aurora

Day 2

Today was such a long but fun day! We started off the day in Odaiba and since this was the day that my group planned we had to navigate. It was really scary at first because everyone was just following us through the train station and we didn’t know where we were going. Eventually we made it to the TeamLab Borderless Art Exhibition and it was so much fun to walk around and explore all the art exhibits. They were so breathtaking and it was an experience that definitely life changing.

After that we walked to get lunch at the Shonan Pancake House and we all ordered pancakes. They pancakes were delicious and unlike any pancake I’ve ever eaten! They were so fluffy and they just didn’t taste like American pancakes.

After we got lunch we took the train to Ueno where we started off by walking around Toshogu Shrine. We got to see the winter peonies (Botan) which were absolutely beautiful! After we saw the peonies we wrote haikus and posted them on the haiku board. We then got to see Toshogu Shrine, which was gorgeous. The best thing about the experience today was how we were in the middle of a crowded city but the Shrine was completely quiet. It was an amazing experience.

Then we got to walk around Ameyoko. Since it was night outside the street was all lit up. My friends and I walked down the streets and explored the shops. Then we ate dinner and went to Sky Tree. The view from Sky Tree was breathtaking, the city of Tokyo looked so beautiful because it was all lit up. However, we were all starting to get a little loopy and then we had to navigate our way back to the Youth Hostel. I’m not getting ready for a good night’s sleep and I can’t wait for all the adventures I’m gonna have tomorrow!

Day 3

So I'm currently writing this blog post while on the shinkansen (bullet train) to Aomori prefecture, and this is quite an experience. The shinkansen is moving so fast, but you literally can't feel it moving at all. So yesterday was a lot, we did so much and I don't even know where to start!

For starters, it was raining all day. We started the day by walking around Meiji Shrine which was absolutely amazing. Walking around the shrine was so inspiring, if it wasn't raining I would totally have loved to sit down and just write. It was so peaceful, which was very surprising because we're in the middle of a huge city.

After Meiji Shrine, we got to walk around Takeshita-dori (the main street for shopping in Harajuku). It was really fun to be able to walk around the street (which was beautiful) and to be able to go to all the shops. The fashion in Japan is gorgeous, I'm so jealous. My friends and I shopped at W ♡ C, Daiso, and a few other places!

Then we traveled to Shinjuku, where we ate conveyor belt sushi. It was a really fun experience because you ordered the sushi on the screen and then in a few minutes it came out on the conveyor belt. I ate a lot of really good sushi. I tried, inari, salmon, crab inards, natto, radish, and tamago (egg). Trying the natto was avery interesting experience, it was definitely not what I was expected, but it's also just impossible to explain.

After that we went to the Samurai Museum, which was a very cool experience. It was really interesting to learn about the history of the samurai. Then we got to see a demonstration of a samurai vs. ninja fight. It was really cool to see the demonstration, but my favorite part was watching the little kid (who was sitting with us during the demonstration) get so excited. He was so happy to be there and his reaction to everything was just amazing.

Then we went to the Robot show which is an experience that I will probably never forget in my entire life. It was so insane and unexpected and it's so hard to describe.

Then we traveled to Shibuya, where I got to meet Rio for lunch! Rio was my exchange student from Freshman year. It was so great to see her again, and she was very helpful in the restaurant while ordering dinner. She was able to talk to the waiter and help solve all our problems. She's really doing great, and she tells everyone hello! Then we finally took the train home, took a bath, started packing, and finally went to sleep.

Day 4

We started off the day by leaving the Youth Hostel and traveling, by shinkansen, to Aomori. The train ride was absolutely amazing because watching the passing scenery was beautiful and we were moving very fast but you couldn't feel it move at all. I did homework, ate lunch, and worked on my blog during the whole ride.

Then we had an hour long bus ride to Oirasei Keiryu which I sat next to Alex and it was such a fun time. We were listening to music, talking, and looking out the window. While we were listening to "New Slang" by The Shins and "Up On Melancholy Hill" by Gorillaz I literally almost wanted to start crying because I was just so happy. It was such a great moment.

When we finally arrived to the hotel I was taken aback because this this place is absolutely gorgeous. After we got assigned to our rooms we got dressed for dinner and walked down to the Apple Cafe. The food I had for dinner might have been the most amazing food I've eaten in my life. It was a huge buffet and I wanted to eat all of it. My favorite thing from the dinner was the apple slices and the apple juice. The apples here are literally to die for, they are out of this world!! There were 3 different types of apple juices and I never thought that apple juice could taste so different. The apple juice is freshly squeezed and it's literally just like nothing you've had in America. I'm going to be so sad to come back to America when I have to drink Minute Maid apple juice again.

After dinner we went to the onsen which was an amazing experience. We went to the outdoor frozen waterfall onsen. It was so fun because the water was really hot but then my shoulders were cold, and it was also raining so it was completely amazing. Then my friends and I stayed up and talked for a little bit and then I finally went to bed!

