Day 2

So this morning I got up and talked to mom on msn for a while....I talked with a whole bunch of people actually.  (By the way, ninja007, I'm online in the evenings at about 5pm your time if you have a day off and want to chat, that's when I chat with mom).

I went back to Hachiouji today to see my host family.  I got to Hachiouji 30 minutes early so I went shopping in the trainstation department store. I ended up going to the toys department and  bought a book - Peter Pan.  I figure it's easy to read and will be good practice for me.  After that I walked to my host family's house.  Okaasan (that's Japanese for mother) was waiting outside in front of her house for me when I came around the corner at exactly 12:00.  She had a huge smile on her face and I got a big hug!  I forgot how short she is! She's up to my chest. I think I squished her a bit when I hugged her :)

We ate lunch shortly after I got there.  Okaasan made Yakisoba because she knows I love it.  The we talked for 2 hours and ate and I gave them their presents and explaned to Okaasan about the Canadian symbols on the apron I gave her - especially the Inukshuk. They all loved their gifts - especially Okaasan! 

We watched tv and talked until 4:30 and took some family photos.  Yuko and I  decided that we will go visit Junshin school again this coming Sunday and then I am supposed to meet her boyfriend. Yes mom, Yuko has a boyfriend!! I think we are all having dinner together.  
Okaasan wants to get all of my host families together to go out for a big dinner one night soon.  She's supposed to let me know what day they decide on because my schedule is wide open.

yuko and Tomoko gave me some ideas about where to go to buy the videos I'm looking for. I found one of them today.  I bought 4 ...well 5 (one was 2 dvd's in a pack) movies.  I can't wait to watch them when I get home.

The we went out to the festival.  I took so many pictures and short little video clips.  There were parades all evening, Taiko performances, dancing, and more.  This festival is so much fun!  And lots of people were dressed up in their yukatas.  So beautiful to look at. At about 7pm we headed back home for dinner.  We had Yaki Niku (fried meat) with assorted vegetables and rice.  I love this dish, it's one of my favourites.  Okaasan let me choose what we had for dinner too.  Lucky me!

Tomorrow is probably going to be a slow day...I don't have any plans so I'll probably do some laundry and then go explore this part of the city for a while.

I think I'm tired enough to go to sleep now...time to go to bed.
Have a good day everyone!

Day 3 (Monday)

TODAY WAS HOT!!!  it was about 40C today!  Right now there is a very big thunderstorm going on...it was raining so hard a moment ago I could hardly see down the street. I made it home about 10 minutes before the rain started  over 2 hours ago. I'm hoping that things will cool down now. I don't think I can stand another day like today...I must have drank 4 bottles of water while I was out today.

Last night I met a lady from Oregon.  Today I ended up going sight seeing with her.  We left the hotel around 10am and took a train to Ueno and then ttransfered to the subway to go to Asakusa to see the temple there.  The temple at Asakusa is the oldest temple in Tokyo that is open to the public.   Once you enter the main gates of Asakusa the main street that leads to the temple is lined with shops on both sides.  There is a little of everything.  I bought a small wall scroll for ￥300 ($3).  I took a tone of pictures, that place is really pretty. I think we spent over an hour looking at the shops before getting to the temple.  

We decided to take a ride on the water bus from Asakusa down the river ( I think it was a river...) to Odiaba.  The ride was about 45 minutes.  The tour guide spoke only Japanese but that didn't really matter because my new friend really likes to talk...she talked non-stop for most of the day.  Seriously mom, she talks even more than I do!!  But the boat ride was a lot of fun and I got some really nice pictures.

Next stop was the Emperial Palace.  We took the train from Asakusa to Tokyo Station and walked to the Emperial palace to see the gardens.  We spent about an hour walking outside and around the palace grounds.  It turns out that the garden is closed Mondays and Fridays so we didn't actually get to go in, but by that point I was so hot and tired and sore, that I just wanted to go back to the hotel anways. I got some nice pictures of 2 swans that were swimming in the moat around the palace.

So, my friend went on to Ginza to look for a camera lense cover and I took the train (no transfer, thankfully) back to Ikebukuro and headed to the first convenience store I saw to buy more water! and supper....I only ate half of it and didn't eat lunch...way too hot!

So I got back to the hotel at about 4:30 and started my laundry at 5:30...someone else's clothes are in the dryer so I'm waiting for them to be claimed so I can dry my clothes.  I've decided that some of my clothes are going to be put in the bottom of my suitcase and ignored until I get home because it will be too much trouble to clean them...and others are just to warm to wear in this weather..I brought too many clothes.  

I called 2 of my host families today and talked for a bit, made plans for next week. I also called Aya's place and found out that she's travelling with a friend and should be back on the 9th....so I have a few days to spend by myself just looking around and stuff.   As long as it isn't raining during the days it should be fine.    

I'm sore from all the walking I did today...and really tired...wishing it was later so I could go to sleep.  Reading a Stargate Atlantis book: Blood Ties.  I'm on chapter 4 now. So far it's pretty good.
I'm gonna head back upstairs and get some more of my water...god I'm so thirsty.

Have a good day everyone!