It's soooo cold!! To get an idea, I could see my breath...INSIDE MY HOUSE! It reached 0'C outside this week and there was frost everywhere! So beautiful :3
My attire for commuting to school is now:
•long sleeved top
•blouse
•sweater
•blazer
•coat
•gloves, ear muffs, muffler, stockings
I never thought you could actually experience pain from the cold >.< my hands hurt so much when I forget my gloves and when I get home and jump in my regular 42'C bath (loveeeee bath times!!! :D ) it feels more like I'm in a boiling hot kettle.
Luckly it's been raining lately so the temperature hasn't gone that low again even though it surely will by January. I'm now saying "10'C, that's a nice warm day" >.< who'd have thought xD Id like to see snow ^^ no doubts about that :D
There's tonneeesss of things that have happened (this is what I get when I don't write regularly :/)
In Abacus related news:
I passed my abacus level 3 exam :) I wasn't ready to pass level 2 even though my last practice test went really well. I had lots of nerves -_- I've been working on that.
I had a stage performance with my club in Fukuoka city where we were on stage demonstrating abacus to a room full of people. It went quite well actually and it wasn't boring like most people back home would probably think. We had to do 普通計算 (normal sums, +, -, x, / ), 読暗算 (a series of read aloud numbers we had to plus and minus together in our heads), 暗算 (visably seen numbers calculated in our heads), お土産算 (sums done on a giant novelty abacus), 読み上げ算 (same as 読暗算 but done on abacus) and フラッシュ暗算(numbers flashed on a screen which you must calculate in your head). Then they showed some short video clips of a large abacus competition where people were doing 暗算 which had numbers in their 100 millions !!
The day was really enjoyable. I had to get up and do an interview where they asked me why I joined the club etc ^^ also I had to do a 読み上げ算 but it was read aloud in English by my friend Haruka :D didn't screw up, yesss!
Just recently I had my 珠算大会 (abacus competition). I sucked so bad xD got up at 6am, sensei drove us to 北九州 where we started the competition at 9 and ended at 4:30ish.
It. Was. Incredible!!!
There were primary, middle and high school students as well as uni students. One of the primary kids (she must have been about 9 years old) was a 10 だん!! For anyone who doesn't know, that's the highest possible level...ever! She was the best there!! She can calculate 15, 3 digit numbers in 3.4 seconds as they flash one by one on the screen! Then she could minus and plus numbers read to her at top speed in the 100 millions in her head and come out perfect every time!!! She's 9!!!!!!!
Was brilliant!
Afterwards we went to eat pudding and icecream at Mini-stop thanks to sensei <3 caught a bus home which took two hours. Slept all the way thank god xD school was the next day -_-
In other news...
I travelled to Tenjin with mo-chan for a radio interview at Love FM. We were interviewed (LIVE) about the upcoming AFS event; yes, in Japanese. Wow! We were so nervous before hand wondering whether we'd embarras ourselves or not. Got into the studio, no worries. Went smoothly, we talked, we joked, we laughed. It really was a great experience. The lady was impressed too and not a single hiccup, total confidence. <3 of course to celebrate we were treated to milkshakes and a look at the early Christmas lights around the city ^^
The "AFS Day in 福岡", which we talked about on the radio, was a fabulous day! We got to see a lot of our exchange student friends and made some more too. Was great catching up with everyone!! :D that wasn't the main purpose of the event though :P we had to do a stage performance and a short interview. It sucked that we couldn't spend longer together :/ I think everyone wanted to have more time after the event but there were people who had to travel hours home by bus. Was fantastic seeing my friends nonetheless ♥
JLPT...
It's been and gone. Yay!!! It's over!!! In the week before the test I stayed at my Japanese tutors house and did some study. The test day was stressful before the test even began!! Mo-chan came over to study in the morning, we decided to look at magazines instead with Maimi. Then we caught a train to Kurume where we met up with Diane and Paula. There was one bus to the uni which would get us there in time before the doors closed. That sent our hearts racing since we were paranoid we would surely miss it xD got there in the end!
The test itself wasn't that bad. I took N3 and I knew my grammar would let me down. Kanji and listening were easy enough I thought. For anyone taking next years N3, buy a good kanji book that's aimed at both N3/N2. The kanji that was in my test I at least recognised all of it from the one book I studied which was good. I wasn't nervous at all surpringly. I usually freak out before tests though that day I felt fine. If I fail it's because of grammar but at least I know what to study for next year :)
I've been to the movies again :) went to see Harry Potter after the JLPT with the mates who sat the test. OMG IT WAS AWESOME!!! I'm so excited for part || !! when the snake jumped out I got scared nearly to death xD was such a great movie!!! On Friday I'm going to see Tron with some friends and I'm pretty pumped! :D
Recently I went with my family to a mountain side and we looked at the autumn leaves. So beautiful !! The colours were spectacular ! We climbed a lot, A LOT of stairs. At the top were a few temples and shrines and I prayed there and paied for my fortune. It's looking very good and so I tied it to sone string and went to the temple and prayed that it'd come true. Walked for some more and we found a smaller shrine for women who couldn't breast feed their babies. Hanging beside the shrine was a wall covered in breasts women made as an offering in the hope that they could produce milk. It took me by surprise at first but when you think about it, it's quite sad.
It's so cold that it snowed yesterday!! I was so excited. This was my first time ever seeing it and sensei had told me it was expected to fall sometime in the next few days. Luckly it snowed at lunch time so I grabbed my friends and ran outside xDD couldn't stop giggling like a lunatic. I was that pumped! I always thought snow was small, soft and somewhat star-shaped. This snow was kinda big and looked like the ice-buildup you get on the top of the freezer. Can't wait to it snows enough so it blankets everything :D!!
School finishes soon and then I have Okinawa, Korea and New Years to look forward to. But I'll leave this for my next blog.
No regrets!
Live for the moment!
K x
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Tips/advice before going to japan
The last two months are upon us and one thing there isn't enough of is time. This exchange really has been the best experience of my life and luckily for me the good times have far outweighed the bad.
I'm not going to lie, you will feel at times (hopefully few :) ) that you are under pressure and wanting to have a moment to compose yourself, maybe even contemplating of going home, but you just have to push through. The next day will get better if you make it so. Believe me, you want everyday to be better than the last to get the most out of this marvellous time abroad.
Before you leave:
I came on scholarship so for almost half a year I was in the dark wondering if at all I was going away. From what I know from people who pay their way through, it's a lot less of a surprise but nonetheless exciting!! They do have the upperhand with preparing not just packing but also preparing mentally (I'll come to that later).
Either way, it's completely sane to run home everyday from school and check the mail box, emails, AFS account and whatever other sources of telecommunication you own for any possible "new information" from AFS/your exchange student company. Hehe, I did this. Everyday, perhaps twice...or more.
So when you finally get the letter of approval and you finished not-keeping-still you're faced with the questions:
•what do I pack?
•what do I do about the language/cultural differences?
•can I leave my family and friends behind?
And a verity of others.
Packing really depends on where you're placed so until you find that out there's no point worrying. Obviously the people who get placed in Hokkaido will have a different wardrobe to those living in Okinawa. You will be going in Spring however so do take something warm as their Spring is quite cool. Do pack light! A couple pairs of jeans, a weeks worth of shirts, shorts, nice pair of going out clothes, two pairs of shoes and the necessities.
AND DONT FORGET THE SOUVIENERS!! xD you'll be giving a lot of them away to EVERYONE!! anything is good. Doesn't have to be expensive. Something that screams where ever you're from and they'll love it.
It really is important to prepare mentally before you go away. You'll be leaving everything and everyone you know behind for a long time. Go through with your family what support you have, go to the camps organized by the exchange student organisation, read up about the culture and language and discuss money, what you would do if a family member got sick or passed away...be realistic, you don't want to be in the country and have to make a split second decision over the phone to your parents.
Language....it does help to learn at least your greetings, pleases and thankyous before you leave. I have friends here who have come with absolutely no Japanese skills what so ever and with a bit of study they can easily communicate with friends and family by the half way mark without much difficulty. Don't let the language put you off from going, you WILL pick It up
Hmm... I think that's about it. Do make contact with your host family :) I contacted my on skype. Keep continuing to ask me questions and I'll do another one of these.
No regrets!
Live for the moment!
K x
I'm not going to lie, you will feel at times (hopefully few :) ) that you are under pressure and wanting to have a moment to compose yourself, maybe even contemplating of going home, but you just have to push through. The next day will get better if you make it so. Believe me, you want everyday to be better than the last to get the most out of this marvellous time abroad.
Before you leave:
I came on scholarship so for almost half a year I was in the dark wondering if at all I was going away. From what I know from people who pay their way through, it's a lot less of a surprise but nonetheless exciting!! They do have the upperhand with preparing not just packing but also preparing mentally (I'll come to that later).
Either way, it's completely sane to run home everyday from school and check the mail box, emails, AFS account and whatever other sources of telecommunication you own for any possible "new information" from AFS/your exchange student company. Hehe, I did this. Everyday, perhaps twice...or more.
So when you finally get the letter of approval and you finished not-keeping-still you're faced with the questions:
•what do I pack?
•what do I do about the language/cultural differences?
•can I leave my family and friends behind?
And a verity of others.
Packing really depends on where you're placed so until you find that out there's no point worrying. Obviously the people who get placed in Hokkaido will have a different wardrobe to those living in Okinawa. You will be going in Spring however so do take something warm as their Spring is quite cool. Do pack light! A couple pairs of jeans, a weeks worth of shirts, shorts, nice pair of going out clothes, two pairs of shoes and the necessities.
AND DONT FORGET THE SOUVIENERS!! xD you'll be giving a lot of them away to EVERYONE!! anything is good. Doesn't have to be expensive. Something that screams where ever you're from and they'll love it.
It really is important to prepare mentally before you go away. You'll be leaving everything and everyone you know behind for a long time. Go through with your family what support you have, go to the camps organized by the exchange student organisation, read up about the culture and language and discuss money, what you would do if a family member got sick or passed away...be realistic, you don't want to be in the country and have to make a split second decision over the phone to your parents.
Language....it does help to learn at least your greetings, pleases and thankyous before you leave. I have friends here who have come with absolutely no Japanese skills what so ever and with a bit of study they can easily communicate with friends and family by the half way mark without much difficulty. Don't let the language put you off from going, you WILL pick It up
Hmm... I think that's about it. Do make contact with your host family :) I contacted my on skype. Keep continuing to ask me questions and I'll do another one of these.
No regrets!
Live for the moment!
K x
Monday, October 25, 2010
I've been lazy...forgive me
(I half wrote this 20 days ago so pay no attention to dates xD)
It's so fricken cold!!
Well, it's moderately cool but the sudden temperature drop is insane!
So I'm experiencing my first REAL Autumn this year. Yes Queensland, I don't consider your "Autumn" as a season...more like a shift from "hot" to "slightly less hot". In our garden we have one tree already that's changing colours and it's so beautiful <3 oh how I love Autumn!!
Last week was fantastic! It was a short one because we had two holidays.
On the Thursday I went to Tai-chans house for a BBQ and met up with the other exchange students there. Us and a group of Japanese girls we had met before pretty much sat on crates in the yard and talked all night. At around 9ish the fireworks began at a nearby park and we could see them from the yard. They were sweet as! Apart from the regular fireworks there were shapes like hearts, smiley faces, spirals and stars.
On the Saturday a whole herd of jr. High school students rocked up bright and early to have a look at the school so they may decide their high school for next year. For two hours we pretended to study xD so of course everyone got out their mangas and shifted our desks close so that we could all talk. Three people are interested in joining the abacus club next year so woot!
Anyway, because of that tedious day we got Monday off. Yippieeeee! Though I slept in too late :( I was supposed to meet my friend in Fukuoka city and ended up making her wait for an extra hour. Sorry Diane!! <3 anyway, she forgave me (yay) and we went to Cannel City which is basically this gianormous shopping centre with cannels running through it. We went to the top floor and ate ramen at "The Ramen Station" (I had been craving ramen for a few days so we went straight to lunch). TRS = a Considerable section of the floor dedicated to small ramen stalls. There, there was the most expensive ramen I've ever seen but we managed to find a fairly cheap one after a bit of looking (¥600)
After lunch we decided to catch a movie. Inception is the ultimate mind screw of a movie. I really enjoyed it. I recommend it to anyone. I also got some Japanese practice in by reading the subtitles xD
A side note: Japanese movie theatre popcorn is disgustingly big. It's like the size of the large popcorn you see in American movies...I'm surprised that I saw two people who could finish it and wash it down with a monster sized coke.
--
Okay recently
--
I'm currently on a bus off to Kumamoto Ken for my schools baseball game. We're in the regional finals before we go on to nationals! This means however that I had to wake up at 6am on a Saturday to catch the bus the school hired. So, so, so sleepy. After the two hour trip back home I have soroban club until 7:30. [just came back from the game. We lost 8 : 5...many sad faces to be had :( ]
The day has come! Well...tomorrow. I've got my abacus exam and am super nervous. I've now become fast enough to potentially pass; it's the fact that I make tiny errors which let me down. Excited and nervous so I'll try and get a decent sleep :P
Some weeks ago I went to Yame for a sports festival with AFS but (oh no :P) it was raining and so Camila, Diane and I decided to go to Onsen, karaoke, joyful and watch horror movies instead xD was a really great day (none of us were that keen to exercise that day anyway hehe). The movie "Pulse" is freaky! It's such a dark movie. You know what's going to jump out from behind the door but you scream with surprise anyway. So yeah, that's a scary movie for all you technology nerds and wifi addicts xD
Last week we had a fire drill. That involved standing out in the hot sun in our winter uniform watching people light the ground on fire then putting it out. It was kinda cool because it was a decent size fuel fire and some students got to put it out.
During exam block I stayed over my tutors house for a night which was a lot of fun. She was expecting guests so we both made a big dinner. I made beef strog, mash potato and bread and butter pudding :3 there were also some other meals that she prepared which were delicious. So that night we had four sensei's in the house. My tutor, her husband, his boss and the boss' wife (all three are doctors). They had some really interesting stories to tell and because my tutor was first aquainted with them that night, they all used teinei (very polite language) so I got some keigo practice too xD I was so proud I could understand most of what they were saying and they were impressed that I got their jokes xD
On the 31st all the exchange students are going Mikan (jap orange) picking. So keen xD
I think I go to the tuck shop everyday with my friends now. The food is so cheap and so gooood. I usually buy "fried chicken bread" (I would type in Japanese but めんどくさい xD) I love getting the udon. On thursdays we have "plate udon" and it's a lot like "champon". Sooo cheap. Soooo tastey.
And yet I haven't gained weight...
I'm studying a whole lot more now. I've finished a grammar book in a few weeks and by late November I will have learned 365 new kanji (starting from this week). There may be hope in passing the JLPT but it's not a major issue anymore. There's more to life than just studying. You can study anywhere in the world. I only have one chance to "live" and "experience life" here. So I consider that more important than a slip of paper verifying my profiencey (that sounds like I'm "giving up" but that's not the case) there's more to life than studying xD
There's a Cake shop on the way to school and it has all the holidays covered. For the last 4 months it's had Halloween decorations hanging outside with a giant blow up pumpkin next to the door. And inside it has Santa and a christmas Tree. It's so obsurd xD
Last note, my principal is so cute xD he's got a lisp so anyone who knows Japanese will understand that any conversation will involve an "S" sound. ~masu etc. I feel sorry for him because people sometimes laugh at assembly but it's super cute xD
---
I'll promise to write more regularly...perhaps xD
No regrets!
Live for the moment!
It's so fricken cold!!
Well, it's moderately cool but the sudden temperature drop is insane!
So I'm experiencing my first REAL Autumn this year. Yes Queensland, I don't consider your "Autumn" as a season...more like a shift from "hot" to "slightly less hot". In our garden we have one tree already that's changing colours and it's so beautiful <3 oh how I love Autumn!!
Last week was fantastic! It was a short one because we had two holidays.
On the Thursday I went to Tai-chans house for a BBQ and met up with the other exchange students there. Us and a group of Japanese girls we had met before pretty much sat on crates in the yard and talked all night. At around 9ish the fireworks began at a nearby park and we could see them from the yard. They were sweet as! Apart from the regular fireworks there were shapes like hearts, smiley faces, spirals and stars.
On the Saturday a whole herd of jr. High school students rocked up bright and early to have a look at the school so they may decide their high school for next year. For two hours we pretended to study xD so of course everyone got out their mangas and shifted our desks close so that we could all talk. Three people are interested in joining the abacus club next year so woot!
Anyway, because of that tedious day we got Monday off. Yippieeeee! Though I slept in too late :( I was supposed to meet my friend in Fukuoka city and ended up making her wait for an extra hour. Sorry Diane!! <3 anyway, she forgave me (yay) and we went to Cannel City which is basically this gianormous shopping centre with cannels running through it. We went to the top floor and ate ramen at "The Ramen Station" (I had been craving ramen for a few days so we went straight to lunch). TRS = a Considerable section of the floor dedicated to small ramen stalls. There, there was the most expensive ramen I've ever seen but we managed to find a fairly cheap one after a bit of looking (¥600)
After lunch we decided to catch a movie. Inception is the ultimate mind screw of a movie. I really enjoyed it. I recommend it to anyone. I also got some Japanese practice in by reading the subtitles xD
A side note: Japanese movie theatre popcorn is disgustingly big. It's like the size of the large popcorn you see in American movies...I'm surprised that I saw two people who could finish it and wash it down with a monster sized coke.
--
Okay recently
--
I'm currently on a bus off to Kumamoto Ken for my schools baseball game. We're in the regional finals before we go on to nationals! This means however that I had to wake up at 6am on a Saturday to catch the bus the school hired. So, so, so sleepy. After the two hour trip back home I have soroban club until 7:30. [just came back from the game. We lost 8 : 5...many sad faces to be had :( ]
The day has come! Well...tomorrow. I've got my abacus exam and am super nervous. I've now become fast enough to potentially pass; it's the fact that I make tiny errors which let me down. Excited and nervous so I'll try and get a decent sleep :P
Some weeks ago I went to Yame for a sports festival with AFS but (oh no :P) it was raining and so Camila, Diane and I decided to go to Onsen, karaoke, joyful and watch horror movies instead xD was a really great day (none of us were that keen to exercise that day anyway hehe). The movie "Pulse" is freaky! It's such a dark movie. You know what's going to jump out from behind the door but you scream with surprise anyway. So yeah, that's a scary movie for all you technology nerds and wifi addicts xD
Last week we had a fire drill. That involved standing out in the hot sun in our winter uniform watching people light the ground on fire then putting it out. It was kinda cool because it was a decent size fuel fire and some students got to put it out.