Day 5

When I woke up and looked out the window in our room my jaw dropped. Snow was covering everything outside and it honestly looked like some sort of winter wonderland.

We started off the day by eating the at the breakfast buffet! It was absolutely amazing and I ate so much good food! I was challenging myself to eat one different type of food for every meal. Last night I ate squid ink rice, and for breakfast I ate squid. It was actually super yummy! I had some pastries, apple juice, and pickled apple slices and everything was delicious! Also, before we walked into the cafeteria they handed us a small glass of FRESHLY SQUEEZED APPLE JUICE! They squeezed the juice right in front of our eyes! It was amazing.

I had to eat breakfast very fast because I was in the first snowshoeing group! So at 8AM I went snowshoeing, and it was honestly so much fun! The view at Oirasei is absolutely to die for, the snow was beautiful and the waterfalls and rivers were amazing. The snowshoes were hard to walk in at first, but I quickly got used to it. Additionally, we got to slide down these tiny cliffs of fresh snow and I totally fell on my butt every time I tried it, but it was such a good time.

When we got back to the hotel after snowshoeing I went to the outdoor bath with my friends. Then we got out and went to lunch where I had super amazing apple curry. It was such a delicious curry and I got to drink more apple juice! :)

Then we traveled to a near-by skiing mountain, where we didn't end up going skiing but we had a huge Senior vs. Junior snowball fight. It was honestly the most fun I've ever had! I was totally attacking the Juniors but there were a few minutes when I was scared for my life (I'm kidding) because I was either stuck in the snow, or being threatened with a huge snowball. I was completely soaking wet but I was laughing the whole time and I had a smile on my face the whole time. We then walked back from the mountain (it was only 10 minutes from the hotel) and it was so much fun because we got to see the surrounding town.

When we got back I got into the outdoor bath again and then I hang out in the lobby and worked on homework and hung out with my friends until dinner! The dinner buffet was just as amazing as last night! My daring food adventure of the meal was called "squid mince" and it was literally just a squid meatball, and it was amazing (I'm not realizing that all my food adventures have revolved around squid....). For dessert I had apple pie and soft serve ice cream and it was the most amazing soft serve I've ever had. I know I've said that about everything I've eaten, but the food here is literally so amazing!

After dinner I went into the onsen again (I know! Three times today!), stopped in the gift store, and am now currently hanging out in my room with my friends! I'm having such a great time in Japan! :)

Day 6

Today was so much fun, but I am so exhausted! We had such a long day yesterday and we had to wake up early today because we had a lot of activities to do! We started off the day with the delicious breakfast buffet, there was so much good food and I wanted to eat all of it!

Then we took a driving tour of some of the sights in Oirase. It was really cool because they were some of the same places we saw the first night (on our illuminated waterfall tour), but we were able to see them in the daylight and it was absolutely beautiful.

When we returned to the hotel we had a quick turn around because we were traveling to another ski-mountain and then traveling to an onsen. On the ski-mountain we saw "snow monsters"; however, we couldn't really see them because we were standing on top of a mountain and the snow was blowing everywhere. It was also insanely cold so we didn't stay up there too long, but from what we saw of the "snow monsters" they were super cool.

After that we took about another 20 minute bus ride (which was one of the most amazing things that I saw today because watching the passing snow scenery was gorgeous) to the onsen. We ate lunch at a soba restaurant and it was really delicious. My favorite part of the meal, however, was the tempura and rice. The tempura itself was delicious, but the rice was amazing because it had little bits of tempura batter in it and it gave the rice such a nice texture.

After to lunch I went to my first real onsen, which was a really fun experience because it made me realize that the onsen at the first hotel was not really much of an onsen but more of an outdoor bath. This onsen smelled of sulfur, the water was murky, and it was completely natural. It was really cool and my skin felt so smooth after that!

We then traveled back to the hotel to hop onto another shuttle that was going to take us to the next hotel, Aomoriya, that we were staying at. Before we got on the shuttle my friend, Alex, bought and apple for their host student. It's been a tradition that Alex gives their apple stickers to me, so I finally got an apple sticker from Japan. This moment made me so happy, and now I can't help but smile every time I open my chromebook. The bus ride was about an hour long, but again it was super fun to just look at the window at the passing snowy towns. Japan really is beautiful!

When we got to the hotel, we got settled and then headed down for dinner. The dinner was massive and no one was really expecting that! We had an appetizer course, followed by a main course that consisted of 5 dishes, and then we got dessert. I was so full! (I still am!). After dinner we watched a local cultural presentation. It was very interesting and I enjoyed learning about the culture of the area!

After dinner I worked on my KJ presentation, went to the onsen, and am now settling down for bed. I really hope that I can get a lot of really good sleep tonight because I know we have a packed day tomorrow and I hope that I can have enough energy to enjoy everything tomorrow! おやすみなさい！(good night)

Day 7

It's officially been a week in Japan, and I find that fact very hard to believe because it feels like I've done so much in such a short amount of time! We started off the day by eating a traditional Japanese meal. We had toppings for rice, fish, salad, and soup. It was really delicious but the fish had tiny bones which made for an interesting eating experience. I wasn't really sure if it was okay to eat the bones, or if I should pick them out. Otherwise though, the fish was amazing and all the other food was amazing as well!

