"It's like I'm the muffin man!" "Sugei sugei!" = a week full of magic

I haven't written for about a week and a half, by my very accurate estimate. My apologies. But, to paraphrase...

　　　Now two Fridays ago, Natsu and our friend Chika and I went shopping in Meidaimae, which was nonconsequential. Afterwards, we went to Chofu and did purikura and got !!!Dippin' Dots!!! Ice Cream of the Future! That ice cream always makes me feel really, well, cool. I only mention Friday because I took a picture of all my purikura so far...everyone keeps asking me what they look like, so here's a picture; also another below...(not the Totoro pic)

Last weekend, Natsu, my host mother and I went and met up with her sister and family who live outside Tokyo, about 2 hours away. Her sister, whom (grammar police, is that right? whom?) she told me to call "Oneechan" ("big sister," so kind of funny for me as the exchange student to be addressing her as) has 2 sons, Ahari-san and Haruku-san, who are my age. We went to lunch with all of them, and the adults were at one table while us 4 non-adults were at another. This was possiｂｌｙ one of the most silent lunches I have ever attended. The boys were so shy to be talking to a gaijin (foreigner, if you remember), and a female gaijin the same height as them at that, that either they talked with Natsu, or the huge majority of the time, said nothing at all. At first cute, this was very boring by the end. After lunch, we dropped off the boys and their father at their apartment, and oneechan, my host mother (hereon referred to as okaasan, by the way) Natsu, and I went to the "Herb Garden," which is as it sounds. We first toured their (guess what?) herb garden, then went in and walked around their store. Natsu and I dtermined our favorite and least favorite herbs (best: peppermint, spearmint, eucalyptus, lavender, geranium, red rose petals, jasmine...worst: hop and chaste tree. I had a stomachache and headache after smelling them, as well as a minor coughing fit.) We had iced tea after that, during which I discussed the concept of Wal-Mart, the "Keep Austin Weird" campaign, and general capitalism with them. More importantly, I found a Totoro-shaped pastry! Score....

Monday was off, as was this last week for the mostpart--but mroe about that--because of the prior exams...sooooo, Natsu, our friend Kuu-chan and I planned to go to a school festival outside Tokyo where they both had friends. On the way to meet Kuu-chan, Natsu and I went through Shibuya and walked throught the entire 109 (Ichi-mara-kyu, which is this colossal mall.) Shibuya itself didn't impress me as much as I thought it would, since it is so famous, although there were so many people that in that sense, it was very remniscent of NY. However, we only stayed within a few blocks, so I guess I can't really judge. Anyway...we met Kuu-chan at the festival, and we went though from classroom to classroom. The only things that really stood out were the gameroom--in which we had to complete various tasks along with the multiple elementary school children arround us; I felt slightly idiotic, but it was really really fun fishing balls out of a kiddie pool and catching kleenex with chopsticks--as well as this mass organized dance the school dancers did in Harry Potter-esque costume (think robes--check the picture)--and a play we went to there that was in Japanese, meaning that I only understood that at the end this girl dressed as a guy was about to commit suicide...in case you were wondering. We subsequently left, (obviously) and went and did, of course, purikura. We got off the train at this random start and Natsu got us lost, but right before we were truly really lost, we found a purikura place, so it was okay =) After doing purikura in this random place in Tokyo, we walked out and there was a shrine's festival going on. It was very cool and interesting timing.

So, even though this last week most everyone didn't have class, I still had Japanese (language never ends, right?). Some clubs still went on, and after my classes on Tuesday, I ate lunch with the dancers. This was a bad idea because somehow they got the idea that I should try their club. I knew it was not going to work--I just am not a dancer--but I went, because they are my friends and everything deserves a try within reason, right? My suspicions that it wouldn't be the club for me were confirmed, though, when they all stretched at the beginning and did stretches I didn't believe possible for a natural human being. I ended up watching them be the brilliant dancers they are (no sarc--they are really amazing.) At the end, they performed this dance called "Buddhist Heaven." It was so perfectly synchronized, choreographed...it was the best dance I have ever seen, no joke. I got chills watching them.

Regardless, I came to the ultimate conclusion that dance was not going to be the club for me. I tried for the rest of the week track and field. Like everyone else here, the girls on the club are so incredibly nice, and I had so much fun during track and field. The setback was that I do long distance, while they do primarily sprints and hurdles, both of which are something I have never done seriously (especially hurdles--the last time I did hurdles, I was in 5th grade and instead of a flying jump, I did a very exact faceplant into a sandpit.) Needless to say, afterwards, I was sore. For 2 days. But (sorry to start a sentence with but, but...) that hasn't deterred me; I told Kai-sensei (who is both my homeroom teacher and the track and field coach) that I was a long distance runner, and yesterday I went took about half of the team on a 30 minute non-stop run. Very fun, for me at least. To be honest, I will still try out kendo and handball, if Natsu makes me (re: handball--too intense, maybe?) but I think I will probably join track and field. It is really fun, something I like a lot, and I love the girls on the team.

