Last Weekend

I am writing this on Sunday, my time. Today is my last full day in Japan. I haven't posted a blog up in about 3 weeks. Why you ask? Finals and last tests were for a week and a half, so I spent 2 weekends doing naught but studying for them. Now I have been doing fun things this week, and so have things to write about. A lot to wrap up my time in Japan as well, I think. 

Tuesday after final: A group of people were planning on going to the Kyoto Handicraft Center and an old imperial palace in Kyoto. Well, I did some research and discovered that you have to go on tours, you can't just walk and look at palace sans tour guide. At least this is what I could find on the internet. Well, considering nobody was even meeting for half an hour before the last tour, I had a feeling this was not happening---and if I waited that long I'd not be home for dinner. So Diego and I took off early---why wait just to be aggravated about lack of planning? Eh, we did a lot of walking, somebody-ahem not me--forgot their umbrella. The center had a lot of cool things, didn't get anything though: the prices were higher than I'd seen them elsewhere, and most things I had seen elsewhere. It was neat to see all the things in one place though. 

Wednesday: Everybody had afternoon finals this day, or at least like me had to show up for 15 minutes of a class for collecting papers....Ooh ahh, fun! In the morning it was more of the same 'ooh ahh fun' by closing my bank account. Not really an enjoyable activity, although it wasn't too terribly hard to figure out how to do. If I recall correctly I went to Floresta for one last amazing doughnut (Japan is going to kill me with all of its sweets). 

Thursday: Diego and I stuck to our original plans, since the other days were less flexible (friends wanted us to switch the days around, but if I we did so we were under the impression the crowds would be horrendous. Turns out its too cold for anybody else, so we could have, more on that later) and went to Osaka. We wanted to wander the shopping district called Shinsaibashi and the other known as Den Den Town. Turns out they are way closer together than we'd imagined, and neither held a ton of interest for us, I don't think. Diego got his strange and fabulous pictures (which was the interesting part---moving crab-signs, the huge Glico man sign, the canals...) I found some little gifts for people. It was a nice, but utterly freezing and horrible, day. No rain at least, plenty of wind. 

Friday: Okay, now we get to the part where you will ALL go: are you suicidal?! See, somebody told me that Japan's weather is like that of LA. Uhm--does LA get snow every year and have gorgeous pictures of temples covered in half a foot of snow? NO! Japan is colder, thanks. But, in order to see the gorgeous world of Arashiyama (bridge, mountains, river, bamboo) all lit up with lights at night I dressed as warmly as I could. That came at night though, first, all dressed up like the Pillsbury Doughboy, Diego and I went to Ryoanji---this Buddhist temple supposedly houses the most famous zen rock garden in all of Japan. I think The Karate Kid spoiled me---I was expecting something huge and gorgeous, and the little rectangle of rocks was then disappointing. Beautiful, got some interesting thoughts as I pondered the philosophy of life looking at the stones (which yes, is what you are supposed to do). 

My thoughts: Okay, so there were what 14? 12? Big stones in the middle of this white gravel pit. I thought---okay even while these are so much bigger, they're still surrounded by their fellows. All humans interact, and even when a man seems like an island he is not. Heroes, politicians, celebrities---all these people who seem so distant are not. Yah yah...silly thing to think of looking at rocks. I like this one a bit better--even when you're separated from those you love, the bond and connection is still there in little trails--because of course the gravel was raked into beautiful lines and ripples.

Next stop: Lunch. I am NEVER ordering that type of sandwich again, certainly not in Japan---that's just dooming me to nausea. The french fries that accompanied the sandwhich were delicious however. 

Then we walked some more, right up to a temple known as Kinkakuji, although that is not it's official name--Kinkakuji means the Golden Pavillion or somen' like that---it is basically a temple whose outside upper two stories are covered in gold-leaf. It was pretty reflecting on the pond. At one of the offering places, a cup set off of the path where you were supposed to try to throw coins into it, Diego and I took a few shots. He got a coin in 2x, but it never stayed in--bounced off of hte coins already in, and landed outside of the cup. I tried with the very-light yennies (more properly termed 1 yen coins) and had some wild shots that were a foot away from the goal (the cup was 3 feet or so away from me, and you really can't expect me to have good aim EVER) and one that was just an inch from it---sooooooo close! 

On the way out I found a vending machine that sold the wonderful Meiji hot chocolate--bought two, and warmed up my hands with one of them before drinking it. It was kind of funny: Diego had been wanting one all day since it was cold, but none of the vending machines had any! So when I saw it: bingo! Time to warm up. From there we walked to the tram and rode to Arashiyama--saved us probably half an hour of walking in the cold. Maybe more. Got off at Randen-saga station looked at souveneirs, tried some snacks, waited til dark fell so that we could take our pretty pictures....or rather so Diego could take his pretty pictures, as I'd forgotten my camera. Very lovely: I rather enjoyed the surprise he had that I could climb up the river bank quickly, easily and safely in my boots (with a 1.5 or so inch heel). Three Rivers you treated me well! Lol. The boy was insanely cold---he really should have found a way to wear more layers or bailed out and bought long johns---he was ducking into shops all over hte place for a few minutes of warmth. I didn't mind the going in and warming up myself. My gloves could be warmer since my hands are always so cold in the winter.

From there we caught the train to Kyoto station---uhh let's change that statement. We caught a train that soon became a jam-packed train---I felt like a sardine!! Really, truly, honestly, how can people ride those? The girl in front of me looked like she was in pain, a man next to me was holding on at the ceiling with his back all curved to the side like he was stretching--- his body was something like this character: /` instead of  |.  We ate dinner at the station, then caught the train back toward the dorms and my host family's house. 

Saturday: On Saturday, my last real day in Japan since I am packing today, I went out and did a few things: went to Uji, did some errands at school and got a nice surprise :) went to Sweets Paradise and went to Kuzuha mall. Not in that order. 

Because school took longer than I'd expected, visiting places one last time and dealing with some gifts there at school, we went to lunch first. Sweets Paradise... hmm... how do I rate it? At first I would rate it as one of my top 3 favorite restaurants in Japan, but as the aftereffects of eating too many sweets set in.....maybe not? I dunno I cant' decide. So basically Sweets Paradise is a buffet---where half of the food is sweets. There's drinks, there's pasta and salad, there is white chocolate fondu, there is about 3 dozen types of cake out at any given moment....and you're given 80 or 90 minutes to eat. Uhh...yeah...my stomach started hurting a bit later....

