It's been a really long time...

So, its been a long, long time since I got back. I realize that I probably should have posted when I got home, but it just seemed so surreal and sad to be back in America. Of course, there were plenty of good things too, like family and friends... and cheese... As of 10 months being back in the states, here is my list of things that I miss the most:
1. My host family
2. My best friends from Japan- Brybry, Nisu, and Ruby
3. Trains (this is a really big one!)
4. My teachers / classes / obnoxious Korean classmates (and having homework that's always fun, even if it was busy-work most of the time).
5. Karaoke
6. *real* bubble tea
7. Okonomiyake and shabushabu(yummy food that you cook at the table)
8. People-watching in Seibu-Shinjuku station
9. The little old lady who sold onigiri (rice balls)
10. Seeing loli wandering around without getting stared at...

oh... and all the engrish that got put up on signs for the foreigners to laugh at (well, probably more for our benefit than amusement)

Recently, all I've been doing to keep up my Japanese ability is TA-ing classes at the U of I, but I don't have enough time these days to do much else. I feel like I'm losing my kanji, and often, I will have to think for a really long time before the right word comes to mind. On the up-side, it's very rare that I blurt out something in Japanese without meaning to these days. Anyway, I'll be keeping this blog up as more of a personal blog from now on. Hope everyone is doing well!
~リア　(Leah)

Picture of my Host Family

We were on the shinkansen (bullet train) and I finally got everyone to cooperate and managed to get a picture of my whole host family! Yay!

Updating for Leah

Hey, everyone, this is Stephen doing an update for Leah.

She's had a pretty busy November and hasn't had much time to write a blog post. Despite being busy, she's still doing really well over there and seems to be getting on really well with her host family. Due to some odd problem or another she hasn't been able to get any form of internet. Her classes are going well, better than last semester I believe. She's still enjoying being in Japan, but she's really looking forward to getting back. Due to her lack of internet, she had a bit of a problem getting scheduled, fortunately between her mother and myself we were able to get her scheduled albeit a bit later than would have been ideal. Leah's also been working on writing a novel for the November Novel Writing Month. She's 19721 words into her novel, which sounds like a ton of writing to me but apparently that's behind where you're supposed to be at the point. So far it sounds like her novel has a somewhat Stranger in a Strange Land feel to it. I'm looking forward to seeing it when it's finished. If anyone wants to know anything more or get a message to Leah, give me a shout at CHSPub@gmail.com.

Signing off,

- Stephen

"Miya goes shopping! I love my baby sister!" - Leah

BBQ

Today, my whole school went to Shyouwakinen Park to do a BBQ. It was really fun, but, because we made Korean food, I really have no idea what any of the food I ate is really called (I ended up calling it by color). The weather was really nice today. Not too cold or windy, and blue skies, with only a few cottonball clouds. After eating, we bought icecreams and watched the korean boys be manly. They were playing a rather painful looking game. When/if I find internet, I'll upload a pic from my camera instead of my phone. After a while, the girls went and played frisbee. I ended up breaking a nail... sad days. Now im on the train home.

Long, tiresome day.

Fall finally came!

Today it got cold for the first time. It's making me think about everyone back in Moscow. I hear that it's been getting down to 15 at nights? I hope it doesn't ever get that cold here... I only brought a light jacket with me. Anyway, in answer to the cold weather, my host family turned on the floor heater, which is really good at relieving "ice butt" (a condition where your rear wont warm back up, no matter what you do). I think that I might never sit on the couch again! It's so warm and lovely on the floor now.

They also got out the table futon thingy that I can't seem to remember the name to remember what is called for more than a few seconds.

Aside from weather and studying for an ever-impending test, Bibi-kun, Miya-chan, Takeshi-san and myself went to make paper today. There were a bunch of really nice old ladies there to help us stumble through the process, and in my case, they were nice enough to dumb down their Japanese so I could understand. They kept saying this one word over and over... I gather that it probably means to dry, because eventually, one of them said 焼く which means to fry. We were each supposed to make 3 sheets, but because I couldn't think in japanese fast enough, one of the older ladies took my paper and squeezed out all the water before I could decorate it, so I ended up with 4. All in all, a very busy day.

Cookies!

Today we got up early, and went to the store to buy ingredients for oatmeal raisin cookies! After getting back from the store, Sakura-chan and I rushed to finish our homework before we were allowed to start the cookies. I was doing my Japanese homework, and Sakura-chan was doing English homework. I think that she knows more English than I know Japanese...

As for the cookies, they turned out great. I was surprised that we didn't have any major problems, considering all the conversion math, and the fact that Bibi, who is 3 years old, was trying to do most of the measuring before we even knew what was going on. I think he measured 2 teaspoons of flour into the eggs that Sakura-chan was breaking... but still, the cookies were delicious! Even Miyabi-chan liked them!

All in all, a well spent morning!

Halloween ... TREE?!?

So, this isn't the first one I've seen over here either. They're quite popular. And the best part is that they're popular because "They're popular in america... arent they?"

Miss all of you back in the land of "halloween trees" by the way, it's hard to write blog posts on a japanese cell phone. Which is why they're gonna be so short.

- Leah