Three weeks left...

Listening to: Heads will roll by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Currently drinking: One of my own beautiful creations... drip and white mocha


I'm just going to come right out and say it, I don't want to leave Japan. Lately I've noticed that, several times a day, I stop and think, "I'm so going to miss this when I get back to America." I get to do so many amazing things here, things that would probably never be possible for a normal person in America, and I continue to be floored by the countless blessings that have come my way during my stay here. Today was no exception, and was yet another experience that made me realize how much I will miss life in 日本.

I told you the other day about Toyota-sensei giving us tickets for suite seats to the Nagoya Grampus soccer game, and today was the day of the match. Sensei picked us up around 5:30 and drove us to Toyota Stadium with plenty of time left to wander around, get comfortable, and meet our fellow "suite mates" (haha pun).

The stadium... sooooo cool

Apparently this bridge was built to
look like the skeleton of a whale... the more you know 

The game was itself wasn't too action packed, several of our teams' players got injured, but other than that it was rather ho hum for a pro soccer match (the game ended up being a tie). The best part about it was the noise from the fans. Each side had specific chants and cheers that they would battle out against each other during the game; the synchronization of everything was incredible. Entire sections would jump up and down in unison, everybody new the exact chants and claps to go with each play, and the reactions made by the fans to the plays were perfect.

The person sitting in between Amanda and I
is the actual owner of the soccer team 0..0

The starting players 

Warming up during half time

The stadium after the game... soooo cool ^^

I really don't know how stuff like this happens. I mean, during my stay here: I've been invited up to the secret VIP room (probably owned by the yakuza) in club Pur, been featured in a commercial and asked to be a model for our school, been a special guest at a ryokan with the rest of my classmates, gotten prayed over and received special permission by a Buddhist monk to club up a 500 year old gate (it was closed off to the public), and schmoozed, ate with, and watched a pro soccer game with the owner of the team, along with a ton of other special moments (too many to count)...

Friday we had ikebana, or the practice of flower arrangement. It actually turned out to be incredibly complicated and involved a little bit of math and critical thinking (haha not my strongest subject). Anthony and I partnered up and ended up creating, what I think anyway, a beautiful masterpiece of awesome.

Our flower vase

Sensei teaching us how to be ballers at flower arrangement 

The final product 

Our vision and masterpiece

fin

Two weekends left, so much more to do, too sad for words.... To all of you back home, I will be seeing you soon!

<3 <3 lattes<3 <3 <3

Coffee adorableness part four

I want to find and drink this latte... it's bound to happen in Japan right?

A delicious day

Listening to: Till the world ends by Britney Spears
Currently drinking: Yummy Starbucks mocha and a cappuccino before that 


Yet another thing I will miss about Japan is that many of the restaurants have specials called "nomihodai" and/or "tabehodai" which are basically special times or deals when you can go to the restaurant and get all you can eat for a certain amount of time. In America we have something very similar to this (i.e. Old Country Buffet), but the difference is that the food provided by the restaurants in Japan is worlds apart from the crappy, cardboard tasting "food" you get at American style buffets.

Today was another special day we had planned for our last few remaining weeks here. Two of our friends', Julia and Kan-chan, birthdays are coming up, so we decided to throw them a small surprise birthday party in the guise of going out and getting our serious grub on. Sweets Paradise, or スイパラ in kana, was our destination of choice. It boasted all you can eat desserts, as well as pasta, curry, sandwiches, and other delicious meal stuffs. Pictured below is the scale they had waiting at the entrance so you could weigh yourself before and after the meal to see how much net weight you gained from 120 minutes of pure gorging. 

Sadly, I didn't really get any great pictures of aforementioned birthday girls, so I am basically stalking everyone else's Facebook profiles until they are uploaded and I find one that I like (of course photo credits will go to the appropriate photographer). That's all I have for today's adventures. Tomorrow, we are learning the art of いけばな, ikebana in romaji, or flower arranging. I'm actually quite excited for this workshop, seeing as I love all things home/interior decorating, so I'm sure I will post some sort of update for you on that as well. Saturday, I have tickets to go see Nagoya's professional soccer team, the Nagoya Grampus, and they aren't just any tickets, they are suite style seats. This means that we will be getting free food and drink (including those of the alcoholic kind), as well as getting to meet the President of Toyota Company... a little nerve wracking right? Anyway, just figured I would give you a little heads up as to what I will be writing about over the next few days. I should probably get some beauty rest now =)

As always, love you lattes!!

A tale of epicness

Listening to: On the floor by Jennifer Lopez
Currently drinking: Cafe au lait courtesy of McDonalds

Today I am going to tell you about my morning. The series of events that I will retell can only be thought of as "epic."

I've already told you about how recently my ability to sleep has been little to none, and last night was no different. At first it was fine, I went to bed around ten o'clock, thinking to get a nice early start, and fell asleep right away. Well, 2am rolls around and, DING, my eyes pop open bright and ready for the day's activities (too bad it wasn't actually daytime >.<). Okay... I think, I can handle this, so I proceed to get up and be productive (i.e. pre-packing to see how much space is left in my bag).  As time proceeds to slowly trudge on, I realize, although I am quite sleepy, I will probably not be able to go back to dreamland.... and so 5am stumbles in and sleepily says hello while I lay there restless yet unable to really do anything. And then the cravings come, ravaging and attacking my body like vultures eating out the pit of my stomach; I had to have McDonalds...


