Past few weeks

Sorry for lack of updates these past few weeks! I kept forgetting to update XD Probably because nothing major has happened since my last entry. From here I'll write about what has happened since the last update. I'll subhead them to make it easier for you guys (^.^)b (not in order. I'll write whatever comes to mind XP)

Italian Food, Bowling and Purikura
*Purikura = pictures taken at a photo booth where you can edit the pictures to look cutesy or however you want it

Last week a couple of us hung out with one of the tutors who's vacationing in India right now. The EAPer who has her as a tutor wanted to spend time with her before she left for her trip. First, we went to a place to serves Italian Food (omg, another place that has non-Japanese food!). It was pretty expensive and the portions were small (in my opinion), but it was still really delicious! I had an Ebi Pasta (Shrimp). I'd eat there again :) Just not a lot XD Afterwards we went to the only bowling alley (that I know of) in Tsuru. When we walked through the entrance the first thing we see were arcade games. And of course we play those before we go bowling lol. There was a Taiko game (Taiko is a type of Japanese drum). It was really fun to play! It was kinda hard, too lol They also had a guitar and drum game like RockBand. I got really excited because I got to pick Japanese songs that I like X) I didn't play the guitar game, though. The drum one was difficult, too... After about half an hour playing we all decided to go in one of the picture booths. It was really hard to take a picture because there was a lot of us. It took so many tries and I don't think there's a single one that shows all of our faces clearly lol well we tried! (I don't have the images on my computer so I can't show it, sorry ^^;).
Afterwards we finally bowled. We played two games. We split up. Our team ended up doing really bad lol. All the better players ended up on the other team. It was still fun, though. Our team was so bad we wouuld clap whenever one of us got at least one pin lol After we finished we went to pay and they actually give you copies of how you played. I of course through mine away to hide the embarassment lol

Hanging out at Tsuru Host Mother's house

There is a person we like to call our Tsuru Host Mother. She's not really a host mother (since most of us have our own host families), but she's one of the coordinators of the program. She's like a mom to us because she's always helping us whenever we need it. She's so adorable (^.^). We generally call her Fumi-san when we're around her. On the same night we went Bowling we went to her house to have dinner. I found out that she actually owns a Juku (cram school) specifically for English. The tutor we hung out with apparently helps there :) Anyway, her house is super nice. It's like the type of place I'd like to live in. It's a combination of Japanese and Western. She also has two really cute dogs. I couldn't stop playing with them x3 They reminded me of my dog so much. One of them was a puppy, too! I kept playing tug-a-war with her x3 We also met two of Fumi-san's sons. We introduced ourselves by saying our names and what school we go to in America. They responded by saying our Japanese was really good and that they were surprised. I've gotten used to that kind of reaction now lol Even if you say the most simple things people (especially in places like Tsuru where hardly anyone speaks English) quickly assume you're an expert XP
For dinner we had sushi (which we made ourselves), pasta (again lol), various types of tempura, yakiniku, and several snacks. Of course, there was alcohol. It's funny because Fumi-san likes drinking alcohol lol I drink one of the "girly" drinks. By "girly" I prefer to drinks that have like 3% alcohol and taste sweet (they're usually fruity flavored) so you can't taste the alcohol. I actually really like those drinks. I wish I could buy them as easily in America XP We chatted a lot during dinner. Fumi-san asked us about what we wanted to do in our future. She made all of us answer xP We then asked her what she wanted to do. She laughed and said her future is small (meaning she's old already), but she gave us her answer anyway (my hearing isn't good so I didn't understand everything she said). Throughout the night we just chatted. At the last hour Fumi-san made us speak only in Japanese. She said that you had to pay 100円 (~$1) for every English you use. That scared us lol. I was talking with one of the EAPer and for a long while we spoke to each other in Japanese until we started speaking English again because it was easier lol We were on the other side of Fumi-san so we would speak using soft voices. A couple of times she would say that she heard English and we would just say "We don't know what you're talking about" lol After an hour we all headed back (because we would miss the last train if we didn't lol and it's like an hour walk from the apartments).

Calligraphy Take 2

Yesterday we had another calligraphy mini class. Before hand we had to think of a word that has two Kanji characters. During this calligraphy class we worked on writing the kanji we chose. I chose 希望 which means hope. The reason why I chose that Kanji was because a lot of difficult things has happened before coming to Japan and while I was in Japan, but I kept my hopes up and things always got better :) I should've taken a picture of the one I decided to turn in but I forgot x( Next week we have a speech where our host family's are invited and I think our Calligraphy will be posted on the walls... (kinda embarrassing...)

An Interesting Birthday Party

On Monday this week one of the EAPer's had their birthday. First we went to the Indian place. Dinner of course was a lot more expensive than lunch. Luckily, I was able to share a dinner with one of the EAPers which saved me a lot of money. Also, I'm never getting spicy again x( I love spicy but the spice of the curry was way too hot >.< I'll stick with normal lol After Indian food we went to the Birthday EAPer's apartment room. We fit like 17 people in the tiny apartment XP Of course the party involved alcohol. Before coming I stopped by the supermarket and bought myself a can of those "girly" 3% alcohol. Besides me and a few others everyone else were drinking heavy stuff like sake, whiskey, beer, and tequila. We mainly just chatted during the first hour. Eventually, we decided to give the birthday girl her cake and sing happy birthday to her. We turned down the light until it was really dim. Before we sing we hear the doorbell. Everyone just screamed "Douzo!" (come in!). One of the tutors opens the door and everyone just yells out her name "HARUNA!!! It was a really funny moment lol (There's a video I was tagged in on facebook if you're curious to konw what it was like).
I saw sake bombs for the first time during the party. Apparently, it's not really known in Japan because the three Japanese people who were there said it was their first time seeing it. It was quite amusing haha After about an hour or so later people started to get drunk. It was my first time being around so many drunk people. Luckily, I wasn't the only sober one. At first, I thought it was going to be really bad (based on the SB stereotypes), but it really wasn't. People did get a little crazy and ditzy, but no harm was done. There were people dancing crazily. I stayed in the corner and watched everyone (not like a creeper, mind you). Me and my friend went up to the loft where we felt safer. From there we continued to watch everyone lol Eventually, we left since we still had homework and a quiz we had to study for (it was Monday afterall lol). I later found out that they partied until 2am or something. The next morning during class some people were hungover from that night. The next day our teacher said the average on our quizzes went down. Everyone just laughed XP

A Trip to Book Off

During one of the Saturdays me and 3 others went to another town to go to a bookstore called Book Off. Book Off is essentially a used bookstore. They also sell new stuff and they also sell games, cds, and dvds. Book Off is so freakin' amazing! Especially, for a manga love like me x3 They sell used manga for 105円 which is essentially more than the Book Off in the US. I was happy because I don't live near a Book Off back in the US. Being in that store felt great. Unfortunately, I only bought one book because I went in not knowing what to get XP It's ok though because I can also order stuff online =3 one of the perks of being in Japan. I don't think they have an online option in America (which I wish they had...). I'll probably order online more often than going to the actually store because it's pretty expensive to go there by train and back whereas through online I can get free shipping if I spend more than 1500円 (~$17). The trouble with this though is bringing the stuff back... Books do tend to way a bit... I'll make it work somehow lol


Well, that's it for now. I can't remember what else happened these past few weeks besides class and other non-important stuff. This weekend I'm off to Tokyo to watch a piano concert and hang out with a friend then next week I'm off to Kyoto for a couple days! Look forward for to those updates :3