During exam block I stayed over my tutors house for a night which was a lot of fun. She was expecting guests so we both made a big dinner. I made beef strog, mash potato and bread and butter pudding :3 there were also some other meals that she prepared which were delicious. So that night we had four sensei's in the house. My tutor, her husband, his boss and the boss' wife (all three are doctors). They had some really interesting stories to tell and because my tutor was first aquainted with them that night, they all used teinei (very polite language) so I got some keigo practice too xD I was so proud I could understand most of what they were saying and they were impressed that I got their jokes xD
On the 31st all the exchange students are going Mikan (jap orange) picking. So keen xD
I think I go to the tuck shop everyday with my friends now. The food is so cheap and so gooood. I usually buy "fried chicken bread" (I would type in Japanese but めんどくさい xD) I love getting the udon. On thursdays we have "plate udon" and it's a lot like "champon". Sooo cheap. Soooo tastey.
And yet I haven't gained weight...
I'm studying a whole lot more now. I've finished a grammar book in a few weeks and by late November I will have learned 365 new kanji (starting from this week). There may be hope in passing the JLPT but it's not a major issue anymore. There's more to life than just studying. You can study anywhere in the world. I only have one chance to "live" and "experience life" here. So I consider that more important than a slip of paper verifying my profiencey (that sounds like I'm "giving up" but that's not the case) there's more to life than studying xD
There's a Cake shop on the way to school and it has all the holidays covered. For the last 4 months it's had Halloween decorations hanging outside with a giant blow up pumpkin next to the door. And inside it has Santa and a christmas Tree. It's so obsurd xD
Last note, my principal is so cute xD he's got a lisp so anyone who knows Japanese will understand that any conversation will involve an "S" sound. ~masu etc. I feel sorry for him because people sometimes laugh at assembly but it's super cute xD
---
I'll promise to write more regularly...perhaps xD
No regrets!
Live for the moment!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
I have realised...
1. I've only walked outside in bare feet three times since being in Japan. That includes out in the yard.
2. I'm extremely slack with these blogs.
3. I've lost two kilos :D but then every so often I'll lose/put on 400g. Stupid bathroom scales! I blame it on all the muscle I'm developing from being so active...well that's my excuse anyway haha.
4. When I went on my family vaction to the onsens I saw an emu farm. Blew my mind. Seriously? They eat emus here? Lol. So yeah I completely spazzed out haha and we stopped and had a look. They had spray painted bums so perhaps they were the ones going to get the chop?
5. Onsen vacation was sooo much fun! We stayed at a traditional style Japanese inn and whilst we were there we could go in these small one/two people onsens and just relax. All in all I think I went to 4 different ones. Soooo relaxed. My skin was incredibly soft afterwards. Probably cooked my insides. But it was amazing! The food was gorgeous. Everything was fresh and just delicious. Coming home was also a lot of fun. We stopped by a deer farm which had deer (obviously) but also a trillion trees cut to make them look like birds, elephants, dinosaurs...it was fantastic! Ate corn :3 we also went to some botanical gardens which stretched out as far as you could see with such an array of colourful flowers.
6. Soroban is a lot of hard work. I went to another camp which was great, but I got sick and was vomiting everywhere (pleasent). I'm glad I have friends looking after me though :3 I have 5 exams in the next 3 months. My final exams will be 1kyuu (the highest level for kyuu and the level before you start dans...think of karate and getting your black belt and then a white dan comes next. Same type of leveling)
7. Bunkasai is super duper fun!!! But omg, it must have been close to 40'C and our stall was outside. But wooooow!!! Bunkasai is the cultural festival schools host every year. Our class was selling this really high quality soap which left your skin feeling ii kimochi!! Approx. 23$ a piece but we sold out fast! There was also a whole lot of other stalls like handmade bracelets, phone accesories, fans, food, a stage which had taiko drum performances, bands, dances, plays, art displays, photo displays....it was just a great day!!! I helped out our team (I was red block) ["AKB 235" PRIDE!!!! <3] by doing block symbol which was setting up the grand display, organising booklets (omg, we must have made over 1000 booklets in one afternoon, legends!!) and other bits and pieces. So many people from the public came too so with all these people it was so worth everything. Fantastic!!! :D
8. Gashou is fun, but so very, very, very tiring. Gashou is chorus and we had that last Sunday. Even though it was just a chorus competition solely within our school, practice was taken quite seriously and was intense hardcore. We gave up 3 hours of our morning everyday to practice for the competition. Our group had sign language too and this really helped me remember the lyrics. When the day of our competition came, all those hours of practice was completely worth it! The day was magnificant! It started off with a play performed by the drama club which noooobody understood the meaning of. All I caught on was that it was about cicadas and people stabbing each other. Even my friends didn't know what it was about haha. Then there were original plays and more taiko drum performances. So that was followed by the brass band club which was terrific! No shame in Japan if you belong to the band. They are elite! And the drummers...well ;) not only did they play tremendously but they didn't look too bad either HAWHAWHAW 8D. The guy who was playing the triangle far outweighed the rest though. He was INTENSE! He rocked that triangle! Also...he was dressed as a yellow rabbit with sunnies which made my day. Next was the choir who's voices are seriously from heaven. They were beautiful <3...then came us! Eeep! I was so nervous but we did well xD
9. No matter how tired you are after going to gashou, go out with your friends and play games at the arcade and take purikura because that is just wayyy to much fun to miss out on!
10. My host sister Aimi is the best! She went to Aus for a holiday and brought back all these goodies like ANZAC biscuits, fudge, praise mayo, timtams...I made a smashing potato salad with the aussie mayo which my family favours over their Japanese mayo. And I ate Timtams the proper way. Biting both ends and sucking milk through the holes. Got some funny looks but they soon will learn the ways hehe.
11. I *heart* my host dad <3. He bought these two huge Aussie steaks for dinner last night. Tasted devineeee!
12. I don't need glasses. Apparently due to all this squinting at my soroban I've just got strained/tired eyes. Phewww. I thought I was going blind. No worries. I have perfect vision. Also a bonus, the doctor didn't even charge me the 3300¥ bill. How nice is he? :D
13. I'm half way. Another 5 months to go. Where is all this time?
14. I love my family in Aus so much. Being away for 5 months has really made me appreciate them and love them even more (if that is possible). I can't thank you enough for all your support and encouragement. I love you to no end. Thank you for everything.
K x
Live for the moment!
No regrets!
2. I'm extremely slack with these blogs.
3. I've lost two kilos :D but then every so often I'll lose/put on 400g. Stupid bathroom scales! I blame it on all the muscle I'm developing from being so active...well that's my excuse anyway haha.
4. When I went on my family vaction to the onsens I saw an emu farm. Blew my mind. Seriously? They eat emus here? Lol. So yeah I completely spazzed out haha and we stopped and had a look. They had spray painted bums so perhaps they were the ones going to get the chop?
5. Onsen vacation was sooo much fun! We stayed at a traditional style Japanese inn and whilst we were there we could go in these small one/two people onsens and just relax. All in all I think I went to 4 different ones. Soooo relaxed. My skin was incredibly soft afterwards. Probably cooked my insides. But it was amazing! The food was gorgeous. Everything was fresh and just delicious. Coming home was also a lot of fun. We stopped by a deer farm which had deer (obviously) but also a trillion trees cut to make them look like birds, elephants, dinosaurs...it was fantastic! Ate corn :3 we also went to some botanical gardens which stretched out as far as you could see with such an array of colourful flowers.
6. Soroban is a lot of hard work. I went to another camp which was great, but I got sick and was vomiting everywhere (pleasent). I'm glad I have friends looking after me though :3 I have 5 exams in the next 3 months. My final exams will be 1kyuu (the highest level for kyuu and the level before you start dans...think of karate and getting your black belt and then a white dan comes next. Same type of leveling)
7. Bunkasai is super duper fun!!! But omg, it must have been close to 40'C and our stall was outside. But wooooow!!! Bunkasai is the cultural festival schools host every year. Our class was selling this really high quality soap which left your skin feeling ii kimochi!! Approx. 23$ a piece but we sold out fast! There was also a whole lot of other stalls like handmade bracelets, phone accesories, fans, food, a stage which had taiko drum performances, bands, dances, plays, art displays, photo displays....it was just a great day!!! I helped out our team (I was red block) ["AKB 235" PRIDE!!!! <3] by doing block symbol which was setting up the grand display, organising booklets (omg, we must have made over 1000 booklets in one afternoon, legends!!) and other bits and pieces. So many people from the public came too so with all these people it was so worth everything. Fantastic!!! :D
8. Gashou is fun, but so very, very, very tiring. Gashou is chorus and we had that last Sunday. Even though it was just a chorus competition solely within our school, practice was taken quite seriously and was intense hardcore. We gave up 3 hours of our morning everyday to practice for the competition. Our group had sign language too and this really helped me remember the lyrics. When the day of our competition came, all those hours of practice was completely worth it! The day was magnificant! It started off with a play performed by the drama club which noooobody understood the meaning of. All I caught on was that it was about cicadas and people stabbing each other. Even my friends didn't know what it was about haha. Then there were original plays and more taiko drum performances. So that was followed by the brass band club which was terrific! No shame in Japan if you belong to the band. They are elite! And the drummers...well ;) not only did they play tremendously but they didn't look too bad either HAWHAWHAW 8D. The guy who was playing the triangle far outweighed the rest though. He was INTENSE! He rocked that triangle! Also...he was dressed as a yellow rabbit with sunnies which made my day. Next was the choir who's voices are seriously from heaven. They were beautiful <3...then came us! Eeep! I was so nervous but we did well xD
9. No matter how tired you are after going to gashou, go out with your friends and play games at the arcade and take purikura because that is just wayyy to much fun to miss out on!
10. My host sister Aimi is the best! She went to Aus for a holiday and brought back all these goodies like ANZAC biscuits, fudge, praise mayo, timtams...I made a smashing potato salad with the aussie mayo which my family favours over their Japanese mayo. And I ate Timtams the proper way. Biting both ends and sucking milk through the holes. Got some funny looks but they soon will learn the ways hehe.
11. I *heart* my host dad <3. He bought these two huge Aussie steaks for dinner last night. Tasted devineeee!
12. I don't need glasses. Apparently due to all this squinting at my soroban I've just got strained/tired eyes. Phewww. I thought I was going blind. No worries. I have perfect vision. Also a bonus, the doctor didn't even charge me the 3300¥ bill. How nice is he? :D
13. I'm half way. Another 5 months to go. Where is all this time?
14. I love my family in Aus so much. Being away for 5 months has really made me appreciate them and love them even more (if that is possible). I can't thank you enough for all your support and encouragement. I love you to no end. Thank you for everything.
K x
Live for the moment!
No regrets!
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Miyasaki!
The day after I returned home Diane and myself went to Tai-chans takoyaki party and later hanabi. We made takoyaki which tasted soooo good when you make it yourself. His mum also prepared a huge feast where I ate jellyfish xD hehe
Hanabi was awesome! The fireworks were huge and we sat right under them so they appeared even closer! The first thing we all did was go to the kingyou scoop (goldfish scoop) where we had to catch 6 fish with paper scoops. It was difficult since they can obviously desinergrate but I managed to catch them all and gave them to Tai-chans mum for a present. There was also a man who proposed to his love of 10 years on a stage which was just adorable. She said yes!!! So there were heart shaped fireworks. Too cute!!
The next day Diane, myself and the rest of Kyuushu chapter made their way down to Miyasaki for our last ever orentation ):
Just put 30 odd exchange students together and you have a killer 3 days!
Miyasaki is so beautiful. There's so many mountains and trees and to get there you have to pass through 23 tunnels that run through the mountains. The spot we had with our cabins is more or less secluded so it really was like a mini vacation.
I got to meet up with the friends I made in Osaka plus got to know a whole lot more. Did tonnes of great things.
First night was a BBQ and basically taking it easy talking with everyone.
Second day was an early morning and a then off to the university where we had to listen to speeches for 6 hours in Japanese. That part was not fun. So we entertained ourselves half way through by sleeping, hangman etc. Got back and smashed watermelons with sticks and did hanabi!
Last full day in Miyasaki we went back to the uni and did some group volunteering activities. My group went to Aya Chou and made pottery and went around the mountains looking at plants.
Fun fact #1: onibasu = lillypad
Though for me I got a major headache when we were about to do pottery so I slept With Natasha (who was also sick) in a school nurses car.
Alex (an Aussie!) made science stuff in his group so he filled a garbage bag full of slime and we mixed it up in his bath. Afterwards, of course, we had a slim war and played with it.
Leaving sucked big time. We went to a yakitori all you can eat resturant and ate. Afterwards we had to say goodbye. After having 3 days of proper conversations with people it was hard to come back to my limited speaking world. Hence, I felt a tad miserable for a day or two.
All good now though!! :3
So yeah that's about it.
I'll write a blog about our family trip away next time.
Oh, and a shout out to my darling Aunt who reads my blogs. Love you and missing you <3 Give a hug to those cousins of mine for me xoxo
No regrets! Live for the moment!!
K x
Hanabi was awesome! The fireworks were huge and we sat right under them so they appeared even closer! The first thing we all did was go to the kingyou scoop (goldfish scoop) where we had to catch 6 fish with paper scoops. It was difficult since they can obviously desinergrate but I managed to catch them all and gave them to Tai-chans mum for a present. There was also a man who proposed to his love of 10 years on a stage which was just adorable. She said yes!!! So there were heart shaped fireworks. Too cute!!
The next day Diane, myself and the rest of Kyuushu chapter made their way down to Miyasaki for our last ever orentation ):
Just put 30 odd exchange students together and you have a killer 3 days!
Miyasaki is so beautiful. There's so many mountains and trees and to get there you have to pass through 23 tunnels that run through the mountains. The spot we had with our cabins is more or less secluded so it really was like a mini vacation.
I got to meet up with the friends I made in Osaka plus got to know a whole lot more. Did tonnes of great things.
First night was a BBQ and basically taking it easy talking with everyone.
Second day was an early morning and a then off to the university where we had to listen to speeches for 6 hours in Japanese. That part was not fun. So we entertained ourselves half way through by sleeping, hangman etc. Got back and smashed watermelons with sticks and did hanabi!
Last full day in Miyasaki we went back to the uni and did some group volunteering activities. My group went to Aya Chou and made pottery and went around the mountains looking at plants.
Fun fact #1: onibasu = lillypad
Though for me I got a major headache when we were about to do pottery so I slept With Natasha (who was also sick) in a school nurses car.
Alex (an Aussie!) made science stuff in his group so he filled a garbage bag full of slime and we mixed it up in his bath. Afterwards, of course, we had a slim war and played with it.
Leaving sucked big time. We went to a yakitori all you can eat resturant and ate. Afterwards we had to say goodbye. After having 3 days of proper conversations with people it was hard to come back to my limited speaking world. Hence, I felt a tad miserable for a day or two.
All good now though!! :3
So yeah that's about it.
I'll write a blog about our family trip away next time.
Oh, and a shout out to my darling Aunt who reads my blogs. Love you and missing you <3 Give a hug to those cousins of mine for me xoxo
No regrets! Live for the moment!!
K x
Monday, August 9, 2010
Matsuura and a bunch of other things
I'm going to try and stay cronological so bear with me with this update. Tonnes of stuff has happened and I think I'll write two blogs to separate my two trips: Matsuura and before that then Miyasaki and after.
So almost 3 weeks ago school finished and before it did we had "Class Match" where our homeroom classes compete in sports matches within our year level for some fun. I put my name down for dodgeball and a sub for basketball.
O_O dodgeball is so intense here.
We have these little girls who have arms that can throw balls from one side of the court to the other and still knock the air out of you. We played on the baseball teams work-out area which has a dirt floor so no one stayed clean. My friends tail bone got hurt and at least 5 people walked away with fractured fingers. It didn't help me much that Japanese dodgeball rules are different to the ones I'm used to either. Be afraid when you hear screams of "THE KNEEEEEEES!" you know it means business when they say that ._.
Also on that day it rained like anything. There was seriously no need for an umbrella since we got soaked anyway. The good thing about the rain is that the next day it rained so much the trains were delayed and Maimi and I got a day off :3
--
Because I've proved how cool I am, I like to further enunciate that by staying the night at school with my club and practice soroban from 7:40am~10:40pm for 3 days. XD
Seriously, soroban was sooo much fun! Despite getting up super early everyday, I really enjoyed improving my speed etc I've also moved up with the calculator. I'm now at the same level as the best calculator user in my club though obviously no where near his speed and ability to read the questions :P (Hes also no.1 in the Kyuushu island prefecture).
Just a side note: it's incredibly hard to shower when your classmates aren't even trying to hide the fact that they're watching you undress xP
--
I went to my first hanabi (fireworks) in Japan!! I went with Tai-chan, his friend and wife and Leonardo (Italian exchange student). Tai-chan bought me a fan and him and Leonardo got dressed up in yukatas.
The hanabi place was next to a river so the reflections of the lights were beautiful. Soooo many people! Omgoshhh! But we managed to get a really good spot on the grass. Of course you can't have hanabi without the food! So we all bought and shared yakisoba, ringoame, yakiniku, yakitori and kouri from the little stores that went on for hundreds of meters. Yumm!
--
After the sayonara Party we had for the language students I went with the Kugas (my previous host family from two years ago) and stayed a week at their house.
The Kugas live in a cute, little seaside town called Matsuura. The mornings were a little boring since Nozomi (the eldest daughter) still had school until 6pm but the neighbours and rest of the family gave me a great week.
We had quite a few BBQs with extended family and neighbours, went to an awesome park with a grass slide which you go down in plastic tubs, karaoke, mos burger, shopping and dodging sea urchins as we walked in the water. Also had a wii party at their friends house. The mum is such a great cook and of course my team won doubles in tennis hehe.
It was kinda an ego boost too as everyone who I previously met commented on how much my Japanese has improved. And so it should have! But that didn't stop them laughing at my mistakes.
Oh by the way, for people who went to Matsuura: I met Junko again!! And she's just as cute as ever! XD We ate salted nuts and went through photos of Matsuura. Got a booklet of all our familys from 2008.
--
So that about sums it all up. So happy to be home again with my family and I'll post the next blog soon.
No regrets. Live for the moment!
K x
So almost 3 weeks ago school finished and before it did we had "Class Match" where our homeroom classes compete in sports matches within our year level for some fun. I put my name down for dodgeball and a sub for basketball.
