Japan-Land

As its my last night here, I feel that I should do a quick summary of the high and low lights of the trip. Didn't do anything today except go to some relatives place (the daughter DID have a Card Captor Sakura PS1 game, which I dare say was awesome) and go shopping in Machida again with Yuki, my conversation partner.

Anyways:


Top Five (not in order)

1. Convenient Stores. Seriously, they are convenient and awesome. Open all the time, and have so much stuff. Like, complete meals. Oh Family Mart~ Not to mention like 210398710293801293 vending machines like, every few metres LOL. They only sell drinks though. And cigarettes. And beer.
2. The cheapness. Aaaaaaah how I will miss stuff that only costs like a few hundred yen D: Or 500ml bottles of water for 90 yen. Water is like, $4 for 250ml in Aus? >.> Oh Hyaku En Shop aka 100 yen shop!
3. The fashion. I swear, the Japanese are the most fashionable and well presented people on the planet. Screw Milan or Paris or whatever, Japan is the place to be. I felt like such a bogan walking next to these people |D;;
4. OH THE RANDOM. There was not a single thing I did not laugh at in this country. Everything from the television to randoms walking around the streets dressed up as pandas trying to sell karaoke. Not to mention the uni stripper. And the chikan.
5. Trains. The rail system here craps all over Cityrail. I can get around better in Japan than I can in Sydney and I thats saying something.


Bottom Five (not in order)

1. The staring. Oh. My. God. People. Have you never seen a westerner before? DX Seriously, we're not that exciting or scary. >_< Also, this did not help my self-consciouness of being so much LARGER than everyone else and the general feeling of misplacement.
2. The no trying on tops policy in some stores. Oh this pissed me off. Some stores would let me, others were all like aslkdjkasld NO. Honestly, whhhhhyyyyyyyyyy!? I don't get it. Its not coz of makeup, coz they have the makeup bags for you face. If it was a hygiene thing, wouldn't you opt to rule out pants? o.O However, it was fine to try dresses on. Seriously don't get that wth.
3. Tiny stuff is tiny. Grrr, I could not find ONE pair of shoes here that fit. I struck it lucky with clothes some times, but shoes were just a no-go. Annoying, considering how freakin awesome and CUTE Japanese shoes are T.T
4. Weird food*. Yeah....I couldn't even figure out what stuff was half the time. I thought about going with the 'dont ask' policy, but eventually opted for a 'if i dont know what it is, dont eat it' approach hahaha.
5. WEATHER. I hate humidity. The end.

* Food was hit and miss. What I liked, I loved (ie ton katsu and curry. ....katsu curry is the greatest thing on this earth) but what I didn't like I hated. OMG NEVER EAT WEIRD RADISH THING WITH SOME ORANGE PASTE. OMG I WANTED TO DIE.




Well, I think that sums it all up. I highly recommend this country for those who are depressed. You will be constantly laughing everytime you walk out the door at everything that just makes you go WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS PLACE. Yeah, its just awesome. That said, I truly miss Australia and am very glad to be flying out tomorrow.

Back to the sane world people.
Bai bai.

As I have no more classes, I have time to go over the last few days:



Sunday, 12th July

Went to Kamakura, which is a really old city near Tokyo with like hundreds of temples and shrines. Okaa-san, Emi and I drove there and we went to Hokokji, which is a bamboo forest and temple, first. The forest was amazing, theres really no other way to describe it. After that we went to see the Daibutsu - the Giant Buddha Statue. Seriously, that thing is freakin huge. When I get my pictures up, you'll see what I mean. For 20 yen you could go inside it, thats how huge it was. Its like 700 hundred years old or something ridiculous. So coool so coooooooool.

We also visited the Sasuke Shrine, which contrary to my intial thoughts, it was not a shrine to Sarutobi Sasuke (or Uchiha Sasuke for that fact). Sasuke was the name given to the temple for some reason. Its an abbreviation or some peoples names, I think, who hid there during the wars like hundreds of years ago. I took a photo of the notice board that had the story on it in any case.

My favourite temple was the Kiniaritenben, which was like literally in a cave in the mountains. The temple symbol was the Triforce so i was like LOOOOOL the whole time. Anyways, at this temple, if you wash your money in the water here, they say that you will become rich next year. So, I wash like every single coin in my wallet haha.

Lastly, we went to Tsugaoka Hachimanguu (I think) and it was this giant multi-building place that was just freakin huge. Again, hundreds of years old. Oh I love temples and stuff. Theyre just so awesome and cool :D

That night we had dinner with Okaa-san's brothers family. It was a BBQ and we had lamb so yay. Their daughter was heaps cool coz she liked Naruto and Bleach and stuff so we talked for ages. Awesome day.



Monday, 13th July.

Ahahaah class >.> After class, we had a excursion to a Kabuki performance like in the Ginza or something idk. While its good to experince these cultural things.....it was really　quite boring. We were up in hte nosebleeds at the theatre and ALL the Japanese school kids who were obviously there for the same excursion WERE ASLEEP. I am not even kidding. I've seen a Noh performance too, and that was boring as hell haha. Kabuki is slightly cooler. Slightly. I think its because of the stage-ninjas.

Oh wait! Monday was chikan (rapist) day. While we were waiting at hte trainstation, some creeping old man was like, followng us around and staring at us and stuff. He then came right up to me and starting pushing a 5000 yen note at me. I was all 'dude wth.... o_O' Yuko told him off and sorta kept him away from us whilst the other teacher went to the Police Box (which is at the station) to get him to go away, which he did. Stupid chikan. It was a little creepy at the time, but now its just a little funny. 5000 yen? Please. We have standards dammit.


Tuesday, 14th July

HARAJUKU BABY. I swear, that place is like my spiritual home or something. Went to Like an Edison and bought DIM, even though the release date had officially been changed to the 15th and no other shops but Edison were selling it haha. Oh yay. We hid the jack pot when we eventually found 'cheap street' which just had awesome awesome clothes and lolita stuff for cheap cheap cheap and in normal sizes. Alas, shoes were still tiny. I want my tartan, sparkly connie things DX I got a few skirts, a top and an ENTIRE LOLITA DRESS. Seriously, the dress, which would have cost hundreds of dollars in Aust, only coz the equivalent of like $60 and it fits perfectly. It has like little cat ears, some wings on the back and a tail NYAAAA. I'm considering wearing it on the plane haha.

Had a rest in Starbucks coz we were quite decisively exhausted, and I saw this giant bus drive past advertising DIM, then another advertising Gazettes tour. asdljaskdljds IT WAS AWESOME. Oh Harajuku. AND AND AND We saw this girl walking past, all done up in lolita, but when she got closer we saw that it was actually AND OLD MAN OMG WHUT.

