Small trip to Yokohama!

Good morning!
I was thinking about changing the name of the blog because the contents on this blog will no longer be about Maryland.... :( But I don't have a good one now.... So let me just keep it until I come up with good one. Does anyone have a good idea??

Anyway.... I'm going to talk about the small trip to Yokohama today.

From August 25th to 26th, I went to Yokohama with my family. My father told me about it on the day before the trip, so I once thought it was a joke. But after that, he started talking about the details. As he told me about what to do and where to stay, I got excited!

We went to the shopping mall in Gotemba first. It locates in Shizuoka prefecture. It took 2 hours to get there. Also, it was not just the shopping mall I've seen before. They sell outlet clothes. (That means we can buy the stuff at cheaper price!) So I really enjoyed being there because just looking at them was soooo much fun! (Just looking is the best way to enjoy shopping, isn't it?)


When we arrived at the mall, the weather was terrible! It seemed like someone above was pouring water into a bucket! But I didn't care about the weather because all I thought about was enjoy shopping! Hahaha~. :)

One of the busiest guys in the world! But he kindly let me take a picture with him while he was taking a break in front of McDonald's. Hahahaha~!

I took this at LEGO store. This tiger? is made of LEGO.

After we enjoyed shopping, my father drove for about an hour to go to the hotel that locates in Yokohama. Yokohama is one of my favorite places in Japan, so I was really excited going there! I even sang along while my father was driving.

After we checked in at the hotel, we went outside to eat dinner. One of the famous place in Yokohama is the port. The ship in the picture is called HIKAWAMARU. You can have a dinner inside the ship and the top floor is a beer garden. We didn't go inside the ship because I didn't want to see drunk people.

This is Marine Tower. We could go there easily because the tower was really close to the hotel. (I think it was 5 minutes walk.) The light of the tower is so beautiful!!

This is the view from the top of Marine Tower. You can see HIKAWAMARU. Also there is a park. It's called Yamashita park. It looks like the mall in Washington DC, doesn't it?

My father took this picture after I took a bath in the morning. The clothes I wore is called YUKATA. It's like a pajama for Japanese. It seems like I really enjoyed taking a bath! :) The hotel was better than I thought and I even enjoyed chatting with Ji Won, Hiro(aka Ojichang) , Yuiko(aka Yuichang) through MSN from midnight to early morning!

My father took the picture of the reflection of the mirror at the hotel. I was watching the base ball game at that time, and my mother was sending an e-mail to her friend.

My father also took the picture of me and my mother. (He's just got the new camera! So he couldn't stop taking pictures!) There was a Sea Bus behind us.

I took this picture when I got on the Sea Bus. (The ship that took me to the other side of Yokohama in 20 minutes.) On the right side, you may see the building that looks a bit strange. It's a hotel and every room has a good view because of the shape. I once stayed there with my family, the view from there was awesome! You may also see 4 buildings, and there are offices and stores and so on. My favorite is the one that is on the left side, and it's called Landmark Tower. Also, can you see Ferris wheel between Landmark Tower and third-biggest building? There is an amusement park. So you can go there if you're tired of shopping!

It's the amusement park I talked about on the previous picture. I really wanted to ride this roller coaster, but we didn't have enough time! (The reason is... I spent all time shopping!)

This is Yokohama Bay Bridge. It's one of my favorite bridges in Japan because the design is so stylish even though it was built in 1989.
I took this picture while we were crossing Yokohama Bay bridge. I get excited everytime I cross the bridge!

On the way back to my home, I sang along to my favorite songs while my father was driving. Then I looked for something famous to take pictures, and I found this tower. This is called Tokyo Tower. The view from this tower is awesome as well.

Okay... can you imagine how fun it was by looking at the pictures I took??

Minna de iku to motto tanoshii kamo! (Going there with all of you will be more fun!)

American University Reunion~!

Good morning~!!

I went to Shibuya yesterday.
Shibuya is one of the wards in Tokyo and this is the place you might want to come if you're interested in youth culture in Japan.
I think the most important role of Shibuya is setting trends.
So if you want to know what's cool in Japan quickly, you should go there!
Also, it's the city that never sleeps.

