School Tomorrow!!!

So guess what? lol you probably already know... but I start school tomorrow!!! I go for about 3 and a half weeks which seems to be the average amount of school most exchange students go for.  I still wish I could go for a longer period of time though... but the good thing is, there are so many kids in my class who are my next door neighbors so I can hang out with them even after school ends.  Actually, I already met four of the girls in my class because my host parents invited them over a couple of times :) lol it's so hilarious talking with Japanese girls who don't know very much English... dictionaries really come in handy. >_<

This is my outfit for tomorrow.  The shirt is the actual shirt from their uniform (the school provided the uniform. Thank goodness!) but the skirt is one I brought.  I was supposed to wear the actual skirt form their uniform but the one they gave me was wayyyyy too long.  It came down to almost my ankles and Japanese uniform skirts are so freaking thick and hot so there was no way I could wear that for 8 hours everyday.  It would also take too long to go to a tailor and get it shortened since I just got my uniform today so we decided to just use the skirt I brought.  The school headmaster said it was fine so I think it will be okay.  The backpack is my host parents'.  They gave it to me for school.  Technically you are supposed to use the school bookbag that's like a laptop bag shaped thing but apparently, a lot of students use their own backpack. So I am doing that too.  Backpacks are also so much easier to carry.  I don't know if I will be getting textbooks, probably not.  But I will be bringing pencils, pens, (I really need to buy a pencil case), a notebook, a folder, jelly beans to give out to classmates, school shoes, itouch (for taking videos), and a hankerchief (cuz schools are really hot), The shoes are legit uniform shoes and my host parents had to go out and buy them.  They cost 33,000 yen... which is like $33.  I think that's such a rip-off and I offered to pay for them but my host parents wouldn't let me.  Anyway, I hope I don't stand out too much with this outfit... >_>

I will be recording a video of my walk to school (if I remember to anyway) and of parts of my school day (if the school lets me lol).  hahaha well even if they don't, I will record lunchtime and stuff. I also have a bunch of footage from when I went shopping with my host mom earlier today and some other random stuff.  So be on the lookout for my next Vlog!!! :P lol I surprisingly have a lot of access to the computer and Internet... probably because I cut into my sleep and go on the computer lol :) Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy reading my blog and watching my vlogs. Bye! Dinner Time!!!

June 25: Foreign Exchange Student Luncheon and Tea Ceremony Lesson

Hey.... so today was another super full and busy day. But what did you expect with my super intense host dad? lol so I woke up at 9:30, ate breakfast and then watched TV with my host mom for about an hour (which was probably the best part of the day lol).  I love spending time with my host mom.  Then my host dad came home from the farm or something... and we went to this community center place a bit outside the town and there was this foreign exchange student meeting... except I was the only foreign exchange student there and we didn't do anything except eat lunch.... lol so I am not quite sure what they would have done if I wasn't in Asago at the time o.O Yeah anyway, it was really awkward because there were like 20 super old people, 3 people in their 30's-40's and I was the only teenager there.  So of course, it got boring super fast. I also had to make a speech which was basically me reading off a couple sentences that my host dad wrote down for me. lol pretty sad.... But the food was really good >_<

lol and after my speech, they gave me a bunch of presents which was super nice.

Shoe Bag (lol I have never used one... but it seems pretty convenient)

Jigsaw Puzzle

Folders with cool scenes on them

and a t-shirt

Yeah so there was some cool stuff except I doubt I will use any of them once I go back to America. The shirt is probably too big because I just have a long history with shirts that are too big. Even extra smalls are pretty much too big.... >_> lol I don't really use those kinds of folders because the way they open is kinda inconvenient.  And the puzzle? Well I kinda suck at finishing puzzles because I always lose pieces and I am just really bad at figuring out which piece goes where. Then the shoe bag? Well... I really don't see when I will need to use it in America. But you know, it's the thought that counts :) So I am still really happy about getting so much cool Japanese stuff :D

Anyway, that luncheon thing lasted 2 and a half hours so around 1:30, my host dad tried to take me to another place that he thought would prove to me Asago is better than big cities, but thankfully it was closed! I don't know why... and I am not trying to be mean but I really wasn't in the mood at the time because the building was on top of a mountain and the road to it was super twisty and turny and it made me really queasy and I just wanted to throw up.  Also, I just wanted to hurry up and go home so we could drop off my host dad and me and my host mom could go to our TEA CEREMONY LESSON!!!!!!!!! Yeah! Can you believe it? I was so surprised when I found out that my host mom takes tea ceremony lessons, but she is like 64.... so she has a lot of free time lol. I was really excited for that so I just wanted to hurry up and get to the lesson.  Besides we were like an hour late already because my host dad didn't want to leave the luncheon.  I don't think he likes the tea ceremony lessons because he thinks they cost too much.... Anyway, this is going to be a super long post :)

The tea ceremony was so fun! And I got to try a lot of different tea snacks... they weren't that good lol :P but I ate them anyway.  