There was also this shop called Condomania, just chilling like, in the middle of the intersection. They had this thing called Bounce Back Bob, which i was so incredibly tempted to buy just becase of the lols then I remember that I'd have to get it back through customs and THAT MIGHT BE A BIT AWKWARD LOOOOOL

We tried to get dinner there, but all the places were full so we ended up hopping on the train and going to some random place to eat Thai. I had beef and the beef  was just like, all grizzle, and the meals were tiny so I was still hungry ahaha. It was kinda yummy though. Man, I was so tried that night ahah.


Wednesday 15th July

Yeah, I really didnt do much on that day coz I was sick. I sorta just went to uni, pottered around Daiei (which is a mall thing near the Uni) then went home and slept. I also studied. Excitement.


Thursday 16th July

Last day of Uni! We had some really easy exam thingy which I'm sure everyone aced. We had lunch at an Italian place coz I still wasnte feeling well and didnt feel like Asian food, so I just wanted some pasta. After that we headed to Kawasaki Station because the mall there (like, i mean literally AT the station) coz Rach wanted to get an electronic dictionary from the same place I did. They didnt have any bargains however, so shes going to look in Akihabara when she goes on Sunday.

Also today, during class, some students decided to flash  us for attention. Seriously, this country has like so many issues I dont even know where to begin. We were just sitting in class, and outside our room there is like an eating area that joins onto the cafeteria. A bunch of guys were sitting there and each time we looked out the window they'd wave. Then one of them starting showing off his 'muscles' and when that got a reaction, he decided to take off his shirt all together. THEN Rowen wrote a sign saying Do It Again, and held it up to the window so the guy, took his shirt off, grabbed one if his mates and proceeded to pretend to have sex with him. SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HELL.　But god bless Sarah and her quick photo-snapping skills LOLOLOLOL. Anywyas, convinced he had to go furhter to impress a class of 90% girls, he took off his pants. o_______o;;; Oh Japan, what is in your water, honestly? He still had his undies on but still WTH. DID THEY NOT NOTICE THE TEACHER IN OUR CLASSROOM!?! XDDDDDD

Yeah, interesting day. When I was on the bus coming home, some guy walked out in front of us so the driver beeped the horn. The random then started ranting and kicking the bus. I was all WTH.

Omg, everything is so random in this country.

Yes, I know,　no blogs recently. I cant even remember what I'v done - Kamakura, Kabuki and Harajuku. Basically, amazing, boring and lots of shopping respectively.

Sorry, I've been so busy with Uni the last few days and just plain exhausted. I'm actually getting sick. I have a cough and my throat really hurts. Havent eaten dinner either coz I feel sick. *sigh* Also, the rainy season is officially over so now its just ridiculously hot DX I want to cry its so horrible.

Anyways, I have an exam tomorrow and I'm so screwed. Basically, I've forgotten that I'm hear to study so my effort may have been somewhat lacking. But to be quite honest, i think the whole uni has been a waste of time. I haven't learnt anything new - all the grammar we've looked at over here we did before we came. Same with the kanji. Basically, its just been a very expensive three weeks of revision that we could have done in Australia. Class was a waste of time - we would have been better solely doing home stay and getting out int he country talking to people, which I have tried to do as much as possible. But yes, Uni has been a waste of time effectively, so I'm really not impressed about that.

That said, I have enjoyed being here, definately. Aside from the waste of time class (which ends tomorrow, thankfully) I've had a wonderful time. No, I probably wont be blogging anymore. Well, maybe coz class will have finished. Who knows.

Man, I just inquired about sending an 8kg box of stuff home to Australia (coz it will be really heavy in my luggage) and it will cost over 10 000 yen. .... I dont have 10 000 yen left so I think I will just pay the extra luggage fee of 5000 yen. GAH HOW ANNOYING. Man this is such a freakin pain. aslkdjasoidjasdl I HAVE NO MONEY LEFT T_T They made us buy stupid HEAVY text books for next session.

Now I'm mad and in pain.
Bed time. Screw study.
I miss my Australia dammit. Where is my winter!?

Hey guys, here are the blogs from the first week which I never got around to posting.

Tuesday 30^th

 

ABUNAI!!

 

…so my computer decided to work again, right as rain. O_o I blame this weird-arse country for confusing my poor baby with its crack XD Anyways, onto Tuesday!

 

After class we went to some Japanese restaurant near the train station called OOTOYA. I had a “hamburger” only to realise that hamburgers in Japan are nothing but a beef patty LOL. But I was craving red meat and I got excited because it was made with Australian beef :D It was a nice little meal and not very expensive – it came out on a hot plate, the meat patty on a bed of fried onion rings, with a side of baked potatoes eggplant and daikon raddish. I only ate the potatoes of course. I tried daikon but it tasted…not nice so I didn’t eat it. There was also some weird white garnish thing on the patty of course which I turfed off. The meal also came with a bowl of rice, miso soup and a cup of green tea. Basically, I only ate the patty and the rice but I mixed it together and poured some yummy sauce stuff over it and it was amazing!!

 

I think we pottered around the shops after lunch for a bit – I bought this cute shirt dress thingy that came with a tie that was on special, and the latest Shounen Jump. Yeah! The new Fool’s Mate was out too (Gazette cover WITH poster *flails*) which I bought coz it was 700 yen oh joy.

 

Ok, so the event planned for this day was a bowling competition with the Senshu students and the other international students at the Uni. Honestly, I have no idea what I was doing there because I cannot bowl for crap. Seriously, wth. I was in a team with a boy called Nobuto, a lovely girl called Ayumi, and another girl whose name I can’t remember |D I don’t think she was Japanese. It was ok though because NONE of us could bowl. We sucked so much it was pathetic. I was the worst bahaha. I think after 5 sets, I had three points XD I finished the first game with 54 Bahaha. After the second game my total score only JUST broke 100. I DID get a strike though. Still don’t know how that happened bahah.

 

After everyone finished, there was an awards ceremony – heaps of awards. I almost had a heart attack because MY NAME WAS CALLED OUT. WTH I STILL DON’T UNDERSTAND. Apparently, I got a prize because I for the 65^th highest score. WTH. This country makes no sense, I swear. Anyways, I won some shampoo and soap and a face towel set. Apparently it’s a pretty standard gift here and the brand is actually really expensive so yay. It might be hard to bring home though, but I’ll do my best.

