built overlooking a large hill. There are a lot of Momiji (Maple trees) around it so it was very beautiful. Tomi has previously made jokes that he and I are going to be married someday. So while in Kyoto he brought it up again. He asked if I would marry him so I asked if he would buy me a kimono. He agreed and I agreed to marry him. It was so funny because, without missing a beat, he said: "Ok! Lets go get a hotel!" in English lol. We all laughed so hard! I refused to get a hotel and said that he had to buy me a kimono now, and we couldn't get married for two years (we need to finish school), and we can't sleep together until we're married. Tomi insisted that my rules were difficult but agreed to conquer them. Akane threatened to cut off our friendship if I married such a crazy man as Tomi lol. Needless to say, the whole day was hilarious. I smiled and laughed so much my face ached when I returned home. I know Akane had a lot of fun too. She is planning another activity for the four of us.
Today, Sunday, Norihiro invited Sarah and I to come to his house to have lunch and meet his family. His parents, Yamamura San, were so kind. Neither of them speak any English, besides simple things like Thank you, but they were so attentive to both Sarah and I. Sarah has really good Japanese so she can carry a conversation easily (She's studied for about 4 years now). I was so nervous that I didn't say hardly a word during lunch lol. It's nerve wracking to try to eat with proper Japanese manners and speak Japanese. Norihiro kept looking at me and smiling, trying to urge me to speak, but I couldn't find the courage lol. After lunch we, Norihiro's parents, Norihiro, Sarah, and myself, went to Mino no Taki, which is a large mountain with a waterfall. We drove up a winding canyon which reminded me of Utah and got to see a lot of changing leafs and a really beautiful waterfall. They also took us to Katsuo Ji Temple which is just a little further up the canyon. Katsuo Ji Temple is known as "The Temple of the Winners Luck". We went at night and it was so beautiful! I tried to take pictures but my camera is no good :( It was so wonderful there though. They had lights and lanterns going around the ponds and in the trees as well as soft Japanese instrumental music going. It smelled of incense and the visitors were praying so they were ringing the bells and gongs in the distance. The whole place had the most peaceful wonderful feeling! After the temple his parents took us our for ramen. The whole day they payed for everything, which made both Sarah and I feel bad, but Norihiro insisted it was fine. They even bought Sarah and I little Daruma dolls (A doll for granting a wish and bringing good luck. It also is a symbol of determination and never giving up.) at the Temple's souvenir shop. They even drove us back to our stations instead of letting us just catch a train. They were absolutely so wonderful and kind! Norihiro has three brothers so I think it was very fun for his mom to have girls in the house :) Something really funny: Norihiro's family call him Nori (He's the baby of the family), which was really cute to hear. When we went to leave the house one of the neighbors, an Obaachan (older woman) was outside talking to Norihiro's mother. When she saw Sarah and I, two good looking foreign girls, she praised Norihiro. But the way she did it was so funny! She kept complimenting him but she called him "Nori chan" which is a very childish sounding name. It gives off the impression that he's 7 years old. She said it many times while teasing him about us (I couldn't understand all of what she was saying). Norihiro looked extremely annoyed, while trying to be polite. It was so funny! So I called him Nori chan later as a joke and he insisted I shouldn't call him that, and called me Taleah sempai (upper classman) lol.
So basically my week was amazing. I saw so many beautiful things in Japan, some of which are National Treasures and on a lists of places in Japan that are must sees as well as very protected. I absolutely love Japan! My time is starting to run short and I can't imagine what I'll do when I return to America. . . no offense anyone lol. All I know is, I might just marry Tomi in order to stay! lol He's crazy enough he might actually do it if I explained it was a business arrangement ;) Just kidding Mom! Don't send anyone to collect me.
I love you all and miss you like crazy! Hugs and kisses!

