I'm in Kyoto. I'm sorry about the long pause in entries. I've been without internet for a while, and now that I'm finally in my apartment, I have a connection again.
I really like Kyoto. I had purposely avoided coming here because I'm going to be here for a semester, so I didn't want to spoil it.
I guess I'll give a quick recap of what's happened so far:
- Arrived in Osaka and stayed for a night extremely jet-lagged.
- Arrived in Kyoto after finding and taking the slowest  train (a local train) from Osaka to Kyoto and still arrived at the hotel too early to check-in. I ended up wandering around and found two cool shopping streets.
- Had a tonkatsu dinner that night with other KCJS students (I LOVE tonkatsu- breaded pork or chicken!)
- Orientation, which consisted of meeting the faculty, learning about the classes, and meeting the Kyoto University (Kyoto Daigaku or Kyodai for short) students who would be taking classes with us.
- A big feast with previously mentioned students where they kept bringing out food and alcohol every other minute (although I abstained from the alcohol).
- Learned the almost equivalent word for Sketchy in Japanese, which is "ayashii."
- Took two separate tests (both of which kicked my ass :[ , at least I know I'm going to be in third year)
- Explored Kyoto with an assigned group. We went to an amazing tea house on the top of a nearby mountain/hill which served amazing ice cream and had the best view of Kyoto!
- Finally moved into my apartment! It has a little garden and backyard because I'm on the first floor. It's also bigger than I imagined it would be (when some KCJS students came to see my apartment, they immediately commented on how much more spacious it was to theirs)
- Bought a nice green bike in order to transport myself around Kyoto. Kyoto does have an amazing bus system and some trains, but the city is really accessible by Bike and it was cheaper in the long run (a monthly bus pass costs $90 a month!). I'm thinking of naming my bike since it will be constantly at my side during this semester, but I'm never good at thinking of names. I went with some other KCJS students to the bike shop, but they bought collapsable bikes because their parking for the apartment is four blocks away and they needed to stow it away in their apartment. I didn't want to get one that was collapsable because I didn't know whenever I'd need to collapse it nor did I want to deal with all the hassle of putting it together and taking it apart.
- Finally got my luggage back after I sent it to my apartment yesterday morning from the hotel (as well as the package my PII host parents sent that consisted of stuff I left with them for safe keeping).

Now, I'm unpacking and making my apartment nice and cozy. I had to buy a pillow and another blanket because the blanket and pillow they provided were such low quality (the pillow was like, razor thin and the blanket didn't keep me warm at all). Other than that, everything is perfect (although it took me a while to figure out that there was an electronic control panel to turn on the hot water in the apartment for the shower and sink). But yeah. I think if the weather is nice tomorrow, I'm going to go for a run in the morning around the Imperial Palace. After that, I'll probably explore a bit more, and of course, upload pictures of my apartment and the amazing tea house I went to yesterday. Anyways, I'm going to unpack some more!

So here are the last photos from my trip to Japan. I am now caught up in uploading my photos!
These photos include my trip to Osaka-Jo (Osaka Castle) and then to American Mura (during the day).
Again, please click on the photo for a greater detailed photo.

These photos correspond to this entry.
Click on the photo to see a more detailed photo.

These photos correspond to this entry.
As always, make sure to click the photo for a greater detailed picture!

These photos correspond entirely to this entry.
Please click on the photo to see a larger picture.

I forgot to write an entry about my time with the Sun Academy people, Harujuku with PII people and my time at Disney Sea, but these pictures are pretty self-explanatory.
Thank you Sun Academy people for a memorable night of dancing, Japanese festival style!
Remember, click on the photo to see a larger photo!

So the second half of the next set of photos don't correspond to any entry.
Instead, I took them hoping to show what a day in the life of being a Princeton in Ishikawa student is like.
Anyways, I hope you like them!
The first half of the entry is from this entry. It includes the Koto Lesson, the Geisha District visit, and the visit to the local High School.

So, I've finally managed to finish uploading the photos and I'm going to try and post all these tonight.
It might take a while, but bear with me.
Anyways, here are the first set of photos.
These are all from the Cultural Activities that Princeton in Ishikawa setup for us.
Included actvities include Ikebana (Flower Arranging), Calligraphy, and Zazen (Meditation).
These photos roughly correspond to this entry and the first part of this entry.

