Ganbate!

Gantbate...the word of the week. it means "go for it" or "try your best". I can't even count the amount of times i've heard that word said to me over the past few days. But it's nice that everyone is so encouraging of my efforts to learn Japanese and live the Japanese lifestyle. I've been having really intese dreams everynight (sometimes in japanese) so it's hard for me to sleep. I:m still getting used to sleeping on a futon and while trying to overcome jet lag.

A few days ago we caught the outer bands of a typhoon so it's been raining most of the time i've been here. I even bought myself a new pair of rain shoes (imagine crocks bust stylish). I experienced a much stronger typhoon last time i was in tokyo (near the end of my stay).

Friday I had a hippo family club activity at Waka chan:s club. I had a lot of fun playing with all the little kids. They like to quiz me on my Japanese vocab so I do the same in return. they are soo cute! That night I had orientation at the office in shibuya. (side note, there is this sign in shibuya for axe that scares the shit out of me. it's a scent titled "chocolate temptation" or something like that and it has the SCARIEST looking chocolate man standing behind a woman...i:ll take a picture tomorrow on my way to work and post it with my other pictures...sooooo creeeepy!!! and i have to look at it everyday on myway to work!) I met everyone in the office and got to chill out at my desk for a few hours.　My host mom came to the office around 6 and we had a host family orientation of sorts. it was a way to set general house rules so that the office knew, incase problems come up.

on saturday I had more hippo activities. except, this time i had to be there at 2:30 and stayed there until 9pm. We have 2 clubs on saturday, the first one is for young parents and their kids and the second one is for elementary school through college age kids (and parents). It was so much fun to meet everyone and enjoy singing, dancing and playing games together. except......it was increadibly tiring.

I slept in pretty late today. Except...i was abruptly woken up this morning at 8am when the house was suddenly shaking. I thought it was increadibly unusual since i never feel my host parents moving about the house, the floor is extremely sturdy. then i realised as the trembling got worse that yes....in fact....i was experiencing my first earthquake!!! I kind of thought I was hyper lucid dreaming for a minute. after the trembling ended I went back to sleep. When I woke up later I said to my host mom "so...this morning...the house....shaking?" and she confirmed my suspisions. She told me that usually the earthquakes around here are at a level 1 or 2 but today we experienced a 3.5! sugoi ne!? (amazing isn't it!?)

today my host mom and I went grocery shopping in Oizumi gakuen. She took me to an increadible tea shop where I was able to buy more "mate cha" (yerba mate) for pretty cheep (considering this is tokyo).

Tomorrow is my first day of work. I'm excited to make my first morning commute since Shibuya is such an exciting place to walk through. I can:t wait to settle into my office life since now i feel very comfortable here at my host family's house. Tomorrow I have to wake up at 7 in order to leave the house a little before 8. it takes about an hour and a half by train and walking to get to my work all he way across the Tokyo Metropolitan area. Also, the way that Waka chan showed me how to get to work is no good for my pasmo (imagine the charlie card). SO tomorrow I have to navigate two of the busiest train stations by myself for the first time. But my host mom gave me really good directions and they have a lot of signs in english...i should be fine.

anyway, i don:t know when i:ll get the chance to update again..so take care until then!

ja ne!!