FOREVER!

Oh My Gosh! It has so been forever since I was on here. And after I hounded everybody to pay attention to this blog!

Too many things have been happening. I've been so busy and will be home soon (I hate that!).

Just thought I'd say I haven't forgotten about the blog, I just get distracted with other things...

Update:

So, I thought that today was the first day of DST (which it is btw) and so I set my clocks back yesterday. Well, in Japan there is no DST. By the time this was pointed out to me, it was already 10:30, my class is 11. It takes twenty minutes to walk to the station, then I have to ride about 4 or 5 stations down to Kahim Makuhari....In the end, I was about 45minutes late to class.

Guess what? Everybody else knew that there was no DST here....They all assumed I knew....but you know me...Why would they think I'd have known? Someone should have told me!

Anyways, I haven't made it to all the places I want to see in Tokyo yet, and I will be going to Tokushima (hopefully) in two weeks.

See you then!

Clumsy/へた

I realized this morning that I had yet to blog about my unfortunate clumsy self.

First day in Japan, I wore new dress shoes and got tremendous blisters all over both feet (we did a lot of walking that day that I was not prepared for and they would not let me go back and change). At some point during days 1-3, I apparently sprained my ankle extremely badly. Day 3, because of the blister on my left heel, I could hardly walk. The pain was so terrible!!!!

I finally broke down crying at the IES Center telling them how much pain I was in. They almost immediately took me to the doctor.

Now, I've discovered this strange quirk about Japan: Because there is not a lot of space, it is rare to find what we would think of as a "hospital". Nothing is that big. It costs too much. Rather, there are what we would call "clinics" here and there, everywhere.

The doctor and nurses were extremely kind, though they didn't speak a lick of English. Oisha-san examined my foot and came to the conclusion that my heel was in so much pain because it had become infected. Great.

He gave me some pain killers and antibiotics to take three times a day. The bill was about 5000 yen. I was supposed to come back later, but I never made it. (I'm lazy, you know).

Anyways, after a day or two, the pain from my infected heel dulled enough for me to feel the pain in my ankle. That was not too pleasant, I might add. The biggest shock was realizing that I could not feel the sprain because of the infection. I went and quickly brought a brace and wore it for the next week until the swelling went away.

Now is the time to add another unusual quirk: After the pain from the infection went away, I noticed another oddity with my foot. Still today, I cannot feel either of my big toes. They are completely numb. I can move them fine, but I'm still a little worried that I can't feel them. My housemate also wore new dress shoes one day, got a blister, and cannot feel her big to either; so hopeful, this is just an after effect of the blisters and the numbness will go away eventually.

More clumsiness to speak of:

I thought I was all better. It didn't hurt, I could walk fine, everything was great! Then I went to Akiba with two other students. While there I tripped up some steps (yes, you may laugh) and re-sprained my ankle. It hurt so much that it took me from 5 until almost 8pm to get back home. The next day I had to skip the class field trip to Asakusa and rest. Why am I SO unlucky?

My foot is better once again, aside from the numb toes, but I am still taking it easy. Hopefully I am through spraining my ankle, but for any time that I know I will be walking long distances, I plan to wear my brace. This weekend I think I may go to Shinjuku and to see Tokyo tower. I'm running out of money fast so I think it's time to get a part time job.

Until next time, じゃね!

高いですね

Translation: Expensive, right?

Let me explain. Some of you may or may not have heard rumors about how incredibly expensive Tokyo is....I thought it was all lies, but NO! This is one expensive place. Not as expensive as Paris, but def more expensive than London. So frustrating!!!

Guess for me. Guess how much money I spent here in the first week? Come on, you can do it! Comment on this blog and I will give you the answer, but think REALLY HARD. The answer may surprise you.

E-pals and IES Students (also Homestay)

So...I've been so busy I've had very little time to blog about all the amazing things that have happened. I'm writing ideas down steadily and trying to find time to get them all up.

First on today's menu are Epals.

IES has an epal program. You can volunteer for it before you leave, but even if you don't, when you arrive in Japan you will be introduced to an epal from your university.

My epal's name is Sawai Yuki.
She is so super cute!!! Very nice too. I have also met some other Epals, besides Yuki. Some of the people I met were Eri, Chihori, Nao, and Risa. I really like them all! Japanese people have got to be the kindest people on this planet!

