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