Omagari Fireworks Festival

Okay, so I am getting further and further behind on updating this. Haha~ I have been here since the 24th. So yeah, been here for about 4 days.

One the second day of being in Akita, Japan, I went to Daisen City in Akita to watch a huge fireworks show. So instead of writing a huge blog about how awesome the fireworks were, I'm going to do a picture blog here! :D Enjoy~!


Here are two signs advertising the Omagari Fireworks at my school

Cute signs that we saw while walking around Daisen City to get a spot for the fireworks

As we were walking, we happened to see a mini shrine in the middle of the city. In this picture, you can see the well-known "red gate" as most Americans with little Asian/Japanese background would call it. We call it "torii" (like the name Tori). It is usually associated with the religion Shinto or even Buddhism.

After passing the randomly placed torii (or at least, it was random to me. It could be completely normal for all I know), we came upon a vendors market. Heather and I got discriminated against for being foreigners by the Japanese fan passer-outer as we walked by him. He was only giving the fans to the Japanese people who were covering themselves with umbrellas and heat-proof sleeves.He looked at us directly, froze, tried to look in every direction possible; as we got closer to him, he pulled the fans closer to his body. Only after we passed him, he handed it out to the Japanese people directly behind us. But we, as foreigners, are not used to this hot/humid/sticky weather. Our faces were red and sweat was dripping down like they were racing in the Olympics. Anyway, we passed the fan guy to see gaint Statue of Library in the middle of the fair market. It seemed a bit strange, but then again... it is the symbol of America given to us by the French so that is also a little strange to me. Of course, everyone was taking pictures of her. After taking pictures of her, we took pictures of the vendors and all that jazz.

After passing through the food market, which looked so delicious btw, we came across street performers. They were dancing and waving flags~ It was very entertaining to watch. If you don't believe me, here is a shaky video of them recorded by yours truly. As I was taking pictures of them, most people just walked passed us gaijin ("foreigners" in Japanese) without notice/trying to avoid us/duck down. The guy with the blonde hair Thomas had waited until I pushed down on the camera button and posed like that. Afterwards he gave us a smile and bowed then proceeded to walk away. A very little bit down from the performers was a random bowling pin statue... or the top of a bowling place... I'm not sure.

Because of how hot it was (approximately 90-something degrees Fahrenheit), I got Hello Kitty ice cream. It tasted like cotton candy, bubble gum, and lemon mix. Yes, it sounds like a weird combination but it was delightful. And the fact that it was Hello Kitty makes it more cute~ ^^ When the cute old lady was scooping out the ice cream for me, she was smiling the whole time. ^^ She designed it in the shape of a rose. I wish I could say this magical Hello Kitty cart was once in a lifetime thing, but I can't because they were located every two blocks. On the bright side, that meant you wouldn't have to walk so far away to get it~. Once I got my ice cream, it influenced the others as well :) they also had different character ones, but the Hello Kitty one was the most popular.

The next two photos are just a mere few seconds apart. To give an idea of how many people were there. I believe someone told me it was around almost a million that goes to the event yearly. It is a very huge thing with many pyrotechnics showcasing their skills. And let me just say now and probably later on... they were ichiban (meaning "the best" or "number one"/pronounced like itchy bon bon).

Based on our faces (particularly mine), can you tell how hot and exhausted we were? The person in the picture by order: Kelly (myself), Sara (Urinus student like me), Heather (also Ursinus student), and Thomas (the lone hipster wolf). Remember their faces and names because I will probably mention them often in later posts.

During the day, you would hear BOOM from the pyrotechnics testing out whatever they test out. Well, after a long stop from testing, they light some off again. We were saying how it's too bright out for anyone to see the fireworks and why were they doing it then? Well, Heather was the smart one to take a peek around the house that we and other Japanese people were using for shade. she had discovered that the Japanese people had been lighting off colored fireworks instead of fireworks fireworks. You get what I mean? Well, these fireworks leave behind colorful smoke unlike the night-time ones where the focus is on the firework itself. Japan is sneaky, sneaky like this~ Sadly the colors didn't come out too much in my photos but they did look so pretty and colorful~!

