last day in China

I asked Mollie if she had anything to say on the blog:
Hmm, I don't know. Words are escaping me, much like my yuan.

Today is our last day in China. However, the sadness is never ending (especially in my stomach). Today we fly to Hawaii. Unfortunately we leave at 5:30 am and in Tokyo we have a 4 hour layover, gross. But then it's Hawaii and warmness and no more work (besides catching up on my journal). The paper and test for Van's class were pretty harsh without him, but I'll pass the class and it's over now. I have learned that I am a pretty damn good bargainer here in China, so take me on your next visit here.

I just found out my rooming assignment for this year. Because I am not a guy and the guys have now filled up upper campus, I was screwed. So I'm in Andreen 213, which if I remember correctly is right next door to my room from last year, but I am with Mollie and at least maybe I will be able to make freshman friends.

Beijing has been fairly laid back besides all of the homework. We went to the zoo and saw adorable pandas, but the rest of the housing for the animals made us sad. But I like Beijing and I am sad to be leaving tomorrow. I guess it's good news for all of you though... I'll be back in Illinois in less than a week.

East Asian term is almost over...

So we just arrived at our last stop in China... Beijing! Reasons I am happy to be in Beijing:

1) One step closer to the things I miss in life like cheese and cranberry juice.
2) No more long bus rides from one city to another.
3) It's the capital city of China!

Reasons I despise being in Beijing right now:

1) Tomorrow we have a test. Tuesday we have a project due. Wednesday we have a paper due. Thursday we have a final. And there will be no reviews (reference down further in the blog for this).
2) This is the LAST place we will visit in Asia.
3) I will feel strange not being with these people every day soon.

Anyway, first and most important piece of news for those who haven't heard... Van had a heart attack. He has stayed back with Ma Laoshi and his family is flying in tonight to be with him. He will not be joining us again and this means that we have lost our history teacher. We don't get little history lessons at important historic sites and we do not get a review for the exam or feedback on our papers (I turned in my rough draft to him just one day too late)... so my grade is kind of screwed. It also means we have lost our art teacher for the time being and will not get feedback on work for our art project. Overall, the situation is lousy for everyone. And pretty terrible for Van in general.

On the plus side, the most exciting thing so far in China (probably) happened today. We climbed the great wall! And I mean climbed too... we walked it, we jogged it, and we climbed it. It was pretty intense. Most of us went the way that has more of the original wall (has not been repaired for walking tourists yet) so it wasn't just strenuous stone steps the entire way. The wall is amazing though.

Also, pictures on my camera may be working from the great wall on... we'll see. I might have figured out how to avoid it deleting them on me. Of course, it is relatively late to help me much at this point.

We have done lots of great things lately like the Summer Palace in Chengde and the countryside in Yan'an, but the constant/daily bus rides have taken their toll on me. And work is catching up too quickly. I'm just hoping I'll have enough free time in Beijing. I want to go to the zoo (to see pandas... xiong mao), see some Beijing Opera, and do some shopping.

Honolulu is soon though, and I think we will all be ready to relax. I plan to sleep a lot and maybe read something good as well (no more articles about tropical soils in the guidebook). But I do not want to go home. Sorry guys.

moving through China quickly

Hey everyone! So the reasons we haven't written on this for a while is because internet is harder to come by and we have a lot less free time. Plus, just so you know, we can't see the actual blog (which means we can't read your comments) because it is a restricted site here in communist China. Anyway we're spending our day here in Yan'an right now and tomorrow we head back to Xi'an. I think all we have left is Luoyang, Chengde, and Beijing before we head off to Hawaii.

Mostly every place has been great and we got to hang out with Cori and Nick in Wuhan. Time, however, is coming to a close and I think I can speak for all of us writing on this blog (except for Mollie, because she doesn't have a class) that the rest of history will be very hectic. It is definitely a really challenging class considering the fact that we have little time to do our homework minus bus rides which make me sick anyway.

