three posts in one

so i have three different topics i'd like to talk about in this post. (it's been that fun filled past three days)

so the other day, a friend of mine here got really down on herself and i decided i'd organize a trip to the karaoke place to cheer her up. we went around 8 and stayed for 2 hours. it was loads or fun and she, thankfully, really cheered up. for awhile, though, i was in a little bit of an odd place because of something one of the residents here said something about me. (don't worry, i'm over it now).

the karaoke itself was fun, but the walk back was most interesting. while japan is relatively safer than say, america, it doesn't exclude it from weirdos and bizarre people (actually, in my area i've seen a lot of mentally and physically handicapped people than i've seen in america in the past 5 years. it's quite amazing).

on the way home, i was singing a song with my friend and this car stopped and backed up. i didn't notice, but my friends did and laughed about it. i looked back and saw this guy following us. i instantly pull out the phone, showing the driver i had a phone and could call for help if need be. the driver pulls up next to us and one of my friends leaned over to see in the window. i had the phone halfway to my ear when i hear the guy shout, "I FUCKING LOVE YOU" and BOLT out of there. we all died of laughter especially when my friend said, "i think that guy was hispanic or a really ugly japanese guy!"
it was priceless and we still laugh about it today. we're not sure who he said it to. we joke he said it to our male friend with us, but he might've been saying it to me or my friend since we were singing a song. he might've been a fan. (btw, the song was pub n' go from hetalia, so we joke he was a hetalia fan)

second topic!
i FINALLY got to have my okonomiyaki!
fact: okonomiyaki is a very famous dish of japan and is referred to (mainly by me) as the japanese pizza. it's made from flour, mayo, vegetables, and choice of meat or seafood like shrimp. it differs on how it's made, though, depending on the region and restaurant. some restaurants serve the dish already completely made, some regions have it where you cook the meal by yourself (this way you can add as much sauce or mayo as you want, but the vegetables and flour are already premade), or, like in osaka (where it's extremely famous and known for having the best taste), the cooks make it for you. YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO FLIP IT IN OSAKA! it's a big deal down there. osaka is KNOWN for their cooking and food. they get temperamental about it. it's kinda awesome.

i went with a rather large group of gaijin and the restaurant we invaded was the one where i got to cook the food myself. it was pretty intimidating and i was nervous, but it all turned out great! i made a mistake and picked ham, though, making bacon (i hate bacon), so next time i'll get the shrimp since i LOVE that kind. pictures will be at the bottom with the karaoke pictures

after the okonomiyaki, i went out for a pleasant evening walk with three friends and just talked about life and things in our lives. it was a lot of fun and i feel so close to those three now. i talked about my family, friends, my boy, and school. we laughed a lot and i'm sure we bothered people trying to sleep (but it was no later than 9...i think...it gets really dark here REALLY early, so i'm never quite sure). i still had fun and it lifted my spirits.

confession: the homesickness definitely set in these past three days. and worse, i was so swamped with things to do or it was at a time in the day that no one in the States was awake. i felt alone, despite the fact i was always with someone. it was silly and i'm glad i was FINALLY able to get past it today.

which leads me to my third topic! the reason i got through my depression was because...

CLASSES FINALLY STARTED! it's a miracle! i'm so excited!
classes start every weekday from 9 and last until noon with no break. fun stuff! i change rooms every day, but that's because sometimes i mingle with the other sections and every tuesday is kanji day. on days we don't mingle, we're in a smaller room and that excites me to no end. 4 hours of close interaction with a smaller class size (there are only 7 in my group, including me).

unfortunately, our teachers decided to skip review in the class and gave us 8 pages of homework all of which is review. i was completely blown away for three reasons: 1) 8 FUCKING PAGES RIGHT OFF THE BAT?! 2) hey, new shit i don't know, but i can easily learn 3) oh man...i know so much of this, i feel better! the kanji homework, thankfully, isn't due until next tuesday, so i got another 3 pages off my chest.
(i just finished my homework 2 hours ago and i've been home from school since 3 or so...it's midnight. that includes small computer breaks, dinner, and uno games).

i went to my culture class (really loving this class) and came home to find a package from my family! it was my PRINTER! i was VERY excited to get my printer! this means i can print out photos of everyone and decorate my walls and fill my photo frames. (and, yes mom, i was very happy to get the other stuff too, especially my wrist guard and the towels)
next on my list...figure out how to mail packages to friends and such...because i have special notebooks, postcards, and gifts to mail home...

in any case! here are the pictures!

the machine we use to pick the songs. it changes to japanese, english, and korean songs.

the machine itself. there was more on the sides

the GIANT book of just japanese songs to look through. there was an english book of songs somewhere in the place too, but we couldn't find it. it's ok, we knew exactly what we wanted

SPICE GIRLS!

i honestly don't know what was funnier, our singing, the music choices we made, or the videos in the background. because we mainly picked english songs, the copyrights to the music videos weren't given to the store, so there were random videos to fit the song. they didn't fit at all and most of the time i made fun of the pictures.

ON TO OKONOMIYAKI!

what it starts out like. it's all in a bowl like this

BOO YEAH! that's mine and yes i ate the entire thing and even half of someone else's. i really REALLY love this stuff (it's up there with my love for omuraisu and sweedish pancakes)

flipping the okonomiyaki

YAY!

