EARTHQUAKE

Today is the day that we were finally supposed to meet our host families! So there we were, at the train station, waiting to go our separate ways, and suddenly the six of us heading to Sendai were told that there had been a big earthquake in Sendai and all the trains were down. An Earthquake! So we waited, and waited, and gradually everyone else left to catch their trains. The YFU coordinators were trying to figure out if we would be able to take a later train or if we would have to spend another night in Tokyo. After hours of hanging out at Starbucks, we were finally told that we would be spending the night at the Hotel Universe. Trying to navigate my hundred pounds of luggage through the Tokyo subway station was definitely an adventure. We finally made it to the small hotel, and immediately turned on the TV. The earthquake was just north of Sendai in the northern prefecture of Iwate. Apparently there was no serious damage to Sendai. We'll see tomorrow though.

News Report

Edo-Tokyo Museum

The next stop was the Edo-Tokyo Museum. At first I was terrified that it was going to be another tourist-like stop, where we would all have to follow a designated leader and hurry through the museum in order to make it back to the bus on time, but then our YFU rep told us that they had lunch for us, and we could do whatever we wanted as long as we were back on the bus by 2:00.
We ate our Obento lunches under funny little glass domes outside the museum. When we entered the museum and handed the lady our tickets, someone mentioned "This better not be some boring museum." They were wrong, so wrong. We entered and it was a huge two story darkened room with life-sized replicas of ancient buildings, miniatures of entire villages, and hundreds of colorful kimonos hanging high up above. We had so much fun exploring everything.
There were tons of elementary school groups who were extremely giggly they tried to gather up the courage to come and talk to us. A large group of young girls finally surrounded me completely and just kept exclaiming "Puriti! Kawaii! Kirei!" We had to leave way too soon. The escalator on the way out was pretty awesome though.

Imperial Palace

After our visit to the embassy, we were transported to the Imperial Palace. It was the exact definition of a stop on a tour. Air conditioned buses, a hundred students file out at the site of interest, pictures are snapped, and then everyone is rushed back onto the bus for the next stop. Although the Palace itself was extraordinary, the whole "tourist stop" thing kind of got on my nerves.

Embassy of the United States of America

This morning we woke up and came downstairs to a huge buffet breakfast. It was so good. The coconut and almond jellos were amazing. After breakfast we all gathered in the main lobby to prepare to depart for the U.S. Embassy. It is because of them that we are all able to come here on scholarships.
At the Embassy, we sat down for a very formal meeting with the US Foreign Service Diplomats. It went on for quite a long time, but it was really empowering to speak with people who started out where we are now, and to see where they have been able to go.

TOKYO!!!

So a group of friends and I politely went and asked one of the YFU representative if we were allowed to leave the hotel at all. "Well... official rules say no, but I can say YES. Just don't stay out the entire night." Woohoo! We walked up down the streets, checking out every convenience store and department store imaginable. It feels so great to be back in this country.

Department stores that sell Everything.

Tokyo city street

Vending machines seriously are on EVERY corner. I thought I knew this, and yet was still amazed by how they can be found even in the middle of a dead-end rickety little alleyway.

Grand Prince Hotel - Part II

Wednesday morning we finally made our way back to the San Francisco Airport. Checking in 100 students takes forever. The YFU coordinators ended up flying us out on two separate flights. The plane was awesome, and huge, and lots of fun except for the fact that it was ten hours long. There were cheers and shouts when we touched down at Narita Airport. After the hour-long bus ride from the Airport, we were checked in to the Grand Prince Hotel. This place is amazing. They couldn't have found a fancier hotel for us. Being Japan, the bathrooms are probably the first thing that come to mind as far as descriptions. We have the infamous Japanese toilet with a million buttons, sound affects, and heated seats; our bathroom was stocked with every little travel-sized toiletrie imaginable; and then there's our mirror. It gave me such a fright the first time I got out of the shower. The entire mirror was completely fogged up, as it always is after my showers, except for one perfect rectangular area which was still completely dry and crystal clear. How do the Japanese manage to think of every ridiculous little convenience possible?

Orientation In California

Yes, I'm backtracking, but I just thought I'd fill in the blanks for a minute. Sunday morning I flew out to San Francisco airport. Once there, the group of us from YFU were met by the YFU staff and transported to San Jose University. Orientation was tons of fun. I got to meet students going to Japan from all over the country and made some really good friends. The orientation staff had us scheduled from 7:00 AM to 10:30 PM every day. On the day we arrived, the first item on our schedule was "dinner with kumi." Everyone was asking "Who is Kumi?" We were coming up with some pretty far-fetched ideas: the all-mighty headmaster of YFU, some dictator sent over from Japan... No one thought to look it up in a Japanese Dictionary. "Kumi" ended up being the word for the smaller groups that we were broken into, that we would have all of our classes with. The first thing we did in "Green Kumi" was establish where everyone was from.


That's me, all alone, out in the middle of the mid-west. Awesome.

Green Kumi!!! - There were eleven of us exchange student, our teacher Pato (front row far right) and our alumni assistant (front row center).

On the last night we learned traditional Japanese Bon Dancing, and then had to make up our own dances within our Kumis. It was pretty funny. There was some ridiculous stuff. Green Kumi won third place! LOL

Grand Prince Hotel Tokyo

Hey everyone!
After a three day orientation in California and a 10 hour plane ride to over seas, I am in Tokyo!!!!! This hotel is incredible and I have TONS of updates. I will write back later once everyone else has had a chance to use the computer lab here.

Farewell Colorado

It's happening. I'm actually leaving in ten hours! I still can't believe it. Two months in Japan!!! It's so strange to think that I won't see this country again until the end of July, that I won't hear fluent English again for seven weeks, that I'll be living out of a suitcase for my entire summer break... It's going to be amazing!

Tonight my mom, sister, and I went out to a fancy restaurant for a Bon Voyage/ Happy 17th Birthday. My last dinner in Colorado.
I even got a giant heart-shaped block of solid sugar.


Good-bye everyone, and I hope that you all have a fantabulous summer. See you all in two months!