07.06-08.11 Gallivanting

Long time no blog, eh? Yeah, I know, this one covers the last three days. I'm sure you've all been dying to know what I've been up to, right? (Please note the sarcasm. I'm really not that conceited.)

Wednesday seems so long ago. Probably because it was dark and gloomy in comparison to the blinding sunshine streaming in through my window. That's right folks-- it rained on Wednesday, which was actually a nice reprieve from the insanely hot weather we've been having. Because I didn't have class in the morning, Bea and I went looking for yukata, which is the summer version of the Japanese kimono. The two of us wanted to buy and wear yukata for some of the upcoming festivals. Also, it's always been a dream of mine to wear traditional Japanese clothing, and where else can I do that without people looking at me strangely except for in Japan? The two of us finally found what we were looking for at Vivre. There was a yukata store inside the building that sold complete sets for around 10,000 yen. That meant it included the yukata, obi, geta (sandals), bag, and accessories. If bought separately, everything would have been double the price! Both Bea and I found ones that we liked so now I am super excited to wear mine to a fesitval soon. Don't worry-- I will take a ton of pictures!

After we finished shopping, we met Yoonkyung and went to Konami, and shortly after that I went to soccer practice. It had been a week since I last went to practice, so of course it had to rain. Only six people showed up so it was difficult to do anything productive, but we managed to have a lot of fun in spite of the poor conditions.

Immediately after soccer I showered and trekked through the rain to go to church. I came in late and soaking wet, but heard most of the message. Between soccer practice and the rain I was extremely tired though so I wasn't able to focus like I should have. Once church was over, Tokunaga san and his Korean wife took Yoonkyung, Hana chan, Seong Hi, and I out for sushi. The restaurant we went to had a conveyer belt so you could see all of the menu options as they passed by. If you saw something you liked, all you had to do was tell the chef and they would have it brought out to the table. I found it interesting that the color of the plates reflected how much the sushi would cost. Together, the six of us ate quite a bit. Even though I don't like sushi all that much, everything we ate was absolutely delicious. Of course, when you have sushi in Japan you should expect the best! Everyone left with full stomachs and grateful hearts. I think Tokunaga san loves to spoil us!

The sushi were huge!

All of our plates

Conveyer belt

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Thursday was another rainy day, but I was happy because this meant it wasn't dreadfull hot. I ended up going to class without Bea because she took the day off. Luckily, class was easy because we talked about katakana, which is one of the Japanese alphabets that is generally used to write loan words (English words used by Japanese) or sound effects (onomatopoeia). After class I ate in my room and then met Yoonkyung so we could go to Tully's for coffee. Yoonkyung treated me-- she even bought me dessert! It was the perfect way to celebrate the rainy day. As usual though, our time was cut short because I had to go to my volleyball class. I had fun though because my team dominated the entire time (hehehe).

In the evening, I met up with Yoonkyung, Bea, and Rina because Rina had invited us all to a Tanabata ceremony at the Bhuddist temple where she volunteers. It took some time to get there by train, but I enjoyed it in spite of the rain and the fact that I had to leave early for an ESS party. Because Yoonkyung and Bea stayed with Rina for the entire ceremony, I rode the train back to Nara by myself. It was the first time I rode the train by myself so I was nervous, but I had no problem finding my way back. I arrived late to the ESS party, but still got to eat my share of food and socialize with my musical buddies. Everyone received hand written letters and a photograph from Kana, the leader of our group. She and Yuji (our other leader) were really surprised when we gave them letters everyone had written for them. : ) It was nice to see them so happy.

Writing our wishes and tying them to the tree branches

ESS party

Once my party ended, I decided to meet up with Yoonkyung and Hana chan so we could talk for a little while. "A little while" ended up being a lot though, because it quickly became 2 AM. By that time I was too tired to walk back to my dorm, so Yoonkyung generously offered me her bed. I took her up on her offer, but ended up waking up late with a killer headache. I felt like I was hung over (but minus the alcohol). As a result, I didn't make it back to my room until 11 AM. After I showered and ate, I felt a lot better. By then, it was time to go to class. Surprisingly, class was really interesting today. We watched a video about a baseball team from Sendai and their response to the earthquake and tsunami disaster. It nearly brought me to tears.

