It is a Magical Journey

New life adventures, the tales of my life now.

2010-12-01T18:02:00.000-08:00

I'm gonna start blogging again, this time about everything.
If you truly know me, you know my 6 week exchange changed me.
My dedication to language sculpted my ambitions.
Art still is my play ground, with a trampoline into a possible future.
My junior year is the year I have to make desicions, and this is it. I'm creating more life adventures. I've taken up German, on top of Japanese 4. All last year I was struggling to become an exchange student for this year. Things didn't work out but that's okay!
I met a boy, sadly we are no longer together but he did open my eyes.
I also got a job, and I'm loving it. Working at a toy store is all the fun it is made to be!
In 9 days, I'll be 17. The age of my friends in Japan when I met them. However, I was 16 only when my exchange sister, Momoka from Hokkaido came to visit. But there was no 'age' between us. We were sisters still.
My friend Jen, a now close friend China is someone I need to teach me how to cook!
And I know a lot of stuff about Turkmenistan, because of my friend Anistacisa.
So, my friends. Go out there, meet people. Take advantage of the world and learn things! Let the world help you discover yourself.

I'll update hopefully soon with a photo blog of sorts. But the macbook is getting fixed, and that's where all the pics go to.

Temple of a Thousand Arches 6/27

2009-08-12T10:55:00.000-07:00

Kouki does not know how to smile... but it's a cute picture with the pigeon in the background.

Entrance to the shrine

Shrine is known for it's connection the the fox spirit.

Bigger arches.

Writing going the other way.

Kouki, running off ahead.

Ganbate!

We washed our hands.

1000 cranes praying for health of children.

BAMBOO!

Turtles

An apartment building that I thought looked very intresting.

Lunch was rotating sushi: awesome.

A "shinkansen" (bullet train) delivered our special orders.

Hamburger sushi, actually really good.

My dessert, yum.

My pile of plates on the right, Kouki's on the left.

We went to an electric media store, and they had bizarre workout things...

Including this bizarre horse simulator... and it helps you loose weight.

Days at Saya's nursery

2009-08-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

The following were taken 6/25- 6/26

Craft all us "kids" made... It's me, in a rocket ship

Sometimes, all the kids go to play with each other in a big room

Birthdays of the month

Friday lunch, the girl on the left was one of my favorites

This little girl loved me. I taught her how to write "Hello."

Friday Lunch

B-day celebration

Star play they were practicing.

Saya...

The nursery was actually owned by a Buddhist organization. So instead of praying to a shinto god (since these children were growing), they prayed to Buddha, who is like the god of death.

Posing for the camera...

I have no clue what this from.

Thursday lunch.

Learning how to play with string.

I fail...

2009-08-12T07:53:00.000-07:00

So, because this blog died when I got home, I'm just going to upload a bunch of pictures and give little descriptions, then I'll blog the rest of my summer, and then rant. I like to rant.

So, um, here I go!

Movies...

2009-07-07T05:49:00.000-07:00

I have yet to see a movie while here, but there are two that really intrest me.
The first is the 6th Harry Potter movie. And though it is in Japanese, it does come out two days before America, and it definelty beats my friends who are going to go see the midnight viewing, two days later... HAHAHAHHA...

And to those friends who have watched Gokusen, there is a movie coming out, this Saturday, and my host sisters and I are freaking out... GOKUSEN IS AWESOME... go watch it online if you haven't.

Now I'm going to go watch a TV show about a Japanese vampire, a premier too... toddles!

I hate Japanese Rain.

2009-07-06T05:02:00.001-07:00

Today I woke up in a good mood, and I decided that I wasn't going to get in a bad mood, but, though I am not as happy as this morning, I am still confident in knowing this one thing that messed up my morning. The rain in Japan can truly change everything. Before we leave my host father tells me that the trains are delayed that go between were Ritto station, my station is. No problem, I just take the first train closest to my normal time and wah-la, get on my bike and go to school. So first I get on the bus, my host sister and one of my host brothers are squished into the front of the bus. Already I hate the buses here.When they stop you fall forward, and when they go you fall back. either way, you fall into people who are somehow trying to sleep. The first time the door opened on this bus ride, I got squished behind it. The bus driver did tell me to get out of the way, and I tried, but there was absolutely no room on the bus for me to go... my sister's made a little room, but we had to get out right away to let others get on, every time the bus stopped till we reached our destination, the last stop.
When it rains, everything slows down. My host sisters missed their usual train, but it didn't matter. The trains were also running slow.
This morning, my host sisters and I are about to leave

CIMG0516 src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2439/3693282377_49db86e574.jpg" width=500 height=375>

This was the scene on the other platform, coming towards us, away from the accident. Scary, right? The line goes all the way into the stairwell down.

