Time to meet the Host Family!

Today...I went into the wild. Just kidding. But things did get a lot more real! But not before a last little bit of spoiled living! Marina and I used our vouchers to eat at the super nice breakfast buffet (usually costing 2,200 円, or about $30) at the hotel.

A variety of tsukemono in the front row, tamago yaki, packages of natto, and sweet potatoes in the back. 

Although there was the usual bacon and eggs business (though the eggs looked a LOT better than they do in America), I went the more Japanese route!

I got a hot bowl of RICE with various tsukemono and tsukudani, sakana, umeboshi, nori, and....

a baby package of NATTO! 

It was probably the most Japanese bowl of rice you could possibly make...and it was GOOD.

Right after breakfast, all the PII members brought all our luggage down to get all our information and rules, and more importantly, to meet our families for the next two months!

We were all really nervous as they lined us up against a wall, laying down the rules in Japanese, then taking us one by one to meet our hosts. I don't remember being that nervous in a while! Breaking away from my friends and into the world of "No English speaking allowed" was pretty darn scary! Luckily, when I turned the corner to see my family for the first time, I was faced with...

haha. Intimidating bunch, eh?

This is Haruki. He's five and a pretty cool dude. He is probably one of the most tame, well-behaved little boys I have ever met!

Kaho on the other hand...well, she's a two year old ball of spunk and curiosity, all wrapped up with an extra shot of energy! 

After buying my bus card to get me to school for the next couple months, we went to a Chinese restaurant for lunch at...

What a name, right? Dining Resort. Oh dang. That's serious eating. 

Haruki chose this place because he specifically requested ramen. I don't think I've ever met a five-year old who turned down pizza and ice cream for ramen. I told you he was pretty cool...

 I got a lunch set with seafood and vegetables over rice, and a small shio ramen for 980 円 (about $13). 

After lunch, I went to my home for the first time! I was really impressed how spacious and new it was!

The definition of あかるい。

(For Japanese 101/102 peeps: Suzuki-san would be very impressed after her intrusion upon you). 

Here is my room! It's on the second floor and has a lot of light coming through from the windows! 

いいですね！

After settling in and talking through the rules and logistics, we went on a quick walk to show me how to get to the bus stop. 

A few meters away from home

 He really wanted to ride his bike!

The park right down the street

A little tea time for Kaho... 

and some play time before dinner!

 Sukiyaki! 

tai sashimi and gohan with sansho chirimen jako. yums. 

After dinner, we took a short visit to the Kenrokuen Gardens to see the special "light up" event from June 1-3, in which the garden is all lit up for night time viewing. 

Here is a video of a beautiful flute performance on the water...

Although I am returning to Kenrokuen tomorrow with PII, I am happy I got to see it at night! I think it will look completely different during the daytime!

As we were walking back to the car, we passed through the gardens of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art. 

I think it's amazing that this ultra modern space exists right across the street from the traditional atmosphere of Kenrokuen Gardens and the Kanazawa Castle!

Alrighty! First day of school tomorrow! I hope I get there on time, but I guess we'll have to wait and see...

Day 2: I've arrived in Kanazawa!

I woke up to see another day! Success! Aidan, Marina, and I gathered in the lobby to take the 7:30 am bus back to Narita airport. I am still amazed at how pleasant the airport is (peaceful and clean, with super helpful and kind staff!) compared to airports in America. In fact, check-in, security, and all the airport calls of duty were so efficient that we ended up waiting around for a couple hours! So while we waited, I had some breakfast! Wooo!!! On the menu: 

Aloe flavored yogurt! With little pieces of Aloe jelly!

Aroma Revolut iced coffee...I chuckled at the name. Lolz.
I mainly just bought it for the Inspector Gadget-like action figure! I thought it was pretty かっこいい！

After amusing myself with the packaging and finding some more students participating in Princeton in Ishikawa, we boarded a little plane to fly to Kanazawa!

 Pretty much everything has its own cute little mascot...like this little Ibex airlines Ibex (mountain goat animal thing)!

 The view throughout the flight was constantly changing;
We flew over green fields of rice paddies, mountains, and the  ocean!

See! ANA Airlines has Pokemon as their mascot!
とても　かわいい　ですね!

Thought the flight was only about an hour, they still passed out these candies and cute little cups of Apple Juice!

Ten minutes after we landed, the bus to Kanazawa Station promptly took us on a 40 minute bus ride to the えき, which is located right next to our hotel!

 We made it to our final destination!!! Yayyy! 

I was pretty excited (or maybe that was my Aroma Revolut...)

 The hotel is super nice! PII does it fancy, huh?

 It just so happened that there was a parade (百万ごく　おまつり）happening right outside the hotel!

In the afternoon, we also ate lunch and walked around the Kanazawa Station.