I'm kind of sad that we missed the gorgeous part of autumn since we went straight from hot summer to the end of autumn when everything is dead. And my stomach is not agreeing with all of the food here or the copious amounts of caffience, but despite all of the things to complain about here, I do love China.

China!

I'm so excited that we're in China for real now. However, most of us were able to see very little of Guilin due to the history midterm we had this morning. And it's off to Wuhan on the overnight train for us tonight. But all of the children here are adorable and stuff is cheap (one hour of internet here is 1 yuan, about 12 U.S. cents).

Hong Kong Disneyland was awesome! And I'm trying to get pictures even though my camera is broken.

Hong Kong

Thomas, this is Rachel, just so you know.

I am angry by the lack of time we have had in Hong Kong. It doesn't help that I've wasted good chunks of three days trying to figure out my group visa... and ending up spending around 200 dollars on a new one (double what Kyle had to pay for hers because I had to get mine in a day). I feel like I have not seen enough here. And today will be my "catch up" day, which will hardly work out, and tomorrow I am going to Hong Kong Disneyland (then I'll have been to all five in the world). Saturday we leave for Guilin (main land China)!

Hong Kong is an interesting place and I am not sure exactly how I feel about it. I prefer Taipei. But in terms of comparing Tokyo and Hong Kong... don't know. Hong Kong certainly has more diversity though, which is good. But I don't like the many islands of Hong Kong thing that much; the novelty of it wore off the first time we had to ride the ferry between islands... makes me sick.

I haven't really been anywhere major yet in this city and it's rather depressing. But the bakeries are awesome and stuff is cheaper and I got new glasses. Classes suck... we're all way behind and our history midterm is in less than a week (so jealous of Mollie). But besides that I think I am just ready to go to mainland China right now, because this place hasn't been that good to me, what with the visa and then my CAMERA BEING BROKEN. Yeah. I don't think I will have any of my own pictures to show anyone from this trip.

Next my wallet will be stolen and I will be kidnapped. Just fair warning for everyone.
But I'm fine now and Asia is obviously better than Illinois no matter what... so try not to feel too bad for me.

10.10 Continued...

Rach started telling the story, but basically yesterday was the coolest day ever.

We left the hostel at 7:45am and took the subway to downtown Taipei. We got to sit in the guests of honor box to watch the festivities. There were giant signs and banners that said "UN for Taiwan. Peace Forever.: Then they proceeded to have an elaborate military show, parading all of their weapons and they had a giant military flyby. It was impressive and a little scary. They had lots of performers, it was essentially the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, and we were right there!

We had lunch at TGI Friday's and then we wandered to a Peace Park nearby and watched the locals celebrating the holiday. At 3;45 we met outside the Taiwan Guest House. I have never been to something so classy! We walked up to the giant mansion on a red carpet where we were instantly offered wine. There were carving stations where you could eat roast leg of lamb or prime rib or 10-15 different tables of hors dourves! We got to see the president of Taiwan as well as the Prime minister. We also go to rub elbows with "ambassadors" from Malaysia as well as State Rep. Foster from New Hampshire. She and her husband were really nice, they found out I was as theatre major and they went out of their way to find out the name of the performing arts school here in Taiwan that they had visited and really enjoyed. Kyle and I took our picture with Miss Taiwan, too. It was unbelievable. I kept looking at Erik and saying things like "what are we doing here? who are we to be here? We're from a school that nobody's ever heard of, chatting up some of the most important people in the world, and certainly the top of the top in Taiwan." There was a lake in the backyard and Christmas lights and it was all just overwhelmingly upscale and amazing. I still can't believe it.

Today I'm going to a tea plantation and then packing and then tomorrow...Hong Kong!

10/10

Taiwan is pretty awesome. Everyone (practically) here speaks English. Today was the 10/10 celebration, which is like a celebration of Taiwan freedom from communism (ish) . The morning stuff would have been exciting if we had been able to see anything, but we couldn't. But there were huge blow up pigs (for the year of the pig), which was pretty darn cool.

