February 3-9 '02
Rin/Shesta
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wai wai gaya gaya happy sock
Krista glomped Tare Panda @ 03:41 p.m.
I FOUND MY SOCK!!!!!! It's been missing since November and I found it!!!!!! IN other news I made three baskets in gym class today.... unfortunately we were playing badmitton... I'm actually not a bad player... then again the birdie DID hit me in the forehead... k well... I'm going to go play with my sock...
Krista glomped Tare Panda @ 03:39 p.m.
Hi... as much as I love painting, I have no illusions of being the next Michael Angelo, and I go bug eyed after a few hours. Today I've painted four hours without as much as an easle. So my back is killing me and I'm going to hurt something from lack of intellectual stimulation. Although I'm am blogging in a room with some guys playing baaseball with a ping-pong ball and an umbrella. So far no one has gotten a hit unless you count the ping pong ball hitting me... but I think they've labeled the gaijin (foreigner) as out of bounds. I think I'll go home.... *ow* I just got hit again. Not that it hurts really... yes I think I will go home... I have to clean my room and I want a nap. ^_^ Hey I've earned it for pete sake. And I will clean my room. And I mean actually going through all of my crap and organizing so I might have SOME prayer of fitting it into my suitcase.... I sliced my hand open on my back pack strap last night. Now that takes talent doesn't it... *oooh* They just got a hit. And a solid one too. And there was another... he hit the pitcher with the ball.... this is amusing... k this guy can actually hit... this is getting dangerous... later
Krista glomped Tare Panda @ 04:24 p.m.
Hey peoples... haven't blogged for a while, but since we have a class lecture on internet use, I've been naughty and decided to catch up on some blogs... ^_^ So I played hookie last week and went down to Kyoto. It was sooooo sweet! Kyoto rocks! It's the old capital of Japan so it has a whole ton of historical places. My favorite was the Silver Pavilion. It's sooooo beautiful with rock gardens and raked stone gardens and moss gardens. I also was going crazy because you can get Matcha ANYTHING in Kyoto. Matcha is powdered green tea and it's soooo yummy. ^_^ AND I saw a Maiko-san! A Maiko-san is a special kind of geisha in training, but she only studies dance. It was soooo cool. AND I saw her dance! That it is REALLY unusual. They really hard to find and most Japanese people have never seen one and the only time you get to see them dance is if you have special connections at REALLY upscale tea houses. But for some reason God loves me and as I was heading home there were two in the train station! Sweet ne? So this week I'm back at school and today I have a dance competition. I don't remember if I wrote about this and I'm too lazy to look so I'll explain again. Before Christmas break I had a dance competition and since my group won we're going to the regional competition today. ^_^ I get to miss the second half of school and go home early and sleep! I need sleep... k Beware of Pink Buffaloes!
Krista glomped Tare Panda @ 09:16 a.m.
Fye on New Years! Well since Rei is an unequated genius (did I use that word right? probably not) she decided that it would be a good idea to finish up her Home Ec project before the New Year started considering it was already almost a month late. So she worked for long and lonely hours in her bedroom for days slaving away at this stupid little model house and finally finished around supper time on New Years Eve. But lo luck was not with this bedraggled foreigner and no sooner had she finished then a temperature high enough to cook moochi using her forehead overcame her and she collapsed outrageously early and missed the music specials on TV and the midnight temple visit were she could have received a really cool Year of the Sheep dorr knob hanger and or ring the bell that casts out the 108 evil things in people they ring at midnight. And in fact this poor child was so unconcious she in fect didn't even HEAR the bell even though you could hear two of them from her house... or so she heard the next morning... or was it afternoon, when she finally stumbled out of bed. That day was spent in sleep and fevers and the next on a bus tour to see the emperor. Despite her temperature she managed to have a good day. You can only enter the Imperial Palace one day a year and Rei groggly stumbled in and got to see the Emperor and hear him say he was praying for the happiness of the peoples of th world. Then she was dragged by a throng of shoulder height people back to the street where she continued to Tokyo Tower where she ate lunch and