last post from Japan

Sunday, 4:20pm July 25 2010

I cant believe its over. Three months ago I was just getting settled into my Japanese lifestyle and now Im getting ready to leave. Honestly I dont really think its hit me yet even though I am mostly packed and ready.
These past two or so weeks were really rough because I was not in the best mood. Part of me is really excited to be home and to see my family and to be in a place where I understand things, but another part of me is really not ready to go.
Today after church they had a going away party for me which I didnt know was happening. I was walking around the sanctuary after lunch and the pastors wife brought out a blueberry cake and a cheesecake. I was really excited to see the desserts that we were having and Heyben (one of my friends from Korea) said "Yeah, they are for you" I had no idea till the pastors wife said also said "Dont go anywhere courtnie because we are having a Going away party for you" She proceeded to make me sit at the head of the table and she went around and told every one to say something to me either in Japanese or English. After everyone had said their goodbyes I was sung multiple God Bless you songs and prayed over in Korean/Japanese/Chinese and English (they sat me in a chair and everyone put a hand on me and prayed out loud in their own language) it was REALLY cool. I received flowers and a card that everyone had signed in their own language which was pretty neat. I finally got everything packed the best I could, I still have toiletry things to pack yet but I will do that when I clean tomorrow. Tomorrow they are coming to shut off all my electrical type stuff (gas, water, electric, Internet etc...)
Friday night we went to Fireworks (hanabi which means flower fire) we were wearing our Yukata and it proceeded to Pour down rain. We got soaked! Saturday we went out for sushi and I attempted to start packing (didnt really get anywhere, but I tried).

Last weekend (the 17th) was Nadines Birthday.We went back to the historical village with Laura Bre and Gisele After we spent the entire day there we went out to dinner and they went and saw a movie that they really wanted to see, instead of going home like I had planned i decided to go see Toy Story 3 in 3D which was a lot of fun. My main reason for going was so that I wouldn't have to walk home by myself. There is a lot more stuff that we've done but right now I cant remember it all... Class is over (for me) Monday I have to go to the ATM to get money so that I can pay bills and clean and I will be set to leave. I REALLY hate flying so I'm not really looking forward to spending the entire day on a plane on Tuesday but I'm really ready to see my family and Darlene is coming to the airport with them so that's exciting :-D pictures and videos are on face book and I'm sure I will have stories a plenty when I get back.

SEE YOU TUESDAY!!!!!!

Court

Should be writing my paper...

Thursday evening, 6:07, July 15th 2010

I cant believe how fast this trip is going. I have about a week an a half left in Japan and still so much I want to do. I have yet to eat my fill of sushi here so that is the number one thing on my list of stuff to do. I also want to go to the brewery museum and to Moss Burger before I leave.
The past couple weeks have been interesting. Last weekend I spent Friday night downtown at the DK house with Bre and Gisele. It was a ton of fun. The plan was to go out to sushi on Friday night and to the shrine in our yukata. That didn't happen. We ended up going to the sushi place and realizing that it was a very long wait, because Gisele doesn't like sushi I decided it wasn't really worth it so we ended up going to another restaurant. The restaurant served sushi so I got it and was greatly disappointed. It wasn't very filling and somewhat expensive. After our not so successful dinner we needed more food so we went looking for dessert. We found this place that served Pancakes so we decided to check it out. I wasn't really feeling pancakes so I ended up getting Tirimisu and mango sorbet. Bre and Gisele ordered what they thought was going to be a stack of 4 pancakes with toppings and were surprised when they got a stack of 6 gigantic pancakes with mounds of Chocolate and whipped cream. These things were gigantic and they both had a hard time finishing them. We were so full when we left that just the mention of more food was enough to make our stomachs hurt. After walking back to DK house and getting situated we watched Inglorious Bastards and had a fun filled girls night. The next day the plan was to check out a school festival, go to the beer museum and get sushi for lunch... That didn't happen. We went to the festival and ended up staying there most of the day. I was not very happy with the drastic change of plans mostly because the festival was at a high school. Being back in a high school reminded me of how much I dont like being a foreigner. We were constantly stared at by the high school girls and talked about like we didn't understand. It was just a bit annoying. the good thing about the day was that we got a lot of free/cheap things.
The rest of the week was filled with classes, homework, and annoying professors that like to wait till the last minute to tell us what the heck we are supposed to do for a paper that we should have already had done and turned in. This weekend is Nadine's birthday and we are going back to the historical village and out to dinner which will be lots of fun, If it doesn't rain. I got information today about what needs to be done before I leave. I still need to figure out how the heck Im getting to the airport, Im not really ready to leave Japan just yet, but at the same time Im ready to be home.
Court