Like I said, for the most part, the girls had the week off, however: 2 days this week, everyone got ready for the school sports festival by practicing various important things, like 3 person walking (column, not side by side = tricky) and 2 people carrying a 3rd person to the finish line of part of a relay. For this, I was with 2 of my friends, and we carried Kuu-chan, who, everytime she was more than a foot off the ground, started to scream, shriek and laugh "KoOoWWaIiI!" ("scary!"). It was so funny, and probably funnier to watch--us 2 running and carrying a hysterical screaming/laughing Kuu-chan to the finish line. Once we had sufficiently carried, screamed, and shrieked, there was an organized jumproper per homeroom class. This entails 2 people on each of the rope swining it....for 48 people who have to jump simultaneously. That was hard. I think we got to 5, though others got to about 3x that....I guess that mass jump rope is not the class talent. Pity. That was Tuesday. Thursday involved the opening ceremony (middle and highschool march in divided by color team--I am blue--to Stars and Stripes Forever, then proceed to do the school excercise routine. What? Your school doesn't have it's own warm-up?) Mind you, it was sweltering humid and hot = so gross.

Yesterday night after track and field, Natsu and I went to a discount shop. We looked around, the usual. I got some great earrings, but the interesting part was when I found this cute dress that was too expensive for my overly-cheap self, especially since it had a slight bleach stain...but I digress. I previously last week asked a museum employee if I could photograph their toilet. Yesterday, I tried to bargain for a discount on this dress in a discount store in a language I cannot, for the most part, speak. Alas, my discount attempt went awry, although I did try. Though--if it was an English reply, the store clerk I would defy. It would satisfy my--chi. Heh heh.

I was super-disappointed today when rain caused practice to be cancelled, thus I was under the impression today would be lackadaisical (PSAT word)...but instead [new paragraph]

I went to Okaasan's work at the pharmacy with Natsu, and while she was working I played babysitter for her coworker's 2 girls, ages 4 and baby. It was so much fun, because I love kids--they are so non-judgemental and it's so much fun to make them happy =) I exerted my interesting things to do for fun energy bar, though; I drew a face on my thumb, had a sock puppet (both of which spoke Japanese, thank you), I made paper-people chains, I cut out clover, stars, butterflies, an apple, totoros, I sang, I danced, I ran in circles, I did string tricks, I did poorly-executed magic, I hid and pretended to be scared, I lifted them in the air, I held mini-races, I created dance moves with umbrellas--okay, okay, that's enough, but that was tough work, but very much worth it.

And the best part of today! I went to hanabi (literally means flower of fire = fireworks display) and wore yukata (casual kimono, not to be confused with the kimono itself, or the yakuza, the Japanese mafia. I made both of these mistakes and would like to spare you, my friend.) This was such a good way to end the week. I included the Totoro picture at the top to show you my expression literally the whole time I wore the yukata. Add the outfit and me chortling ("heh heh") and some fireworks, and that is a very accurate representation of me tonight. It was such a novel thing for me because in America, there essentially is no native dress that the majority dons for big events such as fireworks. I was so enthralled with the style of dress, though; If I could wear a yukata or kimono daily, I would--it felt so elegant. The fireworks were great. There was this really cute Chinese exchange student who spoke Japanese who was right next to me, too, to my lingual embarrasment ;) Speaking of awkward moments, though, there were backless urinals there, right in front of the fireworks. I got a picture, for the sake of taking pictures of toilets. About a couple thousand people were at these fireworks, which lasted about an hour.

BTW: I really love this photo of Natsu and I--too bad the right-side-up version wouldn't load. =(

I above mentioned the PSAT. I, unfortunately, do not get to defy the practice rules that govern the practice test, so in about 2 weeks, I will go the American School in Japan (ASIJ, if initials float your boat, sink your moat, wear your coat, leave you a love note, carry your tote, upon you dote. More later.) I have a big slightly-outdated practice book I started reading for fun--sad but true--about a week and a half ago. I am good at English grammar and the nitpicky like, but I need to really work on long paragraph comprehension (I tend to skim and scan while losing all meaning out the other ear) and do a wee tad of math review. For the most part, though, I think I will be okay. Oh, and I need to check out this vocab list. If you were wondering about my hefty PSAT plans. <--fragment

Psuedo-Mexican food, toilets, paddle boats, Ghibli Museum, more toilets...

　Thursday gets its own blog post! Such a good day...

　I made it to school by myself again! But that's just the start...

　I decided to flamboyantly remain within (surprisingly) the dress code, down to the socks. I won't describe it, but check the pictures if you're interested. But enough about that....

