Sat June 30

Today was such a fun day! It was the day of the Undoukai, so I went to school at 8:30 and we were all getting ready. The Undoukai started with a marching ceremony, us singing our school song (which I did not know), and Radio Excercises. Then we all changed into our class T-shirts and ran the Freshman relay, which we won! I am not sure but I definitely felt I ran my fastest ever. After that, there were the other classes' relays and then our "Eye of the Typhoon", or the relay in which we run with a pole through everyone and around cones and such. Unfortunately, we didn't win that.

Anyway, after that was lunch, and I had another fabulous picnic with my former Host Family and their grandchildren. They had such amazing food and it was a very very pleasant lunch. I completely stuffed myself. After lunch were the sports and club relays. I felt truly sad for some of them, because they had to run in/with stuff representative of the club/activity they represented. The Kendo group had to run in full fencing Uniform which was obviously very very hard, the Music group used a gigantic violin case as their baton, and so on. Afterwards, as all the kids were preparing for their various dances and activities, there was a Tug-of-War for the parents/audience, which seemed really fun. Then came, after Karate and Dance, the Eisa performance, which I think went really well. The attached pix is of me in Eisa uniform. After that was a finishing ceremony.

I don't know, I just really liked the environment of the whole thing. Everyone was soo excited and supportive it was really really nice!

With that said, there were also a LOT of injuries (pulled muscles, etc.), and I feel the school was doing a very bad job of encouraged taking care of one's health in sports. There was no warm-up whatsoever, and after we sprinted 100 meters, they made us sit down immediately, without even letting us catch our breath (which is terrible for health.). I understand how it is more efficient and helps the performance overall but still...I mean I stretched while lined up but otherwise there was no time (and no one did, because the administration did not stress it,) stretch.

But anyway it was a really amazing day. Afterwards we all helped clean up, take down the kumi-tents, etc.

BTW, I really like how the students treat our kumi as more like a household than a class. I mean, they brush their teeth in the sink on the balcony after every meal (most), they hang their wet clothes to dry, they clean it, everyone has their own plastic glass with their names on it and whenever we went out for PE, Undoukai practice, or the Undoukai, someone from the class always brings down the glasses and a huge bucket of water (again the class bucket.). The home room teacher is very much like the parent-figure, and he brings food and treats for the whole class (at times) and oversees everything. They wash the glasses in the class sink, change clothes in class (there is a locker room but no one uses it), and etc. they really treat it as a household, and there is also the feeling of familial closeness between all the kids. We all do stuff together, such as going to the beach day after tomorrow, and so on. I really like that aspect of Japanese classrooms, or maybe just our kumi.

Anyway after all the clean up there was an after-Undoukai Stage Festival in the Gym, which was basically a bunch of air bands/karaoke performances groups of students had made, and sideshows. The performances were really good, and I had no idea a crowd could get as riled up as all the kids did. And BTW I was impressed that they had such a variety of amazing dances, and all were clean -- as oppose to Mission, where you cannot even have a homecoming performance without at least one booty dance! Anyway everyone (900 kids) were all crowded at the front of the stage and jumping up and down and it was really fun but completely crazy (and very VERY hot.). After that there were two slide shows, one basically funny pic from throughout the year, and the other pix from the Undoukai -- where there was actually a very good pix of me grabbing the baton and taking off! I thought it was funny how after it ended they basically kicked us off of campus, said we sll had to leave by 7. They had done that before on the day school was excused early because of rain, and every Friday teachers make it explicitly clear that entering the school on weekends is banned. They probably don't want to have to take responsibility if anything happens to kids that are unsupervised.

BTW a funny embarrassing experience on my second day was that I walked out of the bathroom and into the gym (we had to take off our shoes before entering the gym building) with the bathroom slippers on! I was so used to walking out of the bathroom with footwear that I didn't even notice until I got to the gym! No one said anything but it was kind of funny :)

Yeah I think that's all, I had a great day, gnite!

Fri June 29

Today I realized something interesting about culture shock -- when you are in the honeymoon stage, you tend to focus on everything similar between the new culture and your own, but when you are in the down-stages, you tend to focus on the differences. Just an observation :)

Anyway today was a very nice and pleasant evening. We went with Otousan, my host sister, and my host nieces to a Rotary Club banquet, which was really very nice. I met a few high schoolers who were in their school's Interact club and were visiting, and some really cool people. I also found out there is a such thing as a "raw vegetarian", who doesn't even eat cooked vegetables. Apparently you can do a lot with raw foods!

Anyway, initially the only vegetarian things were salad leaves and sushi with cucumbers, but Otousan/Host Sister talked to the chef and he/she made a very delicious special vegetarian meal for me. It had a very nice orange sauce with it which's initial taste was orange but then became very very spicy -- I loved it!

Today at school was pretty normal I think -- I am looking forward to the Undoukai tomorrow!

BTW it is very interesting that in my English class they are learning to convert active voice to passive voice, which is completely backwards of what is done in the US! I mean, I understand why they would, because passive voice plays a large role in Japanese polite language, but still.., Oh and Nelly will be happy to know I failed my first test today! It was a Vocab test and I got a 55 -- considering I have only taken two tests do far I probably have a C average in English :)

Thurs June 28

Today was a very fun day. We had our Taikusai (Undoukai) rehearsal, which, while I do not understand the point of it, was quite fun to watch and be a part of. Our class relays went well, though we did not win. But the second year's relay was very interesting to watch, for each person had to do 50 meter stretches (on a 200 meter spray-painted track) each member of the relay doing something different. (Every second member of each team did the same thing, every third did the same thing, and so on.). The unique things included riding a tiny tricycle, eating a donut hanging from a stick without using your hands, find something (beans I think) in a platter of flour using only your head, walking with either excessively heavy shoes or a string connecting one's hand to that same foot (I am guessing based on the way they walked), and having a whole group of people walk in a line with a long wooden pole of each side tied to their shoes (think of a train's wheels.). Then the third years competition consisted of hoisting a person of three other peoples' shoulders. The person on top would have a hachimaki (headband) on and the goal was to take of the headbands of other on-top-people from opposing teams. Our relay, or the interesting one (every grade has 2 competitions, one regular relay where everyone runs half of the track, and one interesting one,) is very hard to explain but I will try. We line up with five per row and as many columns as needed. Everyone in the first row holds onto a horizontal pole, and at the start runs forward, jumps over an obstacle pole, around two cones, and back. You could imagine running around the cones is very hard because the inside person (me) has to be the pivot while the outside person has to run very very fast to keep up. Anyway, when they come back everyone but the inside and outside people let go, and they lower the pole and continue running through the matrix of people really fast (everyone has to jump over the pole.). At the end everyone crutches down, and the two people with the pole bring it back up the matrix of people above everyone (which is why we crouch) and hands it off to the next row. I will see if someone can take a video.

