いそがしい〜！＝＿＿＿＝

I'm so busy! You may or may not have noticed, but it's kinda been forever since I posted... I think I'm like two weeks behind now on posts =______=

花火の後の日曜、ななさんとジェームスさんと名古屋えきや栄に色々な店に見に行きました。それから、日曜の晩みきさんとさちこさんとテッドさんと会って、おこのみやきを食べました。とてもおいしかったです（じつは、ぜんぶ日本の料理が大好きですが. . . ）！おこのみやきを食べてから、カラオケをしに行ったけど、ジェームスさんはしゅくだいをしなくちゃいけないからいっしょに行きませんでした。

o(^_^0)　おこのみやきを作っている　(0^_^)o

月曜友達とスィツパラダイスに食べに行きました。スィツパラダイスが大〜好き！そこでたくさんケーキやほかのあまい物が食べられます。スパゲティーもあったけど、あまい物が好きだからあまりスパゲティーを食べませんでした。すごくおいしかったけど、たぶん食べすぎました(＝＿＝；)。食べた後で、モールでさんぽして、ゲーセンにあそびに行きました。ゲーセンでぼくはブレイブルー（大好きなテレビゲーム）をして、いつもかったから百円だけで三十分ぐらいあそびました＼(＞v＜)／。

おいしい〜！

ドンッドンッ！

The Sunday after the fireworks, I went with Nana and James to Nagoya station and Sakae to look at various shops. Then, on Sunday night we met with Miki, Sachiko, and Ted and all ate okonomiyaki. It was really delicious (but then again, I love all Japanese food...)! After eating okonomiyaki, we went to sing karaoke, but James had to do homework, so he didn't come with us. 

On Monday, I went with friends to eat at Sweets Paradise. I looooove Sweets Paradise! You can eat lots of cake and other sweet things there. (It's like a buffet with nothing but cake and pie and pudding, etc. etc.) They also had spaghetti, but I like sweet things so I didn't eat very much spaghetti =P. It was super delicious, but we all probably ate too much (=__=;). After eating, we wandered around the mall and went to an arcade to play. At the arcade, I played Blazblue (a video game that I love playing) and kept winning so I played for about thirty minutes with just 100 yen (which is I think about $1.30 for those of you who don't know the conversion).

And now, once again, I have to stop writing so I can sleep (=_=)zzzZZZ

Unfortunately, at this rate, I don't think I can keep up with all the fun things I'm doing here (haha), so I'm considering posting in English for a while, although I like the way I'm posting now. If anyone has any preference (if you don't mind waiting for my stories or if you are just dying to hear everything that I'm doing) please tell me, but if there's no problem with it, I think I'll continue to post in Japanese and then translate, even though it takes a long time...

じゃあ、また今度

Well then, until next time

PS: Let's learn Japanese!!! My friends taught me a new phrase a while ago, and since tomorrow is Friday, I thought I'd teach you all =D

So in English, we say "Thank goodness it's Friday" or "TGIF"

In Japanese, you can say 花金／はなきん／hana kin, which pretty much translates to "flower Friday"

みんな、花金！

つかれた...寝たい...

ひさしぶり

Let's get down to business, to write this post!

(As I was starting to write, I turned on iTunes and this song was playing XD)

Anyway......

さいきんとてもいそがしかったです。先勝の水曜日ESS(English Speaking Society)はウェルカムパーティーをしました。たのしくて、そこでいろいろな友達になりました。そして、けんだまをしました。けんだまはちょっとむずかしいけど、とても楽しいと思います。

ESSのメンバーは着物を着ていました

 木曜日いけばな先生はじゅぎょうに来なかったから、南山大学で友達とあそびました。みんな歌ったり、おどったりしました。でもあそぶ前に、しゅくだいをしました。じつは、留学生は日本語のしゅくだいをして、日本人は英語のしゅくだいをしたから、おもしろかったと思います。

おいしそうだね〜　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

ぼくのホストファミリーはウェルカムパーティーをしたかったから、土曜日ホストファミリーの友達は家に来ました。そして、ぼくは着物を着ました！(*^o^*)（じつは、ななと言う友達によるとズボンがあったから、本当の着物じゃなかったけど、名前をわすれました（＝w＝；））すごく楽しくて、みんな「イケメン！」や「かこい！」と言っていました。

