Masai is not only a tribe of people in Kenya

Yes, this is true. I will do a little synop for your sis, re for your cap, hakuna for your matata...

Part 1 --Masai

Masai is the name of the annual school festival that is perhaps the pinnacle of one's school life existence if you go to St. Margaret's. Very big deal. So much goes on in the planning--everyone takes it sooooo seriously (some people had been doing serious preparations for 3 months in advance!). Every club does something, whether it be a booth or an exhibition. I was most impressed with the Tea Ceremony club--the girls all wore kimono, and for ￥２５０ yen, you could be seated, served tea they made in front of you, and eat a traditional Japanese sweet. It was seriously intense. I am in track and field club, but when I was "working the booth," as they say, I was in the IEP (international exchange room) doing my thing--namely, putting my fantastic persuasive advertising skills to use and yelling, "国際交流！見て行って下さい！中二Bです！" which basically means, "IEP Room! Check it out! Room 2B in the middle school!" I guess it's enough of a spectacle to see a foreigner shouting her lungs out in a different language, so the advertising worked--the number of people who came was pretty successful. When I wasn't working (which all but an hour of the time every day), I was hanging out with my friends and taking loads of pictures. Everyone can bring a camera to school during Masai, and everyone took advantage of that. On the second day of the festival (it was 2 days), if you remember (and if I mentioned it earlier in the blog), my friends cajoled me into doing a quiz with them on stage. I had no idea what this involved, but I did it anyway. There were 3 parts to it, I found out on stage...1. answer the question, 2. guess what the person on your team is writing as an answer to the question, 3. guess what you are touching in the box blindfolded. #s 1 and 2 were okay, but #3 was embarrassing--I was standing up at the front blindfolded. I guessed what it was, and they told me I was right. However, it turns out I was a little late and was the only one standing there blindfolded reaching out into midair like an idiot. Alas. It was so so so fun, but again I can only put up pictures of my friends and assure you it was suberbly enjoyable--at the end, many girls were crying because of the effort they had put into it and because it was fun for 2 days, and then ended.

Part 2--Boys' school's festival

Because of the strains of Masai preparations and work, everyone had Sunday through Tuesday off. Sunday, Natsu, Tomoka, Ringo, and I went to a boys' school's festival where they had friends. Natsu in particular had a guy friend she who she said wanted to meet me. I did eventually meet him, but he was really really shy (even Natsu said he was acting really shy!) so we bid him adieu (in Japanese, of course) and floated around the festival for a little bit. I have to say that in my opinion, Masai trumped this festival, but it was still really fun. We didn't do too much there, since there wasn't anything seriously compelling to do there, but we met their friends at the school and listened to bands that were out of tune and really loud. It was fun.As we were walking out, a guy ran up to me and said "すみません" [excuse me] and asked for me phone's email address (the way you text message someone in Japan). I gave it to him, and my friends then proceeded to explain "なんぱ" [nanpa] to me. In Japan, if a guy meets, no, sees, a girl he likes, he goes and asks for her phone's email and then later introduces himself via text message. She then can respond or blow him off, accordingly. I personally contrast this with some guys in America ("Hey, babe!" *proceeds to hit on a random girl who is mouthing, "Help me!" to her friends*) I didn't blow this guy off, but I tried to stay within my phone's texting budget. Anyway.

Part 3--Tokyo DisneySea

Yes, the wonder, the enchantment, the excitement of Disney! Sea! I was really excited going in, and it was really fun, but I have to say that DisneySea doesn't have quite the same flare as DisneyLand--if I remember DisneyLand accurately from when I went in elementary school--because DisneySea has all the alternative Disney animations, the ones that weren't as commercially successful as Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and the gang. Think Chip and Dale, the woodpeckers, Sinbad, and other really obscure Disney creatures that no one remembers (who?). The magic was slightly lost, but I was with my friends and we regardless had a super-awesome time. I went on my first upside-down rollercoaster, and they forced me to go on the "Tower of Terror," which I thought at the time was a really bad idea. The first time, after much failed persuasion, I sat outside and waited (My logic was this: if I get really scared, I will lose a lot of sleep for weeks upon end, be unable to learn Japanese or function wholly, get kicked out of my school here, go back home early, do badly in school there because I missed so much, be unable to get into college, have a bright future, and die a broken person. It was too big of a risk for one ride.) They convinced me (somehow, I'm not sure) but I went. Check out the picture I took of the in-ride picture. I'm wearing the gree fleece. =) At the end, we got おみやげ (omiyage, or souveneirs) for everyone we knew--this is a very big deal in Japan, because it shows that even though you didn't see X person, you still remembered them when you were out haveing fun. Very important. Anyway, Tokyo DisneySea is pretty far away from where Natsu and I live, so we got up about 5:30-ish (am) and left about 9:30-ish (pm!) and at the end, we were tuckered. Literally.