My first 4th without fireworks.

monday night, 10:15, July 5, 2010

Well last time I wrote I had left you with the notion that I was going to the chocolate factory the next day. That didn't happen and I cant remember why. This weekend was crazy fun. Friday after class was nothing really special (not that I can remember anyway) I dont think we did anything friday night. Saturday we got up early and went to meet Bre and Gisele downtown to go to the chocolate factory. We got there and Teren was with them, which was fine by me. We went and got our cards for the saturday special thing where you can ride the subway all you want for 5 dollars and headed off to find Chocolate. We walked into the chocolate factory, which I decided to call the Japanese Willy Wonka, and payed our entry fee thing and set off exploring. It was a ton of fun, and really cool. More of a museum than a plain chocolate factory. We saw the Japanese oompa loompas, what we called the workers because we thought it was funny, and wondered around the gardens for a few hours. We were later joined by Teren's friend Fumitaka aka Tommy. He had been an exchange student at BSU like my freshman or sophomore year? and so he was very americanized. We decided to change his name to Tommy and convince people he was from California. After we all left the chocolate factory we had about an hour or so before we had to meet Bunkin for shopping. Teren was so tired and didn't really want to go shopping with the girls so he decided to go home and take a nap. After figuring out what everyone wanted to do Teren ended up separating from the group and the girls... and Tommy... went shopping for Yukata (yes, we managed to take Tommy with us). It was SO funny. He had us laughing so hard when he held our bags and stuff for us. He was trying to be convincing so he butchered Japanese saying Ari-ga-to go-za-ma-su in a southern type accent and trying on flowers and things when we went shopping. We almost made him try to tie the Obi (the belt part of a yukata) but he wouldn't :-(

After shopping we decided to hang out downtown and go to dinner later with everyone. We went back to DK house (where Bre and Gisele live) and hung out for a bit. After we dropped off Tommy at Terens room, Bre did our hair and makeup and we ended up borrowing her clothes (which was surprising that we all fit into). We met up with Teren, Todd, Tommy and Brandon ( The Irish Guy) and we all went out for dinner. We had our little room and everyone was trying to get Brandon to talk because we loved his accent. It made all the girls happy when he said "Shame". I sat by him at dinner and had a Beer with him. We went to an all you can drink/eat place and kept ordering food and drinks. I could tell that Brandon was Irish and I wasnt because when I was finished with my first (and only) beer, he was starting his third. By the end of the meal there was SO much food left over that we couldnt finish it all because we were SO FULL, but more food just kept coming and coming and coming. ... Tabehodai is dangerous And that is the piece of advice I will leave you with tonight.

Court

"Huh... an Earthquake" and other random Japan adventures

Monday night, 9:15pm June 28th 2010

Two months done, one more to go. Sitting on my bed attempting to get this silly presentation done before reading more Harry Potter. An update from the last time I wrote.

Many of these adventures involve getting lost, being hot, thinking that my mind is playing tricks on me, getting upset, having a blast etc... so let the stories begin.

