Best Buddies

Me and my friends went shopping in Hamamatsu. There's a huge mall called Shitoro there. So we went shopping then for lunch we went to this restaurant and they had this dessert that was like a big square of bread with the inside cut into squares. Then it had honey on it and a scoop of ice cream on top! It might sound weird but it was DELICIOUS!!! Then of course we went and took Purikura :)

Me, Mie (top), Shizuka, Kana (bottom)

These are my best friends!!!

Gamagori

I went shopping with my cousins in Gamagori! It was super fun! After shopping we went to a movie then took purikura! haha it was way funny because they're all over 25 and didn't really know what to do.

Nagoya Dome!

Yesterday my dance club performed at the Nagoya Dome. Holy cow that place is HUGE!! It was this big concert thing where tons of schools from the Aichi prefecture came and did stuff. We had our own little dance that was awesome!! Then we danced with all the other clubs to finish it. All together i think there were about 400 dancers! Crazy huh!! It was really tons of fun! There was this huge monitor where it zoomed up on different people. It made it look so cool! I can't even explain it, but it was the best!

After the dance portion they let us go out and watch the rest. So me and my friend Mie went to go look for some seats. One of the usher ladies came over to us and said that she had 2 seats so we went with her. Well when she said that she had 2 seats we figured she meant 2 seats together, but no she put us 5 rows apart! It was the weirdest thing but it made me laugh way hard.

Wind!

Yesterday the wind was crazy! So me and my friend had some fun taking pictures. Skirts, long hair, and crazy wind don't mix so well. :)

Ear Piercing

A while ago after dance we were all sitting in the dance room and usually everyone starts doing their make-up or their hair or something. Well i looked over and a bunch of girls were piercing their ears! uaheahaeua it gave me the chills!

This is how Japanese teenage girls pierce their ears.

Tests!

This week was mid-term tests……AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!! We came to school for 2 periods and took 2 tests then went home and studied for the next day’s tests. I really don’t think I have ever studied so hard in my life! It was like studying a completely new thing because I basically had to memorize the questions in Japanese and the answers.
So I got my tests back and well… 本当に　やばい! …. I didn’t do too well. 　

My scores ranged from 13% to 98% so it was all over the place

I don't think i've ever gotten so low on a test before. AND i studied my butt off! But i know it's okay because i'm still learning japanese.....also i don't think i was the worst in the class. I'm pretty sure some kids scored lower than i did. I'm actually impressed with how much i studied for it. I don't think i've ever worked so hard.

Break!

My dance club has a couple of boys and they do all of the break dancing. So a couple of days ago they had a battle with this group from Korea! It was the coolest thing ever! First the group from Korea had a little performance… It was sort of weird… no, it was really weird. They did this one dance and in the middle they all came into the crowd and said あいしてる　あいしてる　(I love you) to everyone. Anyways after that they battled! I loved it! I love break dancing! It’s so cool!!!!!!

This is one of the senpai from the 3rd year (senior)

2nd senpai

This one is my age

Pretty awesome huh!!

Aquarium

There are a couple of girls in a foreign exchange program that live by me. They’re from Spain, Italy, and Vietnam, but they all speak English. So we all went to this place (I don’t remember the name) and went to a museum for pearls. We also got to watch some pearl divers. It was actually pretty cool they showed how they make them and everything. Well after that we went to an aquarium. It was so cool because the lady we went with got us a “behind the scenes tour” So we got to walk around where the workers go and saw the fish up close. The guy even let us touch one of the huge ones I don’t remember what it was called but it was awesome! Oh and then he took us to the roof where they have the show birds and I got to hold it!! It was kind of scary but I’m so happy I got to do it!

Typhoon

There was a typhoon yesterday! It came right into the Aichi prefecture, which is my area. So school was canceled! I’ve never experienced a typhoon before so I didn’t know what to expect. It came when I was about to go to sleep. The wind was so loud! In Japan they have an extra cover type thing you put on the doors and windows when typhoons come. So they made lots of noise shaking. The wind was so strong it sounded like it was going to blow the whole wall down! It was really hard for me to go to sleep but finally I slept. Then the next day I stayed inside all day. I sort of wish I would have gone outside to feel how strong the wind was, but I didn’t. Nothing was really damaged at my house, but some old places were completely destroyed.

ぶんかさい

I helped put this up! Boy was it heavy!

This weekend was our school festival. I'm pretty sure it's one of the biggest things they do. They have it every year and they start getting ready for it months ahead of time. It's really amazing how much work is put into it. Well this year with the new influenza going around my school decided that they would only let parents come to the festival. It was really sad because this was the seniors last performance and their friends couldn't come to see them. Even still i think we all had a good time.

Anyways first was the opening. My class did a funny dance where all the girls and guys were in the school uniform skirts and we had pom poms. The song was by a famous Japanese girl band. Then lots of other classes performed their skits. Here in japan, or at least at my school, people really go out there when they're performing. They aren't dumb and shy because it's embarrassing. That's what makes it so funny!

After the opening we all went to do whatever our classes decided. Some classes had fun things set up in classrooms and the rest had shops with food or other things. My class decided to sell tropical juice and ....... cucumbers. .... i know it's a little strange. But they were amazingly delicious! Me and couple of other girls made this sign and we stood in front of our tent holding it and yelling きゅり　うってます！It was pretty funny!

Then my dance club performed on this stage that they made. The background was a picture of the little mermaid made out of bottle caps! It was AMAZING! It was tons of fun! The first day we didn't dance too well, and I'm sad because that's the day i got the video of :( ... oh well. The second day rocked! Everyone had tons of energy and all of the boys breaking were amazing! Oh and the second day the whole dance team wanted to do their hair crazy for the performance and my hair has a lot of volume so it was huge!

So after all that fun was over we all sat down as it started to get dark and had a little thing for the seniors. This festival was their last before they had to buckle up and study their butts off. So everyone was crying and it was just great! Then we watched a couple of videos and slide shows and at the very end there were fireworks! This really was the funnest day ever! It's really the best to have something you've been planning forever work out perfectly!

Festival

This sunday there was a big festival in my town. It was really cool. They had these float type thing that people danced on. It was pretty much like all of these guys dancing like crazy and singing kareoke. Then after there was a firework show. Holy cow japanese fireworks are amazing! And the show went on forever! I really wish we could do them in utah too because it was really the coolest thing i've ever seen!

Masks

Everyone here is being really careful with the "new influenza" Our school festival is coming up, and a couple people have gotten it so now our dance club is required to wear masks. Even when we're dancing we have to wear them! It's kind of hard because it gets in the way when you're breathing heavily, but it was way funny the first day everyone wore them. Just try imagining 40 kids doing hip hop with these masks on

I Speak!

I saw this at the train station. Weird huh!

Today I had my japanese tutor lesson, and it went really well! I had lots of different conversations with my teacher. Then after my lesson I talked with 2 other teachers in japanese. I actually had a conversation where I knew what they were saying and I could respond!! WHOOOO!!!!!!! I was すごく　うれしい！！！
Yay i'm so happy! Hopefully i'll get even better to where I can talk with all of my friends too!

Purikura!

Right now i'm at school! There are 3 classes in a row that I don't go to and all of my homework is done so I thought that I would update my blog!

I just figured out that one of my friends in dance also lives in Tahara. So yesterday after dance me and my friend Rio took the bus back to Toyohashi. Then we decided to go do Purikura! I wish they had Purikura in Utah! It's so much fun! For those of you who have never heard of it... it's a photo booth where you have a green screen behind you so you can pick the background. Then after you take about 6 pictures you go into another booth and edit your pictures. You can put on hearts or masks or color your hair or write things. Trust me it's sooo much fun! Anyways this is our Purikura!

Pups

Oh I forgot to mention my 2 little doggies! Emi and Kuma! I miss them so much! Those cute little puppies! They're actually pretty old, but they're little so they will always be puppies to me :)

I miss coming home to Emi's cute face with her ears pushed back. She is the cutest when she's all excited. Then kuma always jumping up and giving me kisses! Nobody else really lets him so he gives me lots and lots of kisses! Emi is always there when you're sad. She always knows so she comes waddling up to you then she sits on you then looks up at you. It's like her saying …. you can pet me and it'll all be ok!.... My doggies have always been there to comfort me. I love them so much! And I can't wait to come home to them running around and jumping up to greet me!

Missing home

All day today I was thinking about home and all of the things that I miss. I don't want to leave here yet, but I am missing things I used to do at home. I already wrote about my sisters so this one's for mama and daddio!

One thing that I miss the most right now is talking with my mom about my day. Everyday after school she'd ask me... How was school, what did you do.... It wasn't like those usual parent/child … How was it... good. What did you do... nothing. We actually talked about a lot of stuff. I loved it so much that I looked for things I could tell her later. Here, because of the language barrier, I can't really do that. And writing down everything that happens is so hard!

Then there's her cooking! Mmmmm!! Anyone that has had a meal made by Kimiko Osterloh will tell you why I miss it so much. The food here is good, but i'm always nervous before I eat it. At home I was never worried about if I would like it or not. Also she would make lunch for me everyday. I know.. i'm lazy and don't do it myself. But I miss thinking.. I wonder what she made today...

Next is daddio! Believe it or not, I miss his jokes. He always put a smile on my face even in the hardest times. I don't blame him for teasing us so much. I mean he has no boys to fight so he has to be a girl and use words! Hehe! Me and my dad would also have some good talks. Whenever we were talking about a song, school ,or anything else we would talk for hours!

If you know my dad you'll know he's always fixing things. Mr. Fix-it! There's never anything that can't be fixed for him. Once he's started on something, he'll never give up... I think I got that from him :) It makes me happy to see him when he's working so hard to figure something out for me. It's then when I can see how much he cares for me.

So that's my parents for ya. It's so hard living without them, but I know that they're supporting me from all the way across the ocean.
Thanks for everything! Love you mom and dad!

Flower Power!

Last night me and my cousin Saya went to a flower arranging class! It was so much fun! This is my creation! Pretty huh! It brightens my room! I love it! If you ever get the chance to go to a flower arranging class, I highly recommend it!


I love the color of this one!

Long Day!

So i'm at the end of my first week of 2nd semester. It's so different from Skyline! Today i was at school for 12 hours! ... 2 of the hours i was traveling so i guess only 10 .. but still Holy cow! It was a very LONG day!!!

My classes aren't too bad. The english classes are easy, of course, just fun to listen to. But the math. Wow!! They're advanced! At home i thought i was pretty good at math, but nope! ...Well i got most of it but there's one part that i didn't get and i can't figure out how it works! Hopefully i won't be too behind. We also have art class, which seems pretty fun. Right now we're starting on a stained glass thing that looks pretty cool. Then for P.E. we weeded! It was really weird, but we got a lot done and i think tomorrow we're playing volleyball.. yay!

It's hard when i can't understand what's going on, but my friends usually help me out. Tomorrow i'm having my first japanese tutor lesson so hopefully that will help me a lot with my other classes. Well 12 hours of school and dance is pretty exhausting! So i'll end here!

おやすみ!

Michael Jackson

My new dance shoes... I love them!

Yesterday we had try-outs to see who would be in the Michael Jackson dance. That dance is way fun because you can just get into it and goof off! Anyways we just tried out in groups in front of the rest of the class. Then he would cut a couple of people and make new groups. So I made the 1st cut. Then he split us into 2 groups where he had us in formations. The 1st group was the seniors in the front, then the juniors, then the sophomores in back. Well in my group there weren't any seniors so he put one junior in the front, then he put me in the front next to her! I was soooo surprised! But it was way fun! And I can't wait to learn the rest of the dance.

Dance

I'm in the dance club at my school. So every day this summer I went to dance practice. It surprised me how dedicated they are. I mean every day for at least 3 hours! Wow! Not to mention it's only a high school club, and most of the girls have never danced before this. But it's tons of fun! I've made so many friends in dance. It's nice because now whenever I see a girl in the hall they always go Ahh!! Misako!

We have so much fun together. Everyone always makes funny faces, or does silly moves. I'm always laughing at dance. Then there are the sen-pai. They make me laugh even harder! They don't usually talk to the 1st years (my grade) but because i'm a foreigner they always say hi to me and try to talk to me in English. It's so funny because they see everyone and say おはよ,おはよ... but to me it's always HI MISAKO!.... How are you Misako..... I love you Misako! Haha it's so funny!

I've got 3 really good friends in dance that I'm usually with. There are some more girls that I like talking and laughing with, but usually i'm with these 3. The 1st is Mie. She's also in my class so it's nice to have her to show me around. Also she speaks some English. Usually we're talking in half Japanese half English.... Japanlish! She has helped me a lot with translating and she's a super nice girl! Next is Shizuka. She is so nice! I don't know her as well as the other two, but she's really nice to me when we do talk. Then last, but not least! Kana! She is soooo cute! She is just a big ball of energy! She's short but it makes her so cute! It's so funny because she's always copying what I'm doing. Most of the time we are making faces or doing dance moves or something. It's funny how you don't need to talk to be good friends with someone.

At dance I can be myself. I'm not the shy, quiet girl that I am in class. Hopefully as time goes by i'll be like that in my class too.