土曜の晩、花火を見に行きました。とてもきれいで、楽しかった。アメリカの花火みたいだったけど、ちょっとちがいました。(Gotta bust out the English for this part -__-) They were different because the fireworks were synced with music and a laser show! たくさん写真をとりました（とるすぎたかもしれない＝＿＿＝）。花火の前にピックニクがありました。お母さんが作ったおすしやいろいろなくだものをたべました。

きれいでしょう☆

明日かんじ小テストがあるから、今ここでおわります。勉強しなくちゃいけません〜

Lately, I've been really busy. On Wednesday the ESS club had a welcome party. It was fun, and I made some friends there. Also, I got to play with a kendama (it's a kind of ball-and-cup game). Kendama is a little difficult, but I think it is a lot of fun.

On Thursday my sensei for Ikebana didn't come to class, so I played with friends at Nanzan. We all sang songs and danced. But before we played, we did our homework. To be honest, though, because the exchange students were doing Japanese homework and the Japanese students were doing English homework, it was kinda fun I think.

My host family wanted to throw a welcome party for me, so on Saturday some of my host family's friends come to the house. Also, I got to wear a kimono! (*^o^*) (As a matter of fact though, according to my friend Nana, because the "kimono" had pants, it wasn't a "real" kimono, but I forgot what it is actually called （＝w＝；）) It was lots of fun, and everyone was saying "You look so good!" and "So cool!"

Saturday evening, we went to go watch fireworks. They were very pretty and it was a lot of fun. They were similar to American fireworks, but they were a little different. They were different because the fireworks were synced with music and a laser show! I took a lot photos (maybe too many photos =____=). Before the fireworks, we had a picnic. We ate sushi my host mom made and various fruits.

Tomorrow I have a small kanji test, so I'm going to stop here for now. I have to study...

Bad Habit

So I'm noticing a trend in my posts... I apologize for not posting in forever, then write a huge post to make up for it =_______=

やめなくちゃいけません〜

すぐポストを書けるといいんですが。

I hope that I can post soon.

In the mean time, hopefully these photos will whet your appetite (^o^)/

 花火！

着物！ 

スイーツパラダイス！

しゃしん！

I finally got my camera to put pictures on my computer! やった！

だから、このポストにたくさんしゃしんを入れます！

Therefore, I'm going to put lots of pictures in this post!

行くよ！Here we go!

ぼくのホストファミリー（ひだの家族）

My Host Family (the Hida family)

日本の食べ物

おいしそうだね〜

Looks tasty doesn't it? 

いくら！ 

Salmon eggs sushi! (or something like that)

日本のデザートが大好き♡

I love Japanese desserts♡

たくさん友達になりました！

I've made so many friends!

カラオケはすごく楽しい♪

Karaoke is so much fun♪

ぼくのインドネジア人の友達はいけばなのじゅぎょうでこのしゃしんをとった

My Indonesian friend took these pictures in Ikebana class

I know I didn't write a lot for this post, but I mostly just wanted to show you guys some pictures (which, let's face it, is the real reason you're "reading" my blog =P jk). Anyways, glad I could finally put these up!

またね〜☆

See ya!

しりとりをしましょう！

今週のやくしょのじゅぎょうでしりとりをしました。しりとりは日本語のことばのゲームです。日本語がわからない人はあまりわからないかもしれません（ごめん！）。

This week in my translation class we played shiri tori. Shiri tori is a Japanese word game. If you don't know Japanese then understanding may be a little difficult (sorry if it is!).

英語で！

The game is simply played by saying words (I think it supposed to be nouns only, but we played with adjectives too because we don't have very big vocabularies =P) that start with the same hiragana that the last one ended with. For example, if I said いぬ (inu) then you could say ぬいぐるみ (nuigurumi). However, you cannot use words that end in ん (n) or you will be out because there are no words that start with ん. We only played for a little bit in class, but the game would go until one person can't think of a word.

I suppose the game could be played in English too... simply name words that start with the same letter that the last one ended with (e.g. rabbit -> turtle -> eraser). 