いただきます！(time to eat!)

tomorrow, a lot of people are going to this zen experience. i signed up for it, but my body feels a little worse for wear and i opted to stay home and rest. while i know zen= peaceful and relaxation and all...i just wasn't up to it. i have a sore throat (no, it's not swine flu and no i'm not getting a cold) from the constant change in temperature and partially the karaoke. i get HORRIBLY hot and then go into a room and the air conditioner is blasting, only to walk outside an hour or two later and be sweating again.

i'd rather not test the limits especially since three of my friends ARE sick, so...yeah. gonna clean my bathroom and do some more laundry and such... maybe FINALLY do a video log.

in any case, i'll keep on updating as long as you guys keep commenting. i honestly only know, like, 5 people who read my blog out of you guys (aside from the parents) and i know more of you...do read it, but i wanna know for sure. sorry, but i just, yeah. selfish request will be demanded!

～星子☆

SUCCESS!

やった！！！！
(i did it!)

i made me some omuraisu! oh yeah! and it was successful.

not nearly as good as kotokotoya's omuraisu (place where i first had it), but it's still REALLY good for my cooking ability. now i'm confident in my cooking abilities as i made my favorite dishes and that it turned out okay

and that's all i did today. i went to that anime store and bought a lot of stuff, but kept it under $100, so go me go. most of the stuff i want comes out next month anyways.

HERE'S MY PROOF I COOKED SOMETHING RIGHT!


~星子☆

follow me through japan

here's a nice little photo trip of a trip i took with friends around japan. we left at 11 am and got back a half an hour ago. so...about 7 hours of walking.























so yes. all in all, it was a crazy day. we're going back to nagoya city tomorrow as we found an anime store and i plan to spend some money there (heh heh), but not too much.
i hope you enjoyed the picture trip around some places i visit a lot here in japan. i'm sorry i didn't take pictures of the arcades we went to either. those were awesome and REALLY loud, but so much fun

~星子☆

first field trip

this weekend i have wonderful news to report! i was lucky to go on a field trip my school was putting on the beautiful countryside of gifu prefecture. we went to a world heritage site/historical site called suganuma village that had gassho-style houses. for reference what a gassho-style house is, i bring you pictures of the houses:



gassho-style houses are known for their roofs as they help utilize space and are perfect to protect from severe weather in which this area is known for (VERY cold winters and humid summers). they were also famous for the raising silkworms and the silk that came from them. they are not made with any metal, not even nails, just rope and wood.















they were very tall














these are the sticks put into the roofs


this is still used today by residents as their actual houses. these houses were in danger after WWII, so it was placed that these and a few others in other areas of japan would be become national historical sites. we went to two different parts. the first part was more like an actual small rift in time to the past. the scenery was amazingly beautiful all around and it was extremely peaceful.

then it was time to go to another area of the village. this village was actually rather large, but there weren't that many houses. an entire section was almost entirely surrounded by water, however, because of the time we were visiting the village, the waterbed was very dried up. in the spring it's full and brimming with fish of all kinds.

at the second part of the village, it seemed a lot busier. cars were very present in the streets as residents were starting to come home and many tourists were walking around. almost all of them were japanese, but they still stared at the rather large group of gaijin (foreigners). one old man even pointed in disgust as my legs (i was wearing a skirt that day) and another old lady glared at my friend for showing a little cleavage.

however, the day was still wonderful. here are just a few of the sites we saw inside the houses that we were allowed to go into. they were all famous for their raising of silk worms and their creation of the silk back in the older times (circa Edo era)

this area was purely for decoration and did a good job at it













such detail in such a small part of the house













and even in the screens were so decorated














this is an old fire pit were food was cooked













old shoes. the ones on the right were for the snow













the silkworm eggs. no they're not alive anymore













giant table in the middle of the room that i sat around

















where the wall met the ceiling. it was really large at the top floor

















the family shrine inside the house. it was amazing


so this was only a few of the things that i saw and experienced while out at the world heritage site. it lasted all day and the bus ride was 2 hours one way and 2 hours back, with bathroom breaks where a japanese man approached me and talked to me in japanese. i was so surprised that i forgot to speak japanese and fumbled like a stupid foreigner.

after we got back, i ventured out to get drunk for personal reasons as well as it being a resident's birthday. it was a lot of fun and we even found freshmen at the school i attend, so we exchanged phone numbers and i invited them to visit at my dorm. it was very fun.

all in all, i learned a lot and had a wonderful time going back in time. the second place was a lot more of a tourist trap, but it was still very fun with a lot of delicious food. i managed to buy a LOT of things for friends and i even nabbed the item i wanted most while visiting japan: a traditional japanese umbrella. it's purple (though i kinda wanted the red too) and has a design of flower petals wafting across the fabric. i also bought some postcards, so to a few of you, expect a few nice postcard coming your way from these beautiful places

this upcoming week is a holiday and i finally start my real classes on thursday. this week, though, is going to be full of trips. tomorrow, i'm going to osu and hunting down new places to job and, apparently, a very large anime store around there. i think it's the animate store. if that's true, i'll be able to find a crap ton of hetalia. i won't be buying any until next month when i get more scholarship money...unless i really want it RIGHT NOW (like an iggy plushie or the iggy cd)

that's all i have to report. sorry it came a day late, but it was busy today too. look forward to more reports and pictures!

~星子☆