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!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
I am in Japan!
But this must be proof that everything isn't sunshine and dasies.maah
I'm actually at my English teacher's house right now. Apparently my first host family is traveling overseas right now and won't be back until later this week. So it was a bit anticlimactic getting off the train yesterday. That definately doesn't mean that nothing exciting happened. After all, I said my "first" host family, because apparently I have two...????????????? The second greeted me at the train station yesterday. Unfortunately, I had no idea who they were, and now I feel very very terrible about not knowing what to say to them. I didn't even know their names. Now, I'm not sure how often I'll see them, after all I went home with my English teacher and not them. It's so confusing and I don't understand WHY NO ONE TOLD ME ANY OF THIS. I would have appreciated it a lot.
Also, I'm very ill right now. I've been in bed for the past 18 hours, apart from getting up to write this. My roommate in Tokyo was very sick during orientation, and the hotel didn't move her for another day and a half, and never clean the room afterwards either. So I may have caught what she had, plus all the traveling and uneccessary confusion must have taken its toll on me. However, I'm pretty sure it's not Swine Flu! Which is pretty good news. A lot of people here are very nervous about it. I've seen quite a few people around Japan wearing masks, and I was asked to take a Tamiflu pill at orientation since my roommate was sick at the time. Unfortunately, that didn't really prevent me from getting sick. BAH.
I'm sorry this isn't the most cheerful post, but it's what I'm feeling right now. Although I'm not sure it can get much worse than this, so hopefully my next entry will be a little more happy. Also, thank you for all the love on facebook!!! While it flooded my inbox, all the comments made me feel very very happy. I love all of them!
Until next time
Molly~
I'm actually at my English teacher's house right now. Apparently my first host family is traveling overseas right now and won't be back until later this week. So it was a bit anticlimactic getting off the train yesterday. That definately doesn't mean that nothing exciting happened. After all, I said my "first" host family, because apparently I have two...????????????? The second greeted me at the train station yesterday. Unfortunately, I had no idea who they were, and now I feel very very terrible about not knowing what to say to them. I didn't even know their names. Now, I'm not sure how often I'll see them, after all I went home with my English teacher and not them. It's so confusing and I don't understand WHY NO ONE TOLD ME ANY OF THIS. I would have appreciated it a lot.
Also, I'm very ill right now. I've been in bed for the past 18 hours, apart from getting up to write this. My roommate in Tokyo was very sick during orientation, and the hotel didn't move her for another day and a half, and never clean the room afterwards either. So I may have caught what she had, plus all the traveling and uneccessary confusion must have taken its toll on me. However, I'm pretty sure it's not Swine Flu! Which is pretty good news. A lot of people here are very nervous about it. I've seen quite a few people around Japan wearing masks, and I was asked to take a Tamiflu pill at orientation since my roommate was sick at the time. Unfortunately, that didn't really prevent me from getting sick. BAH.
I'm sorry this isn't the most cheerful post, but it's what I'm feeling right now. Although I'm not sure it can get much worse than this, so hopefully my next entry will be a little more happy. Also, thank you for all the love on facebook!!! While it flooded my inbox, all the comments made me feel very very happy. I love all of them!
Until next time
Molly~
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Host Family Info PART TWOOO.
Earlier today, I was very excited, however I have calmed down (slightly, maybe.)
I received more information on my host family today. It was funny because I almost didn't get the mail today, however I DID. And AFS sent me a packet with more detailed information on my host family, including their hobbies and things to know about the family. They also included photos of themselves, the house and the area close by. SO EXCELLENT. I think I could really leave any day now (disregarding that I don't have a Visa yettt), I'm so excited! I really look forward to meeting my family :)
In this news, I also found a new motivation to finish translating the letter I was writing to them. AFS recommended that host students write a letter to their families before they leave and I thought that was a really good idea. I think if I was hosting a student, it would be really nice to recieve a letter from them. I finished a few hours ago =D I was going to have someone look over it before I send it off since I am sound it this like want don't...... (I don't want it to sound like that hahaha)
But yup, that's all that's new. 20 days until I leave for LA. 21 until Tokyo, and 24 until I meet my house family!!!