With long classes and lots of stuff to do it was difficult to have fun this past week/weekend. We had a bunch of homework and random things that need to be done, but we managed to attempt to have fun Saturday. Nadine and I set off for the Historical Village of Hokkaido which was supposed to be only about a 15-20 minute train ride and another 15 minute walk from the station. However it took us about 5 hours to get there. Let me start at the beginning. Saturday we decided we were going to leave at 10:30 (which really ended up being 11 because Nadine is ALWAYS late). So we set off for school to get money and then to the bus so that we could actually get downtown. Once downtown we realized just how hot and humid it was outside. We decided to go underground to the subway and walk the underground shopping center called poll town that connects two stations. After stopping for a snack to tide us over till we got to where we were going we set off for the subway. Once there we looked at a map and saw that we were in the wrong place. So we walked poll town again to the other station to try that... again we were wrong. We decided that we would know where we were if we went above ground. Once above ground we headed in the direction of Sapporo Station (another station that we knew would have more subway systems). Once at this station we headed below ground and once again we saw no sign of the subway track we needed. Mind you this all took about an hour and a half. after wondering around Sapporo Station for another hour, which puts 2 hours behind where we wanted to be, we finally found where we needed to be. After buying our ticket and going through the gate we came across problem number 2. Where is our platform? After asking someone who had no idea we decided to wonder around a little bit and finally after another half an hour we decided to take my brilliant advice and ask a police man who was directing traffic for people coming off trains. By this time not only was I hot and tired, I was getting mad at little things because of how hot and tired I was. FINALLY we got on our train and headed on our way to a fun time at the Historical Village (so I thought). We got there and walked out of the train station and realized we had no idea where to go next. So we wondered in one direction for a few minutes, turned back, wondered in the other direction, turned back and finally went into the train station to ask for a map. The lady gave us one and pointed us in the right direction (or so we thought). We wondered straight like she told us and realized about half way down that we were going the wrong way. so we turned around only to see a guy walking toward us who said something to us in Japanese, which of course we didnt understand. He said in broken english that he was staff at the station and that we were going the wrong way. He was sent after us so that we didn't get lost. Finally we were on our way to the Village. 10-15 minutes later we were standing, sweating, at the bottom of the steps that led us up to the old Sapporo train Station. With 2 hours left we decided to see as much of the village as we could. Once there we had a wonderful time. It was SO cool... We learned later that we could has asked for Headphones that told us what everything was in English. Next time we go we will have to do that.

Ok Story number 2

Early this morning at about 6:05-6:10 (give or take a few minutes because I cant remember) I was woken up from an amazing slumber to my bed shaking ... I woke up, looked at the clock and literally said "Huh, earthquake" and went back to bed. When I was fully consious I decided that my mind was playing tricks on me in the middle of the night. While singing "Just my imagination running away with me" I googled Earthquake and was given a sight called "Earthquake Today" I KID YOU NOT! Looking at this web page I found that indeed there was an earthquake in Japan at 6:03 in the morning. At the epicenter (in the middle of the ocean) it was a 5.1 the city that was hit the worst was about 4.5 hours away from us. I got on facebook and sent a quick message to laura asking her if she had felt the quake. she said yes and that it woke her up as well. In class I began talking about the earthquake and people had no idea what I was talking about. Nadine had slept through it and most of the people at the DK house didnt even know there was an earthquake.

Tomorrow we are heading to the Chocolate factory with the other Ball State girls. This weekend we are going to hang out with Bre and Giselle who have met an Irish guy who they want me to meet (no objection on my end) :-)
Should be an interesting week

Night night
Court

What can I do that is NOT homework?

June 20th Sunday night 9:06pm

Just got done with homework so I thought I would update.

Last time I wrote was the 16th of June, Wednesday I believe.
The 17th was my brothers 18th birthday. I was really sad that I couldn't be home to celebrate with him. He said he had a good day which I was happy about. Other than that this week has been very boring mainly because it was so blasted humid outside.
Friday we didnt have school and so Nadine and I hung out for a bit. We did a quick grocery run on saturday so that we could have some food to eat for the weekend. Friday we got a call in the morning from Bunkin asking what we were doing. She asked if we were free to come over to school to show some high school students around campus and we said SURE. We got there and were told that instead of the 60 students that Bunkin had originally told us were coming, there were only 6. We were really excited that the number dropped so drastically. The group was/is from Washington state and they were super cool. we ended up spending about 3 hours or so with them showing them around campus, talking and getting to know them. Today (sunday) after church we got to go shopping with them downtown. It was nice to get to see them again.

Church today was good. Nadine and I sang Open the Eyes of My Heart and it went surprisingly well for just the two of us. As I said after lunch we got to go downtown to go shopping with the Washington kids. Lots of stuff that I still want to do and not enought time to do it in. I have 5 weeks left here and I still have a list of things that I want to do.
Gonna keep my note short tonight because I have a headache and Im tired.

~Court~

Time flies when your half way across the world

June 16th. Wednesday. 9:41pm

Today was boring. Long, boring, and rainy. All I wanted to do was sleep and I couldn't because I had a full day of classes and a morning devoted to learning a song so we can sing at church on sunday.

Updates from the last time I wrote.