Part 4--P.S. Piano lessons

Every Tuesday, Natsu has a piano lesson. On these days, after school/club we go to her grandparents' and then (if I haven't fallen asleep in their tatami room =] ) we go to her piano lesson. Her teacher and co-students are so nice! They made sure my nampa text messages in Japanese made sense, were spelled correctly, etc. =)

Part 5--P.P.S. Halloween

A lot of people have asked me about Halloween in Japan. Essentially, it is an imported holiday that exists mainly for commercial reasons (ex. DisneyLand's October theme). In some areas, people do do Halloween-y trick-or-treating sorts of things, but mainly, as where I live, it's not common. I, for one, celebrated Halloween by reading Stephen King's Carrie.

soooooo...bye bye for now.

legally homesick. episode 1. (short version!)

Today Ms. Todd and Ms. Aubrey came for lunch at my school. It was so nice to talk with them one on one, after we had lunch with Hiratsuka-sensei and Sakurai-sensei. I was really reminded of SSES and everything I left behind, and I heard about school at home and how Josh was doing...so, today, I broke my euphoric streak and I was finally homesick! Yay! It sounds very strange, but it was really nice to really really really miss everyone and everything for the first time since I left. I guess it was just hearing about everything and then watching my teachers leave that spurred it, since I had this feeling of this challenge of Japan really hitting me hard today, and feeling how much there is left...a sort of Audrey vs. the world feeling. Don't get me wrong; at the time, I was really depressed and sad and a nervous wreck that Sakurai-sensei had to deal with while passing students stared. However, afterwards, I really sensed what I have been told on multiple occasions: everyone wants me to succeed here. This may not seem like much, but it was a fantastic feeling to have--surrounded by people who are concerned about you and backing you 24/7 and working for your well-being? Pretty great. I realized that I have had the occasional issue in Japan, but every time it has been something that was ultimately inconsequential--and everything has worked out, if not immediately, ultimately. I have so much to be grateful for--my school, Sakurai-sensei, the girls here who say hi every time I see them, my amazing host family, my track and field team, the school guards who think I'm crazy because one time I showed 2 hours early, Julia Blood being here in Japan, my parents being okay with whatever time I call, the seriously wacky gameshows...okay, okay, I don't want this to turn into an Oscars speech, but you get my point: I have an appreciation for so much that enables me to exist here successfully, and my homesickness only made that more apparent to me.

Before Ms. Todd and Ms. Aubrey left, I wasn't homesick, but I felt it coming like a tidal wave or a bad joke, and I asked them any good coping strategies for November, since I hate it (it's not quite October or December--it's the limbo period that gives you time to mull over things a tad too much.) They gave me some really good advice.

1) Sleep well and stay hydrated. Basic physical health, take care of myself and I will feel better. Naturally. For example...I was a little sad and homesick-y at the end of school. I went to track and field afterwards, and was much happier, due to the magic of endorphins. To quote the movie Legally Blonde, "Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands, they just don't." Yes.

2) Stay busy. To quote Sarah Todd, who was quoting Josh Ellis, "The busier, the easier it is." I definitely second this, and I think that will be vital to surviving my least favorite month. I am sooo lucky because Julia is here, and I will try to get together with her soon. Also, I think that I am going to go to Tokyo DisneySea after Masai, and then Kyoto and Nara in 3 weeks, so I am really looking forward to those things. And in December, my dad will come! So in a few days, I can say that it will be one month until he comes! I am really really really super looking forward to this.

3) Remember that time here goes so fast. Even now, it seems like last week that I came to Japan. I know that seems cliche "My! How you've grown dearie! Time flies so fast!", but it's so true. I know I will have my not-as-good days, but Sakurai-sensei assured me that of course that's okay, and, in her words, "You are so nice! You are too nice! You need to be not as nice!" {in regards to being homesick-free everyday until now} so I will have to work on that. My dad has his saying that I think of a lot, which is, "Every day won't be a personal best." So, yeah.

So those are my pillars for general peace of mind and happiness, as inspired and documented from Ms. Todd, Ms. Aubrey, Josh, Reese Witherspoon, cliches, Sakurai-sensei, and my dad. I'm sure that this could come off as sentimental and inspired, but for now, that's all I got. No pictures.

PS I'm not homesick right now. Like I mentioned before, it was a short-lived homesickness, but the first real episode here. I have sunken back into life here; bounced back very quickly, due to endorphins and my general feeling that there is so much to enjoy here that I shouldn't spend my precious limited time missing what I will come back to in less than a year. It's just too much fun and I'm too busy right now for that. =)

A run that was fun and, of course, a shrine for kicks

I will try to recap this past week to the best of my abilities, but I must say that it was seriously packed and busy. But there are some pretty intense pictures.

