I could not seem do to anything correctly today. It all started out bright and early at 6:40 A.M. when I woke up way before I needed to be awake, with memories of a rather unpleasant dream lingering in my mind. This dream involved me being back at U of I when I was supposed to still be in Japan, and my roommate happened to be someone of whom I am not very fond.

I was excited to learn that the Japanese instructors placed me in the highest level Japanese class (along with seven other students, two of whom are also from U of I). But once I got to class and opened the textbook, I realized I read Japanese at the same speed as an elementary school student, and that I cannot recognize some of the most basic kanji, let alone the more difficult kanji that also pervade my textbook.

I went to my host father and host sister's barn where they ride horses, and I met their horse and saw each of them ride. After we returned home from the barn it was quite late, so my host parents decided to take us out for sushi. I made a huge fool of myself while taking my first bite. The bite was too big, and I already lack skills in the chopsticks department, so I took a bite of fish and rice, and half of the rice fell from underneath the raw fish and onto the bench on which I was sitting, barely missing my host sister's leg. I promptly started laughing and shaking my head in embarrassment, causing my hair to fall into my mouth and, consequently, become entangled in and stuck to the rice I was trying to chew. I put my hand up to my mouth, tearing at my hair to move it out of the way, and rice stuck to my fingers. I removed all but one of the grains, and while trying to flick it off my finger, I flicked it at my host father and it landed on his arm. My host brother was kind enough to suggest I tie my hair back so that it would not be in the way for the rest of the dinner, but alas, the damage was done.