O_O dodgeball is so intense here.
We have these little girls who have arms that can throw balls from one side of the court to the other and still knock the air out of you. We played on the baseball teams work-out area which has a dirt floor so no one stayed clean. My friends tail bone got hurt and at least 5 people walked away with fractured fingers. It didn't help me much that Japanese dodgeball rules are different to the ones I'm used to either. Be afraid when you hear screams of "THE KNEEEEEEES!" you know it means business when they say that ._.
Also on that day it rained like anything. There was seriously no need for an umbrella since we got soaked anyway. The good thing about the rain is that the next day it rained so much the trains were delayed and Maimi and I got a day off :3
--
Because I've proved how cool I am, I like to further enunciate that by staying the night at school with my club and practice soroban from 7:40am~10:40pm for 3 days. XD
Seriously, soroban was sooo much fun! Despite getting up super early everyday, I really enjoyed improving my speed etc I've also moved up with the calculator. I'm now at the same level as the best calculator user in my club though obviously no where near his speed and ability to read the questions :P (Hes also no.1 in the Kyuushu island prefecture).
Just a side note: it's incredibly hard to shower when your classmates aren't even trying to hide the fact that they're watching you undress xP
--
I went to my first hanabi (fireworks) in Japan!! I went with Tai-chan, his friend and wife and Leonardo (Italian exchange student). Tai-chan bought me a fan and him and Leonardo got dressed up in yukatas.
The hanabi place was next to a river so the reflections of the lights were beautiful. Soooo many people! Omgoshhh! But we managed to get a really good spot on the grass. Of course you can't have hanabi without the food! So we all bought and shared yakisoba, ringoame, yakiniku, yakitori and kouri from the little stores that went on for hundreds of meters. Yumm!
--
After the sayonara Party we had for the language students I went with the Kugas (my previous host family from two years ago) and stayed a week at their house.
The Kugas live in a cute, little seaside town called Matsuura. The mornings were a little boring since Nozomi (the eldest daughter) still had school until 6pm but the neighbours and rest of the family gave me a great week.
We had quite a few BBQs with extended family and neighbours, went to an awesome park with a grass slide which you go down in plastic tubs, karaoke, mos burger, shopping and dodging sea urchins as we walked in the water. Also had a wii party at their friends house. The mum is such a great cook and of course my team won doubles in tennis hehe.
It was kinda an ego boost too as everyone who I previously met commented on how much my Japanese has improved. And so it should have! But that didn't stop them laughing at my mistakes.
Oh by the way, for people who went to Matsuura: I met Junko again!! And she's just as cute as ever! XD We ate salted nuts and went through photos of Matsuura. Got a booklet of all our familys from 2008.
--
So that about sums it all up. So happy to be home again with my family and I'll post the next blog soon.
No regrets. Live for the moment!
K x
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
This girl I know
Let me tell you a little something about this girl I know...
10:23PM:
This girl isn't your average teenager. No, infact you could call her a "woman - 1 year" as that is what she will be in one hour and thirty-four minutes.
This girl I know is spontaneous, charming, outgoing, smiley, intelligent, beautiful, witty, loyal, trusting, unique, giving, fun, dedicated, artistic, loving and a whole Oxford Dictionary worth of words.
But words aren't everything.
This girl I know doesn't have to say anything to make you smile. She can read you like a book and she knows when somethings wrong; so there's no use lying about it to her. Just one of her hugs will brighten up your day. Her smile brings reassurance. Her presence - enough to know you have a friend that is there for you.
When I look back on the times I've spent with this girl I know, it's hard to believe we've only known each other for a year and a half. She is so involved in my life that it feels like we've been friends beyond this short period of time. 'Yonks' one may say.
She's always there for me even when I try my best to push her away.
She's always making me laugh.
She's always true to her promises.
This girl I know has talent to see the best in everything and everyone. She is able to express herself through art and photography to bring you a snippit of what she sees through her eyes. The details that one may not catch at first glance is a quality she possesses for she notices those details instantly. For her, nothing is skin deep. Everything has meaning and because of this, she has so much character.
Lately I haven't seen this girl I know. Across the sea, in a big country, in a small town and somewhere between school, home and the beach she's doing what she loves. Spending time with her friends, organising photo shoots, snuggling up to her kitty on her double bed, eating lollies, drinking coke, laughing, dancing and bringing joy. And it breaks my heart that I can not join her in her escapades. For in 54 minutes, there is nothing I'd rather do than to be with her on a day we should share together.
I miss this girl I know dearly.
One day I'll get to see this girl I know again. I'll travel across the sea, to a big country with a small city and find her between school, home and the beach doing what she loves. And I'll run to her as fast as I can. Because it's her I want to see. It's her that I find my happiness, comfort, joy and laughter from each and everyday. It's she who makes my day wonderful. This girl I know is one of my closest friends and she means more to me than anything.
This girl I know - I love her with all my heart and today is her 17th birthday. She is so far away that I can't possibly hug her or give her a present in person. However, I hope she reads this and knows that she is so special to me and I'd do anything for her. She has done so much for me and if I could, I'd give her the world because she deserves it.
Happy birthday Katelyn-Jane Alice Dunn
10:23PM:
This girl isn't your average teenager. No, infact you could call her a "woman - 1 year" as that is what she will be in one hour and thirty-four minutes.
This girl I know is spontaneous, charming, outgoing, smiley, intelligent, beautiful, witty, loyal, trusting, unique, giving, fun, dedicated, artistic, loving and a whole Oxford Dictionary worth of words.
But words aren't everything.
This girl I know doesn't have to say anything to make you smile. She can read you like a book and she knows when somethings wrong; so there's no use lying about it to her. Just one of her hugs will brighten up your day. Her smile brings reassurance. Her presence - enough to know you have a friend that is there for you.
When I look back on the times I've spent with this girl I know, it's hard to believe we've only known each other for a year and a half. She is so involved in my life that it feels like we've been friends beyond this short period of time. 'Yonks' one may say.
She's always there for me even when I try my best to push her away.
She's always making me laugh.
She's always true to her promises.
This girl I know has talent to see the best in everything and everyone. She is able to express herself through art and photography to bring you a snippit of what she sees through her eyes. The details that one may not catch at first glance is a quality she possesses for she notices those details instantly. For her, nothing is skin deep. Everything has meaning and because of this, she has so much character.
Lately I haven't seen this girl I know. Across the sea, in a big country, in a small town and somewhere between school, home and the beach she's doing what she loves. Spending time with her friends, organising photo shoots, snuggling up to her kitty on her double bed, eating lollies, drinking coke, laughing, dancing and bringing joy. And it breaks my heart that I can not join her in her escapades. For in 54 minutes, there is nothing I'd rather do than to be with her on a day we should share together.
I miss this girl I know dearly.
One day I'll get to see this girl I know again. I'll travel across the sea, to a big country with a small city and find her between school, home and the beach doing what she loves. And I'll run to her as fast as I can. Because it's her I want to see. It's her that I find my happiness, comfort, joy and laughter from each and everyday. It's she who makes my day wonderful. This girl I know is one of my closest friends and she means more to me than anything.
This girl I know - I love her with all my heart and today is her 17th birthday. She is so far away that I can't possibly hug her or give her a present in person. However, I hope she reads this and knows that she is so special to me and I'd do anything for her. She has done so much for me and if I could, I'd give her the world because she deserves it.
Happy birthday Katelyn-Jane Alice Dunn
Saturday, July 3, 2010
They're making us sing operas!
So Friday was the last of the exam blocks (yaaay!) and after homeroom we went to the taikukan (sports hall) for culture festival practice. I'm in red block.
Our chant: AKB 2-3-5!!
So each team has 3 songs which they must memorize. We seem to be the team which are singing arias, operas and sopranos which give you goosebumps. My jaw pretty much dropped when I heard the people singing it. Even the altos (which i've joined for obvious reasons) are high.
Everyone will sound like a church choir, I will be like a boy who's voice has broken and will lip sync so I don't throw everyone off key. XP
The new Lawsons has opened up next to our school. Going there has already become a bad habit. Haruka and I checked it out yesterday. Pretty much like 7/11 but a bit cheaper and more food.
My name is Kaitin and I'm a Lawson-aholic. It's been 7 hours since I last went to a Lawsons and today I went 3 times.
Really. I did. I went there before school to buy lunch for later. During lunch I went with Haruka, Tano and Satoshi so they could buy their lunch (it rained on us and we got soaked). After club Haruka and I went to buy some more food xD. But it wasn't for us. I bought Maimi a choc-chip scone since she's sick and Haruka bought melon bread for her family. I'm getting a Lawsons discount card on Monday 8D Yaaaaay!! Haruka and I were joking about it today. She was saying in Jap "Lets return to Lawsons" as if it was a second home :P I'm going to go broke. Need to control myself hehe.
It's Okaasans birthday tomorrow. We went out to an Italian resturant tonight and had a 6 course meal. Was so yummy! Otousan gave her a nice wallet. Tomorrow we'll be cooking her a delicious dinner and maybe a dessert?
Speaking of food. I can't stop eating. To the people who know me this doesn't come as a big surprise, but I'm always hungry. I get fed so much food (don't worry; they're not starving me!) but when I finish eating I want more, more, more! It's so weird. And Ive only put on half a kg. How good's that!?! My metabolism is the best. Hehe. But yeah, Youd think eating rice every meal would make me full. Aparently not...
Anywho, be proud of me. Look how quickly I updated this blog. :) I'm so nice to you.
Until next time my sweets
No regrets. Live for the moment!
K x
Our chant: AKB 2-3-5!!
So each team has 3 songs which they must memorize. We seem to be the team which are singing arias, operas and sopranos which give you goosebumps. My jaw pretty much dropped when I heard the people singing it. Even the altos (which i've joined for obvious reasons) are high.
Everyone will sound like a church choir, I will be like a boy who's voice has broken and will lip sync so I don't throw everyone off key. XP
The new Lawsons has opened up next to our school. Going there has already become a bad habit. Haruka and I checked it out yesterday. Pretty much like 7/11 but a bit cheaper and more food.
My name is Kaitin and I'm a Lawson-aholic. It's been 7 hours since I last went to a Lawsons and today I went 3 times.
Really. I did. I went there before school to buy lunch for later. During lunch I went with Haruka, Tano and Satoshi so they could buy their lunch (it rained on us and we got soaked). After club Haruka and I went to buy some more food xD. But it wasn't for us. I bought Maimi a choc-chip scone since she's sick and Haruka bought melon bread for her family. I'm getting a Lawsons discount card on Monday 8D Yaaaaay!! Haruka and I were joking about it today. She was saying in Jap "Lets return to Lawsons" as if it was a second home :P I'm going to go broke. Need to control myself hehe.
It's Okaasans birthday tomorrow. We went out to an Italian resturant tonight and had a 6 course meal. Was so yummy! Otousan gave her a nice wallet. Tomorrow we'll be cooking her a delicious dinner and maybe a dessert?
Speaking of food. I can't stop eating. To the people who know me this doesn't come as a big surprise, but I'm always hungry. I get fed so much food (don't worry; they're not starving me!) but when I finish eating I want more, more, more! It's so weird. And Ive only put on half a kg. How good's that!?! My metabolism is the best. Hehe. But yeah, Youd think eating rice every meal would make me full. Aparently not...
Anywho, be proud of me. Look how quickly I updated this blog. :) I'm so nice to you.
Until next time my sweets
No regrets. Live for the moment!
K x
Friday, July 2, 2010
I love my life.
>.< well so much for "I'll do another blog by the end of the month." I was lazy and thought I had one more day left *Damn the months with 30days!* Let's see if I can finish this by tomorrow (an hour and a half away). Anywho I have much to tell so let's get started :D
This weather is hideous. At first I lovedddd the heavy rains and cool weather. Now it's sooo humid and hot and your skin stays wet. But it's a good excuse to use the air-con :)
Last weekend Otousan and myself hopped on board a train bound for Hakata where we were to meet the new exchange students who are in the area on an intensive language program (6 weeks there abouts). Two American girls and a guy and girl from Italy, all 17 years old. They came off the Shikensan (so cool!) and were all incredibly excited which was fantastic and asking many questions and stuff. I kinda thought to myself "This is how I must've looked/behaved when I got off the plane ready to meet my family only 3 months ago". Hehe I got excited about them being excited! It was very exciting lol. It was a long day but as a treat Otousan and I went to Mister Donuts :3 Heaven.
So the next day we got up early to attend the welcome party. They all said they enjoyed their first night in Japan which is excellent! Saw all my exchange student buddies again (except for Diane who's in Tokyo doing her French year 12 exams -GOOD LUCK!-) as well as Sensei and other familiar AFSer faces. Did the talent show. I actually sung and played guitar in front of these 30 people *dies*. Played "Land Down Under" by "Men at Work" and overall I thought I did pretty well. My strumming practically drowned my voice so it wasn't as embarassing. I met another American student who's with Rotary. He was nice and going back next month. But he said I didn't look Australian which confused me a bit...and that I don't have the certain character that other Aussies he knows has. -_-" dbksjsosdbd. Who cares. I'm me and don't fit your stereotype, sorry. But I'm over it and apart from that ignorant comment I enjoyed our company. On another note, I ate soooo much food. God I love welcome parties 8D
Oh, I just want to make a note to anyone going on intensive programs with AFS to Japan. In advance, you are unlikely to attend a "real" highschool. You may get to go to one but you'll most likely attend a language school or (if there's only a few of you) the Sensei's house. I know of people who've been disappointed over this. Intensive programs are there so you can study the language. Just keep that in mind darlings if that's something you want to do. :)
So I'm in exam block at the moment, yet again. It's not so bad since I don't have exams, just one kanji and vocab-type-thing exam which I just do in the library. At the moment I'm reading "The Lost Boy" the author of "A boy called 'It'". So when I'm in the library and I'm free I write down some of the pages and translate them into English. I chose this book since I kind of know what it's about so it's easier. Along with self study I also practice soroban (heh, surprise, surprise). After everyone finishes exams is the best part of the day! Why? Because everyday Maimi, Haruka and myself have gone out to lunch or just chill.
Monday - bought ramen, Wakana did my hair very cute-ly and bought orange jelly drink :3
Tuesday - went to Yasutake to Huruka's mums' work and ate Chanpon (mix of noodles, veggies and soup) and corn on the cob. Her mum bought us "dark thunder" chocolate -to dieee for!- and we played tetris on Maimi's phone. For the rest of the day I mailed Kana (my friend at school)
Wednesday - hung out in the soroban room, did soroban, ate fried chicken and went to 7/11 with Maimi, Haruka and another one of my classmates. Bought Cold Green Tea Latte's and bread, played tetris and a ball game on phones and acted really excited when we "leveled up" xD Got some strange looks from other people on the train because of that hehe.
Tomorrow: after club, Haruka and I are going to buy Black Thunder icecream from 7/11 :3
I'm also writing out the story "Momotaro" in Japanese and then translating it for practice. I'm hoping to memorize it all in two weeks. It's good since I chose the one aimed for really young kids. Maybe this way I can pick up some easy sentence structures and words. I definitely prefer this method of study. But it probably does nothing for my JLPT prep.
Omg!!! Tomorrow club starts again :D I'll be receiving 3 kyuu (the 3rd highest level) practice papers for soroban. Yayayay! At the moment I'm between 4/5 kyuu but I think I'll be ready for 3kyuu in December.
Oh and I've made a new friend, kinda. At cleaning time, my friends and I just hang around in the hall ways (because my group is now outside sweeping and it's been too wet to go out) so one day I waved to some sempais in the opposite building block and they waved back and blew kisses. So it's now become a thing where we wave and blow kisses to each other after he's done cleaning where ever that may be. Haha, today was the first time we spoke; "bye-bye" when he was riding home. He's not that bad looking either. But that's all we are, waving buddies in case anyone gets any wrong ideas :P I just think it's cute ^_^
Summer holidayssss!!! So close yet so far! Lots of plans, lots of soroban, lots of sleep, lots of friends, lots of shopping, lots of fun! Oh and I get to go to a Sensei's house for some Japanese tutition. Sweeeeet!
It's Okaasan's birthday on Sunday. It is still possible to look cute at 50 and she proves it! Going to cook her dinner with Maimi. I need a easy, yummy Aussie recipe. Anyone got any ideas? Going out shopping too which is awesome cause i really need to buy some new stuffs.
I've recieved some very lovely snail mail and emails recently. Thank you so much everyone. I appologise if I haven't replied (or in some cases) you still haven't received my letters IM LOOKING AT YOU ST PATS! it makes me sad that weeks have passed and still no sign of it >:/ I've emailed sensei saying if you haven't got it I'll just type it up and send it through an email (I'm sorry Emma that you may not get your little something but I love you just the same). But seriously...sucky.
Well my darlings here I draw this blog to a close. Enjoy and be well, I certainly am. I feel lots of love at the moment and things are going fantasticly as always.
No regrets. Live for the moment!
K x
This weather is hideous. At first I lovedddd the heavy rains and cool weather. Now it's sooo humid and hot and your skin stays wet. But it's a good excuse to use the air-con :)
Last weekend Otousan and myself hopped on board a train bound for Hakata where we were to meet the new exchange students who are in the area on an intensive language program (6 weeks there abouts). Two American girls and a guy and girl from Italy, all 17 years old. They came off the Shikensan (so cool!) and were all incredibly excited which was fantastic and asking many questions and stuff. I kinda thought to myself "This is how I must've looked/behaved when I got off the plane ready to meet my family only 3 months ago". Hehe I got excited about them being excited! It was very exciting lol. It was a long day but as a treat Otousan and I went to Mister Donuts :3 Heaven.