I received more information on my host family today. It was funny because I almost didn't get the mail today, however I DID. And AFS sent me a packet with more detailed information on my host family, including their hobbies and things to know about the family. They also included photos of themselves, the house and the area close by. SO EXCELLENT. I think I could really leave any day now (disregarding that I don't have a Visa yettt), I'm so excited! I really look forward to meeting my family :)
In this news, I also found a new motivation to finish translating the letter I was writing to them. AFS recommended that host students write a letter to their families before they leave and I thought that was a really good idea. I think if I was hosting a student, it would be really nice to recieve a letter from them. I finished a few hours ago =D I was going to have someone look over it before I send it off since I am sound it this like want don't...... (I don't want it to sound like that hahaha)
But yup, that's all that's new. 20 days until I leave for LA. 21 until Tokyo, and 24 until I meet my house family!!!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Placement &Host Family Information!!!!
I am so excited I don't think I can control myself.
Hi guys! I received my Host Family information today. YES. YES. YES. The last few weeks were brutal waiting, but now it has PAID OFF. There are 5 weeks until I leave, so I got my info a little after the 6 - 8 week window. Still, this is AWESOME.
Excluding myself, there are 5 people in my Host family. I'll be living with my host grandparents, and my host parents. I also have a 13 year old sister. I know one of the things I wanted most family wise was a sister, so I'm very, very excited my wish came true!
My home city will be Eiheiji-cho*, Yoshida-gun*, Fukui-ken*. Fukui is located right next to Kyoto actually, so I wasn't far off from my dream city!
I took this picture of Eiheiji from the wikipedia :) The town seems to be a little smaller than Zionsville. The 2003 census is around 6,500 people, but I'm sure it's grown since then. I don't have information about my school yet, but I'm thinking that it'll be like Zionsvile size wise. It'll be interesting to see the similarities and differences between town in America and and Japan that around the same size...huh?
Here's some fun information about Fukui Prefecture, too! Apparently, there have been a lot of dionsaur dig sites in the area, there's even a museum! Fukui is also home to the city of Obama, Japan. Helena tells me they flipped out when he won the election in America, and they sell a lot of Obama merchandise. So funny!
Fukui also has a distinct dialect which is so interesting! For example, for "okay," instead of saying "hai" I would say "hoya hoya" ahahah. I think that will add a special something to my stay, but might make it a little more challenging at first. I pulled a quote from the Wikipedia, too. You guys have to read this.
Look forward to more information soon. Thank you AFS!!!!
*If I think of this correctly, 'cho' is the suffix for city. So something like Zionsville. 'Gun' is for the district, so like Boone County (I'm not sure about this one). And 'ken' is for the Prefecture, or state, so like Indiana. And then Japan!
Hi guys! I received my Host Family information today. YES. YES. YES. The last few weeks were brutal waiting, but now it has PAID OFF. There are 5 weeks until I leave, so I got my info a little after the 6 - 8 week window. Still, this is AWESOME.
Excluding myself, there are 5 people in my Host family. I'll be living with my host grandparents, and my host parents. I also have a 13 year old sister. I know one of the things I wanted most family wise was a sister, so I'm very, very excited my wish came true!
My home city will be Eiheiji-cho*, Yoshida-gun*, Fukui-ken*. Fukui is located right next to Kyoto actually, so I wasn't far off from my dream city!
I took this picture of Eiheiji from the wikipedia :) The town seems to be a little smaller than Zionsville. The 2003 census is around 6,500 people, but I'm sure it's grown since then. I don't have information about my school yet, but I'm thinking that it'll be like Zionsvile size wise. It'll be interesting to see the similarities and differences between town in America and and Japan that around the same size...huh?Here's some fun information about Fukui Prefecture, too! Apparently, there have been a lot of dionsaur dig sites in the area, there's even a museum! Fukui is also home to the city of Obama, Japan. Helena tells me they flipped out when he won the election in America, and they sell a lot of Obama merchandise. So funny!
Fukui also has a distinct dialect which is so interesting! For example, for "okay," instead of saying "hai" I would say "hoya hoya" ahahah. I think that will add a special something to my stay, but might make it a little more challenging at first. I pulled a quote from the Wikipedia, too. You guys have to read this.
Speakers of Fukui dialect tend to talk in an up and down, sing-songy manner. Speakers of Kansai dialect and Kantō dialect tend to look down on Fukui dialect as being hopelessly provincial, or inaka (rural). That being said, Fukui-ben is not without its own charm and even homespun elegance.....I'LL BE HOPELESSLY RURAL.
Look forward to more information soon. Thank you AFS!!!!
*If I think of this correctly, 'cho' is the suffix for city. So something like Zionsville. 'Gun' is for the district, so like Boone County (I'm not sure about this one). And 'ken' is for the Prefecture, or state, so like Indiana. And then Japan!
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