nothin' to say but what a day

Kyoto, Japan

Me at a Golden Temple in Kyoto

Me and Elijah with the Geisha

Heather cleansing me at a temple in Kyoto

My half luck fortune
Me and Elijah at the temple in Wakayama

So, it has been awhile, but I am back! The day I got home from Japan my computer screen went out. Well, not all of it, only half. But I just bought a new laptop!! I'm so excited! I made the switch from PC to Mac and so far I really like it! So....

Japan was so much fun! It was, however, the most expensive place in the universe! And it's almost impossible to get money! ATMs don't take foreign

 debit cards (unlike Korea) and very few places take credit cards! So money was a bit of an issue for us. If you ever go, just exchange a ton of money into Yen before you go... you'll need it! 

When we got there, Elijah was waiting for us at the airport. I was so excited to see him! We took the train from Osaka into his town, Wakayama.  One of his co-workers met us at the station and took us out to eat and then took us to a temple. The

 temple was dedicated to a a man who a woman fell in love with. She chased and chased him and he ran and ran. She turned herself into a snake (dragon) and he hid in a bell. She blew fire onto the bell and he was killed. It was really interesting. Once ou

tside of the temple you could buy a fortune. You give your money and then you randomly pick a fortune from a basket. My fortune was "half luck". And I truly do have half luck! I get home from Japan and only half of my laptop works!! The fortune also said that I would have lots of babies.  Later that night we went out for dinner and drink with Elijah's friend Seiji. We had a good time!

We woke up early the next morning and went to Kyoto. In Kyoto we met up with Jen, Katie, Jordana and Lynise. Jen grew up in Kyoto so she got to play tour guide all day! We went to several temples and had a really good day. That night we went to a performance of traditional Japanese ceremonies, plays and dances. It

 was really fun! The best part was seeing the Geisha! After the performance we got to get our pictures taken with the Geisha... which was my goal in Kyoto! We didn't get back to Wakayama until about 1:30 a.m. Elijah had to work so Heather and I slept in. When he got home we went to Wakayama beach! It was a rocky beach and really pretty. That night we went out with some of Elijah's friends. We went to a restaurant that serves nabe. Nabe is a soup that you cook all sorts of meat and veggies in. It is what sumo wrestlers eat! Of course they eat one massive bowl alone and we shared ours with six people! After that we went to karaoke! Korean karaoke is more fun, but Japanese karaoke has an amazing English selection! 

So, we had a great time in Japan! We have been really busy since we got back. We had finals and then our classes moved around. Mine pretty much stayed the same, but I did lose my favorite class :(  Last weekend we hung out with Chinchu and went to this huge mall called CoEx. They have an apple store and we went there to buy my laptop, but they were out so I just paid and had it delivered to school. This weekend we are going snow sledding with the kids... sounds cold, but it should be fun. Chinchu is going with us! I bet the kids will love her. Later that night we are meeting up with Katie, Jen and Jordana in Seoul to celebrate Valentines day by watching "He's Just Not That into You". And probably some karaoke! Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well! I will post more often now that I have a decent computer and it won't take hours to post pictures!! 

All my love!