Ippai Oppai! There are some things you shouldn't say at a Japanese dinner table...

What's up guys!!! Again, it's been a while, but we've just been so busy! Since I've posted last I've already had a whole week of school, two 5 minute presentations, and a trip to Tokyo. Oh and I tried a church in Roppongi, Tokyo, which was freaking awesome. More on that later. Okay so, I'm just gunna go through my pictures and talk about things as I think about haha. This is my host sister! Her name is Natsumi and she is 17 years old. She is taking English, science, and math, and she is a part of the psychology club at her school. Apart from school during the week, she has "Juku," or cram school. Middle school and high school students take this extra schooling to prepare for high school and college, which are both ridiculously hard to get in to. Natsumi also has tutoring with a college student once a week for three hours. Talk about freaking the worst schedule ever! Americans, never complain about your work load because I can GUARANTEE you that someone in Japan is working harder.

So I'm not trying to perpetuate jealousy or discontentedness, but if that food doesn't make you a little envious of my situation, I am worried about you. Forrealz. This is basically what every meal my host mom makes looks like, except usually our main dish is on our own plate rather than having "serve yourself" style. This style of eating is only reserved for special meals (ie yakiniku, sashimi, chinese food). Japanese dishes are ALL separated to keep the integrity of each dish and because it is visually appealing. Seriously, I don't know if the food here is really good or if it just looks beautiful. (I lied, I know it's delicious). So the "ippai, oppai" reference. When you are done eating, you can say "onaka ga ippai," which means my stomach is full. Well, in Japanese, "oppai" means boobs. One day after dinner my friend very confidently stated "onaka ga oppai." Stomach boobs?

Okay, I'm sure everyone is like "Amanda, why the heck did you take a picture of cu-tips. Gross." Well, first off, they are Japanese cu-tips, so they are cool by default. They are also made better. I read in an article on "Rocket News" that one thing Japanese people hate about America is the cu-tips because they fall apart really easily. Japan's cu-tips, however, do not fall apart easily, and they come in probably 10 or more different shapes. No wonder they hate ours. Also each individual cu-tip is packaged by itself. Yeah, Japan does this with like, every snack. Want to eat some cookies quietly? Well thats too bad because every single cookie will be wrapped in its own plastic house that you must rip and discard to reach the sweet goodness. Ganbette! (Japanese for "good luck")

Also the cotton balls here resemble American cu-tips without the stick. What am I supposed to do with this? Certainly not anything practical. Only adorable things. I mean, look at the cotton balls' little faces.

This is my host family's house! Isn't it so cute? They moved into it literally a week before I came. Also my room is the only room with air conditioning. God loves me.

Look at this!! Everything is better in Japan! Even the sewage drains! Literally, this is a work of art. Go Japan. The hiragana towards the middle of the drain reads "Ichikawa-shi," which is the city I live in.

Right now I am studying at Kanda University of International Studies, the top school for international studies and relations in Japan. In the picture below, my American and Japanese (and one Korean) friends are in the SALC  (Self Access Learning Center). This is a huge room with its own library, various desks, huge comfy yellow couches, and sound blocking rooms where people can study and practice English. Only English though. If a teacher hears you speaking Japanese in the SALC they make you switch to English. We met so many cool people, and we meet new people every day. Its been so fun!

A bento I bought at my train station. It was soooo delicious :)

My friends and I at a British bar called "The Hub" near our station. 

Speaking of station, time to discuss the trains in Japan. This is what the walk to my station looks like. Super average. Come on Japan. (Jk)

Here is a platform. Honestly I don't remember what platform this is haha umm probably a platform for the Musashino line on Japan Rail going towards Nishi Funabashi, the route I take to go home from school.

Japanese trains are also great places to people watch and get fashion ideas... or nah? I promise the person on the left with the flower pants is a guy, this is totally normal male fashion here. I actually really like it; guys should totes be able to wear cardigans and capris, just saying. Also this little girl and her dad. I'm dying. So cute. Halp. Dying from adorable.

Hey look, more delicious foods from my Japan mommy. This is Chinese food.

And this is dango, mochi, and green tea. Dango is a chewy dumpling that you have with a sweet soy sauce. Mochi is a very chewy rice cake made from glutinous rice flour. This one had red bean paste in it, which sounds super weird, but it was great. The food utensil is literally a cutter and food stabber. Why does Japan have chopsticks if they have food spears? 

