tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82812506567496640972024-02-15T05:52:24.887+09:00eli in japan! イーライの旅、日本で。Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-1272035999270011602010-07-27T12:24:00.002+09:002010-07-29T08:51:31.292+09:00Tadaima [ただいま]The last post in this blog... :)<br />
<br />
Well, I'm back. The plane was delayed due to storms, but I finally made it home in one piece. (a few days ago, actually. I had no internet for a while.)<br />
<br />
Well, "that stuff" I said I would talk about later:<br />
<br />
To say it concisely, my host family was pretty bad. It seemed to me (and some others) that my host mom had some emotional problems-- I had to switch with four days left(lolwhat). My school experience was also pretty ... bad. My class, as one teacher put it, was a "dysfunctional class" filled with students who were completely uninterested in everything-- teachers complained about my class and how they would not respond or do <i>anything</i>. It took two weeks to get through the front side of an English worksheet while other classes finished it in a day and watched The Simpsons instead. Also, I was the only student not placed in an art course (or any sort of course at all) and had generally very uninteresting classes and teachers without any motivation or enthusiasm.<br />
<br />
If you really want more information, ask me in person. :) Sorry if I'm sounding all depressing or something; just trying to relay some general facts.<br />
<br />
<br />
Despite all of that, my experience was truly great and was a once in a lifetime opportunity-- I can't be thankful enough to all the people who helped make it what it was.<br />
<br />
This blog will stay up here as an archive of sorts. Feel free to browse around.<br />
<br />
<br />
さようなら。<br />
EliUnknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-59540170502072854422010-07-21T20:58:00.000+09:002010-07-21T20:58:31.630+09:00Coming home!My last post from Japan...<br />
<br />
Tomorrow at exactly 10:00 AM I leave for home. :) (I have sad and happy feelings about that. :D ) I'll be shinking (taking the shinkansen :P ) to Tokyo at 10:21 AM and will arrive there at 12:14 AM. Then my plane for America leaves at 4:00 PM and I get to the Chicago airport at 9:23 AM the same day... how does that work?! :P (14 hour time difference, that's how!) Though then I do have to fly to Chicago and then back to Madison... I'll arrive at 9:09 PM or so.<br />
<br />
I did a ton of shopping today (well, a moderate amount) and got some people some pretty awesome gifts, in my opinion. :D <br />
<br />
I SHALL SEE YOU ALL VERY SOON!!! (most preferably tomorrow or the next day!!!)<br />
<br />
EliUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-60166242090408331772010-07-20T19:27:00.003+09:002010-07-20T19:35:50.158+09:00Unspecific Update (one of many)A ton has happened... and there actually is a lot that I haven't written about... yet. I'll fill everyone in once I get back. Don't worry though (MOM), I'm completely fine and still doing great. :D<br />
<br />
Today was also the last day of school. I got a card thing from my class. Again, more details about my school life and such when I get back. There's a LOT to say.<br />
<br />
Instead of any more information or pictures, here's a haiku my YFU friend wrote on the plane ride to Japan that still makes me laugh:<br />
<br />
<center>We jumped on the rocks<br />
And then we got too friendly<br />
We went off program</center><br />
My recent happenings are in no way related to that topic though... thank God. :) Tomorrow-- lots of shopping! (I already bought some fantastic terrible English shirts :D )<br />
<br />
See you all in a few days. :) I can't wait!<br />
<br />
EliUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-87648427715825361442010-07-17T14:37:00.013+09:002010-12-13T03:26:17.417+09:00Shopping and other stuffSo last night I went to Tsutaya again (that amazing store with a bunch of DVDs and CDs and Manga for rental) and finally got to take a lot of pictures after forgetting my camera the past two times we went there.<br />
<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_5vSdVvvqYKbRHw_7mEA-8FkPwq4OPCQDEnfjgHFbyNhhTRiH47oQ9UHDDuFFbMbmgTp_8imEYztQZdLODdZOq82q5xGW-S6R73JkutVHYizSxmdBTIHj8Icfy3FhQtFR1ArI4YblPGI/s1600/IMG_3147.jpg" rel="lightbox[tsutaya3]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_5vSdVvvqYKbRHw_7mEA-8FkPwq4OPCQDEnfjgHFbyNhhTRiH47oQ9UHDDuFFbMbmgTp_8imEYztQZdLODdZOq82q5xGW-S6R73JkutVHYizSxmdBTIHj8Icfy3FhQtFR1ArI4YblPGI/s200/IMG_3147.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
CUTE SUMMER WARS DRAWING THAT MADE ME MELT INSIDE.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbZ3a0PyWWqGWlwa_VogCVo1ND-2ZzvLFSe-2USVIRC4MWZkHPZtGJAGbJa_UvjxlJaW_Ot2PLOT-3kaIuCM1lEYkNXbLsPYQPJM6lvfCWhSmMkdGT-z1m3PvTd02wSjTJqmhqN8y-swU/s1600/IMG_3155.jpg" rel="lightbox[tsutaya3]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbZ3a0PyWWqGWlwa_VogCVo1ND-2ZzvLFSe-2USVIRC4MWZkHPZtGJAGbJa_UvjxlJaW_Ot2PLOT-3kaIuCM1lEYkNXbLsPYQPJM6lvfCWhSmMkdGT-z1m3PvTd02wSjTJqmhqN8y-swU/s200/IMG_3155.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzeRe3VTQnVG6q8D03Tmn9bCbG22XcxjstIk3wOOfwFjbUGPPwLGlTVfiYqsDYVNNojmrBPaR12iVTwtvjAFwTlekb3OkmAPNiuQmblnyBaJvApCFj54EbNbB7fHX9MGXtiajU_bNpXvg/s1600/IMG_3230.jpg" rel="lightbox[tsutaya3]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzeRe3VTQnVG6q8D03Tmn9bCbG22XcxjstIk3wOOfwFjbUGPPwLGlTVfiYqsDYVNNojmrBPaR12iVTwtvjAFwTlekb3OkmAPNiuQmblnyBaJvApCFj54EbNbB7fHX9MGXtiajU_bNpXvg/s200/IMG_3230.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
Lots of love for K-On! :3<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHbHDajWaRSAK5oOou-BimTBp9LGtaMTsJUUOm89n7Si-nqKRRDAzYzmvWgar0TTcbinndtoVYEWL-S5QwMLACDJRAKeRyGKXOlbNlEgWSxVDS-nDJIxYIl0BYnQqxKijPHA-e7o2wzkw/s1600/IMG_3167.jpg" rel="lightbox[tsutaya3]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHbHDajWaRSAK5oOou-BimTBp9LGtaMTsJUUOm89n7Si-nqKRRDAzYzmvWgar0TTcbinndtoVYEWL-S5QwMLACDJRAKeRyGKXOlbNlEgWSxVDS-nDJIxYIl0BYnQqxKijPHA-e7o2wzkw/s200/IMG_3167.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJL-nMzE9K-N4c5m5skUItQVDiB_-BRpjEdeTjmdqjhATUsNoH3hrgpfTlSLDO-7wtZ6ze7YYtfLbuL5QKlEgsqUbYKkxM5pAkDvjRsoZcDBb7QfeO9ei5hC8JIjWeMEy4qQnQ7xkmc3Q/s1600/IMG_3222.jpg" rel="lightbox[tsutaya3]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJL-nMzE9K-N4c5m5skUItQVDiB_-BRpjEdeTjmdqjhATUsNoH3hrgpfTlSLDO-7wtZ6ze7YYtfLbuL5QKlEgsqUbYKkxM5pAkDvjRsoZcDBb7QfeO9ei5hC8JIjWeMEy4qQnQ7xkmc3Q/s200/IMG_3222.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
EVEN MORE LOVE FOR CLANNAD AND CLANNAD ~AFTER STORY~ <3<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-5PvWnQgPcoYgvPv-7Q8uR6LVS81t8XAZosYu7_dmWqWy7gNKV-7-Pf1euHwFAqw90E3Sr8j5F2V6sa9xJhH5gx7xM-JA85iUIa24hXiDOVr-qY__4khxnARGkujJBRq1f-OgD78CncU/s1600/IMG_3170.jpg" rel="lightbox[tsutaya3]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-5PvWnQgPcoYgvPv-7Q8uR6LVS81t8XAZosYu7_dmWqWy7gNKV-7-Pf1euHwFAqw90E3Sr8j5F2V6sa9xJhH5gx7xM-JA85iUIa24hXiDOVr-qY__4khxnARGkujJBRq1f-OgD78CncU/s200/IMG_3170.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
AND <i>EVEN MORE LOVE</i> for TORADORA! ... but there were no DVDs to be found anywhere. ;__;<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6B_OLR7NVrwmFqwTtjtNhYdxwTP7OStxuoRvMMDpDlS9w87kEijZTD2M6FV9UzrJxHBDn2mqteCGVeL8MVvTQP29VC5oobSg640sWSuA8k9BEDzoD9NZV2tWp7-VBZokcNT7iCgtwqtQ/s1600/IMG_3180.jpg" rel="lightbox[tsutaya3]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6B_OLR7NVrwmFqwTtjtNhYdxwTP7OStxuoRvMMDpDlS9w87kEijZTD2M6FV9UzrJxHBDn2mqteCGVeL8MVvTQP29VC5oobSg640sWSuA8k9BEDzoD9NZV2tWp7-VBZokcNT7iCgtwqtQ/s200/IMG_3180.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
So... Much... Hayate no Gotoku!...<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg19L-is4O9eHF_1wJjNuGP-gdAS5ljW5bEIRqO1_zo2BL_fTX1rn418Wu0pZ4ZSEt-itMRE5AxH600Ik8d9LD7IvXkclaA-j4wmJ688RJ2pcZE11MlAndBtBF7X8zpYOL3z86O6uK9o30/s1600/IMG_3195.jpg" rel="lightbox[tsutaya3]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg19L-is4O9eHF_1wJjNuGP-gdAS5ljW5bEIRqO1_zo2BL_fTX1rn418Wu0pZ4ZSEt-itMRE5AxH600Ik8d9LD7IvXkclaA-j4wmJ688RJ2pcZE11MlAndBtBF7X8zpYOL3z86O6uK9o30/s200/IMG_3195.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
Lots of Pokemanz<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrzeLhyoKBvE6S_vYropAKvX6AVXItCvlgEh6rp5IKYdfOw8tcwQlyIq_q-WoB9yFbv0tr8hjPJVeq7VmzeVDef_Q0OSRsjUD9ObpjxdOn-mdh1o-ZTkcrj0CrmeICYgj2-6R89-mWmb8/s1600/IMG_3199.jpg" rel="lightbox[tsutaya3]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrzeLhyoKBvE6S_vYropAKvX6AVXItCvlgEh6rp5IKYdfOw8tcwQlyIq_q-WoB9yFbv0tr8hjPJVeq7VmzeVDef_Q0OSRsjUD9ObpjxdOn-mdh1o-ZTkcrj0CrmeICYgj2-6R89-mWmb8/s200/IMG_3199.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
STUDIO GHIBLI <3
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<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIks2RoxoCvIjT1ELovw7likGPTZ7rnEPBi8vTCKFhnFV2Zfc4mX_aweNpughzoN2R7qissZPB8bxuz54mhPXeu2xDZ2-X65Nh08_oh7pLpQWk0SiaRYBj0L8rHX7vtwRPuUmKdzFji5Y/s1600/IMG_3213.jpg" rel="lightbox[tsutaya3]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIks2RoxoCvIjT1ELovw7likGPTZ7rnEPBi8vTCKFhnFV2Zfc4mX_aweNpughzoN2R7qissZPB8bxuz54mhPXeu2xDZ2-X65Nh08_oh7pLpQWk0SiaRYBj0L8rHX7vtwRPuUmKdzFji5Y/s200/IMG_3213.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
That's not Wallace and Gromit, it's Uoresu to Gurumitto, obviously.</center><br />
<br />
More strange movie titles in Japanese:<br />
<ul><li>The movie "Flushed Away" in Japanese is called マウス・タウン (Mausu Taun, <i>Mouse Town</i>)</li>
<li>"Over the Hedge" is 森のリトル・ギャング (Mori no Ritoru Gyangu, <i>Little Gang of the Forest</i>)</li>
<li>"Ratatouille" is レミーのおいしいレストラン (Remii no Oishii Resutoran, <i>Remi's Delicious Restaurant</i>)</li>
<li>"Meet the Robinsons" is ルイスと未来泥棒 (Ruisu to Mirai Dorobou, <i>Luis and the Thief from the Future</i>)</li>
</ul><br />
<br />
Afterward, Taiga, Ryosuke and I went to the onsen/ofuro place again that is instantly recgonizable by a huge "ゆ" banner outside. (湯/お湯 means hot water, read "ゆ <i>yu</i>" or "おゆ <i>oyu</i>" - the 'o' in front just makes it more formal) They just got back from hiking up a 2,000ft mountain or something for a school trip and they were like we're all tired let's go sit in some baths so we did just that. <br />
<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgMeAcGL1E29LUhXzAZyl1SvHVhNUKH9K4YUF-3tBfBqz2y1lZfjj0SB3gDGAAthbWVLPiT8Dqh17rtIWWPvGFPuK3Do_fXnff_Q1aeLvDAck0lRDK9wg7k5pXzYJE2h41qgsqcAONSMs/s1600/IMG_3231yu.jpg" rel="lightbox[you]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgMeAcGL1E29LUhXzAZyl1SvHVhNUKH9K4YUF-3tBfBqz2y1lZfjj0SB3gDGAAthbWVLPiT8Dqh17rtIWWPvGFPuK3Do_fXnff_Q1aeLvDAck0lRDK9wg7k5pXzYJE2h41qgsqcAONSMs/s200/IMG_3231yu.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxRMoNuO6UqdqOHIC26iB55qqwJuW-6y2Et2YgCEEZnDnvcfmeOkoarqhaW9qb4o3nwmjyZxnQ-yxbq5f2H2LJIIeuzd7oFevDAbli3jG4QBDIU_1Bo8ln5hMkVvngAHQmBZEaQ1DI9gI/s1600/IMG_3233yu.jpg" rel="lightbox[you]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxRMoNuO6UqdqOHIC26iB55qqwJuW-6y2Et2YgCEEZnDnvcfmeOkoarqhaW9qb4o3nwmjyZxnQ-yxbq5f2H2LJIIeuzd7oFevDAbli3jG4QBDIU_1Bo8ln5hMkVvngAHQmBZEaQ1DI9gI/s200/IMG_3233yu.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJGWYG0qFfYKqzOcUsuRwTG3uF2pVz73r2PAeqxJ4h6b9ivzU-k8uYmrpJ2x04VfcY9jeLFpd5Sj2OCNSr__EDmqRLm3q_Ggf7rVXuttCthjuG3tK-B-EEFM3EtY_sUw7ikOf4LRl9H5Q/s1600/IMG_3234yu.jpg" rel="lightbox[you]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJGWYG0qFfYKqzOcUsuRwTG3uF2pVz73r2PAeqxJ4h6b9ivzU-k8uYmrpJ2x04VfcY9jeLFpd5Sj2OCNSr__EDmqRLm3q_Ggf7rVXuttCthjuG3tK-B-EEFM3EtY_sUw7ikOf4LRl9H5Q/s200/IMG_3234yu.jpg" width="75" /></a></center><br />
<br />
<center><b>*****</b></center> <br />
<br />
BUT BEFORE ALL THAT, in school periods 5 and 6, we went to "clean up" ... basically meaning walking long distances around the neighborhood and playing with worms and moss and metal pincer things-- not much "cleaning up." But it was still fun. <br />
<br />
<center><b>*****</b></center> <br />
<br />
And right before this post, I went around shopping. Well not really... I tried to go-- I guess my mom was right when she says there aren't good any stores around here. :P She is going to take me to some Japanese-style shops and such on Wednesday, though (RIGHT before I leave!). :) However, today, I did stumble in on NODA-YA which is basically a "Gun & Figure" store... a strange combination.<br />
<br />
And then I saw Rin (from <a href="http://www.kojika-anime.com/">こどものじかん</a>, <i>Kodomo no Jikan</i>, A Child's Time).<br />
<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI72rGOj9HRJS2EKCfgvxx3zzOqfbNHWvFpWNgT2FR__fZG9jqasweEG-ndpd1dob0v1-fXvi0qy-UBP9XZJUaSGb54sfSe1SVaBVRkfY6GTiipU6E42gk2rmCrCOvsrBAQyxYVObg-tY/s1600/IMG_3263.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" rel="lightbox[knj]"><img border="0" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI72rGOj9HRJS2EKCfgvxx3zzOqfbNHWvFpWNgT2FR__fZG9jqasweEG-ndpd1dob0v1-fXvi0qy-UBP9XZJUaSGb54sfSe1SVaBVRkfY6GTiipU6E42gk2rmCrCOvsrBAQyxYVObg-tY/s200/IMG_3263.jpg" width="150" /></a></center><br />
But she was 6800円 (a little more than $68) so I was all like cry ;__; And no Mom, no children were harmed in the creation of that figure, anime or manga. Plus the manga was written by a woman so it's even more lolthisissoscrewedup-ish.<br />
<br />
...NODA-YA did have some pretty awesome stuff though:<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWWQhEcpbhYH5NQ7fpdyGiwNKLJ1b9AXJfcLxAp5WIDQidDoEclrFKwq4BKs1HRlH2Fcfiy5CUedgX5mVTCt86pe3hOwC0hvNee7S-eYAjkZryrdvcYhsIKglHiyRtewpfygfZopwUgPE/s1600/IMG_3269.jpg" rel="lightbox[nodaya]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWWQhEcpbhYH5NQ7fpdyGiwNKLJ1b9AXJfcLxAp5WIDQidDoEclrFKwq4BKs1HRlH2Fcfiy5CUedgX5mVTCt86pe3hOwC0hvNee7S-eYAjkZryrdvcYhsIKglHiyRtewpfygfZopwUgPE/s200/IMG_3269.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOhHUjMT0V3lcqNUDL3-WnjZ8gFdgu2DxVHC1NQxLVtH9bnw1NybiH5AeBcU-8DT4MDrUDON7Xj2yo3r529lQLqrmstNepw1MnHTE81mGVQMwxpGTA07qW5UEs4JEVZ8e3k_fKPPTjeaM/s1600/IMG_3272.jpg" rel="lightbox[nodaya]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOhHUjMT0V3lcqNUDL3-WnjZ8gFdgu2DxVHC1NQxLVtH9bnw1NybiH5AeBcU-8DT4MDrUDON7Xj2yo3r529lQLqrmstNepw1MnHTE81mGVQMwxpGTA07qW5UEs4JEVZ8e3k_fKPPTjeaM/s200/IMG_3272.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHcALGCq-mF1BJ7GbJl0lHADlt9Y-VXuWJpbaR7kjnRSTOWGzxzuqpDcFNRU1_cHUnTKmDvR88Eidw8R2gcsEyzbZuHJOYcYxLUJjnEwvjBiKEOK3lV9ENHK5sYjrCmt72vMcsiB3CLAs/s1600/IMG_3273.jpg" rel="lightbox[nodaya]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHcALGCq-mF1BJ7GbJl0lHADlt9Y-VXuWJpbaR7kjnRSTOWGzxzuqpDcFNRU1_cHUnTKmDvR88Eidw8R2gcsEyzbZuHJOYcYxLUJjnEwvjBiKEOK3lV9ENHK5sYjrCmt72vMcsiB3CLAs/s200/IMG_3273.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijYtni8zRubWJQjtXAmO2iffzNzBCT0nskDYFrL1CH9eJ2GA-wu4nIOEZDDo6VR-8LBWLWY9k3FHgcKPYwDBUKrpU7MsSbLR6S20z6K1WGiGV-uXp9Df9Qxa0vsHNSlei5_pF3GomkGao/s1600/IMG_3274.jpg" rel="lightbox[nodaya]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijYtni8zRubWJQjtXAmO2iffzNzBCT0nskDYFrL1CH9eJ2GA-wu4nIOEZDDo6VR-8LBWLWY9k3FHgcKPYwDBUKrpU7MsSbLR6S20z6K1WGiGV-uXp9Df9Qxa0vsHNSlei5_pF3GomkGao/s200/IMG_3274.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
Lots of K-On! stuff. :D ...including a car, lolwut.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0T7JU66W-8XygKoG0to6c105gstWL4X0LE8egrUq5df-e2x4FvyGAZLtXzwWhv3QU2rBYt5VOonXQZGmhbQfZHLFbqgiLYCPMkm-iBMZ57zaYO8CiDNifD31aGY9pe6noyY8Fm5OLoRw/s1600/IMG_3277.jpg" rel="lightbox[nodaya]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0T7JU66W-8XygKoG0to6c105gstWL4X0LE8egrUq5df-e2x4FvyGAZLtXzwWhv3QU2rBYt5VOonXQZGmhbQfZHLFbqgiLYCPMkm-iBMZ57zaYO8CiDNifD31aGY9pe6noyY8Fm5OLoRw/s200/IMG_3277.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
this made me lol<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg77Les3ee0YqrO44b-VQbM6rcgYBAOrkgLFYeI1OXoZ1YVxd3o6YTvTs2HDlTQTCeNfa5Y-BR9v8OG_CXbH7vVvN4bw7JkYKYwCLaeoRhbMsOXb-nVcTI3ONF0h7AkeYvrZvdPHejL7eo/s1600/IMG_3284.jpg" rel="lightbox[nodaya]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg77Les3ee0YqrO44b-VQbM6rcgYBAOrkgLFYeI1OXoZ1YVxd3o6YTvTs2HDlTQTCeNfa5Y-BR9v8OG_CXbH7vVvN4bw7JkYKYwCLaeoRhbMsOXb-nVcTI3ONF0h7AkeYvrZvdPHejL7eo/s200/IMG_3284.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
PEANUTS :)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw9m7esgNqGZVY61BRsmIRczqtHhKP0zBUt4NPCdLFOoydS_7rsxVnVonxnc4o93pPX35iq8RIvtqt2PgDdMOvqTN0OB1zTyvLctaezgYZTvJYTfL9TyGu0XDJu3GEs5U1i6qfcgOYMi4/s1600/IMG_3290.jpg" rel="lightbox[nodaya]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw9m7esgNqGZVY61BRsmIRczqtHhKP0zBUt4NPCdLFOoydS_7rsxVnVonxnc4o93pPX35iq8RIvtqt2PgDdMOvqTN0OB1zTyvLctaezgYZTvJYTfL9TyGu0XDJu3GEs5U1i6qfcgOYMi4/s200/IMG_3290.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
