Kimonos, tea, some food, and more Engrish! :D

I'm currently sitting in front of a heater emitting the most amazing warmth ever. 

The weird thing about the cold here is that it's really only in the morning and kind of at night. For me, at least. Kumamoto pales in comparison to Chicago winters... It doesn't really get below freezing but biking to school in the cold can be pretty brutal with the wonderful breeze that's sure to 'cool you down' on the way. -___- 

SO. This past Monday was my last 茶道部 (Sadou Bu - Tea Ceremony Club) for the rest of the month because this week is... TESTING! Therefore, in order to let everyone study more than they already are every day, the school gave them ALL of last week's afternoons to do it. Isn't that wonderful? I have a feeling I would be a terrible Japanese student even if I knew the language. I don't think I could commit to as much homework and studying as everyone here does. 

On Friday there was no school so AFS took this opportunity to take the two Kumamoto chapters to try on kimonos and make tea (hehehehehhhh). It was about ten minutes away and all the AFSers host families came too. I got there and the woman who would be dressing me (that sounds awkward...) asked me which of five kimonos I wanted to wear. There was this really lovely blue one that I picked, and just as I was about to put it on, I was informed that Anna (who had gotten there a bit before me) had already picked it out and if it was okay to switch with hers. Ahhhh the cruelty of it all. I ended up in a pink one that was very pretty (however I was still jealous of the blue one the whole time):

As pretty and easy as it may look to get on, I'll tell you this: it's not. I remember reading Memoirs of a Geisha and hearing about the complexity of it all, so I was prepared for it to take a while. I almost expected it to be more difficult to get on than it ended up being. It did, however, take more time than I anticipated. I ended up having to take off my shirt which felt a little weird even though I was in a room full of girls. First came this undergarment thing-y that was really loose and resembled a vest with a white collar that had flowers on it (you can see the collar in the picture a bit). Then there was something to tie around my waist above that in order to keep it in place. After that came a blur of garments to be put on that I don't even remember. Once the kimono was on, the woman had to fold it a few times and keep it where the obi (the big green belt) could hide it. Then came another sash thing-y to tie around my waist (still not the obi), then finally the obi (through which they inserted a piece of cardboard to keep it flat and from moving), some stuff that she stuffed at the top of it... honestly I can hardly remember everything she did. All I remember is that it went from looking like an awkwardly-fitting bathrobe to what I have posted up above. I also remember that the obi was tied in a very intricate way in the back that made it look really cool.

(Don't ask why it's crooked; my camera person did this a lot for some reason)

After the kimono was on, they put your hair in a ponytail and braided it into two separate braids that they then made into a bun. To this, they added some fake hair (which I'm seriously creeped out by) for volume, and gave you a choice of flowers to wear. They also gave you red lipstick that I've never though looked that flattering on me, but I figure since I was going to be wearing a kimono I may as well.

After taking a ton of pictures, we went into a tatami room to do our tea ceremony shenanigans. I'm currently on the most basic type of tea ceremony so this was was totally foreign to me. I did, however, know a little bit about how to receive the 茶わん (Chawan - Tea bowl) and how to eat the sweets they give you (yes, there's a certain was to eat and drink). I was supposed to be sitting in 正ざ (seiza - that really painful way to sit where your legs are folded directly beneath you) the entire tea ceremony, but the pain ended up being too much to handle and I had to switch around. 

Yaaay for kimonos and tea ceremonies. After changing out of the kimonos we all ate lunch. 

The exchange kids then decided to go downtown afterwards and since I'm one of them, that means I went along. The usual happened: took purikura, looked around at clothes, ate ate Mister Donuts, and at the end of the day I finally bought The Girl Who Played With Fire! Ahhhh ridiculous excitement ensues! I also bought this adorable backpack that's a giant smiley. Cutest. Thing. Evaaaaaaar. 

I got home at around 9:40 that night so I was dead tired. I had this delicious don buri that my host mom had made for dinner, took a shower, and passed out almost immediately. 

