Piczo

Leaving America for Japan... for an entire year

Aug 15---- Newark Airport... I couldn't believe that the day had finally arrived. Actually that's an understatement. For the past few weeks as I've been thinking about my exchange, well it's just... it still hadn't quite hit me yet that I was actually going to be an exchange student in Japan. For a whole year. That's 12 months. 365 days. 525,600 minutes. Am I ready for this? At 15, am I ready to step into the world and leave everything I know for an entire year? There is inly one good enough answer for this: HECK YES! So in the morning I did a little last minute stuff. Like downloading a report which I could have done from the time it was given to me in April. The sun had yet to touch the sky when we packed in the car. I sat in the back with nothing to say. We drove thru Verona and I took some mental pictures of the place I wouldn't see for a long time. The car ride was pretty silent. No one had anything to say whatsoever. At the airport, my mom yelled at me to smile so she could remember me on a happy note. It wans't that I was sad, I was just well, not really functioning. Like I said before, the whole thing still had not sunk into me yet. We checked in, which I thought would definitely cause problems, seeing as my suit case was like twice the required limit. But the check in lady was very kind. So we walked to security. I had to say goodbye to my parents at this point. Mom, Dad, and Shannon cried pretty hard. So did I. Dad wanted me to just go thru quick. I'd never seen my mom cry so hard in my life. My sister and my dad kind of hung back while my mom gave me a long hug and told me to go. I cried all the way thru security until some big fat lady gave me a good long stare, and said "Suck it up!". Boy do I love America! But at least I stoped crying. While I walked through the small Northwest domestic terminal I started to skip and think "This is it. What I've been waiting for." And it was true I was free. I bought a blueberry muffin and then got comfortble in the terminal. So comfortbale that I almost instantly fell asleep. I had 2 hours to kill. And when they finally called ny plane I awoke with a jolt. I couldn't help but laugh and smile when I said "Goodbye New Jersey!" Then I fell back asleep and somehow managed to get to Detroit in one piece. I got off the airplane and had to walk 2 miles thru the airport to get to the Northwest Japanese terminal. There I met up with 20 other America to Japan exchange students. I barely got to the terminal when a group dressed in the Rotary blazer came to meet me. They were all so friendly and I knew then and there that the plane ride was going to be a lot fo fun. I ended up sitting with a few of them including Mary Beth, who happens to be on Shikoku, Amanda, to Saitmama who is nearly fluent in Japanese, and sooo many others. We were all pretty excited when the plane started taking off. Actually when we finally got into the air we started screamed GOODBYE FOR A YEAR AMERICA! Out of the 20 or so exchangers on the flight, we were all happy and excited, even if the majority of us could speak about 2 words in Japanese. To make a long plane ride (13 hours to be exact) short I'll just say that it was a lot of fun. We flew over Canada and Alaska and saw snow (for the last time in a year!), and annoyed the Stewardesses..haha. Yes we got yelled at ALOT. I studied Japanese for about 3 hours. I guess I'll never lose this studious streak. Amanda helped me study a good amount. It's hard to describe how awesome the plane ride was. It seems like exchange students can just get along no matter where and why we come. It's probably no body but each other can understand what's going in our lives. When we finally arrived in Tokyo, we were all a little suprised at what we saw. Aug 16- Konnichiwa! Tokyo airport= more foreigners than Japanese people. Of the twenty or so exchange students on the flights only 6 had to stay the night at the Tokyu Haneda Hotel. It was really sad saying goodbye to all of our new friends. I mean sure we had all known each other for less than 24 hours. And yet... 24 hours of being nervous, excited, scared, but all with each other. I'm telling you... exchange students just *click* So after we went our separate ways with everyone, me, Mary Beth, and a a few others payed an enormous fee to get on to a 50 minutes bus ride to Haneda Airport and the hotel. The scary thing that most of would have had no clue what we were doing. Some of the students had someone their to pick them up and explain about the bus. As for me and Mary Beth. We had no idea. We may well have slept in Narita if it hadn't been for a lucky opportunity in flying with others students. I can't say I remember much about the bus ride. I feel asleep for the majority of it. But I do remember feeling really really overheated in the Tokyo sun, looking out the window and feeling disppointed at the fact that we could very well be in California. It just looked so much like that. When we arrived and I strained to pull my enormous bags thru a place where everyone is staring at you. I seriously mean everyone. The old men smoking on woodent benches, the little babies on their fathers shoulders, the kids in school uniforms. Everyone. And it wasn't a very suddle stare. I recall a little boy tugging his grandfathers sleeve and screaming "GAIJIN!"(the word for foreigner.) Walking thru the airport, we found the hotel. We checked into the most convenient and nice hotel ever. The hotel is located inside the airport. It's definitely not a cheap place, but it is very nice. We all walked in to pay and stuff and everyone (hotel staff) bowed to us. So we bowed back and then they got offended. Okay then. First encounter with Culture Shock. We headed up to our rooms and some people complained that they were hungry so we headed down to the airport. Pretty convenient, no?Again as we walked thru everyone stareed at us. Haneda is not like Tokyo in that there are more foreigners than Japanese. Here everyone is Japanese. SOme students picked up some nasty looking fish thing. I headed back to the room and took the nicest shower of my life. Then turned on the television. We started to watch some AWFUL soap opera. Basically think about the OC times about 100. I fell asleep annoyed with the tv. Again growing very nervous over the fact that the people I would meet tommorrow would probably have the power to change my life. Aug 17- Up at 5, I trudged to get dressed and pull by bags thru Haneda. I was really tired and growing very very uneasy about going to my final destination. Me and Mary Beth had flights close in time so we went into the terminal together. I got yelled at by the Japanese weight person for having such heavy bags. But she didnt charge me because I gave her one of my homemade pins. haha. For breakfast I tempted fate and ate my first Japanses meal. I pointed to the menu, not able to read it and asked for whatever I pointed to. And just my luck I got fried fish. I can deal with fried fish. It was actually good. At 8 we went our separate ways and I boarded the plane to Kochi. Being the only person who was not Japanese, I received alot of stares. The ride was pretty nerve wrecking actually. I was studying Japanese so hard because I had just learned I would probably have to do a speech. I was so scared to mess up with Rotary. I literally could have thrown up on the seat. I had no exchange students to comfort me. When the tiny plane arrived at this little airport in the boonies, I waited in the baggage claim for my bags. The airport was about the size of my high school. I noticed a rather large group of people outside but thought nothing of it. I hauled my bags out and was met by a loud AHHHH SHES HERE! Yurie basically jumped into my arms with one eye and was like "I love you I miss you You are here." The large crowd was all for me! I tried to bow to the Rotarians but I kinda messed that one up. My poor Japanese skills didnt help. Finally my host father Kenichi Masaki and his daughter Naoko rescued me from embarrassment. They speak English very well. Rotarians herded us into a room where I was forced to give a speech. But even though I had practiced for an hour prior, the words seemed to have disappeard. Luckily it was in Yurie translated my English speech and everyone seemed very please. After at least 50,000 pictures I got to meet Kako and another exchange student going to America. Kako will be in Madison, NJ next year and she was so nice. Her english was almost as bad as my Japanese so we basically resorted to good ol' Yurie. I was then given a cell phone (which blows the silly American razor phones out of the water.) Everyone was very content with me, I think... I hope. So we then headed out. I got in to the Masaki van with Naoko and we talked in English about movies and sports. She is going to university on Kobe to be a phamacist. She is 22 and very very kind. The only problem is that she speaks such good English . Masaki-san, or Captain Jack Sparrow (a big Johnny Depp fan), is very funny. He is one of those few Japanese people with a true sense of humor for sarcasm. thank god. He too speaks very good English. When we arrived in Kochi City, 30 minutes from the airport, we drove by Tosajoshi, my high school. Kochi is truly a small city. Nothing like New York City even though it is definitely bigger than my hometown of Verona. There is a trolly train car that runs straight thru the streets and traffic jams on most corners. And I may as well complain about the weather now. IT IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOT! And air condition is something that you don't usually find. I got lucky though. Right now over Kyuushu there is a wicked typhoon (kind of like a hurricane) that is making the weather rainey and even more brutal. The Masaki family pharmacy is located in the middle of the city, 10 minutes away from Tosajoshi. On the 3rd floor of the large building in the Masaki `mansion` or apartment. It is a clean large place that is very open and very japanese. I have my own room which is a huge room with windows overlooking the main street. The floor is wooden but my bed is located on a bamboo substance about 6 inches about the floor. The bed also had removable walls for sleep time. Mrs. Masaki was unable to make lunch so we headed next store to a Japanese restaurant. There I had my first true Japanese meal. To tell you the honest truth, I thought it was very good. There were noodles and rice and fried fish and this jelly vegetable thing. Sure I shunned the raw fish and the shrimp. But I was still pretty full after the meal. Naoko and Otoosan said that I was really good with chopsticks. YES! After the lunch, I went into my room and slept for about 3 hours. Until i got up and bowed to Obaasan and Ojiisan, who live at the Masaki apartment during the day. I finally got to meet Mrs. Masaki, who was working at the pharmacy all day, she is short sweet woman who speak absolutely no English. She cooked the family dinner and complimented my chop stick skills.Man I must be good! After dinner we went to a food market to pick me up a pair of my own chop sticks and my own rice bowl. We met up with Naokos cousin,Misa, who was so cute trying to communicate with me. We got to drive thru the city at night and I was impressed by the lights and the noise. Back at the apartment, we watched some tv and listened to rain pour down on Kochi. I of course was really tired and took a quick shower and then got into bed. I'll admit to the fact that I was tired from jetlag and overwhelmed from all the days activities that I got a little tad bit of yearning for home. Not so much homesickness but you know what I mean.

A Shinto Family Holiday

The Masaki family are Shinto, which is an ancient Japanese religion that focuses mainly on honoring the deceased ancestors. For 30 years the youth of the deceased must celebrate and pray for the happiness and good fortune of the ancestors as a whole family once during the summer months. Yesterday we packed up the car and headed to Aki City, just about an hour away from Kochi City. There we would meet up with Okasans parents and her little sister and her niece and nephews for a feast and prayer. After a scenic drive thru large open country side (not quite so many squished houses at in the city but still many houses) on a very narrow street, we arrived. I met Okasans parents. I had practiced earlier in the morning how to greet them but I seemingly messed up as Otosan shook his head and gave me an icy glare. My Japanese has yet to improve and I still can't understand a single thing anyone says to me. Otosan tries to give me lessons but I just don't really get it. Anyways when we arrived we walked about a mile thru a very old traditional Japanese village. The houses looked very much like the typical generalized Japanese house. Okasans parents built a a huge Japanese garden with Torii gates and fountains with fish. It was beautiful. The family wanted to go swimming in the local river so we all trudged the 2 mile across dusty ancient roads in the heat (well over 100 degrees) When we arrived, the river was too dangerous to swim in because of the typhoon so we could only stay close to the banks about knee deep. After we headed back to play table tennis. I am absolutly terrible. That's all I'll say. Everyone headed back to watch championship high school baseball game of Tokyo verses Hokkaido and to also take a shower. Japanese people take up 3 or 4 showers a day down here in the absolute heat. Then we got to go grape picking. Okasans family grows grapes. I got to cut some just for the Masakis. In the grape tree tent a snake slithered by my foot and I freaked out and ran screaming. After we ate a huge dinner of dead fish. It was my first traditionally Japanese meal, as well as sitting on the tatami floor on our knees. I feasted on crab and barbequed shrimp. But it was a little hard eating with a dead fish staring at you. Okasan took pity on me and went to cook some fish just for me. I yet again could not understand a word of what was going on. After dinner Otosan and Okasan went to pray for there ancestors. I was really suprised when they asked me to do the same. I thought that would be disrespectful, but apparently not. So I kneed in front of the shrine thing with the pictures of the deceased, lit candles, rang a bell, and bowed my head in prayer. It was pretty cool to be able to be involved in such a tradition. I guess it was the the first feeling of fitting into Japanese culture. After a quick rain storm we were supposed to climb the mountain and give fortune to the ancestors. When we started to climb, I was the only one who didn't need to take 11,ooo+ breaks. In fact I had a running competition up the steep mountain with the 11 year old boy. He needed a break so I stopped to wait for him and yelled down to Otosan "Come On You Dont Want an American to Beat You!" Apparently he didn't care whether an American beat him or not just that if he went any faster he would have died. At the top of the mountain we walked through some torii gates and I bowed and prayed as I threw 7 yen into the ancestor well. The view from the top was impressive as you good see miles of farm land and the ocean in the distance. We came back down and cooled off in the house. The house is probably the most traditional Japanese house I have even seen. Bamboo shag floor, knee table to eat at, Japanese painting of geisha, and a sculpture of an old house. But then you can see the westernization as well. An air conditioner hangs over the room and there is a tv smack dab in the middle with baseball playing on the screen. Afterwards we played badmittion, and I got crushed by Tiger Woods (Otosans latest name for himself, no longer Captain Jack.) Then we set up some fireworks on the mountain. They were beautiful and everyone cheered as colors lit the sky.

Medley of August Happenings, the First Few Days

Well, it's been 3 long days since I arrived in Kochi, Japan. To be honest, it feels like much longer than that. Thus far, every morning I have woken up incredibly early, done very little and almost nothing during the day, then gone to sleep nice and early. I think the most difficult part of every day is the morning. Just as I open my eyes, to see that I'm not in my comfortable bed at home in America. My head is still stuck in America thinking mode, while my body is in a strange foreign place. I hope that makes some sort of sense. But as I emerge from sleep, it's then that this feeling of doubt pours over to me. I don't regret my decision one bit. I like my host family and have been trying really hard these past few days. The doubt I get just makes me wonder how I'm going to survive an entire year here. I mean I guess things will begin to get easier when I', able to understand the language a little bit more. For the time being, though, I have to find a way to get rid of this self doubt. Yesterday morning I woke up and tried my very hardest to ignore the American mindset. Actually when I woke up I was overheated and felt really sick. My air conditioning had stopped working during the night and I don't do too well in this type of heat. I quickly got dressed and headed in to the Masaki kitchen for breakfast. I ate and then studied Japanese for about 2 hours. It kept my mind off of thinking about home for a little while, which was what I really needed. Plus I read a children's book in Japan with Otosan and Ojisan in Japanese. For the first time ever, someone was impressed with my language skills. Ojisan couldn't believe I could read Hiragana. I explained that it was actually one of the only things I studied about Japan. After the morning study, Otosan and Ojisan trekked down the 3 flights of stairs to work at the Masaki Family pharmacy. I returned to my room, with nothing special planned. My host sister, Naoko came into my room a little later on to say goodbye. She was returning to her University in Kobe for extra classes and a concert. As she said goodbye, I walked over to wear she was standing and threw my arms around her in a hug. I think that made her very uncomfortable. I love giving people hugs, but I have noticed that no one seems to hug here. I guess I won't be giving too many hugs for a while. Well, I'll just wait until I see Yurie. The morning was fairly uneventful, but at least the rain had stopped and the typhoon had moved on to Korea. I started helping around the house by hanging clothes on the dryline, scrubbing the table after a meal, and putting away dishes. After lunch, Otosan informed me that he received a call from Hirosue-san. She said that Yurie was going to stopping in for a visit after her club was finished, probably at around 2. That got me really excited. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but things have been so uneventful, that anything would have been exciting. So at 1:50 that afternoon, I walked all the way thru the Arcade, called Obiyamachi, to meet Yurie at the school. Within the first few steps, I noticed the obvious stares from some shoppers. Uncomfortable doesn't even begin to describe it. Outside the big white school, I waited and waited for my friend to depart. But at 2:30, I realized she wasn't coming out. My only option was to return to the pharmacy. Noticing the late time, Okasan must have gotten worried about me. She hopped on Naoko's old school bike and pedaled through the crowded mall looking for me. Back at the Masaki Family Pharmacy, Otosan called Hirosue-san and found out there had been a misunderstanding. The club ended at 5, not 2. So I had 2 and a half hours to kill, before Yurie came to visit me. I decided to ride a bike like everyone else in Japan seemed to be doing at that moment. Otosan got a little worried, when I asked for permission. He reasoned that I don't know my way around Kochi, so I had to bring my borrowed Rotary cell phone. I promised I would call him if I got lost or anything. I didn't quite mention that I don't know how to use it, though. Outside the Pharmacy, I boarded Naoko's old Turquoise school bike, and rode along. Basically I just drove around the main streets and thru the Obiyamachi. It's been 3 days and I'm beginning to notice things about Japan. Things that I like, like the use of chop sticks and the politeness of bowing. And then there are things that I hate, like being stared at. I am a Gaijin, which is foreigner in Japanese. My host city, Kochi, is a bit off the beaten trail. I don't really too much about it yet, but I've been told it's very country-like. Thus there aren't many Gaijin in Kochi. Those that do live here, are a novelty. It's such a rare experience to see a Non-Japanese person, that some people are motivated to stare. I understand that, I really do. I get that I look different. weird even. It's really bothering me alot, though I know that it really shouldn't. As I rode the bike along the main street, a little boy started screaming to his mother to look. He pointed and me and excitedly jumped up and down. I'm not sure what he was saying but I think he was trying to tell his mother to watch out. 'Cause I'm a ferocious evil gaijin. Kochi is really an interesting place. There are other things I noticed about my host city, on that first bike ride. It was the little things, like landmarks, and types of people. Things like the fact that there are Lawsons Food Stations on ever corner and more Karaoke bars on one street than in the whole country of America. Then there are a trillion drink machines that sell all the same stuff: cold tea, colder tea, even colder tea, flavored cold tea, expensive water, and occasionally if you get lucky, Coke. It really is an interesting set up. I wonder if it's just Kochi, or the country of Japan that is set up like this. The Masaki Family Pharmacy, just below the Masaki apartment, is also located smack dab straight in the middle of the city, about 15 minutes walk from Kochi Castle. It's also about 2 minutes from the singing Japan clock, which is a huge clock outside the Japan Airline building. Every hour on the hour it plays this same song and little figurines appear and dance. Personally, I think it's rather annoying, especially at 9 in the morning. A whopping 10 seconds from the Pharmacy exit is the biggest mall in the Kochi prefecture, which is like saying the biggest mall in the state. Sometime during my exploring adventure, I got really hot. The weather is brutally scorching and humid. I turned around to go home, but as I arrived Okasan volunteered to take me for another bike ride. Even though I was uncomfortably hot, I couldn't say no. She seemed very keen on taking me around town. So we ended up going really far thru Kochi, crossing bridges, into woody areas, through dirty streets, and crowded intersections. It was pretty interesting to see how swampy and foresty the area around Kochi is. Unexpectedly, the sky opened up and began dumping buckets of water on the sun-drenched Kochi. Soaking wet, we rapidly pedaled back the Pharmacy, laughing at our bad luck. In the Masaki family, when you do an activity that involves sweating, you take a shower. So that was my first activity upon returning home. Pretty soon the clock ppinted to the 5. Yurie arrived straight from her club, the school choir. It was suck a relief to be with someone I knew and speaking in English. Together, we went shopping in Obiyamachi mall. It seemed like I was constantly entering and leaving Obiyamachi without ever actually shopping. Yurie brought me to Game store in the middle of the mall, and gave me a lesson on Japanese girls. She put some coins in this huge squared room with a curtain over appeared to be an entry way. The box thing was covered in the cartoon pictures of Japanese girls and boys with friends. I couldn't figure out what it was, because I couldn't read anything. Yurie explained that Japanese girls really enjoy taking a thousand pictures of themselves and swapping them with friends. This phenomenon is called Purikura. So Yurie and I headed into the box room thing, and took 10 horrible pictures of ourselves and decorated them all with pink frilly writing and hearts. Oddly enough, I had a great time with the Purikura. I wouldn't mind taking lots of pictures with friends in one of those again. Later we went to a book store and I bought myself a book on Kanji alphabet. My speaking skills are terrible, but my reading skills are coming along very well. Afterwards we agreed to meet the Masakis at 7:30 for a dinner at a restaurant very close to the apartment. When I menu was passed out, I get really annoyed that I couldn't read it. I think made a goal with myself to learn how to read the menu. Yurie ordered something that she though I would like, Pork Okonomiacki. When she told me the name, I was did a double take. What? The waitress brought out a bowel filled with cabbage, raw egg, pork, and various types of sauce. I follwed by the Masaki's in mixing the contents of the bowl. Though I had real doubts on whether the product would be edible. I copyed them as the poured the food onto an over in the middle of the table and began cooking their meal. As my food cooked, I even got the opportunity to take a spatula and flip the Okonomiacki overwith. It was really exciting, and I began to get over the fact that the food didn't look very tasty at all. Yet, as soon as the chop sticks touched my lips, I knew I had found a really delicious meal. While, I savored every bite of this newfound delightful food. Yurie sat there and chatted with my host family in Japanese. It bothered me that I couldn't understand a word she was saying. But not enough to stop eating my dinner and listen in. Afterwards she told me some interesting things she had learned about the Masaki's. Obachan (obaasan in earler posts or my host grandma) loves the fact that I am going to Tosajoshi, my host school. She went there as a studenr and always wanted a grandchild to attend the high school. High school pride is very important in Japan. She is very pleased with me for going to Tosajoshi. Also Naoko will be leaving in the middle of September to go back to Kobe. Yurie thinks that the Masakis like having another daughter around the house. I really thought that Okasan would be annoyed that I couldn't communicate with her but she actually really likes the company and the extra help around the house. Another thing Yurie pointed out is that the Masakis call me Julie-chan. -chan is usually the name parents or adults give to young girls whom they know pretty well. But you usually stop calling a girl chan around 15 or 16. When we finally finished cooking dinner, Yurie took a bunch of pictures of my first Okonomiacki experience. I've come to realize that I love Japanese food (except for raw fish, which isn't as abundant as generalizations make it.) They all bought soft cream (kind of like ice cream) which I tried but didn't like the flavor, which was green tea. I got some of my nose and the Masakis laughed so hard that I thought they would wet there pants. When we left the restaurant, Yurie left to meet up with her mother while we went to a food store. At home I went right to bed because I was really tired. The heat really takes it out of you.

The 22nd and the 23rd were boring uneventful days that mainly saw me laying in my bed or studying. Actually though on the 23rd I was thrown a welcome party at an Italian restaurant that wasn't really Italian. But the steak was good! And I did a small speech in Japanese (using a notecard.) I also got my cell phone. Yesterday was a pretty hectic day if I say so. I woke up at 7 pretty excited because I would be getting uniform and meeting with some teachers at my school. Otosan and Naoko and myself walked thru the arcade to the school only to meet up with Yurie and Masako. Masako was an exchange student in California (the OC) last year. She didn't much like it because "too many immigrants." She actually learned almost as much Spanish and she did English. But she is pretty nice and she and Yurie had made it the mission to make friends for me. So at the school I bowed to principal and the secretary and my homeroom teacher. It was pretty funny because they all reached out there hand to shake my hand afterwards. Okay. They spoke with the Rotary chairmen and my host father and were very impressed that I could understand like a tiny bit of there conversation. The school purchased my 4 new pairs of shoes and my uniform. I went in with an open mind about the uniform and came out hating it more than ever. For one it is majorly too tight. And it goes halfway up my stomacdh area. I can't pull it down any farther. And it is going to take me a good 2 hours a morning to try and get the stupid shirt over my head. AHH! After the unifor session, Naoko, Yurie, Masako, and myself headed to fake Mexican/Indian restaurant where we ate the food with chopsticks. It was really good but I can't decide if it was Mexican or Indian or both. I'm getting used to this whole concept of letting other people order for me... After Yurie had to go back for dance lessons and Naoko and Masako went to convert some of my money so I came back and sat in the nice AC for 3 hours. Then Yurie and one of her chorus buddies came over. She was a really nice girl who really seemed to want to be friends. I attempted to have communication with her and was pretty successful for a while. Afterwards Yuries father came to pick Yurie up and the next thing I know Im going to a pork restaurant with he and Yurie. I have never met someone so in love with rock music. He is such a Beatles fan that he named his clinic "Strawberry Fields." And for everyone who calls him on the cellphone there is a new Beatles/Beach Boy song that plays. He was really nice and he reminded me alot of my dad. After dinner I went back to get ready for a SHinto festival in Kochi. I had to wear a Yutako which is also a summer kimono. My obachan took great strides (over 1 hour) trying to get it on me. I thought I looked okay but it was heavy and I got really hot fast. The festival took over an hour to drive too even though the shrine isnt really far. It happens to be the most popular festival in Kochi. Huge crowds of vendors managed to make there way aroundthe grounds so it was hard to get through. Finally we got through and I was to participate in the prayer. I threw a 100yen coin in the box and prayed for the ancestors to give me luck in learning Japanese. Then I helped ring the huge bell. As I did this everyone stared at me because I'm not Japanese. I was the star of the festival...haha. Afterwards we played some warper strange Japanese games including this fish catching game with paper (I didnt catch anyfish) and this balloon pulling thingie (I did however win this game.) The night came to a close when we got into the bus back to Kochi. The day was crazy.