Fukui Trip

Hey everyone!
This week was so great! It started with Monday, I did a movie night with six other people. We went to Paranormal Activity 3 and it was freaking scary! The thing I first noticed was how the youngest daughter had a similar voice to McKayla, my niece, and so for the rest of the movie I was extra scared for some reason lol. Needless to say, an hour into the movie, I was clinging onto Norihiro's arm, the Japanese girl, Ako, next to me was slumped so low in her seat I don't think she could see, Louis and his girlfriend Ayari were bearing their faces in each other and Hiroki, a Japanese student, and his friend (who's name I could never remember!) were a little jumpy. Only Norihiro was calm the whole time . . . in fact he didn't jump once. The third movie is much more scary then the first two. Loud, dark theaters don't help with it being more scary either.
This week we had entrance exams at the college so I didn't have school Thursday or Friday. I did absolutely nothing those days . . . I sat around at home, read a book, studied a little Japanese, and all in all relaxed. I'm such a loser lol.
Saturday the school planned an overnight trip to the Fukui prefecture for the exchange students and invited up to 11 regular students to come along. Fukui is country side so I got to see bigger mountains. In fact the hotel we stayed at was in the mountains up a winding canyon so it kind of felt like being home. . . just more vibrant colors. We left Ibaraki around 9 AM and drove in a bus for about 3 hours. The weather was horrible and raining non stop so it was really cold. Our first stop was to Echizen Washi which is a place where you can make Japanese paper. So we each made paper which we sealed flowers in as well as visited a museum about traditional Japanese paper. It sounds kind of lame, I know, but it was really interesting.
Our next stop was Eiheiji Temple and, without a doubt, this is one of the most amazing places I've ever been. The temple is full of priests and priest trainees who are studying the art of Zen, specifically the Zen art of sitting still. The temple was absolutely gorgeous! Sadly, it was against the rules to take pictures of the priests but I wish you could see them! They are so peaceful and graceful it's amazing. When they walk past anyone they drop their gaze and bow as they go, very humbly excusing themselves for having to step between you. I watched three or four of them cleaning one of the rooms, they were mopping the ground with rags, and it was so graceful! It sounds stupid but it was true. They are so peaceful that they just flow, smooth, like water, not a care in the world, focusing only at the task at hand. The whole time I was in the Temple I thought of Tamirrah and Kendall. I really want them to see this place. It was so wonderful my soul felt healed and calm. The air was cool from the rain, quiet, and smelled of incense. The architecture on every inch of the grounds was like pure art. Details in everything! I took many pictures of it, they're all on Facebook.
When we got to the hotel we checked into our rooms and waited for dinner. I assumed it would be a basic meal, maybe noodles or something, but when I came down I was amazed to see an EXTREMELY traditional meal set. I had about ten dishes to myself, all of it with fish, 80% of it raw. Fukui is famous for being a fishing prefecture. So, I manned up, and ate a bunch of stuff that I had no idea what it was. I tried almost everything, at least a bite, with the exception of two things: The sushi of only fish eggs (sakana no tamago ga ichiban kirai!) and the fish that looked like it had the skin of Valcor the luck dragon from the Never Ending Story lol. It was too pretty looking to eat, I felt weird about it.
At the hotel they had onsen (public baths) and, yes, that's right, I did it! I got naked with at least 7 other girls and sat in an outdoor bath! It was so fun! The air on the outside of the water was freezing, it was still raining, and yet we got so warm. It was really funny to climb out of the tub though because we all went running inside, freezing cold. I think there's something to be said about having a bath with someone, you feel really close afterwards, seriously like family. I don't think boys bond quiet the same as girls though . . . Louis just told me who had a nice body of the boys lol. The rest of the night almost all of us, I think about 20 people in all came, hung out in one of the rooms, playing music, games, drinking, and smoking. I drank water and went to bed around midnight lol. I was told that most everyone else stayed up until around 2.
The next day we went to Tojinbo which is a famous cliffside against the ocean. The water slams so hard against the rocks and the wind is so strong. I found out later that not only is Tojinbo famous for the cliffs but it's famous as a suicide spot. . . less pretty now lol. Ooki chan told me, after I came home, this fact. I was so surprised that she laughed and said, "If you jump in, you're not coming out." Next we went to Maruoka Castle which is one of the most famous spots in Japan for viewing cherry blossom trees. Sadly, they are not in bloom so I missed that attraction, but the castle was cool. It originally was a dungeon so the inside was not at all appealing but the architecture on the outside is very pretty.
For lunch we went to Nihonkai Sakanamachi, which is a large fish market. There are hundreds of stalls set up with raw fish everywhere. I've never seen so much bright orange fish eggs before then in my life! Unfortunately, the weather was freezing so the last thing I wanted to do was be adventurous and eat sashimi (raw fish). So I ate udon and kept my hands on the bowl to warm up lol. I wish I could have brought fresh fish home for all of you but, sadly, I don't think they would keep from now until January.
Our last stop was to Konbukan, which is a type of sea week museum. It's a store that sells a lot of different types of sea weed or sea weed based food. They also have ice cream with sea weed as an ingredient. Because of my lack of adventure at the previous stop I gave it a try. I bought myself a soy sauce flavored ice cream with sea weed. It was so good! It was sweet, not salty like real soy sauce, and really tasty. I wish they would have sold it in containers because I would have brought some home for Ooki chan and Oniisan to try. After that, we took a long drive home which, to pass the time, the tour guide put on Lilo and Stitch for us, in Japanese. It was hilarious! That movie is already adorable. In Japanese, since I'm learning and can understand some of what they're saying, it's even more funny! The Japanese voice actor for Stitch mimicked the original actor really well, you could hardly tell a difference. After that I think I want to buy some Disney movies to take home and watch, in Japanese :) Maybe . . .
Anyways, things here are great. I'm really tired from a long trip and driving and very happy. This week I have two outings planned: Wednesday is a national holiday so no school. Norihiro and I are planning a trip to either Kyoto or Nara, not sure which on yet. This Saturday one of my language partners, Akane, invited me to come to Kyoto with her and some of her friends to see the Autumn leafs. So please look forward to some more pictures and fun stories.
I hope all is well at home. I love and miss you guys!

