So much to do, so much to say

I am finally getting around to updating. I am sorry for the delay. I have come down with a case of the sniffles or the cold or something along those lines. Once someone in the dorm is sick, we are all sick.

Friday after school So finally took me to the aquarium in Shinagawa like he had promised. It was so great. It was really small, but definitely worth it. There were penguins, fishes, sharks, starfish, crabs, and a Sea Lion show and a Dolphin Show. It was totally great. I love aquariums so much.

The weekend of September 22 and 23 was spent in hell...well basically. There was a school trip to Hakone, a mountain town about 3-4 hours outside of Tokyo. Basically everything that could have gone wrong, did. Although, I must say I did enjoy myself because I have a sense of humor and am able to laugh in all situations. Saturday morning, we were supposed to meet at a train station to load the bus at 8:15. There were 25 students on the trip, and surprisingly, everyone was pretty much on time. However, our bus was not. Supposedly there was an accident on the highway, or something along those lines. Over 2.5 hours later, the bus finally arrived. We were off to a late start, but we thought we would still have time to do everything on the itinerary. Yea...well the bus driver ended up getting lost, in traffic. So we drove around for a while (still in traffic), not knowing where we were going. There was also no bathroom on the bus. Whenever we would take a "5 minute pee stop" they ended up turning into 20 minute stops. Again, just like the last trip, anytime we were told a time to be back, basically add 3o minutes on to that. I do not appreciate lateness.

After we realized that we would not make it to Hakone in time to do what was scheduled that day, we decided to do Sunday's plans on Saturday, and vice versa. After sitting on the bus for what was around 6 hours, we finally made it to Hakone to a Buddhist temple. It was actually pretty cool...despite having to climb over 350 steps to get to the top. It was definitely hard work, but the beautiful mountains and scenery helped some. One would assume (or at least I did) that the top of the climb would be spectacular...well...that wasn't quite the word. Once we made it to the top, all that was up there was a little temple that we couldn't even go into . It was more of a shack. Oh well, it felt good to make it up there. Then we went to this castle...but of course, because we got there so late, the castle was closed. We still had a short amount of time to wander around. There was some festival going on on the grounds of the castle.

We finally made it to the hotel at 7:00 (which was when we were supposed to be at dinner). We checked in and I was in a room with Chloe, Danielle, Amanda and Mia. The room was awesome. It was the typical Japanese style Ryokan, which the short table and the mats on the floor. The view from our "balcony" was beautiful of mountains and trees. We didn't spend much time in the room. We quickly put on our cloth kimono type attire that the hotel provided in the rooms. We went to dinner in the big banquet room. We all had a tiny table and sat on the floor. The tables were set up in a U shape. It was traditional Japanese food...meaning, although I tried a lot of the food, I didn't eat most of the food given to me. I did the best that I could, I swear. Following dinner, everyone started drinking and singing Karaoke. This is when the night got really really fun. By this point, everyone was drunk and singing great songs. A bunch of random, drunk Japanese people came into our room and started singing and dancing with us. It was incredibly. I almost peed myself it was so funny. There was this one old man who would not get off the stage. His wife came up and was trying to drag him off, but he wouldn't leave. Finally they would get him off, but then as soon as the wife turned her back, he would drunkenly stumble back onto the stage. It was great. I got a lot of pictures and video.

After everyone had their share of singing, we made our way to the Onsen, the public bath/hot spring. I was really scared to do this, but luckily all 15 or so of the girls did and and everyone was drunk. I also realized that I wouldn't get this chance very often so I didn't want to regret not doing it. Everyone got naked and then had to take a small shower before getting into the water. The water was so hot and so pure. It was pretty amazing. I am so glad that I let my inhibitions down and did it. After the Onsen, we all drank more and then passed out. Our beds were just mats on the floor. It was actually quite comfortable.

