My grandmother had a stroke last Saturday. I'm still experiencing anxiety about the whole thing. Not because my grandmother won't recover, but because I can't get the image of my mother collapsed on the floor and crying out of my head. And a Merry Christmas to me indeed...

すぐ期末試験を受けなきゃ。ブー！

木曜日はアメリカのツアンクギヴィングだったから、アップルトンに帰った。ターキー（七面鳥）を食べたり、南瓜のデザートを食べたり、家族と一緒に話して遊んだりした。すっごく楽しかった！

金曜日ママとパパとお祖母ちゃんと一緒にパスティーって料理した。２０個ぐらい作ったけど、マディソンに持って来るために一個にも食べなかった。料理するのが大好きだけど、先に時間がないからできない。悲しい。；＿；

クリスマスのことを楽しみ〜！クリスマス、すぐ来てね〜！アメリカのクリスマス一番好きなんだから！

七月、「今から、このブログの目的は日本語の各練習」っていったんだ。約束だった！先にすっっっっっっごく忙しい！夏のインターンシプをゲットするためのインタビューいっぱいあるし、宿題もいっぱいあるし、ミーチングもいっぱいあるし、試験もいっぱいあるし、暇の時間が全然ない！寝るための時間も全然ない！；＿；アメリカの大学と比べて、日本の大学は簡単だ！

日本へ行きたい！日本でセーラの生活はもっと易しいから。

じゃあ、今クラスのために作文を書いてるはず。あとでね！

I apologize for having lied to you; I did it in effort to surprise my dad. I am now officially home and have been here since Sunday. I will be in Appleton for the next few weeks and then it's off to Madison I go again for one more full year of school. My journey is finally over and I couldn't think of any better way to end it. I will continue this journal possibly as a place to practice writing my Japanese, seeing as I don't want to lose the skills I just gained. At any rate, it's good to be home.

Your favoritest resident,
Sarah

Seeing as I have a very demanding finals schedule, I will not be posting from now until they are over. Not only does this give me a little extra time to study, but it also prevents me from being very distracted by the computer.

Thanks for understanding!

Too much to do. Too little time. At least I have my stats assignment done.

Today I had my debate in my Japanese class. It went well for the most part and my team ended up winning despite the hammer of Todd coming down and trying to beat us with words. (Todd-Canadian, says ridiculously inappropriate and rude things and doesn't listen when the professor is speaking and then asks her a question that she already answered; hated by everyone in the class, especially Lindsay, Danielle, and I) Haha Todd, you can't beat me! I can't wait to be done with him. D:

Other than that, I had fantastic meal with my entire host family tonight seeing as today is a national holiday that I wasn't good enough to get off for because this week is finals week. Boo. But, the dinner was fantastic! We had crab (it was Rie and Takehiro's anniversary not too long ago and apparently his parents send them crab every year), donburi, sashimi, and of course a ton of different vegetables. I'm still stuffed. There was also an earthquake and it made me happy. Not a big one, at least not here. It was a 6.1 magnitude earthquake that happened out in the ocean to the north. No tsunami warning, not that I would ever need to be terribly worried about that seeing as I live in the bay.

Anyway, I'm done rambling. I should think about packing sometime. Meh, I'll wait until after finals. Time for studying!

So Melissa and I didn't make it to the top of Mt. Fuji because she was suffering really terribly from altitude sickness, but we did make it up 3,250 meters. Here's what I learned from this trip:

1. I am not affected much by altitude at all and must therefore be super human or part mountain goat or rock monkey.

2. The mountain is roughly 32 degrees near the top, and winter coats are helpful up there.

3. I have an aptitude for mountain climbing. I might want to try it again in the future.

4. When climbing, bring more food.

5. While I am very good with the ascent, I really hate the descent. It hurts my knees more.

6. Climbing at night is amazing! Even if there are crowds of people and lines to get up the mountain.

7. Given that this is my first climb, I should be hurting more, but save for my knees being a little sore, I'm just fine.

