Week 4- Can you believe it? Been here a month, haven't I?

Yet another week gone by. Scary how fast it's going for me. Well, another Monday, another kanji test. I totally aced this one. 100%, hands down. Yay me! So, I brought the red hoodie to school with me on Monday with the intent of returning it to Duke. It was nice out, so I did not bring my own hoodie. Jil dressed up a little, as it was Halloween; her outfit was cute. ^^ Duke actually showed up in a suit like he said he would on chat. Jil made him wear her mini hat, and she's got a picture of it. Oh, the silliness. As Duke was in a full suit, I ended up carrying the hoodie around all day. It didn't really bother me... until school let out. I was, of course, freezing (as it had gotten dark by that time), and Duke insisted he didn't need the hoodie. Crazy, cold weather-loving Canadian. Sigh. So again, I ended up taking it home. Bet the teachers got a kick out of that, heh.

Tuesday was our second composition writing. I think I did a better overall job this time around, especially since I was able to start writing much sooner than last time. The theme was our relationship with something (tangible or intangible) or with someone. I of course chose song, or Japanese Songs to be more specific. I rattled on about how I became interested in anime theme songs and the Japanese language. Thanks again, Ma. Heh. So hopefully I get a good score. After class was the hatsuon check (speaking/reading test). I got all A's again, hooray! ^^ Again, minor mistakes like forgetting how to read a kanji or two. That's all I remember for Tuesday, I think. Also, I gave up on bringing the red hoodie to school and opted to wait until the next time Duke visited the dorm to return it to him.

Wednesday was another test, grammar this time. I missed 2 questions for sure. I should still have at least a 90% though. We'll get those back on Monday. Other than that, the tidbit I remember from that day is Okada-sensei and his amusing charades. He was pretending to be a person squeezing onto a train, and we all cheered for an encore. He was explaining a grammar pattern, but the action to go with was too hilarious to resist laughing. Other than school stuff, Jess, Jil, and I watched Anastasia that night. Then after they left, I proceeded to listen to songs from musicals on youtube until about 2am. So smart.

Thursday was another national holiday, so no school! Woot! Jil, Jess, Matt, Duke, and I all went to the Pokemon Center in Tokyo for some crazy fun! We began the day by getting breakfast at a bakery in the station. Mmm, apple cinnamon bun. We then caught a train on the JR line for our destination. Much of our conversation during the trip involved geeking out about the Pokemon games, proving that I'm the geekiest of them all! XD I surprised everyone with the dumb little details I've memorized. I loved every second of it. Once we stepped out of the train, we saw a sign pointing us in the right direction. Win. The Pokemon Center was literally right across the street from the station, if the giant inflatable Pikachu was any hint. Upon closer inspection, you could see that the Pikachu was a moon bounce. Jealous. I wanted to be a kid if only to be allowed to play in it.

Taking the outdoor escalator to the second floor, we hurried into the center. Pokemon center music playing in the background and video game footage shining on the televisions, I was about in heaven. Ridiculous Pokemon merchandise lined the walls and shelves, and we squeezed through the crowds to view all of it. The only really disappointing thing about the place was that most of the products were of the new set of Pokemon, and only some classics loved by all of previous seasons were anywhere to be found. But I suppose the place wasn't nearly large enough to have something of every Pokemon out there. I couldn't even find Melanie a Gible. So depressing. But if you want me to go back for something like Snivy, let me know. However, most everything worth getting was about $20 or more. I bought nothing because I couldn't justify the pricing. Duke bought a CD with tons of Pokemon instrumentals from the show. Jess got coins with Pokemon printed on them, the kind that you pop money into a machine, select the design, and it presses it into the coin for you.

We left the Pokemon center, heading for the park across the street. I wanted to play. Unfortunately, there were no monkey bars. But there were swings! I simply had to wait for a kid to release one. And I did stand there feeling very jealous of the children on the swings. Once two were freed, Jil and I pounced. XD It was fun, but they were obscenely low to the ground. Apparently the older kids don't go for parks like we do? Whatever; we had a blast.

We didn't stay at the park long, as we had plans to go to the festival that was being held by the college down the street from our dorm. Jason joined us for that part of the day. We walked around to see all the food the students were selling. It was pretty cool, but I didn't feel like spending money on any of it. I did share some soup with Jess, though. And a certain Canadian (Duke takes no offense to us referring to him as such, I promise) for some reason felt I needed to be fed. He kept apologizing for there not being anything I wanted, as if he could fix that. I was just the picky kid that day. I was mostly bored too. I did, however, find it fun when two Japanese students came up to me with the sign for their curry stand and asked me if I liked curry in English. I should have responded in Japanese that I could read the sign, but I was too busy giggling at their antics. At a different stand, a male student was trying to sell some banana treat, and I did respond in Japanese to him. He seemed immensely pleased and called "thank you" as we walked away. Jason, Duke, and Matt ate quite a bit if I remember correctly. They couldn't resist any of it, ha. That's about all we did at the festival.

Next stop, the park in Ikebukuro. This one also had no monkey bars, sigh. But there were some people bouncing on some kind of bungee that was tied from one tree to another. It was pretty amazing to watch, not gonna lie. One at a time, a person would balance on it standing up, then bounce on it in a different position and bounce back to standing on it. A little weird to explain, but it was cool to watch.

Another stop back at the dorm, and I finally gave Duke back his hoodie. As we all went out again, though, he kept trying to hand it back because I apparently looked cold. I won, though. XP For dinner that night, we (plus Jay) went out for Indian curry. It was too spicy for Jess, and my stomach was just acting up, but everyone else loved it (they'd been there before). I don't know if I will return,as it was a bit pricy for me. Despite that, though, the service there was phenominal. The staff was very nice and brought us some extra things as well for no extra charge. If I went back, the service would certainly be the main reason.

We returned to the dorms again, only for our group to shift more and go out again. Jess (and Jay, I think) left the group, and Bryce and John joined. Bryce and I geeked out over Avenue Q songs for a good portion of the walk. It was Bryce's birthday that day as well, so the guys bought a beer each at the convenience store to celebrate. Then we walked to the Don Quihote, a chain store with all kinds of fun stuff. Jil and I followed Bryce to the candy and snacks section, where I found Snyder's pretzels and Oreos, yippie! Snacks purchased, Jil, Duke, and I parted from the group to head back. They wanted to go out drinking for Bryce's birthday. The three of us walked through the station, and Duke left to take his train back to his host family while Jil and I walked back to the dorm. End Thursday.

That's all for now! I'll include Friday with the weekend. ^^