 

Phyllis wanted to go shopping afterwards but she disappeared so Rach, Romy, Laura and I (probably someone else but I can’t remember D: Sarah, I think) hit the shops with Ayumi and some of her Japanese friends. They were SO lovely and hanging with them was fun. I really felt as though my Japanese improved from that experience. It got easier to talk to them and stuff. They DID have a giggle when I told them I played Gyakuten Saiban (Phoenix Wright). Still not sure why :/ We went to a book store and every manga I picked up they were all “DAME!!! ABUNAI (No, that’s dangerous!”). Apparently everything I looked at was yaoi or hentai or something haha. It was so funny. We also went to an accessory store and Romy and I bought fake eyelashes with glitter tips because we wanted to be GYARUS XDD I also got a badge that said POWER FLOWER. It has a heart and a rainbow on it. While we were in the store, this guy walked in and I SWEAR TO GOD IT WAS MIKU. It had blond hair, a lip piercing, jewellery, make up – the works. His toenails were painted with GOLD GLITTER and he was looking and lacy gloves. I…didn’t know what to think all do, so all I did was stare ahaha |D

 

The interesting WTH moment in Japan for that day was THEY HAVE DO IT YOURSELF PIERCING KITS O________O You can get a gun-needle thing for piercing your ears, lip, tongue, nose, belly button – everything. IT’S INSANE. I could not believe it. HOW is that save. Assdjasdkj WTH.  The girls then took us to the supermarket to get some dinner – I got instant yakisoba for dinner which was soo yummy – and then we headed home after that. Pretty sure that was all we got up to besides Romy and I killing ourselves laughing at random-as-hell stuff on the tv. We started betting on J DORAMAS and I won a 100 yen. YAY. But yeah, that’s it for Tuesday.

 

 

Wednesday 1^st July

 

OOKII GAIJIN*

 

*giant foreigner = more on this later.

 

Wednesday was Ghibli day!! \8D/ We finished class an hour early so we could grab some lunch before meeting at the station to head to Mitaka for the Ghibli Museum. For those that don’t know, Studio Ghibli is like the equivalent of Disney, and they made movies like Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle. The uni paid for our ticket to the museum AND all our train tickets which was awesome.

 

The museum was amazing. I’m not a huge Ghibli fan (only seen Howl’s and Spirited Away) but just the layout of the place was fantastic. Unfortunately we couldn’t take photos inside the museum, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. I did get some ones outside though, so once I get my computer online I will be able to share photos! \8D/ There was a room with a GIANT Cat-Bus for children to play on. Romy tried to line up because we wanted to climb on it too, but the lady told us no kids over 12 :( Lol, some little kid waiting in line was all “ooooooh ookii gaijin” when we walked past. LOLOLOLOLOL. XDDD We pretty much are stupid gaijin so its ok.

 

Once we were done looking around, we hit the gift shop. I bought a little black fluffy thing with eyes (its from My Neighbour Totoro, which I have seen YEARS ago when a Japanese exchange teacher came to my primary school) which is hanging on my bag, chyeah. Some of us decided to hang in Mitaka to shop, but the rest of us headed back to Ikuta (which I believe is the name of the ward/suburb/whatever of where we are). Romy and I got pizza and pasta for dinner coz we were craving western something fierce, whilst the others went back to Ootoya. We decided to get cocktails with dinner because they never check ID in Japan (legal drinking age is 20 in Japan – besides if they caught us we would just plead baka gaijin) and the drinks were cheap. We had Cassis Orange, which was just Cassis Liqueur (black current/black berry or something) with orange juice. It was so very drinkable but we only had one with our meal. Haha, anyways, whilst we were eating, we happened to glance out the window and, no joke, there were two guys walking around the streets, one dressed as a panda, the other as a duck. I think they were advertising karaoke. Seriously though, people in this country have no self-respect I swear bahaha.

 

After dinner we got dessert from Mister Donut (donuts, obviously) and wandered around a music store. Romy and I practically died laughing at all the DORAMAS (tv dramas) omg so funny. Took a few stupid photos and stuff. There was one dorama we were going to buy because it just had like 239810938120 men in it and that was it. Turns out, Rach has the series on her computer and its basically Ouran Highschool Host Club in people form. You know, girl disguises self as boy to enrol in an all boy’s school. Its totally crack, wth. I’m sure I’ve mentioned that there is something wrong with this country.

 

Seriously though guys, I’m loving it here. Everything is just SO funny and just great. We’re all having a blast here in the dorm (my roommates are Lisa, Romy, Laura and Rach) and it will be kinda sad to leave them to go to homestay on Saturday. But we’ll still see each other so meh.

 

Ah, I’ve nearly caught up with blogs! :D

 

 

Thursday July 2^nd

 

ANGSTY SASUKE IS ANGSTY

 

We only had an hour of class this morning because we were having a cooking lesson. We learnt how to make okomomiyaki – the yummy pancake thing we had for dinner on Monday night. Because there are a few of us who don’t like seafood, we formed our own group and made our own sea-foodless okonomiyaki. All that was it in was cabbage, egg, spring onions, pork and noodles AND the ever awesome okonomiyaki sauce. It was heaps fun and they were pretty good. Its easy to make, so I can probably make an amended version at home with cheese and bacon and other yummy stuff like tomatoes!

 

After class, we made a dash for the station coz we decided to head to Asakusa. Asakusa is a famous temple place in Tokyo, and one of the few traditional places in the area. There are markets there and stuff, so we planned to do some shopping as well. It was a longer trip – train to Shinjuku, train to Ueno, subway to Asakusa – but it was pretty easy going. When we got there, it was raining, unfortunately, but meh, still awesome.

 

The temple grounds and entrance were just amazing. I got plenty of photos which I will show when I can. Absolutely beautiful. There were so many market stalls so I bought heaps of souvenirs for all those I planned to buy for. They’re kinda just kitchy little trinkets, but they’re from Japan none-the-less, so deal. We went into the temple and threw coins into the coin box and prayed, and paid 100yen to get our fortunes. I don’t remember mine now, but I’ve kept it.

 

Ok, the running joke for today was Sasuke and his angst. It kinda overlaps with this weird drama we’re watching. Romy’s a huge Naruto fan and Sasuke’s her favourite so we pretty much just tease Sasuke and his angst constantly. She found a little Sasuke toy at one of the market stalls so she bought it and it just fuelled the fire. We started taking photos of Sasuke playing with a mirror but I won’t go into that.

 

Anyways, we got exhausted from walking and decided to find somewhere to sit down and get food or drink or something. We were supposed to meeting the others for a trip to the onsen, but we were just too tired and decided we would do it another time. There was a Denny’s across from the temple, which I assumed to be a fast-food kinda place thing or something. Epic fail on my behalf. When we got up there it was some full-on restaurant. Wth, Denny’s is such a povo name for a restaurant! We ate there anyways – I got spag bol but the others pretty much just had desserts lol. It really wasn’t expensive, so yeah.

 

Lol, on the train on the way home, there was little kid standing next to us (it was peak hour, we were standing) was looking at us as said “ah! Gaijin!” His dad was all “Don’t look at them, don’t look!’ Bahaha we must be scary or something. :< Poor giant gaijins… When we go back we went to the Kokusei…asdkasjdkw something idk I have no idea what its called lol. Used the internet for a bit there which was good.