The next day was fairly relaxed. I really just read the whole day... That sounds really lame, but that's honestly what I did. I need to know what happens with Lisbeth and Blomkvist and all the wonderful happenings in Sweden!

My host mom did, however, after hearing my brother mention it on a skype we had this weekend, make me a 焼きそばパン (Yakisoba Pan) Which is exactly what it sounds like: a yakisoba sandwich. Allow me to make you hungry with delicious pictures of sexy food.

There's your food porn for this post. I'm not sure if that even looks that good to anyone that hasn't had it, but trust me, it was delicious. But then again, I think anything with that many carbs is bound to be delicious. Why Japan, WHY?

Today wasn't that eventful either. I did go shopping and bought some boots and a pair of shorts for super cheap! And the boots are heels so I'm boutta be one tall-ass human being when I come home. :D Actually I'll probably be average height back home. Here, however, I think I'm a giant with them on (I'm already considered pretty tall without any heels... I'm 5' 3.5". And yes, the .5 is important).

After shopping, the entire household headed off to get a family picture taken. I think it's my host family's tradition to get these done with their host students or something. Not that I'm complaining; it was really nice. :) Not sure how they look, but I'll get back to you guys on them!

That's pretty much it for the weekend...

I'll close this post with some Engrish I found on Friday while I was downtown:

They're called discarded black cats. Nobody knows how cute and cuddly they are. Although they had dirty hair or faces. Gradually, their individual personalities emerged.

A for spelling... not sure what else to say.

DLEWJGFETOKHRBGKMF

-Ellie

太る！

I've run out of creative ways to intro these things so I'll just jump right into my week.

This week wasn't too out of the ordinary. My school, as usual, switched the schedules around a bit (they do that A LOT for some reason) and that was probably the most exciting thing to happen at school. I'm living life in the fast lane, I tell you! I'm sure something exciting happened, I'm just having a brainfart...

OH, so I haven't even mentioned this but instead of doing Track and Field I'm now doing 茶道部 (Sado Bu - Japanese Tea Ceremony Club)! It's on Mondays and Fridays after school, and I like this one because not only does it give me some days where I can have some free time after school, but it's also super Japanese culture-y. And intricate. How hard can it be to pour someone a cup of tea? My friends, the Japanese have perfected the art of making it harder than it needs to be. In doing so, however, they have made it into an art. I don't really mind the intricacy, so I'm really enjoying it. The only downside is that I have a feeling that club is going to greatly contribute to my weight gain (contrary to what many people thought would happen, I've GAINED weight). >____> Every day we have club, we sit down at the end, drink tea, and eat mochi, or some other anko product. This past Friday, after already being full from earlier that day, we ate ぜんざい, which is pretty much an anko soup with mochi cakes floating around in it. Sounds gross when I put it that way, but I can definitely see why people like it. That being said, I am not one of those people. I like mochi (especially when it's baked, and then dipping it in soy sauce with some sugar... yes), however ever since I first tried anko I knew I was destined to battle it's recurrences throughout my stay here. It's just too sweet. I know, I know, America consumes some of the grossly sweetest products there are on a daily basis. I agree. So I can't really tell you what it is about it. You have to try it to know what I mean. For me, however, it's almost sickly sweet. But I drank that soup like a champ. Yup. I called myself a champ. The upside to it's sickly sweetness is that it balances nicely with green tea, which is very, very bitter. I'm alive, and I did it. That's all that matters.

Saturday was fun. :) I hung out with some friends from school. There were four of us altogether, which is the perfect number for... you guessed it (or you didn't)! Purikura! We went downtown and took it two times, and both times my eyes managed to look one hundred times creepier than everyone else's because of how wide it made them. I legit look like an alien or something. Whatever, at least I have proof now that I have friends here. We spent the entire day window shopping, and took a break at lunchtime to eat ramen. I'm sorry to say I didn't take a picture because it was too delicious to stop eating and take the time. Seriously. Best ramen. If you're ever in Kumamoto city, go to Tsuruya and find the floor with all the restaurants. Go to Manriki Ramen (I think... wow I don't even remember the name). I ordered mine with a soy sauce-y broth but they also had a salted one (as if it needed any more salt). At the end of the day, I wasn't sure which bus to take so (I felt like a helpless 7-year-old or something) my one friend stayed with me to help me find it even though she took one that came before mine. Can I just take a moment to say I have the BEST friends here? If they ever read this, みんあ大好きー！ Japanese friends are good people. That is all.