then went to the top where she hada wonderful view of Mount Fuji and Tokyo. Then fighting to keep a smile plastered across her fever ridden head she rode a boat to Asakusa where she got to see around the temple (on a festival day) and then got lost from the tour group. After being reunited she went home and collapsed into bed only to go to Tokyo with a friend the next day. Amazingly enough, despite a sore throat she was outrageously lively and splorked and chucked her innocent friend down an ice ridden street. It was a good time in which she wore a Nun's habit and had a drool/seizure fest and then when to StarBucks. After arriving home rather late that night Rei slept in late on Saturday and spent the evening with two grade school girls playing card games and reading Winnie the Pooh. The next day after sleeping in again was spent at a mochitsuki where rice is beat into a smooth doughy substance called mochi. Then taught her host cousins how to play Rummikub and whooped them several times. But they were learning fast and she had to think to win (to fast really I came in second once). Then yesterday this tired young sicko found herself in Asakusa reunited with friends from Juumonji Koukou. That brings us today. Today was the first day back to school and Rei had forgotten what a dumb idea mornings are. Upon arriving at school she cleaned the classroom with the other students and then informed she was doing her farewell speech in front of the whole school in the assembly that would start in less than 10 minutes. But despite the fact she was pretty nervous at first she relaxed eventually and just made up something. And she is highly grateful the speech is fone. And now she sits in front of the computer all alone in a deserted classroom with an aching back wondering if she should do her homework or just go home... of course she will just go home. ^_^
Krista glomped Tare Panda @ 01:32 p.m.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! You guys were freezing your butts off in Wisconsin and I was swimming in the ocean on a sub-tropical island! ^_^ I just got back from my school trip down to Okinawa. It was a blast! I toured the ancient fortified capitol of Okinawa which has three surrounding walls and a huge palace. I went to the peace museums and war memorials and toured caves and military headquarters used during World War II. I jet-skiied, tubed, and kayaked on the ocean, and basically ran around like a picture taking maniac. ^_^ It was fun, and I'm tired and want to go home. *PUUU*
Krista glomped Tare Panda @ 04:44 p.m.
Aargh.... I'm freezing my butt off and there is nothing to be done.... this country's heating beliefs make me want to cry.... especially today. It snowed last night. INCREDIBLY unusual here. And it wasn't just a little snow. We got a good three or four inches and it was still coming down as I trudge to the bus stop with my clogs and mini-skirt uniform. And let me put in it was really beautiful, but after waiting for any length of time in that weather with bare legs things lose their beauty... So I'm standing at the un-sheltered bus-stop as the wind blows snow against my legs which melts then the wind freezes again onto my poor knees. So I wait for an hour and the stupid bus has STILL not come. Now I would have gone home at this point, but Maiko was there so I figured I would at least wait with her. Well the bus finally came but it was too full for me and Maiko to get on so we were left waiting. By this point my bladder has started to complain, but I decided to hold it.... after another hour of waiting in the cold I finally said it was enough and headed to the konbini to go to the bathroom and OF COURSE that's when the bus came. So I had to run back to catch it. (I have REALLY bad timing when it comes to peeing, see a highly embarassing entry from sometime in June...) Well then after my walk to school from the bus stop I arrive VERY wet and cold and then have to sit in a cold library for the next hour futily trying to dry my socks and not catch hypo-thermia.... *growl* k well there is my rant. On saturday I went to visit a pastor in Tokyo. He and his wife were from New Jersey and well... that says about everything. Most hilarious and higly enjoyable visit. They have three sons at Calvin, so I'll try to go back and visit sometime so I'll know at least some faces there in fall (not that I'm terribly worried). Then yesterday at my sadoo lesson my teacher gave me a sadoo bowl!!!! It's sooo cute! (note: sadoo bowls are VERY expensive) She is soooooo nice... too nice really... heh heh... well love you guys! I'm going to go check f my socks are dry.... *whimpers*
Krista glomped Tare Panda @ 12:45 p.m.