Exactly 2 Months in Japan

Konnichiwa everyone!
Things here in Japan are great. Not much going on. In Japanese class we're starting to study short form (those who know Japanese understand what I'm talking about) and I HATE IT! Mecha kirai! I like "masu" form. Which is silly because everyone in Osaka speaks the very casual "short form" so I need to be good at it. *Sigh* What do you do? I'm ok at Present positive, and present and past negative but past positive seems impossible to me. I'll get it though. I'm determined!
Lots of weird things have happened with me and some of the exchange students. Madison, one of the Aussie boys, is well known for complaining about EVERYTHING and just saying whatever he thinks, no matter how unnecessary or uncalled for it is. To put it bluntly, hardly any of the exchange students get a long with him, myself included. This week, on two separate occasions, he insulted me and made fun of me during class conversations, for no reason. The second time I wanted to throw a chair at his head because he was so offensive. But, as everyone knows, Karma is cruel. Friday night Madison, who's well known for drinking two much (twice now he's slept outside overnight from passing out on the streets), overdid it again. I was told, by Sarah, that he lost his school bag, didn't get off the train in Ibaraki and ended up in Kyoto (an hour away from where he lives), got off the train and got lost in the mountains. He ended up calling Dan and Bret around 4 or 5 in the morning, furious that he was lost and insisting that it was all Japan and the Japanese peoples faults. I guess he even refused to ask for directions when the other boys were trying to help him because he was too proud. He found his way to a station eventually but his bag is still lost. Inside his bag was all his school books, his iphone from Australia, his electric dictionary, as well as a huge jump drive of one of the teachers that he had borrowed. More or less he lost over $2,000 worth of personal items. Of course, being true to his personality, he blames everyone but himself, including the country of Japan. I heard that he called his family and is booking a flight home before this next week is over. I doubt he plans on compensating the teacher for the jump drive he lost. Frankly I doubt he will be missed by any of us. Karma I tell you.
Thursday I was able to try on Yukata, as I said before, one of Ooki chans students is going to teach me how to tie them on myself. She helped me, which was really fun and amazingly complicated, and even left her Yukata here for me to practice with. I've been too scared to unfold them though because folding them correctly, to preserve them, is more complicated then trying to wear them. But, by the time I'm home, I hope to be able to tie a Kimono on myself :) To make this story even cooler the woman said she might have an old wool Kimono she could give me! She's promised to bring it next time she comes and if it fits me she said she would give it to me. I was so shocked when she offered all I could do was bow and said "Arigatou gozaimasu! Sumimasen!" She insisted it was fine but Ooki chan teased me for being so spoiled by her students. I feel so lucky to be around such kind people!
I know I was starting to get discouraged with Japanese but I Skyped with Yuka today and we were able to speak very simple, and VERY slow, Japanese. (Thank you Yuka Sensei!!!) So despite all my complaints I know I'm improving. Naomi teased me for complaining about not being fluent yet. She said: "Instant Gratification Taleah rears her ugly head again!" She knows me well, hehe. It's true. I feel that since I'm not fluent, after two months, I'm failing. Speaking of two months, today, is exactly the two month mark of me being in Japan. Only 2 1/2 more months to go! That's so insane! I hope time will slow down a little for me.
Well, I really don't know what to write. . . I haven't done any cool trips for a while so nothing fun to say. But I hope you're all doing well. I love and miss you all. Until next week :)

Another week here, how about there?

Hello everyone,
How are you all doing? I'm fine here :)
This last week we had 4 days off from school. Three for the school festival (one day to set up, one day for the event, and one day to take down) and one for a national holiday. I had way too much free time and it was kind of boring. Also I don't think I really studied Japanese (I did my literature homework and read though) so I felt like I had taken steps backwards when school became normal again. The language got REALLY frustrating for me this week. So much so that in the middle of class and my Japanese partners all I want to do is cry lol. Luckily I hold those feelings in and push myself forward, which usually gets me results. Still can't speak, I've got to be the worst learner ever, as I have no confidence in speaking. I've realized I'm pretty prideful in that manner. I don't want to speak unless I feel VERY comfortable that the person wont laugh at me for messing up. So I hardly ever say anything unless I know I'm saying it the right way . . . which in turn doesn't help me learn as I'm only saying the same things over and over. . . it's a vicious cycle that I need to force myself out of. *Sigh*
So, I had lots of time off and didn't do very much with it. I attended the school festival which was a lot of fun. Sarah and Norihiro were there with their clubs so I bought food from them as well as talked with them. I even helped Norihiro advertise for his club. I walked around with their sign announcing food. I got a lot of attention that way lol. That day I ate A LOT of food, and it was wonderful. I seriously love Japanese food more then anything else!
On the weekend Norihiro and I hung out again. We went to Umeda to Yodobashi Camera and he bought himself a nice Camera. I thought he would be thrilled but after spending the money he just looked depressed lol. We also went to The Sky Building which had some amazing views of the city, please see Facebook for the pictures. Then we came to my house and watched Paranormal Activity 2 (yes, I endured the second movie). I have to say the second one is more scary then the first. This time, near the end, I was squeezing Norihiro's arm and, when the scary part passed, I realized how hard I was actually holding him. I apologized and he just laughed at me for being scared. We have plans to go see the third movie in the theater next Monday . . . I can't take a pillow in there to hide behind so I don't know what I'll do lol.
November 4th was the 27 Wedding Anniversary of Ooki Chan and Oniisan. It was so cute because earlier in the week Ooki Chan told me about it and then said "I don't know how we haven't gotten sick of each other." and laughed. Their relationship is so good, the fit each other so well and I've come to realize that my host parents are seriously some of the most amazing people I've ever met. One of my major concerns with staying with a host family was coming to a home where the dad would be very "old fashioned" Japanese. Luckily Oniisan isn't like that. Ooki Chan and I talk all the time and I really love getting to know her. They both talk about me to their friends and honestly treat me as if I'm their real daughter. Just yesterday Oniisan showed his coworkers a picture of me and told them I was his daughter. Then insisted it wasn't true because I was American he said lol. But the fact that he's pulling up pictures of me to show off makes me very happy. To make their Anniversary even cooler Ooki Chan found her official wedding photos and showed me. She and Oniisan look so young! It blew my mind how adorable they were and I couldn't stop looking at them in their traditional Japanese clothes on their wedding day.
This week I also went to a used Kimono shop in Ibaraki. I assumed, before going, that there would maybe be a couple hundred Kimonos but when I walked into the shop I was stunned. There were thousands, folded perfectly, stacked on shelves, organized by color and style. Ooki Chan and I looked through some of them but there were just so many it was overwhelming! I really want to buy one and, surprisingly, they're not too expensive since they are used. Any suggestions on colors people? lol. I decided that I want to get a more formal one to wear for New Years but I haven't decided what color.
Wow, not much else to write. . . things are fine, just struggling through the language and having a good time every day. Soon I'll be back to visiting Temples and Shrines which is something I already miss doing after it being a few weeks since the last visit. I hope you're all well. I love and miss you all!

Two days of kids!

