So, I've been here for over a week and tomorrow starts my first day of classes!!! I'm actually really excited about classes, cause they sound so fun/I get to learn more Japanese (and thus, sound less like a 3 year old)! Orientation was fun, my Nihongo partner is really nice, I've met several different people that I like lots, and my host family situation is going good!

 This shows a small portion of the bike population near the Nigawa train station. Plus, most generally, people use umbrellas here instead of hats/sunglasses/the like.

 A convenience store that is everywhere here. I'm going to miss these when I return home.

 Slug bug!!!

 My first friend here - Jillian, from New Brunswick!

 (I was trying to take action shots while we were being twirled in the crazy, make-you-sicker-than-any-merry-go-round world thingie.)

 Jillian and I twirling Katie!

 Big ol' mountain outside of Takarazuka. I think it might be Kubota mountain but I don't know. We hiked up some mountain over here (it was terribly hard but the view was great)!

 Japanese graveyard. I'll get better pics someday since I walk past one on my way to school.

 So . . . . close . . . . to the . . . . top!

 City way in the distance when we got up to the top of the trail.

 I was soooo hot and sweaty and tired!

 Such cool houses and roofs and stuff!

 Yay pond pictures!

 From the Kiyoshi Kyojin Temple and the Tessai Museum that was located inside it.

This is what the parking space looks like normally in my buildings parking lot. (Cultural difference/some other kind of difference - just about everyone backs into parking spaces here. And very rarely do you find a car that is left crooked in the parking space, if ever.)

This is what the parking spaces can become!!! Three spaces!!! It rises up and down with button controls! Soooo cool!!!!! XDDD

Anyway, school starts tomorrow so I should get on the whole making sure my bag is ready and such. I got my note books from a 100 yen shop, a big one, which turned out to be a Daiso! They have Daiso in San Francisco and a few other big cities in America. :) And Marisah, the Daiso wasn't much different. A few less souvenir type stuff but more food, note books, etc. lol