Just Got Back

Hey! So I just got back about two hours ago from my trip to Kyoto and Osaka with my host parents.  We stayed one night in Kyoto at a super expensive, 5 star two bedroom suite (I seriously cannot believe how much money my host parents spent on me these last four days) and visited temples and shopped in Kyoto for two days.  Then we drove to Osaka and stayed at my host mom's sister's house for two nights and again went shopping and sightseeing there.  Earlier today, I also went to see the new Harry Potter movie (the seventh one part 2) with my host dad while my host mom went shopping.  I just found out like half an our ago that she bought a ton of presents for me and my siblings during her shopping trip.  She bought me three packs of cute stationary with matching envelopes and I am going to use that to write goodbye and thank you letters to all my friends here in Japan and my host family :) She bought my little sister a Pokemon toothbrush, Pokemon chopsticks, Pokemon notebook, and a little Pokemon purse.  She bought my little brother a Pokemon toothbrush, a Pokemon notebook, a Pokemon purse, and a bag of balloons (I had already bought my brother chopsticks).  Lol as you can see, my siblings love Pokemon... and in Osaka I visited a Pokemon Center which is basically a store selling everything Pokemon related and I bought wayyyy too much stuff.  I seriously have like 3 times the amount of souvenirs I actually need >_> Anyway, I had an amazinggggg time in Kyoto and Osaka.  I will try to make Vlogs and upload them as soon as possible because I feel like it's easier than trying to describe all of my experiences.  Actually I have soooo much footage I need to put into Vlogs!  Not counting my Kyoto and Osaka footage, I have about 3 or 4 Vlogs worth of video so... I am going to be busy this last week.  I will probably be uploading even when I get back to America.  Seriously this is making me depressed.  I really don't want to go back!!! I want to stay longer!!! And actually I just got my flight info in the mail today >_> Oh god.... it's going to be torture when I have to start back.... it's going to make me so depressed and I have way too much stuff anyway.  I have gotten so many presents from people.  Like huge boxes of chocolates and other snacks.  I will probably have to leave some in Japan or give them away because I don't think it's possible for me to get another suitcase and I don't want to mail it back to America either... a waste of time and money since it takes over a month.  Anyway...Bye for now.  I really don't know how I will get on with  my life back in America.  I love Japan so much! I seriously need to come back here during college (after I learn Japanese that is lol).  Anyway! Bye!!!

Karaoke!

lol another video :P I will be visiting Osaka and Kyoto with my host family for the next four or five days so I don't think I will have access to the computer and stuff.  I have been uploading like crazy yesterday and today (actually it's already 12:15 am so technically it's the day we are supposed to be leaving... but you know what I mean). Anyway, here's a video of when I went karaokeing (?) with some friends.

Trip to Himeji City!!!

Sorry... videos again :( But they really are quite convenient since you can see actual footage of my trip.  This video is a long one...

Exchange Student Get-together

Monday, July 18th is a national holiday in Japan so there's no school and most people don't have work.  Two days ago, on this national holiday all of the exchange students from the Kansai area of Japan and their host family got together in Osaka.  There were exchange students from many different countries staying for different lengths of time and there were also Japanese students who are going on exchange very soon.  It was a YFU organized thing but it wasn't mandatory.  A lot of people didn't come because it was too far or they didn't have time.  There are about 80 students in the Kansai area and about 20 came to the get together and about 12 Japanese students came.  That is a huge amount of people if you add in everyone's host parents.  I heard from a past exchanger that at her exchange student get together, there were only 3 exchange students lol so maybe this year was just abnormal.  I was kinda worried at first that there wouldn't be very many people but it turned out that soooo many people I know went.  And I had no idea their host families were in the Kansai area either.  Anyway, we all went to a Buddhist temple in Osaka and stayed from 10 until 3.  It was fun... but to tell the truth I probably would have had a better time at home lol because my host parents always take me fun places when I don't have school and stuff.  