Hi everyone,
Things here are, as usual, really good. It's turning into Fall and, despite being from Utah and have a tendency to enjoy cool air, it's VERY cool! I already miss central heating. My poor toes :( But the leafs are starting to change colors and it's so beautiful. The seasons change slowly here, unlike in Utah where we have construction and winter season and that's all. I will take a trip to Kyoto once it's REALLY fall and see all the famous Autumn leafs, please look forward to pictures.
This week I had the change to go to an Elementary school and speak to the kids. . . they wanted us to do it in Japanese. I don't think I've ever been more afraid of children. I practiced my simple answers, to the pre-prepared questions, like crazy until I had them memorized. Only four of us could go: Me, Sheng, Fefe, and U chan . . . so me and the Asians! I sure stand out. . . all the time! But it was a lot of fun. I did well and the kids were really cute. After we answered the questions they gave us they asked some more so the Otemon staff member that took us had to translate for me into Japanese. One of the little boys asked if we had boyfriends, his teacher lectured him and made him ask another question. He was really disappointed and we all laughed. As a thank you for visiting their school they gave me a 3,000 yen coupon to a book store. Which is a little over $30 so I was really surprised. I want to go by the "Making Out in Japanese" book and maybe a couple others to help me study Japanese :)
This week so many of my teachers, and even one of my Japanese language partners, got sick so many of my classes were canceled. This weekened, right now is Sunday, Friday was canceled because there will be a festival on campus today and tomorrow. So I don't have school on Monday or Tuesday. Thursday is another holiday so as of next week I will only attend two days of school . . . it kind of sucks. Too much free time is not a good thing. I'm not sure what I'll do.
Friday, since we had no school, Norihiro came over to my house and we studied. He took the TOEIC test today (the English language test) so we studied a little bit of English and Japanese. Mostly we ended up just talking and goofing off. We went out for dinner to a Ramen shop and I ate the best Ramen I've had in Japan thus far. It was so good! I suggested that we rent a movie since we had talked about movies we liked. He really likes American movies, especially scary ones and super hero ones. I recommended Thor but he wanted a scary movie. He wanted to make me watch The Shinning, I adamantly refused! We settled on Paranormal Activity, much to my despair. I'm so glad Yuka and I watched scary movies together because I was more prepared, thank you Yuka! So there we were, sitting in my room, crowded around my table and lap top, me cuddling a pillow, Norihiro very calm. And the end of the movie I had hid my face behind my pillow more then once and was squeezing Norihiro's sleeve with two fingers, while jumping and squeeking each time I got scared. . . I don't think he flinched even once. As I walked him to the train station he said that next time we should rent Paranormal Activity 2 and I should come to his house and watch it there since he has a big TV in his room. I agreed but complained a little to him about it. The day was a lot of fun though and luckily I wasn't too scared to sleep.
Saturday there was a Halloween party we attended with a bunch of little kids. We were provided by the college to help, without being informed what we were going to help with. So we hung out with little kids for a few hours, wearing costumes, and taking A LOT of pictures. I made four very cute little friends and there are pictures on Facebook.
Today is Sunday and I was able to make it to church this time. I skipped out on an all nighter that the boys planned but that didn't stop Louis from texting me at 3 AM to tell me how much fun I was missing. But I attended church and it was really nice. It was a stake meeting so I finally got to meet the Sister missionaries. I also met the Mission President and his wife. It was fun and, although my Japanese is still terrible, I'm picking up on the patterns of talking. I've hit a point where sometimes I can understand the topic of a question people are asking me and get the jist of what they're saying but not know it word for word. I'm coming along but I have a way to go. Still can't speak it but I'm doing better.
Oh, I've also come to a conclusion: Technology hates me! For those of you who know, recently my phone died. It killed over suddenly and I lost a years worth of pictures and videos and ended up spending a ton of time and money to get it replaced. Then, right before leaving for Japan, my laptop died, making me lose the start of a book I was writing, and all of my music. Friday, while hanging out with Norihiro, my ipod randomly decided to delete all of my music from itself, leaving me with 14 songs. I threw my ipod across the room and mourned the loss of my Japanese music that I can't get again . . . I've had nothing but bad luck I swear. So, my dear friends, for those of you who care, please save me some music that I can nab when I come home :)
Not much else to say . . . mellow week. I hope you're all well. Love and light!