Last weekend, I did the Tokyo Halloween Fun Run with Natsu and Sakurai-sensei. It was fun, as one might imagine a fun run might be. The run was at the National Stadium, which has some cool fancy Japanese name, but to give you an idea, it was colossal because that was where the Tokyo 1964 Olympics were held. So, all in all...pretty big. Sakurai-sensei and I were originally planning to do the 5k, but it and the 10k were packed to burst. But more on that later. We got there very early because we had to register, since we were on the waiting list. We got there, got a complimentary tacky embellished warmup towel ("Tokyo Halloween Fun Run" bedazzled with random Halloween-y things) and changed into nefarious costume. We were worried when we were changing because everyone else there was putting on normal, serious running attire, while we were changing into...well, see for yourself. The night before, Natsu and I realized that we lacked costumes to fit the Halloween part of the Halloween Fun Run title the race bore, so about 9:30 at night, Natsu, Okaasan, and I went to "Donkihoute [Don Quijote] Discount Store" and got the sexiest metallic suits, ties, and neon-colored afros we could find. We had Otoosan try them on first afterwards, just to be sure they were perfect and one-size-fits-all. So, anyway, we were at the race itself at about 7:45 in the morning changing into our crazy costumes, while the surrounding vicinity seemed to be getting a kick out seeing us waddling arround, seemingly about to run a 2k (as I was getting to before, the 5k and 10k were huge--no room for us! 1,500 people per each, I believe). Before the race, we sat in the stands with the rest of everyone, and listened as the 2 commentators started talking about our costumes in the microphones. That was amusing. But wait! The race had not begun! We decided to join the costume contest, since by this point, the Halloween theme of the run was becoming more apparent as more and more people showed up in costume (much to our relief)...alas, we were too late. Immediately afterwards, the 2k started. We definitely had great reactions. We would pass little children and they would start to a) stare, b) crack up, c) do both simultaneously. But the best reaction was from an older man, who was talking loudly to himself about the costumed people running by. When Natsu and I passed in our costumes, he got wide-eyed and shouted, "HORA!" which not only is a non-related Jewish dance, but also in Japanese means "LOOKA THAT!" It was great. After we finished our short lived 2k, the news crew asked to interview us. The interviewer, after asking me one question, pretty much understood that interviewing me would not be very interesting (unless, I suppose, they were filming a new show called "Let's Fluster Foreigners"), and I resigned myself to letting Natsu answer all the questions perfectly. We are local TV stars. I never thought I'd be famous in Tokyo. After the run, Sakurai-sensei took us out for dessert, which was so nice of her. I pretended to be a sumo wrestler in the restaurant, much to the chagrin of my fellow dessert-eaters. Alas, I cannot hide my natural tendencies ("I can't contain this feeling I have! It's a part of me! I won't pretend to be something I'm not anymore!").

That next week, I had cooking class Monday and Tueday, each 2 hours. The teacher was in a fraction food mood, as we made various pizzas on Monday and pies on Tuesday. Both were sooooo good...we made corn-beef-onion, mushroom-pepper-tomato, chocolate, chicken-sprouts-onion, and another one I can't quite recall sort of pizza...sooooo deicious! and on Tuesday, we made meat and pumpkin pie (2 separate pies, not meat-and-pumpkin). Alas, the food was so delicious that when I brought it back, my classmates also discovered it was seriously delicious, and mass consumption followed, leaving me with only fractions of my fraction pizzas/pies. Oh well...that's the risk when you have a class where you make super-good food.

This whole week I was sick with general sick-y sick problems, and Wednesday and Thursday I stayed home because I was feeling not-very-good. Subsequently, I have been thrown off date-wise...since I came back Friday and thought it was Wednesday, etc. Speaking of physical ailments and the like, I have been having issues with my contacts, and when I wear them, my right eye gets very red and hurts (not a problem before, in the US)...I went to the eye doctor, and it turns out that I have a bruise on my eye, probably from the one time I fell asleep here wearing my contacts. Not so good. No worries, all is well, and special super-special eye drops save the day. Again.

I thought I would have a track and field meet Saturday and run a 3k race, but as it turns out it was today, and I was sick this last week, I couldn't do it. Oh well--there are other meets in the, um, sea.

