Everyonec

Life in Japan hasnft been all that exciting lately. Two months has passed since I arrived here and everything I experience slowly turns from strange and exciting to the normal and comfortable. I almost wish that I feel the same as I did that first night I was here, when everything was fascinating. When all I could do was stop and absorb the change and appreciate it for was it was.  I really liked the way I used to look at things.  I fear now that in the homework and friends and all things normal to the average student Ifll not take the time to realize the amazing things that make up this country. Although a year sometimes feels like a lifetime I know the time I have here is short and I strive to get the most out of it.  Ifve really taken the last couple weeks to stop think about me. About where I think I am in life and where I want to go both academically as well as emotionally. Examining yourself is a hard thing to do but that is why I came here, to figure things out and I think Ifm doing a good job at it. For the first time I truly know that Ifm myself happy and it feels good. Ifve never felt so driven.

Life as a the host daughter of two wonderful host parents couldnft be any more enjoyable. Every time I sit and talk to the other students about their host families I wonder how I got so lucky.  I definitely got the good ones. Things were going so badly with my friend Aliciafs  host family that she had to move into the Pink House (the international apartment) and share a room with Scarlet. The apartments are a good size but not for two people. This is the second case this semester where an RJ student has had to move due to difficulties with their host families. I find it quiet strange. I feel so at home here that I wouldnft even dream of leaving. Everyone asks me if I want to move to the Pink house next semester and I tell them that the thought has never even crossed my mind. I think that living with a host family has given me greater insight into the Japanese culture. The Pink house would be fun for the simple reason that there are no rules. If I lived there I could do what ever I wanted but with that comes the temptation to live a more western life. Living with a host family you have no choice but to be Japanese and I like that. The dinner on the table thing doesnft suck either. Itfs always nice to have a mom.  In other host family news, my host sister Yuki had her baby this week. My new little host nephew, ( I think his name is Daiki but Ifm not sure. No official word yet.) was born on Friday night. The house was definitely full of excitement but I felt really bad for Naoki who couldnft rush down to Kyushu to be with her due to work.  I canft wait to see the baby. Japanese children are so precious; I want ten of my own. Itfs going to be so much fun being an aunt (unless corey starts pumping them out soon, I canft see this happening for some time) but in away Ifm a little concerned because my room just happens to be located right next to the babies and I might keep me up at night.  Naoki came home tonight from visiting his new son and we sat and all watched the videos. Hefs one cute little kid. I think Ifll find comfort in knowing that Ifm not the only one in the house who doesnft understand much of whatfs going on. We can learn together.

Ifm feeling a little bit better about my schoolwork now. They split my level one class into two smaller classes. You see, half of my class came to Japan with some Japanese classes behind them and the other half didnft. Myself being in the second group. So the speed of the class was very awkward, too fast for some and too slow for others. It wasnft like I couldnft handle it, itfs just that before anything had really sunk in we were moving on to something else. As long as I stayed one step ahead of the game, I was all right and did fine on the tests but never really felt like anything was concrete in my mind. Now things are slower, wefre starting from the beginning again and doing a little review. What I like most about this change is that we moved from being in classroom to being a large office. Itfs nice and cozy, just a table three chairs and a white board. It feels a lot more comfortable, our teacher even makes us tea and coffee. I donft think Ifll ever get this kind of treatment again.

