11.30

My mother sent me a package of goodies from America. However due to some confusion at our local post office in Georgia she sent it to me differently than normal. They needed me to sign for it, and I was in school when they came, so they just left a slip telling me to come and get it from the post office. NOT good. Once I arrived my brain completely shut down and was like "you don't understand Japanese at all...". So, I basically just stood there with the slip off my door. Sometimes when I don't understand I just shake my head saying "hai,hai,hai" (yes,yes,yes) or I latch on to one word and keep repeating it like that's the one thing I didn't understand. Surprisingly, both of these tactics sometimes work out. This was not the case. I managed to translate something about coming back the next evening. So Kim and I escaped as fast as we could once we had figured out when to come back.

It was kind of nerve racking to go in to the post office because of the last time I went. Kim came that time too and...the desk attendant kept trying to talk to her instead of me. I was mailing some things home for Christmas and it I was actually attempting to speak Japanese to her and she kept addressing Kim even though I was the one sending mail. Sometimes people will see two Gaijin and because Kim looks more like a typical (white) gaijin they will assume that she speaks better Japanese than me. The only worse one is Sophie who is half-Korean and they will completely ignore what I say and address her. It can be frustrating and make me want to stop trying to speak with them. But if doesn't happen too often; it's just annoying and can be discouraging.

We went riding in the mountains near our apartment and grocery shopping. For some reason I was super excited and I stayed up all night