Anyway, I thought this was a fun game (and a pretty good way to practice your vocabulary and maybe learn a few new words!). So if you're feeling a little bored, wether it's in English or 日本語、しるとりをしましょう！(Let's play shiri tori!)

by the way, if anyone reading this knows more about しりとり and finds a mistake, please correct me m(_ _)m

ぼくの週末

So I'm going to have a little fun here... The first year Japanese students had a blog homework assignment to write about their weekend and I thought to myself "I still need to tell people about MY weekend," so I'll do the assignment too! （＞w＜）／

先週末はとてもいそがしくて、楽しかったです。金曜日のじゅぎょうの後に友達と一種にカラオケをしに行きました。はじめてカラオケをして、すごくたのしかったです！よく英語の歌を歌ったけど、日本語の歌を一つ歌ってみました。かしはたくさん知らない漢字があったから、とてもむずかしかったです。後でみんなはおなかがすいていたから、フードコートに晩ご飯を食べに行って、ぼくはオムライスをたべました。

土曜日も友達と出かけました。西高蔵で会って、スシローにおすしを食べに行きました。そこでおすしにして、おすしはコンベヤーベルトで来ます。とてもおもしろいけいけんでした。おなかがいっぱい時に出て、かみまえずに行って、プリクラでしゃしんをとりました。楽しかったけど、女の子の方がプリクラが好きだと思います。

プリクラでとりました！

(we took this at the photo booth(puri kura)!)

そして、土曜日もカラオケをして、日本語の歌を歌ってみました。「ぼくはくま」は日本語の一年のじゅぎょうで歌ったから、金曜日の歌よりやさしかったです。後で帰って、晩ご飯を食べて、アメリカの家族とSkypeをしました。

（ここで「ぼくはくま」を聞けますよ）

日曜日ホストの兄のむすこはうんどうかいがありました。アメリカではあまりないからおもしろいけいけんでした。楽しかったけど、ちょっとあつくてぼくはひやけしました。うんどうかいは十時ごろから二十ごろまででした。そして、四時ごろホストの兄と子供たちとRound1にあそびに行きました。Round1でたくさん楽しいことができます！たとえば、ビリアドやテニスやアーケードゲームがでます。Round1で三時間にあそんだから、ちょっとおそく帰ってつかれました。でも、楽しかったからまだ行きたいです！

ぼくの週末はいそがしいなあ。でもすごくたのしかったです！

Last weekend was really busy, but lots of fun. After class on Friday, I went with friends to do karaoke. It was my first time doing karaoke and it was tons of fun! Mostly I sang English songs, but I tried singing one song in Japanese. The lyrics had lots of kanji that I didn't know, so it was kinda hard to sing. Afterwards everyone was hungry so we went to a food court to eat dinner and I ate omelette rice.

On Saturday as well I went out with friends. We met at Nishi Takakura and went to Sushi Row to eat sushi. There you order your sushi and it comes on a conveyer belt. It was a very interesting experience. When our stomaches were full, we left, went to Kami Maezu, and took pictures in a photo booth. (I have to explain a little here... there are photo booths in Japan, which they call puri kura, that let you take pictures and then write and draw on them and add backgrounds etc. etc.) It was fun, but I think girls like this kind of thing more.

Also, on Saturday as well I did karaoke and tried singing a Japanese song. Since I had sung "Boku wa Kuma" in my first year Japanese class, I was easier than the one I tried to sing on Friday. Afterwards we all went home, I ate dinner, and Skyped with my family back in America.

(You can listen to "Boku wa Kuma" here)

My host brother's son had an athletic competition on Sunday. In America there isn't really anything similar so it was a very interesting experience. It was fun, but it was a little hot and I got sunburned. The athletic competition lasted from about 10:00 till about 2:00. Then, at about 4:00 I went with my host brother and his kids to Round1 to play. At Round1 there are lots of fun things that you can do. For example, you can play billiards, tennis, and arcade games, just to name a few. We played for three hours at Round1, so we got back a little late and I got pretty tired. But it was fun so I want to go again!

My weekend sure was busy. But it was incredibly fun!

Wow another long post! (>o<) This probably wouldn't happen if I posted more often (-__-)

......oh well

いそがしくてつかれっている

Sorry this post is going to be quick and in English. If you can't read the title, it says "busy and tired" and that pretty much sums up my life for the past week. Most of it has been fun (the typhoon wasn't exactly...) and I'm sure you are all dying to hear about it. 

I know a lot of you worried about me during the typhoon, but I am fine. It didn't hit us in Ichinomiya very hard, and class was only canceled for one day. Although, I think some other parts of Japan got hit pretty hard.