The Soran festival was fun, but not nearly as fun as opening night. I think it was the group of people that I went with that made the difference. I really like Yosakoi and Im sad that the festival is over. Last weekend was a mess, with all the festivals going on and what not I was downtown more than I was at my apartment (which isnt a bad thing, it just cost me money every time I want to go down there.) We've learned how to navigate the subway systems, but the buses are another monster in and of themselves. Its not a problem once we are on the bus, the problem is finding out which bus to take and where it is located. Last week Nadine and I ended up walking home from the station 2 or 3 nights because we A) didn't know were our Bus was located that we needed to get on or B) were too late and the buses stopped running. Public transportation here is wonderful, but the busses stop running so early that you have to time it just right or you will be stranded at the station.

Sunday Nadine and I cooked for church (an outdoor BBQ type deal) It went really well, but I was kinda disappointed because I felt like we didnt get to do anything. There were so many people who wanted to help that it left up with nothing to do. I got to church at around nine after stopping by the convenient store to get milk and MaxValu to get butter. I walked in and the Yoshiko sensei (the pastors wife) had all the meat cooked and the potatoes boiled ready to be wrapped in aluminum foil and she was filling a big pot with water for the mac and Cheese... We made her stop cooking because there was going to be nothing for us to do if we let her continue on like she was. Food turned out great and they were SO excited about having Chocolate cake (in Japan they dont have real chocolate cake and the cakes they do have are SO expensive that they are only bought for special occasions) We are lucky that Nadine's family sent over Kraft Mac and Cheese and Boxes of Cake mix (enough to feel an army).

Tuesday the Nebraska crew met us at school and we all walked over to MacDonalds for lunch. I really enjoy hanging out with them. I decided to think outside my American comfort zone and ordered a Shrimp burger... It was actually really good! During our Mac trip I learned about the waterproof cell phones that are out in Japan. I also learned about the new nintendo creation, the 3D Nintendo DS which doesnt use 3D glasses. It was a pretty fun trip.

Today was long and rainy (like I said before) We made plans to go out and buy a Yukata because I want one REALLY Bad, we also couldn't stay awake during class, it took a mountain dew to keep me awake enough to comprehend what was going on. Friday is our sports festival which is going to be really cool. I think thats all the updating I need to do at this moment in time.

Night night and I will write more later
~Court~

Yosakoi

Friday June 11th, 10:04 am Japan
I've been here for a month already! I cant believe that, it doesn't feel like it AT ALL. There is still so much that I want to do while Im here, it seems like these next 6 weeks are going to go by and Im not going to even realize it. Lots to update on so lets get started.
Monday and Tuesday were normal days in my book. We went to class, did homework, made dinner and watched leverage.
Wednesday was the start of the Yosakoi festival. Yosakoi Soran is a festival celebrating the start of the fishing season with a special type of dance and music. After school wednesday night I ate dinner with Markie and went back to my apartment to put my stuff down and check on Nadine (she has been sick and is just now starting to feel better and gain her energy back). After making sure Nadine was ok I walked down to the bus stop where I was supposed to meet Laura and got a pleasant surprise when Talon showed up with her. We me Markie and Rob on the bus and all headed down to Odori park to watch Satsudai (Sapporo Daigako, aka our school) and other colleges perform in the Yosakoi festival. We took the bus to Odori park where the festival was being held. I sat by laura and Markie and we had our little girls talk while the guys were talking about random guy stuff. We had ran out of stuff to say and all of a sudden Talon randomly says "I have this toothpaste that tastes like mint and lime". Laura about DIED she was laughing so hard. At this moment i realized that it was going to be a hilarious night. We met Seychan at Odori and we walked over to the stage. After loosing the guys, finding a spot, finding the guys again, getting flowers from said guys, and watching two groups perform we spotted Bre and Gisele. They joined our group and we finished watching the show. Satsudai was great! I was really proud of my school, it was funny though because all of us americans were so used to cheering and yelling for the people that perform well and in Japan thats not the custom. We had a great night of fun and random-ness.
Yesterday night (Thursday Night) Nadine, Bre, Gisele and I all went out to dinner. Nadine and I have been wanting to try this little Yakitori place that is right across the street from school and we decided to invite the other BSU girls with us. It was so much fun. We had no idea what we were ordering so we just picked random things. It wasnt so bad because Bre and Gisele had been to a yakitori place before so they knew what they didnt like. We ordered liver, which wasnt so bad and we ended up spending like 8-10 dollars a person for a TON of food.
Tonight we are going downtown to Soran night of the Yosakoi festival. Im pretty excited about seeing it. All I have to do is get through this three hour class and I can enjoy my weekend.
More updates to come.
Hearts and hugs
Court

