010

Guess what day it is! It's the 24th of February, which means I have been in Japan for exactly one month now. It's gone incredibly fast, and I really miss Australia but it has already been such an experience here. I'm really looking forward to the next 11 months.

Anyway, this will mainly be an update about my trip to Okinawa. :)

We woke up at 6am on Friday morning, caught the train to Chitose and flew out of Hokkaido at around 9:15am (in ALOT of snow. I was scared!)
Anyway, after getting the connecting flight in Tokyo, we arrived in Okinawa around 2:30pm and went to our hotel in Naha. I shared a room with my two sisters and the parents slept in a room next door.

In the afternoon, we visited the underground tunnels where Japanese soldiers fought from in WW2. It was pretty interesting.. and one room I walked into, saw some chips in the wall and thought "oh yeah, just gunfire.." then I saw this;...definitely got the heebie jeebies. everything was in Japanese so unfortunately I didn't understand why they committed suicide etc. But there you go.

We spent the evening walking around the main street, which is really awesome; lots and lots of lights, music, people, everything. Okinawans have a lot more of a laid-back personality, and a good sense of humour. And there was no snow! It was only about 18 on the first day, but the warmest it got was around 23 or so. It was extremely nice to have the sun on me again.
On Saturday morning, while my host parents went to play golf all day, my sisters and I (in the rent-a-car), drove 2 hours north to visit the biggest aquarium in the world. It was pretty good, although there were so many people there it made it a little hard to be able to look at everything.

We also watched a dolphin show which was good, the sun came out and so it was waaarm~~ and the dolphins seemed like they were having fun, which made me happy :)



After the aquarium, we drove back down south to a Pineapple Park where they grow some of the pineapples and things. We had a small tour in a self-driven pineapple buggy, which sort of creeped me out; no cables or anything, it just literally drove itself.
After tasting many pineapples (And pineapple cake, pineapple biscuits, pineapple chocolate..) we drove back to the hotel where we rested, then went back down the main street after dinner. There are alot of American soldiers who are stationed in Okinawa, so I met some who were hilarious; and they were very happy to meet me - "man you are so sexy, that Australian accent, ahh!"We also made friends with a few more shop-keepers.. basically, when they realise you don't want to buy whatever it is they're trying to sell, they'll just strike up a conversation. :)

On Sunday, we took the rent-a-car back out again, this time to Okinawa World; which is exactly that. Like a small theme park about Okinawa. There were caves, more pineapples, glass-making, traditional song and dance, snakes and snake wine.
That night we went, yet again, to the main street, to a Teppanyaki restaurant. It's a table with the BBQ built in, and each table gets their own personal chef. We ate tofu, salad, steak, rice, lobster, and this garlic rice stuff which was really tasty but I only could eat like half a spoonful because I was so damn full.
We flew out of Naha International Airport on Monday afternoon, after visiting Okinawa Castle (A World Heritage place) in the morning. It was good, but they had been renovating and restoring everything. I personally think they've overdone it; it's basically just been rebuilt completely new, so it doesn't feel like anything ancient.
But anyway, Okinawa was great, I hope that one day I can visit again.. maybe in the summer!

009

Two weeks since my last post... sorry! I've just felt so busy and tired that I haven't wanted or haven't had an opportunity to sit down and update this. I've been doing my best to keep a written diary too, and my Japanese tutor also asked me to start keeping a diary in Japanese to help me learn. So I'll flick through those as I go and point out some of the more interesting things I've been up to since my last update :)

I'm getting into the routine of school now, although I'm being put in the library instead of going to classes like Maths, Science, Japanese, even Home Ec... I only attend English, OC (Oral Communication - like a more fun version of English), Calligraphy and P.E (which is cross-country skiing - awesome, I know!). I've asked to be put in with all of the classes, because I'm not progressing at all by sitting alone in the library with the occasional English teacher coming to talk to me (in English, which doesn't teach me how to talk here). I also recently got my uniform, yay.

Anyway, the other students have pretty much accepted me; all the girls seem to love me, but the boys are pretty shy I think. A few have said hello, or nodded quietly, but there is one boy named Shuto who is a bit of a bugger lol. I had to do an introductory speech infront of the whole year at assembly, and afterwards as everyone was filing out, he walked past, said hello, shook my hand, then blew me a kiss over his shoulder as he left. Later that day after P.E, he kept calling out "Laura! Texas Burger! This Is IT!" (meaning Texas Burger; the current popular McDonald's burger in Japan, and This Is It; the Michael Jackson movie) I just smile and shake my head and wave enthusiastically at him.

I had an official welcoming party for me at the Eniwa Rotary Club headquarters which was really good, all the Rotarians and my host families were there, but it turned out I had to do a speech which I hadn't written. So I got called up and said a line or two, but then I just couldn't translate into Japanese what I wanted to say. So I stressed out a bit, and my host sister helped, but yeah. Made a bit of a fool of myself and shed a few tears but everyone clapped for me and it was all fine in the end. And we played bingo and I won a 6-pack of Sapporo Beer (which is now sitting in the corner of the loungeroom because I'm not allowed to drink it here lol).

The Sapporo Snow Festival has been and gone, and although I was only able to see it briefly, it was pretty good. It snowed a fair bit and my host parents sort of rushed past everything, so I didn't get to see everything, but I got a couple of photos and saw the main things so.. it's okay I think. We also went to Otaru, which is on the coast; I loved it. We went at night, so there were all these fairy lights and music and snow and it was just beautiful.