I actually live in a kind of rural area in Tokyo, so it took about an hour to get there. Then the number of the people on the train got increased as Shibuya station approached. Though I'm a citizen of Tokyo, I'm always nervous to go to busy areas like Shibuya. The reason is, I don't like being in crowded places. But being in Shibuya itself is soooo much fun!

I went there for American University reunion! I went to American University last year as a participant of the program which was made by AGU. As you can imagine, the memory of the program is sooo amazing! So I still keep in touch with the other participants and we sometimes hang out together. 20 people went to the University last year, and yesterday 9 of us came. I was really glad to see how each of us were and talk to each other. Though we belong to the same department, we don't have time for looooooong conversation. So it was soooo much fun just talking about the school, boyfriends, girlfriends. and the things each of us did in this summer!

After eating and drinking, we went to Karaoke! It was soooooo fun as well because I looooooove going to Karaoke with my friends!!!!! I sang 2 or 3 songs. It reminded me of the days I went to Karaoke in Maryland! It's interesting, isn't it?

Alright, I took some pictures yesterday.
I always get excited to see neon-glittering cities like Shibuya because it makes me feel like something's always going on at the places.

I took this picture after I went through the ticket gate of Shibuya station, so this is the first thing you will see when you go to Shibuya by train. See how bright it was! The city that never sleeps wakes people up as well!


This was also taken at the same place as the first one, but it's on the right side. The building on the left side is called TSUTAYA and they sell CDs, DVDs, books and so on. They even rent videos. On the 1st and 2nd floor, there's Starbucks. Then, the building on the right side is one of the famous department stores for young people in Japan. It's called 109 (ichi-maru-kyuu), and it's got 9 levels and each floor has diffrent kinds of stores.
Also, this is the place where the movie "Lost in Translation" was filmed. (I love the movie because it helps me take a look at Japan in a different way and how they describe Japan is interesting!)

There are a lot to see in Shibuya and the places around Shibuya are also fun! Actually, the campus of AGU locates in Shibuya and I can go there everyday when I'm a junior. So I think it's a good way to get used to crowded places. Then by the time I graduate, Shibuya will be one of my favorite places! Hahaha~. :)

my friend in France

It's about 2:30 am here and I'm wondering if it's the right time to say "Kon ban wa" ("Good evening" in Japanese) .....
So I would say good afternoon as if I were in Maryland!
The reason why I stay up so late today is that I took a nap in the afternoon, so I got my second wind now!

First of all, let me say a thing or two about my previous message. Though the title was "Udon & My friend in France", I completely forgot to talk about my friend! (The title has been changed after I noticed it.) I think I concentrated on talking about Udon very much because Udon is one of my favorite foods in the world! Thanks to Nina, I could notice something was missing! Thank you so much, Nina! I really appreciate it! :)

Okay.... I guess it's time to start introducing my friend who is staying in France now. Her name is Yuko. She belongs to the same department as me, International Politics. She is interested in France and their culture so much that she chose to learn France as a second language in AGU. At that time, she started making friends with people in France by sending e-mail. Then she left Japan to stay in France for a while. She is staying at her French friend's house.

I talk to her every night through MSN, which is sooo much fun! The reason is that we both use Webcam! Her French friend is familiar with the computer things, so he helped her use Webcam. I actually had my Webcam before she used it but I didn't think any of my friends have one. So I almost forgot that I had one. But she made me want to use it and realize how awesome it is to be able to see our faces while we're chatting on MSN. I'm always excited to see her smile and talk to her because she talks about the place she visits everytime we enjoy chatting. I don't even feel the distances between us because we can see each other's faces! (Though there's still time differences.... :( )

As I wrote, she visits famous places almost everyday. Then she sent me the pictures of them. So I'm going to show you some of them.
In this way, I think I can pretend that I'm in France now!
Hahaha.... just kidding! :)



This is the palace of Versailles.
I really want to go there while I'm alive!!!!!!!!!