Anyway, when we first got there, everyone just mingled... then at 10:30, the YFU people gave an introduction.  It was really funny because the director of the Kansai area and the other leaders of the event didn't even know any English.  So they had this one translator.  She wasn't very good either... I think everyone could mostly understand her but her English was really accented and full of grammatical errors and I am pretty sure she just didn't translate the parts that she didn't know how to.  My host dad could have done a much better job... he's like a pro at English :P After that, the Buddhist chief priest of the temple came and taught us how to do meditation.  It's called Zazen and you probably know it.  You have to cross your legs a certain way and most people couldn't because they weren't flexible enough.  I managed to do it for like.... 10 minutes but we had to sit Zazen style for 30 minutes and my legs got super numb in the middle and I changed positions.  Though technically you aren't allowed to move or you will get hit with a stick :) but I made sure not to get caught lol.  I kinda wish that I had gotten hit though because it seems like a fun to experience.  And you could tell that the Chief Priest wasn't hitting us as hard as he would normally hit.

Me.... meditating :)

Doing the Zazen was actually kinda fun and even though we had to sit still without talking for 30 minutes, the time went by so much faster than I thought it would.  Then again, I peeked a lot and watched when the priest hit other people... so I was kept entertained for most of the time.  lol After that, the exchange students came back to the main room where the host families were waiting and everyone had lunch.  When I first heard about the get together, like a month ago, I was told that everyone has to pay 1000 yen ($10) for admission and lunch and stuff.  But no one had to pay but then again everyone brought their own lunch.  lol so I am not quite sure about what happened.  We had an hour for lunch but no one actually took that long to eat so all of the exchange students talked and stuff.

Exchange student friends I made.  The one on the far right is an exchange student from China and she's staying for a year (jealous!!!), left of her is an exchange student from Thailand but she's actually Chinese and she's also staying for one year >_>, and left of her is a Japanese student going to Germany in August.  Lol all asian >_<

After lunch however, things got really boring.  The host parents went to a different room to have their "talk" and the exchange students split into two groups:  one with short term exchangers and one with long term exchangers.  The short term group was like 3 times as big as the long one :P Anyway, the we just about stuff like what's happened so far, favorite foods, differences between America and Japan, etc.  I was super bored by most of it, sometimes the topic turned interesting, but most of the time people just kept saying the same thing over and over.  A couple of the more obnoxious people >_> had to add their input for every single thing we talked about but their input was no different from everyone else's before them so we just kept going around in circle stressing the same thing over and over.  Yeah... I could have spent that day hanging out with Japanese friends or my host family and experiencing what's left of my exchange trip instead of talking about experiencing it. 

After that, we had a super long closing ceremony again with horrible translations and then everyone left...

Well the day's passed already so there's nothing I can do about my wasted time but it was fun to meet up with my fellow exchange student friends.  Unfortunately none of my best friends were there :( I seriously don't recommend going unless you really want to meet some American people lol or if you make plans to go with some good friends.

Last Day of School

I just got back from my last day of school maybe half an hour ago.  So I think this is the first time I have ever posted so early... but today was sooooooo amazing! My whole class threw me a farewell party and a bunch of people from the other third year classes also came. I am not quite sure how we had the time to have the party though. I think everyone stayed after even though school had technically ended for it.  First three boys did a really hilarious skit.  I didn't really understand it though because it was in Japanese and stuff but it was still funny.  Then a group of 5 girls danced to Heavy Rotation by AKB48.  AKB48 is the most popular band in Japan right now and you guessed it! There's 48 members, all girls >_> It's pretty crazy.  They will probably get less popular as time goes on though.  So you may be reading this like 5 or 10 years from now and say AKB48? Who are they? lol... I seriously feel nostalgic already even though I haven't left yet.  I am making this blog and my Vlog on Youtube and they are going to hold all of my most precious memories of Japan.  I will be able to look back on them in the future and... ok this is seriously making me sad.  And I am sad enough already right now.  I feel like my heart has fallen out T_T Anyway, the dance and skit were really good but they were more funny than sad.  But after that, all of the girls in the class got up and read the letters they had written to me.  Most of them were pretty standard because their english isn't that good:  "thank you. We really enjoyed these six weeks.  We will miss you.  See you again".  But after that, the whole class and the people from other classes stood up and sang a really beautiful song. At first, people were really quite and you could only hear the voice from the CD that was playing.  But then people started singing louder and louder and it was sooooo amazing!!!! I started crying and I could see everyone singing along in this farewell song for me.  Then they gave me a really big card with lots of pictures of me at the school and everyone's signatures on it.  I also got a huge bag of presents.  The teacher said a girl bought it for me... but I am not sure who... >_< I really want to know who so my mind can be at peace.  The presents were really awesome.  There was a really cute bag, a traditional Japanese outfit, and a towel.  I am not sure about the towel but the other stuff I really liked! I just don't know if I will have any chances to wear the outfit in America :( After that, the party was over... and everyone packed up. I slowly left and tried to say goodbye to as many people as possible.  Everyone shook hands with me lol? I guess that's what they think American's do... but American kids aren't really big on handshaking.  But I know that Japanese people don't really like hugging so I just shook their hands.  Then I slowly left my classroom and I started crying again and I saw a couple other girls crying and that just made it worse... and I slowly left the school and cried all the way home (which is only a 2 minute walk) and then got home, went to my room and cried for a little more.  I am so depressed right now and I haven't even left Japan yet.  I can't bear to think how sad I will be when I am back in America.  Seriously... I really wish I could stay for a whole year T_T

