Best "First Day" Ever!

Please excuse my awful writing; this is an excerpt from an email I sent to my family and decided to post here so it's a little more informal than my previous posts >.< 

Literally the BEST "first day of school" I've ever had! :D Granted, it was the longest day ever (I have class from 9~6:20) lol

Here's a play-by-play of how my first day went:

1. Wake up at 7:25am and eat breakfast in 15min (it's just a small, sunny-side-up egg with a slice of ham and a piece of morning toast so it's not too much to eat). 

2. Run back upstairs to get dressed and put on lots of sunscreen cause the sun is brutal (of course, all of this is done while listening to music so I can dance/sing while getting ready haha). 

3. Walk 5min to the train station and hop on the 8:18am train to Nigawa Station. Last week and part of this week, there was no one really riding the train cause school hadn't started. Today, however, it was packed with college kids! It was kind of cool cause there were TONS of them haha. I felt like I was really going to college today lol. 

4. Arrive at Nigawa at around 8:25 and walk 20min to school; arrive at school at about 8:45. 

5. Search for the classroom/building (omg, that was hard! The one building I was looking for was behind another one and I got all confused >.< lol luckily, there was a nice teacher who showed me the way.)

6. After class, eat a snack and then go to the next one. After that one, eat lunch. After that go to class...as so on and so forth haha. 

My first class is Japanese language (i.e. grammar, kanji, etc) and I have 2 other friends that I've made in the same class, so it's great! Everyone's really nice and pretty good at Japanese (there's only one kind of creepy kid from Germany...). A girl I met from Canada, Abby, is in the same four classes that I have, which is nice; I didn't have to be awkward and search for a spot next to a stranger lol. After that, though, I had one extra class without her so I had to find it on my own...and got lost >.<  I opened the wrong door (ok, I was supposed to find room IS104 and instead opened room 104) and was greeted with a room full of regular Japanese students (there were about 25 kids)...definitely wrong class, right? Japanese people couldn't be THAT interested in Korean culture, right? I asked the girl nearest me, and sure enough, I was in the wrong room xD lol When I turned around, there was a female janitor standing there and she asked me, "Are you looking for the IS rooms?" and I said, "YES! Do you know where it is??" She replied, "Yes, hurry! The bell just rang! You'll be late!" and proceeded to grab me by the arm and run with me to my real classroom. Yes Japanese people are just THAT nice haha. 

I met some new Japanese people today who're in my Korean studies class; yay, new friends! One of them knows lots of people in the Dance Club, so he's gonna introduce me so I can join! :))) 

That's about it for today! I've got only one class tomorrow from 11:10~12:40, and then meeting a friend for lunch! We're gonna discuss plans for Saturday~~! Yay! (^^) All my classes look really fun and interesting (especially Literary Analysis! it's not as serious as I thought; it's more about recent/current generation issues haha). Pretty sure I aced my entrance exam into the Japanese Usage class! Overall, it was such an awesome day! 

So far, so good!

So, it's been a week since I've moved into my new home. It doesn't feel like only a week; I feel as if I've been here a month! The way my host family and I interact is so natural. They're very welcoming and friendly (Grandma makes me laugh ALL the time!). This past week was packed with KGU Orientation events, so it was nice to come home to their smiles and be able to share my day with them. Everything we eat for dinner is DELICIOUS- seriously. I've experienced nothing but fantastic meals since arriving here (and it's not like they're preparing anything special for me, it's just their everyday dinners). We've had Okonomiyaki, Yakibuta, some sort of amazing stew, and lots more! Grandma spoils me by always having my favorite dessert around: roll cake! Yum!! (^^)

I start school officially this Thursday. Last week was full of new experiences and people~~~ it was so exciting! The first day of orientation was the placement test- talk about not wasting any time, huh? It was nerve-wracking, but once it was over everyone was relieved. That same day, we met our "Nihongo Partners," or "Japanese Partners." They're KGU students who volunteered to be our first Japanese friends and further our speaking abilities by only speaking Japanese to us. I was paired with two girls my age: Shoko and Aoi. They're super cute and sweet girls; I can't wait to become really good friends! :) Shoko and I are joining the Ramen Club together; basically, the group goes to eat ramen about once or twice a month. It just seems like a great way to meet people- and really, who doesn't love ramen?!

