Re-Entry Shock

"It is easy to assume that your returning to your home community and natural family will be more or less problem-free. After all, you are returning to your native culture, to a place where you speak the language fluently and have family members and trusted friends awaiting your arrival. But the fact is that (a) the greater the cultural differences (b) the longer time spent in your host country and (c) the more well adjusted you became while there, the greater the chances that reverse shock will cause difficulties for you.

1. returnees almost always think that with their return home will be free of problems (if they think about it at all). This is almost never the case. Consequently, in addition to having to deal with the problems of re-entry, they also must accept the hash fact that they were either mistaken or unaware of the difficulties and therefore unprepared to face these difficulties of re-entry.

2. Returnees almost always have changed and matured in numerous ways during their experience abroad. They have grown enormously in self-assurance, in their need for independence and respect, and in their knowledge about worldly ideas. The friends and family members whom they meet upon return do not fully realize this: they treat the returnee as though hs/she were the same as the day he/she left.

3. Returnees find that they are sharply aware of many features of their home culture and environment they have previously never noticed, or at least never questioned. Becoming suddenly and acutely aware of so many things that were previously taken for granted is not a seriously problem: the problem is the returnee often feels critical of many of these things. The criticism is usually expressed to old friends and family members, who in turn become annoyed with the "negative attitude" of the returnee. Even if the returnee manages to keep her criticisms to herself, she is disturbed to find herself feeling negative about people and events in the place she calls home.

4. Returnees usually come home bursting with stories, ideas, facts, and all kinds of interesting things to tell anyone who will listen. What they find however is that almost everyone they talk to either (a) will not listen or (b) listens politely but simply cannot comprehend the richness and detail of the returnee's experiences. These behaviors may be a cause of considerable annoyance. However, the empathetic returnee will keep in mind that little more than half a year prior, she might have had similar attitudes toward a returning traveler.

5. Finally, returnees bring back with them many new values, attitudes and patterns of behavior. Their new patterns tend to be most sharply different with respect to those who they feel closest and love most dearly. This particular change occurs because in their host community they became attached to a few special people and learned how to behave toward these people according to the patterns characteristic of the host culture. Upon coming home, the returnee encounters people whom she also loves and immediately begins interacting with them as she learned to interact with loved ones in the host culture. In many cases however, the old friends and the family members are bewildered and possibly even offended by this strange behavior. They, in turn, begin to act a little strangely toward the returnee and thus the seeds of misunderstanding are sown.

What can you do to minimize these and similar problems regarding your own homecoming? Here are two suggestions:

-Try not to have false expectations about returning home. Don't expect it to be free of problems
-As soon as it is practical after your return to your home community, get in touch with someone who has had an experience similar to yours. An AFS returnee would be ideal but someone who has lived abroad would work too. Arrange to get together with this person on two or thee occasions and when you do, talk together about your experiences away from home and about your feelings and problems upon returning.

Have a good journey
--"The AFS STUDENT STUDY GUIDE"--"

クリスマス

So it’s been a long LONG time since I last updated this blog…uh…sorry about that.

I’m pretty sure that I start ALL of my entries with that.

Anyways, today is Christmas!! Yay!!! Too bad it doesn’t feel like it AT ALL.

Christmas in Japan is one of the most awkward things I have seen EVER. To the Japanese, Christmas is a time to eat cake, fried chicken, give toys to kids, and go on dates. I really don’t see why they have it at all. Christmas REALLY IS more than just presents and jolly fat guys. It is jammed pack with history and tradition. So, here are a few things about Japan and Christmas
-Presents are from Santa to Kids only
-Unless you have a Christmas party, in which case it’s a good time to break out the Bingo and Bingo for first picks of 500yen presents (5$ about)
-Nearly everyone eats chicken on Christmas Eve, but not just any chicken, fried chicken and preferably from KFC. (The best explanation I got for this one is Mr. Sanders looks like Santa)
-Delivery Pizzas are also a good dinner option because the delivery guy dresses up as Santa
-There are no stockings
-Presents are placed at the head of the child’s bed
-There is typically only one present
-Parents and kids seem to be unaware of any coal, naughty and nice list, or anything else threatening like that
-They have special Christmas cakes.
-They had a music concert special on TV instead of the classic holiday movies and Yule log
-young people go on dates because it’s romantic
-It’s basically our New Years

Things they are really missing out on:
-Threatening children with Santa not coming
-eggnog
-receiving presents
-family
-movies
-holiday lights
-snow
-making reindeer food (oatmeal and glitter)
-paper snowflakes
-gingerbread everything
-a real dinner
-EVERYTHING

So, this is what I did for Christmas:
-Went bowling (yeah…I average around a 35)
-went to an okonomiyaki restaurant (okonomiyaki complete with cross made of mayo for my daily bread)
-came home to a party of kindergartners and their moms trying to organize…anything.
-at leftover party food and a Christmas cake
-made cookies (host parent’s present)
-stayed up till 3 making said cookies and helping Santa
-woke up at 12 the next day
-got a sweater and chocolate from Santa and sushi for lunch
-went to “go see” snow on top of one of the mountains but there was none
-went home and opened the presents from my (American) parents sent
-played chutes and ladders

That about covers it.

