つかれった。

This is a picture of my two latest investments for learning Japanese. The yellow book is exactly what it says it is, and the purple thing is a 電地辞書。Denchi jisho, for all of you who can`t read 漢字. :D



























Alright! It`s time for another huge update. It`s been what, a week? Yep. Ay yay yay, a lot has happened this week. Should I just start in order? Why not.

So, last Saturday...I went on this amazing trip with other BCAers and lots of Hokusei students. We went to an Ainu Museum, which is focused on the Native Hokkaido people from years ago. In the U.S., the Ainu are comparable to Native Americans, a volcanic crater, a volcano museum, and a National Park that was created about 9 years ago after a huge earthquake. The Park actually has real houses and broken roads in it, so it was extremely neat to see how damaging earthquakes can be. We stayed at an Onsen resort that had a huge swimming pool equipped with slides, a wave pool, and a surfing machine...it also had many ofuras, which are the naked baths. There were also outside ofuras, which we used to watch the fireworks. :D

Well, I guess it isn`t time for another huge update, because I still have so much to type about, but I am out of time. Until later...BYE!

Do watch this video. You will see me in utter happiness. :)

これはごはんでしょう。

So, that is one of the new phrases I learned this week...thanks to Satomi! She and I actually meet every Tuesday for an hour or so to just speak Japanese and English. She wants to learn English, and I want to learn Japanese, so it is a win-win situation!! I love that such a relationship is possible here. :) Also this week, I got two partners for conversational Japanese practice. It`s a Hokusei-sponsored event, and we will meet at least 3 times in the next month for at least an hour to do the same. My first meeting with them is also next Tuesday, so after that, I will feel like I have had tons of Japanese practice!

My house!

Me at the Ume Forest.




This is the BCA group and some others at the wonderful Indian Curry restuarant that we went to on Wednesday. DELICIOUS!!! とてもおいしかったでした！

Soroban!!!! It`s on our dinner mats that we use at home. :D

Bruises, baby! I always take pictures of my crash bruses....




So last Saturday, I kind of had a bike accident. I don`t want anyone to worry when I write what happened. I assure you, I am fine. As I was riding to school, I got hit by a car. I was riding on the sidewalk, and there just happened to be a parking lot entrance that coincided with the sidewalk. The car was turning in, but obviously didn`t see me. I assumed that it would stop, just like every car has up to this point, but it didn`t. I should tell you that neither one of us were travelling very quickly as I was braking and they were turning in. but I got some pretty good bruises, as you can see above. I was sore for maybe two days, but I am near 100% now. I`ve been running 5 times since it happened, so I am definitely fine. Actually, when I hit the ground, I immediately got up, because I knew I was fine. The people were very very sorry, but being as I am a foreigner and don`t know too much Japanese, all I could say is Daijobu desu. That means, I am alright. I tried to communicate that to them as well as possible, so hopefully they understood it. It was just a freak accident, and I am SOOOOOO glad that I am okay.

Last Sunday, I went to a park by my house to look at Ume and Sakura blossoms. Most of the pictures with trees in them are from this place. It was gorgeous to say the least, and I took many pictures and video. It was nice to see so many people at the park, enjoying the day. It was actually Mother`s Day, so maybe that is why it was so crowded. Oh yea, I bought two flowers for my host-mom, and soon we will be able to plant them outside. :)

Oh yes!　I learned about a そろばん this week! One night after dinner, my host family and I were talking and somehow, our conversation ended up talking about this. It`s basically a Japanese calculator, and it is very similar to what many Americans know as an abacus. Surprising as this may sound, I have never played with or seen an abacus, and I am a Math major! Lol. So, needless to say, I was BEYOND fascinating with this gadget. My host mom is really good at it, as are most Japanese people, and I tried following along with how she did the basic 4 calculations, but it was a little difficult. I am hoping to find one at a second hand shop soon, so I can play around with it myself. Also, I guess these things provide great skills for people, and in school, you complete certain levels of speed with the sorobans, and then you can put it on your resume. How cool is that??

Issho!!