I finally got to experience Karaoke for the first time with my two host sisters, Ai and Mai. It was so awesome!! I love it. And the Japanese are actually really good singers, I haven't heard any Japanese person sing out-of-tune yet. I went to Karaoke again the other night with some people, including a girl named Tessa who was the Exchange Student here last, also from Australia. She'd come back for a visit with her boyfriend. So we, along with my future host brother Atsuo and a bunch of his friends, went to the same Karaoke place and sang our hearts out. Karaoke is so good.

and don't let the wall mislead you; the flash ruins it, but it's actually lime green fluroescent paint :DSo anyway. I also did things like meet the Mayor of Eniwa (complete with about half a dozen reporters taking photos and jotting down notes and asking me questions), went to Chitose and saw the Hyotou Ice Festival which was beautiful - I personally liked it more than the snow festival - and I joined the Calligraphy Club at school (although this means I don't leave school til 4:30-5pm when it's on). I also had a Soba cooking class at the pre-school across the road which was good fun, although I missed out on the pumpkin tempura (my favourite) because we had to wait in line to cook the soba :(

^^^ this last photo is taken at my 4th host families house. from L > R; Tessa, Atsuro, the two girls I don't know the names of but they're friends of Atsuro's little sister Chi-chi who is behind me. Then there's 'Kevin' who is actually Korean and lives in Australia and is here with Atsuro (they both study in Brisbane), and another of Chi-chi's friends.

I got a keitai!! (mobile phone) - it is epic awesome. it was apparently a cheaper option, but I am very happy with it. Unlimited internet! so I won't be completely cut off from the world during my next host family (they don't have the net).


apologies for crappy badly lit gross-looking-me webcam photos. But basically it can twist and flip and has a Google button and touchscreen and TV and full internet browser and 5.1MP camera and all sorts of awesome things. <3

I also went to the onsen for the first time, in Yuni which is about an hours drive away. It was pretty daunting to, you know, walk naked into a room of about 50-100 women and go for a bath. Hm. But I went with Tessa and Chi-chi, so it wasn't too bad, although I don't think I'll go again. Though, sitting outside in the middle of the snow, in a hot rockpool, with snow falling on your head is pretty unreal. I mean, if I were there alone it would've been perfect, but with all the other women... not as nice :( but at least I can say I've done it!

So that's basically what I've done since last blog. Today I had another Rotary meeting and Japanese lesson, and tomorrow's my last day of school before I go to OKINAWA! Wooooooo I'm excited. Faaar away, and home to the BIGGEST AQUARIUM IN THE WORLD. yay :) So i'll update after that more than likely.

And I apologise if I make any errors in English; I've only been here for 3 weeks and I can already feel my English sort of slipping! For more photos, please look on my Facebook :) Already 300+...

008

Today is Wednesday, and I had the day off school because I have to attend every Rotary meeting, and Eniwa RC's is at about midday every Wednesday. I also have a Japanese tutor visiting me every Wednesday too, so it's not like I miss out on learning stuff.

This morning I woke up feeling quite unwell; my chest hurt and it felt hard to breathe, my mouth was very dry and later in the morning my stomach began to hurt too. I'm not sure if it's just a cold or if it's still just my body becoming used to the cold temperatures, but I'm feeling better now that I've had a little to eat and a bit of a rest.

Anyway, I thought I'd use this blog to share with you some tips, as well as show you where I actually live now (via Google Maps, yay yay.)

Firstly, where I live:

In Hokkaido...

in Eniwa (between Sapporo/Chitose)...

In Town...

In Omachi... there's my apartment :)

Ta da! It's a really nice place. I hope I can have a nice house like this one day (they have the BEST BATH).

Anyway, now for some tips;

1) School starts early. Like 8:25am, so getting up at 6am is the norm. Arrgh. And don't be surprised if you have to walk really far; for me, I leave home at about 7:10am, get driven to Eniwa station, catch the 7:23am train to Kaminopporo which takes around 20-25 mins, then from Kaminopporo I have to walk to school which takes around 25-30 mins. So I travel around 2 hours a day to and from school.

2) Credit cards and such are rarely used... so always have cash. Try to give exact cash as much as possible because otherwise you end up with loads of these (like me..);
...sort of like their version of 5c coins - annoying!

3) The coffee sucks. Just saying. If you're a big coffee fan, start weaning yourself off the stuff before you come to Japan.

4) As an exchange student, people always want to see where you're from, and what your life is like at home. I bought a small photo album that holds about 35 photos, and fits easily into my handbag or school bag. I've used it countless times already, so it's a great thing to have.

5) Always carry your Rotary business cards... and try to get rid of them all, because we get SO MANY.

6) Always smile :) it does wonders, seriously. And try your hardest to communicate well, even if it means speaking horrible Japanese (like me). As long as you keep smiling and trying, they know you're doing your best.

7) People are still allowed to smoke inside in Japan, so it may come as a little shock. Alot of people smoke so... if you're a non-smoker, also be prepared. I still have to try not to look twice when I see someone light up in a restaurant I'm in.

Well I think that's about it for now.. I just had my first Japanese tutor lesson which was fun, an hour and a half of talking Japanese; I had better be fluent when I come back or I'll be disappointed!!

For more photos, please visit my Facebook :)