make'em listen

Another day, Another Update ^^

2008-10-18T00:45:00.006+09:00

Wow, 2 updates 2 days in a row. I'm on a roll! I’m trying to figure out if today could have been better. I can think of a couple things, but that’s neither here nor there. Soo, I had the last of my Japanese midterm today. I know I passed, but I THINK I got an A. We’ll see. We had ANOTHER oral, can you believe that?! I could believe it, if I had looked at the study guide, but alas…anyway, the only part I was COMPLETELY clueless on was the transitive and intransitive verbs. Which was a VERY small part on the written exam, but was about half of the oral, sooo, oops. After that, I got some delicious Indian curry. We even got free iced coffee (that I think only Ayla and I had, so I felt kind bad) probably because we go there like once a week. While at dinner, Juan (never heard his name here before, huh?) mentioned video games…and we all know I’m game for games anytime, no pun intended. Or, was there? So we went to crea mall, he tried out taiko, guitar freaks, beat mania and pop ‘n music. And we played the arcade version of Silent Hill. And by played I mean OWNED. After that, we stopped by Modi and I bought some drum stick from the music store. I hope they’re heavy enough for taiko. I wanted smaller sticks so I don’t get tired as easily and can play faster songs. But If they’re too light, the sensors may not pick them up >< we’ll see. He headed home to get his camera, and I went back to campus to meet up with Keishya. Eventually we ended up with Nash, Tomoki, Keishya, and Brad, and a couple of us played tetris and puyopuyo together. Tons of fun. Around 7 we headed to dinner and met up with everyone at 8, got alcohol, and headed to KARAOKE. Which is funny, because the 3 people I met on Wednesday who were like “we have to practice our skits. Go Friday night!” didn’t even come. But we had such AWESOME people there tonight! A list: Ayla, Keishya, Nash, Tomoki, Yuuta, Juan, Sean, Brad, Erich, and Peter. Eventually, we also had Alexis, Annie, Alex, and Dan. It would be nice if Yuuta were just SLIGHTLY less attractive…I’m just sayin’. So anyway, we had sooo much fun. Nash and Tomoki sang Kobukuro. WAAAAHHHH!!! After our 2 hours were up, and we couldn’t extend, we went out to pay. While out there, I met another student from my school, who called me ‘fashionable’ and I almost died of embarrassment. Not something I’m exactly used to hearing, but it felt nice :) I tried today :P He was cute though. They asked me where I lived, and they said it was close (yeah, one station…) and then said I should skip last train and hang out with them tonight. Oh, the temptation. One of them is freakin HOT too. I don’t think he remembers my name, but I totally remember his from the FIRST DAY of orientation. But ya know, if an unmentionable someone had said the same thing, I would have agreed, no hesitation. MOVING ON! After deciding we didn’t sing enough (seriously, kid, marry me) a small group of us moved into another room. I sang some BoC (Katie, Yuuta LOVES boc, you guys would get along) with Yuuta, some Yamapi with Keisha, some Enrique with Juan, and everyone enjoyed some BSB!!! But the last hour ended early when we had to leave to catch last train. It STILL wasn’t enough. Yuuta leaves for China on Sunday, so a couple of us are meeting for MORE karaoke tomorrow for 2-3 hours before the festival. It was just a good day. Besides some creepy guys sitting in a car on a one way street with the inside light on and one OBVIOUSLY taking a picture of me with his phone, creepers…it was an AWESOME day.

Enjoy some photos, yo!

Nash fanning me off. :P
As many people as I could get in the shot >_<

Can't remember the song, but it made everyone dance. Maybe 'Graceland'??

She is GONE!

Nash singing KOBUKURO...to ME! haha

Me and Juan

Pimpin' dem hoes

Nash and Dan: BANZA~I! \^o^/

Silent Hill - Juan

Silent Hill - Me...obviously

Yuuta and Tomoki!

Sean and Alex rockin READY STEADY GO! (larc)

Mine and Keishya's frisky pose :P

Where has the time gone?!

2008-10-15T22:57:00.009+09:00

I’m not really in the mood to study, so while I sit here listening to a mix of Mucc, System, B’z and Kobukuro, I shall update my blog. But my God, WHERE TO START?! I’ll look through my pictures as I type this. If I took pictures, it must have been somewhat important, right?! Let’s begin…

Well, it seems the last thing I wrote about was UGG, that’s mostly the reason I didn’t update as often as I used to. I was having a grand ol’ time, until they told me they didn’t want us to come to practice anymore. I was pretty torn up by it, and I’m trying to just move on, so I don’t want to talk about it much. Whether it was because we aren’t Japanese, or maybe they didn’t think we were good enough, no reason they could have given us would have sufficed in my eyes. Which, BTW, they didn’t give us a reason. I wish I had a bit more closure with it, then maybe I wouldn’t harbor such harsh emotions toward them, but, well, it is what it is. And if you know me, you know about my grudges. I finally found something that made this school suck just a little bit less…but alas, it disappointed me. My advice: ALWAYS live with high enthusiasm, but NEVER with high expectations. Enough of that, moving on.

Got my mucc tickets. Wednesday, November 12 is the date. But it’ll be difficult to go, considering I can’t find my tickets. Now, I know I’m pretty absent-minded…but these are MUCC tickets we’re talking about. I’ve kept them in my purse since the day I bought them, but now, I can’t find them. And I don’t have even the SLIGHTEST clue where I could have possibly lost them. I’m going to check lost and found tomorrow. Maybe they just fell out my bag or something, but I won’t hold my breath. When I bought the tickets, they ask for a ton of information, so I’m kind of hoping I can go to Lawson’s (the convenience store where I bought them) and they can look me up and replace them for a small fee or something. That would be grand, but again, not holding my breath. Kids, don’t be irresponsible. It’s annoying.

Since the last time, I’ve been to karaoke more times than I can remember, and have pictures from each time, but they all just end up looking the same right? But yeah, that’s mostly what I do for fun. I don’t consider it at all negative that I didn’t write for a long time, it just shows I found things to occupy my time. Mostly karaoke and shopping, but that’s SOMETHING right?

My birthday was a blast. During the day, Ayla and I went to Akihabara (Akiba, easier to say, lol) And I bought the FINAL FIGURE for my Genshiken collection. I’ve been looking for her for YEARS, and we went into some sketchy ally because I saw a sign that said “TOYS*FIGURES*MODELS” and said, well, let’s give it a shot. One floor was all the new gay crap. Up another floor was new and old, RFB, and NRFB (never removed from box, BWAHA. Sorry, dork moment). The floor above that was all the hardcore beautiful expensive models and costumes, and above that was the fanservice (I guess adult themed is a good way to put it) model floor. I zigzagged through the isles, and finally gave up when I walked down the last isle…until I saw her beautiful yellow box. I’ve the picture so many times, but could never get my hands on it. And there is was, for $25!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! The other 2 figures I have are Saki and Ouno cosplaying Pres and V. Pres from Kujibiki Unbalance. This one is of Ouno getting dressed, haha. I’m just happy my freakin collection is finished. All still in the boxes and beautiful. I’ll probably be sending that one home separately from everything else. After that, we met up with Keishya, Peter, and Sean, and PA’s: Tomoki, Ayako, Hiroyo, Miho and her friend Akkii. We did some Karaoke, and I got some awesome cake and a really pretty Kuromi Limited Edition mirror from Tomoki ^^ Then on Sunday, I went to this not so fun music event…to support UGG, but of course, our efforts went unnoticed. Haha, bitter much? YES. Afterward, Keishya and I went to Omiya for the first time on a whim, after finding out Akkii and Miho work there…and that it’s a big shopping district. And yes, yes it is, lol. It had MANY of my favorite stores, and I’m SO excited I don’t have to go to Tokyo to shop again. The arcade even has a game I would travel 1.5 hours to Akiba or an hour to Ikebukuro to play, so I’m pretty happy I only have to go 20 minutes to play when I want. They only have one, and I usually have to wait, but hey, that saves me MONEY! Then on Monday, my host mom took me out to a fancy Italian dinner with Youko, her husband (Yuu), his brother (onii-san), and his brother’s girlfriend (not important), and Hiroko (Youko’s twin). Where they told me the way I hold my fork is ‘interesting.’ Interesting = Wrong. My host mom apparently came from a family who forced etiquette lessons on her, because allll the girls held their forks the same proper way, and asked mom when they didn’t know which fork to use for which course during dinner. I was like…I can NOT believe a group of people from a county that uses chopsticks (predominately) is critiquing the way I use silverware. Haha, it was humorous.

Akkii and I got a long really well, and meet up a while ago to play video games and get dinner and such in Omiya (GOSH I love Omiya) but we haven’t been keeping in touch much lately. He works at least 2 jobs, and he commutes to school 2 hours both ways. I still try to invite him to things sometimes on the off chance that he’ll be free and nearby.

I went to even more UGG events, and UGG member’s birthday outings. Again, our efforts went unnoticed and underappreciated. More than anything, I hate wasting my time, and they wasted 3 weeks of my life. Thanks, you selfish pricks. Yup, still bitter. With time, though, with time.