Vocaloid :D<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP3r7pdvlIVET6G6XE8rctBMFfX-K0f63BoSzVRi7QScWrr0dy9bqiavxDZf40pi29CdPsqszYlBqsmCA5VX21yla6m_hMP4Flxd0xjuzyClGIcRzg42UHBiRO4R6uDqid4xmq4JyERQ8/s1600/IMG_3293.jpg" rel="lightbox[nodaya]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP3r7pdvlIVET6G6XE8rctBMFfX-K0f63BoSzVRi7QScWrr0dy9bqiavxDZf40pi29CdPsqszYlBqsmCA5VX21yla6m_hMP4Flxd0xjuzyClGIcRzg42UHBiRO4R6uDqid4xmq4JyERQ8/s200/IMG_3293.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
CLANNAD LOVEEEええぇ~ラブラブ</center><br />
<br />
The original reason I went there was to look for some Haiji stuff... which I ended up not finding at all. :< In case you don't know (which you probably sadly don't), THIS is Haiji:
<center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wJ_vSc3Bamk&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wJ_vSc3Bamk&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br />
love.<br />
<br />
...and that's all. Tuesday is my last day of school (Monday is a holiday, 海の日 <i>umi no hi</i>, Marine/Ocean Day), and I have to give a closing speech I think... totally not prepared for that. :) and then on THURSDAY, I leave for America! (leave at 10 and get back at 9 the same day or something... hah.)<br />
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See you all really soon!!! :DUnknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-17206980648427323792010-07-15T21:04:00.007+09:002010-07-17T14:18:13.172+09:00Purikura & some other pictures which are moderately humorous (and some bad English)First of all, those 'other pictures' mentioned in the title of this post:<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lnLVHY6c-W3DVqjflBnMx_0vTMmq1TV7tQhu3Jfw-awR6nxkMnWyAeiRpSUpLsZWEXtxpEjUxPYjaTmiv7crfF-uCcgfA7Z-b8OmUDoQox2Ci7TY_er2ibDyc5d7l3sksn7YZ9WZR-E/s1600/IMG_3001.jpg" rel="lightbox[rowingwithoneleg]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lnLVHY6c-W3DVqjflBnMx_0vTMmq1TV7tQhu3Jfw-awR6nxkMnWyAeiRpSUpLsZWEXtxpEjUxPYjaTmiv7crfF-uCcgfA7Z-b8OmUDoQox2Ci7TY_er2ibDyc5d7l3sksn7YZ9WZR-E/s200/IMG_3001.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
You CANNOT SURVIVE IN JAPAN without knowing this word.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBxzb0060Av1Xvd-d8iIA8rQG-ghfdKZKnIExg9mBw8VCE1iuyE3tW_dJGI2yNBhjAaEMFEU1zEtPpkqmQze2Ci2xKOwDwioSg9Lq936nuAuU3_nK0ufF6pWi75-tYZ4MzRmeb7wwXXps/s1600/IMG_3002.jpg" rel="lightbox[rowingwithoneleg]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBxzb0060Av1Xvd-d8iIA8rQG-ghfdKZKnIExg9mBw8VCE1iuyE3tW_dJGI2yNBhjAaEMFEU1zEtPpkqmQze2Ci2xKOwDwioSg9Lq936nuAuU3_nK0ufF6pWi75-tYZ4MzRmeb7wwXXps/s200/IMG_3002.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
How evolution worked in Japan (which actually didn't even happen if you read my favorite book mentioned earlier, "Stories About Jesus")<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvlCVKRCEkamOdw3LNeEH1NgM7KwGO4VQ5mJiu0xfdEyByr8R0NtVZwuwga0XL4Dbnbkc1bZnG6XMJ1IGVq-LsXpwwkmH_EvBJ5vZ6Ud_MHmp0hkxqp8lp56KHmQYyve47OEVr2fcqLSg/s1600/IMG_3012.jpg" rel="lightbox[rowingwithoneleg]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvlCVKRCEkamOdw3LNeEH1NgM7KwGO4VQ5mJiu0xfdEyByr8R0NtVZwuwga0XL4Dbnbkc1bZnG6XMJ1IGVq-LsXpwwkmH_EvBJ5vZ6Ud_MHmp0hkxqp8lp56KHmQYyve47OEVr2fcqLSg/s200/IMG_3012.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY5JyOcvbvtDzmSK6ARVw6yM2A1ZH7nB0ZtfsoB9Q1h8j06045nzJwmHKWadT-UZCaZVGI2xgSnUZ1bf1ilIuSZKPTG858w0DfVxiduvSQJX2oKp3box1Eb7HeGLWudKa4gUS5npgPsxY/s1600/IMG_3013.jpg" rel="lightbox[rowingwithoneleg]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY5JyOcvbvtDzmSK6ARVw6yM2A1ZH7nB0ZtfsoB9Q1h8j06045nzJwmHKWadT-UZCaZVGI2xgSnUZ1bf1ilIuSZKPTG858w0DfVxiduvSQJX2oKp3box1Eb7HeGLWudKa4gUS5npgPsxY/s200/IMG_3013.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
I broke out laughing in the middle of English class. (I want a robot that acts like a <i>cat</i> (not just a dog or a seal), <b>and</b> detects landmines, now what.)</center><br />
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AND THEN. After school I did purikura with the 語学部 (<i>gogaku-bu</i>, language club) at school of which I am a part of. If you don't know what purikura is, Google it (or <a href="http://www.japanvisitor.com/index.php?cID=359&pID=1446">click here</a> if you're too lazy to). Basically we were all like LOLOL XDD WEEABOO PEACE FINGERS TEENAGE-GIRL FACES AND MAKEUP and then decorated ourselves with pens and animals and stuff.<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFdXITkYHjO98NwOacTlvKl_hkatZpGQlSw5XVoxcb_3-7Ncq-oa2H3xlxhMFnKueSC96-qj6mAkkyBXmixAyPxTgu11zJq5EilqvENVhQGuSfk_881TeXFh-pheSIXmr6zyf1zHZdvSk/s1600/IMG_3057.jpg" rel="lightbox[purikura]"><img border="0" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFdXITkYHjO98NwOacTlvKl_hkatZpGQlSw5XVoxcb_3-7Ncq-oa2H3xlxhMFnKueSC96-qj6mAkkyBXmixAyPxTgu11zJq5EilqvENVhQGuSfk_881TeXFh-pheSIXmr6zyf1zHZdvSk/s200/IMG_3057.jpg" width="150" /></a></center><br />
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It was pretty fun. I played Pokémon SoulSilver all day in school today 'cause I was SUPER bored (in the same room all day - no gym/computer/music classes). Don't tell. :><br />
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Also random stuff I have no other place to mention:<br />
<ul><li>Nobody has black umbrellas in Japan. If you use one, people will tell you it looks like Totoro's... just because it's black.</li>
</ul>...yeah, that's it. Engrish time.<br />
<ul><li>Precious shiny stones / Keep shining and / it polishes beautifully</li>
<li>One touch sport jug is water supply for athlete. It can be carries conveniently for all sport , easy drinking and ecology.</li>
<li>FRESHNESS BURGER HERE</li>
<li>(in classmate's English notebook) helekoputa, connputa, banna</li>
<li>(on the purikura machine screen) It waits for a moment</li>
<li>Press English↔日本語 button for English Expression.</li>
</ul><br />
...<br />
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SEE YOU ALL IN A WEEK. :DUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-23898713787496560672010-07-14T20:16:00.000+09:002010-07-14T20:16:26.869+09:00Short UpdateOnly a week left from tomorrow. wow. Time sure has gone fast. However, I do have some mixed feelings-- I think 6 weeks is just the perfect amount of time. :)<br />
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Hopefully I'll be able to go shopping soon and buy lots of presents and stuff.<br />
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In other news, I watched UP three nights ago (in Japanese, "kaaru-jiisan no sora tobu ie" - Grandpa Carl's Flying House in the Sky... still laughing about that :D ) and last night Summer Wars (for maybe like the fifth time in all). :) yayyyy.<br />
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See you all soon!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-84439522893355176922010-07-11T20:16:00.003+09:002010-07-13T19:36:19.643+09:00Johgi Nyorai Saihoji Temple (AND TONS OF PICTURES)<b>EDIT:</b> Okay, the pictures really messed up here. I think I'm missing a few too... I'm kinda rushed so yeah. I'll fix later (probably meaning when I get home)... sorry! They will, of course, all be on my Facebook too, along with all the tons of other pictures which I haven't posted here. :)<br />
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<b>*****</b><br />
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Well, what is the "Johgi Nyorai Saihoji Temple," you may ask? It just happens to be the name of the temple/shrine place I went to today--a Buddhist temple located in the hills about 40 minutes away from my house! :D<br />
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On the way there we saw a couple getting married, standing on a bridge overhead. We waved and they waved back. :)<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg464Hnbstri5S_h6eqACWkPOSnEgCmDYoCV5hs2pcp6f_KP-I2r6na6-xY_52SCHwokx8cVrC9YO2riLfdMSHn_gZ1kVF1iR_mjycGPGIZShfmsBozw6LzNsM-vhzKRHVJX6s0m-Rf9no/s1600/IMG_2605.jpg" rel="lightbox[noagegap]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg464Hnbstri5S_h6eqACWkPOSnEgCmDYoCV5hs2pcp6f_KP-I2r6na6-xY_52SCHwokx8cVrC9YO2riLfdMSHn_gZ1kVF1iR_mjycGPGIZShfmsBozw6LzNsM-vhzKRHVJX6s0m-Rf9no/s200/IMG_2605.jpg" width="75" /></a></center><br />
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I also saw many rice paddies and when we stopped to get gas, they put the gas in the car for you... and then gave you a towel to wipe the insides of your windows with while they wiped the outsides. Pretty neat. :D The scenery really was beautiful... but the temple was even more so! (is that the correct use of 'more so'? Google isn't really helping.) First, we went over and in a little cup you filled up with water from a bamboo spoud, washed our hands. Then you drank some of the water from your hands and spit it into the rocks (I accidentally drank mine). After that, we went over and paid 100円 for a candle and some incense-- we lit the candle and stuck it on a ... pick thing (pictures later and you'll get what I'm talking about) and then prayed (or something)... and with the incense, made circles in ash and then lit it on fire and afterwards stuck it in the ash to burn with the rest of them (and then prayed some more). We then threw in a 5円 coin in to a big wooden rectangle and prayed once again. :P <br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8c8vIDZMqfAyM-GDcgOEP_HxMLfzpM8KCYQaFYxr-T_wUrKkO4a-aCjJCWGlIDMD3uCBuq9ou_xIwD3bp6N3a04jnP-ssYEUhxk5OUmFptqy-WQKzR2jIAR0q2kQVK47XFR4Pt-LLPJw/s1600/IMG_2645.jpg" rel="lightbox[temple1]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8c8vIDZMqfAyM-GDcgOEP_HxMLfzpM8KCYQaFYxr-T_wUrKkO4a-aCjJCWGlIDMD3uCBuq9ou_xIwD3bp6N3a04jnP-ssYEUhxk5OUmFptqy-WQKzR2jIAR0q2kQVK47XFR4Pt-LLPJw/s320/IMG_2645.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib6BJObGMZT3vqlECMy-Ec9WeD3RtutWU82ddF3s-X5f6HvdX0X0_-q7UtwQMR1BdyU07u9WQzCavb5qbVQl4GaTggmmijKZ7c6zGS10dO92SqM85J6VXvI9Femja5_ZjQ0AXp3ozEvMk/s1600/IMG_2657.jpg" rel="lightbox[temple1]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib6BJObGMZT3vqlECMy-Ec9WeD3RtutWU82ddF3s-X5f6HvdX0X0_-q7UtwQMR1BdyU07u9WQzCavb5qbVQl4GaTggmmijKZ7c6zGS10dO92SqM85J6VXvI9Femja5_ZjQ0AXp3ozEvMk/s320/IMG_2657.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAEpPeyC7mj8zbB4ht4q5wBT5Iu9hD7hzTugEpPXY5XSKseTGV8cqgJyeGfrmEy6L_GGZ3dj2ykYpeY6lCugCUUKjSB4jj4qbIlI01LkIeIxdSjOAnzYgUvurY7j2ZxUGAqoThO8lfhGQ/s1600/IMG_2658.jpg" rel="lightbox[temple1]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAEpPeyC7mj8zbB4ht4q5wBT5Iu9hD7hzTugEpPXY5XSKseTGV8cqgJyeGfrmEy6L_GGZ3dj2ykYpeY6lCugCUUKjSB4jj4qbIlI01LkIeIxdSjOAnzYgUvurY7j2ZxUGAqoThO8lfhGQ/s320/IMG_2658.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgJA50lTtz27esVJ__dZ7v5Gq_jJzfM8-QskjHXIrbVErQqfvBNaCDymBn_ATtS88aQLOVcwlvtceZnKYOvEpbCwtYcKaIXE32nOp-S9rbjpYwel_6x8B7SDAPUR8HZ6uHQBz0Spr7P5I/s1600/IMG_2659.jpg" rel="lightbox[temple1]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgJA50lTtz27esVJ__dZ7v5Gq_jJzfM8-QskjHXIrbVErQqfvBNaCDymBn_ATtS88aQLOVcwlvtceZnKYOvEpbCwtYcKaIXE32nOp-S9rbjpYwel_6x8B7SDAPUR8HZ6uHQBz0Spr7P5I/s320/IMG_2659.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgubrLgkkWfXoz6f13rc4Lbn74uwoW16B5fd4v31vj76ch1fGoLY29GlvVfqdSdObC6nljkaTqzu3hKil2x7BANqPLRKsFd2Vh8SV48fHsFEb9X2XjB1ungLAlucFZj0M8b8dlBx1Y8Zu4/s1600/IMG_2660.jpg" rel="lightbox[temple1]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgubrLgkkWfXoz6f13rc4Lbn74uwoW16B5fd4v31vj76ch1fGoLY29GlvVfqdSdObC6nljkaTqzu3hKil2x7BANqPLRKsFd2Vh8SV48fHsFEb9X2XjB1ungLAlucFZj0M8b8dlBx1Y8Zu4/s320/IMG_2660.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Uskvd1-p9GD2I4psPelAhlqKW4ySszj0-ISZnj_YusUI3dpH-N7-vV1rZtw8i-eCM4ZC4VYa5Qwi_L8VxVZlRjBKCpnNuY1E7Q1qZqqRyXoVatrGheB28KBf1QQ8IBBAk2Zvw5367v8/s1600/IMG_2661_IMG_2627.jpg" rel="lightbox[temple1]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Uskvd1-p9GD2I4psPelAhlqKW4ySszj0-ISZnj_YusUI3dpH-N7-vV1rZtw8i-eCM4ZC4VYa5Qwi_L8VxVZlRjBKCpnNuY1E7Q1qZqqRyXoVatrGheB28KBf1QQ8IBBAk2Zvw5367v8/s320/IMG_2661_IMG_2627.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM9mhOyyP8bBjoPj7DRJy9K6K-G545M98nmv4ur4D6WqVwegHGkh99lq6j3bO4ZRkc_avcrh1TC1TVSFjXZcqMGNcp6lgeXmJiZNuXAgRqpqCcsUr4G89R-F6QJEbZxast7rQkCTzd2O4/s1600/IMG_2668.jpg" rel="lightbox[temple1]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM9mhOyyP8bBjoPj7DRJy9K6K-G545M98nmv4ur4D6WqVwegHGkh99lq6j3bO4ZRkc_avcrh1TC1TVSFjXZcqMGNcp6lgeXmJiZNuXAgRqpqCcsUr4G89R-F6QJEbZxast7rQkCTzd2O4/s320/IMG_2668.jpg" width="75" /></a></center><br />
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We then entered the main temple... which was BEAUTIFUL. So much intricate detail... it was stunning. We sat down as a person said prayers and other complex Japanese things I obviously couldn't understand. Afterwards two people (monks? whatever you call them if they're Buddhist) read off names for good luck and wished you to do something well (whatever you wrote on your card that you gave to some other people earlier, I think). Outside we saw people buying wooden slabs with animals on them and writing their wish on the back, and then hanging them up... :)<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCUpw4nhiZL17YLQ6bK4nVX32HfB-7hPNfMwnp5hhZZ6xHQx5kGfkOj2OPC4BQzgMUvcTWS9Q7QubsczRtrITHaChZYkKSrAqyDufYfMlYTf1b5d2SLaZb-5_xjeGtSb65D2yIHvHhWoA/s1600/IMG_2677.jpg" rel="lightbox[temple2]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCUpw4nhiZL17YLQ6bK4nVX32HfB-7hPNfMwnp5hhZZ6xHQx5kGfkOj2OPC4BQzgMUvcTWS9Q7QubsczRtrITHaChZYkKSrAqyDufYfMlYTf1b5d2SLaZb-5_xjeGtSb65D2yIHvHhWoA/s320/IMG_2677.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSC31cABQ0mt_XeATiAD__Xv95h0_Pzsxrt6YsaOGyt9Rx-GC7nYrLlFmNvmXbO4wCDDMjjSXkY9vXfhnaDNNAaT1BwK1Z6hkJwE1cnRTh_9etk9xuP6g0X2nB_AelbRRbD3KzUq38tTs/s1600/IMG_2680.jpg" rel="lightbox[temple2]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSC31cABQ0mt_XeATiAD__Xv95h0_Pzsxrt6YsaOGyt9Rx-GC7nYrLlFmNvmXbO4wCDDMjjSXkY9vXfhnaDNNAaT1BwK1Z6hkJwE1cnRTh_9etk9xuP6g0X2nB_AelbRRbD3KzUq38tTs/s320/IMG_2680.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz9D1IKe3wlDbT9pDRKIPihrlruGE0aA0RUDcIFA2KnnktSof6mHv8762Kmv7rQGWBqR5AgIpWrM_QOcNJSFEREjsIsGMDCe9_99h8y-kmIqlMqEsUpvWymVfjJGc-XSOL0GoIOsFLE_I/s1600/IMG_2692.jpg" rel="lightbox[temple2]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz9D1IKe3wlDbT9pDRKIPihrlruGE0aA0RUDcIFA2KnnktSof6mHv8762Kmv7rQGWBqR5AgIpWrM_QOcNJSFEREjsIsGMDCe9_99h8y-kmIqlMqEsUpvWymVfjJGc-XSOL0GoIOsFLE_I/s320/IMG_2692.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQGNZqFESZ8-aF4bN0MuxufnQt8QTMMe7CdDSTM1pMw9qThx8HFJq9F0s8MFTimfXNBDxRS4b7L824jqPFokrYp4lICgCvQKBWnaqvdrvjAWGJCew7K67DzmllGeV82wS-RyUFAnKXyew/s1600/IMG_2697.jpg" rel="lightbox[temple2]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQGNZqFESZ8-aF4bN0MuxufnQt8QTMMe7CdDSTM1pMw9qThx8HFJq9F0s8MFTimfXNBDxRS4b7L824jqPFokrYp4lICgCvQKBWnaqvdrvjAWGJCew7K67DzmllGeV82wS-RyUFAnKXyew/s320/IMG_2697.jpg" /></a><br />
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We explored some more, went inside some buildings, saw some fishies and even ate some tofu (which was fried so I didn't absolutely hate it). Then we didn't get ice cream even though they said we would and then WHAT THE HECK THERE'S ANOTHER TEMPLE PLACE. It was hiding in the trees! This one had a big bell that I rang, but my mom wouldn't because it was too embarrassing, apparently.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTYghCXD7RJPJA5KjZFnsJYFTjPoaS7yIC6uuI9bVK5irzbb2IzEwuarK9kdQXaaNhS5UL_nPcFp83BxUYaC2-IokPT23wM2zb6Tungvzq3Y6WaB0PhJYNuzMz3tktpAswcLctU2bNeLc/s1600/IMG_2782.jpg" rel="lightbox[temple3]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTYghCXD7RJPJA5KjZFnsJYFTjPoaS7yIC6uuI9bVK5irzbb2IzEwuarK9kdQXaaNhS5UL_nPcFp83BxUYaC2-IokPT23wM2zb6Tungvzq3Y6WaB0PhJYNuzMz3tktpAswcLctU2bNeLc/s320/IMG_2782.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2W6Ty0JJekgPanT2bh5AzfsPtrryj_wz1eNtYYFg5Jy3nZ5tm0pQolaNd0JEK3QFjlHy-Mh_8sIgsSZBPrI4UTm1thtGb_p6cu3qzyh5rVV9bgc0U-H3qPIV-1Zm5sutuSeSvhPFyny4/s1600/IMG_2783.jpg" rel="lightbox[temple3]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2W6Ty0JJekgPanT2bh5AzfsPtrryj_wz1eNtYYFg5Jy3nZ5tm0pQolaNd0JEK3QFjlHy-Mh_8sIgsSZBPrI4UTm1thtGb_p6cu3qzyh5rVV9bgc0U-H3qPIV-1Zm5sutuSeSvhPFyny4/s320/IMG_2783.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuM0c5LneI9PgVAKjQqco5867S5rkpZ16VEpCjCEaE8BoGllnYLUleenNog7iJLibXihpfktg3MQRY9_Kh6457XFrOpeUAMNFqnE4aPSk30AOSyPobhWRbSrG0OGW6vMACzOvLBBM4wYc/s1600/IMG_2790.jpg" rel="lightbox[temple3]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuM0c5LneI9PgVAKjQqco5867S5rkpZ16VEpCjCEaE8BoGllnYLUleenNog7iJLibXihpfktg3MQRY9_Kh6457XFrOpeUAMNFqnE4aPSk30AOSyPobhWRbSrG0OGW6vMACzOvLBBM4wYc/s320/IMG_2790.jpg" width="75" /></a></center><br />
