It's Thursday morning here in Japan. That means I've been here for a week. Whoo-hoo! I was fooled to think that I was going to have a full day of school today, but really I'm coming later in the day. Friday will be my first full day. I went to school Tuesday for a little tour and I was the talk of the school. All the teachers knew my name, and that I was from Florida; and the students all started talking as I passed. Tee hee... I got a range of nice gestures (one girl and then other kids waved at me) to not so nice ones (so boys in the mechanical area hooting at me... but I guess hooting is better than booing).

I met some really nice people over the weekend. On Sunday I helped the family harvest potatoes which was cool. We took pictures, but alas, I must wait for my digital camera software so it can work for this computer. I went to a Rotary meeting on Monday and they supplied me with a translator, (who was super cute...!), an dthen, I got my first allowance. After that, my translator took me around town and I bought some comics and such... not with my allowance money, though.

I loved going shopping. I got some great stuff, and I saw some interesting things...Example: Sesame Street is "japandering" ADSL. Comics are SUPER cheap. I can buy a graphic novel with a coin...! I love this place!

Yesterday, my host mom took me to Motozenkoji Temple. It was pretty, but it was a tourist trap, of course. We got them back by taking pictures of some things we weren't supposed to... But we didn't see the sign until afterwards. We laughed and hid our cameras. It was a huge place, but really small for a temple. The one guy at the charm stand was nice, and he gave me a free fortune scroll. A lot of what it said is true...

"Be modest and faithful. You'd better not try to do anything with your own will. An ill-minded person may cause you troubles. Be careful of your company."

 And then there's: "study: Banish worldly thoughts from your mind. Study hard."

So true... Anyways...

Food here tastes really great here, but at the same time, I'm having trouble eating it all. The myth that Japanese eat a little is not true. I've noticed that they basically eat a lot of of little things, and it's really weird combinations too. The other night I had a plate that had rice, scrambled eggs, seaweed, shrimp, and some crunchy thing that I'd never seen.

 In conclusion, all is good and I'm doing better than I thought. I've seen lots of stuff, and taken lots of pictures, but my camera isn't working with this computer... But I'm trying! See ya!