Taking an 8 week intensive Japanese learning class may seem a bit hard because of the speed in which you have to memorize the materials, but luckily, there are two things that help you in learning Japanese while being in Japan. The first, of course, is your Host Family, which I think, is the greatest agent in helping you learn Japanese. The second is Japanese Dramas or Television Shows.

While I was studying in Kanazawa, my fellow PII friend introduced me to a show called Proposal Daisakusen, which had an interesting (somewhat complicated) story. Sadly, I caught only the last 3 episodes and the ending was kind of a let down (they didn't even kiss!).
However, after the show ended, a ton of new shows premiered and I got addicted to a couple (Japanese shows hardly last more than a season, and by season, I mean like Winter, Fall, Spring, Summer. There's only one show that has been on forever, but most shows are only 11/ 12 episodes long, sometimes shorter, rarely more).
Even after returning back to America, I'm still weekly watching these shows thanks to veoh.com.
It's a great way to improve your Japanese and a fun way to learn more about the culture!
Currently, I'm watching two shows called Yamada Taro Monogatari (The Story of Taro Yamada), and First Kiss.
Be warned though, that sometimes, the show is a bit difficult to understand without subtitles.
I can pretty much understand Yamada Taro Monogatari because it's geared towards a teenage/young adult audience, but First Kiss is a little over my head at times. Luckily, there are subbed versions online as well, so it's not a total loss.
I'd definitely recommend Yamada Taro Monogatari to anyone. It's a great show, and it kind of reminds me of Amelie mixed with Scrubs (Minus all the doctor stuff and more like the actual comedy in it) with Japanese culture thrown in for good measure.
First Kiss is also good, but it's more of a drama than Yamada Taro (which is definitely a comedy).
So I wouldn't tell everyone to see it, but it's also quite good!

Anyways, here are the links if anyone wants to start watching one of these two shows (they are English subbed!).
The only catch is you need a veoh account and you need to download a veoh player, which are both free, so take advantage of both!
Yamada Taro Monogatari (This is only the first episode, to see more, search Veoh for "Yamada Taro" and "English")
First Kiss (This is the up to date translated list of episodes)

Sorry about the long absence.
I've been trying to sort out things before heading to Japan again.
I've had to go to downtown to the Japanese Consulate to get my student visa (because I was there less than 3 months for the summer program, I didn't need one), I've said goodbye to some friends and family (my younger sister is starting college in Boston this year at Boston University!), among other things.
I'm almost done taking care of things of here, but I'm just going to write a list down of things I need to do before I go.

1) Post the final pictures of PII.
2) Finish Reading the Kyoto History Book.
5) Book my one night stay hotel in Osaka.
3) Call Princeton and see if they got my request for a transcript to send to the Light Fellowship.
4) Call some Friends who I have not yet talked to!
5) Finish Seeing some friends in town.
6) Write a Thank You Note (to Three People!)
7) Pack!

Well, that's my to do list.
Anyways, without furtherado, here are the last pictures from Tokyo.
These photos correspond to this entry.

Tokyo Part 2 of 3 Photos.
My journey to Yokohama, Shibuya, and my first visit to Harujuku(second half of the entry).
Please click on the photos to see a larger picture.

So, here is what a lot of you have been waiting for.
Here is the initial set of photos from Tokyo.
Below the livejournal cut, there are photos from my time in Akihabara and Shinjuku(first half of the entry).
Again, click on the photos for a higher resolution photo.

Hello. Here's the next set of photos. These photos roughly correspond to the second half of this entry.
These photos are from the visits to Kanazawa University, Kanazawa Elementary School, and the time when I went on an adventure in Komatsu on my bike.
Again, I'll provide comments when necessary, and please click on the photos to see a bigger, more detailed picture.
Tomorrow, I'll post the first set of my Tokyo pictures.


Stay tuned for more!!!

As promised, here are the pictures for one part of my experience in Japan.
Below the cut, there are photos of Shirakawago, a World Heritage Site, and the Princeton in Ishikawa organized Noto Peninsula trip.
I'll add comments when necessary. Please read the written entry that accompanies this photo set (first half of the entry in link provided above).
Please click on the photo to see a bigger, more detailed picture.

Stay tuned for more photos! Next is pictures of Kanazawa University and Kanazawa Elementary School.