We just kind of waited out until the sun went down to find somewhere else where we could see the fireworks. Here are good-ish photos and videos of the fireworks that I had taken for you, my lovely blog readers, and for myself to look back onto~ Please don't mind our talking in the videos~

Well, I hoped you enjoyed reading/looking/watching this blog post that has been taking so long to write... I am so far behind on what I want to write about and how much time I actually have to sit down write everything. As usual, leave comments down below or on my facebook link (if you were directed here from there and don't have a google account/don't know how to comment) and tell me what you think/like/dislike/etc. PS. Japanese fireworks are so much cooler than American ones, in my honest opinion. :p

Orientation

Orientation here is two weeks long, unlike Ursinus whose orientation only last four days. I have only been to Akita for three full days and let's just say, they are making us do so much already.

Here's the run down of my first full day:
Check in - meaning that I had to fill out a residency registration form, pick out the design of my hanko (a stamp for important documents), sign up for a bank account, and sign up for the national health insurance. After that, we got to go on a tour in which the tour guide kept mentioning parties. I think he really wanted to party. During the tour, we all stopped to get our school identification cards taken, then after all of us were finished, it was back to the tour. After the tour was finished (around two), we were given enough time to check out the flea market that the school was putting on for us. It was really cheap there, too! For 6 items, I only paid 200 yen, which is equal to about 2.55 American dollars). I bought a hamper, hangers (the hangers were as many as you can carry for a set price), a bin to act as my shower caddy, a cup, and two folders (one Domo-kun and the other one is just cute designed). All of those items were part of the anything 3 items for 100 yen deal. The only things that weren't part of the deal were barely anymore expensive and had a price on/in front of it. After that, I went to a computer orientation course. I have to go get another cable because the one I'm using now is a little bit big for my computer. But thank you Rebecca for letting me borrow it~!! To finish off the day, we had a "Welcome Dinner" which was awkward at first. We played ice breaker games and got to eat yummy foods. After the games, it turned into a dance party. No one was dancing until the Macarena came on. The whole school started dancing (minus two or three guys). We formed a conga line during the next song, which was YMCA. Everyone was dancing the chorus part until someone decided to start the line. Once the line was formed, everyone joined in going round and round in a circle around the cafeteria. As the chorus would come on, the conga dancers would form the letters over their heads as they jogged along to the beat. It was great fun being in the line and at the party. Once the party was ending, people started to leave in groups. So eventually, it was my group plus a few other groups. The song "Cupid Shuffle" came on and only Sara, Rebecca, and I knew the dance. We performed it in front of the few people there. The cleaning ladies got a kick out of us just dancing in the middle of the cafeteria while they cleaned. It was a great time.

Onto day two:
Since I got up early, I went on another tour of the campus by myself. While waiting for the bus to go on a field trip, Heather and I went on another tour by ourselves. I went to a fireworks festival called "Omagari" held in Daisen City in Akita. It is a huge competition between pyros. It was pretty. Pictures of the festival will be uploaded in a separate post with more information on that day.

Onto day three:
That too will have a separate post. It involves doing to downtown Akita City, going to a 6 story department store, going to a castle remains in a park along with a shrine, eating legitimate Japanese ramen, trying new drinks, going to the Japanese Walmart, electronic store, and sushi bar.

I'm in Japan~!!!!

So, I am now sitting on the hardest of my bed in Akita, Japan. I had it here safe and sound with only a few minor incidents...
[Disclaimer: not that many pictures until the bottom. This is mostly text; however, do read and enjoy my suffering~]

Now, I know what you're all thinking, what kind of trouble did you get into this time, Kelly? Answer: not much, some, but not much.

[I had cut out some details but not many]
Well, here is how it all started out. I set my alarm clock for 2:45 in the morning to get ready for my 9 o'clock plane ride out of Newark to Atlanta, Georgia. Seems simple enough, no? Well, due to my tiredness of going to bed around 11:30 pm knowing that I have to wake up super duper early. I know, I know... what were you thinking, Kelly? Well, not much to be honest.

Anyway, I wake up at 2:45, only to be still in bed when my mom walked in at 3:44 am. So I didn't exactly get to shower and get ready like I had planned to. :/ So I get up and head to the bathroom only to find out that Lizzie is in there. Gah~! So I wait and wait and wait some more... only until 3:50 when I started freaking out to the still sleepy Chao (poor sleepy Chao~ I'm sorry about that sweetie!!). So when she finally got out at 3:55, I immediately ran for the shower. I tried showering fast, but I also wanted to take my sweet, sweet time. I heard about the toilets and showers in Japan, and honestly did not know what to expect. Would it be a normal shower or a squat one?