Overall I’m looking forward to New Years because it is the main event in Japan…and Christmas is not.

Also, I got my “going home” packet today. I really only have a month left…


(pictures are the creepy Santa at the "American Store" which sold cowboy boots and overpriced American Stuff--very entertaining, what was left of the Christmas Cake on Natchan, the Christmas party, amusing mirrors i found at the 100yen store, and the boxes i planned on shipping but thankfully found smaller ones)

Japanese Parties...

This is a special post for Japanese Parties.

Because they sure are something special.

So far the parties I have been to are the AFS day party, AFS X-mas party, and the international club Halloween and x-mas parties.

Today was the international club Christmas party. We all went to the old cooking room to make food including pumpkin pie, pizza, soup and sandwiches (all the Christmas traditionals). That part was fun. So was eating it. After that is when the Japanese organization tends to come in. There was a "band" of sorts consisting of a guitarist...sort of...a pianist...sort of...and a vocalist and tambourines...
Their performance was the first time playing together..
well THAT was fun.
Other than that we did NOTHING. Except some guy ate too much and threw up.
Students sat around wondering what to do next.
There was a present exchange and that wasn't bad.

The problem with Japanese parties is that there is way too much organization. There is also more time spent cleaning and preparing than actually enjoying the party. and there are official start and end times just like the parties I went to when I was about 6 or so.

they also play games like bingo. WHO PLAYS BINGO FOR FUN?!

So, just a warning to future people Japan visitors. Don't come for the parties.

I think I heard the foreigner parties are much more fun though.

tests and such

Well, this is one of the first weekends off I’ve had in a while. Actually, technically I should be studying for the tests this week…but they don’t really matter so I’m not too concerned. I sound like I’m lazy but there is a good reason for it. The last several weeks have been consumed by studying and writing essays. After my soccer practice with the old guys, I had to finish up my college essays which took me until Monday. It is NOT fun trying to write essays that will hopefully get you admitted into a good college when you’ve been immersed in another language for 3 months or so. NOT FUN.
Does the period go after the last word or at the beginning of the next sentence?
What’s another word for “said”?
I can’t think of a transition to save my life!
Why is part of my essay in hiragana???

Yeah.

Anyways, directly after my essays I realized I have a huge Japanese proficiency test this coming Sunday… maybe I should get studying for that.

I don’t think it was very fair of the LPs to ask us if we wanted to do the test when we were still new and not completely tired yet. They had convinced (aka pressured) me into doing N4 which is an intermediate level. My thinking was (back in August) hey, the test is in December! I’m fineeeeee.
Hah.
The first part of the test was reading and vocab. That was probably the hardest. You had to pick the right pronunciation of different Kanji which really played to my weak side. I can read the kanji fine, but the pronunciation is rarely there because I most of the time know the meaning and sometimes the pronunciation in Chinese. Yay.
The second part was grammar and that was a bit easier….but then again I still guessed most of them.
Listening was easy. But it also started to get too easy to where I got comfortable and forgot to listen to some of the questions…and they’re only read once.

So, all in all, the test was a giant pain and I’m glad it’s over.

Other than my lack of knowledge about the Japanese language, I also found out another thing. I don’t like the other foreigners here. (Most of them anyways) The other exchange students are fine, but the English teachers just drive me insane. My thinking was, “Hey! Other foreign people I can relate to!” They’re thinking is “Look, another student.” or “Another kid.” They all (mostly) think they are so wise and mature and old and I’m just some teenage girl from America. You would think that MAYBE just MAYBE the exchange students here are a LITTLE more mature than you’re average teenager seeing as we came here by ourselves, most of us away from home for the first time, to learn about a different culture and WHATNOT. So please stop treating us like children.
Example: Coming back from the test with one of the American teachers from my school and his friends who are also English teachers. One of the female English teachers, who took the SAME test as me, was talking about how she can’t pull off those long nights anymore and her dinner is based on whether she wants to do dishes or not. That somehow turned into how most Japanese homes don’t have dish washers. I said that my host family has one, but never uses it. I do the dishes by myself. She then took the opportunity to say something along the lines of “well, good that’s how it should be. You could use some good dish washing. I’ve washed enough dishes in my lifetime” sort of thing. A nice character building speech from some lady I don’t even know. Thank you for letting me finish and say my host mom also doesn’t use the dish washer anyways. Also, you’re how old?! My guess is still in your twenties seeing as the teacher at my school is 25. So no! You have not earned the right to say you’ve washed enough dishes! My grandma can say that! And also, you aren’t single handedly washes dishes for a family of 5, you just have your own to take care of which probably consists more of instant ramen cups than actual dishes.

