Well, it’s 2:30 AM now…thought I’d do a blog update.  You know, since that’s what normal people do.  And amazingly, I wonder why I’m tired all the time.  Of course…if tomorrow wasn’t Saturday, I’d be asleep by 12:00.

So what’s taken up my time this week?  Many things…  After dinner all this week I’ve been watching Prison Break with my host mother.  She decided that she was going to rent all the episodes and watch them…  So she’s started on that project.  I just happened to catch some of the fourth or so episode and realized that, hey, this is a really awesome show.  I thought it looked really stupid and would be a macho-prison-violence like crap-filler for Fox, but it’s actually a very educated thriller.  Really awesome show!  So now I watch it every night, with no commercials, which is nice.  And tonight we actually watched three episodes (they’re an hour) because after the second one, it left off with a big cliffhanger.  No choice, obviously.  Had to watch the next one.  And tomorrow I can bet that my host mom is going to want to watch a lot of them.  Keisuke is not really interested in the show.

School?  Well, ESS is doing Snow White now as I think I mentioned before.  I’ve been dedicating my time to trying to help that.  I tend to take over projects like that because of my Speech/Drama background.  Starting of course with my third grade performance in Willy Wonka.  Those were the days.  It’s coming along I guess, but as always, ESS is kind of going slow.  Japanese people just don’t have the built in drive that I do to get things done.  It’s a culture difference.  Now, give a Japanese person something they’re interested in and tell them to do it repetitively until they’re perfect, and they could beat me hands down.  You have not SEEN what Japanese arcades are like.  These people put in six hour days and are literally unbelievable…

Besides that, my friends still have stuff going on with the big dances they’re preparing for the Gym Festival.  I have no time to participate in that because (1) it’s much too time consuming and (2) very tiring.

Weekend schedule…let’s see…  Tomorrow I will do a video blog for my BonsaiBlog account, and another video for my other YouTube account.  BonsaiBlog has over 100 subscribers now, not too shabby, eh?  I’m not sure what I’ll talk about, but it’s long overdue.  I’ll make it a fun one and change into my gym uniform.  Maybe show off my swimming uniform too.  Now that I’ve lost weight and everything, ha.

So tomorrow night I’m going to ShinsaiBashi to meet Yudai after he finishes his English class and we’re going to eat tacos.  We haven’t hung out in a long time due to busyness.  He was trying to get a scholarship for his EF exchange, but unfortunately he didn’t make it.   EF had promised one full scholarship and one half scholarship…and there were only three people for two scholarships.  But you know what?  Instead of being content with charging and arm and a leg for their exchange program, EF pulled their full scholarship.  Because apparently no one impressed them ‘enough’ to get it.  You know what?  That’s just cheap and back handed.  I know for a FACT that Yudai has excellent English and I know that he passed the first scholarship test on the first try, and that’s an achievement.  EF has officially gotten on my bad list.  *mental note*  Luckily Yudai’s family can afford it, but obviously a scholarship would’ve been nice.  Compared with the base $3,000 I paid for Rotary, EF Japan is $10,000!!  And that’s standard fair for Japanese exchange programs.  Absolutely unbelievable.  *rant rant rant*  I hate it.  So yeah, tacos, yum.

Sunday I’ll go to a traditional concert with Isshikura-sensei and my host family.  It will be very traditional.  Yes, my other friends are going to a movie.  But I’ll be getting exposed to more Japanese culture.

And on my last Rotary meeting that I’ll go to, apparently I don’t have time to make a speech.  What…?  So yeah.  They want me to come to a second one, but honestly, I’m not sure I’ll have time.  I’ll probably be clinging to my friends and classmates and dreading the 20th when I have to say good bye to them.  I’ll even miss all the girls that constantly yell in high pitched voices.  American girls just don’t do that…

So now that it’s 2:51, maybe I’ll try to get some sleep.  g’night.

Today I saw Spiderman 3 with my friends Fumiya and Tatsuya!  This week has been made up of school days lasting only 2 hours because of tests, so today was the last day and only two hours.  I went home and changed into regular clothes and dropped off my backpack, and then met up with Fumiya on the train.  Tatsuya missed it… so we waited for him at Abeno.

