DECEMBER

well, It's officially been forever and a half since I last updated! sorry about that!
Dember has been quite good so far!
I've gotten my 2 best grammar test grades (In Japan that is) (along with my worst Kanji test grade... but let's not talk about that one... haha.)
I'm feeling comfortable with my Japanese again, which is a good thing!
I've gotten hooked on a television Drama that airs every morning 8h15-30 on NHK (japan's version of NBC).
It's called だんだん（dan dan) and is the best show ever (also the only tv besides the news that I watch...).
I bought what is called a cotatsu (炬燵）which is the best invention EVER!
It is a table that is low to the ground with a futon built in creating a skirt to the table. underneath the table is a small heater which makes your legs SO warm and comfortable!!!!!
I love it!
December also marks the time for 忘年会(bounenkai) or "forget the year parties"
This is a cance for people to go out with their peers (and or teachers) to forget the year and look forward to the next year.
I've started to do NY Times Crosswords on my Nintendo DS (handheld video game) in order to not forget english (for example I just typed igirisu cuz thats the japanese pronounciation...)
...but hey i'm just a mess...

Right now for my folk tale class, Im translating Star Wars into japanese and will present it to the class on Monday (yes, I know Star Wars is not an American folk talke, but they are all kind of boring... and its really a "long ago story" and Star Wars starts with "a long time ago in a galaxy far away..." so it's totally legit...)
I'm very excited because after christmas I will be visiting Yuka's family in Fukui Ken (she visited me in Atlanta back in June).

The most awkward moment happened to me 2 weeks ago in my Conversation class... we have 9 people in the class so when it was time to pair up, I was paired with Furukawa Sensei (the one obsessed with my teeth), and since we were doing friend conversation, she made me call her "yuriko chan" which is a very familiar way of calling a girl that is the same age or younger than you... I felt quite awkward to say the least.

It's kind of appropriate that the last chapter of the year is entitled やる気(yaruki) which means
the will to do something. My last class of the year is on Christmas Eve, and I'm just about ready to be out... luckily I have a 2 month break in spring!
The reason I havn't been updating lately is that we have 2-3 tests, listening, an essay (or 3) and reading exercises every week... ahhhh
Speaking of spring break, I was invited by Yunmin, Kim, and Im to Korea during the break (of course not when people come here, but if you can, tell me when you are coming so i dont double book...!!!!
For Christmas, my Chinese friend is cooking me Chinese food since we have kind of made a tradition to have that on christmas eve!

I had to say goodbye to my friend Takumi Shimizu (shimizu-kun) tonight. He's going back home tonight to get ready for his study abroad at UC Davis in January!
Sometimes I wish I had less of a social life here, It's very hard to juggle social outings with classwork (and also the price sucks sometimes... unless we go to the cheap places...)

Up at the top are some pictures of gatherings and outings with friends (more in next entry)