So, computer died almost 3 weeks ago, currently getting fixed so am at an internet cafe. My mp3 also refuses to charge so I'm stuck without music which is epically lame. I'll try find what the problem is on the net, otherwise I'll have to take it in somewhere to be checked.
I've been practicing for my sports festival which happened last Sat. I had 2 folk dances with my year, then a class dance, and dances with my year, then a class dance, and also joined in with the 3rd years traditional dances and wore a yukata :)
It was really fun, and weird. There was no high jump or shotput, but weird Japanese group games like 3 legged races (with 6 people) and a tyre war? the school was split into 2 teams red and white, i was in red and red lost DX
It was extremely hot, and I swear the teachers were trying to kill us by making us stand up in the heat and sing the school song, which I still dont know.. But it was fun, I have pictures which I cant put up fun, I have pictures which I cant put up yet.
I went to my friends culture fest the other day, spent more money than I should have, came home and slept until morning, skipping dinner. This comp repeats sentences I write so i might not delete them all if I overlook it.
Yesterday i went to see a Japanese traditional play. The whole play is called Kyogen and its made up of small comical stories. I saw 3 yesterday. The Japanese also had to fight to stay awake because Kyogen is spoken slowly, and uses very old Japanese which not everybody can understand. We had English guides with us, who told us what the stories were about. In the middle of the 3rd story, the guy guide was obvioulsy asleep and the girl was writing in her diary. LOL. I have a lot of days off this week. Yesterday was a national holiday for off this week. Yesterday was a national holiday for old people. Todays a school holiday because i holiday for old people. Todays a school holiday because i had my sports fest on saturday. and Thurs is the day of the vernal equinox which is another holiday. And next week is my school trip!!
ive been very busy studying for my end of year exam, and my speech contest which I havent written yet and its due at the end of this month!! I've also signed myself up, at my dads subtle hints, to join a choir, singing Beethovens 9th (?) i dads subtle hints, to join a choir, singing Beethovens 9th (?) in German. So have practice every Sunday morning until the show in December.
Everything seems to be going fine, apart from being incredibly homesick these past few weeks due to having no access to the computer!! And homesickness is a real crappy feeling :(
Alright, I'll leave it at that. I've only got 20 more mins and have things I need to look up.
Missing everyone heaps!!
Love Jules
Monday, September 20, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Service, Camps, Stuff...
Haven't mentioned Japan's fantastic service.
I went to the hairdressers around a month ago, the one that Supika goes to. I had 3 people working on my hair, who talked to me (like hairdressers do), but afterwards the price was 2000 instead of 2500 yen because it was my first time, and one of them opened the door for me and i was waved goodbye!!! Aw, it's a special feeling..
And, yesterday Supika went to the optometrists for new glasses and I thought I'd tag along to get mine fixed. I'd brought my wallet, but they fixed my glasses, cleaned them, and gave me new nose fitter thingies for FREE!! AND they gave us juice!!
Dad said later on they probably should have charged me, and I'm like, I don't mind XD
I was meant to start a first full day at school today, but yesterday the school pipes broke down so the tests were postponed til today and I don't have any tests =D so, home alone...
I've been building a small manga collection, and Supika and I read manga late in the night in my room cuz I have the aircon ;P but its still embarrassing buying manga cuz I'm foreign, browsing through these books in another language and they use heaps of slang so its slow going...
I had my family camp, which was fun. We stayed at a campsite first night, then a real flash Japanese Inn the 2nd, and my Mum's Dad's place on the 3rd. I forgot to mention, we had my hostfamily's old exchange student return and stay for 2 weeks, so he came on the camp too. He arrived on my birthday, from Germany and same age. Dad was evil and didn't tell him that I was there, so he didnt know of my existence, so you can imagine his surprise when he walked in the door and saw me there!! But his being there meant I was also allowed to drink alcohol for the 2 weeks so I'm not complaining!! XD
Oh yes, and the little sister came. First I'm like, yay! our family's growing!! but after one day I was prepared to kill her. Supika could tell I didn't like her, I wasn't my usual cheery self, so Pi tried to keep the 10 yr old away from me.. Luckily I had my AFS camp right after the fam camp so I could escape the house early!! The girls name was Norichan, and whenever someone mentions her name, everyone sighs and says never again! lol
I went to the beach on the fam camp, used HEAPS of sunscreen, and entered the onsen 3 times XD once before the beach, once after, and one more time the next morning.. we like onsen..
When we went to stay at grandfathers house we stopped off at a river for a swim and there were these Americans there MOCKING me!! And I'm like, I can speak english you know!!
Afterwards my whole fam was like OMG Juliette what did they say? what did they say?? fools..
So yeah.. then AFS camp was good but I felt like I was in primary again with the way they treated us. Keep on the left! Don't separate! Wait at the lights! It was like it was our first time out in public or something. It was absurdly hot, and we spent the whole time walking round looking at things in Hiroshima which were very boring because naturally I've already seen them all! We had 17 students gathered which made it good though. New people were: 1 Vietnamese, 1 Malaysian, 1 American, 1 Norwegian, 1 Finnish, 1 Laos, 1 French, 1 Nepal(ese?), and 1 Chinese.
When I returned I became sick and it still hasn't gone away XS
And my first full day of school is tomorrow XS
Have received more info bout my school trip, don't know when I have to pay though.. When I go to see Lion King I have like, one of the best seats!! In the middle near the front yuss!
I've just been finishing my essays and baking ^_^ and now I'll carry on reading my manga!!!
Ja ne, Juju <3
I went to the hairdressers around a month ago, the one that Supika goes to. I had 3 people working on my hair, who talked to me (like hairdressers do), but afterwards the price was 2000 instead of 2500 yen because it was my first time, and one of them opened the door for me and i was waved goodbye!!! Aw, it's a special feeling..
And, yesterday Supika went to the optometrists for new glasses and I thought I'd tag along to get mine fixed. I'd brought my wallet, but they fixed my glasses, cleaned them, and gave me new nose fitter thingies for FREE!! AND they gave us juice!!
Dad said later on they probably should have charged me, and I'm like, I don't mind XD
I was meant to start a first full day at school today, but yesterday the school pipes broke down so the tests were postponed til today and I don't have any tests =D so, home alone...
I've been building a small manga collection, and Supika and I read manga late in the night in my room cuz I have the aircon ;P but its still embarrassing buying manga cuz I'm foreign, browsing through these books in another language and they use heaps of slang so its slow going...
I had my family camp, which was fun. We stayed at a campsite first night, then a real flash Japanese Inn the 2nd, and my Mum's Dad's place on the 3rd. I forgot to mention, we had my hostfamily's old exchange student return and stay for 2 weeks, so he came on the camp too. He arrived on my birthday, from Germany and same age. Dad was evil and didn't tell him that I was there, so he didnt know of my existence, so you can imagine his surprise when he walked in the door and saw me there!! But his being there meant I was also allowed to drink alcohol for the 2 weeks so I'm not complaining!! XD
Oh yes, and the little sister came. First I'm like, yay! our family's growing!! but after one day I was prepared to kill her. Supika could tell I didn't like her, I wasn't my usual cheery self, so Pi tried to keep the 10 yr old away from me.. Luckily I had my AFS camp right after the fam camp so I could escape the house early!! The girls name was Norichan, and whenever someone mentions her name, everyone sighs and says never again! lol
I went to the beach on the fam camp, used HEAPS of sunscreen, and entered the onsen 3 times XD once before the beach, once after, and one more time the next morning.. we like onsen..