BTW, I realized today that the Undoukai happens once every three years (next year they will have a singing festival and year after a Bunkasai, or culture festival) so I am lucky to have come the year I did! Oh and also even amongst years the kumi moves up together; this years 1-9 will all move up to next year's 2-9 and then 3-9.

Oh and BTW it seems that the Jspanese are really big on electrolytes -- there is the Pocari Sweat I already talked about, and today after our relay our home room teacher brought some mint-sized candy (like Sweet Tart) which was salty sweet and sour, designed to revive our bodies electrolytes. And also jaywalking is a huge thing in Japanese culture, even of there are no cars, if there is a walk sign they will wait until it changes. I jaywalked across a minor street this morning (and there was no walk sign unless I walked all the way up to the next big intersection) and yet an elderly lady gave me a very long, evil stare.

BTW I had noticed that everyday when we were practicing for Undoukai there would be various people using a hose to water the fields. I did not understand, because it was just a huge sand/dirt field, and it would only make it harder for us to practice. However, today I realized. First of all, it is soo hot here that the water evaporates pretty soon, cooling the ground. But also, due to the heat, there would be no moisture on the field, so our running would raise dust clouds. The water helps the dust particles stick together. Really ingenious, really!

And the Japanese are also very trusting, they leave their stuff out and visible without any qualms and nothing gets stolen! It is really very incredible!

Oh and I also think I am getting very strong thighs from squatting so much -- they have us sit a lot on the field but since no one wants to get their uniforms dirty we all squat. One thing I do not like is they make us squat for only a couple of seconds, then stand up, then squat again, etc.

Also, short forms are very abundant here (this may be jargon unless you speak Japanese) -- iroirona いろいろな becomes ironna いろんな , toiu (or to say/ to call) という becomes teyuu てゆう, and the i in teiru form is always dropped! I mean I guess it's kind of like fsho vs for sure and kinda vs kind of, but still...

Oh and maybe it is just coincidence but honestly homestays seem much more common than I thought! One of my old host family's kids had done one in LA, I met a girl today on my way to school what had done one in Ohio, there is a girl (in my kumi I think) who had done one in Switzerland, and I know there are more that I am forgetting. It seems more common than I thought.

Oh, and the repercussions of trusting Indian black markets -- the watch we had bought in a cheap watch shop in India this winter has some problem keeping time, for over the course of a couple of hours it ends up going back (slowing down) as much as 5 minutes! I have gotten to class late twice because of it so I think I will start using my Itouch as a time guide rather than the watch.

Okay, that is all for today, Hsppy Bday N and N!!!!

Wed June 27

So, first of all a note about the Blue Zone. I have been walking through the park on my way to and from school these days and I have seen many many elderly people (40-60 years old) jogging up and down the park path. I hope to do do some weekend soon, but nevertheless that is probably one component (the great physical shape) of the Blue Zone.

So, today was a really fun day at school, we had quite a bit of Undoukai practice, I am rushing through my American Japanese textbook, I absolutely LOVE the sky here (don't even ask me why it is just really beautiful), and yeah. The walk through the park/path is really nice. I realized today that cleaning time means cleaning everywhere, including the courtyard/fields and the bathrooms. Oh and I found out today that English has over 30,000 syllables, Japanese has 112, and I calculated and Hindi has 559 just within the alphabet, and with all the possible conjuncts it must be over English. BTW today I also figured out 7 possible pronunciations of "ough" (I have heard there are 8 and I had found an eight one but I have never seen it used in English so didn't include it). How many can you find?

BTW, while I am really looking forward to Undoukai, it seems more like a performance than a competition, because we have been having practice relays and such and will have a whole Undoukai rehearsal tomorrow do everyone already knows who will win! So it's really not much of a competition, more a performance for the parents and such.

Ok, goodnight!

Tues June 26

Today was a very fun day! In school I learnt a bit of calculus from the math teacher (he had asked me kind of a challenge problem yesterday and I asked him about it today). We had multiple hours of Undoukai practice in the burning heat -- luckily each kumi had gigantic jugs of water and ours even had plastic glasses for every person! The one thing I don't at all understand is how serious they are about the matching at the Undokai -- it has got to be completely perfect and synced. I don't understand why so much weight is put on the march. BTW, I realized today that one of the hardest things to understand in other cultures is humor, for 2 reasons. 1) At my welcome party, I told them (brokenly) and American joke, n they did not get it...I also didn't get their Japanese jokes, and 2) Today in a second, separate computer class (I still don't know how many classes they have total -- new ones appear everyday) we watched student skits, and the ones I thought were the most hilarious, about driving and flight attendants, did not get rated very well (peer-grading) while the ones I did not understand were loved...

BTW I successfully walked home today via the park/walking path n it was beautiful (not to mention a shortcut!)

There was so much more I had to write about it but I am forgetting... So, Goodnight! Btw I realized today that tea is probably a great way to give your body important nutrients, because it is loaded with healthy stuff but, most of the time, the taste is not too strong and it is almost like water!

BTW, Amma, everyday when I get home I have started having a toast with cheese sprinkled with Sambharia powder! :)

Mon June 25

Today was a very fun and excessively hot day (high 20s). So, I walked to school this morning with Otousan, and he showed me really nice park shortcut. I didn't try it on the way home because I wanted to at least travel once successfully along the road before looking for shortcuts, but tomorrow I'll try! Nevertheless either this weekend or next weekend I will probably try to go running in that park!

So, we got our English tests back today and I got a 95! (Second best I think!). I am pretty sure I got courtesy points on the translations -- it was not what they were looking for, but since the meaning was the same and the crucial grammar they were looking for was there, I am pretty sure I got the points. I missed three complete the sentence/reading comprehension problems :)

I also had our Home Economics class for the first time today, in which we cook and see and stuff. While we only read a recipe today, I am pretty sure we will cook something next class (I will make something vegetarian.). That will probably be fun. Then we had two back to back hours of Undoukai practice, which was very very fun, even if it was burning hot outside.

I think that's all for now, good evening!

The pix is of the fab dinner we had, salad of tofu, amazing radishes/cucumbers, and bhindi, main dish of seaweed tofu fake meek and kerela, soup of carrots onions and potatoes, and rice! I realized today in a Japanese table setting rice is on the left, soup on the right, and chopsticks below. I had been setting the table wrong all along!

