time flies

There are literally only two weeks left before I leave Nagoya - my night bus to Tokyo is scheduled for 11:30 on the 18th, which is in exactly two weeks and two hours! Unbelievable. I've already started thinking about how every time I do something or go somewhere, it could be my last chance to do it, which is really kind of depressing. All I can do is keep telling myself that hopefully I'll be back in a couple of years for the JET program, and even though I probably won't end up in Nagoya, I can at least come back and visit. That, and just try and make the best of what's left!

Anyway, these past couple weeks have been pretty fun.  Last Wednesday, I went to a kimono lesson, where I got to try on a kimono! I even learned how to tie the obi, though honestly I think I've already forgotten how. -.-'  After we had put on the kimonos (it took a long time! There are more layers and steps than you'd think), we all sat around and had some tea and snacks, after taking pictures, of course. It was kind of short, but a fun experience; the two teachers were very nice and so were the other students - one of them was a fellow Nanzan international student! They asked if I wanted to continue and take lessons, so that eventually I'd be able to put on a kimono by myself, but I figured I wouldn't really have time so I declined. They put me (and everybody else) on their blog, though! You can check it out here. :)

The next day was Thanksgiving, but I did absolutely nothing special. Also, apparently turkey is basically impossible to get in Japan; my host mom has never eaten it, and said that most Japanese people probably haven't! Crazy. I told her if she ever came to visit me in the US, I would have my mom make some for her (because I don't know know how to roast turkey). Anyway, I am sad to have missed out on turkey and stuffing - this was my first Thanksgiving away from home! (Though not the first without family; there was that one time my parents went off to Italy without me...:P)

On Friday, though, I went out with some of my classmates, which was really fun. We ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant, and unlike a lot (most?) Chinese restaurants in Japan, this one was actually owned by Chinese people! Which probably explains why it was so yummy. After that we went to an izakaya, where our Korean classmate agreed to treat us all to whatever food we wanted (but not drinks). He said that it if it were Korea, he'd treat us for everything, drinks and all, but Japan is just too expensive. Anyway, it was very nice of him. :)

Saturday I spent at the Higashiyama Botanical Gardens! I wasn't expecting too much, but it was actually quite pretty. The momiji (Japanese maple) leaves have finally changed color, so there were brilliant red trees all over, plus flowers and all the other cool plants. All we really did was look at the plants there, so there's not too much else to say about Saturday...

On Sunday, though, I went and danced in A Christmas Carol, like I mentioned in my last post. Or rather, I swing danced for one song during the intermission of the play, but it was actually a lot of fun! I met up with the other Nagoya Swings people in the morning, and after a quick rehearsal we went to a cafe to eat lunch and pass the time before the show started. The play was actually called A Christmas Carol With A Heart, and was basically A Christmas Carol, except set in Texas. It was pretty entertaining, especially when the little Japanese kids said their lines in English. :D Afterward I went shopping with my friend Mary, who was in the play, and we (finally) did purikura (print club) together! We'd been wanting to pretty much since we got here, so it was nice to actually do it.

And then this Wednesday, I went on a field trip to tour the Toyoto plant! Toyota City is very close to Nagoya; it took us about an hour by bus. We went to a few different facilities, where we got to see the welding and part of the assembly process. It was actually really cool, and the welding was unexpectedly beautiful - the sparks flying everywhere looked like fireworks. Last we went to the Toyota Museum, where we saw a quick performance by a robot that could play the trumpet (not really sure how that related to cars, but it was cool), climbed inside lots of Toyota cars, and looked at some exhibits. :D

Yesterday, I went out for karaoke, again with some of my classmates. It's been a while since I went to karaoke, so I was really excited to go again. For some reason, the place we went to was a combination karaoke/rent-a-car place. O_o Anyway, we were there for 4 hours, all of which were lots of fun - I thought it was funny how a lot of us knew the same anime songs. :D Hopefully I'll get to go karaoke again before I leave!

So that was the past two weeks! As for the next two, they'll probably mostly involve lots of presentations and studying for finals, but hopefully also lots of fun and good memories! :) At the very least, I know my last few days will be action-packed. The plan so far is: dance party in Gifu, night bus to Tokyo Disneyland, day at Disneyland, Ghibli Museum the next morning, and then home!

P.S. Sorry for the lack of pictures in posts nowadays; I'm too lazy to get the pictures from my computer onto the family's computer. But maybe tomorrow I'll do it and add some pictures to this post, so check back later!