久しぶり〜 (Part II)

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PART TWO LET'S GOOOOO

始めましょう！！

So as mentioned in my last post, a lot has happened but because I got super busy with school, I wasn't able to post. However, now I have made the time and I'm splitting up everything that has happened into two blog posts. This post is going to be much shorter (and I mean much shorter), but still filled with fun adventures!

After the Cheese Festival I had midterms. Woooo. But there have been three awesome adventures between then and now: Japanese chili cheese fries, the Pokemon Center, and Thanksgiving.

First things first: Japanese chili cheese fries. Honestly, I wouldn't even call them that because that is NOT in any way what they were. After my final midterm, a few friends and I decided to go to this "American-style" bar near the train station to celebrate. We saw that that they had chili cheese fries and got SUPER excited, especially one of my friends who went with us. It was funny because right before we noticed it on the menu, he was just talking about how badly he was craving chili cheese fries. Low and behold, we found it on the menu and ordered a plate right away. However, when they came out, we were shocked because what we got were in no way, shape, or form chili cheese fries: we were served french fries with (I'm being honest here) salsa, ground beef, and white cheese. However, we ate the entire plate, though we were all a little sad on the inside. In hindsight, when ordering chili cheese fries in Japan, we definitely can't expect what we would be getting served back in the US.

Second adventure: the Pokemon Center. Last weekend, some friends and I were supposed to go to this ice rink near Tokyo Station. However, when we arrived, we found out that the ice rink was inside and was only for children (it never mentioned this on the website we found it on). So, we instead decided to go to Sunshine City in 池袋 (Ikebukuro--a neighborhood in Tokyo, the same neighborhood I stayed in during my first week in Japan). For those who don't know, Sunshine City is this HUGE mall and it's really famous. Malls aren't really a thing here in Japan like they are in the US, but Sunshine City is a big deal, partially because it has the Pokemon Center inside. The Pokemon Center was AMAZING. I was so excited, I was going around the store like a little kid. There were a TON of various kinds of merchandise, including a Marshtomp onsie which I hard-core debated about buying but didn't because 1. money and 2. I have no idea when I would wear it. However, I did buy a folder with Umbreon on it and an Umbreon keychain (Umbreon is my favorite pokemon). It was great fun, and I definitely want to go back.

Final adventure: Thanksgiving. Today (Sunday, Nov. 29th), my program put on a Thanksgiving party for all of us plus our host families. It was a lot of fun, and there was a 30lb turkey which was awesome. Also, there was cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes with gravy: two essentials for any Thanksgiving feast. It was really nice to eat some American food, and it was a lot of fun to see everybody with their host families. Besides the food, the highlight of the event was when my host dad tried to open a bottle of champagne, but he wasn't paying attention so the cork shot out of the bottle with a huge BANG and hit the ceiling with a giant THUD. Everybody was surprised, but because my host family is notorious for partying, EVERYBODY looked right at me and was like "oooh that was definitely Sabrina's host dad." I was kind of embarrassed, but it was so funny that I got over it. My host mom and I laughed about it afterwords when he wasn't around, and it really was funny.

OKAY so that's the end of this post. I have a big paper and a big project to do these next three weeks, but then it's winter break which I am SUPER excited for. Until we meet again, まったね〜！😊

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Photos

チーリーチーズフリズ？
chili cheese fries?

POKEMON CENTER!!!
POKEMON GOTTA CATCH THEM ALLLLL

POKEMON CENTER OMGGG
Lucardio and MewTwo !!!

ハムちゃん
my little host brother's hamster eating my eraser lol

girl's night!

原宿
Harajuku at night