Osaka Aquarium and a Day with Norihiro

Dear family and friends,
I've realized a really horrible truth: In the Land of Tomorrow time moves so fast!!! I don't know what I'll do when my time bomb blows. . . probably cry. Anyways! Not going to think about that until January 31st :)
Things here are great! Mostly I'm studying and improving my relationships with everyone. I really love my host family. My host mom and I are getting very close, she's so funny, and we often have good talks. My host dad, as usual, is just hilarious. Sarah and I talk all the time, I can't imagine Japan without her. And I'm making some really fun Japanese friends.
Last week Sarah and her host family invited me to dinner. When we came through the door her host sister, who is 8, came running to meet me. She said, in very adorable English, "Nice to meet you!" Her host sisters are so cute and just chatted my ear off in the fastest Japanese! I tried to understand them but their mom had to translate for Sarah, who then translated for me, many of the words lol. Her host mom was so sweet! Sarah has told them a lot about me, just like I tell my family about her, and so she was very attentive and asked me a lot of questions. I put pictures of them on Facebook :) That night Sarah and I did homework for our Japanese Science Fiction class; we watched the first Godzilla! It was so funny! That class is a lot of fun.
I didn't do so great on my last Japanese test. Sadly I've realized my most difficult thing in Japanese: Vocabulary! I can remember rules, grammar points, conjugation, etc. but give me a list of vocabulary words and I'm useless! If I could remember all the words I'd be talking circles around everyone. One of my teachers teased me that if I kept studying maybe I would remember them in a year. . . sadly it might be true. Anyone have good tips for when they were learning a language? Please let me know.
Last week honestly seems to be a bit of a blur . . . just school work . . . hanging out with friends. . . eating dinner. . . going to bed. . . repeat. . . As I said in my last email I made friends with a Japanese guy named Norihiro. He's one of the language tutors so he's part of the "group" now and everyone is always calling him or texting him to do something. He hangs out with the boys a lot, which results in them teaching him really bad things to do and say lol. Norihiro happens to have a motorcycle and I asked him for a ride one day. He drove me to the station, a drive which on the bus takes about 20 to 30 minutes, took about 10 to 15 minutes on the back of a bike. It was a little scary and very fun :) The next day Norihiro attended one of our late classes so on the way walking down to the bus I asked him for another ride. He immediately agreed which made me very happy. It was dark and cold so, instead of holding his shoulders like the first time I wrapped my arms around his waist and off we went. When I got home I told my host mom and she teased me horribly. She said it's bad for a girl and a guy to be holding onto each other like that, in Japan. She gave me such a hard time about it, all the while laughing at the fact that I more or less cuddled Norihiro in public, that I worried about it a lot. I text him and apologized if I made him uncomfortable (he's so shy I assumed he wouldn't tell me if it bothered him). He replied that there must be a misunderstanding because I did nothing wrong and he had been comfortable. This resulted in even more teasing, the next day, from Sarah, as she insisted that he liked it. Since then I haven't asked for a ride lol.
Friday came and I had the full intention of not going out on the weekend and only to do homework and study. And since the forecast called for rain I knew it wouldn't be a problem. I was talking on Skype with Norihiro, texting so I could send him pictures of Utah. He wants to do a study abroad in the US and since Otemon has a connection with Snow College I recommended there. He asked what my plans were for the weekend and I said just homework and he said we should do something. I agreed. He made plans, after I told him about the bad weather, and it resulted in him planning a day to the Osaka Aquarium. So, instead of homework, bright and early Saturday morning I met with Norihiro in Umeda. He, of course true to his character, took care of me by translating and guiding me where we should go. I realized, after spending many hours with him one on one, that my Japanese is crap and his English is very basic lol. Our conversations therefor were simple and often I was pulling out my book and he was pulling out his dictionary. But we managed and we both agreed that by the end of the Semester my Japanese and his English will be perfect! We had lunch before going to the aquarium at a little ramen shop that had a huge shelf full of Manga. A family, a dad with two daughters, were in there. The dad was foreign with blue eyes and his little girls, probably no more then 5 and 3, were so cute! Norihiro and I watched them as they giggled and played, speaking the cutest Japanese ever. When we reached the aquarium there was an entertainer outside on the courtyard that a large crowd had gathered around. Norihiro and I stopped to watch for a while and I'm glad we did. The guy was hilarious! I took a video and put it on Facebook but sadly the act I recorded was probably his least funny one. We watched him for at least half an hour before going to the aquarium. The aquarium, right on the bay of the sea, was really beautiful. They played the most calming music that it was so relaxing. As we looked at all the fish we would both say things like "Kirei" or "Kawaii" (Pretty, Cute) etc. Then, upon deciding to mix it up, at the next tank I said "Oishiso!" (looks tasty). This made Norihiro bust up laughing and he agreed by saying "Tabetai!" (I want to eat it). So, despite the language barriers, Norihiro and I were able to have conversation and have a lot of fun. After the aquarium we got icecream and I pulled out my ipod for us to listen to. Norihiro is a great lover of music, he plays the guitar, and was thrilled to see I had Spitz songs (thank you Trevor) as well as a small collection of Jazz music. I recommended Jack Johnson to him and he really enjoyed the sound. After icecream we found our entertainer was back, he had on a new shirt and looked freshly showered, so we watched him for another half hour or so. On the way back it started to rain like crazy. I pulled out my umbrella and, when Norihiro didn't pull his out, I offered to share. So he took it from me, since he's taller, and we shared my umbrella while Norihiro got us lost lol. It took a while to find the right subway to get back to Umeda but we did. Once there we walked around the station for a while and around the city. Eventually we got hungry and made our way to a small restaurant for dinner where, as usual, Norihiro payed for most of the bill and I ended up paying about 500 yen (about $6.25). While we had dinner Madison, one of the Aussie boys, text us so we met up with him for a while. He wanted to go out drinking and it seemed like Norihiro wanted to go. I figured I would go home when they went. Right as we met up with Sheng, who was going too, Norihiro said he didn't want to. I assumed he was tired so asked if he needed to go home. He said no and that he had time. So, just he and I, carried on our night. We went to a book store and looked at Japanese and English books, looked around an import foods store, went to a pachinko parlor and got pictures in a booth. I caught the last train home that night and, upon further introspection, I'm not sure what Norihiro and I did to pass 12 hours together but we did it lol. Our conversation, though difficult at times, was casual and fun. He's really kind and as eager to learn about English as I am about Japanese.
My hanging out with Norihiro one on one for 12 hours resulted in A LOT of teasing from my host parents and Sarah, it's Monday and it still hasn't died out lol. Ooki Chan insisted that a Japanese boy with an American girl walking around Umeda until the last train was a bad idea, all while laughing at me. When I showed her the pictures of use from the booth she had a lot to say about how good looking he was and has since told me, a few times, that she's jealous of the attention I'm getting. The umbrella situation, as it's now referred to, aparently is proof enough that Norihiro has good tactics, as Oniisan says. It's no use trying to tell them he just wants to practice English and that he's really interested in coming to Utah for school lol.
Today, in the cafeteria, I met the most American Japanese person ever. He saw Sarah and I sitting at a table talking, our class had been canceled, and asked, in English if he and his friends could join us. We agreed. He enthused, loudly, "Ok!" and sat down. He explained to us that he had done a year abroad in Los Angeles so his English was quiet good. He admitted though that he's not a student of Otemon but of Osaka University and was just there visiting some friends. He was so goofy and wild that he almost reminded me of Zac at times, including his style. Sarah and I have lovingly nicknamed Genki Boy (Lively or energetic boy) in secret lol. He took down our names and said he would add us on Facebook. I hope to see more of Genki Boy because he was so funny. On top of that he speaks Kansaiben, the dialect I want to learn :)
Not much else to report. Just studying. . . or actually right now procrastinating. . . Japanese. I hope you're all doing well. I love you guys and think about you all every day. Hugs and kisses! Until next week :)

