in Tokyo now!

tadaima!!
that's what the japanese say when they return home (and in reply, the family says, "okaeri"). well i'm not home, but i'm going for my weekend homestay in Ina-shi tomorrow! excited, but i think i'm more nervous about the Japanese conversations and basically just fitting in with the family. unfortunately there are no kids, only a young couple and their dog, which i find a slightly strange configuration for a homestay family.

so i disappeared for a long while because i was in Hong Kong with my primitive dial-up internet, and then in Kamogawa, where we had limited access to internet in the seminar house. we got quite close to everyone else because there was literally only a convenience store, a beach, and some mountains, and a small mall to venture off to outside the seminar house. we also had a strict schedule of meals and ofuro (the communal baths) times. breakfast was at 7:30 am, lunch at 12 noon, and dinner at 6. if you came late by 15 minutes you wouldn't be served any food. apart from that...in our free time we played badminton/tennis/table tennis, cards, and oh crikey, Mafia.

anyway, i'm in Tokyo now at the main Waseda University campus. so far i haven't explored that much but i plan to go out a lot more often next week after the homestay...to shop at Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku and go see Akihabara and Asakusa (and hopefully go to Disneyland? :) ). going out in Japan requires a lot of self discipline cuz everything looks so pretty and kawaii (or yummy, if it's food). and of course there's the izakayas, which are cheaper than those in Hong Kong, and karaoke! <-- the prices aren't bad, but too bad i'm not very good at singing. a lot of the other girls in the program are really impressive though - one of them even sings opera.

okay well i will post photos some other time! gotta start packing and getting ready for homestay (i.e. review all the kimarimonku, or set phrases, and wrap my gifts.)