MILK ICE CREAM

Hmm... Sorry I haven't updated in a few days. Its Saturday night June 5th at 9:04pm and I just finished eating some milk Ice cream (totemo oishii!). The past few days haven't been that exciting, classes and homework have taken up quite a bit of my time. Today was pretty fun, but it didnt really turn out the way I had expected it would. I woke up this morning to a text from Nadine that said "I dont feel good, I have no voice, I need to go to the doctor" (those were not the exact words, but close to it). I went over to her room to see how she was doing and ask if she needed me to go with her. She said that she would call some of our Chinese friends because they knew more Japanese than either of us did. I told her that I would let her get a shower and get around and if she needed me to go with her I would abandon my plans and go to the hospital with her. Turns out that she found a friend to take her and I got to go exploring.
I set out on my adventure with my camera and no idea where I was going at around 1:00. I knew there was a shrine close by and I decided to head in that direction. I got to the shrine, took pictures and looked around a bit and then was off in search of something else. I decided to wonder around a bit and I found a sign for a park. So my mission from that moment out was to find said park and explore it. On my way to find this park I stumbled upon a little shop called The Sweets Lab. It looked cute and so I decided to make sure I stopped in on my way back. After asking someone where the park was and getting an answer, but not the one I was looking for, I decided I would wonder for a bit longer before giving up completely. I think that I actually found the park and didnt even know it. I took a picture of a really cool clock thing that may or may not have been at the entrance to the park. As I tuned to walk back home I decided to stop by the sweets place and get something for snack. I was the only person in the store and I had no idea how things worked. I went up and bought a cream puff thing and the guy asked if I would like to stay and eat here. I said sure and paid him the $1.50. He got me my dessert and a glass of water. all in all my day was pretty cool and exploring was a success.
I made sure Nadine was feeling better and we watched two episodes of Leverage (Im hooked. I love that show!) online before I retreated back to my room to end my day with milk Ice cream! Pretty awesome end to a pretty good day
Court

Japan Day 22 (I think)

This morning was not very good. I got really homesick after talking to my best friend (Talking to her wasnt the bad part, it was not being able to be home to see her and everyone else that made me homesick). Class was a lot better, we had my favorite teacher today and we learned (the others learned, I already knew it) If you're happy and you know it. It was really funny. The teacher made us do the actions that people suggested, I suggested pyon-pyon which means to jump or skip. It was So funny to see everyone jump up and down. Hopefully tomorrow will be better than today was. It got a lot better with class and dinner and leverage. Now Im waiting for my family to get on skype so I can talk to them. Tomorrow is our grocery shopping day, and homework (lots and lots of homework) So Im keeping this short and sweet. Night
Court

X-men, Karaoke and Great friends, Japan Day 20

Im so glad I made friends, even if it was with other foreigners. Last night was tons of fun. After a rough three hour class Nadine and I decided to part ways and relax before our shenanigans of the night begun. We met up at about 6:15 and got a text from laura saying that Talon, Markie and Rob may be coming over too, lets just say we about flipped a lid (it wasn't a bad thing, we just had to kick the cleaning into overdrive) While Nadine vacuumed and made her bed I scarfed down the ramen that we had made and did her dishes for her. This cleaning fit put us about 5 minutes late to meet laura at MaxValue. We got there and realized that it was only going to be 5 of us (Me, Laura, Nadine and Talon). We got drinks and snacks and left MaxValue heading for our apartment. Wolverine was actually a really good movie, I was expecting minimal because it was X-men, but it actually was good and now I have it on my computer Thanks to the Digital Copy :-D After the movie Talon left us :-( and we continued our girls night without him. We went over to Shidax (the karaoke place that is like a 5 minute walk from our apartment). It was my first time doing Karaoke in Japan and it was so much fun. We got our own little room with chairs and all the stuff needed to Karaoke. They gave us a book full of English songs with everything from Eminem to Michael Buble, and we had no trouble butchering most of the songs we sung. Laura sang Phantom of the Opera and could actually hit the high notes, I was so proud of her. We stayed out till like 2:30 and by the time we walked Laura home it was about 3am (yes the sun was beginning to rise and I was dead). All in All it was a really fun night, Today is Saturday the 29th and its now 2:00pm. We are going to explore the new Jusco that just opened down the street at 4 and I have homework to do. Other than that I've spent most of my morning sleeping away a headache. Church tomorrow and Class monday, Picture will be on Facebook in the near future.
Court