So after that, I got ready and did a check to see if I remembered everything (I didn't). So onto Newark we go~! Everything was cool in Newark... except driving into there. Newark is scary. There was a mattress under the bridge (I thought someone was being nice to the homeless people by providing beds. But then I thought, wait, isn't this Newark? Someone must be hiding where the body was shot. :p

Anyway, Newark has disgusting food. Like for reals. Because international flights have to be there earlier than regular flights, we had to eat breakfast there. And that was nasty. As we were eating, my mother points out two pilots getting Wendys. The woman that was never in an airplane feels much more comfortable seeing that they are average Joes and not some sleep-deprived alcoholics! Silly mama~


Skipping to the goodbyes~! Mama was sad; she was crying because she was losing her child for a semester and that child happened to be her favorite one (me). Daddy was confused; he didn't know it was goodbye time. Lizzie was cool; she was like "whateva, I am already planning on selling all your stuff while you gone" and whatnot. And Chao, I cried a bit. Leaving him was the hardest part. We spent so much time together this summer because during the school year, I only get to see him for about 1.5 days every other/every two weeks. So, we spent as much time together as we could~ <3 He was much stronger in holding in his emotions than I was. But I know he misses me dearly (regardless of how many times I bug him during his Xbox playing). I got the terminal with no trouble what-so-ever. I sat in the plane next to an older guy (maybe late 50s?) and a woman that seemed to be a few years younger than the man. I was the aisle seat. I was able to study the whole 1 to 2.5 hours (I forget the actual amount). The only trouble I received here was that they didn't have enough room for my baggage, so it had to be a checked bag instead. So this is were everything starts to go wrong~! I landed in Atlanta, Georgia at 12:47. That is when everyone was allowed to get their carry-on luggage out of the bins above your heads. Well, I checked my next flight ticket while waiting to get out to realize that boarding for Japan has already started. To make it even better, there was no gate number written on my ticket. So I'm flipping out in my mind. I kindly asked people to get out the way so I could make my next flight and it was like the Red Sea was parting just for me~. So I ran out of the airplane, thanking everyone as I pass them on the way out, to find out my next gate was at F. I was at A so in my head, I was like "F isn't that far... I think I can make it." Boy, was I wrong or what? Let me tell you a little something something about the Atlanta airport, it is so huge, it has it's own subway/underground tram thing going back and forth from terminal to terminal. I didn't know this until running/sprinting/speed walking all the way to terminal D. Every subway thing that I had passed only listed "A" to "E" on it. Not thinking, hey, just take it to E and run the rest of the way. I was a fool~. I found out that though they didn't list "F," they still traveled to and from it. -_-;;

So I get on the plane, sweating and out of breath. I called Chao while running through those four terminals, almost in tears. Actually, true be told, tears were building up in my eyes while talking to him, but I tried to hold them back. So I made onto the plane all fine and dandy. Or so I thought...

So I start chatting up with a really nice girl from Tennessee. Once the flight started, we did our own thing for a bit. I was going to study Japanese on that flight, but I received a headache from out of nowhere. Thinking nothing of it, I proceeded to watch Despicable Me and The Hunger Games. Now my stomach started hurting. It only started hurting after we were given food, so naturally, I blamed the stomach pain on eating too much or on milk. Nope, I didn't have any milk products, must be nervous..... oh sweet baby Hezeus, it's motion sickness~!!! I threw up in one of those little baggies in the plane. It was gross and burned my throat. After I threw up, the people went around with the drink cart. So I got a water to get the burning gone and asked them what to do with my bag. Apparently, it counts as a bio hazard so I (the person who got sick on the plane) had to dispose of it in the bathroom by myself. And those bathrooms were all occupied for so long~!

I couldn't really eat much after that for obvious reasons. So instead, I talked to the girl on the plane the rest of the way. We even traded blog things, so here's a shout-out to you, Dora!!! :p

So, I made it into Narita airport. It was huge. I was sent the wrong way for a little bit along with a Korean girl by one of the workers (-_-);; while looking for the baggage claim. I had to go through Luckily, I found it as soon as they were laying my bags out. I grabbed my bags and headed over to customs. All this took about 40 some minutes. Then it was a matter of finding my group (i.e. Rebecca, Sara, Ivan, and Anthony). As I exited customs, there was a bunch of people waiting for their loved ones, a business partner, a friend, etc. In Japan, from what I am told, picking someone up at an airport and welcoming them is a huge thing. Anyway, I had to find my group, but they were nowhere to be seen. Looking in every direction in the middle of the floor, I came to the conclusion that they could be visiting a gift shop or going to the bathroom. So I didn't know which way to go because both things were located to the right and left of me. It wasn't Anthony's tallness that made me spot the group nor was it Sara's natural red hair, but it was Ivan's hipster glasses and his light blonde hair. Go figure. So I ran up to them to find out that they were going to leave me soon if I hadn't appeared. So I had to borrow yen off of them to pay for my bus ticket because the next bus was coming in a few minutes (not enough time to exchange money).

