Day 16: Shopping Fun!

I was happy to spend Thursday afternoon shopping with Mari! She took time off work to hang out with me and it was fun! We first shopped for shoes in Namba, and we both got a cute pair of sandals~! :) Then we drove to Umeda to go to Kiddyland, an underground shopping area with tons of stores full of cute things, haha~ I found some awesome Mameshiba stuff! It was just fun to walk around and be out~ :) I even found my mom a cute gift, which made me happy. Mari and I were so exhausted after shopping, but it was a good kind of tired. :) We didn't have time to go to a popular store called Loft, so we are going this weekend!

That cream puff pictured above was so delicious! The cream was light and vanilla-flavored; I really enjoyed it! We were so hungry afterwards of course! ;)

Anyway, it was a fun shoping day! Thank you Mari for spending the day with me! :D

Day 9: English Lessons~!

Thursday was a rather simple day, I relaxed all morning and was able to chat with Andrew! It was a lot of fun! :) Then, I got ready to go to Namba to speak at Mari's English lesson there!

Before the lesson, we went into a little shop next door to the school where they sold international food. I was going to make pasta for the family the next day, so we bought some pasta sauce and noodles! :)

At the lesson, we talked for a long time and I enjoyed speaking to the students. There were 4 people there; all four were older Japanese people who wanted to learn English since they had so much spare time. They were very kind and interested in who I am and what I had to say. One of the ladies even made me homemade sembei!!! That was so sweet of her! Like I've said before, Japanese people are so generous! :) We talked about literature, music, American concerts, and the Shinsengumi!

After the lesson, Mari treated me to some soft serve ice cream with caramel sauce and cookie bits drizzled on top in a waffle cookie! SO GOOD! Even thhough it was very cold that day! >.< Both Thursday and Friday were extremely cold days and everyone was surprised!

That night, I was supposed to speak English with some of Mari's students, but one never showed up and the other was too shy so he went home. We are going to do it in a couple weeks though, so that's good!

For dinner, we had pork cutlets and a radish salad made by Katoh-san, the nice Japanese housekeeper! It was delicious and I helped out a lot, which made me happy. Tecola's family are being so generous, so I like to help out as much as I can! :)

Day 5: Concert at Namba Hatch!

Even though I was pretty tired from my exciting surprise trip to Kyoto the day before, I woke up ready and excited for a concert!

And not just any concert mind you, this was an event called Over The Edge '10! There were 11 bands and some session bands too! I was really going to see one of my favorite Japanese bands, Girugamesh. I've always wanted to see them live, and this was my big chance!

The concert started at 1, so I got there around 12:15. I bought a peach yogurt drink at the conbini next door to the entrance to the Namba Hatch. I went up the escalators, and entered the concert! Yay! I dropped off a gift for Girugamesh, and went to go up to the concert area. A line of visual kei band guys greeted me and handed me fliers. I was so nervous to walk through them; that kind of attention is too much lol! XD

The girls (and a few guys) in the audience were for the most part very nice! It was fun to see all the different kinds of outfits, hehe~ I talked to one nice lady while we were waiting for the next band to set up. She was standing behind me, and I had offered her a little snack, which she declined. We had a cute conversation in Japanese and I was super proud of myself, hehe~ She was a Mama, so I was jealous! XD

I was there for a total of 8 1/2 hours.....totally crazy. Some of the bands were okay, but then some were AWESOME and really fun! Girugamesh were great, but they came at the end. I was pretty tired by then, and not as excited as I had been earlier. They were seriously awesome, thought it went by too quick! This just means I have to go to an entire concert by them!!

After I left, which was after Giru performed, I went back down and bought a Giru t-shirt and towel! Yay! You can't get that stuff in the states! ;) Then, I went to go wait for Mari, who nicely offered to pick me up! I sat on some steps outside, under a big dome thing (hard to explain, eee), and felt a bit sad. It went by too quick and I wished Giru had performed a bit longer.