I have just had the most incredible week of my life! I spent the last week with a different host family and going to a different school. It was SOOOOOO great!!!! I had a younger sister. She was thirteen, but she was a blast! So I went on Saturday to Sooka which is a city about an hour closer to Tokyo by train. I met an AFS personage there and then my new host mom. That day I got my self settled in and got to know my family a bit. They were a blast. I had a younger sister, Yumi-chan, (as above mentioned) who was in her first year of middle school (equivelant to American 7th grade). On Sunday we went to an amusement park in downtown Tokyo. I got to ride the CUTEST battery powered car (hoshi-!) And then Yumi-chanand I went to Joypolis (a different park) and rode rides till we were sick and about to fall over (including a snowboarding, half-pipe, competition ride, where we won! (this was a lot of talent on Yumi-chan's part and a lot of frenzied screaming on mine)). Then we headed home. The next day I went to school with Yumi-chan. She goes to a private all girls school in Tokyo and has to commute and hour by three trains to get there. The first day was boring beyond belief (me sitting alone in a room with nothing to do), but I DID make some friends (one who reminds me SOOO much of Katie Whelan) and got the CUTEST uniform! It was a Sailor uniform and came with issued socks, coat, bag, etc. This school was REALLY strict. Then after school (which ended early and didn't have club because of parent teacher conferences) Yumi-chan and I being bored and not wanting to study went to the store and took purikura. Then we came hoome and were a complete disastor in the kitchen trying to make karee raisu for supper... it turned out edible....mostly... The next day we went to school again (obviously) and I started club. Get this I went out for (suspenseful pause) soccer. Now let me recap and say that I saw soccer for the first time in Japan, I've played soccer once for a sprts day, and now I have gone out for a hard core club with morning practices and three girls going to the national team! K see Yumi-chan was in soccer and it was her "dream" I join her, so I figured what the heck it's only a week. So I played soccer, and I LOVED it!!!! I just checked Arrowhead's site and I've gone bug eyed, soccer is a spring sport and I'm going out for it when I get home. ^_^ It's sooooooooo cool! And everyone was so nice! And in class I actually was treated like a normal student and participated instead of playing the "no hablo espagnol" game. Before school every morning we did this phsyco exercise together (all lined up in neat little rows middle school and high school) which included karate chopping necks, poking eyes, and beating fists against our foreheads. It was soooo hilarious. And club was similarly militaristic. I dunno I can't explain it, but it was SUCH a great week. I LOVED my friends! And now I'm back at Fudooka (where they didn't even notice my absence) *sigh* My last day I was given a placque like thing where everyone wrote my a message, and they took a polaroid picture of the club and posted it in the middle. (mecha mecha naichatta...) Then we were playing with the polaroid, and I have the most hilarious black mail pictures in the world! I am SOOOO going to visit them as soon as I get a chance.... I'm SOOOOOOO pumped! I could have sworn girls soccer was a fall sport (k not really, I had NO clue about soccer in America). But now I can join the team!!!! But on the placque thing soeone wrote that now whenever I kick a soccer ball I can remember them and my time at Juumonji.... so I'l be crying through most of my games it seems.... *waaaaaah*
Krista glomped Tare Panda @ 04:51 p.m.
Hi peoples. Look at this I'm writing an honest to goodness entry.. heh heh... been a little pre-occupied... I went to sadoo again on Sunday. It was SOOOOOOO cool! I got to go through the whole thing! *nyaaaa* And next week I'm doing a short exchange program to a different school and host family and I'll try to get into the sadoo bu at school. *fun*fun* oh wait... that was Japanese wasn't it sadoo club..er... tea ceremony club. I'm going to a family about an hour towards Tokyo (not very far I suppose but I am going from "country" to city). I will have a middle school aged sister and will go to a private all girls school in Tokyo. Which will be over an hour commute in what's comparable to New York... But I get to wear their uniforms. ^_^ I hope their cute. I also have to go to school on Saturdays... see all schools went to school on saturdays until this year when all public schools were forced to stop (lucky!) but private schools still have 6 days of school a week. But this will be fun. Other than that it's been a pretty normal week. I'm a leader for a dance group in gym. We do a big performance in December in front of the whole school. So I get to try my hand at choreographing and directing. And they actually are allowing me to make the decisions and stuff. Running concurrantly with the dance project we have a long distance unit in gym. I remembered why I loved to run back in my Cross Country days. I improved my time by ten seconds today too! Despite the fact I'm exausted and have some nasty sore muscles. I feel great! And am craving some shoyu soaked, nori wrapped, moochi...mmmm...yummy... I also have a model house project in kateika ...er... that would mean Home Ec. I created a monstrosity of a traditional house (of course) that has no electricity except to flush the toilets (hey it would get all smelly...) and has a cha shitsu, a room for tea ceremony. And then I also have a terribly cruel Japanese proficiency test my last day at my temporary host family's house. So I'm cramming kanji for that... mo yada-! mina wasurechatta! So I'm keeping busy enough. For that matter I have to get home and study... and swipe some moochi. ^_^
Krista glomped Tare Panda @ 04:43 p.m.