This post is definitely under construction. I have a ton of stories and picture caps to post...just give me some time!
My Grandma Charlie sent me white trash! YEEEEEAAAAAH! She`s pretty amazing, and she is winning in the "contest" of most mail sent to Natalie while she`s in Japan...Lol. I totally just made up that fake contest.
This was me as I was first opening it. Don`t you just love my facial experiessions?
These are the flowers I got from a children`s concert that my host family was involved in! This is som GOOOOD chocolate. I was craving it one day, so now I have a nice stash in my room. :) This was the worst bathroom I`ve been in since being in Japan. That`s not necessarily a complaint, it`s just a fact. There was no toilet paper, and it was a squatter. That is what I call a double-whammy!! I`ve actually gotten used to using them. Hehe. This is my おかさあん！！！ Host mom. It`s about time I put pictures of her online!
This is me cooking tacos for my host family.
This is the meal when it was finished!
Okasan and I sitting down, ready to eat!
This here, below, is a wrapper from one of the most delicious ice cream treats here in Japan. It`s strawberry ice cream with white chocolate layered on the waffle cone...YUM! Thank you Elias for buy it one day and letting me try it. :D

This was such a dream come true for me! We were watching one of my favorite Friends clips in American Culture class, and I got to explain the clip. That was such a great day, and clearly, I am excited!

This is me cutting up the tomatoes for our dinner.

Okasan, Haruto, and me at the Hokkaido Jingu, the only Jingu in Hokkaido!

Again.

Otosan, Haruto, and me in front of a Sakura tree.

This is me with the Sakura and giant Torii!!

Haruto and me in the seesaw. :D

Sakura!

Aka Cherry Blossoms!

Okasan and Haruto running up the steps to the Jingu.

The Torii with otosan, okasan, and Haruto. The Torii is the big gate-looking thing.

The sakura as seen from the Shrine front!

Okasan and otosan at the "Welcome to the Ito Family, Natalie" Party about 2 weeks ago. Maybe 3. I can`t remember; the days all sort of blend together...

Kate`s dessert at the party. Her and her host family were able to come! It was a great time.

Me, okasan, and Haruto at the Torii.

This is the Okura mountain ski jump that is very very famous. The 1972 Olympics were in Sapporo, and this mountain was used as the official site for ski jumping. Very cool!!

Me with the Olympic monument thing.

The sky jump from the top! I couldn`t imagine going down that on skies.

Me and the view of Sapporo.

With the flash!

Fun with Morimokuri...



This was at Asahiyama park...



Sakura...




This is me at the Oyachi Jinja, acting like a Sumo wrestler.

Torii!!!! One of my favorite shapes...lol.

Again.

Me in a Sakura tree...

So, my best friend`s favorite flower is the daffodil. I saw these, and I thought of her.

This is a small shrine by my house!

Again. I can`t remember the exact name...It`s something like sanbiyaku jinja.

The next three are of the Atsubetsu jinja.



This is a small shrine at the Hokkaido Jingu.

Ditto.

Again.

Me with Sakura.

I don`t know exactly what this is, but there was a torii, so I took a picture....

A river that I saw on my walk from Hasuma to Miyanosawa...

The next 6 are from the Miyanosawa area shrine.







On my half birthday, May 5, it was also Children`s Day, and there were huge sales at the groceries, and I guess it`s normal for people to line up outside the store before it opens to get the good deals. I thought it was unusual, so I took a picture.

^^There is a funny story to go along with this picture. My host mom really wanted bananas, and apparently, so did every other person waiting outside. So as the doors open, everyone just rushed for the bananas. Okasan was in like a pit of people trying to pull out bananas for us...lol. It was crazy!! I have never seen so many people want bananas so badly. We actually got three branches of bananas, so it was worth while for okasan to be in the pit...We also bought a ton of other stuff, and we were running around the store like crazy. It was a great time, and we finished all of our shopping in 7 minutes!! Wow! I am generally really fast at shopping in the States, but I`ve never done it in 7 minutes. After the grocery, we were headed for shopping, a "yakiniku" party, which is essentially a cookout, then a little more shopping. It was really unfortunate that I didn`t bring my money on this day...I saw a lot of neat things for myself as well as for other people.


This is a long video about the last 2 weeks...



I have tons of pictures and video to show you all, because I have done tons of exciting things. This past week was Golden Week here in Japan, so it was a vacation week for us all! I went many places, so I have a lot to share.

This is a video of yesterday`s American Culture class. The American students were demonstrating the Starburst challenge thing...Enjoy it!!!
Also yesterday in this class, I showed a video of me, Brit, and my grandma making White Trash!!! It`s the white chocolate snack that my granny sent me in the mail, and I shared some with everyone in the class. It was really neat for them to see how it is made, and it was nice to see the faces of the people I really care about at home. ;)