I am so terribly sorry that I haven`t blogged in so long. I was attacked by a sudden bout of homesickness and was unable to do anything that reminded me of home without tearing up. And I couldn`t really afford to be crying while here so I simply avoided all things American. This next paragraph is from two weeks ago when I started this blog post.

You remember that I told you I had a few days off from school for silver week? Well, then my school had to go and make me come to school over the weekend, to make up for those days lost. School administration annoys me, even here. But it was still okay, because that weekend was MY SCHOOL`S FESTIVAL!!! It was so much fun! But I didn`t get to do everything that I wanted. So saddening. But the festival was exactly the kind of thing that people like daisy and anna would love. There was dagashi and dango and gyoza and udon curry and a bunch of other things that I didn`t know what they were. It was all so yummy! And then there was tea ceremony club(the girls wore yukatas, they were so cute), japanese drumming, games, plays(and yes, they did in fact put on a production of HSM 3, I still cant get over how much they like it), and my favorite: synchronized dancing. There was also some cosplay and dancing. I took tons of photos, but as I still can`t figure out how to upload the stupid things, you`ll just have to wait.

So now I`m going to tell you about the past two(or so) weeks. This upcoming week will be my school`s sport`s festival. Geez, I nearly wrote that last sentance in Japanese. I need to be careful. I`m not quite sure what the festival will be like, but it`ll probably be fun, right? I also sent in an application for the Level 4 Japanese Proficiency test. I`ll be taking it this December. I`ll almost certainly fail miserably. I took a level three practice test and I couldn`t even figure out what part of the test I was supposed to be on. There are three sections(I think). So I just filled in the bubbles in the design of a face and I got half right! I was seriously surprised. 0-0. But I promise to study hard and try to actually understand what I`m doing in the real test. Also, this past week, I actually took the train home with someone! The girl`s name is Hitomi and shes in my calligraphy class. Her station is one stop before mine. She also isn`t in a club, so I`ll probably get to take the train with her again. I`m so happy. :) I also went to another afs meeting and all the exchange students had to make a treat from their home country. I made chocolate chip cookies. They had never had them before but they thought that they were delicious. I doing pretty well in all my classes at school, except for this one class that I don`t even know what subject is being taught and Biology. We`re studying genetics and I so don`t get it. I think I`ve already mentioned this, but i don`t know.

Well, I thought that I was going to have to rant in this post but it turned out surprisingly cheery. I feel much better than I did when I started typing. Sorry this is so short, but the wit just isn`t flowing from my fingers like it normally does. Oh, and this is rather random but I really miss soccer. The boy`s soccer team at my school always practices right outside my classroom(which is on the third floor) and it kills me. I can`t even watch cause I don`t have a window seat. It makes me so frustrated every day. Girls just don`t really play soccer in japan. Also random, But apparently my school is a prestigious private school that the majority of students can`t get accepted into. And we changed into our winter uniforms, which look pretty dang...prestigious. Argh, I so didn`t want to use that word again but I COULD NOT think of a synonym.

I sent letters to my family and they should be there in about a week. Also, any requests for presents should be submitted now, before all spots are taken. I seem to be making less and less sense as this blog continues so....Yours Truly, Emily

I learned two things today. #1: Japanese people love synchronized dancing. #2: Japanese people love it when guys cross dress.
Well, I guess I already knew that. :p But it was really solidified for me today. See, our school culture festival is coming up, and quite a few classes made videos for it. So today, the entire friggin` school(including me)went and sat on the gym floor and watched these movies/presentations for three hours. Every. Single. Video. had guys in skirts and synchronized dancing. I was totally cracking up, and I wondered why americans dont do this? A few themes of the videos were love between a guy and a guy dressed as a girl(dont worry, they were being sarcastic), food, and random insanity. My favorite video would have to be the first, the one with the bike and pie. Hilarious. And you know what I went and did? I, like a total idiot, forgot to bring my camera. I sincerely hope they will show them again at the culture festival. One class did a live dance to the song We`re all in this together, from highschool musical. With authentic dance moves. There were also crossdressing guys for that dance. In wigs. I never thought the day would come when I would actually enjoy that song.

