Things are definately getting easier, I speak Japanese like 24/7 and i don`t get the white noise in the background anymore and pick up a lot more things. I have a lot to fill you in on so I`ll do it calendar style.



Monday 14- During 5th and 6th period we had club orientation which is basically the showcasing of all the school clubs. Even though i joined the baton club the most amazing ones where the Karate club and the Rythmic Gymnastic club ( it was like watching the cirque du solie toned down a bit) where everyone seems to lack spines. The Karate club looks like boys (like many of the sport club students) and they were really beefy but they seemed to make the students at Karate look like kids. I felt quite tempted to join the Calligraphy club but since i am doing that as my elective i figured i`d pass, and I`m not regretting it at all.



Tuesday 15- we had photo day (which was individual) I spoke to you guys, and speaking to you both made my week!



Wednesday- Since monday i had been going to baton pratice after school which had been ending round the 5pm mark, We had some Aussie Teachers from Adelaide visit and they conducted a class in which the girls got to see a `reall aussie` convo, g`day,mate,telly and all. Kanami knew one of the ladies from her school exchange. After school i had a kanji test which i failed (only cause to pass i have to get 90% and i got 84%)



Thursday 17- I had to get up at the wee hour of 5.30am in order to catch a 6.10 bus, not fun >.< i rode it to Utsunomiya Station and waited an hour to meet my friends in order to grab the bus back to school (i couldn`t ride my bike with such a heavy suitcase!) after that we all boarded a bus to go to Nasu. Nasu is famous for Strawberries and Grapefruit judging from the souveniers. Though this was a supposed educational trip ($155 worth which i experienced for free!) After arriving we all went to the so called `volcanoe` for a supposed orientation (just a run though of times and whatnot), after we had the best lunch of Curry and rice. And i didn`t find it spicy rather somewhat sweetish. After we all struggled to keep awake during some speeches made by the teachers, Teachers were hitting students with paper to wake them up but my class managed to persevere somehow.



The whole point of this trip was hear the story of Komorisan who`s daughter had commited suicide due to bullying. I cried along with the other students (cause i could hear the pain in her voice), this woman always talks at conferences and the like and there is some foundation set up in her daughters name. Bullying in Japan can sometimes be a huge problem.



After we had Baikingu which i thought meant cycling but Goram sensei explained it`s Viking after Norse Mythology in Vahella where Vikings could feast in the afterlife. So basically a buffet but i have to admit the Viking thing is cool. And my lord some of my friends put vikings to shame, i swear they eat three times what i do. Not all of them are like that but my class weren`t the only ones getting up for Forths in some things, i think they must have four stomachs to stay that thin....So unfair.



Everyone always goes on about how polite the Japanese are but i have to admit i will never consider them shy again after seeing how energetic they are in Hot springs. There isn`t anything right about girls choosing the time when both parties are naked to introduce themselves. It was really wierd getting all these girls going `MI-CHAN!!!
and coming up to talk to me WHEN WE ARE BOTH NAKED! I think i saw more that i needed to of some people but the hot springs were totally worth it. The steam is great for your skin and the water feels sooooooo good! I went to the outside hot springs which were fairly warm and it was raining slightly at the time which was reaaaally nice. One of the best things is to have some ice-cream while in the hot springs but i forgot.



I was in a room with Two of my classmates and we stayed up till 1-2ish talking about australia in japanese of course. My friends were asking me about famous aussie actors,singers and the like which resulted in some short lists from me `Mel Gibson.....heath ledger...delta goodrem...Mel Gibson...`



Friday 19 Return from Nasu



We only had to be up at 7.30 for brekyy with a 6.30 wake up call but due to the alarms on my friend`s mobiles going off every fiver minutes after the tender hour of 5.30am i was not happy. The Girls went nuts at out viking breakfast when the chef started making mickey mouse shaped pancakes....go figure... sometimes i forget my friends are around the 15year old mark.



We were supposed to go to Highland Park (which i had no idea was a theme park, i thought it was a world heritage site, considering we had to watch a film of Okinawa in WWII for a movie can you blame me?` but we didn`t because of the rain. We did stop at a Sweet factory place which also stocked some pricy souveniers. I bought you guys some Manju? (they are reaaaally nice and But expire soon so i really must get my a into g) again the girls went Nuts buying sweets....the japanese are honestly food obsessed...so unfair.