This post has probably been somewhat boring... but I will put up a video about my last day of school so... that will be a lot more detailed and a lot more interesting.  This is just a prediction right now, but I think Japan will change my life...forever......

Onsen!!! And Lots of Naked People...

Ok so this is my last blog post for today.  Last night, my host parents took me to an onsen.  If you don't know what an onsen is, it's basically a public bath where everyone is naked and you shower there.  Of course it's divided by gender. There's also lots of hot tubs, jacuzzis, and mist rooms.  It's basically like a super amazing spa.  And it's really cheap.... like $5 for a person and you can stay there as long as you want or as long as the onsen stays open anyway.  It's pretty common for Japanese people to go to the onsen a couple times a month.  I went with my host parents last night and had a really great time.  I was kinda self conscious at first since I was completely naked but everyone else was too and I really don't think anyone there was intent on scrutinizing my body lol so I kinda got use to it after a while.  Also, you're in the water a lot of the time so people can't really see your body anyway :P lol and I found out that yes... if fact there are a lot of fat Japanese people.  You just can't tell because they always wear really loose clothing since it's always so hot.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get any pictures or videos because I didn't want to start posting pictures and videos of naked people on the Internet.  I think that would be quite a big intrusion into their privacy >_>

Although the onsen was really fun, it was a bit different from what I expected.  Onsen means hot spring... so I thought it would be some place in the mountains, really natural.  And there would be a hot spring source directly from the mountains and the bath would be a big pit dug into the earth lined with rocks... lol but it was nothing like that.  Although the water was actual hot spring water from the mountains, it wasn't any more natural than that.  The tubs were all man made and even the open air bath was on a raised platform of wood and made of metal and stuff.  I was kinda disappointed... but I guess it takes too long to drive into the mountains anyway :) Still, I had a lot of fun but I kinda wish we could have stayed longer.  We only went for about an hour.  I think we are going to go again sometime next week though because we are having a four day vacation in Osaka and Kyoto and probably going to the onsen there.  So maybe... I can try to get some pictures there.  Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading my huge mass of posts... it took me a couple hours sooooooo :P

Kimono!!!

Three days ago, on Thursday, my host parents invited some friends of theirs over.  Their friends are professional kimono ... dressers? lol so they came over and dressed me in a kimono.  I think it took about 20 minutes.  It was sooooo freaking complicated.  First, my host mom did my hair.

It's basically braided and then tied into a loop.  Then my host mom put flower pins in some places and attached fake curls to my hair.

Then my host parents' friends started putting the kimono on me.  First I took all of my clothes off except my bra and underwear.  Then I put on 3 full body layers.  First like a thin night slip that went to my mid thigh.  Then a pink, flower patterned layer.  It was pretty much a kimono but a little thinner and a little shorter.  And then I put on the actual kimono.  It was super thick and heavy but very pretty.  Both the second and third layers had super long sleeves and the sleeve of the second layer kinda fit into the third layer's sleeve.  Lol hard to explain.  After the three body layers, they wrapped about 10 layers around my waist.  The materials included cloths, sashes, ropes, belts, plastic guards, towels, and other unidentifiable objects.  Basically I could barely breathe or bend my waist or even lift my legs more than 4 inches.  I also put on traditional Japanese socks that had a separation between the big toe and the other toes.  That was really uncomfortable too.  Yeah... but it was fun.  And the dressers were so fast!!! It was like BAM BAM BAM Snap Zip Twirl Tighten Choke Tie Straighten Tuck Done.  After putting on so many layers, I was sweating so much! Even in the air conditioned room.  Thank goodness I didn't have to wear it around outside for anything other than a couple pictures.  The final product:

The whole experience was super fun.  And I really hope I have a chance to do it again sometime.  And yes kimonos are as tight and uncomfortable as they seem >_<

Ikuno Kozan Mine

Four days ago, on Wednesday my host parents took me to the Ikuno Kozan Copper and Silver Mine in one of the sections of Asago City.