I thought they would go away, you know, leave my poor defenseless body alone out of pity or something, but eventually, after about an hour of drifting in and out of what I can only call my "zombie state," I decided to take action. I would not stand for hunger anymore! So, up I got, and (with my battle armor on) off to sate those bestial cravings I ventured.

Now see, here's where the problem actually starts. Around my school I know of two McDonalds within a five mile radius. The first one is much closer to I-house and is probably more convenient, while the second is about two and a half miles in the opposite direction, but also just straight down the road. My first choice was obviously the closer and more convenient of the two, but (with some hesitation) I must divulge that I actually didn't really know which street it was on. Still I felt it was the better of the choices and that I would just look down several of the streets until I found it.

As I turned down the first street, I began to realize that, even though it was six in the morning, the sun was still blazing hot, and I was none too prepared to deal with such ferocious heat. I knew I had to hurry. I briskly walked down to where I thought the McDonalds might be, and to my disappointment, it was not there. By the time I reached the main road I was already exhausted and ready to admit defeat, yet, I thought, I'm already up... I may as well continue on. So, I turned right and thought I would try the road closer to I-house. As soon as I got there I realized my folly, the McDonalds had been one street over from the first one >.< So, what do I do?? Instead of heading back that way to try the last street, I decide that it is a safer bet to go to the McDonalds 2 MLES DOWN THE ROAD, and although to my friends at home this may not seem all that difficult, in the humid weather that berates Japan it is nigh impossible.

On the way there I decide to stop by a combini to grab water for the rest of my journey, and for a second I thought, well maybe I'll just buy food here and make it at home! I'm so smart... Well, unfortunately the ingredients for the mouthwateringly juicy sausage biscuit and crunchy, golden delicious hash browns that I so desperately desired were nowhere to be found. Damn you Lawsons! At this point I knew I must battle on, against the heat and humidity (and my greater judgement) I crawled down the road towards the delicious vision of fried food that I knew I just had to have. Eventually, after about an hour and a half of searching (I'm not kidding) the beautiful sight of those glorious golden arches finally came into view. I practically ran the rest of the way and stumbled in through the glass doors into my cool, air-conditioned, haven. I could barely mumble the order, but the clerk still got my gist, this here I want...yes please, and then proceeded to very well plop into the cushy side bench and await my delicious meal.

My battle victory

I returned to I-house at almost exactly 8am, tired but happy and ready to pass out. I count this, although slightly messy in the middle, as a win. I wanted McDonalds....I got McDonalds.

Lattes of love

Coffee adorableness the third

So cute and so true :)

What do castles, shrines, and aquariums have in common...?

Listening to: Hey Ya by Outkast

Currently drinking: Mmmm just finished a delicious mocha ^^

I went and visited all of those places this weekend! With less than a month left to go I've been feeling the necessity to get out and about as much as possible, so I've been making plans and attempting to keep my calendar full of funtastic adventures =)

Friday, after a dreadful Japanese test, was day one of funtastic adventure time. The JLSI office had  planned a school trip to Inuyama Castle and the mechanical doll museum. Not very many people were excited about going, and to be honest the dolls did sound a bit creepy, but it was something to do, and I wasn't going to pass up a chance to visit a castle as famous as Inuyama.

This mechanical doll went around serving tea...
still slightly creepifying

Inuyama Castle

View of the castle grounds

These stairs were a work out let me tell you

The area surrounding Inuyama. This was
probably the best castle visit so far :)

Saturday was yet another early start day >.< One of my classes, Mapping Culture, has mandatory excursions built into the curriculum. Obviously this is really cool, but, after just about a bajillion shrine visits, I can honestly say I will be happy if I go the rest of my life without ever seeing another one. My camera died after only a short time, so I basically have just one picture, the rest I took on my cellphone and are on my Facebook if you'd like to look!

Look closely at the food offerings...

After a nice, slightly wine induced, rest. Sunday was the day a couple of people had wanted to go to Nagoya Aquarium, and seeing as I love the ocean, aquariums, dolphins, etc... of course I tagged along! I'm only posting a select few pictures from here because there are just SOOO many, but just to sum it up.... it rocked. The Nagoya Aquarium totally lived up to my expectations, and even though it was ridiculously packed with couples and crying babies, the whole experience was thoroughly enjoyable.

The Japanese ocean at last!

Now that's what I call synchronized swimming

Cue Jaws theme music

Sexy

Overall, the weekend was fantastic, and not only am I getting to experience, possibly once in a lifetime, incredible new things, but I am also distracting myself from the stress and anxiety that comes with packing and preparations for the return home.... which is quite nice. Next weekend, one of my teachers is giving us all free tickets to the Nagoya Grampus game at the Toyota Stadium, and it's possible that we will be getting box seats!! Other tentative plans are in the works for a possible, very short, trip to Tokyo, and of course more stocking up on incredible Japanese fashion ^^

Well I guess that's all for now... lattes and loads of luvs <3