This weekend was good. Our school had a Christmas party for all the foreign students which was really fun. It actually overlapped with this Friday night class I have, so 2/3 of the way through the class, I just got up and walked out the door, not looking back. It was worth it. They had lots of Japanese games, food and drinks. There was origami-making, kanji calligraphy, sake-tasting, and santa even came. All in all, it was a really fun time. Plus we got a present at the end of the night as a souveneir. Then on Saturday I worked on a foreign policy paper I have due right after Christmas break. Then I helped my mother decorate the Christmas tree(they bought it when they lived in LA for a year) while listening to Christmas music. It was really fun! Then I went out for sushi with my host parents, which was delicious as always. Sunday, I went to church, where we sang quite a few Christmas songs which also made me happy, then I went shopping in Harajuku for one last present. But Harajuku on a Sunday is not a fun place to be...way too crowded. It's like the day after Thanksgiving at Woodfield Mall every weekend. So yeah, I really just want this week to pass as quickly as possible, so that I can be home. I'm really excited to come home and see everyone. I think I bought way too many presents though, when I was packing my suitcase yesterday I realized that I have no room for clothes b/c the whole space is filled with souveneirs. Oh well, hope I have some clothes at home. Can't wait to see all of you.

here are some pictures from my trip, of the view from the bus and from a museum we went to , me in a kimono, flowers from the orchid garden, a christmas tree covered in orchids, etc. I'll post more on my picture page soon.

So this weekend I went to the onsen(natural hot spring) with my host family. It was really fun. We went on a Hato Bush tour, the first day we mostly just drove, stopping for lunch and a train ride. We got to the onsen in Shimoda at about 3:30. The hotel was an older Japanese-style hotel, I had my own room and it was huge. I had a big room to sleep in and have my tea in, I had a deck, another small room, a toilet room and a seperate sink and bathroom with a back. It was crazy big. I slept on tatami, sat on the floor and wore a kimono, it was all very traditional Japanese. The onsens were great. They were so relaxing, I didn't even really think about the fact that I was naked with a bunch of naked old Japanese women. I wonder what they thought of my tattoo. We ate a ton of food too and I drank way too much beer, because it's the Japanese way to refill your glass if it ever becomes empty, you're not supposed to refill your own glass. Well I kept finishing my beer because I don't like the taste of beer very much and I wanted to end with the taste of the delicious food in my mouth, but every time I looked back, they had refilled my glass. We even had beer for breakfast! I asked for only a tiny bit, because I can't really drink beer at breakfast without feeling like a bit of an alcoholic. I also had Wasabi ice cream, which was surprisingly tasty. Sweet, yet spicy. After dinner, we hung out and Aki, their son's fiance is trying to learn English, so she brought this game called Tokoman. It's a PS2 game that helps you practice English and rates your pronunciation. Everyone tried out their English pronunciation skills, which was pretty amusing. I got a few B grades from the game when I tried...apparently I can't speak English very well. :-) Then the next day we went to a beautiful orchid garden, I'll post some pictures after this. An old man who worked there gave me some flowers and told me they were a "special present". Normally they cost about $20, so I guess it pays to be a foreign woman every once in a while. Then we went to a Suzenji, a pretty town with a famous temple and a fish market. All in all, it was a very fun weekend. My family is super nice for taking me and I had a really good time with them. I even managed to study for my vocab quiz and get my history paper mostly finished. Yea!

So this week has been busy. I had 2 tests and a presentation in Japanese and a bunch of organizational things to prepare for my BEST program, plus I had to go to the immigration office to get my re-entry permit so when I got home at X-mas I can get back into Japan afterward. They put the immigration office way out there too. You have to take a train to Shinagawa, walk all the way across the station to a certain bus stop and then take a bus to the office. But I found it, so I will be successfully leaving and re-entering Japan in less than 2 weeks! I'm super excited to come home. There are so many things I want to do and people I want to see while I'm home. I still have some more Christmas shopping to do, but since I've had some unexpected expenses (ie. my doctor's fee for breaking my hand), some of you might get smaller gifts. Sorry, but Tokyo's really expensive and if I run out of money, I'm screwed. Anyway, this weekend I'm going to the onsen (hot springs) with my hostparents. I'm really excited, it should be nice and relaxing, except for the face that I have to hold my hand above the water the whole time. :-) I also have a paper to write on comfort women and a Japanese vocab test to study for, but I'm not really sure when I'm gonna do that stuff. I'll figure it out somehow. Tonight I'm going out for Indian food after class with a group of my friends that I've fondly named the "international friendship coalition" because we consist of someone from : Germany, Sweden, Portugal, Japan and America (me). So that should be fun. I might just get Naan or something cheap because I'm a bit poor right now, but Naan is tasty and it should be a good time. Well, I have a paper to write and studying to do, but I thought I'd write something quick to let you know I'm alive and am excited to come home and see you all.
P.S.-How about that plane that careened into an intersection at O'Hare or that guy who got shot by a federal marshall for saying he had a bomb in his bag? It's getting a bit scary to fly. I'll have to remember to not falsely announce having a bomb in my bag when I fly home at Christmas.

So check this out. Yesterday I was having a really good day, I got 2 tests back that I did way better than I thought on. So I was leaving a meeting after my BEST program and I was running across the street to make the light. Well I totally fell, landed backwards on my hand and broke my finger. So I went to my first Japanese doctor yesterday and I have to wear a splint for the next 3 weeks and I can't use my left hand. So if I don't write much on here or respond to e-mails quickly it's because I'm a one-handed typist these days. So sorry about that. How about my first broken bone ever being in Japan? Crazy, desu ne? If you want you can choose to believe the better story which I made up...that I flicked off a yakuza member and he came over and broke my finger. I think it's way cooler than my falling in the street. Gotta go back to the doctor for a check-up now. Peace.