So the next day we got up early to attend the welcome party. They all said they enjoyed their first night in Japan which is excellent! Saw all my exchange student buddies again (except for Diane who's in Tokyo doing her French year 12 exams -GOOD LUCK!-) as well as Sensei and other familiar AFSer faces. Did the talent show. I actually sung and played guitar in front of these 30 people *dies*. Played "Land Down Under" by "Men at Work" and overall I thought I did pretty well. My strumming practically drowned my voice so it wasn't as embarassing. I met another American student who's with Rotary. He was nice and going back next month. But he said I didn't look Australian which confused me a bit...and that I don't have the certain character that other Aussies he knows has. -_-" dbksjsosdbd. Who cares. I'm me and don't fit your stereotype, sorry. But I'm over it and apart from that ignorant comment I enjoyed our company. On another note, I ate soooo much food. God I love welcome parties 8D
Oh, I just want to make a note to anyone going on intensive programs with AFS to Japan. In advance, you are unlikely to attend a "real" highschool. You may get to go to one but you'll most likely attend a language school or (if there's only a few of you) the Sensei's house. I know of people who've been disappointed over this. Intensive programs are there so you can study the language. Just keep that in mind darlings if that's something you want to do. :)
So I'm in exam block at the moment, yet again. It's not so bad since I don't have exams, just one kanji and vocab-type-thing exam which I just do in the library. At the moment I'm reading "The Lost Boy" the author of "A boy called 'It'". So when I'm in the library and I'm free I write down some of the pages and translate them into English. I chose this book since I kind of know what it's about so it's easier. Along with self study I also practice soroban (heh, surprise, surprise). After everyone finishes exams is the best part of the day! Why? Because everyday Maimi, Haruka and myself have gone out to lunch or just chill.
Monday - bought ramen, Wakana did my hair very cute-ly and bought orange jelly drink :3
Tuesday - went to Yasutake to Huruka's mums' work and ate Chanpon (mix of noodles, veggies and soup) and corn on the cob. Her mum bought us "dark thunder" chocolate -to dieee for!- and we played tetris on Maimi's phone. For the rest of the day I mailed Kana (my friend at school)
Wednesday - hung out in the soroban room, did soroban, ate fried chicken and went to 7/11 with Maimi, Haruka and another one of my classmates. Bought Cold Green Tea Latte's and bread, played tetris and a ball game on phones and acted really excited when we "leveled up" xD Got some strange looks from other people on the train because of that hehe.
Tomorrow: after club, Haruka and I are going to buy Black Thunder icecream from 7/11 :3
I'm also writing out the story "Momotaro" in Japanese and then translating it for practice. I'm hoping to memorize it all in two weeks. It's good since I chose the one aimed for really young kids. Maybe this way I can pick up some easy sentence structures and words. I definitely prefer this method of study. But it probably does nothing for my JLPT prep.
Omg!!! Tomorrow club starts again :D I'll be receiving 3 kyuu (the 3rd highest level) practice papers for soroban. Yayayay! At the moment I'm between 4/5 kyuu but I think I'll be ready for 3kyuu in December.
Oh and I've made a new friend, kinda. At cleaning time, my friends and I just hang around in the hall ways (because my group is now outside sweeping and it's been too wet to go out) so one day I waved to some sempais in the opposite building block and they waved back and blew kisses. So it's now become a thing where we wave and blow kisses to each other after he's done cleaning where ever that may be. Haha, today was the first time we spoke; "bye-bye" when he was riding home. He's not that bad looking either. But that's all we are, waving buddies in case anyone gets any wrong ideas :P I just think it's cute ^_^
Summer holidayssss!!! So close yet so far! Lots of plans, lots of soroban, lots of sleep, lots of friends, lots of shopping, lots of fun! Oh and I get to go to a Sensei's house for some Japanese tutition. Sweeeeet!
It's Okaasan's birthday on Sunday. It is still possible to look cute at 50 and she proves it! Going to cook her dinner with Maimi. I need a easy, yummy Aussie recipe. Anyone got any ideas? Going out shopping too which is awesome cause i really need to buy some new stuffs.
I've recieved some very lovely snail mail and emails recently. Thank you so much everyone. I appologise if I haven't replied (or in some cases) you still haven't received my letters IM LOOKING AT YOU ST PATS! it makes me sad that weeks have passed and still no sign of it >:/ I've emailed sensei saying if you haven't got it I'll just type it up and send it through an email (I'm sorry Emma that you may not get your little something but I love you just the same). But seriously...sucky.
Well my darlings here I draw this blog to a close. Enjoy and be well, I certainly am. I feel lots of love at the moment and things are going fantasticly as always.
No regrets. Live for the moment!
K x
Saturday, June 19, 2010
In short
I love:
•My family
•Everyone I have encountered
•Understanding parts of news segments and comedy skits
•Picking plums from our tree and eating them fresh
•Dreaming in Japanese
•Having the world at my fingertips
I'm fortunate to not have a list labled "I hate...". Hate is such a strong and offensive word especially when you've been offered your dream on a silver platter. Adopt the AFS saying "Not right, Not wrong, Just different" and you will encounter very few problems. I encourage student exchange to those with open minds and who have passion to learn and explore. Despite the fact that I've gotten into a routine with school, home and club; to me, Japan is still this wonderful, eye-opening country where I have learnt not only so much about the people, culture, language and mannerisms but also about myself. Three months has almost passed and I couldn't be happier as to where I am now and what I have achieved, seen and done.
I've done:
•Been to a baseball game with my school
•Rode on my bike along highways and up hills with my basket overflowing with onions and potatos picked by myself and the volunteering club at a farm
•Assisted teachers preparing for their "Australian-based" English lessons
•Met more people from around the world including Germany, Finland, America and Brazil
•Travelled down the Chikugo River on a boat steered by a singing, old man using a bamboo poll
•Aced my in-class soroban exam with a 96%
•Went to a shrine and prayed for my Accounting teachers' 11 year old boy
•Helped my sister prepare for her AFS exams. She's wanting to travel to Australia for one year
•Become apart of the classroom and do geography, English and math homework like everyone else
•Have written down goals and drawn a study plan to continue to motivate myself to study Japanese and prepare for JLPT and soroban exams
•Watched the fields of barley turn from green to gold only to be soon burnt and flooded immediately to grow rice
•Got lost going home from the post office. Loved it! Found some cute stores and tried out my direction skills in Japanese
•Begun thinking in Japanese
Written goals are important. You can visually see what you're working towards instead of losing those thoughts in everyday life. I've only just done this recently. I've been so swept up in life of going to school and spending time with my family that I realised I have neglected Japanese study. Although I've been learning without the help of study (yes, you can get by and learn without study) I reminded myself WHY I wanted Japan. "To significantly improve my Japanese". With that goal in mind, I needed to begin studying a lot more than I have been.
Summer holidays begin soon and I'm very excited! :)
•Going to club frequently
•Making lammingtons
•AFS camp in Miyasaki
•Two day family trip to some onsens
•Studying
•Hanging out with friends
•Chilling with family
•Shopping for some cute summer clothes
Have been thinking a lot recently about everything and life.
"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"I want to be a doctor."..."I want to work in a zoo."
Me?
"When I grow up I want to be happy."
I've grasped the fact that in life it is better to be happy and poor rather than rich and against the world. I'm deciding upon career choices based soley around my interests and strengths. Money's not important if I'm happy just waking up every morning wanting to go to work.
Also love. I think I'm more tolerent and understanding of peoples choices and feelings. One can not control what they feel so you shouldn't judge them. I want to be able to love freely without having to worry about what people think. I think everybody does. If people were more accepting there wouldn't be that second voice inquiring what other people are thinking.
Love=Love
Happiness=Happiness
I think too much sometimes. I know some of my friends know this too. But I can't help sometimes thinking of next year. It's a big year and I want to try and prepare for it. I'll be missing the first week or so of school and grade 12 is so important. I figure if I can learn AT LEAST all of JLPT N4 grammar, kanji, vocab etc I won't have to worry about Japanese and can focus on Physics, Chem and Maths. Particularly worried about Physics. We don't have any equivalent here, just basic science. I'm hoping to revise some work in the holidays if there's time.
I know it's next year, but next year isn't too far away at all...
I know I've been slack with the blogs again. I'll try and write another by the end of this month but no promises. Japan is still amazing as ever. I'm sure you could already guess that by now though ;)
No regrets. Live for the moment!
K x
•My family
•Everyone I have encountered
•Understanding parts of news segments and comedy skits
•Picking plums from our tree and eating them fresh
•Dreaming in Japanese
•Having the world at my fingertips
I'm fortunate to not have a list labled "I hate...". Hate is such a strong and offensive word especially when you've been offered your dream on a silver platter. Adopt the AFS saying "Not right, Not wrong, Just different" and you will encounter very few problems. I encourage student exchange to those with open minds and who have passion to learn and explore. Despite the fact that I've gotten into a routine with school, home and club; to me, Japan is still this wonderful, eye-opening country where I have learnt not only so much about the people, culture, language and mannerisms but also about myself. Three months has almost passed and I couldn't be happier as to where I am now and what I have achieved, seen and done.
I've done:
•Been to a baseball game with my school
•Rode on my bike along highways and up hills with my basket overflowing with onions and potatos picked by myself and the volunteering club at a farm
•Assisted teachers preparing for their "Australian-based" English lessons
•Met more people from around the world including Germany, Finland, America and Brazil
•Travelled down the Chikugo River on a boat steered by a singing, old man using a bamboo poll
•Aced my in-class soroban exam with a 96%
•Went to a shrine and prayed for my Accounting teachers' 11 year old boy
•Helped my sister prepare for her AFS exams. She's wanting to travel to Australia for one year
•Become apart of the classroom and do geography, English and math homework like everyone else
•Have written down goals and drawn a study plan to continue to motivate myself to study Japanese and prepare for JLPT and soroban exams
•Watched the fields of barley turn from green to gold only to be soon burnt and flooded immediately to grow rice
•Got lost going home from the post office. Loved it! Found some cute stores and tried out my direction skills in Japanese
•Begun thinking in Japanese
Written goals are important. You can visually see what you're working towards instead of losing those thoughts in everyday life. I've only just done this recently. I've been so swept up in life of going to school and spending time with my family that I realised I have neglected Japanese study. Although I've been learning without the help of study (yes, you can get by and learn without study) I reminded myself WHY I wanted Japan. "To significantly improve my Japanese". With that goal in mind, I needed to begin studying a lot more than I have been.
Summer holidays begin soon and I'm very excited! :)
•Going to club frequently
•Making lammingtons
•AFS camp in Miyasaki
•Two day family trip to some onsens
•Studying
•Hanging out with friends
•Chilling with family
•Shopping for some cute summer clothes
Have been thinking a lot recently about everything and life.
"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"I want to be a doctor."..."I want to work in a zoo."
Me?
"When I grow up I want to be happy."
I've grasped the fact that in life it is better to be happy and poor rather than rich and against the world. I'm deciding upon career choices based soley around my interests and strengths. Money's not important if I'm happy just waking up every morning wanting to go to work.
Also love. I think I'm more tolerent and understanding of peoples choices and feelings. One can not control what they feel so you shouldn't judge them. I want to be able to love freely without having to worry about what people think. I think everybody does. If people were more accepting there wouldn't be that second voice inquiring what other people are thinking.
Love=Love
Happiness=Happiness
I think too much sometimes. I know some of my friends know this too. But I can't help sometimes thinking of next year. It's a big year and I want to try and prepare for it. I'll be missing the first week or so of school and grade 12 is so important. I figure if I can learn AT LEAST all of JLPT N4 grammar, kanji, vocab etc I won't have to worry about Japanese and can focus on Physics, Chem and Maths. Particularly worried about Physics. We don't have any equivalent here, just basic science. I'm hoping to revise some work in the holidays if there's time.
I know it's next year, but next year isn't too far away at all...
I know I've been slack with the blogs again. I'll try and write another by the end of this month but no promises. Japan is still amazing as ever. I'm sure you could already guess that by now though ;)
No regrets. Live for the moment!
K x
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
学校‼
Before AFS and my application I used to search blog sites about people who were in Japan so I could get as much info as I could about school. So here is my blog. It's going to be a long one for two reasons.
1. To make up for my last blog. Let's be honest, it wasn't the best update
And
2. Because when I was looking at blogs I always wanted to know more about school life. So if you think I've missed something out or you want me to elaborate more leave me a comment and I will. Just for you, because I love you :3
I decided it would be best to write a blog about school a few weeks after attending. We all know how first days are usually full of excitement (and no doubt a tad daunting) so obviously my first day wouldn't be an accurate representation of school as a whole sooo I guess now I can somewhat accurately talk about school-life, friends anddd clubs xD
My morning scheduel:
•6:30am - Alarm goes off
•6:45am - Get out of bed, get dressed, pack bag, brush hair and wash face
•7:00am - Eat breakfast, brush teeth, put on socks and blazer
•7:18am - Leave house on bike
•7:47am - Catch train
•8:06am - Arrive at station, collect bike and cycle to school
I will never, ever, ever EVER forget riding to school on the first day. Why?Because as I dressed in my (KAWAII!!) uniform, ultra-keen for school, I looked outside at the thermometer hanging near the window which read 3'C!! So I left the house in good spirits nonetheless and hopped on my bike with my bag in the basket and followed Maimi down the road on the way to the station. The ride to the station is very lovely. For most of the way, on one side of the road there's fields of wheat and traditional style Japanese houses and on the other side there's a man-made water way with heron-like birds, turtles and fish. Usually you see the eager fishermen with their rods out in the morning but not this morning. Not on the morning of the 6th of April. You'd have to be mad if you were out in those temperatures hehe. Halfway to the station I could have sworn my hands froze xD it was so cold. Not only was it close to 0'C but riding on a bike with the wind against you doesn't exactly warm you up. So on the train everyday I meet up with my and Maimi's friend, Haruka, who's in my class. She's so much fun to be around. Always cracks me up. After about 5 stops I get off at my station and collect my second bike with the girls. I call it 'The Posture Bike' because it's one of those bikes that can only be ridden if you sit upright. On the note of riding a bike...I don't know about anyone else out there but whenever I get on a bike I wear a helmet. Not in Japan. The only people I see wearing a helmet is this one school who have school bike helmets...at first it was a little scary since Japanese roads seem insanely narrow and despite the maximum speed limit (usually around 40/50km/h) all I could think about was not cracking my head open. But no worries. It seems perfectly normal now and I've mastered the (safest) route to school so I no longer worry about getting lost :3 woot for directional skills!! I've only ran into a fence twice. One on the way to school, leaving an impressive scratch and a blue/yellow bruise and the second time on the way home in the rain but don't worry no damage that time around. Oh, also on the same day I got the bruise I ran into a ditch coming home xD Maimi now thinks I'm dangerous but I blame the roads not me! Haha. When I told okaasan she automatically said "is your skirt okay!?!?" "yes okaasan, it's nice to know you care. Don't worry the skirt is fine. I'm going to go cry in a corner now. Bye" lol I love okaasan *lovelovelove* xD
At school I address myself to those in the staffroom and the paper I write on as "2年1組39番ケイトリン・ケリー" but to everyone else I am "Keri", "Keitorin" or "Ke-chan" (Ke-chan; a nickname adopted by Kuma-chan and E-chan". There are many people who call me Keri since they think that Kaitlin is my family name xD I don't mind. It's a lot easier for them to pronounce Kelly than it is Kaitlin anyway. So on the first day of school I was greeted by screams of "KAWAII!! KAKKOI!! KIREI!!" and any other ego boosting adjective under the sun. If you need confidence with your appearance go to a Japanese school and you'll be given a list of what body parts are nice, cool and sexy. Here is a short list of mine that are usually mentioned:
Hair, eyelids, eyelashes, eyes, nose, neck (apparently I have a sexy neck as commented on by Aya O_o), height, waist, wrists... I'm going to stop there since I feel really up myself right now :P
Anyway, the first day of school. So first I was introduced to my homeroom teacher and my class. I'm in the 2nd grade (year 11 equivalent), class 1, seat 39. Which probably explains the above title. The Japanese are extremely orderly. Everyone has a number and that is your number for the rest of the year. This number tells you when it's your turn to get up in front of the class, where to sit, when it's your turn to read, what part of the school you have to clean...it's a pretty handy number and I guess it's conveinient for teachers who just have to count from 1 to the ending number instead of checking the role to see who's present. Numbers have their ups! But for students we obviously call each other by name. By now I can pretty much name everyone in my class (minus a small handful of people) and it helps that their names are written on their slippers, all I have to do is glance down and work out the kanji xD Naah but I'm pretty good with names now :3 and people are pleased when you remember their name, mochiron. Getting back on topic. After introductions it was time for souji aka cleaning! Yes that's right. Students clean the school. Because of this, there is hardly any mess in the first place since no one wants to create more work for themselves. That was a smart move by school officials don't you think so? Afterwards was the opening ceremony. Oh. My. Gosh. The role of the audience (us the students) was to sit, stand, bow, sit for everything and everyone. It was all in the name of respect of course and when in Japan, do as the Japanese do :) The good thing about it was that there were quite a few breaks and in these breaks is where I met people and talked. Everyone is really nice and on more than one occasion I found my hair being stroked by my peers xD Here's one ice-breaker for you *in Japanese by some girls that are now my friends* "so...you're hair colour...is it the same everywhere?" bahaha I almost died of embarassment and laughter. These girls have no shame lol. Well as my speech was getting nearer and nearer my head was becoming heavy and butterflys in my stomach multiplied in their millions of billions. Looking back I don't know why I was so nervous. I spoke confidently when giving my speech in the staff room to all the teachers...there must be something daunting about getting up in front of 700+ people. However, I did pretty well I thought, with my only mistake being that I said I was in 1st grade which I quickly corrected with flushed cheeks. Because this was the first day of school we did no work. But lunch was at the regular time of 1pm. In a normal day we start at 8:45 (or 9 :S I've already forgotten eep)have homeroom first and then read a book for 10 minutes, we have 6 periods with Each period going for 45mins (4 periods before lunch and 2 after), everyone cleans the school at 3:35ish, 3:50 last homeroom then we finish at 4pm. THEN in my case I go to club (more about that later ;D) which finshes at 6. So basically I get home by 7 which is when we always have dinner. ANYWAY back on topic...at lunch on the first day I sat with basically every girl and ate my obento which okaasan makes me lovingly every morning. Now Ive found my own group who I sit with everyday who are awesome. I'm also close with another girl since we're both crazy about Kingdom Hearts and we like lots of the same things xD
My school timetable:
Monday: double accounting, health, homeroom, double English (sempai's class)
Tuesday: maths, Japanese, double elective (calligraphy), English ("Baka kurasu" as the students call it. Pretty much the most basic level english class but it's the funnest!), HPE
Wednesday: Double business info tech, English (sempai's class), Japanese, business, maths
Thursday: double business info, Japanese, geography, English (Top level English class), HPE
Friday: Science, English (top level English class), geography, Japanese, double accounting
So let's talk subjects.
Unlike in Aus we don't have electives here, besides one, so everyone does the exact same subjects with the same class day in day out (besides accounting, English and maths which are streamed) so it's very important to get along with your class!! Because I'm the only exchange student at my school I've been placed in a few English classes so everyone can get to be with me at least once a week. Man I wish we had Japanese everyday in Aus like we have English everyday here. Twice a week I go with the advanced year 3 English class (only two students not including me) which is a lot of fun since we basically watch language DVDs, play games like Guess Who and preform skits. And the other days I'm with the advanced year 2s and basic year 2s English class.