When we went to stay at grandfathers house we stopped off at a river for a swim and there were these Americans there MOCKING me!! And I'm like, I can speak english you know!!
Afterwards my whole fam was like OMG Juliette what did they say? what did they say?? fools..
So yeah.. then AFS camp was good but I felt like I was in primary again with the way they treated us. Keep on the left! Don't separate! Wait at the lights! It was like it was our first time out in public or something. It was absurdly hot, and we spent the whole time walking round looking at things in Hiroshima which were very boring because naturally I've already seen them all! We had 17 students gathered which made it good though. New people were: 1 Vietnamese, 1 Malaysian, 1 American, 1 Norwegian, 1 Finnish, 1 Laos, 1 French, 1 Nepal(ese?), and 1 Chinese.
When I returned I became sick and it still hasn't gone away XS
And my first full day of school is tomorrow XS
Have received more info bout my school trip, don't know when I have to pay though.. When I go to see Lion King I have like, one of the best seats!! In the middle near the front yuss!
I've just been finishing my essays and baking ^_^ and now I'll carry on reading my manga!!!
Ja ne, Juju <3
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Summer holidays and whatnot
So, I'm already a 1/3 of the way through my summer hols already *cry*, but they've been really good so far and are only going to get better!! I had an AFS orientation on the 24th, where I made a short speech to a family that wasn't present lol. They don't like the AFS events either XD On the 25th I had to go to the peace park in preparation for the 6th of August. I basically say my poem (in English), a Jap student then translates it, and then I sit down. Apparently the UN president is coming.. whoever that is.. lol. When I'm not going out with friends I occupy myself by reading manga on the computer, although you can imagine how boring it is when Supika'S using the computer and it's too hot to do anything else. Ah, for Supika's birthday we went out to watch the new Studio Ghibli film, Kuragashi (sp?) Arietty. It being a kid's film i could understand the Jap fairly well XD. I bought Supika a CD and made her a chocolate cake. On the 28th I spent 6 hours at karaoke with my mates, and it only cost 500yen!! ($8.30)
Then, on Fri I met up with the ESS club members and the teacher took photos of us with some origami cranes sent over from a Junior High in the US. We then went to purikura 5 times XD
The next day I had a Jap lesson with my LP, and my morning lesson teacher gave me manuka honey chocolates from NZ!! Her dad had been there recently and brought them back, man honey is good... When I came back home the whole family was gathered, aunts, uncles, cousins included, and we ate chinese dumplings =)
But yesterday was an epic day, we went out for a drive after lunch to an Acorn village which was preparing for a festival(I didn't see any acorns or squirrels). It was Supika, cousins Miwa and Takakun, Mum, Dad and I. Us 'kids' played tiggy then we went into onsen =D When we came out there was a crowd already, and food already being sold. There was a noodle line thing too (I've got photos) I'd always wanted to try it ever since reading about it in a manga!! It's a long line of bamboo halves connected on a hill, water is poured down along with soumen (noodles), cucumber and tomatoes. You pay 300yen ($5) for a bamboo cup filled with soumen sauce, add spring onion, grab some chopsticks then choose a spot by the bamboo and try to catch the noodles, cause the water's really fast!! It's even harder to catch cucumber or tomato!
Afterwards Supika and I bought snowcones (in Japan there's always the option of sweetened condensed milk on top which tastes really good!), ate some Jap cream filled sweet and boars meat... I was the only foreigner there XD There was a raffle for vegetables but we only won one bag of capsicums (we wanted corn or even melon!!) A melon half costs around $7!! Later, we danced. We were all given fans and danced around a wood thingy, learning the steps as we went. Then we had fireworks!! It was a really awesome day but I was soo tired!
My plans for the rest of the hols: tomorrow I'm meeting a mate and her foreigner friends to do.. something.. not quite sure what; wed is the cinema! watching a horror film called confession..; Fri is the peace day, from 7am til late; the next day is an AFS BBQ; the 9th Supika and I are going to the pools; 10th is my bday, I want to go to the cat cafe!!; 11th karaoke with Supika; 13th - 15th is a fam camp, going to the islands in the south, and to the beach!! finally!; 17th - 20th is an AFS camp, around 2o other students are coming!! I'm so excited!! I think I have a pretty good summer XD it all ends on the 24th though when I go back to school D=
Something I thought might shock: Mum was asking me the other day how much I thought the 'loaf' of bread my Dad bought cost. I said 300 (5), 400, 500!! no, 650yen!! ($11) for a loaf of bread!!!
Ok, thats me done, its too hot to write!!!!!!!!
Then, on Fri I met up with the ESS club members and the teacher took photos of us with some origami cranes sent over from a Junior High in the US. We then went to purikura 5 times XD
The next day I had a Jap lesson with my LP, and my morning lesson teacher gave me manuka honey chocolates from NZ!! Her dad had been there recently and brought them back, man honey is good... When I came back home the whole family was gathered, aunts, uncles, cousins included, and we ate chinese dumplings =)
But yesterday was an epic day, we went out for a drive after lunch to an Acorn village which was preparing for a festival(I didn't see any acorns or squirrels). It was Supika, cousins Miwa and Takakun, Mum, Dad and I. Us 'kids' played tiggy then we went into onsen =D When we came out there was a crowd already, and food already being sold. There was a noodle line thing too (I've got photos) I'd always wanted to try it ever since reading about it in a manga!! It's a long line of bamboo halves connected on a hill, water is poured down along with soumen (noodles), cucumber and tomatoes. You pay 300yen ($5) for a bamboo cup filled with soumen sauce, add spring onion, grab some chopsticks then choose a spot by the bamboo and try to catch the noodles, cause the water's really fast!! It's even harder to catch cucumber or tomato!
Afterwards Supika and I bought snowcones (in Japan there's always the option of sweetened condensed milk on top which tastes really good!), ate some Jap cream filled sweet and boars meat... I was the only foreigner there XD There was a raffle for vegetables but we only won one bag of capsicums (we wanted corn or even melon!!) A melon half costs around $7!! Later, we danced. We were all given fans and danced around a wood thingy, learning the steps as we went. Then we had fireworks!! It was a really awesome day but I was soo tired!
My plans for the rest of the hols: tomorrow I'm meeting a mate and her foreigner friends to do.. something.. not quite sure what; wed is the cinema! watching a horror film called confession..; Fri is the peace day, from 7am til late; the next day is an AFS BBQ; the 9th Supika and I are going to the pools; 10th is my bday, I want to go to the cat cafe!!; 11th karaoke with Supika; 13th - 15th is a fam camp, going to the islands in the south, and to the beach!! finally!; 17th - 20th is an AFS camp, around 2o other students are coming!! I'm so excited!! I think I have a pretty good summer XD it all ends on the 24th though when I go back to school D=
Something I thought might shock: Mum was asking me the other day how much I thought the 'loaf' of bread my Dad bought cost. I said 300 (5), 400, 500!! no, 650yen!! ($11) for a loaf of bread!!!
Ok, thats me done, its too hot to write!!!!!!!!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Wednesday Night 'clackers', Bunkasai, Karaoke, AFS warning, summer.. and exams round 2!!
Incidently that's the reason why I'm writing today, I had an exam this morning. Anywho I'll start on the 1st one on the list: Wednesday Nigh clackers. I keep forgetting to mention this and only remember when they come every Wed. I think it's just in my area, volunteers wearing fluoro vests and carry clacky thingies walk around on Wed night clacking away warning any arsonists wondering about town. Everyone says what? Apparently, all the poor were pissed of about 10 years ago and started burning peoples houses, so you don't leave any paper or things that can be burnt outside, and these clackers come round to check for lurking arsonists. One of my first Wednesday nights here I went for a little nap early and was woken up by them coming closer and closer and I'm like what the hell is that?? It was pretty freaky, but soon Dad explained.
