Abby Goes to Japan

Well, I really didn't know how to write this. Things were really rough for a while with my host family, but this blog isn't a place for me to vent my anger. So I won't go into much detail, but I am just going to say that there was mass miscommunication and misunderstanding, and that I have moved out. They just weren't the right host family for me. I am now living in the international dorm, Kirari. I am much happier here. My impression and regard for Kirari has improved greatly, and I am enjoying my freedom quite a bit. In fact, I was even invited to a Kimbap party by some of the Korean residents. Kimbap is a korean seaweed and rice roll, similar to sushi, but it uses regular rice and very different ingredients. Our rolls included egg, beef, pickled vegetable, and carrots! Very delicious and fun to make! Then last Wednesday, our group went to an elementary school to help teach English. It was pretty fun and the kids were soo cute! They were really happy to see us and treated us like celebrities! We spent the first part teaching them how to pronounce words like "grape" and "ice cream", then the second part was spent teaching them American games. My group taught them "simon says" and "duck duck goose" They had quite a bit of fun with the last one, I thought they were going to hurt themselves running so much! It was really awesome to meet them, and I had a really good time. Then on Friday, we had a farewell dinner for all the homestay students and their families. I was still welcome to come, despite having no host family, and I hung out with Lauren and her host family the entire night. They were really sweet.
Of course these last couple of days haven't been work or stress free. Thursday was my kanji exam, and by the time I was done, my arm was shaking and full of pain. Still, I didn't do too badly on it. Friday was my conversation exam, and I passed that one too, although I felt like I failed at the time. I really don't like conversation tests. The sensei records you the entire time and listening is not my forte, especially when I am nervous. So I was pretty surprised to see I did so well. I just wish I could have done as well on my final exam, which consisted of listening, reading, grammar, and an interview. The interview and reading were both great, it was the listening and grammar that killed me. Like I said, listening isn't my strongest skill, and I pretty much failed that part of the test. Oh well, hopefully my big speech on Thursday will balance my grade out.
To end on a more positive note, I was able to go to the Asahi beer factory today with some of the other group members. It was a really interesting tour, completely free, and not only did they give us free fans, but they let us have up to three glasses of free beer! Of course there was a 30 minute time limit to the drinking, so I only got through two. Their beer is much better than Sapporo's, and tasted a bit like Stella Artois. I had a lot of fun, and it was a nice little outing. Here are some pictures of the stuff I did since last time:
Kimbap!

You can tell I sliced these :)

Elementary school visit

Kids here have two pairs of shoes, outside shoes and school shoes. They keep the outside shoes in a shoe locker and switch them out at the end of the day. As guests, we got to wear slippers.