On Thursday, we found out what level of Japanese we were placed in and proceeded to register for electives. I was placed in Level 5 Japanese (Level 6 being the highest), and honestly, was a little disappointed. I knew Kanji (Japanese characters) was my weakness, but I was hoping that my other strong suits would make up for that...guess not. So, now it's crack-down time!! My goal is to take regular university courses in the Spring, so I MUST improve my Kanji skills. Here goes nothing!! :)
The electives I've registered for look interesting and fun: Japanese Psychology, Japanese Business, Literary Analysis, Japanese Usage, and Korean Studies. Super excited for classes to start!

The entire orientation experience was a mix of good and bad; I was a little disappointed at KGU's time management skills (there was lots of waiting around time/pointless activities), but overall very happy. The group of kids that came to study abroad are absolutely amazing- EVERYONE speaks at least a little bit of English, even though not everyone is from an English-speaking country! I've made friends with people from Norway, Canada, Australia, and China! Who would've thought there would be so many people from all over the world interested in the same thing?

KGU took us all on a field trip to Nara on Friday. We went to Horyuji and Todaiji Temples, and got to see the native deer! :) It was a fun, but tiring! Even though it was a long weekend, I only wanted to lay around all day haha. I did go to Kobe with my family, though! It was a very fashionable city, with lots of pretty shops and old buildings. I'm sure there's even more to see, but didn't have time for! So I've got to go back (^^)

Overall so far, so good! I'll hopefully post some pictures tomorrow or the next day~
This week's nerve-wracking again cause it's the first week of class; so in the words of cute, Korean dramas "Fighting!" \(^0^)/

Good-bye Tokyo~ Hello Nishinomiya!

Leaving Tokyo was almost as hard as leaving Miami...Meeting all my friends and making new memories with them was so much fun that I didn't want to leave it behind. Having so many wonderful people to spend time with really makes a foreign place feel like home. I'm really grateful to everyone who spent time with me and let me stay in their homes. Thank you all so very much~!! (^^)

On the bullet train to Shin-Osaka Station, it really, REALLY hit me: I'm going to a new place, to meet new people, and make new friends...whoa, can you say overwhelming?! Despite that scary feeling, I got myself all the way to my new home station, Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station, without much trouble and in a decent amount of time! 

I've heard that everyone in Kansai speaks in Kansai-ben (Kansai dialect), but that's not the case; all of the station workers spoke regular Japanese haha. So far, it's not much different from Tokyo! The only difference I've noticed is the way they ride the escalator: in Tokyo, you stand on the left and walk on the right; in Kansai, it's the opposite! No culture shock just yet; I guess that's what happens when you've been to Japan before and stayed in an actual home. 

My host family is amazing! The grandmother is super talkative and spunky; she cracks me up all the time. The grandfather isn't really home much because he goes out to work, but he's very soft-spoken and well-mannered. In other words, the complete opposite of Grandma haha! Their 40 year old daughter, Yuko, works at the Uniqlo nearby and is very sweet. Yuko and her son, Miyu, both live with us. Miyu has down syndrome, which is something I'm not used to. He's very talkative and energetic, a typical, cute 12 year old. They also have a Golden Retriever, Rocky. He's adorable and knows I'm a dog person; every time I walk into the room, his tails starts wagging and he comes right up to me. 

Here's a peek into what life is like so far at my new home: Last night at dinner, I was pouring myself water when Miyu asked me to pour him some, too. I took his cup and poured him some; when I handed him the cup back, he gave a huge smile and said, "I'm so happy!!" Grandma said, "Miyu knows a cute girl when he sees one!" We all cracked up :D 

Everyone is really laid back and easy-going. They invited me to go to Miyu's school's end-of-summer festival! I'm officially a part of the family (^^) Yaayy~ 

Tomorrow I visit KGU for the first time. I'm super nervous and excited at the same time!! There's 100 kids total in the program, so that's a lot of new faces and names to try to remember haha. I'm looking forward to meeting new people and making new friends~~ It's a wonderful start to my study abroad, and I have a feeling it's only going to get better (^0^)/