Then at four pm we were invited to the party that was held by the Foreign Affairs Committee (maybe?). We thought it might be pretty lame since it was a bunch of old people and we were kind of underdressed and awkward, and since Norm said that we probably wouldn't stay the whole time, but it was actually pretty awesome! The building and "backyard" we were in was awesome and there was free food and drinks everywhere. We talked to a few random foreigners, and one woman (who spoke fluent Chinese, English, and German) told us that we were lucky, because the entertaining we had seen weren't there the last few years. We saw acrobats and dancers and there was an orchestra and it was AWESOME.

Asia is pretty great. Tomorrow is our free day, and as lame as it is, I think I'm staying in to catch up on sleep, homework, and alone time (and I don't have more money to spend here). But we leave for Hong Kong on Friday, and I'm really excited. We probably won't be posting as much in either Hong Kong or China, just F.Y.I.

Taipei is an awesome city. It's either my favorite or second favorite (next to Kyoto) place so far. But I am definitely ready to head off to China.

Taiwan is trying to kill us

Yesterday I went for dinner in the market place. There you will find several vendors with small stands cooking and selling various food items. I ate some fried chicken and it was delicious. After I ate the chicken I noticed the guy cooking it right there and was comforted at how freshly prepared the food was. That feeling quickly went away as I realized he used the same tongs to pick up the raw chicken as he did to move the cooked chicken. Afterwards we walked down the market and I was fish and chicken parts being cleaned in a giant bucket with a hose. I hope my ammunie system holds up here. As though that was not enought there is a Typhoon comming. It's a catagory 4 and in Taipei we will be getting catagory 2-3 winds and rain. After this trip I can say I have been to the biggest city, tallest building, largest country, and I have been through a Typhoon. Awsome! Also Katie and I are getting eaten alive by mosquitos...at least I hope the bites are not from spiders or bed bugs. But don't worry they are not getting in the way of having an awsome time.

P.S. The fruit here is amazing. Yesterday I had a grapefruit and honey juice drink.

Why Don't You Blog About It?

I am going to blog about it. Thanks, sociology test, for being about lots of stuff that wasn't directly from the study guide. Foreign terms should not negatively affect one's GPA. Annoyance.

Taipei so far:

We went to a night market just outside of our youth center, nothing too exciting, lots of smelly meats and cheap clothes. We are trying to practice bartering for the big game (aka mainland China). Lots of people are getting ready for 10.10 I need shoes and an outfit...but mostly shoes. There is a pair or pink glittery peep toes with my name on them.

We went to Taipei 101 on a clear day (did I write about this already? I've sent so many emails I don't know what I've said where). It was sunsetish time to the building's shadow was 10-12 blocks long. We went to the outdoor observatory which was beautiful and very windy.

We went to the Grand Hotel just "a stone's throw" away from the Center, it was truly grand. And expensive. It really has the Chinese aesthetic, which is strikingly different from that of Japan. We snooped around the upper floors, tried to steal some complimentary room soap and failed and then some people bought some jade for family members. Sorry, mom, yours is coming from the mainland.

Taiwan is very different. I miss being able to flush toilet paper or brush my teeth with running water, or cross the street without putting my life in the hands of a crazy moped. Yesterday we saw a moped with two men and a black labrador on it. Weird. But it's definitely an experience. Tonight we get to go to a Mongolian barbeque. Yuuuuummy.

Also, there's a typhoon headed in this general direction. We aren't in the eye of the storm, but there's a 100% chance of rain. Sophie bought a football so it's going to be a lot of fun playing some ball in the courtyard. Also good sports news: Taiwan is covering the playoffs, we got to see the Cubs lose yesterday morning and we are currently watching the Yankees lose.

Also, we watched all of Merlin yesterday, a miniseries starring Sam Neal (the Jurassic Park guy). Kyle and I decided we are going to rent it and watch it when we get back on campus. Get excited!

I miss everyone. I woke up this morning and forgot I wasn't in my own bed. I don't really get homesick, but today's one of the few days I wish I could just be in good old Illinois.