They look really good right? But the yellow and purple jelly things were really sweet and gross...the pastry thing at the bottom was a lot better lol.  

First, my host mom did the tea ceremony the whole way through and then I learned a couple of the main parts and then my host mom practiced the whole thing one more time.  Only the teacher actually wore a kimono because it was just soooo hot.  I don't know how the teacher could stand it.  She had sweat dripping down everywhere lol.  Good self control I guess :)

My Host Mom

Me trying to bear the numbness from my legs and do the tea ceremony at the same time :)

The person in the blue kimono was our teacher.

The lesson was really awesome and we are going back next week... in fact I think I get to attend 6 or 7 lessons during my stay in Japan... because there's about 5 lessons a month and I am staying for a month and a half so hopefully I can really improve my tea ceremony skills by the time I leave :)

I will also be going to calligraphy classes lol so that's going to be really fun as well :)

The tea ceremony lesson ended at about 3:00 and then my host mom and I drove back home.  My host mom's older sister and her husband came over while we were at the lesson because they are going to have dinner with us tonight... it's about 5:30 right now and my host dad and my host mom's sister and her husband went out.  My host mom is making dinner right now so I am going to go and spend some quality time with her :D lol 

Host Family

Heyyyy so I am going to post this in an effort to go into more detail about my host family.  I LOVE MY HOST FAMILY! And although I was extremely frustrated with them during the weeks before I arrived in Japan, I definitely understand why they were unable to answer my phone calls and emails, etc.  Also my fear of not being able to go to school was solved and since my host family spoils me soooooo much, I don't care that much about not having host siblings anymore.  However, my host family is still far from perfect and I am fine with that :) My host family has spent so much money on me in just the past 3 days.... probably over 6,000 yen lol.  I am really grateful for how kind they have been but at times, I feel like they are a bit intense. Especially my host dad. He is wayyyy too intense for me. I love my host mom so much! She is so kind and even though her english isn't that good, I love talking with her.  Not so much my host dad though.  He sometimes tries to guilt-trip me.... and it just makes me really annoyed.  I was hoping to have a nice, laid-back life in Japan but he kinda makes that impossible.  He always reminds me how much better a little town is compared to a big city.  I feel really bad when he starts talking about that because I know I was really skeptical about small towns before.  I am not anymore, but I would be lying if I said I prefer small places to big cities.  I am just a city person... I really don't see how he can change that by guilt-tripping me a ton. He always says how much hotter big cities are (which I DO NOT believe cuz it's wayyyyy hotter in Asago than in Tokyo) and how you can get to know everyone in small towns.  The latter is obviously true... but unfortunately, I am not the kind of person who likes to know everyone in the town I live in.  My host dad has been so busy taking me around town and introducing me to everyone that I kinda feel like he's trying to show me off almost.  He's always bragging about my skills in art and school and it makes me feel so uncomfortable because everything is completely exaggerated!  I really don't want to be flashed around like some prize horse... isn't it good enough that I am me?  I almost feel like the only reason they chose me to be their host daughter is because of my outstanding resume and skills... Maybe it's fine to brag about me to a couple close friends but I want some time to relax at home too.... alone time or maybe time with my host family.  I don't want to be stiff and formal and HOT for hours going building to building and staying for 20-30 minutes at each one and listening to rapid Japanese that I can't even understand and hearing ooooh's and ahhhh's from whoever we are visiting.  and then "soka soka" and "uwahhhh" lol I mean seriously, who likes doing that?  I seriously feel like everyone will be totally disappointed when they finally realize I am not as great as my host dad makes me out to be >_> My host dad is also super intense about taking me to places. and I am fine with that except for the fact that I feel like he thinks I can't go anywhere by myself.  Whenever I go around town, he has to take me.  Aren't I old enough to go for a walk by myself? So I can actually do a little bit of shopping without feeling awkward since he has to babysit me the whole time? My host dad is also really big on proving to me that our little town has better scenery than big cities, which is obviously true.  However, I am also not the forest-watching kind of person who sits for hours just watching a quiet patch of grass.... yeah so unfortunately I get pretty bored when all I do is sit around in an empty field with two people in their mid-sixties. Basically, my host dad is wayyyy too intense for me.  He needs to understand that I just want to do something fun not sit around watching a movie called "why Asago is better than big cities".  Of course, I feel like if I say something, I will just end up offending him since it seems making me watch that movie is what he enjoys so I don't want to stop him from doing it (lol if that makes any sense).  I end up feeling really awkward when I have to talk with my host dad.  Maybe if it was just my host mom and me, I would be a lot more relaxed and actually enjoy the scenery o.O hahaha anyway. I seriously can't wait until I start school so I can finally hang out with people close to my own age...