K well I've been slightly pre-occupied as of late and haven't been bloggin as I should, and this is going to continue as I have pasted in a section of a letter to my parents... soo sorry... well on sunday I went to a sado (Japanese tea ceremony) lesson. It was soooooo beautiful. I was moved deeply. The Tea ceremony is based off of the saying "One lifetime, one meeting" and is about revelling in the moment. Every movement is choreographed down to the subtlest movement and placements. On person is the server and they bring out the simple supplies to prepare the tea in carefully practiced form. Then they prepare one of two kinds of tea (strong or foamy and weak) in a bowl and serve a single bowl for the entire company (I think... maybe if there are a whole lot they do this differently, but I've only been served with one other person and then you share) and the guests partake in equally precise movements. The whole this is very beautiful. I saw it performed 6 times and got to do a part myself three. It's sooooooo cool! When I got home I was bouncing off the walls! I was sooo pumped. I can't wait until I can go back! Then a generally normal week of school passed. I'm designing a traditional Japanese home to make a tiny scale model of for Home Ec. That will be fun. Then yesterday (Thursday) we had off of school (with school on Wednesday and Friday...) because it's the founding day of Saitama (the prefecture I'm living in) or something like that. So I went to the book store toget paper for the kite I'm making in Art class (of course it will be decorated with O'jamajo Doremi ^_^) and on the way discovered a Book Off, a second hand book store, I SWEAR was not there on Monday. And as I was lloking for the two series I'm trying to complete I stumbled across none other than SAILOR MOON!!! Now let me clarify the although it's currently popular in the states it's hardcore old-school in Japan, and I hadn't seen a single manga up to this point and here I find not only volumes 1-14 but also both Sailor V mangas. Yes Sailor V mangas! I didn't know those existed! They are the story of Minako (Mina) (Sailor Venus) before Usagi (Serena) (Sailor Moon) comes into the picture. I think they were intended to be a free standing story... basically insert major twitching here ^_^
Krista glomped Tare Panda @ 06:07 p.m.
k well I haven't blogged for a while due to various computer irritations and general business. But now I have to back up to...(getting out calander)... the twentieth... I went to the sweetest matsuri yet! It was in this really old town that still had all of the traditional buildings, and they had these carts from a couple hundred years ago that would transport the upper class people. So it had a little stage infront of a cloth shrouded room on the first level, another cloth shrouded room on the second level, and a life size doll of a samurai warrior on the third level. On the stage they had people in traditional clothing and masks dancing. And the whole thing was just beautiful with intricate wood carvings and gold and everything. Then they had more people in traditional clothing in front pulling the cart by two huge ropes. And there over twenty of these carts all different and roaming through the crowded streets of the town. So I went around and watched and, as is common at matsuris, ate WAY too much. I had french fries made from sweet potato, a variety of sweetened beans, a satsumaimo-taiyaki (er...just believe me it was yummy), udon (noodles), o-sembe (rice cracker like things...), and choko-banana (bananas dipped in chocolate, and it was a game where you dice and if you get doubles you get two instead of one, I won and therefore ate two ^_^). Then I went over to a friends house who is a really good cook and gorged myself on gyouza, breaded fish, corokke, shredded cabbage, miso, sekihan, and potato salad... *drool* that was yummy. Then she made me matcha (er...green tea... but not... matcha da yo!). *sigh* ureshikata... Then on thursday of that week (24) in preparation for the school trip to Okinawa, all the second year students (equivelant to a Junior) watched a movie about the Okinawans who fought against the Americans in WWII. So there I sat in a room full of Japanese people, watching my ancestors kill their ancestors, and listening to my class mates crying... I cried too... I hadn't given a rip about those people because I believed they were wrong and we were right so who cares if they die... well I see what a stupid selfish opinion that was now. They were just like us. Their soldiers like our soldiers, just following orders and make it through the war to make it back to their families. The movie was a true story about a girls school who helped the war effort by nursing etc. It showed a group of them commit suicide to keep from being captured, it showed a little sister having to leave the big sister she'd followed into the war aid to die. I've never seen Saving Private Ryan, but the people who had said it was the same. It really moved me, and forced me to realize what I've always been told about wars. There aren't sides, just one big tragedy... anyway...I have a karate match on Friday and Saturday, so the third years came to karate today to help us practice. Now for the last two months I've probably sparred 30 times 30 seconds each (and this is NOT because I haven't been coming to practice)... but today we sparred 15 times 30seconds, and 5 times for a minute then twice for two minutes... I hurt... by the end of it Mai was bleeding horrendously from her foot, Maya had her front tooth knocked loose causeing a flow of blood to cover her front two teeth (very gruesome affect), and I had Mayu's blood on me (despite the evidence that was not my fault). That was a total of three bleeding people and one smeared with blood. And there were only five of us... heh heh... I'm sunburned and windchapped and have a nasty bruise on my heel (in addition to many other places) making it difficult to walk. But I think I improved quite a bit. I'm just irked that I'm not allowed in the match because I'm an exchange student. I'm one of the best in the club, and everyone is kinda bummed I can't be in the match... anyway... I've developed an obsession with cooking. I'm having O'kaasan teach me every night, and am going to buy my own set of dishes on Monday so I can make Japanese food upon my return. ^_^ You'll ALL get to be force fed k?
