Mitarashi Odango

Today in class, we made mitarashi odango, a Japanese snack made of rice flour and soy sauce. It was absolutely delicious and worth the "hard work" we put into making them. It took us about an hour deciphering the Japanese ingredients and measurements. After that, we all went to the supermarket together and ran around trying to find our aforementioned ingredients. Now remember, if you have no clue what the ingredients are (say potato starch or rice flour- and the words product isnt in English), its hard to figure out what you're searching for at the supermarket. Anyway, we finally did get all our stuff and then went back to the school and proceeded to have a cooking lesson in the ways of the "odango." It was pretty fun and I think everyone had a good time. Japanese food is so much fun and tastes so good. Mmm... food :)

Anyway, thats it for now. Tomorrow is a school day so it's bed time for me. Good night or as they say in Japan, "Oyasuminasai"

-Jen

PS I would post pictures, but for some reason, my current internet connection wont let me... if I figure it out, I'll post them

Japan- Land of the Rising Sun

I was planning on posting this a little earlier but for some reason, I thought I only had internet access at the school I'm attending. BUT, when I turned on my computer today, it told me that there was a wireless outlet nearby and I could connect to it. Why I didnt think that I had wireless at the house I'm staying in is beyond me. Because I do. This is Japan... everyone has wireless. Silly me.

Anyway, after 2 1/2 days of traveling I finally arrived in Japan safe and sound, more or less. As soon as I arrived at the airport, I was taken right to school since I already missed the first day (due to the previous mentioned incidents) and a morning. However, they did allow me to take a shower first though at hotel close by (good thing too, because after 1-2 days of not showering.... well, I'm sure I've smelled and looked better) before I was thrown straight into class. Anyway, class is pretty ok. The teachers are nice and we're learning a lot. They don't mind when we ask tangent questions or talk about nonschool related issues. Of course, trying to get our message across to them in broken Japanese/English is always interesting. But, besides that, everyone here is wicked nice and whatnot.

As for my host family, they are also super nice. I live with a son (Souma), a dad, a mom (Mami), her mom (Mama), and her mom's mom (Baba). Everyone is nice and tries to help me learn my Japanese. Mami and Mama always help me with my homework and help me review my day lessons as well. Plus they're always teaching me new Japanese things. I dont see the dad often but that's because he's always working (as in accordance to Japanese culture/society). As for Souma, he for some reason seems to like me. He always crawls into my lap when I'm sitting down or climbs on my back. He also gives me tons of hugs whenever he sees me and kisses and he cries when I have to leave or can't play with him. Sometimes, he can be a brat but for the most part, he's cute and I like him :)

Anyway, that's all for now. Hope you guys are all doing great!

Smile :)

Germany

After being delayed 2x and a nice 9 hr flight, I'm here at the Frankfurt airport in Germany, waiting another 5 hours til my flight to Osaka. The flight itself wasnt too bad (but I'm already seriously jet-lagged. It's 4:00 AM San Angelo time and 11AM German time). I got an aisle seat with a lot of leg room so it was ok. But one bad thing about the aisle seat- Anytime anyone wanted to get their baggage or stand up, it was like, "Hello strange crotch in my face". Now, I know some of you have no problem with that and in fact, welcome it (I won't mention any names...). But as for me, I need my personal space still. Meh. Oh yea, random thought but I just thought I'd mention that 2nd class/business class, they get pillows and comforters instead of the cheap things we in economy get. And first class, wow. They get a full bed with everything. Amazing. I think I'm going to travel first class for a long overseas trip one day. It's pretty glamorous.

Anyway, the airport is pretty nice... everything is in German of course. Even my computer is speaking to me in German. I have to say though, it's changed quite a lot since the last time I was here, approximately 10 years ago. But despite that, one thing sure hasn't changed though and that my friends, is that I still do not "fit in" in Europe. Lol. Everyone is tall and blond with blue eyes... pretty much my complete opposite. Oh well!

So... now I'm sitting in one of those nice lounge chairs in the airport, writing this while people watching. People watching is fun no matter where you are. I wonder if that's why stalkers find so much pleasure in well, stalking. Hmm... Anyway, the people sitting next to me are doing amatuer "photo shoots" around the airport. They keep posing on the poles and whatnot. It's kind of funny to watch but I'm sure once I'm in Japan, we'll be doing the same thing too. Lol, they just did the Charlie's Angels' pose (here's the kicker, they're 3 guys though hehe). Oh hey, one guy just winked at me while walking by (not a Charlie's Angels' guy but another guy). Weird. Another just smiled at me. Maybe they feel sorry for me b/c I'm sitting here alone and I look so terrible from that plane ride..

Anyhow, as much fun as it is sitting here in my nice lounge chair watching the planes fly in, I think I'm going to go wander, proabably in search of some food. Not that I'm particularily hungry... but there's really nothing else to do. Alrighty then, stay beautiful and keep smiling!

-your friendly neighborhood traveler

In the airport...

Hello! The reason I created this blog is to keep you guys updated on my adventures in Japan. Well... I'm not even in Japan yet and already the adventure has begun!

I'm sitting here in the Dallas Ft Worth Airport right now waiting for flight #2. Yes, I know. I was supposed to fly out yesterday but due to the huge storm that came in, everything flooded and I wasnt able to fly out. So... I rescheduled and my flight was supposed to leave this morning to Tokyo. Well, when I checked in, they were overbooked (surprise, surprise) and I couldnt get a seat (but, my luggage is on that plane already and now I'm going to have a problem with customs since my bag is going to Tokyo and the only one who can clear customs is me... but I'm going to Osaka, not Tokyo so... this will be another fun thing to figure out).