CIMG0517 src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2657/3693283089_a06600b181.jpg" width=500 height=375>

Of course, the trains were allowed to come through, as they cleared the accident. But, only an eighth of the people got on, and they were squished. We saw a women being pushed into a seat, holding to her bag for dear life, while people in the isles had elbow room... quite sad.
The first train we could take arrived 3 minutes late. And late is REALLY LATE in Japan. There were still to many people on the train car. I gave up first, since I knew I could take the next train. My little host sister tried to push through, but failed. This is the thing about the rain here. It rains, 75% more people end up taking the bus or train in the 'pleasant' seasons because they can't ride their bikes or scooters. EVERYBODY, commutes in Japan by bike at least once in their life.
We get on the next train, squished with two older ladies, people play with their cell phones as they sit in the the seats no longer available, with a sign clearly stating "turn off your cell phones if seating here." (It was in two languages too.)
My younger host sister gets off with half of the train car's passengers. I wait for two more stations to pass, my train is going about the speed of a horse at a trot, a third of it's normal speed.
I am surprisingly not late for school, but am close to it. I have fun with my friends as we continue to prepare for the school festival, it was a hot day, but my day still turned out to be a nice one, not as great as this morning.
Currently though, I really want to see a movie, whether it be Harry Potter or the Gokusen movie. I sort of miss popcorn.

And sorry about the links, I'll fix them later, I'm trying out a new photo thing, but the don't offer URL unlike photobucket.

No pics, sorry

2009-07-03T04:04:00.000-07:00

So, I am at my new host family, I have 4 siblings, only one is older then me, no body nearly understands english as well as Michi. My host father can complicate some, my sisters the same amount, and well, my host mom... none. Oh, and my host grandma too. Yeah, YFU didn't tell me that I also would be having a part time host grandma, who I just met today... WOW. That's 8 of us living under one roof, one big roof for a typical japanese home by the way. But we understand each other well here, and we also joke a lot.
Currently at school we are working on our school festival. WHICH IS AWESOME. I am learning this dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYgnvpGEg68
Yes, I can do this dance, and it's more complicated then lucky star will ever be. Actually, it's funny, for one of the uperclassmen's fashion show, they are doing the SOS Haruhi Suzimia dance, but all of my friends knew it, as well did I, so we danced along. (Yes, the past following were about Anime, google it.) And I really can't give you much info on this whole school festival thing, because it's really complicated and I don't intirely understand. It's not at all like J-drama and anime potrays it though... I'll post about the results next week, it ends on Thursday.

But now for a story, about today. So I was at my train station, waiting for the train that would take me home. I have to call my new host parents at the train station, so that when I arrive at Ishiayamada, they can pick me up. So I'm turning on the my borrowed sister's phone, waiting for it to turn on and when it does, it turns off... no big deal, right? I have their contact info written down... which I forgot at home. -insert inner curseword- So, after trying to see if the train personal could understand my choppy, limited and messed up Japanese, I ended up waiting again at the platform, depressing over what I was going to do. That's when this young, nice Japanese man, who's english is as far as highschool education (which is pretty high now a days), and I explain to him, using my poor Japanese and some english I explain what's wrong (I can't walk home, too far, or take bus, don't know fair and number). We get on the train and think, we don't have the same battery, so that won't work, I don't have the number, and well, the only option left is to pray that my host sister shows up after me, sometime. He has an idea though, and thus it works. He takes me to the soft bank store, which is very clost to Ishiyamada station, and they charge my sister's cell phone, and I can call, feel embarresed, but take a deep sigh when my call goes through... THANK GOD, no this man and Karma. We go bck to the station, it's raining, and at the spot where I wait for my host parents we say good bye. I do not know the man's name, but I couldn't stop saying "domo arigato gozaimashita," (thank you very much for everything). My friends, I drew him... so you can see Mr. Saved-my-exchange-life when I get bak . If I ever see him again, which I probably won't, I owe him, lots. And karma, this is ultimaltey why I beleive in Karma, because this happy scenario would never happen in Japan or America, well, almost never. It does make me almost cry for joy though, I am completly toached, and I feel like I should do something too. OPEN YOUR HEARTS PEOPLE.