Krista glomped Tare Panda @ 04:41 p.m.
YAY!!! I finally finished! I have skipped out of karate for the last three days trying to type a japanese speech for a speech contest. I typed almost all of it on Thursday, but it was gone on Friday. So I started again from the beginning, but then it was gone today. So after fuming a bit I discovered that the brilliant man who set up the computers for this school didn't network something, so when I save a file to my user name I have to go back to the same computer to open it... brilliant ne? The Japanese have NO idea how to work computers I swear. My friend is by Japanese standards really good with computers and is going to become a prgrammer and I asked her to set up a Japanese e-mail account for me off of Yahoo Japan or something so I can write e-mails in Japanese (AOL freaks when you try this) but she looks at me blankly and says that's way to hard for her...etoooo....anyway. It is now found and I am now happy and finished. YAY!!! The weather here has turned perfectly beautiful making me feel like I should be running home from school collecting caterpillers on the way, cooking thanksgiving dinner, and carving pumpkins. (Not necessarily in that order) The dreaded visit of the inlaws was yesterday. I was expecting an all out storm and rage, but it reminded me very much of thanksgiving with the president or some such coming. It was really fun actually. I'm sure they now are convinced that Americans are INCREDIBLY rude, but I tried my best. I'm sorry if I don't know the proper way to serve Japanese multiple course meals... Everyone was so nervous... Kazumi-san was shaking, and afterward they all sat around and discussed what was bad to say and what was good and corrected my manners and such... right... but I really do enjoy playing hostess and all. I know people who have *ahem* enjoyed my hospitality are probably staring drop jawed at that statement, but just because I normally don't doesn't mean that I don't LIKE to. Plus I make people feel at home, they don't have people feeding them at home now do they?... heh heh... anyway..In gym we learned the Jitterbug which is a version of swing (why do they always teach the Jitterbug?...it's so weird), and I learned to dance guy. ^_^ We will have to try that when I come back Ken k? (note:we had tried this earlier, but I couldn't lead so it was...amusing *cough*). In other news I ousted my french teacher with obnoxiously good Japanese. Last friday I knew a kanji he didn't, corrected one of his translations, and when my friend asked him a question in Japanese he looked at ME to translate a word he didn't know. NYAAA! Happy was I. ummm... yah... well that's about it for now I think...I wanna go home
Krista glomped Tare Panda @ 06:55 p.m.
THere's a typhoon tonight and it has currently stopped raining so I would like to head home quickly, but first I will catch you peoples up on the little news I have. My new french teacher is really going to make me work in French. I'm excited. I really want to learn... But he does make me dot my "I"s. I'm soooo serious! I got my french test back and every "I" had a pen marked dot over it and a note at the top of my page to dot my "I"s... I stopped doing that in third grade.... I argued for a while, but he's a cool teacher so I'll dot my "I"s when I check over my work... *sigh* I have also given up desserts, candy, and any sweets for a week... I'm going into withdrawal I think... I've had stomach aches every night since I gave up sweets... pathetic ne? k well I wanna get home before the rain starts again. LOVE YOU ALL!
Krista glomped Tare Panda @ 03:33 p.m.
Hi everyone. I have discovered not only the best candy in the world but also the best movie in the world this week. ^_^ K let's start with the best movie. It's the new movie out by the makers of "My Neighbor Totoro" "Kiki's Delivery Service" and "Princess Mononoke". It is *drum roll* "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi"... k so I know the name means nothing to you... honestly I don't understand the whole title... but basically it's about a girl who ends up in a monster/spirit/demon town and her... no if I tell you what happens it'll sound to weird.... but it's sooooo good! I'll bring a copy to America, but since it is in Japanese you better hope it gets dubbed or subbed into english because if it doesn't I'm going to force each and every one of you to watch it in Japanese. ^_^ But it actually has a pretty good chance of going to America because most of the Ghiblie's films are in America (see above list). So keep your eye open for it... unfortunately I have noooo idea how they will try to translate that title in English... it's a pun/name, so it won't translate well at all... maybe something like "Sen and Chihiro's Spiriting Away" not terribly catchy... but that's what it literally means... k well moving on to the best candy in the world. I had my first experience with Kinder(insert sneezing sound here) which means Children's Surprise Egg in german. They're these chocolate eggs with toys inside. And although Disney has something similar to this in America the toys are always really dumb. But these have cool toys inside! I've only eaten one (a somewhat painful experience considering SOMEONE forgot to inform me there was something hard in the middle of my chocolate) but I got this little "OldTimer" car inside that I got to assemble and now spend a probably unhealthy amount of time playing with every day. (but it rolls so well!) I'm limiting myself to one a week so I'll keep you posted on the other marvelous treasures I find inside. ^_^ The toys are collectable too. Some of them are very valuable. But as usual I am far to attached to my toys to ever want to sell them. *niko* k well off to the gym...