Kochi Sightseeing With the Masaki's

So I live in Kochi city but on Shikoku there are 4 main prefectures (or states.) I live in Kochi prefecture and until this weekend did not realize just how amazing of a place it really is. I woke up on Saturday morning with plans of laying around and doing nothing. I had a brief Japanese lesson with my host father, but he had to get to work so he couldn't stick around long. At noon Naoko woke up, with plans to take me to the Ryuugado caves. So we packed up and headed the 40 minutes to the Ryuugado caves just outside the city. They are a truly maginificent work of 15 billion years. Basically you walk up a mile thru these ancient cave shafts that contain thousands of bats and dripping water. I got soaked and for the first time since I've arrived I felt cold! The caves were home to ancient Japanese people as well. We could only spend a little time at the caves as apparently we were going on a vacation along the Kochi-ken coast. Back at home I threw a bunch of stuff in to a back pack and headed out for our first stop: Shimanto City. The city is where the huge firework festival we were attending was. It is about 2 and 1/2 hours away from Kochi City through lush wide open beautiful mountain side. I have probably never seen so much beauty in my life. It was like driving thru Colorado and Vermont but right next to a crystal clear Carribean ocean. The drive took us through these mountains, along clear gurgling rivers, burning rice fields, wild flower fields. There are many places in Japan, and most are nothing like Kochi. Most are more high tech, crowded, and less unspoiled. And though Kochi is a bit boring, driving through the mountains along the coast, I realize there is no place that I would rather be than here right now. We arrived a little late as the fireworks have already started. Let's just say that if American firework shows steal some ideas from the Japanese, then in a couple years we are going to have some wicked shows. But although the fireworks are impressive, I think listening to the sound effects made by the viewers are more funny. For instance, my host father almost choked laughing so hard at a loud boomer. These people really like to make a lot of noise over the fireworks and it is kind of cute. Afterwards we walked along the city for a little while and grabbed dinner at an "Italian" restaurant. After dinner, we continued to walk until we went back to check into the hotel. I got my own room which was good because it was small. Small meaning I smacked my head on the shallow room at least 3 or 4 times during the night. In the morning we got out early to explore the Dragonfly Park in Shimanto City. Actually there weren't many dragonflys at all. So we went to breakfast and from there took a half an hour drive to the Tatsukushi Coast. From the moment we pulled up to this small paradise I loved it. The water was crystal clear and beach had no one in sight. Out in the distance the strange architextural underwater viewing station floated and boats came in and out of the shallow bay. My host family decided to take a nice ride on the glass bottom boat that would lead us out into strange rock formation island. The boat ride was very cool but it was a little hard for me to fit as my legs were too long to squeeze into the seat. But when we arrived I was suprised at how cool the rocks actually were. Old and out of the way, the island never gets many tourists but it is very fascinating how truly beautiful the area really is. I've heard the popular quote, "go not where the path leads but take the less beaten path." I can honestly say that the Tatsukushi Coast is definitely that less traveled path. Back on the main island we realized we had to head out and hit the Ashizuri Coast, which is the Southernmost point of Kochi-ken. The thing about Kochi is that there are too many mountains to make a straight road so they created these annoying curvy roads up and down the sides of the mountains. The Ashizuri Coast is a giant cliff that looks out onto the rocky shores of the Pacific Ocean. After the longest and most painful curvy road ever, we arrived. We hiked thru a small forest to the old lighthouse that looked out and took some pictures. Then we hiked back to another point that looked out and saw everything. It was so beautiful, one can't acurately describe it. We couldn't stay long, as we headed out for Ohru Beach. After another long curvy road, we arrived and hiked another mile into the woods. I think that the woods here should be considered rain forests. The Beach, practically empty except for a few locals and American surfers, was paradise. I have never been to a more beautiful beach in my life. The water was so clear, that we could wade out half a mile and still see the bottom. The water was extremely shallow and the surf was perfect, so Naoko, Otosan, and myself headed out into the water for a nice long swim. It was so nice and warm and clean and like nothing I could really truly tell you about. The waves were small and tide was perfect for gentle wadding. I layed on my back floating and staring up at the perfectly blue sky. Naoko and Otosan laughed while splashing in the waves. It was a truly perfect summer moment. Sadly, though, we had to leave and make the trip back into Kochi city.

Weekend With the Hirosue "Kazoku"

Yesterday Yurie and her mother, Sae-mama picked me up early to go to there home about one hour away for the night. We drove through alot of country as I tried to communicate with Yuries mother. She just smiled and told me she had a lot planned for me. Yuries second home, located above her father doctor practice is a small cozy little home in the country. The clinic, Strawberry Fields, named after the Beatles is a popular clinic for people with back problems as Yuries father is an orthopedic surgeon. We pulled up and were greeted by Yuries dogs and then I was taken for a grand tour. The clinic is pretty cute but very crowded and staffed with a bunch of high pitched nurses who had no idea what to say to me. Then we went up to the living quarters and the huge comfey guest room. My room had a large screen television and a brand new ginormous apple computer. I didnt get to see Yurie and her sisters room as it was a mess apparently. Sae-mama cooked us a meal and then we hung out at the house for a little while. Later we headed to the Jardin de Monet. In the most obscure random countryside of Kochi-ken Japan some dedicated citizens built a beautiful water lilly garden to resemble Monets painting. It was beautiful but the rain quickly messed that up. we did some shopping and then headed for the onsen. Onsen. I:m sure the majority of you have no idea what the onsen is. Basically the Japanese people love onsen because they are natural hot spring and very much like a spa. One cache: you are completely butt stark naked with a bunch of woman of all ages. And heres the best part... as Kochi is really the middle of know where people like to stare at the gaijin. At home in American I hate being naked so I hope you can imagine my shyness at the onsen. when we jumped in the water i found a nice rock to hide behind. But like everything else in the country, I quickly got into the swing of things and got used to it. It may seem a little weird but onsens aren:t actually bad. Not that I want to make going to them a habit...haha. Yuries father met up with us afterwards and we headed to a habachi steakhouse thingie. It was delicious if I do say so myself. As I was eating the rice and miso soup, Yutako Hirosue yelled at me as apparently I wasnt doing it right. So Yurie showed me the right way to switch off my chop sticks.　Hey what can I say? Im trying. Back at the house Sae-mama showed me how to play her Hotoko. This fascinating instrument is used for that familiar song Sakura. Everytime you go into a Japanese restaurant you probably hear it. Then we all went to bed. Today I woke up and played Sakura again, this time from memory. Apprently Im getting very very good. Next we hung around for a while until heading back to Kochi city. There we met the Tosajoshi principal and Yurie sucked up a little bit. Afterwards we went to the mall to meet Yuki, Yuries little sister for lunch. For lunch I had pizza but was forced to try the weirdest thing I have ever seen in Japan so far. Yuki ordered pasta covered in Squid ink. When you eat it it turns your mouth black. So you can imagine the table of me, Yurie, Yuki, and Sae-mama with black mouths. Kinda crazy actually. From there we went to see a movie, all in Japanese and I was bored to death. When it was over my host parents, very worried about me ordered me home as I was kind of later than anticipated. I also found out my computer was broken beyond repair. So kind of a bad way to end a good day.

I Am Officially a Japanese Student

If ever you come to Japan, don't worry about learning the langauge. It's hard and strange anyway. Instead focus one knowing one word. Kawaii. Pronouced like Hawaii with a K. It's one of those Japanese words that has multiple English meanings all into one definition. Ultimately it means cute, but can be translated into lovely, pretty, and warm/fuzzy. And if you are a 5` 7" American girl with bright blue eyes, long real brown hair, and a good Japanese accent than you will be called "kawaii" more times than you can say Ohayou. Today school started for me at Tosajoshi Middle and High School, a famous expensive private all-girl school with an impressively old history. Masako Ichihara, who spent last year in San Francisco, California, picked up this nervous 15 year-old Gaijin girl from the Masaki pharmacy at 7:50. I was dressed in my white short sleeved sailor school uniform. My skirt flowing down to my knees. My long hair in a thick ponytail, to abide by the Tosajoshi school rule that if your hair is longer than your shoulders it must be kept back in pigtails or a pony tail. My face wore an expression of total fear, which was how my body felt. But Masako, with her easy going attitude, got my calm with a few quick jokes. We made the walk through Obiyamachi, which is a large arcade mall that I will be walking thru everyday to and from school while living with the Masaki's. Masako and I talked about how nervous we were. I was nearly throwing up, while she kept whining about being placed in a younger grade with a bunch of immature brats and nobody she knew very well. At some point I kind of blew up on her and said, "Well at least you can speak the language!" Soon we made our way to the big old white school and I walked into the metal gates for the first time in my school uniform. Immediately heads poked up to stare at me and whispers began to float in the air. It didn't take me long to realize that they were all taking about me. And since I didn't understand, I wasn't sure whether it was good or bad stuff. Masako just chuckled and told me to get used to it. I'm not sure that I can. After I placed my 3 new pairs of school shoes in a little cubby marked 48, Masako said it was time to visit my homeroom for the first time. My teacher, Yano-sensei, had come to the airport to meet me, so I had met him before. To be honest though, it was a hectic day and I didn't quite remember which Japanese guy he was. When we climb 3 flights of stairs and walked down a long white hallway that smelled like clean flowers to room 16, I found myself remembering Yano-sensei. Masako slid open the sliding door and gestured me to come inside. And my life changed forever. I'm serious about that, too. Yano-sensei greeted me warmly in English while 43 pairs of eyes stared at all of my motions. He welcomed me to the class and then introduced me to his students. At that point, a group effort was made to shreik and freak out that I was going to be a classmate among these girls. And it wasn't just one crazy girl, it was everybody! Everyone acted as if Christmas had come early and I was the biggest present under the tree. Yano-sensei continued to talk and ignored the girls who were still practically wetting themselves. He gave me two very enforced rules of his classroom. 1. I MUST learn Japanese 2. I must make friends in my homeroom class. The second one caught me a little off balance at first. The way he said it seemed like I would only be allowed to make friends with my homeroom. But Masako later explained that that isn't the case. But homeroom friends are the most important. You spend all day with them, and eat lunch with them. And if you don't eat lunch with them, it is seen as sort of ditching them. This came as a bit of shock to me. But I was willing to do anything to make my school life in Tosajoshi work out. To Yano-sensei's rules, I promised I would try my very hardest. Masako left and Yurie came to collect me before I had the opportunity to meet some of my new classmates. I asked her why everyone was laughing at me. Was there something wrong? Was I breaking a rule? Am I ugly or something? She just laughed. She grabbed my arm and took me on a tour throughout the 3 buildings of Tosajoshi Middle and High School. The farthest bulding was the middle school. The center building, the high school, while the front building was the activity building. She showed and introduced me to some new things. We visited the music, art, tea, Tatemi floor, cooking, sewing rooms and our last stop was the library. Throughout the tour, my school mates had been cleaning the entire school. Everywhere I had gone, there was a group of giggling girls with brooms and sponges. Yurie explained that once or twice a month, the school received a full fledged cleaning. But because today was my first day, I didn't have to do it. I was a bit disappointed to be honest. Now that the nervousness from the morning had subsided I was anxious to meet with my new classmates. At the library I met with another teacher, whom had welcomed me at the airport. Matsuoka-sensei greeted me very warmly and gave me brand new schedule, in which Iw as allowed to the opportunity to delete one class a day for Self- Study of Japanese. Sat: Self Study, English Grammar, English Conversation (where I go to the middle school and teach English), World History Mon: English Conversation, Self Study, Home Ec., Home Ec., Japanese, Gym Tues: Music, English Reading, Flower Arrangement, Self Study, Japanese, Japanese Weds: Biology, Self Study, English Reading, Calligraphy, English Conversation, Classroom Active Thurs: English Grammar, World History, Cooking/PE, English Conversation, Japanese Fri: Art, Japanese, Computers, World History, English Reading, Self Study After that Yurie, took my arm and beckoned me into the school gym, which had been converted into an auditorium. Japanese schools, upon returning from vacation, always have Opening Ceremonies. So as walked into the gym/auditorium, 2,000 girls from 6 grades suddenly turned their eyes to me. All of them were sitting in Saza position on the hard wood floor, holding their white slippers and chatting wuietly among friends. Then their mouths dropped open, and soon kawaii's flooded the air. I'd never been so amazed by the sight of thousands of white uniform wearing girls, who had never been so amazed at one white uniform wearing foreigner. A teacher ushered me into a seat, but the stares did not cease even as the principal began the ceremony. The first part of the ceremony was a commemoration to honor all the awards and history of Tosajoshi high school. Here is Japan, your high school is just as important as your college. For example back in the states if someone said they went to Harvard or any of the ivy leagues, people would assume they are smart and respectable. And if they said an unknown college, people just smile and say "oh... now where is that again?" And they wouldn't hold you in quite such high respect. Well in Kochi-ken saying you attended Tosajoshi is of great importance and therefore so are the awards and history. The middle school Ping Pong team won and Shikoku league and a group of High School second graders placed highly in a National Calligraphy competition. I clapped and cheered, but the rest the girls just watched me, eyes glittering with word Kawaii. Then the principal announced a small introduction about me and I was whisked onto the stage. As I walked onto the stage, 4,000 pairs of eyes belonging to all my classmates held there breath and smiled and waved. I sat next to my counselor teacher and he translated the principals speech about me. Julie Garner is from Verona, NJ, only 30 minues from NYC. She has a younger sister and is only 15. (Everyone gasps at the number, and the kawaiis start up again) Then the principal asked me to stand up and give a speech. Yes a speech in front of 2,000 girls and 30 to 50 teachers. So I stood up and did it. And I would have been scared to death at home but here is is like my 3rd speech in Japanese. Even though I spent the entire mornng nearly throwing up from nervousness, this speech doesn't even seem to bother me. So I stood up and said "Ohayoo Gozaimas. Watashi no name wa Julie desu. Hajimemashite. Juugosai desu. Nihongo wa scoshi wakarimasu. Doozo yoroshku onegai shimasu. Arigato Gozaimas." Sure I messed up a little when I said I can understand a little Japanese. I should have said I can understand no Japanese, except for Kawaii because you have said it about me at leave 1 million times in the past 5 minutes. But the applause and the cheers and the "KAWAII!" made it much better. I was very happy when my counselor said that I did very well. And later Yurie and Masako told me that I have a very good Japanese accent and that I will do well, provided I learn Japanese. Afterwards Yurie brought me back to my homeroom where all the girls stared and laughed when smiled I at them. All the girls in my class are 15 and 16 and although I was placed in the lower level class. They all seem incredibly nice. Yano-sensei assigned one girl, Shiho, to be my helper for the first month while I get everything set. Another girl, who I think is named Amy or soemthing, made me promise to eat lunchw ith her. I have a good feeling that she and I are going to be very good friend. The rest tryed to speak English, but well, let's just say their English is worse than my Japanese. If that's possible. Ihad to leave school early because I had a my 2nd Rotary meeting! SO I said goodbye to my new classmates, whom I hope I will be able to call my new friends very soon. I thought Amy was going to cry, until I told her I would see her tommorrow. And I will. And the the all of next week. If the rest of my school days are 1/10th of how wonderful today was, then my year is going to be awesome!

Random September Happenings, Getting Used to Japanese Life

I woke up and walked to school, only to realize I was starving. So I found myself stopping at one the many Convenience stores and buying a chocolate strawberry bread. It was as delicious as it sounds. But as I walked through the Mall eating, people stared at me like I had 3 heads. I think I must be doing something wrong, maybe you not supposed to eat in front of people. Maybe they were just jealous that I got a delicious breafast. Ah who knows? After I took off my leather shoes and put on my school slippers (yes you read that right!) I hurried up to my homeroom class. I was then quizzed at school by my new friends about their names. And yes, I know I'm a terrible person. But Japanese names are hard. If you are expecting Emily, Caitlin, Marissa, and easy English names, then you will be proved a million times over. The closest name to an American name came in the form of Aimi. I pronounced it Amy, even though its pronouced like I and Me together as one. I did however remember my friends Shiho and Nanae. After all, they have fairly simple names. After a few more embarrassing moments of name guessing. The large group of about 15 girls that who surrounded my desk to listen to me, had a fight over who I would be eating lunch with. Finally, and mouch to my relief, Yano-sensei settled it with announcing I should eat with Shiho, who had been assigned to make sure I got through the day with ease. Though I think I offended Shiho and Shoko/Tomoko, when I asked Aimi to take me to her club for a trial. Her club, is in fact the Tosajoshi Track team. Anyway, as the school day started, so too, did English Reading with Yano-sensei. After the usual, bow to the teacher when the bell rang, Yano-sensei had me stand in the very front of my class (44 in all) and read an entire report about the Beatles in English. Then I had to read it again because the first time was much too fast. English Reading was followed by self study, where my new friend, the school librarian helped me read a book written only in Japanese. The story, Momotarou, is a very traditional story passed on through many generation. It was very cute. After I headed back to homeroom for biology, where I am actually expected to pay attention. But in fact I just answered my fan mail in stead. Now don't think I'm making this up. I have like 4 or 5 letters written in Japanglish waiting on my desk to be answered. Also Shiho and Aimi gave me a notebook that I am to write in. Its pretty cute, I write in it on one day then I pass it to Amie who passes it to Shiho and then so on and so forth. Afterwards, with a tired hand, I headed to calligraphy. I' the only one in the class who hasn't been doing the'Way of the Write' since I could move my arm. But I do try, and the teacher, a world famous Calligraphist, see that I try and encourages me. I like the teacher, and he is close friends with the Masakis. It took me all class and about 100 tries (actual count:56) to write 日本　(Nihon or Japan in Japanese) But I succeeded and later my host parents acted very very proud when I presented the paper as a gift. The typhoon was in full swing and the power in the school was in a constant brown out which spells trouble for school teachers. Japanese girls scream and laugh and cry at the thought of thunder and lightening. So you can imagine how classes were with the loud thunder and constant lightening. After Calligraphy I headed back to homeroom for lunch. I bought more chocolate bread, boy am I going to be fat by the end of the year if things continue the way they are going. Pan, is the Japanese word for bread, and in the country it really is good. Like good enough to rival the French. I ate with Shiho and her friends and we all attempted to have a conversation, which is a bot hard when you can't speak each others language. Later Yurie came in, worried that I would be by myself and then suprised to see that I had made friends and was having a wonderful time. After lunch I headed to the middle school, where I taught English to Chu Ichinensee, which are seventh graders. These girls make Verona HBW middle schoolers, seem like a mature repectable young adults. And we all know that certainly isn't the case. These girls are loud with laughter, fits of excitement, and pure stupidity. When I ask them to do something, they practically wet themselves. After the torture of the Wednesday class, I returned once again, to my homeroom where my seat was moved to the back with Shiho and Aimi. I also was informed about the upcoming sports festival, which I am obligated to participate in. I am in the following events: Piggyback wrestling, 100m Run, and a 60m sprint. School ended and I went with Aimi to meet the track team. It is a very small group of girls that were truly honored beyond words that I had asked to come watch their practice. They lent me shoes and water, and the coach bowed the lowest to me. I watched as the teach warmed up and then when the long distance team separated with the sprinters. Long Distance would be running around the school 6 times. Then they had a training session. The track team here is very bad, but the girls are soooooo nice and friendly. Tommorrow I am supposed to go try Kendo and then friday swimming, but I had such a nice time with the track team I think I want to stay. At 5:30, I left for home. I met Yurie in Obiyamachi and we made plans for Saturday after school. At home I got confirmation from the school I could go to Hokkaido on the school excursion.

At school I did the normal Friday classes. Sorry, I'm a bit too lasy to go into details. But I will say that today was great with teaching Ichinensee English Conversation. The class is really getting used to me and now they are speaking to me rather than gushing everyday I try to speak with them. After school I met up with Yurie, Yuko, and Sae Hirosue for Ohm Rice. Ohm Rice is my second favorite Japanese dish. Its so good and very small portioned. I know I keep saying that everything is small-portioned, but I would be 300 pounds if things weren't small here. The fact is, Japanese food is very very delicious. At lunch Yurie officially decided that my hair was too poofy. Okay fine, maybe I brought that upon myself. I told her that some of my friends at school have been calling me Hermione from Harry Potter because of the hair. But my poofiness has really been bad here because of the excessive humidity. So after lunch, they made me a hair apointment. First we went shopping and I was told me fashion sense is wicked simple. I like tee shirts and skorts, dont be so harsh. Then we went to my appointment. Yurie had to leave, so no one could translate that I was hating my hair cut. This crazy frizzle haired pink lady chopped off nearly all of my hair, gave me the thickest bangs I have ever seen, and then made me swear to blow dry my hair everyday. Or at least I think she did. But either way, it's not like that is actually going to happen. At first I hated the hair cut, but now I'm used to it. After the cut I had to run home for dinner to not be late, but found my host father had left for the night. So Naoko, Okasan, and me celebrated Obachans birthday. In Japan its not usual to give presents for the birthday person, but I'm not Japanese. I gave Obachan a calendar with national parks of America. I thought she was going to cry with joy. She looked at the pictures all throughout dinner and cake. Later, the Masakis friend called and asked to go bowling. The friend was pretty drunk but she brought along her daughter, Shino, who will help me alot on the school excursion to Hokkaido, as I am going with her class. I'm not really a fan of bowling, but I was certainly not going to lose. And at least I beat Naoko, even though I'm terrible at bowling. Finally after a long week I could sleep. Sunday: I woke up at 11 AM. Yes I am now officially a Japanese teenager that sleeps till 11... haha. Actually most teenagers have to be up by 9 for school and sports clubs. I'm just referring to Naoko. The girl sleeps more than she is awake. It's incredible. After breakfast/lunch we got in the car, driven by Naoko *gulp* We drove all the way Aki City to city Okasans parent's home in the midst of the country. We did the usual grape picking. I love Japanese grapes! They make American grapes look terrible and small. They are so juicy and tasty, but you can't eat the skin and you must spit out the pits. Then we played ping pong for about an hour. The place in Aki is like an old folks community and when they get bored they play ping pong. So these ancient ladies playing each other is actually amazing. I'm not a fan of ping pong, but I made a good score keeper. We had to return early because I was to have my Welcome Party. Monday: Not too much happened today at school. Except when I woke up this morning I realized my hair is too short for a ponytail. So I have to wear them in pigtails. When I was young and able to get away with wearing them as an American, I would avoid putting my hair in the twin tails. Now I can no longer avoid them humility. I'm a Japanese school girl, what can I say?

I spent the afternoon with Naoko and Okason in Aki City with Okasan's parents. Then we rushed home and I quickly hopped into my uniform. We then went to the nicest most expensive hotel in the city. There the Masakis, the Onos (my next family), my couselors: Sakioka, the dentist, and Matsumota, the furniture guy, Tsutsui, not sure his profession, my school principal and one teacher, 3 or 4 Rotary guys that I have never met before, Yurie, Masako, and another former exchanger, got together for a party. Everyone spoke about me and I couldn't understand anything. But I had to speak and I really messed up a speech for the first time since I've been in Japan. At dinner I met my next family the Oonos. They have 1 son who is 14 and is an amazing baseball player. But they also have their niece who is 14 and in 3rd grade at the middle school (9th grade in America) living with them. She goes to Tosajoshi as well. Her parents wanted her to go to a better school than what there commpunity offered, that's why she lives with her Uncle, Aunt, and Cousin. My latest Otosan said they are very honest and kind people. There house is much farther from the school so I will be biking. The house is also brand new apparently. The family loves baseball very much, but that is really all I got to know from them. The night was very fun. I was taught how to play the epitomie of Rock Paper Scissors and I ended up beating everyone at the party... beginners luck? It was a bit funny beating my principal because I kept apoligizing and bowing afterwards. I won these strange Japanese cookies, that Otosan had his eye on the moment I got them. You can guess where they are now. After the party, me and the Masakis jumped on the Kochi tram for home.

Anyway this past weekend has been pretty interesting and a little boring. Contradictory? Welcome to Japan. On Sunday I was supposed to go to Kagawa on a Rotary excursion, but it was flooded from typhoon 17. Then Otosan Masaki planned on Osaka, but then the typhoon took out an entire highway in Kochi. (That sounds worse than it actually is, Kochi only really has one highway and its usually deserted.) Naoko, my host sister, was supposed to return to college in Kobe, but couldn't because of the highway. The typhoon really ruined the Sunday. But my host father, being the brave and somewhat strange man he is, decided we ought to go to the beach. In a typhoon. So we trekked in the pouring rain to Kochi's famously beautiful beach, Katsurahama. You can't swim at this beach as the waves are too big on a nice day. So I hope you can imagine how large they were with the typhoon swirling off the coast. The beach truly is beautiful and we were lucky as the rain stopped for us to take a few photos. Afterwards, we headed to Godaison, which is a famous old Buddhist/Shinto Shrine in Kochi. On the whole island of Shikoku there are 88 temple and shrines of great history and beauty. It is said if you visit all 88, all your wishes will come true. Godaison is number 21 on the list. So I have 87 more to go. Anyway Godaison is situated on top of mountain. It is a beautiful old shrine, that actually is kinda creepy. Unfortunately the main shrine was closed from the typhoon but we still prayed for the ancestors and rang the gong. We went to lunch afterwards, where I got to eat delicious pumpkin soup. Then we went home. Later after dinner, which was Tempura, one of my favorite dishes, we went bowling. I really don't like bowling, and I'm terrible compared to some Japanese people. But I stuck it out and beat Naoko again. Monday- Today was the Japanese holiday "Respect for the Aged Day" thus a free day from school. I woke up and had to say goodbye to Naoko as she caught the bus back to Kobe. Naoko was pretty busy all summer, so it was hard to spend time with her. But the times we did get to hang out were always so much fun. I really like hanging out with someone a little bit older than me. Someone easier to talk to. Thus, I was very sad when she left.

On this Friday, I got to leave school early as my clubs weren't doing anything for the school Cultural Day festival. So I had an entire free day. But I had nothing important that I needed to get done, except for one thing. One my cozy wooden desk in the Masaki apartment, 8 postcards sat and waited patiently to be sent to America. Patient is a great word for it. After all, I did write the suckers in mid-August. Procrasting has always been one of my 'nigate' or weak point as we say in English. But it was time to send them home. So I quickly took off my school uniforms, placed the letters in a bag and headed downstairs. First, Otosan informed me that the strangest thing had just occured. In Japan, where you could leave your wallet on your car hood for a week and not get anything stolen, the Masaki family bike had mysteriously vanished. They had rented another bike, so I wouldn't have to make a long walk. He then gave me directions to the Kochi Central Post Office, gladly claiming 'you can't miss it.' He told me not to take long, not that it would really be possible with how close the postal building was to the apartment. If I was late i would miss my Host Mom's delicious lunch, which she was making special for me. I rode the rented bike down the main streets of Kochi and looked in the spot my host father had claimed I would immediately see the place. Perhaps I should have seen it has a sign of bad thing to come ahead. Actually the fact that the bike was stolen enabling me a way to get to the post office was the first sign of the bad things to come. Finally a nice elderly woman spotted this lost looking gaijin riding in circles. She approached me and asked me in interesting Japanglish if she could help me with something. I pointed to the post cards and said my best Japanese. "Posto offico doko?" The woman understood and pointed me to the building with a sign that said 'Post Office.' Embarrassed, I thanked her and headed on my way. Inside the spacious building that smelled that had the strange stench of envelope glue, I located the place I would probably need. Above the little cash register was a large said, "Stamps here." I happily waited in the long line, proud that I had accomplished getting in the right line. The line moved slowly and looking around, I noticed I was the only non-Japanese customer in the whole place. But I am used to that feeling now and didn't even get annoyed at the clusters of folks that would stop dead in their place, staring at me, with their mouths wide open. I'm growing up! When it was my turn, placed the 8 post cards on the table, and said, "8 (hachi) Kite (stamp) kudasai (please)" Now I reckon this Japanese was more like the epotomie of the English version "Stamps, please, 8" Not entirely correct, but still nonethless, understandable. Right? Wrong. The Japanese man behind the encounters blinked about 4 dozen times and I noticed that he was trying his very best to keep his mouth from falling open. Kochi is the country, foeigners are rare. I get that, I understand it now. The man continued to stare for a good 3 minutes. I was getting annoyed and I pushed the cards furthur onto the table and repeated myself. Suddenly the man sprinted off, as if he realized his Thanksgiving turkey was on fire. Another worker came in his place and ushered for me to sit in the waiting area, while he helped the next few customers. So that's what I did, sat and waited. And waited. And waited some more. And if you could believe it, I waited even more after that. At least 30 minutes passed, when the man returned with a woman on his side. "Harro! Engrish I undastud" she said smiling. I smiled and repeated my question, "Please, I just need 8 stamps for my post cards." The woman smiled and turned to the office worker and spoke in fast Japanese. He scurried off again. The woman sat next to me, still smiling. "So you rive in Japan as ryuugajusee (exchange student)?" I nodded, the annoyance that had filled the past a half an hour slowly disappearing. "I have arbeit (part time job) in Nangoku-shi. 30 minutes from here. The man calls me when you come. I drive here fast." She begins to chuckle. "We get no gaijin on usual." I nodded slowly and responded, "I noticed." I was sitting there is disbelief, the little postal man was so afraid of messing up what I was asking for that he called in reinforcements. I imagined what would happen if this event happened in New Jersey. Something that involved the postal worker refusing to offer service. Although I bet in New Jersey the worker would have been able to figure out what I was saying. The little man returned carrying a large package and he handed it to me- along with a bill for ￥5600。I nearly choked on my tongue. "Wow that's expensive to just mail 8 post cards!" I exclaimed. The woman studied my face for a moment and then gasped, "I sought you say 80 stamps!" When I returned to the Masaki apartment, I met a 2 very worried host parents and a plate of cold lunch. 3 hours at a post office was a long time.