So... no post till tomorrow possibly

2009-06-27T04:31:00.000-07:00

Uploading pictures, editing them and then uploading them takes... forever. So not much in this post except my next 2 or 3 posts will be about what I did this week and espically today (Saturday). Sorry! But I really hate how much I keep cooming on the computer, and I don't think my host parents like it either.

But what I did, and what my next posts are:
Helping my mom teach her english classes at cram school.
My host sister's nursery and my time there.
And my trip to Kyoto with my host family.
Also, on Wednesday I will be going to my permentent host family.

Any other stuff you guys are intrested in and want me to blog about, please leave a comment!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

2009-06-22T02:22:00.000-07:00

So, after Rain ruined our plans to visit the famous shrine in Kyoto, the one with a gazillion red arches to the temple, we ended up deciding we would go on Saturday, and today, we would go to yet another mall (I went to one earlier with my host mom, where I bought some stuff for school).

Now, don't think it's nice and cool her with all the rain. It is hot, so hot that I can't seem to get cool by sitting in front of the fan for an hour. Little kids on the way home looked like they jumped out of a pool it was so hot. Let me just say, I am glad I do not school this week.

And this is a picture of Lake Biwa by the way, and yet another Ferris wheel. I have seen more Ferris wheels here then ever in my life.
So at the mall we walked around. I had fried ramen for lunch, yum. We went to a book store, a pet store (some of the cutest dogs I have ever seen are there, but not as cute as my dogs at home) , and the arcade. Now, Japanese arcades are completely different then American arcades. For one thing, they are everywhere. They don't have the prize thing going on, but they do have a million claw games with a variety of prizes. This game is one of my favorites. You pretty much hit the Taiko drum to the beat, just like Rock Band, or more like DK Bangos for the Game Cube (of which I own). This guy is a master: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHvfMECCkMs

And of course, the manga... I can't read it, but I love how they come in thick books and there are a million different kinds of them. They are weekly or monthly and some even come with prizes. The one on top came with a page protector (so when you right your indents don't go onto to the next clean page) and a Nyron planner. The bottom two, Ciao, are for younger 'tween' aged girls. They don't have very famous American known titles, unlike the one on top. They also have some pages folded because I was given them as a gift by my Host Family's cousins.

Augh, I am full from my host mother's delicious tomato soup. I have never tasted tomato soup that could ever. Campbell's is nothing. And it made, for some reason happy and energized. (Energized I can understand, but happy?) Japan is really starting to grow on me, and though the heat is somewhat unbearable, and the stares are obnoxious, I still feel at ease her, and more relaxed. But not so much "OMG, I'm in Japan!" But, "Hey, that's cool, augh, I really can't wait to do this more."

Father's Day

2009-06-21T05:30:00.000-07:00

So, for those of you who don't know, Father's Day is a western holiday celebrated here in Japan. So of course being in a host family, we celebrated. This involves many things, including Buddhism, dango, DSs, and much more.

My host father's father had past away I'm guess at least in the past few years. So, today we went to the graveyard and cleaned his tomb.

These Buddhas protect something (Michi really didn't know, so neither do I) at the entrance of the graveyard.

Cleaning the tomb. Those are cousins. They gave me two huge books of Shojo, I am so happy. (It's really cheap here, and they were drooling over my drawings.)

Final Product.

After cleaning the tomb, we went to Grandma's place. We sat around, talked, watch TV. The kids played with the two Nintendo DSs, and we ate some snacks (Including dango, sticky rice flour balls on a stick). A Buddhist monk came over (who was also a high school English teacher, so he talked to me in English) and prayed at the in home box, honoring the ancestors. I didn't get any pictures of that because I didn't want to be rude. After that we ate dinner, and the kids took a bath together. Because I was the only non-family member, I was treated like a guest. So of course I got special chop sticks and felt guilty that I didn't give a gift. But it was still pretty laid back. I had fun, and I am really glad what I got to see.

