☆ Day 7 of Japan ☆

Another wonderful in the land of the rising sun...<3

Today, my host family treated me to an amazing trip! We first went to Tsukiji which is a Japanese fish market! Sure, it may seem kind of boring to some but it was truly an experience!! I got to see all kinds of cool things that live in the seas of Japan!! I got to see those gigantic king crabs and even all kinds of shells with little sea creatures in them that Japanese people eat! It was really interesting! I also got free samples of stuff! Um.... I didn't really ask what some stuff was. Probably best I didn't know! It was realllllly neat though!

We went to a sushi restaurant after we toured the fish market. I learned something very valuable today-- It's amazing what you can eat when you tell yourself over and over that it's chicken and that those aren't eyeballs looking at you. My host family treated me to a sushi lunch and it was...um...interesting. I had raw oysters that were still in in their shell. It was a very pretty shell but uh....very hard to swallow. I kept taking a bite and saying in my mind, "Here we go; down the hatch!" and then chugging some hot tea. I didn't want to make my family feel bad so I ate as much as I could!! Actually, some of it really wasn't all that bad!! The crab nigiri wasn't bad at all!! The shrimp one was the hardest to eat since it was very....squishy. I'm really proud of myself for being able to eat it though!! It felt like an accomplishment! I felt like I was on Man vs. Food--Hannah style! So...Hannah vs. Food. Hannah 1, Food 0.

After eating sushi, we all went to Asakusa which is a very cool place! It has a lot of shrines and temples and it kind of resembles a matsuri with all the booths for souvenirs. There was a huge temple (I forget the name of it) that was a pretty awesome sight!! It was BEAUTIFUL architecture and really showed how cool Japanese culture is. I participated in some Japanese customs that I never thought I would do... For example, they have this little shrine place that is full of smoke. If you get near the smoke and blow it in your face and on your body, it's supposed to cleanse you of evil. My family did it and so did I! We then went to the temple to pray. Um....I'm a Christian so this was a very strange thing for me to do. Japanese religion is very interesting to me but I don't believe in them. I only believe in Jesus Christ and I choose only to worship Jesus Christ. Even so, I still prayed at the temple. However, I didn't pray to their gods--I prayed to mine. It might be kind of weird for some one to pray to a Christian God at a Shinto shrine (at least I think its Shinto...) but to me, it doesn't matter where you pray to Jesus <3 He still listens even if I was in a place where false gods are being worshipped....Er...Just so you know, my prayer to God was for him to forgive me and not think of me as a horrible Christian for praying in a Shinto temple XD Hahahahaha!! I just really want to grasp all aspects of the Japanese culture! It was really cool! I'm really glad I did it! Sometimes you just need to have an open mind and go with the flow... Even though the Japanese believe something completely different than me, it's kind of cool getting to see what other people believe in! And maybe my family will be open to listening about mine some time ( ´ ▽ ` )

I think Japan is such a beautiful place! The culture is so rich and I feel like I'm learning soooooo much!! I feel like I really bonded with my family! The more time I spend with them, the more I feel like I'm getting better at Japanese! Of course, that might just be wishful thinking.... Taiga and Ririka have really captured my heart! I also love watching them interact with their parents! You know, Japanese families are a lot like ours! I see Yuji-san play and mess around with the kids like my dad did with me. I also see Masae-san scold the kids when they do something wrong. They really love their kids and are so sweet with them! It makes me so happy to feel like I'm apart of their family ( ﾟ▽ﾟ) I definitely have the greatest Japanese family anybody could ask for! I can't wait to learn more from them! I actually feel suuuuuuuuper motivated to learn Japanese and stuff now! I keep reviewing old stuff I learned and looking up more phrases to use with my family so I can talk to them better! 


Japan has everything! The only thing it's missing is....you <3 This statement applies to all the people I love back home! Family, friends....and of course, C.J. (＾∇＾) I miss you all so much! I really wish you all were here!! We would have soooo much together.... Plus, I need my best buddies to go cosplay shopping with me >w>


So hopefully tomorrow I'll get to see my friend Ko :D It's been forever since I've seen him and it'd be great to catch up with him! Maybe he can help me scout out the area with out getting lost...

First Week in Japan!

