Hello Everyone!

Sooo.... Since last time I wrote I went to a sumo wrestling tournament, a sake tasting event, got a japanese cell phone, bought my ticket to Kyoto for the school, went to Karaoke, planned out my trip to mt. fuji... there might be more that i'm forgetting.

Sumo Wrestling
I went with my friends Christina and Kristen, we got up around 8am, which was supposed to be 7am so we could leave by 8am and be there around 8:30am, but thanks to my sleepiness we left about ten minutes late and didn't get the realllly cheap tickets. They sell about 2hundred tickets for $21 but we essentially got the same seats from $36. Out seats happened to be next to a broadcaster I think because once people realized who it was they started taking pictures of him. He looked like he could have been an ex-sumo wrestler, so I guess it would have been the equivalent to Charles Barkley doing the sports center stuff about Basketball. Any way, the matches were good, some of them the crowd would get really into, like if they stayed in the ring for a long time. I wish I would have though to ask what phrase I can yell in japanese to route someone one or something like that... but oh well. I'm putting my favorite video on here but there are a bunch I just posted on Facebook! Everything was crystal clear from where ever you sat, due to the lighting I guess.While I was there I got a Sumo-Sized bento (lunch) box... which it wasn't too bad but what we really wanted was a hot dog and some ice cream that we heard was there but couldn't find... we eventually did find it and we were really dumb because its location was just around the corner on the second floor. See we looked around the first floor. Oh well, the mustard was spicy, from what Kris said so that's okay. The matches went on all day but we got there around 2 or 3 and it ended around 6 or 7. The interesting things about Sumo: They throw salt into the ring to purify the air, they sike each other out by almost starting and then going back to their sides about 3 times, and they wash their hands and face and drink water all as part of a ritual to cleanse themselves. This is a religious event to them. This tournament that I saw wasn't the last one, I went on a Wednesday night and it fully ended by Sunday.
Posted from sumo: fav. video, me eating bento, standing outside the place, and some of the pictures that were hanging from the ceiling (what they did was take a picture of the Sumo Wrestler that wins the entire tournament and then cover it in oil so I looks like a painting, but goes a lot faster.) Oh and the free vending machine in the basement of Softbank, we went there so Kris could get her phone that day.

Sake Tasting/Fashion Show/Concert

This was a great event. So I get there right before the speaches start, luckily I was saved a seat (I ran into some people on the way there, and since I was alone I decided I would walk in there with them but they wanted to get food first) Which btw was a fully non-english speaking little restaurant and I did well and I was very happy! Anyways, So this guy who wrote all these books on Sake makes a small 30 min. speech about how Sake is made, what makes it different than wine, or beer, or anything else, which comes down to the fact it was made with rice and nothing else, purely a rice wine. It was interesting. And I got to try 7 different kinds of Sake, and twice cause they accidentally gave me two things of coupons but I wasn't going to give up that mistake haha.. They were really small portions so it wasn't bad. Sake for me isn't really great, there was one that I liked more than the rest but still... Concert... yeah started off with an Ambient band, horrible horrible noises. Just screachings and weird noises and a girl up front singing tones. Then a really good Shimasen (i think thats what it was called, banjo looking guitar thing thats really big over here) player came on and it was wonderful. I saw the Fashion show next, which had weird music you needed to get used to, but it was really cool to see their outfits and I even got a picture with one of the male models. More music, it was an interesting place and everyone that I knew from school was there so it was great.

Japanese Keitai
I feel sooo much better that I can contact my friends here! Okay so the cell phone is a mute pink, almost a yellow tint to it, VERY thin, and really cool. The Camera is as good if not better than my actual camera. Money wise, I bought the phone for about 40, plan for 33, and a charger for about 10, which is as cheap as it goes here. It is a prepaid phone so the plan is 33 each month that i'm here. But the plan includes unlimited texting and email and about 30 minutes of talking time, which doesn't seem like a lot but when you can email someone you don't really need to talk. I bought my phone from this store called Don Quiote, lol... huge store filled with everything you may want pretty much! haha... first floor was tons of clothing, accessories and luggage, second floor was groceries + any household items you might need like cleaning supplies which sounds like a grocery store from back home like Giant, but here they do specialty stores i guess is the best way to put it. Like if its a drug store, its medication and cleaning supplies and make up and what not. If its food, its just food, they never commingle. 3rd floor was electronics and there were some vaccums i think and there was a 4th and 5th floor but i didn't even have time to explore those. craziness!