We were going to have dinner after, but then they switched it to lunch, so we were like really early.  At about 1:30 we ate Ramen (it was good).  The movie started at 4:15 though, so we just hung out until then.  Tatsuya bought some new drum sticks, we looked at some music, and sports stuff.  And Fumiya wanted some new clothes so we looked at clothes too.

And we also went to Baskin Robbins, which was good.  I like the Burgundy Cherry flavor a lot… it’s really delicious.  There’s a new place that just opened up by my station in Fujidera, so I have quick access now!  I can regain weight.

Finally we watched the movie (2 and a half hours!) and it was REALLY good.  I know some critics have said less than favorable things, but I really enjoyed it.  Venom is definitely the coolest looking villian, even if Eddie Brock is a jerk and stuff.  And Gwen Stacy was a very eye catching woman, but the Wikipedia’s entry on Bryce Howard has a less than flattering picture of her, which is disappointing.

So yeah, I had a really fun day today!

And I will be switching host families for my last month in Japan.  I think it’s less than good, because I’ll already be stressed about leaving Japan and having a complete change of enviroment, but I’m also looking forward to a bit of change.  The Toyooka-sans live very much like Americans and have much less ‘Japanese-ness’ around the house then the Makis did.  So in that regard, I’m kind of excited.  But I really love staying with the Toyooka-sans too…so it’s hard to know how to feel about it.

This Sunday I have my last big Rotary meeting in Wakayama.  This isn’t like the monthly one I go to, but the one I go to every two to three months with the other Rotary students in my area.  I’m good friends with all of them, and I saw them last Sunday when we went to Sakai and made candy with Rotex.  That was fun.  So yes, this Sunday I have a speech to do and a long drive.

Then the Sunday after I will go with Ishikura-sensei and Toyooka-sans to a concert in KawachiNagano.  It will probably be a very adult and Japanese-filled concert, some traditional singing or instrument.  And next week Friday I have a Rotary meeting.  So that is a total of 5 Rotary meetings in about two weeks.  Sometimes I feel that it takes a large chunk of my time, and breaks up my schedule.  I haven’t been able to do anything with friends for the past two weeks because EVERYONE has been studying for the tests that finished today.  They take it very seriously.  So today was a nice change.

But yeah, my Sundays are out and most of my friends have clubs on Saturdays, so guess what the only day is that I have to hang out with people?  Yeah…  So I’m excited for calmer waters soon.  Hopefully my friends will also be relieved now that the tests are done.

I’ll try to keep this better updated, sorry~

Ok, so I’ve been procrastinating a LOT because I knew it would be a lot to write and…I am lazy.

So the first day we flew in and left Japan at about 12:50 in the afternoon and then arrived at Incheon Airport at like…I’m not really sure. Maybe around 2:30. It’s a really nice airport though, and the flight was on a new and nice plane. I watched a Korean film with English subtitles. It was fairly interesting. We took a taxi to Seoul with our luggage and stuff, and that was about a one hour drive. Taxis are cheaper there…but still, long way to go by taxi (SUV taxi to boot). We dropped our stuff off at the hotel finally, then went to the ‘Korea House’. It’s geared towards foreigners and is very traditional styled. So we ate a very traditional Korean dinner, complete with Kimchi. If you want to know what that is, simply read about it.  After that we watched an hour long performance which highlighted some of Korea’s cultural dances and stuff.  It was really interesting, and much better than I thought it would be.

Then we went to sleep in the Hotel and stuff.  Keisuke and I shared a room, and my host parents shared a room.  Same as Tokyo, and it was really nice.  We stayed at the Grand Hyatt and all the channels save a few were in English so I got to watch TV I understood!