Today was my host mom's birthday (which I'm proud to say I remembered)! And what do you do on your birthday?  You take your study abroad student to a 琴 (koto - traditional Japanese instrument) concert! It was three hours of traditional Japanese instruments, and by the end of it all, I felt like Sayuri from Memoirs of a Geisha. In all honesty, it was actually really cool. You'd think it'd be boring, but the sound of it all was so interesting that I didn't even realize it was so long.

The things in the back that look like they're playing recorders sure sounded like them, but they had a different name that escapes me now. In front of them are the shamisen and then the koto in the front. The way they played the koto made it look very... not sure what the word for it would be in English, but in Japanese you'd say かっこい. Like, it looked so cool and legit. Yup, that's the best I can do.

After that, my host mom and I stopped by a Mister Donuts and I bought both of us one. :) Big spender, right here. We also picked up a cake for her birthday.

Tadaaaaaaa! Japanese people are so fancy when it comes to cakes. It tasted as good as it looks (which is very delicious).

We also had やき肉 (Yakiniku) for dinner.

So delicious! It's basically a grill in the middle of the table and you eat as it all gets cooked. THIS is why I'm getting fat, people!

Anyway, that was pretty much my week/weekend. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but it's still weird and awesome to me that I can say this is all going down in Japan. This Friday there's no school, and AFS has something planned for us　留学生 (ryugakusei - foreign exchange students). Something about wearing kimonos, so I'm excited!

FLIUER.KBNWALEOFROIUHFV
-Ellie

The only thing harder for me to be fluent in than Japanese, is this.

Hello human beings from around the globe. (I feel like I've used this intro already...)

This is going to be a post dedicated to something other than what I did this weekend, because it's something that I've been wanting to share with everyone for a while. Now, you may or may not have heard of Engrish. If you have, though, you've never seen it like this. I knew that the English slogans around here were kind of ridiculous, but I had no idea how much so, and how FREQUENTLY it happens. I think I've seen maybe two products during my entire stay that, if they were read aloud by someone, those standing around them would not think they were mentally deranged. 

It's everywhere: t-shirts, tags, posters, Purikura, signs... the list goes on. It's especially funny because the way that it's written always screams, "As I sat in my giant leather chair of class, I was attempting to make this sound as deep and poetic as possible," and then it just ends up making Ellie want to take a picture of it to post on here.

So, without any further ado, I present some of my Engrish photography collection.

 This is by far the one that has made me laugh the most. It was on one Anna's notebooks (I think...?) and the second I read it out loud I died laughing.

 I dub this one: The One That Makes So Little Sense That it's Not Even Funny. This was on a bag for a store in the mall around where I live, and as a person who's pretty into the whole proper syntax and spelling thing, I was pretty appalled by this one.

 Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....

 I kind of get what they're trying to say... but....

 Correct me if I'm wrong, but the 'suit' should be 'suis'. Not a horrible one, and it's not even Engrish (Frapanese?), but it caught my eye nonetheless. It says 'I am always happy.'

 If you can't read it, it says, "(I can't remember the first line, and I didn't take a picture of it because that wasn't the funniest part and I felt awkward taking a picture of the wall in a clothing store) Dream Pink, Dear Pinky [tiny print]: Pink latte beer is a medicine of all diseases. Her dream is the most beautiful in the world." That pained me to just type it. e____e

"You are a lovely person. Please spend wonderful time." Thank you, kind box filled with cake!

