YATTA

This afternoon I did my final two tests of the semester! Tomorrow I have to perform a skit we made, and then I'll pretty much be home free in terms of academics!!

It has been a long and difficult five months. I can hardly believe I'm going home in less than two weeks! Now that my schoolwork is basically over, I have to work on wrapping up all the things I've been using in my daily life (canceling phone plans, bank accounts, moving out, etc.) That will be another trial in itself.

On Monday we're scheduled to go see some sumo in action! Hopefully I'll be able to take pictures for you guys.

November Update

Wow it's been a while! I can't believe it's been over a month since I've last posted. I'll work on posting some of the pictures I've gained over the past few weeks, but he's a basic run down on what happened in November.

Other than Auntie Carole and Uncle Paul's visit (which was a BLAST), I didn't get to go out and do much in terms of fun. November was midterm season, so I had test after test. I even had a midterm and a project due the day after I went to Disney Sea! There was a period of time where I had at least one test everyday for a week and a half. With no school holidays to speak of in our program, it was one day after the other, studying and then trying my best to function entirely in Japanese. It was really difficult for me; foreign language is usually the class I don't have to worry about, so I was even more stressed when performing much lower than my expectations were set. However, I think it's important to remind myself that I'm taking much more classes and at a higher difficulty than required, and have really learned a lot over the past few months. This just means I'll have to work harder towards finals.

Now that winter break is drawing close, me and my classmates are starting to perk up again (everyone was dead by the time midterms were finished). I've been having fun going out exploring and Christmas shopping for friends back home.

Anyway that's all for now! One of the teachers from the Japanese side of the college asked me to create a 20 minute presentation on America for his Japanese students by Wednesday. And just when I thought I didn't have anything else to worry about.....

Shopping in Ikebukuro (Happy Halloween!)

Happy Halloween you guys! Halloween is over for me, but for you guys it's probably just starting. Today I went to Ikebukuro to do some shopping. What started out as a quest for Japanese textbooks turned into a walk down anime road.

Shinjuku and Movie Theaters!

On Wednesday I went to the movie theaters with my two friends, Undariya and Ga Kyou! We had a ton of fun together, even if it didn't go exactly as planned. I really enjoyed myself! (Click the link below to continue reading, it's kind of long...)

Adventures in Ikebana

On Tuesday, as a part of our culture class, we got to try ikebana! Ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It's a lot more difficult than one may think.

Mejiro School Festival

Today I went to our college's school festival with my friend Undariya (she's from Mongolia!). It was great seeing all the students' hard work paying off.

Studio Ghibli Museum

Today I went to the Studio Ghibli Museum with the N4 class! They were nice enough to let me tag along. We just barely made it in time after classes, and one of us had a ticket that wouldn't work, but in the end we all were able to enjoy the place! It was really lucky, and the workers were really nice.