Also, I think I was feeling lonely. Going to a concert by yourself can be a bit sad, especially when you are a foreigner. I kept wishing Andrew had been with me, because his observations would have been funny to hear! But, being in a foreign country by yourself is lonely, luckily I live with a nice family. That makes me feel better. If I was here in Japan as an exchange student, I think I would be depressed! I am excited to be here and experience Japan, but I am also looking forward to going back home and being with Andrew, my friends, and my family. I think things at school will hopefully get better too~ I feel more mature lately! ;)

Day 2: Of Japanese bread and Namba Shopping

Day 2: Thursday May 20, 2010







Yes my friends, I got to go out and experience crazy shopping in Japan!!

First, lets start with my breakfast. I had a wonderfully fluffy and tasy slice of Japanese white bread with strawberry preserves, and let me tell you it is DIVINE. For some reason, it's so good! Then, I relaxed all morning because I was still tired and sore. At noon, Tecola's wife took me to a wonderful bakery called Sunny Side! It was sooooo good and cute! I met all these Japanese women, because Mari knows them all, and they were so nice and happy to meet me! Then, we went inside and I picked out some breads for lunch! OH MY GOODNESS there were so many wonderful things to choose from! We were in a hurry, so I wasn't able to take pictures, but I will next time! I chose a bacon gratin baguette, fried curry bread, matcha muffin with white chocolate, and an almond cream bread. WOW! The fried curry bread was hot and fresh, and the curry was rich with tomatoes, beef, and other goodies. The bacon gratin bread was very rich and filled with creamy sharp cheese and tasty chunks of bacon! That was my lunch, haha. :) I saved the sweets for later~

Driving through Osaka to go to Namba was fascinating. Osaka has some almost industrial parts to it, as well as tall buildings with interesting architecture. So many people bike; I saw many men in suits biking, which made me think they must bike to work. There are people everywhere!
We parked in a lot next to 2 or three love hotels, since it was cheaper. The people going into the hotels and coming out seemed like young couples having fun, but it was a little awkward! XD
We walked up some streets to the Namba shopping arcade, which is crazy and crowded! So different than any place I've ever been to! I thought it was rather exhilarating myself, but I know my boyfriend wouldn't like how crowded it was. ;) It was also really interesting to be in a place surrounded by people who don't look like you. I felt like I stuck out alot!
Mari teaches English once a week in a historic elementary school that hosts classes for older people. Its a funny place because it's in the heart of the shopping arcade! To get there, we walked down Namba Cafe Street, and I loved it! Such cute and clean cafes~ :)
I was free to roam and shop for an hour and a half, so I got to it! At first, I was shy about going into a store and buying something but in the end it was no problem. I got a few cute things, and a gift for my sister. I can't wait to go back and buy some takoyaki and ramen, as well as the cute tourist things haha! :D
I did get to go into the school, and I love how old it is! Thw wood creaks lol~ I am going to go to the class next week to answer questiong, but I went in to meet everyone real quick first. They applauded me when I entered the room!!!! XD It was so sweet and nice! I am really looking forward to going back next week!

When we got home, we were exhausted. I almost fell asleep upstairs, but lukcily Mari asked if I wanted to go to the store with her and pick up her daughters. I was happy to go! We drove through Old Street, which was so cute and narrow! The homes were so lovely!
After getting the girls, we went to a Supa, a supermarket. She let me choose some goodies to try, so I got Yuzu sorbet (Japanese citrus), rice gelato (!!!!), and black sesame rice crackers. I am excited to try all these goodies and report to you all! :)
Then, I helped make the salad and veggies for dinner. We had chicken katsu, and it was tasty! We also had Hijiki, a sweet seawead salad. Hmmmm, I ate it but it's not my favorite! Tecola also got me a special adapter plug for my laptop, so I can use it! Yay!!
After dinner, I was so tired I went straight to bed. Only to wake up at 4 in the morning. I couldn't go back to sleep....I don't like jet lag!

All in all, a super fun and exciting day!!!!

http://sunny-side.co.jp/