Then we accidentally missed the shuttle bus to the train station and then had to figure out if we really wanted to go to Hirosaki or not. We decided to go and we somehow managed to catch all the trains we needed to (or at least we figured out a way to get down there). We took the 3 trains (one of them being a shinkansen) and then we got to take the bus. This was a really fun time because it was really nice to watch the passing scenery. Taking the bus might've been my favorite part because it was so much fun to watch the city go by. It was such a cute city and I absolutely loved the aesthetic.

First we saw Hirosaki castle which was gorgeous. Additionally, the grounds around the castle were gorgeous as well. The scenery was beautiful! We then went to lunch where I order curry and the people at my table shared three different types of apple pie (so that we could try all the different types). I didn't know there could be so many different types of apple pie, and the most amazing thing was they all tasted so different and all of them were amazing in their own way!

We then had to make our way back to the bus because we had to make our way back to the hotel. We took the same way home as we did to get to Hirosaki, and it was just as nice as the ride there. While we were waiting for the bus, we decided to gather everyone's hat and put them on Alex. When we do things like this it reminds me that the people I surround myself with is what is making this trip so much fun! I love everyone on this trip and I'm going to miss everyone when I'm not able to see them all day at KJ.

When we got back to the hotel, my friends and I explored the hotel. This hotel is so amazing! We found the arcade and it was really fun to hang out there with my friends. Jada and I played Taiko no Tasujin! It was so much fun to play that game on the actual arcade!

We then headed down to the dinner buffet, which was (as I've said about all the food) delicious! Since I've been trying to eat a new and exciting food at every meal (when I have choice), at the dinner buffet I ate squid cartilage and shark. I liked the shark a lot more than the squid because it really just tasted like fish with a lot of flavor. I didn't enjoy the squid too much because it was a very weird texture, it was very chewy and didn't break apart very easily. Additionally, the dessert was literally to die for! I ate ice cream, brownies, and other assortment of dessert foods.

After dinner I finished some homework, worked on my speech for KJ, and hung out with my friends. I'm a little worried but also excited for tomorrow because I'm going to meet my host family! I can't wait to meet them, but I'm also very scared because I don't know what to expect at all! I'm so exicted!!

Day 8

Today is the day I meet my host family, AHHHH!!! As I ate breakfast this morning, all I could think about was how scared but also excited I was to meet my host family today. After we ate breakfast and packed, we headed down to the lobby and checked out. We then had 3 train rides before we met our family!

On the first train ride, we unexpectedly started talking to a Japanese girl who was about our age. We found out that she was coming to America in March, and we all decided to exchange our LINE (a Japanese texting app). Her name was Rio, and her and her mom were both so nice. They liked us so much that they actually gave us omiyage (a small gift) as their way of saying "thank you". I then had to struggle to pull some omiyage out of my bag as well because I felt as if I had to return the favor! We were all so happy when we got off the train and we continued to text her throughout the rest of the train rides.

On the first shinkansen ride (which was two and a half hours) I caught up on my math homework, it was a lot of work, but I feel very accomplished (thanks for the help, Aidan!). On the second train ride, I felt like I deserved a break (because that was a lot of math), so I just talked with Aidan the whole time! I still can't get over how much I love Japan, I could sit on the train and watch the scenery go by for a very long time!

When we finally got to the station every one was so nervous, my stomach was doing flips. I was filled with so much fear, but I was also very excited for what was going to come! As I turned the corner and saw all the KJ students standing there, my stomach flipped. I searched in the crowd to find Koko and when I finally found her I gave her a hug and then we got onto another train to Niigata. This train was different that the first train, Koko called it a "special shinkansen". It's hard to explain (if you've never been on a shinkansen but this one was definitely special), the train cars all had specific themes and you were allowed to walk around the entire train. Each car was totally different, and there was even a car with a little area where children could play with a train set. It was really such an amazing experience. After we explored the train and we sat down, we spoke almost completely in Japanese. This made me feel really good because this whole time I was very worried that my Japanese was not going to be so good and then it was going to be hard to communicate with my host family. However, when I talked to Koko this fear was definitely eased!

When we got to Niigata station we were waiting for Koko's mom to finish work (so she could drive us home) and we decided to kill some time. So we walked around the train station a little bit, but we mainly just walked to a department store. I was really happy because as we were walking to the department store, I saw a Mos Burger shop. When I was a Sophomore and we did a whole unit about food, we had to translate a menu from Mos Burger. I hadn't seen one yet in Japan, so I was very happy to see one today! She took me to a book store, and I bought some really fun books, I can't wait to try and read them! (Emphasis on "try" because they're in Japanese!). We then left the store and waited outside a little crepe stand for Koko's mom. Koko's mom is so nice, she gave me a hug when we met as well! She told me that she was an English professor, so if I ever needed any help she could explain something to me. I tried to explain that I really wanted to try my best to speak in Japanese, and they really understood that! I've been speaking in nothing but Japanese since I met my host family! Additionally, Koko and her mom kept complimenting my Japanese, which made me feel really good! The more confident I feel in my abilities, the more I feel comfortable speaking.

