Meeting the Host Family

Today, I went into what is the real Tokyo, took a subway, and got to meet my host family in Japan for the first time. I started at my hotel in outside of Tokyo, and we took a bus over to the main Tokyo station.

There we ate lunch, and we all had to say goodbye to each other and head to our host families. It was definitely hard to say goodbye to Hunter, but we'll keep in contact I'm sure. However, since I met my host family,  it has been wonderful! My host family is great, and they are all super nice! I've only been with them since noon, and we have gone and done multiple things.  First we headed to the house, which I have to say I like very much. After that, we headed to the local elementary school where I got to meet several people (which were also very nice) and play lots of kickball with the kids and adults. After that, we headed back to the house and soon after went to an extremely interesting festival that was taking place nearby. It was so cool! There were many people all dancing together in the middle to the sound of drums and other Japanese style music. There, I also got to try the food "Takoyaki" for the first time (Unfortunately didn't have my camera on me for any of this). has been a great day so far, and I can say I already feel my Japanese language skills growing, as I have learned many new words already (Although my Japanese is still pretty poor haha).

Orientation

My first full day in Japan! My day here was spent mainly in the classroom, with a 2 hour excursion to the local mall, which happened to be very large.  It has been an amazing experience so far, and I've made many new friends with my program, and have been able to practice my Japanese in multiple situations so far. Tomorrow I will head to my host family's home and meet them. :D

The View on the Drive to the Mall

 The Mall

Hunter and I examining the books

The best ramen I have ever had

Hunter jamming on the drums

The Arrival

The Arrival

Well, everyone, today I have arrived! Hunter Seglem and I took an 11 hour flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo. It was an extremely long flight! However, we made it, and soon after headed to our hotel. 

Before the flight, I got to see Nano

What you see when you arrive

Hunter and I waiting for the bus

Morning Television

I am now here doing the orientation. Should be interesting!

The Adventure Begins

The Adventure Begins!

I have embarked! Today (8/19/14), I arrived in Las Vegas where I met my friend Hunter Seglem. From here,  I will continue on to Los Angeles (8-20-14), and then fly to Tokyo (Arrival on 8/21/14).

However, I have had a chance to enjoy my small amount of time in Vegas. This is the first time I've been here, so it was quite interesting to see all of the sights Vegas has to offer. When I first arrived, we took a drive down Las Vegas Boulevard (The Strip), and continued to our hotel, the Monte Carlo.

This is the Excaliber, it resembles a castle

This New York, New York, an attempt to recreate buildings from New York into a hotel/casino

After unloading at the hotel, Hunter and I took a walk on the strip to see the different shops.

Seen here is the Hard Rock Cafe, full of music memorabilia 

After that, we went out to eat at the "Brand" steakhouse located within the Monte Carlo. It was very delicious (#5 rated in all of Vegas). Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of it :(

Next, we headed to the Bellagio to see the fountain works, and I managed to capture a few pictures of the nearby scenery!

Eiffel Tower Restaurant

View from Bellagio Fountain

Right after that, We headed over to the Luxor casino/hotel. IT WAS SUPER AMAZING! Here are some photos I snagged:

Hunter and I

I loved that hotel. However, the best part of the night, was the last part of the night.

WE GOT TO SEE CRISS ANGEL LIVE!!!!!!!

Criss Angel is a very famous magician that can be seen on his TV show. His live show (Believe) was INCREDIBLE! After basically teleporting into the crowd, Hunter and I had the glory of high fiving him! Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed, but I managed to snag a cool one outside of the theater:

Criss Angel's figurine with myself in front (He is known for standing on top of the Luxor, so this replicates that!)

And that, ladies and gentlemen, concludes my trip so far. I will be heading to LA for my flight tomorrow (8-21-14). Wish me luck!

Sorry if this post seems very cut and dry with no emotion, my computer is nearly dead, so I don't have a ton of time to type at the moment!

どうもありがとうございます！

ケイレブバンウェル

Caleb Barnwell

Welcome!

Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog!

This is my blog for my trip while I'm over in Japan. I will be going over to Japan for an academic year and studying there in High School. I hope to be posting everything that I can on here to keep everyone that is interested informed of what I'm doing and how life is over there!

Also, my good friend Hunter Seglem will be travelling abroad to Japan at the same time as me for a semester of high school. So please, take a look at his blog as well if you have time!

Information: 

Trip dates: 

•  Aug. 21 2014 - about Jun. 20th 2015

Location:

• Kita, Tokyo
• "Kita" in Japanese means "North," so I will be staying in North Tokyo essentially.

School:

• Junten Senior High School
• I am travelling over there for my Junior year in American terms, so I will be a third year in my school while abroad.

Company:

• I will be studying abroad through a company called "Greenheart Travel"

Well, as of now, I am still in the U.S., but as soon as I get over to Japan you can expect frequent posts on this blog. I hope this can be helpful and keep everybody informed while I am abroad!

Here is my email if anybody needs to contact me. Please let me know if I need to provide any more info on the trip or if you have any suggestions or comments about my blog!

どうもありがとうございます！

ケイレブバンウェル

（Caleb Barnwell)