After only 2 hours of Japanese class, Kobayashi-sensei, Hiratsuka-principal, Sakurai-sensei and I went out for lunch at this random Mexican food restaurant. The interior decorating was very accurate to some of the hole-in-the-wall Mexican food places in Austn, and the food was very good, but--it wasn't Mexican food. It was Japanese food masquerading as Mexican food. No tortillas with the tacos, white rice, salsa without chips (and vice versa)...raw eggs in the tortilla chip-less overly spicy tortilla soup. But I liked it, but it felt so out of place to be eating psudeo-Mexican food in a completely Mexican-themed place. Also, I was a little anxious about going out to lunch with my program head, Japanese teacher, and principal, but it was actually really enjoyable. I had a lot of fun there talking with them and explaining the intricacies of legit Tex-Mex, as well as demonstrating the proper construction and consumption of a taco--or as close to one as we good get (after we got tortillas...).

　After that, Sakurai-sensei and I bid a fond adieu to Kobayashi-sensei and Hiratsuka-san, andI had to use the restroom. This seems like a petty, non-unique action, but we went into the bathrooms at a mall, and after that, until we left the store, everything was downhill from there:

　　　 So I go in this (not the one in the picture, though) bathroom, and it's pretty typical, except for a buttload of buttons (heh heh, sorry) which I don't really pay much attention to until, well, I decide to try them all out. [I took a picture of another similar bathroom, and you can see for yourself what the illustrations say these buttons do.] I take 5 minutes trying them all out, to my great surprise--soon turned to extreme amusement...there are a few that streamed water upward (check the picture to understand their purpose), and one that I can't turn off called "flush sound," that blastes the sound of a flushing toilet out of the stall, to, as Sakurai-sensei later explains to me, mask the sound of whatever you're really doing in that cube. At this rate, I expect to find a button that makes the toilet sing "Thank you for your business" in 14 different languages. As reality checks back in, I realize that I'm stuck in a bathroom blasting flushing sounds and spraying water, and need to find the button that said Game Over, aka Flush-and-get-the-heck-out-of-the-stall-NOW button. I am unable to find this button, and revert to the ways of my ancestors and yell "Sakurai-sensei!" twice. No response, so I do a manual search of this stall, which involves pressing every button, until one of them jump-starts the toilet. I get the heck out of the stall NOW. I start to laugh hysterically.

　That was a true story. Back outside the department store, I tell my story to Sakurai-sensei, sending both of us into frantic hysterics, and after a little calming down on both of our parts, we rented a swan boat, which I have decided are designed to make you sore from the pedaling, which has cruelly only moved you about a foot. It was really fun, but it was not the thing for a tall skirt-wearing individual to do--I was both cramped and that close to being indecent. Horror. In this park, there was this little spring that supplies water not only to this pond, but a nearby river as well, so being the tourist I was today, I took a picture. So that's that....

　Our hour was up--literally, so we went to the Ghibli Museum, which, as described briefly in the post below, is an exhibit of Miyazaki's animation. It was really cool to see it--it showed the sort of animation he used, which involved, for example, the same cylindrical picture revolving while outside of it was a paneled tube that spun quickly so everything seemed to be fluid...very hard to describe, and no pictures in the museum! Outside, though, there was a "ticket stand" which had a Totoro inside it and a huge statue of a robot dude. I got an overpriced dust-bunny-soot-sprite as a momento, but it was nearly worth it, which is saying a lot. In regards to the picture of it, toilet is not included. It was super fun...but very hard to describe. Interesting moment--I wanted to take a picture of the button-toilet in the museum, since I didn't take one of the one in which my wild spraying incident occured, so I asked the attendant-person in Japanese...but like I said, no pictures in the museum. Later, I asked another attendant person (male, must have freaked him out that an American girl was asking to take a picture of the outside musuem toilet--but he was really nice about it) and my wish was granted. Woot!

　I made it home from there, too, so that was another accomplishment...all in all, a very good day =) But now, at the end, I am so tired and flushed. heh heh.

PS Sorry some of the pictures are sideways.

よんでください！

　　My 2 quick apologies...sorry for not posting in a bit...I've been busy and tired, which is a fatal combo, but alas...also, for those on FB...I am having technical difficulties, meaning that I can do little more than read what people write me, so I'm not ignoring you. No hard feelings? =)

　　This last Saturday was unofficial "bring your host student to work" day. All the girls at school have final exams this week, so all my friends, including Natsu are doing intense studying = I can't wait for test week to end so I can have my friends back. But I digress...I rode in a Suzuki Twin (little car! 2 seats! like in the Wii commercial!) for the first time with my host mother as we first went to the hospital where my host father works as the head pathologist to drop something off. As part of this, we went in, and subsequently he showed me his staff and even slightly cooler, the autopsy room, which, in case you were wondering, is not in use at this moment--though he is going to take me to the hospital the next time he does an autopsy to watch! Sounds....fun?! After that, I went to work with my host mother, who is a pharmacist. After being the good student I feel obliged to be and finishing my homework, I helped in the Japanese pharmacy in which she works. [FYI, a Japanese pharmacy is, as far as I can tell, no different from an American one, save for the country.] I practiced my oh-so-valuable katakana alphabet skills as I sorted through these orders for drugs (ex. リボトール　＝　ribotol, and so on and so forth.) After getting through about 40 (tired!), I fell asleep multiple times in her office before we left to look at places for their pharmacy business, which is moving.