 

On the way home we stopped at convenience store. I bought instant noodles (WHICH WERE HORRIBLE. THEY SMELT LIKE HELL AND WHEN I ATE THEM I NEARLY VOMITED THEM BACK IN THE BOWL. EW GROSS) a SoyJoy for brekkie, some strawberry yoghurt AND A FINAL FANTASY DISSIDIA POTION YEAH 8D. It was like 200 yen. I tried to find a can with Cloud, but I only found Terra so I bought her instead. It was heaps nice – not overly sweet. Just tasted like soft-drink.

 

Had a massive rant about teachers tonight – especially linguistics – did our homework, and yeah. Just chilled. Tomorrow, being Friday as I’m actually writing this on the same day for once, Romy, Laura and I and possible other people are going to Akihabara to get our geek on. CHYEAH. Can’t wait. I think some purikura are in order. :D Friday’s actually the last day in the dorms, as we start homestay on Saturday, so we’ll all be spread all over the place. I’m pretty sure my family is out in the sticks (by which I mean, they’re closer to the city of Kawasaki) so I’m like 40 mins from the Uni by bus or train or something. OMG IM GOING TO GET LOST O______________O;;;

 

Saturday, July 11

Omg I am so tired. Tokyo is inteeeeeeense. First thing we did was go to the Jump Store. NYAAAAA BLEACH AND NARUTO CRAP EVERYWHERE. I spent soooo much money there and bought so much stuff, I wont bother to go into it.　Was seriously awesome though, omg.

We (me, Emi (host sister) and her friend Mai) went to a yummy yakiniku restaurant for lunch. I didn't have to pay, which was awesome. I love not wasting money on useful things like food haha. After that we pottered around HMV and I bought Grand Killer Show and Discotheque Play like ''A'' Rainbows coz there was a buy 2, get 25% off discount special going, so I couldn't resist.

Was then time to head to Tokyo Tower. There was alot of train catching, but luckily Okaa-san gave me her train pass so I didnt have to pay for tickets, thank god. So much walking too - omg I am so exhauted. Anyways, Tokyo Tower is massive. Its 333 metres tall and like orange or red or something. I thought it was just there, but apparently its a television tower, which would make sense, haha. They have this observations tower that you can go up and get a 360 view of Tokyo from 200 metres up. I took heaps of photos. Unfortunately, it was a crappy overcast day so we couldn't see Mount Fuji. Bits of the floor are just glass so you can look straight down. It was sooooooo cool!!

In true Japanese style, Tower Tower has these giant pink, somewhat phalic looking,　mascots. Nappon, or something, idk. I wanted a photo with one but he ran away, sad D: I would have loved to see the Tower at night, coz its all lit up like a Christmas Tree, from what I saw in photos, it looks amazing.

We made our way back to the station after that coz we were just so tired from all the walking. We got off a Kawasaki Station to go to the electronic store there so I could buy my electronic dicitionary. I seriously struck it rich omg. I got a PINK one with a touch pad to draw kanji and look it up, for only 14000 yen. Someone im our class paid over 30000 for theirs, so I seriously did well. It was so cheap coz it was an ex-display one. Pfft, like that matters!? So I bought it,　yosh! They also did it duty free, so yay for no tax. The did stick this little slip thing into my passport which I have no idea what to do with...I hope this doesnt become a problem later.

Anyways, sucessful day! Kamakura tomorrow. Beaufitul old temples and crap, here I come!

Yes, my journals are getting shorter because I am just exhausted. Deal.

Ok, quick over view of two days coz not much happened:

Wednesday, July 8

After class, I went to the movies with Romy and her conversation buddy Asami. We watched Rookies, which was movie based on a J-Drama about baseball. LOL OMG IT WAS THE FUNNIEST THING EVER. Seriously, Romy and I were killing ourselves laughing at the DORAMA, whilst everyone else in the theatre was crying LOL. The main guy, hence forth known as Scowly-kun, only had one facial expression, which of course, was a scowl. Then there was Genki-kun, Smiley-kun, Sasuke-kun (Romy and I both love Sasuke and this character was all mysterious and angsty when he first popped up, hence being called Sasuke) and Giant-kun, who was this freakin huge non-Japanese looking (I believe he was a half-breed) dude who always had very profound things to say. Seriously though, LOL HILARIOUS.




Thursday July 9

We finished class early because we had to train it to Kyodo to visit an all-girls highschool. They spoke seriously good English, I was impressed. They were heaps cute and fun to talk to. They were in LOVE with Michael (being an all-girls school, I guess seeing guys was always exciting idk) and they drew our group a card. On my card, they drew a picture of Naruto, and wrote all this stuff and drew hearts haha. So cute. They were lovely girls.

They also did a koto performace for us which was utterly amazing, The first song they played was Melissa, by Porno Graffiti. Yes, the opening theme to Full Metal Alchemist. I couldn't believe it. It was brilliant. They played some other songs which were equally amazing. We also got to havea go at playing but I have no musical talent so i sucked LOL.



Friday, July 10

I had to give a presentation show and tell thingy on something Australian so I showed them my St Kilda guernsey and spoke about AFL LOL. After class we visited an art museum dedicatied to Taro, who is a really famous Japanese artist. His stuff was kinda abstracty as he was good mates with Picasso, but his works were interesting as the colours were just amazing. They were so rich and vibranant they looked like they should have been vectors done on the computer, and not paintings

After that, we went to a Japanese Open-Air Folk House Museum. This was fascinating coz I love Japanese historical stuff. There were houses and stuff from like the 1700 hundreds, all these different styles from　differenent regions and eras. It was awesome coz all the houses were authentic and had just been transported from the areas when urban development set in. The best thing was that we could actually walk INSIDE the houses, and not just look at them from the outside. OMG SERIOUSLY AWESOME. And, none of the houses used a single nail. Seriously, it was all just held together with special joins. It was just...freakin cool.

Ah, the fatigue finally caught up with me. Being on the go all day everyday from 7-7 has just killed me. So much walking in the freakin humidity. I swear if I don't lose weight, I will be mad ):< I have a big weekend though - Tokyo tomorrow, Kamakura on Sunday. Then, Harajuku on Tuesday.

I am going to go to bed soon. Totally tired. Lets go read manga in a language I cant understand YEAH 8D

Tuesday July 7th

Today was Tanabata, but we didn't do any celebrations, sad :( We did, however, have no class which is always a massive plus!! Everyone had to meet at Kawasaki Station at 10am, which was good for me as it was like a 10 minute bus ride away. Onee-chan (Emi) drew me a sweet map so even I couldn't get lost bahaha.