Oh and I just found out that an MB is 1024 KB, not 1000!!! I had no idea! I mean it makes sense, but...I guess you learn something new everyday, no matter where you are!

Sun June 24

Great I had written a long post from the church parking lot but apparently it didn't save...

So, anyway, this morning I went to Church with Okaasan (we also met my other Okaasan there, whose birthday happens to be on the same day as Nani and Nestu's.). Her birthday was celebrated in Church today and when she had to give a short speech she spoke about me, though I am not sure exactly what she said. Anyway, church was pretty fun. The things I liked were 1) The hymns we sung (which were easy enough that I could sing along,) 2) A period of time where everyone shook hands with everyone else and said some sort of Japanese greeting, 3) When everyone went up to drink the Holy Water, since I wasn't Christian the Father didn't give me Holy Water but instead said a long prayer specially for me (I didn't understand it but caught the words "father" "family" "body" and "God") and 4) The fact that as oppose to Anerican churches where everyone prays by kneeling forward and intertwining their fingers, in this church everyone prayed differently including, but not limited to, the American way, joining hands (Hindu and Shinto I think), crossing hands and kneeling, etc. The fact that everyone prayed differently seemed very acceptive to me.

Then, after a fabulous lunch of Hakka noodles (picture attached), I went shopping with my first host mother and a few members of the extended family. It was great -- first we went to a place where we could see people hand-making traditional glassworks, pottery, kimonos, etc. Then we went down into Kokusai Street, which was completely like a Bazaar, very similar to the market we had gone to on our last day in San Jose, Costa Rica. And like those markets, there was soo much available and it was honestly quite overwhelming. And everything, of course, was overpriced and everything looked really nice. And, since it was Sunday, a lot of the nice stores were closed. Nevertheless, it was very fun browsing, but we did not find anything I (or they) liked so we went to the mall (called a Department Store here, I am pretty sure.)

The mall had everything. I mean, the only downside of it was that 1) There was no bargaining and 2) All the Yukatas (male Kimonos I am pretty sure) were from prints. Anyway, first of all we found a very nice and reasonably priced Yukata and Obi set (Obi is the belt) and also found some pretty cheap (12 bucks) matching traditional slippers. Then we went to a bookstore, where I got 2 simple Mangas to help me improve my Japanese, and then we headed to another store where we got something else (secret though I am pretty sure you guys will be able to guess) and then Muji, BM's all time favorite store, in which we found nothing useful so instead went to the 100 円 store next door where I got a lot. Then we headed back.

BTW, Dadda and Nellie, please tell me what reasonable things you want from here! Initially I wanted to bring back Pocari Sweat for you guys, a drink most Americans who have visited Japan are crazy about, but I tasted it today and it honestly just tasted like Gatorade mixed with Amma's Shikanjhi. The theory behind it is that it has the same consistency and ions as human sweat, so it is a fabulous biological electrolyte. If you want let me know!

BTW there are vending machines on like every road over here! And based on the cultural outlook about drinks, I can see why it is very profitable! Oh and also I don't know if I let you know but (especially for Nestor) we rode the Monorail on the first day from the airport to near my host family's house. I don't think I will get the chance to ride a bullet train though, mainly because Okinawa is too small to have one. BTW, have you heard about the raging debate about the upcoming Magnetic train in Japan and what town it should go through?

BTW, BM, how on earth did you perceive that the TV would be on all day? Because that has been 199% true! I mean that is not necessarily a bad thing, especially since I have been getting caught up on my world news. How is Greece taking its humiliating defeat to Germany?

Oh and also, the ingenuity and creativity of the culture in the smallest things is mirrored in what shows on TV -- much of it is talking with and interviewing people who have made the coolest things out of the simplest stuff! One farmer turned his irrigation ditch into an automatic yam (I think) peeler, and another used simple materials such as brooms to beautify a house. It is really interesting!

BTW, more about the car assist -- it beeps if you come near an obstacle and faster and faster based on the proximity -- it is kind of interesting that Okaasan and Otousan have cement blocks in the back of their garage to aid the revers assist.

Oh and I have finally found the words to describe the house -- it is a completely perfect and maintained Ikea showroom -- honestly, it looks exactly like a perfect Ikea type house!

Oh and it is interesting that in all Japanese houses I have been in the toilet it separate from the sink/bathtub. You wear special bathroom slippers to go to the toilet and leave them in there (do whatever happens in the toilet stays in the toilet room) and you never wash your face, brush your teeth, eyc. from the bathroom sink. I thought that was very interesting.

Yup, tomorrow is school again and it's supposed to be sunny, so maybe we will finally have our Undoukai Practice. I am sure there is more to tell, but goodnight!

Sat June 23

Ok so I have a lot of stuff to write about so I'll dive right in. First of all, I actually really like the Japanese system of taking off shoes, which is you take them off backwards so that they are facing outward. I don't know why, but it just seems much easier and natural to back out of places than go out straight. I think this is a habit I'll keep when taking off shoes outside people's houses.

Secondly, you know how in America having a video in the front seat of a car is banned, right? Well in Japan, there is a screen which is your radio when you are in gear, and when you are in park or neutral, it shows a video that goes along with the radio. I though that was pretty cool. Also I am pretty sure we have these in America also but they have quite sophisticated rear view cameras and reversing-aid in cars. Also the cars are mostly cubes.

Also I really like the way Okaasan makes food (for some reason I did not think of this.). She makes some common thing with vegetables, then takes out some for me and either adds fake meat or leaves it, and then adds real meat to everyone else's.

So, anyway, today we went to the Okinawa Churami (I am 99% sure that is the correct name) Aquarium, and it was really really fun. So, my whole old-host-family's clan went, and me and my host father (though he left after lunch.). So we had rented a bus and we took off. The bus had more than enough seats, but it was the smallest size. During the ride (since we had to go all the way from South Okinawa to North) we played card games, talked, messed around, etc. at around 12:00 (we left at about 10:30) we stopped at a beautiful place for a picnic lunch. It was right next to the sea (with a blue almost matching Rio Celeste) and under a really nice gazebo -type rest place. There was a stone table and chairs for the elders, and everyone else sat on the tarp. It was a really very yummy lunch. Okaasan had packed a separate delicious vegetarian obentou for me, and everyone else ate out of a huge yummy-looking assorted meat platter. It was a wonderful lunch. Then, after taking pix, we all piled back into the bus and headed to the aquarium.). BTW, Sangi Foi, I taught the grandkids your Costa Rica game where you put cars on your head, but kind of forgot the exact rules so made them up.