While sitting in the lobby one day, I met these guys Yuuta and Youhei…which is HILARIOUS considering those are the names of the penpals (Kae’s friends) we had from Osaka before we came to Japan. Anyway, Yuuta is this beautiful, smart, Japanese SAINT whom I don’t really talk to, but hey, I’m ok with just looking. And Youhei is just freaking funny. We talk a lot, and try to hang out when he’s free after school or work. He lives in Omiya too, so that’s nice and convenient. HAHA! Anyway, he has classes on 2^nd campus, and recently (like this week and last week) I’ve been going to this event I think he’s co-coordinating where you meet and talk to ESL (English as second language) students. All JSP students have class on first campus, and for Japanese students who have class at first campus, it’s easy to meet us and talk to us, and practice English if they want. But 2^nd campus students only have each other to practice. And since it IS second language, no one is really THAT strong. Hiro was there, too. The tall, tan, hansome piece of Japanese MAN-MEAT from UGG…he’s cool. The people I’ve met are really nice – let me not assume that, let’s just say they’re all really timid – and after you get past the awkward silence of trying to think of something to talk about, it’s quite fun talking to them. Knowing that something as lame as ‘How was your weekend? What kind of music do you like? Why are you studying English’ is helping them, makes me feel just a bit better about myself. Haha, I assure you, it’s still a selfless act, but it is fun for me. It would be cool to make just one more friend because then we could practice English and Japanese outside of that one hour/week block that we have. We’ll see. I mean, Youhei and I jump back and forth a lot, but he really wants to speak English, and I’m not one to FORCE someone to speak Japanese, haha, but I should make him speak it to me at least while we’re at school. *shrug* Oh, one time me and Towson kids met up with some of the JPS Hawaiians and Youhei in Omiya for dinner, and video games. While I was there I go to play Taiko with some guys. They were watching Brad and I play, and by the time they showed up, we had already done like 6 songs, so we were soooo tired. So they were laughing at us because we were trying to play this hard song but we were soooo tired and I turned around and was like *please don’t laugh!! (in japanese, obviously)* and that only prompted them to laugh more. And I was like, these little brat are going to get on, play on the most difficult level and show off, but they didn’t. They played on the same level as me!! So after stalking around for a while (kekeke) I asked whichever one did the best if we would play with me. We were pretty evenly matched. After I beat him, he made the next song a one hand match (I lost), then we played the last song and I won again :) Then his friend wanted to play me, but the JSPs were waiting for me to take pictures with me (and Youhei was yelling at me in Japanese telling me to hurry…which, again, prompted them to laugh). But after taking pictures I went back to see if he wanted to play. He was going CRAZY. Like dancing and jumping around while he played, it was hilarious, but he did really well. Though I was waiting to play with him, he was too tired and tried to hand me the sticks and asked me to play the last song for him. I tried to refuse since they paid for it, until he put them in my hand and pushed me to the machine, lol. That was a long story, and I’m sure no one cared, but it was the first time I got to play a Japanese person in Japan, so I was pretty excited. After that, some went home, and Youhei, Erich, Brad and I went to Karaoke…that’s pretty much our fallback plan when we don’t wanna go home immediately. It was in a pretty room where you had to take off your shoes before entering and sit on the floor on mats. Sooo pretty.

Skipping other ‘met new people’ and ‘went to karaoke’ adventures, let’s move onto this past weekend…OSAKA!!!

Katie picked me up from the airport with her friend Yasu, who was going home to Kyuushuu for the 3 day weekend. Kae and her dad met us there, and drove us back home. It was nice not having to be on a train again after the 45min to Ikebukuro, 30 min to Tokyo, and 2.5 hours to Shin-Osaka. A bunch of Kae’s friends were there. I can’t remember any of the girl’s names but I someone remember EVERY guy who walked in the door that night. I also got to meet my penpal Youhei (a different one, the kanji for the ‘you’ in his name is 容, it’s differen’t from the youhei at school) who is also now Kae’s boyfriend ^^ Everyone was so awesome, I wish I wasn’t so shy and spoke to them more. I think I was also pretty overwhelmed with being able to see Katie again, aI pretty much only wanted to talk to her. But everyone seemed to have fun drinking and talking to each other, so I guess it’s cool. I’ll try really hard next time, for real!! The next day, we woke up late, ate breakfast which was leftover DELICIOUSNESS from the night before, got dressed and played a couple video games. Then youhei came over. We were talking about doing print club (purikura – it’s the little booths you go into and take pictures and then decorate them. Send them to your phones to make a background, e-mail to your friends, or just print them, peel off the back, and stick them on everything. Tons of fun) and around the time we were talking about it, I was read to do Kae’s makeup. Youhei was lying on the couch and I asked if I should do his too, and he and Kae BOTH said yes. Apparently, they had both been wanting to dress him up like a girl and do purikura…weird Japanese people. HAHA! But yeah, so, I did youhei’s makeup (while watching Ryou Ishikawa get an EAGLE in golf on TV!!! It was soooo cool!!) then Katie’s, then Kae’s, then mine, THEN we headed out. After purikura, I was able to play a round of JUBEAT then we headed home to meet Kae’s dad and go out to dinner. Osaka is known for its delicious food, especially Okonomiyaki (it’s like a pancake of vegetables or meat or fish or whatever you order) and Takoyaki (batterballs with octopus inside) I made sure not to eat okonomiyaki before going to Osaka, and I’m sooo glad I waited. It was AMAZING! Especially the mochi cheese. I dunno if every knows what mochi is, but I can’t explain it. Check wikipedia or google it or something, lol. But yeah, it was amazing. After dinner, we (kae, Katie, dad, KAE’S MOM, and 3 of their friends) went to karaoke. We had a blast. They kept asking if I really was sick (put it this way, I cut off Glamorous Sky, which I sing ALL THE TIME…I was really sick), but they all really liked my voice. It made me happy, but I wish these people heard me sing without music so they got it into their heads that I’m NOT a good singer, I can just match the pitches well enough that they overlook my voice, haha. After that, we went to get ramen. Here’s the normal routine for older Japanese men: wake up, work, dinner, 2^nd dinner, karaoke + snacks, ‘supper.’ HOW ARE THESE PEOPLE STILL SKINNY?! The next day was SUPPOSED to be my final day. We woke up, go dressed and headed out to Namba for some shopping. Katie got a ton of stuff, I got a hat. Probably the cheapest shopping trip EVER, haha. But I really just didn’t see anything I REALLY wanted. Afterward, Kae’s dad met us for dinner, followed by Karaoke with her mom and more food. *sigh* After that we took her mom home and headed home ourselves. Youhei came over for a bit and we all hung out a bit, then turned in for the night. Oh, Monday was a Japanese holiday. EVERYONE ONE BUT JSP STUDENTS had off from school. I was annoyed. But then when I found out there was a mistake one the schedule and my history midterm really wasn’t on that day, Kae and Katie and I went to the station to change my ticket to Monday night. On Monday, Katie and I met up with her friend Shouhei from school, and we, you guessed it, did Karaoke. We got there when the place opened at 11. For $10, we could’ve stayed till 6pm, but we left around 1 to meet Kae for lunch and some shopping. Around 4:30, I headed back to Shin-Osaka station to catch my train home. So sad.

Yesterday I had 2 parts of my like FIVE part midterm exam for Japanese. I had to talk for 2 minutes about my best friend. Considering I talk about her pretty much 5 hours everyday, it was no difficult feat. Afterward, Sensei told me how impressed she was in my listening ability, since it wasn’t ‘so incredibly wonderful’ when I first arrived. But she was more impressed with how fluidly I spoke. Trust me, I was pretty impressed too, since I wrote it 4 hours before class after only 4 hours of sleep, a horrible cold, and only reading it aloud twice. Sooo, yeah, I think I did well. Then we had the composition exam that I TOTALLY forgot about. But they listed a ton of sentence structures on the side, and you were supposed to mark it off as you used them, so that made it easier. The difficult part was more so just trying to figure out what you wanted to say in ENGLISH before you translated it. It was a strange topic, like, plan your friend’s best birthday party. I still think I did well though. I mean, it wasn’t interesting, but we had to use 5 of the listed sentence structures and I used like 15, so I’m ok in that aspect. After that I went to Old Kawagoe with Ayla to buy a gift for her boyfriend and head back to second campus again to talk to the ESL students. I was feeling pretty under the weather, so no dinner and karaoke last night.

I was in bed by 8pm and slept till 9 this morning. I needed that. I lounged around a bit, then cleaned a little bit, then headed to campus for ‘homework.’ I just sat and spoke to Keishya and the Hawaiians for a bit, then we went to the PACKED computer lab. Keishya and I just stayed in the lounge and played Nintendo for a bit. Afterward, we headed to the Tomodachi (friend) Event the PA’s set up. I like to meet other people, but events like this are hard. The ice breakers are usually really force and awkward. But I think Matt did pretty well, they were complete random questions you wouldn’t normally just throw into a conversation. I spoke to 3 really nice girls, but we probably won’t remember each other’s names by the end of the night. While I was there, I got to speak to Satsuki again, she was one of the girls I met at Karaoke FOREVER ago. And also these 2 guys Miho introduced me to a couple weeks ago. It was 3 guys: The one with the cool hair, the one with the cool name, and the one with the cool shirt; Kazuya, Ryuutarou, and Masaharu respectively. But today I got to meet Kazuya and Ryuutarou. GOSH they’re cute. And you can tell they’re really cute, because I said ‘gosh’ HAHA! No but seriously, they told me their ages and I just felt like an old woman. One is 19 and the other is turning 19 next Friday. WHAT IS THAT?! For some reason, speaking came easy today when I spoke to them. I didn’t hesitate a lot, and I was outgoing and not reserved. I think it was because Erich was there. It’s sooo much easier to talk to guys when there are other people with me. We talked about ridiculous things (and they told me my Japanese was really good…Japanese people are good liars, I’ve come to realize) and I mentioned karaoke and they both said they like it. But one of them had to work tonight, so they mentioned maybe going Friday. Hey hey! Improvement. I didn’t have to ask, they simply recommended Friday would be best, I think that’s a great improvement from playing the guessing/wondering game. Now let’s see if they pull the Korean Card and tell you want to do something then back out the day of. Hasn’t happened to me yet, but we’ll see, lol. I want to try to get my host sister’s friend Risa to go. Since she said she’s a night person and lives close, I want to hang out with her more.

