Today was a slightly intense until the completion of our placement exam. I woke up at 630am today. It was strange for me since I’ve been waking up at 5am usually everyday. I’m just tired I guess. Anyways, I woke up to bright, clear skies, which made me happy because I didn’t have to worry about rain! Breakfast was the same today as it was the first day here with the addition of the nuts that we had for dessert last night. I finished breakfast and left for school. The walk today was a lot easier for me. I guess I’m getting used to it.

When I made it to the train platform I was slightly confused on which train to take. I couldn’t remember after successfully doing it several days in a row. I did get on the right train though so don't worry! Machida was extremely crowded because I went during commuter time. When I got on the train I needed to take to get to school, it was packed full of people and I literally pushed my way in! Then after I got in more people kept getting in so I had to go further into the train car. I was so close to the people I couldn’t even turn around without being in someone’s face, nor could I move my hands without accidentally groping someone! I was groped, but I don't know if it was intentional or not…LOL! The over-crowded train is a typical Japanese stereotype that I lived through today!

I made it to Fuchinobe, the station where I take the bus to school, and met another RJ student. We talked about our host family experience on the way to school. She was telling me how it feels like she’s living with roommates who cook for her. I kind of feel the same way…usually after dinner my host parents say, “Relaxing timeをします！” which translates to “It’s relaxing time.” That means it’s time to go to my room! I mean I don’t mind but still it’s like don’t you want to talk to me more or make me do/go somewhere with you? Oh well I shouldn’t really complain. It’s not that bad. Anyways I agreed with here and we thought it was funny that we felt similarly.

We made it to school and went into the Japanese language help building to take our placement exams. The tests were given on the computer, which was nice. I must admit though it was challenging. There were different levels A through D, A being the easiest and D being the most difficult. Today’s examination included grammar, vocabulary, and kanji, or Chinese characters. I finished all level A for each section and most of section B. However, I tried section C and I was completely lost! It was definitely nothing I could have studied for. After we were done testing, we had the option to take an intermediate/advanced reading exam. I chose not to do it because it had the intermediate/advanced name. Some of my friends attempted it and couldn’t do it so I know I couldn't do it either. LOL!

We were free for the rest of the day following the exam. It was nice to be able to go do anything I wanted. I saw Jacob after the test and told him about how his family is reading my blog. I don't know if he thinks I’m crazy or not! LOL! I hope not! My friends and I went to eat at Steak-don, which is a steak house. It was really good and not too expensive. I paid about 8usd for my meal. After we finished lunch we split up and went to a grocery store so the people living in an apartment could buy food. It was about a 20-minute walk from the school and it was extremely hot! I can’t adjust to this temperature. I was used to 120 at home in California, but in Japan I can’t even take 89 with humidity. It’s weird. We arrived at the grocery store and I was happy to go into an air-conditioned building! We stayed there for a good 20 minutes looking for groceries. Afterwards we went to 3 of my friends’ apartment area to put their cold groceries away.

It took about another 15 minutes to get there. I really liked their apartments. They were really up to date and were more spacious than my room here. I wouldn’t mind living there. LOL! We ended up staying there for a while because it was hot outside and we liked the air conditioning. Actually Allen, one of my friends, was helping out Sarah, Tobias, and Lulu set up their Internet. It was actually more work than it should be. In fact most everything in Japan is more work than it should be. You’d think a country that's so technologically advanced would have everything work smoothly. WRONG! For example: throwing out trash. There are so many rules as to what you can throw out and when you can throw it out. Certain days are for burnable garbage, others for unburnable garbage, and others for recycling. It always changes too and if you don’t throw away things properly you’ll potentially get fined. WTF? Why is throwing away trash so hard???

After fighting with the Internet for a while we hopefully got it working. It will take 24 hours so I should know soon. LOL! So we finished doing that and decided to take Allen’s groceries back to his apartment. It took about 20 minutes to walk there and it was still hot! On the way I found a 500yen coin so it made it worth it! LOL! 5 free dollars! Hahaha! Anyways when we got there we found someone else who wanted to go to Machida and we all walked to the train station…I think it was another like 20-minute walk. I seriously never walked so much in my life. I’m ready to drive again! LOL!

When we got to Machida, we went to Yodabashi, the giant electronics store. Everyone split up and went their own way. I ended up buying a new dictionary case for my electronic dictionary. I finally asked about my AMEX card too. I asked the clerk if it was good (literally) and he said he wasn't sure and he said he’d try. So we waited for a few seconds and it processed! I’m so glad that one of my credit cards works here because I was freaking out about not having anything! LOL! After buying my case, I had to leave to come home because it was already 600pm and I need to be home by 630pm for dinner. If I’m going to miss dinner I need to let my host family know 2 hours in advance. I would have done that if I had a cell phone! I made it to my train station by 615pm and I was starting to freak out so I walked really fast to get home. When I got closer I literally started running. Hahaha! I didn’t want to be late! I made it up the stairs and in the door by 629pm! I was, and still am, so tired!

I’m totally ready for a cell phone! I love Japanese cell phones. They have so many bright colors and models. It’s like looking around in a candy shop! They’re really cool too! You can watch TV on them for free, pay for things with them at stores (like pay pass in the US), and do all kinds of other things. I can’t wait to get one…because they’re cool and because I can’t go on much longer without a line of communication other than the Internet at home.

Anyways that was a little off track, back to my day. For dinner we had a whole fish, rice, tomato slices, a vegetable omelet, and these sweet black beans. The fish was definitely something I was not ready to eat. I mean sushi is okay, but a whole cooked fish with the head and tail and everything still inside is a little much. I asked what I was supposed to eat and my host parents told me everything but the head, tail, and bones. I asked them if I was supposed to eat the insides (guts) and they said yes. I thought I was going to die when they said that! I don't eat fish that often if even that…and to be told I have to eat its insides was a little more than disturbing! I did it though. It was gross. Overall dinner was pretty good though. As much as I hate tomatoes, I think they’re growing on me. It’s odd how that works.

During and after dinner I had a good long slightly confusing conversation with my host family. We talked about everything. I was sitting there listening to them when all of a sudden I heard a loud buzzing noise by my head…and it was a huge mosquito. I tried to kill it but it flew too fast and I didn’t see it anymore. I thought it was gone but apparently it lingered and bit my leg 3 times! Stupid bugs!!! Hahaha! After dinner and the conversation I came into my room to blog and was starting to do just that when my arch nemesis reappeared! I still was unable to kill it! I’m afraid it’s going to attack me while I sleep LOL! It’s time to shower and get ready to sleep…tomorrow I’m meeting Sarah, Lulu, Allen, and who ever else comes to Machida to go shopping!