Goodbye Tokyo Hello Taipei

Sorry it has been so long since I have written. I didn't get to an internet cafe at all in Tokyo becasue I was so bussy trying to enjoy the area. Things I did in Tokyo...Giants baseball game, it was alot of fun, loud, and exciting plus I had my first beer at a baseball game. Kabuki theater, for only $6 I was able to sit in a seat and enjoy 1hour of traditional theater in Japan and it was awsome to watch. I also spent alot of time shopping around the different neighborhoods and admiring the Japanese fashion which is bold and made me feel constantly underdressed. I also spent alot of time hanging out with Jeff (for those of you who don't know Jeff he is a friend who did Heywire with me my freshman year and is currently teaching english in Japan). Hanging out with Jeff was so much fun becasue he was able to translate for us when we wanted to ask questions or talk with Japanese people. It was also great to go around the town with somebody who not only knew the language but the culture and history. I think I learned more in one day of hanging out with Jeff than I did in spending 2 weeks of reading about he culture in my Soc book.

Update on my knees. In Tokyo I had a rought time walking around because my arthritis had been pretty bad. Luckily Tokyo has an awsome subway system. But after 3 weeks of constant pain my teachers were able to get me a doctors appt. I learned that I pulled a muscle in the back of my knee and it was not all arthritis so thats good news. I have some ice packs and it has been feeling alot better.

So we are in Taipei Tawian now and wow what a difference in cultures. Just when I was getting used to speaking Japanese and following their ways I have to adjust to a culture that is so different. Overall Japanese people are polite, hardworking, and considerate of others. Here people are loud, pushy, and we can't drink the water ahhh! Hope the write you guys again soon and tell you all about my experiences in Tawian.

It's been a while.

Let's recap.

The first day in Tokyo I had a bad allergic reaction to something and ending in the hospital after passing out. On the plus side, I went to the "best hospital in Japan" where Shinzo Abe was getting checked out at the same time. I didn't like the fact that I couldn't communicate what was wrong for myself, but luckily Sensei was there to translate and speak on my behalf.

We went to Harajuku and to a Tokyo Giants game and to the Imperial Palace and do a Hippie district....whatever, we did a lot of cool stuff and I took a lot of cool pictures, I'll get them up here someday.

Taiwan ---

Is where we are now. The mopeds are wild here, they kind of follow their own rules. There are literally a million mopeds here. It's crazy. We went to a night market last night, it was less than eventful, but the clothes are cheap so Meghan and Kyle got cute dresses for 10.10 the national holiday coming up...I am currently on the hunt for my wardrobe.

That's pretty much it for now. There's too much to say and not enough time to say it.

Katie

Leaving Japan...

Squirly, as far as I know, yes, we all still check our Augie mail. Of course, not several times a day as we would on campus.

For all of you who were concerned, I got a new (emergency) passport, so I am covered, but it really sucked. Also, yes, that was a Japan mad-lib that Mollie and I made when we were bored.

Today is our last day in Japan and we were hoping to see a soccer game, but it was sold out, so we are going to a pub this evening to watch it on tv. But tomorrow we head out for Taiwan. I might miss Japan a little bit, but I am excited to get to China and finish our classes. We just had presentations for our big project this morning and yesterday and finals are next week! Crazy.

I feel like we have not had any free time really in Tokyo, but I will get over it. There are so many Asians! There are also quite a few white people here, so I have been doing a black person count. I do not know if I said this already, but since we have gotten to Japan I have seen only 35 black people at this point. And that includes Tokyo (and the "black" club that we went to)!

But things are generally pretty great... i.e. Asia is much better than the United States. (Although I will be so ready to not have raw fish around... but I have found an intense love for curry.) Remember, you can always e-mail me and I will check it, and respond eventually. I hope you are all very jealous and keep reading this. Next entry will be from Taiwan (most likely)!