Hello everybody!
I'm back home after a long flight back.
It feels good to be back and I'm glad I made the decision to come back and 'recharge' so to speak.
Only downside is that I'm not fully adjusted to the time difference. :\
Anyways, I promised pictures and they are coming soon!
I have roughly seven folders of 100 pictures each that I need to upload, but it's so much that I won't be able to upload it all at once.
I'm going to start uploading these pictures on Sunday because tomorrow I have a funeral to attend (my step-Grandfather passed away this week).
Anyways, I'm sorry for the delay. I'll also link the pictures to the correct entry they belong to.
Hope everyone is well!

So I'm back in Osaka.
It is the most god awfully humid place I have ever been to in my life.
I don't want to leave my hotel room.
Everytime I step out into the hallway, it just is so muggy!

 But anyways, my train ride from Hiroshima to Osaka was actually a lot shorter than I thought it would be (only about an hour and half instead of 3 hours like I thought). This was mainly in part me having to take the Hikari Rail Star (which stops less and is faster!) because normal Hikari trains don't run to Hiroshima.
Anyways, needless to say, I checked into my hotel (Hotel Chuo) at 12:30 (luckily, the hotel I first stayed at was still available and they emailed me apologizing for responding back so late).

I ended up going to Kobe for about half an hour before being called by Diana, a fellow PII-er, saying she was at Shin-Osaka.
We had talked about her coming to Osaka, but I didn't think she was coming because nothing concrete was set and I messaged her asking her what time she was coming in but heard no reply.
I rushed back to Shin-Kobe, took the next train (which was 10 minutes later and arrived 15 minutes after that in Osaka), waited an hour and half in the station, checking the trains bound for Tokyo, before deciding she wasn't there and wasn't going to call.
Saddened, I went back to find two other PII-ers, Vanessa and Heidi, but they had left for the Osaka Zoo, which is close to where we are staying. I ended up getting lost and called it quits in meeting with them.

Luckily, we ended meeting in front of our hotels an hour later, and ventured off in Umeda, Osaka. It's basically the business-y lively part of town. After getting lost for about 20 minutes, we ended up finding the Osaka Pokemon Center. Wilma had inspired me to go and see what it was like. It was a lot different and slightly smaller than I remember it, but they had so much stuff there (ranging from a pokemon designed computer mouse, to dolls, pencil cases, mouse pad, etc). After exploring around (and buying a few things, we walked across the district to Umeda Sky Building. It's a really beautiful building that is actually two buildings connected at the top by a circular kind of building (hard to describe, but see here for more details).The elevator ride was a bit scary because of the unexpected move from being surrounded by four walls (and thus not seeing anything other than four walls), to being completely exposed to the city lights around (Heights = ajsdbhakjbdh, the whole elevator was glass and was really scary). On the top floor, one can walk on the roof and take in the city lights. It was really cool mainly because of the whole "Starry Night" theme they had going on (the sidewalk and many of the exhibits in the lower levels had space themed features). Although, I kind of got the impression that the nightime theme was a bit for couples rather than non-couples (or people not dating), but I did see many friends together, so I thought it was still awesome.

After Umeda we took a train to Shinsaibashi and went to find American Town (or America Mura).It's funny because it's really close to the Canadian Consulate (I think it's behind it actually haha).
It was so trippy because walking in that part of Osaka felt like I was back in a crazy part of New York. There were Rastafarian Shops, guitar shops, stores with names that were American (like Rodeo, Hollywood, Camden),  American Flags, Hair Braiding Places, Surfer, Preppy, and Urban American Clothing stores/brands everywhere, it felt so weird. There was also this park where people were skateboarding, and just gathering around talking like a typical "New York" day. The park itself kind of looked like that smaller park in the village as Heidi pointed out. We ended up finding an Italian restraunt, eating quickly, and rushing back to a extremely crowded subway.

And now, I'm back to where I am now. I'm currently in the hotel room, blasting the AC (currently at 21C, roughly 68 F) and I think I've just set tomorrow's schedule in place. I think I'll be visiting Yokohama, and then returning to Osaka (3 hours each way roughly) getting the last use of my Japan Rail Pass before it expires (tomorrow is the last day!).

So, I've been based in Hiroshima for two days at the Eki Mae Green Hotel.
Out of all the hotels I've been at in Japan, I think this is my favorite- the staff is friendly, the room is a bit bigger, everything about it is wonderful.
Sadly, I leave tomorrow morning. :\
Tomorrow I hopefully leave for Osaka (right now though, I have nowhere to stay because the hotels are not responding to my emails (BAH!)).
I didn't really explore Hiroshima today because I went to Himeji and Kobe.