Going a little out of order, but for father's day we had yakiniku, which literally means "grilled meat." There is a little grill on the main table, and mom and dad put the raw meat on the grill, and as it finishes cooking, you take it off the grill and immediately eat it with various sauces. All I have to say is, 'murica, I love you, but you need to get on this. K thnx bai.

Oh, and speaking of father's day, shout out to my daddy back home in North Carolina! Love you so much, I could have never asked for a more loving daddy! Miss ya!

This past Saturday my friends and I went to Tsukiji Fish Market, one of the biggest fish markets in the world, and also the same market the famous chef Jiro buys his fish from. If you don't know who Jiro is, literally just google Jiro sushi and amazing things will happen. He is this super old man who owns a sushi bar in Japan, but the bar only has 10 spots and it costs $300 per person. You must make reservations 3 months in advance. Yeah he's cool. Anyways this is a mural located by the Toei Oedo line gate going to Tsukiji.

Hooray for nice Japanese people liking to take pictures of foreigners!

Various small Sushi restaurants in the market.

Look! Edamame! Who knew it looked like this not prepackaged. So cute.

So Japanese liquor and world cheese. There is souvenir use. There is also Engrish.

Little adorable sweets. Dude I don't even know what these are, but its beautiful. 

The restaurant we decided to eat at. The first word says "umai" which is a masculine way to say "delicious."

So sushi mugs, right?

Natalie!

Friends!

Yay sushi and green tea!

Literally the best sashimi I've ever had. Came right out of the ocean.

Fatty salmon. Ie the best salmon in the world. 10/10 would do again.

Yep, that's a sushi clock.

Moving on, this is Shibuya! Have you heard of the story of Hachiko? The dog who would wait outside the train station every day for his master? Well, that is this dog and this station in Shibuya.

The Scramble crossing!

Saw these girls on the way to Meiji jingu, a shrine made for an emperor's honor.

This dude is half Japanese, half British, and half something else, I don't remember, but his outfit is awesome.

People write their prayers and wishes on wooden plaques, hang them by a sacred tree, and then priests pray over them. Honestly though, reading these made me kind of sad because most of these people have no idea that there really is a God who has given everything to them through Christ. They don't need an earthly priest to be a medium. Christ did it! 

Yeah so on the way to this shrine, a huge group of Japanese students asked to give us a tour of the place in English so that they could practice their English. They were so great!

This is where you purify yourself before entering the temple. You wash your hands and (pretend to) wash your mouth.

These are replicas of sacred sake containers offered to the emperor.

And this is more offered alcohol (the barrels are actually empty).

Harajuku!!! Japan's fashion capital! 

But why is it fashionable to write "Judas" above a cross. The irony...

Another wonderful "Engrish" translation.

The entrance to a cosplay store. Unfortunately you couldn't take pics inside :(

Is this cute or creepy? Idk. But the clothes here were super great and rad.

Finally, I went to church in Roppongi this past Sunday! Oh my goodness, it was great. The songs and service were in both Japanese and English (Australian English, might I add. There was a huge Australian population). I prayed that I could get some sort of Christian community, and now I have one! Our God is so faithful and loving, what would I do without him? I'm so excited, this coming Sunday, my host sister is coming to church with me!! Praise him! I really hope she leaves hungry to learn more about the Jesus that so few Japanese people know about.

So in these pictures are the beautiful ladies I had a picnic with in the middle of Roppongi, Tokyo. This first woman is Catherine, an Australian who used to work for the Australian Embassy in Japan. She is so great and is about to get married :)

The woman directly behind me is also Australian, and she is this group's small group leader. The girl in the hat is from Washington state, the girl to the left of her is Korean, and I'm not sure what the last girl is. Maybe Japanese? Idk, but she made really delicious spring rolls. Can't wait to see all these girls again!

Thanks for reading all of this guys. I'm going to try to post more consistently because making this huge post just took me almost 2 hours haha. Time to study for my kanji quiz.

Oh wait, one more shout out to my little sister Madison who just turned 11 years old. Happy birthday girl! I love ya so much. I'll try to bring Gu Junpyo back with me, okay? :)