I didnft get to see much of Melinda last week. Both her mother and her boyfriend came to visit and that took up most of her time. She kept telling me that she wanted me to hang out with them but I thought it might me better for her to have some good alone time. Especially with Howie, her boyfriend.  I did go with them to Yokohama one day. It was fun, we went to a nice park, ate ramen (my new favorite food, I could eat the stuff 3 time a day and not get sick of it) for dinner and then we got very lost on the train and somehow ended up at the Tokyo station. Look these places up on a map and youfll see that they are pretty far apart.  Melinda kept getting all annoyed because she wanted to show them a good time and riding the trains during rush hours isnft much fun. But I had to remind her of how we felt the first time we did it. Being pushed into a train and being so close to a perfect stranger that you can feel them breath is an experience in itself. The train system is a big part of Japanese life and one they wonft soon forget. The only thing I really hate about being cramped noise to noise into a train is getting off when youfve been slowly pushed to the other side. When you get to your station some people get out to let people off but most stay on the train. You have to throw your weight around a little bit to make it to the other side before the doors close and you miss your station. I feel bad pushing people around because most of the time Ifm a lot bigger then them. Melindafs guests left today and after my tutoring I went over to the Pink House to make sure that she wasnft sad.  Although we have less than a month to go before going home for Christmas itfs always hard to say good-bye. When I got to her room she was more interested in what was going on in my life than telling me about their visit. We talked for 3 hours straight and ate dinner at matsuya (remind me to tell you about that place one day) a lot had happened in the last week and we needed to catch up on everything. Ifm sad that they left but in a way I missed having a bestest Japan friend. Japan isnft going to be the same without her.

On Saturday I got my first taste of being an English teacher in Japan. I know what youfre thinking, g Do you really think that Kim should be teaching English?h  Kim of all people should be banned from any sort of activity. I thought the same thing to but then I realized that there are a lot of things this year that Ifm doing for the sole purpose of to prove to myself that I could do. So why not teach English. I think I can handle it. So on Saturday night I taught an English conversation class in a little English style Tea House in Sagamihara.  They market the English lessons as part of their business and must make a lot of money doing. I think things have slowed down a bit due to the coming holidays but I still had enough students. We did a reading about Wales and practiced the pronunciation and sentence structure and then talked about it. I was awesome; I really hope they ask for me back. I know that one day Ifll come back to Japan and do this full time.

Sunday was the big kimono day. The day that I took part in my first tea ceremony.  But the day of the kimono really started on my way to the pink house to meet Scarlet and Daniel. I often walk the long way to the pink house because I find it more interesting to walk through the shrine then to walk on the street.  This time I noticed I young couple taking picture of there daughter who had dressed up in kimono for her fifth birthday. I politely asked if I could take a pictures too and they more than happy to accommodate the stupid gaijin (foreigner).  Her father even offered to talk a picture of myself and the girl. I thought that was quite nice. She was beautiful. I think youfll understand by my pictures.  Next came the ceremony.  A little explanation as to how it happened: Daniel teaches English to a women who runs a tea shop and teaches the tea ceremony out of her home. She thought that a good way to boost business would be to invite foreigners to be the guests served by her students. Daniel, Scarlet and I got to be the lucky foreigners.  It was cool experience because not only did we get to be a part of it but we also learned a lot about how and why things were done the way they are.  We even got to make and serve the tea ourselves which I donft think would have happened in any other case.  I thought my kimono was beautiful but I really loved Scaretfs. I liked the deep red and the design but I looked way better on her than it did on me. I suited her more than me.  I always thought wearing a kimono would be uncomfortable but the opposite was true. I enjoyed wearing it and was sad when it was finally time to take it off. I hope they ask me to come again so I can pick out and wear a different one.  It was culturally a big experience for my and one that I will always remember.

Well there is more to say but I think my parents will kill me if I donft send more pictures soon, so I better let this be the end.  Today I receive a care package from my mom full of Christmas stuff and totally put me in the Christmas spirit! Although Christmas isnft widely celebrated here, there are large Christmas displays on the streets and in the department stores. I used to get upset when people celebrated Christmas before December but this year Ifm going to break rule! To me itfs officially the Christmas season! I included some pictures of my room decorated with stuff sent by my parents!

Love you all and I canft to see you,

Kimberly Scofield

This time I thought I might write a little summary for each photo because they werenft all taken at the same time.

1. My Host Family! I love them!

2. My Host Father ( who hugged me yesterday, it was kinda cool)

3. My Host Mother

4. My Friend Craig playing the piano

5. I bike shop in Hashimoto

6. I found a Clairfs  in Hashimoto Station! Remiko and I went crazy!

7. We dragged Craig kicking a screaming into it!

8. Melinda and Howie at the Sushi place we always go to

9. Howie eating sushi

10. My friends at the sushi place

11. The owner of the Sushi place ( also Justinefs host father)

12. My friend Remiko ( a good friend of all the rj students. She works in the international centre and lives just up the street from me! Everyone loves remiko!)