Anyway, then we arrived at the aquarium and went in. First of all, it was less of an aquarium but more of a complex of many fish related things (even all the plants had been sheared to look like marine animals!). The aquarium itself (the main building) was very amazing, with starfish and stuff we could touch, unique fish and crabs and such I had never seen before phosphorescent fish, etc. BTW it was very very hot and sunny outside, so they had really nice water fountains and mist-spewers to cool us down. Of course, it was fine inside though.

And then, we came to the biggest fish tank in the world (honestly, it is currently the largest.). It was amazing -- soo many fish, HUGE sharks and rays, and many other things. We could see it from either underneath or above, which was nice. We also happened to be there for the feeding of the gigantic whale-sharks, which was amazing. The glass of that tank was 0.6 meters thick btw.

Oh, and also, first of all the water fountains in the aquarium had a foot button (like many trash cans) which made it easy to get water, and right next to the water fountains was a gargling place. I didn't try it them because I thought it would just be normal water, but afterwards I realized it was probably slightly salted water (there was a sign that said it was not for drinking) so I should have probably tried it...

After we finished the aquarium we went outside and watched the most amazing dolphin show I have seen -- the most amazing part was the song and dance the dolphins performed, which was pretty perfectly coordinated, and a comedy routine performed between a dolphin and human where it refused to eat. It was really amazing. There were also huge leaps and balancing acts and such, but I would say the song and comedy were the best.

After that we all piled into the bus to head back. Most people took at least one short nap on the way home, and we arrived back at like 7:30.

BTW I played Go for the first time today with Otousan and it is actually very interesting and mind-twisting! I am hoping to keep playing and get better do I can own Dadda and Nellie back home. This seems like a reasonable substitute for 29 (though if/when we have 4 people, I will try to teach my host family.)

Okay, I am very tired, so Goodnight!

Fri June 22

So, today, it started pouring while we practiced for Undoukai, so everyone got soaked and school was cancelled because most people didn't have a change of clothes (I didn't either, but our home room Sensei lent me a shirt.)

Ok, so Blogger sends me an email whenever someone comments on my blog, and the sender is the person's name. So, yesterday, since I had free time, I decided to reply to everyone who had sent me comments. However, today, I realized I had replied to all No-Reply addresses...

So today I'll take sections of those emails and post them here, since they are good bits of info. But before that, first of all I love the ingenuity of a Japanese cot -- it's just a regular fold-up cot, but the sheets merely have elastic bands running across the corners (forming 45-45-90 right triangles.). So, when you want to put the sheet (or really just the cot-cover) on, you merely slide the corners into the elastic. Same thing w/ pillows -- as oppose to having pillow covers they have a piece of cloth w/ two elastic bands which you just slide in!

So, bits of various emails:

Our school uniform is a white, collared, half sleeve shirt with the school logo sewed on and formal, grey checkered pants. We have to wear a belt and keep the shirt tucked in. Interestingly enough, they do not care what you wear inside the shirt, even though the messages/logos on the shirts people's wear underneath shows through.

However, because of the heat (I honestly do not think it is too bad) and our upcoming Undoukai or Sports day, most students wear their PE uniform to school, which is blue and red striped basketball shorts with a light, white collared half sleeve shirt with their name sewed on. The color of the collar and name depends on your grade.

BTW, I realized today that I am actually not a freshman but a sophomore -- this high school is 10-12, so although I am a first-year, I am still a sophomore.

Kumi = group. In each grade, kids are divided into Kumis, and they stay in their kumis. Kinda like a class, but unlike western schools, for the majority of the day the kumi has class together. Only for PE do we separate from our kumis. We also had the kumi system at the orientation, and I feel it makes it much easier to meet ppl n make friends cuz it is a smaller group that is always together.

So about language: I feel myself getting more confident w/ the Japanese I do know, I am definitely learning more kanji and Vocab, and I do find it easier to understand Japanese. I am also studying from my regular Japanese book much of the day, do I am also learning from that. Btw I am pretty sure all the colloquialisms I am learning are only okay w/ equals/friends; they would probably be rude to people above you.

About food: Breakfast is typically cereal, lunch is rice with a Japanese apricot, some vegetarian meat (some of which actually tastes pretty good), a yummy tasting salad of some kind, some form of egg, and yummy fresh fruits. It is really a very good lunch. Dinner is typically a bowl of rice, some kind of soup, some kind of salad/noodles/main course type of thing, and then cut fruits/vegetables in the middle for everyone to eat. There are always various drinks, not just tea, but having many tasty and different drinks seems to be very common for the Japanese.

Oh BTW today school was let out at noon because we were outside practicing for the Undoukai and it started pouring, so everyone got soaked and most people did not have a change of clothes. The school has block scheduling, but what is interesting is that even the student don't know much in advance what class they are going to have, because the schedule changes on a daily basis (aka is not regular.). Plus I also don't understand the times each period starts and ends period yet.)

The school is huge, 3 stories, and sprawling. All I know is that my class is on the second floor do I always make sure my height from the ground (they have windows EVERYWHERE is about equivavelent to the height it should be for the 2nd floor, n then just walk around until I get to my class, since the main building is a circle. Oh wait, counting the ground floor there are actually 4 floors, mine being the 3rd. Anyway, I have never gone into the adjoining buildings except with someone because I am pretty sure I would never be able to find the way out. It is really like a maze.

I haven't taken any pictures on the I touch for a long time so I cannot upload any until I upload the camera's -- plus I don't really want to upload pictures of people in order to not infringe on their privacy.

Yeah, that's all, I am definitely beginning to get used to life in Japan! Jai Shri Krishna, Goodnight, शुभ रात्रू! お休みなさい！

Btw one of the hardest things about the Japanese language is the short form I use with friends, and then the long form I have to use with others. It is hard to get them straight in the moment, so invariably I end up speaking excessively politely to friends or (once or twice) rudely to a teacher, though I think they understand.

I absolutely love the English class, not only because I understand it but because I get to help out!

Okay, bye :)

BTW the pix I just uploaded is of a very ingenious and easy to use Japanese clothes horse for small garments -- much more convenient than our burly wooden ones! Also a pix of my closet which I just organized today (everything here has soft closing mechanisms to prevent banging), the beautiful 4 free seats I lay upon on the plane, and the gigantic stethoscope-like headphones.