I had my bunkasai (culture festival), some Americans came and being part of the ESS club I helped show them round. At first I couldn't see who the Americans were because most of them were Asian looking. One girl had been born in Japan but lived in America all her life, but her Jap was really good even thoug her parents don't speak it anymore! Some were born in Hawaii, so a girl could use the pois that I had made. Meimei, Franc and Nastia turned up and we went into the haunted mansion which was really cool and freaky, you'd be surprised at how well the students can decorate their rooms and make it so realistic! It was pitch black, and hands came out and grabbed you and mannequin heads fell down in front...
ESS club wasn't so popular.. Whale Rider and the Worlds Fastest Indian were playing, and I was stationed at the club room from 1-1.30. I really wanted to do something with the others afterwards, but had to clean and have a closing ceremony first, so we agreed to meet at Koi train sation when I'd call. Luckily the ceremony was so short, only 20 mins, and I told my homeroom teacher about wanting to meet my friends so she let me go straight home!! I called Meimei, and found them climbing up some stairs down the road, up into a suburb I've never been to before. I'm like, guys, the bus stop is across the road from the school!! So we went to the city, Hondori, and Franc showed us the building where he takes Jap lessons and we decided to try it out the next Sat, then Franc was hungry so we looked for a restaurant. He wanted Japanese style so we found one which went underground and chose 5 dishes to share (including deepfried camembert!!! (that was my choice!)). We ordered squid, chinese dumplings, a yam fritter thingy and tuna sushi as well (raw of course). But when they set the plates down in front of us, we were all like, is this it?? The pictures made them look way bigger but they were actually only appetisers!! And it cost 2000 yen altogether!! ($34!!)
We later found out it was a bar and you had to be over 20 to enter it, and I had rocked on up in my school uniform lol. We met the Americans from the festival again, and looked around for a subway which Franc was determined that he had seen it the other day. We found it and shared a sandwich then made our way home.
I finally went to karaoke!! We all met up on the Saturday for the Jap lessons which were really good, then met up with some Jap girls for karaoke. Interesting story: the Tuesday earlier I caught the wrong bus and a woman helped me find the correct one etc. we exchanged numbers and she gave me her daughter's number as well. Texting her daughter, Miku, we decided to meet each other for the 1st time at karaoke. You might think that'd be the most awkwardplace to meet new peopl but it was really cool and fun!! We only had 3 hours though =( Next time, Franc said we have to pack food for a whole day and spend the day there! I so agree!! I'm actually going again this Wed with my mates from school :)
Got lost on the way home though and took half an hour finding my way back. I secretly have a cell phone now, and without it then, I would've been screwed!! I found a place I recognised and Dad came and picked me up. The whole fam was there and we made sushi.
Poor Meimei, her hostmum and LP are really close so AFS knows everything she does and found out that we (exchange students) had gone out together 3 times over the past 2 months.. dundundun!! So, we all received phonecalls from our LPs telling us we shouldn't go out again until after the next orientation (24th July). So we're being 'grounded' by AFS?? wtf?? Luckily I have a fam who couldn't care less about who I meet, but Meimei's mum is always inquisitive about where she goes, so is Nati's, so they both don't get out much. And it's hard to keep contact with the other two, they aren't allowed on the comp as frequently as I am and Franc doesn't even have 1 so he uses the school ones or an internet cafe.
It is officially summer, but not even at its hottest yet!! I'm so grateful to dad, he bought me a fan for my room, and I live on aircon in the kitchen =P I love being in the classrooms at school too cause they have aircon, but the second you step out it's like someones put weight on your shoulders and covered you in a big fur coat!! It's a dizzying heat.. can't wait til the hols in 2 weeks!! I'm finding a pool and swimming in it!!
Exams are here again. Had English last Friday and World History today which I studied for hard, trying to remember all the names and places and memorising some kanji but it was still a failure.. I have home economics tomorrow, don't ask why I said I could do that exam!! And writing and Japanese on Wed. Free day on Thurs whoop!!
OK, I'll try and do this again before a month passes!!
Love Julz
I had my bunkasai (culture festival), some Americans came and being part of the ESS club I helped show them round. At first I couldn't see who the Americans were because most of them were Asian looking. One girl had been born in Japan but lived in America all her life, but her Jap was really good even thoug her parents don't speak it anymore! Some were born in Hawaii, so a girl could use the pois that I had made. Meimei, Franc and Nastia turned up and we went into the haunted mansion which was really cool and freaky, you'd be surprised at how well the students can decorate their rooms and make it so realistic! It was pitch black, and hands came out and grabbed you and mannequin heads fell down in front...
ESS club wasn't so popular.. Whale Rider and the Worlds Fastest Indian were playing, and I was stationed at the club room from 1-1.30. I really wanted to do something with the others afterwards, but had to clean and have a closing ceremony first, so we agreed to meet at Koi train sation when I'd call. Luckily the ceremony was so short, only 20 mins, and I told my homeroom teacher about wanting to meet my friends so she let me go straight home!! I called Meimei, and found them climbing up some stairs down the road, up into a suburb I've never been to before. I'm like, guys, the bus stop is across the road from the school!! So we went to the city, Hondori, and Franc showed us the building where he takes Jap lessons and we decided to try it out the next Sat, then Franc was hungry so we looked for a restaurant. He wanted Japanese style so we found one which went underground and chose 5 dishes to share (including deepfried camembert!!! (that was my choice!)). We ordered squid, chinese dumplings, a yam fritter thingy and tuna sushi as well (raw of course). But when they set the plates down in front of us, we were all like, is this it?? The pictures made them look way bigger but they were actually only appetisers!! And it cost 2000 yen altogether!! ($34!!)
We later found out it was a bar and you had to be over 20 to enter it, and I had rocked on up in my school uniform lol. We met the Americans from the festival again, and looked around for a subway which Franc was determined that he had seen it the other day. We found it and shared a sandwich then made our way home.
I finally went to karaoke!! We all met up on the Saturday for the Jap lessons which were really good, then met up with some Jap girls for karaoke. Interesting story: the Tuesday earlier I caught the wrong bus and a woman helped me find the correct one etc. we exchanged numbers and she gave me her daughter's number as well. Texting her daughter, Miku, we decided to meet each other for the 1st time at karaoke. You might think that'd be the most awkwardplace to meet new peopl but it was really cool and fun!! We only had 3 hours though =( Next time, Franc said we have to pack food for a whole day and spend the day there! I so agree!! I'm actually going again this Wed with my mates from school :)
Got lost on the way home though and took half an hour finding my way back. I secretly have a cell phone now, and without it then, I would've been screwed!! I found a place I recognised and Dad came and picked me up. The whole fam was there and we made sushi.
Poor Meimei, her hostmum and LP are really close so AFS knows everything she does and found out that we (exchange students) had gone out together 3 times over the past 2 months.. dundundun!! So, we all received phonecalls from our LPs telling us we shouldn't go out again until after the next orientation (24th July). So we're being 'grounded' by AFS?? wtf?? Luckily I have a fam who couldn't care less about who I meet, but Meimei's mum is always inquisitive about where she goes, so is Nati's, so they both don't get out much. And it's hard to keep contact with the other two, they aren't allowed on the comp as frequently as I am and Franc doesn't even have 1 so he uses the school ones or an internet cafe.
