Tonight I get to sleep in a BED.  Yes, my room is finally done enough so that we could put in my bed.  That means that the carpet is all done!  It looks fantastic, and I love how my room looks!  It looks so professional, and I’m pretty proud that my dad pulled it off so nicely.  And I’m still in love with the color green I picked out for my room.  Anyways, that will definitely be nice.

On Friday night I went to Across the Universe which was FANTASTIC.  Best movie I have seen in a LONG LONG TIME.  I’m not sure if I mentioned it, but I went to see The Brave One like two weeks ago, and that was disappointing.  AtU I went to only because Cal and Ash were going…and it just blew me away.  Especially for a musical, I loved it.  I mean, I watched Rent and didn’t find it interesting at all.  Yudai loves that movie but I don’t think he understands everything about it.  I don’t know.  My Japanese friends were crazy for musicals.  ESS Club loved High School Musical.  Anyways, go see Across the Universe.  It’s amazing.

Yesterday I go my senior pictures done!!  My aunt Laura took the pictures, she’s a fantastic photographer.  I took them at the Normandale College’s Japanese Garden.  So they have an oriental theme, but I’m not wearing anything Japanese.  I will definitely put some up.  I will be putting some time updating my Photos post-Japan very very soon, ’cause I have some good pics to put up.  And I’m going to try doing a video blog with the new camcorder we bought.

And as a last note, I’m feeling fat right now.  For some reason on Sundays I always eat too much and I hate it.  Oh well.  I have 6 days in which to eat healthy so I can afford next Sunday.  Hmm, better start on that.

For those of you who use them, what can I do to improve my forums?  I want some user feedback.  I need a way to re-energize them, and keep them going.  They’re targeted mostly at young adults and high schoolers with an interest in Japan, or studying abroad.  I think I should advertise them more, yes, but other than that…?  This would be a good post to leave a COMMENT on, but ONLY if you really know what you’re talking about.  I do moderate all comments before putting them on the site.

Also, please comment if you’re willing to help me in my idea to create a Japan-centric wiki.  I’m very interested in having someone else help me with that, so please apply if interested!  Comment, or email, it’s all good~

I woke up this morning and I was just really worn out. So I took the day off of school. I wanted to get the first day done, and I muscled my way through it, but I was kind of sore this morning. Mono is one of those things that just really wears you out. My throat’s stopped hurting though, so hopefully I’ll be up in tip top shape around next Monday. So after my mom woke me up at 6:30 I just feel back to sleep, until she told me she was leaving for work at 9, and then I finally woke up at noon. Mostly because the dog was barking and whining and I thought he might pee on the floor. Nothing like the thought of having to clean up dog pee to get one going. So yeah, not the most fun way to start out.

Random thought of the day: I tried the ‘creamy chicken’ flavor of ramen for lunch today. It is creamy. And it is chicken. But I didn’t like the creaminess because I prefer not to drink the broth because of how much sodium it has from the flavor packets. Yeah.

Which reminds me that last night I finally made the box of CURRY that I found at Cub!! It was extremely bad rice that we had. I dunno what happened to it, but it didn’t cook very well. Then the curry ended up just tasting waaaaaay too salty. Apparently it has to have a shelf life of, well, forever, because there aren’t enough 17 year old Japan exchange refugees that lived off curry for a year. There were two brands though, so I’m definitely going back and seeing if the other brand can’t be a bit better. But that was a hotter kind, so I dunno.

Few changes with the blog. I updated (again) to the latest beta version. And (again) it’s more of a plus for me than you. I did add my Jaiku link in the sidebar though! I update my Jaiku periodically through my phone, so if you want to know where I am…yeah. Web 2.0 is stalking. Jaiku is very similar to Twitter, but Jaiku sounds like Haiku, which is Japanese…and well, I guess I was just being otaku. Twitter is too popular and flashy anways, I like the design of Jaiku better. Now just to find out whether txting to international numbers costs more…since the number isn’t US to update it. I can use the mobile version though.

So lots of random thoughts today I guess. I’m hoping to update my Wordpress blog with my own custom theme soon, I’ve got one all done out in my head. I should get my butt in gear and make it sometime. vBlog to come SOON, whenever my package from Japan arrives. I foolishly put my webcam in it. Nice, huh?

And on Sunday I might go with Katherine to pick up some Azn foods in the cities. Yay! Actually I’m going to ask her to go to Mall of America too, because I want to finish my school shopping. When I went before I was really sick. So that would be a pretty fun Sunday, but it may not work out. Hopefully it will.

Yesterday I had to go out to do some last minute stuff, which really wore me out.  Went to get a new cellphone, Sidekick 3, so now I officially am connected again.  I miss my old au phone of course though, never forget.  I got a haircut too, I think it looks decent.  Then I did some shopping and got two new shirts at American Eagle and two shirts at Abercrombie.  Couldn’t find any decent skinny fit jeans, store suggestions?  I like the scene look.

Anyways, today I’ve been just doing nothing.  Really tired out and stuff.  I won’t be able to go to the State Fair tomorrow either, which sucks.  My throat still hurts and everything too.  And last night I had a dream about seeing some of my Japanese friends and it put me in a bad mood.  *sigh*

So, in the coming days, I will blog about adjusting back into life in America.  I’m sorry that blogging has not been part of my daily life now while I’m back home.  Part of it is because I’ve been busy with family that came into Texas, which was really fun.  Part of it is because I am no on very slow dial-up.  And lastly, part of it is because I have yet to install my favorite ‘Windows Live Writer’ application on this desktop.

I fear that now I have nothing more to share with everyone though.  I checked my statistics, and it’s reporting over 200 people visit this site per day, and now I feel bad that I have nothing interesting to say anymore.  I live in a farming town!  There’s only so long that I can milk the adjustment blogs, comparing Japan to life in my town.  Of course, I will be updating some other stuff.  Soon I’ll have a page up with little blurbs about most of the people that were regulars in my daily life.

The cool thing is that I will be seeing my host parents soon!!  That’s right, the Toyookasans are making a short stop in Minneapolis for a connecting flight, and I am getting to see them and hopefully take them out for lunch.  I am EXTREMELY excited!  That will make an interesting blog, and I’m sure the pictures will be pretty cool too.

It’s midnight now.  Why do I stay up so late?  I dunno.  Absolutely terrible habit I picked up in Japan.  I’m not saying midnight is particularly late, but usually I’m up until at least 1 or 2 doing basically nothing.  Right now I have ‘The Deathly Hallows’ to read.  Thank you Kimmy!  My aunt borrowed it to me.

So yep, short blog.  And to the people that care, I do appreciate continued readership, as long as the fact that this is no longer a family-friendly blog is known.  After the adjustment blogs run dry, I’ll delve into the ‘08 elections, school issues, and current events.  But of course, Japan will also stay as a main topic.  I routinely catch up on news.

I keep on thinking I’m finishing this, but one more thing pops up!  As a last note, I wanted to mention that Yudai made it safely to Washington and just went to Seattle on Saturday.  Lucky him, I want to go.  He won’t arrive in Wisconsin for…another 3 weeks or so.  For any of you who are curious.  I have been in email contact with him, and talked to him over the phone though.