I talked to Katelandsan last night and I am now very happy, for a couple of reasons.

Okay, updates galore! So yesterday was a very fun day. We didn’t have classes because everyone was going to go visit various elementary school as one of our cultural experiences. I went to Joosei Shougakko. We took a taxi there, and when we got there we were met by the principal who talked with us for a short while over cold tea and some sort of wafery health bars. They were tasty (as I have always been strangely fond of foods that have a cardboard like texture (like those wafers they give out at church!)) and kind of reminded me of those treats that have the layers of thin wafers with either chocolate or strawberry cream between them? Mom do you know what I’m talking about? I used to eat them a lot. Oh well, it was good. She also brought out some Umeboshi. I think she was just doing it to see the look on the poor American faces. Umeboshi is a very popular and very healthy pickled plum. It’s very tart and most Americans find the taste to be unpleasant (case in point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXblXZYu6VM ) However I thought it was tasty. I wouldn’t want to eat very many of them though. Bou-chan said they are super tasty to eat with rice. After that we went to the classrooms. Little hassai nihonjin no kodomo’s (8 year old Japanese kids –apostrophe s added for ease of reading in english) took us by the hand and led us to a big room where they sat us in seats of honor, presented us to cute medals to wear around our necks and preceded to entertain us with stories, recorder playing, and information about the town. It was super cute, but I felt bad that they were wasting all of their effort on me. I mean they could have recited song lyrics the whole time and I wouldn’t have known any better. After this they took us to their classrooms where we witnessed a kanji lesson. Ink pictures of what the kanji represent were put up on the board, under which were written in chalk the Kanji themselves. All of the Japanese kids got out their brushes and ink and paper was distributed and we were told to pick one and write it. Of course, I am only a first year and the other boy was only a second year so we couldn’t catch everything that was being said, so I thought that I was supposed to draw the kanji. I drew a very good Ko (child) if I do say so myself. They all thought so too because after I drew it the whole class burst out into Guroi!!!!!!! (very good). This is when I realized I had done the wrong thing but they loved it and put it up on the board. There were four pictures Yama (mountain), Ko (child), tsuki (moon) and Hi (sun). We drew one of each and then they asked us the names in English. Then the kids were allowed to ask us questions. We got such questions as what is your favorite food, favorite animal and some others that I just couldn’t understand. Those kids were adorable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After this we went to play dodgeball. They play dodgeball differently here than in America. In America, or at least where I grew up, when you got out you were sent to the sidelines and waited in line until one of your teammates caught a ball, of which there were many. In this game there is only one ball and when you get out you go to the back of the other team’s side and wait behind a line until the ball reaches you, at which point you have to throw it and hit one of the other team members to get back in. Also, catching the ball does not get the thrower out; it just saves you from getting out and gives you the ball. I thought it was interesting that the Japanese version of dodgeball is so focused on the individual’s ability, while the American one is more about relying on a team. The girls kept trying to talk to me while we played and decoding Japanese is hard enough without people whipping a ball at me. I enjoyed watching them play but it made me sad because I could hardly compete to my fullest against a bunch of 8 year olds have my size! After Dodgeball we went back to the Principals office where we were served Coffee and some delicious cheese sweet from Hokkaido. It was like a little cake cup with maybe a cream cheesy filling, I don’t know but it was amazing. The coffee was too bitter as I was only given one sugar and a tiny thing of cream (maybe half the size the creamer cups we get back home). I drank all of the coffee anyway for politeness sake. I’m not sure if that is necessary here but she went to the trouble to prepare it for us so I felt it was warranted.
After we got back we got to see what all the other kids did at their schools. I had a little downtime which I spent online, and then I went to my speaking practice with Melville sensei. She loves me! She thinks I’m hilarious. She thought it was great when, after I told her about my upcoming date with Chosan, she asked if he was handsome and I made a face before saying no! (In all fairness though, at this point he was starting to grow on me. He has the sort of really nice and easy to talk to personality that made me like him more. I might have even been excited about our date, which we confirmed and planned at the Shiga party on Sunday, if it weren’t for how he kept getting too close to me near the end of the night (although he had been drinking)). After that I had to rush to Shiga to not be late because I was meeting Bou-chan.