I Joined Tosajoshi Track Team

After school I met up with Aime and the Tosajoshi Girls Track team. When the bell rang, Aimi and her friends brought me the Track club room. I put on my summer school gym uniform and put on old track shoes. Then I had to take them off quickly because I forgot the basic Japanese rule; No shoes when there is a roof over your head. After changing, I waited with Aimi and the girls for the whole team to get prepared. Soon a long line of High School and Middle School track girls marched out of the gates. We headed through the Obiyamachi and onto to the main riverside. Running throughout the city is pretty hard. I'm officially terrible at the sport, but everyone seems very eager to help me along the way. For example, I asked Aimi to ask the captains if it would be okay for me to join the team. I expected them to say "Well..." followed by an easy let down. But to my suprise everyone of the team members yelled out "We Love Jurie!" So I assumed this meant that I could definitely join. On the Riverside I was introduced to my new team mates. Waku, Natsuke, Kagetsu, Yuki, Mikdee, and Iya. They are the Ichinensee, or High School first graders, or my grade. They were so nice and so eager to get my started, that I seemed to forget that track is about running. The first half of practice was at the old dry river bed that stunk like the river. I've also never seen so many nasty bugs in my life. Aimi and Yuki, the captains of the Long Distance team took the rest of us and a nice scenic 20 minute run. I think it was mainly to run away from the bugs that were trying to eat us alive, but I wasn't sure how to ask that in Japanese. Sadly, I wasn't able to finish the run. My body wasn't used to running at such a quick speed, thus a cramp slowed me down to a halt. The rest of lang distance continued on as I returned to the Short Distance girls. I had a long conversation with Waku about something, though I'm not exactly sure what. I don't think she has any clue either. I also was introduced to the Sempie system. This system is that anyone younger must respect and essentially do whatever is asked of them from the elder. As a High School first graders, I only had to bow to 5 girls in the High School Second Grade. But all of the middle school girls had to bow to me and do whatever I like. Including bringing me a cup of Tea at breaktime. I don't like this system, but I won't say anything about it. It has been in effect since for as long as anyone can remember, it doesn't mean I have to let it happen. When the middle schools bowed to me and slammed against the wall to let me thru, I stopped and forced them to go ahead. I respect traditions, but no ones that can fall under the category of bullying. Afterwards we headed to the huge stadium called StarJam, where all the city school track teams practiced. It's slightly larger than our Verona track but has many more practicing schools. And I of course was the only gaijin, which merited many stares. I think above all I will become the team mascot. The manager, Mikdee, showed me how to throw Shotput. Lets just say I'm going to stick with Long Distance, hopefully. After practice I looked at the clock and realized that I would have to sprint to be home in time, and that wasn't going to happen. The annoying thing is that after practice when your sweaty and stuff you have to change back into the uniform to get home. I wasn't home till about 7:45, but there was no trouble because this time I called and informed my host family.

Japanese Cultural Festival

I am typing this update in a brief moment of free time, which is really hard to come by around here. Not that i am complaining, this weekend has been a blast. On November 3rd every year, Japan celebrates the National Holiday of Cultural Day. My school wanted to celebrate it early as our schedule for october is pretty busy. So on Saturday the entire student body of Tosajoshi Middle and High School had an enormous school cultural festival. It was awesome! Friday: I got to leave school early as my clubs weren't doing anything for the festival. So I had an entire free day. I was correct in saying Saturday: I got up bright and early, threw on my uniform, and headed to Tosajoshi for what was supposed to be one wicked day; the Cultural Festival. When I got there, the homerooms all got into line formations to check in. Afterwards, my teacher, Yano-sensei, wanted me to experience a morning Cultural Festival Bazaar. He brought me to the gym, where at 9 o clock the doors were opened to the public. Hundreds if not thousands of screaming Japanese woman came running in; Bargain Hunters. The gym, was lined with dish towels, toys, and other little chatchkeys at a low price. There were over 3500 items, and we were all sold out by 9;30. I was so amazed at this phenomenon, that I took a bunch of pictures of the woman ripping thru boxes in search of a good deal. I got to help hand out items as well. Afterwards, Masako Ichihara, who spent last year in California as an exchange student, picked me up. We planned on touring the entire building. At Tosajoshi, there are 3 main building, 1 side building, 1 courtyard (which looks like a prison ground), and 1 large gym. Each room was filled with a club that could basically do anything that they wanted. Masako and I first went to the Tea Ceremony Club. There we payed a small fee and got to watch a traditional tea ceremony in action. In my opinion, it is really interesting and strange at the same time. Its an elegant art form, where one basically places tea down and then drinks it. Masako was really bored so we left for the Folk Song Club. A huge blarring concert was a bit different than what we had had a Tea Ceremony, but it was a lot of fun. After we got lunch. My absolute favorite Japanese dish; Okonomiacki. The Basketball Club was making the Okonomiacki, so Shiho and her teammates greeted me to a kind OH MY GOD JULIE!!!!!!!! While Masako and I ate, the Tosajoshi Baton team, Cheer squad, and Marching Band put on shows. By this point the school was beginning to fill up with lot of people from all over Kochi. Many of these people have never seen me before, so I managed to draw alot of stares. But one good thing came from it. A parent of one of my students in the middle school came up to me and thanked me for helping his daughter. It made me feel really good to know that I helped someone. After lunch, Masako and I did some more touring of the festival. We stopped at the Middle School Haunted House where I was forced into holding Masakos hand. Chicken... I laughed thru the entire thing, even when someone grabbed me and shook me. It was funny! After a while, we toured everything and needed a little brake. On of my teachers saw me and decided to put us to work. So for an hour we had to help stuff envelopes. Finally Masako came to the rescue and made up some crazy excuse. So for the last hour of the festival, we ate a mini Parfait and Snowcone just enjoyed the crazy atmosphere. When it was all over, I quickly headed home to take a nap.

Meeting Shikoku's Exchange Students for the First Time

Sunday: Again I woke up early and threw on my uniform. I'm beginning to think that I should just sleep in this damn thing. I really do like my uniform, but I wear it so much its getting annoying! At 9;30, my Rotary club host counselor, Mr. Sakioka, the dentist, picked me, Yurie, and Masako up from in front of the pharmacy for the 2 hour drive to Imabari in the Ehime prefecture. We were attending an orientation for the 2 new inbounds (me and Mary Beth) and for the 4 Rotex (Yurie, Masako, and 2 other girls.) The drive was long and boring. But one thing is for sure, Shikoku is really beautiful. We must have drivin thru 20 tunnels underneath lush green unspoiled mountains. It was a beautiful day and the drive was scenic. But everyone spoke in Japanese, which I had a hard time understanding. But when I could understand Yurie answered the questions for me. Its beginning to worry me that I don't many chances to try to speak. At Imabari, I met up with my friend from the plane ride, Mary Beth, from NY. We caught up a little bit, and I was relieved that we were in pretty much the same boat. Then we met Althea, from Townsville, Australia. She had been studying Japanese for 8 years prior to coming here, and she had been in japan since March. Thus we weren't all that disappointed when she blew our doors of with her Japanese skills. The 3 of us quickly became fast friends, all discussing the fact that we had all gone thru some intense Culture Shock. It was also cool because I have been to Townsville before, so Althea and I had even more in common. We ate a big lunch and then were whicked into another room. We all introduced ourselves and I got the whole "What do you mean your 15?!?!?" from most of the Rotarians. Then I impressed them with another speech, in English, about how I was surviving with Track and Dance and 6 days of school. Mary Beth and Althea only had 5 days of school, and they had only one club a week. We were read off the rules, which are pretty strict actually. Then we were told that on the21, and 22 we would be in Matsuyama and would have to do a brief speech in front of 1,800 Rotarians (piece of cake I have done a speech in front of 2,000 screaming girls.) And the 28,29, and 30 of October we would being going to OKINAWA. When the meeting was over, it was hard to say goodbye to Mary Beth and Althea. But at least we would be seeing each other alot over the next month!

Sports Day and Practice (2 Entries)

I was immediately told upon arrival at school, to expect a boring day. Tommorrow is the sports festival (epitomie of the elementary school field day.) It is held in honor of the Japanese holiday on October 9, called Sports Day. The Day is to celebrate the Tokyo Olympics from the 1960's. I have a free day then. The Japanese tend to have some weird holidays in my opinion. Japanese schools love to be perfect, so today was dedicated to practice. I changed into my gym uniform (yeah! a new atmosphere) and headed into the prison yard (oops I mean school field thing.) My class signed in with the line formation and was placed on the blue team (there are 3 teams, red, white, and blue). We practiced first the introduction march. because I am the tallest in the class, i get to walk first behind the class leaders/ I also lead in my other classmates, which proved to be a little issue as i cant march without messing up. What can I say? I'm a spaz. But luckily so is everyone in my class. So Yano's homeroom marched into the field area laughing histerically as a gaijin attempted to lead a group of short girls. None of which was doing anything right except for smiling and laughing. Okay so we got in a little trouble but at least it was fun. And I had decided right then and there to make this day anything but boring! After the blue team huddled under our rest areas, while the relay teams got ready. When it was time for my class to go I stood in the front and cheered and screamed for my classmates. We ended up winning, because of a quick sprint from my friend Shiho. I taught everyone how to do the big high five to the racers and we were all laughing and causing trouble within minutes. Then for Sport relays. The track team was running against basketball, kendo, badmitton, ping pong, tennis, and volleyball. And guess who was the loudest cheerleader not on the squad? But at least Track won. Sure today was only practice, but at least tommorrow the class will have a little spirit. Plus all the teachers thought it was so cute to see me screaming and clapping and cheering in terrible Japanese, that they didn't bother to say it was bad sportsmanship or try to stop me. After a few more events, my only event came: Piggyback slapping. Basically Three big girls have to carry around 1 little girl who has to slap off a balloon from the opponents head, without her balloon getting slapped off. Guess what team was out first? Yup mine. We stink, but that's okay because I got to cheer afterwards for the blue team. When all was done, and after lunch, a few more events had to take place. But I sat down with a new group of girls from my class and taught them so hand games and stuff. For about an hour we all laughed and cheered and slapped each other. I made more friends even though my Japanese is pretty bad!

My last post was just about the practice, the actual day was pretty awesome. First off I was on the blue team, and we won by 100 points! The reason I am so happy that we won is because in elementary school in America, I had managed to be on the losing team for 5 years. I finally get to be on a winning team for a change. And then to top off that win, my club team Reckuji (Track and Field) won for best all around team! So my events included the piggyback hoist, 80m dash, and Tug of War. Piggyback Hoist I figured would be a definite loss because my group is a bunch of sissies. Basically 3 big girls have to hoist a tiny girl on there shoulders. The tiny girl has a balloon tied to her head and and a wad of newspaper in her hand, which she has to use to pop other peoples balloon while protecting her own balloon. The tiny girl in my girl is this shy wall flower, that I was sure would lose. Instead when the whistle was blown she thrashed around and beat up a bunch of other balloons. We ended up being the last remaining blue team that helped us secure a tie. The 80 m Dash found me in last place, because I dash like a retarded turtle. And the Tug of War found the blue team girls letting go of the rope and watching the other topple over. But no matter we still won. After the day was over, me and my friend Shiho met in Obiyamachi for shopping and parfaits. We were on the same team so we talked about how amazing our team was.

Shuugakkouryokoo- School Excusion!

So yesterday I spent 5 hours typing this entire book all about my past amazingly awesome week... and it deleted. Did I mention just how much I hate Japanese computers? So last week I went on the Tosajoshi Ninensee (High School 2nd Grade) Chugakkouryokoo or school excursion! The trip was 4 days in Hokkaido, 1 day in Tokyo Disneyland, and 1 day traveling across Japan. It was probably one of the most fun weeks I have ever had. At first all did was procrastinate packing for the trip. To tell you the truth I really wasn't looking forward to it. For one I knew no one. I am a first year, and the people on the trip are all second years. Sure I know Yurie and masako, but they were in different homerooms. My host homeroom, Kitazoe-sensei, was unknown to me. Another thing, all of these girl are 17, and I'm well- ya know 15. But I guess I should have remembered that the maturity level of Japanese girl is a bit strange to say the least. Anyway I voiced this concern to Kitazoe-sensei and she had my group members kidnap for lunch and thursday. My group members for the trip, Muita, Tomoyo, Sara, and Haruka, were very cool and nice and overly excited to have me in there group. So I felt a little better about the trip after that. Chugakkouryokoo is a really big and important thing in a Japanese high schoolers life. Everyone discusses theres and usually brags about who had a better trip and stuff. My host father occasionally brags that his was better than by host mothers. It happened 30 years ago, who cares? I guess being able to participate in one is really a good way to experience the culture. And I was lucky as my trip was paid for by Rotary. Thus on Sunday night I threw about 3 things into the world's smallest carry on bag turned suitcase. I mean I figured I only needed a few things because we would be in our damn uniforms 24/7. MONDAY OCTOBER 2 HAKODATE; My alarm clock rang at 5:30 and I scurried to throw on my uniform and stuff. At 6, Yuries mom came to pick me up from my host home. My host father also came along, much to everyones suprise. The ride was awkwardly silent, as Yurie and I aren't speaking. At the airport, I had to wait another half an hour for my class to arrive. The grade was split in half on 2 airplanes, and Yurie's class left earlier. When my class finally arrived I met up Tomoyo, Sara, and Muita. Not one of us was awake. We trudged thru security and baggage check and when we got on the plane we fell asleep almost immediately. The next thing I knew I was in Tokyo. In Haneda airport, we strolled a mile thru the airport to out gate destination. With some free time, we bought a bunch of candy, and took some pictures. Then we were on another plane heading to Hokkaido. Hokkaido is the second largest island in Japan. It is the Northern most part of the country as well. It is covered in mountains and it very cold. Thus not very populated. Our plane landed in Hakodate, the Southern most city in Hokkaido. Kitazoe Homeroom piled into Bus 1 and led the way for all the buses on the trip. Our first stop was lunch, where we had Soba. Everyone started to realize that I was on the trip at this point so I kept getting stared at. After lunch we went to the first Catholic convent on the island of Hokkaido. We were supposed to learn about the dailey life of one of the nuns, but seriously you can't expect a group of schoolgirls to care. So it seemed everyone sat outside and bought ice cream. I ended up sharing a small ice cream with my 4 other group mates. Our next destination was The Special Historical Remain- Goryokaku Fort. It was the first Western Style Fort after the Meiji Period. It is a now a giant star shaped park surronded my a star shaped moat. It was actually pretty interesting. My group took a bunch of pictures, mostly of classmates sticking there heads in old cannons rather than scenery of course. That is until the rain started falling and we all had to get on the bus a little early. Our final stop for the day was Hakodate Mountain, the most famous spot in Hakodate. The 7 or 8 buses trekked up a steep and slippery mountain to give us one of the most beautiful views in all of Japan. Sitting on top of the moutain is lookout station, where one can peer out onto the city surronded my water. When the city is veiled in the twilight, a myriad of illuminationsare brightening below Mt.Hakodate. Two bodies of seawaterhold the fan-shaped city between them as if they were embracing the dazzling lights in their arms. The view reminds you of a milky way floating in the ocean. We were lucky because we got to see the view just before the rain started to pour. But it was so cold and wet that it was bit hard to enjoy. Afterwards we headed back into the city and onto the hotel. On the ride the class started singing this crazy childish song over and over. Kitazie-sensei explained that on the second to last night the classes would preform a talent show. I wouldn't be participating because I didn't know the song and dance. But I pleaded with her to let me in and she agreed as long I learned the words. So on top of sightseeing, I studied my butt off the words to a really silly song called Pepper Gemu. At the hotel, I shared a room with Haruka, whom I took a disliking to immediately. After dinner, I went and hung out in my friends Shino and Manas room, where we ate candy and talked about previous exchange students. Sleep came pretty easy after that. TUESDAY OCTOBER 3 LAKE TOYA- My favorite day of the trip began with being woken up a half an hour late, not by the sound of an alarm clock but instead by the sound of my obnoxious roomates snores. I scurried to pack up everything, throw on my uniform, and throw back my hair into pigtails. And by some struck of luck I didn't miss breakfast. After we packed up everything in the bus, I settled in the bus. 10 minutes later we were dropped off at a park off the outskirts of Hakodate in Onuma. The name Onuma refers to the large number of swamps, wetlands and lakes at the base of the volcano. There are two major lakes with many islands. The combination of heavy rainfall and snow melt, along with the temperate climate, creates a paradise for birdlife and a wide range of vegetation. Basically Onuma is a large national park with mountains and swarps, marches, and beautiful rivers. The park we had stopped at was know for its incredible scenery, but my group had to interest in scenery. Instead we rented a 7 man bicycle and wreaked havoc upon the park. The bike had 7 individual big wheeler type things all attached to one another. Sara, Muita, Me, Tomoyo, Yurie, another girl, and Kitazoe-sensei flew through the park screaming and splashing in large puddles and soaking other people. We came so close to riding off a bridge that I was convinced Kitazoe-sensei would have a heartattack. It was so much fun and I laughed so much that my stomach hurt. Finally the bicycle renter had to wrestle the bike from us after many people complained about the danger. So then we decided to walk around, not realizing that we were already late. Sure enough when we arrived my group got in trouble for lateness. Oh well- I didn't get in to trouble as no one yells at this cute little gaijin. Back onto the bus, we had a 2 hour drive ahead of us, not that i really remember it as i slept through the whole thing. When Sara woke me at 12:30, it was time for lunch. The class got these stange bento rice covered in crab shavings. I thought I would have it but it turned out to be very very good. Next stop was Showa Shinzan, one of Japan's youngest mountains. Accompanied by earthquakes, the mountain suddenly rose from a flat wheat field to its current height of 290 meters between 1943 and 1945. Still venting sulfurous fumes today, Showa Shinzan stands directly next to Mount Usu, which bears responsibility for the new mountain's birth. If you can imagine the next stop would be to a fairly active volcano. It's funny because when I was little, I spent many nights not being able to sleep because of stupid volcano movie. And now here I am in Japan, where everywhere you go you in the proximity of a freaking volcano. I admit I was about nercous looking up at the Sulfuric steam pouring out of this new mountain as we pulled into the viewing station. But I looked around at the other girls, all clueless and not caring just smiling for the pictures. I figure I may as well be like them so I forgot all about it. By this point everyone on the trip NEEDED to get a picture with me or just of me. It gets pretty annoying when 5 screaming girls bow and beg for you to take a photo with them. Then when you do it for one girl you seem to have to do for 10,000 more girls. Finally I snuck away from the line of girls and met up with my group for some shopping. The thing about sourvenir shopping in Japan is that is really different and nothing to my liking. I like to buy presents suck as shirts or pens or teddy bears displaying the destination. Here the gifts are a food sweet that is popular at the destination. For example in Hokkaido you can buy Corn Chocolate, Crab Cookies, Milk and Lavendar Candy, Melon kit Kats, Dried plums, Sapporo Famous Ramen, and so on. So I refused to buy anything while i watchedmy group members spend a lot of Yen of Crab Cookies. yuck. We got back into the bus and headed for another of Hokkaidos famous industries, the Apple Farms. My class trekked out into a beautiful apple orchard and picked red delicious apples. After 500 pictures of me holding the damn apple, I finally got to eat it. It tastes just like the American apples. But it was still pretty fun. Everyone was pretty amazed when I helped the little shorty Japanese girl pick the apples from the higher parts of the trees, this merited at least 200 extra pictures. Finally at about 4 we headed to the Prince Hotel. It was an enormously elegant onsen resort with a great view of the lake and one of Japan's most active volcanos, Mt. Usu, which recently erupted in 2000 and covered about 80% of Hokkaido in ash. Ain't that just great? haha. My roomates would be everyone in my group and expected the room to be just as elegant as the lobby. But I was wrong, instead it was a very traditional japanese room, where everyone had to sleep on futons. But the view of the lake was unmistakeably amazing, and in the distance one could see the steam from Mt. Usu. We went down to the waterfront area, and I just sat there for a good long time staring out at the beautiful lake. I took my shoes and tried to walk out but the water was so incredibly cold that it didn't work out to well. Tomoyo, Sara, Muita, and me then played a Japanese version of Tag. And I got a little too competitive, so I was kicked out haha. We headed to dinner, which was a really fancy Seafood platter. Most of it was raw and really hate raw fish. But I at least tried everything. After dinner, Muita, Tomoyo, and me headed to the hotels private onsen. Onsen are really popular here because they are natural hot springs from the various volcanoes of the area. My last onsen adventure wasn not a speck as embarassring as this one. I found that I could not undress in front if my new friends. I am most certainly not the heaviest girl on the trip, but compared to the girl I was with. Ick. But I coaxed myself to do it with a towel. And so while my friends swam and danced around in the water, I sat in the corner curled in a tight ball wrapped in a towel. Gradually I got used to it. But by then Tomoyo had tricked me into jumping into the pool with the water from the lake and I was so frozen it didn't matter that I was naked. I quickly dressed and then we headed back to the lake front. It was eerily dark but suddenyl fireworks went off in the distance. Like all Japanese firework shows, it was slow and kind of boring. But the most entertaining thing is the squaling and excitement coming from the Japanese people. They practically wet themselves each and everytime a new firework goes off. It was beautiful as the colors glinted off the lakes, and I found myself saddened when it was over. In the room, I was perfectly ready to crl up into my futon. Instead my group snuck out after room check and had a large sleepover with Shino, Mana, and 2 new girls Marina, and Matedo. We stayed up past 2 talking and laughing and eating. It was so much fun but we were constantly afraid to get caught by the teachers. Finally 8 girls, all with different shapes and sizes squeezed onto 4 small futons and attempted to sleep. Emphasize the word attempted. haha WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 4 OTARU- 8 girls in a small room waking up bright and early with about 20 minutes to get ready is a very interesting experience that all should have. We made it to breakfast a little late, but we did make it at least. Todays first stop was a small park on the side of a mountain. We trudged into the forest, climbed over an ancient rickety old bridge, where a huge waterfall and various small rivers beamed at us. We were supposed to fill our water bottles, as this was the one of the cleanest water spots in all of Japan. Like usual, the girls seemed only interested in photos. Afterwards back on the bus, I stayed awake to look out the fabulous Hokkaido scenery. Lush pine covered mountains and rivers scorched the landscape. Like Shikoku, most of the place was not covered in towns and instead still wild. When we arrived in Otaru, we stopped for lunch at the seaport... raw fish and my delicious rice covered in crab shavings. I had to go to the bathroom, so I waited a good half an hour for the girls room. That's the problem with going on an all girl trip. Afterwards we had 3 hours to spent shopping and hanging out in the beautiful port city of Otaru. Otaru is a port town of about 145,000 people in western Hokkaido located on the northern tip of the Shiribeshi district of Hokkaido on the Sea of Japan side of the island, facing Ishikari-wan Bay. It's a beautiful fishing village surrounded on three sides by mountains, while the fourth faces Ishikari Bay. Otaru Canal is the symbol of this city. The gaslights and stone warehouses along the canal producing a beautiful nightscape popular with young peopl. There are many cafes, museums, restaurants, and shops and the city is often noted for its famous glass work. When we arrived my group first hit the Soft Cream shop. I had my first Milk flavored soft cream, sounds disgusting right? But actually it isn't too bad. My group then managed to stumble into every glass store in the damn city. I'm pretty sure they had no intention of buying anything, especially at the prices. But it was rather annoying and boring. The only thing that I wanted to do was see the Otaru Canal. My host family has told me that it was the most beautiful thing in the city. So I begged and pleaded with Tomoyo, who had no intention of seeing it. But I got my way and we trampled thru the old cobblestones streets. We were all glad I made us go see it. The canal was truly maginificent. Old Brick building were the back drop and old green lanterns shadowed the canal. I was more than happy to pose for some pictures with this as the backdrop. We even met some local boys and talked with them for a little bit. I was so happy because I could understand a lot of what they were saying. One of them even made all of my group members friendship leather bracelets. it was sweet, but we had to depart, as we managed to let time slip by again. Back on the bus, we headed for Sapporo City. I'm not sure if it is possible to actually fall in love with a place after seeing it only once. But I think I have. The tour bus drove us through the chilly autumn swept city of Sapporo, stopping in front of the important sites for photos. We drove by the bright clock tower and the famous government house of Hokkaido. People walked along the streets that seemed so old but not traditional in a Japanese sense. It's hard to explain but being in Hokkaido felt like being back in America, probably like Maine or Vermont. Everyone has this mountainous green countryish way about them here. I felt like Hokkaido was a totally different country than Japan. Our city tour had to end when we stopped for dinner at the Sapporo Beer Factory. In case you didn't know, Sapporo Beer is a VERY popular beer in Japan. But the Factory is realy just an enormous restaurant located in the heart of the city. The restaurant made to look like an old barn was very crowded and smelled funny. I shared a table with Shino, Sara, and Mana. The table had a large grill in the middle of it. And on the side was a huge platter of rice balls, vegetables, and Gengiskan. Gengiskan is sheep meat, which is, as I was about to find out, very very good. We all threw on the food to the grill and cooked it with out chop sticks, while throwing napkins at each other. We had to wear this bib apron thingie that was eventually splattered with meat juice and vegetable from getting flicked at with food. We laughed so hard and got in so much trouble. To make an already fun meal even better, the Ninensee members of the Track team came and found me. They were taking a group photo of the track team and seeing as I am a part of the team, I had to be in picture. We posed and screamed and laughed for thousands of pictures. I looked back to my table, where my friends were ushering me back for more food, and to the track team smiling and laughing at the camera and really felt like I fit in. Sure I don't look like anyone here, or speak the language, but I felt so overjoyed that these people really accepted me. I headed back to the table after the pictures for ice cream, and soon we were on our way back to the hotel. I was spending the room with Tomoyo, although sure enough Muita and Sara broke the rules and slept in our room. Well tried to sleep is more like it. THURSDAY OCTOBER 5 SAPPORO- We were actually on time for breakfast because we didn't exactly sleep. Kitazoe-sensei was pretty impressed that we had actually made it in time. She asked me how I was coming along with remembering the words to Pepper Gemu, and I truthfully told her I knew the words by heart. The bus took up the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympic Ski Jump, located on the top of a mountain overlooking the city. It was really cold and windy, but nothing seems to damper the spirits of these girls. We took a Grade photo in front of the enormous green ski jump and then watched some skiiers practicing the jump. After we took some more photos of Sapporo from the mountain view. Next we headed about an hour out to the Sapporo Salmon museum, where we watched Salmon swimming in their own habitat. We also spent a whole hour waiting on line for the girls bathroom! Something weird happened though. At one point my sarcasm got the best of me and I looked at one of the fish and murmured "I ate your brother for breakfast." Someone cracked up behind me and I turned to see a real Gaijin! He asked me where i was from and I immedately answered Kochi. He looked confused so i said "I'm an exchange student in Kochi, Japan but I'm from America." Still shocked at myself for answering Kochi, I kind of drifted off pondering where home is for me right now. Is it Kochi, Japan or America? I like to think both right now, and that it depends on how the question is asked. Afterwards we had lunch- Hokkaido famous ramen. I like ramen but I'm getting very tired of it, people eat it here alot. I guess I haven't really told you anything about my group, so I think I will. Tomoyo, Sara, and muita are best friends in Kitazoe-sensei homeroom. Tomoyo is the leader and probably the easiest to get along with. She was very eager to tell everyone her group got the exchange student. I think she was probably the friendliest and the silliest, always finding ways to cause trouble. Muita did everything Tomoyo did, it became kind of annoying how much of a follower she was. Sara was very quiest and distant as first. I think though I liked her the best, because once she did open to me, she was the most like myself. At first they were all pretty excited to have me in the group, but by the last day we were all tired of each other. At lunch we all talked about homesickness. Tomoyo, and thus Muita, had it really bad. They couldn't imagine why I wasn't missing home. I think they though I was kind of heartless, because I didn't really want to go back to Kochi all that bad. Tomoyo, at 17 years old, has never ever been on a plane before and never been away from home for more than a weekend. I feel bad for her, especially when I think about all that I have done. After lunch we headed to the Hokkaido Ainu Historical Village. The Ainu are to Japan as the Native Americans are to America. The Japanese government forced them off the main land and sent them to Hokkaido. Gradually they took away most of there land. Today there are hardly any Ainu left because of intermarriage and stuff. Anyways the village is an restored town that has many different building and things from the late 19th century Japan. My group took 4 bajillion pictures in front of the old houses. Then they stole the tour guides outfit, hat, and flag and dressed me up as the tour guide. Everyone took a picture of that including the teachers, tour guides, and bus drivers. I was sooooooooooo embarrassed. Then we rode the old horse and buggy trolley thing. We then played on the old fashioned playground and write Japanglish words in the ground. Afterwards we strolled through the streets, never once stopping to learn anything. When we got back on the bus, it dropped us off at the Hokkaido Island Museum, dedicated to all the history of Hokkaido. Well as you can imagine, spending time in a museum is not what most girls wanted to be doing. in fact most refused to go inside. My group went in but toured the museum really quickly. We were in and out of ancient history within 10 minutes. When we made it to World War II, I expected for sure that someone would say something. Instead, it seemed like no one noticed or cared. Ny group memebers just walked on through and instead made fun of one of the uniforms of a woman worker. I however did take notice. I looked around at the posters displaying words like "Sign Up For The Emperor" with pictures of Japanese soldiers slaughtering American soldiers, war posters, ration cards, and other grim reminders. And then I looked around at my company. I was surronded by hundreds of giggling noise making Japanese girls who didn't seem to notice or care. How is that just 65 years ago there ancestors were sworn enemies of my ancestors? And you know what, it doesn't matter. What is done is done, and I hate to admit that these girls have the right idea with laughing and giggling and just not worrying about it. The bus ride back was short, and we immediately headed to dinner. Afterwards I did some shopping, where I grudgingly purchased some damn cookies as a gift for my host family. Then we headed back to the dining room for the talent show. Each class performed some silly skit that managed to fall apart from the girls laughing uncontrollably. Kitazoe-sensei's class did a singing and dancing rendition of Pepper Genu, in which I stood in the back and snapped my fingers and sang. Sure probably no one saw me, but at least I got to be included. We ended up winning second place. Back at the hotel room, I pleaded with my group for my own bed and sleep. But I didn't get my way. Finally at 2 in the morning I got up and marched out of the room where Tomoyo, Sara, and Muita laughed loudly. I ended sleeping with Shino and Mana on the floor. But at least I got some sleep. FRIDAY OCTOBER 6 TOKYO DISNEYLAND- We were all up at 5 and ready by 7 as we drove to Sapporo Airport. The ride was kind of long so we played bingo, which I was determined to win. And I did luckily on the last minute. When we pulled up to the airport, a swarm of fighter jets were taking off the runaway pretty quickly and flying into the distance. it was really cool and everyone was amazed. I, of course, have not heard world news since August in America, so I was a little curious as to what it could mean. Japanese Airline security is kind of pathetic. I managed to get a water bottle in by mistake with no questions asked. Security takes a little less than 10 whole minutes. On the plane, I read Harry Potter, while sitting thru the worst turbulence I have ever felt. I had a window seat and I was excited to see Tokyo, but was informed that I wouldn't exactly get to see Tokyo. As Tokyo was experiencing a pretty big typhoon. The travel agency cut down out time in Disney because of how bad it would be. And sure enough it was ice cold and pouring with rain and gusty wind. Still, nothing seems to dampen these girls spirits. The mere fact that we were going to DISNEYLAND was good enough for them. Then we stepped out of the bus and a heavy gust broke everyones umbrellas, and suddenly we all realized it was not going to be easy. We trudged thru the ticket gate and into the park, into a covered area. Most people went shopping, but my group decided to brave the rain and get to Space Mountain. Space Mountain is always great fun. Looking at a map of Tokyo Disneyland is like looking at a map of a smaller Magic Kingdom, they share most of the same rides, themes, restaurants, and even plant displays. Japan does not celebrate Halloween, but Disneyland had been transformed into a Halloween kingdom. And it is pretty funny to watch Japanese people think they know the whole concept of Halloween. After Space Mountain, we got on Pooh's Honey Hunt. The only thing scarier than Pooh's voice, is Pooh's voice in Japanese. Then to Snow White's Adventure, and next to the Haunted Mansion. You think you have seen it all when your favorite Disney movie is played back at you in Japanese. After we had dinner, meat loaf. Who the heck eats Meat loaf in an amusement park? I still don't what my group was thinking. But I was too cold and tired and sick to care. The rain was really coming down now so we went on Space Mountain again. And again. To tell you the truth I got to missing my family a whole lot of Space Mountain. Not homesick, just wishing my parents and sister couldn't have been there. Finally my my group decided to head back. And I was so happy because like I said, I was tired, cold, sopping wet, and getting sick. But when we met with the whole group at the entrance, we were given another 2 hours. Kitazoe-sensei said that I could back to the bus with some of the others if I really wanted to, which I was very happy doing. But I looked at my group members, seemingly disappointed I didn't want to stay, and figured how many times am I ever going to be in Tokyo Disneyland? And if I ever come here again I guarentee it won't be icy weather in the middle of a typhoon. So I ditched the bus idea, put on a better smile, and tried to have fun. We took shelter in Pirates of the Caribbean, which is always a riot when your friends are shouting "Captain Jack Sparrow wa doko desu ka?" or "Where's Captain Jack Sparrow?" Afterwards we bought a huge bucket of chocolate popcorn and feasted. Then some stupid American girl who looks an awful like myself brought up the idea of going on Splash Mountain. Yeah, who cares that is on the other side of the park and we would have to run, with our lack of time, in the pouring icy rain, just to get on a ride that would get us even wetter. Well at least it was fun! We all laughed and screamed our heads off at the big drop. Then we sprinted back thru the park and got on the bus out of breath, frozen, wet down to our underwear, but at least happy. At the hotel, I shared a room with Sara. And after I pealed my sopping uniform off, I took the world's greatest warmest shower ever. I had to blow dry my leather shoes and all my other clothes to be ready for tommorrow, which was a bot annoying. Then I fell asleep before the sleepover crew could even come and prevent me. SATURDAY OCTOBER 7 TRAVELING JAPAN- We were up and out of the room early. Breakfast was kind of combination of gloominess and excitement. Half the girls were excited to get home and rid of the homesickness, while the other half were sad to have the trip end. I was stuck in the middle. I had just had one awesome week and made so many new friends and experienced a very beautiful country. On the other hand, I was feeling really sick at this point and my group members were getting tired of me. After breakfast, we headed to Tokyo Station where we sat in classroom formation until all the buses had arrived. We had some free time, so I trekked of to Starbucks, where I found they didn't have the drink I really wanted. At 10:30 we bounded thru the station to the Shinkhansen dock. The Shinkhansen is better know to us Americans as the bullet train. And sure enough that sucker can fly! 300 km each hour. And it doesn't really feel that fast until you look outside and see how quickly you are really passing everything. It was my first time so I was really excited when the train started. We passed thru Honshu and even got to see Fuji-san or Mt. Fuji is the distance. Some girls prayed to it but must just watched it in awe. As you might imagine, the mountain is very important to the Japanese. Most are expected to climb it at least once in there lifetime for religion and ancestoral importance. Everything settled down after that and I read Harry Potter for the 4 hour train ride. We passed thru stations of Kyoto, Osaka, and finally on to the final destination of Okayama. At Okayama we boarded a bus that would take us the 3 hours to Kochi. We passed over the inland sea and in to beautiful gree Shikoku, and soon to Kochi. The trip was over as we pulled into Tosajoshi. My group members all smiled and said goodbye, but I told them that in America we give hugs. So I hugged all 3 of them. They all seemed to awkward and out of place with hugs, but I didn't care. I walked thru Obiyamachi and was welcomed home, where i went to my room and crashed on my bed. And finally slept...