Thanks to the Japan Rail Pass I purchased a while ago, I can ride anywhere and any train for free (as long as they are JR trains and only excluding the Nozomi, which is the fastest train I think ever, it is excluded from JR pass holders (which really is fine, because the next fastest train (the Hikari Series) that one can use only takes 30 minutes more from Tokyo to Osaka).
I highly recommend buying a Japan Rail Pass before visiting Japan, especially for the after program or naka-yasumi periods. I've definitely gotten my use out of it already (and so has my friend Diana, who has met up with me today in Kobe after taking about a 3 hour ride from Tokyo! She even returned after our Kobe Adventures!).

Anyways, I went to Himeji today, which is the city best known for Himeji Castle, considered the most beautiful castle in all of Japan (and is one of the only ones left untouched by the World War II Bombings which destroyed so many of the other castles). Arriving at Himeji Station on the Hikari Rail Star (Hikari Rail Stars only run in Western Japan, are slightly faster than normal Hikari trains (in the parts they overlap, they don't stop at the many stations the normal Hikari stops at), and are about half the size (Hikari trains have about 16 trains compartments, but Hikari Rail Star have only 8, which makes it a bit crowded during rush hours!) The only downside of Hikari Rail Stars is that they only extend from Hakata to Shin-Osaka where as normal Hikari trains go from Tokyo all the way to Okayama (a city close to Hiroshima)) I could see the white castle towering over the modern skyscrappers of Himeji. After a 10 minute walk and 5 minute break to eat Melod flavored Kaki Gori （かき氷), which is Shaved Ice, I explored the castle.
It didn't seem to be a big complex or castle from far away, but after paying a cheap admission fee, and finding myself climbing up so many stairs and not  having actually reached the keep of the castle for a while, I was constantly out of breath (and sweaty thanks to the humidty and heat).
However, after reaching the very top of the keep, it felt so rewarding! Not to mention it provided such a beautiful view!
The Castle was remarkably beautiful. There was a small collection of things on display in the actual keep. But the walls, the keep, the moat and the pond were all very pristine and beautiful. I could see why it was considered the most beautiful in all of Japan.

After Himeji, I found myself in Kobe and 30 minutes late in meeting fellow PII-er Diana (due in part mainly to me missing the train I intended to take)! Thanks to our Lonely Planet guidebooks, we were able to find a Kobe Beef selling restraunt nearby.
Now, I probably would never have known about the quality of Kobe Beef if it hadn't had been for our 1st Year Teacher at Yale, Nishimura Sensei, who is from Kobe herself. I was initially a bit skeptical about her claim, but after having had Kobe Beef, I can honestly tell you it's some of the best beef I have ever eaten. Ever. The food was amazingly good. Some of the best food I've had since I've been here (and that's saying a lot because my host mother's cooking was pretty amazing!) And we ended up eating at this very expensive-looking restraunt, but because it was still kind of lunch, we got such amazing discounts!  It was still slightly expensive (at about $20) but it was definitely worth every bite of that delicious beef.

We didn't get to explore much of Kobe as I would have liked to, but I think I'm going to try and go back tomorrow.
We did, however, ride the cable cars to the top of the nearby mountain.
I'm a bit afraid of heights, so it was sort of scary, but not nearly as scary as the incident with the Yokohama Ferris Wheel (where I rode by myself and was so afraid of the heights that I called Diana and her stay with me on the line until I got off!).
It ended up being a nice relaxing ride to the top.
We also paid for the Herb Garden visit, which we didn't know we were getting when we paid for it, but it ended up being kind of amusing. It assailed us with a ton of fragrant smells as we walked down the mountain path and provided beautiful views of Kobe.

Tomorrow- I Leave for Osaka, and hopefully get to visit the port of Kobe, and the Kitano (北野) neighborhood in the afternoon/evening.