On the bus... it was really nice, curtains, a pull out table with cup holder, seat belts, everything. We rode that to Haneda Airport in Tokyo. It was a cute and fun little adventure. We experienced a very small culture shock to driving on the other side of the road. We had tried to prepare ourselves for it, but it wasn't the same as exactly seeing it with your own eyes. The only problem here was that we had to leave a girl behind. The whole time we talked about how we felt bad about leaving Heather and maybe one of us should have stayed behind to travel with her in this foreign place.

Anyway, the Haneda airport was gorgeous~! It was so big but everything was labeled neatly. The airport attendants noticed how un-Japanese we were and spoke to us using easy Japanese and English here and there. It was nice that they didn't just stick to English or use more complex Japanese patterns. They would also motion to stuff as they spoke Japanese to further our understanding and whatnot. It made me happy. ^^ As we were waiting for our flight, we continued to feel bad about leaving Heather. Thankfully, she arrived just in time to board the plane to Akita! She was greeted by a massive hug from me, which is very not Japanese-like.

The flight over to Akita was good. I was placed in business class, which is only a minor step up from economy. The seats were a little comfier, but not by much in my opinion. They placed a Pokemon movie the entire time so that was a plus. ^^ As they were lifting off, on the televisions, they had what it looked like from the ground. And as we were flying, what the night light skyline looked like. It was very pretty. On the plane, a few attendants tried speaking to me in solely Japanese, which I answer back in Japanese and English when spoken to in English.

The bus we were provided with was very nice~ it was just like the other one, but with beautiful lights and curtains. Plus, I met two wonderful people on the bus ride to AIU, Rebecca and Amanda from Taiwan~! (Shout out to them too~!!) ^^

I got to my university around 10:30 on August 23rd. It was a long and tiring day(s). I was unpacking and putting stuff away until after 1:30. I had forgotten my towels at home so I had to use my little bit sweaty tank top to wipe my body off the first night here. It was gross but I got a towel from the school store the very next day. They had even provided us with a small bento box as well for our dinner. I hadn't slept the on planes nor did I sleep once I finished unpacking. However, now my body is adjusting itself to sleeping once again.

Packing for Japan

So I landed in Akita, Japan last night at 10pm (Japanese time) or about 9 am (Philadelphia time).

Anyway... I'ma talk to you about packing. I'm generally good at it, but I always forget things. But first, let me show you what I was planning on bringing...

Yes, I was packing all that for one semester. Such a girl, right? (Wrong, that's sexist!! Lol) Well, I took about 2 and a half weeks of clothes with me meant for those hot/humid/muggy summer days and those dreadful/freezing/annoying winter days. So here you have your (or in this case, my) collection of clothes to bring with you/me.

Because I am not coming back until late December, I had to bring some winter dear with me. My winter jacket is two parts (a snuggly fit one and a looser fitting one), which is why I brought them both with me... double the warmth! My warm Russian sequined hat is ideal for those days when your whole head is cold during a storm. Panda earmuffs... because I could get away with them more easily. ;p Lol, no, good for those chilly winter days that numb your ears, but you don't wanna look silly by putting on a hat. And a scarf, for obvious reasons.

For the fall season, I brought over tights, somewhat thick leggings, fuzzy socks, socks in general, etc. But enough on the socks! It is always important to bring hoodies and sweaters to keep your body warm at a reasonable temperature. So this brings me to my next item, I bought a turtleneck at gojane.com and it is not too warm, but not too cold. Only problem with it is that it is basically see-through. So how do you fix this? Easy, bring tank tops that will provide extra coverage and extra warmth!

Now, the Japanese (and most Asian countries I believe) are not found of the shoulder baring on women. This mean no halter tops, tank tops, tube tops, no topless. But wait, didn't I just mention the tank tops in the previous sections? Well, yes, yes I did. But here is where I give you the solution to this. A cardigan. A little through over your shoulders can help turn your "casual" look into "still casual, but nicer looking than before" look. Cardigans are useful all year round~

As for the bottoms, I packed a pair of casual jeans, red jeggings, shorts, and skirts. Depending on how you wear those bottoms, you can look like average Joe on the streets or like you are walking the runway~ (which I think is perfectly fine).