The bus had Karaoke (go figure) and i made a fool of myself slaughtering an awesome song, but because i`m a foreigner it`s intantly cool. We returned earlier than expected so i slept once i managed to get home.



Saturday 19- I had club 9-2 but the senpai (upperclassmen) didn`t show up so it was just me and this other girl hanging around in the classroom where they chuck all the club stuff. The reason why the senpai didn`t show up was due to the insanely strong wind! After i returned home i went to catch up on more sleep.



Sunday 20-practice 9-2 again and this time the senpai did show up but we only practiced from 10-1. It was good though since i really improved. At this very moment i look like i have been physically abused by someone. There was a big bruise on the top of my hand from the baton, I`ve got small bruises on my arms from where it has hit me, and some really nasty black and blue bruises on my legs from various biking incidences but i`ve only really had one accident where the bike turned into a bush and i ended up on the concrete with the bike on top of me which was this sunday.



Monday - everyone had a week to try out the different clubs they were interested in and today was the day where you could officially join.



Tuesday- we had our Class photo out on the school grounds of all places and my word it was cold. I had a repeat Kanji exam which was exactly the same exam as before, in japan the repeat exams are the same which still doesn`t make sense to me...



The PE classes here are really wierd so far it`s been about sitting down and standing up in a certain way within the same time, it`s all about getting ready for Rajio Taiso (radio Excercises) I`m definately going to film this. Everyone hates it but while i don`t like the music i like the excercises since it actually warms you up in the cold weather.



Thursday 24- I had a Kanji test yesterday (23rd) and i got 90% which was good ( of course i passed the resit on monday) During Club we learned the first half of one of our cheerleading routines, yay for physical activity! Though i got insanely frustrated as the senpai kept changing the counts and that confuzzled me greatly. It ended up with me getting teary and everyone treating me like an idiot after wards asking if i understand. It didn`t help the girl in front of me kept making mistakes, so when you don`t know the counts or the language you have to rely on everyone else`s bodies to get anywhere. Also this was my first FULL week of school and club had been ending around 6ish, considering i have a 40min bike ride to get home you can imagine why i felt unwell on friday.



Friday 25- all day my head felt dull and i honestly had zero energy, during 6th period (i had a spare) i decided to go to the school nurse to ask if i could sleep in the beds they have there, this involved 20 questions, then Koizumi-sensei (one of my homeroom teachers) coming so i could repeat the conversation, then Goram-sensei (my other homeroom teacher who is an australian and has fantastic japanese, last year she was about 4% off passing 1 kyu of the JLPT, 1 kyu is the hardest level and is basically a students volcabulary after they have graduated high school which is really impressive considering it`s 2,000 kanji symbols and prolly 10,000 words or so) pulled me aside and told me if i have any problems i should go straight to her so i can bypass the middle men. Koizumi-sensei spoke to my club teacher and i got to go straight home to sleep.



Saturday- I had club practice from 9-5 but two hours of that was cycling from school and returning and we had about an 1 and a half for lunch, and most likely spent about 30mins stretching. We cycled to a sports center where a whole bunch of baton clubs go and spent the day practicing ballet which was quiet fun. Unfortunately i got completely soaked during the ride and it was cold but i got to have a shower straight after i returned home which was good, though since then i have had a bit of a sore throat which i have been fighting off with rice and advil.



Sunday- Free from practice, so i went shopping with some different friends and had a ball. Thankfully the convience store 7/11 accepts my bank card so now i can start using my own money. I went nuts at Daiso (a 100yen shop) buying souvieners and the like. I also bought a pressie for one of my classmates.



Today- Tuesday 29th

Today was a japanese holiday (showa no hi....i know nothign about it) and i had club, it was sheduled from 9-2 but we finished at 11.30 and it`s not as hard as you think,we were manly practicing our cheerleading routine. I went to the bookstore to buy some manga and a supermarket to get a binder and post-its for Japanese study.



Tommorow it`s back to school but next week It`s golden week (basically about 4 days of holiday), I have a club trip and Koizumi sensei has invited me to go to her hometown for a rice planting thingy which of course i`m going to do. After golden week i have a mid term Kanji Test and Japanese test.



I got to admit School has gotten easier now that i have settled into the routine and i finally understand my english homework >.<

As always pics are coming soon! also this is the e-mail i wrote to my parents so things like `i spoke to you guys` is refering to them

Love to everyone
Megs

Labels: japan exchange, Nasu