　　Sunday was interesting. My host parents offered to run with me at a nearby park, the one I wrote about before that is really really beautiful, and near an art museum and a concert hall. Running was fun for me, but afterwards I have decided never to let them run again; I felt so bad because afterwards, my host father hurt his leg and limped the rest of the day, and my host mother had some sort of allergic reaction from being in the sun too long. I felt really bad!

　　Also Sunday, I got a cell phone. There were all these awesome cell phones in the store, but since I got a prepaid card one, I had limited choice (aka between 2 colors of the one phone model). Regardless, it's a phone, and I am so glad to have it. I'm not going to post my number on my blog, but I've sent it around, and also you can email me (audreywoz@gmail.com) if you would like it! Call me!　And yes, that is Hello Kitty attached to it, along with a fuzzy thing. I had to give personality to that brick somehow. O_o

　　Sunday evening, the shrine that is one block from my house here finished its 2-day festival, which included a really big drum, a mini-shrine, and a lot of lanterns.

At the end of this festival, they take this huge drum and people are on top of it, while others pull it around the neighborhood while it is continually, well, banged ceremoniously. This lasts 3 hours.

My picture timing wasn't great, but if you look a bit closely, you can see this.

Monday was "Respect the Elderly" Day (けいろのひ, or keiro no hi), so it was a holiday. Not too much on Monday that I recall.

Tuesday was the start of exams...what everyone else had been cramming for since the week before. I personally can't wait for these tests to be over because I haven't seen my friends for almost a week, and I still won't until next Monday, so it's a little lonely because EVERYONE, including Natsu, is succumbing to the compelling urge to study hours and hours. Natsu, yesterday, for example, didn't stop studying until 4 am. Egads!

　　I had my first violin lesson with my new teacher, Muramatsu-sensei. She was really nice, and it was a good lesson (even for a first one!) regardless of the fact that we both only know relatively little of the other's language. Right now, I am trying to figure out what to tell her about my next concerto, since she asked what I was planning on playing after Barber. The only downside of these lessons is that I have to practice. =P

　　Now, Wednesday evening--today, I went to school by myself for the first time (Natsu went early to study, of course). I was a little worried, since I have to change trains and get on the right ones, etc...but it was much ado about nothing, and it was quite fine. I made to school early, which many may know is quite a feat for a Wozniak. Also, I had a Japanese test over everything I had learned up to this point. I didn't do very well...91. That sounds very perfectionist and persnickety to say that a 91 is awful, but my mistakes were really stupid, always one little detail. I'm so careless.

　　Tomorrow! I have only 2 hours of Japanese and then I will go for Mexican food with Sakurai-sensei, Kobayashi-sensei, and Hiratsuka-sama (heh heh), followed by Sakurai-sensei and I visiting a museum about the director Miyazaki and his animation. To get ready to visit this museum, Sakurai-sensei lent me 2 movies he directed, both of which I thought were great...in particular となりのトトロ, which is in English "My Neighbor Totoro." This was the first time I had seen it, and I really really loved it. It is on my favorite movies of all time list...I'm very excited to go now! here's the theme http://youtube.com/watch?v=5xIrQGxFbzI I'm so obsessed. But, for another Shakespeare reference, all's well that ends well.

　　Also, Kobayashi-sensei invited me to a classical concert in October. The orchestra--not sure what it's called at the moment!--will be playing Shostakovich, Khachurian (sp?)--more I can't recall off the top of my head...Her daughter couldn't come, but told her to invite me instead, which was so thoughtful. I am awaiting approval from my host parents; they might have something planned, so I need to figure that out.

I start learning kanji next week! Finally! Ok, that's it for now.

