Yuko’s late late late late reply to Aylin 

Author’s Note 1: Because I was super tardy in responding to the Pen Pal project I was marked “abandoned” (my own words). Fair enough. I still wanted to post what I had written (apparently I had a FULL draft?!) so we’ll incorporate it into Build Newcrest. 🙂 You can read the previous letter here.

AN 2: Unless noted (two spots) none of these pictures are meant to be included as part of her letter. Sooo Yuko’s leaving out a little bit (especially at the end), ha! Also, I’m not sure if Yuko understands that Aylin is a vampire so she’s erring on the side of “polite ignorance”.)

AN 3: The deal’s back on! XD I think I will still incorporate it into Newcrest although my reasoning for NOT before is that time will probably move quicker than the letters would. I’ll figure something out, haha!

AN 4: I did some ninja editing and basically copied the new post to the old post with all the comments and likes. :3

---

Dear Aylin [and all, haha],

Wow! I am so happy that we were matched up. You sound so interesting that I think I might pale in comparison. Are you a writer? Your writing is so elegant. I’m going to sound like a grade school kid. I’ll try my best not to bore you!

First off, I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to write back. I recently had a big milestone in my life and graduated high school. Straight As!

In addition to that mess I’ve just moved to my own place.

It’s been hard to find time for myself lately because my family has been pestering me so much. They helped me pack, move, and then threw a huge party when we were finished. It was very nice of them but now that I’m alone I can finally breathe.

Speaking of which, my family is pretty big. You asked about them and I’d love to tell you everything but there are SO many people to mention that this letter will be longer than I already know it’s going to be. I’ll try to start small and go from there. Here’s a picture of my parents and me:

They died a few years ago but I’m feeling more OK about that now that some time has passed. I have four older siblings and they all have families. I was born when they were all teenagers so there’s a bit of an age difference there.

Kazue, my oldest sister, inherited the family house so up until recently I stayed with her, her husband, and their three kids. All together I have twelve nieces and nephews – is that crazy or what? I’ll include some pictures of them…

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

You’ve probably noticed but we all have Japanese names. It’s sort of a family tradition passed down through the generations. My grandpa and grandma messed the naming thing up (they had August, Eddie, and Angie!) but now we’re back on track. I have to admit that I never learned how to write my name with kanji (I always mess up the first character). My mother once told me that my name means “gentle child” (according to her baby naming book at least, haha!).

I can write and read some in hiragana, though!
Here’s what the characters should be (I think, I’m rusty, haha!): ゆうこ (Yūko).

I bet you and your sisters are very close! I feel not quite as close to mine as I maybe should but I know they love me (and I love them). I imagine I was more like a baby doll to them. I have pictures of them cuddling me and toting me around as a little kid.

In my apartment I have a room with huge panes of windows on three sides. My nephew calls it the fish tank, isn’t that cute? In that room are my instruments, a couple easels, and my computer. As far as instruments go, I can play the guitar proficiently and I also sing (I’m best at singing). Piano is something I’m working on and now that I’ll have more alone time I might be able to pick up violin, also.

 

I wish I had the chance to play an organ! That must be a challenging instrument to learn; you have to worry about both your hands and your feet at the same time! I wonder if there’s a church around here that might have one. I’ll have to do some research.

I mentioned my easels but I am a terrible artist! I want to become better so the easels just sit there, reminding me to practice and create. I have one painting that I started just staring at me. I’m glad my back is to it when I’m using my computer…

Oh, I also do yoga! I’m not great at that, either, but I’m working on it.

Another hobby is karaoke! I go out all the time with my friend, Trent. He’s not as good as I am but he’s got spirit.

When we’re not doing karaoke, he’s over at my place hanging out.

We get along really well…

 

I… also might like him a little more than I should. I mean, I don’t like to feel tied down.

Um… anyway, now I’ll apologize for my letter being so long! I would love to meet you some day, too! I think visiting would be really fun. I’ve actually never heard of Forgotten Hollow but it really does sound like a historic place. Should I google it or will that give me a bad impression? I don’t want to have my mind turned without giving it a chance, you know?

I ordered a pizza a while ago and I think that the delivery person should be here any minute so I’m going to end this here.

Your new friend,

Yuko

ゆうこ

---

previous | next

(Aylin’s reply can be found here)