Some recent photos

Hey y'all!  so on Tuesday I was finished with classes early, and I decided to go shopping with my friend Haruhi.  We went to Shinsaibashi and just walked around.  We discovered this great macaroon place.  Look at all those 色色な色 (refer to previous post for definitions you n00bs)

I bought the far left white one, the red one, the purple one and the blue one.  that's vanilla-champagne, rose, cassis and salt.  Salt was the best, followed by rose.  But honestly, I could have eaten 20 of each and any.
Haruhi/taiyaki
Anna/Obama   がんばれ〜 
HORSE-SHOES.  How cute?!  They had eyes on the other side, also, but  it was hard to capture in one frame.
Kaiten-zushi.  That is at Kappa-Sushi near the seminar houses.  It costs ¥105 for one plate, which is super cheap.  Sometimes, people have eating contests.  If you want something and don't want to wait for the conveyor to deliver it, you can order on the screen at any table and it comes to you on this kappa train thingy.  Those are "Fiber Grape" drinks.  They're delicious and addictive.

ひさしぶり！

(^Hisashiburi^ means 'it's been a long time').  ごめんね。。。(sorry)

Not much happened this week...it was mostly test taking and paper writing.  One day it looked like it was going to rain while we were eating lunch, and my friend made a Teru Teru Bouzu:

 (my friend named Teru made it!! So it was Teru no teru teru bouzu!)  And you are supposed to hang it a certain way to either make rain come or prevent rain for the next day.  Since ours was kind of horizonal, the next day was a little rainy and a little sunny, so we saw a rainbow! (True

 story)

 And so this weekend I let off a little bit of steam.  Friday night we went to karaoke which was fun.   I could not talk much when I woke up, which I suppose is a good sign.  Saturday morning, thus, was a little slow and so I took some time to catch up on Lost, courtesy of my boyfriend.  My friend Jason called me and said that we must go get food and drinks somewhere in Osaka and I said sure.  Boy, was I in for an adventure...

So, it turned out that Jason had a keep bottle at The Ritz, and after we finished that, we went to Kyoto.  

It was a fun/crazy night overall.  Waking up in Kyoto and not really realizing that I'm in Kyoto, not Osaka, was interesting...

View from hotel room

Funny restaurant that we passed.  It was beef take-out!

That's all for now.  I have a test tomorrow, so I gotta hit the books!

Sunday trip!

So Friday night's Chu-Hi related activities left me relatively immobilized.  Thus, the pancakes and nailpolish.  Sunday, however, while the rest of the world fell asleep at 8 am, I felt super 元気！(Genki means healthy, energetic)  So my friend Dave(the guy making chicken wings a couple posts ago) and his friend from his home institution went to Costco.  Yes, you heard me, Costco, the American store that sells awesome foodstuffs in bulk.  Japanese Costco is very similar, as you may have guessed.  

Beef cakes anyone?  (The bakery was right next to the Meat section)

They definitely don't have crabs like his at American Costco.

Ben, I almost bought this for you.  
As if I EVER had a doubt...

Big Meat Stick!

And this was not at Costco, we saw these at the nearby mall.  Yes, they're white chocolate boobies.

...And the obligatory nail update!

This is the ultimate glitter.  The pictures I took in both artificial light and sunlight do not do this glitter justice.  It is super holographic, so the large glitter specks have a range of colors (dark purple to light teal, a bunch of pinks, sometimes blue...)

Again, THIS IS THE ULTIMATE GLITTER!  

Since I have loads of work, it was been hard for me to give you guys constant updates.  It snowed here today, but it was really skitzo snow, because it would snow for like 5 minutes, and then it would be sunny.  I tried to explain that when it snows in New York or Ohio, snow can come up to your knees (膝までなんや！）

ハッピ バレンタィンテー！

A strawberry heart-shaped pancake!!

And a nailpolish update:
Neon pink and grey. 

I love this country.

National Founders Day!

Yo. Ok so yesterday was a holiday and we went shopping in Shinsaibashi, which is like the shopping a youth center of Osaka. It was my first time there, and holy hell was it crowded:

Of course, we took the perfunctory Glico shot (and loved it)
Left to right that is Madoka, me, and Mayu.