“It was nice meeting you too!”

NOT.



Anyways.

One thing I noticed in Japan is the use of a symbol to mark shrines and such. It was brought to my attention by someone yelling “Oh my god! Did you see! They use the Nazi sign for shrines here!” as if it was some big scandal like they were hiding mini Nazis and the ashes of victims in the actual shrines.
That is ridiculous.
I knew it wasn’t the Nazi sign, but I didn’t know what the real meaning was so I checked the internet for some help. The sign used on the shrines is actually different than the Nazi sign; the arms point counterclockwise. The sign is a symbol of the sun and means purity, power and luck. Overall good things! It has been used since ancient times in a variety of different cultures. However, the Nazis took this symbol and transformed it into something horrible. The symbol itself means nothing bad at all. This doesn’t mean its ok for people to etch it on their desks and whatnot.
I’m glad I looked closer though.

Yesterday was the Christmas party for Shiga-ken’s AFS. It was pretty fun. I spent all yesterday morning making cookies that turned out pretty well! They were strawberry and blueberry sugar cookie type things. I just realized I forgot to take a picture…
One thing I have noticed about Japanese parties is that they are SO ORGANIZED. Or rather TOO organized. The Halloween party at school, the AFS parties, etc., are full of schedules and signs and lists and name tags and gah! All you really need to do is get an open space with music and people and you’re set! There is no need to organize a giant thing of bingo. I was trying to think of what American parties are like and they really are just food you can get at any time, as much as you want (no, two pieces of dessert at a time rule), talking, music, (and with my family at least) cards. But not really organized cards, more along the lines of whoever wants to play just sit down and play. Also, most American parties don’t have a set “end” time. People just come and go. In Japan, there is an actual start (like, “O.K. everyone. We’re going to start now) and an actual finish where everyone goes home at the same time.
Good thing I didn’t pick to go to Japan for the crazy parties.

Pictures are the soccer game I went to with Sam (Marie's host father) it was the only grass field in Japan I've seen so far, my drawing of Marie, and my advent calender from the Melers!! and a famous temple in Kyoto.

Soccer and Kyoto

So! This past Saturday, I got to play soccer!..but not normal soccer. My friend, and fellow exchange student, Marie has a host father who love to play soccer. He's about 50 or so. He plays every Saturday with a group of men in ages ranging from 21 to 60 I think. This past Saturday I got to join them and play goalie. It. was. GREAT! I hadn't played soccer in sooo long. It was funny because I could feel my confidence change going on the field and stepping off. Off the field I have to focus on my Japanese and not sounding like a total foreigner in another country, but on the field everything is so familiar so my confidence is up. Funny how that works. Anyways, Japan has some pretty lively old men! They could keep up with the 21 year old's for sure. And what is also amusing is that most of them smoke during the breaks!
Well, I know my knees don't approve but I think I'll be going back to play with them at least once more. Marie had said that her host dad said everyone was impressed with my performance :D

That very same day, I went to Kyoto with the AFS staff an exchange student from Canada and a former AFS student who is now teaching kindergartners English. It was a lot of fun. It was a perfect night and the trees were all changing color. Dinner was good too, I had a tiny thing of soba and a tiny thing of tempura over rice.
It wasn't very fun carrying my soccer stuff all over Kyoto though. I didn't have time to go back home after soccer that day.

CHINA!

yes. I went to China. As a school trip. (How awesome is that?! why don't we have school trips to Asia in America?!)We went to Shanghai and Suzhou. It was interesting, scary, fun, and tiring.

So, the first day we all met up at Kyoto station and from there went to the Kansai airport. I had forgotten that just because I'm used to being on airplanes doesn't mean everyone else is. The plane takes off and I hear all this excited loud chatter from the general direction of my group. Also, when we got to Shanghai airport in the baggage area my friend asked if it was ok to take her bag from the carousel hahahaha
From Shanghai we took a bus to Suzhou...and it broke down half way though...
so after waiting an hour or so a new bus finally came and we went to a five star hotel in Suzhou!!! Seriously, why not in America?!
The main scary part occurred right when we got to the level our rooms were on. Everyone had just gotten off the elevator and there were 3 huge probably drunk Chinese guys yelling at my Japanese classmates for no apparent reason. They had no idea what to do, seeing as they couldn't understand a word the Chinese guys were saying (Actually, I couldn't understand them either. And I've at least studied a little Chinese) So, I had to step in and say "they speak Japanese" in Chinese.
Well, at least they stopped yelling.
But now their focus was on me..