Krista glomped Tare Panda @ 01:01 p.m.
Hee hee happy day! I found a sharp pointy thing on the floor in the hallway with which I can poke myself in the eye with when I get mad. Just kidding. I mean I did find a sharp pointy thing in the hallway with which I can poke myself in the eye with when I get mad, but that is not the reason why I am particularly happy today. I am particularly happy today because I can FINALLY get on AOL. BUt it is being painfully slow and the printer isn't working so I will have my Mommy print out my e-mails and am using a second computer to blog while my messages load. Atam ga ii ne? Last week the school locked up before karate club left and our shoes were still inside so me being the hero that I am (I lost at rock paper scissors) ran around to all the entrances to see if I could get in, when I founf that I couldn't I jokingly suggested we should climb through a window, but when I saw a window opne on the first floor I couldn't resist. It was above my head, but I was able to hoist myself up and save all of us from the wrath of the teachers for going home in ourwabake (school shoes). Sunday I had to do a twenty minute speech completely in Japanese in front of twenty stoic salary men... that was interesting... I didn't choke on my tongue or anything, but I've done better speeches in the past (which if you've ever heard me speak is saying something..). Speaking of speeches I was reminiscing on some of my more amusing ones the other day. There was Julie and my speech on Colonial death where I was Julia's daughter ad stepped outside without a coat and immediately keeled over from a cold and then Julie while mourning over my dead body caught it too and keeled over then we covered ourselves with sheets and stood up and gave our speeches while dancing around like ghosts. And then there was Andrea and my speech where we slept and drooled when the other person was speaking and chucked our note cards into the audience. Most amusing those were...Back to the prestent, on Monday I FINALLY got to see Star Wars. YAY ^_^ no but this is quite a story... So I get on the train at Kazo using a passnet which works like a calling card with trains, and then meet up with my friends in various places and train changes along the way. Then we arrive in Kumagaya a VERY out of the way place that was the only place still playing Star Wars. This station was so small it didn't have the ticket/passnet processing machine, just a man behind a window.. So I showed him my passnet and he takes it and whips out, get this, an abacus! I'm not kidding! He pushes the beads around busily for quite some time and announces how much I need to pay him. Needless to say my jaw had dropped to about shoulder level at this. We get out of the station and walk down a narrow road next to a man making tatami mats (traditional straw mats) and past a shrine that had to have been made before Japan oppened it's borders because only a child would have been able to walk comfortably under the arches. Then we cam to a four level designer super store that resembled an airport more than a store (with muli-level parking and everything) and had a movie theater in American style on the top floor. Only in Japan.... so after we saw the movie we went shopping and I finally got a pleated skirt ^_^ Now I feel truly Japanese. tee hee K speaking of movies, I watched a few with my host family over the week-end, and I finally realize how I must have driven everyone who watched movies with me crazy! First let me put in that I am highly greatful to my hostfamily and they are completely perfect for me, just as long as we don't watch movies together... and I'm telling this story because it's hilarious not because I was rea;;y ticked or anything. But they will NOT be quiet! And they sit there asking the questions the WHOLE time! I'm sitting there thinking "If you would shut-up long enough and watch you'd find out" (I'm sure my parents have thought that many times about me...) It's rather pathetic that I understand better than they do when the movie is in Japanese... They saw just as much as I did, but I am the only one who understands... So they have a running commentary going on about the movie. We were watching "I know what you did last summer" (dubbed into Japanese) and I am a generally highstrung person, but I found this movie highly dumb and not in the slightest scary, but both my host sister and mother sat there screaming! That and they yell at the characters. Like how a four year old will yell to Tigger to "Watch out!" when there's a snowball about to run him over. They sit and yell "dangerous! dangerous!" and they'll yell that when two people are in a fist fight too! I'm sitting there thinking "ummm, yeah, fights are dangerous." and then when someone falls over in pain or death they laugh! What the heck?! And I thought I was finally starting to nderstand Japanese culture. Then yesterday in class a butterfly was in the classroom. The girls were screaming bloody murder because the poor thing flew about four feet above their head. They threw themselves to the ground and hid under their desks screaming! I'm NOT kidding! I've known some pretty bug paranoid people in my life but have never met someone afraid of a butterfly before... and these are the same people who love kabuta mushi which are these huge black beetles as long as my palm! Now those make me uneasy... k well Gackt is on TV tonight gotta run. ^_^
Krista glomped Tare Panda @ 05:39 p.m.