Another day another long Japanese class

It is Thursday May 27th 8:56pm Japanese time 7:56am American time. This morning was exciting, I woke up with the plan of rolling out of bed to met the guy from the post office at 9am (My box was supposed to come at that time) So after crawling out of bed and spending about an hour or so on the computer I decided "Hmm I wonder where my box is?" I knew that if I took a shower that they would come and I wouldn't be able to get to the door so I kept myself busy with the computer until about 10 or so when I heard a knock on the door. I got my box and after trying to break the fort Knox tape that kept me out of my present, without much luck I might add, I resorted to scissors to do the job for me. I opened my box to find a note that read "Courtnie LOVE YA!! Mom, Dad, & Mike Stuff to make Pizza Included Hope you enjoy :-)" Only my father could be this clever. Im Super excited about getting my present and pizza! I cant wait to make it with Nadine one of these nights for dinner.
After our curry lunch Nadine and I went to class (early mind you) and sat through the crabby attitude of our fellow Ball State classmates. I have decided that I no longer am associating myself with them and their bad attitudes, whenever someone asks where I am from I will say that I go to school in Nebraska with Laura and Talon :-). Speaking of, I got to eat lunch with him the other day, It was really fun, he's pretty cool. Anyway, tomorrow we have a test in our language class and after we are having a girls night. Im so glad I found people who dont need to drink to have a good time. Here there is a thing called Nomihodai which basically means you pay a flat fee and you drink as much as you want from like 11pm-2am or some ridiculous time frame like that. Im sorry, but that doesn't sound fun to me. Im happy with one drink (if I drink at all) if I went nomihodai with all the other ball state people, I would waist money and wouldn't have fun. Im so thankful for Laura and Nadine. Talon is getting better, he decided that he was going to a bible study instead of going out drinking :-) I was really happy for him (Prayer for our Christian brother Talon please and thanks :-) He's getting a lot better, but I dont want him thinking that he needs to drink to have fun). So far Im having fun and hopefully this crappy attitude that all the other ball state students have wont rub off on me. I will let you know how tomorrow goes :-D Night
Court

Japan Day 14 (or is it 15)

Well I've been here for about two weeks (Im going on my 3rd week here) and I have 8 more left. It is 10:00 pm on Monday May 24th. After our long shopping day on saturday I was so tired it wasn't even funny. thats probably why I didn't get my homework done like I had planned. Sunday I felt awful and I didn't go to church :-( I pumped myself with pain meds so that I could go to the zoo. It was a girls day out Sunday (with the exception of Rob). Nadine ran back from Church and saw Markie over by the Ramen restaurant on the corner. She followed Nadine home and we all met some friends and made our way to Odori Station to meet up with Laura and Rob (Laura's Ipod case didn't fit her Ipod so she had to return it). After meeting Laura and Rob at Odori we got on another subway to Maruyama Koen (Koen is Park in Japanese) The station was about a 10-15 min walk from the zoo itself. The floor of the station was SO cool though. It had tiles of animals found at the Maruyama zoo. We walked for a bit and finally found the entrance, thankfully we were with a Japanese girl who had been there before. The zoo was small, but it was cool. The best part was that we saw PENGUINS!!! I was so happy haha, the Japanese girl thought I was crazy because I took like 7 pictures of the penguins alone. After the zoo we all were so hungry we decided to go out to eat. We were going to go to this hot pot restaurant, which didnt really look good. Laura said that she really didnt want to eat there (there was a wait and it didnt sound good, Im glad she spoke up) We ended up at Bikuri Donki (its basically a hamburger without the bun type place, but not... its kinda hard to explain). After dinner we got on the bus and headed back home, everyone was SO tired that not much conversation took place.
Monday (Today) was the LONGEST CLASS I have EVER been a part of. I was about ready to gouge my eyes out. It was SO painful... I stopped paying attention like half way through the 3 hour class because I mentally could not keep focused. After class we spent about an hour or so studying Kanji (Me, Laura, Markie, Nadine and Rob) in the tea room. I am determined to learn kanji before I leave japan. Tomorrow is tuesday! Tuesday=No class for Courtnie! Things on my to do list= Skype family in the morning, Grocery shopping after lunch, Laundry sometime and finishing homework. Im kinda excited about this weekend, Nadine and I have planned a movie night with Laura and we also are thinking about going Karaoke.... OH random fact for today. I learned about something cool the other day, its called Tabehodai (which basically means 'All you Care to eat') Its kinda like a buffet, you pay one set price and you can eat anything you want. The thing that was really crazy (and something I would never do because Im not a big drinker) is that they have a Nomihodai (which is the same thing, but with drinks) You pay a set price and you can drink whatever you want, how ever much you want, for a certain number of hours. It's not something that I want to do, but its interesting nonetheless...
Good night and I'll Update soon
Court