Thurs 6/21

So, first the motion activated toilet since everyone has been dying to hear about it -- as soon as you walk into the bathroom, the lid automatically opens for you. You then sits down, and it goes into some standby mode, which I still do not understand but it is basically kind of a flush, but a tiny flush. You then do you business, and there is a panel with at least 10 buttons which I do not really want to mess with, then the lid closes via button (if I closes automatically and the motion detection failed you would be squashed.). But anyway it is all really cool n magical; you walk in and the toilet opens for you.

Today we had one hour of practice for Undoukai in which we ran a really cool race-type thing with a long pole and lines, and then practiced ESA, the dance we will perform on Undoukai day. We were supposed to have another hour after lunch but it started pouring, do we didn't. Instead we had Bio, English (which I love), and Math, in which they spend about 1.5 days per problem, or do it seems. I am learning more colloquial Japanese words from my friends, which is nice. BTW, we took an English test today, which actually wasn't too bad except for the translations, on which I think I may have done okay. It's really funny how much of the time my friends and I am basically playing charades/taboo with each other to convey what we want to say.

My host family is amazingly nice, we spent a lot of time chatting tonight, they are really very jovial. There is s period of time after I get home from school that the house is quite empty but I think that will be solved tomorrow because 1) I am going to Kumon with the granddaughters to improve my Japanese (I read a bit from their books today), and 2) I gave them the Klutz book of Games, so we have to play that.

Okay, it is quite late, so gnite!

Wed 6\20

Wed 6/20/12

Today was a very nice day at school.  I mean, the day went by normally (we had two periods of a computer class where we typed Japanese and did relatively simple Excel), but after school, my friends from my Kumi threw me a Welcome Party.  It was very very nice; we just hung out, ate snacks and drank drinks, and told jokes, played games, etc.  My friends also had a Cultural-Understanding/World-Heritage club they wanted me to go to, but since I had to go home by 5:00, I will probably go next meeting.  We have also decided we will go to the beach and karaoke sometime while I am here.

Yeah, that is all I can think of for now; I would like to keep this short.  I am really liking life in Japan.  BTW it poured cats and dogs yesterday, but today it was dry and nice J  Okay, お休みなさい！

BTW, BM, I got gifted Pocky at the welcome party!

Tues 6/20

Conbanwa!  Today and last night were both quite exciting!  Last night, after a coincidentally Indian meal (Okaasan made some fabulous Curry Rice, which truly tasted Indian, and I made Otousan and Okaasan Chai), we all got together and played cards (after the grandchildren`s English lessons.)  First, we played Trump, which is basically Old Maid.  Afterwards, we played a a memory game, where all the cards are spread out over the table, and you have to flip two over, and if they are a match you get to keep them.  Afterwards, we played a traditional Japanese card game called `Ogura Hyaku Nin Isshu`, in which there was a large pile of cards in the middle and we drew and different cards had different meanings.  Then, we played a game called `Karuta` where Okaasan would read a saying and we had to find the card with the matching Hiragana and picture, and slap it first.  Whoever slapped it first got the card.  Both the games were extremely fun.

Today, after a breakfast of a salad and eggs, I went to school.  It was a very exciting day in school – I took two Shodou, Japanese calligraphy, classes, and a PE class in which we learned Esa, a traditional Japanese dance.  (The PE classes are in preparation for an Undoukai Performance.)  I think I`ll most likely switch to Karate next PE class though.  The calligraphy teacher was very kind, and I spent the whole period practicing writing my name in Hiragana and Katakana.  She gifted me a very nice sheet of cardboard/paper, for me to write my name whichever way I liked best.

Yeah, I am pretty sure there is a lot left to write about, but I want to keep this short.  So, goodnight!  My friends at school are still as nice and exciting/enthusiastic as ever, and I am pretty sure I am getting oriented!  (It was pouring today on the walk home, and I got completely soaked despite having a raincoat)  Okay, bye!

Mon June 18 -- VERY LONG POST!

Today was a very exciting day.  I woke up at 6:00, to roaring winds outside of the house because of the typhoon that is supposed to come tonight.  I ate a very nice breakfast of sandwiches and soup (very similar to Baa`s curry,) and then wore my uniform and got ready for school.  We were running kind of late (we had to arrive at 7:00, 30 minutes before school started, for a small orientation,) so Otousan dropped Okaasan and I off right in front of the school.  I met the principal, vice principal, and the other YFU student who was attending the high school, and they basically introduced us to the school and took us to our classes.  The vice principal told us that at 8:30 we would have to give a small speech/introduction in front of all the teachers.

So, class was amazing!  First of all, they had drawn a beautiful sign on the backboard that said `Welcome to 1-9!  Nice to Meet You Amal!` It was very beautiful.  I walked in and the vice-principal asked me to introduce myself, which I did in Japanese.  When I started speaking Japanese there was a huge excited intake of breath and everyone began clapping J I don`t think they expected me to be able to speak English.  Anyway, I introduced ,myself in front of the class and then as I sat down a couple of kids introduced themselves to me.  (A lot of people wanted to know my height but unfortunately I did not know in centimeters.)

Anyway, my 0^th period was English, and the teacher was VERY VERY nice!  She passed out English worksheets and we worked in pairs, so it was very nice.  My partner helped me out with my Japanese and Kanji, and he helped me out with my English.  It is really funny that they were translating sentences that are grammatically correct but no one says, like `A ought to do B`.  I mean, no one say `ought to`, they just say `should!`  I`m pretty sure the Japanese I have learned is the same way, because while they can all understand me, I can only understand small parts of their conversations. 

After English we had a short break, when I and the other YFU students (again trying to refrain from using names) introduced ourselves to the teachers.  After that, we had homeroom, where our homeroom teacher read announcements, and then math.  After I understood the problem, the math was quite simple, but I also realized how dependent we are on graphing calculators, even for simple things such as visualizing graphs.  BTW, I am in a freshman class, since I am 15.  (There was another student in the class who had moved from California and apparently he was supposed to be a senior in CA (he missed the cutoff in Japan.)  It was pretty obvious he had come from CA because whenever he spoke English he used `hella.`)  Anyway, all the people I met today were very amazing; at first they tried talking in English but then at lunch they asked what I would prefer, and I said I would prefer they talk in Japanese, since I want to improve.  Even the kids that talked to me in English, I tried to respond in Japanese as much as possible.

After Math was Japanese, which I did not understand a word of.  They were learning how to read Chinese (strings of Kanji characters) in Japanese, which was completely Greek to me.  Anyway, I tried to pay attention although half way through I started doing my English worksheets.  I think tomorrow I will bring my Japanese book to class, because according to another exchange student I talked to who I will tell you about later, they do not care if we do something else in all classes except for English, because they figure we will not be able to understand it anyway.  As long as we use no electronics (they have a very strict policy on electronics, which my partner told me about when I tried to use my iTouch to search up a Japanese word.)  Meanwhile, I do not think we have a computer class, but we`ll see. 