And then we went to Sammy's Ebisu Plaza (the Japanese name is so long, sorry) to eat lunch and enjoy some of "old Japan"... This place tries to recreate Meiji era Japan, with the mix of modern and traditional Japanese culture at the turn of the century. We got lunch here, and ate Takoyaki (grilled octopus doughnut holes, essentially) and some Chinese dumplings and buns. It was yummy and cheap. We also did this silly thing where we dress up like Meiji-era hotties...
This place is closing permanently in March, or so I understand, so I may even go back again sometime soon...
Haruhi and Madoka in kimono, Mayu and me in moga get-ups... I wish I could pull of the moga (modern girl) look, but I think I'm better suited for the kimono...
OH AND HOW COULD I POSSIBLY FORGET!?!?! I got a cell phone. My number is 080-3849-2787. you can also email my cell phone at giran.giran.softbank.ne.jp Call me.
BOOM BABY! Of course I got a purple phone... And in case you were interested, ギランーギラン (giran giran) is the Japanese onomatopoeia for something that glitters.

THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH JAPAN

Look at him. I bet he wouldn't hit a puppy. Isn't this butt boy in gum commercials?
Do not trust this man.

色々な色

Which is pronounced 'iro iro na iro" and means various colours, for all you n00bs.

Thus, I'd like to provide a few images from my 日本の生活 (my daily life in Japan)...

First off, I found more (!) Pokémon cup ramen:10 poké-points to the person who can name that Pokémon (I'm talking to you, Haley Jones)

Earlier today I was feeling kind of sad and so I bought one of these edamame toys that I have been wanting for a while.

They are like never ending edamame-popping fun! (I guess it's like the Japanese version of bubble wrap...) The name is ∞ エダマメ.
Please note the tear under the eye on the right side (it's really hard to see because it is light blue, but trust me, it's there). It really is perfect. In each toy sold, the center edamame has a different face. My edamame is sad face.

And how could I forget, I got a set at the 100円 to do my nails ひめギャルっぽい！　(Like a princess)I know you're jealous.

Oh, have my dreams come true? Yuzu Kit-Kats!!

And just when I had made some tea and was about to go study... I find my friend Dave making
Fried Chicken Wings!
Success~

And on another note, Germans do not know how to eat chicken wings. This is my friend Kei's first drumstick. And how can I tell? Because He's eating it backwards!
I would like to also address the yummy sauce that Dave made. It was a mix of teriyaki sauce, Tabasco and chili flakes.
That's all for now, folks!

Homestay pictures

And up the stairs we go!
The second stair of the turn is literally invisible when there is not enough light.  This is what I call the "death stair"  not to be confused with my friend Matt's "death stare"...
Chanel should never accumulate this much dust...
My mother did flower arrangement...
The view from my mother's room, those are rice fields
Soka Gakkai shrine thing, my mother prayed here several times a day...
Yes, that's normal (it's in Centigrade)
One corner of my room
The view from my room

Like a toaster, only for humans
Another corner of my room.

Hey Guys!

Hey there!  Hope all your collective weekends have been a blast (it is Sunday here).  I spent all of yesterday packing a moving from my homestay into the seminar houses, where most of my friends live.  

Last night we (I along with my two friends Matt and Pat) went to get some food and then drinks in celebration of my return to the team (or because it was Saturday night?).  We went to this great bar called Moonshine that is a 15 minute walk from the seminar houses.  It specializes in bourbons and whiskeys, and seats about 15 people... last night was my second time there.  The bartender, Tetsu, is really cool and always puts out little bar snacks and toys, like those cast metal puzzles in varying degrees of difficulty (he keeps the hardest one behind the bar).  The highlight of the night was that when we walked in, we discovered that it was open mike night and so we got to enjoy some music while we enjoyed our drinks.  

And there they are (Tetsu, the bartender, is playing the harmonica... it was hard to get all three of them in one frame)

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Ok so. It turns out that my excitement was met with great disappointment. All the concerns I harbored about my host family turned out to be reality, a harsher reality than I could bear. Of all the possible things I could have asked for in a host family, the only thing I got was a set of drawers to put my belongings in. My initial reaction to my homestay situation would turn out to be the mere tip of the proverbial iceberg, and, as my mother said, the life lesson here is not how much I can endure. So, I am currently making the changes I need to be a happier and thus heathier human. I truly wish this was not the case; I so desire a host family from the bottom of my selfish heart, but this time it was just not the right fit. This is surely no reflection of the host parents themselves, seeing as how they seemed very happy to have me around. However, I must do what will be best for myself and staying with the Umeda family is certainly not it.
This is the reason that I fell off for a little.
Soon to be back in full effect, y'all.