Shopping+Subway+The Girls= A Pretty Awesome Day!

Today was Awesome! I woke up early (for a saturday that is) and Nadine and I made Squid over rice for lunch. We met Laura and Markie at the bus stop at 1 to begin our full day of shopping and exploring downtown. We went into Alta and conquered all 8 floors (we were so proud of ourselves). the clothes are so cute but none of them look good on me because in Japan I actually have a somewhat large chest ( I never thought I would be able to say that) I have decided to live vicariously through Markie and made her try on a bunch of clothes haha. She loved it though... In the basement of Alta there was a Lolita section (Lolita is the crazy outfits girls wear at Harajuku) Anyway... Markie and I fell in love with it and have decided to go back, we kept saying that we would have bought things if they weren't so expensive. It made my day shopping with her and Laura and Nadine. We found so really cute clothes and Laura successfully bought a full outfit (shoes and all) and only spend 90 some odd dollars. For dinner we went to Subway, which was yummy. I just know that Im going to end up going to one back home and asking for an えびアバカド (shrimp and Avocado sandwich) and they are going to look at me like "What are you talking about?" and Im going to start crying haha... Tomorrow we are going to the ZOO!!!! Its gonna be fun. I am SO tired and my feet hurt so bad from all the walking that tonight I think Im gonna keep things short and sweet and to the point.
Loves much
Court

The last 2 weeks in a nutshell... (Recap)

So... Since I FINALLY have Internet I can recap the last 2 weeks for you. Right now it is 5:50pm Friday night May 21st. But let me take you all the way back to the beginning so my stories will make sense. We will start on Tuesday the 11th of May, this is the day I got to Sapporo after a full day of flying (it was EXHAUSTING). Im glad that I had a flying partner, it made airports and what not easier. We met Nadine and Professor Ratcliff at the airport and took Bre to the DK house. Interesting fact #1, The sun rises in Japan at like 4:30 in the Morning!!! therefore the first day or so, I too was up at 4:30 in the morning. Im taking 2 classes at Sapporo Daigaku, a 3 hour Long Japanese class (for zero credit) and a one hour long culture class that is one day a week (for 3 credits). The good thing is that we have tuesdays free. I learned that my hopes of taking Kendo classes or joining the kendo team are unlikely because it costs a lot and I would have absolutely NO free time. Our landlord speaks NO english which is interesting, Im really glad that I have Nadine here with me. The first week went by REALLY fast. My first weekend we went on a tour of Sapporo which was fun, I met some new friends (Laura and Talon are from Nebraska, Jin-Jin and Cho-chin are from China, I cant remember which state Marki is from but she is pretty cool, Akito, Jin-Jin's boyfriend (who's name I forget at the moment), are studying at BSU this fall, and Nobu goes to church with us.) OH Nadine and I found a church. Its really cool, I think its evangelical (?) but I could be wrong. We (Nadine and I) are going shopping with Laura tomorrow and to the Zoo with Laura and Marki on Sunday. We found a curry shop that we like to go to, its right outside the entrance to school and not only is the food good, we can actually read the menu. So... That Recaps the last two weeks (kinda)

Right now it is 6:08pm and I am getting ready for dinner. Usually Nadine and I eat together, but tonight she is eating with Cho-Chin tonight (Cho-chin has never had french toast so Nadine is going to make it for her).
Today was AMAZING!!! This morning I woke up, and took a shower like I usually do, but this morning was different. See instead of just getting ready for school and what not, The people from JCom came to my apartment and gave me a present. It was called the INTERNET!!! I was SO excited, it basically made my day :-D I got to talk to my family for the first time in 2 weeks (thats not entirely true, but thats what I feels like). Class was LONG today, it felt longer than usual. Hmm I dont know if there is anything else to say.
Talk to you soon (I can say that now because I can actually update more often)
Court