So I have to admit, there's more to my initial liking of Japan that extends beyond 1) video games, 2) technology, and 3)culture.
One of the reasons I've always been so intrigued about Japan is because it was the only site in the world to have been bombed, not once, but twice by nuclear weapons on top of the war which had basically destroyed most of everything  else in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, any big city was or military base was a target(mainly due to allied bombings toward the end of the war).
I've been interested in the way countries develop, and in Japan's case, how that development (during the Meiji era) compares to that of Post World War II.
Anyways, today, really early in the morning, after having went to Disney Sea (the equivalent of California Adventure to the Anaheim Disney Resort (a lot of attractions but only a few rides, and neighboring a Disneyland park)), I took a Shinkansen for four hours, transferred to a slower Shinkansen in Okayama and arrived fourty minutes later in Hiroshima.
It's so weird, because when we talk about Hiroshima in America, it's really always a solemn or sore subject to talk about.
Everyone agrees nuclear bombs are bad, but everyone also agrees that the alternative tactic on the table at the time was also equally as bad (a full out invasion/landing of/in Japan similar to France on D-Day).
We study the history of what happened in Hiroshima- we know it was the first place a nuclear weapon was used, on Japan by America, etc.
But what we never studied or learned about was what exactly happened in the aftermath of the bombing?
How is Hiroshima today?

I would be lying when I say that the bomb had no lasting effect on Hiroshima,  but that was the first impression I got as I stepped out of the Shinkansen and JR station. The city seems like a minature Tokyo, with the only difference being that Hiroshima uses a trolley system instead of a subway system (which actually gave it a very oddly San Franciscan vibe...).
I walked out of the station and was immediately assaulted at how bright blue the sky was today (the rainy season had just officially ended! Now begins the hot, sunny, and humid season!).
All the buildings where the same as other Japanese cities- modern, box like, not very many windows. Nothing felt out of the ordainary except  for the water founatin, which I actually didn't notice until later despite passing it. It was in the shape of two mushroom clouds as water gently rolled off its shiny bronze exteriors.

So after figuring out how the trolley system worked (it's a flat fee anywhere you go and costs 150 yen (roughly equivalent to $1.25), I took it to 原爆ドム前　（Genbaku Domu Mae- meaning in Front of the Atomic Dome) Station.
It wasn't a far walk at all from the trolley station to one of the biggest reminders of the nuclear bomb.
I'm not sure if many of you are familiar with the A-Dome, but it's one of the only (sort of) surviving buildings just after the bomb, despite it being almost directly below the epicenter of the explosion.
It was actually a European designed building for the Prefecture Office of Industrial Goods.
I approached it from across the street, and pieces started to come into view as the trees and their leaves began to fall behind me.
It was sort of eeirly quiet, especially for a Japanese City (that goes 20 times for an average American city).
The only noise I heard at all where the summer bugs playing a kind of noise that sounded like a loud sirin.
It was hard to take it all in- the metal on top of the dome had just completely melted and twisted, the metal staircase was oddly distorted and bent in a forcible fashion, the building bricks cut and found lying in the grass in odd shapes strewn around nothing in particular.
If I had just seen the building withoug given any context, I would wonder what has the power to do something like this.
The Peace Park across the river was also really moving. They had a ton of monuments dedicated to every group of people who were victims of the bomb (including Children, Koreans, and other groups). The 62nd anniversary is actually a week from yesterday, so they were getting busy with many preparations in the park (making it cleanier, making the eternal flame bigger, painting signs, etc).
I guess in the end, I'm glad that Hiroshima was able to at least preserve this one building. It really is a sign of the destructiveness of nuclear weapons.
There was something, though, that reminded me of the city. Trees also near the epicenters actually survived the blast as well, however, the part of the tree trunk exposed to the bomb burned off completely that part doesn't grow. However, the other parts not burned off continue to grow so after a little more than 60 years, the trees are still growing and getting bigger, but the scar remains as big and deep as it ever has been. It's a huge gash right down the centers of the trunks, yet they continue growing around it. I guess, I kind of see Hiroshima as that tree- the city is fully rebuilt and continues to grow, but the scar of the event- the A-Dome, Peace Park are always constant reminders of what happened at Hiroshima.

After Hiroshima, I ended up going to Miyajima, which is known as Shrine Island.
It's supposed to be one of the three most beuatiful spots in all of Japan.
I was a bit more surprised at...well... the deer that just seem to freely roam everywhere on the island (as I exited the ferry building, there were four deer just on the ramp outside alone!).
But I won't get too far into detail with that, because I want the pictures to speak for themselves!
Stay tuned for pictures!