This is Louvre Museum.
I think you can guess where it is because that pyramid is so famous in the world! Now it's also famous for the place where the movie "The Da Vinci Code" was filmed. Like so many people in the world, I enjoyed reading that novel sooo much. So I'm really jealous that she visited here!

Alright... that's all for today~!

Udon

Good morning!

Fortunately.... I've got something to write today! :)
Let me talk about yesterday's dinner!
It still reminds me of how delicous it was and I really want to go there again!

I went to the Udon place with my mother and my father yesterday. As I wrote before, Udon is a kind of Japanese noodles and it's one of my favorite foods in Japan. Another kind of Japanese noodle is "SOBA", but I think Udon is always the best! :)

Also there are some kinds of Udon and each of them have deep stories. The kinds of Udon that I can think of now are "SANUKI" and "INANIWA", and both are the name of places. I ate "SANUKI" Udon yesterday. "SANUKI" city is in Kagawa prefecture. Kagawa prefecture is so famous for its Udon that many people from Tokyo or other prefectures spend a lot of time and money eating Udon that is really cheap and very delicous. So it's natural for them to think about opening "SANUKI" Udon restaurant in busy area like Tokyo because they're gaining popularity with every generation. I actually have never been to Kagawa, so I want to go there for Udon tour sooo much!!! The price of Udon in Kagawa prefecture is unbelievable! One serving is about 100 yen.(about $1), so if you have 1000 yen you can enjoy 10 kinds of Udon!!!

This is the Udon I ate yesterday and this is called "Bukkake" Udon. You can choose how you eat "SANUKI" Udon based on how they're cooked. It's like choosing rare, medium-rare, or well-done when you eat steaks. It's hard to explain what "bukkake" is, so I looked up the dictionary. Example sentence is "throw water over someone's head". (Could you imagine what's it's like?) Of course when we talk about Udon, we use soup (it's called "DASHI") instead of water, and we pour it to a bowl that is filled with Udon.

I really enjoyed eating it with my mother and my father. Also it was the first time for me to eat "SANUKI" Udon since I arrived here, so I kind of devoured when Udon came to me. :) Also this Udon place at the shopping mall is close to US Yokota Air base. So I could see some of the Americans enjoy shopping when I was there. I was surprised some of them ate Udon politely and they seemed to enjoy eating it like us. I was so delighted to find Udon already started spreading universally! Way to go!! :)

Well am I gone too far...? Hahaha. :P
But I hope you get the detail of Udon and we'll go and eat Udon together some day! :)

high tech!!

Good morning!

It's 6:45 am and it's pretty early for me to wake up because I usually wake up at around 10-12 am. These days, I've been trying to get used to the regular schedule. But I'm not sure if it works because I actually do not have the regular schedule(I mean, school) yet! :(
Now you may be surprised that I'm getting lazier and lazier day by day. Hahaha...
Also, I automatically wake up after I sleep for 5 or 6 hours.
I don't like to say that I'm suffering jet lag, but I actually am! :(
Well I hope it'll be getting better soon!

Ohhh.... I'm trying to post a message everyday, but I have nothing to write since I left the US. So I end up writing about the things I did in front of my computer and TV. :(
Anyway, I guess that'll be one of the good memories in this summer. :P
So DONMAI!!("Don't mind!")

Okay... what I'm going to write about today is also about the things I did in front of my computer in the afternoon! Hahaha.... Yuiko, Ji Won and I really had a good time talking to each other on MSN. I can't thank you enough for the progress of technologies that can bring us together! :) We talked about the jet lag which make Yuiko and me wake up early, Ji Won's trip to Delaware, and so on. At the end of the small reunion on msn(Hahaha~), we said "Oyasumi"("good night" in Japanese) and "Have a good day!" to each other. It was really interesting because Yuiko and I were going to have the rest of the day, and Ji Won was about to go to bed!

I really want to talk to all of you!
Imagine all of you come together to one place and chatting!
It sounds soooo fun, doesn't it??

going back to regular schedule...

Good morning!!

