Vanilla Lotion

Apparently vanilla scented lotion does not exist here. I pulled out a bottle of it after school today (thank-you again Jacenta ;) ), and I was suddenly surrounded by a group of girls exclaiming how good I smelled. Only a bit awkward. I pulled the lotion back out and passed it around and they were all practically swooning they were so excited. Seriously, I've never seen anything like it; you'd think I was handing them each a million dollars. They all started bursting into hysterics over all of the boys they'd be able to attract - too bad there aren't actually any boys at our school. Then the entire rest of the day, down every hallway I went, there were hands waving in front of noses and more fits of swooning. It was the funniest thing ever.

Picture of Sendai Shirayuri Gakuen

It's a picture of my school! High schools in Japan are very different from high schools in America. You don't just get sent to the nearest one (except for exchange students), but rather you select the ones you'd like to go to, and then take really difficult entrance examinations to actually get in - sort of like our colleges I guess. Because of this, very few students actually live in the area. One of my friends actually takes the train from another prefecture everyday. She travels two hours each way, every single day.

Another Music Story

Wednesday is the day that I have music classes three periods in a row. First, two periods of "music," then a period of "religious music." For "music" class, the sensei had given me two pieces to work on, which I did, and then I was to play them this past Wednesday in class. That was a disaster. My fingers decided that they didn't actually know how to play and would not move. The first piece was for the entire choir, which was fine, because at least they could drown out my playing. After that, the sensei told me that she had set aside the class time for me to give the class a performance. hahaha. No one had told me anything about that. I sat down and played Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu for the millionth time since I've arrived here, no problem. Then they wanted an encore! I was terrified. I tried my best to play Gershwin's Prelude No. 1 even though its been eons since I last played it. I guess it didn't go too terribly because they wanted ANOTHER encore. I had been afraid to play them Prokofiev's Diabolic Suggestion, because it tends to sound like a cat running across a piano and not many people can appreciate that it actually is an incredibly difficult piece. I finally decided to play it though, figuring that if they did think I was only banging on various keys, they at least wouldn't ask for another encore (my repitore of memorized pieces sadly ends here). When I finished I was amazed to find that they actually were impressed, and so gave a quick bow and ran back to my seat before they could ask for another song. A little while later though, the sensei asked me to come up and play the other piece she had asked me to prepare. Apparently this was her turn to preform and she would be singing a solo. She set the music in front of me and it was the same song she had given me two weeks previous, but the key had magically changed from F major, to D major. I guess it's a good thing that I was so terrified, because otherwise I would have died of laughter. The situation was exactly like a joke that my cello teacher used to tell.

My Host Family

I've been here nearly a month and I just realized that I haven't written much about my host family. They have been amazing and I do not know I will ever be able to say goodbye to them in three weeks.

Host Mom - My host mother is definitely the person with whom I have been the closest since I got here. She has done so much with me, and has shown me all over Sendai, and has been incredibly generous in teaching and showing me all that she can about Japan. In return, she has asked everything she can think of about America. It seems like everything we come across, she asks "In America, is similar?"
Every day after school she has afternoon tea waiting for me when I get home. During this time we talk about school, she teaches me some Japanese, and I teach her some English. I am amazed at what a determined learner she is! She has improved at English so much more then I ever could have imagined possible. It's amazing.

Host Dad - I haven't had much time to spend with my host dad
as he works at the clinic all week long. The weekends we have had together though have been great. He's shown me lots around Miyagi (the area of Japan or "prefecture" that Sendai is in.) Even though his English is very limited, he likes telling me about random things such as the history of this bridge, or the origins of that festival. When he's not around he occasionally leaves small gifts, such as my favorite green-tea ice-cream, or episodes of kids' Japanese shows for me to watch.

Midori - I'm beginning to think that my host sister, Midori, is the Japanese carbon copy of myself. We share many of the same likes and interests; she also plays the piano, our fashion sense is frightfully similar (her friends teased her the other day when she introduced me because we were wearing practically the same skirt and leggings,) and she studies NON-STOP. The other day I walked past her room after she had been studying for several hours, and saw that she'd fallen asleep at her desk. It's amazing how dedicated Japanese students are.
In just a few weeks, Midori leaves to study abroad in America for an entire year. When she's not studying, she asks me everything there is to know about American high school. She had a lot of fun looking through my yearbook from this past year, and now is all excited for Prom (they don't have proms here.) Also, we watched "High School Musical" the other night, which made her even more excited for life in America. I felt really guilty trying to explain to her that it wasn't a very good representation of American high schools.

Ojichan and Obachan - As I mentioned before, my host grandparents (my host dad's parents) live directly next door, and join us for dinner every night. The grandma doesn't speak any English, but still enjoys talking to me in Japanese whether I understand her or not, and has the most adorable laugh. The grandpa does speak English, and he is so sweet! He is easily impressed by everything, such as my piano playing, my poor Japanese skills, and the fact that I can read and write in Japanese characters. He is also very interesting to talk to. He tells me a lot about the history of Japan, and frequently mentions how sad he will be when I leave.

Sweet Irony

Japanese sweets are the best, mainly because they are not as disgustingly sweet and loaded with sugar as American sweets, and they are a million times more delicious.

Still, I've been eating way too much, and in a hopeless attempt to cut back a bit, I started giving the sweets that my host-mom packs with my lunch to my classmates. At first it was great; they were super appreciative, and couldn't thank me enough (even if it was nothing more then one of those little chocolate filled koala cookies).


Then it backfired on me.


The Japanese are extremely fond of giving gifts, and never pass up an opportunity to do so. Now I am suddenly bombarded by a parade of sweets from my classmates everyday. Not just little things either. Apparently one little koala cookie = an entire box of Elise Wafers in return. I'm going to have enough Japanese confectionery to last me a year by the time I go home. So much for trying to have less of it. lol

Gym

Gym class here is so much fun. Haha. I never thought I'd actually say that. But it's so random that you can't help but love it. Unlike in America where we have separate classes for different sports, here we have a standard "gym" class where you never know what you'll be doing. So far we've had relays, tennis, badminton, volleyball, and gymnastics. Volleyball is terrible; I've become an expert at running away from the ball when it's heading for me. Gymnastics is amazing though! I'm having so much fun! I haven't done gymnastics of any sort since I was about five, and yet I can actually do somersaults backwards and forwards, and the sensei actually applauded me, which was pretty cool considering I was surrounded by Japanese girls, all of whom are beyond tiny and on the verge of being contortionists. Okay, run-on sentence is over. Obviously I've been speaking one- and two-word sentences for too long.