花火 (Hanabi--literally, Flowers of Fire)

Mood: Filled with happy memories and sad to go
Listening to: Train by Ketsumeishi

Sorry for the long pause in blogging. After falling sick for about a month and a week (I had 3 different colds and a stomach virus. By the end I was just kind of like this and wanting it all to stop please.) I had a bunch of homework to catch up on (I felt like this: ) and things just kind of snowballed until school ended just last week. Happy with my grades and now getting ready to leave for Tokyo tomorrow.

It's already the last day of my homestay; I'm leaving early in the morning tomorrow to go to Tokyo for my summer internship. I'm really sad to leave my host family, as they have been very wonderful to me and been a great help to me.

They took me out yesterday for 焼肉食べ放題 (yakiniku tabehoudai--all-you-can-eat BBQ meat :D based on Korean BBQ, but Japanese style) and it was DELICIOUS.

Host mommy cooking meat. Yummy!

I even ate a bowl of raw meat, which surprisingly tasted really good. I guess after all the sashimi I've eaten and also raw horse sashimi, this wasn't so much of a stretch.

Raw egg and raw meat looks intimidating, but it was good!

Host family at the restaurant :)

Host family with me after we finished eating! We were all so full, but it was DELICIOUS XD

After we got home, it was already around 10PM--really dark outside and perfect for 花火 (hanabi--fireworks!). It was my first experience with these but I had a really great time. You can get these small hanabi (they call fireworks in the sky hanabi too) at many convenience stores and they look like this:

We went outside and my host mom lit up a little candle out on a piece of paper.

Then we proceeded to hanabi! My first hanabi looked like this:

We also got some pretty cool pictures :)

Host mom


Host sister

It's already the last night I'm sleeping here...so sad! I'm really going to miss my host family...but Tokyo should be fun :)

Japan Update #4

Mood: Still tired for some reason....jet lag???
Listening to: People talking in the tiny library

OK...I failed with jetlag again today since I woke up at 6:15 (despite sleeping at 1:30, what?!)

My body seriously needs to get a move on with this whole jetlag business. :(

On the bright side (literally) it's a BEAUTIFUL day in Kyoto! It's finally not cloudy/rainy for the first time I'm here :). Look at the view from my hotel window!

sorry for the lines. they're on the window :(

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OMG We're about to meet our host families!!!

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I got to meet my host family! Well, only my host mom came to pick me up, but I just met the dad now too (he just returned him). My trek to school is going to be a pain, but I get to see pretty sights and rivers along the way.

I can see this as I'm walking home!

I have to walk ten minutes from the home to the station, then ride two trains (about 20-30 minutes I think?) and then walk another 15-20 minutes to the school. Carrying my backpack that will have at least two textbooks, my purse, and probably my camera as well…my back will hurt for sure :(. Oh well…I’ll get exercise! :D

When we got back to the house, my host mom immediately took me out to see the sakura blossoms which was AWESOME. It was at an army training ground apparently…

Host mom!

This juxtaposition is so weird...

I also got to see a Japanese su-pa (supermarket). It was pretty organized and had lots of yummy looking food!

strawberries!~

When we got back I even helped my host mom cook a little bit. By cook I mean wash a daikon, peel it, and then cut it. I also cut the octopus she bought.

I didn’t give my omiyage yet because my host dad and sister hadn’t come back yet. After I saw they both had come back (my host dad helps coach middle school baseball and then my host sister is really active—she swims and does track and field).

I was at first worried my host sister might not like the teddy since she seems a lot like a tomboy, but fortunately I think she really liked the bear (as did my host dad). My host dad kept playing with the bear for a bit and then my host sister kept worrying about it falling over (it didn’t sit up well on its own). I was touched by their consideration. I think my host dad didn’t like the mug I gave him though, since he just put it back in the box :(. My host mom was really good about seeming to like it, though! I’m not sure whether she actually liked it, but she said that red mugs (inside and out red) are rare and she was very happy to have one (she’s hosted before, and I saw that she had a white version of the mug I gave her >.<). Whoops…maybe should’ve given shirts instead >.<. I think the bear at least was a success…

Afterward, we had a lot of good food for dinner :). I didn’t realize earlier, but the octopus I cut we were basically eating raw, haha. It was really delicious.

Tried to teach my host sister Rubik’s cube. Didn’t really get past even the first step but she had to sleep early because she’s swimming twice tomorrow and then running. She gave my bunny two pats on the head though—so I think that means she must like fluffy things.

PS, SCTI gave us emergency bags in case of earthquakes. I took a picture of the stuff inside :P