My kendo stuff is here!!!!!!!

Today has been absolutley magnificent. I finally memorized my 24 word vocab list. The seats on the subway were heated!!!! And I bought a hot lemonade-like beverage out of the vending machine on my way home from school. My kendo gear finally got here just as I was about to leave kendo, which means tomorrow is my big day! I will work out the whole day, instead of with them for the first 20 minutes and watching for most of the rest of the time. I love love love learning. That's probably the best thing about kendo. And everyone is a higher rank than me, so anyone can tell me when I mess up. Woohoo! I love it. I'm understanding more everyday. Nakai Sensei told me today that I'm learning the language faster than any other exchange student he's worked with. That made me feel good. I wore shorts under my skirt today. Have you ever worn pj's under your skirt? Whenever I do, I feel really sneaky and unbelievably clever. Haha, I felt a little bit like that whenever I thought of my shorts, though they didn't really do anything to help keep me warm, so it was a waste of cleverness.

I really enjoy learning Japanese. I like that every time I learn a word, I find many occasions to use it. Like, have you ever learned a fact you never knew and then suddenly, you hear the fact everywhere and you wonder why you haven't heard of it before? That's how I feel with words. I have more words than I use in a day. Haha, isn't that a funny thing to be proud of?

At Kyoto Eki, there's this huge, beautiful Christmas tree. I take the long way through the station just so I can see it. Tomorrow, I will take a picture of it. I love Kyoto Station and I think the Christmas tree is magnificent. Haha, under it, it says in big letters "Merry X-mas!"

I'm going to come home with a lot of things, I'm thinking. Hopefully a new language, lots of new clothes, a killer immune system, a nose ring (kidding), kendo knowledge, and a ton of pictures. But I don't know if I'm going to gain a lot of character while I'm here. I don't mind. I like my character just fine. Besides, I have my whole life to build character and only a year to enjoy Japan. I like being happy. To be honest, I expected my exchange to be a lot more difficult than this. Maybe I'm jinxing myself.