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