Today, I met Ms. Todd, my teacher and the person in charge of my exchange at a convention for international boarding schools at a hotel with Natsu and Okaasan. Not only there was Ms. Todd, but also Ms. Aubrey, who also works at St. Stephen's (conveniently SSES) , Wakana (exchange student from St. Margaret's to SSES last year) and her parents, Akane's (exchange student at SSES now) parents, 2 graduates of the boys' school in Japan that Josh goes to, one of their mothers, Julia Blood (see earlier post), 2 other girls who think graduated SSES, and about 50-75 other people advertising their boarding schools there. Whew. As part of being there, we were supposed to help out and advertise and whatnot, but we all ended up mostly talking with each other, because the truth is, there aren't very many Japanese students interested in international boarding schools, partially due to the decline of their economy, and partially because it's generally impractical to send one's child overseas at exceedingly expensive prices when there are very good schools here in Japan. With this free time we had due to general lack of people, Natsu and I moseyed around the convention for about 30 seconds, because it so happens that the one booth we randomly stopped for and whose info we flipped through was a boys' school. Slightly embarrasing. Afterwards, we went for tea, which was fun and ended with group photos.

　　After Okaasan and I left to go home (Natsu had to leave early for tennis--she is soooo busy!), we got tickets for the train, but postponed to go to a--guess what--shrine, this one especially for pregnant women, but still a no-fail functioning all-purpose shrine. I really really love shrines in general--they are so beautiful and different from anything you would find in America. One of the mini shrines in the shrine was a dog god shrine--since dogs have a lot of puppies, it makes them god-worthy. Obviously.

On the way back, I was having issues pronouncing the name of a station (tsutsudzigaoka--doesn't quite roll off the tongue easily yet), and, after mangling it multiple times, I turned it into a rap on the train.

"Tsu-tsu--tsutsutsutsuchitsuchiGAOka-chchchchchchch-CHOFU-higashi-fchfchfchchchffffuchu-yo-yo-yo-chiekiro [Japanese translation of the phrase, "check-it-out."] yo." This was quite an experience for my fellow train riding community, I'm sure, but it seriously cracked up me and my host mother. PS do not try to do this rap with Shinjuku eki. It just doesn't work--I tried. It's un-rappable.

I talked to my little sister tonight on the phone. I told her that I ate fried octopus balls during dinner. I think that freaked her out.

Next week is Masai (Maagaretto-sai, not to be confused with the tribe in Kenya) , which is the school's festival. I am really looking forward to this, and there will a ton of pictures--as long as I remember my camera. I am part of the IEP (International Exchange Program) booth--lots of posters!, Shodo exhibit, handbell choir, and group quiz game with my friends, so there is a ton to do! Next weekend's post should be, as they say in Japan, totemo omoshiroi [とてもおもしろい](Super interesting!)

That's all for now.

Sports festival and the Paee-Eeeahsss-Ayyyy-Taaaeeee

In my unprofessional opinion, Tuesday and Wednesday have been thrilling and picture-plentiful enough for me to give the days their own post. Tuesday, you see, was the school Sports Festival, and then today was the PSAT (no pictures of the PSAT for copyright reasons, sorry to let you down.)

TUESDAY

The sports festival...where to start? The beginning, perhaps...school started yesterday like any other--I put on oxford shirt, plaid pleated skirt, cardigan, kneesocks! and crammed Nancy Drew into the increasingly

Sorry to interject. There was just an earthquake.

increasingly crowded train for about an hour. Upon arriving at school, I lost the schoolgirl get-up and changed with my classmates into the school PE uniform (white shirt, white sweatshirt, navy shorts, navy pants on top) and then hurried outside to get in our appropriate lines for the opening ceremony. Upon doing so, we (we meaning the entire middle and high school = rather large indeed--about 1200 girls or so, maybe?) marched out to the opening fanfare (note: marched) and waited for opening speeches, a very solemn flag raising that everyone talked through, and then dispersed into our spots for the school warmup to the song, "Bad Girl." After this, the teams (red, blue, green, yellow, white) went to their assigned spots to wait for the first event (jumprope!) We got to 22, but alas, it was not enough. Following this, there were multiple events, such as 100 and 200 meter dashes...there were also club relays, where different sports teams competed--needless to say, track and field dominated, of course =) I did not run in this because they already were training for this event when I joined the team. After this, the highschool 1st graders (my grade's classes) did an alternative relay, where we carried people, ran with legs tied, and sprinted to the finish to win this relay (which my blue team did not, I will add)...regardless, though, it was really really fun. After more random uneventful events, the entire color teams (middle and highschool) had a race in which the team would line up and have to get a giant ball with the circumference of a fridge or grand piano from Point A to Point B x number of times. The blue team narrowly lost this, due to insufficient, umm, ball passing. Right.