It is officially summer, but not even at its hottest yet!! I'm so grateful to dad, he bought me a fan for my room, and I live on aircon in the kitchen =P I love being in the classrooms at school too cause they have aircon, but the second you step out it's like someones put weight on your shoulders and covered you in a big fur coat!! It's a dizzying heat.. can't wait til the hols in 2 weeks!! I'm finding a pool and swimming in it!!
Exams are here again. Had English last Friday and World History today which I studied for hard, trying to remember all the names and places and memorising some kanji but it was still a failure.. I have home economics tomorrow, don't ask why I said I could do that exam!! And writing and Japanese on Wed. Free day on Thurs whoop!!
OK, I'll try and do this again before a month passes!!
Love Julz
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Onomichi, Sickness, Karaoke fail, Cellphone, School Festival
Ok, I agree, May 13th was a long time ago.. (my last post)
So, I shall start with the end of May, exams are over and on the Friday before I was off to Onomichi, my 'friend' Mio gives me a freaking fever!! So that night was horrible, but I was determined to see everyone in Onomichi!! I stocked up on tissues, panadol, throat lollies and face masks on Saturday morning and took the train to Hiroshima Station in my school uniform. That morning I met the same lady who helped me on the bus so long ago and she invited me to a Buddhist Temple some day which I may (or may not..) go to. We met up by a fountain, me being me, I went through to the other exit of the train station and walked all the way around because to cut through you have to have a ticket or bus card (you don't pay on the train but use those machine thingies). Francois, Nastia, Nati, Meimei and I all climbed into Taniguchi's (Hiroshima chapter president's) car and went off. My LP didnt come. We stopped off at a bakery for lunch and carried on for 2 hours until Onomichi. Taniguchi dropped us off and I was stupid and left my camera and wallet in the car (we were told to leave our bags there, this had relevance later). We met Ain and Dome and 2 new students, Tami from Germany and Kris from Chile. We were at Kris' school. Inside we met some first years who were way better at English than the people in my class!! They had 2 foreign teachers as well, a lady from America and a man from England who spoke to us exchange students like we were babies, but I guess he has been speaking to Japanese people.. (that sounded very mean, but its true). All the students were in groups, they were going to take us on a tour of Onomichi and we had to pick which group we wanted to go with. Francois had first pick and he chose Group G and OMG the girls screamed so loud when he picked them, it was so hilarious!! For some reason they all think he's really hot, I don't think Franc knew what to do with himself lol. So I picked group F cause we were gonna make key chains. There were 3 girls and 1 boy in my group, maybe they weren't so pleased they got the sickly one but they were happy enough. So, I had no camera or money, but managed to borrow 500￥ from an AFS lady. The girls were Eri, Riho and Yuuri, and the guy Taiki. On the way to the temple Taiki found 500￥($8.30) and gave it to me and I'm like 'yes!! score!! not getting it back mate!!' so I was alright for money. I met up with Franc and Dome's group and the girls were taking so many photos!! hahaha. Next we went to an icecream store, met up with everyone there, then went to find this keychain making place, but got lost. None of them had ever been there before, so they were all like, I'm so sorry Juliette!! (It was why I picked their group too!!) We rode the cable car up to a mountain and said goodbye there, but not before us all buying matching keychains at the souvenir shop and swapping emails. All the girls were upset that they had to leave Francois, all getting last minute photos with him. Some hugged him and a girl from my group wanted to too so i pushed her towards him and she was so embarrassed! Francois was very nice and hugged her, but I think he'd prefer not to go through that experience again!! There was a gym on the side of the mountain where we had a curling tournament. You thought it was boring to watch curling on TV? Even more to play it. It didn't help that I lost every game I played too (I was sick, I had an excuse!!). There was a hut on the side of the mountain near the gym where we stayed the night. HEAPS of mozzies, my LP had called before saying to buy insect repellent and I'm glad I did!! We ate dinner, which was curry but I had brought my own substitute (stew in Japan is just meat and veg with a creamy sauce (that's what I ate)). Then bath time!! I love bath time with other people, I knew the onsen style would grow on me!! (Actually I didnt but there you go). Back in the hall we had a big chat about stuff, it was all very similar to the other orientation, but we used more Japanese. We made a chart for legal ages to do stuff in our own countries, and in Japan, the age for marriage is girls:16 and boys:18, weird much? Everyone also showed body language in their own countries, e.g counting and come here. Japan's come here looks like theyre trying to shoo you away so my first few weeks were, 'what are you doing?' And they don't know what fingers crossed means. I didn't realise how much I used it until people couldnt understand me.. That night we stayed up til 2am talking about host fams, school, friends etc. Woke up at 7.30 the next day, ate breakfast and had people play the drums for us (pics on FB). Then more AFS talk about the same things and then goodbye. Kris and Tami live in Onomichi, so the rest of us walked to a ramen shop for lunch and then the train station and caught a train home which took about 2 hours. Nati, Nastia, Meimei and I agreed to meet up the week after for Karaoke in town at Hondori station, but things didn't go according to plan..
But first!! I didn't go to school the Monday or Tuesday after cause I was all snivelly and coughy (?) so Dad bought me heaps of nice food and DVDs.
Alright, that Saturday (5/6) Mum dressed Supika and I in yukata (Japanese summer version of a kimono) and we all went to Toukasan (fesival). We walked around, bought stall food and went into a ghost house. Overpriced for a very short 'scary' trip. It didnt help that the girls in front of us wouldnt move forward and the people trying to scare them had to stop and say, 'look, are you gonna go through? cuz ur holding up the line!' It was 10.30, mine and Supika's feet hurt because we'd been walking in those Jap shoes for 3 hours and we were hungry. We took a taxi to a ramen shop. When you get into a taxi, it starts charging you from $10!! So we only went a 3 minute drive, which cost around 150￥ but 600￥ was added on top of that!! I'm NEVER riding a taxi again!! We ate ramen, for the first time I finished before everyone else!!
Next day (6/6) Dad dropped me off in town at 12.30 to meet with my exchange student friends. I had never heard of Hondori station before (neither had my Dad) but I walked to Hondori St and sure enough found it underground (there's an underground mall too!!). I waited till 1 then I met Meimei's LP, I thought it was chance I met her but turns out, her and her mother (Nastia's LP) were there to supervise. I can't believe we're not even allowed to hang out together without AFS on our backs! Nastia turned up and Meimei in a yukata and Jap shoes which looked 5 sizes too small for her! Her whole heel was hanging off the back! But there was no Nati. We ended up searching for her for 2 hours. Eventually one of the LPs got a call from Nati's host mum saying she'd returned home because she couldn't find us. (Because of the festival the streets were packed with people). So we went to a cafe and Nastias LP shouted us food. I tried a pudding drink which was nice and ate chocolate and banana pastries.. mmm... Afterwards we took some purikura then the AFS people left us. Nastia, Meimei and I met up with Meimei's friends from school and we went to toukasan together, again. I bought only sweet food that day =P we walked around for ages, Nastia wanted to find a cafe so we could sit and chat which I was keen for too cause my legs were killing me but the Jap girls didnt want to, so we said goodbye early. Meimei and I caught a tram to Nishihiroshima station and arrived at 6.30. I met some girls all dressed in yukata from my school and Meimei and I decided to go back to toukasan because we wanted to see the lanterns. I was meant to call my Dad at 7.30 then be at home by 8 but things went a bit differently.. An hour quickly went, I called my Dad but didnt go straight home, instead Meimei and I looked around for a bit more. At 8 we made our way to the tram station but because there were so many people and Meimei couldn't walk fast in her shoes it took us ages to get there. I arrived home around 9 to an unhappy father. But he had that horrible smiling face when you give your reasons as to why you're late and they don't believe you no matter what you say. My feet also happened to be black because I walked around town without shoes (everyone said it was dangerous but I'd never seen less dangerous streets in my life! My shoes were also really sweaty, I literally walked out of them!) so I had to go wash them immediately.
