So if you were wondering why I haven’t posted in a long time, it wasn’t because I died in a gutter. That would make an interesting post though, as it would be written by an undead Marcy. It just happens that my host home doesn’t have Wi-Fi.

My first week was spent trying to memorize the way home, its super complicated. Not only are the streets confusing but the station that I change trains at is one of the bigger ones in Osaka. Last Friday was my mini test where I guided my sister home. I forgot the very last turn coming home!

Today, Monday September 3rd, was my first time in Nara. It wasn’t exactly as I expected. I had taken the wrong train home. My first time going home by myself and I mess up on the first step. 🙁 But, I’m quite proud of myself. Even though I wound up in a whole other city I was able to make it back home no problem, I didn’t even ask for help.

I sleep soo much more than in Sac. At the end of the day I just die on my bed. I have softball practice every week day from 3:30 to 6:30 and Saturday from 8:30 to about noon. It’s not like processing Japanese 24/7 isn’t hard enough. Oh, but I can now complain fluently in Japanese!
It is Saturday evening for me now and for the last 24 hours I’ve been mostly sleeping. During the week I’ve been averaging seven to eight hours of sleep, which my sister’s comment to was that I go to sleep very early. I fall asleep at ten or eleven! Once I woke up to go pee at around three both my mom and sister were still awake! I just think when “do these people sleep?”… I’m pretty sure I figured it out. About 70%of the people on the train are asleep (including my sister) and in class depending on how boring the class is 20 ~ 75% of the students are asleep.

The school dynamic is very interesting. So during class, while there is a lecture under way, it’s not loud but the teachers are not exactly interested in keeping order and attention so students freely explore their boundary s, by sleeping in class or talking. Students have much more responsibility in regards to their grades and understanding of the material. However, during orientation, (in Chiba) it was greatly emphasized that there are different standards for me.

> Okay there are a lot of differences in Japan and here is another. The Japanese school year is a lot longer than the American one I think the difference is about 60days. Also the school day is longer by about an hour. But the out of class work load is verrrrry different. In the States were given lots of homework but almost none is assigned here. It’s all the student`s responsibility to study on their own. It reminds me of the day before a test, in the states, when the teacher assigns no homework just to study and about half the students actually do. Which is why students can join things like softball club, a daily commitment, and actually do other things for themselves.

Back to the school dynamic thingy, this time it’s regarding boys and girls. So now I know why Osaka is so famous for producing comedians. In class, and im assuming in school, the girls are the loud ones and all the boys are “shy boys,” as my friend put it. So, I was wondering why not a single boy had introduced themselves to me while the girls were all so eager. This last week I’ve waited for Aki for about an hour after class in the library and on Friday I ventured to wait in my classroom instead. Good decision! I made a lot more friends and we all promised to go to Universal Studios together! They also explained that guys and girls are rarely friends. They keep to themselves. Although right before I left I was introduced to one of the “shy boys” who according to my friends is the cutest or coolest or best looking (better translation) guy in the school. I beg to differ.

So unlike the US it is the teachers that move from room to room. Now you have a class of students that are with each other for about 7 and a half hours a day. Even in a class that is 39 students full everyone becomes one big family that overflows into the neighboring classes. So other than some small grouping that happens at lunch everyone is friends with everyone else

The class schedule here is a lot more complex and even more so for me. So, like I said earlier it is the teachers that move from class to class. Every day of the week has a separate schedule and not every class is daily, some only weekly. Everyone has the same classes together so things can be clarified among each other. However, since I can’t understand some classes like modern Japanese I leave and join other classes. Sometimes I’m with the class next door and other times I take art and calligraphy with the first years (American equivalent of a sophomore). Oh, and I’m taking French, in Japanese.

The dress code is very vague as the school uniform is not compulsory. Everyone switches between wearing the uniform and their street clothes or both e.g. school skirt and t shirt or blouse and jeans. Also most girls wear their skirts as short as possible. It’s crazy. Okay the girls in the US also wear their skirts like so but its more shocking when (almost) the whole student body is wearing miniskirts.

One food I couldn’t eat… so far there has only been one food I couldn’t eat. It was a side dish. Pasta with lose corn and mayo. As you guys already know I have a problem with lose corn and peas. Well I only told my mother about the later, because I thought I would slowly try to get over my aversion. But I couldn’t deal with this dish. I ate about half then gave up.

One week arrival (at new home) anniversary. We ate cake. It was also Aki-san’s birthday, which really threw me off. In the States birthdays are a big deal, but here (as I already knew but it was still strange) birthdays are like Christmas, “Maybe we’ll have cake today” is their attitude. While we (in the states) make a big deal.

I just sneezed and thought to tell you just how uncomfortable it is not to give or receive any bless yous. It just isn’t done here….

Absolutely nothing is wasted. Since I’ve come to my new home we have turned on the AC a total of two times. You think it’s hot in California…. As you enter and leave rooms lights go on and off, fans go on and off. The first few days the constant sweating was too much for me but I’ve come to terms with it as it is now a natural state. I can now wear sweaters in 85 degree weather!! Believe it or not I’m loving the humidity it took me a while to get used to it though. Both my hair and skin are super happy. My hair is so nicely crazy curly and my skin is soft without any lotion!!!

Also at home you wash your garbage. Any plastic that you are about to recycle and has a little bit of food on it needs to be rinsed at the very least.

It turns out the Japanese pay a little more attention to their outside than most Americans. It is totally okay to pull out your huge make up bag in the middle of class, or almost anywhere else and fix all the unseen smudges. The thing that threw me off the most was the range of purse s there are for men. I was out with friends shopping for a school bag and was surprised to be told that all the bags in this one store were for men. I just glad they don’t ask me to point out the difference cuz I really can’t tell.

Talking about pointing out differences I had to explain the difference between inserting got or was in the following sentence in simple English. My favorite sumo wrestler________injured. The students here learn better English grammar than we do!! or at least the classes emphasis it a lot more

Today in class the biology teacher was talking about saying rice and lice and how important it is to pronounce them correctly no matter how hard it is to hear the difference