wow..a month

can`t believe its been a month since i updated this dang thing. i had some rough times, and i just didn`t want to post when i was in that frame of mind. things are looking up now and i`m feeling a lot better, but for a while there was some drammmmmma with my schools/life and i just didn`t feel like writing about it because thats not what people back home need to hear. hopefully things will be smooth(ish) sailing from now on. famous last words...

i am currently in 守山(moriyama), shiga, visiting my exchange student. its so awesome to see her family after over 8 years! her younger brother was 8 when i came last--he`s now 17!!! crazy! her older brother is visiting tonight as well, he lives in kyoto. he`s the same age as my brother. last night her mother cooked THE MOST DELICIOUS MEAL i`ve had since being in japan. albeit it was semi-american food, but still. the first time i`ve been FULL from anything that i didn`t make myself. it was hamburger (just the meat), salad, chicken creamy-soup, rice. all separate. lol. then ice cream for dessert. plus UME SHU! (plum wine). i am going to have to do some serious investigating for ume shu upon my return the united states. it is おいしいい！(delicious).

then today we took a day trip to Nara. Mayumi, her dad, and i. he is a pretty cool dad i might add. he is the most amazing photographer i`ve probably ever seen. he works for a phone company (figures) and only does it as a hobby, but he could make a living off of it i think--he`s that good. i want to steal all of them before i leave!! :) nara was awesome--there are deer EVERYWHERE and they BOW to get food! they sell these wafer things to feed them. its pretty awesome until you get mauled by a group and they`re biting you! which happened to me..a little terrifying! lol but for the most part awesome!! i went to the largest wooden structure in the world!!! its a buddhist temple in nara, with 大ぶた(i cant remember the kanji for buddha) but it literally means `big buddha`---and boy that name does not lie. i`ll have to post a pic here of it. children can fit through a hole the size of its nostril--and they have a place in the temple where kids actually do it (go through a hole the exact same size as the nostril, not the actual nostril lol). anyway it was awesome. i don`t have much time to write bc i dont want to be rude being on the comp, so i`ll call it good here. will be better about updating on my return to onomichi, i hope! lol love to all!

ケイト