Final, final, final....

So fall semester is almost over and it is time to really focus on my finals... Luckily, I don't have any exams this semester!!!I have only final projects which are not that bad than I expected...I guess. I really liked what I learned in classes this semester because those are what I wanted. I feel like finally I can learn what I want and what I need for my future. I have been spending productive days at my college so far.


I still remember when I was in Ohio, I spent a lot of time on studying for finals and mid-terms. I took Psychology, Into to Theater at the same time and these classes killed me. I liked Psychology class a lot because the professor was nice and she always understood me a lot. What I learned in the class was very interesting, but it was really hard for me to memorize all the words, terms, and explanations in English. Especially, that was in my first semester in the States, so it took me a while to study psychology for each exam. The grade I receive the end of the semester was pretty good.


On the other hand, Intro to Theatre was awful from the start. I hardly understood the professors' lecture in English, and also I was not familiar to theatre at all. And I didn't even know why I chose the class. What is worse, we needed to read plots before the class and we had quiz about the contents. Oh my god, I could not answer anything...because some plots were written in old Irish English. I got 0 point once and I was very shocked. So I decided to talk to the professor about how I can understand his lecture. After that, I could somehow catch up his class and submitted paper. This class was too much for me just started studying in the States at that time.


I know it was 3 years ago (!) but the time I spent in Ohio was so precious to me even if Ohio has bad weather in winter. I met many people and had many experiences there. If I didn't decide to study abroad 3 years ago, I do not think I am here in the States right now because it changed my life and vision. I might write about my life in Ohio sometime soon...


Good luck on you finals, everyone! xo

It Is Over Now...

3 days ago, I just received a package from my mom in Japan. In the package, there were some Japanese instant food, such as noodle, miso soup, seasoning, green tea, and stuff like that. Also, I asked my mom to send me a jacket, a pair of boots, and an uniform of Chunichi Dragons. Just a couple of weeks ago, Japan Series was held and my most favorite baseball team, Chunichi Dragons made it to the series! I wanted to wear and cheer my team in the States, but it was too late because now it is over. 


I have been writing about Chunichi Dragons since I started this blog, but I did not mention which team became the champion in the central league and who made it to Japan Series because I was waiting for Chunichi Dragons to become the Japan champion. They actually became the Central league champion despite the fact that they used to be in the 5th place this summer. Also, they won at the playoff games and made it to Japan Series. 


In Japan Series, Chunichi Dragons played with Fukuoka Softbank Hawks which is also the league champion in Pacific league. This year, the Japan Series dragged both teams into 7th game. I was excited to have 7th game because I can still enjoy baseball till the last of the season. Especially,  for Ochiai, the head coach of Chunichi Dragons, this year is the last season to conduct Dragons because he got fired due to so many stupid reasons. I am still mad at the owner of the team though. (I don't want to mention the reasons in here this time.) The score was 0-3, and Softbank Hawks won which means they became the Japan Champion. I was so sad and could not stop crying...but Hawks has been great this season so I need to admit that they deserve that.


I know so many fans of Dragons want them to win for Ochiai because he has done such a wonderful job over 8 years. He led the team to Central league champion 4 times and Japan Champion once. He had always been thinking of the team and the players. I am so sad to see him go. But the memories he left for fans are huge and unforgettable. I am not sure what's going on next season, but I will always be a fan of Dragons no matter where I go.

(At Nagoya Dome, Oct 19, 2011 Courtesy of my sister)

Meet the Professor in DC

So in the last blog, I wrote about my thanksgiving break in DC. While I stayed there, I also met my professor from Japan.

He had been teaching at my undergrad college in Japan for 5 years. I was taking his classes and also I was a member of his seminar class because my concentration from junior year was American Politics. Under his guidance, I developed my knowledge and understanding of American Politics....maybe. Everybody got along each other well in my class and we still hang out together. So we call the class "Yamagishi Family." 

This summer, my professor moved to DC to research his main concentration, health care in Georgetown University. And I decided to see him and his family as well during the thanksgiving break.

His family invited me and my friend who also took his class, and we had dinner together. We had Temaki-zushi which is one of kinds of sushi, crabs, miso soup, and salad with Japanese sesame dressing. Every meal was great and it made me miss Japanese food more!

My professor has 2 sons and they are soooo cute. They are 4 and 7 years old and they have just started to go to school in the States. It seemed like they are having fun there. 

We caught up each other and my professor seemed glad that I am having fun and productive days in my grad school. I am happy that I have many acquaintances here in the States, so I sometimes don't feel like I am actually in foreign country. That's why I have never felt home-sick. My friends/ professor always inspire me and they are my motivation. I want to be a person who inspire them as well sometime in the future.

Thanksgiving Break 2011

Thanksgiving is over now... Well, this thanksgiving break was awesome! I had the best thanksgiving ever.


I could see my friends from Nanzan University. They were exchange students last year. We haven't met since this march because they needed to come back to the States due to the earthquake in Northeaster Japan. But the time we spent together in DC was totally same as we did in Japan.


We went to The White House, Washington Memorial, some art museum, Capitol, and garden. Also we had a great thanksgiving dinner at my friend's grandma's house. This was my first thanksgiving dinner. I really enjoyed it and ate a lot. Turkey was perfect and pumpkin pie was awesome.


My friend's family was also amazingly sweet. The grandma said to me, "you have many friends here in DC, so please count me as your friend too!" I was so happy to hear that.


We also had tasty Chinese food! China town in DC is not that big as New York, but still the food was great. I had a Peking duck for the first time and it was so good! I wish we had some great Chinese restaurant in Worcester!!