Karaoke and Osaka Castle

Hey everyone,
Wow, I can't believe it's only been a week! So much has happened that I don't even know where to start!
Monday in my Management class there were a few extra students. . . and not white people! I started up a conversation with the nearest one and he ended up being a Japanese student studying English. He speaks very little English but he's going to attend two of our classes as he wants to become a translator. Also he's one of the language partners for us to study Japanese with. If you have been looking at any of my most recent pictures you will already know him, his name is Norihiro. Tuesday we had the day off because of a holiday and Sarah and I wanted to see a movie so we invited everyone, including Norihiro, on Monday after class.
Tuesday rolled around and only three people showed up for the movie: Me, Sarah, and Norihiro! Poor Norihiro is so shy, probably one of the most typically Japanese boys I've met so far, but he braved us. He spent the whole afternoon with us and took very good care of us, helping order our food at lunch and buy our tickets at the movie. We went to Planet of the Apes, which I really liked, and then out for ice cream. When we went to buy our ice cream Norihiro insisted on treating us. It's a habit of his, to be very kind and want to treat people, I've noticed. We met up for the movie at 12 and didn't leave until 6 so we had a lot of time to ask Norihiro a lot of questions. He asked many in return as well. We found out that it was his birthday on Friday, he turned 20, so we insisted that we had to go out with him and he agreed.
Friday rolled around and we all met up, all of the exchange students and Norihiro, and went out to dinner and Karaoke. There are quiet a few pictures on Facebook if you care to see. I officially went to Karaoke . . . and I didn't get home until 8 AM! It was a lot of fun though and I got to see some really fun sides of my classmates that I haven't seen before. Some of them have sides I'm not so fond of . . . I'll tell you a little of what I learned about some of them :)
Norihiro: True to character he tried to help pay for dinner and Karaoke, even though it was his birthday and we wanted to treat him. At both the restaurant and Karaoke he took care of everything, speaking to the waiters and bartenders. In a Karaoke box when they bring drinks they have to take the equal number of glasses out, so they don't pile up. At one point in the night there weren't enough empty glasses so, Norihiro taking care of us, downed some large shot of something strong to give the bartender the glass. I laughed as he coughed when he finished and asked if he was ok. Soon thereafter his English speaking abilities increased, as did his courage. We ended up being able to talk him into showing us him stomach muscles after hearing he was strong. It took a little coaxing but finally he lifted his shirt up with a bashful smile. I think mine and Sarah's jaws hit the floor and all the other boys turned a shade of green. This skinny little 20 year old Japanese kid has a very amazing 6 pack! Sarah even got a picture of it. . . it's on Facebook . . .girls, seriously, go look at it. It made my night :)
Ismail: This scrawny little boy from Morocco got me to show my "Cox". At one point in the night he got a handful of my bottom as I walked past him. I went nuts on him. I don't think I've sworn much since coming here, amazingly Japan brings out a mellow side of me, but I sure let him have it. I even gave him a solid, extremely hard, punch on the shoulder. He apologized and insisted he was drunk and he didn't mean anything by it. He didn't learn his lesson though and kept trying to put his arm around me and even asked if he could hold my hand or kiss my cheek. I sure let my mouth fly with him though and for the rest of the night. . . and even today when I saw him, I pretty much ignored him and blew him off when he tried to speak to me. He had WAY too much on Friday, he couldn't even stand, but I'm not sure I want to go out with him around again. He's lucky I'm nice and didn't hit him in the face. He's so tiny I could snap him in half and almost did. Sarah was proud of me for freaking on him though.
Madison: Silly boy from Australia only speaks Japanese when he's drunk! I'm not sure what that's all about but it made me laugh really hard. He turned to me while we were at Karaoke and said something so fast I couldn't understand a word of it. I told him to speak English and he looked at me like I was crazy. He then proceeded to break down what each word he said was. He's nuts lol.
Sheng: He speaks very good English when he's drunk, increasing a lot. For some reason when he's sober though he has a hard time with simple conversation. But when he's drunk he understands everything. At one point in the night someone asked him if he wanted another drink, he loudly announced that he was drunk and if he had anymore he'd be able to speak as good of English and me and Sarah. We laughed so hard. He doesn't talk with a drunk voice, he just sounds normal, so in very clear English he will say "I'm drunk" and it almost sounds more like a joke lol. He has an amazing singing voice though so Karaoke, with him singing in Chinese, is a lot of fun. He's also very willing to dance when Sarah and I ask and willingly attempts to sing English songs he doesn't know. I've said it before and it still stands true: Sheng is one of my favorite people here.
Sarah: Sarah doesn't go too crazy when she drinks but at the end of the night, when we left Karaoke, we went to a bar because she wanted some food and Xay wanted a few more drinks. We ended up talking about our breasts, for some reason, which resulted in her grabbing my chest to compare our sizes (I'm kind of used to it with my crazy sisters and friends lol). I couldn't stop laughing though so Sheng, who was sitting between us but had been leaning forward to talk to Colin, didn't know what had happened. He leaned back and insisted to know what we were both laughing so hard about. We didn't explain to much but instead asked him to teach us how to say "big boobs" in Chinese. He did, with much giggling whenever we would say it. Sarah then proceeded to get Colin's attention. She called his name, when he looked at her, she simply said what Sheng had taught us. Colin, very comically, placed his hand over his heart and gasped. He insisted that his heart was pounded just at her words. Sarah then got Xay's attention and said it to him too. He just laughed as we all giggled over how freaking hilarious we think we are lol. This has now become a sort of calling card for Sarah and I so Sheng lol. Today, when we saw him in the morning, we randomly said it and he gave us a huge smile. We also made ourselves some labels during one of the classes, Sheng taught us how to write "big boobs" in Chinese, and we included a label that said "made in Australia" for Sarah and "made in America" for me. We took a picture. . . that's also on Facebook . . . along with Colin asking how much they cost lol. Please no one judge me, I can't be held responsible for my crazy girly behavior with Sarah. We just have so much fun.
Saturday I mostly slept, trying to recover from such a crazy sober night!
Sunday I went to Osaka Castle with Norihiro and Louis. Louis later told me that they planned to go and that Norihiro asked if Louis was bringing anyone else. Louis said no but said it was ok if Norihiro did. Norihiro then invited me. I feel special :) I suppose it's because I told him on Tuesday when we went to the movie that I really wanted to see it. Either way I was so happy he invited me. Osaka Castle was amazing! Pictures are on Facebook. Norihiro, of course, bought our lunch despite our trying to stop him. He also bought our tickets into the Castle without so much as a word. He turned around from buying his, we were standing in line, and handed both Louis and I a ticket. I gave him a look and said his name in a very "How could you?" kind of way. He just smiled and insisted "Daijyoubu!" (It's ok/don't worry about it). He's crazy stubborn about his kindness. The kid's going to go bankrupt taking care of us so much.
When I got home on Sunday I showed some of the pictures to my host mom. She got one look at Norihiro and said "He's pretty! So handsome!" and insisted I had to bring him over sometime. This set us both off giggling and I ended up telling her about his amazing stomach too lol. Since her reaction to him was so positive I showed his picture to my host dad. He simply smiled and gave a very approving nod. I think they both like him because he's Japanese and speaks Kansaiben (the dialect they speak) lol. Either way my host mom loves it when I bring "pretty boys" over to the house. Both she and my host dad really like Xay. But Oniisan likes him because Xay brought him Sake, not because Xay's pretty lol. I told Xay that my Host Mom calls him pretty and this made him very happy. His response was "I am pretty".