From class I returned to my dorm and decided to use the brownie mix I received from Michelle for my birthday to make some brownies. They really were the most sinfully delicious things I had ever made so I had to share them. I invited Hana chan and Yoonkyung over so they could be the first to taste them. It made me happy when they said they were delicious : ) The three of us hung out in my room until around 7 PM, which is when I met Maki so we could go to dinner.

My brownies <3

The two of us went to a Viatnamese restaurant where Chan works part time. She was working when we got there so we got to see her wearing traditional Viatnamese clothing! Also, the food that I ordered was absolutely amazing. It was a salad, but it had an egg and spicy ground chicken in it. I think it might have been the best salad I have ever had.

Chan serving a customer

Maki and her meal

My salad!

Even though dinner was great, Maki and I decided to get coffee afterwards. She took me to a cafe that was literally hidden in a hole in the wall. The interior was really classy, and so were the drinks. My cafe mocha was a work of art, and so was my cheesecake (which Maki graciously paid for). I really had a great time with Maki, even more so because we were able to communicate without any problems. It was one of the few moments this week that I was really proud of myself. It seems that my speaking skills have improved after all!

Maki's cafe latte

Cheesecake and cafe mocha

Next week Maki and I are planning to do karaoke and take purikura together. : ) Because my time here is short, I want to plan even more fun outings with all of my friends! These past few days have been great and I want to make a new memory each day that I will never forget. <3

07.04-05.11 Jinx

I definitely jinxed myself when I said I hadn't missed home or felt bad in a long time because these last two days have been less than perfect.

On Monday I was determined to be chipper because it was Independence Day in the US and I was eager to celebrate. Of course, I did what I usually do on Mondays: went to Japanese class, ate lunch with Bea, Hana, and Yoonkyung, attended Budou, and yes, even went to my gym class. In gym class we were still playing volleyball, but surprisingly everyone improved over the last couple of weeks so our team actually did really well. We are having a mini tournament and so far we are in the lead (sweet, huh?). My knee was feeling much better (with the exception of bending it to extreme degrees) so I went to Konami with Bea immediately after class. I did some light running on the treadmill (nothing like I usually do) and some cycling.

Then, I came back to the dorm to quickly prepare for what I expected to be a fun night. I had planned to go to Sakura Burger with Rina, Bea, and Yoonkyung to celebrate the 4th of July. My mom even sent me an Independence Day card in the mail complete with fun American inspired coloring pages so I brought them with me so we could color them while we waited for our food.

Things started out a bit rocky though. Yoonkyung was late so I called her to find out where she was only to discover she had just woken up. It was hard for me to understand her over the phone, and I felt bad that she had to yell to get her point across. I eventually got  that she wanted us to go ahead of her to the restaurant and she would meet us there. However, after waiting at the restaurant for a few minutes, I received another call from Yoonkyung. Once again, I couldn't understand much of what she said over the phone so I sat there dumbly while she repeated herself over in over. Frustrated, I eventually passed the phone to Bea so she could talk to her. In the end, she arrived and we ordered, but I continued to feel embarrassed about our conversation and ended up crying at the dinner table. Great way to celebrate, right? No one seemed to understand why I was so upset, and even I couldn't fully explain it so I tried my best to cheer up and drop the issue. Honestly, I think it was the fact that I felt stupid for not being able to communicate over the phone that I was most upset.

We ate dinner and it was delicious. Of course, I had to eat a burger-- and even though I couldn't watch fireworks, Yoonkyung suggested that we go to karaoke and that more than made up for it. Rina, Yoonkyung, Bea, and I sang for two hours, which passed by quickly. Then we saw Rina off and went home our own way. Towards the end of karaoke I had developed a pounding headache though, so I ended up going to bed as soon as I got back.

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The morning wasn't much better. I still had a headache, and that put me in an awful mood. I could have slept for days. My body felt so heavy that just getting up to get dressed felt like a chore. Even so, I forced myself to get up and go to Indo Dance (even though I was a little late). The entire time I was in class though I felt like crap. Moving was tough, and my head felt like a rock. Even the sensei noticed that I was looking a bit pale and she encouraged me to take a break. Afterwards, Rina and Yoonkyung went with me to get some medicine from the clinic on campus before we ate lunch together. Once again, I wasn't able to eat everything on my plate. It's somewhat scary that I haven't been able to eat as much lately. I've never had such a poor appetite before...