So the day before yesterday I went shopping! I actually bought some stuff! And went on a ferris wheel and ate(yet another)crepe and I saw a live performance of power rangers which was rather awesome. So I bought two shirt/dresses, a postcard, a stuffed bunny that I named Usa-chan/Usagi-kun(I havent decided it`s gender), and the application for the japanese proficiency test. Which I will undoubtedly fail miserably. I probably bought something else but I`m blanking on what it was. oh, well. I went in the cutest shop ever. It was one of my dream clothing stores. It was all lace and flowers and oldfashioned, yet with a chic, modern twist. I saw the cutest dress, and I seriously wanted to buy it but I didn`t have enough money with me. I wrote the name of the store on my arm so I wouldn`t forget/lose it, but then I had to go and take a bath and so now I am `store name` deprived. This is probably one of the few posts that I didn`t check the comments for questions before typing, so I apologize for making this a one sided conversation. I will answer your questions in the next post. Well, I am exhausted, and have school tomorrow so I will end this and go to bed. Night.

Sorry I haven`t blogged for a while, I`ve been really busy. So first there is school, and then we are preparing for the culture festival, and my home room teacher has been giving me tours of the clubs, AND they`ve started giving me homework and I`ve started taking a second Japanese class. So, yeah. Busy. So I have a lot to say so I`ll start with today`s reflections and then go back to last weekend.

So the schedule of my day in terms of mood goes like this. I wake up and I sooooo don`t wanna get out of bed. But I do and I eat although eating too early makes me nauseous. Then I get on the train and read and listen to my ipod and it`s very peaceful. I don`t usually want to get off the train. OH YEAH!!! I actually forgot to tell you that my stuff arrived!! Thank you so much!! I really, really appreciate it. And thanks for the comics, too. I showed them to my host mother and she really likes them(though she doesn`t usually get the joke). So back to my day. After the walk to school(which is nice exercise) I usually feel a bit depressed(not the right word) until something good happens. Like today, I was about to leave and then this random group of boys from my school all started saying things like `see you later` and bye bye.` I said bye back and they got all excited. I was so happy I smiled the whole way home. Another time was when this girl from the class next door who is a friend of a friend hugged me, and then my friend pretended to be jealous and we all had a group hug. I wouldn`t consider it a big deal in the US, but here, since I don`t speak the language, I usually feel left out of the conversation. So any instance when they show that they actually like me is really huge. Also, I walked to school with people for the first time!! They were this adorable couple from the class next door. They are really nice.

So my day w/　so-chan. So first we went to theis huge(and I mean huge)store. First we looked at food and then clothes and then books. It was so much fun. Then we did karaoke. I can`t believe we don`t have it in the US. It would be huge. They had tons of english songs including bon jovi and lilly allen and bowling for soup. They didn`t have beatles though which surprised me. We mostly sang pop songs though, cause we both knew them. So-chan really likes taylor swift. We also did Puri Kuri!!!! At least, I think that is what it was called. It was soooooo much fun. It`s like a photo booth, only ten times better. The pictures we got were super cute, I can`t wait to show you. :) I also got this delirious mont blanc crepe. So yummy. I also took a picture.

So I`m getting a few days off from school cause of some holiday or other. I actually don`t know what the holiday is. So I`ll be blogging a tad more. Lessee, I had a ton of stuff that I planned to write, but now I can`t remember a bloomin thing. Um...well, they call `Wolverine(the movie)` Xmen Zero. Just a little tidbit of news. So all banks are closed on sunday, can you believe it!?! There aren`t even many christians over here. And the banks are closed on holidays too, so I am officially broke. Oh, well. I don`t actually need much money in daily life. It`s just for souvenirs and food. And when I go out to do something. Okay, well I can`t think of anything else to say so I`ll blog again once I think of something. Ta.

Today I met my host parents kids and grand kids. The grand kids are SO CUTE!!!!!! Their names are Chiharu and Ryuusai. Chi-chan is three and Ryuu-kun is 5. Ryuu-kun wears glasses and he is so frickin shy and adorable. :) love him. Chi-chan is like any bossy three year old. She calls me Emily-chan and when we went on a walk she held my hand the whole way back. so cute. So they were here all day and it was rather exhausting. Also Chi-chan speaks better Japanese than me. I`m not even at the level of a 3 year old. :(
I'M MEETING SO-CHAN TOMORROW!!!! KARAOKE AND SHOPPING!!!! But I need to exchange some money, it`s so hard to find a place and time in daily life.....Thanks for the permission to buy clothes. I`ll be sure to buy some tomorrow.
Anna, I`m sure you can send me a letter. I`ll be eagerly awaiting it. And thanks so much for always commenting. Oh! And I started following your blog. I really like it. It`s amazing how many things we felt the same way about(though that line of thought is rather presumptuous of me). I can`t remember what else anyone talked about. Sorry. Well, I got to get off to go to bed. I couldn't`t fall asleep last night FOREVER so I ended up only getting 5 hours of sleep.
Oyasuminasai.
Emily
p.s. I am trying to make these posts sound upbeat and positive. Is it working?

