11/29
It has been a while since I posted anything, I guess... I've been busy though.
I went to an area by Mt. Fuji with the Japan Study program a few weeks ago. It was really pretty but freezing. The weather was also cloudy, so I only got to see the foot of Fuji. It did remind me of one of my goals while in Japan though: to do the sunrise hike on the mountain. You start at like 11 pm and climb to the top where you watch the sunrise. I think it would be amazing.
My host family is hosting a Chinese student for only one day, and we hung out and went sight seeing today. It was interesting, but the one thing I found out and really appreciate is the fact that I kept subconsciously switching to Japanese when talking to her, even though she only speaks Chinese and English. That means I'm beginning to think in Japanese! Yaaaaay!


12/15
Omg I fail at posting... I promise I'll try harder though!
I haven't been going to kendo recently, as I've been sick, however the all night nomikai two weeks ago was pretty insane, I'm not gonna lie. On Christmas eve there is a kendo party for "single lonely people." I am definitely in that category and fully intend on going. Dating in Japan is hard- the boys here are crazy shy.
I went to Fujikyu Highland with my host brother, his friend, and Lana. Fujikyu is this awesome amusement park by Mt. Fuji. The whether was amazing, it wasn't crowded at all, and Lana and I got to ride in the front of every roller coaster, which was awesome. I got to check off "riding on Dodanpa (an awesome launch rollercoaster)" from my list of things to do while I'm here. The haunted house we went in was definitely the scariest one I've ever been in- it was themed like a hospital and zombie people chased us etc. Us girls were scared, however my host brother just laughed at us.
I'm frantically trying to plan what I'll do over winter break, but right now it looks like I might be staying in Tokyo. Oh well, I will figure out plenty of things to do, I hope...
Yay commercialistic Christmas! In Japan it's a new celebration, mostly done between couples. It's entirely commercial, almost obnoxiously so. I think I will definitely miss Christmas with the Fam. Oh well, new years should be pretty interesting.

That's all for now- later!

All I have to say is Obama. I was really sad about how many amazing celebration parties I missed as America finally elected a president we could be proud of. I'm no longer ashamed to be an American. The Japanese perspective was pretty interesting though. I find it very interesting that while Japanese politics are at a high point and with the probable dissemble of Parliament, I really have not seen that much on tv about it that I have really noticed. Also, if you ask the average Japanese college student about Japanese politics, they won't be able to answer. However, if you ask Japanese students about American politics, they usually know something about it. Also on tv during and after the election Obama was on the news all the time. I even see Bush occassionally on tv, even though I feel like he's kind of forgotten in America. What was really amusing was that there's a city called Obama in Japan, and a lot of news coverage was about them whole-heartedly supporting Obama for president. It was quite funny watching them post red and blue flowers on a US map and watching them wave Obama signs and US flags. I really feel like they wouldn't get that excited over a Japanese election. I am so happy I am actually going to return to a country that I like now...
I had my maid cafe interview, however it was quite the adventure. Me and two of my friends arrive in Akihabara with a really bad drawing of a map that I made. I immediately forgot the name of the place I was trying to find, and so we spent like 2 hours trying to find the place. We finally find the actual cafe, but then we find out we are supposed to go to the office. We eventually get there right at the time my interview is supposed to start, and then my friends leave me to wait, which I do, for 1 hour. Then my interview finally takes place, thank God the managers spoke English, and then me and my friends hung around Akihabara. We ate in this delicious restraunt that looked sketchy from the outside, as it was in a basement, but was actually quite pleasant. I ate an entire sea food pizza, which included clams and squid and tuna and shrimp, and it was sooo incredibly delicious. The we headed to Ikebukuro, but apparently the world shuts down there at like 9 at night, except for the DELICIOUS crepe stand on a street, which we took advantage of. Then I came home.
I'm bonding more with my family, I think. The other day we all went to this clothing store sale- it was really nice. My oldest host sister I think has accepted me as the new younger sister, and as such teases/makes fun of me a lot. Good thing I'm used to that already. The other day my host mom and sisters and I went out to Tai food and sat there and ate for like 2 hours. It was really fun and was delicious. I really enjoy that kind of thing.
Not really much else to report... pics are up on facebook if you want to take a look

ooooh wow, Japan.
Japanese class is kicking my butt. It is really hard to learn like 50 vocab words and 30ish kanji every week. I will survive though. I feel like in the real world, it's becoming easier to express myself though. When I first arrived, my host dad told me it would take 3 months to completely see a change for the better, and it's been 2, so I'm almost to that mark...
Kendo is probably one of the coolest sports ever. It is also one of the most intimidating sports ever, because the sport itself is scary and because there is so much tradition surrounding it that you have to learn about. When you do kendo, you wear a whole bunch of armor and this mask with metal bars on it. Frankly you look a little like a jason-esque axe-murderer. Also you have to scream whenever you try to hit somebody, so whenever practice is going on, it sounds like a full on war is taking place, with the screaming and smacking of shinai (the bamboo sticks) against armor. The club is really nice though and has been helping me a whole bunch. Saturday I got over my fear of yelling and I feel like that really helps. I also got my first kendo blister! yessss... I'm turning into a real kendo person! (I have a loooooong way to go though...)
I have an interview on Saturday for a Maid Cafe. It's a themed cafe where the waitresses dress up and act like anime characters, usually maids. I didn't realize how much I love dressing up until this summer, when I wore costumes once a week- dressing up and pretending to be somebody else for work sounds like fun to me (the extra money wouldn't hurt either...). We'll see how it goes- I hope I get the job.
Oh and for anybody who cares is curious, or wants to send me a little somethin' somethin' my address in Japan is:

Tokyo to suginamiku
honamanuma 2-39-8
ichijyo kata

I am so sad Japan doesn't celebrate Halloween... Oh well, I had fun anyway and went out with some friends while we reminisced about American Halloweens
That's all for now....