After a large sweet lunch designed to induce a diabetic coma....we got on the train to Uji. Uji is a town near Kyoto known for tea and its inclusion in a very old story--Tsuen tea shop, which we visited, is considered one of the oldest tea shops in the world, and the story is also considered one of the oldest novels--if people consider it a novel, which is argued about. The tea shops were pretty cool--lots of green tea, and green tea snacks and such about. Another spot with a lovely bridge crossing a river--this river is a bit faster though. We saw somebody collecting water samples at the river edge--Diego at first thought it was a homeless person, then I pointed out the little test tubes. Ha, I win!

From Uji we headed back to the Hirakata area, and went into Kuzuha mall to get the last of our shopping done. Yes, I'm done with what I'm getting in Japan--few stocking stuffers to get back home. I laughed at Diego when I pointed out he'd bought too much to bring it back in his suitcase---how did that go for you? Lol! Good-natured laughing, not "ha ha what an idiot." Nah, a lot of what he's bought is pretty cool, or is the sort of thing people actually want, not junk. 

Sadly this was our last full day together for a while--splitting up is no fun, and leaving a country where you still have so much you want to see isn't fun either. I really wanted to go see the whirpools by Shikoku island, but I didn't have the time, nor was I willing to put so much money into going and seeing them: quite expensive to get both ways, and not a short trip either. Maybe someday in the future? 

Then when I got home I was surprised by some gifts from my host family. I'd imagined they were planning on spending time with me last night, I wasn't expecting gifts. Shortly after receiving them I ran up to my room and grabbed the green tea candies I'd bought for them, and the card. I hadn't had any idea whether I should give them a going-away gift at all, so I'd just bought a small thing of sweets that they could all enjoy, or so I hope. I screwed up on the card, alas---I have a bit of a block on some of the direction kanji--east, west and south...North I remember quite well. So I used an online dictionary to find the kanji--only to find out that the dictionary fed me the wrong kanji....one line extra. Drats! I'd had trouble getting that card too, had to ask what the meaning of a sentence one was, since I wanted the card to be completely in Japanese. 

Ah well. We also had a lovely dinner together (Ryoichi wasn't home until rather late, so he only  was there for the presents and the photo they wanted). It was quite good. Okaasan, Yoko and I, plus the dog Ruby (who finally no longer gets freaked out by me) walked for a ways, all bundled up, to go see some Christmas lights that a nearby neighborhood does every year. It was pretty! We all had a good time I think. Everything was last night, or at least a great deal was, since Yoko will not return from work tonight since she works so late, and I think has an early shift the next morning. That kind of sucks for her, nobody wants to work at 8 am or so after working til midnight or so the night before. 

Today: Today is a packing day, and saying my final goodbyes to Yoko before she leaves for work. I will get dressed and go downstairs at noon or so for socialization and lunch, camera in tow. Need to do some packing, figuring things out before then though. 

Tomorrow is my flight home. Long trip to the airport (actually no longer than by car since I don't have to fuss with traffic), longer flight...and STILL arriving on Monday. Stupid time zones!

Well: be seeing everyone back home soon, goodbye to those readers I met in Japan, and I hope we can meet again sometime! 

XO

Jessica

Arashiyama

Saturday morning: up, eat brekkies, and head out to the train station near the dorms. From there it was off to Arashiyama: it's on the far edge of Kyoto. Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. It is highly, highly, highly recommended. First we went to a zen temple: Tenryoji? Something like that in name, i've got it on a ticket stub somewhere. That lake, (of the four pictures bottom left) is at the temple. It's fall colors are to die for, it's got some lovely statues, but mostly just go to see all of the pretty scenery, unless you're a religion buff and want to learn about every sect of Buddhism. Then we walked through the bamboo forest, which was quite literally right outside the back gate of the temple. It's pretty cool to be able to say you walked through a bamboo forest, I think! The bamboo trees were incredibly tall! 

Then, after managing to decipher a map we took a left at the edge of the forest and found ourselves taking the long way toward our third destination. Not that I minded at all, when it had us walk along a riverbank. The water and the trees, and the boats rowing all over it were amazingly beautiful. I just can't imagine falling into that water....freezing! Can we say: where is a new wardrobe because I will catch my death if I wear these wet clothes? So we crossed the river, on this absolutely crowded bridge. Following this time, we found the signs were were looking for, and climbed a mountain....never ever again.

Somebody, who shall remain nameless, told me it was likely to rain. This meant I needed to wear my boots, which have a heel on them, or have sopping wet feet all day. Well, it wasn't going to rain--wrong city's weather...and even though the cities are close, yes it does make quite a difference. Sooooooo yeah, hiked a mountain in boots with a heel (not a narrow heel thank you very much, a nice wide one) however I still managed to twist my ankle. In defense....I uhh probably could have managed that without the heels, with my stupid ankles. :D

So we climbed this mountain: to a monkey park!! It was so cool. This monkey, as we're walking up the trail, just walks right past, a foot from us! ...course thats not quite as exciting when I think that I put apple on my hand and fed monkeys, or that they're all willing to come pretty close. I felt bad for the baby monkeys: big fat monkeys chased them away from the food!

So, then we headed back, walked down the trail, about this time I noticed the pain in my ankle, walked around some shops, found out we walked the long way---by taking the short way back and realizing we'd been all but the last 20 yards or so toward that bridge at lunch time, before going into the temple. If there hadn't been so many people, I'm sure we would have noticed it earlier. Rode a really slow train (street car?) back to the main part of Kyoto, got off, transferred, decided we wanted to check out Gion again.

Uhh...if you can't afford to go into a shop, and trust me they're ALL expensive you're not going to see a whole ton in Gion unless you're pretty lucky. It's all lit up, and looks old, but you'd have to do some waiting to see a geisha or maiko (geisha in training--and btw geisha isnt what they call themselves so much) walking around between appointments. So, we headed back to Hirakata, and to our respectives homes..

Oh! a note...DO NOT be at Hirakata station when all the shops close.....man those metal doors over the shops screech!!! OWWIE!

All future travellers to Japan: women, do not do as the Japanese women do and wear high heels all the time. Even if you do not think you will go hiking...bring tennis shoes! And definitely, if in Kyoto check out Arashiyama! 

Kyoto!

I bet everybody has heard of Kyoto? Yes? No? Maybe not? I hope so, cuz it's pretty famous. I went there this weekend--it's less than half an hour by train from school. First I went and explored this HUGE flea market. We're talking, for those in Oregon, something about the size of the annual Christmas Bazaar. Bigger than the Saturday Market, all outside, and happens twice a month: the 21st and the first saturday? sunday? one of those two. It was pretty cool. Had some yummy chestnuts. 

