Welcome to I got the internetz.

さしぶり、ね？　I got the internetz.
But not in the way I wanted to.

What? Uh? Da' fuck you talking about?

Let's rewind and start from the beginning. So much has happened in the past two weeks. SO MUCH. Every day is a fucking adventure. Japan is definitely different from the States, to the point that it makes my head spin. The streets? Are fucking ridiculous. I almost got a heart attack riding my bike here for the first time. Side walks? What side walks? They might as well not have sidewalks, I mean holy shit in the motha' fuckin' can. I almost got hit by a truck, a car, several middle- schoolers (who wanted to practice their English on me while I tried to get back on my bike. UM. STFU, NOW'S NOT THE TIME), I almost fell into a ditch, etc. I got lost on my way home from school. It was dark and it was raining and I wanted a long, hot shower. Instead, I got to practice my crappy Japanese on the locals in order to get directions and after so many failed attempt, FINALLY God was like "fuck it" and decided to have a really nice person help me out by actually taking me to my destination.

The people? Kind. Some are asses, but there are asses everywhere. However, I do feel safe at night riding my bike or walking in the streets late at night. You definitely can't do that in my hometown.

Orientation week was a blur. I met so many people and managed to maintain their friendship even after I moved out of the dorms. Throughout my first week, I went to downtown Osaka, Kyoto, and of course walked randomly throughout Hirakata while getting lost several times in the process.

Then I met my homestay family. First meeting was awkward (for me) because I had to enter a room and see my family for the very first time. The whole family was at one side of the table and me and the CIE staff member was on the other side. While the staff member was introducing me to the family and telling me the rules of the family's household, I kept thinking "'Ho shit, I feel like I'm getting adopted." I didn't know if the family knew English or not since the information sheet told me they didn't, but I've heard you can't believe everything the sheet tells you. Turns out that the dad can speak English (ok, not the best but it's a helluva lot better than my Japanese. A billion times better. A trillion and one times better.) The mom can speak a little, but communication between the two of us is actually quite smooth since the mom can understand enough English but has a heard time speaking it. So we usually have our dictionary at hand. The two boys (two and six years old) are too adorable for words.

The parents are young, both being 34 years old. The dad works for Panasonic and works long hours. He'll leave the house early in the morning (before anyone wakes up, really) and won't come home until 9 or 10 or even 11pm. However, the host dad is truly freakin' awesome. I love his sense of humor (it's cute when he tries to be funny and it sometimes ends up WTF-ish when he tells a joke in English but it's so much love. It really really is.). He likes to drink and doesn't hide the fact that he does. He once came home drunk and was like, "Aisha, I be getting drunking tonight!" to which I replied, "Uh. Yeah, you sure did." EVEN BETTER, the next day he came up to me and APOLOGIZED not about being drunk BUT about speaking bad English while he was drunk. I just went WTF and told him it was okay and totally understandable. He'll offer to help me with my homework, and sometime he'll try to teach me a really complicated kanji for the LOLZ to which I go LULULUL I'M A BEGINNER, TEACH ME BEGINNER THINGS bu then he'll try to teach me another complicated kanji. Regardless, I learn a lot when he helps me with my homework and it really really helps.

Even though the dad comes home late at night, he really does care about his family and it shows. Every night he'll come downstairs and play with the kids, talk to the wife, ask me how school was, and after about an hour he'll head to bed. And when he's off, his whole day is pretty much dedicated to his two children. Sometimes the family "picture moment" gets too fluffy and gooey for comfort and I'll have to leave the room or silently try not to throw up but other times, I try to stop myself from going "AWWWW".

This family. UGH. TOO CUTE.

The mom is the sweetest ever. She's a housewife and does... housewife things. Her cooking is THE SHITZ. SO GOOD. OMG. She's very patient and caring and. Just very very nice, okay?

The six year old is perfect. He's smart and likes to solve math problems for fun (LOLWTF?). He knows how to read a helluva lot more kanji than an average six year old, much less my whole level 2 Japanese class. He's very approachable and amiable and likes to meet new people. He never fails to correct my Japanese (I kid you fucking not) and even though he doesn't know how to speak English, the communication between us two is improving thanks to my crappy Japanese. The two year old... is going to take some work. He usually sticks to his mother or father and only comes to me when he wants candy (I shit you not) or during some rare moment when he's bored.

