A few more days gone by

So, my final went pretty well and the exit test went pretty well, so no more tests!!!! Now, just to give some to the fast-trackers for the rest of the summer . . . jk. We were able to build our second bridge in like 2 hours on Thursday, so now all we have left is to decorate it and make it look pretty, make a poster, make a presentation, and break the bridge for that class. I have to make a presentation for culture class on Monday, but that just involves talking for 4 minutes in English so I'm not too worried.

It's crazy that everything is already winding down. I'm ready to get back to the states, and I'm ready to eat some vegetables. (I know I'm weird, but my mom definitely gave me a taste for vegetables at a young age.) All they have here is starch and fried meat, it seems, so I feel like I need to get back to my diet I was eating at Rose.

Yesterday, we went to Shiroyama Shrine with our culture class. We took the train there and walked up this beautiful pass to the shrine. It looked like the gate leading into the shrine was a hole in the mountain, which was really neat. We had a priest greet us and show us the proper way to purify ourselves before entering the shrine, which involved washing your hands and mouth out with pure water from the mountain. He also showed us how to pray and we went through a service there. It was really weird and it seemed like all it was about was purifying us. Lots of purifying rituals in like a 10 minute service and that was it.

Afterwards, they had a small sip of sake for us (going with the purifying ritual). I decided to try it because it was supposed to be some of the best sake I would ever taste. They said this sip of sake was okay for underage people; I think it's kind of like the wine at commonunion at a catholic church or something. I was actually kind of scared of it because I didn't know what to expect. As I put the clear liquid to my mouth and took the sip, I felt like I was drinking nail polish remover. My peers said it was some of the best sake they had ever tasted, and I thought this was humorous cause I literally felt like I was drinking nail polish remover. Well, doesn't make me very excited to drink at least.

After heading back to campus, I went and finished purchasing my transportation for the 16th. It's going to be one fun day, especially if I can't get some of my luggage delivered to the airport by the luggage delivery service. Here it is:

7 am leave room
705 am - ride bus to kanazawa station
830 am - get on bus at kanazawa station
1230 - arrive at Nagoya station
- 2 hours of wandering around nagoya station (maybe eating, but probably just finding where my train is leaving from and popping a squat against a wall somewhere with all my luggage)
230 pm - get on some train that will take me from Nagoya station to the airport
3 pm - arrive at airport
- 3 hours to check in at both places and trying to explain in Japanese that I'm not going to Fort Wayne but that I'm changing and going to Indy and that I need my luggage to do the same (btw, I can't say that in Japanese) -
6 pm - leave Nagoya on American Airlines Flight 26 (11 hrs and 45 min, but notice time change)
345 pm - arrive in Indy
around 7 pm - get on United Airlines to go to Indy (hoping my luggage is doing the same)
around 8 pm - arriving in Indy, getting my luggage, finding my car in one of the expansive parking lots of Indy International
around 9 or 10 pm - arriving at the Haute, unpacking and turnign into a counselor

Yep, that's my 38 hour day for you. Don't worry, I'm splitting it up into two 12 hour days with 8 hour nights. Going East isn't too bad for night time crap but I'm worried about Monday morning in class at Fast Track. I'm probably going to be dead in the mornings for a week or 2.

Oh gosh, if anyone is looking for a book to read, I suggest The DaVinci Code. I bought it Thursday night so that I would have a book to read on my travels next week, but I'm already over half way done. So there's my little book recommendation for everyone.

Now, I've got the farewell party. I'm going to see my host family one last time and spend a couple of hours with them. I don't know what all is involved with this party, but my friends and I skipped lunch, hoping for food. Well, I'd better be off!

I miss everyone so muches!!!! (I know it's not proper english - shushhh)
If anyone still has the patience to read my blog by the end of this and knows how to leave a comment, leave a comment! :)

Hi Amy!