So I haven't written a post in a while! Life is so crazy right now. When I have free time, I don't have internet access, and when I have internet access, I don't have free time. So I need to go to bed in like fifteen minutes, but first I want to post something.
So we've left my school and spent a week in DC, which was mostly great. A lot of reception-y events and meeting important people (so intimidating). Plus we got to go to Smithsonian museums and do a scavenger hunt around the area, which took us all the way to Georgetown (well, at least one group went there... everyone else was smart and made sure to get dinner, but my group was very gung go "let's get amazing cupcakes at Georgetown!"). We also visited Chateauville, which is beautiful farmland with a gorgeous music hall manor. We held a talent show there. Everyone here is so talented <3 Yoshiki played a medley (including Beatles, GReeeeN, and Ponyo) on the ukelele, Haruka and Yuri S. did a traditional Kyoto dance, Ayako and Mariama sang, Henry & Co. did a "Candy" skit, some boys and Christina danced to Beyonce's "Single Ladies," Kuni imitated a gorilla discovering a piano, Natsuki led a para-para dance, Shuta did some really spectacular magic tricks, Hiro and Toru sang/played piano, Wei-ying amazed everyone with her piano skills, Aya played the JASC theme on piano, Koichiro sang a Josh Groban song from the balcony... it was just awesome. After we ate awesome food (mushroom ravioli with pesto sauce, pineapple risotto, salad, carrot cake). This food was especially great since the whole week in DC, we lived off Einstein Bros. Bagels in the morning and Subway in the afternoon. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
Then we did homestays! Us Americans were a little "meh" about doing a homestay with other Americans, but they mostly grouped us with Japanese delegates and actually it was a lot of fun. My host family consisted of a 24-year-old young woman, Jordan, who had a strong interest in Japan and a good grasp of the language, and her older aunt, Wendy. Jordan is vegan and made us Japanese and Himalayan rice, tofu and veggie stir-fry, and corn on the cob for the dinner. I was wary of the tofu, but it was so good - actually, EVERYTHING was so good. It was really nice to have a home-cooked meal. Afterward, we did a night tour of various monuments, like Roosevelt, Einstein, Lincoln, and Iwo Jima.
The next day, we hit the streets with Jordan and just wandered DC for a while. There were some shopping events going on, so we tried to check them out, but they were elusive. But we found a thrift shop with some awesome merchandise, and then we visited a small Japanese market where the owner's tiny elementary school-age son kept hitting on Ryoko XD I bought Pocky and cold green tea. After that, we decided to get lunch/dinner (lunchner?). We went to a Thai restaurant since we're all crazy about Thai food, and I got Pad Gai for the first time. It was really amazing. Uffff so delicious. I'm not into spicy food, but Pad Gai was not spicy, just garlicky, which contributed to the awesomeness, of course. We had some good conversation about food education, the dominance of corn in the US economy, and Monsanto's evil GM soy beans.
Afterward, we went to an art gallery where there was a fantastic Norman Rockwell exhibit. I love Norman Rockwell, so i was ecstatic. I bought a small $13 collection of his pictures with biography. It's missing many illustrations, of course (I would love to have a huge collector's book), but it's got some of my favorites too. Then we went on a search for Andy Warhol illustrations and saw many other interesting works of art. Then we went to a gelato/sorbet shop. I had amazingly delicious chocolate gelato, and we had more great conversation. We talked about scary movies, Twilight, and gender issues all before bed. The next day, we ate leftover Thai food for breakfast, then took the Metro to our meeting place and said good-bye to Jordan. It was a really fun time up until then!
Actually, the homestay came at a really good time. I was feeling rather frustrated with JASC. I was mostly loving it, but in some ways I couldn't decide whether or not I'd be able to consider it a worthwhile experience at the end. Mostly it was the social aspect. I like everyone here, but I was having trouble connecting with people, and felt very different from the rest of them. Different like inferior. But Jordan, as it turned out, was a lot like me. She's quiet, not a big partier, doesn't even drink (I took half a glass of wine at dinner the first night, then was miffed when I realized there was no one to impress, lol), does good work for a non-profit agency, wants to study in Japan, is writing a novel, loves comic books and Joss Whedon, and seems content with her personal circle of friends without needing to be popular and loved by all. So meeting her right then was exactly what I needed. I desperately needed to be reminded that there's more than one type of person in the world, more than one worthwhile way to live one's life. It's a little stressful being surrounded by all these Ivy Leaguers and Todai/Keio kids. They're all amazing and great, but they move faster than I do, have different expectations of life than I do. While experiencing time with them has overall been a great and eye-opening experience, I just needed reaffirmation that my life is not a failure so far because I'm not just like them. My pace is fine, the things I like are fine, and my goals are fine. I don't need to drive myself into the ground trying to impress others.
So now we're in New Orleans and have been for a few days. It is SO FREAKING HOT. ALL. THE. TIME. And not just hot - humid, too. We're staying at a lovely artsy hostel which, unfortunately, is not a convenient place to pack 70+ college students. The food isn't very good (and we have to eat it all the time), there's no place to keep your stuff, the rooms are never a good temperature, there are bugs everywhere, not enough showers, and for some reason, limited water. :/ I don't know that anyone is enjoying being in New Orleans very much. (Several people have told me they miss our first site, my school, a lot.) But when we're not at the hostel or dealing with streetcars (tomorrow we have to spend an hour on a streetcar, probably standing the whole time), it's pretty fun. New Orleans is a really interesting place. I haven't gotten to do much exploring, but I did visit French Quarter and ate some great food. There's always awesome music coming from somewhere. And, yeah, some sketchy stuff. But there was also a piano covered in Mardi Gras beads, delicious donuts, fried catfish and a shirt that said "I put ketchup on my ketchup." So I think New Orleans is A-OK. :)
I need to go to bed, so I'll write more about New Orleans later. We did Habitat for Humanity the other day and visited the WWII museum, so there's still lots to tell. And tomorrow there will be more. But to sum up, after the home stay I was feeling much better about myself, and New Orleans has been the best time for me socially. I'm having a lot of fun and really appreciating JASC now. It's unbelievable that we've only got ten more days together. I'm gonna miss everyone so much when it's over. It's really hard to believe I'll be back on campus taking classes in only a couple weeks. (But, shock of all shocks, I just got moved from a double room to a single! I'm so happy about that <3)
There have been ups and downs, things I'll remember fondly and things I'll try to forget... but it's been an amazing experience and I'm so glad I could participate in it. In spite of awful food. ;)