A Post For My Mom

Hi Mommy! I tried to call you last night, but you must`ve been busy. I am doing well. I got your comments on the blog...I keep forgetting to check it/post. I know I`m bad. Anyway, we are drawing near to the end of Japan, which is very sad. I just got used to this country! All the Japanese I learned will be useless (and by all I mean the 4 words I know). I am looking forward to some non-bland food and the ability to keep my shoes on inside. I`m also hoping for no more communal showers. I`ve definitely seen enough naked Asian ladies. I hope Taiwan has a similar subway system, because I feel like I`ve mastered Tokyo`s. Well, maybe not mastered...but I can find my way around. I got my nose pierced the other day. Don`t freak out. The place was very clean and nice and safe and the guy spoke wonderful English. He was actually Italian. Anyway, it looks adorable and barely hurts. I went to a baseball game last weekend and it was so fun! The stadium was huge and full of people. It was great, because I could be a loud, obnoxious American and not feel bad about it. We met up with Jeff Noetlich last weekend and hopefully we`ll see him again tonight. I don`t know if you remember Jeff, but he was in Heywire my freshmen year and then moved to Japan. He`s been showing us around, which is great because he speaks Japanese really well. He took us out shopping past a Krispy Kreme and the line was around the corner. The wait to get in was an hour and 20 minutes. It was so funny. When they buy them, they hold the bag out in front of them to show off their doughnuts. Well, I`m running out of time at this internet cafe. I miss you a lot and I`ll try to call you again! Love you!

Kyle

'Japan'

Once　upon a　fishhead, I visited a phatty place called Japan. I never wrote this in my journal, but my initial feelings about the trip were gay, at best. However, the first time I tasted curry I knew I was in communal showers. The toilets here are gigantic! Surprisingly, pressing a button shoots a chapstick of watches at my collarbone. The first time I felt that, I cried aloud: OMG! The best parts of travel, it seems, are unexpected. Like when I visited Nara, and 713 llamas tried to bite me. I had to console myself with green-tea-flavored koala yummies.

I've practiced a few independent Japanese arts, such as origami. I folded my paper 3.1415926... times and all I made was a philosophy. I also tried calligraphy, where I drew the character 'dai', which means simply 'Jesus didn:t have any sons; he died.'

Someday I hope to return to Japan, since I never got to folick through the nostril of the 45-foot Marsha Smith. And I'm not sure I'll have enough time to climb Mt.Fuji　or see the Disneyland. It won:t be too layered, because I can always pay with my host family again! Yes, I love Japan! I just wish everything didn:t taste like chipmunk.

The best part about Japan is the sexy men. They seem to be everywhere. They are also useful to buy you bunnies at bars, which can cost up to 32.5 yen. Another way to enslave money is to know what you are eating before you electrocute it. There are lots of pigs' ears. The best bet is to buy an earthquake and hope it has lots of rice. Many of the beds are actually sumo diapers on the floor, which are actually more balding than the beds. And the pillows are full of George W. Bush. No matter what make sure you have the time to wash your laundry in the xylophone. Use your armpit to judo-chop your clothes. And always give them at least 9.5 billion hours to dry.


-Rachel and Mollie

Tokyo

We just got to Tokyo on Wednesday, but we have not had an opportunity to see much yet. We just had midterms. Sociology went well; economics I am not so sure about. Disneyland Tokyo is happening tomorrow and I am really excited. There are 16 of us I think and it costs like 58 dollars. I do not think I can do Hong Kong Disney though... no free days.
Plus Sumo tickets were sold out, which is kind of sad.

It is so hot here still and I have a lot of bug bites. More communal showers at this youth center! But these ones are cool with like 25 shower head and a huge hot tub thing. Today we started out Neighborhood Tokyo assignments, so I got to go explore Sugamon with people in my group. Last night we found some cool places and we will have more time to explore lately.

I lost my passport, which sucks, but I have like no time left, so I have to head out.

Matsuyama

Sorry none of us have written in so long we have had limited computure and phone access while in Matsuyama Japan. It is not a real torrist town. Anyway I wanted to tell you about the famous hot springs here that Molly and I braved. It is basically a big, communial, naked hot tub. I thought it would be relaxing but I think I just ended up with heat stroke because the water was so hot. For 300 yen, about 3 dollars, you go into a room, get undressed, take a shower, and sit in a big hot tub with a bunch or other naked Japanese women. Then you shower again and leave. I think I lost 3lbs of sweat in the heat. But the experience was not as uncomfortable as you may think. May the intorduction to Asian term should have been (Turn to the person to your left...chances are you will see them naked at some point in this trip) Hehe.