Accounting: looks insanely hard but instead of studying accounting in Japanese my teacher was so considerate and searched for an accounting textbook in English. It's very basic, dealing with the accounts of a lemonade stand, but I study it anyway in class. Besides, he went to the trouble to buy it for me so I'm greatful. I also have a couple of friends, both guys and girls, in my accounting class who I talk to in the short break. During class a lot of them sleep. Counted 18/25 asleep one day. I love accounting!
Health: we're learning about CPR. There's a lot of kanji involved with health but I try my best and write everything down from the board. I'm usually called upon to translate certain words into English like AED, CPR, respitory system, circulation etc etc. The teacher is really genki and I like learning new words and their kanji I enjoy health.
Homeroom: we do a range of things in homeroom. A lot of the time people copy out the english text book word for word since they have an insanely long test to do at the end of term. Good luck! We've also had to go to the lecture hall once and practice the schools folk dance (more on that later). Homeroom is also a good opportunity to catch up with friends xD homeroom is goood
English: So I've kinda talked about English. Basically we're reading about saving the rainforest in the grade 2 hard class, making a photobook to take on the school trip to Aus in December in the basic class (I'm not going but I'm still doing it and i've decided to write it in Japanese) and in the sempai's class we're doing a lot of visual and spoken exercises. There is one American teacher who is an ALT. He doesn't speak much Japanese but everyone wants us to speak English together anyway because they like hearing english being spoken fluently. Bottom line - I love English!
Maths: No calculators!! At first I felt incredibly smart. We were learning about -b+or-rootb^2-4ac/2a then about alpha x beta and alpha+beta etc etc It didnt take me long to crash and burn though. Now we're going old school and doing (algebratic) long divison and square roots. Ahhh I can't remember how to do them without a calculator >< why do we have to be so lazy and use calculators??! Despite this I like maths. Thank god numbers are a universal language.
Japanese: this is the only subject I don't participate in for reasons that I can't grasp anything being said. At all. Nothing. So instead I do self study. In this class they're reading a book and the word "Keri" keeps being said. So when it does I become alert and stare at whoever said it thinking they wanted my attention. One could dream they were that popular xD Japanese is pretty good anyway :3
Elective (Calligraphy): because grade 2s electives would probably bore me out of my brain (book keeping etc not to mention I wouldn't be able to understand a thing) one of my overseeing teachers has given me the choice of music, art and calligraphy which is offered to the 1st graders. Anyone who knows me and my love for kanji would guess straight away which class I chose. Calligraphy. I still see everyone in school and look at them as equals but of course this is not so. You treat your sempais with respect and are very humble towards them. This plus me being a foreigner = my calligraphy class being pretty awkward around me for the first couple of lessons. But now they're very, very slowly warming up to me. A lot of them won't look at me in the eye but I've spoken a few words to a couple of the guys which makes class a lot more bearable. Anyway, we're currently making our 'inkan's (Japanese use stamps with their surnames instead of signing documents) so I've finished carving mine and we'll probably move on to doing some calligraphy soon. So keen!! Despite the awkwardness between me and the 1st graders I enjoy calligraphy ^_^ kanji kanji kanji!!!
Sport: I was very surprised to discover that we all get changed into our sports uniform in the classroom (don't worry it's just the girls, guys go somewhere else). Our sports uniform is a pair of blue tracksuits with our name embroided on it. My name is in katakana and everyone went nuts when they saw it xD "KAWAIIII!!!" so currently we're doing fitness tests in sport. I'm doing pretty good I think so far despite my unatheletic ability. I ran 1km in 5mins 25secs. I thought that was pretty good considering I came 4th in my half of the class. At the start of every class we get into our orderly rows and do warm up exercises. The teacher is a bit crazy since he likes to try out his English on me and most of the girls (oh btw girls and guys get seperated in sport) treat him like a friend so it's all quite relaxed. I actually love sport. I miss going outside so often.
Business IT/Business: the first half of business IT I participate in. We do this word pro typing game which involves a pair of false teeth eating different kinds of sushi and you have to beat the clock otherwise this pink man in a hat pops up and scares the hell out of you! The second half sensei makes time for me and comes aside to help me with JLPT study. He prints off a tonne of test papers and marks them when I'm done. He's so great for helping me. I'm confident with N5 (i should be since I passed it's equivilent last year), N4 is pretty average and N3 I lose it with the vocab. So currently I'm working on N3 and N4 at the same time. I need a vocab sheet T_T. More about JLPT later. In Business we work with the soroban (Japanese abacus) and basically talk the whole lesson. It's the biggest bludge subject ever. It's great being able to talk with my friends though since they're not that interested with what's going on with the screen. I'm surprised the teacher allows it...regardless, I love business!
Geography: I actually really like geography here. My teacher is really nice and I can understand most of what's being said since most of the countries names are in katakana. Currently we're learning about plate tectonics, how blacks in africa are supressed and The World Cup has been brought up a number of times too...the second lesson of geo I had to share a piece of news that interested me. So I searched through the newspapers and chose a story about two seperate cases where one woman killed her son in the back of a box car and the second (a young mother) who broke her babys arms after it wouldn't stop crying. I talked about the topic for about two minutes. Personally, I was quite happy with myself. The class were pretty impressed with what I said too. Someone get a pin to deflate my head now? I love geography!
Science: now we're learning about planets, atmospheres and the solar system. We've watched a movie and done a few comprehension work sheets which I could fill in by myself. Last lesson we spent most of the second half signing each others name in running writing but we do a lot of work, and yes, I leave people be when we have to get stuck into our work. I also do work so it's not like we talk all the time. Hush, I actually pay close attention and take notes excuse me. Science is amazing *love*
I'm so glad to be cleaning where I'm cleaning at the moment. My
group has been assigned the computer labs so all we do is wipe down desks and vaccuum. I have the feeling that we'll be rotating soon. Perhaps, the gardens or bathrooms or hallways or a classroom...lots of possibilities. Yes, students clean everywhere! Including the toilets! Get over yourselves. It's not that bad I'm sure. Oh, oh, oh. We can't wear slippers in the computer labs or library. Socks only! Floors are super clean xD My supervising teacher has started talking to me now. At first she was so timid but now we just chat while cleaning desks ^_^
Sugi!
After the old school sounding bell rings at 4pm I make my way to club with Haruka and Tano. My school has a lot of clubs; both sporting and cultural. My initial plan was to join a sporting club like kendo or karate which I thought would be pretty cool and get me into shape. Then I was awakened to how hardcore everyone is with sports. My school is one of those schools that hand pick you if you're skilled with sports in junior high...no thanks I'll pass on the exhaustion and humiliation of sports and going against trained atheletes and failing epically. I'm not giving up! It's just that my interests lie in other areas..."heh nice try but we all know you suck at sports Kaitlin and that you constantly fall over your own feet." shuuuutuuuppp!! I've fallen in love thank you very much. The first club I had a look at I joined straight away. I love it so much. I've joined the soroban club. Remember? Abacus!! Laugh all you want. But I absolutely love it! At first it wasn't a club that I was planning on joining. Actually I wasn't even going to look at it at all but I'm so glad I did. In English, Tano was doing her "my favourite..." page in her photo book and she was writing about soroban. I was looking and she took out her soroban and she and the teacher showed me some basic addition. The next day I went after school to the club and had a look. Now I'm the newest member of the soroban club. I've grasped addition, subtraction and currently practicing multiplying three digit numbers. In club the sempai's and grade 2s race against the clock to finish complicated sums and then try and improve their time. Omg! The speed in which they multiply 383739335 x 222993803 is amazing! The sempais can basically challenge a calculator, its so full on. However, I on the otherhand have a different story. Because this is my first year of pretty much touching a soroban I take my own pace, building accuracy. My teacher has told me that in December I'll be taking the soroban exam. Yes sir! I love soroban. I don't care what anyone says! Before okaasan's friend lent me hers, I used pieces of paper late at night and practiced sums at the dinner table. It may seem like I'm restricting myself since I haven't checked out any other clubs but I go to soroban for 2 hours 6 days a week and then practice for another 30-60mins after I get home. I love soroban and I couldn't care less if said anything against it. I love it. :D
So the day before golden week began we spent the entire day at the park (longest walk to get there and so hot in our sports uniform) so we could do our schools folk dance. We had practiced only one other morning before that date but I had done some practice at home with Maimi so I wouldn't mess it up. Man it was sooo much fun! I wasn't allowed to take my camera but I snuck some pics anyway :P i didn't know about the restriction until afterwards. The whole school got into a circle and we danced the folk dance. Some of the guys went crazyyy! When we had to walk into the middle of the circle they would unlock hands and bolt to the opposite side of the field. Like I said, it was a lot of fun. After that grades were split up and then all classes were divided into two teams for the skipping challenge. Just imagine almost 20 16/17 year olds jumping really close to each other with a small rope trying to get more skips than the other team. We got 11 i think...lol we didn't win but wow it was great fun. Oh, and lollies do make friends. The day before I had gone shopping with okaasan to buy okashi (sweets/lollies/snacks etc) which you basically buy for your friends. EVERYONE bought at least 3 packets of okashi and we all shared them among ourselves. It's a great way to meet people, start conversations and in my friends case, get close to her crush. Well actually, I had to run up to him for her but she was so happy that I did it and turned the darkest shade of pink! Haha. Is it just me that thinks it's strange for two people who go to the same school to have never spoken in real life and yet email constantly? I don't know, but so many students do it here that it's normal...
Last thing I promised to talk about: JLPT
Ehhh all the rules have been changed as ive probably whinged about before but I have been told by my supervisor that I will be sitting N2 (the old JLPT 2kyuu equivalent or there abouts) hahahahhaahahhaah. Scary. Ehh N2 is so difficult x_x I've kinda been a bit lazy and haven't studied as much as I should be (this indicates that I DO study which is TRUE) just not to a standard which would enable me to pass N2 at the end of the year. Fingers crossed. I'll buckle down harder I promise. I guess I'll have a better idea as the date gets closer. If i think I'm not ready I'll try and sweet talk my way to drop down to N3...time and motivation will tell.
I hope this blog is satisfying enough. I'm typing on my iPod so I've probably got carpol tunnel and this is looking really long but I guess from a computer it's actually small.
Anyway hope it keeps you happy. Let me know if there's anything you want me to specifically talk about otherwise I'll just keep going on with what i want to write about.
Very quickly...I went to my last check up at the doctors today! I'm free to go back to school on wednesday which I'd great since it's just in time for this huge baseball tornament between my school and another! So keen to see it. Our baseball team rocks!! Pictures will surely follow.
A few of my followers don't have my facebook. Feel free to look me up. If your not into the whole stalker thing I'm going to try and upload a few pics here :) ahh it's late and my thumbs hurt from being in this posistion for too long. See how much I love you? Lol, take care darlings. Oyasumi!!
No regrets. Live for the moment!
K x
1. To make up for my last blog. Let's be honest, it wasn't the best update
And
2. Because when I was looking at blogs I always wanted to know more about school life. So if you think I've missed something out or you want me to elaborate more leave me a comment and I will. Just for you, because I love you :3
I decided it would be best to write a blog about school a few weeks after attending. We all know how first days are usually full of excitement (and no doubt a tad daunting) so obviously my first day wouldn't be an accurate representation of school as a whole sooo I guess now I can somewhat accurately talk about school-life, friends anddd clubs xD
My morning scheduel:
•6:30am - Alarm goes off
•6:45am - Get out of bed, get dressed, pack bag, brush hair and wash face
•7:00am - Eat breakfast, brush teeth, put on socks and blazer
•7:18am - Leave house on bike
•7:47am - Catch train
•8:06am - Arrive at station, collect bike and cycle to school
I will never, ever, ever EVER forget riding to school on the first day. Why?Because as I dressed in my (KAWAII!!) uniform, ultra-keen for school, I looked outside at the thermometer hanging near the window which read 3'C!! So I left the house in good spirits nonetheless and hopped on my bike with my bag in the basket and followed Maimi down the road on the way to the station. The ride to the station is very lovely. For most of the way, on one side of the road there's fields of wheat and traditional style Japanese houses and on the other side there's a man-made water way with heron-like birds, turtles and fish. Usually you see the eager fishermen with their rods out in the morning but not this morning. Not on the morning of the 6th of April. You'd have to be mad if you were out in those temperatures hehe. Halfway to the station I could have sworn my hands froze xD it was so cold. Not only was it close to 0'C but riding on a bike with the wind against you doesn't exactly warm you up. So on the train everyday I meet up with my and Maimi's friend, Haruka, who's in my class. She's so much fun to be around. Always cracks me up. After about 5 stops I get off at my station and collect my second bike with the girls. I call it 'The Posture Bike' because it's one of those bikes that can only be ridden if you sit upright. On the note of riding a bike...I don't know about anyone else out there but whenever I get on a bike I wear a helmet. Not in Japan. The only people I see wearing a helmet is this one school who have school bike helmets...at first it was a little scary since Japanese roads seem insanely narrow and despite the maximum speed limit (usually around 40/50km/h) all I could think about was not cracking my head open. But no worries. It seems perfectly normal now and I've mastered the (safest) route to school so I no longer worry about getting lost :3 woot for directional skills!! I've only ran into a fence twice. One on the way to school, leaving an impressive scratch and a blue/yellow bruise and the second time on the way home in the rain but don't worry no damage that time around. Oh, also on the same day I got the bruise I ran into a ditch coming home xD Maimi now thinks I'm dangerous but I blame the roads not me! Haha. When I told okaasan she automatically said "is your skirt okay!?!?" "yes okaasan, it's nice to know you care. Don't worry the skirt is fine. I'm going to go cry in a corner now. Bye" lol I love okaasan *lovelovelove* xD
At school I address myself to those in the staffroom and the paper I write on as "2年1組39番ケイトリン・ケリー" but to everyone else I am "Keri", "Keitorin" or "Ke-chan" (Ke-chan; a nickname adopted by Kuma-chan and E-chan". There are many people who call me Keri since they think that Kaitlin is my family name xD I don't mind. It's a lot easier for them to pronounce Kelly than it is Kaitlin anyway. So on the first day of school I was greeted by screams of "KAWAII!! KAKKOI!! KIREI!!" and any other ego boosting adjective under the sun. If you need confidence with your appearance go to a Japanese school and you'll be given a list of what body parts are nice, cool and sexy. Here is a short list of mine that are usually mentioned:
Hair, eyelids, eyelashes, eyes, nose, neck (apparently I have a sexy neck as commented on by Aya O_o), height, waist, wrists... I'm going to stop there since I feel really up myself right now :P
Anyway, the first day of school. So first I was introduced to my homeroom teacher and my class. I'm in the 2nd grade (year 11 equivalent), class 1, seat 39. Which probably explains the above title. The Japanese are extremely orderly. Everyone has a number and that is your number for the rest of the year. This number tells you when it's your turn to get up in front of the class, where to sit, when it's your turn to read, what part of the school you have to clean...it's a pretty handy number and I guess it's conveinient for teachers who just have to count from 1 to the ending number instead of checking the role to see who's present. Numbers have their ups! But for students we obviously call each other by name. By now I can pretty much name everyone in my class (minus a small handful of people) and it helps that their names are written on their slippers, all I have to do is glance down and work out the kanji xD Naah but I'm pretty good with names now :3 and people are pleased when you remember their name, mochiron. Getting back on topic. After introductions it was time for souji aka cleaning! Yes that's right. Students clean the school. Because of this, there is hardly any mess in the first place since no one wants to create more work for themselves. That was a smart move by school officials don't you think so? Afterwards was the opening ceremony. Oh. My. Gosh. The role of the audience (us the students) was to sit, stand, bow, sit for everything and everyone. It was all in the name of respect of course and when in Japan, do as the Japanese do :) The good thing about it was that there were quite a few breaks and in these breaks is where I met people and talked. Everyone is really nice and on more than one occasion I found my hair being stroked by my peers xD Here's one ice-breaker for you *in Japanese by some girls that are now my friends* "so...you're hair colour...is it the same everywhere?" bahaha I almost died of embarassment and laughter. These girls have no shame lol. Well as my speech was getting nearer and nearer my head was becoming heavy and butterflys in my stomach multiplied in their millions of billions. Looking back I don't know why I was so nervous. I spoke confidently when giving my speech in the staff room to all the teachers...there must be something daunting about getting up in front of 700+ people. However, I did pretty well I thought, with my only mistake being that I said I was in 1st grade which I quickly corrected with flushed cheeks. Because this was the first day of school we did no work. But lunch was at the regular time of 1pm. In a normal day we start at 8:45 (or 9 :S I've already forgotten eep)have homeroom first and then read a book for 10 minutes, we have 6 periods with Each period going for 45mins (4 periods before lunch and 2 after), everyone cleans the school at 3:35ish, 3:50 last homeroom then we finish at 4pm. THEN in my case I go to club (more about that later ;D) which finshes at 6. So basically I get home by 7 which is when we always have dinner. ANYWAY back on topic...at lunch on the first day I sat with basically every girl and ate my obento which okaasan makes me lovingly every morning. Now Ive found my own group who I sit with everyday who are awesome. I'm also close with another girl since we're both crazy about Kingdom Hearts and we like lots of the same things xD
My school timetable:
Monday: double accounting, health, homeroom, double English (sempai's class)
Tuesday: maths, Japanese, double elective (calligraphy), English ("Baka kurasu" as the students call it. Pretty much the most basic level english class but it's the funnest!), HPE
Wednesday: Double business info tech, English (sempai's class), Japanese, business, maths
Thursday: double business info, Japanese, geography, English (Top level English class), HPE
Friday: Science, English (top level English class), geography, Japanese, double accounting
So let's talk subjects.
Unlike in Aus we don't have electives here, besides one, so everyone does the exact same subjects with the same class day in day out (besides accounting, English and maths which are streamed) so it's very important to get along with your class!! Because I'm the only exchange student at my school I've been placed in a few English classes so everyone can get to be with me at least once a week. Man I wish we had Japanese everyday in Aus like we have English everyday here. Twice a week I go with the advanced year 3 English class (only two students not including me) which is a lot of fun since we basically watch language DVDs, play games like Guess Who and preform skits. And the other days I'm with the advanced year 2s and basic year 2s English class.