I know it wasn't that much since you'll probably read through them really quickly, but that's all I've got. I've also seen a pack of towels with a tag on it saying, "Enjoyed a good boom." SAY WHAT? Yeah, sounds a little suggestive if you ask me... And then my host sister has the greatest shirt ever. The only part of it that I remember is the first few lines because they're the funniest: "I love that I have friends, and that I am unbearable..." and then it goes on to talk about other things in Engrish. I'm not really sure why you'd want to be unbearable, and honestly, if I were that shirt's manufacturer, I would fire my designer. Or whatever. Because why would people want to walk around saying that they love to be unbearable?

So yes... hope that made you laugh at least a little. Again, a short post, but I didn't do much this weekend. On Saturday, I went downtown all day with Anna and Andres, and then today I got to help out with my host sibling's　小学校の祭り (Shougakkou no matsuri - Elementary school festival). This involved a lot of me running around with my younger host sister to all of the games and activities they had set up all over the place. 

That sums up my life right there.

Oh, and tomorrow is the halfway point for me. Can my family and friends just come live here? For real, not liking this whole going home in February...

FWHIOWJWI3OTRIEUI
-Ellie

This is.... Japanese culture!

It hasn't even been the weekend yet, but today I had something happen that I can talk about. No pictures on this one, however, and it'll (maybe) be short.

Today, my school had a uniform check. Dear lord are these things for real. Basically a group of male teachers come around to inspect the boy uniforms and a group of women for the girls. They're checking to see that everything's neat and tidy and whatnot. They take the boys in one big group out into the hallway and girls in another group separately, have you line up and go up and down staring you down. In case you couldn't tell, it's not a pleasant experience. Since the boys were checked before the girls, and we had to wait in the classroom while they did that, I didn't really get to hear what they were checking for, but from what I saw, they looked at whether their pants were sagged (something the majority of the boys at my school in America would fail miserably), and their hair. 

Here's where I'll say that this cleared up a lot of confusion for me. I've spent the past two and a half months perplexed by the hair all of the boys here have. I could never quite put my finger on it, but I always knew something about it looked off. Today, I realized that it's because their hair is a regular, not too short but not super long length except for around their ears. I guess their ears have to be completely exposed, so they get this haircut that a decent length that would naturally cover the ears, and then they get it cut around the ears. It's difficult to explain, but let me just say that this cleared a lot up for me today. 

And now back to the uniform check. One of the boys in my class apparently had his hair too long around his ears (I personally thought it was fine, but what do I know?), so they made him cut it in school. Over a garbage can. WHAT IS THIS? I was utterly baffled by this when I saw that they were serious. He held the trash can under his head, and another boy got a pair of scissors for cutting paper (which isn't good for your hair mind you), and just started snipping away, like it was a hair salon or something. I was completely fascinated by this, and they were cutting his hair right in front of me, so I spent a good seven minutes with an incredulous smile in utter shock. Another note: after this boy had had his hair cut, he saw that I'd been watching in total amusement, and he just goes, "This is... Japanese culture!" It was even funnier the way he said it since it was with a Japanese accent. Plus, he said it a good three times, as if I didn't hear it the first time. Ahh, good times.

So after those fun shenanigans, it was the girls' turn. For us, they checked that our skirts weren't rolled (they're pretty long if you don't), our nails were cut/not painted, hair was up and cut, that our ties were right.. or something, I didn't really understand this one, and that we weren't wearing makeup. I didn't know about the nail thing so a few of mine were deemed too long and, even though they didn't make me do it right away, I did anyway. I'm not a fan of these things, personally, and I hope another one doesn't happen while I'm here (I probably just majorly jinxed myself). I was terrified the entire time that I forgot something important that I was going to be severely punished for. 

But I'm alive!

And speaking of going home, why is it that AFS has already sent me my itinerary for going home? I'M NOT EVEN HALFWAY DONE. -__________- Why AFS, why?

Lastly, if you live in the States and you're reading this, I hope you voted (if you can, of course)! I'll be sitting in class as the results are being announced so I probably won't be paying any attention to what's going on in class.