Typical October Week

Anyways last week was a pretty typical week for me. When I got back from the trip I took 2 days to rest, which unfortunately didn't help. Last week I was plagued with a what I figured was a common cold but what my friends figured was Ebola. Japanese girls get a bit dramatic sometimes. My best friends Aimi and Shiho wanted me to wear one of those doctor masks. And it isn't as strange as it sounds because everyone who is sick here wears one. But I couldn't bring myself to do. More about last week; Tuesday was my last day of Flower Arrangement. THANK GOD! When my counselor asked me if I wished to continue with it I got on one knee and begged him not to. So now I am in Tea Ceremony class with the middle school girls. Thursday was a Rotary Meeting, in which I met my next host father. I think I'm going to get along with him pretty well. He seems very nice. And during my speech to the club he took 100+ pictures to show his family. Yurie and Masako had to speak as well. Each had 10 minutes to talk about America and their yer abroad. Yurie kind of trashed Americans for being fat, because she had one family who was well not very thin. And Masako, who attended school in San Francisco, had everyone laughing when she claimed she was the only legal student in the school. They also talked about my upcoming birthday, and how they are planning a suprise party for me. Yes they said this all in front of me, because they haven't quite caught onto the fact that I can understand Japanese pretty well. Much better than previous exchange students. That night at dinner I finally asked my host father what I'd been wanting to ask for some time. "Why do we always eat in?" It wasn't directed offensively and he even laughed and said most Japanese people don't like eating out. Our conversation turned into my life in America where I told him my mom hardly ever cooks and we usually order out or go out... I thought he was going to pass out. Culture Shock. Friday was awesome. There is no question about that. The school paid for everyone to go to Disney On Ice Finding Nemo! The ice rink, about the size of a high school hockey practice (after all this is Kochi) sat the entire Tosajoshi School. But first we all had to get there. I was lucky in that they let me take the bus. But most of the girls had to ride bikes out thru the mountains and about 3 hours to the place. On the bus I sat with my classmate Nanae, who by American standards would be a big band geek. The bus dropped us off 2 hours early so we got to play on a playground for the time. Nanae introduced me to all her band friends, and I got along with all of them. So for 2 hours we played tag, raced down slides, played spider on the swing, learned the marching band steps, shared breakfasts, and laughed till we cryed. It was great, and I was almost disappointed when it was time to head in to watch the show. I sat with Aimi, Shiho, and Nanae as we watched the performance. It was in all Japanese and pretty impossible to understand actually. But it was still alot of fun because I was too busy with my friends to even care. Japanese girls are kind of immature and when it comes to Disney, they practically go head over heels. Aimi once told me she wished she could marry Minnie Mouse. Um okay?!? So when Minnie and Mickey skated onto the ice I thought I would for sure go deaf from all the screams. Girls around me practically passed out when Mickey waved. It's actually really sick. After the performance, I headed back with Nanae and her friends to the playground. We ate lunch together and I was told that if I ever learned an instrument I would be more than accepted in the band. Oww... Back at Tosajoshi I headed home and clunked out into my bed for a nap. Saturday; Typical Saturday at Tosajoshi. The night before I had emailed Yurie and asked her if she wanted to have lunch. I couldn't go to Track because I still didn't really have a voice and was having a hard time breathing. I didn't hear back from her until History class... when my phone rang during class. Luckily Aimi heard it first and pounced on my bag to cover the noice. Phew! That was close. Then she yelled at me for bringing a phone to school. Even though she brings one to school everyday...hmm. At lunch I met Yurie in the school dining room with her 3rd year Chorus Friends. These were the girls that Yurie had grown up but had left to come to America. It's kind of a big deal when a senior sits with someone beneath them (as I'm a first year and Yurie is a second year) But we ate and tried to break down the language barrier. I always complain about how busy I am but listening to these girls and I feel so happy to be free. All of them are in Cram school because University Entrance exams are approaching. It's tough for them and I can't even imagine. After lunch I walked back home. But I had to stop for a little dessert. Thank god for Strawberry Cheese Crepes...hehe.

4 October Rotary Visits

Thursday was a Rotary Meeting, in which I met my next host father. I think I'm going to get along with him pretty well. He seems very nice. And during my speech to the club he took 100+ pictures to show his family. Yurie and Masako had to speak as well. Each had 10 minutes to talk about America and their yer abroad. Yurie kind of trashed Americans for being fat, because she had one family who was well not very thin. And Masako, who attended school in San Francisco, had everyone laughing when she claimed she was the only legal student in the school. They also talked about my upcoming birthday, and how they are planning a suprise party for me. Yes they said this all in front of me, because they haven't quite caught onto the fact that I can understand Japanese pretty well. Much better than previous exchange students.

Another Rotary meeting, but this time we sat in the front and were the honorary guests. I was told to be on my extra special best behavior because my third host family would be coming from this club. I did another speech and totally messed it up. But the Rotarians didn't care because I burst into laughter as I was apoligizing. Yurie and Masako also did speeches. Masako, again, had the club laughing out loud. Then we had lunch, raw squid, which is much better than it sounds. I even ate all of it. Afterwards I did the obligatory banner presentation. Back at school, my friends were mad that I didn't lunch with them. I explained to them about Rotary and my obligations.

Another Rotary meeting on thursday with the Kochi South just like the other meetings... but boy was I wrong. I was told again, that this was an important club, as my fourth and final family would be comin g from it.Me, Yurie, and Masako sat around enjoying a delicious lunch of Ham and Scallions, when it was time to sing the Rotary song. A woman in the front of the room directed the men in the back. We were suprised to see a woman Rotarian, because woman aren't allowed in Rotary here. She lead the crowd with her opera voice, that was so interesting. Then when it was our time to speak, I did alright, Masako and Yurie did fine as well.

Halfway through Self Study Yurie and Masako came to meet me and we headed to the Kochi Royal Rotary meeting. The last of my 7 sponsors. Sakioka-san picked us up and was very curious about Okinawa. he keeps telling me that he has never been to either Hokkaido or Okinawa and that I am very very lucky. I know, I tell him. When we arrived we did our speeches almost immediately. I spent 1 minute in Japanese and 1 minute in English. I talked about my life in America and how much I like Japan. Sakioka-san translated and then beamed at me with pride over how good my speech was. Masako and Yurie went next. Then the Club president and I exchange banners and Sakioka-san takes a bunch of pictures. The man is a dentist but I think he was a photographer in his previous life. I really enjoy talking to him though, he's a bit crazy and fun. Then we sat back down and ate. Soba and Sushi. The Sushi plate has this little pile of pink meat, which I assumed was ham. I picked itup and plopped it in my mouth and immedately start choking from disgust. I swallowed it whole and then felt embarrassed as everyone was staring at me. So I explained what happened and then everyoneburst out laughing. And I mean everyone. Yurie smiled and turned to me, "Everyone thinks you are so cute." Okay so choking on some nasty pink fish is cute? Afterwards I finished my meal, drank 2 coffees, and then Sakioka-san offered take us back early. But Yurie wanted to miss more class so we stayed and listened to a scholarship winner who studied in the UK. Finally the meeting ended and we waited for the Valet parkers to return the car. Meeting My Third Family and Dinner About My Exchange December 18, 2006I've been in my current family, the Oono's, for a whole month now. Crazy how time is flying by. Anyways December 18 at 6:30 I got in the car with Otosan and Okasan Oono. It was so cold and I was wearing my uniform like usual. We went to this hotel about 20 minutes from my home. I'd never been there before. I walked upstairs and was greeted by Matsumoto-san and 2 lovely people, my next host parents. He sat me at the middle of the table, across from the Oono's and my next family. Soon Otosan Masaki, who was placed right next to me, arrived for the dinner and we began the discussion. Firstly the adults talked about my likes and dislikes, my life, and all about my exchange. They were trying to give my new family a little taste of what I am like. I got to speak. "What's you favorite food?" "Meat and Okonomiacki" haha. Matsumoto-san is under the false impression I actually lost weight. haha. If he only knew... But then something about me must have changed in the past 4 months. Earlier in this week my Otosan Oono mentioned how grown up I look as opposed to how I looked when I got her. Hmm.. just a thought. Sakioka arrived later and gave me my upcoming schedule as well as showed everyone a picture of me he always carried of me in this wallet. The worst part os that it is literally the worst picture I have ever taken. haha. My next host mom, like my current host mom, was shocked when they all told her I don't like to eat breakfast. Next me and my current host mom had everyone cracking up when we told them how I am able to get internet in my room. (By hacking into someone from the surronding area's wireless.) haha. Otosan Masaki nearly choked from laughter. Then they talked about me and my activities. About how I originally did Track but now am a member of the Koto, Tea Ceremony, and Traditional Japanese dance club. Matsumoto-san also gave the new family the URL to my "incredible" website. They continued to talk about me and my exchange. My Japanese is terrible because I understood very little of what was being said. But from what I did get. The conversation was mostly praise. As for my next family; host mom and host dad live about 30 minutes by bike from Tosajoshi, my high school. But I may end up taking the bus to and from school. It hasn't been decided but I think I would prefer to take a bike. Anyway, they have 4 kids, 3 cats, and also live with an obachan and ojichan (grandparents). 8 people plus me and 3 cats. Pretty awesome right? The kids range from the oldest a middle school Sanensee (9th grader) to the youngest a elementary school inchinensee (1st grader.) They are also a very busy family. One daughter is an amazing syncronized swimmer, one child plays piano, and the two others also have busy schedules. None of the kids goes to Tosajoshi, so I'll probably be riding my bike or taking the bus everyday by myself. That's about the most I got about my next host family. But in 2 months I'll be able to tell you a lot more. Anyway, the dinner was served and the adults continued to talk. Otosan Masaki brought up my mother and Nana's upcoming visit to Japan. The plan was to visit Tokyo for 4 days, Hiroshima for 1 day, and Kochi for 4 days. But the Rotarians strongly suggested we change Tokyo to Kyoto, and even offered to help pay for it, which I respectfully declined. Rotary has done so much for me. I couldn't ask them to do anymore. But Kyoto is apparently gorgeous with the Sakura, or cherry blossom at their peak. As for my Rotary events, I am pretty much done with the exception of Okayama in Febuary and then Saying Goodbye in July. Unfortunately this also means no more traveling for me except until my Mom and Nana come visit. Everyone seemed very excited about meeting my parents. After dinner was finished, we all got coffee. Masaki otosan "Well she's an adult now..." (see KURASHIKI for explanation.) Pretty soon it was time to head back home. I shook hands with my next Otosan. I find it so funny when Japanese people shake hands. It's not part of Japanese custom but they try very hard to impress foreigners. Usually though they do it the wrong way. But I always admire when they try anyway. After that I bowed to them. A little change of customs. I think I'm finally getting this bowing thing down pacted. Maybe. With my current host family, we drove out to the area of my next family. Though we couldn't find the house, we did see my next Otosan's enormous company. Back at home, me and my host mom had a drawing contest.. haha. We both agreed that art is not exactly our specialty. I went to bed feeling pretty loved. What It Means To Be Us March 17, 2007This evening the Kochi Rotary Nishi club sponsored the first ever Kochi Rotex Dinner. For those of you who don't know, Rotex stands for Ex-Rotary Youth Exchange Students, or people who have gone on an exchange to somewhere in the world and returned. The event was held at Rotary's favorite place, the Kochi Shin Hankyu Hotel, from 5:30 till about 8:00. Everyone involved in the Youth Exchange process was invited, which included about 10 Rotarians, 12 Rotex, 1 inbound (me), and 2 outbounds (next year's exchange students.) I arrived very early and was greeted by members of the Nishi Rotary Club, men who I had not seen for a long time. I briefly spoke to them, and shocked the heck out of them with my Japanese skills. On floor number 12, Matsumoto-san, my host counselor, greeted me and informed I would be doing a speech. For the first time in my life, I was excited to do a speech in public. It's weird, I have been in Japan for 7 months, and the little things like my feeling on doing speeches has changed so drastically. In August through November, I dreaded speeches and avoided them at all costs. I memorized a tiny speech just so I would be able to not make a total fool out of myself. December through February, my feeling on speeches was neutral. I didn't care whether I had to make one or not, I just preferred to be somewhat prepared. Now I just like talking. I swear I like hearing my own voice or something. My speeches usually don't make any grammatical sense because I kind of just Caveman Japanese through it, but I get out what I want to say. And I can joke in Japanese, which makes everyone happy and remark that I have great skills. For today's speech, I didn't even think about it. Instead I kicked back and greeted the arriving Rotex people. When everyone had arrived, the dinner started with the Rotarians doing opening welcomes. The Julie Garner pampering began when my teachers, Matsuoka-sensei and Kitazoe-sensei were introduced. Kitazoe-sensei talked about her experiences with all the exchange students over the years. They nearly forgot Matsuoka-sensei, and even though he tried to force me to be quiet, I jokingly reminded the Rotarians to make him speak. He talked in all of the Japanese indirectness about how badly last years exchange students were, and how I am "subarashii (wonderful)." Soon dinner was served, which comprised of Seafood Salad, Weird Potato Soup, lots of Bread, and Bacon Wrapped Steak. Then on to the enormous plate of dessert. It was discovered that I am better with chop sticks than with forks and knives, how horrible is that? After the meal it was time for the Rotex to speak about their experiences with going abroad. One of the things I found most interesting was that everyone went to Tosajoshi High School, my host school. Out of the 41 Kochi Rotex student's, only 12 could come to the dinner. I probably should use a better word other than student. The oldest Rotex was in her late 30's, while many of the others were in their late 20's. At first I was a bit annoyed by the fact that many Rotex didn't even come to their own dinner. But when we received the pamplet about what everyone was doing, I soon realized why so few could actually come. Most of the Rotex were spread throughout the world and/or Japan. Many are/or had attended American or Australian Universities. And not just any University in America. I read off the list New York University and Cornell. Those that did not go to University abroad, attended the best schools in Japan. Many were currently living in Tokyo or Osaka, breaking the Tosajoshi tradition. If you ask most girls at my school what they want to do with their lives, most will respond with staying in Kochi. There isn't anything wrong with this, but it is really interesting to me to see girls who got out of Shikoku and got a taste of the world. Those same girls had trouble staying in the rural prefecture, and most of them couldn't. The 4 Rotex from the 1980's, all of whom had gone to Brisbane, Australia, were currently English teachers in Kochi and the surrounding areas. They had all gone to International colleges and were fluent in English. But I found the girls closer to my age to be the most interesting. The exchange student to Austalia in 1998-1999 is a Kochi University student. She speaks perfect English, as well as Arabic. Or yeah, she's a Muslim. I mean full-blown burka wearing Muslim. She was definitely the most interesting to talk to. After all, most Japanese people don't know the difference between a Jewish man and a Muslim man, how could one convert to Islam? I learned that from her exchange, she got really interested in things outside her own country, discovered Islam, and essentially found herself. Another girl, Okayama University student, Akito, who had been an exchange student in West Orange, New Jersey, is studying to be a nurse. She wants to get a job in a big city, where she can use her English as much as possible. And there were so many more stories about how exchanges changed the lives if these girls, who probably would have grown up and stayed in Kochi for the rest of their lives. I came to realize that I needed this dinner, this opportunity to meet people like me. I don't mean like me, in personality, appearence, and lifestyle. I mean so much more. Looking around at all these Rotex, I couldn't help but feel a surge of utmost gratitude and respect. Okay, fine, I'm in a country where you HAVE to repect your senior's, but it wasn't about following culture rules. After all, these girls certainly didn't follow their own culture and expected life course. They jumped on an airplane and lived in another country for a year. And you know? The world needs people like us. People who do something out of the norm, go on an exchange, and teach the world the truth about our cultures. I know for a fact that last year's exchange student from Japan changed the way I see Japanese people. She showed me that not all Japanese people are squinty eyed little geniuses, who eat fish and rish at every meal. (I'm not saying that's how I saw Japanese people, but you get the picture.) Who are the real ambassadors or our home countries? Sure the government sends some fancy guy who speaks in political jargon and thinks he represents a whole country. But the real ambassadors are us. The people who go abroad and want to teach the world about ourselves and our home cultures. And in the process of teaching others, we are learning ourselves. I could go on and on about all that it means to be an exchange student. But no one but an exchange student really would understand all that comes in the package. Last year at my New Jersey Orientation, one of the main Rotarians said something that has stayed with me ever since. "You can tell anyone about your exchange. Mostly you'll get, "Why?" or "Cool!" But a former exchange student will only smile. Words can't describe an exchange."I don't know whether or not exchange students change the world. But I do know that without them, the world would be a little less knowledgeable. Tonight I was surrounded by greatness. The kind of greatness you don't hear about and nobody ever gets credit for. Even though every exchange student ought to get a lot of credit. As the night dirfted on, it was time for my speech. I stood up, all smiles and slightly giggling, began. I talked about school and clubs. And I finished with the fact that I am becoming quite proficient in Tosa Ben, which is the horrible dislect only spoken in Kochi-ken. Nearly everyone wet themselves as this crazy gaijin spoke like a hick. Julie Garner pampering followed. I mean my teachers and counselors went on and on about how good I've been, how I'm trying so hard to learn Japanese, how out of 3 host families, 2 of them love me like their own. Lately al I have been feeling is down about the fact that my Japanese isn't quite good, but flattered isn't a good enough word to describe my feelings listening to them speak. I really did need this dinner more than I thought. As the night ended, I found myself full, happy, and best fo all proud of myself. Tonight, I was surrounded my greatness. The very same greatness that I'm spreading as an exchange student. I hope I'm not sounding arrogant or full of myself. It's just that it's a bit difficult explaining what it means to be us. Exchange students.