Well the next day we had class and then got to watch a tea ceremony. It was interesting and I felt obligated to eat a very gross bean cake. Katie failed to eat the bean cake and the lady asked her if it was too sweat for her. We did not have the heart to tell her it was gross. Later that evening was the best time however. We met up with University students and they took us to dinner. Kyle, Katie, Sara, myself and two other students went with Yoki and Awa to an awsome restaurant! As we walked in the restuart there was a beautiful saltwater stream with live fish. They ordered a bunch of small traditional Japanese dishes for us all to share. And they tasted so good. One of the dishes was fresh raw fish. Allow me to elaborate on what I mean by fresh. As we sat there looking at the plate we noticed the tail on the fish moving. We all thought it was the vent blowing. No, the fish had just been killed and was still twitching on the plate while its insides were being consumed by the table member. Dont worry I have video to prove it. The fish we saw when we walked in we were now eating. Awwww. Afterwards we went on a ferris wheel. I am out of time but we leave for Tokyo tomorrow so Im sure we can write then. Love you all. Collette write me an e-mail I want to here how Paxton is doing.

Mollie and Rachel in the Haunted Hotel

We're in Hiroshima. It's pretty great. I slept for like 4 hours today, so did Mollie. Now we're using Rodolfo's computer because it's free. Yay!

Japan is great. You should all be jealous. There are ghosts in Mollie's room though. Sarah is making fun of us because we didn't go to this really cool place today. Mollie has a virus and I'm in a lot of pain, so we have excuses. We have been traveling a lot lately, so we're all exhausted, but now we can get naked in private, which is nice. We eat a lot of ice cream here and walk a TON. But Japan is much better than Augustana (i.e. why we're completely avoiding our homework right now).

Sheila, if you're reading this, I only have like 5 minutes left on my phone card, just so you know. So you may only get a call at O'Hare. Sorry I called when you were in Kentucky.

Homestay

My homestay was awsome. I stayed with an 18 year old girl named Shizuka in her apartment in Kyoto Japan. She is in her freshman year at Kyoto University. It was a blast! After playing some goofy intorduction games in a different language we went to her apartment and looked at some pictures of my family and hers. It was funny becasue she basically compared everyone to an American movie star. Collette she thinks you have Linsey Lohan cheeks. And Paxton is Kawahi (so cute). Afterwards we went shopping with her friend Mika. Mika spoke a bit more fluent english. I think Shizuka spoke good English but was more embarassed to do so. Then we stayed up till 2am watching TV, doing face masks, and talking. It was like a big slumber party. The most interesting conversation we had was when I asked them about what they want to do after University. They looked confused and told me they do not choose their jobs somebody else does for them. Both Mika and Shizuka want to marry a foreign man and live in a different country. It really gives you a whole new respect for what it means to be free in America. The next day we visted some temples and it was so much fun to go out in Kyoto with people who could at least somewhat understand what you were saying. On Saturday night Shizuka made and awsome dinner. It was pork and rice but it was so flavorfull. I also showed her and her friends some Heywire videos online. They loved them! It was hard for me to explain Improv comedy but the videos helped becasue none of them have speaking so they are universally funny. So thanks Nate for putting those up on u-tube. You now have an Asian fan club. It was hard saying goodbye but I really hope they get the opportunity to come to America and visit me I would love to show them around.

Today we went to some more temples and saw a 46ft tall Buddah, some sacred deer bit my pants, and we also saw the largest wooden building in the world that housed the great Buddah. We leave for Hiroshima tomorrow and will be in Tokyo in 4 days. Love you all and its so great to hear your comments. I will call again from Tokyo

we went to a karaoke room

it was awesome.


the end.

