I can't believe that I let so much time pass before posting!
Sunday night was the bishop's son's farewell party that he didn't actually come to. We made okonomiyaki with more egg and flour than at the pro's house--I think it tastes much better without all the cabbage. We also cooked yakisoba and fried tofu. The other kids teased us with the cow liver--which we weren't actually afraid of eating--but we never even opened it. There was also lots of candy.
On monday we met our new classmates. Apparently we caught up to one of the other students. His name is Linus (I think, the japanese pronunciation is really weird) and he's from Chicago. He's over forty and really nice--he even offered to buy our ramen on tuesday.
We also met Irene, she just arrived this week and she is from the Philippines. All the japanese people think that she's japanese and are confused when she doesn't explain to Shell and I how things work. Irene is 22 and loves shopping, so that's what we did with her on Tuesday after school. It was really fun, but by the time we left the book/dvd store, the yukata shop was closed.
But back to Monday, for FHE we had to meet at the stake president's home which is located under the Fukuoka temple. Getting there was really easy and it was fun to meet all the people from the Fukuoka Central Ward. The missionaries were particularly happy to see us which was pretty funny. We met a guy who will be attending Snow College after getting off his mission.
On Wednesday we went to Marine World where we got to see a dolphin show and tons of different kinds of fish. It was actually pretty neat, but my favorite part was trying to get there.
Shelly had copied instructions off the website that were completely wrong, so we had to make our own way there. Transportation was pretty expensive even though we got a day pass because there were 3 different kinds of trains.
While waiting for one of the other trains, we stopped at AM/PM (a convenience store) to buy lunch and some snacks (which was really smart cause the food at Marine World was really expensive). We stopped in the park (located right next to the station) to enjoy a small breakfast. There we met some friends.
I don't know their names, or really anything about them, but I do know that they were very interested in us. One boy in particular was really funny. He asked us "what" we were. First by calling us "daigakuin" (college students), I corrected him by saying ryuugakusee (international students). We then introduced ourselves as americans. Which completely confused the poor thing. He kept saying the wrong place with an incredulous tone. The other kids knew what we were saying, but he couldn't understand what county we were from.
Shelly said, "genki desu ka?" (which is basically, how are you?) And he adamanlty replied, "Genki ja arimasen" (not good at all), we thought his answer was hilarious. I think that he was surprised that we knew what we said. Several other pleasantries passed between us, the most memorable being "you should go buy a japanese teacher."
Finally, we finished our food and were able to leave the snot-nosed brats behind us. However, I will probably count the encounter among my most favorite.
After Marine World, we went to Wonder World. It like Lagoon times 10. It's huge and has a zoo in it. We saw the monkeys, pet the capibara, admired the pony ride (the guys incharge of the ride were really excited to see us and weren't shy at all, but they were on duty, so we couldn't talk), teased the goats, and saw tons of other semi-exotic animals.
Then we went on the ferris wheel, truly admired the size of the place, bought some shaved us (melon flavor with milk stuff on top). Then Shelly went on the rollercoaster, I voted to stay behind and watch the bags. While Shelly was gone I noticed that almost no one stared at me. It was like they couldn't tell that I was a gaijin. I guess it's because my hair is kind of the weird red-color that is so popular here. Only 3 kids noticed what I truly was while Shelly was gone.
Then we went through the haunted house that was actually pretty scary. I didn't understand the stories behind the scenes, but getting attacked by blown air will make anyone jump.
Today we have nothing to do, so we are currently "napping." I can't wait until next week though, because the school is hosting a Mt. Aso trip. We had to pay extra, but it's an overnight trip so it was totally worth it.
Anyway, good bye for now!
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