Class Party

So today, since the year is almost over, Jo sensei brought us to a traditional Japanese place. The first place was booked full so we couldn't go. It was also far away, but had meat based food. The replacement was a short walk, but was tofu based. Still, it was pretty good.



1. The starter set. Some mushy thing that might've been soybean paste, an egg based soup with a weird jiggly consistency and shrimp and random things hidden inside, a salad with tofu beneath, and a little thing of something and cucumber.
2. Two mochi-like things on a stick, and tofu inside crunchy egg, with a green pepper.
3. Tofu in soup. I couldn't eat this one.
4. Doria. Cheese with rice beneath, and this one had lots of seasonings and shrimp in it. This was the main course; the rice.
5. Coralie's eel rice and miso soup. She said it was delicious.
6. My soybean ice cream.
7. Coralie's soybean cake.
8. Jen's mochi with a tea like taste.
9. Jen pulling the mochi apart to let us taste. The three of us each got one of the three desserts so we could all share and try them all.


And here's my class, minus Simon and Josh. Josh just skipped or something, and Simon's in Tokyo.



Top: Me, Jen, Abdul, Brice
Bottom: Coralie, Linda, Daniela, Jo sensei, Tess, Ayuki, Rebecca

And these are my teachers.


Takahashi sensei. She teaches us writing and is super adorable and soft spoken. After this picture she said we could be sisters, and before she made a show of fixing her hair.



Jo sensei. She's insane. She says other teachers tap their students when they do wrong, but she punches them. And she animates this each time with the Japanese sound effects. Pishi pishi vs. BASH BASH.

Accident

Finally, a post in English! No pictures though. Haven't done anything interesting. Er, I guess there is this though. Our school had a Lighting of the Tree ceremony and we stumbled across it while heading back from class a while back.



So anyway, one of the things we were told the first week here is how crazy drivers are. We hear a lot of beeping, see a lot of cutting others off on the road, but we had yet to see an accident. Yesterday, we did. We must've just missed it because we were coming back from Kappa Sushi on our bikes, rounded a corner, and saw a car parked on the sidewalk. There was a guy sitting down with people trying to put a neckbrace on him. He looked like Squall. He tried getting up, but they pushed him back down and put the brace on. There was broken glass everywhere, a van run into the sidewalk's guardrail, and a motorcycle busted up in the middle of the road.

From then on, our breakneck bike pace to fight the cold turned into a casual, careful stroll along the sidewalk. We definitely have to cross roads a lot while biking, and we've definitely nearly had cars pull out and cut us off before. I'll count us lucky for now.

In other news, I sent out postcards and I hope everyone who I sent one to has gotten it by now. I have confirmed deliveries in North Carolina and California so far. I sent out literally fourteen postcards.

このしゅうまつ２

きんようび　に　ホークス　モール　に　いきました。私はともだちと　おこのみやき　をたべました。とてもおいしかったです。そして、じゅうじに　ハリーポッタをみました。とてもおもしろかったです。ほん　がだいすきです。えいが　がすきです。

どようび　に　ともだちと　どうぶつえん　にいきました。カバとライオンとさる　を　みました。でも、レッサーパンダは　いちばんかわいいどうぶつです。　ライオンのうちはちいさかったです。　かなしいです。　ブライアンさんはさる　を　さわりました。それから、はな　を　みました。とてもきれでした。私は　ともだちと　しゃしん　をとりました。あとで　どうぶつえん、ラーメンを　たべました。おいしかったです。



にちようび　に　ねました。それから、インディアンのたべものをたべました。そして、ともだちとパンテイとスタギングをみました。アニメです。とてもおもしろかったです。

しゅうまつはいそがしかったです。でも、たのしかったです。

もっとしゃしん

-------
This Weekend2

Friday I went to Hawk's Mall. Me and my friends ate okonomiyaki. It was very delicious. Then, at 10 o'clock we watched Harry Potter. It was very interesting. I love the books. But I like the movies.

Saturday, my friends and I went to the zoo. We saw a hippo, lion, and monkey. But, the lesser panda was the cutest animal. The lion's house was small. It is sad. Brian touched a monkey. Then, we saw flowers. They were very beautiful. My friends and I took pictures. After the zoo, we ate ramen. It was delicious.

Sunday I slept. Then I ate Indian food. Then my friends and I watched Panty & Stocking. It's an anime. It was very interesting.

This weekend was busy, but it was also fun.