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After that we went to eat some very AMAZING AND DELICIOUS ramen which is nothing like the instant-noodles that exist in America. This stuff is hardcore, salt/soy-sauce/misoshiru (miso soup) flavored noodles and broth with meat, vegetables and some awesome spiraly <a href="http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/833/kamaboko.jpg">kamaboko</a> (I shouldn't still need to tell you that the blue text is a link). But before that, we went to get some fruits and vegetables... and I saw some cherries that were SEVENTY-TWO DOLLARS. Some of the lower priced ones were around $45 or $20... one pack was only $5 but they were all yellow. Cherries are SUPER expensive in Japan, and usually treated as a desert (along with pizza-- that's a 'dessert' or delicacy too). Oh, also, the pet bird likes eating my socks.<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3kUrLTDSOThyo26k5US7lziXBEzBz9fwTVU-Aa8Cs_MWsfJQEKPu-X-HElTR8GfNV2hl0HzGX5no4ajSgc5ljL-_dT0eCD7-9yClKDlgsjTNnbHRu_7SOQQh0hcl1pWabwYjDv76vPHA/s1600/IMG_2832.jpg" rel="lightbox[popacherry]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3kUrLTDSOThyo26k5US7lziXBEzBz9fwTVU-Aa8Cs_MWsfJQEKPu-X-HElTR8GfNV2hl0HzGX5no4ajSgc5ljL-_dT0eCD7-9yClKDlgsjTNnbHRu_7SOQQh0hcl1pWabwYjDv76vPHA/s320/IMG_2832.jpg" width="75" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSfcykzRHdsUh8wwzi-UN2swQopMwbibRNWbnGNTN8LZiyvSC37H5vx9aYWfiTIWVoxhle-R6e-MCjAf9BWBGvQkDKTw1OPFTZOwPF8cpTl0xoyMl_XV5sourYQEwXN4e8hSA3E0TOiXE/s1600/IMG_2852.jpg" rel="lightbox[popacherry]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSfcykzRHdsUh8wwzi-UN2swQopMwbibRNWbnGNTN8LZiyvSC37H5vx9aYWfiTIWVoxhle-R6e-MCjAf9BWBGvQkDKTw1OPFTZOwPF8cpTl0xoyMl_XV5sourYQEwXN4e8hSA3E0TOiXE/s320/IMG_2852.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSWifB0cg1BJMqgJjJn2wUoNH1c0YySLPEoHbx0yTIrur4aEonFBk3o9nYcQqAt7Hk7sRkbf8Gap0U1i8riDz0pAfQY3R0oldA2WazejmJ8uC8ny48obloyBZCPsDI8eYPWq6kMsWAEs0/s1600/IMG_2853.jpg" rel="lightbox[popacherry]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSWifB0cg1BJMqgJjJn2wUoNH1c0YySLPEoHbx0yTIrur4aEonFBk3o9nYcQqAt7Hk7sRkbf8Gap0U1i8riDz0pAfQY3R0oldA2WazejmJ8uC8ny48obloyBZCPsDI8eYPWq6kMsWAEs0/s320/IMG_2853.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje6GYJT7fhr5u7nyKOeiwwSumB3HapHG3QVQ7RQb1a77s0xzgl4g4qou5hfK0o_evmsgRFI5y0UEVvS9QsJMad160jZ8rkJnfqElVDMNxVa6xRIKbnWXuTrcjhDP4u8Cl0qfr9DOOv-Yw/s1600/IMG_2877.jpg" rel="lightbox[popacherry]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje6GYJT7fhr5u7nyKOeiwwSumB3HapHG3QVQ7RQb1a77s0xzgl4g4qou5hfK0o_evmsgRFI5y0UEVvS9QsJMad160jZ8rkJnfqElVDMNxVa6xRIKbnWXuTrcjhDP4u8Cl0qfr9DOOv-Yw/s320/IMG_2877.jpg" width="75" /></a></center><br />
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IS THAT ENOUGH PICTURES FOR YOU EVERYBODY? :P<br />
<br />
And that's it for now. 11 DAYS LEFT. ;____________; SO SAD. Tomorrow will be the start of my last week at school (except for next Tuesday, which will be my actual last day).<br />
<br />
Bye for now. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-83331406368881839592010-07-10T20:12:00.001+09:002010-07-10T20:37:10.874+09:00YFU stuff at MeySenAs the title suggests, I went to MeySen (the Takamori campus) once more to attend the YFU meeting with my host brother and mom, as he's going to America in August. I also saw a friend from YFU there with her host sister. THE SLIDES THERE ARE RIDICULOUSLY LONG AND THEY HAVE HUGE PLAYGROUNDS. One of the many (probably around 10+) slides there was 23 meters (~75.5 feet) and the other 29 meters (~95 feet). So fun. It took me 8 seconds to get to the bottom... and it was FAST. And then there was this one slide that had this HUGE drop-- it scared me. :P You see a couple huge slides and a big playground (and a beautiful waterfall, too!) at first, but once climbing through the trees in metal-bar tunnels and such, you see there are tons and tons of more playgrounds and stuff. It's just... ridiculously cool. I walked the long path around the lake too. :) It really was beautiful. ...and of course I did all this during the meeting which was all in Japanese (the principal told me to "feel free to step out"). There were also ponies, a goat, a ram, some birds, rabbits, chinchillas, a prairie dog and a super loud bird that was going to be returned to the petshop because it was too loud for the kindergartners ( :( ).I couldn't take any pictures though as I forgot my camera... AGAIN. My host brother sternly told me that "I didn't need it"<br />
though, and hurriedly rushed me out of the house before I could even put my socks on.<br />
I also got pictures from the high school camp at MeySen. These four that I'm posting are online on MeySen's website too, so I don't think they'll really mind if I post them here, too. :)<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9JGcaoke9DaD-DgJ69oAmfgjUn0iXi1HbbbztFF43tiy4ZEMg6yWfdYzeWsHeLU4v3qzoj2wmqa26y0inRCO1-qFIqaFFsmRCeQsEeMERrg3L8_dOIG0vLGrr11Uv_HLxPooDv2VhFA/s1600/IMG_3970.JPG" rel="lightbox[meysenhscamp]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9JGcaoke9DaD-DgJ69oAmfgjUn0iXi1HbbbztFF43tiy4ZEMg6yWfdYzeWsHeLU4v3qzoj2wmqa26y0inRCO1-qFIqaFFsmRCeQsEeMERrg3L8_dOIG0vLGrr11Uv_HLxPooDv2VhFA/s200/IMG_3970.JPG" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWqeOwLHPfNDzk4rmVZvlu3Rov7f6Dyg3avQY5BwVbCynzXMTYmiEp8T-adjPeK5yNxD64pinofNE3rs2T0fQcomUfqE7uROjDR6o7MhhvsRuazfOv2JeEa1nRh9hl-TR0YC_XWdcDXLI/s1600/IMG_4100.JPG" rel="lightbox[meysenhscamp]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWqeOwLHPfNDzk4rmVZvlu3Rov7f6Dyg3avQY5BwVbCynzXMTYmiEp8T-adjPeK5yNxD64pinofNE3rs2T0fQcomUfqE7uROjDR6o7MhhvsRuazfOv2JeEa1nRh9hl-TR0YC_XWdcDXLI/s200/IMG_4100.JPG" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUayH8XiBJME58dOYWlAfgGOiXIl9PWexM0ODedFzHzOvzOtqI96bJcurkMO23yX_9DAuFy8CbOQWN0tyHUGk7BcIDfgL0LqUoap8z0PmrcezRuYwtVZd3yhKir0QO4Ndy7MxJgSXULj8/s1600/IMG_4110.JPG" rel="lightbox[meysenhscamp]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUayH8XiBJME58dOYWlAfgGOiXIl9PWexM0ODedFzHzOvzOtqI96bJcurkMO23yX_9DAuFy8CbOQWN0tyHUGk7BcIDfgL0LqUoap8z0PmrcezRuYwtVZd3yhKir0QO4Ndy7MxJgSXULj8/s200/IMG_4110.JPG" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYnKBusBBOfsoHk9XpX6tfNBhhght-HtbWy5vbUlK_rQvMsJrYRJ3PiTKyLR_SMg6gzrEe_EGKdfrmXi2ymKqm07cjY9wykpWNrAFyMr-42ZKVDHADXO03Y-Ejf4VrHQawJPP44vjjA_c/s1600/IMG_4142.JPG" rel="lightbox[meysenhscamp]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYnKBusBBOfsoHk9XpX6tfNBhhght-HtbWy5vbUlK_rQvMsJrYRJ3PiTKyLR_SMg6gzrEe_EGKdfrmXi2ymKqm07cjY9wykpWNrAFyMr-42ZKVDHADXO03Y-Ejf4VrHQawJPP44vjjA_c/s200/IMG_4142.JPG" width="75" /></a></center><br />
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I also saw some 学園祭 (<i>gakuensai</i>, school festivals) going on, but I didn't get to go to any.<br />
<br />
...and that's all that has really happened in the past few days that's been all that exciting. I've gotten to page four in my Oreimo book (WHOOP WHOOP)... considering I've been translating EVERYTHING I don't completely understand, along with finding out how to pronounce all the kanji without furigana. (And in case you don't know, furigana is tiny little hiragana to the side/on top of kanji telling you how to read it.)<br />
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There's talk of karaoke and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_booth#Purikura">purikura</a> next week (again, that's a link, so click if you don't know what it is), and I'm pretty sure we're going to a shrine/temple tomorrow with my host mom's mother. I'm excited. :D :)<br />
<br />
Bai bai for now. :3Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-518655874180518252010-07-07T19:14:00.005+09:002010-07-20T19:32:45.612+09:00Ikebana & Movies & Books & School (all very related, of course)After school yesterday I (along with the rest of the 留学生 (<i>ryuugakusei</i>, exchange students)) participated in Ikebana club... flower arranging. It was actually very fun, and I found that Ikebana is very very beautiful. :) My host mom has an Ikebana license (licenses exist for everything in Japan, 本当) and had me arrange the flowers once again once I got home!!<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgKRSFN1y5D9G4KI7t5qAlV2lVhh-vagIYWqFw1HeFZt7XAxxf_eRBeW2XJ8ewy_bG1lwiClvTCWDrgdAA-G6R3ZNur61w5mSURDfutg3UYT44lJBjLW_G9KbHwpQaVU__Q8yYZ8PRMOk/s1600/IMG_2398.jpg" imageanchor="1" rel="lightbox[ikebana]"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgKRSFN1y5D9G4KI7t5qAlV2lVhh-vagIYWqFw1HeFZt7XAxxf_eRBeW2XJ8ewy_bG1lwiClvTCWDrgdAA-G6R3ZNur61w5mSURDfutg3UYT44lJBjLW_G9KbHwpQaVU__Q8yYZ8PRMOk/s200/IMG_2398.jpg" width="113" /></a></center><br />
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Last night I went to a movie/music rental shop and a used book place. :D I saw lots of stuff I recognized and it was fantastic. I didn't bring my camera though. :< We rented Summer Wars as I wanted my mom to see it... not sure when (or if) we're going to watch it though. Best thing of the night: the movie <i>UP</i>'s Japanese title: カールじいさんの空飛ぶ家 (<i>kaaru-jiisan no sora tobu ie</i>) meaning Grandpa Carl's Flying House in the Sky... HAHAHA SO FANTASTIC. My family finds it funny too. :P "Cheaper by the Dozen" in Japanese is "12人のパパ" (literally: 12 people's papa) and "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" is "くもりときどきミートボール" (<i>kumori tokidoki miitobooru</i>, literally: cloudy sometimes meatball). Also "Where the Wild Things Are" is "かいじゅうたちのいるところ" (literally: monster's existing place)... :) (also: Anna-- 時々/tokidoki :D )<br />
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I bought books for like 100円 each and it was fantastic. Here's a picture of all the anime stuff (books/magazines/manga/etc.) I have... as of now :D<br />
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<center><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7X0RLjbWvrpzT0BQJDzFxpzB0uqRMlm2qTlzsN65V7fR7JZgp88H-yjSfztcrRbacRHPfOJbXK94sHaq4Uo37dtxHX5oTULEdeebrnIBqkei8c0AZV1Oxyj6Aywl6tse2B0B7aWXrrV4/s1600/IMG_2417.jpg" rel="lightbox[bookoff]"><img border="0" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7X0RLjbWvrpzT0BQJDzFxpzB0uqRMlm2qTlzsN65V7fR7JZgp88H-yjSfztcrRbacRHPfOJbXK94sHaq4Uo37dtxHX5oTULEdeebrnIBqkei8c0AZV1Oxyj6Aywl6tse2B0B7aWXrrV4/s200/IMG_2417.jpg" width="150" /></a><br />
</center><br />
<br />
My family is VERY rushed (or so it seems), and I can't go on the computer a lot... my mom says I can only use it for an hour... (I assume that means daily, or something?) but I'm not going to check my email or make blog posts every day. (regarding your comment, sorry Michael :P ) My host brother turns on his desk light early in the morning (aka around 5) or late at night (aka around 12) so he can sit there and do his cell phone... what. It's kind of annoying me. Next time he does it I'll complain and then pretend to be asleep when he answers in a monotonous voice.<br />
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Now on a more positive subject... Today in school I exchanged "info cards" with my classmates (for the record I'm in 1年5組 (class 1-5) ... 1 being first year) and right now a few are emailing me. :) Japan cell phones don't have texting, so everyone sends mail on their phone which is their kind of text messaging... so "emails" oftentimes only contain a few words... or characters. Some of the drawings (for the portrait section) on the cards are very funny... most very terrible... but some super cute and amazing. :D About half the people wrote down "Listen to music" "I like to watch movie" or "I like to watch TV" on their cards under the "hobbyies/interests" section (yes, hobbyies). :) And one person wrote down "socoer" under that section which made me giggle inside.<br />
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Sorry for that lack of pictures again... >_><br />
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Until next time, bai bai. :DUnknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-32168511939670769472010-07-05T21:04:00.001+09:002010-07-20T19:32:51.169+09:00ANIMATE & MeySen & School TodayMeySen was SO fun. totally worth the 4000円 I paid for it (hah, first time mentioning that. about $40)<br />
<br />
Well, Shun and I left at 9:40 AM to go to the Marayama MeySen campus... though Shun's mom didn't know that it was moved to the Takamori campus and starting at 3 PM... SO INSTEAD WE WENT TO ANIMATE. OH MY GOD. love. Animate (アニメイト, <i>animeito</i>) is that store that I went to in Akiba back in Tokyo... and I was like oh my god heaven. We also went to GAMERS, a store that sells basically the same type of stuff. :P I bought magazines. and some other stuff. OH AND I ALSO BOUGHT THE FIRST VOLUME OF THE OREIMO LIGHT NOVEL (which I can barely read). :D Oreimo, in case you don't remember me saying before, is short for "俺の妹がこんなに可愛いわけがない" (<i>Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai</i> ... meaning "My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute" of course. :)<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2T0BoHl1_eVsjkeZ3Hzf4zplSF9ZXZc5fU_DMt8mayR5y5UGNb3keyF491tGSA7J9wMQc3q84KRRGhYYOtPYrXAzspjONVu9JBVVpNqLs9elWST8I46VoPfA7uThYjEXVIFj-3Dyq2Rk/s1600/IMG_2349.jpg" rel="lightbox[animuheaven]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2T0BoHl1_eVsjkeZ3Hzf4zplSF9ZXZc5fU_DMt8mayR5y5UGNb3keyF491tGSA7J9wMQc3q84KRRGhYYOtPYrXAzspjONVu9JBVVpNqLs9elWST8I46VoPfA7uThYjEXVIFj-3Dyq2Rk/s200/IMG_2349.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8XejMof0SCSnG2CET8K2b26Ra2ceKFWxfz25NdIxEGzNgsHsdUOaiAf6iI-ifhgtCa1fah5bZKcXDpvsgdKLNwZcQxQdwR_m95u3_6LKmcoqrkb3ODFs8vY3JanHFzEKxtbw68a0J2lY/s1600/IMG_2351.jpg" rel="lightbox[animuheaven]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8XejMof0SCSnG2CET8K2b26Ra2ceKFWxfz25NdIxEGzNgsHsdUOaiAf6iI-ifhgtCa1fah5bZKcXDpvsgdKLNwZcQxQdwR_m95u3_6LKmcoqrkb3ODFs8vY3JanHFzEKxtbw68a0J2lY/s200/IMG_2351.jpg" width="75" /></a></center><br />
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After Animate and all that stuff, Shun, his mom and I walked around some. I got to eat ひょうたん揚げ (<i>hyoutanage</i>), which is, well... <a href="http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/9717/abehyoutan.jpg">this stuff</a> (that's a link-- click it for a picture!). It's two balls of fish paste surrounded with some cooked... dough, or something... shaped like a gourd. :D It was SUPER delicious. We also did a little prayer thing where we put in 10円 and rang a bell. :) very fun. Also, Shun's house is AMAZING-- they have a cabinet in the dining room with TONS of those Japanese dolls in them, and under the table is a space for your feet. and in that space is a thing for you to play with with your feet (don't correct me about the two 'with's in a row, MICHAEL).<br />
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<br />
Anyways, back to MeySen stuff... SO FUN. All the teachers were really nice and funny, and so were the kids. :) There were about 60 people at the camp in all someone told me... but I also remember there were 27 boys and 17 girls. ...how does that work out. were there really 16 先生 (<i>sensei</i>, teacher) there? hmmm...<br />
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BUT YEAH. First, since it was so hot, we had a water fight for an hour. and it was super fun. After camp I learned that you're supposed to say "hen na kibun" instead of "hen na kimochi"... "hen na kimochi" is usually used as a phrase meaning "sexual excitement." maybe I shouldn't have said that when multiple 13-year-old girls were dousing me with water .___. or maybe I should have? :D (just a joke - WEEEOOOHWEEEOOOH SOMEONE CALL THE YFU POLICE!!!11111oneonetwo) Oh God but the best thing was when during the water fight; everyone had huge water tube guns (like the ones from our Grand Canyon & Colorado River rafting trip last summer, Mom) and buckets which they filled with water... after blasting a teacher from afar, he filled up his bucket, chased me, and dumped all the water on my head while screaming "I LOVE THESE BAPTISMS!!!!!!!!" oh my god I laughed SO HARD for so long... I'm laughing now while my host mom in the other room is telling me that I'm strange. :)<br />
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Then it was time for foodstuffs. but before eating dinner, we prayed over our food. lol. most everyone was quite srs about it. (Y SO SRSですか。) After dinRAR, we had a treasure hunt in which my team got first place as we were the fastest. :) "Stations" included finding $3.00 in coins in slime, filling bottles with water from the WATERFALL (which was super cool, since it existed :P ), getting a clothespin from the pool and rearranging the English words to form a sentence. that last one was pretty easy for me until the teacher said that I couldn't do all the sentences for my team. :P That night we watched "Rainy with A Chance of Meatballs" with Japanese subtitles and stayed up until 1 AM watching the World Cup. :)<br />
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The next morning after not eating the eggs made with strange Japanese gummy-cheese, we went bowling which was really fun. :) I learned that most Japanese people are absolutely horrid at bowling, but those who aren't are amazing. therefore I didn't win a MeySen T-shirt (cry cry) but instead I won some PRETZELS, YAY. As my host mom was all paranoid about me bringing a camera (since the sheet said no video games or cell phones), I didn't get to bring my camera... even though it turned out to be allowed. Hopefully I shall get some pictures on a CD very soon. :)<br />