It's Zero O clock in Kyoto

It's midnight. In Japan, that's zero o clock. Why am I up so late when the hostel curfew is 103opm *or 2230 in 24 hour time?? Because we went out tonight and showed up at the hostel 5 minutes after closing, so we flagged some kid from our group who was looking out a window. He ever so rudely closed the blinds on us, so we called Sensei...and here I am.

Adding on to Mollie's homestay stories. Jessie and I had a GREAT time in Osaka. We ate takoyaki (a pancake puff filled with onions and octopus) which was a lot more delicious than it sounds, we had sushi platters and elaborate breakfasts. We went to Hippo club meetings where we had a Japanese potluck and we got to try on kimonos, I would post the picture here, but with all the signs in Japanese, I am not sure how to do this. When I get a hold of Rudys camera, I will try.

On our first afternoon with the family, we went to a buddist temple where we got to learn how to ring the giant bell/gong and pray and we got our fortunes. I received the luckiest fortune you can get. Agi-Chan (my host) told me to keep it. It says I will be the boss of something someday. From the temple, which is up on the mountain, we had the most amazing view of all of Osaka, the mountains, and the Pacific Ocean. It is literally the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life.

This afternoon, Agi-Chan and Kyles host family took us to Padios Kyoto which is a still-in-use period Japanese movie set, so a little like Universal Studios. Two words -- Ninja show. It was awesome. Kyle got a ninja gift from the evil ninja. They gave Kyle and Jessie maps and brochures in English, they gave me the Japanese one. SIGH.

It is absolutely pouring outside, which is scary, but nice since it has been sooooo hot here on our stay. I think it is funny that it is so hot here and everyone sweats a lot, but their beverage glasses are so small and they look at you funny if you ask for a refill. How is a girl supposed to stay hydrated??

Everything has been really really great so far. I've seen so much is so little time. We will have pictures soon. I promise!

Homestaylicious

Konnichiwa^

I finally broke down and decided I needed to check my e-mail, but I happened to pick the computer that does not let anyone email for some reason... I don:t know if this post will show up either, but oh well, I am going to get some sort of money,s worth. I don:t even have time to find the apostrophe key\1!!!!!
We just got back today from our homestay. I was with Beth George and we also met up with another two girls: homestay family for some group activities. It was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! I was with a family of four; most of the time was spent with Yayo, the 18 year old girl. She is a hip-hop dancing piano-playing Spanish major. We did a lot of sightseeing, some calligraphy and origami, and ate some excellent food. When I got the initial information sheet about my hostfamily, everyone was amazed and jealous at the appearance of Yayo:s brother, who is both hot and fifteen years old. Odd, I know. Most people in Japan are good-looking. They can even pull of the mullet. And boy, do they ever! I feel so BLEhadlh.
Yeah. I:m really bummed, I wanted to check my e-mail. And now I have to go back to homework...

Today we visited Toyota City. It was pretty neat to see all the cars being made and tested and even more amaizing to know that robots do 93% of the work. We also got to see some new futuristic cars and alot of hybrids. We even got to see a robot play the trumpet (I know thats not really car related but Toyota made a whole band of robots) Anyway I think my best part of the day was the ride back to the youth hostel from the Toyota plant. We had a 3 hour bus ride through the mountains and the veiw was amazing! You really know you are in a different country when you look out the bus window and you see miles of rice patties with a tiny town in the background and towering mountains in the distance. The mountains out here are huge rolling mountains covered in japanese pines and various other trees I have never seen before. But just when I thought they view couldn`t get any better the sun began to set and the whole picture was glazed in orange. The tiny houses on the outskirts of the rice patties had their lights on creating dots of lights in the distance. The sky was so clear you could see the clouds hovering on the tops of the mountains. I have to describe this because no pictue I took could do it justice. It was absolutly breath taking! Then Sara had her i-pod and decided to play Death Cab Transendentelisim (I can`t spell sorry). So basically I felt like I was watching a movie. It was awsome!