Mysterious Iya Valley

A whole day just to myself... or so I thought. I slept till 10 and then read a book for 2 hours straight, perfectly content to enjoy a free day curled in a nice book. Then my host father comes into my room and says we are leaving in 5 minutes for Tokushima. What? The ride was one hour into the middle of Shikoku. We headed over and around huge green mountains, that were slowly but surely turning colors for autumn. The ride was so curvy that I finally begged for mercy and fresh air and we stopped so I could relieve my car sickness. When we got there (mind you I had no idea where we were going) I was suprised at the beauty of a crystal clean river flowing under a wooden bridge held by vines. A bit scary, no doubt. High above the shallow river, me and host family attempted to cross the bridge. The bridge was a huge suspension with large gaps (for falling into the river!). For me, it was easy and I even swung the bridge to scare my host parents. My host mom was freaking out while looking down and practically crawling across the bridge. My host dad was trying to act brave but when I started to swing it, he cried for help. I laughed so hard and vowed never to let hime live it down. My host parents watched my as I jumped and swung around and officially declared that I am crazy. So? That's old news... haha. Afterwards we watched a beautiful waterfall from the mountains and headed down to the riverside. My host father dropped his English dictionary in the river by mistake, and embarrassed about his fumble, he told me he wanted to see if it could swim. When we got back into the car, out next destination was an old Shinto Shrine on the top of a mountain. We arrived at the bottom of the mountain and took a gondola to the top. Looking out onto Shikoku, I wondered why this place hasn't been discovered for it's beauty. It really is absolutely breathtaking. At the top of the mountain we said some prayers for the ancestors and threw some coins and rang some gongs. Then I realized the main Shrine was situated on top of 300 steep steps. I consider myself to be in shape, and I had a hard time with the steps. So imagine my host father. I kept asking him if we should call for an ambulance... haha. When we reached the top I prayed and rang the gong of the ancestors. We then headed back and after the gondola ride, were nicely settled in the car. My host father was still out of breath. Back in Kochi, we went for my favorite dinner. OKONOMIACKI! The day had been perfect. But then we had Chocolate Cake for dessert. And then it was ever more perfect.

Matsuyama District Conference

Oh yeah so anyway this weekend I went to Matsuyama for the district 2670 Rotary Conference. I have to admit that I managed to have an amazing time even if every situation I found myself in was... interesting. Just for some background Rotary is a wealthy club made up of prominent busines owners in Japan (only men!) Rotary is also the organization that is sponsoring me to be on this exchange and I am more than grateful. Anyway Rotary basically raises money and donates to a specific cause. Each district varies, for example my home district in America does many local charities, while my host district in Japan builds wells in Bangladesh. So Saturday morning I woke up early packed quickly and headed to the Kochi Convention Center for the bus. I was told I would be traveling with Sakioka-san so I wasn't too worried. He is one of my manin counselors and I have traveled with him before. He's a bit crazy actually. He is a dentist that loves to do magic tricks for you. He helps out at the American Naval base alot, so his English is really good. When I arrived I was told Sakiokia would come later but that I would go on the bus with the Rotary CLub of West Kochi. That was the more boring club meeting... or so I thought. So we piled into the bus and headed out for the 2 and 1/2 ride to Matsuyama in the Ehime-ken. I got the front seat all to myself, but all the men sat in the back and laughed in there burly voices the whole ride there. Each and every one of them smoked and needed to use the bathroom more times than little girls on long car rides. So we stretched out our journey for smoking stops and bathroom visits. It's a wonder we even made it Matsuyama. But during our stops, the spoiling began. Everyone bought me a waterbottle and kept asking me what kind of snacks I wanted. Finally we arrived in Matsuyama and had lunch at a Tempura place. I actually ate all the raw fish and tempura and the Rotarians were pretty impressed. Picture me surronded by a bunch of old Japanese men who are drinking and smoking. And yet I laughed so hard it was hard not to have a good time. I mean when the one guy who speaks pretty good English points to the most ancient looking fossil in the room and says, "You better watch out he goes for younger woman," how could you not crack up? Back in the bus, the spoiling continued with some of the Rotarians giving me cakes and sweet bread. I stowed in my bag. So when we got to the Convention Center, I met up with Mary Beth (from NY to Kagawa) and Althea (from Townsville, Australia to Ehime). We took 300 pictures for various groups and then scurried into the convention. They introduced everyone and then droned on and on about some stuff that we couldn't understand. But it didn't matter cause the 3 of us were sitting there discussing Japanese culture and feasting on my sweet bread and various cakes. Finally we quieted down and started reading. Everyone around us seemed to have fallen asleep. Is it more rude to read or sleep? During a brief break we met an Australian woman that was speaking at the meeting. She was an exchange student to Shikoku in 1996 and was pretty fluent in Japanese. It was interesting to talk to her. It seemed like our exchange paralled alot, both attending an all girl school, both on the track team, both having to be perfect because of last years mistakes. Back in the Convention they showed a movie of some Japanese Rotarians building the Bangladesh wells. We couldn't quite figure out why they were playing Christmas music, But that's the Japanese for you. After what seemed like another 2 weeks, the meeting finally ended and we met up with our counselors. In the lobby they had a famous Ehime show where little kids were standing on each other shoulders and parrading around. It was pretty cool. It was followed by a loud Japanese drum section and then dinner. Lots of raw fish... but to tell you the truth I have taken a bit of liking to sashimi as long it is covered in say sauce. I still can't stomach sushi... yuck. Althea, Mary Beth, and Me covered our plates and pretty much pigged out. It was pretty tasty, what can I say? We were also the only 3 in the whole place not drinking beer. hehe. After a delicious dinner, we decided to do something very Matsuyama like. First we hopped on the Densha, which is like a trolley train that took us all thru Matsuyama. And then Julie Garner made her third trip to the onsen. And if you haven't read my earlier onsen posts, well it's a public bath. Everyone is butt naked and in the same bath. Usually it is a hot spring which is incredibly good for your health. Dogo Onsen in Matsuyama is a famous onsen because it is the oldest onsen in all of Japan and housed many emperors of the past. It's also incredibly traditional, and thus steriotypical Japanese. We walked in thru a huge mall, got Yukatas, and then headed below to the onsen. Althea pretty much was naked within a minute and didn't act shy at all. It took Mary Beth some time to do it. As for me, I was still fully clothed when they were all naked. At least when you go to an onsen with Japanese people they can critisize you and you wouldn't be able to understand it (although my Japanese is good enough know that I probably could understand it for the most part.) But I was with English speakers, and understanding is not a problem in that language. Boy was it hard. Plus to top it off a group of Japanese teenagers were laughing at me while I sat there screaming about taking my pants off. Then when I was done, embarrassed and hiding behind a towel, they realized we were gaijin and stared. As if this isn't awkward enough! The onsen was really small but very old and hot. Althea was pretty much doing cart wheels while me and Mary Beth were snug tightly wrapped in our arms in the corner. We relaxed and enjoyed the springs, until we had to meet our counselors. We got dressed and headed upstairs for tea and then explored the Dogo Onsen museum. It was pretty cool to see the enperors throne and original onsen. Outside we met with the counselors in a bar and ordered Orange Juices. Later we got back on the Densha and said goodnight at different hotels. At one point, I asked Althea, who speaks amazing Japanese (having studied for 8 years before coming and being here for 9 months already) when she felt conversational. She claimed she still didn't, but said that her 2nd month was all about frustration of what she couldn"t say. She knew the basics but not the conversation stuff. I honestly think I am at that point now because I continually find myself frustrated when carrying on with tough conversations with my friends. At the hotel, Sakioka-san gave me my room key and I was off to my room. Sure I didn't really sleep though. On Sunday I woke up and quickly got dressed in my brightest clothes. I was in the mood for standing out because I know the everyone would be in black and grey. I headed down for breakfast with Sakioka-san. We talked about how busy my October has been. He made a great point in saying that early October I saw Nothern Japan and next week I get to see Southern Japan. He said he had never been to Hokkaido or Okinawa and that I was lucky to get to do so much traveling. I asked him what he thought about my Japanese and he said it was great. After breakfast we met up with Althea and MAry Beth to some exploring. Sakioka returned to Kochi so I was the only exchange student without a babysitter, or uh... chaperone. Our first stop was Matsuyamajo, or Matsuyama Castle. To get on top of the hill you sit in this one man chair lift with no safety bar. It's pretty fun. Mary Beth's chaperone, Okuda-san, the Youth exchange chairman as well as our tour guide for next weeks Okinawa trip kept talking to Althea is Japanese. He then would rave about how well she knew the language, making me and Mary Beth a little shy. Then he suprisingly turned to me and asked me to read something that was in Kanji... very difficult Kanji. But I knew most of it and he started wowing me as well. He kept saying he was shocked that I could read that and was so impressed. Anyway the castle sat atop a hill in the middle of the city and looking out, well Matsuyama is probably the nicest city on Shikoku. And the great part about the place is that because it is on Shikoku, which is pretty much the middle of nowhere, the city is clean and not so crowded like Osaka or Tokyo. We stayed looking out at the city for a long time. Same as with Kochi, the city os surronded by lush green unspoiled mountains. It seems like because Japan is covered in mountains that the very flat area they get are crowded with home and dwellings. And did you know there are 30,000 rivers and streams in Japan, and yet only 3 are undamned and still wild. We then headed to the castle museum. There we saw a bunch of old samurai uniforms. They are mad cool there is no doubt about that. And if you ever wondered where George Lucas got the idea for Darth Vader in Star Wars, well just look at some of these Samurai stuff. After we took the chairlift back down, the chaperones decided to head back to the hotel and give us some freetime. We first went Vintage shopping, and then gave into lunch. At a little restaurant in Matsuyama we ordered Shrimp rice which was pretty good. Afterwards we got Starbucks. I was so happy so have something from home. But of course they didn't have my favorite drink so I settled for Vanilla Mocha instead. In the coffee shop we talked about how exciting Okinawa was going to be, until we realized we had run out of town. Back on the densha, we headed back to the convention center. Althea finally expalined to me the whole Omiyagi thing (act of giving presents. In simplest terms, one should buy the family a food from the host city.) There we all said goodbye and gave each other hugs. And trust me hugging is really rare so you take it when you can. The Kochi Rotary Club West was waiting for me on the bus and I was welcomed back cheerfully. 10 minutes in to the trip we made our first of many stops, where I was spoiled with Pockey and Tea. Later I was bought Ice Cream and various chocolate bars and my favorite type of gum. I faked sleeping at our last stop so they would stop buying stuff for me. When I arrived home, my host counselor picked my up.

Okinawa Rotary Trip

Okay so I just got back from our only Rotary sponsored All-exchange student trip to Okinawa! I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I had. It was amazing. I realize that this entry is going to be really long, probably a little boring from all the details. And for this I apoligize, but I don't want to forget anything about the weekend that I learned so much about myself, my friends, and my life in Japan. So anyway Friday after track, I come home, and am told about the trip. I kind of forgot about it actually. I shoved a couple outfits, a bathing suit, and my beastly camera in a bag and was done. My host family tried to give me some info about the island, but that ended in watching Star Wars in Japanese and arguments over what episode was better. haha. So I went to bed kind of late slowly getting excited for the trip. October 28--- When my alarm clock went off I did my morning routine, threw my backpack over my shoulder and was off. One of the Rotary club president, Uemura-san, picked me up and we drove the hour and a half to Takamatsu in Kagawa. There we met Mary Beth, ALthea, Okuda-san, and Sen-san. I bid farewell to Uemura-san and jumped in the truck with the others. The trip had officially begun... the drive to Takamatsu airport was relatively short and filled with making fun of the Japanese culture. Not necessarily making fun of it but just pointing out the things that bother us. Like how girls pick their arm hair in class. hehe. The thing is that I can't talk about this kind of stuff with anyone else. Japanese people get offended and defensive. And people at home don't know what I'm talking about, so it's great. At the airport we parked and unloaded the truck. We also met up with our tour guide, who gave us Bento lunches. The others checked in bags, but I have a seperation issue, as Mary Beth pointed out, so I carried all my stuff on the plane. Before we got on the plane we all wanted to get some chocolate. One thing about Japanese people is that they have a way with English. My chocolate was called Crunky, Mem's Fran, and Althea's Asse. Crunky, Fran, and Ass. One heck of a combination. haha. On the airplane we all read and talked and laughed about Crunky, Ass, and Fran. I got yelled at for having my bag not perfectly under the seat. Japanese Apple Juice tastes like Candied apple. The ride was about 1 hour and a half. It was pretty great. When we landed in Naha Airport, we walked out to meet our onsight Tour Guide. Instead we spotted a Starbucks and jumped in line before we even asked. I was in heaven with my Vanilla Mocha. The rest of the people got there bags and we headed out to meet the bus and onsight tour guide. Seeing as there were 3 exchange students, 2 chaperones, and 2 tour guides, and a driver. I figured we would have gotten a snug little van. Instead we got a huge coach bus all to ourselves (later renamed the Squirt Bus for interesting reasons.) The ride was only about 20 minutes but we saw much of the Southern portion of the Island. And I'll be the first to admit that I was so suprised at how build up it really was. Not to say it wasn't beautiful, with hibiscuses and palm trees lining the streets. Our first stop was Shuri Castle Park. The castle building was Ryuukyuan (okinawan) with heavy influences from Japanese and Chinese Cultures. More than 450 years of cultural relations with China, Japan, and other Southeast Asian nations produced a culture or unique and artistic heritage that made up the Kingdom of Ryuukyuu. Though the castle was truly amazing, it took me a while to realize it wasn't the original but a new version. The original was destroyed in the Battle for Okinawa, and only a small rock wall exists from its structure. Anyway when we arrived at the Castle, we were informed that all the Kanji characters were actually in Chinese, which is pretty cool. The castle had 5 or 6 gates, which got pretty annoying quickly. We also had an encounter with our first Okinawan Shishi, which is like this cross between a dog or a lion. It"s really this scary looking ugly creature thing that is supposed to protect the family from bad spirits. They are placed outside the gate, and we climbed on them and pretended to ride them. For the final gate we had to climb a stairway that was built so that you had to continually bow as you walked up. I thought that was pretty brilliant for the king. Before we entered the main part of the castle we watched an Okinawan dance, where none of the 3 of us could figure out if the dancers were guys or girls. We took a bunch more pictures and then took off our shoes and headed into the castle. We saw the calligraphy and the painting of all the old kings. Every picture made the king look like a whale. We took some more pictures and then headed back outside. The castle was nothing like Japanese style castles and you could see that Okinawan culture is extremely different. Another thing we noticed is that there were alot of gaijins around. Alot. Probably from the American base. And to have ot be the total reverse situation, we were the ones staring now. We really are turning Japanese. It's so great to see other gaijins, but I think it's a bit strange when a gaijin calls another gaijin gaijin. hehe. Back in the Bus our onsight tour guide, a very peppy happy smiling lady in yellow, sang us some traditional Okinawan songs and showed us how to use the the Okinawan Clacker instrument. It was great, even though I think those clackers are a headaches worst nightmare. The hotel was an hour away and we drove throw a highway with the American Military Base. I've heard some things about the relationship between the base and Okinawans. So I asked the onsight guide. She smiled and pointed out that the Japanese flag and the American flag waving side by side over the main base. She also said that the base employs over 8,000 Japanese people. It seemed like a good enough answer for me. We kept driving and I noticed that Okinwa has a strong Chinese/Japanese influence mixed in with Western civilization. It's very much like Hawaii, except more built up. We arrived at the Busena Terrace Resort, and were instantly amazed. I did not know what to expect but certainly nothing like this. The nicest and probably most expensive resort on Okinawa was ours for the next 2 nights. The resort was even a host to the G8 summit in 2000. We sat out in the front looking out onto the ocean and drank lemon juice as we waited for our room. The key was attached to an ugly wooden fish with one eye. SO much for a nice hotel...hehe. The room was a nice spacious area with a viranda and 3 beds for us exchange students. After we got settled we took our cameras to the beach. The resort is right on the amazing beach. We were just in time to see the sunset and stick our feet in the surf. The water was a little chilly but the scenery was amazing. We were surronded by green hills over the water, palm trees, thousands of hibiscuses, crystal clear water, and a great sunset. We climbed the life guard chair and looked out. I love standing beside the ocean because no matter where you are in the world, this body of water connects you to everything and you feel so small standing beside something so big. Eventually we headed to the La Tida Restaurant Buffet and met up with Okuda-san, Sen-san, and the Tour Guide for a French buffet. Well, Japanese French buffet. When we walked in the waiters were setting up a huge Jack-o-Lantern. They don't celebrate Halloween here, but the American base has some influence. It was pretty cool to see the pumpkin but even cooler to see Altheas reaction. They don't have Halloween in Australia, so she was pretty amazed. We even took some pictures. At dinner we ordered Mango juices and made a plate of food. When we sat down we had some deep conversations. I'll admit its really nice to be able to have an intellectual conversation without having to use gestures or explain what every other word means. We sat the 3 of us on a deck overlooking the ocean with candle light and a slight breeze... it was great. Not only to do I get to learn all about Japan but I also get to learn a little bit about Australia. And Althea and I both agreed that Steve Irwins death was very sad. hehe. One cool thing is that I have actually been to her home city before; Townsville, Australia. In 2004 I traveled with the Student Amabassador program there and slpet at the Aquarium in the Townsville. And I've even started picking up Aussie words like Togs for bathing suit and others... After a while we got dessert, vanilla ice cream with strawberry and chocolate topping, strawberry cake, and vanilla mousse. We ate happily, although Mary Beth and I were dreading the next event. Actually dreading is probably an understatement. So after the adults were finished, we all headed to the other side of the resort for Karaoke. I figured we would be in a Bar and having to stand up in front of everyone to sing something. Boy, was I wrong. After begging and pleading not to do it, we were whisked into a tiny room with a tv, given 2 microsphones, and some books with songs. The chaperones went first and sang Frank Sinatra and some other oldies. Then they left for the bar. Althea went next, and we quickly realized why she liked Karaoke so much. Her voice was amazing. I envied her none chalant attitude towards singing in front of other people. But the mic made its way to me and I've learned here that life is too short not to have a little fun. My first song was a duet with Althea and it was AWESOME. No, not my voice, but its great fun. Eventually we even got Mary Beth to sing. Kiss Me, Sk8r Boi, Toxic, Mmm Bop, All The Small Things, Butterfly, and a hundred other pop songs filled the room as we laughed and sang (or attempted to.) Some songs made us get up and dance around the room while singing. Some made us just sit there and watch the Japanese attempt at a music video for the song. We turned off the lights and danced and laughed and sang. I really couldn't acurately describe how much fun it was. The Japanese are brillant for coming up with something so great. We spent a little over 2 hours singing and eventually we needed water because our voices were getting creamed. Those of you who know me well probably can not believe that I actually did it. And I actually I can't believe how much I really enjoyed it. When we were forced to head back, me and Mary Beth, who originally dreaded Karaoke, could not stop raving about it. The whole walk back was spent talking about what a great time and how someone should have clued us into the fact that Japanese karaoke is awesome. It was that great, if you can believe it. Okuda-san and Sen-san were pretty drunk when we met up with them. And they didn't like the idea of heading back yet. So we asked them if we could break into the mini-fridge and drink the beer and they happily agreed. Our tour guide even pretended to not hear our plans. But alas, back in the room, we took showers and got into bed. By the time I was out of the shower, Mem and Althea were asleep. But I was still laughing about Crunky, Ass, and Fran... October 29--- The alarm clock rang at 6 because we had planned on heading for a swim in the pool. But we all just rolled back over and slept till 7. We were so tired from the previous night and when I spoke I realized that my voice was pretty dead. Nonetheless we got ready, although extremely slowly, seemingly taking our time doing everything. Then we went to the La Tida buffet for breakfast. We had to return because me and Mem forgot our meal cards. Eventually we had sat down and then got to the buffet table. Seeing as I don't eat breakfast because it makes me sick here, I tried very hard to chose a light selection. Mostly pan. My favorite was the Chococro, a small piece of toast, oozing with melted Chocolate. Absolutely delicious. The 3 of us even packed some for the ride. Other than that we all pretty much got different things. And the reason I tell you this is because we all ended up getting really sick. Anyway we sat at breakfast talking about stuff from home. All 3 of us have in common the fact that we used to sucked our thumb. Althea even carried her teddy bear with her for a picture in paradise. We also talked about the days events and mentioned at various time how awesome Karaoke was... haha. After breakfast we met up with the chaperones and the tour guide and got onto our private coach bus. Then we had an hour drive to Churaumi Suizokukan, or Okinawa Aquarium. It was a very unenjoyable and painful ride. I sat in the front seat wondering how I was going to make it the Aquarium without dying. The peppy onsight tour guide sang and played instruments and I wanted to scream at her to shut up. It was horrible. Mem turned to me at some point and I explained that I felt like crap probably because I wasn't used to eating breakfast. I was convinced I was the only one who felt the I did. Boy was I wrong. As soon as the bus pulled up it became a race between the 3 exchange students to the bathroom. Excuse my profanity... but relief! And when I walked out, still feeling a little upset, I saw the faces of Althea and Mem. They wore the same relieving expression I wore. You know you have good friends when you can just talk about that kind of stuff without embarrassment. Well I have great friends then. We trudged onto the aquarium, taking various pictures at certain landmarks. It was so much fun as we laughed at how disgusting we are and tried to figure out what we ate. In the aquarium we were amazed at the beautiful fish displays. The last time I went to an aquarium, oddly enough I was in Altheas city of Townsville. Goes to show how small the world is, right? Eventually we all took on Round 2... sorry. The final exhibit inside, the whale shark tank, was absolutely incredible. Around this point, though, our tour guide, informed Okuda-san and Sen-san why we kept having to stop. And it was absolutely horrible because every time we looked at them, they waved and smiled. I kept trying to be embarrassed but my 3 trips to the onsen and 1 attempt at Karaoke have really influenced what embarrasses me these days. Anyway, just picture 3 girls, sick as dogs, and yet in total awe watching how peaceful the fish are. The Whale Shark Swam softly back and forth, surronded by Manta Rays and other beautiful fish. We could have stood there all day, but our stomachs wouldn't have allowed it. After brief Omiyagi shopping, we went to the Porpose tank for the show. Like 3 loud giggling Japanese girls, we exchange students overly enjoyed the show. Except every time we looked at Okuda-san and Sen-san they smiled and waved us at us, and I secretly hoped they would get sick too. And sure enough after some more Omiyagi shopping, Okuda-san disappeared and came back with a relieved expression. HAHAHA Now can you guess who was smiling and waving? Unfortunately we had to depart the aquarium, though we could have spent all day there. After a 40 minute drive, in which I even participated in the peppy tour guides songs, we arrived at Ryuukyuumura. It's basically a traditional Okinawan village, before Japan owned it when it was its own country. We first went to a restaurant where we served Taco Rice, but then it was taken away before we could eat it. Instead we were supposed to get a traditional Okinawan dish, so we had to wait. Okinawan food is very different from Japanese food, and I was eager to try something new. We waited it out by watching a famous Okinawa dance show and then taking a few photos with the dancers. When we returned, our lunch was set. Okinawan Soba, much more different than Japanese Soba, but tasty nonetheless. Tacigomi Rice, which is really really good even though I've had it many times before. And Goya, Ham, and Egg dish. Goya is a really faul salty tasting vegetable, but isn't too bad when cooked. So we feasted, not realizing just how hungry we really were. After lunch, we went into the Ryuukyuu village for some exploring of ancient Okinawa. We toured some of the old building and structures. Eventually we ended up in the art room with our own little Shi Shi's. We were too paint them any way we wanted! Althea and Mary Beth did a good job, but I totally emasculated mine and turned it into a wimpy little thing with perfect teeth. haha. I sat in Saza position, which is the tradition Japanese position of sitting on the calves and feet. After we were finished I could barely walk from the pain... We quickly climbed a small hill to see a 3D show. In old times Okinawans used to have matches between mongooses and snakes to see who would win. Now it is illegal but we got to see a 3D Show about it. The Mongoose won. Afterwards as we were heading out, the employees gave us a brown powder and some water. The brown powder, made from the inside of snake skin is supposedly good for hang overs. So that's when I ate the very interesting Internal Snake insides. It was pretty tasty in a weird way. And the funny thing is that that wasn't nearly as interesting as was yet to be eaten. We continued touring the village, until we went back to the bus. The drive was pretty quick to Manzamou, which is a large cliff looking out over the ocean. We saw a famous rock structure that supposedly looks like a elephant trunk sucking water from the ocean. Then the wind picked up and we practically got blown over fighting our way back to the bus. Back at the bus we had a 30 minute drive back to the resort, which was spent pretty quietly. When we got back, the girls headed upstairs and got on our bathing suits and headed for some swimming. Althea and Mary Beth went on the waterslide. Then screamed at how cold it was. Grey Clouds moved in and it felt like a big storm was on its way to the Island. So we went into the huge indoor pool. I wasn't even embarrassed to be in my bikini. I'm changing so much. There are things here I do that I would never ever do at home. Anyways we talked like we were old friends, laughing about Crunky, Ass, and Fran, choking about our little incident at the aquarium, talking about our dreams. Althea is going to Medical School when she returns to Australia. And me and Mary Beth have no clue what to do. We also talked about our cultures. Australia teenagers drink and party alot and are pretty relaxed, American teenagers rebel but still generally cling to the Puritan roots... haha. It's funny to think her people came from convicts and our people came from exiled Religious fanatics. I've spent barely 2 days with this Aussie and I already am picking up a bunch of words from her. Likewise as well. She now says Beast alot... that makes me laugh. A little Japanese girl drifted over to listen to our English, we then spoke to her in Japanese. I can almost here her telling her mom that 3 freaky looking girls were speaking an alien language and then spoke to her in the proper and perfect language. That's the Japanese for ya... Eventually we decided to head back to the room for showers. I went first and then got dressed for dinner. With some time to kill, I sat out on the deck with Althea. The wind blew heavily and the grey clouds hovered over our heads. She was writing in her diary and asked what she was writing. She just said the important stuff that she doesn't want to forget, like the how we had to go to the bathroom so badly and yet still felt the beauty of the whale shark in the aquarium today. It's the little things like that I don't want to forget either. We shared some almonds and I read a book while she wrote. It was really wonderful. Then Mary Beth switched places with Althea and we talked about home and stuff. After we were all dressed and ready, we made our way to the lobby to meet up with everyone for dinner. Chinese food. Rather, Japanese Chinese food. It is very different than American Chinese food. The walk down to the restaurant was nice because the walk was lighted by large owl lamps. When we got to the restaurant, the 3 of us noticed that one meal costed $100 a person. There 6 of us, plus the cost of Sake. Probably about $750. Amazing. It was like a million courses, all which were incredibly tasty. The first and most interesting was Pig Ears, Pig Hooves, and Jellyfish platter. I didn't even think twice about eating it. It was all really tasty, especially the pig ears. They are this strangely salty meat that I enjoyed, even though I remembered that usually dogs eat them at home. Jellyfish wasn't bad either, even though I have a bit of a texture issue when it comes to gummy things. Pig Hoof was also okay. The next platters included, Crab with good sauce on it, Curry Beef, Pork Fried Rice, and a whole bunch of other stuff that I don't know the name of. Dessert was even great. Milk Jello, Green Tea Tarte, and this Sweet Yam Biscuit. Throughout the meal we spoke to the chaperones. I got a few compliments on my Japanese which really made me happy. When Althea and the chaperones speak I can usually understand the majority of it. But then I can't speak it to save my life. I know I keep saying that. But you have to understand I really am proud of myself for how much I understand, and frustrated that I can't speak. The single greatest part of the dinner was when the chaperones how many time we all needed to use the toilet and then laughed as all 5 of us held up the same amount of fingers. Besides being disgusted I was so happy to be around people that I could really have this conversation with. Then Althea asked if she could try some Sake. She is nearly 18, which is legal drinking age in Australia. So they thought it would be okay. But then we all got a try at it. I figure you can't go to Japan without trying some Sake. Mary Beth went first and practically spit it out. I went next. I sniffed it, thought well this is going to be gross, then took a big sip. It wasn't incredibly awful, not that it was very tasty either. But what stood out was that it was really warm, which I thought was pretty weird. Althea went next and finished it. She liked it. So yes, Julie Garner tried Japanese alcohol called Sake. After dinner, we all tried to figure out what to do with ourselves. Okuda-san and Sen-san were perfectly content to do what they did last night, find a bar stool and get incredibly drunk. Our tour guide wanted to do something fun. So Karaoke was suggested. And thus, the second night in a row was spent singing and dancing in our little room to Brittany Spears, Sugar Ray, Mandy Moore, Christina Aguilara, and many other bad pop artists. I always sing even though I secretly turn the microphone off. For this I got yelled at. I officially know that I chose bad songs. And yet again we had an amazing time. Shortly before the 2 hours was up, Okuda-san and Sen-san returned to the room to sing a little. Okuda-san did really well, but Sen-san, well eh... he tried. Not that I should be talking haha. It was pretty funny 2 watch 2 old drunk men singing Japanese Pop. Afterwards we all headed back to the hotel and slept absolutely wonderfully. We had quite an interesting day. haha. October 30--- We awoke at 7 to the alarm clock and slowly got ready. We had to pack everything as today we would be leaving Okinawa, sadly of course. At breakfast we tempted fate and went back to the restaurant from yesterday. I had my Choco Cros and I also tried Bread Pudding. Pretty interesting stuff to say the least. It really is bread and pudding. I even got seconds. I did a stupid thing and had 2 full glasses of orange juice and a coffee. At breakfast we talked about how much we really enjoy being here. It's interesting because not one of us really wanted to come to Japan as a first choice. Mem wanted to go to Italy, Althea wanted to go to Peru, and I wanted Austria. And yet here we are, having the best time ever. I have a theory, that everyone that puts down Japan as a first choice does it because they think they know all about this place. Manga, Jpop, Anime, Samurais, ya know the whole stereotypical vision of Japan. And yet those are the people that hate here and leave early. Like the 3 of us, who came here with no expectations, no stereotypes, no assumptions. We are the kind of exchange student that does well here. After brekkie, we went back to the room for the last time and grabbed everything for the bus. We watched a little bit of Sesame Street first, because there is a great English channel. And who doesn't love Sesame Street? We were nearly late for leaving. We got on our big Coach bus for the last time and were greeted by the very peppy lady. But today I was feeling much much better so I sang along with her and allowed her to do the clacker things without flashing her a dirty look. I even listened to much of her conversation and suprised myself at being able to understand the good majority of it, probably because she kept saying Steak. haha. The bus ride was about an hour to our destination, Kokusai Street or International Street. There we had about 3 hours for Omiyagi shopping and eating. Our first stop was the bathroom because 2 OJ's and a coffee caught up with me pretty quick. Then we started down the busy street that was full of Omiyagi shopping. And I can finally say after a lesson or two from Althea that I am getting really good at Omiyagi Shopping. In case you don't know what Omiyagi Shopping is I will repeat it again. It is the act of buying gifts. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. In America you buy your immediate friends small pens or little souvenirs from your destination. Here you buy your family members a food item that is popular at the destination, and your friends either candy or small key chains with Hello Kitty or something else from the destination. I bought for my host family these salty cracker things that taste like a sweet Oyster Cracker. In Okinawa the famous foods are there Donuts things, that take like Zeppoles without Grease and Sugar, Sweet Yam biscuits, sweet Oyster Crackers, Milk Cracker with okinawa written on them, Okinawan Crepe, and other small strange stuff. I picked up a bunch of candy for my friends. And I also bought myself a Hello Kitty Okinawa cell phone charm, since I collect them. Anyway as we shopped we stopped in on many of these stores, only to realize that they all sold the exact same stuff in every place. That's the way it is everywhere in Japan. All Omiyagi stores at your destination sell the same exact stuff. We ended up stopping in a Character Store, and there I realized just how Japanese I really am. I almost had a coniption when I saw a lifesize Care Bear and I referred to everything as cute or kawaii. But I wasn't alone. Finally I excerted some self control and pulled myself out of the store before I spent hundreds of dollars on Disney, Snoopy, Care Bears, Hello Kitty, Anpan Man, and Draemon. We kept straight and ended up in a little arcade off the main street. We found an Import shop and it was pretty hard not buying this American candy set. Althea, on the other hand, bought a bag of Milky Ways made is Australia. I didn't realize that they actually made that kind of stuff in Aus. Mary Beth and Althea bought fresh Pineapple as I drifted from store to store in search of Omiyagi. Then when they were done, we bought an Okinawan Doughnut and split in 3 ways. Like I said before it tastes like a Zeppole not covered in pounds of grease and sugar. It was really good and I'm glad I tried it. Afterwards we had to make a decision about lunch. Western food was what we really needed. And thus we headed for an over the top expensive Cowboy Steakhouse. It was so great to be in a real restaurant where we got our own menus (Japanese restaurants give one menu for the whole table.) Mary Beth ordered a steak, but me and Althea wanted to try Taco Rice. It's now an official Okinawan dish, but they stole it from the American base. The Americans stole it from the Mexicans. So in the end we all got cheated... hehe. Althea also got a Pina Colada for herself and I got a Mango Daquiri... that was pretty fun. wink wink. The meal was great. Taco Rice is so good. It's something I want to make when I go home. Just thinking about it is making me hungry again... hehe. After we paid (gulp!) we still had some more shopping to do and a little time to do it. We hit some more stores and then made our way back to the bus. Naha Airport was not far and the bus ride was kind of sad. Sen-san had left earlier so it was just the 3 of us, Okuda-san, and our Tour Guide. The peppy lady really grew on me. As we got out of the bus for a final picture peppy looked at Althea, Me, and Mary Beth and said, "I your Okinawa friend." And we said "We are your American friends (Australian)" We took a picture and said goodbye. Inside the airport, they checked the bags in. I didn't though and thus regretted it when I carried 3 large bags in terminal. I even had to buy a large bag to carry everything in it. When will I ever learn? After some more shopping we got into the terminal, made a quick stop at Starbucks (I'm addicted to Coffee!) and made our way onto the plane. It was a quiet ride back, as we all drifted in and out of slumber. It was kind of sad when we landed in Takamatsu. As we piled into Okuda-sans car, our tour guide gave us some candy and declared she was really going to miss us. She even did something very un-Japanese and gave us a huge hug each. I was soooooo happy. I love hugs and miss them dearly. Then we got into the car and headed for a highway stop where Uemura-san would pick me up. The car ride was filled with Althea and Okuda-san's discussion on last years troublesome exchange students. I understood most of it. Especially the part when they said that Tosajoshi (my high school) would except 2 more girls next year because I have been so great. Being the perfect exchange student has paid off. When we arrived it was so hard to say goodbye to Althea and MAry Beth. I gave them huge hugs but I'll admit I'm worried that we won't all get to see each other again as nothing is planned and Althea leaves in January. I guess we will just have to see. In the car with Uemura we talked a lot about Okinawa even though I couldn't understand most of what he said. I put on my Ipod and rested for the hour ride back home to Kochi. And we drove through the mountains at nights. I arrived back home with a warm welcome. And I presented my Omiyagi, which was well received. Then I unpacked, ate dinner, got ready for school, and went to bed.