Amid all of these events, my friends in dance club and I designated ourselves as blue team cheerleaders, as we yelled random things to up the team spirit (e.g. "Irashaimase! Banana mango isu tabemasenka! Oishiyo!" [see earlier post for meaning] as well as random English cheers; "Blue team is red hot! Blue team is red hot! Blue team is R-E-D red H-O-T hot once we start we can't be stopped red hot!" and "We got spirit, yes we do! We got spirit, how about you?" =D). Also, we had blue pom-poms, which in and of themselves open up worlds of team spirit possibilities. Also: the whole festival was so cold! After the opening ceremony, we had to take off the the sweatshirts and pants for the events, and even when we were waiting and could wear them, it felt like winter in Texas (although I guess that really isn't saying much--but still). One last weird thing--about 25 helicopters flew over the festival (unrelated, I'm sure). It was really freaky and creepy. Just thought I would throw that out there.

But it was far from over yet! The next thing I did was my 1k. There were two 1k races--for the middle and high school. In the first one, about 10 girls and Sakurai-sensei ran. This was interesting, as the girls all started too fast and were huffing and puffing by about lap 3, while Sakurai-sensei kept at the end--until there was no end to keep at because she went very slowly. At the end of the race, the winner finished, and Sakurai-sensei had to go around the finish line to do her final lap; more like a victory lap because the whole school was cheering for her as she ran at no hurried pace to the end. Then it was my turn to do the high school race. I was at the end of the race starting, and for about 3 laps I was way behind everyone. Even so, it was so great because my class and my team were cheering for me, and even other people on the other teams were, too. It was so great and such a cool feeling to hear that, even being last--but wait! that was only lap 3! After doing my little mosey around 3 times, I picked up the pace on the other two and finished second--my track and field coach, Kai-sensei was first. So, all in all, pretty cool...

We had lunch time about halfway through the day, immediately after my race, and cold as it was, my 1A class ate outside in a giant circle and passed around snacks people had brought for the sports day. I took a bunch of pictures of my classmates...

After lunch, there was what I deemed the half-time show, in which the dancers dressed as cheerleaders (and some as guys--see the picture of 2 of my classmates!) and did a mass dance to various songs, climaxing at the end with Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend." It was really fun to watch, ex. my friend Kaho was dressed as a guy and was doing this dance. Heh heh. But it was really really good and really well performed, especially since so many people were doing it in super-synchronized form.

I forgot to mention: Kobayashi-sensei came to Sports Day, which surprised me--I didn't know or expect her to come. It was interesting to see her there =)

The middle schoolers did an event where 40 girls per team tied their legs together in a line (see picture) and raced forward...this was interesting, but potentially hazardous, because if one girl falls, half of the team does a faceplant. The middle schoolers practiced a lot before-hand, however, there was one accident (I caught I picture of the beginning of it) where a girl tripped and was knocked unconcious--she was stretchered out, which I am sure was not such a great moment for the onlooking 150 parents or so, all armed with videocameras or cameras.

A little while after this, the dancers did a performance en masse. Not much to say, but I liked it, and I am sure I would have been enthralled with it had I been able to see better. What I did see, though, was really really good.

My grade had to do a hurdles race, where five people at a time (one from each team) did hurdles. Also not overly eventful, although I did win my race.

The teachers had to do a relay towards the end. This was interesting, as we watched as our usually-contained teachers tried (sometimes in vain) to dribble or balance balls, sometimes falling. Representing the blue team were Hiratska-sensei (principal), Kai-sensei (homeroom/math teacher/track and field coach), and Sakurai-sensei (in charge of exchange). It was interesting, but unfortunately I have no pictures of this fascinating event.

At the very end, there was a final relay, in which selected members of each team did a 2400 meter relay. Although the blue team had not dominated the sports day, we have the track-and-field sprinters on the team, and we dominated, earning us the shiny relay trophy. Woot woot....

At the end of Tuesday, I took some random pictures of my a few of my friends. We are kind of goofy.

WEDNESDAY

Now, if you thought Tuesday and the Sports Festival were exciting, wait until you hear what I did today!

I took the PSAT. It was fine, I think I did well, and I am not worried in the least.

And then I slept for 5 and 1/2 hours due to the prior extensive brain activity.

No pictures, my apologies.

(~。~) ZZZzZZzZzzzzzz

PS I had to finish this blog post on Thursday due to picture malfunction. I would like to add the interesting tidbit of the day: today, a very old woman totally cut me when I was about to sit down. She pushed me out of the way with her cane and everything. I was shocked and automatically relinquished my seat--partially because I really couldn't do anything about it, and anyway, it was an old woman--although she brandished her cane like a bayonet. Pretty amusing for me.

Catch up and chili

　　I feel like I typically start each blog post with an apology. Here's one now: sorry for not posting in a more timely manner--I try to write once a week, but even the best of us fall off the blog-wagon, right? Also, this post, I think, is not as animated as the others, perhaps--I'm tired...

