The World is Mine! >:D

Just kidding! The title is a song by Hatsune Miku - a computer produced singer using Vocaloid software. Of course, this was created in Japan. All the cool, high-tech, mindblowing stuff is made here.

(This is going to be a long one, as I'm trying to summarize three days of WIN!)

Japan in the Spring:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2033379&id=1230390045&l=1ef4d8c9bd

Picnic by the River
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2032913&id=1230390045&l=c561cbf4f8

Anyway, the last few days have been exciting! All the new exchange students are here! I've made friends with some of them so far, most of them coming from China, Hong Kong or Korea. There are also some Americans too, but it seems like we're running low on them this time around. But that's okay, because I feel like I've been given more incentive to speak mostly Japanese. Some of the students speak English too, but sometimes their Japanese is better. It's been fun.

On the last day of March, I met with Ayane and one of Ayane's mom's friends (an Aoyama Gakuin University graduate) who has come to Japan to visit home for two weeks (with her daughter as well). Ayane is an expert in giving tours and finding fun places to see and do. We went to Roppongi Hills and Tokyo Midtown. In Roppongi Hills, we went into this super tall building where we could see Tokyo from a great view. We also visited the Mori Museum of Art and it was just fantastic! My breath was taken away by some of the stuff there. I loved it all so much.

(Before that, while we were taking pictures outside, two Saudi Arabian guys - I want to guess - decided to take pictures with us. By the way, they didn't ask. They just sort of jumped into our picture, smiled, and just assumed it was okay. It was strange. Amusing, nonetheless.)

After the museum, we had ramen for lunch. Yum!

Next, it was Tokyo Midtown where there were some more short-term exhibits. We came across a pet store and we immediately went inside. Basically, I died from the cute overload. I'm not a huge fan of the pens that they keep the animals in, but if I didn't think about that, I enjoyed the place. It had two levels and on the second level, they had this big St. Bernard puppy. Near the puppy, the shop was trying to say, "We're not responsible if the dog bites you" (as the St. Bernard had an open pen) but it ended up saying something along the lines of "The store's responsibility is not it if bitten by dog."

A prime example of Engrish. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

I slowly put my hand near the puppy and she sniffed my hand. I then slowly put my hand on her head and she sort of leaned into it. So, I took the royal opportunity to pet her. I spazzed a little bit. So. so. so. cute. I cannot tell you how much I LOVE dogs. Especially puppies!! My other favorite puppy there was the French Bulldog who had fully erect ears, a smooshed-in face, and eyes so wide apart, it looked incredibly goofy.

After I got my full of puppy goodness, we continued on to a park that had a beautiful garden. Lots of cherry blossoms are out and they're simply gorgeous. Lots of people were taking advantage of their beauty and the decent weather. We saw plenty of families out with their children, dogs, friends, etc. I could feel the happiness in the air.

We took some time to rest by the garden as we had been walking around a lot by that time. It was very relaxing.

Evening soon came and we all went our separate ways.

The next day (Thursday, April 1st), I met with the rest of the exchange students and Japanese tutors in Yoyogi Park for a hanami! On the 31st, I thought a lot people were out - that was nothing in comparison to the amount of people out in Shibuya, Omotesando, Yoyogi and Harajuku on this day. The weather was perfect. I didn't spend too much time introducing myself to many new students, because I worried I would just forget their names....so, I plan to do that as school starts. It was all going pretty splendidly, but unfortunately, one of the Japanese students suffered alcohol poisoning (drinking is a part of the hanami experience, and she got a little carried away). They needed an ambulance to get her. Now, she's doing well. Thank goodness.

On Friday, the IEC instructed us that we needed to come in and get our packages for the new semester. Included in our packages is a urine sample bag - that was surprising. I wasn't expecting that at all. Oh boy.

Cat and I went to karaoke with some of the new girls. There were about 12 of us girls waiting for a room at the karaoke place and a group of young guys (Aoyama students - I could tell from their bags) watched us with great interest. I heard one of them mutter, "kirei naa" which essentially means, "They're pretty, aren't they?" as they inspected us. The comment was nice, but it was weird - you got to love when people talk about you out loud when they think you don't understand them. I have to admit I have committed the crime before too, but I'm not as obvious about it! They kept saying "hello" to us. I waved and said "hi" back in good fun. They seemed to appreciate it.

We finally got a room and in the end, after two hours, we had an awesome time! We all discovered who were amazing singers, how sometimes we all love and know the same songs (the most popular were Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" and Utada Hikaru's "First Love" - we basically had a choir going on with those two songs. It was brilliant.) My favorite new friend would definitely have to be the Japanese girl who likes Fullmetal Alchemist as much, if not more, than I do! We had a fun time chatting and giggling like the fan girls that we unashamedly are. We exchanged numbers last night and have been emailing each other by phone today. :D

Today, I've been trying to figure out my school schedule. It's been a bit irritating actually. There are two classes, a lecture on Hayao Miyazaki's movies (WHICH I LOVE) and a lecture on 2nd language acquisition, that I desperately want to take but I cannot due to conflicts with classes I absolutely must take. I screamed into my pillow a couple times today. But I have time to figure it out, so all hope isn't lost. I don't have to pick classes for UMD until the 8th - which I also don't want to think about, considering I have to figure what I have to take to fulfill my major requirements.

It's such seriously crazy business.

But the other successes around me make me feel better. And even though my tutor graduated, she said I could ask her for anything. I love her to pieces.

Ugh, I just thought about how much I'll miss her and so many other people when I go home in August. I can't think about it!