As you can tell everything here is good. Every day is an adventure. I'm studying like crazy and hopefully soon I can start speaking more Japanese then basic "good morning" type stuff. Nihongo o muzakashi! (Japanese is difficult) On the upside of that my English is getting worse, from speaking very basic, broken sounding English with people, so maybe my Japanese will get better lol. I'll come home sounding like an idiot I'm sure. All is well though. I love and miss you all. Please take care! Until next week xoxo

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!

More Japan updates

Hello everyone,
Things here in the "Land of Tomorrow", as Zac puts it, are good. I'll tell you a little about my classes and my teachers since I officially have gone to all of my classes now.
There are 5 periods in a day, each period is 1 1/2 hours long with a 40 minute lunch break at 12:40. Classes don't start until 9:30 in Japan (I love the late morning starts!) so the last class ends at 6:10.
Everyday I have Japanese with a new teacher, so I have five Japanese teachers, all women. They only speak Japanese to me in the class so my listening skills are getting better. Each of them are very nice and patient. Some of them teach a little better then others and some of them are very relaxed and fun. It's difficult to say which ones because all of the week seems to blur together. Learning a second language is exhausting! As I get to know them better I'll tell you about them.

So Mondays: I have Japanese at 11:10 (second period) and then an 1 1/2 break during 3rd period. Then at 4th period, 3:00, I have Japanese Management. This class we're talking a lot about famous Japanese businesses that are very successful. The first day we talked about famous Japanese people we know. My teachers name is Mr. Miki. He's Japanese and was very happy that some of us knew a lot about Japan. Finally 5th period, at 4:40, I have Japanese Literature, which I'm very excited about. Only Dan (one of the Aussies) and I are taking this class. In walked our teacher, Mr. Herrick. He's a HUGE old white man. He was easily 6'4 and had to duck to get into the door way! His skin is very tan, piercing blue eyes, and yellow blonde hair. He is probably in his 50's, maybe even 60's and he's American. The scariest part was the fact that, since he's been living in Japan for 20 years, he's skinny like a Japanese person. This EXTREMELY tall man is as thin as a twig! Seriously, he made Trevor look fat! (No offense Cheba hehe) He speaks very softly and calmly. It was a little funny considering how big he is. He really stand out though. Dan and I both agreed that he's a little scary looking lol.
Tuesday I only have Japanese at 2nd period so it's an early day for me. I'm not sure what I'll do with all the free time. . .
Wednesday I have Japanese at 2nd period and then a 3 hour 40 minute break until my next class . . . it kind of stinks. I usually end up in the International Center for most of it and then the lunch room with everyone on their break. Finally, at 5th period at 4:40 I have Sogo Shosha. Sogo Shosha is a saying that describes a specific type of business in Japan, it's kind of confusing to explain. But overall these businesses, the Sogo Shosha, bring in A TON of money for Japan so they're a big deal. My teacher is a retired businessman from one of these companies. We will be having 8 different lecturers this semester he said, all retired businessmen. The class was . . . REALLY BORING! I'm not much of a business person but I was trying to enjoy it. Some of the statistics were impressive but overall the class dragged on . . . I hope it gets better.
Thursday I have Japanese Affairs 1st period (my only early day) with Mr. Tamburini. He's a half Japanese half Italian guy who has worked as an interpreter in the US so his English is PERFECT! He doesn't even have a Japanese accent. His first name is Dino and he's really funny. In this class we've talked about the culture of Japan and it's differences to our own cultures. I really like this class, it's one of my favorites. Then I have another 3 hour 40 minute break (it happens to me twice in a week) until Japanese class at 4th period.
Friday I have all three classes in a row, from 2nd period to 4th so it goes quickly. First I have Japanese Science Fiction with Dennis, the French dude. That class is fun. Then I have Japanese History, Customs, and Culture. Last week it was canceled so yesterday our teacher arrived. . .20 minutes late. She's a large black woman that's British. She immediately started telling us about her personal heartaches, mainly she has a broken neck. She told us about the accident and how she's too frightened to have surgery because she might become paralyzed. Originally I was really excited about this class but now I'm not so sure. We spent most of the class talking about what she hates about Japan. Basically if anything bad happened to her she immediately stated it as if that's just how foreigners are treated in Japan by the Japanese. . . it kind of got on my nerves. Not to mention the fact that we then started talking about how women get groped on full trains, which I knew about. But she got into it REALLY deep and told about. . . you know what, I won't repeat it but lets just say I was physically ill. More or less she made it seem as if this experience she went through was standard dealings with Japanese teenagers and their mothers. I'm worried that the class that is supposed to be about Japanese History is going to turn into a grip fest about her horrible experiences in Japan, which apparently she's had plenty of. I hope I'm wrong though.
So that's my school week. 7 classes, not too bad :)