Koko lives in Niigata city, which was a surprise for me because I thought that most of the people who hosted lived in the country, but this was a very nice surprise. Their house is beautiful, and I felt instantly welcomed when I walked in! After I put my things down, I gave them my omiyage (which were American snacks) and we started off conversation by talking about the snacks and about my life in general. I was feeling really good for this whole conversation because I was actually communicating, with my host family, in Japanese!! I don't know if I can accurately express the feelings through this blog but it was amazing!

We then went out for dinner with Koko's grandmother, and her aunt and uncle. This kinda stressed me out because I all the sudden it started to feel like I wasn't going to be able to understand the conversations as much anymore. Well, I was correct! (not in a bad way). It really made me realize what it must feel like to be a host student (it really put me into the shoes of students that I've hosted). I noticed I was starting to zone out from the conversation because I just wasn't understanding anything that was being said, and this made me really sad! I didn't want to come off as shy (because I'm usually not a shy person and I was just having a long conversation with my host family), but it was hard to communicate when I didn't really know what was going on. Otherwise, the dinner was amazing! We got conveyor belt sushi. So essentially, there's a little screen where you can order specific types of sushi, or you can just watch the conveyor belt as the sushi comes around. If you see something you like, all you have to do is grab it off the conveyor belt and eat it! It was a little stressful to figure out at first, but I really enjoyed it once I got the hang of it! I ate so much food! My family kept offering my things and I didn't want to say no, so I just kept eating (I don't know if I'll be hungry by the morning lol!)! I ate so much sushi, a small bowl of tempura udon, and a matcha shaved ice for dessert. It was all so amazing! Additionally, even though I said all that stuff earlier about feeling like I didn't know enough, my family still complimented me on my Japanese and my usage of chopsticks, and when they did ask me questions and I answered them, they were really interested in my answers. It just made me realize that even though I may think that I'm not doing something well, the fact that I'm trying is what's important, and I'm also probably doing a lot better than I think!

After dinner we went to a second-hand clothing store, which was AMAZING! There were so many cute clothes and it was all super cheap! My host mother bought me some clothes as a gift, and I was so happy. After that we went to the supermarket to buy some supplies for dinner tomorrow night, we're going to celebrate a holiday! The grocery store was super cool because it's very similar to an American grocery store, but there are still a lot of differences! One thing I love about Japanese grocery stores is that all the shelves are my height! There are so many times that I'm in an American Grocery store, and I can't reach something that's on the top shelf, but that's not a problem in a Japanese Grocery store, and that made me very happy. Additionally, all the food was really cheap (avocados were $0.98 each!). Also, the shopping carts were a lot smaller than American shopping carts and I thought this was super interesting as well!

After the grocery store we headed home and I hopped in the bath and then shared with my host family my photo album (the omiyage I'd been working on forever!), and they absolutley loved it so it was all worth it! They kept looking through it and asking questions about it, and it made me really happy again! As we were all talking, something very exciting happened! We completely lost power, everything got dark! So maybe this wasn't exciting in a good way, but it was all something that we were able to laugh about in about 2 minutes because we were all so scared!

I'm about to head to bed and thinking about what tomorrow brings makes me very scared! I realized (tonight) that I have to give my speech at KJ tomorrow! I don't really feel prepared for it, but I got a lot of support from my host family and my friends so hopefully it will all work out okay! I just need to take a few deep breaths, go to bed, and absolutely kill it tomorrow! I can't wait to see what KJ has to bring and I also can't wait to see some of my old friends again tomorrow! 楽しみね！(Looking forward to it!)

Day 9

Wow! What a day!! I woke up at 6 to eat cereal for breakfast and then we were out of the door at 7! Koko's mom drove us to the train station where we took the shinkansen to school! It was such an amazing ride; however, the whole time I was very scared about the speech I was going to give! I practiced a lot on the train as I looked out the window at the passing mountain scenery. When we got off the train, we got on a bus that would take us to KJ (Kokusai Jouhou - our sister school)! I was really nervous but I felt better when I saw some of my old friends on the bus! That made me very happy! When we finally got to school I changed into my slippers and I left my shoes near the door - this is a tradition in Japanese culture! It took me a little while to get used to walking in slippers!

We had a quick morning meeting (all the ETHS students) and then we were escorted to the auditorium where we would have the opening ceremony, my heart was beating out of my chest the entire time! When I finally gave my speech, I was so nervous but I somehow managed to pull it off! After a little hiccup with the microphone (I had to turn it on), I gave my speech confidently and I got a huge round of applause when I finished (and when I started for that matter)! That made me feel really good about myself because it was something that I was really scared about! The KJ students gave all the ETHS students omiyage, it was a KJ mug! It's so cute and I can't wait to use it when I get home!