So I haven't exactly been up to date with my writing!! I'm super sorry >_<;; I've been so busy lately that I haven't had much time! But I must say one thing....

Japan. Is. AMAZING!!!!

I cannot believe I never came here until now! It's so spectacular!! I live in Shinjuku which is located in Tokyo. I live with a host family and I couldn't have asked for a better family!! I live with a family of four--Masae (my Okaasan), Yuji (my Otousan), and the six year old, Taiga and Ririka.

Everything about my new host family, the Kato family, is amazing! Masae is so sweet and kind--and she is a GREAT cook! Yuji is an art director and he works a lot so I haven't been able to see him often. Even so, he is also very kind and he knows a lot of English! The kids? Wow...There's so much to say about the kids! They are the CUTEST things in the entire world!

They don't know any English and apparently the last girl from America that lived with them didn't know any English so Ririka and Taiga couldn't communicate with her. My Japanese isn't very good but apparently it's good enough to have small conversations so I often chit chat with the kids! It is soooo much fun!! The moment I walked into the Kato family house last Sunday, they wanted to watch Megamind with me and then Sleeping Beauty. The other day I watched The Little Mermaid and Monsters Inc. with them! Hahahahaha! They keep making me cute little origami crafts everyday so when I come home from school to eat dinner, there are origami crafts for me sitting by my food. They started calling me "Onee-san" which means "older sister" in Japanese Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ JAPANESE KIDS ARE SO CUTE!


So I haven't had much free time to explore Tokyo on my own yet. I've been going to school all day (9:00-4:45) for the past few days. The school is really nice and the teachers are very friendly! I've also made a few friends who are fellow students at KCP! There's about 50-60 of us international students. They're mostly from America but I've met people from Ireland, London, China, Korea, etc etc. A lot of the students are really cool and I can't wait to hang out with them! Some of them...ehhhhhh, not so much. There are few students who are in Japan /only/ because they like anime. Hey, anime is cool--I myself love it. In fact, I'm a total nerd! If I could, I'd spend all my time reading manga, cosplaying, watching anime, and playing video games. But....there's SOOOOO much more to Japan than anime!! I think some of the people who only like Japan for anime are a bit disappointed. I guess they were expecting to see giant robots and cats with big sparkly eyes only to see crowded trains and skyscrapers. I'm trying to enjoy Japan for what it is--not just the pop culture that it has to offer ;)


As of right now, I pretty much love everything about Japan XD I love the food, the scenery, the language....But it's A LOT to take in! The only thing I don't like about Japan is the train system. Well...I don't like the trains in general. They're EXTREMELY scary!! Well, to me at least! That's because I keep getting lost in the train stations. Like....really lost. Like, and hour and a half before school on the first day kind of lost....They're REALLY complicated to understand! And sometimes they get very crowded. Has anybody seen those youtube videos where they actually have those security people near the trains to literally shove people in the trains to pack them in like sardines? Yeah. That's REAL. 


But the scariest thing about Japan to me is the doors.


Why? Because one closed on me! Hahahahaha! It was a terrifying experience! The door closed on me and it was so heavy that it made me fall. My leg got caught between the train and the platform. So, in short, if the train had started moving, I would have lost my leg. I sat on the floor screaming and flailing my arms in a panic but nobody did anything....They didn't try to help me out or even laugh at me. They just kind of stood there blankly as if stuff like that happens all the time. But for me, it was the scariest thing in the world! I finally managed to pull my leg free. On the downside, I now have this horrible bruise. But....it's kinda cool. It's like my battle scar! Hahahaha!

As you can see, it's a pretty big bruise. It's got worse after I took that picture but its starting to look a little better now. So....Trains 1, Hannah 0.

I'll eventually get the hang of it, though....Eventualllllly....

I'm actually pretty surprised at my Japanese skills O_o;; I've /never/ been good at Japanese but I spend most evenings after school hanging out and talking with my host family. I love talking with Masae!! I can understand almost everything she says!! Even though I speak in broken Japanese, she's been correcting me and helping me practice. I could spend all night just chatting with her! She is suuuuuch a great person! I hope she doesn't get annoyed with me constantly needing to be corrected...

