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.