13. Sensei Ichikawa pretending to be a chicken (note: part of the black board says growaoshiri ga akai desh, which translated means g red butth! How this is going to help me with daily living I donft know but then again it is Ichikawa!

14. Sensei Ichikawa pretending to be a lotus stuck on wall

15. My old level one class ( missing: Scarlet)

16. Melinda, her mom and her boyfriend

17. There is a huge coffee company called UCC! I thought this sign was cool so I told a picture!

18. An entrance to china town in yokohama

19.  Howie taking picture ( I think he slept with that thing)

20. The cute girl in the park ( See story above)

21. Me and cute girl in park

22. Scarlet

23 & 24. These pictures of me wearing a kimono are my favourite! I love the sunglasses

25. Scarlet and Daniel

26. Daniel and I

27. Scarlet and I

28. Me being shown how to make tea

29. A bad picture of scarlet

30. Scarlet making tea

31. Scarlet making tea

32. Scarlet making tea

33. Scarlet making tea

34. Daniel making tea

35. Close up of instrument used in tea ceremony

36. Scarlet and I

37. Scarlet and I

38. The three of Us

39. Danielfs student

40. My new Christmas Decorations (my room)

41. My new Christmas Decorations (random door)

42. My new Christmas Decorations (random door)

Hello everyone,

I¡¯m really sorry that I didn¡¯t write anything last week. It was a crazy one for me, I had a mid term in Japanese Language.  I spend the majority of my free time studying for that and I just couldn¡¯t find it in my heart to justify writing you when I could have been more prepared for my test. Some might find that statement hard to believe. Please do, it¡¯s the truth. Most of last week sucked because I spend it locked up in my room but the excitement of what was to come after I finished writing the exam got me through. Wednesday was Halloween and the next day I was off to Kyoto.  Most of us RJ students couldn¡¯t let the day go by without at least a little Halloween delight, so we found a cute little English Pub in the heart of Machida and dressed up.  We looked pretty funny getting on train and walking through the streets dressed up like freaks. We usually stick out enough but that night we were like celebrities, everyone stared. The Pub was all decorated with pumpkins and ghosts and I swear every foreigner within a 10 mile radius was there too. It was great, for those couple hours I felt like I had never left the country. That night I crashed at the Pink House because we all had to meet at the train station at about 7:30am and it¡¯s a lot closer than my house. 

In the morning we were all pretty sleepy but too excited to notice.  We left Shin Yokohama on the famous Shinkansen (once the fastest train in the world), and arrived in Kyoto at around lunchtime. Our first sightseeing adventure was to the Kyoto National Museum. It was interesting because a lot of us (not me) are taking Japanese History at Obirin and had a lot of background knowledge to share. It¡¯s pretty cool to learn about a new culture and then go see it first hand. The pictures in the text books just aren¡¯t the same as the real thing but I think we got just as much of a kick out of the thousands of huge goldfish in the fountain outside then we did out of the Museum.  Near the Museum was the first of many temples we visited while in Kyoto but I¡¯d have to say that this one, the Sanju Sangendo Temple was one of the best. The Sanju Sangendo Temple is a Kannon-do (a temple dedicated to Kannon).   The name means ¡° a hall of thirty three bays¡±, the number 33 comes from the belief that Kannon Bodhisattva saves all man kind by disguising himself into 33 different figures.  This 390ft long temple is divided into 33 bays each marked with a different figure.  In these bays you find 1000 statues of Kannon surrounding one large statue. It was amazing the think about how much work was put into carving all these statues out of wood. It must have taken years I wish I could have taken pictures but they wouldn¡¯t let me.  That was all the time we had for our first day, by this time we were all getting a little grumpy, and needed to be fed.  We found a cheap restaurant that served good Japanese food and I pigged out. I think I`m going to miss Japanese food when I go back. After that we found a nice Karaoke bar and sang until we lost our voices. You can¡¯t go Japan and not sing a lot o Karaoke!

