Too many songs in my head, especially ones I don't know the words to

Happy late Valentine's Day! I am guessing that the height of your Valentine's Day was appreciating the commercials especially targeting you at the height of your emotions on the love-filled day. I, on the other hand, had no time for commercial trifling--I was making a mountain of chocolate to give my friends. If my camera would work with this computer, I could show you my literal mountain of future heart disease, and then the pile I received in return. I originally intended to make 80 brownie squares (you know, 50 for the people in my homeroom, 30 for my friends from other classes--no mean feat) but accidentally, due to an unforeseen highly unavoidable error, I made 169 (and then some) squares that were brownie-turned-cookie squares. Still highly delicious, I assure you. And there were exactly 169 and then some--I know because I counted every single one; the "and then some" were the ones that failed quality square inspection, and upon a closer look, really resembled triangles, rhombuses, or Alaska. Passing over non-square-like shapes, though, I was overloaded with the ancient tradition of Valentines Day (Japanese version), which is virtually the same as everywhere else, save that a person is bound to give sweets to virtually every person they know. If they don't there is a conveniently placed day exactly a month later, called "White Day," to return the favor if you got sweets but didn't give any. Like I was saying, I was loaded down sweets, and my whole class was complaining to each other about stomach aches all day. I myself didn't over-consume, but realized that the sweets would go bad within a series of days, so responsibly took care of them within a series of hours. (Very satisfying, I assure you.)

[Don't worry, I made sure I ran off the after-effects of choco-disposal over the weekend. =P ]

Apart from that, my week wasn't so very eventful. I have final exams next week (not good...), and then in 2 weeks, my family comes to Japan! I'm looking forward to that...

If I think of anymore news, I will post it pronto. However, this week really wasn't too interesting objectively, save for, of course, Valentine's Day =D

My love for my electric blanket exceeds all the vegetable oil the world

I've got to say, I am a bit mixed on my blog. I mean, I like to write it, and since there are a little less than 1000 hits on it, I have to say it's reasonably well-read...but the inability to upload my pictures is a bit discouraging. This might be fixed in about 3 weeks, or less, if I figure out how to make my camera work with a Mac before then...Also, sorry this post is late because *Drum Roll Please* my mom sent me an electric blanket! Oh, sweet relief from the cold of my host family's spacious but concrete house! It is really really cold...or was, I should say. How this relates to my blog--I have gotten into the healthy-yet-inconvenient-for-blog-readers habit of going to bed at 8:30 pm, as to get the most use out of my very very delicious blanket.

Okay, now I am trying to remember what happened last week. This electric blanket is definitely dangerous--memory loss, among other things.

*thinking*

Well, not to much exciting happened that I can remember.

I got the results back from my Japanese level test at the Tokyo University (if you don't remember this, it's because I took it ages ago.) I passed quite nicely, so no worries there. That was the level 4 test, and in 2 weeks, along with my math and chemistry finals, I will take the level 3 test.

My speech that I was writing was accepted for the foreigner's speech contest. I don't know how selective the judges are, so I can't say if the acceptance is anything to brag about but...for lack of interesting material from this last week, I present to you my translated speech! (To be memorized and presented in Japanese on March 8th.)

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"日本に来て感じた事" (literally: stuff I thought when I came to japan)

Written and translated by yours truly

(I will skip the first part, because it's an introduction of myself, and translated, it sounds a little more than cheesy.)

Before I came to Japan, I heard a lot of different things. For instance, I heard things like "Japan is really safe," and "All Japanese are really helpful." However, I also heard things like "There are a lot of strict customs to follow, so be careful," and "Japanese people don't show any emotion and don't express themselves." Because of this, I was worried upon coming and did a lot of research about Japanese customs. Before coming, I was worried about things like the right order to enter the bath and unkind host families.

After starting my life as an exchange student, I was still worrying. I wanted to do everything right. Even though my host family was really nice, and I could take a bath whenever I wanted, I wasn't comfortable. My teachers, friends, and host family noticed that I seemed frequently nervous {I insert: embarrassingly} I really liked school and I enjoyed my everyday life, but because I was still thinking about the things I heard before I came, I was worried about making a mistake. For example, in the beginning, because my Japanese wasn't so good, the teachers seemed really scary to me.

Time went by, and I became more comfortable. When I relaxed, I learned more about Japanese culture.

In America, yo u are expected to take care of your needs yourself, while in Japan, cooperation is considered better.

My host mother told me that in Japan, there are old traditions that Japanese people follow. Because I am a foreigner, I didn't understand these in the beginning. However, once I learn them, I too am expected to respect and follow them.

I went on a school trip with the high school second graders where everyone was expected to bath together. I didn't really know the people in the grade and I was a little nervous about it. I thought it was going to be awkward, when I first tried it, it really was fun and the second graders were really nice. Now, I really like the public baths.

I think that foreigners can't ever 100% understand Japanese society or culture. However, because I have spent 6 months {by the time I give the speech} here in Japan, I have learned so many things and gotten a much better understanding of the Japanese lifestyle. I am really glad I have been able to come.