Here’s the next 2 weeks in a nut shell:

Sat&Sun – I wanna do something this weekend, I just haven’t decided what yet

Monday – History Midterm (don’t expect much there)

Tuesday – Field trip to elementary school to talk to kids; ESL meet-up

Wednesday – MAY go to some little concert thing where a bunch of little bands will be playing. But they’re probably not good, and I think there may be a bunch of UGG peoples, so Keishya and I haven’t decided if we’ll go yet or not.

Thursday – No school, Disney Land!

Friday – Guess I have school…

Then the following week is the Kansai trip that I’m not going on, so I just have a free week. Sean and I had discussed a while back going to Fuji, but who knows if we’ll actually do it. I need to get some sleep now. I’m tired. Talk to everyone later. Enjoy some pictures!

Katie and Kae at Karaoke in OSAKA!

YamaPi lookin fine on a billboard in OSAKA!

Starbucks with my lady...in OSAKA

Sean carrying Tomoki down the stairs "he weighs like 5 pounds"

The sign says Hippie Pants...BWAHAHA...hippies...

Taiko!!!

Pretty and traditional style karaoke room. No shoes!!

Party at Kae's house the night I arrived in OSAKA!

Delicious Okonomiyaki in OSAKA

Kae's mommy and daddy

Shou-Sensei and Hiro-Sensei...look at the height difference. *giggle*

This guy pretty much only talks to me when he wants to sell tickets to his shows...but he's hot so whatever.

Learning imperative and prohibitive form in Japanese class with help from PA Ayako

Some building I saw down a side street while lost with Erich and Quinn in Harajuku

Pop'n music with youhei, we're not good at this game

The department store filled with awesomeness

A little piece of Omiya

I want to write a drama about these 2 strangers...
My host sisters Youko...

...and Hiroko at Karaoke for my birthday.

PURIKURA! With Kae, Katie, and Youhei...the other one...in OSAKA!

Happy Birthday to ME!

The final figure for my Genshiken collection

Akkii, Miho, and Peter (my favorite non-Canadian Candian) at karaoke for my birthday

Dance Party to 'Dancing Queen'...we had to stop after Akkii broke a mug on the floor. haha!

I'm still alive! AND WELL!

2008-09-23T23:31:00.004+09:00

It’s been an incredibly long time, and I don’t really know where to begin. Well, after a trip to the hospital, I’m feeling tons better with these new drugs. Apparently it was a mix of allergies and, get this, ASTHMA. What?? So that’s good, the whole, not dying anymore thing. This past weekend, I experienced my first earthquake. It lasted all of 3 seconds, and wasn’t even strong enough to knock over my empty water bottle. But I gotta say, I’ve never experienced anything like it in my life. You can actually HEAR earthquakes, it’s like thunder, but not as loud. Like a low rumble. Pretty scary stuff. Have any of you ever been in one?? I dont think so...

For my birthday this weekend, ill be going out to ikebukuro for some shopping and video games with ayla, then returning to kasumigaseki (the area where my school is) for drinking and karaoke with Sean, this guy peter who goes to school in canada, and also one of the peer assistants here named Tomoki. Who has refused me many a date, and he won’t marry me either. He’d be the perfect house wife too. A couple others may join, but I was trying to keep it pretty small.

School is going well. Japanese class is tough, but I’m learning a lot. The other classes aren’t so interesting, but I’ll survive. I don’t care much about Japanese history, since the present and the future of japan are what fascinate me most. And literature would be interesting, but the teacher is like listening to ben stein talk politics for 3 straight hours.

The program coordinator here, I didn’t take to well at first. I felt like when we had a problem, his attitude was usually like, 'oh well, things happen'...gaaaaay. But I’ve been sick for 3 weeks now, and when the nurse said I needed to go to the hospital, he came immediately. He helped translate my issues and get the medicine I needed...which was an inhaler for my nonexistent asthma and Claritin for my newly developed allergies. God bless that doctor. It was so hard waking up everyday and feeling like complete crap. Wondering if I’d make it through the day. Wondering if whatever I had would eventually progress to something worse. I was so scared, and it made adjusting to this new life THAT much harder. But I feel like I can now look at things a bit differently, I’m very happy for that. On the way back from the hospital, we bumped into Matt’s Japanese lady friend. He spoke very fondly of her, and I feel like it helped us talk to each other a bit easier. That’s the kind of guy I’m waiting for. The type to get shy and smile a lot when he talks about me. But alas, I’ve lost all hope in the male species. Even though it’s his job to help us out, I offered to buy him a drink sometime as a thank you. He was there when I really needed someone, and I was very grateful. I’m really starting to regret the first impression I had of him, I think I was really wrong.

When I was in akiba the other day, some dude popped in money on the machine next to me, waited for me to pay, then (without asking) set the game to vs. mode. Jerk face. He beat me on beginner, then I beat him on advanced, then he redeemed himself by OWNING me on expert. Lucky he was so cute when he bowed and walked away or I would’ve kicked him in his face.

Then just the other day, Ayla and I went window shopping for stores. That means we hopped on the train, and just rode around, and if we saw something interesting, we’d get off and check it out. But alas, we just ended up in Tokyo, like always.

After some shopping, Ayla wanted to get dinner and go drink. Well, she wanted to go to this bar that she likes, and since I’m always dragging her around, I agreed. The bartender was soooo cute. But an older man. haha. Still, cute. So we sat there drinking and giggling in a bar not much bigger than our living room back home. Oh, let me just mention all the wonderful comments I said about him…I later found out he understood. Afterward, we did an hour of karaoke...nomihodai (which is all you can drink) Sometimes its person/hour. Sometimes it’s room/hour. Then went BACK to the other bar, because it was still early, and that bartender was still cute. Who was there but MATT, program coordinator! Studying to take the level 2 Japanese test. And it’s really hard too. Some japanese people even have trouble with it, not unlike our SATs in America. Since he was there, I bought him a beer, like I offered, and we sat there cracking up over the incredibly stupid things that Ayla and I would say. She likes to drink, I’m not a fan, so I don’t think we work out in that aspect, haha. But anyway, it was a really fun night (And no, I didn’t take those drugs while drinking. Because that would be dumb, right? right.)

At school, the Japanese students have finally returned. I’ve spoken to a few, but just the friends of people I already know. It’s really hard to just walk up to someone and talk to them, I don’t even do it in America where I can speak the language. But pretty much all of the students are really nice. And in the 'English lounge' –I don’t think it’s really called that, but may as well be-- all the people hang out who want to meet international students. And they each speak Japanese and English to each other. Today is the first day of dance practice for the club I want to join. Keishya and I are going to go watch and meet some people. Others, including Ayla, may join us. I’m easily the biggest girl they’ve ever had want to join their club, plus I have no experience, but I think I can do it. Wish me luck :)

Also, just for giggles, I asked Matt if my Jasso will still be made available to me in the off months. Like, when I’m in Osaka in December through March, can I still get jasso, and he said...YES. It piles up. So if I don’t go there and get it, by the time I return in march, I would have collected $2400 from jan-march. Pretty cool right?