It was really weird hearing Korean though.  I am very comfortable listening to Japanese, even if I couldn’t understand it, because it’s what I’m used to hearing.  Korea sounded so…foreign, and I realized how used to Japan I am!  I also used Japanese a lot.  I felt more comfortable knowing that the Koreans couldn’t understand me and think I had bad Japanese.  There were also TONS of foreigners in Korea.  So I justed wanted to show off my skillz.  Most were businessmen who were getting talked to in English.  This American Asian guy asked me something, and it really surprised me.  American English coming from someone Asian is just really…surprising to me now, because I’m very used to hearing Asian people using Japanese English.  So yeah, it’s kind of a jolt when you’re so used to a certain dialect of English.

Anyways, the second day we did more stuff in Korea, and I got to see JIN!  Which was really awesome!  We talked a lot (in English).  My host family took Jin to lunch and we had a Korean-style barbecue thing.  They have mini grills in the center of the tables.   So that was really great.  Then we went to the top of Building 67, named so because of how many stories it has, and looked out at Seoul.  That was really cool.  Then we went our separate ways, and I said goodbye and stuff, but I really enjoyed seeing Jin!

After that Keisuke and I stayed in our hotel room for about two hours while my host parents went to the spa.  He slept while I watched English TV.

For dinner we went to an Indian restaurant and ate the buffet, which was really good.  I have discovered that Nan is the most awesome bread out there.  So that was really good.  Then we went and saw a street festival thing that was going on, with tons and tons of foreigners.

And the last day we were supposed to go to an Amusement park but it was closed.  That was sad, but we saw some other interesting stuff.  Then we flew home, but the plane was a little late, and there was some turbulence.

My host mother speaks some Korean by the way.  And I am so tired right now, so I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes.

Korea was amazing!  Really short update just to say I’m safe, and a LOT more tomorrow or something~

Took over 160 pictures too, so you’ll also get to see stuff.  I still haven’t shown any of the 100+ Singapore pictures though either.  Hmmm.

But it was really fun!

Oh- I may be staying with the Toyookasans until I leave in July.  Maybe.  Right now it’s kind of up in the air, but apparently Kitajimasensei asked them and it’s no problem, so that would be sooooo awesome.  Don’t ask me what happened to the third family, I have no idea.

I just wanted to comment on this random part of my life in Japan.

Here in Japan, or more specifically, at the Toyookasan’s house, it has changed a lot.  In America, I usually went to bed by 10 because I was just plain tired.  Now, at midnight everyone’s still up and carrying on like it’s the day.  2 AM is usually when I got to sleep if I have nothing planned for the next day, and 12 or 1 if I do have something going on.  It’s been this weird kind of transition, late sleeping, late waking up.  Of course, my host brother falls asleep sometimes at 6 AM, so yeah, it’s kind of weird.  Japanese students as a whole all stay up really late.

But today I’m really tired.  And worn out.  So I can’t wait to go to sleep.  Haha.  But that was just like random for anyone was interested in sleeping patterns~

Ok, sorry, I have updated in a long while.

I went to Wakayama with my host parents for a day, that was fun. I am now a 3rd grader (senior) at Nagano High school. I’ve hung out with friends a lot. I’m going to Kobe for todays, tomorrow and Friday.

Wakayama was really fun! It was super cold, and snowing harder than I had ever seen in Japan. We saw a lot of temples and old Japanese culture. There were also a lot of funny things that happened. Anyways, it was a really enjoyable time for me, even though it was like a two and a half hour drive to get there!!

Right now, I’m on spring break. that lasts until the 9th of April, then I start school in the next grade. Japan works a bit different though, because the teachers move with the students. So I’m expecting a pretty seamless switch, besides being on the second floor, not the third, of Nagano High School. I also really want to improve my Japanese more and stuff.

During break, I’ve hung out a lot with friends and stuff. Karaoke, sight seeing, zoo, etc etc. It’s been really fun. A new foreign exchange student came, and I’m hoping to meet him next week and do something with him. A lot of my friends have already met him and stuff. Seems nice. From what I’ve heard, he’s like…really into Japan. More so than me. Anyways, today I went to the zoo. And that was really fun, then I tried to find a sushi place I had gone with Toyookasans, but couldn’t, so had to go to a different place and got home late. That sucks, because I’m so tired right now… Next week I also hope to get together with Fumiya and Tatsuya, so hopefully that will work out.