After the opening ceremony, we went to another presentation where some KJ students introduced us to their school and Japanese culture! It was a lot of fun and it was a really good start to the day! After that I shadowed Koko in her classes. We started off with a "Global Learning" class, which was taught completely in English and it was about MLA format, something I already know about! This was another very chill way to start the day! After that class we went from the computer lab to the classroom where we sat through a "Home Economics" class! This was really overwhelming because it was completely in Japanese and the teacher was very hard to understand (even the KJ students said that they have a hard time understanding her! However, it was still a really cool experience! Then we went to "Geography"; however, since the students have a test tomorrow, it was just a free period to study! This was nice; however I was working on my Psych homework and for some reason I found it very hard to keep my eyes open! I did my best, but I don't know what came over me!

We then went to lunch, where we ate with Koko's "Global Learning" teacher and another teacher. I didn't realize until the lunch was over that it was an "English Lunch", so I felt kinda bad for the times I spoke in Japanese, but being able to speak in English to another native English speaker was a nice change of pace. I then went into the hallway and saw all the students brushing their teeth! I had no idea this was something that was done after eating lunch because we never do this in America! During that time I got to meet some of my old friends from last year, Mayu (my host student) and Himeno (who was a friend I made last year but is also Koko's friend!). It was really nice to see them again and it made me happy! I was also able to give Mayu her birthday present, so for that I was very happy!

Then all the ETHS students went to another language lab and listened to some presentations. Some of the first years have to make presentations to give in America (the presentations are in English) and they wanted us to listen to them and give them feedback. This was a lot of fun, but I felt like there were some miscommunications and I hope we were actually helpful! Then we got some time to work on the presentations we have to give tomorrow. I'm actually feeling really good about this presentation, the speech was a lot scarier!

After school ended we went to sadobu (Japanese tea ceremony club), and this was really fun because I'm in sadobu at ETHS but this club was a lot different than the one I'm used to, so it was really cool to see that! The tea and the sweets were amazing and I even got to make tea, which was a lot of fun! After that, Koko and I had to wait for the bus so we listened to some of her friends' English presentation, they wanted me to help them with their pronunciation, but of course they were so good! We then caught the bus and then the train. On the train, Koko and I shared some trail mix I brought from America and I caught up on some English homework that I had!

We walked around the train station while we waited for Koko's mom to pick us up! I got to use a vending machine! That's not the right word, but the machines are similar to American vending machines except with toys! It was super fun! When I got in the car, Koko's mom told me that they were having friends over for setsubun tonight! (Setsubun is a holiday that welcomes in the new season). I was a little scared because I worried about being able to communicate, but it ended up working out great! We made norimaki (a long sushi roll that is eaten to welcome good luck for the new season), and this was a lot of fun because I learned how to make sushi! Everyone said I was very good at it, but it's gonna take a lot more work until I'll be able to do it by myself! After we made the sushi we had to eat the entire roll in one bite, while facing a specific direction, and without talking. Additionally, when you eat the roll you have to think about wishes for the new season! It was a very fun experience, and I was the first person to finish my roll! For dinner I ate two more of those rolls, and some salads! It was all so delicious!

After we ate dinner we performed a "ritual" to ward away the demons and welcome good energy. In order to do this we threw peanuts out of all the windows while chanting phrases to keep the demons away. After we did that, I had to eat 18 peanuts (you have to eat your age in peanuts for good luck!). The peanuts were really good and this was such an amazing experience that I'm so happy to have had! After the peanuts we ate dessert, which was a strawberry roll cake! It was so yummy! I really want to eat it again!

I then practiced my presentation for tomorrow and played Mario Kart with Koko, Kurara (my little host sister) and her friend. It was really fun and I did a lot better than I thought I would (I averaged 2nd place! :) ). Then I said goodbye to their friends and took a bath! It's been so nice to take a bath at night these past few days, it's just a nice way to calm down after a long day! I'm about to head off to bed, hopefully I can get some good sleep and do it all again tomorrow!

Also, while I was just hanging out in their house I was looking at a mantel piece they have next to their TV. On this mantel piece they have a lot of pictures of their family (as one would expect) and I noticed that my picture and photo album was on the mantel! I was so happy because I realized how life changing this experience really is! It's almost like I truly have a family in Japan! This made me so happy, and I can't wait to say "ただいま！" (tadaima - "I'm home") instead of "おじゃまします！" (ojyamashimasu - "Excuse me" [what you say when you are entering a space that's not your home]).

Day 10

Another packed day today! I woke up at the same time and had cereal and coffee for breakfast, the coffee really helped me feel more awake (I've been going to bed later than I should be!). We took the shinkansen and then the bus to school. I worked on homework during this time, which was not what I would have liked to do but it was nice to get it done! The view from the train is absolutely amazing, and I don't think I'll ever get used to it!