Then we walked to Kyoto station, looked at the map, ate cake at a cake shop. yummy. Then walked all the way to Kiyomizudera. First we looked around the souveneir shops since we were waiting around for the opening of it we wanted. Yes, I know I know, you realize the name Kiyomizudera sounds familiar. That's because I mentioned it in probably my first blog entry about Japan. But this time we were going at night for a special time of the year where they light everything up in the dark. I got some fair pictures, which was quite the challenge in that throng....*Shudder* crowds...

It was gorgeous all lit up like that, and of course as I'm here saying that I realize that I never put those photos into my laptop. Guess I'll do that tomorrow or something. Tomorrow is a study day since it's Japan's version of thanksgiving--a national holiday. No school. Libraries are closed....may have to buy all my meals at conbini's (convenience stores) tomorrow....didn't think about that earlier....

Today I went to t he school culture festival. It wass quite interesting. Lots of yummy food, watched Joel (a friend) perform on the Koto at his club. The Koto is ....remember the movie August Rush how the kid plays the guitar laying down rather than in his hands. Well the Koto is a big huge string instrument that you play flat like that, only its more along the lines of a harp...that's hollow....gah, look up images on google! Anyways, it was pretty neat, and it had a good atmosphere for the performance. Watched a little bit of the international dance performance, watched a Japanese student rap in Japanese...okay...didn't quite get it at all. Saw lots of crazy stuff. Japanese boys dressed up as Japanese school girls, power rangers and scream costume people, cheerleaders who were incredibly athletic, lots of kimonos (but that's pretty common--if i leave the house and don't see somebody wearing one, it's an unusual day). 

Aww well, yawns, I'm kind of tired. Goodnight Neverland,

Jessica

Nara

Four of us went to Nara this weekend. It was a lot of fun, and really cool. As you can see the deer, which were originally sacred and now are deemed a National Treasure are quite friendly, know who feeds them and will walk right up to you. When I held my hand out to one, she decided to lick my hand. It tickled! Yes I washed my hand afterwards, but not before threatening to put my hand on Diego's face--he's not a big fan of animal kisses on his face it seems. Pobrecito. Also we saw this amazing vine that had grown right over the path. It kind of felt like we were walking in this ancient jungle as we walked through the forest in Nara. Of note: the bathrooms in the forest are way nicer than those near the largest of the temples. Toilets, instead of the Japanese-style porcelain hole in the ground, toilet paper and soap. It's a miracle! 

Okay, the big huge Buddha statue you see? Look closely it's not just the hand! Here is the stats on it and on the temple it stands in. "Todaji Temple was built in the Nara period (710-794 AD)....The chief object of worship is the Vairocana Buddha....is made from cast bronze, which was then plated with gold. the statue was consecreated in 752, but was damaged and repaired several times  in the following centures. The current hands of the statue were made in the Momoyama period (1568-1615) and the head was made in the Edo period (1615-1867). The Great Buddha Hall (which is the building it stands in) was burned in the fires of war in 1180 and 1567, and the current building is actually the third generation structure, which was built in the Edo period. the width of the current building is approximately 33% smaller than that of the original structure, but it still ranks as the largest wooden structure in the world."--entry ticket

Stats: Hall: 187 ft for "frontage, 165 ft for depth, 160 ft in height.

            Buddha: Heint of body 49 feet. Length of head 18 ft"

This thing was HUUUUGGEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! Nara was amazing, not just the temples. It was really beautiful. There's not a lot to see other than temples, so far as I could tell though. It really is a largely historical city, with little modern-day attractions. Didn't see any huge department stores. They are there for sure, they're just not the main attractions. 

Please, if you go to Nara remember: don't antagonize the baby deer. Mama will not like it. They've got charming little signs up, with way too much kanji for me to read, but with lovely mangas that I can read quite easily showing unhappy dear. And signs saying don't kill the deer, or the others will cry.

I found a great gift for someone when I was out. Nya Nya, I'm not telling! Lol. This next weekend I am going to spending two out of three days of it in Kyoto--the third day is reserved for the school international festival. Okaasan is going to Yokohama one day that weekend, so we'll see what happens with me regarding that. Guess that means I'll have to update again in a week! 

Jessi

Updates, updates

First of all I have not in all reality been doing a lot lately. This past weekend I didn't do a lot, but we'd had Tuesday off and I wen to Osaka castle. The weekend before I had gone to a mall to look around and out to karaoke for the first time. Monday was Okaasan's birthday. And today was another day off of school...but i have a test friday, and another monday so it's another tame weekend. 

First, midterms and tests finished. Then I can't really remember, cuz i realize it was nearly a month ago that i updated last...

October 30th was a Halloween costume contest at my school. It was quite amusing to watch! Some of the costumes were really bad. I really wished I dressed up, but I never did find a good costume. Soo.....bleh. Oh well. Then i went and had yakitori for dinner. Imagine chicken shishkabobs people. 

Kuzuha mall: Uhm, I found a cute souveneir to bring home for somebody. I ate baskin robins Ice cream at lunch---to cool my mouth down i swear. I ordered this "Red Spicy German Dog" and let me tell you that was the spiciest hot dog I'd had in my life (good hot dog not crappy american mystery meat). I needed the ice cream to cool my mouth down. Lucky me, it was on sale since it was halloween. 

We then tried to go to this restaurant in Hirakata called "the hobbit" that has food from all around hte world. There were like 6 of us at that point and Diego decided to be proactive and talk to the restaurant owner---who had indeed lived Diego's dream and travelled to a ton of countries, around the world, for a year. But because it was apparently a halloween party it was fancy hors d'ouvoirs only, or however you spell that wretched word. Is there an anglicized version for my usage? So we left after a little while, hungry still and went to a restaurant. The group got smaller: down to four after dinner at the Seizeria (italian) and then we went to karaoke. It's fun, but its not my favorite thing. Apparently I suck at singing. Go figure. So surprised. Shellshocked, really. 

Can't remember what I did the next day: probably studied.  

Then the 3rd was a day off of school. Tuesday (think it was the third) and la la la! I went to Osaka Castle with Diego. it was really fun! and pretty! Lol: I wish that I had a picture Diego made me take on his camera of him. He decided to be a little kid and play with the cannon. let me just mention that people who aren't big fans of cafeteria-style japanese food should NOT find themselves hungry at Osaka-jo! 

