My new life in Japan- Day 1 and 2

Hey guys, Rhianna here. So this blogger thing is definitely new to me, so bear with me as I totally butcher all my stories cuz I don't really know how a blog works I guess haha. Well, so far I am technically ending my 3rd day in Japan, but the first day really didn't count cuz I just slept... But anyway! You probably wanna hear all the great and new things I've encountered as I've embarked on my journey in Japan! So here goes nothing- don't make fun of all the mistakes I'll make while I'm here but I'll try to make it all entertaining for you ;)

Day 1. The Flight.
Boring stuff really. Me and my bro Trev hopped on the plane and immediately forgot our worries and sadness and started watching "Wrath of the Titans". It's a pretty good movie if I do say so myself! Then I spent the next 8 hours watching "Superbad", "The Color Purple", and that Abe Lincoln movie about vampire hunting, as well as Solitaire  the greatest card game ever. Then when we landed and got in the car, my eyes turned into glue and I missed the 2 hour tour of Japan as we drove to Yokosuka and I slept. And that was it.

Day 2. Yokosuka Navy Base!

So! Now we can get into the good stuff ;) We all woke up at 5 am, cuz back home it was 1 pm and we had slept at like 7 the night before. So it was a really long day! We drove to the Yokosuka Middle school to sign Trevor up for school. It's nice, but its kinda weird cuz the walls in every building are mostly just plain white. For a school it seems funny tho cuz I'm so used to crazyy decorations and posters everywhere. And, for those of you that went to South Kitsap High School and know that we don't have a turf field, I just wanted you to know that not only does the high school here have a track and turf field, so does the Middle and Elementary school. I'm only a little jealous lol.... ;P Anyway! After that, we walked up to the central-ish area of the base where the Commissary, the NEX, movie theater, bowling ally, and all the eating areas are (and where a Starbucks is!), and signed up in the Community Readiness center for the Modeling Fair that was gonna be happening the next day. I was super excited for that! Once we left that building, we noticed a job fair that was happening today. I promise, I'm definitely not trying to be all outgoing and try to get into anything that comes my way.......but yea that's what I did. I just wanted to check it out and maybe fill out a form, cuz I do need a job while I'm here eventually, but it turns out I got my interview and I will know if I get the job to work at the Commissary on Monday. But that's ok! Haha I will just um...wait for a few weeks till I work at least ;)
Later, a couple hours later, Trevor had a youth orientation to go to so he could kind of get to know some of the culture of Japan, in a kids perspective or something. So I went to that with Mom and Dad as well, and whadayaknow, I manage to get myself into something else. We were playing a little game of "Let's get to know each other" or something, and the instructor heard that I played the trumpet and piano and sang and all that. So she told me that in this building they were going to be putting on a Christmas play and that there were auditions today. I told her we were gonna be pretty busy after the class but that I'd peek my head in to see what was going on in there. But I'm getting ahead of myself! There were quite a few VERY interesting things I found out about Japan ;D

So apparently, Japanese people are reallyyyyy into having a good um, toilet experience. The toilets are quite special and advanced here.....
Here's your typical Japanese toilet:

As you can see, you got a nice little control panel on the side. So once you sit down, you immediately feel the nice warmth of a seat heater, which honestly makes you feel like the person just before you has been sitting here an awful long time. But anyways, say you really needed some inspiration to go. This toilet will solve your problem! There's a button for sound, which lets you play "running water" so that it will make it easier to pee. But lets say you had to take a dump and it was gonna be a reallll big, noisy one. There's a solution to that as well! There's ANOTHER sound button which lets you listen to music to cover up your own noises! How great is that, right?? .................. um anyway. But that's not all! Before your done, of course, this toilet also has a bidet that can clean you all up. With control panels that allow you to move the bidet up or down, you're practically all set! Just make sure you don't experiment with these controls AFTER your experience with the toilet. I guess it's been heard that some people walk out of the McDonald's bathroom drenched in water..... So make sure to experience the bidet WHILE you're on the toilet, not once you're finished and fully clothed and wondering what that button does.

There's also another kind of toilet here, but I have yet to see it!

I don't quite know how to explain this one as well, so here's another picture to help you guys out.

Alright so back to my trip. After this class, we stopped by the auditorium and we were happily greeted by quite a few people that were holding this Christmas play audition. I asked them you know, what this all was, and what the time commitment was too (which, they must have been really desperate cuz they said, "Oh, it's all up to you! We can definitely work around your schedule!"). I thought it seemed kind of fun, but I knew we had to meet up with some our friends for dinner in 15 minutes so I asked if I could just audition later or something, especially cuz I had absolutely nothing prepared. And they said, "Oh it'll be real quick! We just need to ask you a couple questions and you guys can head out of here!" So I decided it'd be alright, but I kinda felt bad (sorry mom and dad :( ). But yea anyway I went on the stage, and they asked me to tell them a little about myself, so I told them all my hobbies and what I had done all in High School and whatnot. I told them I liked to sing and they wanted me to perform a little of something, so my mom pulled up the video of me and my sis when we sang last Sunday as a good bye. It sounded really nice though I think! Haha but yea then that was pretty much it and they said they'd let me know by next week if I made a part. So we'll see about that one ;)

So once we met up with my dad's work friend at the train station, we got to travel up and see the house that, in a month or so, we will be staying in! It was so cool! It's 3 stories high, with the top story being like, the roof haha. We have a really pretty view of the water and the city, and its really amazing. I didn't get any pictures yet but I will next time I go there.

From here, we hopped on the train again to visit some other friends who invited us to dinner. And the food was great!! This was scary though- I experienced my first time ever batch of raw meat. The first thing was raw smoked salmon sushi, which, sorry if you don't think its that amazing that I tried raw sushi, but I was super proud of myself! It actually tasted pretty good, it was just a little slimy. :} The next thing I tried was simply raw tuna sushi. This one was a little harder to eat..... The flavor was good, but because it was so slimy and too big of a piece, I tried sooooo hard not to gag because it would just not go down my throat! I had to keep spooning more rice in my mouth cuz I need a little more something to chew on.. :( The scariest thing though, was the squid that I tried. It was like a really big, green, breaded-kinda straw. Just looking at it make me feel a little sick, but once I closed my eyes and tried it, It tasted really good!! I just had to stop thinking about what I was actually eating.. Haha but anyway, the rest of the meal including the dessert was delicious and not scary, like I think there was shrimp and vegetable stuff but it was all really good :)

So there you have it! Day 1 and 2 and I survived! Like I said earlier, I'm finishing day 3 right now but I'll put that in another post so this one doesn't seem too intimidating ;) Speak soon!

Rhianna