Now for my favorite thing to wear: dresses. You can never go wrong with a dress. Well, unless it is comparing too many things at once, than that's bad. I took: two nicer looking dresses (a green business-y one that Lizzie helped find for me and a black and pink peplum party dress) and casual dresses for classes and hanging out.

I'm not going to get into the electronics because it's all up to the person.

Sorry to the boys who read all this, no advice for you~! Sorry~!

More Dreaming Posts

So, I wasn't going to upload any more posts until maybe tomorrow... but after the last post, I went straight to sleep. Maybe updating my blog about my study abroad trip's commonly asked questions, my subconscious was like, "you are getting too cocky about going abroad. I'm gonna eff with your dreams, fool!" So, that's exactly what it did.

For those of whom actually know me well enough, you know that I can be very forgetful at times. For those of you that know me a little or not at all, take my word on this... I am very forgetful about things. So, now that the not-so-secret secret is out, let's start with the dream...
[insert Wayne's World reference about the dream sequence "do do do" part]

So I was in the airport and doing my thing. Similar opening as the other dream I had posted prior to this. Well, like this one, I got to travel from Scranton to Newark then Newark to Georgia. Lol, random, right! Well, I am just gonna skip over to the Georgia part...

When in Georgia, I found out that I forgot my passport and Visa once again. I was flipping out and crying. I told one of the female workers at the gates that I didn't have my items. They were all like, "oh, that sucks for you. Can't go to Japan now." And I was like, "no~!!"


So they sent me to a different gate to send me home. I was like, "oh, man... what am I going to do now?! My mom's gonna kill me for this!" I arrived to the gate that they sent me to without a problem. However, that gate was not for an airplane. Oh no, it was a loading dock for a boat tour. What. The. Fudge? I kid you not. Well, as I was waiting in line, I saw my friend Andrea for the same line. I called out to her like a good friend, but she denies me the love or just didn't hear me. So I cut a few people in line to try and catch up to her. No use. She was already on the boat by the time I got close to her. So, being that I cut so many people in line, I gave the ticket guy my ticket that the female worker from above was so nice to give me for free.

Suddenly, the boat started rocking back and forth and shaking. It was scary. Imagine a boat in the middle of a thunder and lightening storm. Yeah, just like that. Well, that rocking and shaking was to release the stairs for me to go up onto the second (and only other level) of the boat. Anyone on the first level cannot visit anyone on the second level and vise versa. So, bye-bye Andrea. It was nice to see the back of your head. [insert SNL's "Can I Have Your Number?" skits line]

Anyway, I walked up the stairs to see Annie Li and Danny sitting next to my assigned seat. Yay, someone I know on my level!!! ^_^ So, I talked to Annie about her recent trip to see 2NE1 in concert for a bit before the announcement went on.

Our trip would have a few delays and detours, it said. Oh, no biggie, Georgia isn't that far from PA. Lol, wrong! Those detours were going from Georgia to Canada to Russia then to Newark and finally Scranton.

To make that trip even worse, that boat we were sitting in looked similar to the steamboats/riverboats of Mark Twain's time. Meaning, there were nothing holding the cold back from us on the second level. -_-;;

Don't worry... we eventually made it home. We were freezing, but we made it home.




Well, there you have it. As you can tell, my imagination is whack and I have a fear that I'll forget my passport/Visa/itinerary/papers. Hope you enjoyed the craziness.

Commonly Asked Questions

As I have been preparing for my study abroad trip to Japan, I have been asked a few questions over and over again. I understand where they are coming from, but sometimes it's nice to be asked different questions sometimes. So, to all those people that will ask me from the beginning of summer to even now, I am going to write down my response (which hasn't change much - or barely).


(In no particular order)
1. Are you excited?
Well, this is an obvious one. Duh, of course I am excited!! This is a once in a lifetime (maybe twice for some people - looking at you, Lizzie Brennan!!) for a person to experience. It's a time to expand my horizons, figure out who I am as a person, see the world, experience something that I wouldn't be able to in good old PA. So, the answer is... yes!

2. Are you nervous?
Well, this answer is yes as well. Traveling by myself frightens me. I have only flown once to California with Chao♥, but he did most of the hard work. ^^;; See picture below~ But the weird part is... I am nervous for the same exact reasons I am excited. I'll be in a whole new society, with whole new social rules (most of which I follow in the first place), and maybe a new change in character.