To give you a bit of an idea of what I've been doing, in the past week I've gone to karaoke twice, ate sushi, and watched Uta-kun's athletic competition (as well as many other things). I'll write again and tell you all the things I've been doing in detail when I can.

by the way, this is ikura (salmon eggs I'm pretty sure), which I ate when I went with friends to eat sushi. It was delicious! (I didn't take this picture, my camera still isn't letting me put pictures on my computer; I'm waiting for a care package from home that will have a cable to hook up my camera to my computer which should work)

Found this picture at: http://www.eatsmart.jp/do/caloriecheck/detail/param/foodCode/9999020000219/rowNum/0

じゅぎょうははじまった（pt２）

つづきましょう！

Let's continue!

So I think it would be best to translate first, then finish my story

On Monday, my classes started, but the Japanese students' classes have not yet started (they start tomorrow (which was yesterday/Friday)). Everyday I have Japanese class, but Ikebana, Shodo, translation, and Japanese Writing I meet only once a week.

Monday from 1:30 to 3:00, I have Shodo. This week we learned how to make the ink, and we learned the proper technique for writing. Then, we practiced writing, making lots of "月" (moon), and turned in the one that we thought was best at the end of class. It was lots of fun!

Tuesday from 1:30 to 3:00, I have my translation class. I lost track of time this week and was a little late for class, though. Also, the class only has eight students so it is a very small class I think. This week we just looked over the syllabus, but the class seems interesting!

Wednesday from 11:05 to 12:35, I have my Japanese Writing I class. This week we had a quiz, and the teacher told me "I think Japanese Writing II would be better for you." I will try taking Japanese Writing II, but I think it seems a little difficult. Also, after class there was a welcome party that was very fun. However, I am very tired now, so I will write more tomorrow (and translate).

パーティの前に時間がなかったから、昼ご飯を食べなくて、ちょっとおなかがすいていました。そして、パーティでおかしだけがありました。パーティで友達に会って、新しい友達になりました。留学生と日本人の学生がいたから、とても楽しかったです。グループを作って、トリビアクイズがありました。ぼくたちのグループの名前は「じゅうレンジャー」でした（グループで十人がいただから）！この次グループの中でいすとりゲームをしました。後でみんなと話したり、おかしを食べたりしました。日本人の学生はぼくのシリーバンドが大好きいでした！（＞v＜）

木曜日の三時十五分から四時四十五分まで生け花のじゅぎょうがあります。すごくおもしろかったです！あまりむずかしくないと思ったけど、じつはふくざつでした。お母さんは「生け花のはなをもって来てください」と言ったから、がんばります！

そして、じゅぎょうの前に時間があったから、ジャパンプラザに行ってみました。ジャパンプラザでみんなは日本語だけではなして、英語はだめです。ノートルダムの会話テーブルとジャパンプラザとはちょっと同じです。日本語で話すのはちょっとむずかしかったが、とてもたのしかったです！ぜひもう一度行きますよ！

金曜日日本語のじゅぎょうだけがあるから、あまりいそがしくありません。でも、今週の金曜に日本人のじゅぎょうがはじまってから、にぎやかでした。十一時ごろにちょっと休みがあったから、友達と一緒にきょうしつから日本人の学生に手をふりました。何人かぼくたちに手をふって、一人はぼくたちにしゃしんをとりました！じゅぎょうの後でもう一度ジャパンプラザにいきました。そこでジェームズと会った、「一緒に名古屋えきに行きませんか？」と聞きました。七人は名古屋えきに行きました（留学生が二人と日本人が四人とぼく）。名古屋えきで晩ご飯を食べたり、いろいろなみせでウィンドーショッピングしたりしました。九時半ぐらい帰ったから、昨日ブログを書きませんでした。でも、ぜんぶはすごくたのしかったです！

Before the party, I didn't have any time, so I didn't eat lunch and was a little hungry. And at the party they only had snacks to eat. At the party, I met with some friends and made a few new friends. There were study abroad students (like me!) and Japanese students at the party so it was a lot of fun. We formed groups and had a trivia quiz. Our group's name was "Jyu (meaning ten) Rangers" (because there were ten of us)! Next, we played musical chairs in our groups. Afterwards, everyone talked with each other and ate snacks. The Japanese students really like my Silly Bands! XD

On Thursday from 3:15 to 4:45, I have Ikebana class. It was really interesting! I had thought that it wasn't really difficult, but in fact it is very complicated. My host mom told me to bring back the flowers I use in Ikebana so I will have to work hard!

