The novel without pictures!

Konnichiwa audience san, O genki desu ka?



Hello everyone who takes the time to shop at this 100 yen shop! (the great dollar story in Japan!) Yeah it has been a long time since I posted- you want to know why? I do not know or speak Japanese very well. I may be able to slide you by my phonetic spellings of what I want to say but in all reality Japanese is not letter related it is related to the characters in all three alphabets. So this all to say- I do not have Internet in my apartment yet so bear with me for picture updates and any other type of contact other than the time I have at school. So here is a brief indication of my dealings with Japan thus far.



Sushi Sushi- before I was released from my home stay family's house they took me up to the mountains to see their mountain side home. It was a gorgeous very historical Japanese style home with tatami mats and sliding doors and beautiful movie style gardens. It was refreshing to take sometime away from the busy Kofu to relax and enjoy the mountains. After this great trip and the car-sickness that comes from an Iowa girl traveling about an hour into the spiral staircase of the mountains, we stopped at a chain restaurant. I thought- what a chain restaurant after all this original Japanese food and life that I had been experiencing since I was here?- It was better than a chain it was a Sushi restaurant. Walked in and sat in bar stools and looked ahead to a conveyor belt of sushi made fresh by the chiefs in the back. It was amazing! You grab a plate and eat! Then another and another and another till you are full. Then you pay by the plate- all are 105 yen- around 1 dolla. So we started the feast- I told my Japanese rents that I would eat anything and they started grabbing sushi for me- I ate raw tuna, scallop, cucumber and veggie, corn and mayo, so many types oh and wait- squid- sushi is so much more than I expected. It was either a piece of raw\cooked meat on a rectangle of rice or a seaweed wrap of goodness! I enjoyed all the sushi. Horse radish was used a lot which cleared my sinuses but every single piece of sushi was Oishi- delicious- I was very taken by the sushi and am not sure if I can go back! ( prior to this experience I had not had sushi because the sushi may not be as fresh as in Japan and might have hindered my prior feelings toward the delectable bits of goodness!) I love sushi! My favorite sushi is a rectangle of rice with scallops and onion.



Tokyo or the beach- anyone?



Well I traveled right before school to a place which is similar to NYC- non other than Tokyo. I had previously drove through Tokyo after flying to Japan but had not been able to explore. Well all three of us DM teachers took a train to Tokyo and started to explore. One of us had been there before which helped out but in all reality if you have a guide book, a hostel to stay in, and an English version of the subway system you can get around- most things are within reach of the nearest subway! We saw the turd building- I didn't name it- it is a business building that has a yellow turd on top of it! Also, I went to the top of a skyscraper to see Tokyo. It was gorgeous because it was an open air observation deck. Also we went to a modern art museum, a fish gallery which was sweet, the early morning fish market where they sell the fish straight from the water and so much more. I will have picks of this very soon! It was hot and we walked over creation but it was so fun!

Well for now that will have to do- off to lunch- rice and a few pieces of meat and a salad! done! yum!

Remember: Don't watch out for cars then you may get a free prize!


~MOlly