Friday morning we woke up, hit the bread shop for breakfast and went in search of the two great temple of Kyoto; The Kinkakuji and the Gankakuji temple. The Kinkaku ji temple (or Gold Pavilion) was in reconstructed from a villa into a temple by the 3^rd Shogun of Ashikaga, Yoshimitsu. The main site in the temple is the Shariden. The shariden has three stories and each consists of different architecture. The 2nd and 3^rd floor and covered with gold leaf.  The second temple, the Gakukji temple was build by the grandson on Yoshimitsu as a villa for him to spend his last day of his life. The Common name for this temple is the ¡°Silver temple¡± because although it is not made of silver it is the second most spectacular temple in Kyoto.  Although we only visited two main temples that day, there were many little temple spread out between.  Most of the time we weren¡¯t even looking, we¡¯d just walk down the street and find one and of course we`d have to go in and take pictures. We joked a lot about always having to hold our cameras. We found so many cool things to take pictures of that there was never a chance to put them back in our packsacks.  I think I even liked the smaller ones better, they seemed so much more personal and intimate, there were always people using them and I liked that.  We wanted to visit the Kyoto Imperial Palace also that day but we were to worn out by the huge walk Nils took us on. The Palace would have been cool, but they are so closed off to the public that I don¡¯t think that I would have seen much of it. I was happy to eat dinner and go back to the hotel.  We pretty much just crashed which was a good thing because we all felt a little bit more rested in the morning.

Saturday we did a lot more walking. We visited the Kawaramchi and Gion districts of Kyoto.  We spend the majority of the day walking up and down the narrow streets full of tiny little shops and visited shrines and temples here and there. The one thing I really liked about Kyoto was that I could see the traditional aspect of Japan a lot more clear.  I loved that I couldn¡¯t walk down the street for more that 15 minutes and not see traditional Japanese Architecture or a women dressing in Kimono. I even saw some real geisha! I was so happy!  I enjoyed the small family owned shops selling a certain commodity rather than, mega department stores. It was refreshing and my first real glimpse into traditional Japanese culture.  I only wish that we had more time, I didn¡¯t like feeling rushed. It¡¯s not apart of the lifestyle. I want to go back but there are so many other things to see in the rest of Japan. Maybe someday when I¡¯m rich and famous I will. Well, it¡¯s Sunday and the computer lab is not open so I have to go to the internet caf¨¦ in Machida to send this. There are so many more little things to tell you but I they¡¯ll just have to wait. I love and miss you all!

Well if I wasnft having a great time in Japan before, I definitely am now! Why you ask? For a simple reason, I GOT A LIFE.  Thatfs right, Ifve made myself some kick ass friends. Last week, I was booked for lunches everyday and my weekends are well booked into next month.  Let me tell you about my new gang. First of all therefs Melinda. Melinda reminds me of my dear friend Michelle so much that some times I swear Michelle is right here with me. Shefs smart, has an awesome sense of humour and definitely has that same love of used clothing. We spent at least an hour and half in a little shop in Machida, I couldnft get her to leave. Shefs really the first person I got to know here, ever since my first day in Japanese class when I begged for her help in understanding our crazy teacher wefve been friends but I really wasnft until last week that we got close. We had a lovely day together on Saturday roaming around our part of Machida, visiting a couple small festivals but Ifll get to that later. Next is Alicia, Alicia is great when you catch her in a good mood but when shefs cranky the attitude flows and there is no escaping it. Itfs a good thing it doesnft happen very often. We have a lot in common, I think wefll get to know each other quite well, she is the only one of my friends that is staying for the full year. L  We hang out quite a bit with Scarlette but Ifm not really sure what I think of her, shefs a nice person but really doesnft enjoy or appreciate being in Japan. All she talks about is going home and it brings me down. I always feel like itfs my obligation to cheer her up. I think that if she only changed her attitude a little shefd get a lot more out of this experience. Last but not least is Nils. Nils is the youngest RJ student we have this year, hefs only 17 year old. I think he was some kind of genius back home in Australia ( Yup, I said Australia!). He must have skipped a ton of grades because when he leaves Japan in December he will have completed his first degree.  He really doesnft come off as the nerdy type though, hefs a great guy and so much fun to be around. He constantly keeps us amused with his aussie views on everything. ( I havenft yet informed him of his destiny! Haha Melissa!) For the last week, Ifve pretty much done everything with these guys! Who knew you met such fun people while travelling, itfs just too bad theyfre all leaving me at the end of the semester.