Oooh and the Panasonic center was amazing (we saw it on the way to osaka castle). Nanotechnology! for cleaning!!!!! and there was this great photo gallery that we saw, and we ate delicious crepes (the guy making them was sooooo cool!) and since the day before had gotten wicked cold and that day was too, i bought a winter hat. I brought gloves, scarfs, coats...but no hat! lol. I got dragged into another pokemon store. And a tech store: yodobashi camera. That store was actually pretty cool though!  it had like 9 levels. b1, b2, then up to seven. but six and seven had no tech--they were restaurants and clothes shopping. Found Diego some nice Isotoner gloves there. 

Then classes. classes. Classes. Then Saturday: Okaasan's friend and her teenage daughter came over and I was asked to talk to the daughter. Interesting. I made dinner. It went over well, but I didn't realize we were having a guest so ..... I wish I'd gotten more! People weren't starving or anything at all, but I felt like a little more would've been good. Then Sunday I spent time with my friends, just chilling at the dorms for the day. 

Monday was Okaasan's birthday. We went out to dinner. Had lots of cake when Okaasan's friends came over. Poor Ryoichi was the only male in the house! 8 women: 1 male. He hid in his room. Smart or foolish? 

Tuesday was time for me to be an idiot! Yay me ala London. ... You want to know what I did? I fell down the stairs!!!! Bounce, bounce, bounce.....foot, arm, butt. The latter two hit every stair as I went down, and I fell on the top of 14 stairs....I don't think anyone was home, since nobody came running at the horrible racket. Might I mention the stairs aren't carpeted? They happen to be a nice solid hardwood, which is why my slippered-foot slipped so easily. Today my right foot (the one that hit a few stairs) is swollen. My right arm is tender and i don't want to rest it on a hard object, and my butt hurts to sit, wo lay on my back, to go upstairs.... Nothing seems to be broken, but I can definitely not say that I escaped without bruises!  Owwwieee.....

Today was the school's anniversary, so there weren't any classes. Yay. I slept in. Then I headed out to the dorms to study a bit. We tried to watch Watchmen but theres some technical problem with the disc that i can't begin to accurately explain. God forbid I explain it wrong! Which brings me to now, laying in bed, cuz that hurts my butt slightly less, but it is STILL throbbing...I hate myself. I really do sometimes. At least my clutziness. .... and I always give people dirty looks when they're constantly pulling me back thinking I'm going to hurt myself....where were my guardian mother hens this time?????

Oh! I've also been working on some things for classes in the spring. I will not be taking a winter 3 class. Which means I have all of January off of school. I will be taking 17 credits this spring. Pre-practicum class for social work  (the practicum is my senior project that i have to do all of senior year basically--next spring), social statistics (math), Global Capitalism and Neo-Colonialism Inequalities (sociology with one of my favorite professors), Asian Philosophy, and Stained Glass 1!  Sorry no project requests until I learn more about what I'll be required to do in the class! Yay! 

I requested my housing for this spring. Dunno where I'll be until sometime in January. Too bad, eh? 

Alright, I can't think of much else to say. Hearts to everyone,

Jessi

Promised Umeda, Danjiri, and Idiocy (of course)

Okay everyone, photos as promised. Top left is a picture of me, my friend Joel (the weirdo who went into a salon and told them to dye it red), my friend Amber, me, and my boyfriend being a teensy bit creepy! Top right: A picture of the edge of Osaka at sunset from the Umeda Sky Building. It was GORGEOUS. But I already told you that. Seriously, a must-see for the Osaka area if you want a view of the city and bay. The bottom one is self-explanatory for you Miyazaki fans. Ponyo! This is Joel standing next to me. i look so short!

Alright: last friday night I went to a danjiri festival with my host sister, Yoko. It was a lot of fun. Okay, well, the food was lousy. Shrimp cracker with an egg that was way too close to raw for me to eat (and yes, I've been eating eggs again...) slathered with mayonaisse. Eww. The festival was pretty fun, sorry, the pictures aren't that great. I uhh...did make my Grandpa proud. Then promptly disappointed him by nearly gagging on it...I tried sake. Yes, I'm legal to drink in Japan. Am I going to drink that stuff again: shoot me first, please! It was nasty! My lips felt swollen, and it burned! UGH UGH UGH! No drinkie, no drinkie...lol

Today was the idiocy. I uhh...forgot to email my paper to myself---so it's 2 hours before class and I'm like.....oh no....RAN from school to the train station 20 minutes away (cuz I missed the bus I wanted, then never managed to catch one again---seriously, open the doors when someone is standing there!) and made it round-trip from my home to KG in about an hour and forty minutes. I wore myself out.... because I normally take an hour each way....and that time included 5 minutes spent at the house: take shoes off, call out tadaima in case okaasan is home (don't want her to think someone broke in), send email and make sure i sent the correct document, shoes back on, lock door, and dash....bleh!

Double-checking everything a billion times from now on! Not doing that again!

Okay, you've all had your laugh. Yes I got the paper in on time. And yes I am kind of tired now...

oh yeah---it's midterms this week and next. So not a lot of fun stuff is going on. I might do something fun one day next weekend, but the other is totally to be devoted to studying. No fun!

Alright, a short little tidbit on life in Japan for you,

Love you all! 

Jessi

New Experiences

Okay, let's start from where this blog last left off---Two weekends ago I went to the country, then the next day and that whole week I didn't do a lot at all until Saturday. On Saturday I went hiking up Mt. Hiei. Now for anyone who knows Japan, this is an old mountain somewhere near Kyoto and Lake Biwa (Japan's biggest lake) that has a TON of shrines/temples on it that are very old. So we took the train out, then went up a really steep track on another cable car---ran on a cable, but did not lift off the mountain (the next one, where we hiked instead did). There were monkeys around, but though we thought we might have been pretty close to one, and heard their calls, I personally didn't catch a glimpse of one. The hike was beautiful, and the temples were pretty neat too. Some of my friends were talking about going to Lake Biwa again this weekend, camping, but nobody wanted to make those plans when a typhoon was coming midweek. 

After that we tried to go to a moon viewing festival but kind of met with failure. There were so many people in our group that we couldn't decide which festival to go to, or get off quickly, and so we made it just as the festival was ending so we couldn't go in (doesn't help that it looked like it ended a bit early). Oh well---by the time we would have got there it was covered in clouds anyways. The moon was gorgeous from Mt. Hiei though. 

