While most days fall under the normal pattern I mentioned before, there are some days where we have extra activities and adventures. Here are a few of my favorite things that we did:
One day we played a game kind of like cops in robbers in the school once it got dark after dinner. So with the whole building dark you have to make it from one area to another without getting caught. That was pretty fun and happened my first night here (so I didn't know my way around the building at all-extra exciting.)
On Friday the weather was so nice that we cancelled afternoon classes and all went swimming in a river together. It almost felt like being back in Arkansas, except I was surrounded by Japanese speakers and I couldn't find any baby turtles.
That was so much fun and ended too soon, but we also saw some shrines on our way back so it made up for it. Here is a photo of Ayu and Hana because I love these girls.
After eating dinner at the school a bunch of us sang karaoke for hours, and while I was kind of hesitant at first (if Whitney Waite is reading this she would know why I was reluctant to sing karaoke) but everyone here is so chill about it. I ended up having a blast and we didn't make it home until almost 11 p. Of course it started pouring on us so we had to make a mad dash for the door but we were all laughing and I actually secretly (not secretly) loved it.
We actually did karaoke two times while I was there, and I was able to impress everyone with my hard core Linkin Park skills.
(These people here are what really made my time at Yuzawa so fun. When your only options are playing with the monkeys outside or getting to know the people inside, you end up getting to know the people quite a bit. Less than the monkeys though.
My roommates and I like to bond by having oreo parties (yes, I brought oreos all the way from America. You can`t go wrong with milk`s favorite cookie!) This is how we bond. Chocolate cookies, milk, and girl talk. It doesn`t matter if it is in America or Japan. It seemed easier to try and just get our hands instead of all of our faces, so this is the picture you get.
Ok so we went to this village called Takumo no Sato (something like an artisan`s village?) which was really cute and full of friendly Japanese people who asked to take pictures of us. We started out by eating at this old restaurant which was delicious and adorable.
There was even a little shrine out back where you could toss 5 cents and wish for luck. So, naturally, I did. When you have luck like mine you can`t carry around enough 5 cent coins for times like these.
Then we walked around and enjoyed the view. We would walk in and out of random shops and see all of the things that they made by hand. It was fantastic. It was fantastic before the ice cream-it was incredible after!!
(These people here are what really made my time at Yuzawa so fun. When your only options are playing with the monkeys outside or getting to know the people inside, you end up getting to know the people quite a bit. Less than the monkeys though.
My roommates and I like to bond by having oreo parties (yes, I brought oreos all the way from America. You can`t go wrong with milk`s favorite cookie!) This is how we bond. Chocolate cookies, milk, and girl talk. It doesn`t matter if it is in America or Japan. It seemed easier to try and just get our hands instead of all of our faces, so this is the picture you get. 
Ok so we went to this village called Takumo no Sato (something like an artisan`s village?) which was really cute and full of friendly Japanese people who asked to take pictures of us. We started out by eating at this old restaurant which was delicious and adorable. There was even a little shrine out back where you could toss 5 cents and wish for luck. So, naturally, I did. When you have luck like mine you can`t carry around enough 5 cent coins for times like these. 
Then we walked around and enjoyed the view. We would walk in and out of random shops and see all of the things that they made by hand. It was fantastic. It was fantastic before the ice cream-it was incredible after!!
After exploring the village again we same some more shrines which were beautiful. With bridges and little waterfalls and vegetation everywhere. I am not even a Shinto-ist (is that even how you say it?) and I love going to these places.
At the ice cream shop we saw this really happy tree so obviously we had to take a picture there. And then there was this little boy who was playing with his parents and kept joining us for our pictures. His parents tried to keep him back but our pictures looked too fun to resist.
Can we just take a minute to talk about how beautiful this lake is with the reflections and everything? There was also the added benefit of having a convenience store right by it (a rare commodity in Yuzawa) which made it all the more beautiful.
And the picture I am sure everyone has seen, but I could not resist including it again. Just look at the bamboo and the swing and Japan! Honestly, the whole trip here has been fantastic. Every day is filled with such wonderful things and wonderful people. Not including the fact that I get to speak Japanese. Even things as common as playing N64 seem extra cool when I do it in Japan-with game titles in Japanese. Here`s the three of us trying to figure out how to play Mario Party when the instructions are all in Japanese.