After the Japanese class, the guys in the class took me for a tour around the school (which is a complete maze,) resulting in me and them being late for class.  The teacher (it was English again) did not really care it seemed, or maybe she was just going easy on us since it was my first day.  (It seems like a very laid back and fun school, but I am guessing I think that because I don`t know 1) the punishment side and 2) the hours that go into studying afterschool.  Anyway, for our English class, the English teacher had called another exchange student from Hawaii (in the 10^th grade class)  over to our class, and the English class basically consisted of a Q&A session between us two and the other students.  It was really nice; they were curious about where we were from, our favorite stuff, if we had been to Japan before, etc.  They asked the Hawaian exchange student to show them how to hula and teach them, certain words in Hawaian, and they asked me to introduce myself in Hindi.  It was pretty cool!

After that, I am pretty sure we had lunch (or actually, I think maybe the 2^nd English class was before the Japanese class, and the Japanese class was right before lunch.)  Anyway, during lunch I ate the fabulous Obentou Okaasan had prepared with my help, and talked quite a bit.  After lunch we had to go way down (It is a HUGE 3 storey high school) to our next class, which we were also late to (second class today, and both times I was late all the students burst out laughing because it was my first day and I was already late to classes. J Anyway, the next class was some sort of Cultural Connections/Study class, in which we were watching a New Zealand cartoon, which even I did not understand anything about!  (Although I was helping out some of the kids with the slang, or whatever little of it I knew.)  Half way into the class, however, there was an announcement followed by a huge cheer from all the kids.  I found out later that school　dismissed early because of the incoming typhoon, and that based on when the typhoon ends we may or may not have school tomorrow.  (The kids have all been VERY VERY helpful today in showing me around and helping me understand stuff.)  Anyway, my homeroom teacher called Otousan and Okaasan to let them know, and they said I should walk home, but I had completely forgotten the way so they, very kindly, came to pick me up.  I am pretty sure I know the way home for tomorrow, though.

Anyway, I am sure there is more I have to say but I cannot think of it right now.  Overall, school is very fun and exciting, and the kids are all extremely nice! (BTW, for those who do not know, in Japanese high schools, for the most part the students stay in the class, and teachers change rooms.)

Oh and I also have to wear shoes, not sandals tomorrow (if there is school,) take shorts for PE (most kids come in their PE uniform to school, but I don`t have one soo…) and take my Japanese book.

Yeah, I think that’s all for now!  When we came home Amma called and I talked to her, and yeah…Ok, bye for now!

BTW one Japanese mystery I am still trying to solve is why people tend to use kocchi instead of koko or kore, so if anyone reading my blog knows, please comment.  I am not sure if it is a dialectical thing or not.

Okay, bye, またね！

Sun June 17

Today was truly a day of art and history.  After waking up and having breakfast, Otousan and Okaasan took me to Shurijo Castle, one of the greatest castles in Okinawa.  It used to be the main castle of the Ryukyu Kingdom (500 years ago) and has apparently recently become a national heritage castle.  The castle was beautiful.  There were multiple gates, and well as a huge central throne room.  I noticed that as people came to the gates the stepped over a huge wooden block, not on it and then over.  That was when I realized those were the thresholds of the castle, and in Japanese culture it is rude to step on the threshold of any house, castle, etc.

When we got to the actual castle building, we had to take off our shoes.  The inside of the castle was huge, with wooden walls and tatami floors (tatami is a special matting made of bamboo – my room is actually matted with tatami, and I am very honored to have that room (apparently it is the most respected room in Japanese culture.))  The castle had pictures of old kings, the kings crown and throne, which we BEAUTIFUL, and a nice Zen Buddhist garden outside.  After we saw the main castle,　we went to the courtyard to watch some traditional Okinawan dances of the Ryukan era.

After Shiroju Castle, we went to the National Theatre to watch my host sister/niece`s performance on the Sanshin, a traditional Japanese 3-stringed instrument played like a guitar.  We then stayed through the rest of the performances, which were a plethora of traditional Okinawan dances.  My favorites were one about the coming of spring, a fisherman dance, a dance about a lady whose sweetheart was sailing away, and a dance/play about two princes who kill the samurai that had killed their father.  All these performances had musicians in the back and the dancers in the front. One thing I found interesting was that everyone clapped when the dancers left, as oppose to when the musicians stopped playing (at the end.)  We also saw some traditional courtier dances such as the one we had seen earlier at Shirijo castle.  Otousan told me that they were commonly used to entertain foreign diplomats in order to seal a trade, and that in a way I was a diplomat/representative from America who was being entertained by these dances.  Apparently diplomats from other countries found it hard to believe that without any military prowess the Ryukan kindom could still have such a strong trade-based economy, but according to Otousan it was because of the intricate dances they used to entertain the diplomats.  Overall, it was a really nice day.

Other cool things I learned today include: 1) In Japan, the years are counted as the years after the crowning of a new king, 2) The restroom signs in the national theatre (being a place of art,) were actually pictures of a samurai for guys and a traditional Japanese lady for women, and 3) Okaasan`s father used to own a HUGE cement company at the site of the National Theatre, but that has now been sold.  On the way home, we saw the military base. 

Ok, that’s it I think.  I`m looking forward to going to school tomorrow J

in my host family`s house, pretty fun, rly humid here, am trying to speak mainly in japanese, wrote a longer post on my itouch so will upload whenever i get wifi.

meanwhile i kinda feel lik me english is getting worse, and will probablt continue to.

kk, bye!

Thurs June 14

Thurs June 14 9:19 PM:

Okay so since this is my first legit post from Japan I am going to theme it around Japanese bathrooms, which I am sure everyone is interested in. This post actually goes along with a set of pictures I took, so hopefully the Blogger App lets me upload them.

Anyway, we are in the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo, Japan. It is an amazing hotel -- has 20+ floors (will post the exact number in the continuation of this post I will write tomorrow, as well as whether there is a 4th floor,) a HUGE lobby (Amma and Nelly, it is about twice the size of the hotel we went to with Anish Kaka,) and very nice rooms. I have two roommates, both of whom are fine...

