3.14159...

Happy Pi Day, everyone! I hope you're all celebrating properly...I would but I don't really have the means to make pie. That's okay, though, as the Japanese have their own holiday to celebrate! It's called White Day. White Day is like the Japanese version of Valentine's Day. Guys who received chocolate on Valentine's day from girls for whatever reason (as friends, love interests, etc.) have to reciprocate, usually with white objects. As you can see, I'm pretty much set. :) It's a Sentimental Circus lion and everything! I'm overwhelmed by the cuteness - definitely the perfect gift for me. :3 His name is Rio(and no, that is not a pun on Japanese pronounciation...that's actually his name!). Besides Rio, I also got white chocolate from 2 guys who decided that every girl needed chocolate for white day. :) How sweet!

Quick update on quake aftermath...probably you can get all of this from the news back home, but I figured I'd sum up what I know here. The main problem now is the nuclear plants in Fukushima. Before you get too concerned, Fukushima is pretty far from us - over 6 hours by train unless you take a shinkansen, and even then it will take a few hours. There were 3 plants that were having trouble as a result of the earthquake. One of them got cooled down in time, but another had a hydrogen explosion over the weekend. The third just had an explosion, but I'm pretty sure it's just a hydrogen explosion as well (ie, not a meltdown). The area has been evacuated just to be safe, though!

Tokyo is picking itself up and dusting itself off now. Starting today, the Tokyo Metro has started running again completely, albeit at 20% capacity. Baby steps! Several inter-city lines are up and running again, too. The Tokaido shinkansen line (ie the way I would be getting to Tokyo) is not functional today, but I'm hoping that will change soon - they're performing blackouts in the area so trains up there are stalled for the day.

A lot of us here at JCMU want to help with something...we feel so far removed, though, that we don't know what quite to do. Thankfully, our director Mr. Morris is trying to find ways we could possibly help, so hopefully we will have something we can do soon.

Back to happier topics, shall we? Yesterday was pretty chill! I just finished up homework and then we watched a movie called Nana. The main characters are so cute - they're both named Nana (thus the title) and total opposites, but they become best friends. I liked the movie! :)

In class, we've started learning the portion of Japanese that very few students like. It's polite form! There are 3 types. The first is keigo, in which you elevate the person you're talking about. For example, if you wanted to say "My teacher's child went to the store.", normally you would say "Sensei no kodomo ha mise ni ikimashita." When using keigo, it becomes "Sensei no okosan ha mise ni irasshaimashita." Basically, you add "o" or "go" to a lot of nouns and change a few common verbs around. Simple, right? The next form we learned is "extra-modest", in which you talk about your own actions modestly. Again, you change simple verbs around. So, now for words like "are", "eat", "come", and "do", we have 3 ways to say each one! Confusing, right? And there's another form, called "humble form", in which you talk about doing things for other people and "lower" yourself in the process to elevate the other person. It's getting a little tricky to keep straight!
After class, we decided to go enjoy the beautiful weather. It's actually in the mid-50s for once, so Brad and I headed up to the shrine on the other side of the road. We also took a random mountain path that went the other way and followed it to its conclusion. There was nothing too exciting there, but it was a nice walk! And we have such a light homework load tonight we will have plenty of time for 42. Excellent day!
One more quick note before I go...happy Daylight Savings Time, all. :) Japan doesn't have Daylight Savings Time, so now I'm just 14 hours ahead of you (assuming you're in Central Time). Good to know, right?

Have a good day!