I have gotten to know a lot of the other IES students, some at Mekai and some at KUIS with me.

I actually have a housemate from Meikai. Her name is Tiara and she is very sweet. She is from Illinois, but doesn't have the attitude of the people in DC (which is nice! She's so polite).

For other people at KUIS: Davy, Christina, Nate, Mike, Funk, etc...I've only really hung out with Davy, and he's pretty cool. Chinese American (won't even try to spell or pronounce his real name), loves video games (arcades are all the rage over here), and is pretty funny (though I feel like I'm being picked on a bit).

From Mekai: Andy, Trent, Krissy, Sarah, Yoshi, etc. Andy and Trent are awesome! Krissy too! She's so small and cute, a mix of several different Asian ethnicities. Yoshi is cool too (his real name is Eduardo). He's from Mexico, but has been in the States forever and goes to college...where again? I don't remember, but he has an awesome job that pays for his education, etc. He's been lots of different places and loves to mountain climb.



About my home-stay...It's pretty awesome. My mom's name is Kurihara Meiko. She's an athlete and eats very healthy. She cooks us delicious foods that I've never had before like Renko aka lotus root, and Goubou (I'm not sure I spelled it right) that if I understand correctly is burdock root. The burdock tastes really good, like a cross between corn and french fries. Good. Yummy. Hungry now...

My dad is Kurihara Masaki. He used to run a coffee/jazz shop but recently had surgery to remove a brain tumor. He is now recovering, but he cannot move or speak. He can see and hear and I have talked to him. He is very shy and sweet!

Some good things about my homestay:

1. Smoke and Alcohol Free!
2. My own room, pretty big, with an actual bed!
3. Someone who cooks me meals everyday without meat
4. Laid back mom.
   
5. Bring friends over if I ask Meiko-san.
6. Stay out a bit late if I ask her.
7. Loving and supporting language learning environment.

Overall, Japan is a pretty sweet place. Everyone should visit!

Air CANADA

Let me just tell you this now: Air Canada is awesome!!!

Best airline I ever flew on, best service, food, entertainment, drinks! They've got it all! Economy Class is like First Class and First Class is like wo-ah!

Instead of watching one video over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over, (see my previous trip to London and Paris) there were LCD touch screen HD tvs built into the back of all the chairs. You could choose music, games, tv, movies, etc.

In the movies section you could choose from Canadian films, Hollywood, Classics, Kids, Family, Foreign, Horror. They really did have it all!

I watched the following movies, all of which I highly recommend and some of which you may have already seen:

1. Shrek 4ever After- Better than I expected. My fav is still #2, with Merlin from #3 as my fav character after Puss in Boots. Now we just have to wait for Puss in Boots, the Movie.
2. Women Without Men- A foreign film recorded in what I think was Farsi. Here is the summary:
   
   Against the tumultuous backdrop of Iran's 1953 CIA-backed coup d'état, the destinies of four women converge in a beautiful orchard garden, where they find independence, solace and companionship.
   It was a very touching movie and I much enjoyed it. If you are a lover of subtitles (who isn't? lol) then you should check this one out!
   
3. Clash of the Titans- Okay...so I'm a little slow. Pretty sure everyone has seen this one and that dude is pretty hot (not Hades or the Kraken). It was so interesting. The best mythological movie I have seen since Troy. Though the lead in this movie was no Brad Pitt, it was still quite interesting. But really, does Ralph Fiennes always play the bad guy?

Anyways, besides that, everything else was pretty good. I got a window seat again (super lucky, right? Little did I know my luck would end once I hit the land :(..). Not only that, but I had the whole row to myself! Which helped because I really need to lay down to sleep. Anyways, I did sleep most of the way here and I have not suffered from jet lag.

Moving on...

Seeing Japan from the sky was amazing. I've never come up on an island (looking out the window of an airplane, thousands of feet in the air) but it was amazing. To watch the vast sea collide with a sand bar, a mass of land. To watch the waves roll and to see the beaches outlined so clearly. The water was super sparkly, kira kira. It looked like, not a million diamonds, but like a tv on a static channel (but beautiful).

I did notice that Japan is layed out in more of a grid patter than anything I've ever seen. There were TONS of fields, I'm guessing rice patties. It was forever before we saw a tall building, but everything was crushed together, tighter than the houses in London.