Today I’m meeting up with Tomoki after class and buying tickets to a MUCC CONCERT in November. I just hope they’re not sold out already :( Only thing to do after that…is find someone to come with me, haha. I’m buying 2. If an American comes, they have to buy the ticket. But if a Japanese person takes me, they’re not paying, and here’s why. They’re going to have to show me how to get there, and the rules of the venue and such. They’re basically going as a tour guide and translator. Haha, but I hope I can find someone who actually LIKES their music and would really like to go. That would be awesome. Too bad Sarah isn’t here :(

*edit* 9.23.08

So yesterday, as I said, was the first day of dance practice. After a ton of stretching and a pretty fun warm-up, practice began. I feel like even the freshman there knew everyone and knew how practice was handled, but us JSP’s were just a bit clueless, so I asked. Apparently, after warmup the groups are split. For the first half hour it’s hiphop or lock. Then it switches to jazz or pop (pop & lock) for 30 miuntes. I think house met after everything was done and over. But yeah, because of this, you learn a little of the dance each week, and you’re able to learn different styles. I ended up in hiphop and jazz. Though I wouldn’t say they’re easy – because they’re not – they are easily less involved than freestyle or pop & lock. But I gotta say, after only 1 hour of dancing…I was hurting, lol. You guys back home know I can dance for hours, but this stuff is just a little crazy. I’m wondering if I’m really going to be able to do it :( But I’m going to try really hard. I’m even giving up shopping trips to Tokyo so I don’t miss practice, which is every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Ugh. The 2 who were leading hiphop, Miki and Hiro, are incredibly nice. While everyone else was owning the dance, me and the other 5 white girls were struggling to figure out not only what they were doing, but what they were saying. Eventually I was tired of not getting and asked Hiro to show us again, SLOWLY. Then Miki took over since time was up and he had to move onto the next group. She really took her time with us, over and over until we were ready to move on. It helps a lot that they both can speak English, but every time they tried to, I told them no, haha. “This is a Japanese club, and you’re Japanese. I’m trying to join a Japanese club, in Japan…so I need to be speaking Japanese!.....but for now please explain again in English” HAHA! So now I know the part of the dance we need to know for this week, now it’s all about practicing it and learning to execute it better and make it look natural. But I think by tomorrow, we’ll be learning the next part, and that worries me. It’s pretty hard to practice at home since I’m on the second floor with wooden floors and I don’t want to disturb the parentals. I think I may drag Keishya around Kawagoe or Kasumigaseki and try to find a place we can practice outside of the club. Oh, and btw, Hiro is freaking HOT. He’s like 6’5”, shaved head, and just a BIG guy. Me and Ayla were just like o_O *blank stare* *drool* And he still seems to be a perfect gentleman even though he’s gotta know he’s so freakin cool. Apparently all this practice now is for the school festival in the beginning of November. I really hope I become good enough to be in it. After practice, we went to old fashioned for a drink – and to stare at the bartender – then headed home. BTW, he’s not married. I asked.

For now, I must go get dressed. I’m meeting Ayla and Keishya for a bit of shopping.

Japanese Karaoke room for larger parties

Here's a PERFECT example of NOMIHODAI

Here's a perfect example of what happens when you order nomihodai

One of Shrines I visited. It's a shrine, right? Not a temple? Who knows.

Cleanse yourselves!

Very pretty

Cosplayer in Akihabara. Not all cosplayers are cute maids and kitties...

Private room at a bar and restaurant near campus.

LEO! I finished 3 beers that night. Are you proud of me? :P

Me and the bartender from old fashioned. Don't let that awkward smile fool you. I wanna see this guy on Ninja Warrior sometime. Haha! He makes me special drinks when I ask since I don't like alcohol much. Bailey's and Kahlua on ice...delicious!

No more Camp Rock theme, tired of tryig to find a title for my posts from song lyrics, lol

2008-09-08T12:41:00.006+09:00

Too cute, right?!
9.7.08

Small updated from yesterday (as I post this, from Saturday). So, a bunch of JSP peoples met up for a day in Tokyo. The original plan was to go to Shinjuku, which we did, but inevitably ended up in Harajuku which was like 4 minutes away. In Shinjuku, we made it as far as a discount store (where I bought Leo something nice, from one of MY favorite designers. He’s not big into fashion, but it’ll look nice on him I think, and he should be able to get some use out of it) which carried some awesome Vivienne stuffs, that I didn’t buy, haha. After that, we hit up the Hello Kitty gift shop. They had sooo much Kuromi stuff, but I limited myself to a phone charm, and my first vending machine toy…h. Naoto Kitty! HAHA! From there, we had an awesome Korean lunch, full of laughs.

Tomoki, my PA, is pretty much the cutest thing ever. He’s timid (which is funny, because he doesn’t like shy girls) but pretty much everything that comes out of his mouth is so funny. After lunch, we met up with some other people who wanted to go to Harajuku, and umm…went to Harajuku. While trying to avoid the scary black people who lurk there, I ducked behind the alley leading me to Takuya Angel’s store again, with some hope that my persistence would once again pay off, and it SO did. IT WAS OPEN! Not only was it open, but TAKUYA WAS THERE! And I got a picture with him! AND I BOUGHT THE BAG I’VE BEEN STARING AT FOR 3 YEARS! AND I MET TAKUYA! AND A PICTURE! AND A BAG! Oh, and some gloves for winter of course.

ME AND TAKUYASAAAAAAAAAAA~N!

I’m so ready for this freezing cold Japanese people talk about. I’m tired of this heat. Everyday, I’m ready for bed by 8, but force myself to stay awake until 9. After that, we hit up a couple more small stores, and the mall I mentioned before.
h. Naoto Shop
ALGONQUINS!

But as Sean said, everything starts to look the same after a while. He said Takuya’s store was the thing he was most excited about just because it was the crazy type of fashion he had been wanting to see since coming to Japan. He even got a picture with some of Takuya’s new cyber gear, lol.

Oh, and I must remember to copy some of mucc’s music for him. He said that if he likes it, he may go to the concert with me in couple months. Otherwise *sigh* I’ll have to go alone. And believe you me, I WILL! There’s no way I’m spending 10 months in Japan and NOT seeing mucc on a stage at LEAST once. While in Harajuku, we were about to cross the street when a small parade started coming down the street...with TAIKOS! And this dude I took a picture of walked up like, RIGHT next to me. Too exciting.

So after completing our shopping escapades in Condomania, we went to a pasta restaurant for dinner in Harajuku, and then headed home. Some dude was watching a B’z concert on his ipod – probably preparing for the new album release on the 17th – which prompted me to bust out my own to listen to some B’z. It was a pretty fun train ride home. Over all, it was probably one of my best days here in Japan so far. I spent it with 2 really great people. And even though they have their own intertwined past, coming from the same school and all, they made me feel like we had known each other for a fairly long time. Minus this crappy cold that won’t go away, I feel my morale has been lifted just a bit, and I think this week will be better. For now, I have Japanese homework I must do, golf I must watch, and then I think we’re going to dinner with another one of my host sisters, 1 I have not yet met.

That's me with a boob stress ball...yup...

Wanna dance until my feet can't feel the ground (but probably won't anytime soon...)

2008-09-05T19:59:00.011+09:00

Unlike the other posts, where the most recent is on the top of this page, this one post contains about 6 days worth of updates, and reads from the top to the bottom of THIS POST. Sorry if that confused anyone, haha, but since I can’t update from home, I just type each day I have something to say on MS Word, and I’m just putting them all up at once. Thanks!!

8.30.08
Today was a long one. After waking early to pack, we headed to school for our 3 hour long placement test…one that I didn’t finish :( but I did my best and hopefully it was enough to land me in a solid Japanese class. And it was the day for the Opening Ceremony as well, thus the picture. I figured if this semester didn’t transfer, then next semester would. One semester in Japan is equal to one year in America. So I think I’ll be ok. At the opening ceremony, we had to introduce ourselves in Japanese. After that, we met our parents. Apparently my Japanese shines under pressure. Because people from other families I didn’t even know told me my Japanese was good. One said “Jieshika (my name in Japanese). It’s a hard name, but I will remember it because you’re cute” HAHAHA! Awesome.

We don’t have wireless internet in the house, so it’ll probably be a day or 2 later that you read this. I was greeted today by my host mother and one of the married daughters. We returned home, where I also met my father. They’re all very patient with me, and I hope they don’t get tired of it soon. I’ve been trying my best since I’ve met them to put everything I’ve learned to the test. Mom, you’ll be proud to know I took a 5 minute shower today! For dinner, I don’t know where Dad was, but we were joined by my host sister’s (Youko) husband (Yuu) and his older brother…Oniisan (older brother, haha). I actually seriously don’t know his name, that’s what they told me to call him. But it’s creepy, cuz he’s actually kinda cute. And he likes drifting. He watches it and used to do it as well. Oniichan and Yuu like to talk really fast and laugh a lot. Most of the time, they were laughing at me. But for some reason, it really didn’t bother me. Probably because the whole conversation started with them falsely telling me my pronunciation was really good. Oh, silly Japanese people and their lies. Haha! Youko and I had a good time talking about music and ‘my type’ of boys. And Otousan (dad) and I had fun talking about golf. No, I don’t like golf, but lemme tell you! This Japanese golfer Ryou Ishikawa…he’s freaking hot. And yes, I WILL be watching golf tomorrow! When we saw his age, I nearly flipped. He’s SIXTEEN! But he doesn’t look it. They call him “The Prince of Golf” And he’s from Saitama! I’m going to go find his high school so I can catch a glimpse of him in uniform. Haha!

Tomorrow, Okaasan (mom) and I are going to get my monthly train pass, do some sightseeing in Kawagoe, check out some Japanese/English translators, and buy MUCC’S NEW SINGLE/DVD! It’s been a long night of struggling to find the right words, so I will now retire.