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Oh, and one more thing: all kindergartens, and many schools in Japan, have HUGE slides. LIKE, HUGE HUGE HUGE. The MeySen Takamori campus had this super long and high gorilla one. I didn't get to go down it at all though. ;_; They had ponies too. Like, real ponies. Here's a picture of the slide that I took off a YFU alumni's blog post:<br />
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<center><img src="http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/8786/img0926r.jpg" /></center><br />
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More pictures <a href="http://aoljapan.blogspot.com/2008/07/meysen-kindergarten.html">here</a> (the original blog post).<br />
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Everybody there was super nice and awesome (for lack of a better word). :D Especially Hinano (Hina-chan), who was omgsupercute too. :3 (she was 13-- have the police move down four paragraphs before it's too late!)<br />
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After MeySen, my host brother and Shun and I had to go shopping as he's going on a school trip for 3 days later this month in which he will climb a mountain. (yeah, high school trips in Japan are like that... and for ELEMENTARY school trips, they sometimes go to another country like America for a while... and if not, then they go to Tokyo Disneyland or something. but still totally different from America.) So we had to buy some shoes. In the stores I saw some pretty funny slogans, including "YOUR FIELD TURNS IT ON" and "Fresh up your life." And then I saw a kid wearing a shirt saying "Good dread DMC sister" ... don't even want know what that is supposed to mean.<br />
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<center><b>* * *</b></center><br />
AND THEN IN SCHOOL TODAY! (phew, I'm getting tired) First period was super fun with Bushaa-sensei-- we analyzed dialogue from <i>Avatar</i>. We learned words like "screwed," "damn" and "ass," but only after everyone being confused when a torch was thrown in the water and the character said "Oh, great" (sarcastically, of course... they don't use those types of expressions in Japanese). And then everybody took it literally when the line "Wait up!" was spoken... "why up??? a direction?? the sky???" as I thought about it, it actually does make no sense whatsoever. :) Language is truly fascinating-- perhaps I'll study it in college someday or something.<br />
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In computer class, I researched why people go to school and why people eat. I wrote about how we need to eat so we can get energy to ask questions such as that, and go to school so we can gain the knowledge to eat to ask questions like that. Then in math, I was the only one who knew the quadratic formula which we learned for the first time.<br />
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Language club after school was also fun, and since it lasted until 6:10 or so, I took the subway home (buses are at 4:07 and 5:07 only). On the subway (which actually doesn't run underground at all-- only the stations are underground) there were lots of adults playing Nintendo DSes and other gaming consoles... I don't think one sees that too much in America. :) <br />
<br />
...and that's all for now. Sorry for the lack of pictures-- I promise I shall post some soon! :)<br />
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Byeeeeee~ :>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-32527683464844118442010-07-02T19:27:00.007+09:002010-07-05T19:30:04.521+09:00Random pictures & MeySen (明泉)School has been [moderately] fun... but not really much to write about. :) Instead, pictures:<br />
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<center><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc2oy4QxM1UsnaapXtKXj7Gwf1mSjXmMBx7rGAO0co9Gxju4ZQrtCb7hdI53313XmVZXeD4Q3LCYJQunVZFHXfVI-jj1EyWoCPW5Gz8ZMs0BICBLC1ibAwwB1TBCUwspFxtHF8km09Qts/s1600/IMG_2233.jpg" rel="lightbox[meysenpost]"><img border="0" height="75" rel="lightbox[meysenpost]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc2oy4QxM1UsnaapXtKXj7Gwf1mSjXmMBx7rGAO0co9Gxju4ZQrtCb7hdI53313XmVZXeD4Q3LCYJQunVZFHXfVI-jj1EyWoCPW5Gz8ZMs0BICBLC1ibAwwB1TBCUwspFxtHF8km09Qts/s200/IMG_2233.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
Not going to try this-- especially since it has ION ELECTROLYTES in it.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizCEyzCNmPZf7GrmNHm_5o1wJI6vgBbh3HOaovrQaBYWB_tdqUP6NYuy3lQ_OOB34Ng9yb8J86nST0UAS65z71REhto-S_ChdJ-6qJSOv7jMOaAqX-DGmGmJLIZBlpLvk9ktulKtQldCU/s1600/IMG_2256.jpg" rel="lightbox[meysenpost]"><img border="0" height="75" rel="lightbox[meysenpost]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizCEyzCNmPZf7GrmNHm_5o1wJI6vgBbh3HOaovrQaBYWB_tdqUP6NYuy3lQ_OOB34Ng9yb8J86nST0UAS65z71REhto-S_ChdJ-6qJSOv7jMOaAqX-DGmGmJLIZBlpLvk9ktulKtQldCU/s200/IMG_2256.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
NHK, a childrens' television network. only in Japan...<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtDlu5uzmROxcwpGBDufSmdtz9AHpqqaiNg07fzjkoYgiNY0qOgChyDfNP59fzopFvrdAXljwHBNP-0CxW9Lm-mexKEbVNBnJbWvfUDmFl-TKTo4vJcqFfr2cLYUKHSnRH2xEsK-gDu14/s1600/IMG_2267.jpg" rel="lightbox[meysenpost]"><img border="0" height="75" rel="lightbox[meysenpost]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtDlu5uzmROxcwpGBDufSmdtz9AHpqqaiNg07fzjkoYgiNY0qOgChyDfNP59fzopFvrdAXljwHBNP-0CxW9Lm-mexKEbVNBnJbWvfUDmFl-TKTo4vJcqFfr2cLYUKHSnRH2xEsK-gDu14/s200/IMG_2267.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
On the way to school outside of a store named "JUNKs" ..... yeah.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8NO3fiXHfHRGNJd5kLuDMp4qBpwNVhyHh9rSlU9OpSO2w1M4rTbBSvJkVFWQdv9vYV5IbqZIAvCjuTBFD7YNOTXkOtnTigPNrJdpL8Xf98-NbPSYea3uCp5dSWwTKgzE-Bby8iGFB47w/s1600/IMG_2282.jpg" rel="lightbox[meysenpost]"><img border="0" height="75" rel="lightbox[meysenpost]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8NO3fiXHfHRGNJd5kLuDMp4qBpwNVhyHh9rSlU9OpSO2w1M4rTbBSvJkVFWQdv9vYV5IbqZIAvCjuTBFD7YNOTXkOtnTigPNrJdpL8Xf98-NbPSYea3uCp5dSWwTKgzE-Bby8iGFB47w/s200/IMG_2282.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
This is why MeySen exists (second part of this post for more info)<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibDJzk5SUzR1uhWzI70du622golvqA6DQk65X1vyXevHN4YxHxmlVCb7luwrv6LnzqIpLrHKuJs7qKv-HazarjFPI8bC3ADUZKXwVzbO5tel9FNiqjuAcyxoqpw29QIUAdOsahlcXmuoI/s1600/IMG_2300.jpg" rel="lightbox[meysenpost]"><img border="0" height="75" rel="lightbox[meysenpost]" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibDJzk5SUzR1uhWzI70du622golvqA6DQk65X1vyXevHN4YxHxmlVCb7luwrv6LnzqIpLrHKuJs7qKv-HazarjFPI8bC3ADUZKXwVzbO5tel9FNiqjuAcyxoqpw29QIUAdOsahlcXmuoI/s200/IMG_2300.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
One of my favorite pictures so far :)<br />
</center><br />
<br />
I sent out four postcards today. :) Also, I really wish schools in America had 校歌 (<i>kouka</i>, school songs). Seibun's is really nice I think-- I got a copy of the lyrics yesterday and we sang it today in music.<br />
<br />
Hmm, also, just 'cause Google Maps is fun to play with... here's a map of where my school is. :D<br />
<center><iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E5%AE%AE%E5%9F%8E%E7%9C%8C%E4%BB%99%E5%8F%B0%E6%B3%89%E5%8C%BA%E8%99%B9%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%98%EF%BC%91%E4%B8%81%E7%9B%AE%EF%BC%91%EF%BC%98%E7%95%AA%E5%9C%B0&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Japan,+Miyagi+Prefecture+Sendai+City+Izumi+Ward%E8%99%B9%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%98%EF%BC%91%E4%B8%81%E7%9B%AE%EF%BC%91%EF%BC%98&z=14&ll=38.304355,140.872425&output=embed"></iframe><br />
<small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=embed&hl=en&geocode=&q=%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E5%AE%AE%E5%9F%8E%E7%9C%8C%E4%BB%99%E5%8F%B0%E6%B3%89%E5%8C%BA%E8%99%B9%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%98%EF%BC%91%E4%B8%81%E7%9B%AE%EF%BC%91%EF%BC%98%E7%95%AA%E5%9C%B0&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Japan,+Miyagi+Prefecture+Sendai+City+Izumi+Ward%E8%99%B9%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%98%EF%BC%91%E4%B8%81%E7%9B%AE%EF%BC%91%EF%BC%98&z=14&ll=38.304355,140.872425" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small></center><br />
<br />
Tomorrow and Sunday I'll be going to the MeySen high school camp with my friend Shun and staying overnight there next night... I think it will be quite fun. :D MeySen (明泉 - the 'sen' kanji is the same as 'Izumi,' which is the prefecture it's in!) is... well, it could definitely be a big evil institution corrupting the minds of Japanese children. :P It's a kindergarten, but also an "after-school academy" (not a juku/cram school) for elementary through high school students. It's a normal kindergarten, but from elementary school and up it's basically an English-studying and conversation school (though they refuse to identify as that). It's very... conservative (aka Christian) too... like, HIGHLY. For example, I went yesterday to see what it was like with my mom, and some teacher (who are <i>all</i>外人 - foreigners, by the way) asked my my name... the conversation went a bit like this:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>Teacher: Oh hi, nice to meet you... what's your name?<br />
Me: Eli.<br />
Teacher: Oh! That's a bible name.<br />
Me: *breaks out laughing*<br />
Teacher: I mean it. Are your parents Christians?<br />
Me: Uh.... Um.... They're not practicing, but yes. (kind of a lie)<br />
Teacher: Oh I'm glad. But of course what is most important is your faith to the Bible and accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior.</blockquote><br />
Though I think I'll have fun. we get to read the bible too. :) (Michael - THE MOUND OF OLIVES!!!! :D ) ...don't get all religious on me, Mom.<br />
<br />
<center><img src="http://www.meysen.jp/blog/m-blog.htm/wp-content/themes/meysen/img/header_title.jpg" /></center><br />
I just checked out their website and found that the school motto is "Mercy and Truth," lolwat.<br />
<br />
Oh also, THE PRINCIPAL BY HIMSELF gives all the children [very strange] English names so the teachers don't have to struggle to remember and pronounce their Japanese names... my host brother's name was Brad... oh, and also, the parents never meet the teachers. When my mom took me last night, she met Taiga's teacher for the first time... "Are you Brad's mother?!" ... I facepalmed (used that word just for you, Mom). Also, my friend from YFU goes with her host sister sometimes... she told me she had a conversation somewhat like the following:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>Teacher: What do you think will happen with the world in the next 20 years?<br />
Friend: Well, related to politics, I think democratic governments will become more prominent in some countries.<br />
Teacher: *looks disapprovingly* Uh-oh. Well, we don't want that to happen... anything else?<br />
Friend: *thinks 'what the hell'* Flying cars.</blockquote><br />
MeySen-related pictures:<br />
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<center><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3XzFpaCARJ2W-Za4cc-Ic__9YR3cZ4i4uWu0fivTHZkXC6gazSih6SzKi76NzogHKs0q-Pw2ChHR-wy8aTYwLxvWsDUFH4guq40Jw4T9pxka5TNBhxQ-xWo5iPBefX7Oc1r8pUSLIJ8E/s1600/IMG_2312.jpg" rel="lightbox[mejesusen]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3XzFpaCARJ2W-Za4cc-Ic__9YR3cZ4i4uWu0fivTHZkXC6gazSih6SzKi76NzogHKs0q-Pw2ChHR-wy8aTYwLxvWsDUFH4guq40Jw4T9pxka5TNBhxQ-xWo5iPBefX7Oc1r8pUSLIJ8E/s200/IMG_2312.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
Accept the truth. You like to fly kites.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7CqM_zz-M5CGhC9yf62BebecPnqCdT8XUYLqIJtoWgQMK5_NWMypv1oGOFw-2HiJy5k8n2FxMTril0NsCBdK1G_WjGyfr9fTNJ_Z_4hyPjkWVpPIjoSg6wNWTe1CLLzZj9EUan7zgj4s/s1600/IMG_2332.jpg" rel="lightbox[mejesusen]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7CqM_zz-M5CGhC9yf62BebecPnqCdT8XUYLqIJtoWgQMK5_NWMypv1oGOFw-2HiJy5k8n2FxMTril0NsCBdK1G_WjGyfr9fTNJ_Z_4hyPjkWVpPIjoSg6wNWTe1CLLzZj9EUan7zgj4s/s200/IMG_2332.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
Not oversimplified at all.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjqahwv5X-HYWqUNBY8YcQotGqDm1qQ1lBa_oavCrmfGWnH_wRDOQYIgcDhc-3cG3MymJ8OMp0yrkCm2lTKivvjwF7UlSdgoR3jTWK9Bx3bKHJlNWMK6RyNZ8wWdSu-mwff_mPsbIg5Cc/s1600/IMG_2327.jpg" rel="lightbox[mejesusen]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjqahwv5X-HYWqUNBY8YcQotGqDm1qQ1lBa_oavCrmfGWnH_wRDOQYIgcDhc-3cG3MymJ8OMp0yrkCm2lTKivvjwF7UlSdgoR3jTWK9Bx3bKHJlNWMK6RyNZ8wWdSu-mwff_mPsbIg5Cc/s200/IMG_2327.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
My favorite book.<br />
</center><br />
<br />
Will post about it when I get back. :)<br />
<br />
<i>Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart.</i> --Job 1:21<br />
<center><img src="http://img808.imageshack.us/img808/9007/gob.jpg" /><br />
<sup>(If you get the reference, you're cool.)</sup></center>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-47499617227686283342010-06-29T18:51:00.003+09:002010-06-29T19:15:23.535+09:00Some school stuff & some not school stuffYesterday we had "Oral Communication" with Bushaa-sensei... and that means watching <i>Avatar</i> in English with Japanese subtitles all period. :) All the Na'vi language also had Japanese subtitles which made me go "lolwut" since you're not <i>supposed</i> to understand it. (Which reminds me: check out the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Na%27vi_language">Wikipedia article</a> on the Na'vi language, and look at all the information they have... jeez.) Next class we get to analyze the dialogue. Too bad the class is only once a week. :(<br />
<br />
In other news, there was a loose stone in the path I ride my bicycle on to 旭ヶ丘駅 (<i>Asahigaoka Eki</i>, Asahigaoka Station) (which is the station I take a bus or subway to school)... so yeah, I fell over and now my knees and one of my elbows are all hurt and stuff. BUT DON'T GET ALL WORRIED MOTHER because that was yesterday and today it's fine. well it still kinda hurts, but it's fine. The bicycle parking people along with my school was all nice and gave me gauze and wrapped stuff around my leg so now people pay attention to me EVEN MORE (not that that's a bad thing).\<br />
<br />
I also had a bunch of sushi yesterday and some other stuff that wasn't sushi but somehow sushi-related the other night and it was pretty good. Well, most of it anyways. (I'm glad tuna is always cooked in America.)<br />
<br />
The day before yesterday (I'm going in reverse order here, it seems...) Ryosuke and Shun and their mother came over for dinner... so we cooked a lot of stuff and it was very delicious. :)<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fZyiOXHKpfCaY35itq2lXCYbnMCL_Anv1RRx1QK8DCq5PRhbCrPij0VuVy2xAGwCZ_SSnguqdpset2MTdg4xKSY_YYnsJDs125G-BIrKpz-wa8ZhfQswllQM8s63BGDngCb-encixIc/s1600/IMG_2169.jpg" rel="lightbox[bigdinrar]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fZyiOXHKpfCaY35itq2lXCYbnMCL_Anv1RRx1QK8DCq5PRhbCrPij0VuVy2xAGwCZ_SSnguqdpset2MTdg4xKSY_YYnsJDs125G-BIrKpz-wa8ZhfQswllQM8s63BGDngCb-encixIc/s200/IMG_2169.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6IQ2X6v9OZYDTOWKVNUp6njFlgNvWPF1BOS01cGa3iYLwYjJJg9OzfdDl2XFUr5-68mJNVdIjS76DJV7CYxeE55UxLplTMLUKONDrUD16QASbWXZl9t6Po1RpTPplJ4xJtxjhiH6MMTw/s1600/IMG_2171.jpg" rel="lightbox[bigdinrar]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6IQ2X6v9OZYDTOWKVNUp6njFlgNvWPF1BOS01cGa3iYLwYjJJg9OzfdDl2XFUr5-68mJNVdIjS76DJV7CYxeE55UxLplTMLUKONDrUD16QASbWXZl9t6Po1RpTPplJ4xJtxjhiH6MMTw/s200/IMG_2171.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2hB9pDMHgJ0W57WHbPO6YX915TD-51zR_9sOz0Cr557GGwgMOhrlKgkXqWz6Gb3aQDuTYxnSIVSLVteRCNIKn9Y-N27CkknfKsAtj4TJvI9XDNikyv2O86i2Byu4MIkepvRl_H8SBcRI/s1600/IMG_2172.jpg" rel="lightbox[bigdinrar]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2hB9pDMHgJ0W57WHbPO6YX915TD-51zR_9sOz0Cr557GGwgMOhrlKgkXqWz6Gb3aQDuTYxnSIVSLVteRCNIKn9Y-N27CkknfKsAtj4TJvI9XDNikyv2O86i2Byu4MIkepvRl_H8SBcRI/s200/IMG_2172.jpg" width="75" /></a></center><br />
<br />
Oh, also, I forgot to mention earlier... on the plane ride to Japan (A LONG TIME AGO) we watched "How to Train Your Dragon" and it was fantastic. Go see it if you haven't. You should also go see 宇宙ショーへようこそ (<i>uchuu show e youkoso</i>, Welcome to THE SPACE SHOW) which I <a href="http://kichisaburou.blogspot.com/2010/06/animu-talk-jelly-beans-space-show-movie.html">mentioned earlier</a> because it will for sure be fantastic... BUT YOU [PROBABLY] CAN'T SINCE YOU'RE [PROBABLY] NOT IN JAPAN SO HAH. ...not that I've seen it yet, though. :< <a href="http://www.uchushow.net/">(website)</a><br />
