My feet are freezing...

...because I've got cold feet. Which I'm assuming is fairly normal this close to when I'll be leaving but I'm still terrified.

I forgot to post that I finally got my visa on Monday, but then I also figured that it wouldn't make that much of a difference if I told you guys then or later. Japan has the prettiest visa! For all I know all the AFS kids going to Spain, France, Italy, Russia, etc. may have prettier ones (hell, the U.S. might have a nicer one) but I personally am very content with mine aside from my ID picture. Thankfully it's in black and white and grainy so you can't see how hooligan-like I look. Anyway, it has a light pink background with a few cherry blossoms at the top and GAHSJKFLSJLGN it's so pretty. I would post a picture but I'm not sure that Japan would like that very much and I don't feel like running the risk of some creep finding it on here.

But yes, the visa pickup went well. This time, however, there was a Japanese family (with 2 adorable kids) and a young woman. I have no idea what either were there for because the family didn't talk and the woman was speaking Japanese so fast that the only thing I picked up was a bunch of very high-pitched "はい！はい．．．はい！！" (Yes! Mhmm... yes.)　Even though I'm hardly taller than most Japanese (5' 3") I still felt massive around this woman. And not even because of how much smaller she was, but because of how tiny her voice was. She made me sound like I was talking through a megaphone...

Aside from that... I started school yesterday. The number one thing that everyone asks me is, "Why are you here?" And they're no being rude; they're genuinely curious. One of my teachers that I talked to even said that. The answer is that I wanted to let my teachers know that I would be gone but would be back February 4th or 5th. That way if there was any work that I would be missing that first month they could prepare it before I got back.

Only 6 days left! Terrifying but so exciting at the same time!
-Ellie