The Sisterhood of the Traveling Kimono

Heyyyy!!!! OMG I am sooo loving Japan!!!! Our last couple of days in Inuyama were great. I don`t think I mentioned that we stayed in a traditional ryokan (Japanese inn) so we got to sleep on futons on the tatami mats! It was really cool. Our last full day we had a lot of free time so me and a few other people went to a MONKEY PARK!! It was this place that combined an amusement park with a monkey zoo! It was really awesome! totemo ii!!! We went on the giant ferris wheel and looked at the view and then we saw soo many monkeys! The park had over 600 rare monkeys! We saw tons of baboons, lemurs, chimps, etc. Even a gorilla!! And while we were looking at the gorilla he tryed to punch me in the face!!!! Luckily there was glass between him and me hahahaha!
So the next day we left Inuyama for Nagoya where we will live and go to school. Everyone on the bus was very excited to meet their host families including me!! Very excited/nervous! When we got to Nanzan Daigaku (University) we all sat in a room and they called our names one by one to go meet our families. We all clapped as each name was called!
I went to meet my host mom who is soooo sweet. She is about 70 years old and lives with her husband and 40 year old daughter (that is common in Japan if their child isn`t married and sometimes if they are!) Anyway, my host mother is very thin and wears a lot of make up so she was suprised to find out that I don`t wear any! She called me kirei! (pretty:) She also can`t pronounce my name so she calls me "Kei`chan" (chan is what you put after girls` names)
And they have a cute little dog named Ken chan so it`s smiliar to what she calls me! Ken chan is totemo ureshiii!! (very happy) He is always jumping on my legs and licking me haha. I`m more used to cats so it is a little weird haha. But very cute! The host dad doesnt really talk to me but he is nice. The host daughter (Yukimi) speaks English pretty well so she clears up confusion between me and my host mom. But she speaks to me in Japanese which is good!!
So we got the results of our placement tests today and I got into a lower Japanese class than I wanted, but they said we can take another test to go into a higher class so I am going to do that! Apparently we have 3 hours of Japanese class a day, 4 days a week! It is a very intense course and counts for 8 credits. I am hoping to also take a literature class and an art class but we sign up next week so I will find out then!
I have met some really nice friends here so I am having a good time! Everyone is really nice! There isn`t internet at my house so I am using it at school. I will bring my pìctures on a thumb drive tomorrow and upload them so everyone can see!! Miss and love you to my friends and family!!!!
--Kei chan
けいちゃん　（ケイトリン）