The moment they started trying to talk to me in Chinese was the moment all my Chinese education somehow disappeared.

Wonderful.

so the conversation went a little like this:
"nhjkdfhsfjld hlskfhc speak Chinese"
"uhhhhh i speak a little Chinese" (wo hui shuo yi dian zhong wen)
"what nationality?" (ni shi na guo ren?)
"...American" (...mei guo ren..)
"ohh America. beautiful" (in English)
"uhh..."

It was not fun. It was scary. He was three inches away and smelled like cigarettes.
fgvgd,hn\hgfcj khl hgdschdlshvgf sdlcf

The rest of the trip was good though!

We saw a lot of really old buildings and visited my Japanese school's sister school in Suzhou. The school just celebrated it's 1003 year old "birthday". That's. INSANE.

I got to tour the school with one of the Chinese students whose English name is Away. I don't think this is an actual name, but hey, why not. (I decided her Japanese name is あそ子)
She talked about how she wants to go to American and wants to go to Princeton. She thinks American guys and cool especially bald black guys. Her mom is really strict but she likes to get even by saying shes going to marry an American man.

She's an interesting person.

Although, it was really starting to bug me, every time I would try and speak to her in Chinese, she would obviously understand and then answer back in English. I didn't come on this trip so you could practice you're English!! Give me a chance to practice too! If I really wanted to speak English I would be back home by now!

We also went to several market type areas and an old city similar to Venice with the rivers and boats weaving throughout the city. The shop owners are very...aggressive. I heard a lot of "Hallo! Miss! You look!" I tend to just ignore them but my classmates had little to NO idea of what to do. They would smile and nod and try and get away but they would be followed. So I would occasionally have to drag them away from whoever was following them.

People took a LOT of picture of me. They would mysteriously gather in front of me when I would be looking at something in a shop and attempt to take a picture...until I move and then they have to actually ASK to take my picture. People also liked practicing whatever English they could conjure up at the moment like "Hello! Beautiful girl!"
I basically had to repeat over and over in my head "I'm from Sweden and I don't speak a word of English" like a mantra.

The food was awesome! We would all sit at a huge round table with a lazy susan in the middle and it would be filled with dishes and dishes of food! like magic!!!!!
It was interesting how Japanese people couldn't handle the spicy food though. Now that I think about it the Japanese only really have wasabi. They were all surprised at the fact I could use chopsticks (how long have I been here?!?!) and I could/ like to eat spicy food.

Pictures include: A bridge in one of the gardens, on the boats, Chinese circus we went to, and two of the guys messing around at the Pearl Tower because they were scared of the see-through floor.

ひさしぶり

so its been a looooong time since i last updated with blog thingy. Sorry about that.

...

now I forget what I was going to write about...

to do list:
-AFS day
-osaka people
-yakimono
-pumpkin
-Kyudo

ALRIGHT!
so first, Kyudo tournament: it was LONG. and not horribly exciting but still interesting. We traveled to Zeze to a huge Japanese sports facility. They had rooms for things like kyudo, kendo, sumo and such. I didn't realize the people from our school were that good! We got a lot of rewards :D Anyways, everyone squeezed into the tiny hallway to look out the windows and see the actual competition. Every time someone from their school would hit the target everyone yells "YOSH!" really REALLY loudly. It's quite scary the first time.
Afterwards, at the end of the 6 or so hour competition all the schools line up and have to sit formally for an hour or so. that is NOT FUN. and very very painful, even if you don't have bad knees like I do. (sitting formally is sitting on your knees) I think it was around minuet 45 where I could reach back to touch my foot and think it was someone else's because it was so numb. Don't even bother trying to stand up after an hour of sitting like that by the way. You just fall back down. It takes a good 15min to work you way passed the prickling and stand. another 5min or so to actually walk.

PUMPKIN: actually, jack-o-lantern. Halloween being one of my favorite holidays means I could not simply leave this tradition behind in America. Although I couldn't find an orange pumpkin, there are plenty of green ones around. Another difference is that we actually ate this one after Halloween (but then again I carved it the day before Halloween, not 2 weeks before)

Yakimono: On Wednesday, we went and made pottery. I think the Japanese just really likes plates and cups and such...I don't really know why though. Afterwards we went to another famous otera (temple). I was really high up in the mountains and had a good view of lake biwa and the cities...but its still on my camera so I'll post it later I guess :D

Osaka People: They deserve a post of their own. They are NOT normal Japanese people. Normal Japanese people stare from afar but Osaka people will come up to you at the crosswalk, shake your hand and say "goodo morningu" as best they can. It's...entertaining. It's also entertaining when at that same crosswalk with Sari and Emilie, the old lady decided to tell her old man friend that he should take us to dinner..and we could understand.
oh osaka people...