Also, before class I had some extra time, so I went to the Japan Plaza to check it out. At the Japan Plaza everyone speaks only Japanese and English is not allowed. The language table at Notre Dame (for those of you who know about it) and the Japan Plaza are fairly similar. Speaking in Japanese was a little difficult, but it was so much fun! I will definitely go again!

On Friday I only have Japanese class so I'm not very busy. But on Friday the Japanese students' classes started, so the campus was very lively. At about 11:00, we had a bit of a break so a friend and I waved from the classroom to some of the Japanese students. Some of them waved back at us and one person even took a picture! After class I went to the Japan Plaza again. There I met James and he asked if I wanted to go to Nagoya station. In all seven people went to Nagoya station (2 study abroad students, 4 Japanese students, and me). At Nagoya station, we ate dinner and window shopped at various different shops. I returned home at around 9:30 so I didn't finish this yesterday. But everything was some much fun!

（すごい！このポースとはとても長いね〜？）

(Wow! This post is really long, huh?)

じゅぎょうははじまった（pt１）

月曜日じゅぎょうははじまりましたが、日本人のじゅぎょうはまだはじまりません（明日はじまります）。毎日日本語のじゅぎょうがありますが、生け花としょどうとやくしょとJapanese Writing Iのじゅぎょうは一週間に一回あります。

月曜日の一時半から三時までしょどうがあります。今週私たちはすみを作るのをならって、いいテクニックもならいました。そしたら、書くれんしゅうをして、たくさん「月」をかいて、じゅぎょうがおわる時に一番いいと思うのをていしゅちました。とても楽しいでした！

火曜日の一時半から三時までやくしょがあります。今週時間がわすれましたから、ちょっとおそくなりました。そして、じゅぎょうに八人がいたから、このじゅぎょうはとても小さいと思います。今週シラバスを見ただけだけど、おもしろそうです！

水曜日の十一時五分から十二時三十五分までJapanese Writing Iがあります。今週クイズがあって、先生はぼくに「Japanese Writing IIをとるの方がいいと思います」と言いました。Japanese Writing IIをとってみますが、ちょっとむずかしそうだと思います。そして、じゅぎょうの後でウェルカムパーティがあって、とても楽しいでした。しかし、今とてもねむいですから、明日もう書きますよ（明日もやくします）。

So you may have noticed that the title says "pt１". This is because I am typing this right before I go to bed and therefore I am pretty tired (unfortunately, too tired to finish or translate). Tomorrow I should have time to finish and translate, but I will definitely have pt２ posted by the day after tomorrow.

(sorry if you can't read the Japanese! I will finish as soon as possible!)

BBQ

こんにちは！

昨日の昼BBQに行って、楽しいでした。BBQはお母さんの息子の家にありました。名前は「なおき」です（すみません、かんじがわからない）。そして、アメリカ人の友達（Michaelさん)も行きました。たくさんおいしい食べ物がありました。たとえば、ぶたにくや舌ややさいがありました。貝もあったけど、ぼくはたべませんでした。Michaelさんの誕生日だったから、皆はひやざけを飲みました。

ひるごはんの後で、皆ゆっくりしました。小さいプールがあったから、子供となおきさんは入りました。ぼくはみずぎがなかったから、足を入りました。Wave Boardもあって、男の人はのりました。のるのはちょっとむずかしいけど、とてもたのしいです！なおきさんがちょっとよっぱらっているけど、一番上手でした。つかれっている時家に入って、こわいばんぐみを見たけど、あまりこわくなかったと思いました。四時半ぐらい家に帰って、つかれっていました。

しらない人、これがWave Boardです。

For those who don't know, this is a Wave Board

Hello!

Yesterday afternoon, I went to a barbeque and it was lots of fun. The barbeque was at my host mom's son's house. His name is Naoki (sorry I don't know what the kanji is). Also, my American friend (Michael) came. There was lots of tasty food, such as pork, tongue, and vegetables. They also had oysters, but I didn't eat any. Since it was Michael's birthday, everyone drank some sparkling sake.

After lunch, everyone relaxed. There was a small pool so the kids and Naoki jumped in. I didn't have a swimsuit, so I just put my legs in. Naoki also had a Wave Board so all the guys tried that. Riding it was difficult, but a lot of fun! Naoki was a little drunk, but he was still the best at riding it. When we got tired of that we went inside and watched a scary TV show, although I didn't think it was very scary. Around 4:30, I went back home very tired.