　　So, the concert: as in America, classical music is not nearly as appreciated by the younger generation of people as a whole, thus about 97% of the attending audience was over 50, as an observation. This is always the first thing I notice about classical concerts. The music was really good. I wish I knew where the program was--there was a really really good Saint-Seans piece (it sounded remniscent of Carnival of the Animals' "Fossils," though...) and as a whole was very very good. Unfortunately, I was very very tired, so I was stuck between a rock and Kobayashi-sensei as I tried not to nod off--it was very hard, though. Oops...I'm just not usually one to fall asleep during concerts--although there was this older man behind us who was a real snorer. Nice touch to the concert, I think. This was interesting--at the end, the orchestra played, as an encore, "Stars and Stripes Forever," which, oddly enough, seemed slightly out of place with the general setting. I asked Kobayashi-sensei about it, and she thought that it was because the conductor usually conducts in NYC, but still, it was very strange.

　I have had track and field practice every day except Wednesday this past week, as everyone is trying to get ready for the school sports festival. And I now randomly digress: In general in Japan, I definitely fell like it's: "Jump" "How high?" scenario all the time...but that is the culture, and I am trying so many more things because of it--the one thing I feel that people lose in this sort of societal feeling is the ability to be as self-controlling and opinionated...everything is ultimately for the greater good, and about thinking for the group first before anything. People automatically put the group's self interest first, and this is the reason for the large-scale harmony that sets Japan apart from America, for one. As my host father said to me, "Japanese people have a very difficult time saying yes or no." This has both its pros and cons--I really do love the utopian-esque feeling I have had on multiple occasions when I had difficulty with something (eg, getting home on a different train) and the group of people I am with stop everything, give me directions, send a person to show me where to go, give their cell phone numbers, check in on me later...and this isn't only me, although this treatment is often an immediate precaution to any question I have since I frequent the Tokyo scene as the touristy lost exchange student. Anyway, they go the full 9 yards for each other, too--all for the well-being of the bigger picture. However, this atmosphere in the status quo does limit out having big rebellions or talking out or openly hating the government, unless, of course, is it a colossal majority movement across the nation--and even that would be well thought-out, organized, and the definite consensus. Pity, since I wanted to have a large-scale protest at my girls' school...not. Maybe later.

　　Later last week, I tried to find a store selling traditional Japanese souveneir-y things (being the adamant tourist that I am) that Sakurai-sensei told me about because 4 friends at home had their birthdays and 2 here have birthdays coming up--most unfortunately, I couldn't find it, but as I was in Kichi-joji, which is a bigger part of Tokyo and has this really cool park, I decided to walk around and chill in Inokashira-koen, the park. I mosied (moseyed?) around, and strangely enough, ran into my homeroom teacher/track-and-field coach, which is pretty unlikely--considering the 12 million people in Japan, the probability of knowing very many, and then both people being at the same place in a city as huge as Tokyo. After the park and meeting my teacher briefly, I went back towards the shopping area of Kichi-joji and found this small card and stamps shop. I bought some cards to send to my birthday friends, but not after finding out that one was intended as a wedding card. Regardless, I bought it, though (*cough* tourist *cough*) because it was so beautiful and who will know besides me? And you, but you won't REALLY know.

　　Fast forward to Sunday. I went to MISHOP, an international peeps fest, and helped my friends, including Mami, Sayuri, and Erika in their Phillipines booth (all of the girls had gone as exchange students for a little while). This involved, as I soon found out, general tent setup, wearing their Phillipines school uniform, wearing a sandwich sign advertising Mango Banana Ice Cream they were selling, and yelling about the booth while meandering around the festival. (Well, I will admit the sandwhich sign was my own idea, but that was only because a) I have always wanted to wear a sandwich sigh, and b) I already felt like an idiot as an American non-Japanese advertising for a Phillipines booth in a random uniform.) When wearing this sign, I would typically yell one of 3 things:
・いらしゃいませ！Irashaimase! = General "welcome," used by vendors of any sort
・マンゴバナナイ食べませんか！mango banana isu tabemasenka? = wouldn't you like some mango banana ice (cream)?
・おいしいよっ! Oishiiyoooooo! = very delicious!
This was a novel experience, as wearing a sign and shouting in and of itself requires little inhibition, but then to be the non-related American shouting in Japanese wearing a school uniform and sign is more than a novel experience--it's like a complete fantasy series. (novel? series? never mind....) I took some pictures, but I have to admit that it's a bit hard to post them because I look so awful...but wait! afterwards! I got a haircut! That was novel; definitely. I went to the haircutter Okaasan and Natsu go to and basically requested (or rather, asked my host mother to translate) a haircut that got rid of the dead ends and looked cute. After much ado, I left looking a lot different then my general previous haircuts usually turn out, but I really like it! I was really scared when the person was cutting, because I haven't had bangs before, but now I really really love my haircut!
Interesting thing about the salons here--would you like your hair washed by a person or a machine?


