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So, apart from a few rough times in Tokyo and Narita Hotels, and some defying death on Mt. Fuji, Japan was a blast. ...Ok, maybe Fuji was fun too.

Today we had to present our Rube Goldberg machines. Our machine was decently complex:

After today, there will only be 2 full days left for me at KIT, but two weeks of traveling yet to come. With that in mind, today we put the finishing touches on our Rube Goldberg machine project, and tested it a bit. We only had one successful run through today, mainly because we also had to finish our posters and write our speeches for the presentation tomorrow. My partner mostly wrote both, which saved a lot of time then, but the speech was pretty long and difficult, so after class I practiced a lot.

Today after class, I wanted to go back to the electronics store to get a case for my camera. Class went late today because we were working on finalizing our Rube Goldberg machines (they are finally all connected, but more fixes need to happen) and the corresponding posters, but the Nonoichi town bus runs decently late. When we got to the electronics store, I took a long time looking at the cases, making sure my camera would fit, and trying to find a case that was worth the money. All the camera manufacturer produced cases were really expensive, so I bought a cheap no-name one.

So since my camera broke yesterday, I decided it would probably be a good day to go buy a new one. I did a little research online to see what was good, and decided to go to the store called "1 Million Volts" that was recommended for it's prices and selection. I got a map of the 100 yen bus route from Okuno-Sensei, and took it to the store. The place is 3 stories high, and apparently also carries Apple gear, including the iPhone that just released in Japan on Friday.

Today we had another field trip the the Ishikawa Prefecture History Museum.

Today was the 4th of July, and despite being in Japan, any excuse to party is a good excuse. In school we had some final exams for our language classes that are now pretty much over, and then after that we had a party at Nishikawa Heights with the Students for Global Exchange KIT students.

Also, we bought some fireworks at the convenience store:

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.