Japan Blog 36 (December 4, 2008) great... sick again

I'm an idiot.

There I was on the bus after school yesterday and there were these 3 guys standing next to me from the all-boys school. They were so, I can't even give you words. And I regret not saying one word to them. This was my chance, and it's probably the only chance I was given to at least TALK to some decent looking guys. The best part was (these guys aren't regulars on the bus) was that they even got off at the SAME stop as me!! This was my biggest chance to say something! They were (at least the one guy) was looking back at me a few times. Probably to see if I was still behind hm but that DOESN'T MATTER. Japanese men are super shy to begin with which totally sucks! I should have said something, I was debating on it, too. But I didn't. I'M AN IDIOT. I could have just been like, "can I take a picture of you guys?" Yeah, I could have. It could have either went good or bad, if bad (meaning I creeped them out) it didn't matter anyway because I would most likely (now I think I never will) never see them again anyway. If it went good, they would know I have a keitai (since I'd be taking the picture off of that) and would or would not ask for my mail address and I could have been talking to them even for that short amount of time in my life. They seemed like the type of guys who who would make it turn into a good thing. I'M AN IDIOT. I regret it sooo god damn much. This sucks. Baka baka baka baka baka baka.

But yesterday I just felt wrong. Like, I was fine as soon as I got home (maybe I was too preoccupied on regretting to notice) but then as the minutes passed I started feeling super tired and I had the feeling like I couldn't put food in my stomach. That proved to be true oce it came to dinner. I was hesitating with each spoon or gratin trying to swallow it, then after a while I noticed I was slowly starting to fall asleep, I couldn't keep my concentration focused. It was just so odd for me. This would be the 2nd time I became sick here. Well, Okaa-san realized something was wrong and then they checked me for a fever. I don't have one but to tell you the truth I wish I did. I'm not liking this, "feel terribly sick one day and the next day you're perfectly fine". Well, that wasn't entirely true. This morning I knew I couldn't manage breakfast so I told Okaa-san before she made me anything I wasn't eating. And I didn't even feel like eating my bento for lunch so I skipped out on that too. I ate it when I came home only because I didn't want to waste her food.

And I was allowed to skip today from school. Okaa-san asked me if I was going to go. I think I should have said no but I had 2 reasons to go to school. 1: today was Wednesday and Wednesdays and Thursdays are my 2 favorite days to go to school, and 2: I was hoping those 3 boys would be on the bus again. But of course I wouldn't know if the were because I was held back after school 'cause the one teacher wanted to talk with me. So I missed that bus that they were on. And I won't be on the bus again when they "could" be because the rest of this week are tests so we get out of school early and then I'll be going back to Kyuudou Club. Do you know why the teacher wanted to talk to me? It was one of the English speaking teachers. Okaa-san called the school because she was worried about me and since (well, both me and the teacher guessed this) it would be easier to explain how I'm feeling in English the teacher would just translate it back to her. I have no way to describe my situation. I feel fine, then I'm sick, and sometimes not hungry. I don't know. I wish I did know. Maybe I am getting a fever?

It was nice to finally catch up on some serious sleep though. What time did I go to bed though last night? I guess around 6:30? Yeah, and I was told before I went to sleep that I couldn't take a bath. What?? I looked at them unbelivably. I told Tonpi, "demo watashi kitanai" (but I'm dirty). She answers, "karada?" (your body). Duh. What else? But they said I can't. They're like, it's best not to take a shower when you're sick. Now, I understood the whole "don't go in the furo (bathtub)" thing because you don't want to spread the disease, but NO shower as well?? I felt gross. I mean, all I wanted was to take a shower. Not to mention I had gym class that day, but I forgot all about that so I never mentioned it (I wonder if that would have made a difference?). Cold medicine is strange here too. Did I mention it last time I took it? I don't think so, just the stomach medicine. Well, this "cold" medicine is a powder. A terrible, disgusting, aweful tasting powder. You have to put it all in your mouth then swallow it down with some liquid. It's TERRIBLE. The taste and smell makes me want to choke each time. Swallowing all those tiny beads for the stomach ache isn't nearly as compelling as this medicine.
Seriously, it's that bad.

I wanna post a blog one day about TV here. I've been meaning to do that for some time now but never got the chance. Maybe since I get out of school early the next few days I'll do it then. Maybe tomorrow even? I don't know. I need to talk about this group of guys. They are hilarious. But that new album is added!! Check out the pretty pictures^^ and Yuzu!!

Japan Blog 35 (December 1, 2008) meditation, waterfall, and fish on a stick

Uwah!

I feel like I miss so much when I don't post a blog until a week later. Especially since I then begin to forget things. Dammit.

So anyway, yesterday was pretty exciting. I went to the Fukuroda Waterfall. It was amazingly beautiful there. This was the perfect time to go because of all the colors on the trees. The plan in the beginning though was for me, Pat, and Nora to go to Mito for some serious shopping. Nora was telling me how she needs clothes. That was the plan for like 5 minutes Saturday night until Otoo-san came back and is like, you're going to do zanzen tomorrow." Zanzen is a type of meditation. Yeah, I did that too, but I'll get to that later. So I had to call Pat back and then tell them I couldn't go then when Otoo-san says to ask them if they want to go. I felt bad dragging them to do some zanzen. But, that's how they got brought along. I'm actually seriously glad that they came along 'cause with just me and Otoo-san things would have been super awkward.

I had no idea about the waterfall. I thought it was only the zanzen thing and then that morning I overheard Nora and Pat saying how we were going to Mito after all this. I had no idea what was going on that entire day. I like how I'm not asked if I want to do things, OR am I told exactly what I'm doing within the day. So much fun (sarcastic). But the waterfall was fun. I made 2 more videos for YouTube, both were at the waterfall but the one video is just our opinion of a fish on a stick. I think it's amusing haha. Then I just have a video of our trip to the waterfall. When we got to the waterfall I was even more surprised to see my Rotary President there. I like seeing him, he's just so cool. A funny, great guy. But anyway, a few other Rotary people were there as well. THAT'S WHY we went to the waterfall. Because they were going for some odd reason. I'll put the pictures in an album tomorrow. You have to see them, they're soooo pretty ^_^

After that we went to a "apple garden". I think it should be called a orchid, right? I can not express my feelings enough for Japanese apples. They are the best apples I have ever tasted in my life. Just bit into a Japanese apple. Seriously. They are sooo sweet. And there was a pumpkin there. I don't know why we felt the need to take a picture with it. Then we were pumped for Mito after all that. At this time I totally forgot about the zanzen. And when we went to eat lunch, Otoo-san asked us if we'd rather go to Mito or have a "soba making party" at our house. Huh??? What soba party? We weren't even eating soba for dinner! Were we? (When I got home I knew I was right, we weren't.) So, here he was making these plans and I could just see Okaa-san's expression of us coming to the house and she'd have to suddenly stop making whatever she was and she'd have no idea of "visitors". Oh yeah, I can see him not calling her to let her know. So, I got annoyed with him by the end of the day. Sure, he's not my dad so it's not my fault and I can' really say anything to him about it either, but it made me feel like I should have. I felt bad that they got dragged into this, and I really wouldn't have asked them to go but he was right across the table when I called them back.

In the end I had to say it. I knew what everyone else wanted to do. Nora made it clear to me what she wanted to. I said it, we want to go to Mito. He said alright. So, I was happy then that at least we can all do our original plan. Nope. So, we went to the zanzen. Until we got there that's when I remembered that we were going here yet. At this zanzen we had to take our socks off and wear sandals, then put a super super thin robe like monks wore on. That was all cool except for the fact that we then had to go outside. My feet were freezing and because this were old fashioned sandals, meaning that unlike other sandals that shape to your foot, these were the same on both feet. Impossible to walk up a bunch of rocks with these. So we sat in a shrine first while the guy did his chanting and hitting some kind wooden thing. Then we entered a different building and in that building we sat there, perfectly still and quiet, for 25 minutes. 25 minutes. I fell asleep. How could you not? You had to sit with your eyes halfway closed to so, yeah. My head was bobbing up and down supposedly since the guy told me next time not to sleep (he wasn't serious about it) and Otoo-san was mimicking me. After more minutes we then had our shoulder blades smacked with a stick, twice on each side. And I mean SMACKED. It seriously hurt! It supposed to take all the bad things from you. Hey, it had a numbing effect afterward.

 

After all that we were taken for a little walk around the area. Zanzen was over now. I noticed a area FULL of all these tiny statues away from us. I wish I had a picture, it looked really cool. I asked (well, Nora did for me, her Japanese is amazing) and what all those statues were for was for when a woman wanted to have a baby she would gp to them and pray. Heh, just my luck. I slapped my hands together and said, "I want an Asian baby. Give me a Asian baby, please.". Nora and Pat were laughing at me. haha it was pretty funny. But what about Mito???? We never went and I felt terrible for everyone, especially Nora since she was the one who really wanted to go. It was so obvious that Otoo-san was wasting our time. So, that's why I got annoyed with him in the end. Of course I'm over it now though. Poor Pat though, haha, the car ride was really long and she felt like throwing up the entire time. So funny.

And that was my Sunday. Friday it was raining like crazy. Friday was one of the worst days for school girls. You have the wind, which is not fun to stand out in. All you begin to worry about is making sure your skirt doesn't blow up. Then with that rain, yours shoes and socks and skirt become amazingly wet. My class (including me) were changing into our gym clothes we were just so soaked. This is what sucks about waiting for a bus. Of course it's just as worse for the bike riders. But yeah. Then I noticed Ai got another keitai. She wasn't the first person I've seen with 2 keitai's but I didn't understand. Actually, it makes a lot of sense why she got it. For one thing, it was free. And she only uses it for calling. It's a prepaid. Now I understand why I see people with 2 keitai's.