Grapes

I know that I just wrote a post but I just HAD to tell you about the grapes. They were delicious. The best grapes that I have ever tasted. I also got a roasted sweet potato which was also delicious. After we bought the grapes and a few sweet potatoes we went to a cafe and I got a yummy pumpkin parfait. It had brownies and pumpkin and ice cream and flan and whipped cream and cornflakes. Yum. The cafe was named Jonathan`s something or other. Then I went home and we ordered take out and I got temura and soba. I don`t really like tempura but I love soba(noodles). Oh, and I bought another charm. So tomorrow I will meet my host parents kids and their grandkids. Not sure how that will go. Then on sunday I`m gonna go to karaoke with So-chan and her friends. It`s gonna be so much fun! I don`t think I`ve learned much Japanese since I got here. I`m worried if I`ll ever be able to speak the language. Sigh.
I am seriously in need of clothes. Not from a necessity standpoint so much as a fashion one. I`ve been wearing the same 8 or so outfits over and over. It`s very saddening. yup.
I feel that since I came here my spelling and vocabulary of the English language has been declining. By the time I come back home it may have been reduced into simple words like `cool` or ``sup`. Well, now I`m just sort of rambling so I think that I`ll adjourn this post for the sake of quality. Sayounara.

How I loathe, abhor, despise, and abominate being told that I will make a good wife. It is sexist, patronizing, and just plain rude. I also rather dislike pet stores, they make me feel depressed.

So that was today`s rant. Now about my life. I went shopping at the super center at some point(can`t remember when, time isn`t really one of my strong points) and I saw the cutest suit dress ever. I really wanted to buy it but it was 250 dollars and where would I wear it, anyways?

It was really cute and mature, though. I also saw this awesome ballgown with matching sparkly shoes. I think that Japanese fashion on a whole is really cute. And I`m meeting So-chan and some of her friends for karaoke this weekend. Fun! So my host mom is part of this frontier(?) group and today she invited them all over. They were all little old japanese ladies. And boy, could they gossip. They sat at the living room table and talked and ate and talked for 6 hours. Thankfully, I didn`t have to sit there the whole time. They were totally adorable, though. Lessee, not much else new in life, life here is pretty much the same as in america. Oh yeah!! So I was let out of school early one day and I got home too soon and my host family wasn`t there yet. So I took a walk around the neighborhood. And guess what I found. A PARK!!! And a restaurant and a very cheap clothing store. I also found a shortcut from the station to my house. The park is just a little area with a trellis and swings and a slide and a few trees, but I really like it. :) Yup, it`s nice.

So the only place I hear japanese music playing in my daily life is when I`m at the supermarket. They always play this one song that I don`t know the name of and it`s driving me nuts. *annoyed face* Argh. So annoying. But I have a little radio in my room and lately I`ve been listening to this one station for american militarians(is that a word? spell check says it isn`t,but what does it know.) in japan. It`s surprisingly amusing. The main host guy is always making jokes about americans. They play music, give the weather, talk a little about politics, give you information on events, and tell you fun facts. Like that today was the day that the teddy bear was named. And I learned why they chose to name a bear out of all animals after him. This week is also busy and the weekend will be too. So much to do.
Thank you so much for the post, grandma. I really liked it. :) Daisy, congrats on the rice, you must be so proud. Also I don`t know how I get up so early, it must be a gift(and I don`t use an alarm clock, I just wake up automatically. yup, i`m amazing). Anna, I am very proud of you. You`ve matured so much in the short time that I`ve been gone.*sniff* Anna`s growing up. Oh, and I miss you too. :(
Right, well it`s time to get off. I am going to pick grapes tomorrow, and I need to be well rested.
Night.