k well I stil can't get on AOL so I will try a personals blog... HANA (Mahuta): I read your blog and that is a very good description of Japanese girls and boys and general life. Most amusing HEY EVERYONE CLICK ON THE RINIAN LINK AND READ AN EXCELLENT DESCRITION OF JAPAN MOMMY and DADDY: I can't write you a e-mail I hope you will forgive me... I'll try AOL later today if I can. ANDREA (Larson): Why am I your hero? I went to your site and signed your guest book again with a message. E-mail me k? but maybe you already have and I just can't read it (stupid AOL...) BILL (Gillaspie): "Oh where have you been Billy Boy, Billy Boy oh where have you been charming Billy" (that's a song if you didn't know) Do you still listen to the Japanese radio online? What artists do you like? LAINA (Rowe): I don't know if you can read my site, but it's worth a try. Thank you so much for your postcard it came at a much needed time and was very encouraging. I'll try to write later. JOHN (Hippe): Happy Birthday! I was going to write you a card last night... well I suppose that was actually this morning around 12:30, but writing cards at that time of night can be frightening for the recipients, I'll try to write one tonight but it will be late.... ummm..... I think that was all the people that I've been needing to contact but that doesn't mean I don't love the rest of you!
Krista glomped Tare Panda @ 08:24 a.m.
Well I was going to e-mail, but AOL is being dumb (not terribly unusual), and won't let me on and I can't read why because it's in Japanese... *sigh* well either way, now I shall blog. So I left off last week with a frenzied dash for karate, which I was late for by the way because when calculating the time it would take to run from the computer to the club room I forgot to take into account that it was raining meaning all the clubs were practicing inside in the hall ways and it's a total nightmare to try to get anywhere... But it worked out. I got a new french teacher. He's a 25 year old native speaker (who also speaks near perfect english and japanese) with black curly pony tail and a rather quirky yet very french personality. Most amusing. Unfortunately I realized on Friday how very very bad my french has gotten. I was trying to conjegate "er", "ir", and "re" verbs to explain some stuff to a friend, and I could only remember how to do "er"! (for non french speakers this is first year french stuff) I am soooo worried! But William-sensei is going to give me some extra homework... but what level am I now? I can still read almost fluently, but can't even remember French I excersises! yabai.... Well anyway... I've been getting way to little sleep lately... this was my first real week of school. And I'm getting homework all the sudden... not all from school though. I have a 15 minute speech n Japanese on sunday for 80 some salary men, and a solo in choir (no I'm not special everyone has to do one) and other various irksome tasks... but I did join another club ^_^ Rock climbing! I'm skipping out of karate today to get acquainted with everything (no one else in the club has ever climbed before), but after that I will practice on week-ends so it won't interfere with me knocking people's teeth loose. ^_^ I am also going to Star Wars on Monday ^_^ So I'm keeping very busy and really most of it is fun. And I am relieved that I am finally able to understand almost everything everyone says and say... well... most of what I want to... the problem now is listening during class etc... I seem to have gotten into sonme very bad habits along those lines... heh heh ... k well I'm going to see if AOL is up yet. LOVE YOU ALL! *mwah*
Krista glomped Tare Panda @ 07:56 a.m.
*glomps* and *splorks* and runs around in little circles *bwee*ing. ^_^ My hobbies are escalaters and pumpkin watching. ^_^ I have 28 teeth! Karate club discovered a new use for the exchange student this week. She can't carry complicated messages from one person to another, but if you write on her she can find the person the letter is for and work somewhat like a animate but stupid fax machine.... heh heh... somewhat degrading... I was also said to resemble Donald Duck and a popcorn machine.... and then the said I was cruel because I don't like Donald Duck... but they've never seen the shorts, so they know nothing about his spluttering incoherent tyrades... *sigh* *AAACK* I'm gunna be late for club!
Krista glomped Tare Panda @ 01:33 p.m.
SWEET! The little bar at the top of my site changes every time you go there! So you might be able to see Jooji sometimes too who is Caroline's boyfriend. He has the short cropped hair. The only other person you might see is Isabelle, usually seen placidly making onigiri.
Krista glomped Tare Panda @ 02:09 p.m.