8. The sunrise is amazing from the top of the mountain!

I will try to post the pictures I have taken, but please be patient. This is my finals week and I will have very little free time from now until next week Tuesday. I will most likely be able to post them next week sometime. Thanks for understanding!

I get to climb Mt. Fuji today! I'm so excited! I hope the temperature on the mountain will be nicer than that here. It's still miserable even in the night.

I have a job! It's not exactly the one I really wanted, but I'm just happy to know I'll have some income come fall. I'm quite pleased indeed!

You're currently reading the journal of the newest peer advisor for the international academic programs office of UW-Madison.

JOB!

I have impressed my host parents with my super computer. In other words, we exchanged Skype names and tested them out tonight. They like how clear the picture was from my computer and how tiny the mic and camera were. I have impressed.

So, to make myself feel good about all I've accomplished so far today, I'm going to list all I've done.

1. Laundry
2. Kanji studying
3. Grammar studying
4. International business reading
5. Getting package from Amazon
6. Canceling health insurance and not failing at Japanese
8. Last lesson with psychiatrist (he gifted me a pretty fan)
9. Putting away the dishes from this morning
10. Talking with Mom, Erin, and Stephie
11. Taking Ririka and her friend to the bus for their swimming lesson

Yeah, I'm pretty awesome like that. More to come as I have another lesson tonight and more to work on.

Also, I feel as if I can now function in society because I was able to navigate everything with the health insurance and the package delivery with no trouble at all. And now I'm leaving soon. Figures.

It has been dictated by the forces that be that I will not sleep until after all my finals. Here's to hoping for some naps in between somewhere.

Tonight was my last lesson with Yuho. I think Yuho's mom was more sad to see me go than Yuho was. She just about cried when I left. Admittedly, on the way home I was close to tears too. It was super depressing. I now have their address and e-mail and they have the same of me. Hopefully they will be in the area someday as Yuho's father's sister lives in Illinois. I will certainly miss them. They are wonderful people.

Here's another photo album for you, aptly named "The Beginning of the End". Click here.

Also, check my User Info page for more recently uploaded pictures in the "Assorted Spring and Summer" album.

Today I went to Asakusa for the last time with Elizabeth, who happened to be in town, and with Doug. It was fun and I think I finally finished shopping for the things that I want for myself in Japan. This is good news for my wallet.

It was also ridiculously hot today. I hate these temperatures. Compared to today's temperature it only gets a little warmer in Wisconsin in the summertime at its hottest. My host family took out a little pool for the kids and put it on the balcony so they could play in it and joked that I could go in tonight if I wanted. Rie also told me that the temperatures get even worse in the middle of August so it's good that I'm leaving when I do. I don't think she believes I could survive the heat. I don't think I could either.

Also, the efforts to fatten me continue! Rie's friend from college is apparently a pastry maker who has published books and is working on a new one. As a result we have acquired some of the leftovers from the photo shoot. Tonight I had two pieces of cake, a gingerbread cookie, and a portion of another cookie that I haven't come up with a name for. It was heart shaped and had fruit and nuts on it.

Today is Danielle's birthday. We are going to karaoke and a yaki niku restaurant for all you can eat and drink. It's going to be amazing.

There was a man standing right next to me on the train who smelled so terribly that I couldn't help but make a face. I felt bad, but his odor was just awful. I will certainly not miss the smells of summer in Japan.

In other news I have acquired more books, a very pretty fan, and a wind chime! I wish this was better news for my suitcases. XD

Lindsay's house tonight for movies. I won't be back until late.

I had my last lesson with my super awesome student tonight. I was really, really sad and so was she. We talked and hugged and she called me the best teacher ever and told me she was going to miss me. I'm going to miss her so much! She is so amazing! I hope there comes a day when she and I can meet again. Hopefully. We'll see.

Tonight the children and I played an epic game of dodge ball in which they ganged up on me. I almost died. It was great.