And I hate thinking about it. But time is seriously moving now. I'm realizing how much I'm going to miss this family. I know I'll definitely see them again at Ai's graduation (I think I'm still going. I hope so) but I don't know. I guess I like the idea of someone my same age in the house. I know I can talk to Ai about anything if I could just figure out the ways to say it (haha) and I've just become so adjusted and it's so welcoming here. I don't want to count down the days, I don't want to become aware. And I'm dreading Christmas. Once Christmas comes... I only have a week left with them. It's killing me. I'm a Fukaya. Not whatever this other family is. The only way I won;t get saddened is if the next house is sooo much more better. But I hardly doubt it's going to be as great as it is here. Ai and Topi didn't even know when I was leaving until I told them and Ai even said that's fast/early (she said "hayai" and that word has a variety of meanings). Yeah. I agree with you, Ai.

Here's my 2 videos. And look forward to the new album tomorrow ^_^
And this is the picture of my purse like I promised ^_^ I love it!!

fish on a stick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6FRa9HhyP0


Fukuroda Waterfall
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huASBRZHF-0

 
 

Japan Blog 34 (November 25,2008) The Story of Hachiko (sooo sad!!! (;_;))

The story about Hachiko is actually really sad. I'll get to that further down.

I went to Itako Monday and that day was actually the first day I took the train myself.
That. Was. Scary.

Not that the train was scary or anything, I love the train, it was just I was first scared that I got the wrong ticket (Okaa-san just dropped me off at the station) and then I was a little worried about which train to take. So, I was pretty confident of myself to be able to get my ticket to Mito. I knew pretty much how to do it and I knew the kanji for Mito (if I didn't know that I'd be screwed completely) so I was sure I could do it. To get your ticket though, on the touch screen you have to touch a price number. Your destination isn't on it. Above the machine is a huge train map and that's where you look for your destination and then you just touch whatever number it says next to it. I could handle that. But I couldn't find Mito on the map and I'm 100% sure of it's kanji (I could write it even, it's sooo easy) so it's not like I maybe was mistaken or something. Then I did find Mito but then it said like 1,000 something yen. Huh?? That's wayyy too expensive and the other times I went to Mito it was only like 500 yen. So, I asked this guy behind me. He looked like he didn't even want to get involved with speaking with a foreigner, like he looked scared. But I asked him (my first time asking a stranger for help, yay!) and he pointed on the map where Mito was and told me the price. NOW I saw Mito and it was only 480 yen. I was in thought after that though and I guess it seemed to him like I didn't understand what the hell he said, but I did. So then he just touched the screen's price for me but that was by accident.

I then just put my money in and got my ticket. What I was then worried about was what if, since he touched the screen by accident, that was actually the wrong button he pressed? So that got me worried. I was pretty sure I was on the right track side for the right train. Once I got on the train though I was worried. Every other time I went to Mito, right above the doors of the train's inside was a screen and it would say the next stop on it. In Japanese AND English, and an announcement was even made in English. But not on this train. There was no screen on the train and the conductor made the announcements which was bad 'cause he sounded super stuffy in the speakers, hard to understand. I was really testing my Japanese listening skills just with that. Even when he said Mito it sounded like he added something to it, making me unsure if there were 2 different Mito stops. Luckly I was alright. My ticket was fine and my stop was right.

Yuki met me at the train entrance. Yuki is the girl who went to America as an exchange student last year. I have pictures of her in my Rotary album. But she looked so different yesterday! Her hair was shorter now but still, I seriously didn't reconize her. Her mom was there too. Geeze, that entire day I felt so bad for her mom. She was hardly in the conversations (actually none at all really) because it was all English. Yuki's English was pretty much amazing, I'm surprised it's still glued to her so well. It was nice to talk to someone in English that's Japanese and can comprehend even just the little slang-like ways we speak. Like, until I literally started paying attention to her words I noticed that just like all Americans, she used the word "like" a lot in her sentences. But even when I speak English to Kanako (she's the best in the class) when I use words that seem so easy but it's an American thing, she doesn't understand it then I have to say it a diferent way. She was translating some of the things to her mom that we spoke about. We didn't have much time to spend together though. I had to be home for 6 which is awefully early here. I guess my parents were just worried since I was going to be so far away? I don't know but that sucked. I actually got home at 5 too.

So, we talked a lot in the car, then we went to Narita to get some lunch. We went to an Italian resturant. Then we went to the mall for a bit, not long at all. I got a purse ^_^ It's actually very colorful and fuzzy, I love it. I'll take a picture of it for my next blog just 'cause I love it so much. But then we went to get ice cream. For the first time, I tried soy sause ice cream. It doesn't sound good, right? But it was actually REALLYYY good. It was surprisingly sweet. Then I went to her house. We weren't there long at all, like 30 minutes at the most before we left and her mom drove me back to Hitachi, to my house. I was supposed to take the train at Mito back home, so I was a little surprised. But it was fun. A bit ackward at times but still fun. I'm glad I got to see her again and hopefully next time I'll be able to sleep over her house. I was asked to actually but Otoo-san wouldn't let me. He said it kinda seriously too like there was no way I could. Okaa-san didn't seem to have a problem with it but I needed HIS permission. How gay. Yuki's dog didn't like me either. He looked like he wanted to rip me to shreds haha.

As for the Hachiko story. I asked Yuki about it and her mom told us the story. Yuki of course had to translate it to English for me. So, I don't know how long ago this was but there was this guy who always got off at the Shibuya station and there was a dog always waiting for him, Hachiko. I don't know what Hachiko did with him, other than follow him around, but then the guy would always get back on the train at the end of the day and return the next day. Hachiko always came to the station to wait for the man come off the train. It was the same rutine. The man though was very sick with some disease (maybe cancer?). One day he died and of course Hachiko never knew that. But everyday Hachiko would come to the station and wait for him, and everyday the man wouldn't show. But Hachiko waited everyday for him. (geeze, I'm starting to cry even while typing this) And so a statue was made for Hachiko's loyality even after it was clear the man would never come back. It's such a sad story!!!! I feel almost guilty for just standing there next to it with thoughts of taking a picture of a dog statue I found out about from a video game. I'm an idiot.

Japan Blog 33 (November 22, 2008) Shibuya, Akihabara, LOVE^^

Alright, I'm sorry.

I know I said that I was going to take tons of video and pictures when I went to Akihabara. I'm sorry, I have absolutely nothing. The only pictures I have are 3 from Shibuya. Yep, as an addition I went to Shibuya as well. I got to see Hachiko!! But I'm sorry. It was kinda impossible for me to get any anyway. So many people and I was basically running to catch up with my family so I wouldn't become lost. I was even going to use Perfume's song "Akihabara Love" in the video (;_;)

Today was full of a bunch of firsts for me. It was my first time I've really experienced Tokyo, my first time to go to Akihabara and Shibuya, my first to walk across a crosswalk that was overly crowed, my first to ride the train in Tokyo, my first to be on an overly crowed train and having to be squished between people, my first to see a entire Hello Kitty store, my first to see a Barbie store (and they didn't sell barbie dolls, they sold actual clothing but the name's design was the same), my first to see someone dressed in lolita clothing, my first at some random guy trying to pick me up (probably to go to some sex hotel or something) (yes, these people exist for those who didn't know. Guys will stand in the street waiting for some girl to take them somewhere for the night or they make the move), my first to see a homeless person (well, the person was going through garbage bags so I assumed they were), my first for a lot of things. Speaking of sex hotels, I was surprised that I didn't find any yet. Unless I did see them and they were just so bendable with everything else.

So, where should I begin. I was actually surprised to find out that we were driving. Ai didn't come with us because she had to work. And there was a poo test that day for the workers so she really couldn't miss out. haha Just her trying to explain that to me was laughs. So, it was me, Okaa-san, Otoo-san, and Tonpi. Yeah. I wasn't too thrilled about being alone with Tonpi but things actually went better than I thought they were going to be. Luckily my tutor in America taught me a game and I heard Tonpi playing it with herself. So, I told her I knew it and then we started playing. It involves taking the last hiragana from a noun and coming up with another noun that starts with it. It's all spoken. So, that was the first sign of non-awkwardness. The rest of the day though she was still the same, all friendly and stuff. So, I've concluded that it just must be Ai's presence that changes her. And if I speak English.

There's more to Tokyo than just Tokyo.

I was told that I was going to Shibuya. This surprised me but I was ecstatic. Ever since I played the DS game "The World Ends With You" I've wanted to go to Shibuya. I wanted to see Hachiko, I wanted to go to 109, I wanted to walk on the crossing, I just wanted to be there. And I got my wish. I didn't get to go to Harajuku unfortunately but I'm still pleased with Shibuya. Shibuya was where that random guy came up to me almost grabbing me. It actually sounded like he was speaking Spanish but then again it could have been fast Japanese and I can't catch onto words if spoken fast. I saw Hachiko, that made me VERY happy. Hachiko is a statue of a dog right next to the station. I was taking a picture next to it and there was this group of girls and they saw me. Then they took out there phones and snapped a picture of me. It was weird, but okay. I'm kinda used to everyone gwacking over foreigners already. After all that I walked across The Crossing. Ooooo~~~ haha but damn there was seriously a gazillion people there!! And each of them all trying to get across before the crosswalk light goes red. Even after that I've seen people run across while cars were moving. Now THAT is rare here in Japan. When I cross roads when there's obviously no car even coming and the crosswalk is red I'm told 'not to do it' even by my friends.