           Last week I was first exposed to the wonders of Japanese English classes. A friend of Makifs named Shietsu asked me to attend his English class and do a short presentation on Canada. I thought it would be fairly easy. You know, speak slowly and carefully, simple words, simple sentences. I mad met Shietsu before and I knew that he really didnft understand a word I was saying so I assumed that the rest would be the same. Well, I got to class and found out that I wasnft going to do presentation I was the presentation. It was bring your English friend to class day. No not really, It must have been some sort of English speaking class, because all they did was  short oral presentations. The first up was a girl name Kumi, her presentation was on mad cow disease. She could pronounce medical terms that not even I could. All hopes and dreams of g This is a bear, this is salmon.h were shot. I had no clue what I was going to say but I pulled it off with some grace and had fun doing it. I learnt some new things and met a girl who grew up in Halifax so I was well worth it.

           This weekend was supposed to be fairly quiet but in the end it didnft turn out that way. On Saturday, I took my first trip into Tokyo. We visited a part called Shinjuku. To quote the Lonely Planet guide to Tokyo, gShinjuku is a city in itself and it no doubt the most vigorous part of Tokyo.h  I was also told the station I arrive to Shinjuku by was one of the busiest in the world, two million people pass through the station every day and I was there just around rush hour.  It was crazy but an experience in itself. We almost had to hold each others hands to make it through together. When we finally made it did we headed to the street to find the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.  This large computer chip looking building has a free observation deck and it would have given us a great view of Tokyo but the whole building was shut down. I think it had something to do with increased security after September 11^th. Itfs a pretty big building but I do want to go back sometime and check it out.  We decided to explore the eastern side of Shinjuku. It is by far the liveliest. We roamed the streets for hours, looking in the shops and taking pictures. Scarlette had her heart set on finding a Taco Bell but we couldnft find one so for dinner we settled on Italian. It really was the first time I have escaped from eating Japanese food. Donft get me wrong, I love Japanese food but the change was nice and at least I didnft break down and go to MaKuDonaludofs. After hours of walking around we all got a little cranky, the train ride home was a long one and I was relieved to get home and climb into bed.

           Sunday morning, I was all set to spend the day in my room studying.  A quite day away from everyone. Ifve gotten used to spending a lot of Kim-time and I kinda like it. Ifm not used to this new ghaving a lifeh thing, even in the Yukon all I did was spend time with Nathan when I wasnet working.  But during a stroll through the park near my house I found a small festival at the recycling centre. It looked cool so I decided to run home call Melinda and grab my camera. My goal was to take some good pictures of people instead of the usual scenery ones Ifve taken since Ifve been here.  Upon our arrival we were greeted by a lovely Italian women named Maria who spoke perfect English as well as Japanese. She gave us a little incite into the centre and itfs pretty interesting.  The recycling centre is run by a home for the disabled.  They also run a small thrift shop, once again Melinda goes nuts and finds 3 sweaters for 200 yen each. I took some great pictures, I really love the ones of the children. Japanese kids are so cute.  It was a lot of fun and nice knowing that the money I spend on souvenirs was going to a good cause. Melinda and I both picked out a some funny looking clay animals that must have been made by the disable. They were pretty interesting and didnft cost very much. I decided to try to cheer up Scarlette by giving her mine. Ifm not sure it worked. All in all it was a fun day! I had a great week and I keep telling myself that I can only get better!  Not this weekend but the next Ifm going to take the famous Shinkensen train to Kyoto to do a little sight seeing. I canft wait, it should be a blast. Have a great week, Ifll write soon.