Okay basically, my point in that rant is that my host family is amazing but my host dad is really suffocating.   :)

A bit about my host family and school in Japan

Adventures With My Host Family

So yesterday, June 23rd was my first full day with my host family.  My host dad is pretty intense lol and he planned a bunch of stuff.  After lunch we went to a small art museum near the town.  It had some really weird stuff lol :) The only things I really liked were some of the sculptures.  Probably my favorite one is this:

It's so beautiful and the birds are so intricately made... I also liked this one thing in the art store gift shop.  They had a bunch of art pieces on sale but most of them were outrageously expensive lol.  I really liked the apples on a carved wooden chair... actually the apples were the only part I liked >_<

Sugoi ne? haha after the art museum, we drove around. Since Asago is pretty much the countryside, there were a lot of cool scenic places and we visited those.  Unfortunately, I really didn't have that great of a time.  The only reason for that is because I was with two people who are in their mid sixties.  I really don't have that much common language with them... so it was really awkward at times.  ehhhh I will rant more about that tomorrow :)

Adventures in Tokyo

It's 10:30 in Asago, Hyogo, Japan right now and I am going to post a bunch of times in a row.... lol I hope this doesn't take too long.  So first, I stayed in Tokyo for one night.  We got there around 5 pm and my group had dinner at 5:30.  The second group had dinner at 7.  After dinner, we basically had the rest of the day to ourselves so even though we technically weren't allowed to go outside the hotel, pshhhh we still did :) at least a lot of people did.  I think some just stayed inside and watched TV lol.... pathetic ;D Anyway, the good thing is there was this huge mall that was basically connected to the hotel so it wasn't hard to find places to shop and stuff.  I am just really sad that I didn't get to visit Harajuku and Akihabara.  It would have been sooooo awesome if I got to shop there. Maybe at the end of my exchange trip when I go back to Tokyo to return to the US? Actually I don't even know if I go to Tokyo to take a flight back to America or if I go through Kobe Airport which is a lot closer.... ughhhh I really wanted to go shopping in Tokyo! Especially since a lot of my friends wanted me to get them souvenirs from those places >_> ehhhh well I really hope I get a chance later on.  Anyway, my friend Jessica and I did a bunch of window shopping in the mall near our hotel because the prices were unbelievably high.... I don't know why anyone would buy such expensive products lol but I did buy a kawaii pen and pencil, headphones, and melon bread.  The melon bread was oishii! and I love collecting pens and pencils (even if they are super expensive).  But the headphones were such a ripoff! I am still pissed about them.... I wanted some super cool headphones from Japan and I was excited because they were only 400 yen which is pretty cheap but I should have know the quality would suck.  The headphones don't even fit my ears and they keep falling out.  The sound quality is really crappy and part of it was broken when I bought it. Yeah a huge ripoff D:< I also wasted a couple hundred yen on a stuffed animal crane game.  It was even more unfair than the ones in America! The crane claws were so loose they probably couldn't even pick up something as light as a feather let alone a heavy stuffed animal.... Then I spent 200 yen on a candy game.  That was pretty fun and I actually got a bunch of yummy Japanese candy from it :)

lol and of course... there was PURIKURA!!!!! haha that was really awesome!!!! Jessica and I did purikura twice and split the cost so we each payed 400 yen. The first time we did it, we were really confused because we couldn't figure out where the pictures came out.  We had to ask these people who worked at the bowling alley near the purikura and it turned out that you have to first go to another booth outside the picture taking booth to decorate your pictures before they are printed.... lol so confusing.  Anyway, here's some pictures

hahahaha kawaii ne?

Purikura booth

I had a great time in Tokyo even though I couldn't do a lot of the stuff I wanted to... I hope I get a chance to go back and do some hardcore shopping before I leave Japan :D Also, the town where my host family lives is really small and I have really seen any interesting shops to go to or any fun ways to spend money lol and I really don't want to go back to America without a bunch of awesome souvenirs and experiences. 

June 17-June 22

Hey so I finally got Vlog #8 uploaded onto Youtube. It's a group of small clips I recorded throughout my flights, Orientation, etc...

Flight to Tokyo! (Part two?)