Kyoto
basically I'm all paid up and everything is good to go for that trip! It was 400 but worth it, theres so much to do down there you could spend a year there to get it all done. Wonderful. Thats going down in middle to late march.

Karaoke
It wasn't everything I hoped it would be, and when I say that I mean, it didn't give me that, i really love Karaoke feel. Cause I know how big it is over here and that so many people do it but its expensive and while singing songs are fun its not the same. Maybe it was just that I didn't have my normal group of friends with me like Nick, Sarah, Jonny B, and Amanda and Anthony, and Ryan... maybe you guys make the difference!! MISS YOU!!

Mt. Fuji
I think I have figured most of this out now. I'm going to Shirto Falls which is right near a really old shrine and then going to the north side of the mountain to get some good pictures and right next to there, Lake Kawaguchiko, is an Amusement park!! And its open right now so that's awesome. It has like 5 roller coasters and an amazing haunted house which has real people in there who are allowed to physically grab you! haa.. I hope i'm okay! But i'm going to try to make it through. I think i'm going to go when the weather is a little nicer

Other than that today i'm going to a fireworks museam and then to a concert, potentially Glam Rock, lol. So i expect to see some crazy outfits. Its all local Japanese bands so ... till next time!

Oyasumanasai, to all those going to sleep!
Missy

Video's I promised

Heezo!
Thinking about you Tiffany! ahah.. I watched Tropic Thunder with my Friend Dat and btw Ryan, you were right it was a good movie! I ate a normal dippy or as some people call it sunny side up egg with a chopstick today, actually not that hard! So that was cool. I was also talking to my next door neighbor Christina and she informed me that the exchange rate should get better by the end of this month! and in February the Dollar will be equal to 100 yen so that makes me feel really good. That the exchange rate is connected to the peoples thought of what the dollar will do, like the stock market and how we caused the crash because everyone thought that it was doing bad essentially causing it to do what they thought it would do. But anyways, that's going to be great cause then I can stop doing the math in my head. I will say though I like having a use for the graphing calculator that I carry with me at all times lol.
I went to this dance held by the school at this place called MUSE. Its a club and for my first ever club I am pleased! It was really cool in there. So you have all the normal stuff for a club, dance floor, bars... plural bar space then there were all these secluded rooms like I saw a basement that had ping pong. I also heard there were pool tables and the Head of the Office of Student Services was kicking ass and taking names. haha He apparently beat everyone that challenged him.
I figured out how to use the microwave. You don't hit buttons you open the door and then can turn the knob to pick a time, refer to the picture to see knobs and whatnot.
Hahaha, I saw a very upset Tommy Lee Jones (guy from men in black) on the poster of all the adds on all the vending machines for boss coffee. lol. He just has such a serious face and then there's like a rainbow coming out of the can, I'm taking a picture soon of that. Yeah, the vending machines are every corner and they have all your drinks. Fanta, coffee, tea, water, coca-cola, dr. pepper, and Pepsi zero. I'm upset at this, this country is ruled by coke. I once saw someone with a really large can of Pepsi but when I go to convenience stores or grocery stores they have normal coke and then Pepsi zero. It's crappy and I would ask to have Pepsi sent to me but that would get really heavy. So I decided that I'm just going to come home and chug a 2-liter bottle of Pepsi immediately... then get my wisdom teeth removed. Maybe chug another one just to reward myself! haha. yeah so i'm getting sleepy i think i might call it a night now its like 2 am... i really need to get better at this sleeping thing

Miss you!

Classes went over a lot better today. I'm realizing that lunch makes me really sleepy for like an hour after I eat. LIKE, really sleepy, to the point where If I were to lay down I would pass out. hahaha. I might start taking some sort of energy drink or pill to keep me awake mid day if it doesn't stop within the next week! On another note, I am very happy that I bought these sparkle rings out of 25cent machine at KMART the day before I left for Japan. It was the most unexpected surprise when I found them in my secret coat pocket on the inside of my jacket when I arrived! I decided to wear them all the time. They are now comfortable to wear, my fingers wanted to reject them at first but then I told them to suck it up and alls been well ever since!