From the station we walked to a wood block printing museum, so this was all traditional Japanese art that was like hundreds of years old or something idk. It was interesting and kinda boring at the same time ahah. We had lunch after that at some fancy restaurant. We had a set meal so we didnt have to pay coz we were eating with some important political person for some official reason haha. I dont remember. ANYWAYS. The lunch was ALL FISH AND WEIRD STUFF OMG HATE D: I ate like, tempura prawns, some rice and soba. Oh and a piece of potato. I STARVED OMG DX

It was then time to meet the Major of Kawasaki City, eep. We had to give self-introductions in keigo (ultra-polite form) and ask him questions. It really wasnt as bad as I thought it would be, thank god. We had so much planned for today so we didnt spend much time with him. My feet were hurting something chronic as the shoes I was wearing were not made for walking, gah. I was so relieved to discover we were going by BUS to the Daishi Temple.　OH　MY GOD I LOVE TEMPLES. This one was built over 800 years ago, but most of it was burnt down during WW2, so they had to rebuild it. Seriously, it was one of the most amazing things I've seen here. We watched a ceremony where the Buddhists burn the wishes of people who have visited the temple. It signifies the letting go of worldly possessions, which is what Buddhism is all about. They chanted and everything; it was just so unreal. There were drums, and bells and gongs and singing. Its really something you need to experience yourselv because words wouldnt do it justice. It really was amazing.

After the ceremony, we spoke with the Abbot and attended ANOTHER tea ceremony. I swear, if I drink that green froth crap again, I WILL throw up in hte bowl. It really tastes NOTHING like normal green tea - that, I can drink. This tastes like sewerage water if you can imagine what that tastes like omg. We did learn how to make it though, which was cool.

Unfortunately, we didnt get to see much of the temple as we ran outta time. The place was HUGE. It accomodates over one million people a day around New Years. We did some cleansing rituals, which I also did at the temple in Asakusa, and inhaled lots of incense smoke so I will now become alot smarter, apparently. Yay for me.

Ah, such a good day! :3 I topped it off with Bleach and Tsubasa, which were both on TV that night. Also had home-made tonkatsu for dinner which was utterly amazing. OM NOM NOM NOM 8D

Monday, July 6th

Yes, I'm actually posting a blog on the same day as the events which I'm writing about,　whut.

Uni today, and the first time trying to get to class from my homestay. Emi-chan walked me to the station and helped me buy a ticket, then left me to my own devices. I had to change lines at Noborito, which was easy enough, but when I got there I GOT ON THE WRONG TRAIN LOL. I was supposed to head towards Odawara, apparently, but I went towards Shinjuku and ended up being late for class coz I had to change trains and come back LOL.

After class, I went with my conversation partner Yuki, and Romy,　Sarah, Rachel and Laura to Machida for shopping. They had a 109　there like the one in Shibuya just smaller and with less gyarus. The shop people were also nicer because they were no gyarus. Stupid gyarus. I bought a cool pair of pants and a hoodie thing. They were 4000 yen each, which I guess was kinda pricey, but they're clothes I cant get in Australia, so I figured it was ok. I also bought Sakito's book thing from　HMV coz it came with a DVD and Sendai Kamotsu's latest DVD that I have NEVER SEEN BEFORE. Its like 'Lessons from the Teacher' or something, so its Gei School era OMG YES. I can't watch it though coz my stupid computer is broken grrr.

Came home after that - got on the right train this time haha. Okaa-san made rissoles, spaghetti and salad for dinner. Yay normal food again. I said I didnt like fish or miso soup, so yay bahaha. Havent done anything after dinner cept go to the super market with Emi so she could show me where the bus station I have to go to for tomorrow is. Been on the internet since then and am now going to go to bed.

Meeting the Mayor tomorrow, joy.

I'm incredibly homesick and miss Australia. I do love it here, but homestay sucks. I want back in the dorm with my friends. I hate being alone.　:<

Sunday July 5th

I was feeling a little better in the morning coz I was more worried about the presentations we had to give at the International Festival. Once again, I ate alot for breakfast - bowl of cornflakes, a banana, tomato, omelette.... Okaa-san drove me to the International Centre and I went to get dressed into my yukata.　I chose pink one with yellow chouchos　(butterflies. It was soooo cool. I have lots of photos, but seeing as how my amazingly gay and retarded computer WILL NOT TURN ON, I can't upload them to show you all DX Wth, seriously.

Anyways, we were there from 9 and because our presentations werent until 1pm, we had plenty of free time so we basically just bummed around. The International Centre had a traditional teat room, so we went there for a tea ceremony. We had to kneel the entire time　AND OMG IT HURT SO MUCH. MY POOR WESTERN LEGS WERE NOT MADE FOR THAT. Poor knees :( Haha, anyways, the tea tasted like hell. Seriously, it was some thick, bright green frothy thing that smelt like　someone had died in it. I took a mouthful and gagged an nearly chucked it back up in the bowl LOL. They did give us some really sweet manju thingy that had the same texture as play-doh,　lol. It was nice though.

We got lunch before the presentations.　We went way longer than we were supposed to because a certain stupid man in our class had like an hour long speech which was so boring people actually fell asleep during it! NO JOKE. GAH. He eventually got cut off which was a BIG RELIEF OMG. I did have a little laugh. He's such an idiot. Anyways, when we finished (I was the last speaker, boo) we all sang Waltzing Matilda and I realised that LOL I HAD FORGOTTEN THE WORDS. SHAME AHAHAH. We then had question time and some kid asked us what our fave Australian food was and I was all PIE 8D. Ha

I finally met my host father and he seems nice. I can't really  understand him when he talks though. We got icecream on the way home and some family relative game over so I broke out the Tim Tams. They all seemed to like them, as was expected, so that was good. I was feeling OK now, but I slumped REALLY low when I realised that I had made a massive mistake and let the bathwater out the night before. Apparently, you dont do that here. GAH STUPID GAIJAN D: Also, when I asked to use the computer, Okaa-san said something about 5 minutes and I thought she was telling me I was only allowed to use the computer for 5 mins coz I was in trouble for using it so long yesterday. However, I misunderstood and she was just telling me that the computer takes 5 minutes to boot up haha. I'm, so stupid.

Either way, I hid in my room for a while and just did homework. I was just feeling crap and wanting to go home. I eventually surfaced and Otou-san taught me how to use the TV. Naruto was on which was exciting, so I watched that. Afterwards we went to dinner. I swear these guys must be loaded coz we went to Korean BBQ. They actually have 'Korea Town' in Japan. I Lol'd. I was still heaps homesick and upset (i nearly started crying in the car) but I cheered up during dinner. I ate lots of meat and salad, which was great. Normal food, yay. They laughed at me coz I said I only eat body meat (ie, muscle, not organs gross) coz they tried to get me to eat intestines and I was all HELL NO. I did try beef tongue though and it was OK, but I can't eat it on principle LOL.