So I’m typing the majority of this from the Shinkansen (which is so comfortable, quiet, and has such nice views!). This morning, I woke up a bit later than I wanted, so I had to rush to eat breakfast, and then Okaasan took me to the station. We got up the stairs just as the Shirasagi train was pulling into the station. Diana, another Yalie and Princeton in Ishikawa student was there. She was saying goodbye as Okaasan helped me up the train. I think it was really hard for both of us to say goodbye. What made it easier for me was that at least I knew I was going to see my Okaasan and Otoosan again in the fall when I would visit them during a weekend.

Anyways, I guess I’ll catch you all up on what led to this goodbye.
For the past couple of weeks, we’ve had piles of work, meetings, and cultural activities. For the most part, I think PII does a wonderful job of giving just the right amount of homework out. It only became stressful when on top of the normal homework they give you every night (which generally just includes workbook and studying for a quiz), they decide to assign a skit, a speech, and article (not all at once, but you know). During this time, it becomes particularly stressful to do much of anything besides the work and meeting with your group for the group projects (i.e. skit, and other presentations). Anyways, if you’re a studious student, the work isn’t really that bad, it just becomes particularly tiresome after a while (it’s just that there’s so much of it, not that it’s ever too hard).

Well, after the whole Ikebana event, we had a lecture the next day about the Iwakura Embassy, which is about the first embassy to leave Japan and travel the world. It was an interesting topic, but I thought that it could have been presented in a better format (the Professor basically went through the entire trip and then we watch a video about the trip despite that we had just covered everything. It was really fascinating seeing what the Japanese thought of America and Europe. Japan, being the only recognized power outside of America and Europe in the late 19^th century, was probably the only true foreign power. Hearing about how people welcomed them was quite fascinating, as well as the notes taken on the trip.

On the 7^th (Friday), those of us who signed up got to do Zazen! It was really quite amazing. It was at a temple in Kanazawa that it apparently a national treasure! It’s really quite beautiful and peaceful. Doing Zazen was kind of an odd experience because I’m not exactly sure if it worked or not (although it was weird because I felt like the shadows were moving when they weren’t so maybe I was reaching a meditative state?). We had to walk kind of far from the bus stop, but the temple grounds were breathtakingly beautiful. It felt like being in another world! The guy who taught us Zazen is apparently a monk who used to be a computer engineer! He quit his job a couple of months ago and decided to live the life of a monk. I thought that was really fascinating.

I think the day before (Thursday of this week), we had Calligraphy Class, which was interesting. The lady who was in charge of the class was more like a supervisor than a teacher. She kind of taught us the basics, and then let us do whatever we wanted. I tried drawing a bunch of characters before I realized my biggest problem was that I used too much ink and the ink kind of bled on the paper. So I fixed it and made a bunch of different ones, the three best ones being 遊園地(Amusement Park), ど物園(Zoo), and お茶(Tea).

The next morning, there was another event, which was the Japanese Harp at the International Lounge in Kanazawa. I wasn’t quite skilled as I hoped I would be, but Diana and Holling (a Wesleyan student) were really amazing and kept up at the pace of the teacher! We only played one song but we ended up practicing for a while. After the whole event, we went downstairs to discover a special luncheon going on for the Tanabata Festival. Noodles were put down a bamboo chute and they were carried down by the stream of water, and people would have to pick up the noodles before they reached the end. It was really cool and filled me up a lot! Because of the heat, we ended up going to get ice cream and shaved ice by Kenrokuen after lunch. Wilma, Cristina, Debra (two Yalies and a Wisconsin College student) and I sat underneath a tree as we talked and ate our ice cream and shave ice. After getting a bit colder from our desserts, Wilma and I decided to explore the Higashi Geisha district and that area. We walked for a while from Kenrokuen and got a bit lost trying to find it, but the area we got lost in was filled with a ton of temples, so it was worth it. We eventually found it, found more shaved ice, explored a bit, and then left.