I have a new layout! *weeps with joy* Thank you Julie!!!! And how did you write in Japanese on my site? Can you do that? These are pictures from Paradise Kiss an ultra popular manga right now. The girl with the long black hair is Caroline (real name is Yukkari) and the pink haired girl is my idol Miwako. The guy with the safety pins in his face is Arashi, Miwako's boyfriend, and I want to marry him. It's SUCH a good manga. Well anyway hi peoples! I had Gasshoku right after my last entry. Tha's where we stay at school and practice for our club 24/7. It was REALLY intense. Three practices a day, some lasting for six hours straight. We had practices that started at 8 at night! And we went through are usual warmups three times at the beginning of each session. Then (since we're girls) we stayed up until two or three in the morning playing poker and then had to wake up at six for our next practice. It was REALLY cool! Then after coming off of gasshoku I get home at three in the afternoon and O'toosan tells me I have an hour to pack for our trip to Kyushu then I'm going to a matsuri tomight will get home at midnight, get three hours of sleep and then get up at three in the morning to go to the airport. I look at him dumbfounded and calmy explain to him what I have been doing the last three days. He nods placidly and tells me to go pack. This man is insane I tell you! In any case I vetoed the matsuri idea and stayed home trying to get some sleep before another three days of travel. So I left for Kyushu and one of the talents that I am very happy to have attained is the ablility to sleep anywhere any time in any position (I was dozing of in karate a few times quite a feat considering I was standing AND being punched in the stomach). So I was able to sleep in the car and the plane and then in the bus. It's a funny thing that bus tours exist in Japan because as soon as everyone boards, they fall asleep... but we got out occasionally and saw things. In any case I was able to quickly catch up on my sleep. We went to an Ultra Man museum (he's kinda like a Japanese cross of the Power Rangers and Superman). They had a really cool live performance where a man in a rubber suit beat up rubber monsters. Really corny, but the mock violence was great. Just like Power Rangers with gymnastics and stuff. Really interesting how they pull things off... well anyway, that night we stayed at a Japanese hotel, and they provide a yukata (traditional garment) for everyone who comes! So we went around town wearing our yukata and were attacked by Americans who wanted pictures. ^_^o The next day we toured the famous hotsprings of Beppu. There's twelve huge springs and each one has something unique such as the chemical content etc. Then Wednesday geuss who I met? *NYAAAA* HANA!!!! I met up with her at this theme park of sorts. It was sooooo cool. We ran around and blabbered and I'm sure terrified many a Japanese tourist, and then it started to rain and we ran out into the rain together and got completely soaked. All the Japanese people were peering at the peculiar Americans from shops were they had taken refuge. But there was the slight problem that the Japanese are COMPLETELY cold paranoid and totally freaked that Hana and I got all wet and insisted we use their umbrellas even though they were dry and we couldn't possibly get any wetter and all sorts of similar nonsense and fussing. Needless to say I DIDN'T catch a cold. Then yesterday I had an AFS meeting and afterward Emi-chan and I bummed around Shibuya. We found a super sweet screaming fan shop for anime lovers. Soooo cool! I got the Yami no Matsuei soundtrack which has a lot of really nice classical music on it, a writing board like thing (very common in Japan... don't really have an American equivelant) with O'jamajo Doremi on it, and the funniest total crack head manga I've ever read. It's called Fun Fun Factory and is about this girl who eats a majical berry and gets a song eternally stuck in her head and if she ever sings it cak starts falling from the sky. And she has to find ten guys who also ate magic berries and have similar ailments from it. There's one guy who's body tastes sweet. He was playing soccer (before he knew about his special...gift) and got hurt and he licked his hand and then started licking his leg and then got all excited because he tasted sweet (He loves sweet things) and tried to get the gym teacher to taste him too. Then there's a guy who's really sleepy (that wasn't part of the curse) and he ate a berry to and now he sees everyone as pumpkins! It's sooo hilarious! He wakes up and looks around and sees and whole bunch of pumpkins talking and drinking soda and stuff and he's trying to figure out if he's gone insane but is generally just sleepy and mellow so doesn't get to upset by the whole thing. And he's the singer in a band and as he was singing to a crowd of pumpkins he yelled out "I'm gunna let it fly my pumpkin friends!" Yes highly odd but I nearly choked laughing at it (and I was on the train at the time too). So now I am at school which has started for the second semester, but as I have not yet had lunch I would like to do so. So long and farewell my little pumpkins!
Krista glomped Tare Panda @ 01:28 p.m.
Time for a new layout! Rei-chan should be writing something interesting on here pretty soon. If you missed any previous entries go here.
Krista glomped Tare Panda @ 09:02 p.m.