Sorry about the lack of updates! I've had a very busy past few days

Since my last post I've done a ton and I'll post all that I can remember! I'm not really sure how to post pictures on here, but as soon as I'll figure it out I'll add some. Don't worry everyone, I have been taking pictures! Once I figure out how to post pictures here I'll probably edit my posts to include them! Thanks for reading :)

4/4/2015
So I did end up going to Harajuku and buying a lot of clothes. Too many clothes I think. The Japanese clothes kind of fit weird, but they're all really high quality and very nice. I bought a Stussy shirt from some Hip Hop fashion store, and then I bought a shirt from this punk store called Secret Base. It was really cool because I had a pretty big talk about Kirk Hammet's San Jose Fear Fest with the store attendant! Buying clothes is a very good way to practice your Japanese here. The shirt was designed by Pushead (the artist who did Metallica album covers and a few Misfits albums if I'm not mistaken). My last purchase from Harajuku was from the Bathing Ape store (AT LONG LAST!!!). That store was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. The shirt was the only thing there in my price range, but I'm glad I bought it! Harajuku is a very cool place and everyone is very fashionable. It might be my favorite area of Japan so far, but like everything its super crowded. We also stopped by this Toy store called Kiddyland which was basically heaven for a little boy or girl! I definitely will go back there and pick up some souvenirs before I leave. Later that night we went out with Teppei (one of the students from DK House) because it was his last night before leaving to Nagoya to start work. He took us to a cheap international bar where we met a bunch of other clueless foreigners trying to talk with Japanese people. Good vibes all around.

4/5/2015
Today we hung out in Ikebukuro and went to see the Pokemon Center and the Studio Ghbili store! WOW! The Pokemon Center was literally my 11 year old dreamland. They had almost everything I could ever want. It was really geared for Japanese kids, so most of the Pokemon were more recent than the ones I grew up with. I think it was a bit overpriced, and I couldn't find Sharpedo toys there for my nephew, Austin. The Studio Ghibli store was very awesome! They had merchandise for most the Hayao Miyazaki movies (Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Howl's Moving Castle ect.). I really wanted to buy something in there, but I said I'd withhold on buying anything Ghibli related until we go to the museum in Tokyo. That's right. There is a museum dedicated to Studio Ghibli somewhere in Japan. All my other exchange student friends can't wait to go, but apparently you have to reserve tickets a month or so in advance. After shopping around Ikebukuro, one of the Japanese students from our dorm took us out for cheap dinner. We had Yakitori, Okonomiyaki, Takoyaki and a bunch of various other amazing foods. The food here is relatively cheap, but I haven't had a bad meal yet. For Desert our Japanese friend ordered us these things called "Oppai Ice". "Oppai" in Japanese is slang for a large women's breasts, so I was kind of weirded out when he ordered it. Even more weirded out when the things came to the table. Basically they took a balloon and filled it up with with Vanilla Ice cream and there was a little hole on the end to suck the Ice Cream out of. I guess like breastfeeding..... yea. So we passed those around the table and many laughs were had just because the ridiculousness of the whole thing. The ice cream was actually very tasty!! After Dinner we went to this huge Japanese Department store called Don Quixote in Ikebukuro. It has 7 stories of pretty much everything you can imagine. I ended up buying a pair of socks that said Takoyaki on it. (I really love the Japanese clothes, this might be a problem ><;)

4/6/2015
HANAMI!!!! So, Shouta, my support student who picked me up from the airport, invited me to his circle's (Japanese social group/club thing) Flower Viewing party in Yoyogi park. I feel that its just an excuse for Japanese college students to day drink.. That said it was very fun and a great social experience!! I met a lot of cool Japanese people and foreigners and was able to practice a lot of my Japanese. I think I might join the circle because they practice English and Japanese everyday at lunch. Very good for learning how to converse in Japan! I didn't drink as much as some of the Japanese students, so me and my friends walked to the Meiji shrine afterwards! IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND SERENE. Japanese temples have a very unique ambiance to them. I can't wait to go to Kyoto and see some more! That night we had Kaitenzushi which is basically the Japanese Sushi Boat. Apparently its cheaper than other Sushi places you might go to in Japan. Either way, it was amazing and I had my fill of Unagi! Later on that night, me and a few friends ended up at a cheap bar in Shinjuku and we played Japanese drinking games with locals. It's very cool to see the different culture here. Japanese are more social drinkers than in America I believe. They don't really party too hard (but they do drink a lot), and just enjoy each others company! I am getting pretty sick of drinking so much though. I'm hoping school starts soon, so I can see some more serious aspects of the college culture here!

4/7/2015
It was so cold and rainy yesterday! The club fair at Sophia started up, so I went with a few friends to scope out some clubs I wanted to join. We only got to see two before we got rained out and had to leave. But I got to see an Aikido demonstration in the Dojo and got to try my hand at Archery (I suck at it). We walked around the Sophia University area and found the Hotel New Otani! It's literally right across the street and I didn't even know. We had lunch in Akasaka Mitsuke for pretty cheap. I had Katsu Curry Don which was pork cutlet with curry over rice. Amazing. Like I said the food here never dissapoints. Later on that day we shopped around Nakano, and went out for Monjyayaki and Oknomiyaki. I bought 2 pairs of shorts from Uniqlo because I couldn't resist. There's this Kabuki themed release they have going on and I couldn't resist buying some Japanese shorts. Anyway, I want to talk about the Monjyayaki and Okonomiyaki restaurant! It was 1500 yen for all you can eat for 2 hours!! They sat us down in a table really close to the ground and we ordered various flavors of Monjyayaki and Okonomiyaki and grilled them ourselves! For those who don't know, Okonomiyaki is sort of like a pancake with whatever various foods you can find stuffed in it. Monjyayaki is very similar to Okonomiyaki, but instead of eating it like a pancake, you chop it up into a sort of paste and eat that. It was really really fun and I got pretty good at flipping the Okonomiyaki. I'm definitely going to try to make some when I get home!

Its sunny and warm again today! I said I'd go back to the club fair and see what other clubs I could join! Tonight a bunch of exchange students wanted to go to Roppongi and check out the nightclubs. Roppongi is the infamous area in Tokyo for foreigners and nightlife, so I'll update on how that goes soon. Should be interesting! I'm looking for some good local music clubs here, as it seems that most of them just play poppy EDM and Avici (at least from what I've heard). Until next time everyone!