When we got to school we had some time to practice for our presentations today. It was really nice to have this time to practice and also to catch up with my friends. I've been speaking Japanese for so long and I've been away from my friends for so long, so it was nice to talk to them!

I then shadowed Koko in some of her classes. The first class was social studies, and this class was really hard to understand! They were talking about "supple and demand", I think?, but it's hard to tell! Additionally, the teachers kept asking the ETHS students questions and I was really scared I was going to have to answer a question! It was all fine, but that was a stressful class period. After that we had Biology, and I realized that no matter the culture, science teachers always have a sense of humor. Their teacher was really funny and interacted with the class well! It was a really fun class to be in. Then we had gym, which was quite an experience. We started off with a minute plank (which was so hard), then I got to play badminton with Koko and her friend. That was really fun because there were 3 groups of people playing per net, which meant that birdies were flying all over the place. It was kind of chaotic, but it was still a lot of fun. After gym we had math class. This was also a really interesting class because I actually understood what they were learning (I did it last year) and then half way through the class, the teacher started doing magic tricks. I'm so serious. I turned to Koko and she said "My teacher does magic" and I literally thought she was talking about how he's a math magician, but when I turned around the teacher was holding a deck of cards and performing magic tricks! That was a big surprise, but we all had a good laugh!

Then we went to the cafeteria for lunch! Let me tell you, ETHS lunches should take note of the lunches at KJ. This school lunch was AMAZING! It was so flavorful and just all around delicious! I ate a Korean dish called Bibinba, it's Koko's favorite meal! It was so good! Then all the ETHS students tried to find the room where we were supposed to give our presentations, but we totally got lost! On the way I saw some of my old friends, Azuki (my old host student) and Haruka. I was so happy to see them because they're 3rd years at school and currently have a lot of tests, so I wasn't sure I was going to see them! Azuki and I were so happy to see each other that we literally ran to each other to give the other a hug. It was such a nice feeling because I've been wanting to talk to a lot of students at KJ (like in Koko's classes), but sometimes it feels like they don't really want to talk to me. So I was very happy to see my old friends!

When we finally found the conference room where we were giving our speech, we had to rush into it because we were already late. This being said, my presentation went great! I said all my lines well, and all the students participated when we taught them the dance! Everyone else did a great job on their presentations as well!

After the presentation I went to one of Koko's classes where we made a traditional Japanese egg sandwich. It was really fun to make and it was delicious! I got to talk to some of Koko's classmates, but they only wanted to speak to me in Japanese so I feel like there were definitely some miscommunications, but at least I was trying! :) After then I went to Koko's English class where I was put on the spot a few times to answer questions. This was a little stressful, but since it was mostly in English it ended up being okay. When school ended, Koko, her friends, and I took the shinkansen home and it was a gorgeous ride. When you looked out the window you could see the sun setting over the mountains, it was beautiful! I ended up dozing off a little bit because I was just so tired!

When we got off the train we got takoyaki, which is a Japanese fried dish with octopus. We ate it in the train station and it was so good! It was my first time having it, so I was very happy to eat it! Then we went to Koko's "cram school". Essentially we sat in her mom's classroom and got to work on homework for 2 hours. It was really nice to have some solid time to just get some work done!

Then we went to Koko's mom's cafe for dinner. She made オムライス (omuraisu - rice with an omelet and curry) for us and it was so good! Her cafe used to be a sushi restaurant, but she renovated it to become a really cute little cafe! I absolutely loved it! (https://www.nuttari-lian.com/). My little host sister, Kurara, and her friend were being tutored by a College student who was apparently very excited to practice English with me; however when we started talking we both just completely forgot how to talk in English. It was the weirdest feeling because I was trying to talk in my native language, but everything I was saying sounded forced and weird! I haven't had that feeling until now, so that was super interesting!

After that we drove home and got ready for bed! I'm about to hop in the bath! Since I'm finally done with all the speeches and presentations, I feel a lot more relaxed! So hopefully tomorrow can be a little bit more laid-back!

Day 11

The morning started off the same as it has for the past few days, so there's no need to repeat it right now! When I got to school I got to hang out with my friends, which was really nice! Then we went to first period with our students. For first period we had social studies, which again was a difficult class because the teacher kept asking the ETHS students questions and I was so scared to answer. Additionally, he would ask us to explain things that happened in American history, and that was super hard!

After that we had art class for about 2 hours before lunch, we did this without our host students. We weren't really sure if we were in the right place (because our schedule didn't say where we were supposed to go), but they had stuff for us to do so we did that! Basically, we had to think about our favorite song and draw how it makes us feel. It was super hard because whenever I get asked to do activities like that I always forget every song I've ever heard. I had no idea what song to draw! So I did some sketching and got to hang out with my friends which was a really nice change of pace!

Then Koko and I went to lunch in the cafeteria. Today we ate udon and it was so good! ETHS really needs to take some notes! After lunch we went back to "art" where we saw a guitar concert. Apparently, one of the math teachers used to play guitar in College, so he put on a concert for us and that was really fun to watch! Then we did more sketching with the KJ students which was fun because they were really excited to draw with us and I was hanging out with my friends!

