~*Day 14 of Japan*~

Okay....so I'm REALLY bad about writing in my blog D: I've just been so crazy busy lately!! Things should start slowing down now that I don't have anymore 9 hour school days! hahahahaha!

I got to see my good friend Ko at Akihabara last weekend! ( ﾟ▽ﾟ) For those of you who don't know, Akihabara is the nerd hot-spot. It's got anime stores galore, cosplay stores, arcades, maid cafes, etc etc. I was so happy I was able to go!! Ko and I had such a blast together!! I was the happiest person alive cause I was able to play the Persona 4 fighting game at an arcade! It was GREAT! 

On the downside, a lot of the stores were stocked up on animes I had never heard before or never saw. I was under the impression that you could find ANY kind of anime merchandise there. I didn't see a single Fairy Tail thing or NANA or even any Bleach, really! But luckily, they were full of Persona 4 and Madoka stuff! I stocked up on some cute little merchandise <3 I was really bummed that there wasn't any Persona 3 stuff.... However, I did manage to get my hands on a lovely Persona 3 artbook ^_~ Made it all worthwhile! 


A few days after my trip to Akihabara, I went on a tour to Harajuku with my school! For those of you who know me very well, I'm the BIGGEST nerd of all time. I love anime and cosplay (a little too much at times!) but I have to say that I enjoyed Harajuku more than Akihabara! And not just for the crepes, either! I'm really in love with Japanese fashion so it was amazing since one of the most fashionable cities in the world!


But I won't lie. I mostly love Harajuku for the Body Line store. A lot of people may hate on Body Line's merchandise but I don't care. It is by far my FAVORITE store EVER!!!! Everything was soooooooooo reasonably priced!! I got a very high quality wig for only $30 and a maid costume for only $25!!! So...happy early birthday from me to me! 

But anyways.....Enough about me and my cosplay-spasms. Either way, Harajuku was a great place! I also got to know some more people better!! It was raining all day when we went to Harajuku so I shared an umbrella with my new friend Lee. It was a lot of fun getting to know him better!! I'm also really enjoying spending time with people like Kitty, Brenna, Sodany, and a bunch of other people that would take forever if I listed them all. I'm meeting such wonderful people!! It'd be really great if I could get to know them even better!!


Some other cool things I've done in school involved a tea ceremony and a calligraphy session. The tea ceremony was so beautiful to watch but you had to sit in a weird position so my butt literally killed me....and my legs were like jell-o. I don't see how Japanese women can do it so perfectly all the time! The calligraphy was cool, too! I got to write "Hana" in Kanji which means flower :) Hana is also how you say my name is Japanese so it's very fitting that I did that kanji in calligraphy! Hahahahaha! 


I also went to visit a Japanese college as a school excursion <3 I would have enjoyed it more but they assigned five of us in a group to speak with one Japanese college student and have them give us a tour. I actually didn't have that much fun since all the people in my group kept dominating the conversation and really wouldn't even give me a chance to talk to the girl we were assigned, too....So I kinda just sat there quietly and asked maybe one or two questions occasionally. 


After the visit to Aoyami University, a big group of us went to Akihabara (my second time! YAY!) to go play around at. It was sooooooo much fun! I mostly clung to Sodany and had girl time! I mean....As much as I love anime, it isn't the only thing in Japan I care about (unlike 80% of the students at KCP =_=) I really did just enjoy walking and talking with Sodany, Lee, and Brandon and just enjoyed the atmosphere. Anime is great and all, but I had more fun at Purikura then I did shopping in giant stores filled with series that are unfamiliar to me.... I'm actually thinking of going to Akihabara by myself one day and looking around it at my own pace. Sometimes it gets a little overwhelming so it might be best if I take everything in slowly ^_^ Maybe then I might can dig up some Fairy Tail stuff....<3

~~~
I did karaoke for the first time the other night. Okay..........Karaoke is just plain AWESOME. Words can't describe how much I love karaoke and how I could spend hours in there. (and not just the nomihodai, either!) They have EVERY japanese song imaginable on there! They even have Vocaloid songs and anime songs!! I totally tore up some Bleach music and even the opening song to Teen Titans with Kitty XD Karaoke is such a reasonable price, too!! About 4$ just go in and sing for 2 hours! It's more expensive if you want beverages or food though... I'm definitely coming back to Karaoke again!! It...might be something I do on a very usual basis. hahahahaha!


Let's see....what else is going on? Oh yeah, my lucky-duck friend named Marc won two Yoko figurines and a One Piece figurine at an arcade XD Soooo much jelly!! Those arcade games look SOOOO impossible to do with Marc was able to win three things!! Maybe I should give him money and beg him to win me a lovely Yoko figure....hmmmmm <3

