Hey Everyone! I'm now officially finished with my first quarter so I want to go ahead and recap everything I've gone through thus far. Soon after finding out I was going overseas, I was excited about the adventure I was going to embark on. Then reality set in. Back before I came Japan, I went through a lot of changes. I was struggling with the fact that all my friends were busy with classes and I had nothing but time on my hands. I was in a new relationship with a great guy which was something I had never experienced before. I had good points and bad points.

Once I got over here, I wasn't thrilled to be here at all. I had a terrible travel experience coming over here. I had left all my friends and boyfriend who I missed dearly. I knew I was going to be missing some of the biggest moments in my family's life. To say I was miserable was an understatement. It didn't get any easier when my classes over here weren't working out. Registration was such a pain and I was ready to call it quits but I sucked it up and fought. 

Finally, classes got started and things were underway. It was hard adjusting to all the differences between here and back home. I got home sick often and just didn't want to be here. The reality was though that if I wanted my Japanese to improve, I had to stay. It did get easier. Classes became more interesting, I started making friends and going to explore the island. My relationship was going through ups and downs but I figured it would work itself out and everything would be great. 

Then, this week happened. This week has been one of the roughest weeks I had in a long time. I found out that I didn't do as well on a paper as I had hoped. I was stressed with prepping for finals. Then, I had banking issues and found out that I was going to be without money for a while. This crushed me as I had hoped to do great, fun, awesome things during the quarter break that I now wasn't sure I'd be able to. On top of that, my relationship that I hoped would last ended kind of unexpectedly. 

It's definitely been a struggle these past couple days, but things are looking up. I do have access to money so I'll be able to have a good quarter break. Added bonus is the fact that the weather is looking lovely. Finals are now over so that stress is lifted and gone for at least a week :P. Dealing with the break up comes and goes in cycles. There are a lot of emotions that surround it, but in the end, I know I'll get through it.

 I'm looking forward to relaxing these next couple days and getting to explore and take lots of pictures. What's crazy is that one of the guys on the exchange posted that we only have 8 more weekends in Japan!?!? Hard to believe and I know it's going to go fast. I'm looking forward to the remainder of the exchange and can't wait to get home to tell you all of my awesome adventures! 

<3 :)