Time is passing way too fast. Ifve been here a couple weeks now and sometimes it still feels like I got here yesterday. This is a good thing. People say etime flies when your having funf so I guess I am having a blast. I know other RJ students who are counting down the days until they get to go home. Not me, of course I miss Canada but I wouldnft go back for the world. For the next year I belong to Japan.  My host family calls me Kemu because they canft properly pronounce my name. I think itfs the cutest thing. I love being Kemu, shefs the Japanese version of myself. You know, I donft think that going to school in Japan is all that different from going to school in Canada. I mean there are differences but for the most part it works the same. I still have tests to write and classes to go to. I still have to stay up late studying and get up early in the morning, (o.k. so maybe thatfs different from last year.)  but you get what I mean. No matter where you are on the globe people are generally the same, they might look and speak differently but theyfre the same as you and me. Thatfs why I loved hanging out with Maki so much, wefre both just small town girls, we just grew up on opposite sides of the globe.

This past weekend was the big International Camp at lake Yamanaka. I didnft think that I actually was going to go until Friday. I was just being stupid and shy. I can communicate fine with my family because I know them but I was a little worried that Ifd have problems with everyone else. I didnft even feel really comfortable with the other RJ students. Before this weekend I hadnft even met all of them. I pretty much knew the 6 people in my class and a couple others. It took a little prodding by my friends Paul and Melinda but at the last minute I gave in and I donft regret it. I had an awesome time. I met some new Japanese friends who were really patient in helping me learn the language and I got to know some of the other RJfs better. I even met a girl who has actually been to the Queen Charlotte Islands. I almost didnft believe her but she knew about the Haida and everything. It was very cool. On the way to the camp I hung out with the girls from my class but as soon as we got there they split us up into teams . We were all freaking out because it looked like they were putting one RJ student on each team. I stood there in the blazing  sun until all the teams were formed because I didnft hear them call my name. I felt really stupid but two others in my class didnft hear there names either so we were all in the same boat and as it turned out they put me in a group with Melinda.  Being with Melinda made me feel a lot more comfortable, she was the one who helped me out my first day of class with the insane Ichikawa Sensei. I really enjoyed getting to know the girls in my group.  It was interesting to hear about their lives and what they find important, we even stayed up late chatting about boys.  It was a blast. The next day they got us up at the insane hour of 7 ofclock. I was a pretty tired after staying up half the night. We ate breakfast and then it was off to our chosen activity. I thought that hiking would be the most fun, I was wrong. Instead of just hiking they sent us on a scavenger hunt, we werenft really happy with the stupid groups they put us in so we formed our own and set out on our own adventure.  We even managed to find all the objects and make 3^rd place.  It took us forever to get home that day. We were supposed to get back to school by 3 ofclock but I didnft get home until least 6:30. After an exciting weekend, all I wanted to go was eat and sleep so that was just what I did. I think my host mother missed having me around. She was sure happy to see me when I got home.

Today I had a great day at school. Not only was I prepared for todayfs lesson but I was prepared for the next one too. So when out of nowhere we zipped to the next I wasnft left in the dark. We had one of the good teacher who knows enough English to explain things to us. We worked on sentence structures and particles for the first time.  I learned a lot today and I understood everything that my teacher said. It was very refreshing.  I also got a care package from my parents. My host mother was just as excited as I was. When she got from work tonight she came rushing into the living room yelling eKemu, Kemu, parcel, Kemu.f She looked through everything with me and I explained Halloween at the Scofield house the best I could. She found it very amusing and even suggesting we put some of the Halloween decorations my mom sent me in the living room. I had asked my parents to send me some fishing hooks for my host brother Naoki.  When I showed then to my host mother she informed me that it was Naokifs birthday tomorrow. So now I have the perfect gift, Ifm going to tell him that they are for when he comes fishing in Canada and stays at my house.

Well I should probably go now! I have work to do, and places to see! Have a great week !

Dear Friends and Family,

I really does feel good to finally be settled. After almost a month of sitting on my butt and doing nothing, I finally have purpose again. It was kinda weird for a while there I really missed having responsibilities and obligations. Itfs hard to image that I was really out of school for five months. Now Ifm here and Ifm settled and itfs time to just live. No more of the dreaded transition. I havenft been here for that long but Ifve noticed that everyday that goes by, the country I now live in seems less strange or different and more the enorme. I especially find this at home. When I first got here I found bathing at night rather odd. Ifve always showered in the morning but now Ifm strangely comforted and look forward to a nice soak in to tub before I go to bed. 