Then came the tsunami mid-week (weds and thurs morning). It was kind of scary to hear so much wind and rain blow in. It hit about 6 pm on Wednesday night, and it was only like 50 miles away, so it quieted down and stopped raining for a while about bedtime. Then in the middle of the night it started pouring and the wind howling again. There was damage and flooding in other cities, but Osaka is pretty protected, this area is, because of being on a chunk of inland sea (theres a big island between us and the main ocean). So we got school off Thursday morning. Boy was I tired that day---I didn't sleep well!

Then on Saturday I just hung out with my friends---had dinner, played cards, watched a movie...didn't do the studying I brought over...oops. Yesterday, Sunday, we all got up, and met at the train station. Turned out there was a bit of a Danjiri festival going on: Danjiri are big floats that are carried by a bunch of strong guys. There were 3 that I saw, and its some sort of competition, I think. Joel, Diego and I watched that for a little while, before heading out to Osaka to see the Hayao Miyazki museum (travelling). It was amazing, even if it did take 2 hours to go through, and an additional hour to get in, and a long line to buy souveneirs. It was amazing! I just wish I hadn't felt claustrophic among so many people! And that I could have understood more. Ha ha...we just looked and ignored the nice little plaques of kanji and big words I don't know! 

On the way out we saw some other friends that we were going to meet up with by Umeda (an area of Osaka) later that day, talked for a minute, and then headed out for lunch---a really late lunch, for which we were all starving. A note to other travellers: KFC's fried chicken in Japan is incredibly greasy. Go with chicken nuggets. Unless, you like having your hands and lips covered and shiny. It was good though! 

Then we headed out to Osaka, where Joel got us lost---my sense of direction was correct for once! Yay! .....nobody believes me when it is though! lol. Umeda Sky Building looked amazing, and having climbed it and looked all 40 stories down---beautiful. The sunset was amazing from there (I'll try to remember to post photos later) too bad it was cold. We could see the ENTIRETY of Osaka from our vantage point. The Floating Gardens at Umeda Sky Building is definitely on the list of places I'd recommend people to go see! An entire city, a bay, an island and mountains in the distance spread out around you in a panoramic view. Very nice. 

From there we went out to America-mura (an "american shopping center") yeah not as recommended. In fact....two thumbs down. It was kind of one of those places you shouldn't go to after 4 pm---it starts closing at 8, and looked a bit on the wild side---clubs everywhere, and a rougher variety of person by the looks of it. We snagged dinner first before heading there---

Let me just say this: I have had the best spaghetti of my life in Japan. And have developed a love for Italian-style margherita pizzas. Move over American-pizzas---you suck. Okay, I still will eat them, but.......not quite as award-winning.

Then we headed home for the night. Today is a national holiday of some sort (don't ask me what I'm not quite sure) but I'm just going to chill out and study, maybe play some cards if the studying goes well with my friends in another hour or two. 

Laters!

Long Time, No See.....pff

Today I went to the countryside of the Kansai area. It was very pretty. All around me were mountains, and a little river ran in front of Okaasan's childhood home. The river was pretty low, just a riverbed really. Anyways, I'll explain the day in order.

4:45 am: my alarm goes off

6:00 am: leave the house

somewhere around 9 am: arrive in the little town. I then met Okaasan's little brother, his wife, their daughter Remi and Okaasan's mother. A little later we went out chestnut and persimmon hunting. That was a lot of fun! They shake the chestnut tree and the poky green pods fall from the tree. Then, WITH gloves on thanks much, you rip the pod open and rescue the three chestnuts from inside. Right near the chestnut tree was a persimmon tree, and we twisted some ripe fruits off of the tree. I haven't had one yet, I'll have to do that soon.

Then we went back to the house, I never went back inside just then: I hung outside with Remi (who is 10 and full of energy) and took photos of the really old bridges right across the street from the house, and the shrine that was right across the street too. Then we walked to a soba restaurant. I had soba an tempura and miso soup and rice. There was also some tofu on the plate, but i couldn't even finish what I do like so why try something I only like 1/4 of the time depending on how it was prepared? 

After eating the "kids" (read, Yoko, Remi and I--Ryoichi was at the library studying today) all went to the riverbed and played around. I held a little crab. I haven't done that since I really was a kid! Then, on the way back we went to a Jinjya, which is a Shinto temple, that is right across the street from the restaurant. It was really pretty cool, and incredibly old. I was taught how to pray properly at a Shinto shrine to show respect for the traditions. STILL on the way back Okaasan brings us up to a house just a few down from the family home and introduces us to her friend, a Miko. A miko is a priestess. That was kind of neat: didn't talk much, but I can now say I've met a miko!

Then the three of us girls played on the Wii balance board. It was fun, but man was it hard! Then it was time to go home, which meant another long car ride. 

Wow, somehow I thought I would have more to say about today. But really, that's what I did, and it was beautiful out there in the countryside. I had fun, and wouldn't mind going again. Although I'd be warned this time: no cell phone service. In Japan you rapidly become addicted to texting. And you become skilled at it.....I'm wondering how my cell here compares to my American phone now....

Okay, I ALREADY know my cell phone does not have infrared. For those who are not tech-savvy, infrared can be used to automatically relay cell phone numbers and emails between phones straight into an address book. And I'm pretty sure my phone doesn't let me switch back and forth between languages: even the basic prepaid does that here. Wow...I'm going to miss Japanese cell phones: but not their prices, and not other examples of Japanese technology.

Seriously Japan.....I'm in complete agreement with almost everyone else who has ever mentioned this: TOILETS DO NOT NEED TO BE HIGH-TECH! IF IT HAS MORE THAN A LEVER TO FLUSH IT IS TOO CONFUSING! ...seriously, you need lessons on how to use Japanese toilets....only that's not a lesson anyone is asking for anytime soon....lol. I've got it all figured out, but seriously. You stare at the thing for a minute and go: oh ...now what?

Lol. Eh....well, really, my reason for this post is exhausted. Sometime soon I'll update with a bunch of photos. Or maybe just throw them onto facebook....eh, whatev. 

Laters!

Time Goes On

Okay, okay, I know it's been more than a week. First, for those who are curious, I will fill you in on my health. I still have a bit of phlegm, but my cough is pretty much gone, no fever, and I can breathe deeply. Happy now? Good! 

So, uhh, let's see, what have I done? I had a week of school. Found out I'm NOT getting 9 points out of whatever number on every spoken Japanese assignment.....that was the stinking date the teacher checked the assignment on! I was getting a little worried there. I was thinking, "no matter how hard I try, why can't I get more than 9 points?!" I never noticed the second number was increasing every day, to match the day of the month....ha ha. Smart me, eh? 