And Dad, yes you Troy Thiel. I did not forget... I present you with my little letter/unfinished drawing for father's day. It reads:

Dear Dad,

Though we are an ocean apart, a few states, and 16 hours apart, your support on my journey has been some of the best support I have received on this trip.

I am glad both you and mom have been so supportive of my progress to these exciting weeks, as well as my first year of high school. Although I can't be with you today, I'd still like to wish you a happy Father's Day.

Love XOXO,

Anna

Your Daughter

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY EVERYONE!

Photo Post

2009-06-20T01:30:00.000-07:00

So, currently I am staying with the Fujihara's. I leave for the Kamada's the 30th. The Fujihara's are currently hosting me because I can't be in a Doctor's family unless I prove that I am in good health for a week (the whole swine flu thing).　The Fujihara's are a family of 4 and live in Otsu-shi, Shiga, Japan.Hiroshi is the father, and he works for a credit card company. Michi is my host mother and she works at a cram school as a english teacher.
This is my host brother, Kouki... he goes to elementary schoolAnd this is Saya, she goes to Kindergarden

This is their house.
And the house has some really nice views of the surrounding mountians and neighborhood.That weird curved wall thing is the express way. All express ways have it here to keep out the sound. I forget it's even there I can't hear.There are quite a few children neighbors. There is a park near by, so you can often find them there. They all came over this afternoon and ate my Door County Pancakes... there were plenty enough.
This is my bed, a futon. I normally plug in my ipod, and play with it before I go to bed and when I wake up.And that's all my stuff ... I have desk/tabel, but I don't use it much. I hang out downstairs where I can watch TV, and help fold the laundry.And I'll leave you today with this cute little man hole cover out in the street by my house. Isn't it cute.

Japan is hot, no suprise

2009-06-19T01:39:00.000-07:00

I am covered in sweat... eww. No suprise that the only room in my school that is airconditioned is only the computer room. And I have been in that room a total of two times. Ugh, I need to by my self a personal fan.　”あつい” (hot in japanese ) isn't enough to describe how hot it is. And the rain doesn't help, at all.

So I'll tell you the disapointing news, I haven't been taking that many photos. It's not that I'm too busy, it's two other things:
1. I'm an artist, I want to take a good picture, but I have a hard time deciding what I should take. Japan and America have there similarities and differences, but really, a photo might say a 1000 words, but that's not enough.
and 2. I already meet the criteria of looks for 'foriegner' as it is. People won't speak to me in Japanese just because I'm white. Hell, I could be french and they'd still speak to me in english. So, when I have that camera, people not only think I'm bad or weird for wearing a school uniform (which after, do they realize that I'm on exchange) but when you add the camera, the average Japanese by stander will assume that I'm freaking out at a whole bunch of... nothing. Like the vending machines for instance. I have 2 photos of them. 2! At that was at Meishi Shrine, where they have a whole line of them.

Now, besides letting you know that, I am deeply sorry of course. I'll tell you about school:
Now, I get driven to the train station every morning around 7:35. I take the crowded train for about 20 minutes till I get to Ritto station. At Ritto, I get my locked bike, meet my friends and ride to school for quite a while. I go through town, in between houses, rice patties, through a tunnel, and follow a busy rode till I get to school. When I say my school (which is called Josei BTW) is out of the way, IT IS OUT OF THE WAY. At school we have homeroom, and most definitely, I change class rooms. There are about 700 students at my school. There are 6 periods, each lasting around 50 minutes. We have a 5 minute break in between our classes with homeroom, but other then that, they last around 10 minutes. Lunch is after 3rd period, and I get to eat my bento (Which is FABULOUS). There is no cafeteria, but there is a school store that sells bread and juice (it's really just a window with teachers giving out food). At the end of the day, I take my bike back to the station with friends, and go back on the train, walking through my little neighborhood, condensed in between its narrow streets. (I normally buy a drink because I am typically parched.)

Any questions, please, ASK.

Answers to questions

2009-06-14T17:37:00.000-07:00

Okay so, people have been telling/asking me the following
your spelling sucks, you have a host family?! why?!

Yes Dad, my spelling does suck on a laptop that I'm not used to at 10 at night as well as on a Japanese key board where the @ symbol isn't on the "2" key. I also havn't been able to really check over any of my writing.