The day before I left we went on an incredible hike in the middle of the mountains. It was 2 hours one way and 2 hours back. Well, it was supposed to be, but when you factor in the rain that was pouring on us and the muddy trail it definitely turned out to be longer. But if you think we were all put out about the rain you are wrong. Look at these excited faces on our way to the trail. And how could anyone feel dissatisfied with this view? (If we look wet-we are.)
Luckily we had this really sweet onsen waiting for us at the end. Of course by `really sweet` I mean that it was a hot spring with 3 walls built around it for privacy. Of course, it was pretty cool to be able to sit in the hot water and feel the rain falling on you. It felt pretty great to get out of our sopping clothes but not as great to put the wet clothes and shoes back on. Overall though, the trip was filled with rain, adventure, fun people, and beautiful scenery. Hooray for an amazing last day!
Of course I had to do all of the awkward goodbyes with everyone which was surprisingly hard even though it had only been two weeks. I`ll be waiting to see all of these people in either Provo or Hawaii soon.
And here`s the girl who started it all. I went to Yuzawa intending to see Melanie and have some fun times. What I was not expecting was how great everyone else was. I owe her a lot for giving me a reason to brave traveling Japan alone, being able to meet so many people, and letting me crash in her room for two weeks. With the nights we stayed up late girl talking, the adventures we went on during the day (I won`t go into details about the bike crash since I know my mom will read this, but you know what I`m talking about Melanie), and all the trips to the sento. This girl is amazing and I`m lucky to have met her (even if it was not even a year ago.)
Goodbyes are hard and slightly awkward, but worth it if it means getting to meet everyone. Like Ayu here who was always so excited to play frisbee with me. I don`t know when and I don`t know where, but I will meet these people again.
Somehow, in the two weeks I was living with the girls, I did not manage to get a picture with my roommates. So even though I love those girls to death I will have to leave our roommate photo up to your imagination.
It`s back to Sapporo for me now.
At the ice cream shop we saw this really happy tree so obviously we had to take a picture there. And then there was this little boy who was playing with his parents and kept joining us for our pictures. His parents tried to keep him back but our pictures looked too fun to resist.
And the picture I am sure everyone has seen, but I could not resist including it again. Just look at the bamboo and the swing and Japan! Honestly, the whole trip here has been fantastic. Every day is filled with such wonderful things and wonderful people. Not including the fact that I get to speak Japanese. Even things as common as playing N64 seem extra cool when I do it in Japan-with game titles in Japanese. Here`s the three of us trying to figure out how to play Mario Party when the instructions are all in Japanese. 
The day before I left we went on an incredible hike in the middle of the mountains. It was 2 hours one way and 2 hours back. Well, it was supposed to be, but when you factor in the rain that was pouring on us and the muddy trail it definitely turned out to be longer. But if you think we were all put out about the rain you are wrong. Look at these excited faces on our way to the trail. And how could anyone feel dissatisfied with this view? (If we look wet-we are.)
Luckily we had this really sweet onsen waiting for us at the end. Of course by `really sweet` I mean that it was a hot spring with 3 walls built around it for privacy. Of course, it was pretty cool to be able to sit in the hot water and feel the rain falling on you. It felt pretty great to get out of our sopping clothes but not as great to put the wet clothes and shoes back on. Overall though, the trip was filled with rain, adventure, fun people, and beautiful scenery. Hooray for an amazing last day!
Of course I had to do all of the awkward goodbyes with everyone which was surprisingly hard even though it had only been two weeks. I`ll be waiting to see all of these people in either Provo or Hawaii soon. 
And here`s the girl who started it all. I went to Yuzawa intending to see Melanie and have some fun times. What I was not expecting was how great everyone else was. I owe her a lot for giving me a reason to brave traveling Japan alone, being able to meet so many people, and letting me crash in her room for two weeks. With the nights we stayed up late girl talking, the adventures we went on during the day (I won`t go into details about the bike crash since I know my mom will read this, but you know what I`m talking about Melanie), and all the trips to the sento. This girl is amazing and I`m lucky to have met her (even if it was not even a year ago.)
Goodbyes are hard and slightly awkward, but worth it if it means getting to meet everyone. Like Ayu here who was always so excited to play frisbee with me. I don`t know when and I don`t know where, but I will meet these people again.
Somehow, in the two weeks I was living with the girls, I did not manage to get a picture with my roommates. So even though I love those girls to death I will have to leave our roommate photo up to your imagination.
It`s back to Sapporo for me now.
I'm so glad you had such an awesome time in Yuzawa! We loved having you here!
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