The airplane ride from San Francisco to Tokyo was pretty fun lol but very eventful.  It was about 10 hours long and the time passed surprisingly fast. The airplane had pretty yummy food too. Since the flight was to Japan, they had this Japanese meal and an American one.  Me and the other two people I sat with all got the Japanese meal since we are going to Japan and all lol.  For practice eating Japanese food and all but I mean I really like Japanese food anyway so it didn’t really matter.  But the food was kinda weird…. it was like a vegetarian meal and I was pretty mad because I wanted to eat meat lol but it was still pretty good J and one of my friends who sat next to me, Jessica, gave me a bunch of food cuz she didn’t want it. Hahaha I eat wayyyy too much.  Anyway, I really like the airplane service.  They keep coming up and down the aisle to take my trash lol. After food, I watched a couple movies and stuff. And then this one girl next to me (she, me, and Jessica all got the same scholarship) needed to go to the bathroom so Jessica and I got up to let her through.  I had two cups of coke and I had to lift them up with me.  Then because the space between my seat and the one in front of me is so narrow, I had to angle my body in a certain way to get through and with noticing, my hand holding one of the cups of coke tilted and the coke spilled out….. lol yeah all over my jeans, shirt, and the seat in front of me. A little got onto the back of the shirt of the person sitting in the seat in front of me. And he was SOOOOO pissed.  He glared at me a bunch and I was like sorryyyy!!!! Then he got a shirt down from his carryon and was like “are you done? Cuz I only have one extra shirt” and I was like “uhhhhh yeah”.  Sheesh he was such a jerk! Like my clothes were so much more soaked than his and I didn’t even have anything to change into and even though mine were so wet, I really didn’t think it was that much of an inconvenience…. it dried really fast and stuff. Anyway, that guy was just such a stupid…. yeah he needs anger management or something. lol his whole row was really annoying! The guy sitting next to him was a jerk too. He kept disobeying airplane rules.  Like how you aren’t supposed to have your seat tilted back during take off, touch down, and meals. He had it tilted during take off and a flight attendant came and adjusted his seat.  Then when the attendant left, the guy put his seat back down and left it there for the whole plane ride…. THEN there was this annoying girl in their row too.  We were playing this card game called Egyptian something…. lol and it includes like slapping the cards at certain times.  We did that and the girl turned around and told us to stop.  First of all, we weren’t even playing it on the table connected to her chair so I am not sure why she was so upset AND it wasn’t even loud either.  In our past two plane rides we have been playing that game and no one had any problems with it…. all three are just super touchy jerks… yeah and then there was this annoying little kid on our flight.  I love kids, I really do! But this one was the worst kid I have ever met!!!! She would cry nonstop for 30 minutes at a time and her parents are even worse cuz they couldn’t even stop her…. I was like, what kind of parents are you???? Your kid is screaming for her mommy and you are just sitting there ignoring it and making trouble for everyone else! She kept screaming and waking up everyone since people were trying to sleep and stuff. It was just super annoying.  She is literally the worst kid ever…..hahaha jk but all of those people totally ruined the trip for everyone >_> Anyway, this has been a really long blog post so bye!

Flight to Tokyo!

Hey! Right now I am at the San Francisco airport waiting to board the plane to Narita Tokyo :D SOOOO EXCITED!!!! but I am going to miss all of the people I have met at the orientation so much! They are awesome and I have made such good friends. It took about two hours to make it to the flight waiting room.  Our charter bus driver dropped us off at the wrong place so we were in the domestic flights area and we needed to be in the international flight area. So me and the thirty other people had to walk to the international port... it took a while and was really difficult with our suitcases and stuff but kinda fun I guess. Then we waited in this superrrrr long line to go through security and lol it was funny because this one girl got stopped when she went through the metal detector and they scanned her hands for like explosives residue or something.... lol but she was clean :) hahaha it's sooo fun to go through the airport with all of the wonderful friends I've made at orientation. I am really excited for Tokyo and shopping but I will only be staying for one night! :( so sad about that. I thought most people stayed two or three nights... at least that's what past exchangers told me, but maybe it's different now.  I have been making a TON of short video updates and I will be putting them all together into one big one and uploading it to YouTube once I get to Japan.  I might be able to do it at the Tokyo Hotel if they have free WiFi...but they might not so I am hoping my host family does so I can update things then. AHHHHH I hope you enjoy reading my blog :)

Night before Departure

Hahaha so I know this was supposed to be posted like days ago... but I didn't have time and stuff... and I didn't have access to internet until now. SOOOO busy in UC berkeley orientation.  There will be a video of it in a couple days hopefully. Anyway: