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.

Golfing!

.... I didn't have a picture for this one so it's just random :)

This is the path i walk down every day.

I'm a golfer! Tehe! I hung out with Saya and her boyfriend and they took me to indian food... yummy! ...the nan is huge!! Then we were going to go to a movie. That didn't work out so eventually we just went golfing. It was pretty late so we only went to the driving range. I've never done it before so it was pretty exciting! We had a contest with me and saya against her boyfriend. We had to try to hit the ball onto a green circle in the middle about 60 yds away and he had to try to hit it 5 times. Well we ended up changing it because I had beginners luck... or just skill ;P I learned pretty quick and by the end I hit it 10 times. He only hit it 8 times but he hit 100 yds twice so we gave him 2 points each. Saya..... hehe she wasn't doing to well at the beginning, but by the end I think she got it once! Whoo! Well it was a really fun night and they were really nice to bring me along!

Home!

I hate the airport! After hearing this story you'll know why. Get ready it's a long, emotional rollercoaster!

So Me and my dad went to the airport to try to get me on a flight back to Utah. My family was going home the next day with sachi, but they all had tickets. I was going standby so we thought we should try a day early just in case. The first problem was that the internet site was completely wrong! When we thought we could definitely get on a plane, we were definitely mistaken! Everything was overbooked! It was soooo frustrating! Anyways after we figured there was no possible way to get on that day we decided to head out to a hotel for the night. I have to say one of the worst parts about this was trying to leave the airport! They had to void our passports so we had to wait forever!!! Finally we got out and found a hotel to go to.

The hotel was nice. It seemed like a fun place to stay, but we only had one night there. So we went to our room, ate dinner, and tried to figure out how to get me home. We kept on coming up with all of these ideas then right when we thought we had it, they wouldn't work. I was trying to imagine myself staying in japan while my family went home so that i wouldn't be too disappointed if i couldn't get on a flight, but it was too hard! I couldn't imagine them going without me. I thought .. there has to be a way! there has to be some way that i can go home!

Anyways we came up with a couple of good ideas, and we were pretty sure that one of them was bound to work out.

So the next day finally came and after a delicious breakfast buffet we went back to the airport. There we met up with the rest of my family, then we started checking in. After all of the bags were taken care of, it was time to see if i would make it. So we walked up to the counter... i was extremely nervous! Then we asked the lady and she told us there was no way that i could get on. :( I was still ok because we still had a couple more options for me. So we tried to figure it out before they had to get on their plane. But once again there was no way i could go home that day. So I said goodbye to all my sisters then to my mom and dad. It was so hard trying to be tough then. I thought i did pretty good though, only a couple of tears fell. The hardest part of all was watching them leave. I'm not even sure if i really did that. I think i saw them start walking away then i had to rush to the train to get a hold of myself. I can't even describe what it was like, but i can tell you it wasn't fun.

On the train back home i accidentally sat in someone's reserved seat. I probably didn't look so good .. my eyes were still watery. So he just told me to stay and he found another seat. What a nice guy! After the 3 hour train ride i was finally back! So i went to my room, not feeling like socializing. Then after dinner i went back to my room and decided to check the flight one more time. I wasn't happy with what happened because i felt like i didn't really try everything i could. So while my family was flying back home i figured out what flights i could try the next day.

I left a message telling them i was trying again, then i set out for the airport one last time. For some reason my mood had completely changed. I was full of energy, excited, and hopeful! I got to the airport still happy, but nervous. When i went up to the desk to see if i could get on my stomach was full of butterflies! So i asked her then she told me that there was a high chance of me getting on!!! WHOOO!!! YA! From then on i couldn't stop smiling! Walking through security i had a huge smile on my face and i was humming. I got a couple of weird looks, but that didn't stop me. Nothing could put me down .. i was going home!!!! So i got on the plane and finally came home!

Osterloh sisters FOREVER!

Picking up Sachiko!

After a year and a half the Osterloh girls are finally back together again!! Whoo!!! On the day we went to pick up Sachi, you could feel the excitement jumping out of all of us! Once we got to the temple we were just dying to see her. So we came around the corner searching for her cute face. Then we found her! All of us ran to eachother while screaming then hugging and laughing. It was the best feeling ever! It was like we were whole again!

Being with my sisters is probably the funnest thing in the world! Things that you would never think would be funny make us roll over laughing. We can always find some silly game to play... the ninja game.... the water-push-over game .... trust me it's really funny! And we are masters at movie quotes! After watching a movie one time you'll find us quoting half of the lines. Then when we get together and sing it's amazing how much fun we have together!

When i was little i was probably really annoying to my older sisters .... okay i was really annoying. Tagging along with them, trying to copy them all the time, sometimes even spying on them :) But as we've all gotten older we've all grown so close. So basically i live with my best friends.. well not exactly right now, but we all call the same place home. I love how i have a separate bond with each of them.

Sachi is the smartest one in our family. Anyone who knows her could tell you that. When we went to pick her up I was wondering if she would be any different, but it was the same old sachi that we all love! I love the talks that we have together. She's always encouraging me to be my best self and she gives the best advice! Sachi is the type of person who will stick up for what she believes in. Watching her has always given me courage to stick up for myself and what i believe in. I'm so happy to have her home again!

This past summer i got really close with Mariko. We did a lot of things together. Getting our nails done, going hiking, going to the movies, shopping, playing in the pool, movie quoting.... the list goes on. Mari has always been happy to let me play with her and her friends and i'm so happy for that! Because it's so fun to be around her! She's also so strong! I've learned to deal with my trials by seeing how she handles hers. I think to myself If she can do it then so can I! I'm so glad i got the chance to play with her all summer! It was the best!

Kumi, Kumi, Kumi ..... She is definitely my big sister! Just because she's always sticking up for me and being there when i'm sad. Going to high school with her was soooo much fun! I loved seeing her around every day. Especially at the dances! We would always find eachother for at least one song then we would goof off making up funny moves. I loved being able to talk to her about everything! We could go on and on for hours! There's nothing i can hide from her. She always gets me to talk and tell her what's going on, but i love that about her! She won't rest until she's made me smile!

Even though i'm the youngest, my sisters make me feel equal with them. I mean of course there are the times when nobody listens to me or they laugh at my attempts of trying to tell a joke. but in the end they are always there for me. Whether if it's because i'm not having a good day, or if they just wanna have fun. I'm so lucky have this close relationship with them. I wouldn't trade it for anything!!

I love you sisters!!! Osterloh Sisters FOREVER!!!

Field Trip

This saturday my class had a field trip to the beach by my house. Once we got there we started having relay races. I didn't run the first few, but they were fun to watch. Everyone running and diving for the flags. It was pretty funny! We were split up into 3 groups and we had a contest to see which group could build the highest sand mountain. Ours would have won, but it kind of collapsed right before the time was up. Darn! Then after that we had a 3-legged race... only it was with the whole group! The first group walked. Then the second group sort of ran. Then my group went pretty fast but we all fell at the end. It was funny watching everyone trying to stand up again. It's a lot harder than you think!

So after the relay races we were all just playing around and taking pictures. Me and my new friend Mie went into the water so it was at our ankles then we turned around to take a picture. Well right as we took it a big wave came up behind us and got our bums all wet! It was so funny! and it was even funnier that we got the picture right as it hit us! As you can see we were very surprised.

When all of that fun was over we got on a bus and headed out to a park. There we cut up some veggies and stuff to have a bbq. It was way different than any bbq i've ever done, but it was delicious!! I'm so happy i got to go, it gave me a chance to make some new friends!

First week of school

My first week was pretty good. I was nervous but it turned out ok. On my first day i was sooo scared!!! I had to make a speech in front of the teachers then in front of my class in japanese! I was really shy, but my class was way nice. All the girls in my class were really friendly. They kept petting my head and touching my hair it was kind of funny. Then one girl came up and hugged me out of nowhere. I was so surprised.... it was a little weird but it made me laugh.

Then we had an assembly. The band, cheerleaders, dance group, and drum group all performed for us. It was so funny the cheerleaders were like japanese anime characters. They were all cute and bubbly with all these high voices haha i was trying so hard not to laugh. The band was fun to watch too. They played this fun song and they had choreography to go with the music. Then the drum group was soooo cool!!! but i've always enjoyed watching skyline's drum line so i guess thats why i liked it. The dance was pretty cool too. It was hip hop and they looked pretty good. I'm excited to try it out!

So the 2nd day we went bowling! I wasn't very good but my group was really funny. There was this one boy who would throw it so weird. He would run up from the side holding the ball in his arms then chuck it while he balanced on one foot. Sometimes he would almost fall over haha it was way funny to watch. I'm glad these 2 days have been fun. It seems like i'm going to do fine after all!

We got the Cuzins!

Japan has always been a place where i loved to go to for vacation. So i was so happy to come again, but i was even happier that my cousins were coming along. Me, Mari, Jake, and Mo (the cuzins!)

First the plane ride was soooo cool! I am soo happy that i could fly business because it was AMAZING! the chairs/beds were so comfortable and they had little packets of sleeping stuff for you. Then they served us drinks before anyone else got on the plane and they were in glass cups! and for dinner they set out a table cloth and stuff. It was crazy! The whole time me and mari were like i feel so spoiled!! and all of our flight attendants were soo funny! They all were joking with the "cuzins" that's what they called us.

The next day we went to Disney Sea. It was so much fun and it was raining a little so it was empty! The longest we waited for a ride was 15 min maybe not even that! There was one part where we were just exploring a castle type of thing and mari was teaching jake and mo un (yes) and uun (no) so they were shouting down at people uuun uuun! achi achi! haha it was soo funny! So we did pretty much everything by 5:00 by then everyone was tired so we did our favorite rides one more time then we went to go watch the shows. The bon fire show was so much fun! We all learned the bon fire dance then me, mo, and jake were dancing and shouting "We are dancing!" in a japanese accent while mari was filming us. Then we ended the night with a fire/water show with inspirational music!

After we all got a good night's rest, we headed out to the train station where we said our goodbyes. Mari, Mo, and Jake were on to some fun activities, while i was headed to my temporary new home. It was sad to leave, but i'm so glad i got to spend those couple of days with them!