And Jonathan... facebook me or something, because you are slow... :P

Well, I'm gonna visit my school today, just visiting, I start tomorrow... scaaaared

Tokyo and host family

2009-06-13T19:57:00.000-07:00

So, after my incredibly long plane ride, i　went to tokyo. We were lectured by the US embassy people, boring. We also went to Meiji Shirne. HUGE place. It was really cool, but we were only staying there shortly.　After that, harajuku.... NOW, before you tell me how lucky i am, let me tell you, walking around in dorky semi formal american clothes　around the streets of expermental fashions　versus tall red headed people will get many death glares and looks head-to-toe. GAAAHHH, harajuku is RACIST. Do not travel there with only white gaijin, bad idea.

Any way, i stayed at the hotel, blah, blah, blah. The whole entire time i was in tokyo, and even now in Otsu, I have been feeling dizzy. I am not dehidrated, and nor am I sleep deprived. Lets just say to those midwesterners, you gain a pair of sea legs over because you can feel the slightest bit of change in the ground if it does not move at home. Japan moves a quater of an inch each year.

Saturday morning we went to tokyo train station where i grabbed the Shincansen (speed bullet train). Another misconsection. The speed bullet train CAN go really fast, but it doesnt mean it will. We went as fast as a train through the rookies goes, except everywhere was increibly populated, wgich is why we went so slow.

I get off the train and meat my host mom, Michi and my host sister, Saya who is 5. Now, if you who were intrested in my rambling about my host family before, i said that my host mothers name was Kimiko, and my host sister was 12. That is because swine flu restricts me from living with a doctor and nurse mother. So I am staying the Fujihara, till the 30th, and then i go over to the other family. Of course no body tells me this till i meet my now "1st" host mother and are given an explanation by her. MY PARENTS KNEW, YFU KNEW, I DID NOT! Miscommunication, ne?
Any way, still in otsu, with little siblings and two parents. I start high school on tuesday (which they do here anyway) and I get to go shopping tomorrow at the mall :D.

One last note before i eat lunch, japanese heated toilet seats can get really hot, you are warned.

Orientation...

2009-06-09T21:48:00.000-07:00

Haven't been on a computer for a while >>... I've been at orientation for the past few days, my plane rides suck, but, i leave for tokyo tomorrow! YAY! Not really... I hate planes... their weird and uncompfortable>> ugh. At least I've had been on 10 hour bus rides before, but the pacific ocean will be a little boring. Anyway... people I've been hanging out with, Jeass and another Anna, their cool. My room mate is Jennifer. Also I'm the youndest person doing this... >>

Imporant thing I'm going to state: I might have to stay in Tokyo, at the USA Youth thing ma bob beacsue of swine flu quaritine for certain prefectures, sucks, but they'll take us aroud to tour Tokyo anyway
well, I gotta get up early tomorrow, so good night

P.S. I LOVE ALL THE DIFFERENT ENGLISH ACCENTS I'M KEEP HEARING... AND CALI IS NOT HOT >:C

Host Family Info...

2009-06-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

Got a fax today giving the basic info of my host family...
Family of 6 living in Otsu-shi(town/city), Shiga(province), Japan
Family of 6 (2x the size of my own)
My father, Keiji Kamada is a Doctor
His wife, Kimiko, is a Nurse
I have two sisters, I do not know their names but they are 16 and 12
and my two brothers are 8 and 7
OMG, I have siblings... I'm an only child... wow

That's all I know, I don't even have an email address...

4 more days!

2009-06-03T13:11:00.000-07:00

4 more days till I leave. For finals: Bio, English, and Japanese test left, plus a paper for History. Saturday I have a preformance with my band at the high noon saloon, spending about 7 hours there >> And I have a hair appointment today... nothing exciting something functional yet stylin... oh yeah... But I'm keeping the length. I do still have to pack, but I have two hard suitcases I'm taking: carry on and the one that goes on the bottom of the plane... what's that called... checked? I've gotten some really cool books though, star girl and sequel, why i lost my hair, and the geography of happiness. Addicting already, but with the 17+ hours of airtime to get there, I should be okay.

Anyway! I'll probably be writing more short posts when I wait for my planese in the airports. I'm gonna miss you all!

As I wait...