Week one is OVER

Ive been in Japan for 1 week. So far so good I guess... I think I will be a lot happier when I have internet access in my apartment (which will happen on Friday of this week). Ive been super busy with classes and homework and hanging out with friends. This past weekend we (the BSU students) went on a tour of sapporo. We went to the top of the telivions tower and had okonomiyaki for lunch (YUMMY). Saturday was also Nadine and my first time riding the subway and the bus. When we were done with our tour we were told we had to go back by ourselves because the group thought drinking was more important than making sure we got home ok. Thats the one thing I dont like about not living in the DK house, i feel left out of the group sometimes. Anyway, Nadine and I were fine on the subway but we missed out bus stop and were forced to get off the bus when the route ended. we asked the driver where the college was. He said to get back on the bus and he would tell us when to get off... It was a mess lol, but we eventually got home. Sunday, Nadine and I went to church. I loved it, the pastors wife sat behind us and translated the message. After church and lunch the pastors wife took us to see the plum blossoms at a park. there were lots of people and the trees were so pretty. I met someone who looked like the Japanese version of Justin haha... Wednesday (tomorrow for me) we are going to get cell phones. Tonight I have a bunch of homework to do on top of laundry and grocery shopping. Tuesdays are my only free day so I spent most of my morning on the internet at the computer lab. This weekend we are getting INTERNET!!! (YAY) and going to the zoo... We are also planing to have a movie night with laura (another exchange student from Nabraska).
Classes are crazy, I only have 2 but one is a 3 hour long Japanese class that meets everyday but tuesday and one is a 1 hour long culture class that meets Wednesday mornings. The first week of classes were really hard becuase I havent had a Japanese class in almost a year, so I have a lot of catching up to do.
I will write more later... hearts and hugs
Court

1 WEEK

Yes my friends and family, in 1 week I will be on a plane for 13 hours to Sapporo Japan. I am stressing out! I have four more finals left and I will be done with my junior year of College ( I cant believe it!!!) I am studying like crazy so I dont think about the scary journey ahead of me. Im excited (dont get me wrong) but at the same time I think I will feel better when I get there and know that I have my luggage and what not. I have no idea how Im gonna fit all my stuff into one suitcase and a carry on haha. Im just glad that this isnt my first long flight. I met some girls that are going with me. Giselle (ok I probably spelled her name wrong) and the larger group (7 total) left this morning and the remanding three of us are leaving next sunday. The two main things Im worried about now: 1) language (making sure I know what Im doing) and 2) making sure that my luggage actually makes it to Japan this time. (last time it didnt :-( so hopefully we dont have a repeat of what happened last trip *knock on wood)... Hopefully I will be able to either take a kendo class or join the kendo club when I get there.

More later, now back to studying

Court

4 weeks! April 12, 2010

Hello dear friends and family,

We have reached the 4 week countdown. I'm getting more excited and more nervous as time goes by. Sunday my parents and I had a "orientation" meeting so we know what to expect. It was really helpful and gave me a lot of information. I need to figure out what classes to take, the one that I know I'm taking for sure is a Japanese culture class. I will probably take Japanese Business Communication because it is taught in English. I also want to either join a Kendo club, or take it as a sports class. I'll make sure to keep you updated as to what I decide when I get there.

Prayer is always welcome and appreciated

Court

P.S When I get to Japan, my blogs will be longer because I'll have more to say. These last three have been short, sweet and to the point

Two months...

Let the countdown begin... Two months and counting. You know you're close when you get flight information... ~AHH~ I'm flying out of Indy on May the 9th at 10:20. I still have to get my student visa and a few other things before I go. I am so excited, but at the same time I am terrified. I know where I'm staying (I have my own apartment) and I signed up for classes at SU (Sapporo University). My Prof that is sending me said he received my official acceptance letter from the school yesterday.
We are getting close...
Thank you all for continued prayer
<3 much
Court

A Hello Note. Pre-Japan

Hi All Just wanted to tell everyone hello and a little about why I set up this blog. In about 4 months (give or take a few days) I have been given the opportunity of a lifetime and will be studying in Sapporo Japan for three months. This gives me a way to keep everyone updated on my adventures. I also ask that you keep me in your prayers as I start planning for and preparing for my adventure to Sapporo Japan. :-) Thanks everyone