Well tomorrow after class we get to go meet our home stay families. We already got sheets describing themselves. My family is a mom, dad, 18 yr old daughter, 16 and 10yr old sons. But it sounds like the 18yr old daughter is the one in charge of me because she filled out the sheet and said she would be showing me around. Most of us our staying by ourselves with our families because they have so many host families. I am a little nervous because she mentioned she does not speak much english but I think it should be fun none the less. We will let you know how it goes when we return from our weekend home stays.

McDonalds

Mollie and I visited McDonalds today for Economics class. It was pretty exciting mostly because it looked like a cafe and the bathrooms did NOT have any holes in the floor. But in Japan there have been buttons either on or by the toilets, and this time we decided to try them out. Basically we thought it was going to wash our butt, but... it sent a very warm jet of water right at our buttholes. Awkward. I guess it is to clean you off... it took us a while to figure out how to get it to stop.

Also, we forgot to tell you that every morning we are woken up at 6:40 by a Japanese woman`s voice on a loudspeaker in the hall that talks for about 5 minutes. About what? We do not know.

Mollie has lopsided braids today. She is hoping to start a fashion trend that is less painful than the ones she has seen on the streets- lots of very high and uncomfortable heels.

It is slightly difficult to order food here and it has been very hot and we have been exhausted (by like 8 at night) and our classroom does NOT fit 80 people (let alone like 60), but I have been rewarded by LOTS of cute Japanese children... like the boy in McDonalds today who had squeaky shoes and kept smiling at us.

Hello　everybody, I am trying to upload photos but despite being able to type in english everything on the screen is in Japanese so I just click buttons to see if it works. I will work on that. Anyway we are having a blast here. Green tea icecream is great and so is crab! I have 1 min left love you guys!

Adventures in Kyoto

First real day in Japan! It has been an interesting experience thus far...hole in the floor toilets, communal squatting showers, etc. I am really glad that they had all those seminars last spring to give us a bunch of information that did not prepare us at all for the actual experiences. I did not realize that when they said `you will get to know these 80 students` it really meant `you will see these people naked when you have to shower with them`. So, that is a little awkward, but we are coping with it well (mostly by taking showers in groups of 4 with people you know). Today we went out into Kyoto to do some sightseeing. We went to a couple temples and shrines. Being the intelligent students we are, Katie and I decided to break off from the group to do our own exploring...which got us completely lost in a foreign place where no one speaks English. Well done us! We ended up hailing a taxi and getting back to the youth hostel with little problem. All of us went to eat at a wonderful Japanese restaurant for lunch. Even though the restaurant had an `English menu` we still just pointed at what we wanted. We ended up with things like `one boiling crab`. We are all safe and well and missing everyone at home. That is all for now.

Rachel and Kyle

Well, with pretty much one day to go until we leave, I thought I'd leave some thoughts while I not so patiently wait for my laundry to be finished so I can finish packing.

Thought #1 -- Everything is actually going to fit in my suitcase.
This is good. I have a decent amount of clothing (though this clothing is painfully mundane), an overabundance of under-wears (Lt. Dan always said that the socks were the most important gear), and enough medications/health supplies to make Wal-Mart think I'm starting a meth lab. But it all fits. I even managed to have room for my flat iron and I have 12 pounds to spare for even the tightest weight requirements.

Thought #2 -- I am going to get very, very lost.
Marsha posted a restaurant guide/map of Toyota City. The good news is that it's in English...the bad news is that I can't read a map of Chicago, let alone a map of an unfamiliar city in a foreign country. It might as well be in Japanese.

Thought #3 -- I wish I could read Japanese.
You know, so I could figure out how to read local maps, but more importantly I was looking into buying tickets for the Paramore show in Tokyo while we are there. Sadly, the only way to purchase them in advance is through eplus. eplus is in Japanese and I couldn't figure out how to make it work. If that show gets sold out and I don't get to go, I'm going to be all kinds of pissed off.

Thought #4 -- We're leaving in 36 hours.
WE'RE LEAVING IN THIRTY-SIX HOURS!

Asia, here we come!

Just four days left and we'll be driving to O'Hare and then flying to Tokyo. I am excited but I haven't really packed at all or done homework or gotten ready in the slightest.