Hello 日本
It’s Normal
Leave a Comment
I love that life here now has become normal.
I am no longer surprised that I have to wait 15~30 minutes for a bus to Izumigaoka Station.
I can stand on the bus (provided I don’t get the crazy driver) and the train without using the handles.
I recognize the tiny old man police officer and the large long-haired police officer standing at Komyoike Station to make sure kids aren’t smoking.
I recognize the kids smoking down the steps from the officers.
I move aside to let the crazy man on the train hold onto the handle by the doors when its his station (Toga).
I feel happy when the two guys are busking at Komyoike Station.
I answer the door when the Kuroneko people come by to pick up or drop off packages of glasses for my host father.
I can naviagate the train, bus, and subway systems with relative ease.
This is my life.
Also, Mai is the sweetest girl ever. She keeps saying how good I am at Japanese!
Today there were a bunch of books on my desk and I was like, “Kore wa….dare no desuka?” (These are…whose?)
And Mai was like, “OMG YOU ARE JAPANESE!!!”
Same thing happened the other day too, when I mailed my host mother to tell her that Eri was coming home with me. She said she couldn’t tell who had written it – me or Eri.
I’m turning Japanese and I love it.
Not just the best part of my day….
Leave a Comment
…but probably the best thing ever!!!
Okay, so the most hilarious thing happened today.
During the lunch break, a couple of the guys from my class were standing outside on our classroom’s balcony. One of the guys was holding an umbrella.
All of a sudden this huge gust of wind comes and blows the umbrella out of his hands. Now, we’re on the 3rd and highest floor, so the umbrella falls waaaaayyy down on the ground, three stories down.
Of course, me and my friends burst out laughing, as does everyone else who saw.
We ran out to the balcony to locate the fallen umbrella, while the guy went downstairs and outside to fetch it back. When he finally got outside, he picked up the umbrella, opened it, and began to walk back inside.
But then he decided instead to fold up the umbrella and try throwing it back up. This would’ve been nearly successful, as it just barely missed us, but while falling back down, somehow the umbrella went INSIDE the second floor!!! Some girls came out with the umbrella, which must’ve been quite a shock to have an umbrella randomly fly in your classroom.
At this point, I’m basically in hysterics from laughing. Along with the umbrella, the girls retrieve a part of the umbrella’s handle, which had broken off. They throw it back down off the balcony.
The umbrella lands on a hedge that is just slightly too high for the guy to reach. But at least he catched the broken handle. He then spent a few minutes attempting to get the umbrella off the hedge by jumping and clawing with the broken handle. It worked, and eventually he got the umbrella back.
But that was basically the most hilarious thing ever. I laughed for about 10 minutes straight.
The Best Part of My Day…
Leave a Comment
I love that Kei-Chan charges her cellphone using the classroom’s outlets. It’s quite hilarious, really. She just strolled non-nonchalantly up to the front of the classroom, plus in her charger, and hides her phone in a nearby desk. However, since we moved seats yesterday, she can now utilize the outlet at the back of the classroom, which is conveniently right behind her seat!
The Best Part of My Day…
Leave a Comment
Aiko: *Picks up a paper left on her desk*
Nat-Chan: It’s someone’s math.
Aiko: Who’s is this?!
*They both look around*
Aiko: It looks like a girl’s writing.
Daisuke (Who is most definitely a boy): …That’s mine.
Me, Aiko, Nat-Chan: *burst out laughing*
Aiko: I’M SO SORRY!!!
In other news, WEATHER NEEDS TO STOP BEING SO HOT!!!!
I am boiling here, and it’s not even June. It gets worse, ohhhh will it get worse.
I am not looking forward to it.
Sleepover!
2 Comments
Last night, I had a sleepover at Amy’s house!! 
It was super fun. We had tacos for dinner. It was quite hilarious, really, because Amy had eaten all the cheese at lunch, so her host mom sliced up gouda cheese hahaha!!! Yeah, but gouda and tacos don’t really mix, so poor host mom went out and bought cheese!!! The tacos were pretty good, though, and I’ve now been recruited to make them for my host family too.
We spent the majority of the night watching Bones on Amy’s laptop. We also stayed up until like 12 AM talking. Which is some crazy stuff, because I’m usually in bed by 9:30. Still suffering from major tiredness here.
Despite the massive rainstorm and Riku’s (host family’s dog) hysterical barking, we woke up pretty early (around 8:30 AM), and lallygagged about in bed for a while (I’d like to mention now that I slept in Minami’s bed, and while going under the covers, I discovered a freaking BASKETBALL in her bed!! Minami is a huuuuge basketball freak). We watched some more Bones, ate pancakes and poptarts for breakfast, and eventually got showered and dressed around noon. Then Amy straightened my hair (STICK straight!) and we had a quick snack before leaving.
We walked to Midori, a huge electronics store, because I am considering buying a new MP3 player…But they’re not very common here because everyone just uses their phones, so all there are is iPods and Sonys, neither of which I really am fond of. Anyway, we first went the wrong way, due to Amy’s host mom’s lack of map drawing skills. And the walk was supposed to be 15 minutes. Instead we spent 1/2 an hour walking there in the boiling hot sun and humidity. It was basically death.