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Kay, picture tiem:<br />
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<br />
<center><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPPro9PhREyVhIDZYVQGvuRiMNCES-1zhkyfJImI8_INwl_L2DFrCbt4hOfM27hRlXBZtq7VYG7trhksMwbwyx8Z8DwtTyr8BoYIzkCxKVAkZSmQhUOhi7P0sRqDsBekU3F6O-QElw-hM/s1600/IMG_2179.jpg" rel="lightbox[randompics2]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPPro9PhREyVhIDZYVQGvuRiMNCES-1zhkyfJImI8_INwl_L2DFrCbt4hOfM27hRlXBZtq7VYG7trhksMwbwyx8Z8DwtTyr8BoYIzkCxKVAkZSmQhUOhi7P0sRqDsBekU3F6O-QElw-hM/s200/IMG_2179.jpg" width="75" /></a>\<br />
I'm ラブラブing the name of these strawberries.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjsthVZntvuB0iNHYz8C27Sn2Sq1H7-nw9FD-rz0gCXVEiHUFuz9TtEjyCPI_YGwiSyajVVd1PGbftlavch1QrkLhClvKaimuzkan-lnMoKaOQWziJBq9lkDe4C5C6rohaXncG0_HIjcY/s1600/IMG_2181.jpg" rel="lightbox[randompics2]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjsthVZntvuB0iNHYz8C27Sn2Sq1H7-nw9FD-rz0gCXVEiHUFuz9TtEjyCPI_YGwiSyajVVd1PGbftlavch1QrkLhClvKaimuzkan-lnMoKaOQWziJBq9lkDe4C5C6rohaXncG0_HIjcY/s200/IMG_2181.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
If schools in America had posters like these I would just melt.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT7l3FSDSjg50XVfuOC7bxVCjJYvk-BR0VQfNUxLQF-s9lQSziIAQ3RMIHa-4hh3nwjhnt7bRTYCC5FieuWMs2vwK8mps_VMsvPMlCnP_4NDc294g3jtvvdPG4zBG-0hyphenhyphenVTUwT6j4fKts/s1600/IMG_2198.jpg" rel="lightbox[randompics2]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT7l3FSDSjg50XVfuOC7bxVCjJYvk-BR0VQfNUxLQF-s9lQSziIAQ3RMIHa-4hh3nwjhnt7bRTYCC5FieuWMs2vwK8mps_VMsvPMlCnP_4NDc294g3jtvvdPG4zBG-0hyphenhyphenVTUwT6j4fKts/s200/IMG_2198.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
I don't even know what to say about this.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8m9GV5eyCgVeH5ojkMFx3dTzEgfvSZFPL0mmYNS3DRPM_4CAmxlEQj6Ab4dyT-Rxo0QwIxSisuqY5p7O19O-bPsa3cBsbx-ICwxiIH7m8fDRSIBcIdFxvmmJCfvTxGxQd8N44Znp2iyE/s1600/IMG_2202.jpg" rel="lightbox[randompics2]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8m9GV5eyCgVeH5ojkMFx3dTzEgfvSZFPL0mmYNS3DRPM_4CAmxlEQj6Ab4dyT-Rxo0QwIxSisuqY5p7O19O-bPsa3cBsbx-ICwxiIH7m8fDRSIBcIdFxvmmJCfvTxGxQd8N44Znp2iyE/s200/IMG_2202.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
Japanese textbooks tell the world who's boss.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheTZ3lkohVLpDV104l7XEl_Jbi-PkadOKCTzZtge4UjG3dfDJnhvdbmuC_aHRlFFwlxUVr2Pkmc9bNaMAOHDn3J3YOlLU-vrA4LWfSi6TKtXMOUzEFAYzjOCw_S_gKQYEq_SrrHLEks0g/s1600/IMG_2203.jpg" rel="lightbox[randompics2]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheTZ3lkohVLpDV104l7XEl_Jbi-PkadOKCTzZtge4UjG3dfDJnhvdbmuC_aHRlFFwlxUVr2Pkmc9bNaMAOHDn3J3YOlLU-vrA4LWfSi6TKtXMOUzEFAYzjOCw_S_gKQYEq_SrrHLEks0g/s320/IMG_2203.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
Japanese textbooks probing the minds of students.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrrMptIHdARdAtdrhWS4_hlKjZPVEgB0x3479gMjdyPaKNVauoB0Y6-pujluAeaqvtIpyLd4A2ZkmjIQlMb9-IAX7suxo5tsMIEowmT1F5WqTBui1FXlOwZOz93GhJ2Ze63wQEXJsldw8/s1600/IMG_2207.jpg" rel="lightbox[randompics2]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrrMptIHdARdAtdrhWS4_hlKjZPVEgB0x3479gMjdyPaKNVauoB0Y6-pujluAeaqvtIpyLd4A2ZkmjIQlMb9-IAX7suxo5tsMIEowmT1F5WqTBui1FXlOwZOz93GhJ2Ze63wQEXJsldw8/s200/IMG_2207.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
wat<br />
<br />
<a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs047.snc3/13466_1496583701365_1437279798_1270869_7399002_n.jpg" rel="lightbox[randompics2]"><img border="0" height="75" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs047.snc3/13466_1496583701365_1437279798_1270869_7399002_n.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
Last one. My friend from YFU Isaac took it and posted it to his Facebook, and I'm posting it here 'cause I thoroughly enjoyed it. so fantastic.<br />
</center><br />
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<br />
Hmm, that's basically all for now.<br />
<br />
See ya. :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-62701260804234499112010-06-27T16:24:00.003+09:002010-06-27T16:37:02.083+09:00Badminton!Today I woke up at 8:30 AM to watch <a href="http://asahi.co.jp/precure/">プリキュア!</a> (PreCure!) and it was pretty awesome. Then my mom and I biked to a nearby elementary school for a city-wide badminton tournament. :)<br />
<br />
...well it wasn't really "city-wide." There were probably about 35 or 40 people there, and most of them played. In the end, my mom and I ended up getting first place :D ...though I think three other teams also got first place, as there were multiple groups. :P First prize included a towel that had some brand on it that my mom didn't recognize, and a "Mikasa" bag, which is a famous Japanese company that makes all sorts of sports goods, though everyone only knows them for making volleyballs ...But anyways, it was super super fun. :)<br />
<br />
I also met two junior high school (aka middle school) girls named Sae and Kaide ('saa-ay' & 'kye-day', JUST IN CASE YOU CAN'T PRONOUNCE NIHONGO)... who by the way were OMFGWTFラブラブ スーパーかわいい~ ヽ(*´∀`)ノ゚ (*´▽`*) Like seriously. oh my god. <3 (<i>Disclaimer:</i> as Japan's education system is laid out differently than America's, Sae was 14 years old and Kaide was 15-- around my age; that means the YFU police AREN'T GOING TO HUNT ME DOWN FOR SAYING THAT, <i>MOTHER</i>. but yeah. Sae had super cute dimples when she smiled, too. :3 they were really nice and funny, and we talked a lot for a long time... when we weren't playing badminton. :) Everyone (especially Sae and Kaide ~desuuuu ( ・ω・) ) was super nice. :) A man named Nakamura-san also gave me one of his 団扇 (<i>uchiwa</i>, fans)... which by the way IS SUPER AWESOME 'CAUSE IT HAS POKÉMON ON IT AND THEY'RE ALL SMILING. :D<br />
<br />
<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcAiCinyNe4NiFPD0UF7aZ1mM1C1v_qXhVMlTkGtQyHfi7BYxQfNtEFmm7FFxzepgpNkRxc40-8HxqkvY4hoVkZHRm822AuCDjA50BZ9aIgDDGcOsqAhr76l5zDompXjcLbf4hpQyOlAs/s1600/IMG_2155.jpg" rel="lightbox[pokefan]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcAiCinyNe4NiFPD0UF7aZ1mM1C1v_qXhVMlTkGtQyHfi7BYxQfNtEFmm7FFxzepgpNkRxc40-8HxqkvY4hoVkZHRm822AuCDjA50BZ9aIgDDGcOsqAhr76l5zDompXjcLbf4hpQyOlAs/s200/IMG_2155.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiERxDz2qV96gWXB5NMxpYayhmbLlmmY4XI6ePVabVygUFnFEq-npgWTPsllguXWHmUzQsLKel2jVWlNQDtb08U7q-zB0QG7bRtennnNBkWLMbBHiQUlMsp1X-pKZeJ-zhlMe3-4YaDwWs/s1600/IMG_2156.jpg" rel="lightbox[pokefan]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiERxDz2qV96gWXB5NMxpYayhmbLlmmY4XI6ePVabVygUFnFEq-npgWTPsllguXWHmUzQsLKel2jVWlNQDtb08U7q-zB0QG7bRtennnNBkWLMbBHiQUlMsp1X-pKZeJ-zhlMe3-4YaDwWs/s200/IMG_2156.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
(ANA is a Japanese airline company... and they have <a href="http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/7246/d01380451533143.jpg">these</a> <a href="http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/2310/69dc79ecd4d89e1ac3d4102.jpg">kinds</a> <a href="http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/6561/7734504.jpg">of</a> <a href="http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/6894/b7474pkm.jpg">awesome</a> <a href="http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/5652/ana20pokemon2001.jpg">planes</a> - each of those blue words is a link to an image, if you didn't notice)</center><br />
<br />
And I'm off to school tomorrow. ( ̄□ ̄;) lolol look at me with all these fun nihongo emoticons.<br />
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kbai for now. :3Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-21566666653649105342010-06-25T18:23:00.015+09:002010-07-20T19:33:08.286+09:00Even more bad English and school updates and suchOh hi, once again.<br />
<br />
Yesterday in school we went to go see an "opera" (which was actually just a normal play with some singing) called "ねずみの涙," meaning "Tears of the Mice" or "The Mouse's Tears." It was pretty enjoyable, though I rested a lot during it. :P (note that rest ≠ sleep!) Plus I couldn't understand most of it. :) Kinda fun to have around 1,2000 students all wandering around in the main hall and second floor waiting for the show to start, though. I also learned a new word yesterday-- けつあご (<i>ketsuago</i>) meaning BUTT CHIN. heh.<br />
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<br />
Now time for more bad English phrases that I've seen in the past few days... or things that just made me go "wat".<br />
<ul><li>Elementary school girl wearing a shirt saying "PLEASURABLE Experience"</li>
<li>Elementary school girl wearing a shirt saying "SECOND HAIR TASTY"</li>
<li>Elementary school girl wearing a shirt saying "Brisk Girls"</li>
<li>Girl from my school wearing a T-Shirt saying "HELLO IT'S ME, PARCO"</li>
</ul><br />
Oh God, and computer class yesterday too... (we used that translator again)<br />
<br />
My friend's computer screen read:<br />
<blockquote>習慣/文化 (Custom/Culture)<br />
アメリカ There are only a lot of delivery pizzas as for the cereal that sprinkled milk in daytime in the morning the fast food and supper such as hamburgers.</blockquote><br />
And the person sitting next to me's read:<br />
<blockquote>Differences<br />
United States?<br />
<br />
1. Shape of snowman<br />
2. Difference of manners<br />
3. Difference of manners<br />
<br />
~Fashio~<br />
<br />
The Pokemon becomes popular in the animated cartoon.</blockquote><br />
...Yeah.<br />
<br />
<br />
That night I went to the onsen/ofuro place 極楽湯 (<i>gokurakuyu</i> - literally 'paradise hot water' ... :P ) with my friend Ryosuke and my host brother Taiga. I went in some baths this time that we didn't have time to before, and just like last time, was very enjoyable. :) I wish those existed in America...<br />
<br />
I also tried sea squirt for dinner that night, and it was pretty gross. Sendai is apparently famous for it (along with ox tongue, but I haven't eaten that... yet).<br />
<br />
<br />
...And then today was just another normal day. The last two periods were music, or as the schedule called it, "音I" (Sound I). I "learned" to play the piano-- basically calling all the notes on the musical scale and the piano "do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do" instead of "ABCDEFG" and turning the volume off on my piano when the teacher was on the other side of the room (which was almost always). :D So apparently if you live in Japan, you know how to play the piano as everyone learns it in school. It was really fun though, talking about music and popular Japanese and American songs with friends. :)<br />
<br />
"English Conversation" class today was pretty fun, and everyone was all like 「わあああああああ おおおおおおおおおお すげええええええっ~」 when I spoke a bunch of English for them (don't even try putting that into a translator, it'll just mutilate it). The teacher (who was super good at saying her L's v. R's but terrible at TH vs S and pronounced "P.E." "Fee-E") was really nice though... and probably spoke the best English of any Japanese teacher in the school.<br />
<br />
<br />
In first period <i>normal</i> English class... (not English Conversation class-- they're different. All classes are different. For example, there's classes like "hygiene," "ethics," "Japanese" and "Japanese synthesis" ... oh, and the Radio Broadcasting Club is located in the Radio Broadcasting Room and the Rough Sketch Club in the Rough Sketch Room... wat.) ..... okay, back on topic (sorry for not finishing that sentence). So many things to say and no place to say them. D: Anyways, in <i>normal</i> English class everyone learned new vocabulary words and I was given a photocopy of the pages in the book and the handout they were studying.<br />
<br />
Some of my favorite passages were "The dome saw everything." and "...a silent but clear message. 'No more Hiroshimas!'" hahaha wat. "No more Hiroshimas" was also a word on their vocabulary list, along with other words with negative connotations such as "bomb," "destroy," "kill," and "deadly." On the back of the sheet was a English comic CHALLENGE. Ready?<br />
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<center><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_FMdGP0bg18CBUeyAe0HkMUp0_UpBG8dWel_-Leocp8rqKyyd-VVdSMzkYcAX9XJ-qUfUScKEy3_-2WWVlkJ5rhJhNQ0FxEVlMf6wu1hdO-fopsC0wOrjUybdmT7C8d5snivZs-JDr6g/s320/IMG_2115.jpg" /><br />
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz50AL5XBe0qsMhrvL21kq0tBRITV05zX5DTQQfLz0SBBaubfB_XS7ZP-_rcSigEmn3QnKBia2IfnqF2C2N-Rp-qIIQat1kpHM0B_7Pl2HTL538AmEhlBA0Gk2dPrV2lJINi_FyYTgtqw/s320/IMG_2116.jpg" /><br />
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk9F2cmEHNrX2v1JPEctZk-H3GKi2YPYeo6bdc6kkEr2_c3n0j6NGFW9e5GHFDMkd4tOldWDMf3W3jX-hzXpghUUhWhKMmo6ym_2l1YeSrs9MfP3nAqzLrWQjhtXv5esxcz0w0CYwSOCs/s320/IMG_2117.jpg" /> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvmXEfbVcjl7DoFPfLoUhHNeunaaeEHL2hxLJpy9gqK9ZjVnN3hiCUyee4muSkBaaKF1ZrY9QkMpuBsEsLiXz2bA1chKqy7I_lEuiwkXGe_017kZCR1IlG-jvGs1og55PPyqQXh2WFT7M/s320/IMG_2118.jpg" /><br />
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipyLtBtNlMTcp8SNh6EyHoDzAf07RzHkW-ePBLFZWOUNwcZnkY_0OTGnSRY15_WiLO0jceVsImbU4vrgY4_uF79iMbx5PGZHkdJmHeXxy6gEuumm2lGaWiO81ZQS7_7RVS6YbQWdb1EtE/s320/IMG_2119.jpg" /></center><br />
<br />
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA. oh my god I just broke out laughing right in the middle of class.<br />
<br />
SO DRAMATIC AND TOUCHING DESU. ;_________________________________________;<br />
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Also, on a completely different subject, my two older brothers have an AWESOME part-time job together... it's a SEEEKRIT and they make a big deal about not telling just anyone, so email me or ask me on Gmail chat or something if you want to know. :P<br />
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Pictures:<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWfUWLE7SqKPy40-bm8vWUUTvazCi00mZDyoHSy6DSivvpCXsVxwumnICdlPa9xd8UWzLbzxs7_I9_zJMuVqOT_zKkPvGRn994ywmuL3zPOAzKs1qWao_CKuY5ac_XEp0cu3HuqGNAuos/s1600/IMG_2095.jpg" rel="lightbox[gs1]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWfUWLE7SqKPy40-bm8vWUUTvazCi00mZDyoHSy6DSivvpCXsVxwumnICdlPa9xd8UWzLbzxs7_I9_zJMuVqOT_zKkPvGRn994ywmuL3zPOAzKs1qWao_CKuY5ac_XEp0cu3HuqGNAuos/s200/IMG_2095.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmmdCKr6a32NLSK-scVgmRHCBFj4_Z4rXSf6Qf-Hit25oT-QmqyaE55UlniT5UYnPzQpbrxe_raleIMCpzkMZfJ9IJcPvvplx6i6QetLkgy1Jw0Y2u93MtbIypr2opDDVy-36o6kCzqkc/s1600/IMG_2096.jpg" rel="lightbox[gs1]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmmdCKr6a32NLSK-scVgmRHCBFj4_Z4rXSf6Qf-Hit25oT-QmqyaE55UlniT5UYnPzQpbrxe_raleIMCpzkMZfJ9IJcPvvplx6i6QetLkgy1Jw0Y2u93MtbIypr2opDDVy-36o6kCzqkc/s200/IMG_2096.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUD8sh5GB5Z3vCbmdy7ecMjbMFcftldhocnNFqsIDHka-3P1XG67d_muLFwwO1jVo9drsZjnaMnk76kmAgb0JpK9f6vKifIBfpG_qYJCYB_mULD7orrKYHksvLufchfGoY5i6c5MiY9Lw/s1600/IMG_2097.jpg" rel="lightbox[gs1]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUD8sh5GB5Z3vCbmdy7ecMjbMFcftldhocnNFqsIDHka-3P1XG67d_muLFwwO1jVo9drsZjnaMnk76kmAgb0JpK9f6vKifIBfpG_qYJCYB_mULD7orrKYHksvLufchfGoY5i6c5MiY9Lw/s200/IMG_2097.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
Ana-chan (who btw is mai waifu), Taiga and Dokuro-chan, just to brighten your day. (especially yours, Michael). I found them in my copy of Dengeki G's magazine and was like woahwtf since were they here.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-RhpJRxcqEOt9yxiJgMEMAKbN9qIUbvduFyURgD4voVWLQXafKl4eoEUh-3rjTITJLdnJ5DW3K5l_DHfvPWIDUnMjQO9Benf1Vgs3zs_LjoRzsboOuOu8NHytHvRhDfRZy8utUHT903E/s1600/IMG_2099.jpg" rel="lightbox[gs2]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-RhpJRxcqEOt9yxiJgMEMAKbN9qIUbvduFyURgD4voVWLQXafKl4eoEUh-3rjTITJLdnJ5DW3K5l_DHfvPWIDUnMjQO9Benf1Vgs3zs_LjoRzsboOuOu8NHytHvRhDfRZy8utUHT903E/s200/IMG_2099.jpg" width="75" /> </a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRntWpIUoswPsV_mAYFdYtypWN15FabayJBi5QgNaEQVn-Nt5l9PxT4O_iz9id90AtrU-Anx7sHkrjPq8PYqO7MgZvZDLQtk9h6ugMHd9Fzi5ww4RyHxZ-TynKJhTKHv9WL0Un8atO7IU/s1600/IMG_2132.jpg" rel="lightbox[gs2]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRntWpIUoswPsV_mAYFdYtypWN15FabayJBi5QgNaEQVn-Nt5l9PxT4O_iz9id90AtrU-Anx7sHkrjPq8PYqO7MgZvZDLQtk9h6ugMHd9Fzi5ww4RyHxZ-TynKJhTKHv9WL0Un8atO7IU/s200/IMG_2132.jpg" width="75" /> </a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfelrvz_DXSGIGocLONYe3wQa6lMIhsb0hN4SKuV7k6selDo1KJwxNHTKEfCpp-xb4A79xPo15uRGAPUlr4aX8x8tQur9Y2gWg2ZyfXVR6wgwVhOoWqqsdC3wrUaKfwkLVVtJkqd-XXSE/s1600/IMG_2133.jpg" rel="lightbox[gs2]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfelrvz_DXSGIGocLONYe3wQa6lMIhsb0hN4SKuV7k6selDo1KJwxNHTKEfCpp-xb4A79xPo15uRGAPUlr4aX8x8tQur9Y2gWg2ZyfXVR6wgwVhOoWqqsdC3wrUaKfwkLVVtJkqd-XXSE/s200/IMG_2133.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
