Long Time No Blog...

So, obviously my plans of blogging twice a week were way off base. I'm so bad at journal type stuff! I apologize. But here it is!! What you've all been waiting for!! My next post!!!

This is a pic of me in a school jacket from the school I'm interning at. It's part of the kids' gym uniforms. One day I wore short sleeves to school and the school nurse gave me the jacket to wear! In the school, only the classrooms and offices are heated, so the hallways are FREEEEEEZING, so it was definitely nice to have the jacket! :) And it's adorable!!

One of the amazing perks I get to being in Japan for the internship, is getting to hang out with the coolest person I know: my sister! She texted me one evening to tell me that I should make my way over to her place. It's about a 2 hour journey to her place from where I am, with about 45 minutes of walking and an hour and 15 on the trains, but she said there would be donuts!! Some of you may know that my sister is quite the little cook. She made the most incredible donuts I've ever had in my life!!
 


Another fun night with my sister took me to a little restaurant by her house. They serve Okonomiyaki. It's a pancake type of thing, with lots of yummy stuff under it, grilled right in front of you. The guys cooking were so fun! They tried so hard to talk to us, but the translation problems were considerable. This restaurant also served the most incredible ginger highballs! Ginger drinks are way more common here than in NE. I love them!!

One night after work, Andi and I decided we were going to be brave and explore our area more. So we set off and went to a sushi place. The following pictures are mere portrayals of the incredibleness that took place in that restaurant!

Andi got this. I think it was a rice bowl with roe on it. She loved it!

 This was the best sushi I've ever had in my life! I got the maguro (tuna) assortment plate. Those little rolls literally melted in your mouth and the other's were tasty, too!

 Close up:

So in Japan, your drinks are small. Really, really small. My hands are tiny and this drink was hilariously small! I guess that's what you get for 290 yen.

 This past weekend I went out with my sister and her friends! We went to an izakaya that they like to call cheese bacon, because they serve cheese wrapped in bacon on skewers. Best cheese bacon ever!! Ashley (my sister,) Mal (her roommate,) and I met up with their friends Harry and Kitty. We had a blast!

Mal decided she had to taste my favorite drink there! It's anko milk. Anko is one of my favorite desserty kind of things, and it's mixed with some kind of milky liquor and milk, and it is so yummy!!

 My sister and Mal!

 This picture is just to prove to all of my friends back home that nothing's changed and I'm surrounded by awesome people here, too! Elbow licking and all! :)

Earlier today I met up with my big sister from high school, Kay. We had such a good time catching up! It's so nice to be able to see old friends while I'm here! We hung out in Shibuya, and had some Starbucks. (There are almost more of them here than in the US! ....My kinda place!) Perfect end to a perfect weekend!

That's it so far for pictures! I'm going to do my best to be better with my blogging. Goal: Once a week. If you see that it's been over a week and I haven't blogged, nag me. Keep me accountable!
Thanks for reading!
Aly

First week!

It's been such a great first week! I've kept very busy with school and meeting up with people. Andi and I started school on Monday and it was so fun. Two girls gave a small speech in front of the faculty and presented us with little gifts! It was so neat!

 That's Andi, the other intern! We help with 4-6 classes a day. On Tuesday's we get to take a couple of classes. I am taking calligraphy and Japanese. My calligraphy skills are minimal, but it's still a fun class. The teacher only speaks in Japanese the whole class, so I'm pretty lost most of the time, but it's useful to make myself try to get by with the little I know. Here's a picture of my embarrassing first work of art!

Hopefully I'll get better!!!
I got to go and meet with my sister for dinner in Omotesando which is in Tokyo. We went to a great little vegan cafe that she likes. It was soooo delicious! I didn't get a chance for pictures that night, but on Friday I went out with Andi, her boyfriend Yutaro, and two of her friends Akane and Ayako.

We went out in Shibuya to an Izakaya. Izakaya is a restaurant that serves small portions of foods for fairly cheap usually and drinks. It's a great way to hang out with friends and eat and drink socially! It's one of my favorite things to do when I go out in Japan! Then we went to go Karaoke! It was really fun!
On Saturday I went to dinner with my friend that I met in NE, Shiori! It was so amazing to see her and get the chance to reconnect. She took me out to eat Nabe. We had tomato sauce instead of the traditional light broth. It's a bowl that they put on a portable stove in the middle of the table. There are veggies and meat in it, and it's so good!!

After we finished the food in the bowl, we got to choose risotto or noodles, and they mixed cheese and risotto with the leftover sauce. It was so yummy!
Today I slept in a little bit and have been tidying my apartment and relaxing. I went down to a bakery close to the train station in my area and got some yummy treats! It's been such a great first week! I'm looking forward to going to Vegan night at the Pink Cow (where my sister works) later this week! I'm sure I'll have tons of pictures! Tomorrow there is going to be a welcome dinner for the new interns with all of the staff from our school.
I better get off and tidy up my room some more!
Hope everyone is having as great of a time as I am, and that my NE friends are safe and warm during all this snow!!
-Aly