Wow, i cant believe i acutally got to come to USJ. I really kinda wanted to come since its in Osaka and everything, but i didnt tell my host parents cause i didnt want them to feel obligated, but my school surprised me (being the getto school that it is), anyway for our class trip this spring, we got to go to Uinversal Studios Japan only the 2nd week it was open.	Yes its Rocky the flying squirrel. I couldnt get him to look this way so i just had to take a picture of his better side.	This just struck me so funny when i saw it. I had to take a picture. Actually what struck me first was that the fork bin was labled folk (which gives it a completely different meaning), but that pic didnt come out so well.
"Water World" was one of the main attractions at USJ. They put on a pretty good show, but i couldnt understand it. Most of my friends also had a hard time understanding	because of how distorted the actors voices were from running and shouting and the microphone system. But who needs to understand when you have flames like this for entertainment.	Yes indeed, the main selling point for "Water World" was definatly the pyrotechnics. Infact, i dont even think there was a plot, i think they just kept yelling, "oooooooooohhhhhh! aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!"
"Closing time, time for you to go out to the places you will.... Closing time, you dont have to go home but you cant stay here." So the park eventually closed for the night and we all hung out around the outside shops that seem to be open 24/7 for a while. I got this last picture of how pretty the Universal globe is at night.

Food

The first item up for bids is "American pizza". Please Americans, if you have ever in America seen corn on a pizza, tell me. This just blows my minde, they have a nice American flag on the box as well as the words, American style, but they put corn on their pizza. I should probably add corn to my pet peves on the profile page. I hate corn with a passion, and when they ruin the one food that has the potential to save my american taste buds from certain doom..... Okay so there`s always Mc Donnalds as well as KFC but its the moral of the thing.	Behold the the lost souls of corn that did not penetrate my lips. Ever so skillfully and meticuoulsly (did i spell that right?) did i take them off. One by one the foresaken corn bits that shall now never find rest plucked they were from my "American pizza".....and weve had enough of the Yoda voice for one day. Anyway here you see the bits of corn that will wonder the roads of the afterlife never finding rest because i didnt eat them.	Here we have my favorite "American pizza" (save the bits of corn). Anybody care to guess what that green almost black stuff is? Thats right its the number one all time favorite "American" topping, SEAWEED!!!!!!! Actually this combination isn't too bad, I forgot what was under the seaweed (aside from the corn which you can see on the foresaken corn picture.) of course if your not a fan of seaweed, it probably isnt for you, but if you have never tried seaweed, you cant bad mouth it now can you.
Yakiniku yaki=char niku=meat therefore the most comon translation is BBQ but i think BBQs have to do with american culture and this is completely different from the BBQs i have had in America. The taste is completely different, the sauce "tare" is kinda tangy and sweet. Also in yakinku, you cook the meat your self while you're eating. Its something you really have to do to understand so i wont try to elaberate any more.	"What do the japanese eat aside from sushi and "american pizza"?", you ask, well they eat an array of whole fish, heads and all. As you can see here, they also eat whole crabs. I kinda felt sorry for the poor thing, but despite how well i had avoided eating anything that stil had a face, today i toughened up and ate everything. You can see a picture of me eating the crab on the me with my friends gallery.	Takoyaki yaki=burn tako=octopus (check spelling) anyway. we didnt burn any octapie well kinda. we put chopped up pieces of octopus into some batter with other various ingredients you can choose from cheese, corn (>.<), onions, tenpura, and just about anything else you can chop up to fit into a takoyaki ball, but those were the ingredients we had tonight. you then poke the balls and spin them in their little cups untill they have somewhat hard outer shells. Some prefer crunchy and some prefer softer takoyaki. In this picture we have a nice view of the hotplate that they use to cook tako yaki as well as a tako yaki sandwich and some spare takoyaki on the side.

Shirahama

The object of many japanese folk stories as well as a beloved character by all, its Rascal (well they always say japanese rascal whenever there is a statue of him) This one statue happens to show the source of his mischievious behavior, if only they would think to have him nuetered, he might calm down.

Shirahama shiro hama? maybe, mostlikely not. anyway shiro=white hama=beach. I thought maybe they just changed the o to an a to make it easier to say. shirahama anyway my teacher revieled the truth about the white sands of shirahama, they were imported from china and australia. What do you think of that Jodie? The Japanese are stealling your sand!!! actually, they probably payed you handsomly for it, but youll never see a cent of that money now will you, and it probably came from a public beach which means since you are the public, it was taken from you. Doesnt that kind of stuff just make you mad?

Odds and Ends

Shoes are just one example of the wacky things that japanese put in their vending machines. I have seen a coupple with game boys and other vido games. One even had a PS2, but that was for a limited time only.

my friends.... Gan chan and his girlfriend (dont know her name) to be honest i dont know if its his girlfriend or not, but they are always together so i think thats whats going on, anyway they made this oragami pond with a swan, a frog, a lilly pad and really small crane. I hope you enjoy looking at it.