NOTHING TO DO!

So I'm a week into vacation and so far I've been to Osaka once, and bought a few of my favorite books translated into Japanese:
Catcher in the Rye
Great Gatsby
Alabama Story (To Kill A Mockingbird's Japanese Title)
I was surprised by how much I was able to read and understand from the books but I will still need my Electronic Dictionary to understand it all...
I also have recently been thinking about my SIP (Senior Individualized Project) and I have come up with two Ideas that I am really excited about researching:
1 is a translation/subtitling of one of my favorite Japanese Director's films. Currently Kore-Eda only has 3 films with subtitles available in the US and I really like all three of them so I want to translate another, but this will be hard work.
My 2nd idea is a research paper on food culture in Japan (which is DEEPLY rooted into the culture).
I am starting to get really excited about them!
I went to Osaka the other day to buy DVDs at a specialty store for Sabrina (who studied here last year) and while there I met up with Akiko who studied at Kalamazoo last year. We went to a make your own octopus fry (takoyaki) place near the station! It was surprisingly fun to make!
Um... I will try to make this vacation less boring...

EXAMS!

So I'm pretty much smack dab in the middle of 10 exams, 3 reports, and a presentation! (granted all the reports are turned in now!)
and wow... this is like a marathon...
I've learned that I cannot study AT ALL in my room... too much distraction being in the same room as a bed...
I fall asleep so easily within a 10 foot radius of a bed... or a table with a built in heater...

SO I've spent a lot of time studying at Mister Donut... some of you may remember this shop from its pre-1990 existence in the States... where it started and was then bought out by Dunkin Donuts.
in any case... they give free refills on coffee and serve delicious corn soup or onion soup!
AND you get free stuff!

So I wrote that yesterday, then drafted it... I got tired of writing but didn't feel finished.
Today I had my Furukawa exams! I ended up with an 89 on the 2nd 3rd of grammar for the term... I should have gotten higher but I made too many careless misses...
I had a 5 minute "phone conversation" with Furukawa SenseiYuri Chan about cancelling plans to go see a movie on sunday, I had to think fast (like on the phone) so I was like "uh...my mom went to the hospital with a broken foot!" I have no idea why that was the 1st thing that came to mind...
I also had to perform a drama for my seminar. I'm so glad I only have 4 exams left... but I'm bummed that I have to end the semester with Takahashi sensei...

anywhoo... 2 days then I am FREEEEEE! (for 2 months)

SNOOOOOOOW!

It snowed in Kyoto today, and this past week. It reminded me of N. Georgia (more snow than atlanta, but still laughable in comparison to MI.)
I also for the 1st time encountered the YAKIIMO Man!
You know how the favorite summer treat of little children in the US is to hear that little creepy circus jingle come down the street that only means one thing: "ICE CREAM MAN, ICE CREAM MAN!" WELL, here in Japan in winter they have the Sweet potato man!
here's a glimpse of him in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRvoSF2pyt4
I have heard this tune many times, but not until Saturday had I encountered the actual YakiImo man!
Well, Exams are coming up really soon! a week from friday to be exact... and it will be a busy week, 10 exams, 1 presentation, and 3 reports! AHHHHHH!
BUUUT! after that I get a 2 month break til it gets warm again!
I hope to find a cheap ticket to Korea!

Oh and I forgot to mention, I had a day off yesterday, so I went to finally see Wall・E but it was changed into Japanese, and the reason I don't say dubbed is cuz not only did the voices change, but all the written stuff changed to Japanese as well... but as it was a childrens movie, I still understood it!

What that was a break?

so I have a test, report, and presentation tomorrow. What better time to write about my all together too short vacation?

so I got out of classes for vacation on Dec 24th (way too late right?).
That night I had dinner with Clara (pictured below in the red and black), Momo, and others It was quite delicious and westerny!
Christmas night I was supposed to have Chinese food with my chinese friend, but he totally flaked out on me, so I went to Osaka's nearby Sono and had Toriyaki (chicken on a stick(mom you used to buy it alot at Costco)) with Akiko and Yamauchi! It was the 1st time I had Cocoro (chicken heart on a stick) which is surprisingly good... I never fail to be impressed by what the Japanese diet DOESN'T include haha.
Afterwards, we did the Christmas tradition(??!??) of Bowling and Biliards!
I was horrible haha...

on the 27th-29th, I went to Fukui-ken,Fukui-shi to visit Yuka's(who visited atlanta over the summer) family and got to see a cliff where people commit suicide (it's named after a monk who was forced to jump off the cliff), and a dinosaur museum... Dinosaurs in Japan... WHO KNEW?
I went to Osaka on the 29th and met with some friends, as always Osaka was quite fun! We hung around my train station (Osaka Umeda) .
On the 30th, I did a bit of English teaching, then Had dinner with my friend Ken chan, a sophomore who volunteers in my Conversation class.
New years was quite fun, I brought in the New Year with my friends Yasunari and Yuki and (ironically) Toshi (Toshi is one of the readings for the chinese character for year... therefore it was fnny that I was with toshi in the new toshi... ok... I laughed...
Over this past weekend, I visited a friend who worked in a Traditional Japanese hotel in Shiga-ken, and we had some really good sushi!
On Sunday night, I had what's called a 新年会 or new years party, and did a ton of Karaoke...
This week so far I've just been writing a paper, preparing a presentation, correcting a 130 page graduate thesis for a friend, and studying for my test tomorrow.

just a quick note:
when sending packages to me, in order to keep from the package taking 2 weeks or more to get here, make sure to write JAPAN below the address... it helps the postal service figure out where to send the package.

Just more pictures, scroll down for today's entry yo!

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)