Finaly AFS day: It was fun! Actually, it was really really boring, but seeing and talking to everyone was fun! Everyone introduced themselves and had pictures and clothes from their country. And then we all had to listen to the guest speakers speak for and hour or so...AKA exchange yo mama jokes and take pictures. ALSO MET SOMEONE FROM NORTHERN OHIO THERE!!!! <3
small world.

Kyoto take 2!

Last Saturday I went to Kyoto...again!!!! Except this Kyoto was muuuccchhhh better than the last Kyoto trip I took (rain, wet shoes, didn't know where to go, last minuet planning, etc.) This time I went with my host family and my host father's sister.
We didn't go to downtown Kyoto but a smaller area with a bunch of little shoppes and souvenirs and temples and overall really cool stuff! There were also person-pulled carts giving tours.
Taking after my own aunt, my host aunt really loves Kyoto and of course dressing up--which in this case means kimonos--which means I also got to try and wear one.
IT'S HARDER THAN IT LOOKS
you can't move you legs more than a couple inches, and they tie everything so tight and it's hot and gahhh! Not to mention Kyoto is built on steep slopes and stairs.
But, if you are every having a bad day all you have to do it put on a kimono and EVERYONE starts complimenting you! EVERYONE!!!!! Japanese people I don't know, foreign people I don't know, everyone saying how good I looked, random people wanting to take pictures with me. It was...interesting.
But the sights were good, the souvenirs cheaper and the people all very friendly!
Also! I got a keitai! (Japanese cell phone)
This has to be the fanciest prepaid phone I have ever seen. You can mail (text...but not really) talk (but at 9 cents per 6 seconds...i think not) and watch TV, play games, read books, listen to music, browse the Internet (I didn't pay for that though) take pictures, scan bar codes? and EVERYTHING! it's AWESOME! And really not that badly priced (for being in Japan) the whole phone and plan was about 100$ and mail is unlimited for 3$ a month.

Nothing really new

As the title says there is nothing horribly new to report. Except I have some pictures of, uh, life in Japan.

1) Obento (lunch box): It looks pretty small! actually, it is indeed very small especially when compared to the average American lunch. In American, I normally have a sub, chips, chocolate milk fruit and a cookie (of course). But in Japan the sub alone fills up my obento! The bottom half of the obento is all white rice with furikake (seasoning?) My favorite furikake flavor is black sesame seeds. The upper portion is vegetables meat eggs and whatnot. I'll take a picture when I have it next time (right now is vacation so I eat at home). It has matching chopsticks too!
And just in case people think I'm starving with my tiny lunch that's really not the case. Its just enough to where you feel full but not exploding. Like, NORMAL full. But the thing is you only really feel full about 15min after finishing. During that 15min it's "WHY IS THIS THING SO SMALL?!" but afterwards it's all good.
and yes I have lost weight I think considering my pants don't fit.

2) Desk: It's more like a kid's size table and a pillow. Sitting on my bed, the desk is still too low to work comfortably so it's zabuton or nothing (pillow). The only problem is my knees hurt if I sit there for too long no matter HOW I sit (oh well, guess that means I can't studyyyyy)

3) Book shelf: ...It's a book shelf. There's nothing really special about it but it's divided into fun books, textbooks and dictionaries, Japanese money box, American money box and things I don't know where to put like letters and such.

4)Closet: ...nothing new about that

5) Bed: It's a lot shorter (like everything else) but overall pretty comfy. It's a lot more fluffy than my American bed but I still prefer my American one.

That's all for now!

