this past week has been crazy!

So, to follow up on my last entry...a story from our trip to Asakusa. My sister and father and I were eating ice cream in Ueno, and I had been writing in a notebook. We left the restaurant and had traveled a few blocks when we heard someone shouting 'excuse me!!' We turned around and there was a man from the restaurant running after us. He looked at us and asked 'did you forget this?', bowed, and held out his hands. Apparently, I had forgotten my pen in the restaurant. We were shocked that he went out of his way to return something as trivial as a pen! It was an interesting insight into the Japanese way of treating customers. (The motto of workers is 'The customer is God' 客様は神様)
Today, I went with my mother to Harajuku. It was overwhelming. We're going again (yay!) and I'm looking forward to it immensely. The clothing was very good quality and surprisingly inexpensive (after hearing over and over 'Tokyo is the most expensive city in the world!!') There were people wearing clothes of all kinds. It was mind blowing to see the wide variety of fashions that people wore. It's so freaking humid here that just looking at the young people wearing long dresses and black outfits makes me ridiculously hot. I don't know how they do it. Apparently if you go on Sunday to Harajuku, it's so crowded you can't move. I'm glad we went on Saturday instead.
The next few weeks are only going to be more hectic. This coming week, I won't be going to language school, but rather taking classes at a Japanese university (Gakushuin Daigaku, if you're interested. It's where the royal family went to school) It was all pretty last minute and was just thrust upon me this past week. I'll be joining a group of 12 Korean college students who are studying Japanese at a high level, and will be taking Japanese classes with them. It promises to be an interesting experience, and I'll be sure to learn a lot. There's a lot of 'teaching through pop culture' as well as seeing the Japanese language from a Korean speakers perspective. Yes, I know I don't speak Korean, but the types of things we'll learn really appeal to me. For example, there will be comparisons of Korean-ized and Japan-ized English words. I'm looking forward to it. It's sure to be challenging and I must admit I'm a bit nervous.
The next week, I'll be doing language school as well as joining a nearby high school's badminton club. (Doesn't sound very educational, huh? It's so I can practice speaking Japanese with people my age :P Not all fun and games.) I'm sure to be busy these next few weeks, and I will try my hardest to keep you updated.
Tokyo is amazing, by the way. It astounds me every day. Everywhere you go, it's different. I'm really happy here. :)

Update~

Sorry I haven`t written in a while! Here`s a quick update of what I`ve been doing.

So, this past Saturday, I went with my host father and sister to Asakusa. We visited a famous shrine and walked through the alley of souvenir shops (tourist traps!!) There was a ridiculous amount of foreigners. I was told that while people from Tokyo don`t often visit Asakusa (despite it being an immensely interesting place), it's pretty popular with the rest of Japan. I ate sushi for the first time in Japan. It was delicious and suprisingly cheap. My sister and I both ate 1.5 person portions...After that, we visited Kappabashi. This is Tokyo's center of cooking goods. It wasn't as crowded as Asakusa, but it was fascinating. We visited shops that sold the plastic food models that you see outside of Japanese restaurants. They were crazy expensive! They all looked realistic. The fruit had small marks on them, and the drinks had water droplets on the outside.  On the back of all the models, there's a sticker that says 'not edible'. I bought a small keychain for a friend. I have to resist eating it.

I'll finish this update tomorrow! I'll try to write more.

Birthday and so forth

Yesterday, I celebrated my 17th birthday in Japan with my family. Despite having to go to school most of the day, it was still wonderful. My host family sang Happy birthday in English and we all ate cake. It was fun, and I`m very grateful to them :)
So, about my host family. They`re a fun and interesting bunch. At dinner the first night, they discusssed the many uses of the word やばい, which roughly translates to `oh crap` in English. My sister goes to an extremely strict girl`s school that doesn`t allow its students to bring strawberries of a certain size in their lunch boxes. My brother doesn`t talk with me much, but he`s studying for exams so it`s understandable. My father is at work most of the day, but thankfully is home on weekends. My mother is home almost all the time, which is nice. They have an overly excitable toy poodle who everyone is extremely fond of.
A question. In Japan, almost everyone has a washlet, a fancy electronic toilet. I`m curious if everyone actually uses them or if they`re just...there...

In Japan!

As of now, I have been in Japan for 3 days. Currently, I am typing on a computer with a very different keyboard so excuse any strange typos that I may make. I`m not sure where my camera cable is, so I won`t be posting pictures for a while.
I am currently with my host family.The adjustment isn`t nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. Actually, the most different thing is that I feel ridiculously tall here! In America, I`m considered a bit short, but in Japan I tower a couple centimetres above the majority of females. I`ve never been tall before, so it`s quite a change. I feel like Godzilla or something, not quite sure if I enjoy being tall. I`ve only seen one person staring at me. I suppose people in Tokyo are used to foreigners.
I really like the houses here! Looking around, it`s like a puzzle. It`s because of a severe lack of space, I`ve been told. It`s quite impressive, I`ll try to post a picture later.
Today is my first day of school. I`m wondering how it will turn out...
I don`t have much time, but I will write later, hopefully with pictures next time. I just wanted to do a quick update. じゃ、またね。