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