Whoops, I forgot to post my schedule last time. Try to forgive me. so here`s the schedule of my typical day Monday through Saturday.
5:45 am: wake up to get ready for school.
6:40 leave house to catch train at 6:44
7:18 switch trains
8:00 arrive at Matsudo Shinden station. 25 minute walk to school(and thats when taking all the shortcuts and walking quickly)
8:40-3:00 at school. then at 3 repeat the same travel plan as above only backwards to get back home by 5:20
5:30-have dinner.
6:30 do dishes, then study japanese and do homework
8:30take bath and get ready for bed
9:00watch tv and go to bed at 10
yup, thats basically it. now to discuss my past few days with school being cancelled(for me) cause of tests. So the day before yesterday was my host mom`s b-day. We had a celebration BBQ with the neighbors yesterday. I also went to a fish market, which was awesome. There was uni and tako and roe, all freshly caught that morning. We ate that fish at the BBQ. It was delicious. Oh, and I saw Two and a Half Men on tv in japanese. It was really quite hilarious. I also saw Battlestar Galactica. Today, I got up early (6:00 again) to go to the flea market with my host mom to sell things. We were there until about 1:00. The flea market was pretty cool. On the first of every month, a bunch of people go to this place and sell things. I bought an entire manga series for 200 yen! So cheap! After that, I went with my host mom and her friends to a meiji style cafe. The uniforms for the waitresses were really cute. :) I forgot to bring a camera though, so I didn`t get a picture. :( Saaaaadd. But if you look up the Meiji Era, I`m sure you could find it. The meiji restoration era is right when guns were first being introduced, swords were banned, Japan turned into a government, and japan started to become westernized. So the uniforms are a cross between like 19th century europe and yukatas. I learned all of that from the manga, rurouni kenshin. See? Manga IS good for something. Ok, question time. I do help with the cooking some, but it`s mostly just prep work. I`m sorta busy, so I usually don`t have time to cook. No, I haven`t met the grandkids, I`ll meet them sometime this week though. My room is just a tatami mat room. Its bare except for a wooden table, a wooden chest of drawers, and a built in shrine, which isn`t that interesting either. Yeah I`m in walking distance of places. Bakery, Karaoke, Grocery store, restaraunt, futon store, trainstation. But I`m not allowed to go out on my own except to school, so it doesn`t really matter much. You really think I look cute in my uniform? I think I look like a catholic schoolgirl. Everyone else is cute, though. The weather here is pretty cool for summer time, but the japanese people think that it is very hot now. Everyone carries gloves and a hat and a umbrella and a fan and a handkerchief with them. Which is not as awesome as it sounds cause the stuff isn`t fashionable. I can`t wait for the ipod. So you figured out the address ok? I was worried. Well I gotta go so one last thing I can`t upload pics on facebook yet cause this computer dont have java script. bye.

So today was a school day. I had PE(ping pong, they call it teberu tenisu here), then I had some strange class. the front of the textbook for that class said Food Composition and inside the textbook was pictures of food and lots of japanese writing. today we looked at fruit pictures. and mushroom pictures. it was very strange. i made a new friend today in pe, her name is miho-chan and shes from a different class. today I also had japanese(not for me, for the japanese people, it teaches kanji) and calligraphy. calligraphy is ok, i dont really like the teacher. i told my homeroom teacher that i wanted to take calligraphy so she signed me up for three classes and the calligraphy teacher made me introduce myself at each. :( it was awful. but its fun going there. all the people i pass on the way say hello! nice to meet you! this one group of boys always say emily and salute me when i pass. they`re so funny:) the girls in my school all giggle and wave. everyone at the school knows my name cause they introduced me at the opening ceremony. which was horrible. i had to give a speech. i hate giving speeches. theyre awful. i dont have school tomorrow and only on monday next week so im not sure what to do. what to do what to do. okay time to address the posts then ill give you a schedule of my day. anna, most people have to travel a bit to get home and they have clubs and sometimes cram school so they dont get home until late. so most people dont hang out with friends after school. maybe sunday, or MAYBE saturday. but we have school for half a day on saturday so i doubt it. i guess u could call it family time? also, everyone loves my posts? go figure. daisy, school would actually really boring if it wasnt japanese. also, i found out today that yuki means courage. kyo=today and yuki=courage. cool, huh? mom, thanks for the link. its actually not that hard to upload pictures it just takes a while. also, its hard to take pics of school cause we are technically not allowed to bring a camera. i snuck a photo of my classroom yesterday. i also have a limited time on the computer so i can either blog or upload photos. ill try to upload photos tommorw. um, cant think of anything else to say. oh, they are always showing american movies of the 80`s on tv in badly subbed japanese. not really relevant to anything but i thought it was interesting. also there is gonna be an article about me in my school newspaper, so try to find the website. its something like senshu.matsuda.jp, but i wouldnt try that. well, im off. not sure what im gonna do but ill do something. maybe study japanese. bye bye.