おとといときのときょともくよび

Okay, here's more...^^
Tuesday, Iwasaki-sensei, the school's organist, gave me a lecture on the St. Margaret's School organ, which is huge, in case you didn't know. The bellows, which pump air into the organ, have their own separate room, but the organ itself has about the perimeter of my room at home, and is 2 stories tall...20,900 pipes...= wow. Iwasaki-sensei herself is a very very esteemed organist and she played for me, while letting me simultaneously roam around IN the organ. She was sooo nice, and at the end, she gave me her organ CD she had released and invited me to the choir concert (the choir here is amazingly good) in about 2 weeks. Overall, it was def more than worth and I was so glad I was able to do something like that! I mean, honestly, how often do you get to walk around the inside of an enormous organ while a professional is playing it? (Or even walk inside an organ at all?)
Wednesday:
I went to dance PE with my homeroom. It was not the best day to come, because they had, yes, a test over a dance they had to memorize. It was so nerve-wracking for some of them, because 4-5 girls at a time had to get up in front of the 45 others and the teacher, all of whom were judging them, and try to remember this dance. I was a spectator the whole time, so like I said, not the best day to show...
Also: I did calligraphy with the senior 3rd graders. Only 10 people were in the class (as opposed to 50, as is more than typical) so it was very personal...the teacher was really really good at calligraphy. She started me out with really easy stuff (ichi, ni; sakura; kaba, fore example) but I quickly graduated to myself to kanji. I wrote out the kanji for cosmos flower, which is hard to do and simultaneously make look beautiful...mine ultimately ended up slightly more than decent, while the teacher's, even though it was instructional and has numbers (for stroke order) on it. I want to frame =)
Today, I had the daily 3 hours of Japanese (egads--I accidentally did way too much homework last night, over stuff I didn't technically know...) and then I had 2 hours of handbells with the senior 3rd graders...this did go against my ethics [I will admit], mainly because as a generalization, I don't appreciate handbells as true music because they sound way too cliche-barbie-fairytopia-enchantment-soundtrack-esque. Everytime I have heard handbells at some concert or another, I start laughing hysterically (I'm not joking) and disturb my surrounding audience members, who apparently see something more in handbells than I do. But, anyway--I did play handbells, which I found one takes slightly more seriously when focusing on the 2 random notes you play, since you ring the bell per pitch...in case you were wondering, we're playing a Beauty and the Beast medly...I rest my handbell case, though.
Sakurai-sensei offered to take me to go to perhaps the one Mexican food restaraunt in Tokyo, an invitation I immediately accepted. Japanese food is Japanese food, so a little break in the monotony (monotony in the broadest positive terms--the food here is oishii! delicious) was readily welcome...little did I know that going to get Mexican fod this next Thursday is not only me and Sakurai-sensei, but also my Japanese teacher (Kobayashi-sensei) and principal, Hiratsuka-sama (hehheh sama...penance penance penance). Sounds like an adventure...ehhh?
In regards to the last post's title, that's something Natsu asked me randomly. It seemed fitting as a blog entry title...
Also, a random thing I have taught Natsu is the phrase "No you dih-n't." I have no idea how this came up, but it's another word in her English vocabulary. Speaking of random things...I think the students here at school think I'm crazy--I have a nasty habit of sliding down banisters and singing Japanese words randomly (tokedoke benkyoshimashta! doesn't that just seem like it should be said in a sing-song tone of voice?) and doing little dances during clean-up time, or when appropriate in conversation. I don't think that this is the exchange student that they bargained for...and speaking of dance (after this, I will be done speaking of things, no worries...
The dancers in my class want me to do their club. I have assured them that I have little dancing ability, but apparently my taking-out-the-trash dance is up to par. They have gone as far to say, "Oodoriichan means dance...your name in Japanese means dance, so you should join our club." Interesting logic, but I think I'll try--what could go that wrong? now that I've jinxed myself by writing that...

jane (no, not the name Jane, but じゃね, which means bye)
audrey
オードリー

"You want cheese?"

To continue the saga where I left off (to jog your memory, a typhoon, a need for bowel evacuation, a vertical challenge of sorts...or you could just read the post below...):
So.

