On Saturday, we all met our host families at our new school for the semester, Kyoto University for Art and Design. It actually feels crazy to be able to say I am going to art school for the semester... for language.. beat that madoka. (ps. i miss you like a pothead misses pot in japan.... umm what? i didn’t just say that.) anyway, so we all had to give our little intro speeches in front of all the families and my host brother refused to look at me. :( :( he hid behind his mom for the entire time i spoke, which is all 50 seconds but still, ouch little man. afterwards, we all went our separate ways home and that was very painful watching the entire group get split up... no, i take that back.. it was very painful watching my friends get taken away by their respective families. everyone else, MEH. jk. ish....

ANYWAY, within the first few hours with my family, i felt like a mentally challenged person. really. i thoroughly regret not opening my textbook this summer. but my host mother is so sweet and kind and my host sister is awesome. my host brother is one of those really timid children (i think/hope). but im not gonna lie, i’m incredibly fucking homesick. kind of homesick for wasteful, lazy, fat america but EXTREMELY homesick for my family and friends. :( which is not a feeling i’ve ever felt before. if i could go home right now without any repercussions, i think i would. this is definitely the hardest situation i’ve ever encountered in my life and i know things will fall right into place as soon as school starts. and the repercussions are enough to make me stick it out.

yesterday, as my first full day with my family, they brought me camping. day camping i guess is what you would call it. we went to the outskirts of the mountains of kyoto to a place called the “omori camping resort,” which is kind of an oxymoron but i guess it perfectly describes the place. there are trees and rocks and a running river but there’s also a man-made pool of water from which you can fish. and they fill it with fish so you inevitably catch something. i’ve never fished before and i caught a fish. HA. silly but fun. our particular camping site also had sinks and a fridge. japanese people really think of everything.


mindy and i at the toyota factory... new i-unit thing, eerier and wall-e esque. we should NOT go down this route. but its super cool.


i think that shit is made of grass and red beans... it was called grass mochi... i ate it... it felt grassy. haha also my little host siblings!!


the whole group in front of the giant robot inside our COOOL SCHOOOOL.