Update on Leah

Hey, all,

This is Stephen posting for Leah. She's moved in with her new host family in Japan but she doesn't have internet yet so she asked me to post this for everyone. She wanted everyone to know that she's doing well and misses everyone. She passed her final for level 2, and passed the class, and will be moving on to level 3. Her new host family is pretty amazing. Aside from the two parents, she's living with a 9 year old, a 3 year old, and a very young child she thinks is around 12ish months old. The image below is of the 12ish month old, Miya. They're feeding her a ton of amazing food, I'm kind of worried about trying to find somewhere nice take her out to dinner when she gets back, haha. Hopefully she'll get her internet working soon so she can actually post, but if anyone wants to know anything more feel free to contact me at CHSPub@gmail.com.

Signing off,

- Stephen

Final's finally finished! (go, alliteration, I choose you!)

Well, after a horrendous bout of studying, (and then an awful 4 hour test this Friday) the semester is over! Wooooh! I think I passed... unless I made a bunch of horrible mistakes (which is highly possible -.- ). After the test, Michelle had her going away ceremony all by herself, and then all of us went to a restaurant/bar type place to celebrate! We probably stayed there annoying the staff for about 2.5 hours ^_^
Then, yesterday morning, both Michelle and Jannice left for the airport. I miss them already. Michelle is gone for good, back to Jersey, but Jannice is just going to Korea so that she can get her visa renewed for next semester. This means that I am now, officially one of 5 people living in the dorm (two of those I have never met, and only found out about yesterday), and the only English speaker. Tomorrow, the two Malaysian girls who are sharing room 205 are leaving, and then it's down to me, mystery girl in 308 and mystery girl in 401. It's really nice and quiet now, but that also means that the only people who will go shopping with me are guys. They're still fun, but it's just not the same.
Tomorrow I'm going to the Pokemon Stadium (probably... if Bryan emails me back). It sounds really cool, I plan on buying the new Pokemon game: Heart Gold, and a special pokeball thing that you can use to carry one of your Pokemon with you, and play mini games and stuff. The Pokemon apparently gains experience as you walk. Ok, enough nerd talk. Bye bye!

How can cup-noodles be hard to make?

I think this has got to be the most complicated instant-ramen known to man kind. After much stewing over the instructions on the side of the bowl, I have decided that you're supposed to put the clear packet in first, then the water, then the other two... I think?



I wonder what this little thing is? It was inside the clear packet, but it's in its own packet... That makes me suspicious. I don't think I'll try it... whatever it is.


Ok, the hot water's inside, and the other two packets are on top, just as the direction-pictograms described. Now, we wait 4 minutes...
Ooooh! Yum! There was a sauce-like substance in the blue packet and a flavor packet in the green packet! (Why they don't just package those together is beyond me)
All in all, a good dinner, considering it came from the convenience store and I'm being lazy. ^_^

There's no one left...

So, all the Americans who were only staying for one semester left today. It's kind of nice, cause no one's clomping around upstairs, but I feel sort of lonely. As of right now, there's me, and one of the Malaysian girls home right now. That's it. No one else... I wonder where the other four still living here are right now... Sad thing is, that the new people don't come until a week after I leave for my home-stay on the 1st, so It's gonna be like this for a while. Michelle leaves on the 28th (I think), so It's going to get even quieter before the joy of a host family. Oh, well. Not much I can do about it. Just another excuse to actually study for the test tomorrow. Wish me luck! ^_^

Homestay!!!!!!! ^_^ !!!!!!!! (I don't think I put enough !'s there...) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11one!

Anyway, I get a home-stay, and I'm super excited! I think their last name is Saito, but I'm not positive on that one. They have 3 kids, the youngest is a baby girl just 1 year old, the next is a boy who's attending kindergarten, and the oldest is a girl in elementary school. They live in Futako-tamagawa, which is about a 40 minute train ride from school, plus however long it takes to walk to the station. That isn't bad at all! The other host family that they were considering for me lived on the beach, which would have been nice, but that's almost a 2 hour train ride to shinjuku! This one is much, much better! I can't wait to meet them! I get to move in on the first! Wish me luck not messing up on introductions or anything stupid like that! I hope my host mother is good at cooking, because I want to learn a few recipes from her (if she'll let me, that is...) I really want to learn how to make gyoza and mochi... (Japanese pot stickers, and rice flower pastries that are sometimes filled with ice cream) ok, I'll quit with the run on paragraph now, and get to studying... test on Monday, another one on Tuesday, 5 day weekend, and then a final on the 25th (next Friday). ^_^


ps. I can't believe I actually got a host family! this is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michelle's B-day!

In celebration of Michelle's birthday, we all went out for lunch, and a HUGE dessert!



This is about half of the people who went... I couldn't manage to get them all to hold still for very long. From the left: Lori, Shelly, Amanda, Michelle (b-day girl), Jannice, and Terri. We were waiting at the restaurant.


I think it's called okonomiyaki? Anyway, it comes to the table still raw...

And then everyone at the table whines that they can't cook until Lori gives in...

And then you eat it, and it's delicious! It's basically a really odd omelet that has more veggies than egg, and that you have to cook yourself, at the table. ^_^ YUM!!!

After that, we went to Milky Way. A cafe-style place that sells over sized, overpriced desserts, and won't let you share... Anyway, this is a picture of Terry and Tom eating their yummies.

This was mine... Really really big! Chocolate icecream, bananas, mochi, whip cream, cookies, a dried cherry and frosting and shortbread cookie sandwich, two star shaped cookies, and chestnuts. Yummy but I only made it through about half of it. Too much!

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It's a bug line again!!

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.I met the poor little guy on the subway, 6 stories underground. That was sure a silly way for him to go from one place to another. Anyway, right after I took this picture, he freaked out and started flying all around the car. Once he landed, I asked a Japanese guy what they were called, and apparently it's a "kamakiri" yay for me actually remembering a word in Japanese!

I felt sorry for him, so I caught him...

And brought him upstairs...

And outside to some nice foliage! Hope you're doing well, little guy!

Bus Trip

That was lots of fun! The candy that I made went over great! But it was mostly the guys who devoured it cause the girls are all on diets... I don't get it, they're all really skinny to begin with! How can they get any smaller? Anyway, the macaroni salad wasn't quite so well received, which is ok, I suppose. It just means I'll have to eat it myself!

This is the entrance to the Shimizu Koen. It was basically a bunch of obstacle courses (one of which was over some very murky water) I gave up my camera so that I could do the water course, but it's kinda sad, cause no one got a picture of me plunging into the nastyness... twice... on a rope swing both times. I'm really no good at that. On the first one, I could have made it if I had just let go, but no, I scaredy-catted out and held on and was drug back into the water. The second time, though, I just plain fell off -_- I know, horrible, right!

We also went to a grape all-you-can eat place! They were yummy, but had seeds, so they took a while to eat. In the end, I probably only ate 1 bunch. My friend Michelle ate 4...

The people in the pic are my classmates... well, some of them anyway.

Kane, Ika, Yonha, Bowon, me, Junhi, Haru, and Daniel

These are some of Becca's classmates who I played Uno with on the bus ride back!

There's Becca herself, and Pak, and Pak (I really don't remember their first names at all, sorry guys!)

Also on the bus... Friends! The one on the Left is Ika, she's Thai, and the one on the right is Kane, she's Chinese!

Lots of fun on this trip, but I'm really tired still, and my arms hurt. I guess I'm just not used to all that Tarzan stuff.