Accounting: looks insanely hard but instead of studying accounting in Japanese my teacher was so considerate and searched for an accounting textbook in English. It's very basic, dealing with the accounts of a lemonade stand, but I study it anyway in class. Besides, he went to the trouble to buy it for me so I'm greatful. I also have a couple of friends, both guys and girls, in my accounting class who I talk to in the short break. During class a lot of them sleep. Counted 18/25 asleep one day. I love accounting!
Health: we're learning about CPR. There's a lot of kanji involved with health but I try my best and write everything down from the board. I'm usually called upon to translate certain words into English like AED, CPR, respitory system, circulation etc etc. The teacher is really genki and I like learning new words and their kanji I enjoy health.
Homeroom: we do a range of things in homeroom. A lot of the time people copy out the english text book word for word since they have an insanely long test to do at the end of term. Good luck! We've also had to go to the lecture hall once and practice the schools folk dance (more on that later). Homeroom is also a good opportunity to catch up with friends xD homeroom is goood
English: So I've kinda talked about English. Basically we're reading about saving the rainforest in the grade 2 hard class, making a photobook to take on the school trip to Aus in December in the basic class (I'm not going but I'm still doing it and i've decided to write it in Japanese) and in the sempai's class we're doing a lot of visual and spoken exercises. There is one American teacher who is an ALT. He doesn't speak much Japanese but everyone wants us to speak English together anyway because they like hearing english being spoken fluently. Bottom line - I love English!
Maths: No calculators!! At first I felt incredibly smart. We were learning about -b+or-rootb^2-4ac/2a then about alpha x beta and alpha+beta etc etc It didnt take me long to crash and burn though. Now we're going old school and doing (algebratic) long divison and square roots. Ahhh I can't remember how to do them without a calculator >< why do we have to be so lazy and use calculators??! Despite this I like maths. Thank god numbers are a universal language.
Japanese: this is the only subject I don't participate in for reasons that I can't grasp anything being said. At all. Nothing. So instead I do self study. In this class they're reading a book and the word "Keri" keeps being said. So when it does I become alert and stare at whoever said it thinking they wanted my attention. One could dream they were that popular xD Japanese is pretty good anyway :3
Elective (Calligraphy): because grade 2s electives would probably bore me out of my brain (book keeping etc not to mention I wouldn't be able to understand a thing) one of my overseeing teachers has given me the choice of music, art and calligraphy which is offered to the 1st graders. Anyone who knows me and my love for kanji would guess straight away which class I chose. Calligraphy. I still see everyone in school and look at them as equals but of course this is not so. You treat your sempais with respect and are very humble towards them. This plus me being a foreigner = my calligraphy class being pretty awkward around me for the first couple of lessons. But now they're very, very slowly warming up to me. A lot of them won't look at me in the eye but I've spoken a few words to a couple of the guys which makes class a lot more bearable. Anyway, we're currently making our 'inkan's (Japanese use stamps with their surnames instead of signing documents) so I've finished carving mine and we'll probably move on to doing some calligraphy soon. So keen!! Despite the awkwardness between me and the 1st graders I enjoy calligraphy ^_^ kanji kanji kanji!!!
Sport: I was very surprised to discover that we all get changed into our sports uniform in the classroom (don't worry it's just the girls, guys go somewhere else). Our sports uniform is a pair of blue tracksuits with our name embroided on it. My name is in katakana and everyone went nuts when they saw it xD "KAWAIIII!!!" so currently we're doing fitness tests in sport. I'm doing pretty good I think so far despite my unatheletic ability. I ran 1km in 5mins 25secs. I thought that was pretty good considering I came 4th in my half of the class. At the start of every class we get into our orderly rows and do warm up exercises. The teacher is a bit crazy since he likes to try out his English on me and most of the girls (oh btw girls and guys get seperated in sport) treat him like a friend so it's all quite relaxed. I actually love sport. I miss going outside so often.
Business IT/Business: the first half of business IT I participate in. We do this word pro typing game which involves a pair of false teeth eating different kinds of sushi and you have to beat the clock otherwise this pink man in a hat pops up and scares the hell out of you! The second half sensei makes time for me and comes aside to help me with JLPT study. He prints off a tonne of test papers and marks them when I'm done. He's so great for helping me. I'm confident with N5 (i should be since I passed it's equivilent last year), N4 is pretty average and N3 I lose it with the vocab. So currently I'm working on N3 and N4 at the same time. I need a vocab sheet T_T. More about JLPT later. In Business we work with the soroban (Japanese abacus) and basically talk the whole lesson. It's the biggest bludge subject ever. It's great being able to talk with my friends though since they're not that interested with what's going on with the screen. I'm surprised the teacher allows it...regardless, I love business!
Geography: I actually really like geography here. My teacher is really nice and I can understand most of what's being said since most of the countries names are in katakana. Currently we're learning about plate tectonics, how blacks in africa are supressed and The World Cup has been brought up a number of times too...the second lesson of geo I had to share a piece of news that interested me. So I searched through the newspapers and chose a story about two seperate cases where one woman killed her son in the back of a box car and the second (a young mother) who broke her babys arms after it wouldn't stop crying. I talked about the topic for about two minutes. Personally, I was quite happy with myself. The class were pretty impressed with what I said too. Someone get a pin to deflate my head now? I love geography!
Science: now we're learning about planets, atmospheres and the solar system. We've watched a movie and done a few comprehension work sheets which I could fill in by myself. Last lesson we spent most of the second half signing each others name in running writing but we do a lot of work, and yes, I leave people be when we have to get stuck into our work. I also do work so it's not like we talk all the time. Hush, I actually pay close attention and take notes excuse me. Science is amazing *love*
I'm so glad to be cleaning where I'm cleaning at the moment. My
group has been assigned the computer labs so all we do is wipe down desks and vaccuum. I have the feeling that we'll be rotating soon. Perhaps, the gardens or bathrooms or hallways or a classroom...lots of possibilities. Yes, students clean everywhere! Including the toilets! Get over yourselves. It's not that bad I'm sure. Oh, oh, oh. We can't wear slippers in the computer labs or library. Socks only! Floors are super clean xD My supervising teacher has started talking to me now. At first she was so timid but now we just chat while cleaning desks ^_^
Sugi!
After the old school sounding bell rings at 4pm I make my way to club with Haruka and Tano. My school has a lot of clubs; both sporting and cultural. My initial plan was to join a sporting club like kendo or karate which I thought would be pretty cool and get me into shape. Then I was awakened to how hardcore everyone is with sports. My school is one of those schools that hand pick you if you're skilled with sports in junior high...no thanks I'll pass on the exhaustion and humiliation of sports and going against trained atheletes and failing epically. I'm not giving up! It's just that my interests lie in other areas..."heh nice try but we all know you suck at sports Kaitlin and that you constantly fall over your own feet." shuuuutuuuppp!! I've fallen in love thank you very much. The first club I had a look at I joined straight away. I love it so much. I've joined the soroban club. Remember? Abacus!! Laugh all you want. But I absolutely love it! At first it wasn't a club that I was planning on joining. Actually I wasn't even going to look at it at all but I'm so glad I did. In English, Tano was doing her "my favourite..." page in her photo book and she was writing about soroban. I was looking and she took out her soroban and she and the teacher showed me some basic addition. The next day I went after school to the club and had a look. Now I'm the newest member of the soroban club. I've grasped addition, subtraction and currently practicing multiplying three digit numbers. In club the sempai's and grade 2s race against the clock to finish complicated sums and then try and improve their time. Omg! The speed in which they multiply 383739335 x 222993803 is amazing! The sempais can basically challenge a calculator, its so full on. However, I on the otherhand have a different story. Because this is my first year of pretty much touching a soroban I take my own pace, building accuracy. My teacher has told me that in December I'll be taking the soroban exam. Yes sir! I love soroban. I don't care what anyone says! Before okaasan's friend lent me hers, I used pieces of paper late at night and practiced sums at the dinner table. It may seem like I'm restricting myself since I haven't checked out any other clubs but I go to soroban for 2 hours 6 days a week and then practice for another 30-60mins after I get home. I love soroban and I couldn't care less if said anything against it. I love it. :D
So the day before golden week began we spent the entire day at the park (longest walk to get there and so hot in our sports uniform) so we could do our schools folk dance. We had practiced only one other morning before that date but I had done some practice at home with Maimi so I wouldn't mess it up. Man it was sooo much fun! I wasn't allowed to take my camera but I snuck some pics anyway :P i didn't know about the restriction until afterwards. The whole school got into a circle and we danced the folk dance. Some of the guys went crazyyy! When we had to walk into the middle of the circle they would unlock hands and bolt to the opposite side of the field. Like I said, it was a lot of fun. After that grades were split up and then all classes were divided into two teams for the skipping challenge. Just imagine almost 20 16/17 year olds jumping really close to each other with a small rope trying to get more skips than the other team. We got 11 i think...lol we didn't win but wow it was great fun. Oh, and lollies do make friends. The day before I had gone shopping with okaasan to buy okashi (sweets/lollies/snacks etc) which you basically buy for your friends. EVERYONE bought at least 3 packets of okashi and we all shared them among ourselves. It's a great way to meet people, start conversations and in my friends case, get close to her crush. Well actually, I had to run up to him for her but she was so happy that I did it and turned the darkest shade of pink! Haha. Is it just me that thinks it's strange for two people who go to the same school to have never spoken in real life and yet email constantly? I don't know, but so many students do it here that it's normal...
Last thing I promised to talk about: JLPT
Ehhh all the rules have been changed as ive probably whinged about before but I have been told by my supervisor that I will be sitting N2 (the old JLPT 2kyuu equivalent or there abouts) hahahahhaahahhaah. Scary. Ehh N2 is so difficult x_x I've kinda been a bit lazy and haven't studied as much as I should be (this indicates that I DO study which is TRUE) just not to a standard which would enable me to pass N2 at the end of the year. Fingers crossed. I'll buckle down harder I promise. I guess I'll have a better idea as the date gets closer. If i think I'm not ready I'll try and sweet talk my way to drop down to N3...time and motivation will tell.
I hope this blog is satisfying enough. I'm typing on my iPod so I've probably got carpol tunnel and this is looking really long but I guess from a computer it's actually small.
Anyway hope it keeps you happy. Let me know if there's anything you want me to specifically talk about otherwise I'll just keep going on with what i want to write about.
Very quickly...I went to my last check up at the doctors today! I'm free to go back to school on wednesday which I'd great since it's just in time for this huge baseball tornament between my school and another! So keen to see it. Our baseball team rocks!! Pictures will surely follow.
A few of my followers don't have my facebook. Feel free to look me up. If your not into the whole stalker thing I'm going to try and upload a few pics here :) ahh it's late and my thumbs hurt from being in this posistion for too long. See how much I love you? Lol, take care darlings. Oyasumi!!
No regrets. Live for the moment!
K x
Saturday, May 8, 2010
UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE
First off, I've realised that growing up I've been lied to by the cartoons I used to watch. For example, I remember every cartoon that involved chickenpox only red dots appeared and itching occured. But WAIT if you thought it starts there you are sooo wrong. Chickenpox doesn't even start as dots. No, no, no darlings. It starts with a slight cold. And you're thinking to yourself at the time 'bah humbug! My immune system is made out of reinforced titanium steel! You give me headaches I fight back with Panadol!!"...so that's all jolly good and well. Then you notice in the mirror one morning that adolence is being very unkind and destroying the skin you've kept clean by washing your face, eating healthy (I'm in Japan! Tell me a way to AVOID eating correctly) and drinking lots of water everyday. Well you think to yourself "STFU acne!! PROACTIVE I CHOOSE YOU!!! ATTACKKKK!!" a few days later you check to see how any blemish could've possibly dodged your hardcore attack. This is when you notice that this isn't adolence...these are tiny blisters. And they triple in size, become red, itch and move to the crown of your head, down your back, chest, arms, legs and tongue!!! Then you say to yourself while in the car on your way to the doctors "my immune system is made of tissue paper."
Did you like the overdramatic and unnecessaryly long story? :P
But hey! What better place to get chickenpox than in Japan, right? Sure no chickenpox wouldve been great too but going to a Japanese doctor clinic, taking Japanese medication and eating Japanese icecream (an extremely important factor if wanting to recover fully ;) ) is all apart of the experience! And no worries, the worst is over and I'm getting better :D its really not that bad. Sure I missed out on pretty much all of Golden Week and can't go to school for another 10 days but I'm making the most of it and that's all you can really do in a situation such as this. So I've kept myself amused by expanding my mind in various ways.
PS I seriously had blisters on my tongue and gums. That part was not fun but nothing terrimasu icecream can't fix ;)
--
Before I dive right into this blog however I just want to mention in advance that this entry is only for the things I have done outside of school. Sunday I'll post a new entry dedicated only to school. Otherwise this would become toooo long
--
okay...UPDATE STARTS NOWWW
"30/3 otousan took Maimi and I to McDonalds before picking up my uniforms (!!!!). In Japan they have coupons for Maccas even though it's so cheap here. Otousan and I got a Texas Burger Meal. Actually, he chose it for me. Personally I thought it looked like a heart attack waiting to happen but actually it was okay xD"
"2/4 Maimi, Nana and I caught a train and a bus to the shopping centre which is HUGE! and ate takoyaki. Did purikura! Went on an epic mission to find boots and failed but found a music store and played guitar."
NB: Nana is the name of an amazing girl in my homeroom class. She bought us melon fanta spiders too *I love this girl*
"4/4 went to a taiko concert with Maimi. Man it was amazing! Maimis friend was on 6th and they did pretty well. The last act had about 8 or so people including a 7 year old boy who was really genki and played hand symbols. The muscles he had at that age. Wow!"
"went to Harukas house and received her older sisters guitar"
"otousan and okaasan talked to me after dinner and said that they feel like they've known me for a long time even though it's been a week. I feel the same. I have to remind myself that I've been here less than 7 days. I love my family so much."
"planning on getting a Japanese bank account. I laughed to myself when I estimated how much was left in my wallet. I have about $26AUS. Will I survive? Stay tuned...lol. I feel broke."
NB: Haruka is another fantastic girl in my class. We attend the same club, are in the same homeroom and catch the same train ^_^.
Oh, and I did survive I now have a bank account and moneys!! XD
"5/4 watched tv with okaasan. Only in Japan do you see a woman with breasts twice the size of her head break 5 hard pieces of wood and a baseball bat with her rack. It was so disgusting to watch. She didn't even show any signs of pain."
NB: a very WTH O_o moment watching this American woman smashing a baseball bat to splinters with her massive boobs which require a backbrace to support.
"9/4 met Aimi. She's so nice and she hasn't spoken English to me which Is a good thing. But I can understand her Japanese really well. Proud."
NB: Aimi is my older sister who attends Uni and lives away from home. She studied in NZ for two years and her English skills are through the roof!
"11/4 had some free time to walk around the store by myself so I went looking around on the 4th floor where there were open jewelary stores. A store clerk approached me and we just spoke in Japanese which was awesome. She saw me looking at some rings and then assumed I was getting married and took out 'His-Her' (black and pink) rings which were in their $1000s of Aussie dollars mark and showing me their catologs. I got to try on all these really nice rings so I went along with it. I left with brouchers (one for me, one for my fiancée) and a a happy sales clerk who was really pleased that I thought the rings were beautiful and had lovely meanings engraved into them"
"12/4 got my alien registration card today woot!"
"16/4 HORSE MEAT IS DELICIOUS!!! otousan offered me this meat sashimi which I thought was steak (though it was a bit too dark to be cow. My next guess wouldve been deer). Anyway he told me and I couldn't believe him at first. I asked everyone if he was joking. Nope. Horse meat. Raw horse sashimi. It's sooooo yummy"
"17/4 went to Matsuura to see the Kugas today. In the car I taught Maimi how to play I Spy and she taught me this relations game. Both games were played for an hour each an definitely killed the bordem."
"arrived in Matsuura and tried to remember where the Kugas lived. Okaasan met us on the street and I got out and hugged her and met all the neighbours again. They haven't changed a bit! Except now I'm twice as tall as them all xD"
"boiled fresh sea snails are strange but they're not as bad as I thought they were going to be. Okaasan kuga made this huge dinner of sashimi, fried foods, salad, rice, miso, fruits and just food, food, food to feed you for a week. It was so good."
NB: the Kugas were my host family 2 years ago when I came for 2 weeks.
"24/4 got up an cooked french toast with Maimi. Was delicious."
"went out for yakitori and ate so much! Was the best meal. Thanked 'Ojisan' really loudly in Japanese. He was so happy he gave us a tonne of lollies :D"
NB: Ojisan is not my grandfather. It's just a respectful name to call an elderly man. But he cooks the BEST yakitori around so he derserves all thanks. Lollies were just a bonus on top of an awesome meal :D
"25/4 got to welcome party and chatted with everyone. Was a lot of fun. We all hung out and ate sooo much food! Met some girls (6 sisters) who's mum is German and Dad is Japanese. Did talent show. Didn't play guitar as planned but sang Waltzing Matilda instead. So embarrassing!"
"26/4 on train ride home at daizenji station there was a man smoking a cigerette. He put it out using his shoe and instead of putting it on the ground or throwing it on the tracks he put it in his pocket, probably to put in the bin when he found one. How many people in Aus would do that? I have much respect for that man indeed."
"28/4 got up early to drive to onsen with family and obaachan. Drive was long but so beautiful. So many flowers and greenery. Onsen was very relaxing. We arrived a bit before opening so we were the first ones in. Was sooo nice. Went in the outside onsen with the girls and just looked out over to the mountains and trees. Afterwards went to a soba restuarant which was so yummy! The soba came out on a wooden tray and you dipped the noodles into soyasauce and wasabi."
NB: Onsen is so worth it. Get over the fact that you're naked; everyone else is too and just enjoy the experience :)
"2/5 got up to go strawberry picking with Diane and her LPs. Had a massive BBQ and ate curry, curry udon, Yakisoba, wild boar...everything! After we went strawberry picking. Didn't pick much since everyone got to them before us leaving the nice, white, sick ones but we got a few yummies :). Went for a walk with Diane and we ran into this guy and got talking then sat with his mates who were really cool. They did break dancing for everyone which was sweet as. Oh and one of the guys and another one of the girls had the awesome-est hair. Took stalker photos O_O hehe"
from here it's a lot of talk about chickenpox so I'll skip that stuff.
"4/5 1:40am had a massive craving for some food so broke into the emu jerky. Has a very strange taste..."