Met new people today that live at Ontakesan dorms. I'll take a picture next time I see them, they are all in my Japanese class, there's Chuck, Ryan, Tom, VP-kun, Patrick and Dan. We ate lunch today I had a Bento box(lunch box)which had egg sashimi, rice dumplings, and Sushi.. don't know what was in it, some sort of meat. It was good though!

There's a dance tomorrow night that the school is sponsoring by this place called Roppongi and shibuya. The school scared me away from really going to Roppongi because thats the supposed hang out of the yakuza(gangster mafia) and they own a lot of buildings and clubs and bars around there and the school had stories about them setting up guys with pretty girls and slipping something in their drinks and stealing their money. Also that that area is expensive. But this is a school sponsored event so.. DOn't worry MOM! haha, I'm going with a lot of friends and what not, i'll be fine!

I think i'm going to buy a locker on campus, the school is renting them for the semester for $20. And that would make my life easier cause I feel weird using my mesh book bag here so i've been using my really big esprit tote bag but i'm afraid its going to break if i put too much stuff in it all semester so I don't want to lug books around in it. Besides whenever I go back to my room I'm tired and lazy cause the bed takes up the majority of the room and that's where I tend to sit. =[ So it would be a better idea to stay at school till my homework is done then go back and do Missy-like things and not worry in the morning if things are done, only have to worry about looking pretty and getting to class on time!

I'm going with one of my friends from the Mansion (hence forth i declare the Mansion to refer to my hotel that i'm staying at, cause its the shortest way to name it!) to the city ward tomorrow morning before class to get my Alien registration card, certified matters, and National Health Insurance. Alien card because I need to and this way i don't need to cart my passport around with me everywhere anymore, not that it wasn't safe to before because of my "in my pants wallet". Certified matters goes along the same lines as that and then the health insurance... yeah, don't worry family because appearently there is a really CHEAP health insurance for those who made no income the year before like $20 for the semester and it covers 70% of medical fees. So I only pay 30% upfront and then can fill out an insurance claim on the rest if I need to. But the school told us in orientation not to worry and that its like filling out a rebate form to something you bought and you're only getting $2 back anyway so postage alone outweighs it. That we would be surprised at how cheap it is to get everything including a perscription. So all that worrying about health insurance and getting sick while i'm here for nothing! So great for me.

Well... I love you guys! I'm out to go back to the Mansion! PEACE!

Okay... So everything... get ready to read like never before!