*Edit* (8.31.08)
Now marks the end of day 2. OOOH what a long day it was. After waking to an awesome breakfast (why do I feel like EVERYTHING I eat is so amazing? Probably because it is) okaasan and I headed out to the train station to get my commuter pass. It was a little under $30, and from here to school (which is one station) I don’t have to pay for the rest of the month. The card can also be filled with money, so I can just use it for travel as well. It can also be used as retail, to buy drinks and whatnot at vending machines. Some people even put money on them to pay bills at convenience stores. Either way, it has a computer chip, so you just touch it to the little pad, and it’s paid. Pretty nifty. Japan is all about convenience. Hmm, so, list of things I bought today:
MUCC’S NEW SINGLE. 2 songs and one DVD (SoOoO excited…but still haven’t opened it yet, haha)
DAZZLE volume 9 &10 (did I have 8?? Either way, it’s in Japanese, but whatever)
Genshiken official book
Sarah’s b-day present (but I don’t think she even reads this, so she won’t know about it till she gets it)
Some pretty school supplies

New ipod charger
And pretty handkerchiefs that will most likely be doubling as bandanas cuz they’re sooo pretty. God bless 100￥ stores (that’s a $1 store) I also got to play Taiko again. I had an audience this time, hehe. Okaasan bought me unagi (The eel had a lemon flavor to it, soo good) today, and we talked about oniisan...and his present girlfriend…and how in like another month she probably won’t exist. We were joking about the whole thing, but it was pretty funny. We saw a B-Kei mannequin and I tried to explain the fashion to her. Once I mentioned that oniisan wears b-boy clothes, she understood immediately, haha! I felt bad, but I skipped out on dinner. But she just made me eat all day, lol. We had a big breakfast, then lunch by 2 (big, also), then ice cream. But it’s weird, because we took the train 2 stations away from the house, but we walked all day, and made it back home, WITHOUT the train. Wow. I SHOULD’VE been hungry (there’s a guy in the JSP program from Hungary, that’s a MAN right there) but I think I was too tired to feel it. But after about 2 hours of watching golf and cleaning up my purchases a bit, I went downstairs where I had rice mixed with what tasted like shredded daikon, mushroom, and carrots, miso soup, cucumbers and a pudding (jello) cup, hehe. Whether or not I was hungry didn’t matter, it was too good to not eat. Otousan came home later, and we sat around and talked about golf (though I know so little), then I tried some Chinese tea that he likes (delicious), and some sake (surprisingly, very good. Even the aftertaste was REALLY good…but it’s too strong). After realizing that I was really just too tired to continue with Japanese today, we sat a watched a marathon. This tv personal was running for charity and raised like $3million. And I got to watch Arashi perform. Haha, Sakurai Shou gets cuter with age. They were talking about an onsen visit, but when I told them about my tattoos, otousan said “it’s ok, because it’s becoming more of a fashion statement.” Also, because I’m a foreigner, it’s less likely that I’m part of the yakuza.
Well, tomorrow is the first day of school. Class starts at 9, but I’m going to leave way early for 2 reasons: 1) it’s freaking HOT in Japan. Not only hot, WET HOT! (umm, that sounded like a porno advertisement, Jessica) So I’m going to leave early enough to stroll. 2) I have NO idea where my school is once I get off the train. Though I walked it like 3 times already, EVERYTHING looks the same in Kawagoe. When I mentioned it to okaasan, she was like ‘oh no! What should we do?!’ But I told her I would be ok. I’m not afraid to ask someone for directions, and I also have a poorly printed map in my room from orientation. So I’ll be ok. I mean, the school is like 4 minutes from the station, so I could only get but SO lost. I also want to try to find out more about the dance team I want to join. Sooo, I’ll try to look into them tomorrow too. For now, it’s bed time!!

*Edit* (9.1.08)
This post gets longer everyday, but since I can only update from my laptop, and the only internet connection I have is at school, it proves difficult to post. I plan to take my laptop to school on Thursday or Friday, whichever day I don’t have afternoon class, thus, less books to carry. At which point, I will try to include some pictures. Oh! If anyone heard of the earth quake this morning (9.1.08) it was WAAAAY far north. We didn’t feel a thing here, so don’t worry. Though, I don’t think any of you were worried because you probably had no idea.

I got a message from Katie today, saying she already got a phone. We can’t get one here until we get our foreigner cards, sooo, about 3 weeks from now. I’m wondering if she had the plan put in someone else’s name?? I can’t wait to get mine. Even if it is prepaid, I’ll be able to talk to the people I really love for free. I think.

I got my Jasso money today! It’s kind of weird…We’re supposed to get approximately $1500 upon arrival, and $800 every month after that. But listen to this…I get $1500 for plane reimbursement. PLUS $800 for August (you know, the FIVE days of August I was in Japan). PLUS $800 for September. PLUS reimbursement for transportation to and from school. And anyone in Japan who’s reading this and thinking about robbing me now, it’s useless. The school holds my money until I ask for it, since we don’t have bank accounts and that’s a RIDICUOUS amount of $$ to hold onto. So sorry to inform you.

Japanese class is AWESOME. They did an AMAZING job placing everyone. I’m sure everyone in the class is better at something than someone else, but I feel for the most part, we are on the exact same page. I am, indeed, in the upper level B class. Which generally wouldn’t transfer…BUT, it all depends on the course content. And seeing as I feel like we’re kind of starting off exactly where I left off in America, I think I may be able to fight my way to getting that credit transferred. It was sooo cool. I sat through a THREE HOUR CLASS and understood EVERY SINGLE WORD until the last 5 minutes, when I was burnt out. But I never knew I understood THAT MUCH Japanese. And I feel like in this environment, compared to back home, I’m not as nervous to speak Japanese! Examples: I spoke to my teacher, in front of class, about how cute I thought Ryou Ishikawa is (incase you forgot in the last 5 minutes, he’s the 16 year old Japanese pro golfer). Not only that, but when talking to UGG (the dance club I want to join) we were discussing the upcoming dance event in Shibuya. NONE of the girls spoke English, try as they might. But between my horrible Japanese, some other friends’ horrible Japanese, and their horrible English, we figured out the information we wanted, haha. Which consisted of, we need to buy tickets. GAY! But it’s like an 8 hour event, I’m sooo excited. I can’t wait to cheer on my new school! :) I wish I asked their names, because I really want to be able to identify them around campus. Japanese names are tough to remember, for obvious reasons, but I feel like if I really make the effort to remember and call out to them, then maybe it will make all the difference, and we can become friends. As much as I criticize Asians at Towson for traveling in packs and making no attempts to remove themselves from what’s comfortable and make American friends, I don’t want to become one of those people. But it’s tough, ESPECIALLY since the Japanese students are on vacation for like, another month or so. But if nothing else, I really hope to make at least 2 really good Japanese friends!

Tomorrow, my friends and I are taking our terrible Japanese to TOKYO! Hehe, I can’t wait. I’m soooo excited. We’re going to Japanese class from 9-12:20, but since we don’t have afternoon class, and we’re not exactly thinking about taking the econ class – ever – we’re leaving straight after class for Tokyo. I think we’ll do Akihabara for Denshijishou (electronic dictionaries, or translators). Since Akiba is THE electronics district, I hope to find something good. 1 or 2 of the other girls want to buy a DS also, so we’ll look into those. Idunno what else we’ll do, but at some point, we’re going to hit up ICHIMARUKYU! SHIBUYA 109!! Ladies and gents, this is where fashion meets MORE fashion. I’m so incredibly excited. I may also look up the Takuya Angel store and drag them all there so I can get the bag I’ve been CRAVING for over a year now, lol. And maybe a couple other little things, hehe.

List of things for everyone to know about Japan:
1) Japanese owls sound like they’re rapping at 5 am
2) Cicadas are loud, and huge
3) Crows are evil
4) It is ok to date a 16 year old if you’re over 21, as long as it’s in the 7-8year range
5) Tomatoes taste ok if eaten with Jelly toast (long story, but just trust me…and I HATE tomatoes!)
6) Grilled eggplant is GOOD. Especially with soy sauce
7) The gorgeous men KNOW they are gorgeous.
8) Pretty much all the men are gorgeous…even the ugly ones. HAHA! (I’m still in the honeymoon phase of this trip. I really hope when reality comes crashing down…that it comes down gently. And that I’m wearing a hardhat.)

Bye for now!

*Edit* (9.2.08)

Another day, another entry. Umm, try to make this short, because I’m tired. Went to Japanese class. 3 hours really feels like NOTHING in that class. But I am usually burnt out by the end. Then it’s harder to speak Japanese outside the class room. After class, some of the ladies and I bought our tickets for the dance competition…thing, in Shibuya next Sunday. I realllllly hope they keep the plans though, because going to Shibuya alone…yeah, not that great an idea. Anyway, after that, and an awesome konbini (convenience store) lunch, and talking to this awesome guy Nashi…and completely forgetting ‘Akira’s’ name (though I don’t think he even remembers introducing himself to me 2 days ago, we headed to Tokyo. We were in Akihabara for a loooong while. It’s so easy to lose track of time in that place. It’s SICK! We went to my favorite arcade, and there’s a NEW VIDEO GAME there!
I’ve NEVER seen it before. It’s like OUENDAN…but with bigger buttons. I for real had a game-gasm playing that. (Sorry mom and family…but that game was pretty much the epitome of awesome.) I also tried out the arcade version of Drum Mania. But there were 2 girls next to me playing Guitar Freaks, so I couldn't hear :(
After that, we headed to SHIBUYA 109!!! Which by the way, yeah, not that great. It’s awesome to see the culture clash, and all the different genres come together in some funky way, but I guess my expectations were just a LITTLE too high. But it’s ok…because I soon hope to be in Harajuku, with Takuya Angel and my girl Vivienne. Though I did get this awesome guitar bag (glad I did, because otherwise I would have bought the Vega bag…ugh). It’s very MJ ‘Thriller’-esque.
Following, we went to this crazy delicious restaurant that served ridiculous portions for very low prices. This whole thing was $14.AWESOME. And I had to grapes there, that – I think we were all in agreement – were the BEST PIECE OF FRUIT I’VE EVER HAD IN MY MOUTH.

