Lately

I haven't posted anything since last week because I've been busier. This past week was my first week of "real" school, because I went to all the classes with the Japanese students, not just the EP classes. It was good to be able to try to meet new friends, but I was always exhausted by the end of the day because the teachers would speak in Japanese the entire class period and I couldn't understand any of it. Last weekend, Yuho and some of her friends took me to karaoke! It was really fun but LONG! We were there for 4 hours! It was a party room I think because it had 2 booths and a small stage to sing on. They mostly sang Japanese songs but they love Lady Gaga so they also sang some of her songs! On Friday, during gym class, we got to swim! It reminded me of swim team last year so it was really good to be doing something familiar. We only swam a 200 and then did a 25 relay race, but it was still good to swim in general! Saturday, yesterday, my host parents picked up Catherine and I and we went to Kobe! It was a lot of fun! We ate lunch in China Town and then went to a Takoyaki place. Then we shopped around a little bit and went into a bookstore with English books. I was really happy to be able to buy an English book! After that, we went to this nice cafe that had really really good waffles. It tasted like Waffle House, but it was dirty like waffle house is. After that, we shopped around a little more and then headed on home. Today all the exchange students and their host siblings are going to Nara so I'm looking forward to that!
-AC

Update: Pictures

I've been forgetting to upload the pictures for the past couple of days so here they are:

Atsuko took me to try Takoyaki at Q's Mall!

Eating dinner at Q's Mall with Mamisa and Yuho 

After our haircuts!

This was so cute! I came home from school and saw all of my younger siblings asleep together... So cute!

Day 13

Today, I woke up and went downstairs and took a shower. Then, right after I got out of the shower and got ready to go to school, my host mom told me that school was cancelled because of the typhoon! So I got back in bed and got to sleep on and off for 3 more hours! When I woke up, Yuho was still asleep. So I got to Skype my parents and some of my friends and then I went to eat breakfast. I had cereal and bread. Then I just hung out and waited for Yuho to get up. When she did, I went downstairs and talked to her and ate lunch. Then, we watched High School Musical (this family LOVES high school musical) for a little while. After that, my host mom came home and we went to get our hair cut! It was really fun, even though the haircut I wanted got lost in translation. In the end, it was fine and even though it wasn't exactly how I wanted it, it didn't matter at all. Then I went to the post office and mailed a package to my mom for her birthday. After that, I hung out with my siblings and then ate dinner and here I am! Tomorrow I'm going to karaoke with Yuho's friends so that should be exciting!

Day 12

Friday was also pretty normal. I woke up, took a shower, and ate vegetables and rice for breakfast. Then, I headed to school alone. Yuho ended up sleeping in and getting to school at 2pm because she was tired form the night before when we stayed out so late. When we got to school, I had 3 Japanese classes in the morning and then nothing the rest of the day. At 3pm, the principal came over the loud speaker and said that classes were let out early because of the typhoon headed to Osaka that night! All the students were really excited about that! I ended up going to Q's Mall (again) with Yuho and 6 other friends of hers. We first went to do purikura (it was my first time) which was really fun! Then we went to Quickly, an international (there's some in America too, but I had never heard of it) tapioca shop. I got a mango tapioca drink. It was really yummy! Then, we went to sit in the food court to drink our tapioca drinks and hangout. Then, we went to a candy shop and they got some candy and we went back to the food court to eat it. My day ended with going back home and relaxing and going to bed. For supper, we had some really good stew with rice! It was really really similar to a pot roast that my mom makes, which is ironic. But it made me feel really at home!

AC

Day 11

This is a few days late, but here's what happened Thursday! Well, I can't really remember too much of what happened. We didn't have any EP classes so we just sat in the EP room all day. I read Water for Elephants and Max taught me chess. I also took a nap or 2 and talked to everyone. After school, I went home by myself. I didn't get lost this time though! Then, at 7, I headed to Q's Mall (alone) to meet Yuho and Mamisa to shop and eat dinner. We went to a couple stores and looked around and then went to dinner. We ate at this really good Japanese restaurant! I had ramen and gioza and it was really really good! We ended up not getting home until 11pm! It was a late night, especially since we had school the next day. Overall, I had a good day!
AC

Day 9/10

Yesterday I was too busy to post anything about my day, so here's the highlights of my day. I went to school and had Physics, History, and 3 Japanese classes. Then, after school, I visited volleyball club. It looks really intense but I think I'm gonna do it. Then, Yuho stayed at school until 8:30pm, so I had to ride the trains home alone. I was really scared I was gonna get lost, but Yuho drew me a map. I ended up getting a little lost in one of the train stations so it took 1hour and 45minutes when it usually takes 1hour, but I got home in the end! Today I went to school again and had 2 Math classes and 3 Japanese classes in a row, which is a lot of Japanese! Atsuko (the Japanese exchange student who came to SA last year) came to school today and so after school I hung out with her! We rode her bike to Q's Mall and I tried Takayaki (?) for the first time! It's octopus inside of a dumpling and it was pretty good! We also went to a dessert place and I got frozen yogurt and she got a Japanese smoothie. After that, we went to Ito Yokado to eat all the free samples (haha). It's the equivalent of Walmart or Target I think, but with more groceries. Then, she showed me some Purikura (Japanese photo booths) but we didn't go in one. Then we both went to our houses and that's where I am now. I'm pretty tired from the day so I'm gonna try to head to bed after dinner.  Tomorrow I don't have any EP classes and since for this week I'm only going to my EP classes, I don't know what I'll do at school! We'll see tomorrow!

-AC 

Day 8

Today was a pretty uneventful day. I got up, went to school, and hung out in the EP room all day. This whole week the EP students are only going to EP classes so that we can get used to the school. We'll start with the regular classes next week. So the only 2 classes I had today were Religion and Geography. I also went to Yuho's religion class in Japanese. I didn't understand any of it, but I it was cool! Yuho is still at school practicing singing for the School Festival. She won't come home until 9:30pm! Soichiro, my oldest host brother, came to the EP room and picked me up at 4:30 to go home because I haven't found my way around the train stations yet. Tomorrow, though, I have to go home by myself so I don't know how that will turn out! Tomorrow I have 3 Japanese lessons, Physics, and History. And then I'll try to get home without getting lost! It'll definitely be an adventure.
-AC