And I’ll be going to Kobe tomorrow to see Naval ships. Or something. With the head of my Rotary district. He’s part of KawachiNagano Rotary, which hosts me. I’m not sure exactly why he wanted to go with me, but, I’m not quite sure what I’m doing … maybe sight seeing. I’ll post how it went when I come back, and what I did and stuff.

Sorry for not updating so long!

~ Paul

My stay with the Toyookasans has been lengthened by a month at least, and up to two months!! Yay! I’m super happy, because I really love it here, and I didn’t want to leave April 1st, so this is very good news for me!

Apparently Rotary wants me to have 4 host families, but they can only find 3…so the Toyookasans are hosting me longer. They’re really nice, and it’s great staying here! Even without wireless internet for my laptop!

And tomorrow I must go to ESS and finish what we need to finish on the movie.

So yeah. Not much happening lately. Been on a week break, that ends Thursday. Then starts our 3 week Spring Break. After that, I move up to be a ‘Senior’ at school. It’s nice to be in Japan. Lots of time off at the moment! Of course, no snow days.

I spent most of this week hanging out with Yudai, which was fun. Today and yesterday though I just stayed home and did like nothing, which wasn’t really fun.

Yes, I had an awesome time in Tokyo. I got to go to Akihabara, which has a bunch of computer stuff to see and we also met one of my host father’s friends there, who showed us around. So it was really awesome. It’s like the biggest geek ‘city’ in the world. So yes, a little bit embarrassing, but a lot of fun. Pretty cheap used stuff too, so I brought like $100 with me, but then I decided that I didn’t actually need anything…so I didn’t buy anything. So yeah.

Then we went back to the hotel and it was really nice! It was Four Seasons and really fancy. The rooms were really nice, Keisuke and I shared one, and my host parents shared one. So that was fun. We ate dinner at the restaraunt, because the place we were GOING to eat at was closed. But, it was way ok because they had a really good burger that I ate at the Hotel and it reminded me of my favorite place to eat in America, Ruby Tuesdays. Of course, that cheese burger was $26. That’s just how the Toyookasans roll though. Tokyo is an expensive place. I slept a little, and was tired in the morning, but the bed was really comforable. Then we had breakfast, which was even more expensive, and not as good as the burger. During Breakfast my host mother complained about how expensive it was, and my host father just remarked along the lines of ‘I like eating expensive food though’…it was kind of funny. But kind of sad because the breakfast was more expensive than the really good burger. I just wanted the burger. (Believe me, if you lived in Japan, you’d know that there aren’t many good burger restaruants out there…)

Then that day we went to Disney Sea!! Which is like the half of Disney Land with rollercoasters and stuff. But we actually went on more gentler rides because Keisuke chickened out of the rollercoaster there, and the Tower of Terror had a 2 wait line, and we had to leave to go to the airport before we’d get to the ride… But it was really fun to go with my host family!

So yes, I had a wonderful weekend in Tokyo!!

Then I got back and had a week of tests and stress. Oh joy. So it put me in a bad mood and I didn’t feel like updating. But I *did* however get a new video blog up because I was procrastinating that much about writing a speech for Rotary last night. So you can watch that <a href=”http://youtube.com/watch?v=CehV-QUmcsE”>here</a>!! It’s cool, ’cause I fixed my webcam so no more annoying buzzy-sounds and the audio is better. So that’s good news for you and me.

G’night!

I’m back and Tokyo was AWESOME! Just posting this right now to let you know. Tomorrow will be the real update!

Ok, so nothing much interesting happened today. I walked around Namba for two hours alone…and really had nothing to do. It was kind of disappointing.

But I’m so excited for Tokyo tomorrow! It’s going to be awesome and we’re going to take lots of pictures and stuff!

And today I actually found the new webhost I’ll sign up with. So, yeah, that should be fun. At least they can move all my site and stuff for free from Elixant. I was about ready to sign up with a different one, but my friend suggested this one and it seems really good. So I’m kind of excited because I get more space and stuff with it than the other one with a coupon, and it comes up cheaper and stuff.

So I’ll post stuff on Monday I think about how it went! Cya!