NB: I think my medicine makes me hungry. I eat so much at dinner and then after I take my CP meds I get the biggest urge to eat. :P
"6/5 I LOVE EGGPLANT"
okay okay. I know this is a really long blog and it may seem like I have nothing interesting to say except just for a billion mentions of food. I've left it late to write it and I appologise so it's hard to choose what to include and what to leave out. So for that reason I've just gone through my diary I write in every night and picked out some things I thought were amusing and of course a few of the highlights :D But seriously I'm still having the best time of my life here. Japan is amazing and I love it. JAPAN no boring bits ;D I can't believe a month has already passed. Time is moving slowly and passing by quickly all at the same time. I can honestly say that up to this point in time I wouldn't change anything about my time here. This is my journey and I'm going to make the most of it!
I'll post my school blog really soon. It'll be up Sunday so stay tuned darlings.
No regrets. Live for the moment!
K x
Did you like the overdramatic and unnecessaryly long story? :P
But hey! What better place to get chickenpox than in Japan, right? Sure no chickenpox wouldve been great too but going to a Japanese doctor clinic, taking Japanese medication and eating Japanese icecream (an extremely important factor if wanting to recover fully ;) ) is all apart of the experience! And no worries, the worst is over and I'm getting better :D its really not that bad. Sure I missed out on pretty much all of Golden Week and can't go to school for another 10 days but I'm making the most of it and that's all you can really do in a situation such as this. So I've kept myself amused by expanding my mind in various ways.
PS I seriously had blisters on my tongue and gums. That part was not fun but nothing terrimasu icecream can't fix ;)
--
Before I dive right into this blog however I just want to mention in advance that this entry is only for the things I have done outside of school. Sunday I'll post a new entry dedicated only to school. Otherwise this would become toooo long
--
okay...UPDATE STARTS NOWWW
"30/3 otousan took Maimi and I to McDonalds before picking up my uniforms (!!!!). In Japan they have coupons for Maccas even though it's so cheap here. Otousan and I got a Texas Burger Meal. Actually, he chose it for me. Personally I thought it looked like a heart attack waiting to happen but actually it was okay xD"
"2/4 Maimi, Nana and I caught a train and a bus to the shopping centre which is HUGE! and ate takoyaki. Did purikura! Went on an epic mission to find boots and failed but found a music store and played guitar."
NB: Nana is the name of an amazing girl in my homeroom class. She bought us melon fanta spiders too *I love this girl*
"4/4 went to a taiko concert with Maimi. Man it was amazing! Maimis friend was on 6th and they did pretty well. The last act had about 8 or so people including a 7 year old boy who was really genki and played hand symbols. The muscles he had at that age. Wow!"
"went to Harukas house and received her older sisters guitar"
"otousan and okaasan talked to me after dinner and said that they feel like they've known me for a long time even though it's been a week. I feel the same. I have to remind myself that I've been here less than 7 days. I love my family so much."
"planning on getting a Japanese bank account. I laughed to myself when I estimated how much was left in my wallet. I have about $26AUS. Will I survive? Stay tuned...lol. I feel broke."
NB: Haruka is another fantastic girl in my class. We attend the same club, are in the same homeroom and catch the same train ^_^.
Oh, and I did survive I now have a bank account and moneys!! XD
"5/4 watched tv with okaasan. Only in Japan do you see a woman with breasts twice the size of her head break 5 hard pieces of wood and a baseball bat with her rack. It was so disgusting to watch. She didn't even show any signs of pain."
NB: a very WTH O_o moment watching this American woman smashing a baseball bat to splinters with her massive boobs which require a backbrace to support.
"9/4 met Aimi. She's so nice and she hasn't spoken English to me which Is a good thing. But I can understand her Japanese really well. Proud."
NB: Aimi is my older sister who attends Uni and lives away from home. She studied in NZ for two years and her English skills are through the roof!
"11/4 had some free time to walk around the store by myself so I went looking around on the 4th floor where there were open jewelary stores. A store clerk approached me and we just spoke in Japanese which was awesome. She saw me looking at some rings and then assumed I was getting married and took out 'His-Her' (black and pink) rings which were in their $1000s of Aussie dollars mark and showing me their catologs. I got to try on all these really nice rings so I went along with it. I left with brouchers (one for me, one for my fiancée) and a a happy sales clerk who was really pleased that I thought the rings were beautiful and had lovely meanings engraved into them"
"12/4 got my alien registration card today woot!"
"16/4 HORSE MEAT IS DELICIOUS!!! otousan offered me this meat sashimi which I thought was steak (though it was a bit too dark to be cow. My next guess wouldve been deer). Anyway he told me and I couldn't believe him at first. I asked everyone if he was joking. Nope. Horse meat. Raw horse sashimi. It's sooooo yummy"
"17/4 went to Matsuura to see the Kugas today. In the car I taught Maimi how to play I Spy and she taught me this relations game. Both games were played for an hour each an definitely killed the bordem."
"arrived in Matsuura and tried to remember where the Kugas lived. Okaasan met us on the street and I got out and hugged her and met all the neighbours again. They haven't changed a bit! Except now I'm twice as tall as them all xD"
"boiled fresh sea snails are strange but they're not as bad as I thought they were going to be. Okaasan kuga made this huge dinner of sashimi, fried foods, salad, rice, miso, fruits and just food, food, food to feed you for a week. It was so good."
NB: the Kugas were my host family 2 years ago when I came for 2 weeks.
"24/4 got up an cooked french toast with Maimi. Was delicious."
"went out for yakitori and ate so much! Was the best meal. Thanked 'Ojisan' really loudly in Japanese. He was so happy he gave us a tonne of lollies :D"
NB: Ojisan is not my grandfather. It's just a respectful name to call an elderly man. But he cooks the BEST yakitori around so he derserves all thanks. Lollies were just a bonus on top of an awesome meal :D
"25/4 got to welcome party and chatted with everyone. Was a lot of fun. We all hung out and ate sooo much food! Met some girls (6 sisters) who's mum is German and Dad is Japanese. Did talent show. Didn't play guitar as planned but sang Waltzing Matilda instead. So embarrassing!"
"26/4 on train ride home at daizenji station there was a man smoking a cigerette. He put it out using his shoe and instead of putting it on the ground or throwing it on the tracks he put it in his pocket, probably to put in the bin when he found one. How many people in Aus would do that? I have much respect for that man indeed."
"28/4 got up early to drive to onsen with family and obaachan. Drive was long but so beautiful. So many flowers and greenery. Onsen was very relaxing. We arrived a bit before opening so we were the first ones in. Was sooo nice. Went in the outside onsen with the girls and just looked out over to the mountains and trees. Afterwards went to a soba restuarant which was so yummy! The soba came out on a wooden tray and you dipped the noodles into soyasauce and wasabi."
NB: Onsen is so worth it. Get over the fact that you're naked; everyone else is too and just enjoy the experience :)
"2/5 got up to go strawberry picking with Diane and her LPs. Had a massive BBQ and ate curry, curry udon, Yakisoba, wild boar...everything! After we went strawberry picking. Didn't pick much since everyone got to them before us leaving the nice, white, sick ones but we got a few yummies :). Went for a walk with Diane and we ran into this guy and got talking then sat with his mates who were really cool. They did break dancing for everyone which was sweet as. Oh and one of the guys and another one of the girls had the awesome-est hair. Took stalker photos O_O hehe"
from here it's a lot of talk about chickenpox so I'll skip that stuff.
"4/5 1:40am had a massive craving for some food so broke into the emu jerky. Has a very strange taste..."
NB: I think my medicine makes me hungry. I eat so much at dinner and then after I take my CP meds I get the biggest urge to eat. :P
"6/5 I LOVE EGGPLANT"
okay okay. I know this is a really long blog and it may seem like I have nothing interesting to say except just for a billion mentions of food. I've left it late to write it and I appologise so it's hard to choose what to include and what to leave out. So for that reason I've just gone through my diary I write in every night and picked out some things I thought were amusing and of course a few of the highlights :D But seriously I'm still having the best time of my life here. Japan is amazing and I love it. JAPAN no boring bits ;D I can't believe a month has already passed. Time is moving slowly and passing by quickly all at the same time. I can honestly say that up to this point in time I wouldn't change anything about my time here. This is my journey and I'm going to make the most of it!
I'll post my school blog really soon. It'll be up Sunday so stay tuned darlings.
No regrets. Live for the moment!
K x
Friday, April 2, 2010
日本で
Warning: these blogs are no longer about me going to Japan.
THAT'S BECAUSE I'M ALREADY IN JAPAN!! don't you love how capital letters emphaise everything you say? Ok starting now anything in italics is word for word from my personal diary I'm keeping so things may seem a bit unorderly but you'll soon catch on, I know you're all smart cookies ;)
So my darlings, I'm in Japan and what can I say to express how wonderful it is here and how happy I am...*thinks*
I guess you could say that from the moment I left Brissy domestic airport to this point in time I have not had a dull second. Orientation in Osaka was awesome!!! I met so many people from Australia and around the world: Malaysia, Bolivia, France, Swedan, USA, Thailand, Switzerland, Germany, Brazil, French Canada and China to name some of the few that I hung out with for 3 awesome days xD oh and guess what everyone...the first night in Osaka we stayed at a youth hostel. At this particular hostel it had communial bathrooms which means we all bathed together naked (chortle, chortle grow up lol) . To tell you the truth I found the bath very relaxing; almost as if you were going to fall asleep. After you actually got undressed [believe me once that is over and done with it gets so much easier] you're laughing. I'd do it again.
"25/3 9:50am - Arrived in Yokohama, amongst leafless trees, there was one tree with sakura in bloom. Beautiful. Passed it quickly, now on highway."
Arriving in Saga airport I got the biggest adrenaline rush. Why? Because in just a few short minutes I would be meeting my host family!!! I recognised them straightaway waving AFS flags and "ケイトリンようこそ田中家へ" hand made poster :D against everything AFS had told us about the Japanese and personal space we all hugged each other and took photos and of course lots of smiles!!!!
"27/3 TOUCHDOWN! OMG this is it :D! Smile! Be positive! Yay! Enjoy!"
My family are the most wonderful people you could ever meet. I don't think I could ask for anyone better to host me. Everyday we talk, joke, laugh and just enjoy each others company.
"27/3 お母さん told me that today I am a guest but tomorrow I'm their daughter :) 楽しみにしています"
So now the details everyone is asking me for...
My host family consists of お父さん、お母さん and my host sister まいみ. We live in this awesome house that looks western but definitely has a Japanese feel to it (just look in the tatami room ;) ) since I live in a more rural part of Japan if you compare to major cities, so I have a backyard! It's so beautiful. One of お父さん hobbies is gardening so there's tulips, fruit trees and a pink sakura tree too!I'm surprised with how cold it is here (7~16'C) everything still manages to grow. But wooow, it's beautiful even if I have to rug up to see it up close. Totally worth it. お母さん is an amazing cook. Im eating so much im bound to gain weight. She's cooked okonomiyaki, gyoza, miso soup, spagetti, rice, veggies, yakisoba, spring rolls and so much more. Delicious, mouth watering, おいしい!! None of these words come close to how wonderful the food is. I just love her food and yes, I do my bit my cleaning up around the house and helping out with chores. I also have my own room which is quite spacious with a bed, desk and cupboard. I barely spend any time in there, I'm mostly downstairs hanging with the family or studying with まいみ.
Speaking of studying...I start school on the 6th which is only 5 days away!!! Yayyy!!!! So excited!!
"30/3 went to xxx xxx xxx highschool and had an interview with the vice principal and one other teacher. Received uniforms, blazers and bag which is so cute ^_^. They told me I'll be making a speech in front of about +640 people...eep! Met the principal even though he was busy and gave him the business card holder. He seems really nice."
My uniform is so adorable. Blue pleeted skirt, white shirt with a navy ribbon collar thing (the ones that look like the breast cancer symbol), a navy coat/blazer and long white socks. I've written the speech which basically says 'my name is, I'm this old, Im from, I'll be in this class, my hobbies are, sorry that my Japanese is bad but I'll try my best' I wrote it really quick and お父さん corrected it for me :) my head inflated slightly when there was only 3 spelling mistakes hehe. It shouldn't though, this is grade 8 japanese language we're talking about :P so I'll be going to the same school as my sister = no chance of getting lost. Ride a bike to the next town, catch two trains and then get of and walk to school. Pretty keen!! I've been studying Japanese everyday with the booklets AFS gave us. Definitely helping!
日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語!!!! All day everyday :D it's the most amazing feeling when your immersed in a language that's foreign to you. I was really surprised how much I can understand whats being said when I just sit back and listen.
"27/3 I thought the ride home was going to be awkward but everyone seemed to have kept the conversation going and I was surprised how much I understood.
Eg. お父さん said in Japanese to my LP (support person) 'that where we were was not Fukuoka but Saga. After we go over the bridge we'll be in Fukuoka..."
Its not much but It's the small things like understanding a conversation that's not adjusted to my ears that gives me immense satisfaction. At home I try my best to speak Japanese to the family. I've begun writing down words I don't know onto pieces of paper and studying them at night before I go to bed. I'm also addicted to the Japanese drama "はなよりだんご" and so I pick up some words from there and talk shows. The only time I have actual conversations in English is when まいみ and I make up English Dramas using sentences from her homework book to help her with her english which we've just started doing. It's so much fun and the crazy things she comes up with. Omg her pronunciation is amazing!! And she's so much better at English than I am in Japanese (lol I know that, that doesn't say much bit take my word when I say she's got skillzz)
So Kaitlin you've rambled on long enough what else have you been doing or don't you have a life in Japan?
Well darlings, yours truely went to Hanami. Sakura is nothing like the pictures. It's 7738332929227273628299228 X better. Sakura is beauty in a tree. The family and I rode together on bikes to the park [which had sooo many people!!] and ate obento under the sakura trees. A perfect day to say the least. Next week the sakura will be gone and I won't see them again for the rest of my home stay. It's sad, but I'm so glad I saw them.
So the next 7 days plans are shopping with sis and her friend, going to a taiko drum concert, school speeches, public holiday and starting school officially. I can't wait!
Just a random note here: I'm officially addicted to the song "The flavour of life" by Utada Hikaru. If anyone's interested in Japanese music she has the most beautiful voice so check her out on YouTube or something. Hehe, advertisement muchly.
Let me know if you actually reached the end of this blog or not. It seems pretty long and I hope it's not too boring for you. But something is happening everyday and I'm enjoying every moment I have here. I always look forward to waking up in the morning and starting a new day (it sounds cheesey but this is seriously how I feel)
No regrets. Live for the moment.
K x
THAT'S BECAUSE I'M ALREADY IN JAPAN!! don't you love how capital letters emphaise everything you say? Ok starting now anything in italics is word for word from my personal diary I'm keeping so things may seem a bit unorderly but you'll soon catch on, I know you're all smart cookies ;)
So my darlings, I'm in Japan and what can I say to express how wonderful it is here and how happy I am...*thinks*
I guess you could say that from the moment I left Brissy domestic airport to this point in time I have not had a dull second. Orientation in Osaka was awesome!!! I met so many people from Australia and around the world: Malaysia, Bolivia, France, Swedan, USA, Thailand, Switzerland, Germany, Brazil, French Canada and China to name some of the few that I hung out with for 3 awesome days xD oh and guess what everyone...the first night in Osaka we stayed at a youth hostel. At this particular hostel it had communial bathrooms which means we all bathed together naked (chortle, chortle grow up lol) . To tell you the truth I found the bath very relaxing; almost as if you were going to fall asleep. After you actually got undressed [believe me once that is over and done with it gets so much easier] you're laughing. I'd do it again.
"25/3 9:50am - Arrived in Yokohama, amongst leafless trees, there was one tree with sakura in bloom. Beautiful. Passed it quickly, now on highway."
Arriving in Saga airport I got the biggest adrenaline rush. Why? Because in just a few short minutes I would be meeting my host family!!! I recognised them straightaway waving AFS flags and "ケイトリンようこそ田中家へ" hand made poster :D against everything AFS had told us about the Japanese and personal space we all hugged each other and took photos and of course lots of smiles!!!!
"27/3 TOUCHDOWN! OMG this is it :D! Smile! Be positive! Yay! Enjoy!"
My family are the most wonderful people you could ever meet. I don't think I could ask for anyone better to host me. Everyday we talk, joke, laugh and just enjoy each others company.
"27/3 お母さん told me that today I am a guest but tomorrow I'm their daughter :) 楽しみにしています"
So now the details everyone is asking me for...
My host family consists of お父さん、お母さん and my host sister まいみ. We live in this awesome house that looks western but definitely has a Japanese feel to it (just look in the tatami room ;) ) since I live in a more rural part of Japan if you compare to major cities, so I have a backyard! It's so beautiful. One of お父さん hobbies is gardening so there's tulips, fruit trees and a pink sakura tree too!I'm surprised with how cold it is here (7~16'C) everything still manages to grow. But wooow, it's beautiful even if I have to rug up to see it up close. Totally worth it. お母さん is an amazing cook. Im eating so much im bound to gain weight. She's cooked okonomiyaki, gyoza, miso soup, spagetti, rice, veggies, yakisoba, spring rolls and so much more. Delicious, mouth watering, おいしい!! None of these words come close to how wonderful the food is. I just love her food and yes, I do my bit my cleaning up around the house and helping out with chores. I also have my own room which is quite spacious with a bed, desk and cupboard. I barely spend any time in there, I'm mostly downstairs hanging with the family or studying with まいみ.
Speaking of studying...I start school on the 6th which is only 5 days away!!! Yayyy!!!! So excited!!
"30/3 went to xxx xxx xxx highschool and had an interview with the vice principal and one other teacher. Received uniforms, blazers and bag which is so cute ^_^. They told me I'll be making a speech in front of about +640 people...eep! Met the principal even though he was busy and gave him the business card holder. He seems really nice."
My uniform is so adorable. Blue pleeted skirt, white shirt with a navy ribbon collar thing (the ones that look like the breast cancer symbol), a navy coat/blazer and long white socks. I've written the speech which basically says 'my name is, I'm this old, Im from, I'll be in this class, my hobbies are, sorry that my Japanese is bad but I'll try my best' I wrote it really quick and お父さん corrected it for me :) my head inflated slightly when there was only 3 spelling mistakes hehe. It shouldn't though, this is grade 8 japanese language we're talking about :P so I'll be going to the same school as my sister = no chance of getting lost. Ride a bike to the next town, catch two trains and then get of and walk to school. Pretty keen!! I've been studying Japanese everyday with the booklets AFS gave us. Definitely helping!