Anyway, I returned to my room after lunch to shower and make some preparations for my Beginner's Japanese class. Only three people showed up today. I find it funny that whenever one of the Chinese girls don't come to class, they all decide not to go-- but hey, who am I to judge? Class went well though so I was glad I went. From there I decided to go to Yoonkyung's office to study for a little bit, but I couldn't focus for very long so I ended up leaving early to go meet Aaron, a Chinese girl who is paying me to edit her master thesis (ka-ching!). I charged her 1,000 yen for an hour, but it only took me about 45 minutes to edit ten pages. At least she gave me the number of another girl who is interested in having me check her paper so maybe I can make some more money. Hooray for having cash!

With nothing else to do after meeting Aaron I returned to the dorm to talk to Bea. I found out from her that Yoonkyung was worried about me. It probably didn't help that I left her office without saying goodbye to her. I didn't want to bother her since she was working at the time, but in retrospect I should have said something. Boo misunderstandings, boo! Anyway, I plan on talking her soon to clear things up, but until then I am a bundle of nerves.

This just hasn't been my day. It probably has something to do with the fact that I was too lazy to make apple muffins. Oh well. There's always next week, right?

07.02-03.11 Seize the Day

The weekend is already over?! Ugh. It never ceases to surprise me. I thought I would be used to it by now...

So, I rested again on Saturday even though my team had a soccer game. My knee wasn't hurting too bad, but it still felt somewhat unstable so I took a day off just to be safe. Around noon I met up with Yoonkyung so we could go shopping for the ingredients I would need to make takoyaki and while we were out I dragged her to take purikura with me. After we got everything we needed, we went back to my kitchen and broke in my new takoyaki maker. I am extremely proud to say that the takoyaki we made was absolutely delicious-- just as good as the kind you can buy from the takoyaki stands!

We ate to our hearts' content and then Yoonkyung left for work, so I went back to my room to relax until I met with Bea to go to ESS. It had been a few weeks since I had gone to a Saturday meeting, but I was glad I went because I got to see the members in yukata (like a kimono, but for summer), which they wore in honor of the Tanabata festival that will be held this month. Everyone looked great!

Not everyone wore a yukata (obviously), but most of the girls did. I really want to wear one! My friend Rina offered to take me shopping to find one so I am now making it my mission to buy a yukata so I can wear it to a festival this month. There are also plans in the work to go to karaoke this week (of course). After the ESS meeting was officially over, Bea and I went with Rina to McDonalds to eat. Everyone else went to Kofukuji temple to take pictures though, so we ended up leaving just as everyone else arrived.

Initially, Bea and I left because we were tired, but we ended up talking in my room for a few hours once we got back. However, I slept from 12:30 until around 9:00 in the morning so I considered that an accomplishment. Sad, I know.

At 10:10 this morning I went to church with Yoonkyung and Hana as usual. It was wonderful (of course) and Yoonkyung commented on the fact that I understand a lot more now than I did when I first came to church (that seems like forever ago!). I'm also a lot more comfortable with the worship team, which is a major blessing. We got out of church late and went to Nara Family, a large department store near Todaiji train station (Tokunaga san drove us again). Hana, Yoonkyung, and I met Bea there for an early dinner. Bea wanted to shop and Yoonkyung was doing her part time job nearby soon afterwards so it worked out. Tokunaga san paid for us to eat KFC (本当に懐かしかった）AND Baskin Robbins. Basically, he's awesome. On one hand it was great because I was completely stuffed, but on the other hand, it was a lot of junk food for one day so I felt kind of bad afterwards.

Luckily, Yoonkyung, Bea, and I went shopping at Uni Glo afterwards so we got to walk off some of our meal. Hana went back with Tonkunaga san since she had a paper to write, and Yoonkyung eventually left us so she could go to her part time job. Bea and I returned to Nara shortly after we finished shopping and ended up in my room to chat again. We sat and talked about this, that, and everything inbetween for five hours. Wow! The time passed so quickly that I was really surprised when I looked at the clock and saw it was past midnight. It was nice to talk to her though-- I still miss being able to talk so freely, even though I am doing a lot better at communicating now.