2009-05-26T19:36:00.000-07:00

So it's been a few weeks since the orientation. The reason I did not blog about it was because it was uncomfortable, boring, and wasted about 4 hours of my life. 2 hours of it was just the right amount.
Any way, I've been counting down to the days I leave, currently, right now, I have 12 days, 2 hours and around 20 minutes till the day I depart for California, 14 days, 2 hours and 20 mins till the day I depart for the land of the rising sun. Of course where specifically, I DON'T know. I'm suppose to find out this week, I can call this weekend and next week, but they told us, most of you won't know till the day before you depart to Japan. (By this time I'll be in San Jose, basking in California weather, while the YFU orientation instructors stuff language stuff I'll mostly know, cultural stuff that most I will know, and 'Japanese' food.) But I'm suppose to bring gifts for my host family, and this has become a huge ongoing discussion for my mom and I.
What we have so far:

My 50 state quarters set AND map
Fridge Magnets
Ker-plunk (a, quote "easy, non-language barrier game that we can bond over,")
some stress cows
a Amish Folding basket in the Shape of Wisconsin
Door Country cherries
Hand made socks from my mother
peanut butter (1 large jar is for my host family, 2 are for my independent cravings, and one for someone else? I just know that I'm gonna start to miss Peanut butter)
And a small bird doll made by moi, for my "best friend" over there, whoever that will be.
oh, and LOTS of wrapping paper

Yeah, so, the wrapping of presents is a huge thing over there, I guess. But I can't get into the country unless they see EVERYTHING. So I get to pre-cut all the paper to the specific presents and, hide in the rare moments of quick privacy to wrap these gifts for my host family. YAY... :C

But, I DID get a new pink and shiny camera for my trip -excited-, I started taking pictures of my house, goofing with the video, and got a few pictures of the bunny in my yard. SO CUTE. I know all of you want a million pictures from when I get back, and I'll tell you, that thing will never be out my hands, well maybe when I'm taking a bath...

12 more days, 2 hours, 9 mins till the day I leave Madison!

What is this Magical Journey I speak of?

2009-04-29T19:37:00.000-07:00

It's Anna, and I, this summer, have been accepted as a foreign exchange student this summer in the country of 日本(Japan). I am very excited, and can't wait. In only 40 days->3< can't wait- I will be on a plane to Chibi international airport, Chiba, Japan from San Fransico International Airport, California, USA. Though I will be very jet lagged after my est. 11 hour and 20 min plane ride, it will be my first time out of the continent, and my first time traveling by myself. (I've been to Disney world without family, but I was with 25 or so of my friends, consistently supervised) Yes, I will miss my family and pets, but accomplishing something that I think I've been preparing for since the 2nd grade is a large stepping stone for my path in life, to adulthood, understanding the world, and much more.

Now, enough of my babbling and to the basic facts...
The most magical facts:

I am going with YFU-USA (Youth for understanding)
I will be in Japan this summer for 6 weeks
I applied for a scholorship, which involves 5 short essays and 1 500 word letter to my host family, 6 pictures with "descriptive captions," and a whole lot of paper work 0.o. (for those of you who always ask.)
I was given a $2,800 scholarship from Japanese-American Friends (A national government scholarship).
I'll attend a conference this weekend (May 3rd) in Germantown, Wisconsin for "more information" which I will pass to you in my next post.
I leave for California June 7th, where I will be attending, I'm guessing, a GET THE BASICS training for two days... most of which I am guessing I know already.
I leave the 9th for Japan.

I have no clue who my host family is. (YFU-Japan is currently matching me with my family, I won't find out intill "2 weeks before I go on basic information: address, family memebers and ages, time attending school.) I do know some Japanese, I am a student in Japanese 1 at West Highschool. I plan on skipping a year of Japanese when I return, because the vocabulary in Japanese 2 will most definetly be covered while I stay in Japan. I do have to miss finals, and so far are most definetly having to take 3 finals before i leave: english, biology, and math. Gym and Japanese 1 are up in the air. Further questions? Ask, but if the answer is in these last few paragraphs... I'll be a little annoyed.

And a little more babling:
I hope the Swine flu doesn't harm this trip at all... And i will work on a more customized layout for this blog later...
I hope you will continue to read posts about my exchange experiance in Japan!