More pictures

このしゅうまつ

しゅうまつはとてもたのしかったです。

もくようびにラーメンをたべました。それから、ケーキのみせにいきました。とてもおいしかったです。チョコラテのケーキをたべました。それから、ともだちとボーリングにいきました。しんさんは、いちばんじょうずでした。もくようびはとてもたのしかったです。
きんようびに　がくさいにいきました。しんさんとクリスとクライストとブラインとメイガンもいきました。おもしろかったです。それから、ともだちとうどんをたべました。それから、クリスとDexterをみました。Dexterがすきです。



どようびはとてもいそがしかったです。クリスとクライストとしんさんとスペースワールドにいきました。ジェットコースターにのりました。タイタンはいちばんおもしろいジェットコースターです。ビデオをとりました。それから、スイーツパラダイスにいきました。スパゲテイとケーキをたべました。とてもおいしかったです。





もっとしゃしん

にちようびに　べんきょうしました。それからねました。

しゅまつはいそがしかったです。そして、たのしかったです。私はうれしいです。

Halloween Party

Sup guys. Time for a real update, sort of.

So Saturday I had to go to a field trip with the Natural World class. We went to a mountain to look at rice paddy's. We easily were distracted by Simon's new pet and a crab that made one of the teachers scream. Then Alecs picked it up. We also got lost on the way, missing the turn and driving up a mountain path that scraped both sides of the car and eventually turned rocky and too steep to drive up. There was also a creepy abandoned car, barking dogs in the distance, and no cell phone service.



Then we went to the Halloween party in the I-House. It was pretty cool. Food, candy, drinks, music playing, everyone in costume. Ours was ridiculous. We were Seinan Senshi/Seinan Soldiers, kind of like Sailor Moon. We got the idea when Meagan saw the masks in the dollar store, so we went with it. They even had a villian one for Chris, and he bought dynamite that I didn't realize actually exploded out confetti and smoke. He shot me close range, I screamed in alarm, and everyone stared and went dead silent. They thought I'd really been shot or something. After the party we went out for a while then came back and watched Silent Hill. It wasn't that scary... so Sunday we watched テケテケ, a movie about a creature drawn to red that kills people. It wasn't really scary at all either.



Link to more pictures.

As far as long ago things go, I tried to upload the Kyoto trip pictures but didn't get them all there. But they are on facebook if you want to go seek them out. Here are a couple to tide you over.



Shabu-shabu dinner. We put the meat and veggies in the water/sauce and it cooked

Train station interior

So I never posted pictures, but I have done this:



Other things I've done:
-Bowling
-Aimless shopping
-Found Root Beer and Cherry Coke
-Biked in a typhoon
-Learned I can't actually stay the whole year
-Decided to plan a hotspring trip
-Possible Tokyo/Okinawa trips
-Turned down possible job at daycare
-Started cooking own meals in the dorm

Kyoto and Stuff

Don't have time to add pictures and stuff now. This will either be edited or I'll make a new post. Most likely the latter.

Sooo, went to Kyoto a weekend or two ago. Started off with meeting by the cafeteria and loading up on a bus. Went to the train station. Got on the shinkansen for a few hours. That's the super fast bullet train. Took a bus to Nara and went to a temple. We fed deer. That's really the most interesting part that I remember. But we went to Kofukuji and Todaiji temples. Then arrival at the hotel and check in before leaving for dinner. It was shabu-shabu, which is kind of a hot pot. One side has water, the other some kind of broth. You get a plate of veggies and one of meat and you cook them. Endless food and drink. They didn't provide us with a ride home after so we had to walk back to the hotel through the dark. I was with Jeremy and Julien though, and both are advanced Japanese speakers, so we made it back fine.

Saturday we woke up and went to Sanju-sangendo, then to the Kyoto International Manga Museum. Lunch at a random hotel that wasn't our hotel, for some reason, then back on the bus to visit Nijyojyo castle and then Kinkakuji, which is a golden temple that actually looked really cool. Then we got free time to feed ourselves that night, and went to bed. Though, most everyone went to Osaka, me, Chris, Christ, Brian, and Mitch stayed at the hotel and watched the Watchmen.

Next morning we get up and check out of our rooms, leaving our bags in the lobby. Then we wandered around 'til it was really time to leave WikiBrian took us to a nearby temple and the most fun part there was that there were pigeons everywhere and you could feed them. So we fed pigeons all morning. Got back on the bus, I got sick and still am sick a week or so later with the same cold (though it's going away), and we rode back to the train station, got back on the Shinkansen, arrived at a foreign station, and once more Nogami-san said "well, that's it. Find your own way home" and then he left us. But, we made it back.

And that was the Kyoto trip. I definitely prefer Fukuoka. Kyoto is full of tourists, is crowded, is hard to find your way around in, and we kept getting ditched by our adviser. It was a lot of rushing between temples to tour too, and each one was stuffed full of tourists. We'd get about 1.5 hours at each and by the end we'd all be in this big group sitting around waiting to leave again. We never stayed entertained for the full time.

I need to figure out how to send postcards, how much it'll be, and also where to find some neat ones.

The week after Kyoto was pretty laid back. Didn't do much exciting. Just going out to find new places to eat at and stuff. I'm going to get on photobucket and make a new account for more pictures. My posts are too plain and photo-less now. Then I'll have things to talk about once I see pictures I've taken since I've last posted some.