　　But Sunday wasn't over yet! I had volunteered before to make Mexican food for my host family. They held me to my offer, and I was really worried about my cooking, since it can go awry--as I started to worry it would, starting with shopping, as I forgot the recipe I was using and guessed at what was supposed to go in my crunchy chili tacos. We luckily seemed to have gotten everything necessary, so everything was going smoothly until Okaasan decided it was going to take too long, and transferred the chili the the intense pressure cooker. I was really apprehensive--I had visions of the pot exploding into shards and chili splattered on the wall in a Jackson Pollock-esque manner--but all was well, and I have to say that I think it was successful.

　　Today I had Ethics and Christianity again. I have to do a project about Christian history (specificaly, the pope) for the class in my assigned group. This could be interesting--but, before anything is interesting, my group has to do some work, which we can't do now, due to an unforseen language barrier. It will be okay, since Natsu is in my group and speaks English reasonably well, but today she was sick, so it was an unproductive affair. Very boring, but should improve. After school, club was optional, and I was tired, so I was going when I met my friends Ruriko (better known as Muffin, as the nickname I gave her randomly stuck) and Asako on the train. Of course, purikura followed.


　　Tomorrow is the school sports festival, which means that I jumprope, do a 3 person line relay、a 3 person carrying relay, a 1k, and hurdles. Sports day is a very big deal, but there's not too much to explain at the moment--but many pictures to follow!

　　
　　Wednesday is the PSAT! Ka-ching shazam! I'm excited--don't ask me why. =)

　　Must sleep....must sleep....must.....sleeeeeeep.....must....

beginnings of new things and endings of others, like 13 year old toy poodles

　　I made it through one week of normal classes without sustaining any huge life-threatening injuries! Victory! I started normal math and science classes, which were...okay. The first day of class, it was seemingly normal; I had chemistry (uneventful) and 2 hours of Japanese, then 2 hours of off time, then Ethics and Christianity. This was very awkward, as I went to a different homeroom class with people I didn't know as well, but moreover, the teacher didn't seem aware of the fact that I was joining his class, so he treated me like a visitor, and then, when he kind of figured out that I was there permanantly, I was immediately assigned a project. It was all-around awkward, even if it doesn't sound that bad. Oh well.

　　Wednesday, I had what was labeled simply as "Dance PE" first period. Little did I know that "Dance PE" entailed not only dance, but hurdles and jump rope outside. I didn't bring sneakers, under the impression I wouldn't be needing them for dance, and thus, I was punished by having to write what the class did that day. I wrote a mini-essay about who was the fastest hurdler, who wasn't jumping rope, complete with illustrations. Very interesting. I was with two of my friends who also forgot their shoes, though, so it was very fun.

　　Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, I had math, which was pretty easy, since it is one of the "universal languages," and also because I have already learned what we're doing in class.

　　Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 5th and 6th periods, I have an elective class--Cooking (which only meets on special days, so usually an off period, as it was this week), Shodo (Calligraphy), or Handbells. Shodo and Handbells are both with the 3rd graders (don't be fooled; they are the highest grade). In regards to Shodo, I really like it, though it makes me very frustrated because I am such a perfectionist, but it is very difficult, though the teacher makes it look so easy. I have so far written "cosmos flower" (the kanji literally means "autumn cherry blossoms") and my name in kanji. My name in kanji has its own small funny story; late one night when Natsu was doing homework and I was pretending to do mine, I was asking her about the different kanji (Chinese characters, each with its own special meaning, pronounced differently in combination with other kanji or alphabet letters, if you were wondering) used for people's names. Somehow this turned into us trying to kanji-fy my name, by means of Natsu's cell phone and an electronic dictionary. It ended up as 桜弩梨, which we originally though translates to "cherry blossom, violin bow, delicious pear," but my friend Momoko corrected me when I showed it to her. It really means "cherry blossoms, catapult, delicious pear." A minor difference. I like both translations, although I slightly prefer this one now. I think of flying fruit. Anyway, this is what I wrote during my second Shodo class. In the pictures, it is quite obvious which paintings are the sensei's (orange) and which are mine (black and generally messy).

　　Handbells? My family and some of my friends know that every time I have been an active audience member during a handbell choir concert, I have cracked up and disturbed the people around me. Actually playing handbells (well, anyway) requires a reasonable amount of concentration, so during the class I sometimes start laughing to myself, mess up, concentrate, relax, smirk, mess up again...

