I realize that my posts have been somewhat lacking in visuals lately. Therefore, this post will be mostly pictures. But first I will just shortly tell what's been going on. Yesterday I only had one class, but I ended up sitting around the lounge most of the day waiting for other people to be able to go somewhere. It got late in the day, so we only walked about a block or so to the 99 yen shop (even cheaper than the American equivalent, the Dollar Store). We mostly all bought some snacks. I tried to buy some cheese and pepperoni, but the cheese was kinda weird. But the pepperoni was just....indescribable. It was pepperoni, but it wasn't. As Haley said, "It tasted like the wrong part of the pig...maybe it was an entirely different animal. I don't know." Yes.
Then I went home, and after watching a new ep of Naruto, I played with Mayu a bit. I taught her how to do the American clapping game; the one I did with her was "Miss Mary Mack". Sara and Gracie will know that one. She really, really likes it. I get the feeling she is warming up to me. Meanwhile, okaasan kept making miso soup. She boiled the beans some more. But she says it has to ferment for six months before its ready! Amazing. So I certainly won't be able to taste it. Luckily, she has enough to last until then. Last night at dinner she made something called "karage" which is basically fried chicken. With it, we had vegetables, potato salad, rice and miso soup. And okaasan had me try some salt that tasted like..eggs! I didn't like it too much. If i want to taste eggs, I'll eat eggs, thank you very much. I told okaasan that the Japanese dinner is different than the American one. Okaasan said usually that there is one (small) meat plate, three vegetables, and rice (and miso). Very interesting.
In class today, I had a review test. Then we wrote a self-introduction in Reading/Writing (I am so sick of self-introductions. This should be the last one). Then Onna to Otoko, in which we discussed the meaning of the word "Gender". Bleh. We will see about this class.
Ok, enough talking, here's the pics! You know that you can click on them to make them bigger, right? And don't forget to comment/leave a tag.
Here are the beans that Okaasan is boiling for the miso.
Here is a picture of the street my house is on. An extensive, sprawling suburbia.
Here is the field that I pass on the way to the bus station. At the same time, everyday, the same old men play croquet.
Here is a snapshot of police training in action at the police academy that I pass everyday. They always are shouting stuff. I saw them doing anti-crowd training today.
Here's Mayu-chan!
Here's the bus station where I get the bus every morning.
Here's the apartments that I pass by on my way to the bus station. There are at least five of these complexes in a small area.
A look at the individual dinner plate setup.
A picture of the inside of the Japanese cafeteria. This is the last day Japanese people will be on campus, since today is the last day of final exams for them. You can see that they are busy using their cell phones and making sure they look fashionable all the time.
Here's the ramen I had for lunch!
And lastly, here's a video of my room so you all can see.