Then on Thursday I decided I was healthy enough after all, and had a received an invitation to go to Tokyo , and joined in at the last minute. Could have been better company, could have been worse. Tokyo Tower looks pretty cool, but the area it's in, Ginza? Yeah, NEVER go to Ginza on a Sunday in Silver Week (a 5 day weekend) it's absolutely DEAD! There were no Western restaurants open, and I don't know enough about Japanese food yet to order something and actually enjoy it sight unseen. The few restaurants that were open and had recognizeable food----were reserved for wedding/black-tie parties. Ugh! 

Met up with Diego during one day and got dragged to the Pokemon Center....why, oh why? There were almost no other 'adults' there if they didn't have toddlers in tow! For those who know Japan, I went to Harajuku, Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Akihabara as well as the Imperial Palace Gardens. I saw the Hachiko statue. 

Day 1: arrived in Tokyo, found the hotel, and ate dinner at Outback Steak House. Yum! Japanese hotel rooms are SMALL! 

Day 2: Went to The Imperial Gardens and then Akihabara, from Akasaka, BY FOOT. Uhm, I probably walked about 12 miles that day.... The Imperial Gardens were a bit on the boring side--The Portland Japanese Gardens are prettier. Akihabara was a tad bit of a letdown. For being like, the biggest technology shopping center in Tokyo it was kind of sad. All the shops were tiny and cramped and filled with things I half-recognized, some very old, some very new, some very cheap, some very expensive. And may I just mention? NEVER go into an arcade: they smell of smoke so strongly you can't breathe, and a portion of the material and UFO catcher prizes border on pornographic. Otakus.....it's a guy haven. And the girls floor is all a bunch of crazy pink photo booths where you make crazy pictures.....Saw a parade, something about China, in Akihabara, and this really cool street performer! I'll put up pictures of that later. Then we caught the subway to Ginza and walked to the Tokyo Tower from there. Got lots of cool pictures. It's pretty much a reproduction of the Eiffel Tower, I dunno if it's smaller tho. WE got lost trying to find someplace to eat--stupid stinking city closes ..... grr!

Day 3: Got up, found brekkies, went to Shinjuku. Went during the day, because areas of it are very non-Western friendly and rough at night. It's next to the largest red-light district in Tokyo (or all of Japan?). For those who don't know, certain forms of sexual services are regulated in Japan rather than illegal, and red light districts are where they tend to take place. So we didn't want to go at night. Found a HUUUUUGGGEEEEE and massively expensive department store. Found a Krispy Kreme. Yummy....Then we walked to Harajuku. Got lost on the way---and really didn't even find Harajuku that night. Found another shopping street like 2 minutes from it that we thought was Harajuku----nope, wrong. Caught the train to Shibuya and walked around. Took some amazing pictures of that hugely busy intersection that you always see when you see Tokyo on TV. Went home for the day. Feet were massively sore--got lost between Shinjuku and Harajuku (turns out that the maps in Tokyo suck. They can never keep North in the same orientation on the map from one block to the next).

Day 4: Went back to Shibuya station to find the Hachiko statue. Check. WEnt to the Hello Kitty store that was set up at the station and bought myself a cell phone charm. Not a hello kitty fan, but hey---when in Japan! Then we went back to Harajuku--and found it. Oh man was that a mob scene! The cosplay stores were absolutely crazy! Since I'm writing this blog and most people who are reading it (well, actually I have no idea who is reading it) may or may not know what it is, I'll say this: cosplay is dressing up in crazy costumes like anime characters, or like a theme----and doing it on a regular day a lot of times. Halloween daily. Then we went to the Pokemon store. Uhh...yeah, a bit weird for me since I was never into it. But hey, when the people you're with like Pokemon and want to see it, just as a laugh, you go along. It wasn't too bad. From there we went ot the Tokyo Dome. It's a huge sports arena with a baseball museum there. My host family are big fans of the Giants (a Japanese team). I bought them some sweets as a souveneir their. Got some great photos, once again. Didn't go to the amusement park there, just walked around, enjoyed the sights (gorgeous) and had dinner there. My first hamburger at a sports arena. Probably my last for quite a while too. 

Then the lot of us went back to Roppongi which was near the hotels in Akasaka. Took some photos of the city view at night, or tried to. Not as good as they could have been from a higher vantage point. Too tired to walk any further though. I think all of us Western girls on the trip had this thought in mind: how on earth do these Japanese women wear high-heels every second they are outdoors?!

Day 5: came home. Yeah, pretty much it. Ohhh found a great little cake shop in Kyoto: Berry Cafe. YUUUUUUMMMMM. strawberry cake! chocolate! 

Yesterday, the day after I returned, was school again. bleh! Had to get up early and go to the Language Lab because the teacher assigned us a workbook page that required it---but the lab was closed the whole of Silver Week. 

Today the Japanese students, all of them NOT studying in English at the CIE with us foreigners, had their first classes. Campus was a zoo. And will remain so for the rest of the semester. I'm going to bed early tonight: I have to leave the house at 6 AM tomorrow. We're going to the countryside to see Okaasan's Okaasan. I dunno if I should call her Obaasan or not---it means grandmother but also old lady.....it feels so rude to me, yet it's common here....it's not derogatory in Japan. So, the point being: don't expect me online on the 25th here, 24th in America---I'll be unavailable. And taking photos of Japan's countryside and mountains. Here's hoping for some awesome scenery!

Oh! I've been told that I've become very skillful with chopsticks. last night I was picking up lemon seeds with them! Take that! Lol! 

Okay a list of food I like:

Fish

Rice

Mochi is okay, but not too much at once!

Yakisoba (mum, the stuff I made is a VERRRY poor reproduction)

yakiniku

curry rice

karaage

food that is tolerable:

miso

onigiri

sweet breads

food that I hate:

okonamiyaki

Okay, well, there's more for thsoe lists but I can't think of much more, and I've already typed a lot, and am drained of ideas on what to say at the moment..... I got to do a lot of the food ordering in Japanese. YAY! Levelled up my skill....crap, I'm turning into a geek by osmosis....

Sayonara mina-san!

Kaiyukan!!

Alright, the news on my being sick that I mentioned in the last post? Yeah, I am sick. No it's not a flu of any variety, but yes I have had a fever. Actually I think my fever is pretty much going to be completely gone soon, no matter what I do. (It's really low most of the time.) After being out in the rain yesterday and not coming home with a huge fever I figure I'm pretty much back on my feet. Yeah, sure, I've got a cough still.....why me? 