We looked through Midori and a shoe store there before walking all the way back to Amy’s house, once again in the boiling hot sun. We consoled ourselves by the fact that we were getting tans and losing weight. I’m definitely significantly darker on my arms now.
Back at Amy’s house, we had PB&J sandwiches for lunch. I also formally met Takaya, Amy’s host brother….after awkwardly seeing him half naked in the hall. I basically ran into Minami’s room and hid. It was awkward. His English is reeeaallly bad, so we didn’t talk much.
Then Amy’s host mom drove us to Round 1, a bowling and arcade place. We went and did purikura twice, but only got it to my cellphone the second time, because we ran out of time on the first one 
I don’t like purikura time limits.
We took our time walking back to Amy’s house, stopping in a cute little park and getting lost along the way. Got back to her house and watched some more Bones. Then Papa came to pick me up. Oh!! I forgot to mention! My host mother’s car has broken air conditioning, so for her birthday (this Saturday), she got a new MERCEDES BENZ!!!!!! It’s the nicest car eeeeverrr!! I love it. It’s sooo smooth. And new. And beautiful.
So I got driven home in the Mercedes
Exam Week
Leave a Comment
Here in Japan, the students have started exams (I think they’re midterms, not really sure…). This means that me and Sehee get to sit in the exchange student room with Kawamoto-sensei all day! Well, until 11:40, anyway.
Today we watched Edward Scissorhands and then studied for maybe an hour and a half. Tomorrow we have to do a Japanese exam. Friday and Saturday are both movie only days.
After school, I met Amy at Izumigaoka Station and we took the train to Mozu station to check out the kofun (key-shaped burial mounds). Took us a while to find them, due to the fact that we got lost and couldn’t read the maps. Finally we found a map in English, and figured out that we were on the wrong side of the road. So we crossed the street and went to the really big kofun. Well, it was rather uneventful (aside from a random man giving us a paper on the kofun and random paper cranes….thanks?) since you couldn’t go in the kofun. But the trees were still super pretty. What the kofun are is a big key-shaped bunch of trees surrouned by a moat which has a rectangular border of trees which is surrounded by another moat. They’re quite spectacular when viewed from above, but otherwise uninteresting.
After the kofun, we decided to walk around the whole of Daisen Park. This too, was rather uneventful, but it was super nice weather today, so it was a nice walk. I am so tired now.
Tomorrow I am having baking day with Amy (and maybe Sehee) and nothing planned yet for Friday and Saturday, but on Sunday Amy and I are (secretly) checking out Americamura and Namba. Yay!
(Learn more about the kofun here, if you’re a history nerd 
)
Summer’s Coming…
Leave a Comment
I can tell, because here in Japan we are beginning to prepare.
Today Sehee and I were told that there will be two exchange students coming for one month in the summer!! They will be two boys (!) from a pilots high school in America. We’re both super excited for that.
Also, I have an English camp in July. It looks really neat. We’re staying up in a temple on Mount Koya.
Here’s my schedule if you’re interested:
7/30 (Wed)
8:40 Meet at Sakai Higashi Station
9:05 Depart
9:30 Icebreaking on the train
10:33 Arrive at Gokurakubashi; transfer to Koya-san by cable car; bus to the inn
11:00 Arrive at inn
11:10 Opening ceremony & speech
11:30 Go to rooms and make beds
12:00 Lunch
12:45 Leader/tutor meeting
13:00 Schedule info
13:05 Depart for Okunoin cemetary
16:00 Arrive at inn
16:10 Rest & prepare for baths
17:00 Bath time as scheduled (this means onsen…naked….with everyone else)
18:00 Dinner
18:55 Teacher/tutor meeting
19:05 NZ & Japanese culture presentations
20:30 English diary
21:05 Clean up the hall
22:00 Bedtime
7/31 (Thurs)
6:00 Morning temple service (optional)
6:30 Wake up
6:50 Rollcall
7:30 Breakfast
8:30 Japanese & NZ culture presentations preparation
9:00 Japanese & NZ culture presentations
10:30 Leader meeting
10:45 Kamishibai preparation (?)
12:00 Lunch
13:05 Kamishibai preparation (?)
15:05 Walking and shopping
17:00 Bathtime
18:00 Dinner
18:55 Leader/tutor meeting
19:05 Games and songs
20:30 English diary
21:05 Clean up the hall
22:00 Bedtime
8/1 (Fri)
6:00 Morning temple service (optional)
6:30 Wake up
6:50 Rollcall
7:30 Breakfast
8:15~8:55 Cleaning
9:10~10:00 Kamishibai contest
10:00~11:00 Write camp report; hand in camp books
11:00 Recitation contest
11:10 Clean the hall
11:10~11:35 Closing ceremony & speeches
11:35 Lunch
11:55 Pictures
12:05 Bus departs
12:32 Depart Koya-san station
Also, today, Tomomi told me that Hiroki loves me hahah. I was just like, “Oooookay….um….”