 
 
  
I went to the 109 building. Wow. The 109 building is a building filled with a variety of clothing stores. The building's inside was awfully small making it hard to move around all the people. And I'm an idiot. There I was in Shibuya, the fashion capital of Japan (it really is), and all I bought was a scarf. Yes, a scarf. But I actually really like my scarf the more I wear it. At the 109 building there was a tractor trailer just advertising capsule's new CD "MORE MORE MORE" and it had the song blasting out of it. And capsule also has ANOTHER amazing song that I just heard. It's called "Jumper" and it sounds hells ton better. Look the video up on YouTube. I demand it. The video is pretty awesome as well. Nakata... I love you. You make such amazing music. He knows how electronic music is supposed to sound. I thought we would have been to other stores after the 109 building so I hesitated to buy anything, but we left after that. Dammit. I really wanted to get some clothes (;_;) I was planning on that the entire time. But I still experienced Shibuya. I'm tons of happy. And I was getting my hopes up to go shopping in Akihabara then. We must have bought like 7 different train tickets for one person the entire day. We had to even switch trains once we got to a station. The most packed train was the train to Akihabara, which was next after Shibuya.

And even though I was psyched for Akihabara, I'm going to be dissing it right now. Maybe it was just a bad day to go for me and that's why it wasn't like I expected. Sure, it was still amazing to see and it was pretty, all the buildings, but it was a joke. I didn't see one cosplayer that day until I was LEAVING Akihabara, she was leaving as well. What did I do in Akihabara? I'll tell you: ate at a McDonald's. THAT'S IT. Did you know that McDonald's here have such a variety of burgers? Like, for the holidays they come out with a new burger. I had the newest one and it tasted AMAZING. It was keroke (?) I think that's spelled wrong. But it was a potato but the inside of it was sooo creamy. A fried potato (I should be more clear). Then I was ready for shopping! No. Well, yes. I was free to shop. But I was asked what I wanted to buy. I said clothes. Did you know there is not ONE clothing store in Akihabara?? That's so stupid! Akihabara, I find out, is basically known as the lighting capital of Japan. All the stores there, are to buy lights, or some other things along those lines. I was dumbstruck. So, we left. I'm a member of the http://perfume.ekuseru.net/ Perfume fan site. I haven't been on it much lately so I was stunned to look up on one of the huge TVs on a building to see them in a new music video. What?! Perfume released a new song?! So, now I have to download it. ASAP. The song is called "Dream Fighter" and I demand you watch the video to that as well.

Then it was onto Tokyo. There I hoped I'd get some shopping in. That hope faded away pretty fast when I saw stores like Coach and names too fancy for me to know. You can't shop in Tokyo unless you are rich and you are into fancy clothing. That's where I missed not buying more in Shibuya. Oh, Shibuya, I miss you even now. I got to see the place where that naked guy jumped into the water near the emperor places. I walked passed it. But it was wayyy too dark to even see anything. Otoo-san pointed out to me that the emperor lives there. I looked around "hoping" to see the palace. I saw nothing but pitch blackness. Even though I got to experience Tokyo the way it's supposed to be, I loved walking around looking at the buildings and such but that was about it. The last thing we did before we went home was go on this other train-like thing. It was only around Tokyo but it was taking us to where our car was parked. For those people who have seen Inuyasha, remember the 1st ending? Kagome is on that train and you see the lit up ferris wheel? That was the EXACT same train I was on. And I saw that ferris wheel all lit up. It really is beautiful. Kyuudou reminds me a lot of Inuyasha as well.

But that was my time in Tokyo, Shibuya, and Akihabara. I still had fun, tons of fun. I just wish I could have got some clothes. Well, Monday I'm finally going to Itako. Me and Yuki finally managed to work it out and since we don't have school Monday (pfft, like we ever have school) I'll be heading off to Mito to meet her. Then a 2 hr. car ride. I already know there's no way Purikura can be avoided, not that I want to, but I should be able to do some shopping as well, right?

This new capsule song is too addicting. I. Need. It. I'm seriously though. If you won't check out Perfume's new song (which I still think you should) at least check out this capsule song. Sure, it's 7 minutes long, but it's worth it, especially when it's at the 5 minute mark. I'll even give you the link ^_^ I'm still a Perfume fan at heart though. So, as a Perfume fan I'll demand you watch them, too. The song is wayyy too cute, people. You can't resist^^
(btw, if anyone decides to check out that Perfume fan site you need to view it on FireFox 'cause Internet Explorer doesn't load the forms and other clickable things)

 
capsule - Jumper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2UcflKMPvg

Perfume - Dream Fighter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyEBlwNVY00

Japan Blog 32 (November 18, 2008) I think I lost my gym sweatpants

I think I lost my gym pants. >_<

Seriously.

I figured since I haven't actually worn them yet I would today for gym. Once again we were running. Today was the last day though. THANK GOD. I discovered that the goal of all this running was to run a marathon. They just seprated it into a bunch of days. So, I can now say that I have ran/walked a marathon. Woo, do I feel accomplished. We had to fill out a piece of paper with our times on it (yeah, we were timed as well) and at the bottom there was a box where we could leave a comment. Oh yes, I wrote a comment all right. This is exactly what I wrote (in Japanese of course), "I don't like running. This is cruel and tourcherous. I'm sorry but I don't like running". But yeah. So I went in my locker in the classroom (we have mini lockers in our class) and well, my pants weren't in there. Now I don't know where they are. What am I gunna do when winter comes??? I wonder if it's a requirement to wear the pants in winter, too. So, yeah. I'm missing my sweatpants.

I actually have a lot to talk about. It's been some time, afterall. First I'll start off saying that joining the Kyuudou Club was the best decision I've made here (I think) so far. I can't possibly explain how much I'm enjoying it. I'm enjoying just learning how to shoot arrows (slowly becoming impacient with the fact that I can't shoot any till around 2 months), but I really like being with my new friends there. It's sooo entertaining. And being with these people, I'm realizing how good my Japanese is coming along. Like, I don't even know how we just start laughing. And this girl, Wakako (I kinda find it hard to believe that's her name. It's kinda funny) when we ride our bikes back we talk. Actually I talk with bascally everyone on the way back. That's another cool thing about having to travel just to get to club. Sure, the bike ride sucks the way there, it's a slight hill and my legs get exauggested, but the ride home is fun. I don't get home till almost 7:30 at night now though. I don't eat dinner with the family anymore either since I'm so late. Hey, it kills some of the ackwardness. But yeah. I seriously love it there. I look forward to go bascally everyday ^_^ I'm still regretting joining Sadou. Even missing out on Wednesdays makes me sad (;_;)

But so Sunday I went to a little "children's festival" where I helped at the soba stand with Otoo-san. I seriously love how I'm told I'm doing something without even being asked (sarcastic). Sure, it's not like I would have said no or anything but I wish he would at least ASK me. I mean, what if for some reason I don't want to go and do whatever and maybe sleep because I am tired anymore. I'm beginning to sleep more often in class. Not a good thing. I seriously have to do that though. One day after club on the weekend (no way in hell I'll miss club if I'm able to go) I'm just going to sleep my day away. I need it.

And I've been writing a gazillion speeches. Did I mention about how my Japanese Teacher wants me and Pat to participate in a speech contest? Well, then I said in my last blog about how I had to write a Rotary speech yet. Writing that speech was hell, too. Everyone was helping me with it, expecally Ayami. But I had to keep writing it over and then other people who were helping me found mistakes when it was supposly correct. Urgh, that was hell. AND what then pissed me off was that I had to leave school during lunch just to give this speech. That wouldn't have bothered me at all IF the past Monday wasn't special. This week, Monday and Tuesday during lunch there are 2 bands in our school and they were performing. One on Monday the other Tuesday. I rathered of missed Tuesday's (today's). Monday's band has 2 of my friends in it, Mizuki and Kei. So, I was pretty mad that I missed out on that. The next time they perform at school isn't until sometime in March or April they said. So far awayyyy~~

But one good thing came out of that Rotary lunch. I met the grandmother of my next host family ^_^ When I first saw her she looked mean and like she didn't want to be a part of this. But then after the meeting everyone was discussusing the details with her about my stay and she seemed like a really nice person. She was worried I wouldn't like her house because it's old and she thinks most girls wouldn't like to live in a old house. But this is what I know so far: At the house (which I might add is amazing far away) there's the grandmother, the grandfather, their son, and his 2 kids, a girl 13 years old and a boy 15 years old. There was also another girl named Yukino but she went to America in the exchange with Rotary. Actually, she's living in Tunkanock, PA. So, she went to the district I came from. Which is kinda cool. January 6th is the day I'm leaving the Fukaya's. In a way I'm really upset about how soon it is but then in a way I'm kinda excited. My feelings about the situation a still mixed. Rotary is looking for a 3rd family for me yet, too. If they can't find one I think I'm staying with my next family until the end of July then. Oh yeah, it's pretty official that I will be staying till the end of July. School ends for summer vacation I think the 24th they said so I'll be leaving around the 30th.

I bought my first manga ^_^ The first book of the Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni series. I can't understand it but I feel happy owning it haha. I read online that the series is going to be sold in America soon. Geeze, I want a copy only because I'll be able to read it >_< But manga really is pretty cheap here. Around 600 yen~approxmite $6. Then again, the yen is worth just a little more than the dollar now. Shows how much the American economy is failing when before I came here the dollar was worth more. I actualy thought I had more to write but I can't think of anything. Maybe it's because I'm way too tired.

But hey, this Saturday I'm going to Akihabara!!!! I'm super excited ^_^ Akihabara is a huge shopping district in Tokyo but it's also a place where tons of otakus are. Oh yes, I'm going to snap tons of pictures of the cosplayers. So luckyyy!!! But I can't wait and Otoo-san said that there's going to mbe a light show there too!! Lots of video and pictures. I can't wait to even make it hehe^^

Japan Blog 31 (November 13, 2008) Kuudou is AWESOMEEE~~!!!

It's been a few days.

