On the 11th of September, the Canadian exchange student, Kaela, was having a belated welcome party thrown by her host family, so all of us Exchange Students made our way to her house (after meeting at a really nice park first), and we spent the afternoon eating, chatting (in a mixture of Japanese and English), playing with hamsters (I'd never seen a hamster before that haha) and later, when the sun was setting, we played with hanabi (fireworks) - sort of like cooler versions of the average sparkler.
From left to right: Dylan (AUS), Kaela (CAN), Rikiya (JAP - went to AUS on exchange last year), myself, Dakota (USA), Sam (AUS), Yodai (JAP - wants to go on exchange) and Kimber (USA).
Last friday after school, Sam, Dakota and myself met up in Kitahiroshima (a town between Eniwa and Sapporo, close to where I go to school). None of us had been there properly before so we went exploring, soon to discover that there really is not much to see haha. So we went down to a creek that has the train tracks run above it, on a big overpass.
It was quite nice there, one of the quietest places I've been in Japan. For once, all I could hear was the water running and the breeze rustling the leaves. It sounds all poetic and lame but it's true :P lol. BUT the absolute highlight was when Sam, attempting to cross the creek on some stepping-stones, slipped on the bank and fell in. It was hilarious; luckily none of her bag contents got wet, but her shoes and clothes were soaked :P Good stuff.
On Sunday, I got dragged along to yet another Rotary commitment, this time watching a kid's sumo tournament at the local shrine festival. It went for a really long time, but I gotta admit that watching kids wrestle is pretty good entertainment.
There was also an abundance of fearless dragonflies... This one just kept coming back to chill out on my mobile phone (keitai).So then on Monday, yesterday, the shrine festival was still going, but this time the main event was this shrine thing (omikoshi). I got my kit on and took some photos and soon we were all marching down the roads with this thing on our shoulders... and it was FREAKING HEAVY!! I can't estimate how heavy it was, but there were a LOT of people carrying it, and it still gave me large bruises on my shoulders where it rested. It's extremely painful to lift my arms up above my head now :(
So that's all that's happened this month really. Today was my last day at school until October 12th, because my family arrive on Friday :D :D :D I can't wait! I think I've said it before, but we're staying in Hokkaido for a week, then travelling down to Tokyo (Disneyland!), then on to Nagano, Nagoya, Hiroshima, and Kyoto and Hakone, before flying back to Australia (and back to Hokkaido for me).
After I return I'll be moving to my next host family... my last family! They live nice and close to the train station so I'm looking forward to maybe getting an extra 5 minutes sleep in. I'm also looking forward to the snow :D Bring it on!! (I'll be taking that back in mid-December, I'll bet).
On Monday I got the day off school to go with my host mum on a bus tour, with the other ladies from the Parent Teacher Association (from my host sisters school). So that was good, I was pretty tired all day and everything seemed to annoy me unfortunately, but still. I got to make soba, and a clay plate (i made little eucalyptus leaves to decorate it) and we had lunch at an Italian restaurant (I avoided the raw lamb salad) and yeah. It was an all-day thing, and I was buggered by the end.
And I'm so happy... it's starting to cool off, the sun is beginning to go down earlier, the wind is carrying a cool breeze now. The other evening when I hung out in Sapporo with Sam, I actually got goose-bumps on my arms. I can't wait until I need to wear a jumper. I felt so excited seeing all the winter boots and jackets in the shops :P Ahhhh winter, how I look forward to it.
.JPG)