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Sorry i f the wording sounds weird--translating it was harder than I thought. But that is the g ist of it. Interestingly enough, my Japanese teacher is convinced I will win the contest because there will be "housewives and salarymen" at the contest, and as I will be the youngest, I will win on my feisty pluck. =P

Since I can't remember any outstanding events in regards to my last week, I will skip to my weekend. (This memory loss is depressing.)

On Sunday (Saturday, too, was pretty free) I met Julia Blood, which was really nice for me. She

is still studying in Japan, though, as a college student, she has a long break right now, and she is going to go home for a week soon. (Lucky...) It was really fun to just meet up with her, eat, and talk (a lot.)

On Monday, it was (according to my planner) National Founding Day, so it was free. The de finite highlight of the day was getting ready for hinamatsuri, which is a special day for girls. Most families in Japan all set up a collection of dolls, which I wish I could show you with my extraordinary pictures, but unfortunately can't, once again fueling my remorse on the subject of Macs....but excuse my mini--rant. I'm just a PC person, that's all.

February 14th, as many of you might know, is Valentine's Day (wink wink). This is definitely a very big holiday in Japan. Technically, it is a girl-to-buy gift giving holiday (and then there is another day in March where boys return the gift, called White Day), but as a) there are no boys at my girls' school, and b) we all just can't resist the urge to hand out sweets, I am making a huge batch of brownies tomorrow. Be prepared.

I am excited because my family will be coming to see me! We have actual dates, and they will come for about 2 weeks and a half in March!

Tomorrow, if I can write 5 selected kanji in my Shodo calligraphy class, I can allegedly achieve my Shodo license. I am going to dominate. I hope. I really want a license...a Shodo license.

Hanging around town without meerkats

Today was the second snow day of the winter, which according to the olden calendar of Japan, ends today. As the spring is "here," in name, if not actually weather-wise, my host family and I threw soybeans outside in all of the major rooms to traditionally throw out the bad and bring out the good. Then, we each ate a number of soybeans corresponding to each person's age. So, happy spring to you--wish it wasn't freezing!

So, I finally did the much-awaited Vatican speech, which was pretty pathetic, as I eventually ended up creating 1 questionably accurate map of Italy and Rome, 1 frantically drawn Swiss Guard uniform in chalk on a black board, and 1 stand-up speech in a mix of casual Japanese and English. My standup speech was probably the worst of the three, as I took a gander at explaining, comparing and contrasting the different branches of Christianity in America--not pretty. ("Mina de wa onagi belief ga aru kedo, tatoeba mina de wa chigau celebrations toka ga aruyo.") In fact, there is a comedian in Japan who is famous for throwing random English expressions into his sentences--my speech was pretty similar to one of his acts. But seriously, how am I honestly expected to be able to explain about Mormons and polygamy in Japanese? Oh, please...

But before that...I went to watch Japan versus Chile in soccer! I was soooo excited--it was in the National Stadium (the same one, if you remember, in which I ran a 1k in nefarious costume with Natsu) and there were so many people. Poor Chile--there isn't a large Chilean majority naturally residing in Japan, and I don't think that most fans, even the most devoted, chose to travel to Japan to watch the match--so, Chile's cheering section was hard-pressed to a) find people and b) compete with the thousands making up the crowd cheering for Japan, not to mention Japan's specially designated cheering sections, which didn't let down for singing Nihon fight songs. Thus, I was in short, pretty pumped for the game. This euphoria was quickly taken out by the biting freezing cold. I was literally the coldest I think I have ever ever been. And it wasn't just me--everyone was turning into human ice lollies. To top it all off, after almost 2 hours, neither team had scored. It was still very very fun, though, and I would love to go again sometime--especially if it was just a teensy weensy bit not-so-COLD! =D

On Wednesday, I got sick once again...

...

I made sure I got well soon, because on Friday, I had priorities....

On Friday, I went to Disney Sea with 3 of my friends! We were there from opening to closing (10 hours!) and because it was Friday (we had the day off from school) it wasn't crowded at all. We went on all the rides, met Mickey, Minnie, Cruella De Vil and friends...the scariest ride we sent on was one we had all been on multiple times before, but mid-Indiana Jones the ride broke down, and we, chained to our seats, were all poised for the fall... the suspense built, until we were just confused as to what was wrong. The best part--it was the scariest ride ever AND then the staff let us go again without waiting! Yay! We spent a very long time at Disney Sea, and although everyone's feet were dying by the end, it was most definitely worth it.

On Saturday, my host family and I

celebrated Keito's birthday. I made chili, and that plus a bunch of other dishes constituted a very large proper birthday dinner, I think. Keito's grandparents came. and she played sax and I played violin for them...Today, I went ice-skating with Keito and her friends from elementary school. Very fun!

Tomorrow is my cooking class that I am teaching in English. The menu was initially labeled Mexican, but I think, as "chili tacos" aren't exactly traditional standard, the menu should be renamed "Tex-Mex for Cross-Cultural Cooking Experimenters." I am hoping it goes well...very risky business, toying around with cooking...I fear so many things going wrong...=P

Speaking of things going wrong, my general English, especially my self-set high standard for spelling, has gone down the drain, so to speak. On my list of words I can no longer spell:

-remniscent

-disasterous

Alas.