So yeah, that's my host family in a nutshell. They live a 20 mins. bike ride from the school and they even gave me a bike to use as my main source of transportation (um, FREE BIKE HELLZ YES). So I feel like I really got lucky compared to the other homestay students who live 1-2 hours away from the school and got paired with host families not to their liking. Sure, my host family doesn't have the internet but I realized I don't really need it. I can get my fangirlin' on while I use the school's computer. Besides, by the time I get home, I'm too tired to do anything so what I end up doing is take a quick nap, eat dinner with the mom and kids, take a shower, play with the kids, do homework, watch TV with the family, then go to sleep.

But in the beginning I mentioned I got the internet. That's because I'm not living with my host family right now. Everything is okay, just a family emergency arised and the mom and kids had to go to the mom's hometown and will be there for a week. The dad is on a business trip and won't be back in a couple of days. Which means I get to live back in the dorms for another week or so. AWESOME. But more on that on a another post. And pictures next time too.

つづき

Welcome to T-Minus a few hours...

In about six hours, I will be in the airport and heading towards my first airplane ride ever.

HOLY SHIT IN A CAN.

Several things happened during the last couple of days. So much to still do. I should be alseep, WTF. Oh, procrastination.

Picture time: Consist of me being a dork and packing







I'm too tired to write more. See you on the other side!

Welcome to 3 more days.

Holy fuck, the clock is ticking. A part of me is ready. Another part of me is like "fkfjdskljfkldsjfklds;;;;; WTF TIME!" Packing is still, and will always be an ass. I tried re-arranging my crap into one suitcase and failed miserably. I have way too much clothes. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

On a much much brighter note, the following made me LOL while watching Katekyo Hitman Reborn episode 108:



UM, STFU GOKUDERA. JUMPING ON YOU IS TOTALLY TOTALLY NECESSARY.




"WITH MY OWN BODY"

AHARHAR, I HAVE NO WORDS BECAUSE I FAIL BUT WHO CARES. WORDS ARE NOT NEEDED.

This series amuses the hell out of me. How come I didn't watch this show sooner? By the way, I can't stop listening to this song (Squalo's character song from KHR):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHILdT2FyCs&NR=1

Welcome to a fangirl moment.

Sorry, nothing "getting ready for Japan" related but I'm reading 8059 doujinshi right now and I came across a story that's part of an anthrology and. HOLY FUCK. My heart is filled with gush. LIKE. MATH IS IN THIS. AND. I HATE MATH. BUT THE LAST PAGE.

OH, MY BRAIN.

Welcome to 4 more days.

Seriously. Time. Slow the fuck down.

The last couple of days was filled with shopping and organizing (and by organizing, I meant dumping my crap in a corner of the room) what I need/want to bring with me to Japan. I need to review my Japanese this weekend, and I meant to do some reviewing for the past week or so but... Katekyo Hitman Reborn is taking over mah soul. A friend of mine recommended the series so I decided to check it out. The first 20 episodes are, whatever. I skipped a few episodes in the beginning but after episode mid-20-something, it becomes SO GOOD. Like, HOLY SHIT AWESOME GOOD.

Oh, and I need to overdose on some 8059 in hyper mode, please. < / fangirl rant >

Anyways, 4 more days. But why Japan? You have no idea (or maybe you do. I don't know, I can't read your mind) how many times I heard that question. My reason? I choose to attend the Asian Studies Program at Kansai Gaidai University because I wanted to learn Japanese. Oxford College does not offer a Japanese course, and I didn't want to wait until I transferred over to Emory University to take Japanese 101 as a junior. I already completed all the requirements needed to graduate from Oxford and so, instead of wasting a whole semester taking LOL-worthy classes, I decided to study abroad. Besides, I am an International Studies major. I need to study abroad at some point.

I want to learn Japanese because I like how it sounds. I like studying it. I enjoy listening to a voice message from a Japanese album or watching a backstage video and going "HOLY FUCK, I KNOW THAT WORD! HE SAID BLUE! AND DREAM!" Sure, I watch anime. I read manga. I play video games. I watch foreign television dramas, particularly Japanese and Korean, and sometimes Taiwanese. My reasons to learn Japanese isn't anything earth-shattering, if anything it's for my own personal gain and amusement. Point blank, I want to be able to understand the shet that I'm into instead of relying on translations or subtitles.

But it's not just that. For years, I've been reading blogs and seeing pictures that people post from all parts of Japan. Buildings, temples, the city and country life, the utter LOL products that the Japanese produce, and quite honestly, I want to experience and see that for myself. Something different from my own culture and society that I'm used to seeing daily. Am I expecting perfection? Fuck no. I know that I'm going to experience culture shock. Maybe I'll be miserable for the first couple of days or weeks going "WTF". Whatever the case may be, I'm ready to learn and grow from the good and the bad of my study abroad experience.