日本語日本語日本語日本語日本語!!!! All day everyday :D it's the most amazing feeling when your immersed in a language that's foreign to you. I was really surprised how much I can understand whats being said when I just sit back and listen.
"27/3 I thought the ride home was going to be awkward but everyone seemed to have kept the conversation going and I was surprised how much I understood.
Eg. お父さん said in Japanese to my LP (support person) 'that where we were was not Fukuoka but Saga. After we go over the bridge we'll be in Fukuoka..."
Its not much but It's the small things like understanding a conversation that's not adjusted to my ears that gives me immense satisfaction. At home I try my best to speak Japanese to the family. I've begun writing down words I don't know onto pieces of paper and studying them at night before I go to bed. I'm also addicted to the Japanese drama "はなよりだんご" and so I pick up some words from there and talk shows. The only time I have actual conversations in English is when まいみ and I make up English Dramas using sentences from her homework book to help her with her english which we've just started doing. It's so much fun and the crazy things she comes up with. Omg her pronunciation is amazing!! And she's so much better at English than I am in Japanese (lol I know that, that doesn't say much bit take my word when I say she's got skillzz)
So Kaitlin you've rambled on long enough what else have you been doing or don't you have a life in Japan?
Well darlings, yours truely went to Hanami. Sakura is nothing like the pictures. It's 7738332929227273628299228 X better. Sakura is beauty in a tree. The family and I rode together on bikes to the park [which had sooo many people!!] and ate obento under the sakura trees. A perfect day to say the least. Next week the sakura will be gone and I won't see them again for the rest of my home stay. It's sad, but I'm so glad I saw them.
So the next 7 days plans are shopping with sis and her friend, going to a taiko drum concert, school speeches, public holiday and starting school officially. I can't wait!
Just a random note here: I'm officially addicted to the song "The flavour of life" by Utada Hikaru. If anyone's interested in Japanese music she has the most beautiful voice so check her out on YouTube or something. Hehe, advertisement muchly.
Let me know if you actually reached the end of this blog or not. It seems pretty long and I hope it's not too boring for you. But something is happening everyday and I'm enjoying every moment I have here. I always look forward to waking up in the morning and starting a new day (it sounds cheesey but this is seriously how I feel)
No regrets. Live for the moment.
K x
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
I'm here!
Guess what?!?!
I'm in Japan!!!!!
However, I won't write about that just yet, I promised a post about earlier events soooo let's try and stay cronological shall we. Besides, I have much to write about so far that this post would become too long and no one in their right mind would be bothered to read it xD
I must recommend to anyone who plans on communicating with their host family [when i say 'plans on' i really mean DO IT since its an awesome way to get to know your family before you arrive and also to know what to expect] to do so through Skype. I for one can say that that my Japanese speaking skills are pretty poor and talking to native speakers can be nerve racking for me, however, when I Skyped my family, me going to Japan felt that little bit more real at the time as it still hadn't sunk in fully. And you know what, skyping your family is just plain awesome! They're no longer this email or letter or facebook post. They're real and you'll be with them soon enough! Isn't that just (OMGGGG im going to use the word again) awesome!!! So there I was with my family, sweating from the Aussie heat at 10:20pm huddled around a computer while my host family was on the other end with a fire stove smouldering wearing jackets! Although I could mostly comprehend what was being said, I was lucky enough to have my older host sis (who is basically fluent in english) to talk to when I had no idea what was going on. Seriously though, best conversation over Skype i've ever had. Okaasan asked what my favourite colour was because she was going to buy me a lunch box!! How cute is that??!?!?
Next on the agenda...phone calls. Yes I received a phone call from AFS telling me that my flight details had changed which I started to freak about until they said it was only my domestic. Pheww.
[[ Eh that last paragraph sounded really exciting didn't it. I wanna write about japaannnn but I won't cave in to temptation. Patience. I've been keeping a personal diary so i wont forget anything. I'll just rewrite some things that i've written and post them later. Promiseee ]]
Have I ever mentioned that my friends are amazing? They planned a huge surprise party with my family and kept it a surprise. And what a surprise! My friend took me out for the day to disguise the setting up which was taken place at my house *love love love*. When I arrived home, there was all my friends and family dressed in Japanese style there to wish me luck and farewell. It was an amazing night with food, dancing and lots of fun! The detail they put into it just rocked. The invites took them ages to make by hand and hundreds of cranes and lanterns were made and strung up around the garden and tent [it had been raining due to a cyclone on it's way]. Overall it was the best night and I have the best friends and the best family everrr. It really showed how much they care and will miss me and for me it brought out how much I was going to miss them and how much they mean to me.
They mean the world to me.
You are officially updated. From here on end my posts will be about me in Japan.
I appologise if this post has repeatition or is short and lame or doesn't make sense. It's pretty late and I need sleep. I just wanted to post what I had promised.
Oyasumi
K x
I'm in Japan!!!!!
However, I won't write about that just yet, I promised a post about earlier events soooo let's try and stay cronological shall we. Besides, I have much to write about so far that this post would become too long and no one in their right mind would be bothered to read it xD
I must recommend to anyone who plans on communicating with their host family [when i say 'plans on' i really mean DO IT since its an awesome way to get to know your family before you arrive and also to know what to expect] to do so through Skype. I for one can say that that my Japanese speaking skills are pretty poor and talking to native speakers can be nerve racking for me, however, when I Skyped my family, me going to Japan felt that little bit more real at the time as it still hadn't sunk in fully. And you know what, skyping your family is just plain awesome! They're no longer this email or letter or facebook post. They're real and you'll be with them soon enough! Isn't that just (OMGGGG im going to use the word again) awesome!!! So there I was with my family, sweating from the Aussie heat at 10:20pm huddled around a computer while my host family was on the other end with a fire stove smouldering wearing jackets! Although I could mostly comprehend what was being said, I was lucky enough to have my older host sis (who is basically fluent in english) to talk to when I had no idea what was going on. Seriously though, best conversation over Skype i've ever had. Okaasan asked what my favourite colour was because she was going to buy me a lunch box!! How cute is that??!?!?
Next on the agenda...phone calls. Yes I received a phone call from AFS telling me that my flight details had changed which I started to freak about until they said it was only my domestic. Pheww.
[[ Eh that last paragraph sounded really exciting didn't it. I wanna write about japaannnn but I won't cave in to temptation. Patience. I've been keeping a personal diary so i wont forget anything. I'll just rewrite some things that i've written and post them later. Promiseee ]]
Have I ever mentioned that my friends are amazing? They planned a huge surprise party with my family and kept it a surprise. And what a surprise! My friend took me out for the day to disguise the setting up which was taken place at my house *love love love*. When I arrived home, there was all my friends and family dressed in Japanese style there to wish me luck and farewell. It was an amazing night with food, dancing and lots of fun! The detail they put into it just rocked. The invites took them ages to make by hand and hundreds of cranes and lanterns were made and strung up around the garden and tent [it had been raining due to a cyclone on it's way]. Overall it was the best night and I have the best friends and the best family everrr. It really showed how much they care and will miss me and for me it brought out how much I was going to miss them and how much they mean to me.
They mean the world to me.
You are officially updated. From here on end my posts will be about me in Japan.
I appologise if this post has repeatition or is short and lame or doesn't make sense. It's pretty late and I need sleep. I just wanted to post what I had promised.
Oyasumi
K x
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Advice about packing
DO IT A WEEK BEFORE YOU GO!!
And you're saying, but Kaitlin, you still have about a week to go, what's the big deal? Well my lovely readers [if there are any ;)] the thing is, I live in Mackay. It is currently 1.24am on a Wednesday morning and in exactly 8 hours and 6 minutes I have to be awake enough to carry my myself and an over packed bag into an airport so I can catch a plane to Brisbane where I'll be spending a week with my Dad, Step-mother and other family. Considering that this is the last Wednesday morning I'll be spending in Mackay for 11 months, I should have started packing one week ago from today. Sure, I made lists (lists are your friends! Make as many as you can about EVERYTHING) and I went shopping. However, being me and my super unorganised self, I left things to the very last minute to pack my life into a suitcase.
Ooops! Big mistake. For the last 2 and a bit hours I've been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off trying to pack and clean and whatever else that needs to be done. The more things I pack, the more I realise what I haven't packed! It's a vicious cycle *sob* and thoughts are still in my brain about what I've potentially forgotten. My bag was neatly packed with the necessary clothes and everything fit perfectly. Then I realised I didn't look in my other side of my cupboard where I had more clothes which I wanted, sure no problem. Then there was toiletries. Yep, packed good. Here's where the vicious cycle kicks in:
ZOMG I need a nice dress shirt, shoes, razors, deodorant, PJ's, hair ties, where is my camera case?!??!!! where is my voltage converter?!?!!?! OMG I don't even have my YEN!..it's down again, damn it, should have bought it yesterday at 5pm when it was up a little, stationery for school etc, I haven't printed off my meishi, where are my lists?!?! Do I really need vitamins? and I haven't packed up my gifts [which my friends kindly helped me wrap since I fail in that department *hugs*]!!
As you can see from Freak Out A above you can imagine how much I want to drop kick myself for being so lazy and not packing when I at least had the whole day to do it. Now I'm suffering the consequences. My suitcase is no longer neat but everything is thrown on top of everything without order, I will have little sleep and I'm too scared to open my suitcase to check if I've forgotten my camera charger in the fear of caving in, unpacking everything and realising I have to put everything back. T_T why am I so unorganised?
The bottom line is, pack in advance. Sure, you may seem overly keen but that's allowed! Woooot I'm going to Japan in just under a week :D So excited!!!!
I'm going to write a blog about what has happened over the last 10 days within the next few days hopefully. [there's good news about skyping my family, phone calls and surprises :3] The reason why I'm writing this first is because it's currently on my mind and it's bugging me. Now I need sleep...or at least double check I've got everything I need.
Oyasumi,
K x
Monday, March 1, 2010
23 days, so much has happened so much more to do!
First off...pinch and a punch for the first day of the month :D
It's now the 1st of March and I have officially 17 days in Mackay, 6 days in Brisbane and 1/2 a night in Sydney before I arrive in Japan. Wooo! I've been equally excited as well as nervous. It's not so much going to Japan for a year that's 'scary'...more so returning to Australia after a year. I have to start year 12 and welcome all it's pressures that come with it, I'll be with a new grade of people, my old friends are off to uni (some which I may never see again) and I have to settle back into an Aussie life...as you can see I think waaaaaaaaaaay too far ahead for my own good hehe. At the moment I'm just trying to go with the flow and whatever comes bring it on! I want to enjoy what little time I have with my friends, family and not get worked up over nothing or things that are months and months away. [Yes, I've only just realised this now thanks to a few people who have talked me out of worrying so much *love*]
So, much has happened between now and last time I blogged. I've received my detailed host family info (!!!!), school info, orientation site and have been emailing like crazy to my お父さん almost every night. He said on Facebook that Sakura are coming into bloom soon and that he'll take the family to view them. Ahh!! Can't wait :D I've always wanted to see cherry blossoms. Lots of photos will be taken ;)
First things first, my family. They all look so nice and they have a gorgeous house. It's so huge! They sent me pictures of the house, my family and...wait for it...my own room :) Awesome. My Dad is a police officer so don't worry, I'll definitely be safe in Japan. Their hobbies include mountain stream fishing (面白い!), sewing, garding, computer, volunteering and dance. They also like to have family get togethers so it looks like I'll be meeting the whole gang whilst I'm there. Can't wait! I need to buy so many gifts (something that I haven't got around doing yet eeep). Also, my city. Even though it' in the south, it's so cold compared to Mackay. Throughout the year it ranges from 0'C ~35'C!! It won't snow but I hope I get to see snow when I'm there =3 Love, love, love, love, love my family.
My school...I can't wait to attend! My school will be in the next city so maybe I may catch a train? That'll be different to catching a bus everyday. It's a public co-ed school with double the amount of girls than there is boys. However, I've noticed that they don't study Physics D: instead they have Basic Science. They seem to have a lot of business subjects so I guess this school is for students who want to be involved in a business type career?
They have three holidays in year ranging from 2 weeks to a month. I've noticed that Christmas is actually incorporated into the winter holiday so no going to school on Chrissy for me!!
What else can I say...ooo the clubs. So. Many. To. Choose. From. I think I want to do a sporting club so I've narrowed it down to 3 options: Kendo, Kyudo (archery) and Karate....maybe Badminton gosh it's so hard to decide right now! If I decide to do a cultural club I may choose from my list of 4: Tea Ceremony, Cooking, Volunteer Activities (??) and Calligraphy. It's too hard to decide!
Also, my school has a camp in December to *drum roll please* AUSTRALIA! I doubt I'll go since I'll be coming home in a few months after that but how cool nonetheless.
I also wrote a letter to my principal last week in Japanese to thank him for allowing me to attend the school. Many thanks to Aki for correcting my mistakes *hugs*
Orientation...so excited! I've been talking on this Facebook forum to tonnes of AFS Japan go-ers and I'm feeling better that at least I've been aquainted with a few of these people before I arrive so I don't feel like some kind of loner. I got given a red sticker which means I'll be going to Osaka for my orientation. That's good and bad news. Good that I know a few people going...bad news because I have to catch a domestic flight. The check in baggage allowance is 15kg in Japan! Be warned! I'm going to have to cram as much junk into my backpack (allowance 10kg) as I can. *thumbs up* going to be hells fun :D
I'm planning to Skype my family soon. Sometime this week hopefully. I've been wanting to for so long but my spoken Japanese is far less superior than my reading/writing. Fingers crossed all goes well!!
Lastly. Guess who passed JLPT 4!!! :D I got my certificate the other day saying I had successfully passed. Woooooot! It's a little stab of confidence of my Japanese skills haha. My friends, go for it this year. You'll pass a hell of a lot better than I did with grade 12 Japanese under your belt. Totally do it :)
And yes, I'm still unorganised. Haven't done anything in the way of more shopping, photos for documents and everything. Pressure is my friend. It will make me put my A into G in no time soon. More than anything, I just want to see my mates at the moment. Can't wait for next week when I will! No sign of my CoE yet...I'll hassel them next week if I hear nothing soon.
That's enough from me I think...this is what happens when you don't blog for a while. You end up writing long posts with lots of "!" and " :D/:)" everywhere!!! :D
K x
It's now the 1st of March and I have officially 17 days in Mackay, 6 days in Brisbane and 1/2 a night in Sydney before I arrive in Japan. Wooo! I've been equally excited as well as nervous. It's not so much going to Japan for a year that's 'scary'...more so returning to Australia after a year. I have to start year 12 and welcome all it's pressures that come with it, I'll be with a new grade of people, my old friends are off to uni (some which I may never see again) and I have to settle back into an Aussie life...as you can see I think waaaaaaaaaaay too far ahead for my own good hehe. At the moment I'm just trying to go with the flow and whatever comes bring it on! I want to enjoy what little time I have with my friends, family and not get worked up over nothing or things that are months and months away. [Yes, I've only just realised this now thanks to a few people who have talked me out of worrying so much *love*]
So, much has happened between now and last time I blogged. I've received my detailed host family info (!!!!), school info, orientation site and have been emailing like crazy to my お父さん almost every night. He said on Facebook that Sakura are coming into bloom soon and that he'll take the family to view them. Ahh!! Can't wait :D I've always wanted to see cherry blossoms. Lots of photos will be taken ;)
First things first, my family. They all look so nice and they have a gorgeous house. It's so huge! They sent me pictures of the house, my family and...wait for it...my own room :) Awesome. My Dad is a police officer so don't worry, I'll definitely be safe in Japan. Their hobbies include mountain stream fishing (面白い!), sewing, garding, computer, volunteering and dance. They also like to have family get togethers so it looks like I'll be meeting the whole gang whilst I'm there. Can't wait! I need to buy so many gifts (something that I haven't got around doing yet eeep). Also, my city. Even though it' in the south, it's so cold compared to Mackay. Throughout the year it ranges from 0'C ~35'C!! It won't snow but I hope I get to see snow when I'm there =3 Love, love, love, love, love my family.
My school...I can't wait to attend! My school will be in the next city so maybe I may catch a train? That'll be different to catching a bus everyday. It's a public co-ed school with double the amount of girls than there is boys. However, I've noticed that they don't study Physics D: instead they have Basic Science. They seem to have a lot of business subjects so I guess this school is for students who want to be involved in a business type career?
They have three holidays in year ranging from 2 weeks to a month. I've noticed that Christmas is actually incorporated into the winter holiday so no going to school on Chrissy for me!!
What else can I say...ooo the clubs. So. Many. To. Choose. From. I think I want to do a sporting club so I've narrowed it down to 3 options: Kendo, Kyudo (archery) and Karate....maybe Badminton gosh it's so hard to decide right now! If I decide to do a cultural club I may choose from my list of 4: Tea Ceremony, Cooking, Volunteer Activities (??) and Calligraphy. It's too hard to decide!
Also, my school has a camp in December to *drum roll please* AUSTRALIA! I doubt I'll go since I'll be coming home in a few months after that but how cool nonetheless.
I also wrote a letter to my principal last week in Japanese to thank him for allowing me to attend the school. Many thanks to Aki for correcting my mistakes *hugs*
Orientation...so excited! I've been talking on this Facebook forum to tonnes of AFS Japan go-ers and I'm feeling better that at least I've been aquainted with a few of these people before I arrive so I don't feel like some kind of loner. I got given a red sticker which means I'll be going to Osaka for my orientation. That's good and bad news. Good that I know a few people going...bad news because I have to catch a domestic flight. The check in baggage allowance is 15kg in Japan! Be warned! I'm going to have to cram as much junk into my backpack (allowance 10kg) as I can. *thumbs up* going to be hells fun :D
I'm planning to Skype my family soon. Sometime this week hopefully. I've been wanting to for so long but my spoken Japanese is far less superior than my reading/writing. Fingers crossed all goes well!!
Lastly. Guess who passed JLPT 4!!! :D I got my certificate the other day saying I had successfully passed. Woooooot! It's a little stab of confidence of my Japanese skills haha. My friends, go for it this year. You'll pass a hell of a lot better than I did with grade 12 Japanese under your belt. Totally do it :)
And yes, I'm still unorganised. Haven't done anything in the way of more shopping, photos for documents and everything. Pressure is my friend. It will make me put my A into G in no time soon. More than anything, I just want to see my mates at the moment. Can't wait for next week when I will! No sign of my CoE yet...I'll hassel them next week if I hear nothing soon.
That's enough from me I think...this is what happens when you don't blog for a while. You end up writing long posts with lots of "!" and " :D/:)" everywhere!!! :D
K x
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