I actually wanted to write this morning but got lazy (and I had to write a speech anyway), then I went to Mito for bascally half the day. I had no school today. All of Ibaraki had no school, 'cause it was like a special day just for Ibaraki. It's equivalent to all of Pennsylvania only or any other state having a day where there's no school. How awesome is that? Did I mention how much I love Mito? This was my 2nd time in the actual city and my heart jumped again. It's just amazing to me. I seriously wish I lived there. But I suppose I shall update you on what's been going on the last few days. Not that there really was much of anything (if there was I can't remember it >_

But I didn't feel like going home. I don't know why but I felt like I just had to go and do something and I pretty much made it clear to myself that if I don't make a move (like say something to people) about doing anything I won't be doing much with them at all. So, during cleaning I asked everyone if they were going home. The people in my cleaning group were so that plan failed. Then when we were leaving the school I was walking with Chihiro and Ayaka and I was saying how I didn't want to go home and wanted to do something. So, we all decided to go to Yokado (the mall) and we did some Purikura. We wasted all our time at Purikura. I'm telling you it's seriously all these people do. Purikura Purikura Purikura Purikura. It's awesome, I enjoy doing it and it's all memories to take back wih me, but it's just a LITTLE bit crazy. I can't get these pictures though because I don't have the code for them to get it off the site (;_;) And I really liked the one we took where Chihiro wrote "Let's Diet" on it and we all have this disgusted expression on our faces. If I was able to get it it would be my new default picture ^_^

So, I spent my Monday afternoon doing that and I'm glad I did something. Tuesday was probably one of my best days so far. I decided to join the Kyuudou Club. Kyuudou is Japanese Archery. It seemed sooo cool to me so I wanted to join it. One girl in my class, Ikumi, she's in it so took me to it, sorta. The club is actually not at the school. I had to take a seprate bus just to get to this place, it takes like 30 mins to get there by walking. This other girl who takes the bus went with me. But I can't take the bus everyday (the club is everyday) because my bus card doesn't work for this bus so I had to pay each time there and back. I'd go broke FAST. It's like 500 yen I spend a day just to go and return. Well, starting tomorrow that will end. I asked Okaa-san if there was a bike I could use. Everyone in the club (except that girl) rides a bike to the place. So, my host parents managed to find someone who doesn't need their bike and now I can use it. I have to leave the bike at school and then I take my normal bus home after club. I know, I said I don't do everyday clubs. But, for one thing Kyuudou is actually pretty fun and reason two, I'm pretty bored at home.

When I went to club, everyone was excited to see me. And people were talking to me. It wasn't like Sadou (Tea Ceremony) Club where everyone is just silent most of the time and doesn't really wanna take part with a foreigner. If I wasn't in Sadou Club for so long already I would leave it for Kyuudou. But I'm going to do both. Sadou on Wednesdays and then all the other days (weekends vary 'cause I'm usually busy) I'm going to Kyuudou. Besides, Sadou is reallyyy reallyyy boring. I actually skipped it this Wednesday for Kyuudou (haha). I'm not allowed to shoot any arrows yet though. They won't let me. There's a certain way you have to pull the bow and there's a certain form in which you do everything and Ikumi said I have to be perfect at that before I'm allowed to shoot. She said it took her 2 months before she started shooting. 2... months?? Yeah, that's a pretty long time but I'm determined. I told Ikumi, I'll get it down in one month. So, all I do during those 2-3 hours Mon.-Fri. is pull the bow and make sure my form is perfect. On the weekends club is 9 am to 1 pm. I just feel drawn to this club. I wish I knew about it wayyy sooner. It's actually A LOT harder than you think. Pulling that bow seriously hurts your muscles, you NEED muscles. And there's a certain way my hand/fingers have to be and for some reason my hand/fingers don't want to cooperate.

I was told on Tuesday that I need to give a 10 minute speech for Rotary I think this Monday. Otoo-san tells me this. Now, I really really really hate it when he talks to me in English. Not for the reason you're probably thinking either. When he says 10 minutes, I wonder if he realizes what he says. 10 minutes is unbelievably long. At the moment in my Japanese classes I have to write mini speeches and I can't even get to the 5 minute mark yet. So, it makes me wonder if he realizes he just told me 10 minutes when what he really meant was 5 minutes. I never know. And it gets me frustrated. Just writing these speeches for school pisses me off and my teacher wants me and Pat to participate in an upcoming speech contest in a few months (I think in January). And all these speeches are in Japanese. THAT'S why I can't make the 5 minute mark. My Japanese sucks when I have to make sentences. Simple sentences I can manage but when you have to write a speech simple doesn't cut it. And I have to write another speech that's homework for my teacher yet. 2 speeches I have to write this week. It's ridiculous.

Mito was great today though. I went with Okaa-san, Tonpi, and Ai. I bought two shirts. Almost 3. I went to get the third shirt which I ABSOULTLY LOVED but my credit card wouldn't work!! That pissed me off too! My shirt was all bagged and ready to go but when she scanned the card the damn thing was useless. I used the credit card at the other store but then when I wanted to use it here it wouldn't work!! The store was called Glad News and it was my style of clothing. It was the perfect store. But no. God damn credit card. Credit cards are pointless here. I didn't have enough cash on me either to get it. I hate it. I was sad, it would have been perfect on me, too >_< And it finally came to me that I kinda need to get a brand new wardrobe here. I look out of style here with my American clothing. There's no way I can get boots (and they are VERY popular here) but I need to get high socks, a few pairs of shorts, and just more clothes. My clothing does NOT work here. Everyone is looking so awesome and I love the style too, but it's soo different from what I have. Sure, I can get away with it sometimes, but when you go out (when I go out) you seriously dress in a perfect stylish outfit. I need a new wardrobe, that's all there is to it. Jeans are not very popular here at all. Actually, you rarely see anyone wearing jeans and when you do they have a pair of boots on. Just like Ai does.

There was a plus when I was at the mall. The one store I went to had all Perfume songs playing. I think it was their entire GAME album. I'm pretty sure. I seriously just stayed in that store just to listen to it haha. And I'm sure I've said this before but Ai is seriously one of the nicest people I know here. All this week until today I haven't seen her. She came back from work and such and just went to sleep. She didn't even walk into the living room. Then at 10 Okaa-san asked me to go to sleep 'cause her and Tonpi always go at that time and Ai wasn't going to come out. She didn't flat out say that but that's what it techally was. So, today I actually saw her, I wasn't sure if she was really tired all those times but now I deffinitly know for sure she was. Today she was just amazingly nice. She never seems bothered by me and it's reassuring. I'm glad. But I need to go shopping. I seriously need some shorts. And tall socks. And at least one pair of leggings (yeah, their popular to wear with the shorts). And I have to see if there's at least one pair of Converses that will fit me. Sizes here are weird and I couldn't find one pair of shoes that would fit me yet >_< But I'm more worried about shorts and socks right now. Shirts are long and big here and the point is to wear them with shorts and shorts only looks good with long socks here. Then again... I guess I do need those Converses too, 'cause my sneakers will look strange with it...

We changed seats in class again too. I miss my old seat. Mizuki and Sayako aren't by me anymore. And I don't really talk to the people around me. I'm glad Yuka is at least next to me. I won't be completely silent now. And Ayami is sorta close.

Japan Blog 30 (November 8, 2008) 国鞴祭り Kuni Fuigo Matsuri

Right.


About my haircut.


I hate it.


I went to get my haircut on Thursday, I was all excited. And I'll say this before I start complaining: getting your haircut (getting it washed there) in Japan is like going to a spa. They are so gentle and careful and wrap you up in many towels and oh my god, I would go back just for him to wash my hair again. I can't describe the feeling. It was just AWESOME. Then onto the cutting. So much hair came off my head. I really miss my long hair. I didn't even WANT it this SHORT. Just A LITTLE shorter I wanted. It's too short for me to handle. I hate short hair on me. So, the next day at school I was seriously depressed. I basically kept my head down and my shoulders high so no one would notice. Of course though when Mizuki sits behind you that becomes impossible to accomplish. She asked me what's wrong and it's not long before she notices my hair is cut. Geeze, I didn't think I'd get so many shocked gasps from people. Sayako gets involved soon later along with Rina (she sits in front of me). Sayako then puts my hair up in the weirdest ponytail at the top of my head saying "kawaii" and the other two agreeing. Were they crazy? I looked like one of those little girls from The Grinch movie. But I was in a bad mood. They kept telling me it suits me and that it's really cute. No, no, no it is not. Short hair is really popular in Japan for girls right now too. But it doesn't really look good on a foreigner, especially me. You find me a cute guy who HONESTLY thinks it's cute, then I'll be fine.


When we had to run Mari saw my hair telling me it was cute. After she gave a gasp. After computer class Ayaka gasped then ran over to me, I tried to run away, but I was kinda corner to a wall with her, Okaa-san (I did mention this before, right? Well, there's this girl in my class named Iona and everyone calls her Okaa-san for some reason. Before I even knew her real name I knew her as that), and Kanako. Urgh, she began playing with it then and them all saying it was cute.


But I saw Okaa-san. She was the less responsive one. So, I told her. Okaa-san you hate my hair, right? Somehow I ended up saying I hated her after her response. I didn't mean to say that, my words came out wrong but it was pretty funny how she responded to it. -sigh- it sucks. Even the English teachers were a bit worried asking me what was wrong. Now that I think back on it I feel really stupid. Sure, I hate it but I kinda feel like a idiot for how I acted and how people had to respond to me. I've been exaggerated lately. I'm finding myself sleeping in class more often now too, I don't understand. Yeah, classes are boring, easy to get tired, but it's never been this bad. It's kinda like the first day of school all over again.