Tomorrow is the start of another week (やだ!）and I only have FOUR weeks of classes left. I know I shouldn't panic, but... AAAH! While it means that I need to work hard, I'm determined to party harder and enjoy ever last moment I have in Japan.

So here's to seizing the day-- 乾杯！

07.01.11 七月 Shichigatsu

Wow, is it really July? This is my last full month in Japan. I can hardly believe it. Classes end by the beginning of August, and then I will be traveling, packing, and heading back to America. It's exciting, nerve wracking, and terribly sad all at the same time. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Today I did what Yoonkyung and Bea told me to and rested all day. I literally did not leave the dorm. My attempt to sleep in failed though because I woke up at 8 am, but at least I got to chat with my friends on skype. As it got closer to lunch time, Bea contacted me so I could give her my grocery list. She was kind enough to go grocery shopping for me since my knee was still feeling strange. It doesn't hurt nearly as bad as it did yesterday (I can walk at least), but something is still not right. I just hope it isn't anything serious.

While I was waiting for Bea to get back with my food I did laundry and watched some TV online. Later, Bea made me some AMAZING au gratin potatoes. Probably the best I have ever had. It was definitely much needed and much appreciated (thanks again!). Afterwards, I crawled back into bed and took a nap. Then I woke up to watch some more TV. Yoonkyung visited me for a little while to see how I was doing. She even brought me some snacks and I got to introduce her to some people via skype. Ah, the wonders of technology.

That was the extent of my day! So, yeah. Kind of scary that I only have one full month and a couple odd weeks left of my exchange, but every day has been fun and I haven't gotten homesick in a long time (knock on wood) so I am staying optimistic.

Thanks again to all my friends here who are keeping me sane. I don't know what I would do without you guys. <3

06.29-30.11 R&R

I'm not particularly in the mood to write, but I have the time so I probably should.

Wednesday was a fairly good day. I got up early to go to the gym with Bea and Yoonkyung, and afterwards we ate at the restaurant near JR Nara station that Bea seems to love. Because I haven't been eating well lately, my stomach has shrunken and my appetite has decreased so I wasn't able to finish everything on my plate, but maybe that's for the best. Bea suggested that we go to karaoke (how could I say no to that?), so she and I went and sang for an hour while Yoonkyung went off to get some things done.

I didn't do anything special after we got back. I mostly sat in my room and surfed the internet until it was time to meet Yoonkyung and Bea again. The two of us decided to accompany Yoonkyung to her appointment at the hair salon. It was surprising for me to see more men than women working in the hair salon, but hey, whatever floats your boat, right? I see a lot of men in Japan doing what would be considered a "woman's" job in America, and I'm glad. Do what you love, I say! And to hell with what people think. I'm glad that Japan doesn't have so much of a guy/girl stereotype.

Bea had to leave before she could see Yoonkyung's new haircut because she was going to have dinner with her teacher, so I was the first to see it. I think it suits her-- and it's super cute!

After finishing at the hair salon, Yoonkyung and I went to eat dinner at a 500 yen restaurant (everything on the menu was only 500 yen!). It was absolutely delicious and really cheap considering how much food we got. Yoonkyung critized me for not eating my onsen tomago (my egg), but I really don't like the taste of eggs when they're cold.

Once we had eaten dinner, the two of us went to church. Yoonkyung was leading worship so I had decided to come and help her sing. I think it went pretty well, and I always enjoy going to church because it relaxes me. Afterwards, Yoonkyung and I walked back to campus and said our good byes.

>>

Thursday was not so nice. Well, okay, that's a lie. It started out pretty nice, but ended on a sour note. In the morning I went to Japanese class (of course). Then I ate lunch in the cafeteria with Bea before going to Yoonkyung's office to study. After I studied kanji for an hour and a half, I went to my volleyball class, which was a lot better than last week because our teacher actually gave us water breaks. Later on after class had finished, I met with Yoonkyung so we could go to play volleyball with some people she knew. Yes, more volleyball. The gym we went to was a little out of the way (it was about fifteen minutes by bike), but we had a lot of fun. A lot of guys came to play so it was difficult to compete, but everyone laughed the whole time and I actually didn't do too bad so I was proud of myself. I've improved a lot since the time that I played in high school!

