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.