~~~


Japan is REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY great!! I have a feeling I won't get to see and do all the stuff I want to due to lack of money. I need to be very cautious with my spending.... Japan is very expensive and all those 100 yen things really add up :/ (100 yen is equivalent to one dollar about...) Not to mention the commuting prices.... I'll be going to Tokyo Disney Land in a few weeks ^_^ I'm most excited about that!!! Too bad I can't go on my birthday...


I heard there is an Alice in Wonderland cafe in Shinjuku :) I might hit that up for my birthday!! I'd love it if some of my friends joined me...<3 


Also, my host family insisted I drink sake with them last night. To them, drinking is a fun, casual activity that is meant to be enjoyed with friends and family. When I tried to explain to my host dad that my real dad was an alcoholic, his response was "Oh? He drank a lot! He must have been a VERY happy man!" I couldn't help but die of laughter at that! XD I mean...er...it wasn't /funny/ since my dad's alcoholism used to be a huge issue but I have to admit, I cracked up. I love Japanese people so much <3


My host father kept trying to talk to me in English when he was drunk. It was one of the funniest things I have ever heard... He kept saying that he thinks of me as a daughter and he loves how sweet I am with the kids (＾∇＾) He also kept telling me that I needed to enjoy my time in Japan because if I'm happy, he's happy. He's such a sweet dad-away-from-home!! Even though he was clearly drunk, I feel like I understand him better since normally he's so shy. Then again he also talked for an hour about how much he loves sushi....Hmmm....Maybe I'm overthinking things.


AH! SUCH A LONG BLOG POST!


I went shopping with my Okaa-san today at Ikebukuo! (＾∇＾) I got to witness Morning Musume perform live at the mall! It was so great!! They're wayyyyyyyyy too cute! <3 


I gotta admit though....Clothes shopping wasn't the greatest of ideas. I saw SOOOOOOOOOOOO many cute, reasonably priced stuff! I tried on SOOOO many things! But....nothing fit me ;___; I have never felt so fat and ugly in my life. I keep trying to tell myself that Japanese women are so tiny and petite but it's hard not to feel insecure, ya know? I'm constantly surrounded by beautiful, flawless women with a great sense of fashion. And then there's just me--the awkward American. Nobody really wears just casual t-shirts and jeans but even when I dress up and wear skirts and dresses, I still don't feel confident in myself.... I normally don't suffer from insecurity this badly but I've been feeling UBER insecure lately ^_^;;; I'm hoping it will pass..... Since I couldn't find any cute clothes to fit me, I just went with a cute, 8$ necklace <3 Once again, happy birthday, Hannah! 


Well, for all of you who are still reading this, thanks for your time!! If nobody is, then at least I can read this later and reflect on my experiences in Japan <3 I don't want to make this blog too personal because I really don't like bad-mouthing people on the internet and I don't like letting people know my exact thoughts on things like that..... I must admit, a lot of people from KCP are wearing me. There may be a lot of cool people, but there are also a lot of stuck up jerks who are better at Japanese than me and who looooooooooove pointing out that they are much more skilled than I. I know I'm bad....I don't need it being pointed out....


Well, I guess I'm done drabbling on my blog <3 Even if just one person reads it, that's all I want <3 


I can't wait to see what other adventures await me....It's only been two weeks and I've already seen and done so much! Maybe tomorrow I will go do karaoke again or go look for a yukata....hmmmm <3