Hello 日本

First off, here’s a video of my day at Tennoji Zoo yesterday:
Click!

I was supposed to go shopping with Amy, but she bailed, so instead Mama and I drove to Tennoji (in Osaka) to go to the zoo! The zoo was pretty big, and SOOOO CROWDED. Golden Week crowds are ridiculous. I got angry at people after like 5 minutes there. Plus, it was crazy hot, so that didn’t help.
The zoo was alright. Mostly I felt sorry for the animals. It was so hot and loud and busy and most of them were asleep or walking in circles around their cages.
Actually, some animals were even missing from their cages, which was kind of a disappointment. I didn’t really see much that was super interesting, aside from the koalas, red pandas, and tigers. The hippo was missing, and there wasn’t even a giant panda like I hoped
But it was still a fun day. I tried some Japanese-style shaved ice. I had strawberry flavour. Their shaved ice is much bigger than the ones you get in Canada, and much sweeter too. You can also get ice with sweetened condensed milk drizzled over the top too. But it was yummy

After the zoo, we went for a walk in a famous area of Tennoji. There are many famous restaurants in the area, and they all had pictures out front boasting their famous customers. There are also many “golden” Buddhas that you are supposed to touch their feet for luck.

I realise I haven’t written about school for a while, so I’ll write about today!
The novelty of me has worn off a bit now. It’s not always OHMYGODEXCHANGESTUDENT. I don’t have any really good friends (aside from Sehee), but everyone is nice to me, and I can easily switch from one group to another and feel alright (aside from not understanding the language). I am also friends (friend = anyone who speaks to me) with some girls from Sehee’s class. They’re really nice and closer to my age range, so that’s really super.

I’ve been drawing the school lately for the school pamphlet. That is going pretty well. I am going to start painting the sketches I’ve made with watercolors tomorrow. I shall try and take a picture of my drawings before I submit them!

Today I had a test in P.E. class that I didn’t know about. That was nice. Actually, it was a test on how well we did the exercises. Actually, the majority of our class is taken up by stretching, etc. It’s pretty ridiculous. I could almost do all the stretches by memory. But there is one that really confuses me still. It involves stepping one way, touching your shoulders, and then standing on your toes and reaching upwards with both arms. But you have to keep changing the way you step. It’s confusing to even explain. But I think I did okay! Also, I’m an exchange student, so it really doesn’t matter.

I also got my summer uniform today! Finally! It is getting soooo hot here. Its terrible in the winter uniform. The summer uniform is pretty ridiculous looking, but way more comfortable than the other uniform. Plus the skirt is actually a reasonable length (AKA not reaching my ankles) so that makes me happy.

Hiro (a friend from 1-C) asked me today why all foreign girls are thin. I laughed. And I told her that not all foreign people are thin. Then she told me that she thought I looked nice. It’s strange, everyone here thinks I’m really thin (not saying I’m fat or anything, but I could definitely look better the tiniest bit thinner) when they’re all sticks!!! I don’t understand…
But Hiro is super sweet and really good at English too. I like her

So tomorrow is school and then the day after that (asate in Japanese ) is my class ensoku (trip, outing) to Nara! Not sure what all we’re doing, but it involves biking around and seeing big rocks, yay!
Anyway, I have a group, which is Yuki, Mai, and Shi-whatshername. Yes, I don’t know the name of the girl who sits beside me. I feel too awful to ask her now.

Also, Yuki is the most adorable thing ever!!!!