So, today I took the train with Otoo-san to a place called Hatori. How ironic haha. Hattori=person I talk to. Hatori=place I went to. Double t. I love the train. Boring, but yet somehow amusing and fun. The trains in Tokyo is what you gotta watch out for though. I was just watching something on the news about how this guy was basically humping this girl on a train. This stuff is common, so common I can't believe people get away with this stuff. You hear about it all the time. But anyway, I'm not taking a train to Tokyo anytime soon, and that's only because Tokyo trains are overcrowded, people really can't see what's happening. The trains around here are really empty. So, that trip took around an hour. And it was FREEZING when we got off. I had my jacket (I suppose it's a fall-ish jacket) and 2 long sleeve shirts on. I'm not exactly sure how to explain this matsuri (festival). It was called the Kuni Fuigo Matsuri. It was interesting. I kinda knew I was being a part of it, but I had no idea that it would be somewhat important. I couldn't get any actual footage of the performance because I was in it but I did get us practicing a bit. Then I rambled off in the end. That's in the video I just posted. I actually posted two videos today. The other is just me complaining about my hair. I can't really describe the matsuri. I got to wear a really weird outfit, and I was pulling a air pump through the performance. Not to mention doing little other things as well.

 

Otoo-san has a DVD of the same matsuri from last year here at the house. That means I'll most likely be getting a DVD of this year's because I was in it. So, if you really wanna see it (it's pretty boring but hey, I'm in it!) I'm going to see if I can rip it and put it on YouTube, other than that, you'll just have to wait till I return next year. I did have fun though, somehow. Like, I did nothing at all to possibly enjoy myself but I enjoyed being there doing it I guess. It was freezing, but it was fun ^_^


I was in my room after my bath (always am for like 10 mins on the computer then I head out with the rest of the family) and I went to dry my hair with the towel and I hear my name being called. I look over at my door and I see Sayaka (Ai's friend for those who don't remember the names, which I don't see anyone can haha). She says, do you remember me? My hair was a mess but when I tried to hide it with the towel she thought I was hiding my haircut. Ai pops into my room next and then the whole haircut thing gets brought up. So, in the end I had to show her my hair. She thought it was cute and so did Ai. Huh? Ai too now? Friday after school I knew there was only one person who would tell me the truth about my haircut. Ai. So, I asked her what she thought. She didn't like it really either. Unless my question was asked wrong yesterday, she just changed her mind. I pointed my comb at her accusing her of saying she didn't like it yesterday and she just kept saying, "uchi?" (me) over and over unbelieving. (I'm not quite understanding the use of the word, "uchi". In translation it means home but it's not only her, people here also use it to say 'me/ I'.) She honestly didn't think she told me that. But yeah. Now Sayaka's sleeping over. And I'm heading off for bed now. Otoo-san still has plans for me to attend some festival tomorrow in the city. What fun. I really wanna go somewhere with Ai and Sayaka and if they were planning on inviting me now I can't go >_< The video of the matsuri is fairly new, just uploaded it, so I don't have a link for it yet. You'll just have to look on the site in like an hour. I highly doubt it's viewable just yet.

Japan Blog 29 (November 5, 2008) Happy Birthday Ai!! (well, tomorrow that is...)

Happy November 5th!!


There's nothing special about today :/ But I came home from club today and I totally forgot about this but Okaa-san says to me, Obama won. Huh? What? Seriously?? YES!!!! I was rooting for Obama for those who didn't know. So I saw some clips on the news but that was about it. To tell you the truth I'm seriously not interested with that stuff. But damn, he won by A LOT. That's pretty upsetting for McCain.


So, lately I've been addicted to this new discovery. Her name is Aira Mitsuki. I was on a friend's myspace page and I heard the song "China Discotica" from her. Then I started checking out more of her songs on YouTube, holy crap. She's amazing. Why haven't I heard of her before? And just today I got addicted to two more of Ami Suzuki's songs. Her song "Can't Stop the Disco" is great. Gosh why is techno jpop so addictinggg~~??? First it's Perfume, then it's Capsule, now some more?? I'm telling you, it's like a drug for how much I have a single song on repeat. I'm going to blow out my eardrums >_


Sunday, I kinda helped making curry for something. Okay, so all I did was STIR the curry. I still helped >_< My Otoo-san has these random days where he and his workers sit around a house he made (or for this day next to a building where he had SOMETHING inside, I have no idea what) and if there's people interested they come to look. I guess it's technically like open house. But we had a BBQ basically all day. I mean, we ate the curry with a bunch of people (who were really just friends of theirs) and they hung around till like 9 at night. We were cooking something on the grill all day, and then made more for supper time. It was nice to sit around a warm fire when it got dark though, it was freezing all day. Yes, I was sitting out there, too.


Monday I didn't have school. All of Hitachi didn't have school because it was like a cultural festival holiday. I was told last Wednesday from one of the English teachers that I should go to the festival 'cause tons of foreigners in the area go to it. I actually thought my host parents would have took me so I wasn't going to say anything about wanting to go. Not that I cared if I didn't anyway. But in the morning I was told we're talking a picture. I heard the words Ojii-chan (grandfather) and Obaa-chan (grandmother) pop in their conversation so I knew we were taking a picture with them. If I knew exactly what kind of picture this involved I would have brought my camera, thank god I had my keitai. So, after I picked out what to wear, I'm told I need to wear my school uniform. Heh? So, the entire morning I was confused about what we were doing. Ai had her uniform on, too. Okaa-san was dressed nice, but Tonpi was just in normal clothing (but she doesn't have a school uniform yet anyway. That's only for junior and high students. She's in her last year of elementary now). We went to some PROFESSIONAL photography studio and at this place Tonpi was dressed into a kimono. See, if I knew it was this I would have brought my camera >_< Yay for the keitai to rescue me! Look how cute she looks!

 

So, Tonpi got her photos taken all pretty and such and then Ojii-chan and Obaa-chan came all dressed up. Otoo-san was with them. We were taking a PROFESSIONAL family picture as well. I'm capitalizing "professional" because of the fact that I was in these. It just stunned me. I mean, I'm technically NOT part of the family. And yet, here I was taking a family picture with them. I couldn't grasp it. Remember that family picture I posted before I came to Japan in my Host Family album on here? We took the same exact picture, the only difference is that Tonpi is wearing the kimono not Obaa-chan, and Koudai and Taichiro aren't in this one. I felt really kinda like, honored to be taking it with them. I just hope I didn't ruin it on them >_< Like, I was told to keep moving my bangs from my eyes. I need a hair cut. But, now I know I'm definitely carved into their lives. Not sure by how much but I'm there. And it's really... honoring.


Ai's birthday is tomorrow, November 6th. She's going to be 18. Tuesday I actually thought her birthday was on the 5th, so after school I walked all the way down to the 100 yen store to by markers and poster board to make her a picture. I had to got to two stores actually. And I never did find poster board so I was stuck with cardboard. I kinda wanted to give something, ya know. I gave her that Ayumi Hamasaki cd last month. So, actually, that day during school my classmates had tests to take so me and Pat were stuck in the library all day. She helped me come up with a design and pictures to put on it then when I bought the stuff I drew the design on it and Tonpi helped me color it later that night. I was surprised when I came home that day to see that the couches were no longer in the living room. Even the table is gone. Instead now, there's a different table sitting in the middle of the room. It's those tables with the blanket and you can put your feet under it and there's a heater under there as well. It has a name but I forgot what it is right now. I'll take a picture for my next blog of what the living room looks like now. This is Ai's birthday poster.



A plus with that is that because of the heater it's making the house a little warmer as well haha. I think I stunned Okaa-san with me going to the stores and getting supplies and making it for her. No one knew I was doing it, or did they know I went to the store. But that night actually went really well though too. Like, everyone just seemed in a happy mood. And I was told that this Saturday I'm going to some festival with Otoo-san. A very traditional like thing, and I think I have to participate. There's two bad things about that. 1] I won't get much video 2] it involves wearing some weird outfit and I have to pull my hair back in a creepy way. And it's supposed to be super cold. Fun.


Then Today Tonpi was unusually super nice to me. Like, all talkative and stuff. This NEVER happens. She sat at the dinner table next to me for a period of time instead of at the living room table with Okaa-san like she usually does. She was teaching me volume (those math problems) from her workbook. Then she was asking me what were the English words for some things then writing them down. This NEVER happens. NEVER. So, today went well too, I suppose. haha The super niceness will disappear tomorrow haha. Still, for the rareness it makes me happy ^_^


Yesterday Mizuki started calling me Hatori for some odd reason. And she hasn't let up on it yet. Gosh, I don't understand anythinggg. And now, I'm popular among Hattori's friends. He sent me mail saying they think I'm cute, and then he sent Mizuki mail saying I'm known as the American Beauty to his friends. Crap. Hazukashii (embarrassing). Mizuki was laughing. Glad she found it funny haha.


I'm getting my haircut tomorrow as well. 'Bout time haha. So, it's going to be (hopefully) completely different^^

Japan Blog 28 (November 1, 2008) sure, we'll call it a date^^

Happy Halloween (for yesterday)!! If I could place a tiny picture of a pumpkin here I would.


I want pumpkin pie.


