Hello everyone! I hope you have a faaabulous September.
This weekend, I turned 17! It was definitely a wonderful celebration. Many of my friends at school wished me a happy birthday on Friday, and even some people I didn't even know wished me a Happy Birthday, so that was pretty special :) And after school, one of my friends took me to Fukui City for Purikura* It was my first time to take purikura pictures but it was so so soso fun!!! Who knew taking and decorating pictures could be so awesome :D I can't wait to try it again.
*Purikura is short for purinto kurabu (print club) in Japanese. Its those smalls sticker pictures that are very bright and colorfully decorated for those who don't know. So fun!!
Since my birthday was a Friday night, my host parents and sister, Mina, were working and at cram school. However Miki and my host grandparents celebrated with me with cake! Miki managed to put 17 candles on the cake and it lit up the whole kitchen. (AH Im so old) It took me maybe 6 times to blow out all the candles, but the cake was super tasty. It was chocolate and banana and super creamy. I luuurve Japanese desserts ;D
It was so much fun...and then Saturday came!
My host mother told me since I had school on Friday, it was diffiuclt to have a party on my birthday. So yesterday I went to papa and mama's restaurant and was greeted by a bunch of my friends from school! I recieved lots of really cute presents >.< and ate lots of tasty Shabu Shabu and more Chocobanana cake <3 It was so much fun, I was so happy!! It was a truely wonderfully awesomely wonderful weekend.
Oh! And did you know thta there is no Japanese version of "Happy Birthday"? They just sing it in English which is super cute :)
Well, apart from that , I did think about everyone in America too. It was very different being away from everyone for my birthday ;__; I hope the marching band have a very good competition this weekend and everyone else have a very good weekend too!
Loooooove
Molly
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
VERY SCARY!
To understand my adventure today, we must backtrack to last Thursday.
~*~
I was going home on the 4:19 train after school on Thursday. I actually got to the station a little early so I decided to sit down and listen to some music while I waited for the train. Shortly after I sat down, a man (I would describe him as 45-50 years old) sat down next to me. He was wearing a medical mask so I really couldnt tell what he looked like. At first he did nothing but then he handed me a sample/advertisment towel. I remember when I went to Tokyo two years ago that many people give out free samples, including tissues and towels to advertise things. I said thank you for the towel and turned away. However the man continued to stare at me. He then started asking me very weird questions, his first being "Do you have a friend to ride home with?" (Note, he first started talking to me in Japanese very quickly so I replied that I don't understand...so he continued to talk to me only in English). He asked me many other questions too, having to with why I was here, if I went to school, if I was on a home stay, and what my hobbies were. I tried to keep my answers short and vague because I really didnt want him to know too much about me. And when the train arrived, I tried to move towards a different car away from where I was sitting...but he followed me. And when I sat down, he stood right in front of me and continued asking questions. Putting it lightly, I really wanted to get off the train :( When I reached the train station, I quickly got off and he thankfully did not follow. Im not sure what I would have done if he did.... >.<
I told my host sister, host mother, and English teacher about this. My host mother contacted AFS and I talked breifly with the Fukui President about the 'scary man' as I described him to my sister. My English teacher thought that maybe he was interested in my culture, however I dont know why he would ask if I had a friend to ride the train with or stare at me the way he did. It was just very, very unpleasant. Thankfully Ive ridden the train three times (although at different times) home since then and there is no sign of him.
And ANYWAY, today I was escorted by the POLICE to the train station. They were very nice and of course wanted me to be safe, but it was very um, attention drawing for lack of a better word. If you could imagine the exchange student + the police I turned a lot of heads :( However I met another girl from my school at the train staion; the policeman asked her to stay with me on the train after the train arrived. She was very nice, and I actually managed to have a brief conversation in Japanese with her about the scary man. So I suppose out of all this mess, I managed to score some language use points! My English teacher also told me that tomorrow, the police want to ask me questions about this scary man, so I have that to look forward to >.< Errrr why meeeee
I wasnt going to update my blog so soon, however after today I thought this was blog worthy. And most importantly, I wanted to tell everyone that despite all this, Im doing okay. Like I said, I havent seen this man again and with the precautions that the Japanese police are taking, hopefully I will never see him again :)
Everybody else take care too!
