Ok, so things haven't gotten any better with my host family. I don't really fit into the family, and I don't feel at home in their house. I know that things will eventually get better, but it is difficult to be happy and enjoy this experience when I don't want to go home. My host mother is nice, my 14 year-old host sister seems more interested in the baseball games on TV than me, my host grandfather is very sick, but he is nice. The problem is that he doesn't speak any English, so we don't communicate very much. I have seen my host father once, he grunted at me the first time and said one word to me the second time. Once classes start I won't be home very much.

Speaking of classes, I signed up for them yesterday and got all of my books today. I'm taking Intermediate Japanese, Japanese Culture: Japan in Fiction, Japanese Culture II: Language and Society in Japan, Flower Arranging (Ikebana), Woodblock printing (Hanga), and I'm auditing the Japanese Economy class. It's a heavy load, but I should be ok. The language classes are 3-4 hours a day, and then the other classes are only once a week. I'm really excited about the art classes. I'm also applying for a work permit so that I can tutor English a few hours a week. It will give me a small income and let me see if I like teaching English.

Another exciting thing: I finally got a cell phone. If you want to call or e-mail me it won't cost me anything! My e-mail address for my phone is 09017825847@jp-c.ne.jp You can't send messages more than a few sentences though or it will cut them off. My phone number calling from the US is 011-81-90-1782-5847. Not that I expect anyone to call me, but just in case.

Not much else to tell. I'm going to a club with a bunch of Gaijin (foreigners tonight). The club is called Plastic Factory. It should be fun, and if nothing else will get me out of the house. (Don't worry Sharon, you won't have to bail me out of a Japanese prison, I promise....). Hope everyone is having a good time in their various parts of the world.