Asago is split up into about 4 sections and the section I live in is supposed to be the center of Asago but it's actually the smallest section of Asago.  We drove about half an hour to the other section and visited the mine there.  It is no longer used for a mine and it's a tourist spot instead now.  It's super awesome because it's 13 degrees Celsius inside all year long.  So compared to the 30 degrees Celsius temperature outside, the mine is the coolest place in all of Asago.  I was kinda surprised that we had to pay for tickets... I mean it's a mine o.O lol I don't know, but I don't think it was that expensive.  I don't really know how much it was though because I didn't pay.  The mine was used quite a long time ago and there were these awesome displays of how mining was done back then.  There were fake dolls who looked like life-size humans and they were positioned as if they were mining.  The first time I saw one I was super creeped out because I thought it was real.

Anyway, the mine was pretty mine although kinda damp and icky.  There was water everywhere and so much dirty water dripped on my head... I also stepped in a bunch of puddles and got my feet and sandals all muddy and gross.  And the mine smelled really bad.... lol I have no idea why but it did.  It was like sulfur mixed with mold.  It was still fun to explore though and the cold felt soooooo good :)

Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki

My host parents are really awesome and they cook a bunch of traditional Japanese foods for me to eat.  This is a video of when we made Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki. 

Long Time No...Post

Hey. So I am finally getting around to posting again.  You probably already know this but I am a horrible blogger.  The truth is, I kinda dislike it.  I have no patience to type things out and waste time when I could be doing so many other things.  Making videos is easy and I can do it anytime as long as I have my itouch with me.  I can still have fun doing other stuff and videotape it at the same time.  Uploading onto Youtube does take quite some time but at least I can do something else while I am waiting for it.  Anyway, I wonder how I will feel when I read this blog a couple months from now in America, maybe even a couple years.  I will no doubt be extremely nostalgic and miss my time in Japan but maybe I will laugh too at my silliness.... Ok now I am just really getting off topic.  Sooooo a lot has happened again since last week was it?  First, my school had a bunch of tests again last week.  I am not quite sure why since all the students just took their final exams about three weeks ago... but it made me realize that I really love my school.  They are so nice to me.  Other exchange students have to stay home, wait in the library during tests, or stop going to school completely when the students start taking tests.  But my school lets me take a couple of the tests and the principal himself comes and translates the tests for me.

The english test front page.

My english test answer key.  (it's only half filled out because I took the picture in the middle of the test lol)

For the tests I can't take, I go to class with the other grades.  I usually attend their English, Gym, Art, and Music classes since everything else is too hard for me to understand.  Once, when there weren't any good classes for me to attend, I went to the principal's room and he taught me calligraphy.  lol I seriously feel like my school gives me special treatment.  All of the students are super nice and help me out too.  Many times, the students have weird classes that aren't like normal subjects.  For these they go to different rooms or split up into different groups or line up a certain way and go to the auditorium/gym and I am always really lost when this happens.  But all of the students guide me along and so far I haven't found myself completely alone and unsure where to go yet.  But school ends next Wednesday and I am really sad... I kinda wish I had made some closer friends.  Everyone's really nice and they all talk to me but I would really like it if they took the initiative and asked me to hang out or gave me their emails or something. Maybe they are just shy but I am kinda shy about asking them over to my house too >_> Well... I have just made up my mind.  I will go and ask someone to come over to my house this Tuesday (cuz Monday is a national holiday so we don't have school).  I think the reason my school takes so much care of me is because I am probably the first exchange student they have had in a long time.  And I go to a Junior High school and usually exchange students go to high school.  So I guess I am lucky in a way to get to go to a middle school.

I have more to post but I am going to separate them into a couple of posts.  I think it's kinda boring to read one huge block of text so I am trying to make things more interesting :P