Okay. So.  I'm in Japan! And I'm still alive,

no Godzilla@

 or major tsunami   

or bombs from Korea (yet).

 They're seem pretty determined. On the news, they say a few Korean ships have been caught traveling to Japan with explosives. Kinda scary.@But I only have a week left, so I hope they don't plan anything while I'm here. Or at all, really. I guess I do care about what happens to my Japanese friends. Yeah. ...Naw, I'm just kidding, I would be devastated if anything happened at all. :(
Only a week left. I leave Memi's house on the 9th to stay at the Olympic Center in Tokyo. And then on the 10th, I leave for the states! I'm pretty excited to come home and see everyone again. Ah...America. I might just break out in song as soon as I get to San Francisco. I think I will.
I do like Japan. It`s fun. Thrilling. Different. Crazy. Love it. But I really REALLY love America. I never thought I would ever say that. Since I've been over here, I've learned to appreciate the freedom we have in the US. In Japan, there are sets of rules, and people actually stick to them, like they were made by God (or Buddha, in this case =D ). Completely different than what we're used to.@Like, for example, The trains. People do NOT talk in trains. It's rude. People look at you like you're crazy (which I am) and they tell you to shut up with their minds. I swear, they do. I can feel their hatred aimed in my direction.
Another rule. Um...oh yeah. Bath houses. Whoa, boy, they have tons of rules!
A few like (these are all for girls, I dunno about the guys):
Always wash before you get into the spa.
Always put your hair up into a bun before you get into the spa.
Never walk in shoes around the bath house (only slippers).
NO swimsuits (It's totally rude, although Margo and I pulled it off once, got yelled at though). You have to go, what else but, nakie. I swear, my eyes are forever ruined by the sight of old women. Bleck!
And you have to dry off before entering the changing room (although you can't bring your towel into the bath areas. It took us awhile trying to figure that one out).
  I wish I could've taken a picture of one, but there's too many naked people running around and that would be straight up porn right there. So, I googled this one (bad idea, by the way):
 So, first you shower (kinda) and wash at these little stall things. (there's a little sauna in this one, but you can go in there whenever. I wouldn't advise it though. Temperatures are usually about 90 degrees Celsius which is about 140 degrees Fahrenheit. I know, it's a sauna, but some people stay in there for like 20 minutes! It's too freaking hot!)
Next, after you rinse off all the suds, you hop into this bath looking thing. It's pretty freaking hot too. Apparently, the Japanese like hot. Crazy. But, you're supposed to relax (although it's hard to with the heat).

And those are Japanese spas/bath houses. What else is there.
Oh yeah! Houses! Those have rules too! The houses I've been staying in have been pretty small (hard to run around in). So, now I know why the Japanese come here and marvel at our HUGE houses. They are very big. Japan isn't a place of a lot of space, like America, so it's understandable.
Rules for houses include stuff like:
No shoes in the house, take them off at the door (a pretty well known rule).
You must wear the toilet room slippers in the toilet room only. And you MUST wear them while you are in the toilet room. (and yes, toilet room The bath and toilet are in different rooms).
       Oh, really quick. The Japanese toilets are weird. All of them are either Japanese style (you can see a picture of one on my Facebook) or Western style. But the western ones differ from the American ones. They're called shower toilets. And they do just that...for your butt. I think they have them in Europe, but jeez, I'd rather take a real shower, thank you.  :)  Here's one:
 Do you see the buttons on the side? Yeah, don't touch those.

The mother usually doesn't have a job. Sometimes, but mostly, no. When I asked (and I had to know) they said they all like not having a job. Staying at home for the family is what they want to do. Like cook and clean and stuff they want as well, like, going shopping and the gym. It's all their decision too. Amazing.
Fold up your futon sheets in the morning (to be polite).
Before you eat (and this is not just something to do in the home, but in other places of Japan as well) you say "itadakimasu" and after you finish you say "Gochi sou sama desu".@
You don't wash in the morning (like a shower or anything). Always do it before you go to bed.
And I think that's about it for the house. Anywho, I think I made my point about the rules in Japan. America doesn't have a set of rules (actually more like etiquette than anything else) that almost everyone follows. In the US, every household is different. Everyone is different. And it's not such a big deal here. But being different is a big deal in Japan. And that's what kind of scares me.
Ever since I've been here, everyone has been super friendly to me and they all want to speak English and ask where I'm from and all that jazz. But I'm always with my host sisters. I've never been able to be alone and experience stuff (like the rules) for myself. If it wasn't for my friends here, I dunno what would happen. It's a big, scary place to a newbie. And I get be that newbie. I'm finally the minority, and it's a big difference than to what I'm used to. It's scary.@
     And I kind of like it.   :)