So anyways...yesterday. The first day it really rained here, and oh boy did it pour! It wasn't freezing, about 70-75 degrees I think. So for an Oregonian who is used to it being FREEZING when it rains, I kind of liked it. Oh...except for walking between train stations and such in the rain. Anyone familiar with how I walk? Kicking my heels back towards each other? A full 16 inches or so of my pant legs were soaked.....my socks were soaked through, AND my shoes. My legs were dripping on the trains I think....lol. But I felt so lively once it began to really rain. The air felt lighter--I hadn't even realized I was still suffering from the humidity. 

Okay, so I'll explain Kaiyukan now that I've tempted you all with the wonderful foreign name. Kaiyukan is one of the world's largest aquarium's. It has 8 floors, and I think all but 2 or 3 are open to the public to see the animals (2 are gift shops and entrance/exit, so i kind of think the bottom/basement must be staff space and supplies and such). 

Kaiyukan had two whale sharks in one of its tanks. They were very impressive! There were also dolphins that splashed around and flirted with everybody, and these great ugly round fish called Sunfish. Ooh they had a capybara from the Amazon (no piranhas) and a great big iguana. They had hammerhead and tiger sharks, and some really freaky looking fish. I.E. fish I wouldn't swim with because looking at them, and how big they were, just made me think of the story about that river in India where catfish have been found to eat people who cross the river because people tossed partially cremated bodies into the water .....

It's too bad photos at aquariums are notoriously hard to take. The water and glass makes most pictures blurry, and the animals don't exactly stop swimming and pose. It was a lot of fun tho! Lunch sucked, but its not like there's a lot of choice at the rest areas in the middle of the aquarium. Greasy, greasy food. 

When we finished with the aquarium we discovered that it was pouring cats and dogs out of the sky. So we pulled out our umbrellas and walked over to the ferris wheel--which each booth is covered. And up we went 112.5 meters into the sky. We were looking down on the huge double-decker suspension bridge and the harbor and that huge aquarium. EVERYTHING but the sky was below us---okay in the distance some skyscrapers might measure up, but they were far enough away that they didn't appear to. It was a lot of fun. It was kind of funny standing up on the thing and watching the others glare when the ferris wheel rocked......If I can't see air beneath my feet or a really steep drop, I love heights.....lol. Okay I hate the clicking of roller coasters, but going upside down is fun....

And then because it was still absolutely pouring we slipped into a mall that was right next to the ferris wheel. There was a store dedicated to Hayao Miyazaki's works---all really expensive of course. And a ninja store. No, I didn't buy anything. I can't really think where I'd put a second katana in my room. Short of buying a whole wall rack, but I'd rather collect memories than collect swords I'll never use. Eventually we decided it was time to head back to the subway.

I like the train better than the subway I think---it comes more often. But to get to the correct train station, that would get us to the line that would take us back to Hirakata (where my school is) we had to dun-dun-dun use the subway! Lol. It wasn't too terribly confusing, just a lot of transfers. At one transfer we walked out, following a sign to a shrine we decided to see, and found ourselves not at a shrine but at the Osaka Castle garden----Osaka Castle is a huge complex, and we found ourselves at nearest edge of it to the aquarium (i think). It was uhm....funny. Let's go with that. I'd say pretty but.....we didn't see a lot. It was too late to bother going into the castle and really to go in we should have gone one more stop on the subway. So we wandered around, made it back to Hirakata where I said goodbye---I wasn't going to go hang at the dorms when I was already at the train station I needed. 

So the locations in Osaka I know that I want to go: Osaka Castle, I want to see the ferris wheel again with clear skies. I also want to see Kyoto and Nara, and a beach. Even if I don't swim, I want to see a beach here. I want to see Tokyo, but I'm still working on plans for that. So late, I know! Because there was no point asking when I was sick and without a group to go, and now that I think I've got the second part worked out, I have to ask--I think I'm well enough to ask, since I was allowed out to play yesterday! Yatta! well, maybe. 

I was kind of laughing inside at how long the line for the bus was....goodness there were probably 100 people in line for buses away from Hirakata station.....and thats a LOW guess. Yeah, a lot of people get on teh train, but its never that crowded when I've been on, and theres more cars to a train than there is room in a bus. 

Maybe its not so bad having to commute an hour each way daily. 

~Jessica

Picture's and Unfortunately Lazy Days

I am stuck in my room today. I'll tell you why when I'm sure what the cause is. Suffice it to say that I am sick. BLEH. It really sucks because today was my first Japanese language class but I couldn't go. So I decided to put up some pictures of Kyoto. Just the two, because with so many its hard to choose! So the left hand picture is of an outlying building-mbob at Kiyomizu-dera. Those are two of my close friends here. On the left is Joel: he's an Australian who is kind of sick of summer (something is wrong with his head, I swear). He's 18, and gets to stay in Japan for a whole school year. On the right is Diego, whose nationality and accent is a mess. Can you say Brazilian-American-Spanish-Portugese? Why he's learning yet another language I'm not quite sure (oh yeah, he flipped a coin). They're both a lot of fun. 

Alright, the picture on the right is of the waterfall at Kiyomizu-dera. It's supposed to be really pure (no contaminants). Everybody gets in a big huge line to drink from it. Doing so is supposed to be offer you good fortune in wealth, health, and education. (and people thought it was love not education. lol). Well Diego decided to drink from all three---and then got laughed at. Doing so, being greedy, apparently brings misfortune. In the next days he did indeed have misfortune with water. Superstitions aside it was very beautiful. All of us in our tour group (four Japanese girls, my friends Georg, Jacinthe, Diego, Joel, a girl named Deanna and I) got our pictures taken drinking the water. I need to get mine....and a decent picture of the geishas we saw. 

I'm doing pretty good here with my host family I think. I can't understand Okaasan very well (the mother) but I think we manage to get most things across even when Ryoichi or Yoko aren't home. I'm NOT doing so well with the trains on the other hand. 

I think I figured it out yesterday, but I'm not sure. It's kind of blurry. I certainly had a nightmare of a time getting to school yesterday morning. I got on the wrong train to start with--I couldn't remember which side to go up to catch the train to the right station, and got on the wrong one, at the wrong time, going the wrong direction. Apparently I zoned on the fact that trains here are actually on time. That's what I get for following another foreigner. I was an hour later to school than I had meant to be. I'd wanted to hang out on campus before class, but I didn't get to spend as much time doing that as I had intended. 