I was really disappointed last week to hear some of my classmates complain about there host families. Theyfre a little bit older then me and used to living alone or in college.  Itfs weird for them because itfs been so long since theyfve been parented, we really are going back to high school so to speak. You see in Japan, your not really considered an adult until you finish university. Having lived away from my own parents for so long youfd think Ifd feel the same but I donft. Yes, I did live with a number of different families over the years and do have a good understanding of host families but this one really is different.  Before I was always a guest in someone elsefs house ( with the exception of the Noordhofes), now Ifm a part of a family. Theyfre responsible for me. I go grocery shopping with my host mother, practice my golf swing with my host father and bug my host brother about the small Japanese fish he catches. We always eat together and talk together. Itfs fun. I donft know them that well yet but I know they care about me and I know I already care a lot about them. I canft image how others could have problems. My host family is going so well, there are little things that sometimes bug me but I know that itfs not intentional and that itfs just their culture.

Ifm starting to feel a little bit more confident about Japanese language class. Last week I tried my hardest to prepare for class as much as I could. For fear of looking stupid in class I prepared lists of questions and answers that I though Ifd be asked. It worked out rather well. Today I shocked my sensei by answering her question with something we had not yet learned.  It was awesome, I love being a smarty pants. She even gave me a happy face on my homework assignment. I actually have 3 teachers for language, we all love two and hate one. Ichikawa sensei is really strange. We never learn anything in his class. He trys to hard to make things fun and he never speaks in English. When you ask for help or try to explain something to him he expects you to know how to say it in Japanese and when you donft understand something he gets right in your face and says it over and over again in Japanese. He actually made a boy in my class cry last week. It was awful.  He was sitting next to me and I looked over and this 24 year old man was in tears. I think our other teacher talked to him so I hope that this week will be better.  As for my other classes, theyfre pretty easy. All you have to do is show up. Japanese politics is interesting as long as we stay on topic and Culture is cool because all we do is have group discussions and watch videos. I even joined a club at school. I am now a member of the eNakuraf club. From what I gather itfs pretty much a way of mixing the RJ students with the Japanese students but itfs all cool. I would love to make more Japanese friends.

Last weekend I went on a little rode trip to the great Mount Fuji with my old roommate Maki and her cute friend Miyagi. We had a awesome time. I met them at the Machida Station at 10:30, it was my first time taking the bus. Itfs a little scary when you canft read the map. We drove for awhile, ate lunch at MakuDonaldo same as MacDonaldfs but with a Japanese touch, got lost a couple times but finally found our destination. While driving up the mountain we were getting a little bumbed out because the weather was all cloudy and we didnft think that we would get to even see anything but then all of a sudden we drove up above the clouds and it was crystal clear.  We spent a couple hours up there walking around, taking pictures and eating more. In the small tourist village therefs a shrine. Miyagi showed me how people make wishes by throwing small change into a bin thingy, ( I really wanted mine to come true so I through in a little extra), clapping your hands together twice, closing your eyes and making your wish.  We also got our fortunes out of a vending machine for 1oo yen. I couldnft read mine because it was all in Japanese but Maki ensured me that it had lots of good things to say and that I should hold on to it.  On our way home we stopped at an amusement park called Fujiyama.  We were hopping to take a ride on the third highest roller coaster in the world but we got there to late and the lines were too long. We finally settled on the PaniClock! It was crazy enough, Ifm afraid that I wonft make it on the big roller coaster. We didnft end up getting home until 12 ofclock. I was a little concerned my host mother was going to be upset with me but she wasnft! It wasnft our fault. We went through 3 major traffic jams on our way. It was an exciting, one that Ifll never forget thanks to Maki and Miyagi. There really are nice people all over the world.

Well I should get some sleep! I have class in the morning! Talk to you later and donft forget to write! I want to hear your feedback

Love always,