Hello to all!
Day I got to Japan: the 8th
--The plane ride there wasn't too bad, I started to get ancy when I only had 6 hours to go but I met my first TUJ student when I first sat down by the gate for the plane from Philadelphia to Detroit, Sarah. She was really easy to talk to even though we were both delirous from being awake and at the airport by 5am! She didn't sit next to me on the plane but on the way to Tokyo I sat next to another TUJ student named Jesse Goldsmith and he was really cool. He got my food when I was asleep for me so I didn't miss meals. I was surprisingly hungry considering I didn't use any energy to make me hungry. All I did was sleep. I will say that I was really thirsty halfway through and stopped the flight attendents whenever I got a chance for some water. I saw the end of the Sisterhood of the Traveling pants 2 and a movie that I think I saw on a previous flight or somewhere... well I saw most of it back then but I got to finally see all of the City of Ember. Really good movie I definitely reccommend it! As soon as I got through customs and Immigration I transferred my money into yen, $300 became like ... 26,700 or so yen. The currency exchange rate was 89.78yen... which meant that for every 100 yen i spend here its really about $1.10 in american money. They appearently have appreciated since I last checked... my bad... at least it's not as bad as the Euro.
--The bus i needed to take left 2 minutes after I bought the ticket so I rushed out and there were these slidding glass doors and I was rushing my too much luggage for me to really carry and rammed the doors before they fully opened, yeahhh, they stopped opening... and didn't try to close again, I'm pretty sure I broke them, slightly. haha. But lucky for my gettaway there were another set of sliding doors right next to my now broken ones and I got through and on the bus where I met my next TUJ person: James Anderson. Really awesome, probably the best conversationalist so far. He had my humor and slightly reminded me of Nick. So that was cool.
--Once I got to the hotel I was set up with a Taxi and there were three of us going to Takadanobaba, Bernadette, Perry and Me. But with all our luggage it wouldn't fit us all into 1 taxi so I opted to be the person by myself. The Student worker who spoke Japanese well talked to my taxi driver and he seemed to know where to go but that proved to be a faliure because he got SOO lost. He got to the area where he should be and couldn't find the hotel I was staying at. He just kept circling. And he said a couple of things to me which I think were that "we're getting there... just slowly" Then after a while he asked if I had a phone number or something AND luckily I did have a number to where I was staying and my phone was up and working because otherwise I don't believe we would have made it. He was nice though by the end of it, he cashed out the first bill which was like $25 and only made me pay $13.40 about. And helped me get my bags out of the trunk (he didn't help putting them in) But he wouldnl't accept a tip and I heard that if I had pressed the matter I would have insulted him so I just took my change.
--Once in the hotel people at the front desk gave me my check in information sheet and proceeded to give me a full out shhpeel in Japanese on the exact wording that I saw in front of me in English. He had great hand movements though which really pushed the point across. Then I talked with my dorm manager Kris for a bit and he reminded me that I needed to be up at 8 am for our first orientation. And told me that appearently there was a girl behind the desk that speaks decent english and he didn't understand why the other guy insists on doing the shpeel. Oh well, I unpacked partially took a partial sleep. woke up and plugged in my alarm clock and went back to sleep.

Second day: 1/9/09
Got up early, took a shower and got ready and made myself pretty, then my doorbell rang right before I was finished straightening my hair and it was my dorm manager Kris saying that it was 8:15 and that the meeting started. Which was when I told him that my clock said it was only 7:30am and he informed me that clocks from America don't work on the same wattage as clocks in Japan do. SO, my clock wasn't moving fast enough so every minute I lost some time. Oh well, he didn't mind too much.
Got to the meeting he gave us some information on how the hotel and Temple policies work. Then took us on a tour of Takadanobaba, the district I'm staying in. I saw the grocery store called the Seiyu which have the best value prices and after 9:30 their prepared meals go 20 - 30% off which when put in my fridge makes a great cheap meal to heat up or just eat the next day! There's this 100yen store where everything is 100yen about. Kind of like the Dollar store back home. I saw a Mcdonalds, Wendy's and a KFC so there's some familiarity here! The Orientation at the school was good. But while i'm talking about my dorm there's only a few of us staying there like 15 and I might not remember all their names right now but here are the ones that I do: Dat, Felix, Sean, Sean Kang, Christina, Kristin, Kris(dorm manager) Bernadette, Bob, Alena, Perry, Huun and some other people that I can see their faces but not their names.
I ate at my first Japanese place and how it works is there is a Button machine written in japanese and the price of each thing is under the item. You put in money and pick stuff. Now, its color coded so the Hunter green buttons were a plate of veggies and meat with a big bowl of rice. The orange buttons tended to be a big bowl of soup with meat and veggies in it. there were Three lonely white buttons that are medium bowls of rice and mixed with stuff.

Blah blah blah... then the rest of the day we were back at the hotel and I fell asleep too early.

1/10/09
This was our second orientation of the surrounding areas. We went to Shibuya and Harajuku(fashion place) and the Meiji Temple. Shibuya had that large crossing I told some of you about. 6way stop about so theres crazy pedestrian crossings there. AND the story about Michiko, the dog that waited for his master every day even when his master passed on he came everyday to wait. So they erected a statue for the dog right by the crossing! Gots picture of that. The Meiji Temple was cool there was a wedding that processed during the time we were there and I took a video of that whether that was wrong or not, i DO WAT I WAN'! hahaha...
--More sleep into ...

