Clubs, Aliens, and Sore Feet!

My Room!

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A weird sign I saw....

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Shoin Jinja

I am going to write two posts today because I seem to have a lot of pictures!!

Hello all! I am sorry I have not been replying to emails lately, it has just been very busy! Hopefully, if I finish homework, I will reply to some tonight....

This school week has been one event after the next! My Japanese class has finally stepped up a notch, and we are going to have tests soon! I wish they had started at this pace, because now I am in no mindset to study! We have an art history quiz as well over the readings I was supposed to have read, but honestly, I can probably get away with not reading them...hehehe. But I will anyways....maybe.

I have been attending "trans" club (not transvestite, I am pretty sure it stands for translation). It is really fun! You basically talk to Japanese people about a topic in English, the switch to a different topic and speak Japanese. It is nice, because it is easier for me to make friends if I speak English, but I also get to practice my Japanese as well. :) I met someone there who studies English 3 hours a day!!! I was inspired by this, but have yet to take action....

The club meets twice a week, but I think I will only go once a week. Because the club goes until late, I miss dinner at home!!! And it can be expensive eating out every night...

I also was able to have lunch with my Japanese buddy, Erika. (If you don't remember or I didn't tell you, we were all paired up with a Japanese person during orientation). In the beginning, I had a difficult time understanding her! She is studying Spanish, so she doesn't know how to talk in a way I can understand like some of the other buddies do. However, when I had lunch with her, I could understand almost everything she said! I was so happy! I still have a hard time understanding TV, but this is definitely and improvement! Anyways, we made plans to go to all you can eat cake next month! So exciting!

This Friday, (my wandering day) I went on an expedition to get my Foreign Registration Card. This sounds easy enough, but last time Papa took me by car, so now I had to find my way by train!!! Honestly, I was doubtful I would be able to find it. And if taking the trains isn't difficult enough, there is additional searching after you get off the train! I never know which side of the tracks to walk on...but, somehow, I found it! I was so surprised! Anyways, so now I am an official alien of Japan!!!

After I picked up my new card, I wandered around the area a bit and found......Yoshida Shoin's school and now shrine!!! I studied him in history class last year, and I was so happy to find such a historical place! (you should wikipedia him, he is amazing!!!!!!!) Then after the shrine, I heard this random flute music and went to investigate. Then I saw this business man just standing in the trees playing a Japanese flute! It was very odd...

I then got back on the train and went to Sangen-jaya, and couple of stops from Shibuya. I basically just walked around and looked at expensive things! There were not a lot of foreigners here, and the only sign I saw in English said "Do not Steal. The Cameras are Watching." awwww...

By this time I had done a lot of walking, and my legs really hurt!!! By the end of all this, I am going to be an expert walker! Asuka was telling me earlier that when she returned to Japan from Alaska she didn't realize how weak her legs had gotten! So if you come and visit, make sure you have good walking shoes!