So, two days ago I've discovered something DREADFUL. Well, it's dreadful to me. I mean, what if one day I'm in the mood for chocolate milk? I go to the store and can't find any? What if that happened? THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS CHOCOLATE MILK HERE. Whyyy?? But yeah. This place hasn't finished surprising me yet. And speaking of other weird stuff, I was watching AkitaTom's newest video on YouTube. He's been in an exchange student here in Japan for almost an entire year now and he's been posting awesome videos. But his newest one had him and Miki (I think it's his host sister) going to some oxygen bar in Nagoya. It was a bar where you pay to get fresh oxygen through your nose. It looked insane. I want to try it ^_^


There wasn't much to say about yesterday. Oh wait. Yeah, there's something. Running. We ran. Oh no. I gave up much sooner than last time. So, in the beginning I began running with Ayami, I abandoned her well before we even left the school. I figured that if I kept with a certain pace (a nice slow and steady pace that I can handle) I'd be able to accomplish this run through hell. But before that run started we were told to run 2 laps around the soccer/baseball field. Heh???? Insane, that's what this school is. But anyway, during the run of hell, I went at my own pace. Not even close to halfway I saw a group of girls who who gave up already. Yes! More losers like me! They weren't even from my class and we kinda started having a conversation. Now that's the way I like to do gym class^^ That stopped when one of the gym teachers (there's a guy and a girl) started yelling at us to start running again. One of them always follows but they wait a bit before they come after us. Two other classmates of mine joined us losers soon after and once we ran more because we were being yelled at we caught up with more losers who were all actually from my class. So then we all just walked together. How nice, right? Unfortunately Ayami told me we have to do this 4 more times. I'm going to DIE. 4 more days of this?? -sigh- I guess this is what I get when I complain about my weight :(


So, Halloween was yesterday. And it was fun to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas in Japanese haha. I gave out my bags of American candy. I wasn't paying attention to anyone but then I saw Ayaka freak out. She was holding her mouth screaming then sorta ran out of the classroom while the people she was with were laughing. I assumed she tried a warhead. haha oh my gosh. Before Halloween came I was giving them out to a variety of people. I can't tell you how much it amused me to watch their faces. Mizuki's was pretty funny and then I couldn't believe that she put 3 in her mouth on Halloween (I put 3 in each bag). She's crazy, my mouth would be on fire. The blue ones left people's tongues blue and they were showing each other. While I was giving out the bags people who had food/candy open with them felt a need to give me a cookie or chocolate as well. I ate too much, and there was TONS of food in that classroom that day. In between each class we have like 10 mins of free time. During one of those a group of people all sat on the floor behind me and had enough food for a class party but there was only like 7 people there. Can I say how non-strict Japanese high schools are? I'm actually amazed. I always heard and thought that Japanese high school were tough and such but they aren't. People bring blankets to school and wear them around the school, we can leave drinks on our desk (I just think we aren't allowed to drink them during class), people sleep in classes like crazy. In Japanese class I counted 14 people with their heads down asleep. I'm sure the classes are super hard if I was a student, but otherwise it's not strict at all.


And that night I was mailing Hattori for the longest time. I didn't stop until around 1 am when I just decided to pass out and sleep. Before I went to sleep though we planned to meet the next day, today, Saturday.
-sigh- So, I was happy to get to meet this guy. Happy to get out of the house and go somewhere. Happy to actually go on a train for the first time (he said he'd meet me at my train station and we'd go together so I don't get lost. He doesn't live in Hitachi). Happy to experience Mito and actually EXPERIENCE it. When I went to Mito with Otoo-san I never went to the mall area or even got to SEE it. Holy crap. Mito is HUGE.


So, about an hour before I was going to Hitachi station I asked him to send me a picture of himself so I could find him, even though I'm sure he'd have no trouble finding me, how hard is it to spot a foreigner? Well, I got his picture. And I immediately freaked. See why?

 

He's scaryyy looking >_< But, I was thinking in my stupid little head that "Oh! This is like the situation in Koi Zora! How awesome!" I was thinking that before I got the picture. Koi Zora is a manga here in Japan that my host sisters told me about. No, I haven't read the manga 'cause I haven't been able to find a English version anywhere. The manga was made into a movie and I found the movie English subbed online and watched it (it's not an anime). It's the cutest/saddest movie I've ever seen! I wanna tell you about the movie. Koi Zora is about this guy getting this girl he likes cell phone number and starts texting/calling her. She has no idea who he is but she begins to like him the more they talk to each other and he won't tell her who he is or show her a picture of himself. Then they decide to meet one day (they happen to go to the same school) but when she meets him she's freaked out because she accuses him of "scary" (I found him cute) and runs away. Eventually they get together and tons of things happen and now I'm not going to spoil the rest of the movie. Seriously people, watch it. It's a great movie, I promise you that.


So, we met at Hitachi Station. And actually, that picture makes him look more scary than he is. In person, he's not cute, but he's not horrifying either. He found me, surprising me from behind, and he showed me how to get my first ticket. I think I know now how to use the train system now but there's no way I can get my tickets only because the citys' names are in kanji. We talked a bit since we had like 15mins before the train came. He talked a lot the entire day. I'm glad. They say and I've asked people about this that most Japanese guys are shy. If he was that case things would have gone terrible. I seriously don't want to call this a date but, I'm going to say it. It really technically was. We were alone and I kinda burst his hopes at the end. I'm not there yet though. Hitachi to Mito is a little less than 30mis on a bullet train. That's what I was on. So, even on the train he talked. He new some English, his sentences mixing English and Japanese, but I'm actually impressed at how well I even understood him. Is my Japanese really getting better? Still, even him knowing some English helped me out. I gave Mizuki two warheads to give him on Friday and he had one of them on the train and ate it. Wayy too sour for him haha.


We got to Mito and then went to Mc Donald's, he didn't eat lunch yet. At Mc Donald's I found out that he smokes since he had to a few times during the day. I can careless though. And I'm not going to go into tons of detail just because this would become long and I don't feel like it. We went to do purikura afterwards and at the moment I'm having trouble getting onto the site so I can get them to post up here. Soon though. They came out really awesome^^ And then we played some games at the arcade.


Went to the book store to look at some manga. And there I found every single manga of the Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni series!!! Before I leave this country I'm buying them all. I love that series^^ (all time favorite). He showed me some, told me what they were about, then we went to Starbucks. Damn, was it great to have a caramel frappachino again. I haven't had Starbucks in like over a year. It was delicious^^ And then we went for a walk along the river there for about an hour just talking. On our way back though to Mito station he asked me if I had a boyfriend and what kind of guys I like. -sigh- well, thanks to this conversation he at least knows I'm not interested in him. I said I like my guys with their hair spiky (well, with my hands I tried to describe spiky). Yeah, he looked prettyyy disappointing. But it's not just the fact that his appearance isn't what I liked, there's one HUGE thing also blocking my way. NASCAR. This guys really really really likes cars and racing. He went to Florida to see NASCAR. He went to Germany to see German cars. His school specializes in mechanic stuff. He wants to work as a mechanic for NASCAR in his future. There is seriously a twitch in me when it comes to racing, especially NASCAR. I guess it's because I can't understand how people can watch a car drive in a loop for hours. And car stuff, I just hate hearing about it. Knowing that this is what that person likes it goes right through me.


While we were at Mito I think I saw Saori (Ai's friend). Let me rephrase that, I think she saw me. We were walking and then Hattori stopped walking and turned around asking me if I knew them. Huh? Who did I know? He said that those girls just said my name. I didn't even know people said my name. I turned around and the one girl was waving to me (they were still walking in the other direction). I was staring at her trying to think if she was a classmate or something. I couldn't figure out who she was but she OBVIOUSLY knew me. Then when she gave up waving and turned her face popped in my head. I feel bad for not realizing it was most likely her and just staring at her the entire time like an idiot. I would have liked to say hi. I'm pretty sure it was her...


But anyway, I now love Mito^^


The train home was more quiet between us, his stop is actually before mine but he stayed with me so I still wouldn't get lost^^ But I seriously did enjoy myself. He was fun to be with and it seriously didn't go as terrible as I thought it would. I had fun and that's seriously all that matters.


Later in the night it was me and Ai again. "Kyou wa nani o shita?" (what did you do today?). No one had any idea what I did. Only Okaa-san and Otoo-san knew I went to Mito (they had to take me to the train station and pick me up) and Tonpi and Ai weren't home in the morning when I woke up (Ai was at work, I have no idea where Tonpi was. Maybe school?). But they all thought I went with a friend, most likely Ayami again. Well, I technically did go with a friend haha. But she was a little surprised I went to Mito though... I think. And I showed her the purikura, shocked I was with a guy and asked me if we were a couple. Pfft! No. I said he looked scary. The purikura doesn't make him look as scary as the picture above. So, then I showed her that picture. She found that one a little bit. Then she went on, "kare wa suki?" (do you like him?). Noooo. I said again he's a little scary and asked if she agreed. She didn't fully agree with me. So, I kinda felt like the idiot that I'm too picky. But the whole NASCAR/car thing does get to me. That's no lie.


Besides, Friday there were 2 guys from the all boys school on my bus, and the one was actually cute, and before my bus stop he actually said hi to me, then when I got off he said bye to me. Sooo, I have time yet. My hole has been filled for the time being. Just knowing there's a guy I can mail every so often makes me happy.

Japan Blog 27 (October 29, 2008) hmm, Hattori, is it?

Welcome, Wednesday night.


So, I don't know if there's many people curious on my current situation right now but I shall say things are looking good. With Ai's, Sayaka's, and Mizuki's help I started talking to 3 different guys. Now, it's down to one. I'll explain why. And having a keitai here sure is useful. Japanese students sure do rely on them a lot. But before I get into all that...
Saturday was the last time I posted a blog, right? So, lets see, Sunday. Sunday Otoo-san took me to some fire safety thing. What did I do there? I passed buckets of water to people, used a fire extinguisher (sorry about my spelling) to put out a fire (I'm surprised these people even tried to teach me to use it haha), and I walked into a tent filled with smoke trying to find my way to the exit. It was to show you how being trapped in a house filled with smoke was like and there were fake walls in the tent so you had to find your way around. I got lost. But when I made it out I was choking. After that we went to some kind of festival thing where that place I made crapes was. I made cotton candy this time. I swear I must have made 200 of them for all these little kids wanting it. Tsukareta (I was tired)~~ It was fun though actually. I enjoyed myself. When I came home Okaa-san and Tonpi were back, but damn I was exhausted. Seriously. They were looking at my package I got from my parents filled with American food, and Tonpi joined me in my room for whatever reason I can't remember why. Ai came home about an hour or two later and came in my room with us with this smirk on her face telling me to come here. I only knew what it was and I just laughed. That friend of her's from the night before, became interested. She gave me his number and I was told to mail him (it's called mail here, not text). So I did and that went on for a bit that night. His name is Masaki and I found out a bit about him. I asked for a picture and got something I didn't want. -sigh- The picture explains it all. He's the one on the right.




