(It's been awhile.)

But first, a little bit on

Because it's real, and it happens. And it happens like this:

As you can seen, I am now at the stage at which I am almost totally adapted, comfortable in the culture, and pretty much loving Japan for being Japan. That said,

TIU; walking to school in the morning; karaoke with my new Japanese friends (!!!!!!!); pretty-fying my phone; the 100 Yen Shop (where I bough said cellphone pretties); helping host mom peel and cut pears, because she compliments my knife skills every two seconds (!!); TIU's lunch buddy program - I've made awesome friends; my iPod, for being my calender/mobile Skype device/boredom breaker/host-sibling entertainer; Japanese class and five minutes of cracking up a day; finally settling into the rhythm of things; Skype conversations with much-missed friends; Japanese TV dramas (I am hardcore addicted!!!!!!!!)

And the list goes on and on an on.

Things I Love Thursday

FIELD DAY

Because even though I was sore and muddy and dehydrated afterwards, an afternoon of World Cup soccer/a flag-football-esque game with plastic tails/Japanese-style dodgeball was much needed and doubtlessly awesome. There was also a cartwheel contest involved, and let me tell you: I have never been so dizzy in my life.

ALSO LOVING:

my host family; my host mother (because she buys me kawaii clothes and makes me bento lunches and sends me text messages and is pretty much fabulous in every way); umbrellas; sweatshirts; MILK TEA (!!!!!); Skype; almost-understanding Japanese conversations at random moments; Japanese class, despite the homework and quizzes; Pop Culture class; Japanese television (sometimes, I cannot even believe what I am seeing).

Things I Love Thursday

Picture Edition!

ALSO LOVING:

my host family; Japanese food; rain after 10 days of hot humidity; Kawagoe; ‘rolling’ sushi bars; almost knowing my way around Harajuku; Skype conversations with my family (and friends!); Samurai Champloo (look at me! I have a favorite anime. This makes me a cool kid.); understanding bits and pieces of the conversation going on around me; milk tea from the vending machine; after dinner chats with Yuki-chan; photo-booths (!!!).

Things I Love Thursday

My neighborhood - the wall in the lower left-hand corner is for my host-mom's old restaurant.

The mall my host parents took me to. Familiar much?

Me and my tomato ice-cream.

First day of school!

THINGS I LOVE THURSDAY - JAPAN VERSION

(let’s all ignore the fact that it’s actually Friday here)

This week I love:

Japanese food (!!!!!!); my host family (Yuki-chan, Ojii-san, Mayu-chan, Shoko-chan, and Tomo-kun); my room and my Marie comforter; the fact that my ‘commute’ to school is less than five minutes; being in a Japanese class with one other student and having a TA regardless (!!!); the JSP Peer Assistants; the TIU campus; my Japanese pop culture class (anime-madness abounds - I need to work on my manga-reading if I’m going to fit in); my aircon (it is soooo hot here!); having host-mom walk me step-by-step through daily life in Japanese; my host siblings, who are adorable; my fellow JSP students; tomato ice-cream (which is way better than one would guess, and worth eating just for the weird factor); Japanese malls, because they are so familiar; being complemented on my mad chopstick skills; being praised for my ability to eat anything (!!); hearing (in Japanese!) that I look like a doll/anime character (!!!!!!!!!!); JAPAN.

Things I love Thursday

This week I love:

Platform 9 ¾ : Because it is real! I was previously mistaken, and this is wonderful. And I have a fabulous video of me attempting to break into Hogwarts. Ten points, Britain, for erecting a monument to the franchise that made me love you.

Windsor: The castle and the town. The castle, because it was beautiful and incredible and huge. Plus, the employees there were some of the nicest I have ever met. They were smiley and helpful and went out of their way to be accommodating. The town was awesome too, because the Thames ran through it and for 22 pounds, five people could rent a motor boat for half and hour and cruise around. The experience was one of my favorite.

Silent Discos: Headphones with multiple channels. Hundreds of people dancing and singing to music only they hear. Pretty much the coolest thing ever.

Honorable Mentions:

Julia’s Bulgarian food; carrot cake; Temple Church; Westminster Palace; chocolate covered strawberries; looking out over Big Ben and the London Eye from a penthouse club; chugging mango/apple/orange smoothies; talking springs in really, really uncomfortable beds; realizing that your head/arm/backpack has finally been released by the angry tube doors.

(I do not love fire alarms. Third one in two weeks. What the heck?)

Things I Love Thursday

This week I love:

Harry Potter - Which is, of course, obvious. But I am talking more specifically about the Harry Potter locations which I have visited. Platform 9 3/4, disappointing as it may have been, was worth going too. And I am in London, where Harry spends much time. And even if it doesn’t really count, Oxford was full of movie filming sights. I have stood on the same staircase the line them up for sorting on, I have walked through the Great Hall, gazed in on the Infirmary, and looked up at the owlery. This all makes me and my not-so-inner dork insanely gleeful. My heart gets all happy. You can see this plainly in my pictures.

This is the Great Hall.

Oxford - And not only because it is so beautiful to my Potter-nerd self. Nope. It is beautiful all on its own. The colleges are of course stunning (and I really, really, really want to go there), and the town is adorable. Plus, I had the most delicious chicken pesto panini. Like, I am hungry just thinking about it. Good school + fun town + yumyum food = I could so live there.

At Oxford.

Stonehenge - Which I have already flailed about, but which still deserves mention. Things do not become one of The Seven Wonder of the Medieval World for nothing now, do they?

Leaping for joy.

The Tube System - Because I have finally figured it out and it saves my feet. Plus, I still don’t like or clearly understand the bus system.

Thai food - I am about to go eat my leftovers from yesterday’s lunch. Excitement is me.

There are, of course, many other things I could list. But these are the creme of the crop, so they get the attention. One week left! I am looking forward to the remainder of my adventures, but I am also looking forward to seeing my family and friends for more than a week!

things i love thursday

Julia and I attempting to break through Platform 9.

After making it to the center of the maze (same one they filmed the Harry Potter movie in!), I was traumatized.

At Hampton Court with Julia & Rylie.

King's Cross! I am holding a mop. I am four seconds away from trying to fly away on it.

First rainy day in London. Look at my cute rain umbrella! And the London Eye in the background.

I am a copycat. I once read this article about how to make it big on blogs and it linked to this one girl’s blog and she had a “Things I Love Thursday.” I am going to copy her, because London is too busy and too fun to write everything that has been going down. Ready? Ready!

This week I love:

The Old City; big buildings that are older than our country; St Paul’s Cathedral; visiting Fleet Street (!!); the financial district and its Starbuck’s every ten feet; Oystercards; becoming semi-literate so far as the tube system is concerned (!!); the people in the paleopathology department of the Museum of London; the Tower of London; meeting old friends at the Tower of London and planning trips to Ireland with them (Kevin!!); impromptu photoshoots; visiting old castles; looking at old art; running through the same maze they filmed Goblet of Fire in; walking so much I don’t feel guilty about eating Milka (!!!) chocolate; standing under Big Ben as the quarter-hour strikes; Westminster Abbey in all its splendor (!!!!!!); KING’S CROSS TRAIN STATION, even though it was not like it was supposed to be and there was no wall between 9 &10, only train track, and even though it was inside and not like the movie and even though I definitely didn’t get to go to Hogwarts; the fact that tomorrow morning I take off for Ireland!!!!!!!!

Yay!