 For lunch, we ate at a ようしょく　style restaurant. I got the えび　フライ　donburi set. 

nom nom nom. Lots of nom. 

And a lot of really pretty things to look at EVERYWHERE!!

Just in time for the grand slicing of the giant maguro tuna!!! 

We continued to look around the Kanazawa Hyakubangai shopping area of the station in the afternoon, then returned to the hotel to rest up. Aidan, Marina, and I then met up again in the lobby, and walked to dinner at the station. 

The glass dome above me, called the "Motenashi Dome" is right at the entrance of the Kanazawa Station. もてなし　means "welcoming" or "entertainment," so it is supposed to express the hospitality of the people in Kanazawa and good treatment of their guests. I hope this is true! 

For dinner, we ate on the third floor of the Kanazawa Hyakubangai at a soba restaurant.

I loved how cozy and traditional it looked inside...but we kind of stood out like sore thumbs. I didn't help that I was going at it pretty hard with the photos....

いただきます！

(Aidan was already going for it...)

I got the Yasai cold soba. It came with mochi dango and...

a little nub of wasabi root to grate ourselves! I thought it was pretty darn cool!

As Aidan said, "The best foods are roots...". Uh, what?!

Wow. Long day. So excited (and nervous) to meet my host family tomorrow! 

It's going to get REAL. haha

Japan! Take off!

Wow! It's been quite a week! So, after finishing finals, packing up all my stuff, and saying goodbye to my friends and freshman year at Princeton, I flew back home to Los Angeles for a brief stop to visit my family and friends. Although I only had five full days at home, I realized that life at Princeton made me forget how to do nothing! I actually got quite restless relaxing at home without being constantly on the move.
Luckily, I did not have to adjust too much, as I left May 31st at 12:45 pm (yesterday? today? I don't even know...) to fly from LAX to Tokyo's Narita airport. I thought the flight was going to be a painfully long journey, at 12 hours, but I actually had a great time! In fact, the flight flew by so quickly that I could have even used a bit more time!

This Japanese version of the Delta Sky magazine made everything seem so real;

 it finally hit me that I was going to Japan!

I also impressed myself by watching a total of 6 (yep 6!) movies: The Descendants, Restless, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Rango, Winnie the Pooh, and Tarzan. Clearly, the heavier dramas at the beginning dampened the mood a bit, so I had to cheer myself up with some good ol' Disney! Twelve hours later, I landed in Tokyo at 4:30 pm on June 1st.

It's amazing how much nicer Narita Airport is compared to LAX. Everything is so clean! And the workers actually want to help you! Whoa...There were also really cool vending machines.

I'm sure there will be more pictures of vending machines to come, since I am just so infatuated by the variety and colors! Japanese packaging is the greatest! Just look at the tea drink that I bought!

からだ　means "body" and 巡りmeans something like "going around" or "tour", but I'm pretty sure this was just trying to be all healthy and what not. I just liked how it looked! The fine print was also pretty funny...

I don't know what my Beauty Feeling is, but I'll take it!

After sailing through customs, baggage claim, and all that other stuff, I took a free bus to the Narita Tobu Hotel a few minutes from the airport. Aidan MacDonough, Marina Kaneko, and I are going to spend one night here, then go back to Narita to fly to Kanazawa tomorrow morning. Once I settled in, we all met up to get dinner from the gift shop/コンビニ　on the first floor. I was so intrigued by all the different Japanese 物, but I finally decided upon a package of cold noodles for 398 円　(about $5). 

7-11 and the Wawa are great and all...but get on this level right here! Some good stuff! 

Marina got カレーライス　and Aidan got some cold そば　noodles. We brought up our food to Aidan's room and shared our first official meal in Japan together! 

If you couldn't tell...わくわくする！

Already off to a great start! Here's to 9 weeks! Can't wait to see what's in store... 

Frist Fest!

ただ　(の　 もの)　= free (stuff)!
わたあめ　= cotton candy
おさる　= monkey

 たくさん　ただ　の　飲みもの

たのしい　ゲーム

K-ポプス

ゆうべ、プリンストン　学生　グループ　が　ディナー　ショー　を　ホスト　しました。そこで、たくさん　おいしい　かん国　りょうり　が　ありました、たとえば　キムチ　と　やきにく。食事　の　後、ショー　が　ありました。私は　ショー　に　ダンス　を　しました。五人　の　学生と　いしょに　K-ポプス　の　おんがく　に　ヒップ　ホップ　を　しました！今まで、K-ポプス　の　おんがく　は　聞いたことがありませんでした　けど、K-ポプス　の　おんがく が　好きになりました！学生　たち　は　私の　グループ　を　一番きにった　ので、五十　ドル　を　かちました！すごく　たのしかったです！

おいしかったですよ！

私のグループ