Sunday there was a breakfast buffet. We checked out and made our way back to the castle. It was open this time, but the price of admission, which we thought was included, actually wasn't. We paid to get in, but it wasn't worth it. There were just some random old things from the Edo period of time. However, all of the signs were in Japanese so I couldn't read what they were even if I wanted to. Outside of the castle, they had an Elephant and a cage of monkeys. They were totally adorable, but their conditions were not very good. It made me really sad.

After the castle, we made our way to the Hakone Open Air Museum. It was an amazing art museum scattered throughout the grounds of this park. However, things of course could not be perfect. It started to rain just as we got there. I didn't let the rain bother me though. There were so many beautiful sculptures and there was also a Picasso exhibit. As we were leaving the museum, there was a children's area where they could do crafts...and of course I jumped on the opportunity, painting a picture and making a wire sculpture of myself. After the museum we went to this cable car thing that would take us up a mountain where we could then see Mount Fuji. Well of course, there was rain and fog and lots of clouds. We had to pay our own to take the car up to the top. We couldn't see out of the windows... And once we made it to the top, our "Mount Fuji" viewing didn't exactly happen. We couldn't see more than 3 feet in front of us. It was really disappointing. We then walked up this volcano that was very sulfuric, so it smelled horrendously bad. I'm glad I did it though. After the volcano, we got these Black Eggs. They are hardboiled eggs that had been put in the sulfur to turn them black. Rumor has it, that eating a black egg will add 7 years on to your life. The mountain was the last stop on the trip from hell, however, hell was not done with us yet. The bus drive home found us sitting in virtually non moving traffic for hours and hours. We were supposed to get back to Tokyo at 6:00...we didn't get back until 11:00pm. It was definitely a rough trip, but needless to say, one I won't be forgetting anytime soon.

Since then, I have gone to Ginza and Ikebukero again. I went to a delicious Malaysian restaurant and back to the Indian restaurant. I have watched lots of movies. I have done other random things, but I can't really remember anything too exciting. This past weekend was pretty low key. Friday Nadra and Sara organized a little dorm party thing. We all invited a guest, So being mine, and had pizza and food in the hallway. There were about 25 people total or so that came. It was nice, but stressful to organize and keep track of everything going on. After the "party," 8 of us went to an Isekya for some drinks. Sara's friends Tomoo and Justin slept over - Justin having to sleep in my room for lack of room in hers. It was a lot of fun. They are nice guys. Saturday and Sunday were mostly spent relaxing and trying to prevent this sickness. However, Sunday evening, Sara and I went to Harajuku for dinner and some slight shopping. I got a new school bag and some necklaces. We ran into Keith and Rian and went into the photobooths again. I love those things. Then I met up with Lucas and did some more shopping, followed by a wonderful walk through Yoyogi park in the rain. It was so peaceful and serene.

Today I skipped my classes because I wasn't feeling well at all. The extra sleep was definitely needed and worth it. Especially because starting Thursday night, my trip to Kyoto, Nara and Osaka begins!!! I planned out the entire trip and everything will be spectacular and inexpensive. Lucas and I are taking an overnight bus on Thursday and arriving in Kyoto early Friday morning (we are both skipping class on Friday, but it's totally ok). We are spending 2 nights in a Kyoto hostel, exploring Kyoto and Nara on Friday and Saturday. Sunday we make our way to Osaka, where we will be staying with my friend Keith's friend, Chisa's uncle. I met Chisa a little bit ago and she is awesome. She got us the hookup with her uncle and we are able to stay in his house for Sunday night. Between Chisa and her uncle, we will be shown around Osaka until Monday night when it's time to take another overnight train home to Tokyo. Since we don't have class Tuesday I will be able to get home early, sleep and do whatever homework. I am extremely excited, especially after the horrific last trips that I have gone on. No waiting for people this time. We make our own plan and time table. It's going to be awesome.

Anyways, that is all for now, I guess. Next update will be after the trip to Kyoto so get excited.