I just finished uploading pictures that I took in the US to the website.
It's called "Yahoo! Photo" and the address is http://photos.yahoo.co.jp/flight_man_2001.
210 pictures are there so it might take a time to see all of the pictures, but it'll be fun for you!
If you click a thumnail of the picture, you can see a bigger image.

Also, I tried to put the album that I made on bubbleshare.com here.
But I couldn't do that....I don't know why. :(
Can somebody help me do it?!
Anyway I think I still can put some pictures without using bubbleshare.

Well I'm sooo bored since I left the US!!!
The things I did yesterday were eating, sleeping, and listening to music!
I know I really have to be active but I have nothing to do by next Sunday, so I'm going to go shopping with my mom and watch some movies. Maybe going Karaoke with my friends would be a good idea! :D After surviving the boredom, the reunion of American University is coming! I'm really looking forward to it because I'm going to meet most of the participants who went to American University last year. I can meet them at the class, but we didn't have enough time to hang out until the vacation started. So it's definitely going to be fun! I also am looking forward to talking to them about what I did in UM and how great it was!

Today...I'm going to watch National High School Baseball Championship on TV! For me, it's like must-see program in every summer! And it's the final match today! Though the game will begin at 1 pm here, I'm already excited!! What makes me more excited than last year is that the region of the team belongs to my hometown. It's called "Nishi-Tokyo" (West Tokyo), and that's where I live. I really can't wait to see them play baseball!!!

Okay...that's for today!
See yaaa---. :D

When I'm gone...

"And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn

Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice

Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling

And I didn't feel a thing,

So baby don't feel no pain

Just smile back....."

This lyric was written by Eminem and this is the song that I sang with Ji Won when I went to Karaoke in the U.S. I'm listening to it while I'm writing this blog and it does remind me of how awesome Ji Won's rap was! Hahaha~. And I started thinking about practicing rap! I thought it was too hard for me to do so, but it'll help me learn English a lot and I really want to sing all of the parts without any help! I also want to surprise Ji Won by rapping in English. Hehehe~. :P

Well, I still can't believe that I am now in Japan! When I woke up today, I was confused about where I was. The first thing I thought about at that time was "where's Miki?"(my roommate), and I came back to the reality after hearing my mom's voice and realizing the fact that I slept on a futon. I know it's actually been a little while since I left the U.S, but I lost the sense of time when I remember the things I did in the U.S.

Ahhh....I miss everything! I even miss the breakfast at the Quality Inn which I thought made me crazy if I keep eating! I think I'll remember making the waffles everytime I eat waffles.

And I made links to all of my friends' blogs!
In this way, I always can read your blogs when I post a new message on this blog. :D

TADAIMA! (I'm home!)

Ohayooo!

I arrived Japan safely and it's about 5:00 am. But I don't feel like going to bed because I slept a lot on the airplane. (I think I got my second wind! Hahaha.) The flight was a bit rough, but almost fine. Hiro and I really enjoyed the meal that was served on the airplane because we could finally eat UDON (Japanese noodles)!! We even thought that "Nihonjin de yokatta!"(We're glad that we're Japanese!).
Then I also enjoyed talking with the person who sat next to me. I thought he was Japanese but he was actually Chinese and he was on the trip to China to see his family. He asked how to eat NORI(dried laver seaweed) which was served with UDON. He thought it was tea, so I helped him eat it correctly. It might look like a frequently-asked question for Japanese food, but it was interesting for me to answer that kind of question.

Well...after arriving Japan, I was surprised at the weather in Japan. I totally forgot what the weather in Japan is like because I got used to the weather in the US sooo much. In Japan it's like having a glass of water everytime I breathe....now could you guess how humid it is?

However, there's no place like home. So I was really glad when I got home. Before I got home, I went to some of my favorite stores to see if they have new things. I thought going shopping after the 12 hours flight was crazy but it was irresistible! Hahaha.....