So, for the past few days I'd been calling my LP with no reply, but last night she called back and I told her my reasons for wanting a cellphone (in Japanese of course). She talked to my Dad then said she'd talk to the president. Turns out, the reason why my chapter is the only one that doesnt allow cellphones or meeting up with the other exchange students is because of the president. It's her rule, not an AFS rule. So maybe there's still hope that I can get one. The cheapest prepaid one will cost around 5000￥ ($83) brand new, but I might look for second hand ones, I want whatevers cheapest. Dad already took me to a shop to look at some. Most Jap phones are on contracts so there were only a few prepaid ones available to see. Also, ALL Jap phones are flip ones, and are huge! It's like holding and exra wallet in your hand. All the screens are massive and so high tech!! You can watch TV, take quality photos, and transfer purikura onto them! I did see a normal sized phone, but it was made for little kids so maybe not..
So, hopefully tonight or tomorrow I'll get my answer, crossed fingers its good!
School Festival is the 19th and 20th of this month. Meimei's gonna come and invite the other exchange students too. Sadly, Meimei's is on the same weekend but on the Friday and Saturday so I can't go!!
OK, I think that's all so far, I'm sorry I haven't been updating frequently, I just have a lot to do.
Oh that's right, the Japanese Proficiency Test, dundundun....
I thought I'd go for level 3, but you only need to know 300 kanji which is pretty easy, but level 2 is such a huge step! Over 1000! And let's not even think about level 1! So I think I'll study for level 2, and if I feel confident enough I'll take it, otherwise level 3. Good thing I have all those study periods to improve!
I'd appreciate an email about whats going on at home =)
So, I shall start with the end of May, exams are over and on the Friday before I was off to Onomichi, my 'friend' Mio gives me a freaking fever!! So that night was horrible, but I was determined to see everyone in Onomichi!! I stocked up on tissues, panadol, throat lollies and face masks on Saturday morning and took the train to Hiroshima Station in my school uniform. That morning I met the same lady who helped me on the bus so long ago and she invited me to a Buddhist Temple some day which I may (or may not..) go to. We met up by a fountain, me being me, I went through to the other exit of the train station and walked all the way around because to cut through you have to have a ticket or bus card (you don't pay on the train but use those machine thingies). Francois, Nastia, Nati, Meimei and I all climbed into Taniguchi's (Hiroshima chapter president's) car and went off. My LP didnt come. We stopped off at a bakery for lunch and carried on for 2 hours until Onomichi. Taniguchi dropped us off and I was stupid and left my camera and wallet in the car (we were told to leave our bags there, this had relevance later). We met Ain and Dome and 2 new students, Tami from Germany and Kris from Chile. We were at Kris' school. Inside we met some first years who were way better at English than the people in my class!! They had 2 foreign teachers as well, a lady from America and a man from England who spoke to us exchange students like we were babies, but I guess he has been speaking to Japanese people.. (that sounded very mean, but its true). All the students were in groups, they were going to take us on a tour of Onomichi and we had to pick which group we wanted to go with. Francois had first pick and he chose Group G and OMG the girls screamed so loud when he picked them, it was so hilarious!! For some reason they all think he's really hot, I don't think Franc knew what to do with himself lol. So I picked group F cause we were gonna make key chains. There were 3 girls and 1 boy in my group, maybe they weren't so pleased they got the sickly one but they were happy enough. So, I had no camera or money, but managed to borrow 500￥ from an AFS lady. The girls were Eri, Riho and Yuuri, and the guy Taiki. On the way to the temple Taiki found 500￥($8.30) and gave it to me and I'm like 'yes!! score!! not getting it back mate!!' so I was alright for money. I met up with Franc and Dome's group and the girls were taking so many photos!! hahaha. Next we went to an icecream store, met up with everyone there, then went to find this keychain making place, but got lost. None of them had ever been there before, so they were all like, I'm so sorry Juliette!! (It was why I picked their group too!!) We rode the cable car up to a mountain and said goodbye there, but not before us all buying matching keychains at the souvenir shop and swapping emails. All the girls were upset that they had to leave Francois, all getting last minute photos with him. Some hugged him and a girl from my group wanted to too so i pushed her towards him and she was so embarrassed! Francois was very nice and hugged her, but I think he'd prefer not to go through that experience again!! There was a gym on the side of the mountain where we had a curling tournament. You thought it was boring to watch curling on TV? Even more to play it. It didn't help that I lost every game I played too (I was sick, I had an excuse!!). There was a hut on the side of the mountain near the gym where we stayed the night. HEAPS of mozzies, my LP had called before saying to buy insect repellent and I'm glad I did!! We ate dinner, which was curry but I had brought my own substitute (stew in Japan is just meat and veg with a creamy sauce (that's what I ate)). Then bath time!! I love bath time with other people, I knew the onsen style would grow on me!! (Actually I didnt but there you go). Back in the hall we had a big chat about stuff, it was all very similar to the other orientation, but we used more Japanese. We made a chart for legal ages to do stuff in our own countries, and in Japan, the age for marriage is girls:16 and boys:18, weird much? Everyone also showed body language in their own countries, e.g counting and come here. Japan's come here looks like theyre trying to shoo you away so my first few weeks were, 'what are you doing?' And they don't know what fingers crossed means. I didn't realise how much I used it until people couldnt understand me.. That night we stayed up til 2am talking about host fams, school, friends etc. Woke up at 7.30 the next day, ate breakfast and had people play the drums for us (pics on FB). Then more AFS talk about the same things and then goodbye. Kris and Tami live in Onomichi, so the rest of us walked to a ramen shop for lunch and then the train station and caught a train home which took about 2 hours. Nati, Nastia, Meimei and I agreed to meet up the week after for Karaoke in town at Hondori station, but things didn't go according to plan..
But first!! I didn't go to school the Monday or Tuesday after cause I was all snivelly and coughy (?) so Dad bought me heaps of nice food and DVDs.
Alright, that Saturday (5/6) Mum dressed Supika and I in yukata (Japanese summer version of a kimono) and we all went to Toukasan (fesival). We walked around, bought stall food and went into a ghost house. Overpriced for a very short 'scary' trip. It didnt help that the girls in front of us wouldnt move forward and the people trying to scare them had to stop and say, 'look, are you gonna go through? cuz ur holding up the line!' It was 10.30, mine and Supika's feet hurt because we'd been walking in those Jap shoes for 3 hours and we were hungry. We took a taxi to a ramen shop. When you get into a taxi, it starts charging you from $10!! So we only went a 3 minute drive, which cost around 150￥ but 600￥ was added on top of that!! I'm NEVER riding a taxi again!! We ate ramen, for the first time I finished before everyone else!!