I had my first class yesterday, afternoon class that is. Tomorrow I'm supposed to have 3.... I've now already missed one. UGH! But noooo, I don't know if I can go. Can't very well go sick. Gah! Missing school is only good if you've got something more fun to do, and it's a special occassion. Sick is neither of those!

Anyways, not much to say today. Kind of quiet. 

The last few days have been pretty eventful. I am no longer jetlagged in the least, and am nearly completely recovered from my cold. Okay, so my voice might still have a hint of huskiness to it, but nobody vouch for that! 

The fancy opening ceremony for the international school on Thursday night was dead boring--at least until food time. Wear a pretty sun dress, get stared at, walk 20 minutes in high heels that apparently chafe badly just to get introduced to a bunch of people in suits whose names I don't remember ten seconds later. Bleeeh. Food was a huge assortment of Japanese food. The ice cream was my favorite! Naturally.....ice cream...it's my friend. Then about fifteen minutes before they put our afternoon class timetables into the mailboxes I left campus....they'd told us it would be an hour yet, and I wasn't gonna sit around and wait...

So I did get the classes I want, and today I found out that I have been put into level 2 Japanese. I wasn't sure whether I'd be in level 2 or 3, since of course the classes are harder here. I've also ordered my prepaid phone, and have to be sure to pick it up on Monday. It wasn't ready for me today when I had the chance to buy it. 

Okay, so then that brings us to yesterday. Ordered my cell phone ....I uhh skipped a REEAALLY REAAAAAAALLLLY boring meeting to do so. Yay.... and I went on a tour to Kyoto. My friends and some Japanese students went to Kiyomizu Temple (aka Kiyomizu dera) and it was gorgeous...I need to trade photos around, but I myself took about 100, but only some of those turned out worth keeping. Sorry, there's no way I'm posting that many photos. I might put up some great ones later. Then we went for okonamiyaki. I am SOOO not getting the recipe for that, unless it is to be used as slow torture for somebody I dislike. Tonight's dinner, whatever it was, was much better. Oishi!

Okay, tonight's dinner my host family must have found hillarious. I sure did. I've always just used chopsticks the wrong way pretty happily....well, not anymore. I was getting lessons. And man is it hard to hold them almost all the way up and have enough pressure to pick something up, aim right, and then not drop it! ...it's sooo not as easy as holding a pencil, or even two pencils. Now chopsticks, the grand ohashi, is a work out. For the hands, and the sense of humility. I recommend some of my friends try it: a nice dose of humility could do them good.

Okay, so anyways, today I woke up, packed up, cleaned up, and moved out. I met my host family: Ryoichi is 19, Yoko is 21, and Okaasan (the mom) is very friendly. Yoko and Ryoichi both speak some English which is a big help!!! Ryoichi took me back to his house by the trains, and showed me how I would get to school. Yoko and I talked on the way to dinner and she tells me all of her friends want to meet me...actually apparently a lot of people do. Wow. 

The room I have here is fairly large. Tatami flooring and shoji walls--it's a traditional japanese house on the outside but the furnishings and electricity are distinctly updated. I have a western-style bed, a desk, an a/c (it doesn't work so great--so I have a fan too) and way more space than I need to store my belongings. I had my first shower in a japanese style bathroom too---I'll try to ofuro (bath) another week I think. It is weird to see the stool to sit on as you bathe---before you bathe. Wash, then bathe. Michelle would approve...maybe? Maybe not.

I'm thinking that I will do well in my homestay. I will keep everyone updated. 

Ja ne!

Japan: Week 1

Okay my family, friends, and people who are randomly reading this: I am in Japan! Duh, if you read the title.... 

Anyways, my first impressions were not what I expected. When the airplane flew in to Tokyo Narita airport I didn't see any skyscrapers nearby or anything...landing a plane near skyscrapers doesn't seem so wise upon retrospect. The airport was pretty easy to navigate through: a big plus! Especially for us gaijin who don't know enough Japanese to get around with signs posted in English (as opposed to 'Engrish'). 

I met a bunch of people who are also here at my school on the airplane, and after getting off--i was waaaay too tired to attempt to socialize in the boarding area pre-take-off for Osaka. I fell asleep on the plane....before take-off and didn't wake up until they were bringing around drinks. 

The people I've met so far in the exchange student program: bunches of them are really nice and people I would probably hang out with and be friends with at home. I've been making friends who come from the states, australia, england, france, and other assorted countries. I don't think we have any african exchange students---that continent seems to miss representation. 

The food: hit and misses, as well as in between. I'm enjoying the rice, and karage ( a chicken dish--or rather skewer) is pretty good. mmm kobe melon custard bread is yummy---it's kind of like a doughnut. curry rice is okay--i'm not a huge fan, but i'd eat it okay. Chicken katsu is good, but I knew that before coming. Oh and pizza is ridiculously expensive here, we're taking 1800 yen for one pizza---a small one by american standards. that's approximately 18 dollars folks. Ramen---that's surprisingly a miss. I just can't figure out how to get it in a flavor i'd eat at home---

oh and, of course, the oh so wonderful HEALTH question....first up, jet lag. Yes it is annoying, but it's not really so bad. You're so tired from coming to Japan from America that you crash and I arrived at bedtime here. It's hard to sleep in past 6 am or so though. Sleeping isn't too bad: despite being on the floor and all futons are actually pretty comfortable. The pillows could use improvement though.

 And the second health issue: planes suck!!! the guy behind me was coughing throughout the flight, and I heard a few other people doing so elsewhere as well: i caught a cold. No worries about it being something serious i'm already almost better. I'm energetic and all: i just have a voice deeper than a guy's because of congestion. ugh, the congestion....and cold medicine is very very very expensive in japan. i should take a picture of one of the pills: they look funny too! and yes, hot green tea does help, if only to melt away some of the mucous. 

tv here: FUNNY...okay the show on weird talents last night was, and tonight we watched the first ghostbusters. in english, with subtitles in japanese. so it was great! oh and somebody brought cake that we all tried: maple pancake flavored. it was actually pretty good. 

and the final tidbit i've learned a bit about my homestay family: but i find out tomorrow when I move in (thursday for all you NOT on the other side of the time-date line). I dont think there's a father in the house---he's certainly not mentioned in teh info packet. there's a mum a daughter about two years older than me, and a son a year younger. And a dog. It sounds like most of them speak at least some English, so that's great. I'm kind of looking forward to baths. 

Okay well....I can't think of much else to say at the moment--i'll work on some pictures before I move out of the dorms. Friday i'm going to Kyoto, and tomorrow i'm meeting my speaking partner.