Love, Molly
~*~
I was going home on the 4:19 train after school on Thursday. I actually got to the station a little early so I decided to sit down and listen to some music while I waited for the train. Shortly after I sat down, a man (I would describe him as 45-50 years old) sat down next to me. He was wearing a medical mask so I really couldnt tell what he looked like. At first he did nothing but then he handed me a sample/advertisment towel. I remember when I went to Tokyo two years ago that many people give out free samples, including tissues and towels to advertise things. I said thank you for the towel and turned away. However the man continued to stare at me. He then started asking me very weird questions, his first being "Do you have a friend to ride home with?" (Note, he first started talking to me in Japanese very quickly so I replied that I don't understand...so he continued to talk to me only in English). He asked me many other questions too, having to with why I was here, if I went to school, if I was on a home stay, and what my hobbies were. I tried to keep my answers short and vague because I really didnt want him to know too much about me. And when the train arrived, I tried to move towards a different car away from where I was sitting...but he followed me. And when I sat down, he stood right in front of me and continued asking questions. Putting it lightly, I really wanted to get off the train :( When I reached the train station, I quickly got off and he thankfully did not follow. Im not sure what I would have done if he did.... >.<
I told my host sister, host mother, and English teacher about this. My host mother contacted AFS and I talked breifly with the Fukui President about the 'scary man' as I described him to my sister. My English teacher thought that maybe he was interested in my culture, however I dont know why he would ask if I had a friend to ride the train with or stare at me the way he did. It was just very, very unpleasant. Thankfully Ive ridden the train three times (although at different times) home since then and there is no sign of him.
And ANYWAY, today I was escorted by the POLICE to the train station. They were very nice and of course wanted me to be safe, but it was very um, attention drawing for lack of a better word. If you could imagine the exchange student + the police I turned a lot of heads :( However I met another girl from my school at the train staion; the policeman asked her to stay with me on the train after the train arrived. She was very nice, and I actually managed to have a brief conversation in Japanese with her about the scary man. So I suppose out of all this mess, I managed to score some language use points! My English teacher also told me that tomorrow, the police want to ask me questions about this scary man, so I have that to look forward to >.< Errrr why meeeee
I wasnt going to update my blog so soon, however after today I thought this was blog worthy. And most importantly, I wanted to tell everyone that despite all this, Im doing okay. Like I said, I havent seen this man again and with the precautions that the Japanese police are taking, hopefully I will never see him again :)
Everybody else take care too!
Love, Molly
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Yasumiiiiiii
ON THURSDAY, MY CAMERA BROKE. I WAS SLIGHTLY NOT HAPPY.
However, I bought a new one yesterday. It's pink and very cute. Unfortunately I cant access all of the picture on my old camera, so if/until I figure that out, Ill have to take new ones to upload :)
ALSO. This comes up as on Sunday? That is not true! It is Monday here!
Anyway......National holiday means no school! It's labor day in America too, right? Aah, twins!
Last week we finished our school festival. It was three days and ended with Sports Day. It reminded me a lot like field day in middle school but slightly more organized and fun. I was in a relay too. The students had to run around the track, stop at a desk and answer a math problem, after that was done, we had to grab a piece of bread hanging from a string without using our hands. After you grabbed the bread, you ran to the finish line. I finished 3rd out of 8. THIRD! ME! Can you believe it? I was so proud of myself...and the bread was very tasty :D
Things are getting easier too. I finally understand my Host Family situation. I swith families on November 1st. It's very sad to think about really, but I'm sure it will work out in the end. And the language difference is getting easier. I can understand and pick out more and more words I know and read along with the TV. And I had a conversation with my host sister and her friends about food that we like, in Japanese! I still have a long way to go but I think I've made an important step!!