Basically, I was in a better mood when I went to bed that night. I hope things keep improving. I really miss the dorm, though.

Saturday, July 4th

So today was the last day at the dorm and we hat to back and stuff and be outta there by 9am. Seriously, it was a massive effort because our room looked like it had been raped by Godzilla :\ Anyways, from there we went to the Kawasaki International Centre in...Kawasaki... where we left our bags and stuff. We went to the nursing home next door to play games and colour in with mentally and physically disabled chronologically advanaged peoples. IE THEY WERE OLD. I was with the mentally disabled people, which was really awkward, not just because of the language barrier. I mainly sat and coloured and said nothing, but then started talking about beer with this old chap who had been sitting in the corner laughing to himself the whole time o_O

We got lunch from the supermarket coz they take us to all the best places then went back to the International Centre to meet our homestay families. OMG I was freakin out something fierce. I'd been loving the dorm so much that I didn't want to leave. Frankly, the thought of living in a strangers house for the next two weeks terrified the hell outta me. There was this huge formal ceremony thing with speeches and camera crew and crap, blah. It was pretty long winded, especially because none of us had any idea wth they were talking about O_O In any case, we had to introduce ourselves to our host families in front of EVERYONE. Junko, my okaa-san, was the only one who came to meet me and she greated me with a big hug. She seemes lovely. I've only met obaasan, onee-san and onii-san because otou-san is a fireman and was not going to be home til tomorrow night or something IDK.

The family house is nice and pretty big, especially for Japan. Of course, its small by Australian standards coz we have so much freakin space in our country we don't even know what to do with it. Ayways, they have a store which the house backs onto and hey sell rice. I get the feeling these guys are loaded coz they have a dog and a backyard and like 5 freakin cars and a motorbike O_O The dog is a shiba inu and her name is Ari. She's really cute and i took her for a walk with okaa-san.

For dinner, Okaa-san and I went down the road to the matsuri (festival) that was one. Don't know what they were celebrating but haha. Basically, its like a big street carnival. Lots of people and lots of food. We bought frankfurts on sticks (like dagwood dogs minus the batter)　yakitori, yakisoba, curry udon, snow cones, and choco bananas. Seriously, I ate way too much but the choco banan was amazing omg. I also got a ballon yoyo and a lightsabre I bought by accident. Honestly, I had no idea what Junko wanted  me to buy so I just bought that haha.

Anyways, once we got home, I had a bath and went to bed. The homesickness finally hit me and I'm really not feeling too good at the moment. The family is lovely and all but in all honesty, I'd rather be at the dorm. I feel so awkward, alone and out of place. Everyone stares at me in the street, and I'm really struggling to communicate. I have no idea wth they are saying to me, and they don't speak a word of English so they can't ever explain what they mean.　I can't express enough how terrifying it is to be alone in a strangers house who doesnt even speak the same languag as you. I honestly dont know how I will get through these two weeks here.  I suppose I'll just focuc on Uni.

._.

Ok, because I got my computer to　work the other night, I wrote like 3 days of blogs on there. However, now it wont turn on again, and I cant be bothered to rewrite them, so I'm skipping straight to Friday. Deal with it. So much effort man. If my stupiud computer decides to work again,　I will post them, ne


Friday, July 3rd

YAY for Fridays. Class is good though. Akagi-sensei　is　so　much　cooler　than　Nishikawa-sensei,　but　I　like　them　both.　Omg　I'm　actually　thinking　in　Japanese so writing this is hard, wth. Anyways, after clas we had a visit from the police telling us to watch out for the SNATCH! Theyave us an awesome self-defence demonstrion whic as awesome, so we now know how to deal with CHIKAN! (perverts)

Had Udon for lunch, then Romy,　Laura, Sarah, Michael,　and myself decided to tackle the joy that is Akihabara. I took us soooo much longer to get there because we got onthe wrong train LOL. Anyways, we eventually got there (at like 4,30 lol) but I have to say, it wasnt\'t as great as I thought it would be :\ That said, we were only there for a few hours and saw like 3 shops coz we were short on time. I think if we had longer, like a whole day, I'd understand tha hype.

We went to Club Sega first which was like a 5 level arcade yeah! There was like 100 Tekken 6 machines in there so Romy and I played them while the others wandered.　OMG YOU CAN PLAY IN JINS PIMPIN SMEXY LEATHER TRENCH!!!! 8D AWESOME MUCH? Jin's cousin or whatever looks totally bitchin: as well, but I only played as Jin coz I ran outta 100 yen coins, lol. I also a photo with　a giant Jin poster chyeah.

From there, we just pottered around. Did purikura, which was fun. We found this giant book store which had one floor dedicated to 'Ladies Doujin' and another to 'Ladies Manga' LOL Three guesses what that was all about. BAHAHA Lets just say Michael was lss that impressed and Laura was scarred for life. Me, I bought a douijin bahaha and a CLAMP artbook. It was CLAMP's illustrations for Code Geass, which I know nothing about, but I love CLAMP's art and they drew Lelouch exactly the same as Kamui bahah. After that, I bought a freakin amazing crepe (Strawberry, Chocolate, double ice cream, yum yum) and went back to the station.

We got off at Shinjuku in search for dinner, or second dinner in my case, but it took as FOR EVER to find somewhere to eat. Being a Friday night in Shinjuku, all the places were packed. We eventually found an Ootoya's so we ate there. Back at Ikuta or whatever, Romy and I went to a combeni and bought more Final Fantasy Potion chyeah. Oh! Best story ever: We were riding the elevator like all the cool kids do, when a bunch of Japanese boys jumped in nuttering something about gaijin (foreigners) before preceding into a very awkward silence. Laura, being the champ that she is, let our an awkward CHOUCHO and we all burst out laughing. OMG it was so funny. Yes, I realise it was a you-had-to-be-there moment, and that CHOUCHO is the biggest in-joke on the planet. Whatever, it was hilarious ok!?

Anyways, after that, we just went back to the dorms and started packing the room　up coz it was our last night there. However, Rom and I pretty much just killed ourselves laughing as per usual. Ah, good times.

Yeah, I think thats all for Friday.

Yes, the titles of these blogs are going to be random Japanese words that sum up the day. Deal with it.


Monday, June 29.

First day of class!! It was sunny and so freakin hot omg. It was like a 30 minute hike up a hill in the SUN to Uni. It sucks. Seriously I'm going to lose so much wait over here - sweating due to humidity, the food, AND ALL THIS FREAKIN WALKING OMG. I am permently sore because I'm in a Japanese style room and the futons are an INCH THICK, but I'm loving this country.Omg everything is just so freakin funny ahahahaha.