Also in G's magazine-- "Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakamatachi" (roughly <i>Ookami-san and Seven Friends</i> [though 'Ookami' really means 'Wolf'] and which is by J.C.Staff, WHOOP WHOOP!) and Oreimo - "Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Na" (<i>My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute</i>). Also included is Mitsudomoe which I didn't take pictures of. ;__; but it is still sure to be amazing, along with the others. :B Mitsudomoe's website <a href="http://www.mitsudomoe-anime.com/">here</a>. ドキドキわくわくだよ。<br />
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<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyjuWGhDWCy-qW6RAqNedsxfL9ctewPIvZZXKVKVhoKCW1JPGddZwxVrG_rBfRV7coxS3vFp5VN5T-48GlK5hcY-Nz-OylHjUYouORevDlfG7RiMXzmuMsUUf9ISgTJqmNxbr8BvvOtBY/s1600/IMG_2069.jpg" rel="lightbox[erihairpinchan]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyjuWGhDWCy-qW6RAqNedsxfL9ctewPIvZZXKVKVhoKCW1JPGddZwxVrG_rBfRV7coxS3vFp5VN5T-48GlK5hcY-Nz-OylHjUYouORevDlfG7RiMXzmuMsUUf9ISgTJqmNxbr8BvvOtBY/s200/IMG_2069.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
And lastly, my friends Eri-chan and FlowerHairpin-chan (aka I forgot her name, which I do a lot). Yeah, don't ask me what they're doing-- no clue. People seem to love asking me what their names are... which I always forget. "Yuuya," "Yuuta," "Yuuka" and "Yuna" all sound all so similar... ;___;<br />
</center><br />
<br />
Also, if for some reason anyone except for him cares, I picked up over 10 団扇 (<i>uchiwa</i>, fans) for my Japanese teacher Hegge-sensei back in America at the store ケーズデンキ (<i>kēzu denki</i>, K's electric), since he asked me to get him some. :P <br />
<br />
...And that's my adventure so far.<br />
<br />
じゃあね。Unknownnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-60911077199561511272010-06-22T15:17:00.003+09:002010-06-25T18:18:54.736+09:00Nozo, nozo, nozomi! Kamu to funyan nyan nyan nyan nyan funyan~I really don't see why it's called the rainy season when there is SO MUCH SUN.<br />
<br />
Today was just another normal day at school, except today was shorter because at this time of year the middle school teachers come to check on all their first year students and make sure they're doing okay in school (which I doubt many are-- it <i>is</i> Seibun after all). :P ...and if you didn't realize yet, Seibun is the name of my school. The whole name is really "Tohoku Seikatsu Bunka Daigaku Koutou Gakkou," but as nobody wants to remember all that everyone just calls it "Seibun."<br />
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Also, because I feel as if I need to say this: I sleep on a towel (but also on a sheet and mattress, etc.) Just thought it was worth mentioning for some reason or other.<br />
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I joined the Language Club, whose president is one of the only two students in the history of the school to take the ELPT (English Language Proficiency Test) level 2-- Bushaa-sensei (in English: Buchard, I think. he's French.) put it: one of the only two university-bound students in the history of the school. :) But yeah, Monday is English, Wednesday is French and Friday is Italian. I'll also be joining Calligraphy Club, which will be every Tuesday starting next week! Two of my YFU friends who also go to Seibun are joining Kendo club, and by the end of their homestay they will [probably] have official government-recognized certificates showing they have mastered the first level of Kendo. It might be fun, but I don't think I'm that interested, plus I would need to go at least 3 or 4 days a week, so yeah...<br />
<br />
I had a computer class yesterday, in which we typed self-introductions with the help of the EXTREMELY TERRIBLE TRANSLATOR NAMED "EXCITE" ! The website is <a href="http://www.excite.co.jp/world/english/">here</a> if you want to check it out for some reason. Looking at my classmates' screens, here are some of the things I saw:<br />
<ul><li>The hobby is to go live. I hate sweet the one.</li>
<li>Please enjoy Japan without reserve while it is short.</li>
<li>My hated insect is a bee.</li>
<li>My favorite cartoon book is a close and a cover.</li>
<li>Favorite sports are baseballs and futsals. <sub>(I have no idea what a 'futsal' is either)</sub></li>
<li>And, a my boom today is a game.</li>
</ul><br />
Yeah, it was pretty entertaining. Though what was even more entertaining was the 5-year-old elementary school girl I saw walking home from school yesterday with a hat on that said, "I'M CASHED, BRAH!" oh god. After she walked by, I tried to hide my laughter as a bunch of Seibun students stared at me strangely.<br />
<br />
...And now for some random pictures:<br />
<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhijDUb6Mo60HPZLe3Af6iXggDU4mFHtxBOTh_nF-5-CWvR8G1mSCDk-UnSgqZp_EGM0J5D2znDbAnDz_xmDFw3i-WhgS-aU0q3bFzFad3_KiAWiHIr2wUIEEsXGJXjc2W5bUp50YkF9x0/s1600/IMG_2060.jpg" rel="lightbox[randompics1]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhijDUb6Mo60HPZLe3Af6iXggDU4mFHtxBOTh_nF-5-CWvR8G1mSCDk-UnSgqZp_EGM0J5D2znDbAnDz_xmDFw3i-WhgS-aU0q3bFzFad3_KiAWiHIr2wUIEEsXGJXjc2W5bUp50YkF9x0/s200/IMG_2060.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
A mug my host mom has.<br />
</center><br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDB_Dny0U9y6VEvsIlZOW7C_rdlQS05G2G_ib9Dl0xDljmCOKiW7KlSrliU5bnFX7EPfbbI8jB7B6bdzRIlDAgNNm-nnX3XemN2ASjzeysdWdlPGgne42A4a4oVbspgdhxzleIHCmiaS0/s1600/IMG_2053.jpg" rel="lightbox[randompics1]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDB_Dny0U9y6VEvsIlZOW7C_rdlQS05G2G_ib9Dl0xDljmCOKiW7KlSrliU5bnFX7EPfbbI8jB7B6bdzRIlDAgNNm-nnX3XemN2ASjzeysdWdlPGgne42A4a4oVbspgdhxzleIHCmiaS0/s200/IMG_2053.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
My mom makes food in my obento (lunch) into animals-- this apple slice is a rabbit. :D<br />
</center><br />
<br />
<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi33Smib1Ih9UzBguDjHK2_hlMJMGmMUcuWTf191_dFi2WzXBtOqTVI5qdUi1aUiH1NCMqxYZOMlMxadZ6HfnJbjOlUp45lLdiJI0vVkgsDMZ33t08ybOS67DRN4C31aX9jPXWPIw0DFTg/s1600/IMG_2046.jpg" rel="lightbox[randompics1]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi33Smib1Ih9UzBguDjHK2_hlMJMGmMUcuWTf191_dFi2WzXBtOqTVI5qdUi1aUiH1NCMqxYZOMlMxadZ6HfnJbjOlUp45lLdiJI0vVkgsDMZ33t08ybOS67DRN4C31aX9jPXWPIw0DFTg/s200/IMG_2046.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
Japanese sign language for the kana 'せ' (<i>se</i>)<br />
</center><br />
<br />
<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBpnLmCJcbNreFWEKnLNzgsUzPOLywhYxqcP57fipHtZFb2Fm_FDNs9Ka8YM4PN6ZB5YirMPUYV5cUv7Jo9FrooajsD8rDYUwWwFpjbNF2J0PDYQShe4mcrJbYwhRhubWSYw-tfbCa7K8/s1600/IMG_2055.jpg" rel="lightbox[randompics1]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBpnLmCJcbNreFWEKnLNzgsUzPOLywhYxqcP57fipHtZFb2Fm_FDNs9Ka8YM4PN6ZB5YirMPUYV5cUv7Jo9FrooajsD8rDYUwWwFpjbNF2J0PDYQShe4mcrJbYwhRhubWSYw-tfbCa7K8/s200/IMG_2055.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
A student in my class' 筆箱 (<i>fudebako</i>, pencil case) ... I'm not sure if she knows what it means.<br />
</center><br />
<br />
<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVLFgWHRXpDes_qvj-3gnrLhRck1qCMxpi8xGKHKFptEm_C8IPYcUBdB3Dj4x7yjoe3ZJtUlNfvbMLYocZKImcf4coL8Weu_JftUYJj1U0E9AF49n8vuRkRLOwiTT3Fi2G44ztWzhF_YA/s1600/IMG_2043.jpg" rel="lightbox[randompics1]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVLFgWHRXpDes_qvj-3gnrLhRck1qCMxpi8xGKHKFptEm_C8IPYcUBdB3Dj4x7yjoe3ZJtUlNfvbMLYocZKImcf4coL8Weu_JftUYJj1U0E9AF49n8vuRkRLOwiTT3Fi2G44ztWzhF_YA/s200/IMG_2043.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
The super difficult math we do in class. Apparently in my friends' class the teacher wrote "3÷4 = ¾ NOT 4/3."</center><br />
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<br />
And to end, my favorite Japanese TV commercial I have seen so far:<br />
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<center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YOkNg0a0wnI&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YOkNg0a0wnI&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br />
<br />
(And moar Fit's LINK commercials <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_z1Icyu5gI">here</a>!) So fantastic.<br />
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Until next time, ば〜い. :>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-90456649658075303612010-06-20T12:23:00.007+09:002010-07-20T19:33:01.045+09:00Animu Talk, Jelly Beans & 'SPACE SHOW' MovieLast night was super super fun. :) Definitely one of the best nights so far.<br />
<br />
Ryosuke, Shun and their mom came over and Ryosuke and I obsessed over my loli and anime magazines. :V then he took a bunch of pictures of NSFW content from those magazines with my host brother's cell phone (which, by the way, are AMAZING-- you can watch TV on Japanese cell phones too) and set them as his background. Some of my favorite questions of the night included: "What's the difference between small breasts and being flat-chested?" , "Do Americans have large breasts?" , "Do you prefer hard or soft?" , "So you love both virtual and real girls?" , "How do you say 'huge bust' in English?" and "Why do you know those words in Japanese?" :) So yeah, basically everyone's all casual about topics such as that over here in Japan. But oh my god, obsessing over animu girls, laughing over practically nothing while others have no clue what or who we're talking about and freaking out whenever we see <i>CLANNAD</i>, <i>Little Busters!</i> or <i>Hayate no Gotoku!</i> mentioned is so much fun. :B<br />
<br />
Then everyone dared each other to try different flavors of jelly beans that I brought as a present. The best part was definitely when we told my host mom that the green watermelon flavor was "kaeru" (frog)... she totally freaked out as she's deathly afraid of frogs (and really any small, green animal). We also saved all the Chili Mango and Licorice jelly beans for my host brothers, since they tasted terrible. :P<br />
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<br />
Also, the movie 宇宙ショーへようこそ (uchuu show e youkoso) - Welcome to THE SPACE SHOW, which comes out next week in Japan, looks SUPER amazing. Plus, the theme song is sung by Susan Boyle. :)<br />
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Trailer: (with SUPER SRS English narration that makes me laugh)<br />
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<center><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vqCpDnKp-Dk&hl=ja_JP&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vqCpDnKp-Dk&hl=ja_JP&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object></center><br />
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Official website is <a href="http://www.uchushow.net/">here</a>. ドキドキわくわくですね。<br />
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Bye for now! :DUnknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-3028244868974972602010-06-18T18:13:00.003+09:002010-06-18T18:14:41.640+09:00OHA!Today was hot. Very hot. 蒸し暑いも。(<i>Mushiatsui mo.</i>, Also humid.)<br />
<br />
I sat in the school and talked in English a bunch and then went outside for a couple hours for a disaster drill thing... BUT THE PRINCIPAL STARTED AN ACTUAL FIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD AND THEN PUT IT OUT WITH A FIRE EXTINGUISHER. And then half the school ran away from the white smokey stuff that comes out of fire extinguishers. It was kinda fun.<br />
<br />
And then in the cafeteria I saw this, which is the BEST thing in Japan I've seen so far:<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_5qzboyNScPanJdcPskxHblk0i2UXYqJ6ZHGfmCGh0ETH5ymF89OmgXbIcDFqptG6V3BNTfI2E49wWyAb1fDBml_35jlqeJSPO3-1NkpivqI2Eo25AHubPSuHztbxhfZclOPWmwpnsM4/s1600/IMG_1999.jpg" rel="lightbox[crunky]"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_5qzboyNScPanJdcPskxHblk0i2UXYqJ6ZHGfmCGh0ETH5ymF89OmgXbIcDFqptG6V3BNTfI2E49wWyAb1fDBml_35jlqeJSPO3-1NkpivqI2Eo25AHubPSuHztbxhfZclOPWmwpnsM4/s200/IMG_1999.jpg" width="134" /></a></center><br />
<br />
OH MY GOD. I laughed <i>so hard</i>.<br />
<br />
<br />
After school, I asked my homeroom and English teacher who doesn't speak English if I could see a list of clubs... she was like "oh it's all in Japanese, so no. Also, ask me in English, I need to improve my English" ... so after I finally got a list of clubs from her (which <i>was</i> in Japanese), she took me to see about three clubs in the gym and also some rough sketch art club or something... and then was like "I need to go meeting so you wander yes?" so yeah then I basically had nothing to do for three hours before my bus arrives. (school this week gets out early due to tests every day)<br />
<br />
So I wandered around the neighborhood... which was actually very pretty. :) I took a bunch of pictures, and saw a forest, an elementary school, a kindergarten (which by the way looked JUST like the one from the animu はなまる幼稚園 [<i>Hanamaru Youchien</i>] ... lolwtf) and also someweird circular house on top of a hill where some Japanese students were being all かわいいラブラブ♥♥☆〜^____^です。<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnWoVAhbpnVywHD-fVOsjjELGD2UMbGJqfU5CiQPyLZbRZwuYRdaAVc41Nzws6CYApxlvgT6XT811ZYFXLluCcjPgFFs0TYuPlJoK80UxCkTNZSq0MwkGT7rVDekXGSde9fIKLA_GK0VY/s1600/IMG_2002.jpg" rel="lightbox[aroundseibun]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnWoVAhbpnVywHD-fVOsjjELGD2UMbGJqfU5CiQPyLZbRZwuYRdaAVc41Nzws6CYApxlvgT6XT811ZYFXLluCcjPgFFs0TYuPlJoK80UxCkTNZSq0MwkGT7rVDekXGSde9fIKLA_GK0VY/s200/IMG_2002.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVndtk-ul5PYMQ3ENurbQtHWGmMYjo_O78tNp-PIQq8I5mIq-Q7f5w8fL5-huD9loriGXo0cmshukBfa0tBju_de2M91ZA-ky-RERfb6BaLOFxAR9lW8Py7qYNkxLDeabX-UMWGSFDOfM/s1600/IMG_2012.jpg" rel="lightbox[aroundseibun]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVndtk-ul5PYMQ3ENurbQtHWGmMYjo_O78tNp-PIQq8I5mIq-Q7f5w8fL5-huD9loriGXo0cmshukBfa0tBju_de2M91ZA-ky-RERfb6BaLOFxAR9lW8Py7qYNkxLDeabX-UMWGSFDOfM/s200/IMG_2012.jpg" width="75" /></a></center><br />
<br />
<br />
...And then we went shopping and I saw this:<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNlbGvHwIz6QbU35G6yBdk-5SKiPqCAJNehZ_zZuCksNTVAnB7Ey3hozM5am7a41pPL2xkFzD-fTusJT-svlqzCh9pOu1n9EOy7m85zX3MTzSGctDOmpP_H74XYTQ1fvpI6ejsDC9kzow/s1600/IMG_2032.jpg" rel="lightbox[shingochan]"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNlbGvHwIz6QbU35G6yBdk-5SKiPqCAJNehZ_zZuCksNTVAnB7Ey3hozM5am7a41pPL2xkFzD-fTusJT-svlqzCh9pOu1n9EOy7m85zX3MTzSGctDOmpP_H74XYTQ1fvpI6ejsDC9kzow/s200/IMG_2032.jpg" width="134" /></a></center><br />
<br />
WHICH MADE ME SUPER HAPPY AND LAUGH REALLY HARD.... BUT THEN my host mom told me it was <b>Shingo Mama</b>. OH MY GOD. For those of you who don't know, Shingo Mama is this Japanese crossdresser guy who sings songs about "sucking mayonnaise in the morning." yeah, he's pretty awesome.<br />
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OHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!<br />
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<center><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/waAsEQ6PQOo&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/waAsEQ6PQOo&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center><br />
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OKよ、 until next time, バイバイ。 (bai bai!)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-85026295260850781202010-06-17T15:14:00.009+09:002010-07-20T19:32:56.247+09:00Disneyland & Other Tidbits<b>EDIT:</b> Oh yeah, I forgot. I also saw some Pikachu billboards.<br />
<center><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtyPtzWcrFYQ4N6Gu7vgizoqUNLb0iGFXfNBeJKbVXZoQ_e7JCr-O9prXVL0HgcpwMSMJK577nDoOCUY2VusHTSwadXf2p3lFPpUFhEhPAIvcnRtGaRsp877D6A4YLjGvgmY82oEXmFOQ/s1600/IMG_1993.jpg" rel="lightbox[pikachubill]"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtyPtzWcrFYQ4N6Gu7vgizoqUNLb0iGFXfNBeJKbVXZoQ_e7JCr-O9prXVL0HgcpwMSMJK577nDoOCUY2VusHTSwadXf2p3lFPpUFhEhPAIvcnRtGaRsp877D6A4YLjGvgmY82oEXmFOQ/s320/IMG_1993.jpg" width="75" height="75" /></a><br />
</center><br />
<b>~~~~~</b><br />
<br />
Hi everybody. :><br />