TACOS

SO!
Saturday I went to Kyoto with Ellie (another exchange student from Canada). it rained. a lot. but it was still pretty fun! Because of the rain we really didn't get to see much. not to mention that it was pretty last min and had no real plan. But it's only a train ride away so it's not like I'll never go back!
We went to two of the huge temples in Kyoto (I forget the names...) and a bunch of little shops by the station.
Also found an imports store!!! And that means Mac and Cheese, Peanut butter and Tacos! (not all together in an odd peanuty-cheesey taco of course but each in their own separate beauty.)
On Sunday we went to the ocean (about an hour and a half away by car) to dig for clams and shell fish and such..except after the hour and a half drive we find a nice sign saying digging for shellfish is prohibited. yay.
but there was a huge festival going on so we went to that instead. Unfortunately I was dressed for shellfish and not festivals...so I got to walk around in my P.E. clothes all day with the name "nakajima" embroidered on the jacket. (I don't know who Nakajima is but thanks for letting the exchange students use your stuff)
Japan's festivals are for sure better than ours. I think our food can compete but the entertainment and stalls are far more interesting in Japan. There was also a parade? I think it was a parade. There were dressed up cars with several people on the roof playing music and..uh..shouting instructions(?) to the dancers following behind. It was really cool. Not to mention that people of ALL AGES were behind the different cars. from the college students to 3 year olds to 90 year olds in their funny pants (not grandma pants but more like circus pants)
AFTERWARDS WE GOT YAKINIKU
amazing stuff
OK so-- you have a table..except its set into the floor kind of...
you sit on the floor and your legs go underneath the table sort of. there is a circular grill in the middle of the table too. The place we went has a deal where you pay about 30$ and for 90min you get as much food as you can eat. AWESOME
there was rice (of course) daikon salad, normal salad, kimchee, bibimbap, soup, and of course plates of beautifully sliced marbleized meat that you take and grill yourselves on the grill. and then you dip it into either lemon juice, a sweet sauce, or a soy sauce based sauce. it was MAGICAL. I walked all the way home happy and full and smiling all the way it was so beautiful.
Monday was "Sports health day?" so I had the day off and so did host-padre (because hes a teacher) We had tacos for lunch!! It's really weird to watch Mikihiro eat though (he's 3)
I've seen him eat things like fermented soy beans on rice, and seaweed and things that i KNOW American kids would refuse right away. But he won't touch tacos or wild rice soup or ANYTHING. (and yes, I did make the wild rice soup the right way so its not my fault)
WHO DOSN'T LOVE TACOS?! I MEAN REALLY!!! He didn't even try it!!! Nagomi (the one year old) tried and liked tacos!

Anyways, I'm getting a cell phone the day after tomorrow!

Pictures are from Kyoto, the Mexican aisle in the imports store, festival pictures and a picture of a very very slow man standing at the wrong end of the energetic horse

sorry this took so long.

I forget what I still need to write about. gah.
Oh! well, for starters, I have found a very VERY useful thing to do. If a small child ever follows you up the dark stairs (which, if dark, is unlikely) all you need to do to get some alone time is hide in a dark corner and "disappear". WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THIS BEFORE?! Mikihiro was seriously a foot away from me and didn't know it, eventually he got confused and made his way back downstairs. AWESOME.

Japanese schools test A LOT. I mean A LOT. It's test after test after test. They don't do projects. They don't really have homework from what I can see. Not like we have in America where there is sure to be homework everyday. Also my classes are really REALLY...limited? In American I have (will have) English, math, environmental science, music, art, government, econ, Chinese etc. Here, I have English, English b, English writing, oral communication (English) world history, health, gym, Japanese (as a second language) modern Japanese, classical Japanese, and home EC. It's basically English with a hint of liberal arts.
overall, very limited. This has made me realize that I'm more suited to a broad education.

Over the weekend a whooollleee bunch of Mikihiro's friends came over and we harvested the sweet potatoes in the garden next to the house. They were HUGE. and purple. and yellow inside.
over the past week we've had sweet potatoes in nearly everything hahah

Also! I will be leaving for su zhou November 11th! yay!!!!

Kyoto this weekend! as long as it doesn't rain that it.
I've run out of things to talk about
NO WAIT!
tacos.
but then again I could always talk about tacos.
I swear tacos were in every single one of my conversations today.
I was talking about tacos with one of the American teachers and I told him I will without a doubt open a Chipotle chain here. As soon as I mentioned Chipotle a look of intense pain came over his face and he told me not to talk about it. There was also a look of sincere longing.
I don't know how long he has been in Japan or rather away from a local Chipotle but I'm sure that it has been a long LONG time since the beauty that is a Chipotle burrito has visited his lips.
I will some how find a way to get Chipotle to this poor poor man.

I've been reading the harry potter books as an English escape but now I find I've made the mistake of getting addicted and my school library only has them up to the 4th book. SIGH

P.S. taco seasoning fits nicely into care packages.
HINT

pictures are of the sweet potato harvest party and Genki and Hayato. Genki seems to be the target of sticky things and pranks. example: the guys were straightening their hair at school (yes. i don't know why either) and everyone thought it would be fun to make random sections of Genki's hair and make it flip upward. I don't know why he trusts them..

Pancakes and cars

So, I guess first of all it all started with a headache. Because of this headache I didn't go to Kyudo club the other day and instead decided to treat myself to a snack at the convenience store on the way home. I'm not completely familiar with the roads yet, but I knew I was on a street that would eventually take me to a conbini...seeing as they're EVERYWHERE. At this time a few things happened. I saw a car flipped over, I was riding my bike through a group of kids on the sidewalk, and I hear someone say "Kurisuchin" or the small Japanese child version of Kristine. So I slammed on the breaks and turned around and there was Mikihiro sitting at the scene with a bunch of little kids and no Mom in sight.

Whhaaaat????

I was confused.

I think Host Mom had gone to buy groceries and Mikihiro was playing with kids across the street when they heard the crash and came to see. Turns out that I was one street over from my house hah.

