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!