Then, after talking about the trip with my parents, I talked with Ji Won through MSN messenger. I was impressed that the messenger almost can do everything! So he sent me some pictures and we talked about the flight and what I ate on the airplane. MSN messenger is awesome! We can keep in touch because of this. :D If anyone has an ID for MSN messenger, please let me know. :)

Country Fair

Good morning!!
I overslept today....oops! :P
When I woke up this morning and I looked at the clock. I thought it was 7:20, so I was like "Mada Nemureru!" (it means you still have time to sleep.). But when I looked at it again, I found it was actually 8:20! Anyway, I am now writing this blog so maybe daijobu! ("that's fine" in Japanese.)

Well, I went to the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair yesterday.
It was a nice opportunity for me to experience the things that the American do. Also I enjoyed riding the gondola with Eriko. It was really fun because the way the American ride on the gondola was different from that of the Japanese and we were surprised that the gondola didn't have window! It seemed scary at first but when I got used to it, I felt the wind and it was really fun! I really had a good time with Eriko at that time!! As usual, talking with Eriko was so much fun!!! I was surprised that Eriko has never been to Tokyo Disney Land!

Then I went to Karaoke after visiting the Country Fair. I thought I was tired but when Ji Won asked if I go to Karaoke, my hand automatically moved. Hahaha.....! I enjoyed singing songs and listened to songs. But I wish I could hear all of my friends sing! Then I learned some Korean yesterday. One of them was "oppa" and that means "young man". I also learned "saran heyo", which means "I love you".
It was really really fun! I even want Ji Won, Laura, and Tim to come to Japan just to go to Karaoke with me! Hehehe.... :P

so much fun and a lot of walking...

Ohayoooooo!!!
The end of this program is coming and I'm sooo sad..... :(
But I'm going to enjoy the rest of the program.

Well I went to many places in this weekend, it's almost too many to remember. So I'm now writing this while I'm reading Nina's blog to make sure that my memories are correct. :P

I went to Mount Vernon yesterday.
I was surprised that the house that George Washington lived was really big and filled with a lot of beds for visitors. Also the color of the dining room was green!!! He thought the color was good for eating, but I didn't think so...because it was like I was in a green box! Hahaha... XD Anyway it was interesting for me to see the mansion like that, and looking at well-organized house made me want to clean up my room. My room in Japan is a mess because of CDs and books!

Also I slept at his garden for about 15 minutes. It was kind of short, but the wind was very nice. So I got my second wind!

Today, we're going to go to the Fair.
It's the first time for me to go there, so I'm really excited to see what it's like.

See you!

the school life in America

Hello!!

Yesterday some of the students at UM gave us a some kind of lecture to show us how they do at the university. It was like they can do whatever they want while they are in school.Also I was surprised to know how many clubs and activities there are in UM. In Japan, we have the same kind of things, but in here they are bigger!!

Also I'm really interested in living in a dorm. Paul said living there is a bit hard because the number of bathrooms is limited and you have to share a room with your mate, but at the same time it will be good memory. Then I felt that the students in here are more independent than us.
I think it's good way to learn how you want to live and how you spend money.

Then I went to American University after I heard about the school life in here at UM.

Ohhhh....I gotta go!

IcE cReAm

Good morning!
I think I'm getting used to the lifestyle here.
But I still think that the food is too much. Hahaha....

So yesterday Nina showed me how to post my photos on the Internet. Unfortunately, I didn't bring the cable to here so I can not post them in here. But I'll post my photos when I go back to Japan because I really want to try the Bubble Share once. It was sooo interesting.

Also I and my friends talked about the way we live in the class. We compared the living style of Japan to that of the US. For example, "Do you give a tip when you go to a restraunt?" and "What do you bring when you have a party at your friend"s house?" and so on. The questions were interesting to think about and the difference of the way we live effects how they think.

Ahhh...today I had a lot of ice cream!! I don't even know how many I had.
I had "MIDNIGHT MADNESS" after lunch at the dairy in UM and I had Haagen Dazs at night. I guess I really have to exercise! Hahaha---!

Well, Mou Ikanakya---! ("gotta go" in Japanese)

Clothes, Clothes, Clothes!