3. Are you prepared to go?
If you ask my mother, she'll say "no." As for me, I'll go with... "no" as well. XD I am a procrastinator. I will admit this. I have everything in my mind, which everyone knows is not the most reliable, just not on paper. Although, before typing this up, I did create a document on my computer gathering useful information on what I should and shouldn't bring. So that's a good start I think? Mentally, I'm good; physically, not so much.

4. Can you speak the language?
Hahahahahahahahahaha, good one!! XD As much as I would love to say "yes," I can't exactly say "no" either. I like calling myself "an advanced beginner." To me, though I have more ability than a newbie in speaking Japanese, I don't have the skills to call myself a professional or even an intermediate speaker. I am still learning the basics and foundations of the language. And let's admit it, we in America are still learning vocabulary words and blank on them throughout our lifetime. There are times when I blank for a few seconds on how to spell or say the simplest of words. For example, Google has helped me so many times on spelling. Thanks you Chrome, I would have had multiple spelling errors in my posts already - including this one.

5. Isn't it difficult?
Well, duh. It's a whole 'nother language with a whole 'nother writing system. It's cray cray~!!! For example, most US students take up Spanish or French during their schooling years. Those two languages are similar to ours in the basic sense - or at least to me that is; they use an alphabet similar to ours, some similar sentence patterns, similar words here and there. But that about other languages like Japanese and Chinese? They don't follow our sentence patterns all the time (for the Japanese, barely any of the time), different writing system (curse you, hiragana and katakana... and curse you even more so kanji!!!), and pronunciations with the words. Yes, we have words that are pronounced differently than how they are spelled/different pronunciation for the same spelled word (e.g. red/read/read). The Japanese and Chinese have tones to go along with their words (more so the Chinese than Japanese, that is). The Japanese in particular have words that once you combine the characters, they produce a new sound. For example, the word "like/fond of" in Japanese is "suki/すき/好き." When read separately the "su/す/好" part would sound like the name "Sue." The "ki/き" would sound like the "key" you use to unlock a door. However, put together, they produce a new sound; instead of Sue-Key, you would get a sound similar to "ski" like you do on the slopes during the winter. Yes, there are words like that in the English language and probably in many others, but I find it more in the Japanese language.

6. Where is it you are going?
Japan. To be more specific, Akita, Japan. To be even more specific, Akita International University (AIU for short) in Yuwa, Akita City, Akita, Japan.

7. What's the time difference?
13 Hours from PA time to Japan time. Bad at math? Well, if it's 2 pm in PA, then it's 3 am in Japan. This is listed here only so people won't be calling me and disturbing my roommate in the middle of our night.

8. Will you miss your friends and family.
This is a definitely yes. Of course, I am going to miss my family and friends. I have never been away from home for so long without being able to come home when I want/need to. I love my family and friends~ but, I need to do my thing, ya know what I'm saying. ;D I will definitely miss my family, friends, and (this goes without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway) Chao~ I will miss them a lot!! <3 9. How will you communicate with the people back home?
Easy, Skype/Facebook/here. Few people will be getting letters or postcards while I'm there as well. Hopefully postage won't be too expensive. I am hoping to send my parents some items from Japan (like candy of something), but if it costs too much, then they can forget it. :p Hehe~

10. Are the classes you'll take going to be in Japanese?
Please refer to question number 4. At AIU, most classes are taught in English, except the language programs there. So every class I'll be taking will be in English, except Japanese. I do not have the skills to take on a full Japanese language class - every class. My Japanese level would not be able to handle that... especially the science class I am forced to take :/

11. What about you and Chao?
I believe that we can survive the craziness of one of us going away for a couple months. We survived freshman year of college, which breaks up many couples, and survived sophomore year of college, which was probably our (by "our" I mean "mostly my") most emotional year. We gotten to the point where we are completely comfortable being ourselves in front of one another. Like freshman year, study abroad can make or break a couple. It just depends on how well the couple can survive in a long-distance relationship, staying loyal the entire duration, and how often they keep in contact. Though I got to see him every few weeks (about every other weekend), we made sure to keep in contact and to let the other person know what is on our mind. This ensured that there would be little awkwardness when we finally get to see each other. And I am positive that we will continue doing that and that is why we were able to stay together during these rough years. Well, it also helps that we are in love with one another. ;)

Any more questions? Or any questions did I forget?