While the typhoon was being all wet and wild, it didn't give us (Natsu and I) much to do, so we (Natsu) studied, we (Natsu and I) ate lunch, chilled...it got old by about 1:30, so I think that we both were kind of thinking the same thing (must leave house NOW). By this time, the typhoon, which incidentally caused a lot of damage but really was relatively mellow in our area, had cleared, which was good. We decided to go cycling, and Natsu brought tennis rackets, so we first went to this little park, playground, rather, and played X-treme tennis (X-treme because I'm not very good--at all), causing the ball to far too often, bid us a fond and faraway adieu. This was exceedingly fun, but as the climate of Tokyo is humid, hot, and humid, once we were properly good and sweaty, we decided it was time to adjourn to the bikes. We then went to this bigger park, which was so so so nice--there was a concert hall on one edge, and a lot of fountains, and an art museum kind of in the middle, causing there to be random modern sculptures to be strewn about the park. It was really very nice. While we were zipping through the park, we saw these four 9 or 10 year old boys, who, in Japanese said to each other, "You should say hello to her," her being me because as the gaijin (foreigner), I have an uncanny talent for standing out...[speaking of which, I was recently in a shopping mall. I realized, that though there were hundreds of people in there, I was quite possibly and probably the only non-Japanese--perhaps for miles--heh heh heh. It was a boggle. But back to the little boys] The next time Natsu and I passed, they all waved and screamed "HERRRRO!" (hello, in case you were wondering.) It was very funny and amusing...
I only brought 3 skirts to Japan, so I had to go and get a few more, which occurred at the mall where and when I had my boggle =)
Yesterday (Monday), I had 3 off periods and then, afterschool, was going to have another hour to myself to study, becaue Natsu and everyone else here next week has finals...I was invited to go to the badminton club, though, and since working hard and doing homework was getting old--and since I have really wanted to try out a lot of clubs, I went and tried it. 4 girls in my homeroom are in it, and it was so fun for all of us to try to explain, or in my case, figure out how the club worked and how to get proper badminton form with a limited vocabulary in either language...it was hilarious, but not in a way that you can blog...
In chapel, I have a Japanese and English translation bible, so when they call the page number and verse, I can never get to it in time...but today it was meant to be! A minor victory...ish...also, I got to the hymn in time and was able to sing, though I still can't read hiragana fast enough for the prayers =) oh, hell.
In Japanese today, Kobayashi-sensei asked me kyo wa, asagohan wo tebemashtaka (what did you eat for breakfast?) It was really bad because it took me until after the 3 hours of lessons to remember...a very petty thing, but very bad...egads.
Also, today, although Natsu and I are in different classes, I joined her PE swimming class...I did one flip turn, and then the rest of the time, we (a bunch of girls) grabbed these floating bricks yuo can stand on and goofed off...ideal PE. I had to do a swim test at the end, though, but it was very easy for me to swim a 50 with flip turns. At the end, though, it was really funny...they all cheered and clapped when I was done...they are so sweet--I'm not special when I do the swim test, vs. if anyone else does it...
Right now, I don't have any pictures, and I'm kind of in a rush to finish--got to go! More later...

first days and typhoons

the verdict:

It is amazing here! It's pretty funny, because here, they are not used to gaijin (foreigners), so I get asked, "Do you know how to use chopsticks?" or "Do you eat raw fish?" and more interestingly, I have been told that "Your bow is very natural--where did you learn?" and "You are so good at using chopsticks!" It is kind of funny to hear from them. 2 days ago was the first day of school, so I had to introduce myself (in Japanese) the the entire faculty/staff, my homeroom class (45 peeps per class!), and had a welcoming party. The party was really funny--and nerve-racking--b/c the students made a bridge with their arms above their heads and I had to walk under it to the front of the auditorium (with a spotlight on me, of course, to add to the anxiety of it all) and 2 girls interviewed me in front of everyone about if I knew of any Japanese famous people, and what I was interested in in Japan. After that (walk out under arm bridge again, btw), I went to class for a bit, hung out with my classmates--all of us speaking a mix of Japanese and English--and went to the student bookstore to get the school bag, pin, inside-wear shoes (I am the largest shoe size, of course) get the PE uniform...The rules here are pretty strict--no makeup, jewelry, iPod, phone, uniform, shoe change, PE uniform...it doesn't sound like that much, but maybe it's just the atmosphere of conformity. The girls here are sooooo nice. They are really outgoing towards the exchange student (yours truly), and it is really fun to talk to them in 2 languages, as we all "struggle together"--if that's not too cliche for you. So far, I have had an invitation to do purikura, Tokyo Disneyland, a park, a 1k, a museum, a get together...they are so sweet =)

BTW, the school band right now is working on the theme to Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark--just thought that I'd throw that out there.

One of the side effects of living here surrounded by semi-fluent English speakers is that I have subconciously started not using articles, using the term "ehh?" to its maximum extent, phrasing sentences as questions ("You like?"), and gotten extraordinarily good at rephrasing things and using hand signals. I guess you get the bad--erm, rather, innnnteresting--habits with the good...ehh?

Yesterday I went to Natsu's group piano lesson. The teacher spoke English, but the other girls didn't very well at all, which only made it more interesting. Somehow, it ended in one of the girls translating a little kids' book into English for me, not letting the fact that she didn't know English nearly at all stop her. (from this experience--my new favorite phrase word is "small white hippopotamus," EXCEPT you must pronounce it "small white hippopotAmus" and with a Japanese girl's accent)

I met my Japanese language teacher, Kobayashi-sensei yesterday. Everything was fine, until she noticed my hiragana stroke order was wrong, causing us to spend an hour practicing every single one. Also, she forgot to give me the preordained breaks, so, by the end of the 3 hours, I was nodding off in place. This all seems very negative, but she is a very very nice lady and very cute. Right now, we are working on a lot of stuff that I learned before I came to Japan, so it seems really repetitive and monotonous for me, but we'll do something new soon.

(interesting tidbit: did you know that small animals have their own counting system? there is literally a counter for fish and small animals only. one fish two fish red fish blue fish, anyone?)

THERE IS A MASSIVE TYPHOON SWEEPING THROUGH JAPAN!

Heh. Did that get your attention? Yes, there is a typhoon, and yes school was cancelled for safety reasons (much to the shrieking delight of several hundred school girls), but everything is okay and wet, so no worries.