After that we had gym class with the first years. It was really fun but all the ETHS students were really confused about what to do the whole time! We had a group warm up activity and it consisted of laying down on the floor in lines and then jumping over each other down the line. We also did some partner stretches that I also didn't really understand, but it was quite an experience! Then we split into 4 large groups and we were all given a large jump rope and we had to jump rope as a big group. It was really hard and kinda confusing (at first) but then it ended up being a lot of fun!

After that we all went back to the meeting room where we waited for our students to pick us up. Again hanging out with my friends was really fun. I didn't quite realize how close we were going to get on this trip, but like I really enjoy hanging out with all these people and I get sad when I think about how I'm gonna have to go back to school and not see some of these people! :( But I'm trying not to think about that now! :)

Then Koko and I rode the shinkansen home with her friends, and we went shopping! We walked to a department store and walked around all the stores. All the clothes in Japan are so cute! I wanted to buy everything! I went to Uniqlo and a bunch of other stores that I don't remember the names of! I know that there's a Uniqlo in Chicago, but it was really fun to go to one in Japan because that's where it originated. We also went to a store that only stocked Studio Ghibli products! It was super cool because in America there are stores with Studio Ghibli products, but there are no stores that are dedicated to it! Additionally, I saw a lot of products that I've never seen in America, so it made me so happy to walk around!

Then Koko's mom picked us up and we went home for dinner! Tonight my host mom made us beef rice and soup. It was sooooo good! I know there's food like this in America, but there's something about eating it homemade in Japan that just makes it even more amazing and delicious! Then Koko and I watched some tv and played Mario Kart. As the picture shows, I've been getting a lot better and I'm clearly more talented than I thought! :P After that we had some ice cream, I took a bath, and now I'm heading off to bed! Tomorrow the KJ students are giving us presentations, so I have that to look forward to! It should be a lot of fun!

Day 12

It was snowing when I woke up this morning, so I was super cold! I had cereal, eggs, and coffee for breakfast in order to try become warmer and try to wake up. It's so cold in KJ, so I've been wearing at least three layers every day!

We went to first period with our students, so Koko and I went to English class. The teacher is very friendly and was asking the ETHS students questions. He was asking us questions like "what's your favorite Ghibli movie?" and "what are your favorite bands?". To the second question I answered, "Queen, David Bowie, and Belle & Sebastian". He then asked what my favorite Bowie song was and then proceeded to play "Ziggy Stardust" for the whole class. I was so surprised! I was not expecting that at all! Then after they finished their lesson, he played us some of the KJ students' favorite Japanese songs. That was super fun.

After that, there was some confusion about what we were supposed to do. The schedule said we were supposed to go somewhere, but the students thought we were supposed to do something else. It all got resolved, but it was very stressful in the moments because literally no one knew what to do! When we finally figured out where we were supposed to go we listened to some of the KJ students presentations that they had been working on. It was really cool to listen to, but only a few of them were in English and it became hard to pay attention because I had no idea what they were talking about most of the time. It was still fun to just sit there and listen, though! While I was waiting to go to lunch I saw Mayu again and we took a picture! It's been really nice to see all my old friends, they've been really happy to see me! I'm gonna miss them!!

For lunch we ate sushi, dumplings, soup, and kimchi. It was amazing, of course! :P Then we got onto a bus and took the bus to a community building where we listened to more presentations. KJ is an "Super Global High School" which means the students have to make presentations in order to "keep this status". The first speech was given by the person who created this title/organization. The speech was an hour long and it was completely in Japanese so it was hard for me to stay focused because I literally just wouldn't know what she was saying. Then there was a small break, and after the break some KJ students made presentations. Those were really interesting because I could understand them (they were in Enlgish) and they were about interesting topics, such as: bringing tourism to to Uonoma City, and helping eliminate gender roles.

After these presentations, Koko, her friends, and I walked to the train station. It was snowing but it was so beautiful. Walking through the snow was amazing! This might sound werid, but I absolutely love Japanese umbrellas, I wish I could bring one home! All of them are made of clear vinyl so you can look around you when you walk in the rain or snow. Since I was using one of these umbrellas, it was so beautiful to walk in the snow! We took the train back to Niigata station, and then we walked to a department store and went to pikura. Pikura is a really famous Japanese photo booth. I've heard about it from all my exchange students, so I was excited to finally go! Then we walked to a juice store that Koko's friend recommended. I got banana juice and it was more of a banana smoothie that what I expected to be juice, but it was still delicious! Then we walked back to the train station (we did A LOT of walking today) to eat ramen. It was honestly some of the best ramen I've ever had and it was only $7! In America, the ramen I just ate would've easily been $14 at least!

After we ate ramen we walked back home, and it was such an amazing walk! I absolutely love Japan! At night the streets are just lit up with street signs and restaurant signs and it's just so pretty! Additionally, walking down all the "side streets", which I thought were allies at first, is just so cool. I don't really know how to describe it, but that walk may have been one of the best moments of the trip! When we got home we watched tv, worked on homework, and ate American snacks!

