Isnt it amazing how one little girl can do so much to change the outlook of your day? All day today (and for most of the week), I:ve been feeling really down and mad about myself and my abilities to speak Japanese/interact with others here in Japan. Particularly today, when I was shown just how inadequate I am compared to a first-year  student... ( Read more... )

Today was another day of new experiences and awesome chances to interact with the real Japanese culture that this place is rampent with! First off, I had a very lovely morning walking with my Ojii (grandfather) to all sorts of lovely places because I get to walk to my meeting place each day instead of having to drive. I certainly don`t mind because ( Read more... )

Well, today marked the first day of my new "city living" here in Japan. A brand new place, a brand new week of fun stuff to do, and a COMPLETELY different way of existing. In the city of Toride (which is about an hour away from Tokyo by train) is where I'm staying, and I met my family after a three hour bus drive. I have to say that leaving the ( Read more... )

Good evening, everyone!

If this post seems at all to be a little bit crazy, it's because I had quite a FULL day and I'm pretty tired--so we'll see how it goes. Today was the day that I got to spend with my family, doing things that they had planned FOR me. First, we went to an awesome festival where you got to carry these HUGE family flags before ( Read more... )

Today was just as awesome as I thought it was going to be! It was technically suppose to be my "free day", on which I did anything that I wanted to do while I was in Ueda. But, since I would have been by myself, and I didn't really know WHAT to do, I decided instead to spend the day with my family (which I'll also do tomorrow). I basically became ( Read more... )

Another busy, stressful, eventful (but good!) day for me here in Japan. Today was the actual "event" day where, during which I had to sing, dance, act, AND perform a speech--all in Japanese! And it just so happened that it was in front of about 100 people AND a TV camera that's going to post it live on the stations here in the city I'm staying it. ( Read more... )

Good evening, everyone ( Read more... )

Well it's now time for today's daily update on what's happening in NIPPON!

So today I got up extra early to enjoy the lovely sound of the birds singing just outside my second-story window above the garden. Though rain was falling (as it is every day here), the temperature was calm and cool and I was treated to an awesome epic breakfast (though I' ( Read more... )

Well, I never thought that I would do this, but there's just so much stuff that's happening each and every day that I have to post about it ( Read more... )

Well,　ｉｔ　ｓｅｅｍｓ　ａｆｔｅｒ　ａ　ｖｅｒｙ　ｌｏｎｇ　１６　ｈｏｕｒ　ｆｌｉｇｈｔ，　ｆｏｌｌｏｗｅｄ　ｂｙ　ａｎ　ｈｏｕｒ　ｗａｉｔ　ｉｎ　ｃｕｓｔｏｍｓ，　ｆｏｌｌｏｗｅｄ　ｂｙ　ａｎ　ｈｏｕｒ　ｗａｉｔ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｈｅ　ｏｔｈｅｒ　ａｒｒｉｖａｌ，　ｆｏｌｌｏｗｅｄ　ｂｙ　ａ　２．５　ｈｏｕｒ　ｔｒａｉｎ　ｒｉｄｅ，　ｆｏｌｌｏｗｅｄ　ｂｙ　ａ　40　ｍｉｎｕｔｅ　ｃａｒ　ｒｉｄｅ，　Ｉｈａｖｅ　ｆｉｎａｌｌｙ　ａｒｒｉｖｅｄ　ｉｎ　Ｊａｐａｎ，　ａｔ　ｔｈｅ　ｈｏｍｅｓｔａｙ　ｆａｍｉｌｙ　ｈｏｕｓｅ　ｔｈａｔ　Ｉｍ　ｇｏｉｎｇ　ｔｏ　ｂｅ　ｌｉｖｉｎｇ　ｉｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｎｅｘｔ　ｗｅｅｋ．　Ｔｈｅｒｅ　ｗｅｒｅ　ｇｒｅａｔ　ｔｈｉｎｇｓ　ａｌｏｎｇ　ｔｈｅ　ｗａｙ，　 ( Read more... )