Cooking in Japanese School!

This past Tuesday, I made food at school for the first time ever!

At my school, everyone is required to take Home Ec, and we  have it for two class periods in a row once a week. This gives us time to sew and cook, although we usually just read from a textbook. My teacher is really nice and has a soothing voice, so I'd say about half the class sleeps when we read. 

Before we could do any cooking classes, we had to sew our own aprons. When we did that, I used a sewing machine for the first time ever, and called the teacher over for help about 15 times ahaha. I was the only person who had never used a sewing machine before, which shows how thorough  Japanese school systems are with their Home Ec. I felt pretty proud when I finished my apron through all the sewing machine struggles. 

Everyone in their aprons preparing the dishes

So when we finally got to use our aprons for the first time this Tuesday, I was really excited! My only experience with cooking was grilled cheese and the occasional batch of pancakes, so I was enthusiastic about learning how to make a traditional Japanese dish. We made a dish called "Oyako-don," which means "parent and child rice dish." It's called parent and child dish because it contains chicken (parent)  and eggs (child). Cute, right?!? Speaking of cute Japanese names, they call the ends of bread the bread's "ears." So cute! 

We started with chopping onions and other japanese vegetables. My eyes have always been really weak to onions; they would burn from someone cutting onions in a whole other room. So of course, guess who decides to volunteer to cut the onions. I almost got through the whole onion. Then my eyes burned like hell's fires, tears were streaming down my face, and I couldn't see clearly. Not only was I the only one who cried from my class, but the stinging  came back several times so I ended up crying next to the teacher when she was demonstrating something to the class. It was pretty entertaing!

After making the food and washing the dishes, we sat down to eat. At first I was worried I wasn't going to be filled up, but it turned out to be far too much ahah. It was  delicious! But  I wished I had some salt and pepper or some kimchi to add some spice.

Oyako-don and some soup

Overall, I became closer to the people in my group and I also know an easy Japanese recipe now! I can't wait until our next cooking class :)

My Group!

Elementary School Sports Festival!

Today I went to my little host brother's sports festival :)

All elementary schools tend to have the sports festival on the same day, so my instagram was filled with pics and videos of these adorable little kids.

During sports festivals, the school is split into teams. My high school was split into 5 teams, but my brother's school only had two teams. Teams then compete in races and games split up by grade and gender, and whoever gains the most wins wins the overall sports category. Teams are also graded on their cheers, and the team with the best cheers wins the cheer category.

It's absolutely adorable watching little 1st graders racing for their lives over ~40 or so meters. I would say that races are the most entertaining things to watch. However, the games like Rope Pulling made me laugh.

Along with games and races, each grade will do a dance/performance. Sixth graders get to do the coolest performance (I may be a bit biased because my brother is a sixth grader ;) ). They made human periods and tested their balance by going into bridges, etc.

During lunch, parents meet up with their kids and everyone eats from giant bentou boxes. It was delicious, as usual :)

In the end, my brother's team lost the sports category but won the cheer category. Yay!

It was interesting to compare his sports festival to mine, because although the concept is the same, the difference between high school and elementary school is a VERY wide one. Sooner or later I'll make a blog post about my sports festival. I had mine a long time ago, so it'll be a really delayed blog post. I've been procrastinating it because I know it'll be a long one ahaha. I promise I'll write it sooner rather than later!

Here's to a good week!

A Little Homesick

I thought it wouldn't really hit me, but with the start of school again I've become homesick. It's nothing drastic, and definitely not to the point of crying, but it's still an aching feeling in my chest.

To describe it, I want to eat American food a lot right now. Don't get me wrong, Japanese food is delicious and I love it, but I could really use some chili or a Chipotle Burrito. I also think about my American friends a lot, as well as my school. What doesn't help is that this week is Spirit Week for my school back home. I see tons of fun pictures and end up missing my school more.