The night turned sour towards the end though. I went to dive for the ball and ended up banging my left knee pretty hard on the floor. Of course it hurt in that moment, but I figured I would just shake it off and I would be fine.

We biked to Konami to take a shower after three hours of playing volleyball. (Taking a shower at Konami meant we wouldn't have to pay for it on our dorm's water bill. Smart thinking, Yoonkyung.) By the time I got out of the shower though, my knee was hurting a lot worse-- to the point where I couldn't completely straighten it or put pressure on it without experiencing pain. No big deal, I thought. I probably just bruised something.

Once Yoonkyung and I showered, we walked to a cheap izakaya to eat dinner. Everything on the menu was 270 yen, so we ordered a lot of different things until we were satisfied. Hana chan even came to join us because she had just gotten off work. We were there for about an hour before we decided to get up and leave.

That's what caused me the most trouble. Standing up was almost impossible because straightening my leg hurt like hell. That's when I started to worry. Walking back to campus was painful. I had to lean heavily on my bike and use it like a crutch. I could tell that Yoonkyung and Hana chan were worried too so we stopped at a convenience store to buy me some ice. They walked me all the way back to my room to make sure I was okay and Bea joined us in my room shortly after. Originally, Bea and I were going to go to Kyoto the next morning, but once she saw how much pain I was in we nixed the plan completely. Going to Kyoto would have meant walking all day long, something I wasn't up for. It's really disappointing that we can't go, but it's probably for the best...

So, that was the end to an otherwise fun day. Of course, it's the same knee that I hurt in high school playing soccer, so I was more than a little annoyed by it. Seems like I need to slow down and relax a bit. I need to pull myself together. At least I have some good friends who will take care of me until I feel better.

Thanks, Bea and Yoonkyung. You two are the best.



06.27-28.11 Apple Muffin Goodness

I see that I have started progressing to one post for every two days. This is probably due to the fact that I have become increasingly busy-- and also increasingly lazy.

Oh, Monday. I went to Japanese class as per usual, had lunch with Bea, Yoonkyung, and Hana, and then went to Budou. We are learning more set scenarios for kendo, which will lead up to our final class performance. They are basically choreographed "fight" scenes, but a lot more elegant. Bea and I had a hard time memorizing the steps for some reason (the intense heat being one), but eventually managed to do them right. After class, we went to gym where we were still playing volleyball. Thankfully, it was better than the first time we played, but still no where near as good as my actual volleyball class.

I was absolutely exhausted by the time I finished classes so I went back to my room to vegetate. I really don't think I did anything productive. Of course, I had planned to study, but that idea went up in flames as I got lost on Youtube and Stumbleupon. (If you don't know what stumbleupon is, it's probably for your own good.) Around 8:30, Bea and I decided to go to Konami, so at least I got a work out in. Afterwards, I met Yoonkyung just to chat. We ended up staying up later than we had intended, but I really enjoy our conversations so I was glad we got the chance to talk.

>>>

Tuesday was a compartively better day. I got up and went to my Indian Dance class. We got to make a new dance by using the dances we first created in pairs and combining them with other groups' dances. It was pretty interesting, but it didn't take long for me to start sweating up a storm thanks to the intense humidity. By the time we started practicing our Indian dance routine, I was basically a sweat fountain so I decided to go straight back to my room to shower instead of going to lunch. Of course, I was extremely tired from staying up late and from exerting myself in class, so I took a nap instead of eating.

I woke up to a call from Yoonkyung reminding me that I had class at 2:40, but I was feeling extremely hungry and drowsy so I decided to take the time to eat and ended up skipping class. I wasn't completely unproductive though, because I spent a good four hours studying kanji in Yoonkyung's office. By then, we were both tired and more than a little bit hungry so we decided to go get some food and a few things that I needed.

This is where things got interesting. I had assumed that Yoonkyung rode her bike to school so I brought my bike to her office so we could ride them together. However, it turned out that she didn't have her bike. I figured we would walk, but she said it wasn't a problem-- we would just ride my bike. Um, what? Two people on one bike? She assured me it wasn't a big deal though, and trusting her, I let her drive while I rode on the back of my bike. The experience was... exciting, to say the least. It was difficult to drive straight with two people (I couldn't do it), but Yoonkyung managed pretty well while I held on for dear life. We go a few strange looks from the people we passed, but Yoonkyung and I laughed the whole way to the supermarket.

