Hello friends!

I hope all is well in the States!  Every day here in Japan is better than the last!  I don't have much time to write today, so I'll give you a small recap of the last week or so.  Last Friday was a lot of fun!  After my test, JCMU brought in a professional flower arrangement person to teach us how to properly arrange flowers.  The flowers that we used are symbolic for the new year.  In the spring, the arrangements are usually more exotic looking, and in the winter they are more simple.  The flowers that we made were put on display in the academic building and they all look so beautiful!

Wednesday, we were invited to go to the Shiga Dai campus in Ootsu for a Mochi making party.  For those of you who don't know, Mochi is made of rice that you hammer into a dough and roll it into a little blob.  It sounds weird, but it was fun to           make and really yummy!  While I was there, I met so many Japanese students, and got a lot of practice speaking! I had a lot of fun talking to them and getting to know them.  One of the girls we met there is actually going to come out with us tonight, and I am really excited!!

Today after our test, they brought in ladies to perform a Tea Ceremony for us.  It was probably the coolest thing I've done in Japan so far.  (Go to my facebook for a  video of it).  They demonstrated to us the proper way to perform a Tea Ceremony, and the proper way to give and accept Ocha (tea) and Okashi (snacks).  They made green tea and mochi with bean paste for us, both of which were really good!  Apparently, they make different mochi according to what season it is.  This time we had Nightingale Mochi which symbolizes the beginning of spring. The ceremony was held in the traditional tea room located in our academic building which has a beautiful view of the traditional Japanese garden in the back.