Another feeling I get when I'm homesick is a little bit hard to describe. When I remember places, it gives off a sort of feeling in my chest, like an aura. Rather than remember certain words or sights, I'll remember the feelings I had during that time. Now that I'm homesick, I keep recalling the auras of my past home, a Coloradan sunset, my high school, and sweet memories with my friends. And of course my wonderful mother, who I miss most of all!

Overall, this is a difficult stage of my exchange. I'm ready to have fun and get over these complicated feelings! I would say that when I'm laughing and messing around with my friends, that's when the homesickness goes away. It's moments when I'm alone or have time to think that it hits hardest, just like any sad thing ahah.

Hopefully by my next post these feelings will have gone away a bit!

First Week of the Second Semester!

This week was the first week of my second semester. Whooo time goes by fast!

The first day was absolutely crazy fun! I brought Tootsie Rolls and Hot Tamales that my mom sent me to give out to my friends, and boy that was a LOT of entertainment. It may seem like it would be a simple interaction when giving American candy to Japanese people, a simple little "Oh thank you!" And normally that's the way it is.

Not with Hot Tamales.

Japanese people cannot eat them. They absolutely despise them. I had a whole box, and I gave a bunch of people one hot tamale each. How many people ended up like them? TWO. 2. When I started giving them out in my class, people would chew off a tiny bit, chew silently with a face full of dread, and then start yelling out "Spicy!!! Spicy!!!!!" I managed to trick a few of my friends and say, "Oh no, it's not spicy at all! It's just cinnamon flavor!" Once that hotness hit them, they died.

My class/department is full of girls and few boys, so there weren't any super drastic overreactions. I still had a lot of tamales left over, so I decided to head down to the sports department, which has a ton of boys. The reactions there had my doubling over in laughter. One of my friends ate it and then ran into the bathroom, and another ran to the sinks in the hallway. And it was not a leisurely jog, oh no, they sprinted. One kid threw up a little bit into an old newspaper.

I wanna try giving them out again!

The other days were not quite as fun as the first, but they were still nice. I got to see all my school friends after summer, and it was just as great as I thought it would be. It helped me realize how much I grew even in the six weeks of summer; the way I treat people and handle situations definitely changed, as well as some goals.

It was a bit tough getting used to arriving home at 8 pm everyday again. Showering, eating, and sleeping is all I can do.

Now that I'm in the second half of my exchange, I'm really trying to make every day count. Here's to more happy weeks!

Participating in a Japanese Archery Tournament!

This past Sunday was my first Japanese archery tournament!

My school club is kyudou, otherwise known as Japanese archery, and due to that I got to compete in a tournament! I'm not actually sure if it's legal for exchange students to participate, so shhh don't tell the Japanese government.

The day started out with me waking up at 5:20 so I could catch the 6:50 train, even though the tournament didn't start until 8. The reason I had to take a 6:50 train is because Miyazaki is very rural, so the trains only run about once every hour in certain directions.

While biking to the train station, I realized I forgot my lunch box at home. Whoops! I caught the train right on time, and knew I had to get off after about 3 stops. 3 stops later, I looked up and didn't recognize the name of the station. At that point I was nervous and fidgety. By the time the train stops at the next stop, I knew that I took the wrong train. I mean, where the hell is Tano!?

The station sign that made me lose all hope

I needed to get to Kibana station!! I also needed a taxi. I guess the one lucky thing was that an empty taxi with a nice driver was stopped at the train station. I asked him how much it would cost to get to the kyudou dojo, and he told me I would need around $50. At this point my heart sank because I didn't have enough cash on me. However, the taxi driver kindly stopped at a 7/11 for me to withdraw cash. The whole ride ended up "only" being about $40, but I still was not happy when I got to the tournament.

However, the tournament itself went well! Each time someone participates, they get 4 arrows. The first time I went up, I didn't hit any. The second time I went up I hit 2, which made me really happy!

