Today, Mr. Potato Head is behind on things (sorry)

So I apologize. While I feel like my fan base isn't huge, I think I do have some awesome followers who look forward to this to bring a smile to them daily. To those people, I apologize.

So yesterday was actually a REALLY awesome day. We went to Ueno Park, which had the Ueno zoo. Size wise, it's smaller than the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. However, this zoo is most famous for...

Pandas.

Now, most people know this, but for those who I don't: I don't like pandas. I've decided NOT to hate them.. but I really, really REALLY don't like pandas. I think they're useless, wasteful, pointless animals. Like.. WHY DO WE KEEP SAVING THEM?? I feel like nature is just TRYING to get rid of them, and we're stopping it.

..but that's a WHOLE 'nother story.

So anyway, I DID actually see pandas. The line to see them was HUGEEEEEEEE. Thankfully, we didn't have small children, so we could zoom through. Honestly, pandas look a LOT different from what I expected. First of all, they move pretty fast. Second, they were yellow and black (from how dirty they were). I'm still not a huge fan of them. However, after seeing that they can actually MOVE, I'm .08% more impressed by them than I was.

As much as I loved Ueno Zoo, some of it was really depressing.. the animals (like the hippos) had TINY, TINY areas... mostly concrete. The water for the sea lions was super green and bleh. However, perhaps one of the most impressive areas was for the gorillas. They had TONS of space.. and grass.. and stuff to do. But I mean, what can you expect having a zoo in a super urban area?

So afterwards we went to food at this ramen shop. I had some SUPER SPICY ramen, which made me super happy. Then, we explored the streets of Ueno, which had this awesome stand for 1000 yen, you get tons of chocolate and snacks. We had an impromptu picnic in Ueno... which I noticed the number of homeless people. I kept staring at this homeless guy... since then, I've noticed a lot of homeless people... kind of curious.

So, on a sort of happier note CLASSES STARTED TODAY!! On bad news, WOW I suck at Japanese! I'm currently at Level 4 Intensive Japanese, and while I can understand 80% of the writing, I cannot understand the woman's speaking... AT ALL. Besides, I'd rather have an easier time and bored than harder and wanting to kill myself from too much work.

My Urban Studies class sounds like it is going to be awesome. The entire class is based off of my midterm and the final... which is kind of awesome. The teacher is from Israel, and his accent is super cool.

Then, we went to Ginza. Even though it is by FAR the most expensive place in Japan so far, I loved it. It reminded me of the Magnificent Mile in Chicago, with all the designer stores and fashion and everything.. I wanted it all (though the price is BADDDDDDD). We also went to Abercrombie & Fitch, which made me feel right at home, since it's just like it is in America: Dark, smelly, and full of white people! Seriously.. tons of foreigners. Also, even though they're paid to, the people who worked there were super nice to our faces!

Even better: pretty sure one dude's job was just to stand there. Shirtless.... not that I minded. Now I know where the actually HOT, manly Asians are in Japan... even  if they're totally toolboxes.

So,  speaking of postcards: If you would like a postcard from me in Japan, please email me your address (xxpiroxxx@gmail.com) and I will try and get one to you!