I have to pee, so I'm going to stop for now.

Is that a great way to end a blog entry or what, ehh?

PS I am pretty tall here.

Estoy aqui! errr, well, say that in Japanese, please.

Dear everyone,
First, I would like to offer my apologies for all those (the few) who actually read my blog and noticed that I haven＠t, until now, updated it. My regrets.
My other apology: I am using a Japanese keyboard, and it is not meant for the Amrican user. Please do not let interesting use of spelling and punctuation deter you from reading.

Presumably, I have arrived in Tokyo...It was so hard to leave Austin, but after a plane movie and a flight to San Francisco, it was a lot easier to bear, I guess just because I was depending on bear, I guess just because I was depending on myself. Sorry for cliche-ness. I somehow made it to Tokyo (don:t ask me how- made it to Tokyo　(don:t ask me how--I am pretty hopeless in airports) I met my host family, the Fukunagas, as well as the ｐｒｏｇｒａｍ　ｈｅａｄ，　Ｓａｋｕｒａｉ－ｓｅｎｓｅｉ，and after 2 photos, we set off to their home. After about 3 hours in the car (ｆｏｌｌｏｗｉｎｇ　ｔｈｅ　１５ hours in the plane) I was exhausted. Completely. When we got their, I found out that I am sahring a room with my host sister Natsu...i was really worried at first, because their house is quite small, and I wasn]t sure if Iwas going to be able to unpack without completely taking over the room. But...by means of a plastic bin and a spare desk and some closet space, all:s well that ends well. Tｈe next day was quite very exciting. I went to Natsu:s handball game via the trains exciting. I went to Natsu:s handball game via the trains, which are not really trains but subways above ground. Handball was really fun to watch, as the players will make these leaps into the air and simulataneously hurl this ball through the air in the attempt to make a goal. (Interesing & very cool fact* after a handball game, they teams bow to each other, then to the crowd, bow to each other, then to the crowd, to which you other, then to the crowd, to which you are supposed to say ありがとございました, or thank you.)

After one of the games (she had 4 that day), I met Mizuki and Kaho and anotｈer girl whose name escapes me. They both were semi fluent in English--especially Mizuki, who knew it very well--so we made multi lingual small talk, interrupted by tｈem consulting each other on how to say something.

By the way, the one word took me multiple days to learn is ``douitashimashite`` which is `you:re welcome`. Literally about 7 people have pronounced it, spelled it, written it...yet somehow I always manage to mangle it. But--besiudes that, my stabs at the Japanese I do know have been successful. For the most part. =)

After that, we went to a Japanese market, rode the trains home...fun, but not in a way that you can record for the blog-reader`s purposes.

Ojiijan and obaasan (sp?), the Fukunaga family grandparents came for dinner, which was tempura veggies and shrimp. Very good. The grandparents didn`t speak a word of English (ok, the grandfather asked me,　‘You like curry?`　but I@m not counting that.) so it was really fun though confusing ｔｏ have a dinner conversation. They were very interested in American culture, and they thought it was a riot that my dad does the large majority of the cooking in our household at home. They were also very impressed with my chopstick skills. Beats me.

While I*m on the subject of dinner conversation: It is very typical to watch TV during meals here...lately, there has been an international track and field event in Osaka that just finished up. In case you were wondering.