People tend to stereotype why I want to go to Japan. "Oh, you're going there because of anime." Sure, anime got me interested in the Japanese culture, I'm not going to lie. But from anime did I get an interest in Japanese music. And from Japanese music did I go, "what the fuck are they talking about?" and pursued to learn the language on my own. And from there, I watched Japanese dramas, movies, game shows, and was fascinated at the little mannerisms and behaviors that the Japanese generally have that made me want to learn more about this culture in a sociological viewpoint. Why do they do the things they do? And after awhile, I wanted to learn more about East Asia (one of my close friends is from China and she loves telling anyone anything China. Seriously, don't get her started LOL)

But it's not just East Asia. Lately, I've been fascinated by Eastern Europe and its relation to Russia. I love learning about their interactions with each other and with the rest of the world. I currently don't have a desire to visit these countries, but I want to at some point in the future. So I'm not solely focused on Japan and East Asia. Europe has my love as well. Hell, Eurasia in general is just fucking fascinating to learn about.

So I can't stand it when people just make assumptions that Japan = ANIME LAND. Honestly, grow the fuck up. Do you really think I'm going to another country soley for one particular type of Japanese entertainment? Because I can just stay right here in America and get the same damn thing (oh, holy internet you~). Like furreal people. That just saddens me, okay?

Wow. I think that'll be the longest post I'll ever write in this blog. But I'm glad I'm able to express my reasons for going to Japan. I'm doing it for myself and myself only. If you don't agree, well. That's your problem.

Welcome to 12 more days.

List of people that I'm going to shop for お土産 for (because my arse is going to forget, no matter how much I try to remember):

- My family (obviously)
- Jackie
- Hui
- Alina
- Merlyn
- Mary
- Qian
- Hanna
- Julie M
- Grace
- And fuck, I'm forgetting someone... or some people.

12 more days where I go "Holy shit in an empty can", I contemplate about leaving my hometown for 4 months, and I procrastinate on packing, applying for summer internships, and reviewing my Japanese. Awesome sauce, right?

Welcome to my list of shet to do in Japan.

Gotta make a list before I forget. Packing is eating up my life like it's made out of chocolate. 15 more days!

☐ Karaoke
☐ Purikura to my heart content
☐ Raid almost every foodstand in the Hirakata and Osaka area and try the local cuisine - katsu-don, okonomiyaku, ramen, takoyaki, etc. (GOD, I LOVE FOOD)
☐ Explore Nipponbashi/Den Den Town and while I'm there....
--
☐ Buy otome games (Starry Sky, TMGS3, Vitamin X and/or Z, etc...)
☐ Buy a shitload of doujin (mainly Prince of Tennis, Reborn, and Saiyuki)
☐ Go to a maid cafe ☐ Go to a butler cafe [at both Osaka and Tokyo]
--
☐ Visit Tokyo (duh!!!)
☐ Visit Hiroshima
☐ Visit Okinawa and um, go to the beeeach
☐ Visit Nagoya
☐ Visit South Korea
☐ Try Kobe beef
☐ Try out the crazy flavored Japanese candies, snacks, and drinks
☐ Go to a jrock concert
☐ See a local band
☐ Check out Tower Records in Shibuya
☐ Visit an onsen (also, check out Spa World)
☐ See Tenimyu: Final Match Rikkai Second feat. The Rivals (omgomgomg, I want to see this soo badly - screw the language barrier - but I don't think my poor college student arse can afford the ticket)
☐ Eat at a conveyor moving sushi place and pig the fuck out
☐ Find the most random named drink in a vending machine
☐ Takarazuka since someone recommended that the show is worth seeing
☐ Stole this from someone's list buuuut, go to the top floor of the Sony building. (A whole floor of video games, some of which will never be released in America.)
☐ See the life-size gundam statue in Tokyo
☐ Go to a D-BOYS event... no, I be fur' serious
☐ Take pictures of Engrish related stuff
☐ Take a picture of a yakuza <- friend request WTFLOLZ
☐ Buy souvenirs for my friends and family (100 yen shop anyone? LOLOL)
☐ I don't know why but... I want to see AKB48 live (I love their schoolgirl uniforms)
☐ Ice Cream City in Ikebukuro (OMG, YEEESS. ICE CREAM IS MY SHET)
☐ Visit shrines and temples in Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, etc.
☐ Ride the Shinkansen
☐ Public transportation~ (bus and train)