　　I did mention sometime in the past that I joined track and field, right? I think so. If not, I will assure you I did. Even though it is not rooted in ancient tradition that requires special inscense and attire, I am really happy with my track and field girls. I tried kendo club (Japanese fencing) on Tuesday, but it really wasn't the club I wanted to join. From what I could tell, they spent 20 minutes of practice bringing down the wooden sword in a special way while simultaneously jumping to and fro, then for the rest of practice donned seriously heavy armor-gear (rooted in ancient tradition) and hit each other over the head for the rest of practice in a fixed manner. I am not joking. I felt that I prefered not to sustain extensive damage to my brain cells, and I was already friends with everyone in track and field, and I really like to run a lot, so...anyway. I joined the club, though, and then promptly hurt both legs trying to naively teach myself the splits, then do hurdles during PE the next few days. A bit of bad judgment, ending in Japanese cooling compresses. =)

　　Just to make the chronological order of events in this blog entry more confusing, last weekend I got together with Julia Blood, who, 4 years ago (I think that's right) went on this exchange trip. She is now in Japan again for another year as a college student at a university here as a Japan major. It was really great to see her and talk with her, because in my opinion, I think we have a lot in common. Regardless, we had a lot of fun talking about Japan, its quirks and differences from the US. I was really happy to see her because, right now, in all honesty, I am not homesick at all, and really haven't been since the plane trip over (which I will add was one of the hardest things I've ever done.) Multiple people have told me that the 4-6 week point is when they get very homesick, but so far I have just been taking it all in and really enjoying how different Japan is and how amazing everyone I have met is. But back to Julia; she told me that she was really only homesick during Christmas, because she wasn't around her family then as she had been everytime before then. I realized that it's okay if I'm not homesick--there is no established standard of when I need to be. So...that was very nice to hear, because that had been bugging me that week. Also, we had dessert after lunch at this random coffee shop we found, contemplated ordering sweet potato icecream, but instead shared chocolate cake and acacai (sp?) icecream, which I only metion because it was a rainy day and the dessert was tasty, making the overall effect delicious.

　　Where was I on the chronological-as-possible week timeline? Okay, I think Thursday, maybe. No, no idea.

　　A random tidbit as I try to remember what happens next: my friend Kana on track and field team has a pet chipmunk. Another: Everytime I am conjugating verbs during Japanese class and I get to the verb "shinu," which means to die, Kobayashi-sensei talks about her toy poodle that died at 13 years of age. One more random thing is that in Japanese, the number 4 is pronounced as both "yon" and "shi," shi meaning death. I had heard before that sometimes buildings skip Rm. 4, the fourth floor, etc. On the train, though, I saw a parking lot with parking spots labeled 1,2,3,5. Also, in hospitals, there is no Rm. 4. I think that that is enough random tidbits for now.

　　On Tuesday, I went to Natsu's grandparents' house and ate dinner, as I do every week. Her grandmother (Obaachan) made a typical Japanese dinner for us, which was very good. I was trying everything, and was about to put something that looked reasonably normal in my mouth, when I noticed it, rather, they were staring at me. They were these very little skinny fish I was expected to gulp down whole and en masse. This was a bit of a disorienting goal--generally, I prefer my food to not be be having a face off with me-- so naturally, I spent about 10 minutes staring them down, then Natsu counted to 3 and I ate them (But not before a picture!) . They were salty. If you were wondering. Unfortunately, their name escapes me.

　　Reminder! Monday, there is no school, and I will go to the concert with Kobayashi-sensei!

　　Saturday, there was a half-day of school so we could come and listen to the daigakusee (college students) talk about hunger. At least, that's what I think they were talking about for almost 2 hours non-stop. I will openly admit that I had one of the most boring experiences of my life. I didn't understand about 99.32% of what they said, and I couldn't sleep, so I sat there with the same expression as the fish I ate at Obaachan's house (staring forward, mouth slightly open, dazed look). Afterwards, everyone wrote their feelings about the presentation. I wrote that I could tell that there was obviously a lot of effort put into the presentation (they had about 5 slideshows and talked the entire time); unfortunately, I was unable to appreciate it due to a linguistic barrier--aka I was pretty dang bored, better luck next time. Sorry for pessimism, but it was not a great, meaningful experience for me for obvious reasons.

　　But! In about 2 weeks, Sakurai-sensei has invited me to do a 5k (perhaps 10k, depending) Halloween fun run with her. That is exciting. I am looking forward to it, even though I didn't pack anything particularly costume-like for Halloween-fun-run-purposes. I am most likely going to go with the default no-fail 80's workout look, easily executed and maintained. Other ideas are welcome, too...=)

　　So, all in all, not the most exciting flare-and-fireworks week, but not a bad week, either.