Today in language class we celebrated a holiday that the Japanese hold on the 7th of July called Tanabata.

Yesterday we had our language class like usual, but part of the class was devoted to writing our thank you letters to the host family. They made sure that we wrote really polite and grateful letters, it seems like it will mean a lot to them.

One other thing we did in language class, although I can't remember which day it was exactly, was some music dictation. We listened to this song called "Bonzai" by The Wall-flies, at least I think that's what their name is.

Today we had a field trip to both a Shinto shrine and a small traditional crafts shop in Kanazawa.

First, the Shinto shrine.

Yesterday in culture class we learned a little bit about the two main Japanese religions.

This morning, we woke up pretty early, but the Nakamuras were already awake and Gretchen had already come over as well. We had a big breakfast including some soup and vegetables. Then I also made pancakes with Mrs. Nakamura and Gretchen. They had an electric cooking pan that we put in the middle of the table, so you could eat and cook at the same time.

Afterwards, we took a few pictures together on the patio near the flower garden. Mrs. Nakamura says she gardens for about an hour each day, and it shows.

Today we got up early to meet with our host family. We were only staying with them for one night, but it still would be a valuable experience to see what the everyday Japanese life is like. Me and Daniel Soledad from Rose Hulman Institute of Technology were staying with the Nakamura's, and Jason Kraft that I knew from the IT Honors program at RIT was staying with the Sakai family. Since Mrs. Sakai and Mrs. Nakamura knew each other well, they showed up together to pick us up, and we drove in Mrs. Sakai's Suburu Forrester station wagon.