Today was likewise really fun. Fukunaga-san and Fukunaga-san both were at work today, so Natsu and I rode the train to Fuchu and walked around that area. She first showed me the department store (read mall), and then we spotted おくにたまじんじゃ (Okunitama Jinja) which is a really amazing shrine, or grouping of them. This place was so nice and peaceful, which is really cool because in Japan, you have your markets in your department stores next ｔｏ your shrines next to your houses next to your convenience store next to your factory next to your karaoke bar next to your train station next to your...well, I hope you get my idea. I was feeling ansty and touristy (like I always do *smirk*) and I took a bazillion pictures of this place, because it was just so beautiful. You don]t find this sort of thing in Texas. Inside (though still outside) there was a tree surrounded by a square-shaped laundry line sort of thing, covered in paper that had been knotted on it. Natsu explained to me that these were fortunes, and for 100 yen we each got one. We opened ours up, and they were the same (44 & 44). Apparently, this is a rare occurence, so we took a picture of us with the same fortune, tied one on, and brought one ｈｏｍｅ　ｔｏ　ｓｈｏｗ　her parents. Ｗｅ were in a picture taking mood, I suppose, so we went and I got my first ぷりくら、ｏｒ puriｋura　（ｓｐ？） ｗｉｔｈ　Ｎａｔｓｕ．Ｐｕｒｉｋｕｒａ　ａｒｅ　ｌｉｋｅ　ｖａｍｐｅｄ　ｕｐ　ｐｈｏｔｏ　ｂｏｏｔｈｓ．．ｉｔ：ｓ　ａ　ｌｉｔｔｌｅ　ｔｒｉｃｋｙ　ｔｏ　ｅｘｐｌａｉｎ，　ｂｕｔ　ｔｈｅｙ　ｇｉｖｅ　ｙｏｕ　ａ　ｄｉｆｆｅｒｅｎｔ　ｂａｃｋｇｒｏｕｎｄ　ｆｏｒ　ｅａｃｈ　ｏｎｅ，　ａｎｄ　ｏｎｃｅ　ｙｏｕ＊ｒｅ　ｄｏｎｅ　making　ｙｏｕｒ　ｒａｎｄｏｍ　ｐｏｓｅｓ，　ｙｏｕ　ｇｏ　ｔｏ　ｔｈｅ　ｓｉｄｅ　ａｎｄ　ｄｅｃｏｒａｔｅ　ｔｈｅｍ　ｌｉｋｅ　ｔｈｅｒｅ：ｓ　ｎｏ　ｔｏｍｏｒｒｏｗ．Via　ｔｅｃｈｎｏｌｏｇｙ：ｓ　ｗｏｎｄｅｒｓ，　ｙｏｕ　ｉｎｓｅｒｔ　ｓｐａｒｋｌｅｓ　ａｎｄ　ｈｅａｒｔｓ　ａｎｄ　ｓｔａｒｓ　ａｎｄ　ｗｒｉｔｅ　ａｎｄ　ｄｅｃｏｒａｔｅ．．ｔｈｅｎ　ｔｈｅｙ　ｐｒｉｎｔ　ｏｕｔ　ｖｅｒｙ　ｔｉｎｙ　ａｎｄ　ｙｏｕ　ｃｕｔ　ｔｈｅｍ　ｏｕｔ　ａｎｄ　ｓａｖｅ　ｔｈｅｍ．．．

Ａｆｔｅｒ　ｔｈａｔ　ｌｉｔｔｌｅ　ｅｘｃｕｒｓｉｏｎ，　ｗｅ　ｇｏｔ　ｌｕｎｃｈ　（ｒａｍｅｎ　ｎｏｏｄｌｅｓ　ｗｉｔｈ　ｓｏｍｅｔｈｉｎｇ．．．ｎｏｔ　ｑｕｉｔｅ　ｓｕｒｅ　），　ａｎｄ　ｔｏｏｋ　ｔｈｅ　ｔｒａｉｎ　ｈｏｍｅ．．．ｈｅｒｅ　ｗｅ　ａｒｅ　ｎｏｗ！　Ｗｅ　ａｒｅ　　ｒｅｓｔｉｎｇ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｈｅ　ａｆｔｅｒｎｏｏｎ，　ｂｅｃａｕｓｅ　ｗｅ　ａｒｅ　ｒｅａｌｌｙ　ｗｏｒｎ　ｏｕｔ　ｆｒｏｍ　ｏｕｒ　ｈｙｐｅｒ－ａｃｔｉｖｅ　ｄａｙ　（ｗｅｌｌ，　ｅｖｅｎｔｆｕｌ，　Ｉ　ｇｕｅｓｓ，　ｉｓ　ａｐｐｒｏｐｒｉａｔｅ）　ａｎｄ　ｂｅｃａｕｓｅ　ｓｃｈｏｏｌ　ｓｔａｒｔｓ　ｔｏｍｏｒｒｏｗ　ａｎｄ　Ｆｕｋｕｎａｇａ－ｓａｎ　ｗａｎｔ：ｓ　ｕｓ　ｔｏ　ｃｈｉｌｌ　ｓｏ　ｗｅ：ｌｌ　ｈａｖｅ　ｅｎｅｒｇｙ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｏｍｏｒｒｏｗ．Ｉ　ｃａｎ：ｔ　ｗａｉｔ　ｆｏｒ　ｓｃｈｏｏｌ．．．Ｉ　ａｍ　ｕｂｅｒ　ｕｂｅｒ　ｅｘｃｉｔｅｄ．

Ｓｏ，　ｔｈａｔ：ｓ　ａｌｌ　ｆｏｒ　ｎｏｗ．　A　ｔｏｎ　ｈａｐｐｅｎｓ　ｈｅｒｅ，　ｓｏ　Ｉ　ｗｉｌｌ　ｔｒｙ　ｔｏ　ｋｅｅｐ　ｙｏｕ　ｉｎｆｏｒｍｅｄ．　＝）

Ｉ‘ｍ　ｇｏｉｎｇ　ｔｏ　ｇｏ　ｃｏｎｔｉｎｕｅ　ｒｅａｄｉｎｇ　ｔｈｅ　Ｇｒｅａｔ　Ｇａｔｓｂｙ．Ｎｉｃｅ　ｂｏｏｋ．

またね。　or maybe it:s まてね。