Happy Halloween!

Well, this blog isn't even close to being up to date to today (Halloween)... Oh well. Where my journal last leaves off is from about two weeks ago (October 17), so we'll do that week now!

Monday: We went to a giant recycle shop called "Hard Off", weird name, but great finds! =] I think the best part was seeing this at a playground along the way though:

I hope you can see this, if not, it is a group of children on unicycles at recess! I've never seen anything like it! Only in Japan...



Tuesday: So, for quite a while now, I have heard my host mother and father talk about their love for Taco Bell and other American fast food places... and Subway is another addition to the list. The first day that I went to campus with my host mother, she pointed out the Subway and said that I would be bringing it home for dinner for the family several times. I thought it was such an odd request, but I said okay! =] Then about a month ago, I noticed, in our train station, that a new subway was being built! I bet you can imagine my host mother's excitement. So, it finally opened, and we went there for dinner! One thing that was different, was that they had french fries, and all different types. Ones with cheese powder on it, garlic ones, sea weed ones, and regular ones. I don't think we have that back home, haha. But, it was nice having a turkey sandwich with all the veggies, mayonaise and vinegar...another great reminder of America. And... the BREAD! Here, at the supermarkets, you'll find one type of bread... it is super white and super thick. So, I miss my whole grain wheat, and at subway they had wheat! =] I think I'll go back again soon, I can only handle so much white bread.

Wednesday: This night I went to Clay's host family's house for dinner because... he was making RUNZAS! No one else here knows about the deliciousness of a good runza, so he wanted to share the experience with his host family and some of the other ryugakusei (foreign exchange students). They were so so so good! And, now the other American students want to have the recipe to remake them! I love sharing the goodness that Nebraska brings to the world, especially  if it is good food! =] 

To continue with the American food tradition this week... On Friday, Clay, Lucas, and I went to Dominoes pizza for lunch. Again, a great reminder of why I love American food! =] That night I went over to my friend Lynn's apartment for dinner for her birthday! We ate great food... Pizza (TWICE in one day), french fries, salad, and CHEESECAKE! =] Haha, I feel like this blog should just be entitled "all the food I ate this week" =]. 

Well that is all for now, I promise to get this back up to date soon! Love and miss you all!

Long time no see.

Wow. I officially am the worst blogger ever. Well, at least I have been journaling so I could update this eventually. About two weeks ago is when I should have updated again. So… here it goes. I’ll do recent stuff in a few blogs!

Week of 10/14-16

Well, Friday I went to a yakitori with some friends. I love these places, they cook chicken anyway you want it. We had some fried chicken (like little chicken nuggets), fried chicken with tartar sauce, and French/freedom fries… (I refer to them as that when I am talking with my French friends here) covered in SALT. Ha, my favorite. Again, it is always nice getting a reminder of home. The coating on the fried chicken is amazing here though, might be better than home.

Saturday: I was awoken by my host family because we were having PANCAKES! Ha, they were so good. Of course it wouldn’t be a Japanese/American meal without something weird. We had mashed potatoes with them?? Odd, yes. Delicious, yes. Later on, I went to an Indian restaurant with Clay, Lucas, and Maren. It was my first time, and it was DELICIOUS. I had some curry, nan, and sanomia. Again, what great friends I have here! =]  I had to go to bed early though.. because…

SUNDAY I went to Universal Studios Japan! =] We went with some of my host sisters’ friends and their families. It was a lot of fun road tripping there and eating junk food. We got to the park around 10:30 and were there until about 10:00! It was a long day! We only got to go on a few rides too, because the lines are SO long here! I think we waited about 1 ½ to 2 hours for each ride. NUTS! Even the food lines were long! One of the “rides” was a 3D/live recreation of The Terminator, in Japanese of course. I never knew Arnold was fluent in Japanese =]. It was pretty sweet though, with live actors/3D movie going on all together! Also, because it is close to Halloween, the park was decked out. At night, they even had actors dressed up like zombies walking around! They were quite the fright! Yuichan and her friends got very scared! Another funny part about the day was that I had several people come up and ask to take photos with me. Silly, silly.  The night ended with a beautiful light up parade too! It was awesome! 

Here’s some pictures from the park:

Well that is all for now, I promise I will get up to date soon! I love and miss you all!