Warlords and Scumbags and Tongue

I have never been very good at card games. I mean especially the common games that everyone knows. Solitaire is about as easy as nailing jello to a tree. Poker face? Mine is non-existant. Me trying to play any of those games that are used often in gambling is probably like watching someone who just realized that they got everything stolen. That face of pure horror at the fact that they have the worst luck ever, or in my case, the worst hand. I'm not even very good at Go-Fish, though there is no good explaination for this one. This ability at being horrible at cards did not cease when I arrived in Japan. In October, I was happily living with my first host family, the Masaki's, in the middle of Kochi City. It was with them that I learned a famous Asian card game, originating from China, but making it's way to the West. The game has dozens of names in English, Rich Man, Poor Man, Scum, Root Beer, Butthead, Arsehole, and Capitalism. My favorite name for the game is definitely Warlords and Scumbags, though. That night, Masaki Okasan informed me that Otosan had invited over a group of his friends for a little card playing party. In my mind, I imagined Poker Night with the guys. This being Masaki Otosan, better known as Captain Jack Sparrow, sitting around a table with his Male friends, smoking long smelly cigars and drinking beer, can after can. All this while gambling away a whole weeks pay check. But like usual, I was wrong. At 7, the friends that Captain Jack invited arrived, and immediately suprised. Saoyuri, the Obasan travel agent and fluent English speaker, led the pack. Captain Jack told me that he invited her because he likes to practice his English with someone who doesn't yell at him for wrongly pronouncing words, like a certain exchange student he knows. But I strongly suspected that he and Okasan were trying to fix Saoyuri up with Captain Jack's brother, who arrived next. Then in came, Shiho, a good friend of mine from school. She and I were in the same class for the School Excursion to Hokkaido, and became good friends. Her parents are tight with the Masaki family, so we were all often going out together. Behind Shiho was her mother and a friend of the family. In all there were 8 people, including the Masaki's and me. There were no big smelly cigars, endless cans of beer, and gambling, but there was a deck of cards. In the main living area of the Masaki mansion-style apartment, the group sat in a large spread out cirle. Masaki Okasan readied about 2 decks of cards for the games, while Captain Jack brought out 2 cushions. He explained that the top 2 winners would get to sit on the cushions in comfort, and brag to the rest about their success. I figured I would never get to sit on those cushions. After a short discussion on what to play, 'Warlords and Scumbags' was chosen. The group was shocked that I did not the rules. But they knew that this meant one thing; that they would have to explain them to me. I'd been in Japan for only 2 months, and could barely muster, "I'm hungry," let alone understand the meaning of a difficult card game. What made matters worse, was that I really wasn't interested, and constantly begged to be allowed to just watch. But Captain Jack insisted I play. I conjectured that he really just wanted to crush me at a game, especially since he knew card games were not my strong point. Finally, the group explained everything thoroughly in Japanglish, until they were sure I was positive of the rules. For reference the rules are: The player to dealer's left starts by leading any single card or any set of cards of equal rank. Each player in turn must then either pass, or play face up a card or set of cards which beats the previous play. A single card is beaten by any higher single card. A set of cards can only be beaten by a higher set containing the same number of cards. It is not necessary to beat the previous play just because you can, as passing is always allowed. Also passing does not prevent you from playing the next time your turn comes round. The play continues as many times around the table as necessary until someone makes a play which everyone else passes. All the cards played are then turned face down and put to one side, and the player who played last to the previous "trick" starts again by leading any card or set of equal cards. The first player who is out of cards is awarded the highest social rank, depending on the version of the game this is either Warlord, President, or king. 2nd place next is Vice-President and seated to the right of the President. The middle scoring people are just known as citizens or workers. The last player to be left with any cards is known as the Beggar, Bum, or Scumbag. We began the game, upon picking up the cards we were dealt. Since I actually did understand the rules of the game, I immediately began believing in miracles, or at least beginners luck. It was a crushing blow for Captain Jack, when I put down my final cards before anyone else. The group just stared in awe as I stuck my finger in Captain Jack's face screaming, "Take that. In your face!" Then they all accused me of knowing the rules prior to playing, followed by accusations of cheating. My taunting laugh made them all grow serious, and I was soon sitting comfortably on a cushion as Warlord. If my first lucky break did not make you believe in miracles, then perhaps, the fact that I won 4 games in a row will. The very best game was the third round, when Captain Jack was made the Scumbag. I smiled from ear to ear, as he refrained from looking at me, and repeatedly tryed to skip my turn. Meanwhile, I bounced around the room, dancing, and making an utter fool outof myself. The rest of the group began talking about me, in Japanese. I'm not 100% sure what they were saying, but I'm sure it was something like, "Wow she is energetic, isn't she?" With Captain Jack and Masaki Okasan looking at each other before saying in a synchronized voice, "You have no idea." Sure enough, the luck died out. And it wasn't a little end to the luck, dropping me into the Vice President spot. No this was a full-fledged Karma hammar, knocking me down to the last citizen before Scumbag. And by the next turn, I was made the Scumbag. Every single one of my opponents was soon bouncing around the room and rubbing it into my face. Unfortunately, luck had really disapperated for me, and I stayed the Scumbag for about 10 games. Since Japanese people have the worst memory, by the 9th game, Captain Jack was saying, "You really are bad at cards, aren't you?" During my time, serving as the scumbag, I realized just how much I disliked this game. It wasn't just because I was terrible, though I'll admit that may have played a small part in it. Mainly because it was not the kind of game, I was used to. The ones I had played back at home with my friends and family. Suddenly it hit me, like I was a deer on a busy highway. I was going to teach this group of Japanese people the incredibly exciting American game of Tongue. Tongue is a fast paced game involving doing 2 things at once, observing and collecting. Players simultaneously pick up the card and then decide whether or not to keep it or pass it along. They pass that card to the opponent on their left, and pick up the card they've received from the opponent on their right. Each player can never have more than four cards in his hand, but the objective is to get 4 of the same card. When a player collects four of a kind, they quietly, but visibly, stick out the tongue. When one player does this, every other player must do likewise as quickly as possible. Those who stick out their tongue continue to pick up and pass cards, making it more difficult for other players to realize what has happened. The last player to stick out his tongue is the loser. A person with less Japanese language skills then a 2 year old, explaining a complex cardgame to a group of Japanese adults is just one of those things that should be filmed and made into a comedy. Needless to say, it proved to be a complete disaster of misunderstandings. I found myself briefly regretting the attempt to teach this group a game, when I could barely explain it. I once again tryed to explain everything thoroughly, but was pretty nervous when we started the game. This time, however, everyone seemed to understand. The first round was really all about explanation, and we went slow and steady. By the second round we were ready for the fast paced version, in which I would be the dealer. As dealer, I quickly looked at the card and then flung it on the next person. By mid-way through the game, our eyes were constantly peering up from our hands to the suspicious mouths of the opponents. I noticed Shiho's tongue poke out of the mouth, and I became the second safe person. The last person was Captain Jack. Everyone was in uproars as Captain Jack moaned about the difficulty of the game, how it's nearly impossible to pay attention to your the card you pick up as well as everyone's face. Annoyed, I began putting the cards into the deck, when Captain Jack yelled, "What are you doing?" All 7 members of the group, demanded more of this new game that they had just learned. I was so proud of myself for having succeeded in spreading one of my favorite card games all the way to Japan. Since it's difficult to distinguish a winner, we decided that the first person to get all letters in PIG, another name for Tongue, would be the loser. Captain Jack held a solid capital P, though he worked tirelessly to try and make that P disappear with claims that the rules hadn't been set yet. Everyone ignored him. We played about 10 rounds, during which I was the dealer for about 6 of them. But Saoyuri and Masaki Okasan, whipping sweat off their brow, complained that I went to fast for them. The deck was passed to Captain Jack, who had suddenly made it his life mission to make me lose. His beady eyes bounced from the cards for my face, full of revenge for teaching such an addicting game and excelling at it. He went twice as fast I did in dealing, barely having enough time to breath. By the end of the game, in which I won, he was out of breath and moaning that this game was not good for his heart. He put his hand and his wrist and felt his pulse, whimpering about the newly added I he had received. By that last game Shiho, Saoyuri, and Captain Jack, all had PI, while Shiho's Mom and Friend, Captain Jack's brother, and Okasan Masaki had P. I had nothing, because this is one of those rare card games that I am actually pretty decent at. Dealer had moved on the Saoyuri, who had insisted on following the philosophy of the Tortoise, slow and steady. Prior to Game 10, Captain Jack had formed an alliance with everyone else in an effort to make me get at the very least a P. They all secretly conjured a way to alert each other if one of them got 4 of-a-kind. I didn't mind, and instead laughed at their attempts. During the round, I watched as Captain Jack's brother made a weird hand motion, following his tongue popping out. I stuck my tongue out, while everyone in the group did the same. Everyone that is, except for Captain Jack, who sat concentrating intently on the cards being passed his way. He was the first of the group to receive a PIG. He was heart-broken, not that he lost, but that he couldn't beat me. I challenged him to a Rematch, and he told me it would probably kill him, as he whipped the sweat off his forehead. We were all finished, much to my relief. If we had kept going, I really think one of the members would have over excerted themselves. Though I really think many of them wanted to keep going. Now I don't think I'm going to go down in history for teaching Tongue to a small group of Japanese adults in Kochi. But I'm happy enough knowing that I taught them a little something from home. What made it even better, was just recently Shiho, informed me that she went to a card party and met up with the Masaki's. They all played Tongue, and laughed through the entire thing. I asked her who won, and she smiled, "Not Captain Jack."

Imouto- Thoughts of a Little Sister

I wanted my next post to be all about the fun weekend I just had. But I'll type that up for tommorrow. Instead I want to talk about something else that happened this weekend. Something I never imagined would happen. But then I never imagined I'd be spending a year in Japan either. Anyway, my wonderful host family has one daughter, Naoko, age 22. She is a University student at Kobe University, studying Pharmacy. When she is through with University she will return to Kochi and carry on in the Masaki Family Pharmacy. When she lived at home, from what I gather, she was the absolute most average Japanese teenagers, except she was really smart. She attended the best school in Kochi, made wonderful friends, all of which are at the best University's in Japan. She never dated, because it was against her father's rules. On free days after her Orchestra practice, she she stayed at home and studied her butt off, eventually she attended cram school. And to top it all off, she even dreamed about carrying on the family business over Pharmacy. But now she attends Kobe University, and last month, when her report card was sent home, I knew then I should leave the house for a little while. Haha She got her first D in physics! During the summer, when we both lived together, we didn't spend all that much time together. She usually slept throughout the day, then partied in the night. Thus when she was awake, I was asleep. We sat at the same dinner table, but there was a bit of a language barrier. Sure, we went to a pool, the caves, and to the beach together, but nothing super special. It wasn't until the day she left, that I generally knew I was going to miss her. That day there was a typhoon, and we both were stuck in Kochi. So we hung out, went shopping, and talked the whole day. And when the next morning came I found myself crying as she left. It was even harder when she told me she had always been an only child, so having me around meant something to her. I was really crying then. But then just before she boarded the bus, she turned around and gave me a big hug. Japanese people NEVER hug! And so, I was really really happy. October was a busy month for me. Unfortunately I hadn't been able to keep in touch with Naoko. And to make it worse I lost her cell phone email, so I couldn't even email her. But it wasn't as if I would never see her again. She promised to come back for my birthday, even though 2 days later I'd have to move so I wouldn't get to spend any time with her. Then, my Otosan announced we would be visiting her at her University on Sunday. I was really excited. After a long bus ride, we arrived and walked deep into a community of College dorms. We arrived at a bright pink building, climbed a million steps, and were greeted by an excited Naoko. She quickly jumped to give me another unexpected hug! I was so shocked and speechless, I didn't even get to say hello. She brought me into her dorm; a yellow room with a huge futon that had not been made in what looked like months. There were pictures of random places all on the wall, and a plasma TV hooked up to an old school Nintendo set. There were attempts at cooking and dirty dishes in the sink. And the bathroom was the size of broom cupboard and cluttered in every girly kind of thing possible. The tiny closet overflowed with clothes and shoes. Okasan wuickly set about dusting the walls and cleaning the table. I sat in awe and thought This is brilliant. Hanging in Naokos dorm, well that's when I first felt it... Afterwards we found ourselves on the outskirts of Kobe at a Starbucks. Naoko and I shared a coffee and caught up. I told her all about Hokkaido, Tokyo, Matsuyama, and Okinawa. She told me about how she got a D. When we noticed Otosan listening in to our conversation, I said "I always get A's in America." Naoko gave me a nasty look. I snickered at her. Pretty soon we were on a train heading to Pearl Bridge. There we looked out at Kobe, what a great city. Naoko grabbed my arm and we walked throughout the small museum laughing and skipping and just catching up. At one part of the museum, there is this great glass floor. My host family was afraid to fall through. Nope, not me. I jumped on it and it didn't appear to shatter. So Naoko followed. Afterwards, she turned to me and said "I'm having a wonderful day!" On another train I gave her a present, a few packs of her favorite gum, Orbit Citrus, all the way from America. I got another hug! I love and miss hugs! We went out of Kobe Mt. where me and Naoko joked around, bickered, and acted like 2 sisters. She was older, wiser, advice giving older sibling, while I was the annoying, playful, in need of advice younger sibling. I got her in trouble for her D. She gave me much needed hugs, I gave her packs of gum. A pretty fair trade off if you ask me. And I learned something new, big sisters and little sisters are the same in Japan as they are in America. For those of you who know me, you know I have a 12 year old little sister, Shannon. We fight every chance we get, but when it comes down the important stuff, she and I have each others back. She, like all little sisters knows just how and when to push my buttons, get me in trouble, and just be a little sister. That alone is a self decription. For the past 11 and 1/2 years I've had to put up with the little squirt, and though I may live to regret writing this, I wouldn't change any of it. But I have never had an older sister before. I've never gotten to be the annoying, pesky, little brat copying her older sister, and getting her into trouble. That little kid who looks up and occasionally needs advice. I was always perfectly content to being the older sister to take the time to care about how the other side lives. At home, when I thought about my upcoming exchange, I generally only thought about Japan life. Wondering how I would make friends, what school life was like, how I was going to fit in with no language skills. School and culture is only just the tip of the iceberg. There is really so much more. I'm apart of another family. That's another set of parents and people who watch out for me. And best of all, I'm a little sister! I guess I consider it life experience to be able to get your older sibling in trouble, or save their skin when needed, to give a good laugh, and to need an occasional hug-and get it! I never thought how much fun it would be. Like I said earlier, I never ever figured I would experience something like this. Never ever imagined having an older sister, like Naoko, to make fun of me or give me advice. So far that I've been here I've taken on many roles, Exchange Student, Crazy Gaijin, and Japanese school girl to name a few. But my favorite so far has definitely been Little Sister. When we had to leave, it was my turn to get on the bus. I gave her another hug and nearly in tears, I said goodbye. When we were driving away, my phone started ringing with an email. "Imouto (little sister) don't be sad. I will see more soon and that I promise. I am coming on your birthday. It will be fun. Love, Naoko" (translated from Japanese.) I smiled reading it and then attempted to reply in Japanese. Later on in the bus somebody asked my host father if Naoko was his only daughter. He said "Naoko and Julie. "