Personally I'm doing really well :) I'm making better friends with everyone and I think I know who my favorite people will be here from the other International Students. The other day Xay, the British Chinese boy, offered to buy me lunch. I felt so bad about it that I tried to pick something less expensive. He complained and made me order something bigger. So we had lunch together for a short while until the others got out of class. When I told my host parents about it they called it "the first date" which I assured them it wasn't. Xay is just a ladies man hehe. He's always being extra sweet to both Sarah and I, despite the fact that she has a boyfriend and I've more or less been red flagged by all the guys because I'm religious. He told me that he's a heart fixer and I insisted that that's a nice way of saying he takes advantage of girls when they're most vulnerable. He complained that I made it sound so bad. I think he likes that I don't believe all his romantic attempts on me. But he did threaten to "break through" all my religious barriers over the next four months. He said that before I leave I'll be drinking and smoking. I accepted his challenge, so he gave up pretty quickly.
Sarah and I get along so well! She's absolutely wonderful. The other day Ismail, the boy from Morocco, insulted me in Japanese thinking I wouldn't understand. He told some of the students that I can't speak any Japanese, in a really rude way. Sarah jumped all over him and told me that's not true. She then asked me to leave with her, so we did. She's really sweet. The next day I talked to Ismail about it and he apologized. He thanked me for being so blunt about it and straight forward and promised he would try better to not compare everyone to him, as learning a language is not a competition.
Louis, the French guy, is also a lot of fun. He is ALWAYS picking on me, since I'm American. But when it comes down to it, when we're both calm we can sit and have a really good conversation without being mean to each other. Last night we all went out and he greeted me with two kisses, one on each cheek, before recalling that he's not in France anymore lol. So then he greeted Sarah the same way, for fun. It made us laugh really hard because I'm sure it freaked out some Japanese people.
Sheng, the Chinese boy, is really fun. He's always on the look out for attractive Japanese girls and says they are prettier then Chinese. But he's always complaining that he doesn't get the same amount of attention as the rest of us because he's Asian and they can't tell he's a foreigner. So Sarah and I have become his wing men and whenever the Japanese girls start talking to us in the International Center we have Sheng come sit with us. He's always really happy about it. Plus he has a lot of Chinese friends so I'm meeting a lot of them too and they love to practice their English with us. They are really nice and one of them, Colin, has come out with us a few times so I've been getting to know him pretty well.

For some reason everyone in Japan likes to tell me how "Kawaii" (cute) or "Kirei" (pretty) I am. It's so embarrassing sometimes! If they say it in front of other Japanese people they all start agreeing and everyone will stare at me. I don't know what to do half of the time. I usually just turn red lol. The other day I walked into the office of the International Center, where the Director and all the assistance's work, and said good morning to them. Fukuda San, one of the main guys, told me that one of the other guys said I was very pretty. This embarrassed us both and they all laughed at us because we turned red. I'm becoming a little shy in Japan, shockingly.
Last night on my way to catch the train to meet up with everyone I was stopped by a Japanese guy who said, "Hey!" in very clear English. I turned and he walked up to me. He asked me, again in English, where I was going. I told him to meet up with some friends. I immediately got creepy vibes from him and knew that he was trying to get me to go out with him by the way he was asking me so many questions. He asked me if I was meeting my friends now or if I had time, if I was studying Japanese, where I am from, etc. He then asked me my age, insisting that I look very young. I used a line that Yuka taught me (thank you so much Yuka! This saved my butt!) "I'm 17 forever!" He left me alone after that and said goodbye. So, I'm grateful that Yuka taught me that trick because it scared the guy off :)

Ok! For your reading pleasure I'm going to give you a short of list of absolute random things I love about Japan! Here we go:
*Elementary school kids with matching hats.
*The fact that everyone in this country is overworked yet they are always polite.
*When I catch someone staring at me and can smile at them before they look away.
*When I see other "Whities" and we smile at each other as if we're in a secret "Japan Fan" club.
*The organization of everything!

There you have it :) I'll try to keep adding to the list each week. Sorry that this email was so long. It's so difficult to tell you guys whats been going on without writing a novel! Hope you're all well. Much love and hugs!