You see? He has a shaved head. That turned me off already. I like my guys with HAIR. HAIR. He's into baseball so that's why it's like that Ai told me. He was really nice, too, sending me mail with the kanji and it's hiragana in parentheses (bad spelling again). But anyway, I'm glad it only lasted that night and for two mails the next morning. I haven't talked to him since. Then Monday at school Sayaka told me about this friend of her's named Kazuto. She assured me he has hair (haha). So, I mailed him, found out he's in Badminton Club (woot!) but that was all I got from him. Just that night. I tried again the next morning but nothing came. Sayaka said he likes foreigners but I don't know what happened. Actually, yesterday I tried mailing him again and he actually responded back. He was in the middle of a Badminton tournament though. But anyway, he doesn't seem too interested so I gave up on him. Mizuki's friend is actually the best so far. Monday night I had to go to some Rotary dinner and Mizuki sent me mailing asking if I'd want her friends number saying: "he's a interesting person". Interesting is always good, I mean at least you can't get bored, right? I got his number the next day at school, she was busy the rest of that night she couldn't give me it. But before him
I wanna talk about my dinner. I wasn't told anything about a speech so I was super happy. Unfortunately, Otoo-san surprises me near the end saying to give a small speech in Japanese. Is he serious? Dekinai (I can't)~~~~ Damn him. I'm glad he had some pictures of what I've been doing lately so I just stumbled around making those sentences, telling everyone. I was speechless at first though. The dinner was Italian food. For a Japanese chef making Italian food, it was actually pretty good. And the dessert with it UWAHH~~~ oishikatta (it was delicious)~~~


Tuesday arrives and I'm pumped for some badminton in gym class. Oh no. I HAD to be surprised. Ayami's asks me if I have my outside shoes with me (shoes 3 finally getting it's use). No. I only have my gym shoes. Aren't we in the gym as usual today? No. We RAN. WE RAN. Seriously, what is wrong with these people. How could they run like they did? I think we were forced o run 2 km and I'm not sure how long that is but it was TOO long for me. Oh yes. I gave up not even half way through it. Me run? HAH. No way. I was exhausted! Ayami's still running and then I just stop dead in my tracks and begin to walk. People began passing me up, my classmates asking me if I'm going to run. My answer: "Akirameru" (I give up). I walked the rest of the way. We didn't even run in the school. We left the school and ran in a huge circle around it on the streets while the teacher stayed in the school. We seriously could have just ran off. And since I didn't have my outside shoes I borrowed some girl's in my class, she had an extra pair. Running and wearing shoes that really don't fit you doesn't mix for me.


Then there was today. So, every Wednesday we have a free period to do whatever the heck we want really. I was preparing to sleep until I saw everyone changing into their gym uniform. Huh? I don't have my gym uniform. What are we doing? We don't even HAVE gym today. No. Don't tell me we're freaking picking god damn weeds again?!?!?!?!? Thank god we weren't doing that. But I wasn't expecting what we did do. First of all, my legs were KILLING me. Still are actually. I could hardly get myself to sit, they didn't want to bend. So, it was pretty painful before and after classes having to stand then sit back down each time to bow. But we ended up walking again. We walked to the mall. I still had no idea why either. But all the ichi (1) and ni (2) nensei (students) were doing this. We got to the center of the mall and split into groups. Guess what we were doing? We were picking up garbage. GARBAGE. All of us walked down here, were given a bag, gave us a route to walk, and were told to go garbage picking, with our bare hands I may as well add. I don't understand anymore. We are doing the strangest stuff here. First the pulling of weeds, now picking up garbage? -sigh- It was fun though just being with your friends screaming "gomi!" (garbage) and pointing at it when we saw a cigarette bud or what the best prize was: a traffic cone. We actually got lost too. Teachers weren't with us, we just had to follow our route. But we forgot what our route was and started taking just any path. We weren't just cleaning the outside of the mall, it was the streets around it too. Then eventually we headed back to the school. So, school life sure is interesting for sure. All the weird stuff we do.


Hmm, and now for Hattori. He's Mizuki's friend and is a san (3) nensei. I started talking to him yesterday and he's actually quite easy to talk to. Like, when I was talking to the other two it was just hard to keep the conversations flowing. Always having to bring a new subject up. I guess it's a good thing he's "interesting" as Mizuki says. She hasn't given me a reason as to why he is though. She said he likes foreigners though. So, I've been mailing him a lot and we've already decided to go do karaoke soon, maybe this weekend? With a group of friends of course. I think karaoke would be pretty awkward and boring with just two people, especially if you don't even know each other that great. So, I told him to bring some friends. I'll have to drag Mizuki with me. But I'm a little afraid to actually meet in person, because I understand Japanese a lot more when it's written in front of my face. Like this mailing is no problem for me. And I seem pretty fluent with it. Once I have to talk or respond back to a question, things aren't going to go as smoothly :(
So, yeah. I should have a picture of him sometime soon, whenever I decide to ask him or if I get one thins weekend. I'm not exactly sure what he looks like yet, Mizuki showed me a picture but it was too far away of him so I'm not sure. But, he has hair  ^_^ [[there was just a small earthquake right now]]

Japan Blog 26 (October 26, 2008) I need to rant

Like the title says, I need to go on a rant. Really badly.


I'm like having a no-guys-in-my-life relasp. I didn't think that no guys in my life would actually be THIS bad. Like sure, before I even came here I wasn't too fond of the idea of going to an all girls school but I knew I would survive and that it wouldn't be as bad as I thought it would be. Look at me now, I did survive and I'm having a blast there. That was until today. Relasp. I'm having a relasp. Cody, Wit, Bruce, every guy I knew back in America, I MISS YOU! It's not the same without them. There is seriously a empty space in me. I don't know why all of a sudden two days ago this really started to bother me, too. Friday I had to say something to Mizuki and Sayaka and Ai. Today I went to Seisho High School with Ayami for that school festival and so many amazing guys were there I could have fainted. (By the way, I think Otoo-san was a little scared about me going on a train myself so he just drove me to Minami Station [the station I was to meet Ayami at] instead and then Ayami and her mom drove me home, so I survived ^_^).


It's bad. And then I went to supper with Otoo-san and his friend and they were talking about Ai and I swore I heard the word "kareshii" (boyfriend) come out of his mouth. His friend's daughter was with us and both our heads turned at this with a "eh?" (that sound effect here in Japan means 'what?'). When did this happen? So, that means when I was talking to Ai about my guy issue on Friday, did she have a kareshii then? So then when she returned home on Saturday (technically yesterday 'cause it's after midnight right now) I was determined to ask her about it, see if I was hearing things. She was in her room basically all night and right when I was going to give up and go to sleep she came walking out in the living room, it was like 11:10 pm. I asked and she gave an embarrassed smile. I KNEW IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE FOR HER TO NOT HAVE A BOYFRIEND! Sorry. But it's pretty recent. I was just asking a bunch of questions really and I forced her to show me a picture. I guess... I guess we actually can have a conversation, it just depends on the topic haha.


So, this is what I found out: they started dating on the 12th of this month, his name is Takuya (how freaking cool is that! I told her that name was cool and she laughed. She was really embarrassed about all this, not to mention she kept saying "hazukashii" (embarrassing) a lot), he rides a motorcyle (even more cool!! People here could get licenses for driving motorcyles at age 16 but to drive cars you need to be 18. Strange, ne?), and he smokes. He looks really good though. Luckyyy~~ She tried to tell me a word in Japanese to say what he was like and where she put it in the dictionary the word 'juvenile delinquent' came up. I started laughing. There were other words that came up with that but it's just that word HAD to be there. She said he's amazingly nice and just yesterday he bought her a Mickey Mouse necklace and he bought a matching one for himself. Kawaii~~!! The necklace looked like it would be on the expensive side too. It was really nice. After she said that it's not good, about the smoking and stuff I said, "Demo ai desho?" (But it's love, right?). It's hard to use the word "ai" with her because that's her name too. She didn't understand what I was saying ai for until I made a heart with my fingers.


But seriously, isn't it nice? We actually talked for awhile too. We have the same interest in common. And all I kept saying was "ii na" (I'm not exactly sure on the exact translation of that but it's along the lines of 'that's wonderful/awesome' and nice things like that). I think she felt my pain. And right now, Ai, I can't thank you enough even if things don't work out. Seriously. Arigatou gozaimasu. Hontou, arigatou. Ai thought of some people in her school that she knew and came up with this one guy and began texting him. My chess piece finally made a move. The texting went back and forth till about midnight when she told me she thinks he went to sleep. An exact answer didn't come from him yet if he was interested or not, but the texting went on for some time so he had to be asking questions. The biggest problem/question: "the language barrier". I think I might have been able to meet with him today if I didn't already have plans, 'cause Ai asked me what I had planned. Otoo-san already has plans with me (crap!). She asked me about height, hair style, personality, the such. And where would I go if I get one. So, I guess I really won't know till sometime later today what will happen. But I have to seriously study now. Which also means at the moment I'm giving up on kanji. I'll study that once a week but now I'm focusing on memorizing vocab.