1/11/09
I'm pretty sure I was online all day trying to catch up with everyone, see, you guys don't understand how time consuming talkign to everyone back home and having a life here is! haha. But I do it anyway! Cause I love you!! lol. I went out with my friends to a BAR! ordered my first drink ever from a bar, a Pink Daniels. Wasn't that great, I think I can do better.
--But after a nap I saw the eagles game with Everyone! Nick, Sarah, Jonny B, Adrienne, Anthony, Amanda and Stacey! Worked out perfectly! Can't wait for next weeks game!! GO EAGLES! I saw this thing on youtube when the media interviewed Brandon Jacobs and has endorsed the Eagles, saying that if they couldn't beat them then no one can, because his team was the only one that stood a chance in beating them. So more power to the Eagles! hahahha

1/12/09
This was the Coming of Age day in Japan, a national holiday so I didn't start School till Tuesday. BUT I slept right through it =[ BOOOO. Yeah I tried to stay awake to go out with some people but I fell asleep around 8am and woke up around 5pm. I was tired I guess! haha.. cause I did take a nap/sleep before the Eagles game! oh well. I spent the time I was sort of awake - sleeping for an hour awake for an hour because I had nothing better to do - watching Gilmore girls. See, my bed takes up most of the room sooo I tend to sit on my bed which turns into lying on my bed which turns into passed out MissyChu. lol

1/13/09
FIRST DAY OF CLASSES. This day I had My japanese class and International Trade. I was late to both of them! haha. First of all, my orientation student worker guide decided to take us out the wrong exit and up the wrong streets and eventually get to Azabu Hall in a weird way, thereby not giving me the direct way and actual way of getting to campus once out of the train station. So I was 20 minutes late to my first class. Then I had some time before my next class and I signed up for a trip that I wanted to go on and LUCKILY I was just in time for the Yomohama day trip(which goes to Japans' tallest building and some other important buildings and .... drum roll... the largest China Town outside of China! hahaha. I'm excited but thats not until Febuary 7th. I'm waiting till my money hits to pay for the Kyoto Trip! That will be great. Uhmm... I ate lunch with my friend Sean (he was in my Japanese class back home, he sat in front of me) Met a girl named Laura that was out to make friends once she got to know us ... sort of... she moved two seats down and started talking to some other people. Seemed nice... very friendly.
--Then I went to find my next class over in the other building down the street. Sean told me it was just at the end of the street across the intersection from Azabu Hall... Yeah I went there, didn't see it, tried to get Temple information center to tell me where i should go and they tol dme to just come back to Azabu to get a map. Turns out I was right infront of it and completely missed it. So I was 20 minutes late to that class. That teacher did'nt seem to care much. All my classes seem to have all the same people in them which is cool in case I get sick and miss my classes for a day, I can just ask one person and they will know everything! haha I win. I got a whole bunch more stuff settled at school and then went home around 5:30 and got home (after going to the grocery store) around 6:40 so that wasn't too bad.

1/14/09

TODAY! YAY I made it! haha. I had my first class today for International Law which I like the teacher, she's from america and has only been in Japan for 6 months. I think I'll like her, she likes the Socratic method so that she doesn't stand up there and lecture all class and we get involved. My next class is coming up soon actually at 3:20 I believe so I best be off... its computer information science. Basically I heard its teaching me excel and other computer programs thatI should have known about when I got a computer! oh well.

really quick - LIST
I would like :
-My awesome pillow that I told you about .. mom.. Green sheet, down pillow on my bed.
-A outlet strip.. the one that can plug in 3 prong things in it... that would make my life easier.
-peanut butter becase they sell it in the tinest portions here and grape jelly if that wouldn't be bad cause that would just make my life easier
-My Hairspray that is in stacey's room, aresol can.
-Tupperware to take food with me to school in.
-Any food you would like to send my way. esp. easy cooking things because I can't read how to cook quick meals here
-FORKS AND KNIVES.. just butter knives... I can't find them for the life of me!
-Maybe a toaster... lol... you don't need to but i can't figure how to toast bread without one... I have a stove top and a microwave and I miss bananas and toast =[ Maybe just a good way to toast without a toaster I imagine there was a way at one point before they were invented!
I think that is everything!! out of everything the top three are my pillow, Knives and food! PAWEEZZEE!

gotta go! oh and videos will go up when i get back to my computer back home which contains the videos!
I love everyone! BYEEE