"Here there shall be updates!" she cried.
"What kind of updates?!" the crowd yelled back.
"THE KIND THAT COME FROM JAPAN! OMGWTF!" came her reply, "KITTY!"
Sunday, August 7th, 2005
Why did I wait a whole month before updating? Well, partially because I was lazy. Another reason would be my reluctance to accept that my little adventure is over.
Where have you been?: I went to Kobe with my host mother to see Takarazuka.. which is kinda famous. All female actors, many different productions, lots and lots of glitter. That was interesting. Shame I had a nasty heache through the whole thing. About a week before I left I got to go and stay in Kyoto for a while at Rui's (the exchange student who took my place in Hawaii) uncle's. I went to The golden temple, which I had wanted to see and I visited some other places I'd been to before (Like Sanjo Keihan, Kiyomizudera). Only with my parents, Rui, and my demon brother. We met Rui's father in Osaka and did some sight seeing around there for a day. Osaka castle was pretty cool, but it wasn't as authenic as Hikone Castle. We took a bullet train up to Tokyo for the weekend... first day we went to Harajuku. Tons of neat little shops, and even my grouchy stepmother who wasn't keen on going to the "teenager town" enjoyed herself. Some random guy came up and hit on me... and tried to kiss me. eek Weird because my father was standing right next to me and everything. sweatdrop After dinner we went to see Tokyo Tower. I was dissapointed when I wasn't sucked into the floor and thrown into some parallel universe. whee The second day we had a taxi take us to wherever we wanted. We went to a World War II memorial shrine thing. Libby freaked out because some random guy came up and was talking to us and video taping my little brother. When she told my stepmom, she just shrugged in reply because everyone seemed to like taping or photographing my little brother. I should have charged money. We also went and walked around the Palace Gardens, walked around Ginza and bought some really good bread for lunch. The last thing we did was go to Asakusa... touristy shopping crap. I did manage to get a couple nifty presents, though.
How's the family?: My host mother didn't want meeeeee! My first host family took care of me after I got back from staying with Rui and my family. Not that I minded, but my host mother didn;t even show up before I left to say goodbye so I really do wonder. The day I left it took everything I had to keep myself from crying when my host brother left for work. Same with when we dropped my oldest host sister off for work. Atsuko came and said goodbye before I got on the bus. I did cry, then. So did she. And while she was hugging me and crying she told me to eat my vegetables. My host mother and father came and saw me off at the airport. My host mother insisted on buying us all something before we left for our gate and was crying while telling us not to cry.
How's School?: The last day of school was hard for me. First thing I had to do when I got there was give my goodbye speech over the intercom. At least I didn't have to worry about people seeing my hands shake. Problem when you give speeches on stage. I managed to calm down a bit and keep myself from crying before going back to class. I had all of my classmates sign a little book and give me their addresses (I admit, I haven't written anyone because I don't know what to tell them. Almost nothing has happened since I got back to Hawaii). I helped in my last english classes, spent some time in the Library, and listened to the last English speeches in the Speech class.Then I had to give one of my speeches in Japanese to them because they begged. After that class my friend gave me something like a friendship bracelet that she made for me. I think this one is for studying or something. Have to leave it on until it falls off. I stayed in school until almost all of my classmates were gone. The girl who sat next to me in class (Natsuki is her name, but I always just called her goth girl... in my mind, anyway) handed me a bracelet she always wore and turned away when I left. The my little ponies all cried when I left and lined up for hugs... then got back in line again. I was on the verge of tears again when my friend said my tie was way too damned short (it is, I like it like that). Manami gave me a couple hugs and tried to get Kanae to give me a hug, but she was either way too shy or didn't want a hug from a tall, sweaty American. xd I went to Heiwado with Yuko (I actually didn't know her first name until that day) and another friend (who's name I can't think of at the moment) and took some purikura... and that was my last day at school.
How is the food?: I miss it.
How is your Japanese coming along?: I learned so much more while I was there than I would learn here. Sometimes I still think of the Japanese words for things rather than English. Some responses are just kinda natural now, though. It's a little odd. eek It's also funny when Japanese tourists come into the shop talking and I can understand them. sweatdrop
How's the weather?: It was extremely humid the last month I was there. We switched over to our summer uniforms, but they were still host as hell. I was so happy that my host families had air conditioning. My eyes really suffered, though.
Quote(s) of the Moment: "Your cat isn't missing! She's just been looking for you since you came to Japan! She probably has taken a while, swimming across the ocean and is probably in Osaka right now, having trouble with immigration!" -Astuko
Monday, September 6th, 2004
Friday, October 1st, 2004
Friday, November 5th, 2004
Saturday, December 18th, 2004
Saturday, January 15th, 2005
Friday, February 18th, 2005
Friday, March 4th, 2005
Thrusday, April 7th, 2005
Thursday, May 12th, 2005
Wednesday, June1st, 2005
Sunday, August 7th, 2004
Top 10 Things Japanese People Say/Ask Me
1. You have such a small face! Yes, I know. I see it every day in the mirror.
2. Is your hair natural? Yes. Does it look bleached and fried to you?
3. Do you have a boyfriend? Hey! I don't even know you! That's none of your damned buisness! LEAVE ME ALONE!
4. I thought Hawaiian people had dark skin... why are you white? I was born in Hawaii but I'm not Hawaiian. stare
5.Ganbatte ne? This is like saying "Do your best" and I'm so sick of hearing it.
6. SAY SOMETHING IN JAPANESE! I hate when people do this. What do they want me to say? Uhh... ありがと。
7. What kind of Japanese food do you like? The sweets are my favorite. Mmm... sanshokudangooooo~
8. You can use chopsticks really well! Yeah.. why can't you use yours correctly?
9. Why do you know about Sailor Moon? They also ask about other anime titles, but I have a Sailor Moon keychain, so yeah.
10. Do you like any Japanese artists? I can't say I'm particularly fond of many Japanese artists. I really hate Orange Range, though. 3nodding