If you have only 1 reason to some to Japan, go to that restaurant, and get the huge soba dish…and just eat the grapes. *drool* After that was a long, full-of-gaijin-fun train ride home. Then I watched this tv show with okasaan with TEPPEI in it. It was sad, but also just kind of dumb. Except when they stripped him naked. That was pretty umm, pretty cool. Lemme just say guys – all of you who laughed when I showed you his girly picture – boy’s been working out. He’s still petite, but he finally got some arms, legs, and even a bit of a chest on him now, hehe. Ok, tomorrow’s going to be hot and long. We’re going to apply for gaijin cards, then go on a tour of Kawagoe. Though after that walk a couple days ago, I’m not sure I really need the tour. And if I can convince someone, anyone, to follow me to Harajuku…I guess I’m doing that as well. Must remember my camera…Takuya has been known to lurk around his store…NIGHT! ^^

*Edit* (9.3.08)

I’m thinking about taking my laptop to school tomorrow and just having to deal with 2 bags I suppose. I don’t know though, because the PAs were talking about helping us set up our cell phones. Which, btw, I applied for my foreigner card today, and with the receipt, I can set up my retarded prepaid phone. Whatever, at least now I can talk to Katie. I’ve decided that the program coordinator, yeah…not a fan. I feel like he can be really cool, and he’s definitely hilarious, but he has absolutely NO compassion, and I think in this position, you need to say things a certain way and ACT a certain way in the presence of others in the program. But that’s all I’m going to say on that matter. No Harajuku today. After applying for our gaijin cards, we were all pretty hell-bent on getting our cell phones. I don’t want to go into detail, because I’m tired and have homework to do, but we went to no less than 6 stores, not including the Softbank stores, and NONE of them had prepaid phones. By this time next year, you won’t be able to find any anywhere, so TIU needs to start signing some contracts, for REAL! Anyway, so I got my crap phone. And I think you’ll be proud to know, I DIDN’T buy the $400 Vivienne purse NOR did I buy the $240 Vivienne wallet OR the $147 Anna Sui wallet JUST because I could…doesn’t mean I won’t crack and buy one later, but I really want to at LEAST check out Harajuku before buying any of that stuffs. But let’s see, I DID buy: this awesome Mukku storage box (mucc is pronounced like ‘mukku’…hehe); cute kitty stickers for my cell phone (you can’t have a plain phone, it’s illegal); something cute for Katie (something I’m sure she could find anywhere, but I saw it and thought of her, so I bought it); from the same store, I bought a purse/wallet made from a black lace dress (it’s a tote bag, but I feel it’s still dressy enough for a night out…not to mention I can always goth it out with some chains, loli-syle, haha!); this pretty music bag that I was considering sending to Sarah with her other birthday present, but it would cost too much since it would be heavier, so I’m going to use it (sorry Sarah, but I’ll try to get you something even cuter later, haha); some pretty earrings because mine were missing all their stones (for the record, nothing I’m mentioned so far – minus the cell phone – has been over $11…just so ya know haha); some nice face wash from the body shop, along with some lotion (yeah, that cost a little more, but I’m willing to pay for something familiar at this point); and probably the most exciting purchase of the day…A SHIRT!
A little tank top with a short sleeve knit top over it. If I could read it, I’m sure it would say some sort of Engrish, but it’s hard to make out. I did like it on, and Ayla said it looked good, so I got it. It was $20, worth it, I think. Good quality, it’s realllly soft. Almost TOO soft. Oh, and my ‘thriller’ bag got 2 scratches on it today, but that’s pleather for you. Whatever, adds character. I miss everyone a lot. I haven’t been able to keep in touch well, not having skype at home and also never been on campus and sitting long enough to do anything internet related. I’m almost afraid to check my e-mail at this point. But anyway, I hope everyone is well!

MOMMY! I MISS YOU VERY MUCH! AND I LOVE YOU EVEN MORE THAN I MISS YOU! If you could, please call Daddy for me and tell him I will try to call him sometime over the next day or 2. With my card, I have to call from a certain kind of phone, so if I see one while I’m out I can make the call. But payphones are becoming less and less uncommon, But please let him know I love him too, and I’ll call soon! Leo and John, if you’re reading this, I love you and miss you as well! Please relay the message to the others as well. And as soon as the semester kicks in a bit more, and I settle down, I’ll make sure I get some postcards out there! Haha! I’m going to stop writing now. Writing about everything I’m doing is fun, but it’s actually very sad. Being here without everyone I love. It’s hard. And it only JUST hit me how much I miss everyone. But I’m a strong girl. I have a looong way to go, but know that I REALLY TRULY feel that I’m going to be ok. I’m going to have fun, and work hard, and cry, and laugh, be lonely and overwhelmed, and make friends, and have a wonderful time. And I’m going to think of all of you who helped get me here. Thank you so much!

*Edit* (9.5.08)

This is hopefully the last of this ridiculously long post. But I have to make it quick because I need to get ready for school. So 2 days ago we applied for our Alien cards. Nothing like a card to remind us we just don’t belong here. With the receipt (which I learned yesterday, we didn’t even need it) we’re able to register our stupid piece of crap phones. By the way, my $60 prepaid phone is like 10 years more advanced that my brand new Pantech Duo from back home. Only thing is, it’s made of cheap plastic, which isn’t really much different from the other phones here. Yeah, so uhh, I registered my phone. Went through a ton of crap to get my prepaid card to work. But it’s finally finished. I pay $3 a month and get unlimited texting, so that’s exciting. Finally got a chance to talk to Katie, though not very much. And I got to talk to Justin as well. He actually has a phone plan, so he was kind enough to hang up and call me instead so I didn’t have to pay. (Don’t let anyone tell you prepaid is cheaper than getting a plan. The truth of that statement varies drastically.) I was also able to message this guy Ryo I’ve been talking to on mixi since last semester. He decided to not use mixi anymore, but gave me his phone’s e-mail address so I could contact him once I got to Japan. We’ll probably meet up for coffee soon, in Crea Mall, which is full of people. I’ll feel comfortable going to meet him alone in the middle of the day in a place like Crea Mall where there’s a ton of people, but if he wants to prolong our plans, I’ll make sure to bring some friends. I think he even mentioned wanting to bring friends, but then when we both bring friends it’ll seem more like a group date, and I’m sooo not down with that. Haha! I told him I would like to meet him, but my spoken Japanese is still pretty horrible, and he said it’s ok because his English is really bad (and it is) so we can gesture a lot, HAHAHA! That’s gonna be one awkward cuppa! But yeah, stayed up pretty late texting him and doing Japanese homework. Which was dumb because I was already sick to begin with and I feel even worse today. I’m not even going to begin to list the things I’ve eaten lately that I would NEVER eat before. Wait, no, I will begin. I had natto (fermented slimy soy beans) but they didn’t make me eat it all, they just wanted me to try it. Surprising, NOT BAD. The initial taste one would even say was GOOD. But the after taste had me guzzling water for a little while. Mushrooms galore. I want to cry when I see them, but they’re always in miso or some other kind of soup, and it makes it easier to stomach. The ones last night were also pretty good. And I had pumpkin. That’s not exciting. It was really mushy. It wasn’t bad, but I wouldn’t chalk it up as ‘something I’ve never had that ended up being remarkably good’ at all!

Well, I really need to go get ready. I wanted to leave on time today, so I could get to school, add some pictures to this before I post it. Later guys!

*Edit*

(9.5.08…again)

Nope, this is the last of it though. I’ve been feeling pretty under the weather lately. I think it’s a mix of homesickness and just a regular cold, but it’s really killing my morale. But I’ll be ok! So today, Japanese class sucked because I felt like crap so I really wasn’t performing well. And people in this program get to me. The girls are all so catty, and boys are just that…BOYS. And they are SO SURE of themselves. But whatever, they’re not what I’m here for. There are a couple girls I get along with, but I think they tend to gravitate toward each other, and I’m not much of a follower, so you see where that leaves me. I never really thought I was bad at making friends (keeping friends is a different story) but I feel like in this environment, it just won’t come easy. I really hope I can make some Japanese friends when their semester starts. And I hate to say it, not being tall and skinny and drop dead gorgeous REALLY doesn’t help. It’s not even me looking for an ego boost. I’m telling you, almost EVERYONE IN JAPAN is superficial and shallow. If you look like me, people don’t give you a second glance (unless it’s to critique your style or lack thereof). And the nice ones are usually trying to sell you something. But I knew this before coming here, so I’m really not fazed by it. Haha, but that’s not everyone. I have met some really nice people on campus, who are just looking to reach out to more people, and those are the ones I want to meet. Let’s hope Ryou isn’t one of those superficial punks. We have a lot in common, and it would be cool to have a friend my age in my town.