So that was interesting. Also, when trying to direct traffic (because it was closed to one lane) there was almost ANOTHER accident because the police men decided to direct their sides at the same time. genius.

Anyways, just another random thing I've noticed about Japan. They LOVE pancakes. I mean, I thought I loved pancakes but I've never seen this kind of affection for pancakes or hotcakes as they call them (hotto-keki). I've seen pancake recipe books and magazines. Ive seen pancake flavored candy, chocolate and cereal. I've seen pancake cellphone key chains and folders and pen cases and what not. It's INSANE. But I'm really not complaining. the pancake chocolate is super good. It's like a cookie covered in a buttery pancakey chocolate and a layer of actual syrup inside. AWESOME. weird. but AWESOME.

That's all I can really think to post right now. I'm working on a video for international club and also Mikihiro's sports day, so I'll post that eventually.

Just realized a month has passed

I was thinking of a title for this post and looked down at the date on my computer...9/26/210...when did i get here again?? i left on the 18th...go to narita on the 20th...so, that's about a week and a month! Weird.
Anyways yesterday wasn't exactly the time of my life. I woke up early to go to Mikihiro's Sports Day which was interesting but very long! from 9:30am until 2pm I think. Sports festivals and culture festivals are held all through school I think. But for kindergartners, they just dance and play games where no one really wins. I also got a nice sunburn. We went out for dinner to coco curry...my least favorite part of Japan actually. You would think that I would love a place devoted to curry! but Their curry is just spiced gravy with frozen veggies and meat...
not to mention the waiter gave me the english version of the menu which (although nice) was incredibly frustrating. I can't even explain why I was near tears because he gave me an english menu. Maybe because I'm treated like a foreigner (I know I am one) and not a part of the family. Maybe because I'm treated like I'm 2 where people ask my parents questions like "and what does she want to drink?" I'm right here! ask me! It gives the whole feeling of isolation. In America, its basically learn english or starve. Not everyone knows another language. everyone gets the same menu, same treatment, same same same.

i didn't even need that stupid menu. I can look at the pictures and read the hiragana and some kanji JUST FINE thank you.

gahhhh

anyways. I was so tired from the sunburn and the long day and the people I think I went to bed without saying a word (I apologized for that this morning though)

Today, Mikihiro was in and out of tantrums for the majority of the day. The was Japanese parents deal with children is very different from how American parents deal with children. The most punishment I've seen Mikihiro have is being set outside and the doors locked. And he just sits out there crying until he goes through the front door back inside. No spanking, no (real) timeout, no taking away things nothing.
I can sometimes feel myself resisting giving him a spanking myself! hahah especially when he cryyelling "okaasan! okaasan! hayaku hayaku okaasan!!" or mom! mom! hurry up! hurry! mom! "hayaku" is really pretty rude too. Also when we were going out shopping and Mikihiro wanted to watch Howl's Moving Castle and lapsed into another tantrum Okaasan just left him home while the rest of up went shopping.
Some how I think the Japanese way of punishment is more like the American way of rewards. I can just imagine George saying "Throw me outside? fine! see ya!" and I wasn't allowed to stay home alone until I was...i forget...uh...older!!

But still, I don't want anyone to judge like "The Japanese are just too soft with their kids!". Its a different culture. Period.

Anyways, I'm making wild rice soup for dinner tonight! I have to substitute the flour for corn starch so I hope it turns out alright (Mikihiro is allergic to eggs and wheat)

*Picture: Pictures from the sports festival and my Chinese HW I finally got around to doing

Vacation!

This week is a three day week!!!!!
why you ask?
Because monday was "respect for the aged" day and tomorrow is the atumnal equinox! Go random days off!
So, Today was pretty much normal except during lunch. Me and three of my friends were going to the cafeteria when one of them said their shoulder hurts. Alright, infirmery?
nope. lets throw salt on it...

uh

ok?

really REALLY confused.

Aparently it's a part of Japanese culture. When a ghost/evil thing is bothering you or hurting you, you throw salt to purify it.

I actually semi knew this, but I didn't know it was put into practice by the teenage generation. That caught me off gaurd a little. Not to mention no one else really stared or questioned them when they came outside with a salt shaker.

After that my friend (the one throwing the salt) asked what my biggest surprise was in Japan. I figured it best not to answer that one...seeing as that WAS my biggest surprise so far. hahaha

And just so everyone knows, just in case my posts are looking a little down, I'm fine, really. It's not all sunshine and rainbows and unicorns offering rides into the sun set, but its a combo of frustration, tiredness, confusion, intrest and fun.
so far.

creepy creepy tanukis

SO!
I haven't really updated since Friday I think but here's what's been goin' on:
Sat: Orientation with 3 other AFSers
Sun: Biwa lake Museum
Mon: *Day off school* Went to look at Japanese yakimono (clay dishes and cups and stuff) and a Tanuki army.