So yeah. From this whole relasp this week this is where it bought me. So, Brittany (Brittany Pleash, by the way), when I said 'don't lose faith in me just yet', now I'm serious haha. I'm sure any one of my friends could guess that inside joke anyway haha. To end this off I'll say one more fact I asked Ai about. haha. I asked her if she ever tried smoking before. See, she hates smoking because it smells. So, I asked her if she ever tried. Her answer was yes but then I asked what age. I wasn't expecting that answer. She couldn't even remember her age but she said it was in elementary school. She's like, "it makes you choke". Kyaha. Wow Ai. But thanks bunches. Seriously. And now I know there isn't a barrier between us, we just never get the chances ^_^


And people, listen to the song "Chiisana Koi no Uta" by Mongol 800. (Chiisana Koi no Uta = Small Love Song). It's not new but... it's still sweet ^_^

Japan Blog 25 (October 24, 2008) yes! 2-7 is back!

wow it's already Friday. Time sure did pass, thank god too. (this is a bit long)



So, this week I was stuck in two different classrooms since my class was in Hawaii. Damn them. I'm really glad they're back though. Andd~ I was given a gift ^_^ The class got me a bracelet ^_^ but to tell you the truth even though Mizuki told me it was from everyone I don't think everyone knew about it 'cause when Ayami saw me wearing it she asked if it was from Hawaii. I said it was from everyone and it didn't quite hit her at first. I really love it though and I'm not big into that stuff. Ugh, and the rain today. Totally insane. It was literary (I just looked up in my dictionary how to spell that. I'm forgetting English >_


So, I was kinda dreading about this week. Only because I really didn't want to go to 2 other classes since my class wasn't here. On Monday and Tuesday I was sent to class 3-7. Ugh, what a bore. The people weren't as in your face as my class was. Like I mean, they were just uninterested in me. Not like I really cared but it made things boring. At lunch me and Pat only ate with this one girl, who was talking to Pat because she knew Thai as well. She was there as an exchange student last year. But yeah. It actually wasn't until Tuesday that I started talking to this one girl. It wasn't even until last period that I did that too 'cause it was English class and we were asked to separate into a group and I just randomly joined her's. She was actually born in Florida but moved back to Japan soon after. She said she wants to go to college in America to work with programs like Unicef and such. That's really awesome. I couldn't understand when she told me her name. It sounded like Ellena but then she saw the kanji on my shoe (Mizuki wrote my name in kanji on my school shoe) and she said the first kanji was the same as her's. So if her name has kanji it's definitely not American. So, in a way I was a little upset that that was my last day. I DID want to meet new people. But oh wells, I suppose. Class 1-6 awaited me.



Wednesday and Thursday was class 1-6. I discovered after walking into the classroom that the girl who comes for every morning for the bus is in that class. She took me to the room, too, since I asked her to. But that was bad. It was like the same as 3-7, no one really cared. I mean, yeah, they all glanced at me but it wasn't until Nora (she belongs to that class) came over to me with her friends. That's when they started talking to me. It was nice. Okay, so maybe I do care just A LITTLE that no one cares that you're there. Only because it just makes you feel sooo awkward being there. The first class was supposed to be English. I was shocked when I saw the teacher put Ponyo in. Ponyo is Hayao Miyazaki's (if you don't know who he is and you're an anime fan, you're an idiot. A BIG idiot.) newest movie. It has a longer name but I only know it as Ponyo. I didn't think it came out of theaters here yet so I was a bit surprised. It is seriously like brand new. After a black body suddenly walked on the screen I realized it was one of those bootleg movies. I've been dying to see that movie though, even though it was the very end of it I'm glad I saw it. So, that made me pretty happy ^_^
Then we were off to the classes where I have in 2-7 where we only speak English. There was one different teacher though. She's African American and actually from Pennsylvania as well, shockingly. She said she lives near Penn State. Well, LIVED. I think she thought I was a new student in the class like Nora was 'cause she wanted me to write a essay about what I thought the differences were in Japan and America. Phew, thank god I'll never be seeing her again. An essay? Cummon. Can't I just tell you? But yeah. The day went by but there was this one girl that stuck out. Her name was Mizuki (wow, now I know 2 Mizuki's) and she seemed like she seriously wanted to be my friend. Like she was helping me by telling me where to go and such and in the second all-speak-English class I got to talk to her a bit more. Then she just got super shy. It was strange. Before the whole becoming shyness thing she was saying about doing Purikura and stuff and then invited me to eat lunch with her. No words were said in lunch. I gave her my keitai address but she never put her's in my phone. I don't know. It was all too strange. Then there was this class. It was kinda like an home economics class but that day we learned about old people. We were given these glasses to wear so that our visions were like blinded, taped our middle and index finger together, and stuck cotton balls in our ears so we had less hearing. Then we had to lead our partners through the classroom while they were blindfolded. I now know how a old person feels. Also in that class these two girls called me cute. More for the tallying. But then I was asked if I would marry them. This is actually the second time I was asked this here. In the beginning I thought it was all a joke but now I'm getting worried it's not. Monday, I found out Nozomi (Pat's host sister who's also in class 3-7 [she never asked me to marry her though]) is 10% lesbian. She told us at lunch. And I asked her at the Rotary camp thing if she minded being at an all girls school (I was complaining then that there were no guys) and she said no. And then the two girls who asked me this, the one states that the other girl was a lesbian. They were both laughing so I'm not sure if it was serious or not. Not that that stuff bothers me but I wish I knew if it's a joke or not so I could give a stupid response back.



And I know I mentioned how we have to clean the classrooms. And that we clean the halls and stuff. Yeah. Well, I guess I should say this: we clean basically the entire school, we all have different jobs is all. Students are even sent to sweep the road of the school. But, Wednesday I was sent to help clean the bathroom. I did NOT think we also cleaned the bathroom. I looked at Mizuki shocked. The bathroom? The BATHROOM? Yeah. They hosed down the bathroom floor and then they all went with scrubbing brooms and scrubbed the bathroom floor. I didn't have to do that thank god, I ran the sweeper outside the bathroom door but still. That's crazy. And the building where all the ichi nensei (first year student) go, it's incredibly dirty. If I was Nora and was stuck in that building I think I'd go crazy. Sitting in there those two days made me feel like I went to a crappy school. Sure I understand it's an old building but that was terrible. They could at least do SOMETHING with it.



Thursday I felt sick. I slept in basically all my classes, well tried. Third period I couldn't because the Health teacher wouldn't let me. He's a really funny guy, all the students like him. I like him. It's just that personally that he has that he'll poke you with something if you're sleeping. That's what he did to me. I attempted at slumber but then he hit this white stick over my head. He's actually the only teacher who seems to care what I do in class haha. But I felt sick. Uck. And remember when I felt sick before? I figured out how it happened. SLEEPING. It's true. I felt sick again when I woke up from that sleep. It's actually the third time it's happened. So now I can't sleep no matter what or else I feel terrible all day. That totally sucks. How the hell can you get sick from sleeping? I am somehow. Mizuki was acting really strange that day. Wednesday I also found out she's in Sado (Tea Ceremony) Club too, which is cool 'cause now I know someone else in there except Pat and Nora. But she was acting strange. Like, she seemed like such a loner but yet soo many people talked to her. It made no sense to me. The last two classes of that day were either art or music. I was going to go to art but I thought it would be easier to sleep in music. So, I went there. In the beginning that was impossible. We were learning to play the guitar, which is awesome. I always wanted to learn. A girl next to me taught me a little but I forgot it already :( But then I got to sleep most of the time. This girl came up to me twice in the day asking if I liked Hannah Montana or The Suite Life of Zack and Cody on the Disney Channel. She says she really likes Hannah Montana. There you go, Ashley. I found you a Japanese fan.



I'm standing at the bus stop after school that day waiting for the bus as usual and this older lady goes walking pass. This short lady "glares" up at me on her way pass and growls something at me. I have no idea what the hell she said but I wouldn't doubt that she cursed me off. 'Cause after she passed me some guy that was near me looked up at me. What the hell was her problem? I curse you off too.



Tonpi twisted her ankle on Wednesday and Koudai got into a motorcycle accident that day as well. It wasn't a very good day for my parents here but Koudai is alright, thank goodness. But at the moment Okaa-san and Tonpi are at the hospital. They're going to be there for two days. I'm not exactly sure why two days, but it involves Koudai I know that. So, me, Ai, and Otoo-san are only here. Well, really only me and Ai. Otoo-san is usually never here and he already told me he won't be much. So, here is today. haha and I felt like an idiot when I had to ask Mizuki (from my class, 2-7) to introduce me to some guys. Yeah, I'm going crazy. You can't live with girls surrounding you. Damn Ai, you're lucky. I showed her the piece of paper I wrote it on and she started laughing saying "kawaii" in between. She's gunna help me though. She then showed it to Sayaka who just smiled this like really warm smile. "Kawaii" came out of her mouth too. Sayaka said she'd ask someone. She was all serious about this though. When we went to clean she started asking me questions about height and hair style. haha Thanks Sayaka.



Since Otoo-san was out today me and Ai were in the house alone. We actually talked. wow. We talked. It was great. And I gave her a lemon Warhead. Watching her eat it: PRICELESS. She wasn't expecting that much sour to hit her. She was almost screaming in pain. I asked her about the boy thing too and she was trying to think of people. We'll see what happens now ^_^ I gotta study hells more now though.



Tomorrow I'm going on a train for the first time. ALONE. I've never been on a train before. I'm gunna get lost. I have to meet Ayami at a station 20 minutes away on train and then we're going to some other place who knows how far away just to go to some school festival. Some school called Seisho High School. She said I don't have to wear my uniform, YES! I really think that's stupid that they do. But I'm finally getting out and with some friends. We were gunna try for karaoke but why we're going here instead I have no idea and it's just the two of us, too. So yeah. I hope I don't get lost. I just have to count the stops. I was told she's at the 5th stop. Damn. "Lost Foreigner" posters will be everywhere haha.