July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009

july 7 2009

Bye Everyone!

I had such a great time on July 4th, though I think your celebration makes no sense. What do funnel cakes and quickly spinning tea cup rides have to do with your independence from Britain? Did General Washington eat a lot of funnel cakes? I guess that would explain the false teeth...

The fireworks were beautiful. Did you know they were invented in Asia? I’ve always thought that using gunpowder to make amazing splashes of color in the sky was a much better use than making bombs and bullets with it. Imagine if we used all the gunpowder in the world for fireworks instead of war? Now that would be something to celebrate.

I’m sad I’m leaving but I’m excited to see my family again. To everyone at the Academy, thank you for everything! Sayonara!

posted by Yoko

june 23 2009

Dana's Garden

We helped Dana plant the Academy garden yesterday. I am only used to having a few plants in pots on my balcony back home. I have never planted so many things in one place!

Everything looks so nice next to the cherry trees we planted. I can’t wait to come back and visit in a few years when they are larger and in bloom.

posted by Yoko

june 11 2009

Extended Stay

Even though I miss my family, I want to get the most out of my year in America. I will stay here with Alexi over the summer. She says summer is the best time of year because of all the fun outdoors activities.

I would like to go to the beach and find seashells to bring home to my parents. I wonder if the seashells in America are different than the ones in Japan?

posted by Yoko

may 27 2009

Leaving

My year at the Academy is coming to an end. I am happy to go back home because I really miss my family and friends, but I'll be very sad to leave my new friends at the Academy, too.

I learned so much this year about cyber defense, but the real lesson in being an exchange student is learning to adapt to a new environment. I suppose you experience the same thing when you first enter Cyberspace. It’s another sort of culture shock. I’m very glad I had Alexi, Commander Omni, and the other Cadets to help guide me.

posted by Yoko

may 21 2009

Bloggy Buddy to the Rescue

I almost made a huge mistake! I wrote a post about all the fun places near the Academy the Cadets took me to that I was going to miss next year. I thought it would be a nice memory for everyone to share.

As usual, I had my bloggy buddy Alexi read through it before posting it. You should have seen the look on her face! I thought it was fine, since I'm not visiting these places anymore, but the other Cadets are and I would have been revealing their personal information!

I'm so glad Dana started the bloggy buddy system. I could have endangered all my friends at the Academy!

posted by Yoko

april 24 2009

Mochi

Mochi is a Japanese rice cake and is one of my favorite snacks, but I guess it’s not as common here in America. Other than mochi ice cream, my favorite way to have it is as dumplings in shiruko (sweet red bean soup). Alexi tells me that Americans don’t eat beans for dessert, and when they make mochi they like to add things to it like coconut milk and butter. I’ve never had it this way before. So strange.

It was a little difficult to find all the ingredients we needed. Maya took us off-campus to a special grocery store to get mochiko and azuki beans. She says her favorite desserts are made with chocolate. Maybe we will make this next time?

posted by Yoko

april 10 2009

Hanami

I love spring. This year I am so homesick because I am missing the hanami, the tradition of viewing spring blossoms. All over Japan there are beautiful sakura (cherry tree) and ume (plum tree) blossoms, and everyone picnics and walks among them. During hanami we contemplate mono no aware, how beautifully temporary life is, because the flowers only bloom for a brief time and then wilt.

They have a National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. where they have cherry trees from Japan that have been there since 1912. The festival is going on right now. Commander Omni said we might even be able to take a field trip there this weekend.

It makes me sad that there are no cherry trees here at the Academy and that we must travel for hanami. I will ask Commander Omni if we can plant some. I want to share this beautiful tradition with the Academy.

posted by Yoko

april 6 2009

The Attack

During the attack I was so confused. Everyone was running around and Commander Omni and Maya were trying to keep people organized at the Academy. My English is getting better, but when people talk very fast, I have trouble understanding them.

I didn't know where I was supposed to be so I just followed Alexi. She stayed very calm, which helped me keep calm as well. Together we found all of the first-year Cadets and directed them to the Cafeteria.

posted by Yoko