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Disneyland was super fun. I went with my my host mom, Taiga (my host brother), Taiga's friend Shun and Shun's mom. I met Shun (pronounced 'shoon') a few days earlier and totally forgot to mention it, but yeah, he went too. He's super amazing since he knows lots of animu and really likes CLANNAD and other stuff with スーパーかわいい animu girls in it-- like ハヤテのごとく! (Hayate no Gotoku!)、とらドラ! (Toradora!)、けいおん! (K-On!) and リトルバスターズ! (Little Busters!)... god, I just realized those all have exclamation points on the end, lolwut. Anyways, we went on Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and some Buzz Lightyear shoot aliens thing.<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Az9cb9rbdnZ0kywXdKcqn2THCXmqxLknh0V3B0K1pXlMLdLe9itpXqejLI5kR5sBE_nzvfmPAmmSw4CEkmec8NnE9EfznP6xT5KD2iNPkmoqf7kGnI1L3x7WqcGodE_ugW9D6QtPj94/s1600/IMG_1896.jpg" rel="lightbox[disney]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Az9cb9rbdnZ0kywXdKcqn2THCXmqxLknh0V3B0K1pXlMLdLe9itpXqejLI5kR5sBE_nzvfmPAmmSw4CEkmec8NnE9EfznP6xT5KD2iNPkmoqf7kGnI1L3x7WqcGodE_ugW9D6QtPj94/s200/IMG_1896.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTd4wRWJv9qrHMIdqF1dsPKns9a8Eho27Z0of6U66srqXjDsyn_lo40bWdMqdN2Obq6Q9YN_qsp3OUgoj3XbtGxHIwBWcbOcvdCW1AFrMZ3LBiKN9n8wbvlkAxviQk5NCa453yhl69TSs/s1600/IMG_1900.jpg" rel="lightbox[disney]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTd4wRWJv9qrHMIdqF1dsPKns9a8Eho27Z0of6U66srqXjDsyn_lo40bWdMqdN2Obq6Q9YN_qsp3OUgoj3XbtGxHIwBWcbOcvdCW1AFrMZ3LBiKN9n8wbvlkAxviQk5NCa453yhl69TSs/s200/IMG_1900.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrLtrkG5CXYbFTL7D-6cc2zAB-YWYXUay-hpA8b5PcnMxt-dpVnB-4O4cWd0nr6GgUeLVwxLHVeBBoklnwntBgfuNqRyKzZ_OkPQXm54LM2Tq3AYQoRAKJeXhSj7Q30kwf7RBmneVJWlA/s1600/IMG_1913.jpg" rel="lightbox[disney]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrLtrkG5CXYbFTL7D-6cc2zAB-YWYXUay-hpA8b5PcnMxt-dpVnB-4O4cWd0nr6GgUeLVwxLHVeBBoklnwntBgfuNqRyKzZ_OkPQXm54LM2Tq3AYQoRAKJeXhSj7Q30kwf7RBmneVJWlA/s200/IMG_1913.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBNhXiIpvRVqFgHW4QTYels1JzAqIqphilRcyAavGzPfRPk97v0omRlGyUsU9pJo4qMNNXjNnwQuFXdLWm5GmLeyTne3tPF3fYYhw5Pmp0ag_TRwjOzKjI6V0WoyP9bufmqGa6n43oQQI/s1600/IMG_1915.jpg" rel="lightbox[disney]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBNhXiIpvRVqFgHW4QTYels1JzAqIqphilRcyAavGzPfRPk97v0omRlGyUsU9pJo4qMNNXjNnwQuFXdLWm5GmLeyTne3tPF3fYYhw5Pmp0ag_TRwjOzKjI6V0WoyP9bufmqGa6n43oQQI/s200/IMG_1915.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0sPzVq7NKkF3S0SyGFDjYfMvbwzMLp_L6axx4M9HzikmxVHXErOVC9Ya61KkIHK9VEGnobb82Z9h0QqP_eoc0uivOd0CaUQZDV4v7v2G9TUAJAQbUpvejiK10fEFL6wQiBwm67oXqTdc/s1600/IMG_1956.jpg" rel="lightbox[disney]"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0sPzVq7NKkF3S0SyGFDjYfMvbwzMLp_L6axx4M9HzikmxVHXErOVC9Ya61KkIHK9VEGnobb82Z9h0QqP_eoc0uivOd0CaUQZDV4v7v2G9TUAJAQbUpvejiK10fEFL6wQiBwm67oXqTdc/s200/IMG_1956.jpg" width="134" /></a></center><br />
<br />
Also, tons of people were wearing Engrish shirts at Disneyland. Here were some of my favorite sayings:<br />
<ul><li>KOKO LITTLE LOVE ME I'M THE BEST!</li>
<li>LOVELY SWEET MANY FACES WE ARE STARRING IN 200 POP</li>
<li>OVER INVISIBLE GOOD TO MOVE BODY IN THE OUTSIDE</li>
<li>Cool time! Let's have fun and games.</li>
</ul><br />
After Disneyland we went to the airport to welcome back Shun's older brother Ryosuke who had been living in America for a year through YFU. He was pretty awesome too, especially since he knew more animu than his brother. Then I explained to my family how Americans overuse the word "awesome."<br />
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High point was definitely when we were waiting for Ryousuke at Narita airport-- I had bought a present for Mami-chan at Disneyland and my host mom started telling another YFU student in America's mom about how Mami-chan was my "girlfriend." I then explained to her how "girl friend" (a friend who is a girl) and "girlfriend" (ラブラブ tiem) is different in English... she was all like "oh" and I was all like "lul" (if you didn't understand that, don't worry).<br />
<br />
...well, that was <i>one</i> of my high points. The other one would have to be hearing "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" in Japanese.<br />
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<br />
And that's about all that happened yesterday that wasn't riding super fast trains for multiple hours to get to Tokyo, Narita and back to Sendai.<br />
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Today I got to sleep in and miss school because I was tired, and yesterday I missed obviously because of Disneyland-- the school was okay with both reasons, apparently. :D This week is just filled with tests, so I would just be sitting in the library with other YFU students making paper airplanes and watching movies. One of the English teachers, who is actually French and now knows French, English <i>and</i> Japanese, and who's English class I am sadly NOT in (though both my YFU friends who go to the same school are), has his students watch movies in English all period and then analyze dialogue. Much better than my English class in which I get bad English sentences with blanks in them and fill them in with choices from a word bank, unscramble sentences or pick the common word in two sentences. :/ The cool English teacher told us on Tuesday: "I'm not here so I can teach, I teach so I can be here." ... wat.<br />
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And now for two random things that I forgot to mention earlier...<br />
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On Monday, my first day of school, they gave me a bunch of stuff including a poster with all the teachers on it drawn as little cartoon characters:<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsQYND2MJaaoh6uss8T1AjuYRbLgXNvmLuhc_mzSXEfhNDaaYluhjvx2dPM4fddZFJlJ7TQ0lCoJjUgExVH7k1P6Pl41sRv2y9uYjZ3vm2kZkiasfMh77s13EE1O25GfR4ARTBdkozpU8/s1600/IMG_1887.jpg" rel="lightbox[schoolposter]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsQYND2MJaaoh6uss8T1AjuYRbLgXNvmLuhc_mzSXEfhNDaaYluhjvx2dPM4fddZFJlJ7TQ0lCoJjUgExVH7k1P6Pl41sRv2y9uYjZ3vm2kZkiasfMh77s13EE1O25GfR4ARTBdkozpU8/s200/IMG_1887.jpg" width="75" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-2dYD8k38jQ_HQfKJTKvEUjOqvMswx4NBCMIupw-h9Juj2qfNcNEYtk3nYN5o7BKRhzTIHMaaLO-Yr4KeQ_mZP9iN0skl01Sow8jGJ09BjntS1cCImKd1AKH0i1G_WQ2S22fSRS6HD7k/s1600/IMG_1888.jpg" rel="lightbox[schoolposter]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-2dYD8k38jQ_HQfKJTKvEUjOqvMswx4NBCMIupw-h9Juj2qfNcNEYtk3nYN5o7BKRhzTIHMaaLO-Yr4KeQ_mZP9iN0skl01Sow8jGJ09BjntS1cCImKd1AKH0i1G_WQ2S22fSRS6HD7k/s200/IMG_1888.jpg" width="75" /></a></center><br />
And then I was given a card on which I drew a cartoon version of myself and wrote down my name, birthday and "hobbyies." Then they made copies of it and did who knows what with it-- all I know is that I haven't seen it since.<br />
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Also, in the hot springs/bath place, the shoe/clothes lockers cost 100 yen. BUT WHEN YOU PUT YOUR KEY IN TO GET YOUR STUFF BACK IT GAVE THE 100 YEN BACK TO YOU. I was super surprised. I told my host family that wouldn't ever happen in America. :P<br />
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There's an evacuation drill in school tomorrow. I'm excited. Bye for now. :DUnknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-83466604851779749702010-06-15T14:34:00.013+09:002010-07-02T20:08:23.203+09:00Second Day at School (and some other stuff)<b>UPDATE<sup>2</sup>:</b> Oh, another huge difference between American and Japanese schools that I forgot to mention earlier: your homeroom teacher is INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT. They're basically another parent to students. For example, if you get caught shoplifting in another city, or even another <i>island</i> in Japan, guess who's going fly out to pick you up and take you home before your parents do?-- that's right, your homeroom teacher. <br />
<b>~~~~~</b><br />
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<b>UPDATE:</b> I'm back from the bank, yay. Biking is kind of strange when you bike on the left side of the road and the sidewalk. :P Anyways, I saw some elementary school kids on the way home-- one was wearing a shirt that said "JOY☆BRIGHT SHINE" or some sort of badly mutilated English phrase. I also learned that in Japanese, you say "hoipu" (ho-e-pu) instead of "uipu" (wii-pu) for "whip" (as in "whipped cream") Well, it makes sense, as you also say "howaito" (ho-wye-to) instead of "waito" (wye-to) for the color white. But either way, throwing those extra H's in there sounds really weird.<br />
<b>~~~~~</b><br />
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So today I learned that my school is where students go when they fail their entrance examinations... or something like that. I'm not really sure though. In Japan, the passing grade is 40%... yeah. If you fail (meaning under 40%) a test for the first time, you get an easier re-take test. If you fail that test, you get another retake. If you fail <i>that</i> retake you get a bunch of homework and if you do it all you pass.<br />
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Yeah. <br />
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Anyways, I forgot my camera battery at home today so I didn't get the chance to take many pictures... but that's okay, you're not missing anything. Literally. Today was a testing day, and school only lasted until 11:00 AM. I got to sit in the library all day and "study" ... and by that I mean make origami, play word games and talk with other YFU students. The art teacher (倉本先生, <i>Kuramoto-sensei</i>) also came in to the library where we were spending all day and gave us a school calendar, some stickers for the calendar (which were in kanji and I could not read :D ) and a book with drawings and paintings done by his university students-- the artwork was truly amazing.<br />
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Oh, and speaking of art, turns out my two YFU friends who are attending the same school are in art courses, while I am in a ............... nursery course. Or something like that. My reaction is: "UGHHH, WHAT THE HECK, WHYYYYYYYYYYY" >__> but I'll manage. somehow.<br />
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I also got a bus pass today, so from now on (well, once I know the route) I'll be walking to the bus station and then taking the bus to school with my (and my host brother Taiga)'s friend Mami-chan who by the way is like super friendly omgwtf.<br />
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I probably have more to say, but I don't remember as I'm pretty tired-- I had to wake up at 6:30 AM today for school (don't worry mom, I'm going to bed early)... And tomorrow, I get to wake up at around 4:45 AM as we leave for Tokyo Disneyland right after 5:00...!!! D: but it'll be fun, so yeah. :B<br />
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And now I'm off to bike to the 銀行 (<i>ginkou</i>, bank -- not a ginkgo tree!) to cash some travelers cheques before it closes IN LESS THAN 30 MINUTES!<br />
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kbai for now.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-22921477842949628792010-06-14T20:37:00.007+09:002010-07-20T19:32:38.920+09:00Jiyuugaoka, Hot Baths, and School!Yesterday (Sunday) morning I got to explore my town in Sendai named Jiyuugaoka (自由ヶ丘) with my host mother. It's small, but very beautiful. :) I got to meet some of the neighbors as well. Before returning home, we visited a swampy pond named 大堤沼 (oodutsumi-numa, numa meaning swamp, marsh, or pond)... there we saw a father who was fishing with his two sons. We learned that he lived in the same neighborhood as us and talked for a while. The dad was wearing a shirt on which there was a man dressed as a cat with a disco ball between his legs... and the son was wearing a shirt which said "STRIKE WHILE IRON IS HOT!" hehe. Very strange. :P<br />
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Anyways, after that we went to a 百円 (hyaku-en shop, "100 yen shop") which is basically Japan's version of a Dollar Store. There I bought some Japanese candy (Hi-Chew), some cute stationary and three cups with a different animal on each-- panda-san, lion-san and giraffe-san. :3<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHilDkSI9cxrKM8ph-ll5l0tb-YQiwV8N9ztDUg5GzpC0KaMrB6bgROZ-VE36pjE3VwVn7JdohH8n0ULGq1GDbsZQ1WklayLtvyeeQE4nXpDgUrDhi73DxEUf5OqlEjaZ74i4-u4Vq0bc/s1600/IMG_1857.jpg" rel="lightbox[cups]"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHilDkSI9cxrKM8ph-ll5l0tb-YQiwV8N9ztDUg5GzpC0KaMrB6bgROZ-VE36pjE3VwVn7JdohH8n0ULGq1GDbsZQ1WklayLtvyeeQE4nXpDgUrDhi73DxEUf5OqlEjaZ74i4-u4Vq0bc/s200/IMG_1857.jpg" width="134" /></a></center><br />
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That night, we visited an お風呂 (<i>ofuro</i>)-- a hot bath... and it was AMAZING. First, you sit on a stool and use a shower handle to wash yourself (yes, in room with other people, naked). Then you wash your hair and all that and clean off-- just like an old style Japanese bath. Next, you go into a room with about 10 different "stations"-- there was a massage bath where there were super hard water jets massaging you from all sides, a SUPER HOT sauna where you could hardly breathe (it got up to around 90° which is about <b>190°F</b>)!!! There was also a rotenburo (open air bath), daiyokujo (large public bath), mizuburo (regular cold water), iwaburo (bath made of rocks) and a denkiburo. The denkiburo, literally meaning "electric bath" was SO FREAKY. Electric currents came out from each side of the bath and made my sides feel... just strange. I can't describe it-- but the Japanese can! In Japanese, that feeling of electric shock is called びりびり (<i>biribiri</i>) and is one of many onomatopoeic words in the Japanese language. I could stand the 弱い (<i>yowai</i>, weak) denkiburo, but the 強い (<i>tsuyoi</i>, strong) one I couldn't sit in for more than a second.. Finally, there was just a normal shower. A freezing cold shower had never felt so good, as I just got out of the 190°F sauna before that!! In all, it was a great experience. :) Also, in the lobby of the bath place (named 極楽湯, <i>gokurakuyu</i>) there was a tank of fish which you could put your feet in for a small price... I kind of secretly wanted to do it, to see what it would feel like .___.<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPSnDrrhWrHjQaTodXGxEkYGqLijUkl1uEpvVIIy3ChirdY3rvfw0m-tGh0Cityyy3t59OFWDpmp0KP6OsswBJyGwpWRlErnPXQrGrVsKlzTF4U5s5pGAIsq99itEMhvoPJBR5i1iC2wE/s1600/IMG_1859.jpg" rel="lightbox[feetfish]"><img border="0" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPSnDrrhWrHjQaTodXGxEkYGqLijUkl1uEpvVIIy3ChirdY3rvfw0m-tGh0Cityyy3t59OFWDpmp0KP6OsswBJyGwpWRlErnPXQrGrVsKlzTF4U5s5pGAIsq99itEMhvoPJBR5i1iC2wE/s200/IMG_1859.jpg" width="100" /></a></center><br />
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In the lobby, we met a very nice old woman who overheard me talking with my host brother about the drinks in the vending machine there, and which ones existed in America. It turned out that the woman actually lived in Wisconsin (where I live, if for some reason you didn't know) and taught English there over 40 years ago! She was really nice, and helped me translate some Japanese words too. :) haha<br />
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AND FINALLY. ON TO TODAY. ("today" being Monday, of course)...<br />
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My first day of school. The school looked HUGE... and it was-- it was both a university and high school, in two separate buildings (well probably more like three or four... idno). Anyways, everyone was really nice and welcoming. :) Below is a picture of two students I didn't know and me... they insisted on having my host mom take it. I look super worn out already... >__><br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-DwdHT7F5sLvRrGDfWFT4xc7k-PfZUGCsFJ183CWPj-kekrGOHpgjeWXHXywQZ07HbpYQuA-6tEj9QMBljDfxaA3pE3_AyYlLzFF0VQDJTf15WtQGIlBbOx-ojfRaXWrSqSw9q2BCFlU/s1600/IMG_1864.jpg" rel="lightbox[schoolday1]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-DwdHT7F5sLvRrGDfWFT4xc7k-PfZUGCsFJ183CWPj-kekrGOHpgjeWXHXywQZ07HbpYQuA-6tEj9QMBljDfxaA3pE3_AyYlLzFF0VQDJTf15WtQGIlBbOx-ojfRaXWrSqSw9q2BCFlU/s320/IMG_1864.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv9saBwRf1BOpi7Oc-sOCKKZsw7VDnRwi8VLSwF5kvD1dWUR1BUYXyfCrCOIvSMt1eJr7pF9s19yiW2U7NoVwuAHYOTunvZP3GisGCJbbfY35SjfOWXHRRclPN3E8XBkrgzHo_j8F-RCE/s1600/IMG_1865.jpg" rel="lightbox[schoolday1]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv9saBwRf1BOpi7Oc-sOCKKZsw7VDnRwi8VLSwF5kvD1dWUR1BUYXyfCrCOIvSMt1eJr7pF9s19yiW2U7NoVwuAHYOTunvZP3GisGCJbbfY35SjfOWXHRRclPN3E8XBkrgzHo_j8F-RCE/s320/IMG_1865.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2IjtDwurAPT1wFjvyIFIez8LuDOM9mnNG7Bu6XozefFKnfCjvxA5b3eVdcep6RY6jbNhP53qsTdSWYh0r2bl_n03T14mJgN9E17YBvcRs0-kvsKxzEWLius32JOJAlWHS1wu3mYlii9M/s1600/IMG_1866.jpg" rel="lightbox[schoolday1]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2IjtDwurAPT1wFjvyIFIez8LuDOM9mnNG7Bu6XozefFKnfCjvxA5b3eVdcep6RY6jbNhP53qsTdSWYh0r2bl_n03T14mJgN9E17YBvcRs0-kvsKxzEWLius32JOJAlWHS1wu3mYlii9M/s320/IMG_1866.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk8WSKN4jIHaP3cLamaKS1DSxXIxXSBDfJHLCD8TOAiPwrfjPMGVYVe0JSZbpPqlUMUJj1re2nxqkjD097f3hbH0LxvoAHW4ctfLJuqEE5RCQdq10VR48I-RyueIpMldcEVl92WPDKqUo/s1600/IMG_1869.jpg" rel="lightbox[schoolday1]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk8WSKN4jIHaP3cLamaKS1DSxXIxXSBDfJHLCD8TOAiPwrfjPMGVYVe0JSZbpPqlUMUJj1re2nxqkjD097f3hbH0LxvoAHW4ctfLJuqEE5RCQdq10VR48I-RyueIpMldcEVl92WPDKqUo/s320/IMG_1869.jpg" width="75" /></a></center><br />