So far, I haven't been to Akihabara but I want to sooooo badly!! The KCP students toured Shinjuku the other day and I saw a cosplay store that I want to go back to since I didn't have time to go in <3 I did have a chance to go into an arcade and do Purikura (Japanese photobooths that are adorable) with my new KCP friends!! SO MUCH FUN!! And all the arcades have so many cool anime stuff! :D

Today we went on a field trip to Naraijuku which is more of a historical town. It was soooo beautiful!! We saw shrines and cute little shops!! We also went to a castle today called Matsumoto Castle! It was about 400 years old and we got to tour inside of it! I took a lot of pictures and videos so Ill have to upload them soon!

Tomorrow I'm going to Asakusa with my host family. I'm so excited to see what adventures it will bring! <3 I'll try to keep updating my blog more frequently! <3 I'm really loving Japan!! Keep an eye out for the pics I upload to FB! :D

Twas A Week Before Tokyo....☆彡

......Twas a week before Tokyo. Yep. (￣▽￣)

......and I have never been so excited/nervous in my ENTIRE life!! I still can't believe I'm really going! I've been wanting this for YEARS and I'm finally able to go to Japan! And for two whole months! :D

There's so much to do though...I just now bought my luggage (and I got the BIGGEST suit case possible so I can bring back tons of Japanese and anime stuff! I named my suitcase Charlie...) and I recently bought a new wardrobe to strut around in in Japan! I'm still not even close to being ready but I guess I have too--like I said, I'm leaving in less than a week! At least I got my airplane ticket and hotel situation ready... (・∀・ )

I found out that my host family has two kids--Taiga and Ririka--who are six year old twins! I've NEVER been so excited! There's so many things I want to do and places I want to go and food I want to eat...I hope I can achieve it all!!

So here's a list of things I've already decided I want to do (*≧▽≦)::

*See all my Japanese friends! :D I miss them so much...
*Spend a lot of time getting to know my host family!
*Max out my Social Link with Ririka and Taiga! (Persona reference hahaha!)
*Go to Tokyo Disney Land!!!!
*Disney Sea, too! ;D
*Karaoke!
*Go to Akihabara and bask in the anime ambience!
*Indulge myself in the assortments of Japanese bread (ANPAN!)
*Anko. Anything and everything with Anko (the bean paste stuff). I won't be satisfied until I eat lots and lots of foods filled with anko :'D
*Eat Takoyaki!!!
*So. Much. Shopping.
*BUY MORE COSPLAYS! :'D
*Play with Japanese vending machines
*Play with Japanese toilets (....I hear they're cool and have lots of buttons....Don't judge me :P)
*Eat authentic ramen!
*Go to a festival! And wear a Yukata! (I gotta buy one first ;D)
*Tokyo Tower! (In a sera fuku!)
*Watch weird and crazy japanese game shows!
*Go to many parks and gardens!
*Shrines, of course!
*Visit Harajuku and check out the cool fashion styles!
*Persona 4 Movie....Please??
*The Alice in Wonderland cafe I heard about!
*Maid Cafes in general...
*Cat cafe
*Just any kind of cool cafe! (No host clubs, though! XD)
*More shopping
*I want to buy something Shinjiro Aragaki! .....Plz?
*Buy lots of anime goodies that I can't buy at cons!
*Eat Ohagi!
*Eat soba
*Eat udon
*Eat the yummy little fish shaped snacks that are filled with anko bean paste (I forget what they're called!)
*Even more shopping
*The Pokemon Center. Gotta love em all <3
*Visit Osaka!
*Let this be a spiritual experience for me, too. I want this trip to make me closer with God and help me grow as an individual and a Christian as well 八(＾□＾*)
*Buy all my friends and family awesome goodies!
*BATH HOUSE!
*Miku Hatsune concert! (I doubt I'll get that opportunity but it would be absolutely amazing!!)
*Visit some cool arcades!
*Eat exciting foods that my host family prepares!
*Ride the Bullet Train!

Well, my list is forever growing. I wonder if I'll accomplish everything on my list? XD Hahahahaha!! Either way, I'm really excited about it all! I'm scared, though....Not going to lie. Being in a foreign country at all.... I hope the classes aren't too hard and I hope my Japanese skills won't fail me! (ﾟДﾟ)