I'm so sad that tomorrow is my last full day! I can't wait to see my family and friends again, but I also really don't want to leave Japan. I love it here so much and I'm really gonna miss my host family! Thinking about it makes me sad, so I'm gonna try not to!

Day 13

Today was such a mix of emotions! Going to school was exactly the same, but I was really sad because I realized that it was the last time I was going to see this view on my way to school! Hanging out before school with my friends was really fun, and we also got snacks to eat!

For the whole day I followed Koko around to her classes! For the first class we had the Japanese equivalent of an American English class. They were reading an old Japanese story that was similar to Romeo and Juliet except with a happy ending! It was actually a really fun class because the teacher was trying really hard to make sure that we were understanding what was going on (so she was super engaging), and I was actually understanding what was going on! We had a social studies class, biology class, math class, and English class. The other classes were fun but some of the teachers were less interactive so it was somewhat hard to pay attention. However, in one of the classes we played a game where we all held hands and then we had to untangle ourselves without letting go of each others hands. It was really fun, but I didn't really know how to untangle ourselves.

For lunch I had a bento that my host mother made and it was one of the most amazing lunches I had all week! We ate in Koko's classroom with her friends, and then we played volleyball with some of the host students. It was fun, but the gym was SUPER cold and I'm not very good at volleyball. Then we all had to run to the front of the school to take a class picture!

Koko's last period was a study hall, so some of my friends and I returned to the meeting room. After about 20 minutes our students picked us up and took us back to their room. They then gave us handwritten messages, and all told us thank you for coming! Then they asked us to give speeches (as a thank you), and I was so scared because I was totally not expecting that. I still got up in front of the class and gave a speech in Japanese! It was alright and I was happy to have been able to do that, but of course if I had more time to prepare it would've been better!

When school ended we had a goodbye party and it was so much fun! Everyone was taking pictures and talking and some people who I never even talked to asked to take a picture with them! It was a lot of fun and I felt really loved! They also brought us a lot of okashi and it was really fun to try all of the snacks! Koko and I took the train home with her friend. After we got off the train we walked to her Grandma's house for dinner! She made all the food and it was one of the most amazing meals I had on the trip! She made fried chicken and it was the most amazing fried chicken I've EVER eaten! Then we ate pudding and it was also really good! The family gave my omiyage and my host grandma said that I was her granddaughter and she told me to come back to Japan to eat food with them!

After that we went to karaoke and that was super fun because that was one of the things that I wanted to do most in Japan! I sang, "Zenzenzensei", "Future", "Moetsukitaino", "Funny Little Frog", and "Killer Queen". It was honestly one of the most fun experiences! Everyone was singing and just having a great time, I was so happy! We got home at midnight and then I started packing and writing letters to my family! I was really sad, but thinking about all the experiences I had that week made me really happy! I was really sad when I thought about traveling back to Chicago!

Day 14 (All the traveling home)

The journey home was a long and exciting one. Starting off the day by saying goodbye to my host family was really hard, but I actually didn't end up crying. I realized that this was because I really realized that they were really my family. I didn't cry when I left my family in Evanston because I knew I was going to come back, and I think I didn't cry when I was leaving my family in Japan because I know I'm going to come back. Additionally, when we were saying goodbye the principal asked the KJ students to make their goodbye speech, then he asked the ETHS students to make their speech. Everyone immediately said that I should give the speech. So I stood in front of all the students (and their families) and give an impromptu speech in Japanese! That was a really scary experience, and I don't think that the speech I gave was that amazing, but I did it, and everyone did say that the speech was good.

We traveled to the airport, even though our flight was being delayed by 7 hours! Waiting in the airport was actually really fun because the Haneda airport was a really fun place to explore. There were a lot of shops and my friends and I enjoyed shopping! Also, Cully lost a bet to buy a Gundam, so for the rest of the time we spent in the airports Milo and Stephon decided to put together the entire Gundam. That was a fun thing to watch!

We finally took off at 2:30 AM, and we arrived in LA at 5ish. On the flight I crashed for 4/5 hours and then watched "500 Days of Summer" and "Say Anything". We then went to a hotel and had a little complications with the rooms, but we were all having fun hanging out in the lobby. We were just dancing, talking, and walking around. We went to bed at 12, but had to be in the lobby at 5. That was a little bit of a rough turn around especially when we were notified that our flight was being delayed. We were supposed to take off at 7:30, but we didn't end up taking off until 10:30. We spent our time hanging out, doing homework, making memes, and talking about how all we wanted to do was go home.

The flight was long, I watched "Where'd You Go, Bernadette?", and I listened to some music. I was so happy to finally see my family again, that hug was amazing. It was so much fun to talk about Japan with my family, and to give them all the gifts I bought for them.

Overall, this was such an amazing trip and I was so happy to have had that experience. I learned so much and I will remember this for the rest of my life!