Sat:
Was the orientation with the three other AFS people in Shiga-ken. It was pretty fun but it took ALL DAY! I left the house at 1:30 and got back at 10 or so. And we really just went over the rules again and talked about Japan life so far. Apparently I'm the one with the least amount of problems! (yay!!!) All they talked to me about was making sure I'm over my cold and stay off the Internet (they say once a week is best...but really...the average American AND Japanese teen spends a bit more time online than that) and I'm only really on for 30min to look at facebook and my blog. but alright, I can try less time. As far as the other students goes: one of them is changing families, another wants to change families (the family abuses their cat apparently and it makes him really uncomfortable..) and the other student loves her host family but can't eat or sleep well with the weather this hot, and shes using the AC too much (which is expensive) (shes from freezing canada)
Other than the issues I've decided to ask about swimming since soccer probably wont work out. It was fun just talking in Japanglish to students and the adults (most of them are English teachers) and one person who is from New Zealand and went to Belgium and is not living in Japan.

Sun: Went to Biwa Lake Museum. Pretty much a museum aquarium combo. It was pretty interesting (except I couldn't read anything, that's a bit of a problem). I think Trivium was playing a concert next door too...
It was really just your average aquarium though
Monday: Went to see yakimono and tanukis...I don't like tanukis (its a "dog-raccoon")
They're just plain creepy. And there was an entire ARMY of them. Apparently its a really famous sculpture in Japan. I don't know much more than that though. If you stare at them long enough they start to look like their breathing...
Not kidding.
We also went to...I guess a modern sculpture..park? of lunch. Walked around there for a while.
Also visited one of Japan's old capitals. There was nothing left except a small shrine though. It was only the capital for 3 years and then it burned to the ground because of an earthquake. Oh well?

Soccer

Really quick because I want to sleep!
Today Nishikawa sensei talked to the soccer coach about me joining and so far the only answer I've gotten was:
The content of the boy's practices may be a bit too dificult for you. It would be really had for a girl and its medium hard for them. You can join junior high though, maybe

not.
happy.

I can't even cover it up and be all "Well, in Japan the girls are expected to be cute and not athletic (as seen in gym) so its understandable that they would judge me just for being a girl and deem the practices too hard"

no.
Its not right. its not wrong. its just different.
and its also infuriating. they forgot to mention that part.

小学校エトセトラ

So! (yesterday) because I was too tired I didnt post anything but here's what happened.
The four exchange students at my school went to an elementary school as guests to...well...I dont really know why. To see what it was like? to visit french guy's sister? Either way, we went.
The very first thing we noticed was it was SUPER LOUD. Kids were running up and down the hallway, playing in the classrooms, etc. This was weird. Normally, one would think that the Japanese would keep and orderly, quiet, learning enviroment for the children. But it really was quiet the opposite! I don't remember my elementary school ever being this loud except for recess and lunch. We walked single file down the halls, quiet (as possible), and got drinks at the water fountain for 3 seconds (any more and people got all upset)
So we sat though 2 english lessons and had lunch together with the kids.
The english teacher was from England and he was...uh...interesting? He had (obviously) dyed blond hair. more banana yellow than blond actually... And he was, well, kind of crude? He would roll his eyes when the english tapes would go
"how are you?"
"I'm happy! how are you?"
Also, he had been living in Japan for 8 years...although I'm fairly sure I might know more Japanese than him. He talked to us as if he thought we could all go drinking or something, completly forgeting we're high school students, who have high school, and studying, and school...so he left to go smoke outside.

ANYWAYS

that was all of yesterday. I got home with a nice big headache.
Today was fairly normal. However at kyudo club it was announced that Marie (the exchange student from Belgium)'s wallet was stolen yesterday. So the whole time at club we sat around and collected information about who might have taken it or what could have happened and then gave it to the police man. I'm glad they all took it seriously, because...well its serious stuff! I have a feeling that back home people would say "I'm sorry to hear that" and thats the end of it. but we all sat around for a good hour. Half of that time was in a formal sitting position by the way. My knees are still hurting.

ONE THING I NOTICED ABOUT JAPAN THAT AMAZES ME!:
they BUY sandwiches. this may not sound like such a big deal but still.
Who buys sandwiches?! And not specialty sandwiches or subs. Plain. Sandwiches.
In America, if you're hungry you make a sandwich! You dont go buy one! Even the laziest American household has made a sandwhich at one point!
I'll have to take a picture to show everyone. Because I sound crazy right now BUT I'M NOT!

Pictures are Koten class (classical Japanese) (as if modern Japanese isn't hard enough), and 小学校 elementary school