Anyway, the bathrooms: of course, the toilet has a remote control Butt-Washer, which I haven't tried today but intend to do so tomorrow (which necessitates the continuation of this post.). But nevertheless, the toilet has 2 parts, the actual toilet with the remote control (2 settings, Bidet and Spray, and a gauge for Water Pressure,) and the flush equipment and flush lever, which are actually on the counter. (Basically all the apparatus that is behind a traditional Western toilet is on the counter, and they are not (at least visibly) connected. Also the lock, which as oppose to a Western lock which you turn counterclockwise to push a bolt through the door, you actually turn it clockwise, and it somehow jams the actual handle apparatus do you cannot open the door -- basically, no bolt!

Then the shower. First of all, it was amazingly hot, which was nice because I had a nice, hot, 30 minute shower. But anyway, the actual shower head is attached to a vertical rod, so that you can adjust it based on 1) your height, and 2) whether you want to take a traditional Japanese shower sitting down or a Western one standing up. That is the main special thing about the shower, but when I got out the whole bathroom was fogged except a little rectangular portion on the larger mirror which was completely clear -- I have no idea what chemicals they have there that causes the anti-fogging!

Okay, I think that's all for now, I am going to go to sleep and continue (and hopefully publish) the post tomorrow.

शुभ रात्रि!!! お休みなさい！ Goodnight!

Fri June 15 6:34 AM:

So, jet-lag was not too bad, I woke up at 5:45 which was a good 8 hours of sleep. I think that's partly because 1) I slept in the plane and 2) since we got to the hotel at like 6:00 we only really had to keep ourselves up for another 3 hours before we could crash.

Anyway, the Butt-Washer: it is not at all too bad, and actually serves its purpose pretty well. I mean, I first tried the lowest pressure which did not do much, and then went up to the middle pressure which worked quite well! Anyway, the difference between Bidet and Spray is that Bidet is a slightly gentler stream of water, kind of like a water fountain, while spray is a higher pressure jet, like the jet-setting on the hose. The only weird part, initially, is that the water is pretty hot. But nevertheless, it worked!

Another thing I like about Japanese toilets is that the toilet paper (if you need/want to use it) is about twice the size of an American sheet of toilet paper. Like one Japanese sheet is 2 American sheets one on top of the other. That is much more useful, because an American size sheet it way too small to serve any practical purpose (i.e. Blowing nose, washing self, etc.); you always need at least 2!

Btw our building has 34 floors and while it does have a floor # 4, they don't have a fourth or fifth floor (4 is an unlucky number in Japan because it sounds like the word for death.). BTW, the view from our window is pretty amazing and so is the stuff in the convenience store (I took pictures but didn't buy anything because it was too expensive.). No free wifi here though...

Oh and the curtains also have magnets to hold them together! Ingenuity in the smallest things!

Okay, I'll see if I can get wifi in the lobby -- the good part of the Japan portion of the trip is that we are on a much more lax time schedule -- today we have to be in the lobby by 10:15 and for the flight tomorrow have to be down by 8:15 as oppose to 6:00 at UC Berkeley.

BTW, it is only the students of the government scholarships (Okinawa and JUSSE) that get to stay in this hotel and visit the embassies, so I'm glad I got the scholarship I did! (Okinawa Peace Scholarship)

Ok, Bye!

8:13 AM:

Just had my first Japanese breakfast! It was actually pretty good (and 30 bucks, all paid for!). It was basically a huge buffet with a combination of Western and Japanese foods, of which I had a fried egg, Miso Soup, green and regular onions :) , strawberry yogurt (the yogurt was really cool, they basically had plain yogurt and different bowls of fresh jam-like stuff you add to it to get flavored yogurt,) fresh orange juice, and the most amazing fresh kiwis and leeches! It was amazing!

Oh and the weather in Tokyo is surprisingly cool, 60s - 70s.

Fri June 15

Fri June 15 5:20 PM:

So, the trips to YFU's main office and the US embassy were pretty nice . The YFU board members were so nice and genuinely interested in us, it was really great. I had long conversations with two of them in a combination of Japanese and English. It was really nice. The lunch, though, had no vegetarian entrees except for Soba noodles.

The trip to the US Embassy was very nice and interesting, though it did seem like they really really wanted to recruit us into the foreign services. Nevertheless, it was interesting to hear all their stories. :)

7:12 PM:

Ok, I am really longing for some vegetables. All I have had the whole day has been Soba Noodles, Miso Soup, and a combination. I really want vegetables, in any shape or form!

Will depart for Okinawa tomorrow morning, hopefully I will have time at Narita Airport to upload these. BTW Tokyo seems to have Free Public Wifi, it's just that we were constantly moving that I couldn't connect to it. But anyway, the YFU reception was RLY RLY nice. And I have realized that I really like wasabi here, probably because it's fresh. The dry wasabi on TJ's peas goes straight to your nose, but this wasabi actually tastes really good! Oh, and the fruits are amazing!

Hi!

In Tokyo Narita Airport xD flight was fine, I slept enough, food was absolutely horrible, had Amma's theplas, was somehow able to navigate all the terms and conditions and such (based on whatever little Japanese I knew and my world knowledge of connecting to wifi in foreign places) and connected to Internet.

Bye xD

6/13 - 6/14

こんにちは！ 今飛行機にいます。成田から五時間ぐらいかかります。とても興奮しています。東京に二日間住んでいます。それで、金曜日に大使や大使館に行きます。飛行機の食べ物はとて目良くありませんでした。たったおいしくないやさいとご飯がありました。でも、母のテェプレはいても美味しかったです。ありがとう！

Hey Guys!

I'm in the plane right now, heading to Narita. Not sure what the time is, but we are about to cross the International Date Line. The plane food was terrible. There was only plain string beans, carrots, peas, tomatoes, and rice with absolutely no flavoring. Luckily, there were Amma's theplas, of which I had one (the one with Nani's mirchi ka achaar in it.) It was great! Thank you!

Meanwhile, I think I am subconsciously beginning to miss Bollywood because I have had Dhoom Again and Salaam-e-Isqh (a song I never listen to) been playing in my head. Oh well after I finish this post I will probably put my headphones on and listen to some Bollywood music while trying to fall asleep again.

Meanwhile, more details on orientation. First of all, I really like the kumi system (which apparently exists in Japanese high schools also) because you can meet certain people in kumis, others at language classes, others on you floor or your roommate(s). It really allows you to meet more people and interacting with them in much smaller groups.

Also a note on JST which I had mentioned earlier. Actually, apparently if it is some kind of formal meeting with one's boss or such, you always come 5 minutes early. However, if it is a casual get-together, you purposely arrive 5 minutes late so as not to walk in on then preparing for you.

So, anyway we had another cultural activity yesterday (I think) which was really fun, but what I really got out of it was a practical reminder that culture is never static; there is no one tangible culture, and I will get slightly different interpretations or understandings of culture from different people.