A Thought In The Mind Of A Teacher

Everyone was once a student, and thus everyone knows what it's like to be taught. Or to have a teacher. But not everyone has had a teacher that truly touches their heart. Or makes a lasting impression that affects the rest of their life. In America I have had some truly wonderful teachers who have definitely helped me make some important decisions, including the one where I somehow ended up on the other side of the world for a year. I think about 90% of Japanese students has never had this experience, and I fully understand why. Class homerooms have about 45 kids, making nearly impossible for teachers to get to know the kids. By getting to know them, I mean learning their names would be a good start. For one, each student receives a number. On each assignment they are to write their number first and then their names. The teacher grades them and puts the score in a book next to their designated number. During class when a answer is asked, the teacher will call out a random number. Basically there is never time for getting to know the students weaknesses and strengths and thus class generally bites it here. One of my favorite things to do here is to teach. 4 times a week I head over from the Tosajoshi high school to the middle school to teach the Chugakkou Ichinensee (epitome of American school system 7th graders) English Conversation class. The main teacher of the class is Paula Fabian. She is a really kind lady born in America, grew up in South Africa, exchange student to France, and 20 year English teacher to Kochi, Japan. She only has 6 classes at Tosajoshi, and then she teaches math in English at the various Universities spread throughout Kochi City. I love spending time talking to her because she knows what I'm going through. I mean she was once and exchange student and she was once a first time gaijin with heavy culture shock over Japan. We usually talk about the immaturity of our students. Especially about how bad they are, which I'll elaborate on in just a moment. Today, though, she brought me a present; Julie's Best Biscuits, Chocolate Wafers! haha. Like I mentioned before, we teach 4 classes on Monday, Wednesday, thursday, and Saturday. Saturday's class is so-so. On my 2nd day of school, back in September, when I walked into their room, they burst into gasps of amazement. I thought it was very cute at first, but now after 2 months I want them to stop being afraid/amazed of me. The 40 or so kids have a very hard time speaking in front of me and Ms. Fabian, probably because they are embarrassed if their English is bad. I wouldn't mind correcting them, but they would prefer to remain quiet. From watching the girls, I have concluded that Japanese school girls have an immaturity beyond that of all our wildest imaginations. These girls are 12 and 13 years old and yet they gorge on Disney and Pokemon and "kawaii" characters. They scream and run around and act like preschoolers. It's hard to accurately describe it, but sometimes it shocks me. Monday's class is just one of those classes that every teacher would die to have. To start, when I walk into the classroom, they all bow their heads in silence, waiting for the lesson to begin. We have only had this class about half as many times as we have had the other classes, but they are right on schedule. Ms. Fabian stands in front of the board and teaches, then together we walk around and engage the students in English conversation. This class is not shy around me one bit. For our last class we had the kids do an assignment on asking their partners name and what they like. Many kids eagerly asked me "What's your name, Julie?" and then "What do you like?" To which I happily responded, "My name is Julie and I like Chocolate." Then when they were tested I couldn't help but chuckle at, "Hear nem izu Jurie end she rikes Chokoret." They really are a great group of girls, but as soon as class is over, they are back to being zoo animals. Wednesdays class is what Ms. Fabian describes as the "class from hell." They are loud, obnoxious, immature, and inattentive. When I go around and try to have conversations with them, they get very giggly and only answer me in Japanese. Then the giggles turn to screams and laughter. Soon while Ms. Fabian is on the blackboard teaching, it becomes nearly impossible to pay attention with all the noise. Once I was absent from the class due to a Rotary meeting, afterwards Ms. Fabian told me she finally lost her temper and tried to throw one of the girls out of class. Which is unheard of, here in Japan. My experience with them has left me frustrated and annoyed, but not giving up on them. Each week I try a new approach to get them to talk to me, and they usually do. But it lasts for about 5 or 6 girls, then they break into loudness. Ms. Fabian and I usually count down the seconds until the bell rings with this class. Thursday class is much like Saturday's class in that they won't talk to me. I try very hard to walk around the room and listen to each of the pairs of students speak, but it seems when I get to them, they quiet down and pretend to do something else. Sometimes they hide their papers, knowing I won't go searching for it. They do the same thing to Ms. Fabian, but she just yells at them in Japanese. I can't do that yet, so for a while I worried I wasn't serving any purpose with Saturday, Wednesday, and thursdays classes. Today, however, was very different. After I had lunch with my friends, I headed to the Tosajoshi Middle School, prepared for the Thursday class. Ms. Fabian greeted me with a box of Chocolate Wafers. I told her she had made my day. During class, while Ms. Fabian stood at the board teaching, I stood off to the side, amazed at how rude the students were being. They could certainly talk amongst themselves whenever they wanted to, but when it came time for talking to us, they seemed to get quiet. Ms. Fabian turned to me and told me she had wanted to give them a speaking quiz she that she didn't have the patience to do it. I volunteered almost instantly, seemingly forgetting that the students almost never talked to me. She was surprised and asked me if I was sure. Why not? So she handed me the class list and explained what to do. I would go around and ask the kids for their numbers then have them read off a section of their current assignment. I would then grade them between 1 and 4 of their English Conversation skills. Ms. Fabian told me if they refused to do it, which she fully expected the majority of the girls to do, to jot down a big zero next tot their name. It seemed simple enough, but I immediately took a disliking to asking for the numbers. Call me crazy, but I don't know anyone who would prefer to be referred to as a number rather than a name. So I started around the room. My first victim, I decided to look on the top of her paper and address her by her real name. "Okay Ms. Takamura, read for me section C." Yui Takamura looked up at me as if I was an axe murdered who had just killed her parents. I got down on my knees, down to her eye level, and said "Yui? Right here." I was pointing to the section in which I wanted her to read. She looked at the paper and then back at me. Then for the first time all year, she spoke and read section C. "My nem is Yui Takamura end I rike Sushi. Here...hur. Jurie, what is this?" She asked me a question, which totally caught me off guard. "Her," I answered. Yui continued, "Her name is Yumi Okamoto and she rikes Borreyball." Yui looked up and me and smiled. I smiled back and said, "Very Very Good Yui!" Then I flashed her a thumbs up, and she blushed. Then she turned around to her friends and began bragging about how she got a thumbs up and a very good compliment! I continued down the rows, listening to each and every student while on my knees at their eye level, surprising myself that each and everyone was responding to me. "Ayumi Yano, Masako Sawada, Chika Morimoto, Tomoyo Takamatsu, Emi Waka" Most of them asked me how to pronounce the word her, which I happily did for them. I also realized that for how hard we were working on teaching them Her, Him, She, His, that they just didn't get it. And nobody would have noticed it if I hadn't gone around and given the girls and opportunity to ask. So in the end, everyone did as they were asked and I finished with each girl having a score next to their name. Ms. Fabian was really impressed about what I did. She thanked me, but in the end it was I who was most thankful. She gave me the opportunity to try something I had never done before. Something that landed in immediate success. Something that made me realize something very important about these girls and about well, me. I didn't realize it at the time, but me calling these girls by their names was my way of saying to them, "To me you are much more than just a plain old number sitting in this classroom surrounded by your fellow numbers, your more than just another girl in a sailor uniform. You're an individual, and I see you. And I am here to help you if you need it." In return, these girls responded to me by doing as I asked of them. Each tried their hardest to read from the paper, occasionally getting stuck, in which I smiled and helped them to the best of my ability. I'll probably never be able to remember everyone's name, but the very least that I can do is help them when they ask for it, and most importantly pay attention to them. I believe that in life, we sometimes need someone else to validate our existence. You know give us a little nudge and reminder that hey, we are still here! We all know we exist, but how often do we wonder of someone else notices we exist? Sometimes, we need someone else to say, "I see you. I'll help you if you need it." Especially in a country where everything is on the "inside", somewhere that I will never be able to be apart of simply because I wasn't born Japanese. But even those who were born Japanese, need an occasional individuality check. As for me, I want to be a teacher one day. I want to be able to get down on my knee with a smile and really help someone learn something new. Socrates once said, "I can't teach them anything, I can only make them think." I think he was right about one think, you can't teach someone something, but if you make them think and try. Then maybe one has accomplished something bigger than life. I know Yui Takamura is probably not going to save the world with her new statement, "Her name is..." And I certainly don't think I made a lasting impression that will affect her decisions on the future. But maybe she'll remember that I helped her. And maybe, just maybe she'll return the favor to someone else.

A Funnel In The Sky And A Shaking Earth

I've run into some interesting things. There is no point in denying that. But then interesting to me, is completely and utterly normal to Japanese standards. But then it's the also the opposite Japanese news is a little bit pathetic compared to it's American counterpart. Often the main headlines are cats getting stuck in trees, people being hit by cars suffering barely a scratch, and other minor stuff that wouldn't merit to anything in America. Don't get me started on some of the stuff I have seen on Japanese News Programs. Yesterday at dinner, we sat down to watch the news. And like I expected, the first 10 minutes were devoted to the weather of Kochi for the next 2 weeks. I've been here long enough to despise these 10 minutes. They play the same music over and over and the song is a combination of Nick Jr. And the Brady Bunch meets those silly crane games that you find on the board walks. The news then goes onto 15 minutes of pure annoyance, in my opinion. Talking about how one of 5,000 Pachinko parlors in Kochi, open since *gasp* 1991 is closing down, local fisherman caught a slight surplus of fish, Tosayama High school is going to Okinawa on the School Excursion. Yes people, this is headline 6 o'clock news! In no way shape or form am I exaggerating this either. Afterwards they dedicated 10 minutes to talk about the recent Tornados in Hokkaido. I was a little surprised to hear about this. Japan is an island that is pretty much one mountain range, thus it is nearly impossible for Tornados to strike. So I listened carefully as the newscaster talked about the tragedy, the disaster of the tornado that ravaged Hokkaido. Using such strong words I figured this could only meet death and destruction. And not to sound like a horrible person but I've been her for nearly 3 months listening to stories about cats getting stuck in trees, old ladies losing there purses in the subway, and the Kochi city board fighting whether or not to put up another Karaoke bar by the famous sights of the city. I was damn interested to hear some news about an actual disaster. Excited even. Just as the suspense was filling up, a commercial break occurred. Some other time I'll go into just how bad Japanese commercials are, actually Japanese television is really just bad. But the break gave my host father an opportunity to ask me a few questions. "What's the name of those storms in Hokkaido?" "Oh Tornados, just like the baseball team." "Right! Are there a lot in America?" "Oh yeah in New Jersey but in Oklahoma, Texas, and the Mid-West there are many tornadoes. They cause a lot of damage and people sometime die." "Well in Japan we NEVER have tornadoes. This is probably the first tornado ever." "Oh Okay." "Have you ever seen Twister?" Before I could answer the news came back on. I expected to see the worst, houses blown to smithereens, people crying, talk of missing people, agony. What can I say I grew up with American pessimistic news? As the news suddenly took us to Northern Hokkaido, my expectations were thrown so far out the door they could expect to be allowed back in. There were a few houses with missing shingles, some shattered glass from missing windows, but the real clincher was the broken flower pot and the old woman crying over it. "I worked so hard..." No overturned tractor trailers, missing houses, telephone poles on the other side of town, and above all no flying cows! As I sat there annoyed and frustrated at the Japanese news program, my host father sat across me and moaned, "Awful, just terrible. Those poor people." Yes poor people! They lost there precious flower pots! They then flashed onto a different segment of the actual tornado. I snorted looking at this little black pipe cleaner the Japanese people considered to be dangerous. It made those big beastly tornados in Tornado Alley look like monstrosities, the Armageddon in a huge black windy tube. My host father was snorting and whispering, "It's enormous, lucky people didn't get hurt! Look at the size of that thing." I didn't have the heart to tell him Americas tornadoes were way better, it probably would have turned into an argument. And yet... A few months ago, probably about early September, I was tucked away nicely sleeping. It was about 5 in the morning and the sun was just about to make its rising. I think I was dreaming about fairy and chocolate cake, well you get the picture. And then suddenly my eyes flew open. My mind raced with an alarm bell screaming DANGER DANGER! Then as if on cue my whole body began to shake. I sat up and felt it wasn't just my body but my bed was shaking, too! Then I noticed the floor was shaking. But the clincher came when a book fell off the shelf behind me. I was awake and alert and now screaming for help! I got up and charged thru the hall way into the kitchen, not noticing that the shaking had abruptly stopped. When I got into the kitchen, I heard my host parents scramble into the kitchen. "So you felt it too?" I yelled in pure fear over what had just happened. "What? What happened are you okay? Why did you scream?" Okay so there not very good actors, as I had learned at an earlier time. And yet, this lack of understanding was very believable. "The shaking? My bed was shaking! I was shaking. What in God's name just happened?" My host father and mother looked at each other with a look of disbelief. "Bad dream?" My host father finally asked. Oh no! Don't make me feel crazy, I'm not crazy. My room was shaking and a book even fell. "We sleep on the floor, we would have felt the shaking," my host mother said in a comforting voice. "But- I swear a book even fell in my room. Something happened. What happened?" I stammered. My host father knew I wasn't going to give in so he said, "If it was an earthquake the news will mention it." Earthquake. I'm in freaking Japan, the island was made from millions of years of earthquakes and volcanoes and the thought had not even occurred to me. Scared to death, I plunked down into the chair and watched the news talk about how Misa Yokogawa won the Clothes cabinet at the local Grocery store lottery. After about a half an hour of nothing, even I began to think it was a bad dream. By then a talk show came on with special guest owner of the local Aeon superstore! "See, it was just a bad dream," my host father laughed. I was too proud to concede this and was lucky when the special guest said, "... Yeah I was up early this morning. That nothing little tremor woke up my barking dogs..." "SEE!?!?!? Earthquake!" I said. My host parents giggled and said, "No No No it wasn't an earthquake. It was a little tremor, nothing big." It occurred to me that I was in the strangest country in the world at that point. That was until the tornado incident. How many miles separate Japan and America? How is that Earthquakes barely phase them, and tornadoes barely phase us? I'm sure Californian would have taken a slightly less crazy reaction as I did, but they still wouldn't have denied they had just survived an earthquake. No matter how insignificant the "tremor" was. It's so interesting when you look at how different and alike 2 separate cultures are. Maybe it's a bit on the strange side to compare the reactions of the people to weird weather and unavoidable earth shakings. But it just goes to show how different we really are.

My Super Sweet Sixteen

Okay so I woke up and felt like a typical 15 year old girl on an exchange in Japan. Come to think of it, that's not really typical... at all. Anyway, today was never meant to be ordinary. It was my 16th birthday! And in America, that's a pretty a special day. Sweet Sixteen. SInce I'm a young for my grade in America, most of my friends had already celebrated their Sweet 16 with big parties. I had never planned on having a big part for my 16th, because I'd known for a while I would be abroad during the occasion. Things change pretty quickly, when you are living in a different country as a Rotary Youth Exchange student. On the morning of the 17th, I quickly got dressed and before I headed to school, I received HAPPY BIRTHDAYS from my host parents. I was suprised and delighted. Not that I expected them to forget, but I was really happy I wouldn't have a '16 Candles" scenario. After my daily morning walk through the Obiyamachi shopping arcade, I arrived at school. My friends and classmates all cheered for me and wished me a happy day. But that was it. Then they kind of went back to normal and forgot about my birthday. Not to sound disappointed, but they had all been talking about it for weeks. Some time during the day, Yurie came in my classroom, and screamed HAPPY SWEET SIXTEEN. After that occurence, I then spent most of the day explaining the significance of a Sweet 16 to my teachers. The day kind of drifted by slowly, at lunch I ate with Shiho and Kaori and we joked about how Shiho is so young. She won't turn 16 till February 20th. I'm pretty sure she is the last 15 year old in our year at school. So technically that still makes me one of the young ones. Finally last period of the day came and I anxiously waited until the end of class. Then halfway thru Yano-sensei suprised me, he stopped teaching and announced to everyone it was my birthday. It seemed like everyone knew, and I realized why they all virtually stopped talking about it earlier in the day. They had been planning this... Yano-sensei then called me up to stand in front of my 43 other class mates as they sang to me in English. It was the most off key terrible version of a wonderful song, and yet I stood up there looking at 43 girls laughing and cheering for me. After the song, Yano-sensei announced they had all pooled some money to buy me a gift. I thought that was the most suprising part of the day... I was dead wrong. The present was the nicest most beautiful gift I could have ever even imagined. I slowly opened the package, causing my classmates to stir and urge me to go faster... and... then... "Oh my god!" I said as I pulled out my present. My 43 classmates bought me a beautiful Japanese Yukata, or summer kimono, and 2 handmade hair clips. I mouthed a few thank yous but not much- I was too busy crying tears of joy. Looking back I feel a little bad that I couldn't thank them more. It meant that much to me. Life as an exchange student has taught me that when you get suprises, hold onto the moment, feel and remember it. Looking out at my friends, tears streaming down my face, that is something I know I'll remember. Then my teacher, Yano-sensei, whom I really enjoy having as a teacher, handed me another package. He had bought me a really cool lamp "for studying" and an pretty picture frame. I wanted to say to everyone "You don't know how much this means to me. You've just given me an amazing birthday and I can't thank you enough. I love you all so much and I'm so thankful I have been given an opportunity to be in the same class with you all." But my Japanese skills are a bit on the poor side so they all had to settle for "Thank you..." with a few tears and sniffles. I asked Yano-sensei if I could give them hugs and he replied no, Japanese people hate hugging. Standing in the front of the room and looking out at 43 of my classmates laughing and smiling at me, I felt like the happiest 16 year old alive. I may not look or act like the majority of these girls. But I fit in here. I have the best friends here, and I wouldn't want it any other way. After class ended, I fullfilled my school duty of cleaning and headed home. At home, the Masakis greeted me with more Happy Birthdays! There was also a package from home waiting for me. Inside were some little gifts from home, which included clothes, a bracelet, and Verona news, More things to add to my wonderful day. I decided to take a little rest. Later on for birthday dinner we made my favorite meal, Okonomiyaki with a side of Takoyaki! I don't think I have ever eaten so much food in my life. It was so much fun to make the dinner with my host father as he clowned around. Making Okonomiyaki is easy, but Takoyaki is a bit more difficult. You basically fill little ball platters with mix and octopus and let it cook. Then you have to flip it it so it turns into a good ball. Otosan is a Takoyaki fiend, as for me, for my first time, I didn't do to bad. After dinner we decided to wait until midnight for Naoko to return to eat my cake. Then I took a Japanese style bath tub... and I realized why everyone is calm... haha. Next we watched Moulin Rouge. What a great movie! At midnight I went with Otosan to pick up Naoko at Kochi station. I got a big hug and a Happy Birthday. We caught up on the ride back home, remembering when we last lived together at the apartment. And back at home my family sang happy birthday to me and gave me a nice chocolate cake. The cake was so cute, chocolate and covered in fruit bestowing Happy Birthday Jurie in Japanese. It was really wonderful! For presents I received some under armor for my uniform and a totoro towel and stuffed animal. My Obachan bought me a beautiful traditional fan. Tired, we all went to bed. I fell asleep feeling like the luckiest girl alive. The next day I celebrated my second birthday. In theory it was November 17th in America so it was justified. When I got to school I was hung out with all my friends for a few classes. It was great because everyone was really excited about my upcoming party. I kept thanking my classmates but they all just brushed it off as no big thing. But it was big thing to me. After school, my friends stayed behind to eat lunch and I hurried home to get ready for my party. Soon we left for the Shin Hankyu Hotel, also the nicest hotel in Kochi City. There I was dressed in a fancy Kimono as a present from my Rotary counselor. Obachan, Okasan, and Naoko were in the room with me getting ready. It takes a long time to put on a kimono, luckily the Kimono teacher had patience, which I suppose is the main requirement for Kimono teachers. Anyway, I picked out a beautiful blue Kimono with traditional flowers on it. The teacher then set about the task of squeezing me to death into the Kimono. For the hour and a half that I wore it, I'm not sure that I got much of chance to breath. Still in the dressing room, Okasan, Obachan, Naoko, and Me took a ton of pictures. They then put my hair half up and half down. And to be perfectly honest, I looked absolutely gorgeous. Then I had to wear those stupid traditional flip flops, and I'm suprised my ankle is not broken right now. In the elevator down to the party room, Yurie gave me an amazing tiara to wear as a present. A true Japanese princess... hahahaha. When I walked into the party room, all of my friends cheered for me KAWAII! and had me take millions of pictures. I was supposed to do a speech in Japanese, but I forgot to prepare one so I did a speech in English about the fact that Sweet 16 is a little bigger than normal birthdays because everyone seems so interested in that fact. And I thanked everyone for coming. Yurie translated everything and added that I attended her 17th Birthday Party in America and how special I was. Geez- Stop flattering me! Matsumoto also did a speech about my time thus far as an exchange student in Japan. I repear "Stop flattering me!" Afterwards the chef rolled out my ginormous cake. And by ginormous... I seriously mean that the thing was bigger than a typical wedding cake. I think it might have been a wedding cake also. But it was covered in fruit and white chocolate bestowing "Sweet Sixteen Julie!" All of my friends came to where I was standing and we took a bunch of pictures. Yurie told them all that I loved hugs. So a bunch of Japanese girls went outside there comfort zones to give me hugs. Aimi was the only one who wouldn't give me a hug, but I told her I would get her to crack and give me a hug by the end of the night. I told her by the end of the party I would get her to crack and give me a hug, she told me fat chance and we cracked up. They placed Sixteen Candles around my cake and lit them... a fire hazard if you ask me. Then everyone sang the wonderful song for me. I was so happy and excited I couldn't acurately describe it. I was surrounded by 20 of my best friends, all giving me hugs, my loving host family, my kind new family, and a few Rotary counselors. Then the chef gave me a sword... okay a giant knife... and had my cut my cake. I sliced in and everyone cheered.. it was truly wonderful. It was time to sit down and eat after that. I sat at the head of the party with Yurie and my left and Masako on my right. Masako brought her Ipod and played terrible Rap music... just like American sweet sixteen parties. Waitors came around and gave everyone huge plates covered in sweets. Then bowls of Ice Cream. Then pieces of cake. The meal was my wonderful Birthday Cake, Vanilla Ice Cream, various Fruit, Crepe, Choclate and Vanilla Cookies, Pudding Bread, mini Parfaits, whipped cream sugar fruit, and Almond Crackers. My plate alone could have fed an army. Everyone ate just a little bit of what was served. But me- heck- I ate everything! It's my birthday and I can do whatever I want! After the meal I went around and took pictures of the tables and joked with my friends. I wanted to be the best hostess I could be. First I visted my track friends. Early in the day, as a early birthday party present, they gave me a great Kimono material frame with a picture of the Ichinensee Track Team. It was really cute. And I thanked them immensely for it. We also repeated some inside Track jokes. I got numerous hugs from my track buddies, Yuki, Waka, Kagetsu, and Natsuke. Then I talked about the school trip with my Ninensee friends, Sara, Muita, and Tomoyo. I then made fun of the nicknames of Crazy Shoko, Misa Mosa, Whiteeyes, and Band Dork. Okay so I'm probably the only one in the whole world who understands what I just wrote, but oh well. I've never been so happy at a party before- and the best part was that it was my own party. My own Super Sweet Sixteen! After that I sat with Naoko and Obachan for a little while. Then I went to speak with my new family. They seem really great, and though I'm incredibly sad about leaving the Masaki's, I know I am going to do great with the Ono family. Because I want to make it work. And looking around, and seeing how many great friends have, the wonderful relationship with my first family, and the fact that Rotary is spending a huge amount of money on a fabulous party for me, all of these are products of me wanting to make it work. It being this year, my exchange. That's just how life in Japan is for me. Exchange is what you make it. I'm having the best year of my life. So I think I'm doing a pretty good job. After a little while I decided to change back into my school uniform and it was back to a thousand more pictures. Yurie had the idea to get everyone who got me a present come up and take a picture with me holding the present. I kind of burst into tears of joy again. I don't know why but I was feeling just so loved.. I guess. More hugs and tears and pictures covered the next 15 minutes. And then like the saying goes, "All good things must come to an end..." Matsumoto-san, my counselor, said it was time for the party to finish. As all of my friends were leaving, they all gave me more hugs. Even Aimi gave me a hug... I succeeded in cracking her hahs. I'm pretty sure everyone had as good of a time as I did. I overheard my friends saying that it turned into a good party. And I agree 100%. I just had the best Sweet 16 party. Otosan, Naoko, and Me waited in the lobby for Sakioka-sensei to give me his present. 3 Harry Potter books, which Otosan cracked up about and told Sakioka-san I had already read them. After 3 months, he knows what I've read.. pretty crazy right? Back at home, me and Naoko opened my presents. I don't want to sound spoiled rotten but the happiness from my party was turned into sadness. This is because everything I opened I quickly packed away. As for presents... well random is a bit of an understatement. But that's the Japanese for you. Not that I don't love everything I got with all my heart. My track friends bought me a great scarf, Shiho baked me a cake, Nanae bought me a plastic Christmas tree, Masako got me a Totoro stuffed animal and towel. I also got Cookies, chocolate, and Anpanman Doll, pajamas, a mirror, a mini Star Lab, a pencil case, Miss Bunny Frame, sunshine Mug, Christmas candles, and a handmade stuffed dog. I'm sure I forgot some other stuff... and I'm sorry for that. When everything was all packed away, the fun decided not to end. Otosan took up all to the movie theaters to see "The Devil Wears Prada" which is a great film... I went to bed that night thinking that these past two days may have just been the most fun days I ever had...

Movie Night

I love movies. That's the utter obvious truth. I can remember being just a little girl, telling people proudly that I thought Disney was for babies. Yet every time my sister would pop on her favorite Princess movie, it would be me to watch the whole thing. As she had the attention span of a Nat, and I was always interested in whatever was on the television. I love movies, but not nearly as much as my host father, Masaki Otosan. Though he is better known as Captain Jack Sparrow. In my first email from him, I asked him what I should call him. It is one of the Rotary Youth Exchange Cardinal rules to ask your host familes what to call them. Much of the time, they will just have you call them by their first names. But the Japanese culture is much more different. In the rule package I received a few days ago, one of the rules is that I am supposed to call them Otosan and Okasan, Dad and Mom respectively. Now I as much as I am uncomfortable with doing this, I suspected that the host families would be even more uncomfortable with me calling them this. Yet again, I was wrong in assuming something about the Japanese culture. I emailed my first host father, Kenichi Masaki, and asked him what he would prefer to be called. From my words, I think he interpreted that I would be uncomfortable calling him Otosan or Dad, though he told me to call him that. He then added that he loved American movies, and if I would prefer, I would be allowed to call him Captain Jack Sparrow. I was so relieved to have a host father who seemed to have a sense of humor, and it made my family very comfortable knowing that this man seemed like an easy going guy. Plus we had some idea of what to get him as a present. In the reply email, I told him that my favorite movie was Star Wars. In his next email, he addressed the letter as 'Dear Princess Leia..." Not nearly a week after I landed in Japan, I was sitting at the dinner table at the Masaki's quite bored. My computer decided that it would not play movies no matter what I did. But I did manage to bring about 15 of my favorite movies along to Japan. I discovered within hours that they would not work on these Japanese DVD players die to Area problems or something like that. Still I wanted to do something, and that's when I discovered the Masaki family movie library. I found myself watching my first American movie, spoken in all Japanese, with English subtitles. To no one's sup rise the move we first played was Pirates of the Caribbean 1. It was quite an experience for me, because I did not realize how strange it is to see non-Japanese people speaking fluent Japanese. In America, this sort of thing never crosses our mind. We all kind if assume that everyone can speak English, black, white, Chinese, Zimbabwean, Pakistani, or Russian. But being in Japan for only a week has given me this image that it's just plain weird to see someone none-Japanese speaking the language. And that's exactly what Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom were doing. Over the course of 3 months in which I lived with this family, we watched a lot of movies. It even became a bot of a tradition after while. It seemed like every Saturday night, after Track and dinner, I would park out in Captain Jack and Mrs. Masaki's room in front of the brand new big screen TV (only purchased because Captain Jack wanted to start a tradition of Movie Night.) They ended up getting Digital Cable, with many special movie channels. That's when the tradition came into practice. The family knew how much I loved Star Wars, and one Saturday evening I got a call to hurry up and meet the family in the TV room. The original Star Wars was on one of the Movie channels. We watched the entire thing thru, in English with Japanese subtitles. The family cracked up each time I quoted Luke and Obi-wan. Around the part when they first reach the Death Star, Mrs. Masaki went into the kicthen and brought out cups of Cookie's and Cream Haagen Daaz Ice Cream, and we cheered as the Death Star was blown to smithereens. It was the most fun I had all week. And it came as no surprise, when the 5th episode came on the following week, and we all watched it. After 6 weeks, and 6 episodes of Star Wars, I began to wonder if our tradition would continue. It was alot of fun, for all of us. And in the next week, I was disappointed when no one called for me to come see what was on. I walked by the room various times, listening to see what was on. I even heard a familiar line, "Don't you shoot that green sh*t at me!" I burst thru the door, yelling, "I love this movie! Independence Day!" Captain Jack nearly jumped 3 feet in the air, but when we met eyes, I knew why the door had been closed. He was laying in his underwear, looking like he had walked right off the pages of an Amercrombie and Fitch magazine for old Japanese woman. All he needed was a rose in his mouth, and we could have him into a Valentines Day. I would have apologized profusely, but I noticed he didn't seem to mind. "Oh you like this movie? I'm sorry we should have called you in." I took my seat on the couch, glued my eyes to the television, and pinched my thigh so hard as to not burst into a roaring laughter. When it was over, I excused myself and ran into my room, where I nearly wet my pants at what I had seen. The next week, Cookie's and Cream Haagan Daaz in hand, we watched Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. And the week after that, we went to the movies and saw the Lake House, which we all agreed was really quite awful. It's weird to think that American movies could have helped to bond me even closer to this wonderful family. But they did. And around this time, our time was beginning to come to a close. On the second to last Saturday Movie Night, Masaki Okasan had to attend a wake. Captain Jack and I were on our own. Now normally this would probably scare a Japanese man to be alone with a 15 year old American girl, but Captain Jack isn't exactly normal. He's a goody pirate. He called up his friend, Saiyuri, and together we all went for Okonomiacki at Hakobe. Saiyuri speaks fluent English, and she translated for Captain Jack, that he was going to miss me more than I can imagine when I move to the next family. I told her the feeling was mutual. When we were all finished, Saiyuri returned home, while Captain Jack and I headed into the TV room for Movie Night. He rented the DIsney Pixar flick, Cars. I wonder what 50 year old man of any nationality would admit to watching a Disney movie. We both laughed and cried and enjoyed it though. And when it was over, we agreed it was one of the best Disney films in a few years. The final movie night took place on a Friday night, November 17th, the night of my birthday. Captain Jack had really wanted me to watch his favorite musical, even though I had no interest in it. Finally, I gave in, and we popped in Moulin Rouge. I was not disappointed. The movie was wonderful. The story was sentimental and hilarious at the same time. And even though I enjoyed every moment of it, I couldn't help but feel sad that it was our last movie night. And when it ended, everyone was quiet. It truly was over, not just the movie, but the whole tradition. I left the Masaki's apartment on the 19th of November. They still have Movie night, every so often, because they have a great television and set-up for it. But I've been told it just isn't the same.

