Forever Ago

I know it's been a really long time, but I figured I should add blogging as part of my New Years Resolution, especially since I'm moving away for the semester.

Some things:

Japan was, all-in-all, pretty awesome. It was awesome enough I made it my major and I hope to minor in Korean. I need to study really hard for my Japanese placement test, which takes place on the 21st of January (a Friday). がんばります！

I never really posted about my experience with the Japanese fireworks festival in Chofu, but I'll let you know it was worth suffering through the massive amounts of dust to watch. The dust was so bad I ended up needing to wash my clothes that night and I had to rub it off my shoes. When I showered, it ran dark brown down the drain and when I cleared my nose and throat, it was dark brown as well. >< I met a couple who were both daigakusei (university students). The guy knew English much better than the woman, but both were dressed in traditional Japanese clothing (for both men and women, yukata are worn to fireworks festivals, although the patterns greatly differ). I have to say, it was like going back 100 years. Approximately a third of the 15000 people attending wore their traditional Japanese attire, since firework festivals are one of the only times in the current era to wear them. The fireworks themselves where fantastic. They had so many shaped fireworks that I didn't know existed. Simple rings were uncommon, most were flowers, smilie faces and animals. The rest were timed with music to add dramatic effect. Considering the distance from the fireworks and the speaker system, it was timed almost perfectly.

I know I mentioned them before, but I love the Korean girl group Girl's Generation (SoShi). They have such cute outfits and the songs are always happy. If I ever need some serious mood improvement, I just need a song or two from them to get my spirits up.

My cousin left for the USMC on Sunday. I know he'll do well, even if I'll miss him. がんばってください。

I found out that most American stores don't sell Japanese short grain rice. I have to specially order it from California. ><" It's required if I want to make onigiri (rice balls), sushi, or other tasty Japanese foods.

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I plan to post more often with my university experiences in order to prep myself for a full year study abroad in Japan. In fall of 2012 (a year and a half), I plan to study at either Rikkyo, Aoyama Gakuin or Waseda Universities in Tokyo.