We went to Hikone castle, at last, and paid 600 yen to get in. It was cool to walk around but these things aren’t terribly interesting. It was more of a war castle so it was just bare walls and floors. I don’t think I’ll go to any more of them; it just isn’t worth the expense. It is the outside, at any rate, that is the cool part and looking at that is free. We sat and talked for a while. Bou-chan told me that she and her boyfriend had broken up again (back story: She had broken up with him when we first met, but they had gotten back together for a few days) because he had been at the party and was being forward with other girls and she realized he was a bad guy. I felt really bad about it but she wasn’t being really emotional which is good because I’m super awkward around people who cry. After this we went to Viva City which is the near-ish by mall. It was really cool. I bought some new shoes because the ones I brought with me are white cloth and get dirty super fast and I have trouble making them look clean. They are really strappy kinda Xeana Warrior princess shoes but they were the only ones that fit me that were under 70 dollars and they are apparently really popular in Japan (plus they were on sale!). After that we went to buy Yukatas for the upcoming festivals. We went to this place that sold them pretty cheap, 40 dollars for the whole getup, shoes included! They had some really beautiful clothes, like this one that was black with whitish purple flowers spilling down it, but they were all really expensive. I think the one I bought is super cute though! Its pink with pink flowers with yellow and purple centers and a purple and pink band and black shoes with purple straps and two little flowers on the side. The shoes, of course, are too small, but there are flip flop style so it isn’t a big deal. Bou-chan got a new Yukata too, it is SUPER cute! Its white and with pink and red flowers and blue accents, with a blue and pink band and brown shoes with read straps. There are pics on facebook. After this we went felt that we had succeeded in our shopping adventure. We took some of those cute pictures where you pose and then draw all over the pics. It was fun! Then we went to a Mr. Donuts. It was tasty. There was this one that was a donut cup with one of those mini sausage link things we used to eat for breakfast when I was a child…. Smokies. It was bizarre, but good. While we were eating I was searching for conversation so I mentioned to Bou-chan that I was going on that date tomorrow.
“with who?”
“Cho-san”
“You cannot date Cho’san!”
So I was really surprised because she had a very strict voice but moreover because I had already told her that he had asked me and I said yes and she didn’t say anything about it. Turns out, nobody tells me anything, Cho-san IS Bou-chan’s ex boyfriend! They had broken up when he asked me out, so she didn’t say anything because she felt it was his right to ask me and she was fine with it but then they got back together and they were still together at the Shiga party where he confirmed his plans with me and was getting pretty close with some other girls too. He even went so far as to take a girls arm that he had just met (such touching is not something a good boy would do in Japan). I was shocked! I couldn’t believe that she wouldn’t tell me that Cho-san was her ex in the first place seeing as I knew them both, but she always just called him her boyfriend or ex boyfriend. Moreover I couldn’t believe that he was the kind of guy to do that! I mean he seems really nice! She said too that none of their friends would have thought that he was that kinda guy. So once the initial shock set in I got angry! Not only did this guy try to make me the other woman! But he tried to make me the other woman to my BEST FRIEND in japan!?!?! Like I wouldn’t find out? Like it wouldn’t possibly ruin my friendship with Bou-chan?! Ohhhhhhh I’m so angry! Needless to say I’m not going out with him today. He sent me a fb message asking me to call him and I was like, umm… no. (no but really I said it very politely but strictly, as this is Japan after all). I’m actually really angry because I was actually starting to like him. *sigh*. It’s no bother, I was super nervous about leaving the city with him anyway and it was a relief when I realized I had an excuse not to. After that we bought some groceries(I bought bananas so you can stop worrying about me Erik  ) and went back to Bou-chans place where she taught me how to make nikujaga and chawanmushi (which is both a Chinese and Japanese dish, but she taught me the Japanese way to make it). Nikujaga is translated literally as meatpotato. It was tasty beef with potatoes and onions (sound like something I would like?) with soy sauce and sugar. It was really easy to make and incredibly delicious!! Chawanmushi is eggs with green onion and bonito flakes (just like the ones Yasuko left behind) all scrambled up and then steamed in a bowl in a pot. I’ll have to speak with mom about the possibility of making this dish at home but I hope I can because it was amazing! Unbelievably good. I was doubtful at first, but I was shown the light! We ate out Japanese feast with a bag of strangly but tastyly seasoned potato chips, orange juice, and rice. I was very happy. After we were done eating we couldn’t stand it anymore and we both tried on out Yukatas. It takes a bit to get them on so its good we did because it help reaffirm the process in our minds. They were suuuper cute! Tomorrow I’m going to a festival where you get a free snow cone if you wear one, and on Friday Shiga is have a festival where they want to you wear one too, so I’m going to get good use of it! This has been a ridiculously long post, I know, even for me as I’m nearing the end of my third page on word 0.o but in all fairness I only wrote about one day, albeit a very busy one. If you had the forbearance to read the whole of this then I know you really love me :p