MATSURI

I went to my grandparents today! My obaasan ( grandmother ) taught me how to put on my yukata. My siblings and I got ready together and went to the festival ( matsuri ) even though it was rainy. First we had yummy onigiri that my obaasan made!

I ran into a lot of people that knew me at the festival, but I didnt recognize all of them.. Woops :P 

There were lots of yummy food shops. We ate shaved ice! The fireworks were amazing!! Yuka and I met up! It was fun talking to her!!

Last Day of School

Today was sad and fun all at once. My friends gave me presents and made me a memory book. We all ate noodles during lunch. They planned to have everyone bring some. The all gave me a bunch of food XD

In the morning Yuka started crying so then I started crying. She is a close friend now! Then in the afternoon Kanae began crying which made me cry then Yuka and Saki cried too. We had a big crying session together in the middle of class.  We couldn't stop. I wish they could come to America with me. I have to come back to Japan next year and visit them! Thinking about leaving makes me cry!! 

I had to give a speech to the entire school in Japanese. They understood me and said I did very well and that my Japanese has improved a lot!! 

I went to piano lessons with my siblings and sung "Let it Go".

Bye!!

We cant stop crying

During Lunch

Before my speech

When I was leaving

Class Photo

Yukata shopping!

Today I went to karate and calligraphy! In karate the teacher bought everyone ice cream! It was yummy! 

Later I went yukata shopping with okaasan! They were all so pretty! I couldnt decide, but okaasan helped me! Although I didnt buy my belt yet. 

There is a boy in my class that reminds of a bad guy from one of the Korean shows I watch so I asked him for a picture XD. 

Tomorrow is my last day of school!

Bye...

Boy that looks like Korean star

Yukata!

KARAOKE

Today was super fun!!! I went to eat lunch at a cafe with my friends Yuka, Saki, and Mayuu! We ate dessert before lunch XD. We ordered to delicious desserts called shiru whirl. It was cake with ice cream and maybe syrup! We ordered two to split. Then three of us got iced cocoa, which had ice cream on top! Saki got iced coffee with ice cream! Then we all split a sandwhich! We ate so much sweets!

Then we went to karaoke!! I question why the US doesn't have this type of karaoke!! We had our own little room! Saki and I sung some Korean songs together. I tried to sing some English songs they knew! We had tamborines too! All of their voices were pretty. The best part is that for all of us together with drinks was only $15! I really want to go again, but I wont have time this trip, but thats ok, it gives me an excuse to come back!! :D Bye~

Shiru Whirl

At the cafe

Karaoke

At school the same day

Karate

I went to karate club today! The were super nice!! They automatically welcomed me as a part of the group. I felt like it was family. They gave me a club shirt and clothed me in karate pants. I took lots of pictures with them. They looked so cool when they performed karate!! Then there is me XD They taught me, but I was not so good. :P 

The English teacher that recorded me singing 'Let it Go' came over and gave me a present for singing. She is really nice. She said that she is already using the recording well! :D

I also went to my neighbors house and she gave me Hina dolls( used for decoration during Girls Festival in March) that she made. They are amazing!!!

Everyone I have met here so far is so nice!!

Bye~~

Kyoto Day 2

In the morning Haruto and Rio woke me up early. :P Rio had me style her hair. Then we played card games! My family and I had Japanese breakfast at the hotel.

It was rainy today, but we didn't let that ruin our day!! We visited Nijo Castle! It is known for the painting on the walls which were amazing. I took lots of photos outside, but we were not allowed to take photos in the castle. 

We also went to a HUGE shopping area! I wish we had one in Kentucky! It was a bunch of connected streets with small shops everywhere and a connecting roof.  We ate food from a few shops. They had me try a small octopus on a stickand vegetables   with fish cake fried. They were both delicious! 

My host mom had us visit a nearby multifloor department store. We went to the floor just for sweets!! I could live there!! Everything looked so good. I ended up not buying anything though. I wanted to buy everything. 

We went to a cafe for pasta and pizza. The pizza was cheese on bread with honey. The pasta was completely Japanese. Then we had cute yummy parfaits. 

On the way home I became a pillow for my siblings XD. 

Bye!!

Kyoto Day 1

First my family and I woke up early to leave for Kyoto. It was around a 2hr drive. 

The first temple we went to was Kiyomizu Temple. It was surrounded by narrow streets for people to walk and shop. It was fun!! Some people were walking around in kimonos and yukatas! I bought a lot! The temple itself was beautiful! I got a fortune there and I have good luck! :) Not the top level though. We ate ice cream and lunch in the shopping area.

Note: Even though Kyoto is a big city it is always possible to find somewhere that feels like traditional Japan, or like a completly different place. The city itself was nice and clean!! 

Next we went to Kinkaku Temple ( the golden temple) ! Sadly we couldnt go inside, but the view was breathe taking. 

After that we went to Ryoanji Temple ( famous for its rock garden ). It was soooo pretty, like everywhere!! 

We walked around Kyoto and had dinner at a small restaurant. I had sukiyaki!! 

Our hotel was super nice!!! I loved it! There was a live piano concert in the lobby. I stayed in a room with Haruto and Rio. 

Bye!!!!

Note 2: I have tons more pictures, but they are all on my camera so I will upload them when I get time.