I'm to sleepy to upload pics, so that's all for now!

I'm in Canada, eh?

Oh my goodness!!! Can you believe it? Me? In Canada? Have to say I never foresaw my coming here.

So, I need to tell you about my flight to Toronto from Raleigh. Got through security great. Had no problems with luggage or anything, wasn't even charged for an extra bag!!!

Only thing is that they wouldn't let my mom come back and wait with me until my plane took off. =(

I, by luck alone, got a window seat!!!! For the first time in my life, I got to watch out the window as the plane took off and as it landed. On my previous trip to Europe, those lovely little bastards (my ex-classmates and teachers) who had already flown multiple times, refused to give me a window seat. From Raleigh to London, Paris to Miami, Miami to Raleigh: no window seat. By the time we got on the little ricktey airplane that took us home, I was so POD I slept and didn't talk to anyone. But I digress...

The plane that took me to Canada was even smaller than the one that I flew on from Miami to Raleigh, but it was not rickety at all! I have actually discovered that I love flying. It's very peaceful. I shall now describe what I saw (lol).

I took this bit down on the plane:

Being high up in the sky looks as if you are sailing on a vast ocean of white and blue, with white piles of snow (here and there). Falling wouldn't be so bad.

As I gazed out across the endless blue, I realized that I was completely at peace. I was filled with a wonder that I don't think I've ever felt before. Oh, what it would be like to always fly in the sky; where everything above and below looks so ravishingly beautiful!!!

On take off and upon landing, I can only describe it to you as a google map. Leaving the ground, you slowly zoom out from street level to satellite view. Coming down, it's the absolute reverse. I'm on google maps and I'm zooming into a location.

As I come down, the world below looks so beautiful. The closer I get, things look like a little miniature town you might see in a child's train station (does that make sense to you?). When you get close enough to distinguish one building from another, they look like nothing more than lined up dominoes, ready to topple. The cars literally look like ants, that move about the speed of a worm.

The closer you get, the faster they go, but it still looks as if the world below is in slow motion. Another wonderful, blissful sight was the actual descent. We go from being above most clouds to slowly sinking into them. At a certain point, the world right below my view was covered in a white powdery mist, so snow like. Or, I could say that it looked like (what I suppose) the ocean in Antarctica, or a similarly cold place. Water frozen over and frosted, big snow drifts and glaciers. It was so breathtaking!!!!

I try not to let my thought wander to life and death, especially when in situations such as this, but I was so peaceful; I had a revelation and I can firmly say that I wouldn't mind going high in the sky. The fall would be lovely on the way down. Hopefully I'd lose consciousness before I hit the ground, but again, I digress...I know it's weird, but if I had to pick a way to go, sky diving (or gliding) would be at the top of my list!

Anyways, customs was such a breeze once I got here! A simple look at the passport and ticket, then I was shooed through a door to the terminals. No bag checks, no security scanners, nada. I think I like Toronto airport. =)

Unfortunately, I ain't diggin this airport food. I bought a bag of real fruit gummies and a bottle of evian. I'm hoping it will hold me over until I get on the plane at 1pm, and then however long it takes to get something to eat.

I'm going to go now so I can shut down this computer and preserve some battery life for the airplane. Until then, じゃまったね！

It's that time~

HI everbody!

It is finally that time! Time to go to Japan. I'll be leaving for Raleigh in a few hours and at 7am tomorrow morning I get on the Boeing to fly to Japan.

I have become nervous more and more as the days pass. I hope that I have a safe flight! I'm trying not to think so much about what I'm leaving behind, as much as what I'm going to experience. I know that it will hit me eventually, that I'm leaving my beautiful little brother and nephew for 5 months....there will probably be tears. =,(

Of course, I will miss all of my friends and teachers too! I'll miss Meredith and NCSU; Raleigh; North Carolina; the USA; everything! I will miss American food; forks and spoons; cold tea; so many things!!!!

I hope that you won't forget me! Please, please, please: Everybody get skype ready! I'm sure I will need face-to-face support. Don't forget my Skype ID is tutu.tiffany so go add me now! (If you don't have me already!).

Now, I've got to go eat what might be my last normal breakfast. Ciao!