Anyways, uni. We have two teachers - Akagi and Nishikawa-sensei. They both seem very nice. They only use Japanesein class, which is good. Haha pronounciation lessons are fun because of the little rap-thing we have to do. Bahaha I crack up every time. But yeah, class is good and only lasts for 3 hours so yay. Gives us plenty of time to explore. After class we had a tour of the campus. God that place is huge. Everyone laughed at us for wearing sunglasses because no one wears them here (except the ever-fashion conscious gyarus and rockstars) coz apparently its associated with gangs and the yakuza and stuff. Haha we had a little laugh about that. We got lunch at the caferteria - I had katsu curry WHICH WAS AMAZING OMG asldjkaskldjas YUM. We then continued walking arouind the uni.

Seriously, this place is amazing. Right next tot he uni is like a freakin forest. We walked down like a hundred million stairs into Ninja Country. Seriously, I expected to see 'Busa down there fishing (yes, only one person reading this will make sense of this reference, deal)! XD But yeah, the country side is just amazing. We saw a butterfly and asked what it was in Japanese and the word is "choucho" which, like gyarus, has becaome a novelty of the trip. We pretty much walk around calling out GYARU and CHOUCHO (and chikan) and then wondering why we get weird looks from people AHAHAAHA >.>

After pottering around Uni, we went back to the dorms, dumped our stuff real quick and headed into town for KARAOKE 8D So fuuuuun. And cheap, yay. We did it for an hour - belted out some Jacko in his memory, Beetles and otehr random pop songs. Romy sung Dir en grey's The Final and I had a go at a Gazette Medly consisting of Regret, Zakurogata no Yuutsu, Cassis, Filth in the Beauty and Reila. There my have been another but I dont remember what it was haha. We finished karaoke with a glorious rendition of the best song of all time: Bohemien Rasphody by Queen. Brilliant.

Realising we never had dinner, we headed across the street to an Okonomiyaki place for dinner. It was so yummy. I had pizza okomomiyaki, so it was a cabbage and egg pancake thingy with noodles and cheese and tomato and cabonossie or somethig idk. So filling though - couldn't eat it all! Yummy and good though.

Urgh... I'm sure I've missed something for this day. I don't remember D: But yeah, just more crazy laughing and stuff hahaha. Having an amazing time. Still obsessed with Soyjoy - that stuff is epic. And just vending machines and conbeni in general. Speaking of, I need to head to one to grab something for dinner. And SoyJoy for brekkie YAY

Still to come:
- bowling and shopping and i-swear-to-god-that-was-miku
- ghibli museum
- getting called 'big foreigners' by small children
- offending the general public with excessive laughing
- the amazing taste of the Cassis Orange cocktail
- the joy of j-doramas and japanese tv in general
- asakusa
- friday's trip to either Akihabara or Harajuku.

Watch this space children. I'll be uploading it bulk, but I think I've spammed enough for tonight.

...ok where was I...

So, if you don't know what gyarus are just wiki it idk. But OMG they were everywhere. I swear, you have to be a gyaru to be employed in those places. Seriously, they are so funny though - Romy and I were just killing ourselves laughing (epically amusing to me due to a certain person LOL) Anyways, there was this "gyaru" in a dress store Rachel and I went into complete with makeup and fake eyelashes and all but when it spoke to me I FOUND OUT IT WAS A DUDE AND OMG. I AM SO CONFUSED BY THIS COUNTRY. O____O Seriously wth.

Ok, so when we got back to the stations, we (being Rachel, Sam, Laura, Any, Romy, Lisa, Sarah and Phyllis) had to buy new tickets because APPARENTLY tickets here are only one way, and if you can get return we have no idea how to do it. Anyways a problem arose when we realised.... we forgot the name of our station. O LOL |D;;;  After much stressing and confusion we eventually figured out how to get home and arrived back just after 9pm, which was good coz we have a 10pm curfew. I mean, we literally get locked out of the dorm ahahaha. We pretty much crashed instantly but yeah.

Well that sums up the first day. Sorry I havent updated til now. Just been flat out with no internet, and now no computer considering mine just blew up. I'll try and knock over a few days now while I'm online, so yeah, watch this space.

<3

Ok,　so first things first: MY COMPUTER BROKE AGAIN asdljaskldjaskldjas Which means, all journals have to be hand written then typed when up whenever I'm near a computer with internet. Anyways, here is SUNDAY's blog:


Sunday, 28/6

Well, I didn't end up having breakfast at the Nikko restaurant because when I got down there, everyone had these coupon things and I felt like a wank coz I didn't have one so I bought brekkie at the Lawson (which is a convenience store). I bought SOYJOY and OMG its was amazing. I'm mildly addicted to them now - pretty much eat them everyday. I did take a photo of it, but I can't show you coz I can't upload photos.

Anyways, I ate my soyjoy and headed tot he airport. I was early and Yuko wasn't there so I waited for people instead. It turns out their plane was early too, so they arrived before Yuko as well, haha. Anyways, we dumped our bags with her when she arrived and went in search of food. I had waffles and orange juice. The waffle was sub-standard and the cream was exessively sweet and the jam wasn't jam (it was red bean paste) but it was still yummy and I ate it all. Good deal for 300yen.

We left the airport via bus and the trip was over an hour but I didn't notice how long it was coz it was just so exciting. The cities here are amazing and you really can't comprehend what they're like unless you see then in perso. We drove past Tokyo Tower and Disneyland and I did my best to get photos. Seriously, it was just sooooo huge and NOTHING like Sydney at all and we weren't even IN Tokyo. Weather-wise it sucked coz it was raining and incredibly humid. When we arrived at the dorm (whose damn name I can never remember) we discovered we had a fair hike up a slight hill til the actual place. AND we were on the 4th floor!! GOODIE!! asl;djkal;dkas ):< Consequently, I have a huge blister on my hand which looked really infected for a few days but its all good now :3

Once we checked in, we had a little meeting and stuff. We had to watch this Earthquake "preparedness' video which was OMG HILARIOUS. It was narrated by a talking catfish. Need I say more? We then met out converstation buddies and they took us on a tour of the area: shopping centre, 100 yen store, conbeni (convenience stores), banks (which I don't think I can use) and the train station whose name we can't remember or pronounce. My convo buddy, Yuki, is really lovely but its hard talking to her coz I'm shy! D: I can't talk to people I just meet in English, let alone in a foreign language in which I am not very fluent >< But I tried to talk as much as I could in Japanese because thats the point of us being here afterall. We had lunch together at Maccas, which is very different to Australia. They have these awesome things like McPork and Teriyaki burger and Shaka Shaka Chicken AND the most amazing thing I have ever heard of: Potato and Bacon Pie. askldjaskd Its mashed potato with bacon pieces inside a deep-fried pastry. SO GOOD. Why don't we have them at home? D:

After that we decided to get our first taste of the Japanese train system and head to Shibuya for some extreme shopping. This involved an express to Shinjuku, then a transfer to the Tokyo city line to Shibuya. After we figured out HOW to buy tickets, getting there was rather easy. Getting home was the hard part, but more on that later |D I have to say, the Japanese trains are emaculate. Always on time and completely spotless. Not an inch of graffiti. They're also colourful coz they have heaps of ads and posters hanging up inside. So cool!