During the break, I have spent with my friend's family all the time. I felt like they are my family in the States!!!!They told me to keep in touch with them. I think I am going to send them a Christmas  card with a little message to express my hearty thanks.


It was hard for me to get back to reality...but we have a couple of weeks left! So we need to bring it on!!!!!

St. Louis!

Last friday, I hopped on a airplane at Logan Airport for heading to St. Louis. One of my best friends is visiting her boyfriend in St. Louis, so me and my friend decided to meet there because I know her boyfriend too. 

The weather was perfect. The week before, we had heavy snow here in New England. That was awful, and I felt like I wish my college was in California!!! But the temperature in St. Louis was mild and I sometimes didn't need a jacket even in the night. 

We went ice skating, but I have never tried it before so I was nervous! I was holding on to my friends at the first time. After while, I could stand and try to skate by myself! Eventually, I could skate (some people might think that I was just walking on the ice though) all by myself!!! It was fun and I want to try ice skating again.

Also, we went shopping at a mall in STL and we went to Gate way arch. I had never been to St. Louis so it was nice trip. St. Louis is located in Midwest so it was kind of nostalgic for me since I was in Ohio. 

This winter, I am gonna visit my friend in Wisconsin. So I'm excited to have another Midwest trip!

A Little Girl Exploring the World

Before I came to this college in Mass this August, I have been many places in the world this year. So far, I visited 5 countries including the US. Don't be fooled. I am not rich at all. I had saved money for the trips after graduation. In Japan, it is very popular to travel before graduatung college/ high school. We call it "graduation trip."


I just graduated a college (undergrad) in Japan this March. Before I graduate, I visited Bali, Indonesia and Singapore this March with my friend from my dance team. We planned to go to Bali first because we did not want to spend much money and Bali is kind of close to Japan. And then we realized that we have about 9 hours to change our flights in Singapore. So we dicided to visit Singapore as well. People in Bali value protecting their culture, tradition, and nature. I was impressed by thier lifestyle, dance, and food! Everything was amazing!! Even though I am from Japan, it is very different for me to visit another Asian country. We have different cultures. Actually, Bali is a very popular place to visit for Japanese people. I know many friends have been there this spring! Some people in Bali can speak Japanese so that Japanese people don't have to worry about language there.




On the other hand, Singapore is a modern country. There are many buildings and people in downtown. I was surprised that the color of taxies are various, such as red, blue, yellow, green... and the fare was not that expensive! Good for the travellers. Since we had only 7 hour to see around in Singapore, we went to see Marlion, and Night Safari. Marlion was underconstracted unfortunately, but we really had fun at Night Safari.


In May, I went to Ohio, US for my roommate's wedding!!! She just got married with her boyfriend and she invited me!! I was so happy that they became together and I could see their happy faces!! I spent some time at my former college in Ohio with my friends and moved to stay in Cleveland a few days. I love baseball so my friends took me to the ballpark. The game was awesome as usual, but I remember it was so cold outside. After the stay in Ohio, I headed to New York to visit my friend. She and her family are always sweet to me and I really appreciate it. I also had oppotunity to meet up with my another friends in NYC. It is always nice to catch up with my loves because they alwasy inspire me a lot.




A few weeks later, my bestie and I went to Europe!!! This trip was much needed for us because it was supposed to be our last trip before I move to the States for grad school. We tried to manage this trip cheaper because we are both student obviously, and we were kind of broken at the time. But we know that we travel together in Europe, so we worked A LOT!!! In addtion, we found the cheapest airline tickets and hotels. We visited Milan, Rome, and Paris in 10 days. It was busy trip, but we realy enjoyed it!! Sometimes we had trouble, and sometimes we felt that we might not be able to go back to Japan... But we made it safe eventually. People in Milan are so fashionable. Rome has many historic sights. I really loved there becuase I am kind of interested in history. And Paris...oh my god. I love Paris so much! Everything is pretty and adorable! The buildings, cafe, and food made me feel that I am in a movie! I know it is so expensive to eat and drink in Paris. We wanted to save money so we sometimes bought dinner at supermarket. I definately want to come back to Paris in the near future!




And then, I'm in Mass, US now. I love being the States becuase everything is exciting to me whenever I come back to the States. I really feel that any experiences are good for me and my future. I want to keep challenging anything that I want and always thinking of my country, Japan.




So this is a video about my journey in the world. I learned how to make a video in my Media class. I know the quality is not that good, but I hope you enjoy it. Thank you!

Mt. Monadnock

Yesterday, My friends and I went hiking to Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire. This event was organized by IDCE program which is not mine. But my friends asked me to join, and the weather was really nice at that time. So I decided to go there with them. It was my first mount-climbing. Actually, we didn't expect that we climb up the mountain. We thought that we would just walk around and enjoy watching the autumn leaves.

While climbing, we faced some difficulties such as rock-climbing, slippery road, mud, and wind. We accidentaly chose the trickier trail, so we sometimes thought we might not be able to make it.

At the top of the mountain

But we made it!!! Although It was very hard and tough, we really enjoyed climbing and watching the autumn leaves!! The scenery was awesome and beautiful. I was moved that I can see with my own eyes.

     However, it was tougher when we went down the mountain compared to go up. We slipped many times and our shoes were totally messed up. We chose the eaier trail this time, so it was much better than the trickier one becuase we didn't need to go through the wall of rock.

We on the top!!!

It was an amazong experience to me. I want to prepare a pair of shoes for climbing mountain next time becuase mine was just a dance shoes. Today, when I woke up, whole my body hurt. It is very had to move my body like walking, raising my hands, and so on...I strongly feel that I also need to train my body for the next mountain climbing!