Last Days With The Masaki's

Okay so I know this is called Last Day but I think it best to start on the night before I left... After my incredibly amazing Sweet 16 party, I find myself on the verge of tears as I pack all of my new gifts in a Bag for the move. The move from the Masaki family to the Ono family. Naoko sat along side of me putting things into bags. She kept me from crying, I'll admit to that. Otosan came into the room and announces we would be heading to see Devil Wears Prada in a few hours. I want to be all packed by then, so I hurry to throw things into my bags. I've been her for 3 months and as I look around at my 6 full heavy bags, I can't help but wonder how much I'm going to have after 12 months. The thought makes me cringe. Looking around at everything makes me so sad. I've only been here for 3 months, but they have been full of happy and joyful memories. I start to cry. I can't help it. Right before we leave for the movie theater I give Naoko and Okasan their presents from my parents. Naoko opens hers and instantly loves it. It's a pink and white framed picture of she and I at the airport on my first day in Japan. It says "Big Sister, Little Sister." She makes an excellent point when she points out that although she may be the older sister, I am much bigger than she is. I can't help but laugh. Okasan opens her present, a framed picture of me and Naoko at the pool. It's really a gorgeous picture, of the 2 of us. Both wide-eyed girls with dreams and beautiful smiles. My parents also write a note, "Favorite picture of our two daughters..." It takes Okasan a while to translate it. But she absolutely loves it and she puts the frame into her room. Then I hand her a note. This note I have been working on all week at school. It's written in the neatest and best Japanese I could possibly do. My original note was very me... terrible Japanese, a million star drawings, and a few smilieys. I showed it to Shiho and Aimi at school and they conferred that it wasn't very good. So they proofread, fixed my kanji characters, and made me write a much neater note. I still used my same words, though. Apparently they were good enough. The note said something like, (translated from Japanese) "Dear Okasan and Otosan, Now I want to thank you. I have been here for 3 months. They have been exciting and great. We have many jokes. (Lists all of good jokes.) I am very happy but sad to leave. Please come visit me in America, you will enjoy! I will miss you very very much. I still here for 9 more months. I will visit. Again thank you! Your Gaijin, Jurie Gaana." By the time, Okasan was finished reading the note, she has burst into tears and is hugging me and telling me how much she will miss me. I am fighting tooth and nail to not cry, and am in luck when Otosan returns to urge us to get going. We go to the cinema one last time, to see the movie. Afterwards, we go to the Super Market and then return home. Back at home, I take one last shower at the Masakis. Then I decide to spend my last night with my host family. It's pretty late, but that's okay. I ask Otosan if he likes the frame and he admits he loves it. The picture is great, two girls with fat cheeks. That's exactly how he says it. haha. Two Anpanman. The picture is on their cabinet in their room. We talk about the past 3 months and all of our jokes... Outskare Katsukare, GIDGET, 525,600 minutes, Competitive, procrastinate, Osoi eater, Captain Jack Sparrow... things only we can understand. We as in the Masaki family and me, who shared 3 fun months, August to November. I got to have a great family, Otosan, Okasan, and an older sister, Naoko. They got to have a wonderful American daughter and a younger sister. The thing is, even though, I will no longer live with them, that doesn't have to change. I know that, they know that. But it's still sad that I'm leaving tommorrow. I then teach the Masaki's one of my favorite old games, Bubble Gum Bubble Gum In A Dish, How Many Pieces Do You Wish? They love it! It's pretty funny when Otosan loses and Naoko wins. We also do some crazy hand games, which only Otosan can master. Naoko goes into the tub, and I am left with Otosan and Okasan. We talk about the party. I ask them what they thought about my friends, and they agree my friends were great and very polite. Naoko had said earlier that she was so suprised to see I had so many friends and that I was obviously very close to all the girls at the party. Otosan also assured me that the Ono family was great and very excited to have me and so far I had done well. Done well? After last years exchange students, Rotarians were extremely hesitant to host. Otosan admitted that he wouldn't have hosted if Sakioka-san hadn't pressured him. But now, many people are volunteering to do it. I already have my third host family picked out. They live rather far from the school, I will be the oldest kid and get this... there are 4 children! The oldest girl will be an exchange student next year. As of now, they are building my room in the house. That's an example of how I have done well, Otosan says. I'm getting really tired as it is very late. But before I go to bed I make them promise they will come to visit me in America. I tell otosan I will take him to see Rent (one of our jokes.) They tell me Oyasumi Nasai for the last time. I head to bed and fall asleep... the last time in the Masaki house. When I awake the next morning, I just lay in bed for a while, drifting in and out of sleep. At 10; 30 I finally decide to leave the room. Otosan decdes we should all go out for brunch. At breakfast Okasan and Otosan order Coffee, Naoko orders tea, they ask if I want water. "Can I have Coffee?" Otosan thinks about this, "Okay your 16 now I guess you can." You'd think I was asking him for alcohol or something... The girls all order Cheese Toast and Otosan order something else. We kind of sit there and talk about Kochi and how it never snows. When we get served, Otosan and Okasan eat quickly, and me and Naoko eat slowly. When I am finally done, I can't help but tell Otosan "Osoi Eater." (Another of our jokes.) Back at the house, we take a whole family show. My camera timer comes in great use as we sit on the deck and smile. Then Ojisan takes a picture of just the Masaki's and me. Back inside, it's time to load everything into the car. It takes Ojisan and Otosan both to carry just one of enormous heavy bags... poor guys. It's raining really heavy by this time, but Okasan takes my Camera chip to get pictures from the party. When she returns, she also has a bag of chestnuts. The most difficult little beast in the world. It's time to go... Obachan stands on the sidewalk waving to me. I'm crying so hard now I can't even hide it. Okasan is fighting not to cry. Naoko is too, but she is losing. The ride is quiet, but when we get there, I've dried my eyes. I don't want my new family to think I don't want to go to them. That all I want to do is stay with the Masakis, because that is not the case. We unload the car and the Masakis are invited in for tea. Okasan speaks to my new Okasan about me. Naoko looks around at the house and consistantly whispers "sugoi" which means Great. To break a mere awkwardness, I decide to speak. My new host brother is wearing a Red Sox Jacket. I call him on it and everyone laughs. This is going to work out. Its time for the Masaki's to go. Naoko is really crying now as I stand on the sidewalk and wave. --

Just Taking A Simple Chance

I'm having the greatest year of my life, but that's not to say every day is perfect. Today was just one of those days. Those days that nothing seems to go right no matter what you do. First on my way to school it started pouring while I was on my bike and only halfway to school. In school it seemed as though all of my classmates deliberately spoke in the fastest and most difficult Japanese possible. They also seemed to spent today reminiscing over the past 3 years spent together, none of which included the cute gaijin. I guess I just forgot what it feels to occasionally be lonely at school. When the long day ended I hopped on my bike and rode home. Whenever I feel a little down, running always makes me feel better. I know it's weird but it's just a nice hobby I've picked up. The problem is that I haven't run in a long time. Track ended in the beginning of November, and with birthdays, moving into a new family, long bike rides to and from school, I haven't found much time to go running. But I needed to run and thus, I got on my shoes and left. My host mom wanted me to take my cell phone because she was sure I would get lost... I was sure I would get lost too. My new house isn't in the middle of the city, like my last one was. But I told her that I would be fine, mostly because I didn't want to lug around my cell phone. I ran out to the busy main avenue, where I had to stop at like 15 red lights. Cars honked and drove past me, and I couldn't really get into the running rhythm. But I followed the road until I reached the main highway. And there I had a moment. I was standing on a crumbing old corner with the option of turning back into Kochi City or taking the mysterious road on the right. I've seen the trail back into Kochi City, but I'd never seen the road. But what is the worst that could happen? Er.. well I could get incredibly lost and have my host family get really worried about me or I can find something that I would never usually stumble across. And thus, I took the chance, and I turned right on a dusty barren road, that looked as though it hadn't been driven on in many many years. It paralled alongside the main River, which at it's best was disgustingly brown and smelly. The bright sun had broken thru the rain clouds from the morning as I ran along the muddy puddle filled road. Not a car in sight. Not a house in the distance. Just me and my running. Looking out upon the river, which seemed to grow clearer and cleaner as I ran along, dozens of ducks and birds swam gracefully in the brown water. Occasionally a fish would spring into the air and disturb the calmness of the birds. As I followed the road to the riverback I noticed huge packs of little crabs that fled as I drew nearer. Turtles also rested calmly on the muddy banks. In the distance smoke from a burning rice paddy rose slowly on the mountains. In front of me in the distance I was being towered by lush green unspoiled mountains. To my right was the murky river, slowly inching it's way towards the ocean, and full of blissful life. To my left was what seemed like miles and miles of rice paddies, some burning while others just waiting to be picked. And behind me was home- Kochi City. For the first time in the past four months I could reach out my arms and not touch anything. I was alone on a silent muddy road in the middle of nowhere Japan, with a destination unknown. Never have I felt so free. I was close enough to civilization to run back to it, but far enough to be only surronded by sights and sounds of nature. Still I followed the road, feeling so peaceful and happy. The sun began to fall behind clouds, but I felt like I could reach out and touch it. Soon enough the moon appeared and I began to grow weary over whether I ought to turn back or keep going. I listened to my heart and kept going. Luckily the river grew browner, the animals less common, rice paddies smaller, and sure enough Kochi City loomed in the distance. Back into the city, I found my way back home. There I was met by my host father who smiled and waved and host mother who also greeted me back warmly. I couldn't believe the clock when it said that I had been running for nearly 2 hours! For someone who hasn't run in awhile, that's incredibly good. I don't think I've ever run that long. The point is that for how bad the day started of as, it turned out to be very peaceful in it's ending hours. I was introduced to a whole new area of Kochi City that I may have overlooked if I had not taken a simple chance.

Yakyu and JPOP with the Oono's

I woke up nice and early and went to my host brothers baseball game. What an interesting experience... Yohei, my 14 year old host brother, attends the best middle school in Kochi and plays baseball for the school team. He is a Chu Ninensee, or by American standards, an 8th grader. Usually he is the starting pitcher but today he played first base. Anyways it was freezing and rainey and it wasn't exactly a place I wanted to be. Me and my host mom sat down on the icy bench sometime during the second inning of a seven inning game. But after only a few minutes, I was very glad I came. An American joke is the crazy Soccer Mom, here it's the crazy Baseball mom. I was sitting there cold and nearly numb and then suddenly a crack of a bat and a herd of ravaging screaming mothers stands up screams "GANBARE!" (do you best!) But it wasn't just for hits, or catches, is was also for balls, strikes, steals, bauks, you name it and these woman cheered for it. And when the ref made a bad call... well I don't want to remember that incident. In Japanese baseball, the strategy is to get a man on base... then bunt. They bunt with no outs, one out, two outs, runners on first, second, third, the bases loaded, it doesn't matter. The pitcher bunts, the power hitter bunts, the leadoff hitter bunts, they might as well call it Buntball and just be done with it. The funny thing is, the Japanese almost sort of think that they invented baseball. Normally I'd say they didn't but Japanese baseball is so different than American baseball, that they sort of did invent a new game. The thing I like about Japanese baseball is that is has heart. When you look back onto American baseball in early years when it truly was the American pastime, when little boys only dreamed of playing the major leagues, most importantly the players played for the love of the game not just money like today. That's Japanese baseball for you... plus a few crazy mothers.

So on Friday night I went to my first Jpop concert with my host mom and host cousin! In case you don't Know what JPOP is, it is the Japanese Pop Music name. It's was here I realized how awesome my host family. The band, Orange Range, (pronounced; Arrangey Rangey) is from Okinawa and their music is like metal rock meets R and B meets islandish reggae. It was so funny! My host mom, who is a 38 year old, sweet woman, is wicked awesome. She not only bought these pretty expensive tickets for me and my host cousin but she also came with us, and probably had the most fun out of the 3 of us. From what I was told, like all Japanese concerts, when the artist comes on stage, everyone stands up and begins to party. The music was rockish so we did a lot of arm pumping, clapping, and jumping. I did alot of the dancing but it was nothing compared to my short host mom pumping her arms and screaming. The music was okay, but the band inself was hilarious. There were 3 main singers, 2 of whom dressed in baggy street clothes and acted all ghetto, the third singer, a favorite amongst the girls, had long greasy hair and strutted himself along stage acting as we Americans would call "gay". I mean he was wiggling his hips and jiving like Brittany Spears, not exactly a male thing. But then this is Japan and they never had the Christian roots telling them it was wrong to act that way. In fact most guys here tend to act well, feminine. Anyways I couldn't understand any of the music but I figure I may as well have an awesome time, because how many Jpop concerts am I ever going to get to see? For intermission, the band did a skit that was apparently very funny. I couldn't understand it so I just looked around at all the audience, full of teeneyboppers yelling their hearts out. The crazy thing is looking around and seeing a concert hall full of screaming Japanese girls and realizing "Holy cow! I'm the only one hear with big blue eyes and natural brown hair!" When the music resumed, so did out dancing and laughing. Orange Range may not be the best band in the world but they certainly know how to have a fun concert. When the concert ended, I went to dinner with my host mother and cousin at a curry restaurant and we talked about how much fun it was.. My host mom mentioned that she traveled all the way to Ehime last year to see Orange Range. Isn't that awesome?

Roller Coaster Called December Medley

This exchange is truly wonderful... not a day goes by where I actually regret coming here. I have never been homesick, and don;t plan on it. I love it here and I love my life here so much. But at the moment I'm having a major slump. Major. I'm never busy. Sure I have some clubs and I started running on my own again. But my friends are always freaking busy and never have any time to hang out. I'm not anywhere near homesick but I just want to go somewhere and hear "JULIE" with the emphasis on the L. And I want to go to the movies and eat popcorn and cookie dough with my friends, and then I want to fall asleep on my downstairs couch on the shoulder of my best friends who is already asleep from the moment the movie started. I want to get an all A report card again and brag to my little sister, who just won a Chinese speaking competition that I wasn't able to see. I want to hang out on a Friday night, not "Asobu" in the arcade after school. Though right now I'd be content to do that but it seems like everyone is too to do anything. I want to look around and not stand out for just 5 minutes. I want to blend in with the crowd and not feel like a circus freak at every moment. 5 minutes would be all I needed. I want to look around and see more blue eyes and brown, red, and gold hair and not all black hair and brown eyes. I want to stop being squeeled at with that wretched word "Kawaii." I want to be sarcastic and have someone understand. I want to make fun of people and have it make sense. I want to laugh and not be laughed at it. I want people to stop trying to pluck my arm hairs. And now I feel like a whiney brat for complaining about this. Like I said everyone likes me and has put so much faith into my exchange. But all I want to do is be alone, because no one can ever do anything! Never. I hate going to an over-achiever school. I hate living with a hist family, where my host father acts as though he hates everyone but himself. And then I get this email from Althea, my best friend here in Japan, who is the Australian exchange student in Imabari.... ""Anyway, its all water under the bridge now, and you're doing such great things in Kochi that everyone's image of exchange students has probably been fixed back to a better one by now, I reckon! But I don't think you realize how lucky you are, Jules. You've been blessed with this wonderfully adaptable, resiliant personality - you always look on the bright side, you're not scared to try new things (except maybe karaoke, and look where that got you! You should try veronica and Zahra's karaoke bar - ha ha. just kidding), any problems you have you deal with logically and effectively... and you were flexible and positive enough to be able to turn the disappointment of getting Japan over Austria into this huge adventure - the time of your life! Not everyone can do that, you know. It took me a long, long time. So just do your thing, have a great time, and try not to worry too much about what's happened before you. coz this is YOUR year!"" And now I feel even worse.

I loved the Masakis. They were a great and fun family. But it's true that I didn't love them at first. In fact I remember in those few days in the beginning, questioning how I was going to make it a year. I had a really horrible first few days in Japan. Every morning, I would wake covered in sweat and thinking about the home I had left behind. It wasn't homesickness, but more like the constant wondering if I made the right choice to get on that airplane. But things changed, I got a more grip of the language (actually I learned how to fool people into thinking I could understand, when I really had no idea whatsoever.) After school started I began to feel truly apart of the Masaki household. And by the time I left Otosan was telling people he had 2 daughters, Naoko and Julie. Moving was so hard, and I most certainly wouldn&t have done it if it wasn't in the rules of Rotary. So I was onto my 2nd and current family. Currently I'm living with the Oono's. I have Mari-chan, my host mom, who I absolutely adore. She is really a sweet woman and she has made me feel more welcome here than anyone in this entire country. Plus she has made me part of the family when she asks me to help her cook, which I always agree to. Her little English skills, and my little Japanese skills make for wonderful conversations. Then there is my host cousin, Eri, who lives with her aunt's family so she can attend a better school than the one in her town. Eri is probably the most bizarre kid I have ever had the opportunity to meet. She is just entirely too slow. Eating dinner takes her nearly 3 times as long as me, 10 times as long a Yohei. Also riding a bike in the morning with her and allowing her to ride ahead is always a risk when it comes to lateness. She's also incredibly shy, but once you get to know her, she's somewhat kind in her own sort of weird way. At school, she only has one friend, and it's hard for her to see me when I can carely speak the language and am surrounded by hundreds of friends. Nonetheless, I'm slowly taking a great liking to the bizarre little girl, even if she is beyond weird. Even Yohei and I are well, associating, which is all I'm going to get with a Japanese host brother. We have the "goodo nighto" joke which always causes a smile at night. But he is really busy so we will probably not get super close. But my host father... I just don't know. He's strange beyond Eri's wildest imagination. It's just he works a lot ... I think. But he as his wife don't have any relationship besides occasionally sitting at the same table and her cleaning up after him. I mean they don't sleep in the same room, or even on the same floor. They never really even talk...ever. Actually, that's not true. When he wants a beerm his dinner plate taken away, or something along those lines, he'll call for Mari-chan to do it. He calls her Oy, which is awful. Translated into English it means something like, "Hey you!" I don"t want to compare host fathers, because I know that everyone is dofferent and unique in their own way, but the way he treats his wife is repulsive. Masaki Otosan would never do anything like that. Oono Otosan is usually never at the table for dinner, but when he is, its awkward. I don't like when he eats with us. I know it seems like I'm contradicting myself, in complaing that he doesn"t spend time with his family. But what I mean is that when he does spend time with them, it seems forced and unwilling. Now don't get me wrong, he seems like such a nice man. In his own way, I guess. But well, it's weird. Mari-chan noticed my uncomfort around him. She told me that he was from a family of all boys and doesnt know how to talk to girls. I suppose that it was supposed to make sense, but it doesn"t at all. It's just a little bit weird in this house I hope I'm not sounding whiney.

What is the greatest feeling in the world? I don't exactly know, so I can't really answer that philosophical question. But if it were my opinion. It would be the feeling I have right now at this very moment. Today was not the greatest day of my life. Nor will I look back 30 years from now and remember the moment by moment, second by second scale of things. You may ask why won't I remember such a day if it has left me feeling so wonderful. The best answer I can give is that I should have been feeling this feeling for 7 years now. 7 long years in which I let this new feeling stay in the dark. 7 years in which I let the world get to me. I let gossip, pain, and other petty bull shit hurt me. And then when it was time to pick myself up, I let self-pity take control. But that's over with. Today I went to the mall with a very close friend. An enormous language barrier and cultural difference blocked our way. And yet it seemed like it didn't matter. She, like all of my friends here in Japan, likes me for me. A happy beautiful girl who truly does bring fun to her friends. But that's not nearly what gave me this feeling. Somewhere between the laughing, talking about boys, getting our pictures taken, I happened to look in the mirror. I saw the same chubby freckled face blue eyes brunnette that I had been staring at for 16 years. And yet for the first time ever I was willing to admit, I was gorgeous. That fact of the matter is that I'm never going to be a model, be skinney enough to wear the latest fads, beautiful enough to make boys swoon over me. And yet, it doesn't matter. Because I can accept who I am, something most people can't. And that, that is the greatest feeling in the world. When you can look at yourself with no regrets, no feelings of annoyance, and just smile.

Kurashiki With The Masaki's

My first (and amazingingly awesome) host family, the Masaki's took me to Kurashiki, Okayama. Ten bucks says that you have never heard of Kurashiki. I certainly hadn't until the 9th when I did a little research on the place. And wow- what an awesome place! At 10am, Otosan Masaki picked me up and we headed back to the Masaki apartment. We met up with Okasan and went for brunch at the same place we went on my last day with them. It's funny because every time I order a coffee around my Otosan he cracks up and says "16! An adult now!" I guess ordering a coffee makes me an adult. Anyways after breakfast we rushed to Kochi Eki (station). I've been to a few stations before, including Tokyo Station (one word: amazing) and Okayama. But Kochi Eki is a bit of a joke in that respect. It's about the size of a my American room... well not that small but when comparing with other stations. We boarded the train bound for Okayama Station, located in the Okayama-ken on Eastern Honshu. The train ride in a 2 and 1/2 ride thru 85 tunnels of Shikoku's unspoiled green mountains. it also makes for a very bumpy ride. The worst aspect though is the toilets. They are traditional Japanese squat toilets located on the train that is doing more bumps a speed ramp. Well I can't say that was enjoyable, I couldn't go even after an orange juice, a coffee, and a full water bottle. At Okayama we arrived and met with Naoko, who had taken the nice non bumpy Shinkhansen to Okayama. Lucky girl. We got a locker and put my books that I was supposed to use for studying inside. We then jumped on another train, only about 10 minutes bound for Southern Okayama and Kurashiki. On the train I caught up with Naoko and told the Masaki's all about my lovely new family. I feel so lucky to honestly say that I have had to best first 2 host families I could have ever dreamed for. Naoko told me that when she was a Ninensee in Middle School her Shugakkouryokoo had been to Kurishiki. When we arrived at the station we quickly got out and walked on the main road. We also did some Gaijin spotting. Otosan found this really fat gaijin that sounded British. Ew... I wasn't exactly sure where we were going, But then... oh my god! A Seven Eleven! Japan is truly destroying my American 'normality' mindset. First gaijin spotting, then I nearly have a conniption over a convience store. I can't imagine what it is going to be like back in the states seeing a Mexican or one of those enormous RV's everyone drives. I might not make it home alive. haha. Anyway as we walked along the street, we turned right into what appeared to be the movie set from Memoirs of a Gaijin. So it wasn't actually the movie set, but it was Bikan Historical Quarter, an area of traditional homes, storehouses and canals that date back to the Edo period. It truly was like walking back in time to oldstyle Japan when Samurai were still around, houses very traditionally built, and canals lined with willow trees. Plus a Japanese wedding was taking place in the back scene, so many people were dressed in Kimono. It was magical. The canal was filled with fish, some were pretty huge. (prompting Otosan to yell "JAWS" and me to hum the dreaded music.) Still we walked along the Quarter taking in all the sights and sounds, as well as posing for a bunch of pictures. We did some shopping, including visiting the Hello Kitty store. I'm turning into a Japanese girl because everything was "Kawaii" We also visited a Christmas store, where I got a pang of yearning for home. Christmas is so small and nearly insignificant. At least there's next year. After some more strolling around Bikan, Otosan brought us into a traditional Restaurants and bought us all Blueberry Tarte Cake. I actually had to eat fast... something I'm not used to doing since living with my current host cousin Eri for a nearly month. I also got another coffee and recieved another "16! An adult now!" haha. Leaving the restaurant, we headed back to the station and then thru to the Kurashiki Tivoli Park. Perhaps you have heard of Tivoli Park in Copenhagen, Denmark, the famously old amusement park that survived World War II and has a special place in a Danish person's heart. Well like most things, the Japanese wanted a little stake in it. Thus Kurashiki built Tivoli Gardens smack dab in the middle of the city in 1998. The park is very traditionally Danish though, which rides bestowing the Danish flags. The park is a small kiddy park, that is gorgeous is spring and summer because of the many flowers. In the winter time, night time makes the park glow with Christmas lights. We arrived at the park at around 4. First we rode the Ferris Wheel, which was very very slow. But it was nice to look out at Kurashiki surronding area in the day time. To scare Otosan and Naoko, I tried to swing the cart. It was pretty funny. We made our way down and next to the Jet Coaster. The Coaster was significantly small but nonetheless very fun. I sat with Naoko behind Otosan and Okasan. Naoko and Otosan are big chicken. So as the chain pulled us up, Naoko shuddered in fear. Then when we were realeased from the chain pull, I laughed my butt off as Naoko screamed her head off. The ride quickly ended and we then headed for the Log Flume. Okay yes it is December, nearly freezing weather, we are all bundled up in Sweatshirts and jackets and are still cold, but we still went on the Log Flume. Thank god for that. I sat in the front with Naoko behind me, followed by Okasan and Otosan. From the first drop Naoko was screaming "Tsumetai" (cold!) referring the brief sprays we were receiving. Then we were taken into a dark cave and we all screamed as the final major drop approached. As you can see from the Ride photo, I screamed my head off. Off the ride, Otosan nearly wet himself looking at the picture. Next we moved into the Teacups, where we got majorly dizzy. Then on to dinner. In a amusement park were all the restaurants serve Danish food, Otosan managed to find the one Japanese restaurant. I got Tempura. After we went Omiyagi shopping, the Masaki's bought my current host family a chocolate cake. Surely enough night had fallen and the Tivoli Gardens was glowing with Christmas lights. Blue trees lined one area, while red and green lights lite another. In the middle of the park a huge blue and red tree was the main center piece. It was beautiful and it reminded me a lot of what American families do at Christmas time. We took one last ride on the Ferris Wheel and then hurried back to the station. The train back to Okayama Main was a crazy. We would have only 2 minutes to switch trains. Otosan had to get in the front of the train and sprint to the lockers to get our stuff. We rushed to the next train and just as the conductor blew the whistle, Otosan reappeared running for his life. The JR Trains was bright pink and had Anpanman Characters all over it, but I couldn't admire it. We were in a great rush! I didn't even get to say a goodbye to Naoko, but I did text message it. "I Miss You!" which I got a reply "I Love Julie!" The train ride home was me attempting to study while sending about 40 text messages to Yurie, Kaho, and Naoko. Back in Kochi, the Masaki family dropped me off the Oono's. Then me, Mari-chan, Eri, and Yohei ate some of the Omiyagi chocolate cake. Like I said earlier, why did I get so lucky with 2 incredible host families? Something even I can't answer...