OHAYO! (It's "good morning" in Japanese)
I've been very busy taking lessons, posting a diary on this blog, and making trips...but I'm enjoying all of them. Also, I find something new everyday. So it's worth visiting again and again!!

Yesterday, Aug 8th was Family day.
Laura, Ji-Won, Tim, Nina, Kevin showed us some pictures of their family and we talked about the differences of family between the US and Japan. It was really interesting!

Also, I went to the mall.
I went there last year as well, but I think I will never be tired of shopping. So I really enjoyed shopping! There were some of the shops which are really famous in Japan even though they do not have stores in Japan. I wish I could stay a bit longer..... :P
Anyway I still have a chance to go shopping at George Town, I'm looking forward to going there.

I think I gotta go now... see you!

the Washington Post

Good morning!
I slept very well last night so I'm really fine today!

Today, I'm gonna write about the trip to the office of the Washington Post. The Washington Post is one of the worldwide famous newspaper and even the AGU library subscribe to it. Also, I took a lesson which used newspapers for improving English and depth understanding of what's going on in the world, and I really enjoyed that lesson on my freshman year. So I got excited to see the place where the newspaper is made!!! Moreover, it was the first time to go to the place like that, so it was really interesting!! I also walked through the office, so I guess I could feel what it's like to be a editor of the Washington Post a little bit.

Then, I went to a kind of Japanese-Chinese restaurant yesterday. They have "SUMO Bowl" ,"Teriyaki", and "Yakisoba". Their floor was decorated like Japanese style, and there even were chinese charactors and some Japanese on the wall. I chose "Chicken Yakisoba" and I enjoyed eating it with chopsticks, but the taste was different from my thoughts. :(
But at least it reminded me of the Japanese food!
Also I'm glad that the Japanese food(though it's not real) is gaining popularity in foreign countries.

Well, today I'm gonna go shopping at Pentagon City.
I've been looking for the website of the mall and I was surprised how many stores they have!

See you later!

a lot to see

Hello again!

In this weekend, I've been busy visiting so many places. I don't even know where to start...

I went to memorial. In the U.S, there are so many memorials and it's sooo countless.I went to some memorials last year, but the memorials I went this year are new to me. So I really enjoyed watching them and think about how precious it is for us to have a peace world like we all have.

Also I went to the Washington Monument.I went up to the top and enjoyed the view from there.
The view was literally beyond description! All of the things I saw on the ground were well-organized when I looked at them from the top.The way back to the ground in the elevator was interesting because the lights of the elevator suddenly went down and the elevator fell slower, and I saw the pictures at the back side of the rocks. I thought it was really cool!!

Ohhh.....I almost forget to write about the place I went yesterday.I went to George Town and my friends and I enjoyed the dinner.I went to there last year as well, but I can enjoy going there all the time because there are a lot to see and it's a place for shopping! As you can imagine, I do love shopping!!!I just can't wait to go there again on Friday. I already started thinking about where to go and what to buy....hahaha.

I made my blog!

Hello!

I am really glad I made my own blog!
Actually I used to write my blog in Japanese,
but this is the first time for me to make a blog in English.
So I am so excited to be able to post a diary in English this time.

Well....I'll start with the day I arrived here.
Unfortunately there was a delay for my plane,
and I had to wait for almost two hours in the plane.
It really freaked me out because staying in a plane is not so comfortable.
But...the flight was good and I really enjoyed watching movies.

Then, I met the teachers and the mentors who will help me enjoy staying here!
I was really surprised to find that the mentors speak Japanese so well.
Also I enjoyed talking with them while we were driving to College Park.

On the 1st day, I was so tired that I fell asleep so quickly after I unpacked my luggage.

Then, I move on to the 2nd day.
Since I was suffered from the jet lag really hard at the first time I came to the US, I prepared for it to avoid the jet lag.
So I could avoid the jet lag! Sleeping is really important to me so I’m really glad!

I went to the movie after I ate dinner with my friends.
I saw the movie “Accepted” and that was actually sneak preview,
so I could watch it for free!
It was kind of comedy and I did laugh sooo hard!
I’m a big fan of watching movies so I did have a good time!