So anyway, after deciding I’m not a fan of the other Americans in the JSP (there is one Canadian dude who’s really nice, I like to talk to him. His accent’s awesome too, lol) I headed out to Harajuku for some more shopping. Let me just start off by saying, I found a mall SOOO much better than shibuya 109. It began with an L, but I can’t remember. But they had EVERYTHING! Black Peace Now, H. Naoto, Algon Quins…it was so exciting. Here’s pictures of what I bought.
Algon Quins

Brownie Bee

I also went down the famous road in Harajuku (I think it’s Takeshita Douri) where I found a second-hand goth store FULL of Vivienne. From there, I got 2 pairs of earrings and an H. Naoto Blood Hoodie.

I’m not at liberty to discuss the cost of these items, but hey, they were perfect condition second-hand goods, so I’m happy. Tomorrow, I set out for Shinjuku…for more shopping. Though I think I will just be a sightseer tomorrow. I can’t think of anything else I want to buy right now.

I went to the Takuya Angel store, to get the bag I’ve wanted for 3 years…it was closed. Like, metal-gate-pulled-down, closed. I checked with okaasan, and she said the site looks like it says they’re remodeling. The only other places to buy are online or in Nara. So Takuya shall have to wait.

Oh, and mom, don’t worry about me freezing in winter. All the disgustingly skinny Japanese girls have this habbit of wearing clothes that are 10 sizes too big for them, so I’ve been able to buy plenty of long sleeve things :) Now to officially update! Thanks for reading everyone!! Very soon, I'm going to do a post of ONLY pictures. Not just of stuff I've been buying, I have other pictures too!! :)

2008-09-04T12:45:00.001+09:00

expect an update tomorrow. a looong one. look forward to it! :)

There's nothing that I can't do

2008-08-29T18:38:00.010+09:00

Though I can’t post this just yet, I feel the need to type. As I sit here in front of Gate D-14, awaiting the departure of my 7:15 flight to Houston, I can’t help but notice my complete lack of emotion. I guess airports take it out of you…

I was through security in about 7 minutes, which makes me sad that I didn’t spend more time with my family. They didn’t make my take out my laptop or anything like they mentioned online. Everything was x-rayed and I just moved along. My suitcases, which I was SURE – after not being able to lift them with much ease – would be over the 50lbs limit, were only 39 and 44 pounds. I was quite sure I’d be paying the $50 overweight fee for both, but was so elated when I didn’t have to!! I was even able to bring some of the Japanese books I preferred, but I should’ve packed a hoodie or 2 since I’m ALWAYS cold. I think I’ll walk around the stores here and see if I can’t find one for a reasonable price. I was up all night packing. I didn’t sleep in hopes I catch a bit on the plane…not to mention the whole “I waited till the last 18 hours to pack.” Ugh, and now I’m hungry too. This sucks. I’ll pick this up again later. But for now I shall scout out some food and a potential American pride ‘MARYLAND’ hoodie…gaaaaaaay.

*edit* I’m now in my second hotel in Japan. Sooo many great things happened in such a short amount of time. This is going to be a very long post. The picture below is a pic of my 2 roommates in yukatas in our first hotel, Lily and Keishya!

After I arrived in Houston and had my passport verified at the desk for my flight, I parked my self somewhere between the housewives and a high school boy’s soccer team (in uniforms…drool). With a little over an hour to my layover, I decided to play my ds. While completely engrossed in a game of Tetris, a boy no older than 5 – ds in hand – runs over and plants himself down on lap in order to better see my game. After deciding that he simply MUST play it, he takes it from my hand, and replaces it with his own ds. Not knowing exactly how to react, I decided to just settle down with a nice game of…pokemon. I was actually pretty moved by the entire experience. For a small boy, so naïve about everything, to run up to a stranger like that…well, it was stupid, but it also made me feel like there is hope for this world yet. What astounded me more was the fact that the mom did nothing but smile. Maybe she sensed I had no intentions of harming her child, or more so that I was happy with his presence. But she made no move to retrieve her child until it was time to board the plane.

My next pleasant surprise, came after I boarded the plane. My neighbor, after getting settled, turned to me and said “hello, my name is Jae. And this is my daughter Christine. It’s very nice to meet you.” After introducing myself in Japanese, I was told they were Korean. Haha, and then I amazed them with ‘The most amazing ‘annyonghaseyo’ she’s ever heard from an American.’ Haha, I was pretty excited about that. The flight went well. I didn’t sleep much, but I didn’t study either, since I was so tired from packing without sleeping. When I arrived, I was greeted by friendly staff, and the program coordinator who looks about 20 years younger than I expected him to be. He’s a really funny guy!

After we got to our hotel near the airport, a group of us headed back to get some dinner. The group I was with was soo great. We cut up a lot and have a great time.

With the whole program finally here, it makes it hard to talk to everyone, and cliques are already forming. Seeing as I’m not one to be ‘cliquey’ with people I hardly know, it proves difficult for me. But I find that conversation still comes easy, so I suppose that’s good.

Orientation is a very long, very interesting and important process. I feel like no amount of information is really going to prepare me, but it’s getting me one step closer. Last night, after dinner with out Peer Assistants, we chilled in another student’s room, drank a bit and watched about half of Love Actually, until we were all ready to collapse. After I retuned to my room, I turned on the television to enjoy a couple more commercials that would inevitably give me nightmares, but received a pleasant surprise. What was on my tele?? A music show! Who was on said music show…MUCC! I even took pictures and video – yes, of my television – because I was SOOO excited to be watching my favorite band on tv, IN JAPAN!

I was also able to watch Yamapi’s new medical drama. It was horrible. Very pretty people, but I gotta say, if I was dying in a hospital, I’d pray to God that THEY weren’t the doctors working on me, haha!

Today, after a bit more orientation, we were able to walk around the town surrounding campus. It’s a beautiful place! It’s very…aged, haha, but still, it’s so pretty.

And we ate at great mom & pop restaurant! The students on campus are all very eager to meet all the JSP students, but probably just because they’ll have a chance to practice their English. But the ones I have met have spoken Japanese and repeated themselves in English if I looked puzzled. It seems, as of now, I was be joining a dance club. More info to come later, if that develops.

Tomorrow I meet my new family. I’m absolutely terrified, but I’m going to try my best! I hope everyone back home is doing well! I'll end with a bit more pictures. (You should be able to click on them for a larger image. If not, sorry)

My college!

One of the professors
Some pretty chill ladies. (All black people on this trip are mixed with SOMETHING. Here we have a black/white/indian, black/polack, and a black/jew...pretty sweet, huh??)
KATIE! Batman wants you to READ!
Press the buttons on the shelves to separate them. Excellent space saver.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! 'Nuff said!
Japan is a very convenient place. Here, you can purchase your groceries, and your beer and sake!
Japanese American Idol...I just liked his fro
It's actually night time in this picture. The whole sky was lit up by lightning. It's a scary, but also very pretty late at night.
A pretty house outside of my hotel room
This building on campus had marble floors! :)
On the left is another professor...on the right is the program coordinator. It's hard for me to take him seriously sometimes, not only because he's hilarious, but because he looks younger than me...
Obentou lunch...strange variety of food. I wonder if this is a common one??
View from the 5th floor of the building I'll be spending a lot of time in.
I was just trying to get a picture of the map behind the attractive man laying on the couch. To the top right of the attractive man lying on the couch, you can see Towson has been added! :)
I think these are probably the prettiest bathrooms you will ever see in a college
Strip mall. I played Taiko there tonight, and set a record for the highest score on the #1 most popular song in the game right now...and I had never played it before! hehe :) And we did purikura as well
My Aquarius is safely straped in and ready for the ride
Taken while on the bus on the way to the college
For the Bros back at home!
School sports uniforms (I only date baseball players...and I only see movies about cats)

Melon soda OWNS me

Couldn't wait to leave, but now I hate to go

2008-08-24T04:56:00.004+09:00

Soo, yesterday I picked up the TIU student who is spending a year at Towson. We've been talking on facebook for a bit, and I'm glad we have been. I don't know how well I did, but I tried to get him settled in, make sure he knew where everything was, and meet some friends until other people get on campus.
Picked him up from BWI, took him to Towson to check in, but after realizing he had like NOTHING for his dorm yet, we had him stay at our place. After pizza, beer and video games, we passed out for some early shopping. Hit up Walmart for essentials, then off to the mall to walk around a bit, then walked around campus for a VERY QUICK tour of the camps. He says Towson is 10+ times bigger than TIU campus, so I hope he gets around well. I had him meet Bob and Sarah, and I think as long as both sides try, they could become really good friends. I know they'll take good care of him, like they did with me over the years. Though, I feel kinda bad, cuz I kinda forced both parties into the relationship...cuz I'm a horrible person. Haha, I worry too much. Sadly, after getting his phone set up and his room a bit organized (meaning, getting the bed set up so he can crash) I had to leave him. I'm really glad we met. He's a great person, and I hope he'll remember me when he returns to Japan so we can maybe meet up again sometime in the future. After all was said and done, I returned home to go shopping with mom for some other essentials. My trip is just 3 days away. Tomorrow, I head to Hershey Park with my mom, a friend of her's, her son, and SARAH. From there, it's a day of errands and packing, HOPEFULLY a hair cut...and without sleep, I'll head to the airport at 4am. After seeing Mitsuru handle America, I feel like I may be able to do this...maybe.

Mom, Sarah, Bob, Laura, Katie -- What am I going to do without you guys?!

sidenote...

2008-08-22T03:53:00.000+09:00

Writing letters in Japanese...really, REALLY not my forte.