FWAHWFEJLAHELUHLJWIJVRRR
-Ellie

I finally have clothes!.... wait, what?

Hello international friends.

I'm gonna jump right into Friday, because that's kind of when my weekend started. I didn't have class om Friday. Can anyone guess why? Anyone? No, not a holiday, anyone else...?





I walked 30 kilometers with the entire school.

Yup, you read right. Thirty. That's about 18 miles, all on foot and all in one day. Dude, my school doesn't mess around. So I think the lower half of my body pretty much died that day; by the last ten kilometers I was limping along with everyone else in my group. The people walking by us probably had a good laugh, though, as we greatly resembled little old men and women. Only not as cute because we're a bunch of high school kids. Most of the walk wasn't uphill, however, so I'll be grateful for that. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have made it if it had been. Everyone was at school by 6:20, changed into their winter gym suits, and we were on the buses and off by about 7:20ish. At around 9:30 everyone started off in very high spirits. Lots of laughing, joking, ridiculous dancing, and singing. At one point my group was one of the last ones and apparently my group wasn't having that, so we jogged a good kilometer and a half or so with backpacks on. At about 1 everyone stopped at a park to eat lunch for about 20 minutes and then head off again. By the last five kilometers I seriously think everyone was a lifeless body just going through the same motions of the past few hours. My group got split up at one point because some of us seriously needed to rest or our legs were going to fall off. We got back to the school at around 3:30, so that means we probably walked for about 5 and a half hours altogether. That number still baffles me. However, now I can say I've walked thirty miles, from the absolute country/mountains to suburbs.

After getting home I used my host family's massage chair on the leg setting three times. This was probably the first time I've ever actually needed that thing. I was a cripple the rest of the night; everytime I stood up and walked around I felt pathetic because of the limp I had. But it's okay, because the next day...

I went skating! No, I'm not insane, and somehow my legs were able to work enough the next day for that to happen. This rink is only open during the fall because apparently during the summer it's a pool. O_o It was 1000 yen which is a little over 10 dollars, which, compared to my rink at home, is pretty steep. So I get my skates on, walk on out to the rink, step on the ice, push off, prepared to begin gliding across the ice, and whaddya know? I stop pretty much directly after pushing off and fall on my hands and knees. Now, I'm probably missing some detail or something, but I have come to the conclusion that the metal on my blades became funny after having notbeen used for so long. At the time, I wasn't thinking straight and I was kind of freaking out, though. After about fifteen minutes of stroking around the rink, though, they went back to normal. Surprisingly enough, even after two months of no practice, I still had my spins and my jumps (including my axel, Katie!). A pleasant surprise, after I'd been so nervous about losing it all.

After skating we went shopping for clothes and I finally bought some shoes and shirts for winter, and then came home.

Saturday was also my host father's birthday, so after dinner we ate the most awesome cake ever:

ALL of the cakes at the store we bought it at looked as awesome as this one. Japanese rock at pastries, let me tell you. They all looked super elaborate (by American standards, anyway) and carefully made. And they're all TINY. Back home, when you go to the supermarket and buy a cake it's about the size of my torso. Here, they're a little bit bigger than my hand (I have tiny hands, too). Needless to say, it tasted just like it looked.

Today, we left at about 10ish for Fukuoka because it's my host sister's birthday this Wednesday and she loves Egypt and there's an Egypt exhibit going on at the Fukuoka art museum. None of it was in English, so it was kind of the struggle of my life to read anything, but it was super cool to be able to see everything regardless. The theme was The Book of the Dead and it was an exhibit from Britain. There were a bunch of sarcophagi, statues, and other mummy-related artifacts. 

I know this post was shorter than most of mine. :S Hopefully next weekend will have more to write about. 

JFIJXIRLGJXKNRJLK.

-Ellie
p.s. MOM, I gave my host dad gpa's artwork for his birthday and everyone seemed to really like it. They were really fascinated by how abstract and odd it looked. And they liked his signature faces and name on it. :) They say thank you.