Next day (6/6) Dad dropped me off in town at 12.30 to meet with my exchange student friends. I had never heard of Hondori station before (neither had my Dad) but I walked to Hondori St and sure enough found it underground (there's an underground mall too!!). I waited till 1 then I met Meimei's LP, I thought it was chance I met her but turns out, her and her mother (Nastia's LP) were there to supervise. I can't believe we're not even allowed to hang out together without AFS on our backs! Nastia turned up and Meimei in a yukata and Jap shoes which looked 5 sizes too small for her! Her whole heel was hanging off the back! But there was no Nati. We ended up searching for her for 2 hours. Eventually one of the LPs got a call from Nati's host mum saying she'd returned home because she couldn't find us. (Because of the festival the streets were packed with people). So we went to a cafe and Nastias LP shouted us food. I tried a pudding drink which was nice and ate chocolate and banana pastries.. mmm... Afterwards we took some purikura then the AFS people left us. Nastia, Meimei and I met up with Meimei's friends from school and we went to toukasan together, again. I bought only sweet food that day =P we walked around for ages, Nastia wanted to find a cafe so we could sit and chat which I was keen for too cause my legs were killing me but the Jap girls didnt want to, so we said goodbye early. Meimei and I caught a tram to Nishihiroshima station and arrived at 6.30. I met some girls all dressed in yukata from my school and Meimei and I decided to go back to toukasan because we wanted to see the lanterns. I was meant to call my Dad at 7.30 then be at home by 8 but things went a bit differently.. An hour quickly went, I called my Dad but didnt go straight home, instead Meimei and I looked around for a bit more. At 8 we made our way to the tram station but because there were so many people and Meimei couldn't walk fast in her shoes it took us ages to get there. I arrived home around 9 to an unhappy father. But he had that horrible smiling face when you give your reasons as to why you're late and they don't believe you no matter what you say. My feet also happened to be black because I walked around town without shoes (everyone said it was dangerous but I'd never seen less dangerous streets in my life! My shoes were also really sweaty, I literally walked out of them!) so I had to go wash them immediately.
So, for the past few days I'd been calling my LP with no reply, but last night she called back and I told her my reasons for wanting a cellphone (in Japanese of course). She talked to my Dad then said she'd talk to the president. Turns out, the reason why my chapter is the only one that doesnt allow cellphones or meeting up with the other exchange students is because of the president. It's her rule, not an AFS rule. So maybe there's still hope that I can get one. The cheapest prepaid one will cost around 5000￥ ($83) brand new, but I might look for second hand ones, I want whatevers cheapest. Dad already took me to a shop to look at some. Most Jap phones are on contracts so there were only a few prepaid ones available to see. Also, ALL Jap phones are flip ones, and are huge! It's like holding and exra wallet in your hand. All the screens are massive and so high tech!! You can watch TV, take quality photos, and transfer purikura onto them! I did see a normal sized phone, but it was made for little kids so maybe not..
So, hopefully tonight or tomorrow I'll get my answer, crossed fingers its good!
School Festival is the 19th and 20th of this month. Meimei's gonna come and invite the other exchange students too. Sadly, Meimei's is on the same weekend but on the Friday and Saturday so I can't go!!
OK, I think that's all so far, I'm sorry I haven't been updating frequently, I just have a lot to do.
Oh that's right, the Japanese Proficiency Test, dundundun....
I thought I'd go for level 3, but you only need to know 300 kanji which is pretty easy, but level 2 is such a huge step! Over 1000! And let's not even think about level 1! So I think I'll study for level 2, and if I feel confident enough I'll take it, otherwise level 3. Good thing I have all those study periods to improve!
I'd appreciate an email about whats going on at home =)
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Exams, Cleaning, PE, Snake
Hi all.
Life hasn't been terribly eventful, but there has been heaps of rain which have made the days extremely muggy. For some reason they think that rain must mean it's cold, so the trains have their heaters on full bore, plus being crammed up next to each other, train experiences are horrible.
Right now we have exams, they are all only 50 mins each and luckily I only have 4! This morning I had my world history exam, then got the rest of the day off. I created a bank account with Hiroshima Bank, using my dictionary and sign language so I could understand the clerk. I now just have to figure out how to transfer money over. Tomorrow I have a special Japanese test that I will take alone and then the English exam. Afterwards, Nao, Riko and I plan to go to the biggest mall in Hiroshima (called Soreiyu) and go window shopping. Supika is working at the cinema there for her school's work experience (how cool is that!!) so we're going to go see her too. My friends couldn't believe my sister's name was Supika (it's not a normal Japanese name)!!
No exams on Mon so no school!! And just an English writing exam on Tues.
I am finally getting used to the food =D I enjoy ramen dishes, some fish, and of course octopus. Although whale wasn't too fantastic. The other night we went out for dinner and when we came home my father said 'you tried some new food today!' and I'm like, oh no, what?
Tongue. I ate cow's tongue. I did notice that it was different from the other meat, just thought that I wouldn't ask cause I didn't want to seem rude. It was hard and OK, but not great.
I have finally confirmed with Mum about getting a cell phone. She's against them, so it was hard to talk with her, but I had to get it over and done with. She said if my parents in NZ were OK with it, as well as Otousan (Dad), then I can buy one. Now I just have to talk with AFS. I might get Otousan to call up my LP tonight and ask her...
Cleaning. Something I keep forgetting to mention. There's a roster at school which everyone follows, deciding on who cleans what. Last month, every day after school, I and 3 others cleaned the upstairs toilet. Sometimes we swept, other times we scrubbed the floor with water and soap. Nobody complains, everyone does their job, and there are no caretakers...? This month I don't have cleaning (yay!) so get to to catch the 3.37 bus instead of the 4.07.
YanagiSensei asked if we cleaned in NZ as well and I just laughed. Everyone's so.. compliant. There's no talking in class, there's no backchatting to the teacher, no swearing, no messing about basically. I long for the day when someone will do something bad. Which doesn't include not putting your rubbish in the bin either!! Quite frankly, if any of them were christian, they'd be first in line to heaven!! The Japanese don't know how to be bad, yet everything is dangerous. I have to lock the door when I get home from school. I can't walk alone at night, or even go out with my friends at night! Boys aren't to be trusted, and 'bad girls' (short skirts, died hair) should be avoided at all costs. Despite all this, I haven't seen a single person do anything bad, except maybe being too polite!! I don't hate it as such.. it's just weird..
The things that I love are: the wooden floors on the bus from my house to town, the people who bow to you as you go to catch the train, the tiny okonomiyaki shops, the English section at the library =P
Things I hate: people not sitting on the bus!! I was wondering if I was going to be able to get on the bus yesterday, and there were 5 more people behind me!! There are perfectly good seats which would unclog the aisle but no one freaking sits down!! Even when they are forced to stand part way across a free seat, they will NOT sit down!! It freaking pisses me off!! Especially the arrogant fools who have seats and put their bags on to the seat next to them! They're always surprised when I say excuse me. Just cause no one else wants to sit, doesn't mean I don't want to too!!
OK, one more is PE. I feel like a soldier. We march. MARCH!!! What? We turn left, right, about face, march, run in unison calling out '1!2!1!2!1!2!' I spent the whole hour on Tuesday practising how to march, bow and run 'properly'. I don't like it. Otousan said public schools often like to make the students march. He had a good word for it, students nowadays are robots. They live and breath orders, homework, and punctuality!! I will return a well-bred poodle.
Snake. There was a snake in the tree outside my house the other week!! I took some photos, I haven't put them up yet, all in good time. I have 'Supika and snake', 'Snake and I'; I asked if Okaasan also wanted a photo and she said she was fine hahahaha.