For the first time in my life, seeing high school girls made me <i>happy</i>. They were all so... just... 元気 (<i>genki</i>, roughly translated as happy, bubbly or having energy and vigor). In Japanese high schools, nobody wears makeup or earings, and they're not... fake. You can really see who they are. :) and yeah, the boys were nice too. EVERYONE'S SO FAST AT TYPING ON THEIR JAPANESE CELL PHONES (携帯電話, <i>keitaidenwa</i>, usually called 'keitai'). Japanese cell phone are MUCH different from American ones-- though none have slide out keyboards, they generally have amazing and cool interfaces... and emoticons! But not text emoticons... like, pictures. And they can send mail too-- everyone uses their cell phones for mail. And most have dictionaries on them too...<br />
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Anyways, back to the high school girls (if that doesn't sound too creepy). 99% of them are EXTREMELY shy, and huddle around in groups pointing at me and whispering かっこいい (<i>kakkoii</i>, cool) and かわいい (<i>kawaii</i>, cute). :3 Well, I must admit, they were much prettier than American high school girls filled with their makeup and such, looking like ravens and peacocks with their blue eyeliner and mascara and all that crap. (okay, I'll save that rant for later...) but yeah. They're all shy and such. They oftentimes waved to me from afar and broke out laughing when I waved back. Also, these "groups" of girls would oftentimes shove one girl towards me and dare her to talk to me... etc. Lots of the boys also wanted pictures with me and had their friends take lots on their cell phones.<br />
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During lunch break, a group of older boys came up to me and asked me if I liked "esu ii ekusu"... S, E, X. yeah. I told them I wasn't going to answer that. About 2 minutes later, the same group came back and showed me a VIDEO OF IT ON THEIR PHONE. I walked away and facepalmed, but also laughed at the same time...... Oh God. I have so many stories already...<br />
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Anyways, the day went very well, though I was kind of bored and confused during some of the classes. For example, 家庭科 (<i>kateika</i>, home economics) was extremely confusing and I understood literally NONE of the kanji on the board. The teacher was basically giving a monologe about drycleaning symbols.<br />
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In Japanese schools, much more respect is given to the teachers. For example, after school I was waiting for my host mother to pick me up and next to me was a group of about 20 girls. Whenever a teacher walked by, every single one would bow and say 「じゃ」 (<i>jya</i>) or 「さようなら」 (<i>sayounara</i>), both meaning goodbye (the latter more formal). Even a girl running through the hall who was late to her club came to a complete stop and bowed for the passing teacher. And one more large difference in Japanese schools vs. American schools: we sit in one room all day and teachers come to our class, which for me is 1-5... >_> fun, huh. :P<br />
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Tomorrow is supposed to be humid and hot, unlike today during which it rained. My "uniform" is long sleeves and long pants, a belt and sometimes a tie, so it will be very hot... but I'm sure I will eventually get used to it. :) ...Just like most everything. Adaptability is necessary when being introduced to an entirely different (and wonderful) culture.<br />
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Oh, and one more thing (hmm, that last sentence would have been a good ending). In Japan, the hospital/doctors is MUCH different. I had to go because my host brother's leg got hurt during his Track & Field Club. When you walk in, you take off your shoes and put on their slippers, as you do at school too. You then write your name on a list, and in a few minutes you are called in to a room. After handing them your medical insurance card (or at least that's what I think it was), you visit a variety of different rooms in which you are examined, get X-Rays, etc. Finally, you lay down on a bed and a few doctors give you a massage... and then you magically feel all better or something. pretty cool. I'm sure if one got a more serious injury the process would have been different, but it was still interesting. :)<br />
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So yeah. Today was a good day. YAY!<br />
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はい、おわり。 じゃ! (Okay, done. Bye!)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-15650651867671018042010-06-12T18:54:00.003+09:002010-06-29T19:17:52.294+09:00Sendai & My Host FamilyAfter taking the shinkansen (<i>bullet train</i> - 新幹線) for two hours, I arrived at Sendai Station and was warmly greeted by my AMAZING host family.<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSgLwB-PE26sQCh_l7OXwucf008rcRijqsQIVE2qV1uiIRtk8TM0_GmOhm7t1lO-ziU8QkKjAiak6hkNSuCVbcjqJ_apF54_TIoy-ElnYQ2M19DF-NPrnGAXyN8iG_IsYRc6oa1QFdfDs/s1600/IMG_1847.jpg" rel="lightbox[hostfamstation]"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSgLwB-PE26sQCh_l7OXwucf008rcRijqsQIVE2qV1uiIRtk8TM0_GmOhm7t1lO-ziU8QkKjAiak6hkNSuCVbcjqJ_apF54_TIoy-ElnYQ2M19DF-NPrnGAXyN8iG_IsYRc6oa1QFdfDs/s200/IMG_1847.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
<sub>from left to right: Yumi, Taiga, me, Ayumu, Nozomu</sub></center><br />
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Everyone told me Japanese people didn't hug but apparently my whole host family wanted to. :)<br />
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Here are some other pictures from my voyage to Sendai, which by the way looks like a wonderful city. Hopefully I'll get to go exploring or see more of it soon!<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjl1dF12F8rbqzh8bJUf11f9MudFnM7dotd3kJzwH-UpqyE7UMTDHjqYdLj_GyRgn20SEhrWr7UO9GfApMC5keE3DjfCzYvfcYwk1Ym3RFA6bEW1rutDJ3HiiqujPqO_v11lz5t40-Hj4/s1600/IMG_1778.jpg" rel="lightbox[voyage]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjl1dF12F8rbqzh8bJUf11f9MudFnM7dotd3kJzwH-UpqyE7UMTDHjqYdLj_GyRgn20SEhrWr7UO9GfApMC5keE3DjfCzYvfcYwk1Ym3RFA6bEW1rutDJ3HiiqujPqO_v11lz5t40-Hj4/s200/IMG_1778.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQuo6KIDSv1uCl3Mh7i_kfaF88DIE5MSawwd0lqcn1vQbN4W4fm5I4TtpCIy3cKLj1heyj56cExAyy47OebhUg0aAMcZ8V2ekZX88Bm29txe2CkH20jPvRsp8rnjBrkgjAO9unpfLcILw/s1600/IMG_1782.jpg" rel="lightbox[voyage]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQuo6KIDSv1uCl3Mh7i_kfaF88DIE5MSawwd0lqcn1vQbN4W4fm5I4TtpCIy3cKLj1heyj56cExAyy47OebhUg0aAMcZ8V2ekZX88Bm29txe2CkH20jPvRsp8rnjBrkgjAO9unpfLcILw/s320/IMG_1782.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPntxAIcYNVUFPs4NyDMcrEOrWk1rU2_2g9jPehVEoMnw-uraOtau6cq8jPz4RMx14-l_xLEqEn4aFFYaWPFmWrXYKcBErHk0bayBV15GYjDMflHVqEsgU_2s74WYcXqLGE0Nv6vxDiEo/s1600/IMG_1783.jpg" rel="lightbox[voyage]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPntxAIcYNVUFPs4NyDMcrEOrWk1rU2_2g9jPehVEoMnw-uraOtau6cq8jPz4RMx14-l_xLEqEn4aFFYaWPFmWrXYKcBErHk0bayBV15GYjDMflHVqEsgU_2s74WYcXqLGE0Nv6vxDiEo/s320/IMG_1783.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjVP1x8D2KIcKDHx_XubEf1lmFfLue98rsjJWKlz7Au-OApIpPLUKH-Y7LfNsmtt8eNaXGgoNqWl1wGJe4WYmoLjQTJi-ujyMdk7qwDd1vLYw44NF5JyPbDZabIF81A9nGJUdaZQippGY/s1600/IMG_1791.jpg" rel="lightbox[voyage]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjVP1x8D2KIcKDHx_XubEf1lmFfLue98rsjJWKlz7Au-OApIpPLUKH-Y7LfNsmtt8eNaXGgoNqWl1wGJe4WYmoLjQTJi-ujyMdk7qwDd1vLYw44NF5JyPbDZabIF81A9nGJUdaZQippGY/s320/IMG_1791.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
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Oh, and I bought this Newtype magazine. IT HAS YUI FROM K-ON! ON THE FRONT. :DDD<br />
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<center><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWtKdWbeS1Jg70mpbrG2uK3O_0TmeEOgmZqf__U7yA7brXaB4QYiA7Vl2VKkX56fKfFKRSlffdBrXhGaSSJD7hoHL9KFK7-f3s4_GzYlVqUN8M0ld6E1izDJVYytNQ2RHTHbArPwEsE6Q/s1600/IMG_1853.jpg" rel="lightbox[newtypemag]"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWtKdWbeS1Jg70mpbrG2uK3O_0TmeEOgmZqf__U7yA7brXaB4QYiA7Vl2VKkX56fKfFKRSlffdBrXhGaSSJD7hoHL9KFK7-f3s4_GzYlVqUN8M0ld6E1izDJVYytNQ2RHTHbArPwEsE6Q/s200/IMG_1853.jpg" width="150" /></a></center><br />
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...and that's about it so far. All of the pictures I have taken so far, and will continue to take, will be up on my Facebook (I assume almost everyone reading this has me as a friend) after I return home... I only posted the very best ones here. :)<br />
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I'm going to school starting the day after tomorrow... but I get to miss Wednesday because I'm going to <b>Tokyo Disneyland</b>!!! :D<br />
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Bai bai for now.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-860268787418040942010-06-11T14:49:00.007+09:002010-07-20T19:33:59.817+09:00Lots of animu at AkibaToday was definitely one of the best days of my <i>LIFE</i>.<br />
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In the morning, we visited the American Embassy in Japan which was quite puny compared to the British Embassy. BUT, they had these cool stickers that changed to blue when exposed to light for a period of time. :D<br />
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After that, we went to the Edo-Tokyo Museum, or as it said on our schedule, "will visit 'the Edo Tokyo Museum'." It was quite interesting and had lots of cool but expensive items in the gift shop-- I bought four postcards. :) There were TONS of school groups at the museum, too. A bunch of elementary school girls started following me around and whenever I looked back at them they would start to giggle amongst themselves... once they pointed to me and said "かっこいい!" (<i>kakkoii</i>, meaning 'cool') :D<br />
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Much later in the day after wandering about Shinjuku (the part of Tokyo I'm currently in-- staying at the Keio Plaza Hotel) for hours and buying super cute sleepy rabbit-filled stationaries in デパート (<i>depaato</i>, department stores) we took the JR (Japan Railways) subway to <b>Akihabara</b>!<br />
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Akihabara, commonly called Akiba, is a place in Tokyo filled with anime and manga and EVERYTHING LIKE THAT AND IT'S TOTALLY OVERWHELMING. I bought loli-filled magazines and figurines which made me super happy. :> And there was stuff about the upcoming anime Oreimo (Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai - My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute) and Hanamaru Youchien (Hanamaru Kindergarten) and B Gata H Kei and Working!! and Toradora! and Hayate no Gotoku! and Strike Witches and Tokikake (Toki o Kakeru Shoujo - The Girl Who Leapt Through Time) and Paprika THEN THERE WAS A DVD OF SUMMER WARS THAT I <i>REALLY</i> WANTED TO GET... but it was close to $90. so yeah, I didn't get it, obviously. :< (yay for run on sentences!) BUT IT WAS FANTASTIC AND AMAZING AND WONDERFUL. Really fantastic. Like, indescribably fantastic. Especially since we weren't supposed to leave the hotel, and asking directions from confused Japanese people that only speak a tiny bit of English was pretty interesting. :) But really, Japanese people are <i>so</i> nice. On the way to Akiba, a man lead us all the way around the train station (to a different building, actually), helped us get our tickets and even board the yellow line train! And on the way back, a group of super funny high school boys rode the train back with us to Shinjuku after finding the right train for us to get on.<br />
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Oh yeah, I also bought some keychains of <i>Bakemonogatari</i> and <i>K-On!</i> characters and stuff. And I got some presents for people too. Well, two so far. Just little ones though. I don't really know where to put all of these EXCITING bits of information, so I'm just typing them down here in this paragraph as I think of them... Also: people in Japan wear masks over their faces in the streets so they don't get OTHERS sick. And nobody locks their bicycles. Their whole culture is based on respecting, caring about and trusting others... it's great. :)<br />
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Here are some pictures of Akihabara. Sorry they look kinda squished-- resizing them is a ton of work, plus I can't do that on this computer.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhngmRiMfhZiJaGLbSc7tzlx13Xu8139YEVnPpKuPXnU22GAkZF2s59VCtXXJRcjyZL8RErPp3hjP4htAevsa8trW5gb3dUvZKd2u0IzvPam_ywjc9R3Ij6Jgvs5dUSWZMaJ84r0xjXQ_A/s1600/IMG_1686.jpg" rel="lightbox[akiba]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhngmRiMfhZiJaGLbSc7tzlx13Xu8139YEVnPpKuPXnU22GAkZF2s59VCtXXJRcjyZL8RErPp3hjP4htAevsa8trW5gb3dUvZKd2u0IzvPam_ywjc9R3Ij6Jgvs5dUSWZMaJ84r0xjXQ_A/s320/IMG_1686.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcss4E2BEl61r8KiefO2aOM_mEBp2-3lKcade8Mst0EPrhart8WA1Ni8_U_nk9UJqk_PSi3twbLfza2TzmHZ-qdovPOBTBKYxsHi_oCKt9gO9CMQq9fwCw0s1IhMAIwA15M8GMHxeQ8B4/s1600/IMG_1693.jpg" rel="lightbox[akiba]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcss4E2BEl61r8KiefO2aOM_mEBp2-3lKcade8Mst0EPrhart8WA1Ni8_U_nk9UJqk_PSi3twbLfza2TzmHZ-qdovPOBTBKYxsHi_oCKt9gO9CMQq9fwCw0s1IhMAIwA15M8GMHxeQ8B4/s320/IMG_1693.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicIjKpL93qLEcUqO9HRqW4vyhu5IzNvGVMWqU675XTXiEJNb-tCfb1TbNU2WOod334soWXr99UdlKvXI0WfTY64oBymqc15Yw98u9EbiMzEkcBNVht-bxFYgR784qG3yHFkzZ8vDIiytI/s1600/IMG_1697.jpg" rel="lightbox[akiba]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicIjKpL93qLEcUqO9HRqW4vyhu5IzNvGVMWqU675XTXiEJNb-tCfb1TbNU2WOod334soWXr99UdlKvXI0WfTY64oBymqc15Yw98u9EbiMzEkcBNVht-bxFYgR784qG3yHFkzZ8vDIiytI/s320/IMG_1697.jpg" width="75" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhbpmloa6CzvBihQPdcUFLItBUIca3mhIcQZvjO9G3czkOoU0mk1INfzEM-kW3kg6L_ugtS9Qim4w5llE4HNe4zFexzwOiq_O2jepdyL5wxzufLH7f_HWouD_YWE76I2XOy9O5HtLj3nE/s1600/IMG_1707.jpg" rel="lightbox[akiba]"><img border="0" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhbpmloa6CzvBihQPdcUFLItBUIca3mhIcQZvjO9G3czkOoU0mk1INfzEM-kW3kg6L_ugtS9Qim4w5llE4HNe4zFexzwOiq_O2jepdyL5wxzufLH7f_HWouD_YWE76I2XOy9O5HtLj3nE/s320/IMG_1707.jpg" width="75" /></a><br />
</center><br />
<br />
Oh yeah, the picture of the Hanamaru Youchien mousepad above was about $9, while the soundtrack was only $8... doesn't make too much sense. Either way, it's way overpriced.<br />
<br />
Here's the magazine I bought:<br />
<br />
<center><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdZqW7DjknsAG5z6voqQZUbKQZDtxVvmJJyKbMudTjWx9OJNbqFZwqf8bTveO7_ULWP0_w6sZRV8sKZoTBqLvdt3LbgT3zzWC4eyXBFTmVlZoRfw932CAVJuEo7DJjAqDuQwAI6hNT0Xo/s1600/IMG_1772.jpg" rel="lightbox[akibamag]"><img border="0" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdZqW7DjknsAG5z6voqQZUbKQZDtxVvmJJyKbMudTjWx9OJNbqFZwqf8bTveO7_ULWP0_w6sZRV8sKZoTBqLvdt3LbgT3zzWC4eyXBFTmVlZoRfw932CAVJuEo7DJjAqDuQwAI6hNT0Xo/s200/IMG_1772.jpg" width="100" /></a></center><br />
<br />
Yes, it did come with that figure. :) :D<br />
<br />
<br />
...and that's my adventure so far. Tomorrow, I'll be meeting my host family!!! ドキドキわくわくだよね。Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-38232125933507980632010-06-10T22:01:00.002+09:002010-06-11T08:01:53.870+09:00IN TOKYO!The time frame of 'wednesday afternoon' did not exist on my life. :o<br />
<br />
And now, after a 10-hour plane ride and much wandering about, I'm in a hotel in Tokyo. I'll be taking the bullet train (新幹線, <i>shinkansen</i>) to Sendai on Sunday, which for me is the day after tomorrow.<br />
<br />
I ENJOY BAD ENGLISH SIGNS. for example: The SOY SOUCE it is planted on the table<br />
<br />
<br />
Bye for now! :DUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-45774665253326211272010-06-08T11:28:00.000+09:002010-06-08T13:28:42.148+09:00California PDOSo, I'm at UC Berkely in California for a YFU Pre-Departure Orientation... and that's basically it for my update. I'll be leaving for Japan on Wednesday on a TWO STORY PLANE!!!! ...Apparently, only first class is allowed on the upper floor... but I'll find a way to get up there (without getting in trouble). :DUnknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8281250656749664097.post-35572391334063953922010-06-06T13:35:00.002+09:002010-06-06T13:35:19.749+09:00Email!Tonight my host mom emailed me. :) She was extremely nice and welcoming. My favorite part was where she said "Our house is not big, not new ,but our family is cheerful and friendly."<br />
<br />
:)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5