Unfortunately, it was pouring rain but we planned to spent most of out time indoors anyways. We lost Romy at the biggest in the world haha. But we found her so that was all good. We went to Shibuya 109which is a 10-floor department store thing with nothing but stores selling women's clothes, shoes and acessories. it was aweomse, but pricey and tiny-sized ): I did manage to buy a cool pink/black checker shirt thing with suspenders and stuff. It was on special too so yay. I also bought Girugamesh's new single, Alive, from a music store across the road called Tsutaya.

By far, the best thing about Shibuya was the GYARUS (if you are unfamiliar with this term)
......ah crap class is starting. Will finish later.

TBC

Hello Peoples~! :D

I arrived in Japan in once piece about four hours ago now. We actually got in early, which was a surprise. The flight wasn't too bad - hit a lot of turbulence just outside of Japan, but nothing too extreme. It did hit just as I was coming back from the loo, so I kinda stumbled into my chair lol. Anyways, from the gate we boarded at, I couldn't fully see the plane, but I got a photo of its tale:



Luckily, Lisa, Rachel and I were all able to sit together. We were at the front of Economy and thus had epic leg room!! Had our own little TVs with movies and games and stuff. I got addicted to Battleships and Bejeweled so I played those for awhile. I also tried my hand at Go, then realised I sucked, and Shogi, and realised I sucked even more :( But there was this fun 8-bit game called Caveman where you had to push blocks around a maze and run away from mammoths. Brilliant. I also played Pacman because it was Pacman.  Movie wise, I watched Bride Wars, which was ok, and started a few Japanese movies before I realised reading the subtitles was making me unwell. I then watched Pirates of the Caribbean 1, and slept for a bit.

The food was AWESOME. I had Japanese pork curry which was omgGREAT (Mummy, it tasted almost like yours! :D) and a beef, mustard and cheese sammich, mango passionfruit yoghurt, noodle salad, and rice crackers. Yummmmmmmy. I did get air-sick though and spent the majority of the flight feeling unwell and headachy. They gave me asprin for the headache, which made it go away, but I was nauseous the whole way (in fact, I still am a little). That, and my horrid restlessness, were the only downsides to the flight.

When we arrived in Narita, it was so freakin' humid omg. It was 31 and just...yeah. We wandered around the terminal for a while (I have blisters on my hands from pulling my stupid luggage >:( ) so Lisa could get a camera and Rachie a power plug. I bought some pink slippers (in my size! 8D) for 500yen. Then I got the shuttle to Nikko, which is where I am now. Went down to one of the restaurants and had beef curry for dinner. Yes, I really like Japanese curry >.>

Anyways, this is my tiny little hotel room with an exceptionally large bed (which cannot be seen in the photo unfortunately):



I have an internet cord here and I can't see anything about price so I assume its free (even though the website told me I had no internet in my room o_O?). Lol but if not, its just getting charged to Emily's card |D Yes, I am watching Japanese TV. I have NO idea wth is going on but I'm sure its exciting. At the moment I'm watching some ancient history show about Greece and Egypt...which also seems to be a game show...? I honestly have no idea o_o

Anyways, they give you free crap. I have this gay old-man robe thingy...I wanted a yukata :(



....yeah >.> AND here are my pink slippers.



For once my toenails aren't painted. It saddens me :<
There's also this freaky-arse toilet with full-on operation controls, but I can't take a photo of it coz the camera batteries died. I'm yet to use it. I am scared O_O

ALSO. To prove that vending machines really ARE everywhere here:



There's like a vending machine ROOM on the floor near my room. And yes, all but the far right one are selling BEER. Also, the porn magazines here don't seem to be sealed either. I was in a newsagent thingy at the airport and walked passed some old man flipping through a mag and all I saw was penis o__o Mum, please omit this part before you show this entry to Grandma XD

Anyways, I'm going to have a shower or bath or something and chill in bed. Japan is an hour behind Australia, so its actualy only 9.44pm here. But, I've been up since 5 and on the go ALL day so I'm tired as hell.

Will write again when I can :D

Love-love
<3

PS: ...Ok that toilet officially creeps me out. It knows when you're sitting on it, and goes into 'preparation cycle'. It started making all these noises when I sat on it and it scared the hell outta me, I sprang straight back up coz I thought I sat on a button. Seriously man, toilets are crazy >.> BUT the baths are amazing. They're SO deep. So i filled it up. Figured Japan doesn't have a water shortage bahahaha.

Hey everyone!

So, tomorrow I'm off to Sydney coz I have an early flight on Saturday so I'm staying in a hotel over night. This will be my last post in Australia O: I'm so nervous o____o

But, I seem to be mostly packed. I can't finalise everything coz I still need stuff tomorrow so thats a pain. I hope I haven't forgotten anything. I'm heaps tired so I don't think my head is working properly. I had a going away party thingy last night. Just went out with my friends in town, had some drinks, did some dancing. It was a shame because being end of session (and State of Origin night) they were SO packed. I've never been in clubs that crowded before. It was horrible T_T My poor toes got mashed D: But not to worry -  I found $20 that some drunk sucker had dropped bahahah. Score!

Oh! I also now know my house family. I will be staying with Junko and Mitsuo Kaburagi (52), their eldest son Atsushi (24), daughter Amy (23), and grandmother Mikiko (77). My conversation partner is called Yuki, and she wants to take me shopping :3 I can't wait to meet them all! I just hope that I can remember by self-introduction speech, and my presentation on Australian Student Life. And my keigo coz we have to meet the mayor o__________o;

I shally let you know when I arrive at my hotel on Saturday night.
Tootles.

So, I will be flying out next Saturday morning.

I'm so nervous o_o; I've only been on a plane once, and that was a 40 minute flight to Tasmana DX I've checked the in-flight movies for JAL and there doesn't seem to be alot playing that I want to watch, but there was a samurai movie that I'll probably check out haha. If not there is a 24/7 Disney channel AND four jpop music stations, chyeah.

In regards to packing, I've done my clothes. Still have a bit to do, but have half a suitcase left to play with. I need to print out the bus timetable and routes and stuff for the shuttle to Hotel Nikko at Narita where I will be staying Saturday night. I'll hopefully update that night too.

I'm also thinking of exchanging some more money so I can take cash because I don't think I can be bothered to deal with banks in Japan :<

I really should brush up on my Japanese, but I need to study for my Linguistics exam x_x