That following Monday (the 9^th), Princeton had arranged those who had not signed up for Gold Leaf to go to Nishi-Kanazawa High School. I didn’t want to make gold designed chopsticks, so I went to the high school instead. Although it was kind of fun after the fact, it was a little awkward. The majority of the kids wouldn’t really talk and didn’t seem to be interested in what I had to say, or didn’t really want to talk (there were some who did seem interested or at least made an effort, but many were just like, “Yeah…”. I thought it was just me because the table next to me who had my friend Riley (he rides the train from Komatsu to Kanazawa as well) always seemed to be laughing where as mine weren’t. After it ended however, Riley confessed he thought they liked me because they were always laughing with me! I guess it was all relative, but the point was it was like being in high school again I guess. They didn’t really watch much TV either as I told them I was watching a lot of dramas (they just watch music tv?). We had a topic to discuss (the environment and recycling in the US and Japan), but we talked about in like 10 minutes out of the hour we had. Meanwhile, Riley was telling them about how he knew Elijah Wood and had the same section with Natalie Portman (yep, all the kids went wild when they heard this). At least I explained to my group how Riley knew both of them, but I just didn’t have much to talk about with them (they didn’t even seem to like video games, and when I talked about soccer with them, who four of the boys were on the soccer team, they just kind of were like “cool” and stropped with that). But it was fun, despite it being semi-awkward. It was a good experience to get to talk with people below my age, as everyone I interact with in Japan is my age or way older (and by way older, I mean, is just not born in my generation).

Luckily, we had the last Pottery Class that following Wednesday. To anybody who is going to Princeton in Ishikawa, the Pottery Class is, by far, the best cultural class Princeton in Ishikawa has to offer. Just creating the pot from nothing and watching it finish was well worth the three classes. The last, we ended up picking colors and dying the pots those colors. I chose green for the base and blue for the top part (for a kind of earth and sky look). It ended up coming out nicely, except for some mysterious white marks, but I just told my Okaasan that those were 星 or stars. It was a really cool process because you had to mix the colors by putting your hand into the paint and mixing the paint until it became fine. Then, you dipped it in to the paint, and put it on a shelf with other pots that were going to be taken into the fire for the last time! And the paint washed off my hands and arm so easily!

There was a mandatory meeting about the Princeton in Ishikawa Internships offered for next year. I was considering applying for one, but I’m not sure yet because I might want to spend next summer in New York or somewhere in America. The next day, however, was the Go Class, which taught us how to play the game of Go. It was taught by an old man and a half-Japanese half-English guy who had come to Japan six months prior and had been learning to play Go for about five months. It was actually quite hard to get the hang of it, despite me winning twice against Diana for unknown reasons. At first, we though that the object of the game was just to take as many pieces from the other person as possible, but they it ended up being that the object of the game was to take as much space as possible. It seemed relatively easy, but was quite hard to get the hang of it.

That weekend was a three day weekend because the Monday following was a holiday called Marine Day (where the whole day was dedicated to the Ocean and was a time for Japanese people to go swim in it). Wilma (Yalie) invited some PII students over as her host parents were gone for most of the day on Saturday (of course, she cleared this with her host family first and she and her host mom made the lunch the day before (delicious curry rice!)).

We ended up watching 山田太郎ものがたり(The (Fairy)Tale of Yamada Taro), which is quite good and the music and scenes remind me a lot of Amelie for some reason. We also played a few video games, and played a lot of card games (like Mao, BS, Spoons, etc).

The next day, Wilma and I, being people who still play Pokemon to some degree, ended up seeing the new Pokemon Movie in Japanese (mainly because Wilma wanted the special pokemon they were giving out). It was quite awesome that she could understand about the majority of it, and I could get around 80-90%! I was really impressed with how far my Japanese had gotten! Although it was a bit embarrassing that we were the only ones there who weren’t either a kid, or an adult who brought their kid.

The following week went by pretty fast. We ended up having only one activity, but had several projects due that week. We had a lecture by an American who had been living in Japan for a long time. For the most part, I thought she was a good storyteller, but some of her opinions I didn’t agree with. I think one of my friends said it best when he stated that, “She seemed to mystify the Japanese Culture,” meaning, she tried making it more mystical than it really was I guess.

We did have a Speech Contest this week, but I wasn’t chosen to go on (which was decided by vote of the class). I think the ones that were well received by the teachers, had relevance to PII (the girl who one wrote about the difficulties of understanding Honorifics). All of the speeches were really good, but the third years really impressed me the most, as they talked with such seemingly fluent sentences, that I could swear they’ve been studying Japanese for more than just three years!

