I got a letter in the mail today from my host mom, Satoko! Apparently she tried e-mailing me but she had my old email address. So I'm going to try to get a response via e-mail to her tonight or tomorrow. Anyway I've translated the letter into English so you guys could read it if you wanted. Japanese does not translate well into English, and I'm too lazy to think of better English equivalents but you'll still be able to understand it. Any time I have parentheses followed by :: means its just a note by me to help explain things. If you don't want to read the letter, skip the massive paragraph that is enclosed by quotations. It reads:

"Thank you for your letter. I am Satoko Moriyama, and I have undertaken you as your host family. I am 55-years-old and right now my parents and I all live together. Other than us 3, there is a Shitzu dog named Shiita (5-years-old) also living with us. Amy, around the time you come to Japan, my daughter Mizuho, 30, will probably haven given birth to a baby and for a while life will become very lively because of this and I think it will be very enjoyable. On your fourth day (::my fourth day would be the Sunday before I start school I'm assuming), AYUSA's Yokomichi-san will take you to visit Koide High School. You can borrow a uniform from the high school. It is about 4 kilometers (::about 2.4 miles for us non-metric people! hehe) from my house to the school. You will go by bike. Can you ride a bike? (::yes she actually asked that..haha..Ah well I guess its is a good question to ask. Good thing I've been riding my bike everyday!) In the winter when a lot of snow piles up you will go by bus or car. Are you good at skiing? (::umm I've never been skiing before haha) At the high school they probably have skiing lessons (::my Japanese teacher said that oftentimes schools in areas that get a lot of snow go skiing for PE class!!). I really like skiing, pottery, and hiking in the mountains. Because I take care of the rice field and vegetables, I am busy everyday. I heard from Yokomichi-san that you come to Japan on September 7th. You will probably arrive at my house on the 9th. We will have fun. My next door neighbor is in in the same class as you and his name is Keiya-kun Moriyama (::strange...Both Satoko-san and Keiyaku-kun have the same family name but I don't think they are related since she didn't mention it..hmm..interesting). He says hi. Well, I hope you are well and I'm looking forward to seeing you!"

Satoko also apologized for not writing me a letter in English. She seems very concerned about needing to use English with me. I hope she just doesn't want me to practice her English with someone -_-... Anyway I'm excited that my next door neighbor is near my age!! Especially since everyone in my house will be lots older than me (exluding Mizuho's newborn of course lol).

Anyway, apparently my press release (which I didn't even think was necessary) was sent to all the staff members on the Ursline Campus. Also the Courier-Journal (the big local newspaper around here) told my dad they want to interview me after they recieved my press release. I DON'T WANT THE INTERVIEW! LEAVE ME ALONE! *runs around in frantic circles* The AYUSA rep in my area also wanted me to go on TV, but I put my foot down. I'm not sure my parents will let me put my foot down on this one too. *sigh*

End of the ridiculously long post.