The banks here are the coolest thing ever! No really. So you slide your bank book into one slot, place your cash into another slot. It counts your money for you, asks if it is the right amount, and then balances the bank book for you and prints out the balance. I never have to balance a checkbook again (In Japan) The machine does it for me! I LOVE LOVE LOVE technology. So wonderful.

I'm reading a book called White Oleander right now. It is really amazing, but it made me realize that I would never be a truly great artist or author. I'm simply not tortured enough. Oh well, guess I'll have to find something else to do. The book was apparently on Oprah's book club, and I tried to explain that to my host sister and mother, but I just got blank looks. I get a lot of blank looks. We watched part of The Man in the Iron Mask last night. Terrible terrible movie! How anyone could like Leonardo DiCaprio is beyond me. There are so many actors who have more talent and are more attractive. My host sister is in love with Leo though. She has apparently watched the movie over 20 times (from what my host father said) and she runs around singing songs from Titantic. And I thought that trend had finally ended. Oh well.

I learned how to make tempura last night. Oh so yummy! My host mother is going to teach me how to make Pumpkin Koroke's soon. That is different from Karaoke. They are kindof like mashed pumpkin (or potatoe) inside a fried bread crumb. Yummmmm!!!!