Normal. =]

Yet again, I fail to update more than once during a week... it has been 10 days! I guess this is a sign that I am finally feeling more normal here? Ha, well I still don't fit in physically, but I feel so much more comfortable. I have developed quite the routine of going to classes, doing lots of studying, and having fun! =]

Highlights of last week...hmmm. I went to a delicious ramen restaurant in Takarazuka (my city) with my host family. I even ate a raw egg on rice with some sea weed. Ha, I know sounded very dangerous, but the Japanese eggs are safe to eat raw! It was actually very delicious. My host mother urged me to order it, and said that if I didn't like it, she would eat it. She said it is her favorite. I sort of think that she secretly hoped I didn't like it, so she could have extra. Haha. =]

Wow.. nothing else is really coming to mind from last week... must have been filled with studying =].

Last weekend I went to Umeda with some of the other foreigners (Canada, Taiwan, Finland, Iceland, Korea, and Norway!...). I was actually the only American.. weird. We went to a Kareoke and then to a dance club! It was quite the adventure, and nice that we all could sing English songs=] I sang a little Enrique, Spice Girls, and Eagles! =] It was a lot of fun! Oh and the dance club played all American hip-hop songs, so that made me feel like I was at home=]

Saturday I went to Osaka again with a friend to the Apple store, and they had a very nice memorial display for Steve Jobs. I didn't have my camera.. bad idea to leave it at home. I need to be taking more pictures! Haha, I went to Osaka with my friend Lynn who is from China. I had the great privilege of introducing her to BK.=] Home of the whopper. The onion rings were the most delicious I've ever had. Haha, and itwas her 3rd time ever having onion rings. She loves them.

This week, nothing too special has happened. I went to a restaurant with Clay, so we could eat our favorite Japanese food, OKONOMIYAKI! =] ...

Oh also, FOOD. It is so good here. Everything. At the ramen shop I had gyoza for the first time. YUMMM.=] and some delcious steam pot of noodles, cabbage, and other goodness! I need to learn how to make all of these for you guys!

This weekend we are going up to the mountain, and I am also going to USJ!! (Universal Studios of Japan!). I will be sure to update on Monday after the great weekend!

Oh also, my mother sent me a lovely care package this past week, with some of my favorite candy, a newspaper article on two great friends =], and a perfect little stone. On it is says: "All things are possible to him who believes" Mark 9:23

Love and miss you all!

Week Three

I really need to start updating this more! Sorry!

Well last week was good! I had all of my classes, and we are really getting into some homework and a lot of quizzes! But its good, so that I can really practice my Japanese in and out of the classroom! =]

Wednesday I went to OSAKA CASTLE with Clay (NE boy), Megumi (She is from Japan, but studied at NWU last year), and Shota (a new friend). It was so cool.... We also took a round about way in the train station so Megumi could show us this sweet view. Take a look at these pictures!

These are all above the railway in the Umeda Station, it was such a sweet view! =] Then we took about a 15 minute train ride to the city where the castle is!

It looked so much like a real castle, that there was even a moat around the outside! We had to cross a bridge to get over! =] It was such a fun night, and we even went to Italian food! Surprisingly the Japanese can cook some mean Pasta Carbonara! It was a good change up in my usual diet lately! I still haven't had time to make my favorite... grilled cheese!

The other super exciting thing was on Saturday... I went to a baseball game with my host father and sister! An Orix Buffaloes game. I think they would be considered to be a minor league team, regardless it was a lot of fun! =] We ate great snacks, and in the 7th inning stretch they do this thing where they blow up balloon rockets in their colors and let them go. It reminded me a lot of the first touch down at a Huskers game. What a great reminder of home! =]

Another great highlight, well BEST, was that I found a church! It is so awesome how God things happen! Clay, other NWU student, was studying in the this global lounge area on campus to pass some time before going to Osaka Castle, and this man came up and started chatting with him. It turns out that the man is from Minnesota originally, and is now the pastor of a church here! Clay ended up telling me, because he knew I was looking for a church! But the weird thing is, as he was telling me, we ended up running into the man just outside campus! He ended up giving me a flyer on their services and another on the international gospel music night coming up! =]=] Even better, is that the church is about a 15 minute walk from my apartment! Such an awesome connection to find! God is so great! =]=] I went to the service on Sunday, and the entire thing was in Japanese! This white man can speak GREAT JAPANESE! (Which would have been very difficult for me to understand) But, he even took the time to make an English version of the sermon, hoping I would show up on Sunday! It was awesome to find this community in a country where I was unsure if I would. The coolest thing was that we sang hymns in Japanese, and I could sing along for the most part! (My reading is better than my speaking!) It was cool to hear songs like ( Praise God from whom all Blessings Flow, and Holy, Holy, Holy) It was a great ending to the third week! There are also some other international students that attend the church, two from Uganda (Lindsay and Allison you would love these girls!!) and one from China! They are 21, 22, and 25! Great new friends to have!

Well, sorry this got so long again, that is why I need to update more! Love and miss you all!