Anyway after talking to the airline people (very calmly of course! but... I may or may not have given them "the look") I managed to get them to send me on another flight that leaves today. However, that flight goes through Frankfurt, Germany before connecting to Osaka. Talk about going the long way. Man. And of course, the flight was supposed to take off at 2:45PM but now it doesnt leave til 4. Good thing I didnt take the "other flight" they offered. (That was supposed to take me from San Angelo to Dallas, from Dallas to LA, from LA to Honolulu, from Honolulu to Korea and from Korea to Osaka.... with the luck I'm having, there is NO WAY I would have made all of those connections)

So.... Here I am in the USO just chilling out. Met a few nice people out here already. And the snacks are wonderful. Plus, we're watching the James Bond- Casino Royale movie. And James Bond is always great. :)

Anyway.... hopefully things will settle down soon and things wil get a bit easier. I'm not sure if I'll have internet access in Japan (I'm pretty sure I will so send me emails! ) but if I do, I'll try to update this constantly :)

Stay beautiful and smile!
-Me

My Dorm Room

So.. It's been a while since I've had internet access. I didnt really feel like paying for it when I'm not even going to be here to enjoy it. Anyhow, I'm living in the dorms now and it's not too bad. There is a kitchen and bathroom so I can't really complain. I did have to go buy pots, pans, dishes, towels etc... and of course, a TV. Needless to say, I spent more money than I should have (but hey... these things happen when you spend most of your time at Wal-mart.... ).

Anyway, this is my room.




The bed is pretty comfy (with all the padding and whatnot added to it). The room itself is small, but it's quite homey and I like it. :)

Anyway, I'm working at the Family Child Care and the ladies are really nice. They think I'm adorable and sweet. Now tell me, how exactly am I supposed to command people and whatnot when all people can talk about is how "sweet" my voice is and how adorable I am. It does nothing for my "bad girl" image. Oy. But they mean well and they are wonderful. They even want me to come back when I get back! Yay!

Ok well... that's enough for now.
Stay beautiful!

This is the living room. I have a tv and a reclining sofa... which if you recline too far, the entire chair just falls backwards. Kinda dangerous actually.

First Day of Work

Today was my first day of work. I work at the Family Care Center (different from the Day Care) doing... well, whatever they tell me to do. I went in at 9 AM and inventoried toys, matching serial numbers to pictures and pasted them into the Big Binder of Toys. Then I went home. Before noon. Nice huh? But tomorrow should be a bit "harder" with longer hours... can't wait.

Anyway, only a week and a few days before I get to move out of the hotel and into the dorms. The hotel is nice and everything, but it would be nice to actually unpack and officially "move in." Not to mention, there's only so much pool and TV you can watch. It gets.. boring after a while.

Well, that's pretty much all for tonight. Perhaps something exciting will happen tomorrow... We can only hope!

Now I leave with a few words of advice:
No matter what they say, the stereo is NOT louder in the backseat.

-Me

San Angelo

Well, I'm here in San Angelo, settled at least for the time being. I'm staying in a hotel off base, waiting until the dorm rooms become available. Why live in a dorm when I could live in an apartment especially since I could be making money off BAH by renting an apartment instead of living in a dorm? Well, I figure I'm not even going to be here for a year so why do I really need to get an apartment? Or spend money trying to furnish it? Not to mention, by living in a dorm, I'll be closer to everyone else and studying is made easier. I mean, we're not allowed to take study materials out of the buildings... a matter of national security or something of that sort. Plus the hotel is actually really nice with a king size bed and a kitchenette and I'm only here until I go to Japan in a few weeks anyway so it's ok. But I really can't wait to move into my dorm and actually unload my car of all my wordly possessions. I havent completely finished in-processing yet... but I guess when I do (sometime this week perhaps?), I'll be working at the base library until I go to Japan and that isnt a bad job at all.

The town itself is quite small but the people seem really nice. There's a Walmart, a Target, a mall and move theatre, a Best Buy, BWW and a lot of steak houses so all in all, there's a decent amount of stuff. No book store though and that is somewhat disappointing. It's also really hot down here. Around the high 90s almost everyday. Intense eh?

Anyway, not much going around down here yet so... I'll leave you with a question:

Does absence make the heart grow fonder? or is it really, Out of sight, out of mind?

Texas... finally

After cramming everything I could POSSIBLY own into my little car (nothing short of a real-life tetris game) and driving all day and all night, I'm finally in Texas. Not San Angelo, but Dallas. We're stopping here for the night, spending some time with my godparents who are really nice and have an extremely HUGE house. It's built around an in-ground swimming pool if that gives you any idea to how huge it could be... and the master bathroom is oh, about the size of my SAR from USAFA. Seriously. HUGE.

Anyway, the drive down from Boston wasn't too bad, minus the whole Optimus Prime and Megatron trying to see who could ride my bumper the entire way down... Only really bad part of the drive was going through New York and New Jersey. THAT was a mess! Apparently, there was a huge accident (something along the lines of a tiny car trying to take on a tractor trailer...) and they had to shut down the freeway. They called in the rescue choppers and the whole nine yards. By the way, the whole "you can't pump your own gas" law in New Jersey is frikkin ridiculous! Drove through Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia (Open for Business...), Tennessee (you're the only 10 I see...), and Arkansas (a natural state...). Drove over the Mississippi River too and thought about the Oregon trail (remember how you had to cross the river in that game? Someone always died). But I made it.

And now, I'm here. Texas. My home for the next year. It'll be fun. Come visit me! All right. That's it for today.

Jen over and out

PS. 300 came out on DVD yesterday!
PPS. I got 37 miles to the gallon in my little car. Amazing! I heart my car!