During tournaments or formal practices, you have to wear special clothes called hakama. Everything from entering the target area to collecting the arrows is done in a very precise, specialized way. It's quite efficient, and we were able to go home at around 3.

Everyone lined up (I'm second furthest down!)

Overall, despite the mishaps, it was fun and I'm glad I participated!

(I do not recommend biking with a big ass bow in Japan's narrow streets)

Halfway Through My Exchange

August 28, 2017 is exactly halfway through my exchange.

Wowowow. It just feels so surreal. It feels as if I've come so far and changed so much, yet I'm still only halfway there. How much more will I change?

If someone asked me to say the ways I've changed, I would say the tenseness I had from America is almost gone. I just want to have fun with people I love! I want to learn, and challenge myself, and create. I want to do everything! I wanna live forever!

Anything that could be considered shyness is practically gone. I still have my moments, but considering all the embarrassing and awkward things that have happened, it's pretty hard for me to feel shy.

For example, there was a period of time here where I was getting diarrhea constantly, like every day ahaha (TMI) My body showed me no mercy even when hanging out with friends. So I was on a road trip with my friend's family. We had just stopped at a road stop, where I didn't feel a hint of anything that was to come. As soon as we pulled out I felt a little rumbling in my stomach, but I thought it would quiet down. Nope! Not even 15 minutes later I whisper to my friend, "Uhhh, I gotta go to the bathroom. Badly." I was the only one that got out to use the bathroom, and left them all waiting there for like 8 minutes. The finishing blow was when the concerned parents kept asking "Are you okay now?" throughout the trip. Ahah!



I don't want to go back home, but at the same time I'm excited for my future back in America. I want to see all my friends back in America, but I don't want to leave my Japanese ones. My Japanese friends are some of the kindest people I've ever met, I cannot stress enough how much I love Japanese girls! They are so sweet, interesting, expressive, and sometimes even a little sassy.

As for my Japanese, I feel pretty happy with how far it's gotten! Today I went to a cafe with a Japanese friend and it didn't end up feeling awkward at all, even though we were just talking for 2 1/2 hours. That's a pretty good indicator of my Japanese level! However, I still have plenty of room for improvement, especially when it comes to vocabulary. Hopefully I'll be able to easily read manga and easy novels when I come back.

I still definitely want to keep posting more stories on here and more YouTube videos, but now that school is starting up again I'm going to lose a lot of my free time. I'll try the best I can!

Thank you to everyone that is cheering me on from back home. I love you all!

Japanese Summer Festivals!

To put it simply, Japanese festivals are great, and a must if you go to Japan!

The smell of sizzling meat, sweat trickling down my back, and laughing with friends. Could a summer day get any better?

 As a HUGE foodie, one of the biggest attractions about festivals is the stalls that offer foods from ice cream to chicken to even fried squid! Some of the foods that I always get when I go to festivals are takoyaki (fried balls with octopus in them), hashimaki, shaved ice, and sometimes tornado potatoes.

Hashimaki

Tornado Potato

All this delicious food is the reason why I gained 7 kilos since coming to Japan!!! :,(

Another charm of festivals is wearing traditional Japanese "Yukata" or "Jinpei." My friend Natsuko actually gave me a yukata, which I'm super thankful for :) I'd recommend buying flipflops to wear with the yukata, because the traditional Japanese shoes that go with yukatas are not comfortable

Other than the food stalls, there is always some sort of event going on at festivals. Usually, there is a stage featuring dances, acts, etc. Sometimes, festivals are based entirely around fireworks, like a giant Fourth of July party! The recent festival I went to, which is one of the biggest in my city, had around 7 stages as well as big marches.

A lot of people use festivals as a chance to meet up with friends as well as take pictures with any acquaintances they happen to meet. It's always a festive environment, and fun to yell/squeal if you see a friend!

If you ever come to Japan, please try going to a festival at least once! And you can also buy yukatas for fairly low prices ;)