Staying at my Liasons house!

Okay, so my host parents uncle just died in Tokyo!! SAD! :( So they have to go there for a few days and I am staying with my liaison. Hopefully she will take me out to do fun things since I will be with her until Sunday! I had my fist day of school yesterday. Its not an actual school though. Me and the three other language students in this area actually go to the teachers house to learn, which is probably better I guess because we will learn more faster! I had my first bento! It was so cute and everything inside was sooo yummmy!

We had a little break during school, and my and Kelesa got to walk around for 20 minuets! We went to the store and I bought soo much stuff just because it was all cute and Japanese. I got lost on the way to school actually! (how could I have forgotten to mention that lol)...Ya so I missed the express train to Kurume station (where I am supposed to get off for school), so I took the other train. When I got off I had no idea where to go so I wandered aimlessly for like 5 minuets...then I finally went to the customer service type area where no one spoke English at all. They took out this book of English phrases and told me to point to the one that I wanted to say! Its funny now but at the time it was soo frustrating. I finally just gave them the paper with the school number on it. They called and I got where I needed to be safely! :3 Ya school was pretty easy for me...I think I should try to get into a harder class because I learned everything they were going over a loong time ago.

But ya so I wont be able to post pictures until I get back here so I'm going to past a lot now! Enjoy!

more Tokyo...

manga from my host sister...

airplane food on the way to Japan.

some temple that we passed on the way to school.

a street view of Kurume.

I am IN JAPAN!!!

Hey everyone! So I had a six hour flight to Los Angeles, a ten hour flight to Japan, a 9 hour bus ride to Osaka, and a 3 hour shinkansen (Japanese bullet train) ride to Fukuoka where I an staying...sooo much traveling. Im tired lol. But I met so many new people. Japan is so beautiful and amazing!!! I am with my host family now. They are cute and nice. I start my first day of school tommorow so I am excited!

I stayed in Osaka for like 3 days. It was fun most of the time, but sometimes it was really boring when we had group sesssions for hours lol. I am trying to adjust to eating Japanese food...I have major vravings for good old American food a lot of the time. It rains here like everyday because it is the rainy season until mid July I think... I dont like the rain ahhh!!! It is my seconf day with my host family, and today I went to a welcoe party where I met other AFS students that are here for year and semester programs. They were nice.

Tonight I am having curry and rice for dinner...I hope I like curry lol. I reallly dont want to offend my family!! OH, I almost forgot Love-chan the cutest dog in the world!! I love him!! Oh ya lol, and at the orientation all of us AFSers bathed together, all naked and stuff. Awkward.....but we got used to it. It is part of Japanese culture after all. Sorry this post is all over the place lol. Using a Japanese keyboard is annoying...Well how about some pictures!!!

Japanese mountains!!!

Francesca me and Kelesa!

Kelesa!

Traditional Japanese toilet.

Ebi-chan is the hottest Japanese guy everrr lol

My friends at the Osaka orientation.

a yummy display at a store in Japan!

Japanese toilets are wickeddd sick! All tricked out with buttons and everything!!

We got to drive by Tokyo!!! It was HUGE and full of people! I wish I could have been there longer!

Well, the day has come.

It never hit me until just now, how much I'm going to miss everything and everyone here at home. I guess I've been blinded by all of the excitement and anxiousness of the trip! It's going to be tough. I'm going to have to keep busy, work hard, and get involved with everything around me! Even though I will get homesick, I know that it will pass and that I'm going to have the experience of a life time! Six whole weeks! Wow! :)

I got another e-mail from my host mom the other day. She said that I would be taking the train to school everyday! I'm so excited, I've always wanted to ride the train in Japan. She also told me she would take me to see temple and shrines, and that my host sister Emily would take me to karaoke lol. I want to see, do, and learn so much! I probably wont have access to a computer until the end of the week when I get with my host family, but when I do I'll be sure to post pictures and details of waking up in Japan for the first time!

My flight is at 6:30 tomorrow....ahh I have to get up so early because were leaving at like 4:15. Gosh. I'm going out to eat with my family (our last meal together for awhile :(...), and then I've got to pack up a few more things and get me some sleep! Bye bye for now everyone! :p

Less than a week away!

AHH I just can't believe it's only 5 days now! I'm finally going to be living my life long dream of going to Japan! I sent my host family a letter, e-mailed them, and then called them yesterday! It was awesome! I talked to my Otoosan (Dad) for like a minute because he didn't speak any English, and then I talked to my Okaasan (Mom) for like 10 minutes because she spoke perfect English! She told me she got both my letter and my e-mail (she e-mailed me back after the call lol), and then she told me how excited they all were to see me and everything. It really made me feel like part of the family already. There was a warm, welcoming connection between us. It was great! :D I'm going to have to tell her and my Imootosan (little sister) not to use English with me though, or else I won't learn Japanese aha!!

So aside from all that, I've been rushing around like a crazy person because its finals week (of course, right?). So I'm studying, while running around trying to buy gifts for my host family and stuff for my trip, trying to see all my friends and family before I leave, reviewing my Japanese, making a packing list, working at my job, and also trying to mentally prepare myself!! Aghh and on top of that I'm just so nervous and excited at the same time that I've got intense pre-departure stress! So I'm just a little tired lol....trying to keep everything organized is a challenge even for me. I set up a debit card for me to take out money at ATM's in Japan (its a hello kitty debit card! :3)...and I also got around 100 bucks converted into yen. Japanese money is sooo cool! Gahh I'm so excited! Well see you all later! Jaa mata!

I HAVE A HOST FAMILY!!!

Wow, so I just received my host family info! I have a mother, a father, a 16 year old sister, and an 18 year old brother! I also have a dog! My family lives in Fukuoka, Japan on the southern Island of Kyushu and the city name is Kurume! Soo exciting. XD I can't figure out exactly where my school is lol...its also in Fukuoka but I don't out where! I'm reallly happy because I'll get to land in Tokyo, then travel to Osaka for my orientation, and then I'll take the shinkansen to Fukuoka! Three different cities to see! Aha, also..I've actually never heard of Fukuoka before, so I think that makes it even more exciting; Staying somewhere different and new to me! Fukuoka is right in between Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well, so maybe I will even get to visit! So cool!! :p
Anyway, here are some pics I found of the area I will be staying in...

Only 3 weeks to go!

Hey everyone! So last month I was officially accepted by AFS Japan! I haven't gotten my host family or any info on where I will be staying and going to school. I hope that it comes soon because its so tenseee not knowing!!! Agh!! Theres only 3 weeks to go and I'm counting down the days, making my packing list and all that...I'll update again once I've got my host family! :)

Progress and Goals

Hi again everyone, just here to update on everything that is going on. Currently I am in the midst of fundraising for my trip and learning as much as possible about the Japanese language and culture, though it's all very hard to cram into my schedule. I was just recently accepted by AFS-USA, and I have to wait until march or April or so to find out if Japan accepts me, which seems like FOREVER from now! So now all I can do is wait! I probably won't be posting that much for a few months until I get accepted, plus I mostly want to save the blogging for when I get to Japan. Bye bye for now everyone! :)