Anyway, I've ranted quite enough, rash is basically gone, those pills worked! I have my AFS camp in Onomichi next weekend which I'm really looking forward to, and have discovered a programme similar to limewire so I have more music. I am fairly content =)
Also, if you leave comments, I might not check them for a while cause I don't get a notification that I've received one, I only find out once I return to this site which is not often.
Life hasn't been terribly eventful, but there has been heaps of rain which have made the days extremely muggy. For some reason they think that rain must mean it's cold, so the trains have their heaters on full bore, plus being crammed up next to each other, train experiences are horrible.
Right now we have exams, they are all only 50 mins each and luckily I only have 4! This morning I had my world history exam, then got the rest of the day off. I created a bank account with Hiroshima Bank, using my dictionary and sign language so I could understand the clerk. I now just have to figure out how to transfer money over. Tomorrow I have a special Japanese test that I will take alone and then the English exam. Afterwards, Nao, Riko and I plan to go to the biggest mall in Hiroshima (called Soreiyu) and go window shopping. Supika is working at the cinema there for her school's work experience (how cool is that!!) so we're going to go see her too. My friends couldn't believe my sister's name was Supika (it's not a normal Japanese name)!!
No exams on Mon so no school!! And just an English writing exam on Tues.
I am finally getting used to the food =D I enjoy ramen dishes, some fish, and of course octopus. Although whale wasn't too fantastic. The other night we went out for dinner and when we came home my father said 'you tried some new food today!' and I'm like, oh no, what?
Tongue. I ate cow's tongue. I did notice that it was different from the other meat, just thought that I wouldn't ask cause I didn't want to seem rude. It was hard and OK, but not great.
I have finally confirmed with Mum about getting a cell phone. She's against them, so it was hard to talk with her, but I had to get it over and done with. She said if my parents in NZ were OK with it, as well as Otousan (Dad), then I can buy one. Now I just have to talk with AFS. I might get Otousan to call up my LP tonight and ask her...
Cleaning. Something I keep forgetting to mention. There's a roster at school which everyone follows, deciding on who cleans what. Last month, every day after school, I and 3 others cleaned the upstairs toilet. Sometimes we swept, other times we scrubbed the floor with water and soap. Nobody complains, everyone does their job, and there are no caretakers...? This month I don't have cleaning (yay!) so get to to catch the 3.37 bus instead of the 4.07.
YanagiSensei asked if we cleaned in NZ as well and I just laughed. Everyone's so.. compliant. There's no talking in class, there's no backchatting to the teacher, no swearing, no messing about basically. I long for the day when someone will do something bad. Which doesn't include not putting your rubbish in the bin either!! Quite frankly, if any of them were christian, they'd be first in line to heaven!! The Japanese don't know how to be bad, yet everything is dangerous. I have to lock the door when I get home from school. I can't walk alone at night, or even go out with my friends at night! Boys aren't to be trusted, and 'bad girls' (short skirts, died hair) should be avoided at all costs. Despite all this, I haven't seen a single person do anything bad, except maybe being too polite!! I don't hate it as such.. it's just weird..
The things that I love are: the wooden floors on the bus from my house to town, the people who bow to you as you go to catch the train, the tiny okonomiyaki shops, the English section at the library =P
Things I hate: people not sitting on the bus!! I was wondering if I was going to be able to get on the bus yesterday, and there were 5 more people behind me!! There are perfectly good seats which would unclog the aisle but no one freaking sits down!! Even when they are forced to stand part way across a free seat, they will NOT sit down!! It freaking pisses me off!! Especially the arrogant fools who have seats and put their bags on to the seat next to them! They're always surprised when I say excuse me. Just cause no one else wants to sit, doesn't mean I don't want to too!!
OK, one more is PE. I feel like a soldier. We march. MARCH!!! What? We turn left, right, about face, march, run in unison calling out '1!2!1!2!1!2!' I spent the whole hour on Tuesday practising how to march, bow and run 'properly'. I don't like it. Otousan said public schools often like to make the students march. He had a good word for it, students nowadays are robots. They live and breath orders, homework, and punctuality!! I will return a well-bred poodle.
Snake. There was a snake in the tree outside my house the other week!! I took some photos, I haven't put them up yet, all in good time. I have 'Supika and snake', 'Snake and I'; I asked if Okaasan also wanted a photo and she said she was fine hahahaha.
Anyway, I've ranted quite enough, rash is basically gone, those pills worked! I have my AFS camp in Onomichi next weekend which I'm really looking forward to, and have discovered a programme similar to limewire so I have more music. I am fairly content =)
Also, if you leave comments, I might not check them for a while cause I don't get a notification that I've received one, I only find out once I return to this site which is not often.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
GOLDEN WEEK!!!
OK, I have been busy every day of golden week (I'm so popular!! haha). Wednesday last week, instead of homeroom in last period we went to the auditorium and got told the itinerary for the Tokyo trip and I sooooo can't wait to go!! The reason why it's costing so much is because we're taking the bullet train, staying in flash as hotels, going to Disneyland and seeing the Lion King live!!! It's from the 29th September to the 2nd of October.
Thursday was a holiday, Supika had an English exam (4 hours!! on a holiday!! no mercy..) so Mum, Dad and I went out to lunch. I ordered a pizza, which I thought was the safest option.. It was a shrinp pizza, but it tasted OK.
Then Friday I had my class trip!! It was different to what I expected. Usually class trips inolve the teachers making sure everyone stays together and having a tour guide talking about all the different types of fish etc. but we got to go through alone, and basically spent the day doing what we wanted to do.
We didn't have to wear uniform so I wore mufti, but most people turned up in their PE gear (why? I have no clue). We went to the aquarium, around 2 hours away from my high school. We probably spent an hour in the aquarium, but I didn't get any photos of the white dolphins because we weren't allowed to use cameras in front of them =(
There were 2 other high schools there and a primary school so it was PACKED!! My whole year level was there, so around 250 people from my school alone.
We went to the beach but it was too windy, then went to the coolest playground in the world which I didn't take a god damn picture of!! I'm so annoyed at myself!! We ate our bentous then my class (7) played cops and robbers on the playground. The playground was this massive as wooden structure with a tower and a big as slide, with net climby thingies etc. Afterwards I bought an iceceam cause it was soo hot then we went back to school, then home. I don't think it was a very educational expedition =P
On the bus back, I couldn't stop laughing!! Everyone brings heaps of snacks with them, like, thousands!! I swear Mioko had around 10 different bags of lollies in her bag!! And everyone sends it round the bus, so I tried around 30+ different lollies/snacks which were handed around. A lot of 'from ~' and 'ah, arigatou's. I made a small contribution which everyone laughed at, I only had a couple of crackers lol. Next time I'm soo bringing junk food!!
Saturday I went to Miyajima Island with Humi and Yuka (pictures on facebook). It was a really good and hot day. We ate at a bakery for lunch, then rode the ferry over. I took heaps of pictures (on facebook) which are self explanatory. On the way back, I tried some maple leaf cake thingies which are popular in Japan, and we went and did purikura (photos). I'll have to get Yuka to send me them from her phone. We looked at manga then went home.
Sunday I went out for a drive with the family. We drove for 3 hours to a mountain which we climbed. Afterwards we stopped off at an onsen (public bath). At first, I was really nervous. I'd only been in onsen with other AFS students before, but this time it was with my family and the public!! Everyone was just relaxing though so I soon got used to it. There was a hot inside and outside bath, a cold bath and a sauna. All of us girls spent around 1 hour in there so the boys had to wait a long time haha.
Afterwards Mum bought us milk icecream (the flavour was milk) and we drove for 2 hours to a restaurant. I had a hamburger (which was just a big rissole with an egg on top) for dinner and cheesecake for dessert. We returned home around 8pm.