Also yesterday we had an obento dinner. Obento is basically a style of Japanese lunchbox, kind of like a thali. There are multiple sections to place different foods. It was quite good: there was a very yummy pickled seaweed, pickled ginger and carrot, tofu with soy sauce, and tenpura. Afterwards we took kumi pictures, which again I intend to ask for on the FB group.

So yeah, we are about 2000 miles away from Narita! I am going to try to go to sleep again; goodnight!

Monday 6/11

Mon 12/11 10:18

It's past lights out and I really shouldn't be doing this but based on our Greece trip I know the terrible consequences of getting behind on journal writing, soo...

First of all, my muscles are quite sore (1 leg and 1 arm.). I have walked up sooooo many stairs today it is not even funny. Imagine the London Underground times 20. And then my hand is sore from Taiko Drumming tonight (interestingly enough, I realized my left hand, my violin playing hand, is much less loose than my right hand. I guess I understand what Didi meant when she said loosen up, though I still don't know how it's done.). I will probably eat milk (w/ cereal) and bananas tomorrow for breakfast to help the soreness and prevent cramping. It's really minor, butttttt...

Now, a note about the food. They have decent Veg food, Cheese and Veg Pizza (though it's usually out by the time we get there, we got to get lucky) nice Pesto Pasta, though the Marinara sauce Pasta is terrible. Salad variety is quite good, lots of ice creams, Popsicles, fruits, pastries, so while it may not be my ideal, simple but delicious Dal-Bhaat, it's not as bad as I expected.

Anyway, this morning we did Radio Exercise, quite similar to what Madsen and Okamura Sensei have had us do, and it was quite fun and refreshing! Apparently it was started after WW2 to invigorate people in the morning, before the hard day's work of rebuilding their country. I had no idea!!!

So, after that, we had a class about Culture Shock (which I hope I won't get but know deep down is inevitable), Japanese, a great simulation of observing other people's culture called Bafa Bafa (can't say what it is in case incoming YFU students in later years read this,) and Current Japan. We then had two culture workshops, I took Japanese Manners and Taiko Drumming, which were absolutely amazing! We learnt a lot of simple things such as taking off shoes and seating and chopsticks (and my sensei answered my long time question about if, and why, Anata is considered rude.). For Taiko Drumming, we actually played on garbage cans with tape, but it still sounded real and was amazing! I think multiple people videotaped it, so I think I'll ask for it on the FB group when I get back -- REMIND ME PLEASE!

By the way, our Kumi sensei (I am trying to refrain from using specific names on here,) reminds me A LOT of BM!!!

It would be amazing if I could teach 29 to my Host Family!

Anyway, we have another packed day tomorrow, so I should probably get sleep. Goodnight! :D

Hopefully I'll get extra time at SF airport to update all this!

Gnite!

Sunday 6/10

Got free wifi on the bus!

Sun 12/10 9:48 PM

In UC Berkeley, have no WiFi access so I guess I'll upload these posts when I get it (not for the next 4 days in the least.)

So, today was quite fun, after saying bye (which, although I didn't think much of it then, I know I'll miss my family multiple times in the homestay,) we separated into our Kumis (組), which means "group" in Japanese. I was in the White Kumi and our group Alumini and Sensei (先生) seem like very cool people. We ate dinner, which was not as bad as Dadda made it seem (I had Marinara Pasta, some Chickpea rice, a watermelon, and zucchini, because after the fabulous late lunch at Viks I did not have much of an appetite.). We then came back and headed up to the classroom, where we played a name game (each person says name of everybody before them and then their name, kind of like In My Grandmas Purse) and then played a fun "Common Ground" game, where we stated something and whoever it applied to had to get up and find another empty seat other than their own and the two adjacent one's. One without a seat has to say the next common ground.). Then we had free time, so we just socialized (lo and behold, conversation was about SAT and college admissions -- and I was not even the one who started it!). Then we went down, got introduced to the staff members, and had a slideshow about Exploring Japan.

Now I am all bathed and brushed, and thanks to Amma and Nani's fabulous training (and a bit of personal travel experience) I have remained consolidated except for what I will wear tomorrow, I have a dirty clothes bag that is packed away, and I think I am set!

Goodnight! お休みなさい。

P.S. I must add, however, the dorms are very bad, especially the lighting. But the showers are much better than Dadda made them seem -- the are closed cubicles, with a curtain separating where you keep your dry towel from where the water is running.

Oh, and a little Japanese culture based on what we learned today -- we always speak of DST, or Desi Standard Time, which means arriving at least half an hour after something is scheduled. Apparently JST, or Japanese Standard Time, is arriving at least five minutes before anything is scheduled!

Gnite :D

Hey Guys,

So, I have finally got ahold of a public computer, so I guess I'll make a short post here -- I have written 2 notes on my Itouch (for day before yesterday and yesterday) which I'll upload whenever I have wifi, so this may be slightly unchronological!  (I'll try to include dates on the entries not in order.)

So anyway, there is someone else waiting for the computer (there are only 2,) so I will stop my entry here.  I willw rite more ind epth tonight when I have time.  Just wanted to let you all know I am great, REALLY excited, food is decent, showers are way better than expects, and most of the orientation activities are very fun!

And thank you for all you comments, especially Dada.  Yes, I am VERY VERY excited to be staying in a Japanese family!!!!!  (BTW, we are spending 2 nights in Tokyo, though I doubt we will do much tourism.  The day after we get there we will visit Ambassadors, US Embassies, and the president of YFU Japan.)

Okay, good night, sayonara, orasuminasai!

BYE!!!!

Hello World!

So, I'm not sure how blogs are usually run, but I would like to start mine off by stating my goals and visions for this blog.  For those who don't know, I am going to Japan this summer, on a YFU scholarship.  I'll be in Naha-Shi, the capital of Okinawa, and attending Naha Kokusai High School.  So, as you may expect, my first and foremost goal for this blog is to log my experiences in Japan (given WiFi access.)  Hopefully, as I go through my 6 week stay in Japan, my blog entries will begin to be in Japanese (I'll try to translate into English!)  :D

Once I come back, I intend to continue my blog by posting my views on controversial world (or local) issues, posts related to my hobbies (baking, crocheting, woodworking, etc.), and other travel experiences.  So, keep checking back on "The World Through A Looking Glass."

I would also like those I have given the link of this blog to to not give it out to too many other, random people.  While it is a public blog, I would like to limit the viewers to friends, family, and maybe other people who "discover" my blog and are genuinely interested in it.

Enjoy!!!