Silly boys. I love them. I love my class. Hanabusa and Hiroki are hilarious.
PE Festival
Leave a Comment
At 9:10 this morning, Amy, her host mother, and I went to the Momoyama-dai PE Festival. It was a long, hot time in the sun.
We had our own little tent to sit under (complete with giant blue tarp for everyone to sit on – take your shoes off first please!) that was on the ground of a local school. There were a bunch of different events, but Amy and I only participated in one. And we also missed radio taiso – yesss!
Our event was number 6. Me, Amy, Amy’s host mother, and two other random ladies had to do a relay race called mushizen, which means 1000 legged bug, or something like that? I have no idea, anyway, we had to basically all put our feet into these giant skis and walk together as fast as we could. We got last And the one lady pushed me and I fell into Amy’s host mother and then she fell. That was rude.
After that, Amy and I walked back to her house so Amy could change into shorts and then we walked back to the PE Festival. We just saw the end of some sort of musical chairs variation (hoops instead of chairs) before lunch started. A random guy came and gave me and Amy sketchy sushi and coffee….We were unimpressed and didn’t eat it. Then two random old men came and gave us beer. So we obligingly opened the beer and started to drink it. But then Amy’s host mother came over and confiscated the beer. Oops. And then lectured us on how we can’t drink alcohol (note: my host mother gives me alcohol all the time).
After that, Amy and I hung out on the swingset for a while before going home. We were supposed to be in two more events (egg and spoon type race and some sort of standing thing…I have no idea) but Amy faked sick so we could go home. In reality, we both had minor headaches and were super tired and cranky, most likely due to not enjoying the fact that we didn’t get to choose what events we got in and because of the sun. It was super hot and sunny out, and Amy got sunburned. Luckily, I just got a little color.
We walked back to Amy’s house and watched TV and ate nachos and icecream. It was good. Then, around 3:30 we went to Komyoike and hit up the 100 yen shop and purikura machines. We still haven’t quite figured out the purikura. We kind of press buttons and hope its the right thing, because we can’t understand a thing.
PIEE Meeting
Leave a Comment
Today I went with Amy & her host mom with my host mom to Umeda (its a part of Osaka city) for a PIEE meeting. We had to take the train and the subway, and it took about an hour to get there.
We were in this random building, up on the 16th floor. A bunch of other parents and people were there. In all, there were six of us exchangers there. Me, Amy, Luke, Jeanti, Alex, and Marina. Luke and Jeanti are both Aussies who were from the orientation in Tokyo in March. Alex and Marina have already been here for 9 months. Marina is from Germany and Alex is actually from Ottawa too.
After arriving, we were met by EL1 (Evil Lady One) and taken to a “cafeteria” AKA a restaurant, where we basically talked for an hour or so. It was fun to catch up with Luke and Jeanti. Then EL1 made us go over rules again (bed time, laundry, curfew, computer, etc….rather silly as I have no rules!). It was boring. I despise her.
After eating (most people ordered icecream; I ate nothing), we went back across the street and back up to the 16th floor. But the parents hadn’t finished their meeting yet, so EL1 told us to roam around and be back in 20 minutes. So the 6 of us all went back downstairs. Amy and I decided we were going to go and get some fresh air (Alex responded to this with: “Well I’M not responsible for you if you get lost!”) and wandered around for a bit. We came back to the elevator, and everyone else was still there, so we went back up. Turns out they STILL weren’t done in there, so we stood around in the hall talking for a while. And basically Luke made my day:
“Man, maybe this sounds a little bit gay, but if I were a girl, I’d totally do Japanese boys. They’re hot!”
HAHAHAHAHA. I love that kid so so much. He also admitted to sucking at sports and spending all his time on youtube. Alex gave him constant lectures about this.
FINALLY, we could go in. We all sat in the front row, and the parents behind us. Then there was a speech contest, which was rather silly because only Alex and Marina could really compete. The rest of us just did self introductions. Marina came in first, Alex second, Luke third, Jeanti fourth, and me and Amy tied for fifth. We got prizes, which were pretty dumb, but included yummy Japanese chocolate and fans.
After that, we took the subway and the train back with Ono-San and some random lady. I was really proud of myself for having a five-minute conversation with the random lady, all in Japanese. Of course, she was speaking really slowly, but still! I am proud.
Then me and Amy got off the train at Izumigaoka. We spent some time exploring the station and ate hamburgers at Lotteria. After that, we went and did purikura. They came out pretty epic. Then we took the train to Toga and walked back through the park to Amy’s house, where we watched TV and pasted purikura in our purikura books. At around 9:15, Amy’s host father took me to the station, and I then took the train and the bus home to Mizukidai….by myself. It was semi-scary, and I am always the last one on the bus and it was all dark out. But I did it! And Mama was waiting there to meet me as I got off the bus.
WOO-YOO!
3 Comments
So today in Korean class, Sehee kept singing this song. So finally I was like, “WHAT IS THAT?!?!” and it turns out she was singing a song about milk. It’s rather catchy, actually, and apparently really popular in Korea right now.
Listen!