I bought milk because I wanted to make some muffins that night by using the apple muffin mix my friends had sent me for my birthday. After buying what I needed, Yoonkyung suggested that we buy some takoyaki for dinner. Of course, I was all for that, so we stopped at a takoyaki stand near another supermarket that we sometimes go to. The man running the stand was friendly and made small talk with us while we waited for our food. Turns out that he was only twenty years old, but was working full time and learning how to make takoyaki. I had a laugh when he tried to guess who was the older out of the two of us. He thought that I was the older one, so I got to tease Yoonkyung about that afterwards. The best part of all was when he decided to give us ten takoyaki free because they weren't fresh anymore (but still warm). So, Yoonkyung I ended up with 16 pieces of takoyaki for only 350 yen. We made out like bandits!

With dinner and milk in hand, we returned to my dorm to eat and to invite Bea to join us in the kitchen. I successfully made apple muffins! However, it took me two tries to get it right because the instructions on the package were less than clear. The first time I put too much milk in the batter so it became soupy, but Bea saved it by adding flour and eggs so we could make apple pancakes (yum!). I was happy that everyone thought the muffins I made were delicious. Hana chan even stopped by after she got off of work so she could eat some. While we were eating, we found The Dark Knight (my favorite movie of all time) on the television (in English with Japanese subtitles), so we stayed up to watch it. Everyone ended up going home around 1:00 in the morning, but I went to bed satisfied.

I am thankful for my friends <3

06.26.11 Squeezing

Today was a good day. The best thing is, it wasn't that different from any other Sunday. For some reason though, I was very happy and content when I went home for the night.

It started out normally. I went to church. Even though the ESS musical was scheduled to start at 1:00, the first half of church ended at 12:30 so I figured I could make it on time. Church was just what I needed. The message was exactly what I needed to hear, and it always makes me feel prepared to start the week. I left quickly from church, but still managed to be a bit late when I arrived to shool. I felt bad for making my group worry, but at least we weren't performing first!

The musicals were so much fun! The first group performed Kiki's Delivery Service. I wasn't sure how they could make it into a musical, but they managed pretty well. They did a great job and it was really cool to see the props they made. After the first group, my group performed The Little Mermaid. I was so proud of everything we accomplished. Everyone perforrmed perfectly and I had fun being Sebastian (crab walk included). I might be biased, but I thought our group did the best ;) The last group (Bea's group), did High School Musical. I was really impressed by how they included every song and dance from the movie, but on the other hand, the English pronounciation of the members' was the worst out of all the groups. Even so, they did their very best and by the time all was said and done, I could tell everyone had a lot of pride for the work we had done.

Unfortunately, I had planned to hang out with Yoonkyung, Hana, and Seong Hi (spelling?) after church so I ended up leaving the musical early and didn't find out who won the individual awards for the competition. (I still don't know the results, but I plan on finding out from Bea soon.) It probably looked bad that I had come late and was leaving early, but I really wanted to go shopping with the girls because I badly needed some shorts.

We went to a big mall nearby, the same one that Bea, Yoonkyung, Hana and I had went to when we saw Pirates of the Caribbean. Tokunaga san, an older man from church, drove us. He's been driving us to church for the past few weeks and always seems willing to take us any place that we need to go. He waited while we went to Uni Glo, a very popular store in Japan for it's good quality clothes and cheap prices. I was able to buy two new pairs of shorts (hallelujah), and I happy to say that they fit me perfectly. Once everyone had found what they came for, we met up again and Tokunaga san treated us to lunch at an all-you-could-eat buffet. We stuffed ourselves with as much food as we could before making the drive back to Yoonkyung's dorm.

I hung out with Yoonkyung and Hana in the parlor of their dorm. We watched Japanese TV and got to talk about some things. It was nice to just talk with them again. I feel like Yoonkyung has been super busy with her part time job lately, so we haven't really gotten to sit down and talk like we used to. Around 11:00 I finally got back to my dorm, but of course, didn't sleep right away.

Staying up late, squeezing every minute out of every day-- this is what I live for.

Loving life right now. <3