Losing all control

2008-08-20T07:58:00.004+09:00

I have just under 6 days remaining in this country. I've finally begun packing, and it all became too real. I'm taking a break to watch some stupid movie with my brother, because well, it may be the last time in a LONG time we'll be able to do this. From here, I can see the gifts for my family, let's see what I got: Godiva hot chocolate mix, Tea bags (assorted: raspberry and cherry blossom etc) in a pretty little bag from Washington DC, glass coasters with cherry blossoms and 'washington dc' on it, Old bay crab cake kits, Old Bay seasoning, Seasonall, and saltwater taffy.

I still feel like there's SOOOO much to do, but it's really just a bunch of little things. Planning for a semester abroad seems easy, but planning for a year seems near impossible. I plan to have my parents send me stuff over the year, but whether they use my money or their own, I imagine it would get pretty pricey. But then again, winter clothes are so heavy and big, they take up too much space in the suitcase and weight too much. I'm thinking of just buying a coat and carrying it with me onto the plane...idunno, there's too much to think about. For now, I shall get to my dentist.

Promise I won't forgetcha!

2008-08-12T10:00:00.006+09:00

Sooo, one thing I can tell you about the Visa process - when you return to pick up your Visa, do NOT forget the receipt they supplied you when you left. It IS possible to leave with your Visa if you don't have the receipt, but I promise you it is NOT worth the battle. And I know, because I forgot mine. I simply had to mail it in later, but they were none too nice about it.

So with my plane ticket and Visa in hand, my preparations for Japan are complete. All that's left, is packing. Everyday, something new comes to mind that I will need. I've said it many times, I don't think I'll ever be fully ready for this trip. I leave in just 2 weeks, and once I'm gone, there's really no turning back. I don't have much to say right now. My August is pretty busy. Last weekend was my going away party. Good food, fun with friends, hangout time with the family, tons of fun. This past weekend was Otkaon, that kind of speaks for itself. Posted a bunch of facebook picture of that. This weekend is Katie's going away party. I'm heading there early to help her cook and make sushi, then we're going to IBIZA for some dancing. Our final latenight fling, if you will. The following weekend, I'll be picking up a student who will be studying at Towson from the airport, and spending the day showing him around Towson and taking him shopping for some things he may need for his dorm. Then, just 3 days later, I'm off. *sigh* God, help me.Hey! It's me as Trucy Wright. 成歩堂みぬき!

It's time to let you know

2008-07-19T04:29:00.002+09:00

Sooo, I got my visa papers...along with my homestay family information. So, from the beginning:
In order to get my visa, I had to fill out an application for a Certificate of Eligibility, which was provided by my school. Once it is processed, and they are satisfied that you are not poor or a psychopath, they'll send your certificate. Next step: hit up the Japanese Embassy - in my case - in Washington DC. A lot of info is needed, so check the website before you head off. I haven't done this yet, so I can't really go into detail. More later.
I also received a fairly detailed Arrival Handbook, with subjects ranging from Pre-Flight Prep to clothing size conversions. I'll be sure to read this closely and take notes very soon.
And finally, my host family. The Ootsuka family consists of Mom (who likes flower arranging and conversation), Dad (who like golf and karaoke), and 2 daughters (ages 24 & 26, who like karaoke and snow sport respectively)...but I think they're both married and out of the house :(　Oh! and a kitty! :) Um, so, here's what their letter to me said, in a really rough translation, haha:
Hello, nice to meet you.
We are the Ootsuka's, married couple. (I think meaning it's just the 2 of them)
We live in Kawagoe.
Kawagoe is an old town with a new town, it's an interesting place (that first part was literal translation, because I didn't quite get what they meant. haha)
From our house to TIU, it is about 30minutes by foot and train.
It is possible to get to Tokyo in 40minutes by train.
Because Kawagoe is a good, convenient town, we think you will have fun.
After that, they talk a bit more about the family, and the daughters. But i'm getting confused, so I shall stop here, haha. I think they say they have 3 daughters, 2 are getting married, something about people coming and going...really, I have no idea. If I can figure it out, I'll try to fill you in, haha. But I'm sure it won't kill you not knowing. It's funny because they put furigana next to the kanji that I knew...but not next to the ones I didn't.
That's all for now. I'm going to go work on reading this handbook, then maybe work on the costume a bit. Later.

I've always been the kinda girl...

2008-07-10T04:36:00.004+09:00

As I sit here listening to some sweet Beatmania J-Techno, I'm beginning to feel more and more unsure about my decision. There are so many factors going into this transition. And so much I feel could go wrong. I need to sort out the negative, so I can somehow assess the situations and find the positive.

HOST FAMILY
Japanese lifestyle is very unique and different and structured. I'm used to coming and going as I please. Staying out late whenever I wish, with just a quick call home. Bringing home friends any day of the week. I know these are all things that must quickly come to an end. But not only ｄo I need to stop doing some things, I need to START DOING others as well. My life as I know it, will be flipped 180 degrees.
I will need to start coming home by dinner time. I will need to sleep and wake early. I will need to be more social with the family. I will need to turn off the dramas, turn off the music, and open a text book. I will need to be selfless, and make sacrifices. Do things I don't necessarily WANT to, but NEED to, for the sake of myself or my family. Clean without being told. NOT go clubbing in Tokyo every weekend. I don't want my family to hate me!!
It will be a rough transition, but this is not impossible for me. I can do this. I know I can...
Then there is also the fact I will have to speak Japanese. All the time. I read and write pretty well I think, but I can't speak Japanese. I'll just have to keep in mind that with practice, I WILL get better.

LIFE IN OOSAKA
My semester in TIU ends in mid-December, with spring starting in March. In this 3 month time span, a friend in oosaka has offered me a place to stay. I'm so incredibly excited about being able to do this. Live with a great friend, in a city I adore. But I'm SO afraid I'll overstay my welcome. I LOVE HER TO DEATH, but I don't want her to be afriad to tell me no! >_<

I'm sure there are numerous other things that could go wrong, but I need to remain positive. I don't want to leave this country believing that nothing will go as planned. I'll work hard!

Don't forget, I'll be updating about my host family and visa process as soon as the papers come in! :)

HERE I AM!

2008-07-04T13:50:00.013+09:00

I'm not really expecting anyone to read this. More a practice run to make sure this is the blog I want to keep before I go abroad. An intro for anyone who just so stumbles upon this and cares to know a little more about me...
My name is Jessica, I'm 21 years old. I'm in my 5th year of college, and not my last. After changing majors many times in my college career, I've landed myself in Interdisciplinary Studies: Asian Studies (Japan) with a minor in Theater (mostly because I wanted to take makeup and sewing classes). I have this dumb dream of wanting to be a makeup artist in Japan. EVERYONE says it's dumb. Until it comes true...
This year - actually, 1 month and 22 days from now - I will be on a plane to Narita Airport (NRT) in Tokyo, Japan. From there, I will be making my way to my new home, my new school, my new family, and the next chapter in my life in Kawagoe, Saitama. This is more than just an 'experience'...this is a DREAM. Even now, just sitting here, I find it difficult to put into words the exact feelings I'm having. I'm excited. And I'm scared. Almost every night, I stare up at my ceiling, wishing I could just fall asleep. But I'm often overwhelmed with emotion. To go 10 whole months without seeing my mommy. Without being able to hold her hand or hug her when I want to. To not be able to call everyday and hear her voice. To not be able to barge into Sarah's room. To not be able to geek out with Katie over random attractive asian men we see when we go about our daily tasks. There is SO MUCH stopping me from being completely ready for this journey. To those who read this months or years later, I expect anyone who loves their family and friends as much as I would feel the same. But you can NOT let this hold you back. These are most likely the very same people who encouraged you and pushed you to strive to reach this goal. By staying here, where it's 'safe' and 'comfortable,' sure you have nothing to lose, but also NOTHING to gain. It's hard. But I'm going to do this.
OK! Done with that. Moving on...
Let's talk a bit more about the program in which I've enrolled. It's called the Japan Studies Program through Tokyo International University. It's a small program, with average class size around 5 people. Unlike other study abroad programs where you have different living options, you MUST do homestay through TIU. I don't want to go too much into it, but here is a link to their site if you want more information.
Tokyo International University-Japan Studies Program

If you are not a student at an affiliated college or university, just have them send you a catalog and discuss it with your study abroad counselor. As far as scholarships, I'm 99% sure you need to be enrolled at an affiliated college to be eligible.

Just yesterday I received an e-mail from TIU informing the participants that they are getting confirmations from the families. After getting all the replies, they'll be mailing everything (including our Certificate of Eligibility needed to apply for our student visas), meaning in about 2 weeks, I will know more about my host family. I'm sure you all know about my ridiculous hopes for my family...but my crazy dreams aside, I'll be sure to let everyone know the second I get the information. It's all starting to come together. And in no time, I'll be on my plane to TEXAS...followed by my plane to JAPAN! I didn't want to start another stupid 'live journal' type blog where I just rant about my problems and daily occurrences, so I'll try to contain myself just a little. After all, I want this to be informative, more than anything! I'll try to keep track of whatever I'm doing to prepare from now till when I leave, but I can't promise much. I never know what will be useful to everyone else sooo, please just ask questions as they come, ok?
On that note...do you like my 'first night out in japan...in winter!' outfit???