Until next time! Ja neeee
However, I bought a new one yesterday. It's pink and very cute. Unfortunately I cant access all of the picture on my old camera, so if/until I figure that out, Ill have to take new ones to upload :)
ALSO. This comes up as on Sunday? That is not true! It is Monday here!
Anyway......National holiday means no school! It's labor day in America too, right? Aah, twins!
Last week we finished our school festival. It was three days and ended with Sports Day. It reminded me a lot like field day in middle school but slightly more organized and fun. I was in a relay too. The students had to run around the track, stop at a desk and answer a math problem, after that was done, we had to grab a piece of bread hanging from a string without using our hands. After you grabbed the bread, you ran to the finish line. I finished 3rd out of 8. THIRD! ME! Can you believe it? I was so proud of myself...and the bread was very tasty :D
Things are getting easier too. I finally understand my Host Family situation. I swith families on November 1st. It's very sad to think about really, but I'm sure it will work out in the end. And the language difference is getting easier. I can understand and pick out more and more words I know and read along with the TV. And I had a conversation with my host sister and her friends about food that we like, in Japanese! I still have a long way to go but I think I've made an important step!!
Until next time! Ja neeee
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Kiigumi Gekkou Ka!
It's 21:25 here, so confusing!!!!
A Typhoon almost hit Tokyo!!!!! I'm sorry Tokyo for all the rain, but it brought a very nice breeze to Fukui!
I will update with a more upbeat and updated status!
Today was the first day of my school's festival. FUKUSHO FESTIVAL 2009!! There was lots of food, music and nice people to help me buy food. 1C, my class, made roughly 200 rice burgers last night, but it paid off because people loved them, and our class made nearly 32200 yen, which is roughly $330. Oishii node katte kudasai! And some of my classmated invited me to perform a short dance with them for the festival so I enjoyed that. Today was so much fun...why doesn't Zionsville have a school festival? Somebody write that down for the Student Council suggestion box.
Host family wise, my family is perfect! My host parents are some of the nicest and funniest people I've ever met. And Miki and Mina are so nice and helpful. I'm going to enjoy these next two months!!
Other news, I went to the sea on Sunday......so pretty!!!!!! Especially for someone from Indiana. I took many many pictures however Im not entirely sure how to upload them. Japanese computer is Japanese and very different. Ive switched languages twice accidentally and it took me a while to figure how to find the english alphabet again, haha! But once I do, I will :)
Until later! Keep on doing great.......I miss America so much, what did I get myself into!? haha
Oh and enjoy Wednesday America! It's a very lovely day I do say so myself!
A Typhoon almost hit Tokyo!!!!! I'm sorry Tokyo for all the rain, but it brought a very nice breeze to Fukui!
I will update with a more upbeat and updated status!
Today was the first day of my school's festival. FUKUSHO FESTIVAL 2009!! There was lots of food, music and nice people to help me buy food. 1C, my class, made roughly 200 rice burgers last night, but it paid off because people loved them, and our class made nearly 32200 yen, which is roughly $330. Oishii node katte kudasai! And some of my classmated invited me to perform a short dance with them for the festival so I enjoyed that. Today was so much fun...why doesn't Zionsville have a school festival? Somebody write that down for the Student Council suggestion box.
Host family wise, my family is perfect! My host parents are some of the nicest and funniest people I've ever met. And Miki and Mina are so nice and helpful. I'm going to enjoy these next two months!!
Other news, I went to the sea on Sunday......so pretty!!!!!! Especially for someone from Indiana. I took many many pictures however Im not entirely sure how to upload them. Japanese computer is Japanese and very different. Ive switched languages twice accidentally and it took me a while to figure how to find the english alphabet again, haha! But once I do, I will :)
Until later! Keep on doing great.......I miss America so much, what did I get myself into!? haha
Oh and enjoy Wednesday America! It's a very lovely day I do say so myself!
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