Monday I went out with my friends from my class, Mioko, Piko and Miki. We took the tram to the peace park and watched the parade (a lot of baton twirling schools and brass bands!!). We ate overpriced food, then went window shopping. I found a foreign import shop called Jupiter which had cadbury chocolate from NZ!! But for $3 for a small bar? Haha no.
Tuesday I was meant to meet up with Nastia from Russia but she never turned up. I was talking with Meimei from Malaysia, who wanted to meet up, but her LP told her no. That we should try make some Japanese friends instead?? Weird, much??
Also, ALL the other NZers have cellphones!! Their chapters asked them to buy prepaid cellphones!! Why the hell is my chapter so stingy??
I was waiting at the bus centre and a Japanese lady talked to me for 40mins all in Japanese!! She said I was good, Yay!! I went to Hiroshima Castle but did not go inside.
The money that I said I would not spend.. has been spent hehehe. It's surprising how much going out every day can cost!!
Today. Woke up early and watched Alice In Wonderland at the cinemas. Movies come out very late in Japan, Sex and the City 2 is still in cinemas!! I expected them to dub the voices, but instead it was in english with Jap subs. Afterwards we went out to lunch (we eat out a lot!!). I ate ramen and fried rice, then came home.
Allright, I've been keeping a food diary, am going to the doctors on Saturday ad will open a bank account this weekend. A list of all the new foods I've eaten so far:
Jellyfish (can't really remember, didn't get told til a week later that i ate it)
Cow's Stomach (crunchy)
Chicken's Stomach (tough)
Cow's tail (delicious)
Pig's Ear (disgusting)
Crayfish (delicious)
Eel (delicious)
Cow's Heart (delicious)
Octopus (delicious)
Squid (some types are good, others.. not so good)
Fish eggs (all i can think is baby fish!! uwaahh!!)
Sashimi - Raw Fish (sometimes been a struggle to keep down)
Sea Urchin (looks like tiny orange tongues, taste is OK)
I haven't eaten whale yet, but Dad said he'd buy me some. Not many people eat whale, even though it's not that expensive. Dad said when he was a child he always ate whale, but the newer generation don't like it so hardly any people buy it anymore. Dad has learnt not to tell me what a food is until I've finished eating it. I ate chicken's stomach last night and he didn't tell me until afterwards. It makes me fell a tad better, I must admit..
Enjoy the essay Lily!!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Thursday was a holiday, Supika had an English exam (4 hours!! on a holiday!! no mercy..) so Mum, Dad and I went out to lunch. I ordered a pizza, which I thought was the safest option.. It was a shrinp pizza, but it tasted OK.
Then Friday I had my class trip!! It was different to what I expected. Usually class trips inolve the teachers making sure everyone stays together and having a tour guide talking about all the different types of fish etc. but we got to go through alone, and basically spent the day doing what we wanted to do.
We didn't have to wear uniform so I wore mufti, but most people turned up in their PE gear (why? I have no clue). We went to the aquarium, around 2 hours away from my high school. We probably spent an hour in the aquarium, but I didn't get any photos of the white dolphins because we weren't allowed to use cameras in front of them =(
There were 2 other high schools there and a primary school so it was PACKED!! My whole year level was there, so around 250 people from my school alone.
We went to the beach but it was too windy, then went to the coolest playground in the world which I didn't take a god damn picture of!! I'm so annoyed at myself!! We ate our bentous then my class (7) played cops and robbers on the playground. The playground was this massive as wooden structure with a tower and a big as slide, with net climby thingies etc. Afterwards I bought an iceceam cause it was soo hot then we went back to school, then home. I don't think it was a very educational expedition =P
On the bus back, I couldn't stop laughing!! Everyone brings heaps of snacks with them, like, thousands!! I swear Mioko had around 10 different bags of lollies in her bag!! And everyone sends it round the bus, so I tried around 30+ different lollies/snacks which were handed around. A lot of 'from ~' and 'ah, arigatou's. I made a small contribution which everyone laughed at, I only had a couple of crackers lol. Next time I'm soo bringing junk food!!
Saturday I went to Miyajima Island with Humi and Yuka (pictures on facebook). It was a really good and hot day. We ate at a bakery for lunch, then rode the ferry over. I took heaps of pictures (on facebook) which are self explanatory. On the way back, I tried some maple leaf cake thingies which are popular in Japan, and we went and did purikura (photos). I'll have to get Yuka to send me them from her phone. We looked at manga then went home.
Sunday I went out for a drive with the family. We drove for 3 hours to a mountain which we climbed. Afterwards we stopped off at an onsen (public bath). At first, I was really nervous. I'd only been in onsen with other AFS students before, but this time it was with my family and the public!! Everyone was just relaxing though so I soon got used to it. There was a hot inside and outside bath, a cold bath and a sauna. All of us girls spent around 1 hour in there so the boys had to wait a long time haha.
Afterwards Mum bought us milk icecream (the flavour was milk) and we drove for 2 hours to a restaurant. I had a hamburger (which was just a big rissole with an egg on top) for dinner and cheesecake for dessert. We returned home around 8pm.
Monday I went out with my friends from my class, Mioko, Piko and Miki. We took the tram to the peace park and watched the parade (a lot of baton twirling schools and brass bands!!). We ate overpriced food, then went window shopping. I found a foreign import shop called Jupiter which had cadbury chocolate from NZ!! But for $3 for a small bar? Haha no.
Tuesday I was meant to meet up with Nastia from Russia but she never turned up. I was talking with Meimei from Malaysia, who wanted to meet up, but her LP told her no. That we should try make some Japanese friends instead?? Weird, much??
Also, ALL the other NZers have cellphones!! Their chapters asked them to buy prepaid cellphones!! Why the hell is my chapter so stingy??
I was waiting at the bus centre and a Japanese lady talked to me for 40mins all in Japanese!! She said I was good, Yay!! I went to Hiroshima Castle but did not go inside.
The money that I said I would not spend.. has been spent hehehe. It's surprising how much going out every day can cost!!
Today. Woke up early and watched Alice In Wonderland at the cinemas. Movies come out very late in Japan, Sex and the City 2 is still in cinemas!! I expected them to dub the voices, but instead it was in english with Jap subs. Afterwards we went out to lunch (we eat out a lot!!). I ate ramen and fried rice, then came home.
Allright, I've been keeping a food diary, am going to the doctors on Saturday ad will open a bank account this weekend. A list of all the new foods I've eaten so far:
Jellyfish (can't really remember, didn't get told til a week later that i ate it)
Cow's Stomach (crunchy)
Chicken's Stomach (tough)
Cow's tail (delicious)
Pig's Ear (disgusting)
Crayfish (delicious)
Eel (delicious)
Cow's Heart (delicious)
Octopus (delicious)
Squid (some types are good, others.. not so good)
Fish eggs (all i can think is baby fish!! uwaahh!!)
Sashimi - Raw Fish (sometimes been a struggle to keep down)
Sea Urchin (looks like tiny orange tongues, taste is OK)
I haven't eaten whale yet, but Dad said he'd buy me some. Not many people eat whale, even though it's not that expensive. Dad said when he was a child he always ate whale, but the newer generation don't like it so hardly any people buy it anymore. Dad has learnt not to tell me what a food is until I've finished eating it. I ate chicken's stomach last night and he didn't tell me until afterwards. It makes me fell a tad better, I must admit..
Enjoy the essay Lily!!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
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