 After buying the new Harry Potter book last weekend, I went to the movies to see the new Harry Potter movie, which just came out the day before the book in Japan. It was quite interesting because I felt like we were the only ones who were laughing at the jokes, or at the very random Japanese show that was coming out this fall (like, I don’t remember anyone else laughing besides us).

This past week was our final exam, 桃太郎(Momotaro) skits (which is based off of a book we read), and the farewell ceremony yesterday. The final exam was okay, just very long, and consisted of a lot of sections (including four oral parts, and fourteen sections on the test). The Momotaro Skit was also okay. I don’t think the teachers or parents understood ours because we just decided to make it into a European version instead of completely changing the whole story like the other groups. The farewell ceremony was quite sad and quite memorable, as we all were dressed up and we had to give presentations as a class for the entire audience. The Second Years decided to sing the song “となりのトトロ” (Tonari no Totoro) from the movie My Neighbor Totoro. The Second and Half Years decided to do a skit of funny things that had happened to them (like being accused of breaking into a house after your host parents left and was caught going into the window of the house!). The third years split up and did a song that I think was based on the Twelve Days of Christmas song. The other group’s project was really hilarious and was a video that had their class dancing and wandering around Kanazawa doing crazy things accompanied by the “I Wanna Be a Pop Star” song.

Anyways, I guess, now that catches us up to today. I’ve just about arrived in Tokyo, and Diana keeps giving me weird looks to get off. Tokyo looks a lot sunnier than when I came a month ago…

I apologize, it's been a pretty hectic second half of PII. 
I've been writing down what's been going on the past couple weeks in a word document, but it won't be ready until tomorrow (when I finish it on the train to Tokyo).
I've also changed the background to Magic Paper, in honor of Harry Potter's last book which came out last week in English (I was also the first one in line at the bookstore the first day it came out (out of like, 8 PII students and one Japanese kid who bought it to practice his English)).
Anyways, the book was good, but the ending left me wanting more, unlike the other Harry Potter books where I felt like she had done such a good job wrapping everything up.

So, PII's last day was today, and I'm feeling a mix of emotions. 
I'm really excited to be going home soon (because really, being in a foreign country for two months makes you wish you were doing simple things you would take for granted living in your home country).
But, at the same time, as I was packing today, I felt a flurry of sadness that I wouldn't be calling Komatsu/Kanazawa home. Not seeing Okaasan and Otoosan daily, hearing Okaasan's funny stories or talking about current dramas (like Yamada Taro Monogatari, or watching tv with Otoosan (like yesterday morning, when we watched Night Rider). It was also difficult hearing the teachers give us a send off , especially Park Sensei. Ah, this place has been so excellent to me, and I've really enjoyed my time here. But, I am excited to be going home. I kind of wish it were earlier now, but at least now I can explore. I am definitely not looking forward to the almost 9.5 hour flight from Osaka to Canda, 4 hour layover in Canada, and 2.5 hour flight from Canada to Los Angeles.

Anyways, I'll go into more detail about the end of the program tomorrow. For now, I just wanted to write my schedule out so that people know where I'm at.

Saturday(Tomorrow)- Train to Tokyo, Matsuri (Festival) with Yalies.
Sunday- Go to Yokohama, Explore Tokyo with Cristina and Ohm.
Monday- Tokyo Disney with Yalies and PIIers!
Tuesday- Train to Hiroshima, Miyajima, A-Bomb Dome.
Wednesday- Train to Kobe, Exploring Himeji and Kobe.
Thursday- Exploring Kobe, Go to Osaka, Umeda Sky Building (with PII people?).
Friday-  To Komatsu or going to Osaka Universal Studios(?) and return to Osaka, America-mura with PIIers.
Saturday- Osaka with PII-ers!
Sunday- Flight at 5:45 from Kansai.

I was originally going to go to Mt Fuji tomorrow, but it ended up falling through. I'm thinking of trying to climb it before the Kyoto program starts up in fall. As you can see, my schedule is really busy until the last couple of days, where I'm like "...". I get to Osaka on Thursday, but I'm not sure if PII people are going to be there by then or not.
Also, I'm not sure if I'm returning to Komatsu or not, because my parents have offered to send it by Takkyubin (which is a delivery service which will send it right to your flight! But I kind of have nothing going on next Friday, so I might just return to Komatsu. If I don't go, then I'll probably just go with some PII people to Universal Studios, except I feel like I'm going to be burnt out on amusement parks after Tokyo Disney, but we'll see! :]