As I write these blogs it is actually the end of my one month Summer Vacation, considering my last update was at the beginning of the vacation, that’s a fairly big gap to fill! I suppose I really should start writing blogs more often so that I don’t get left with all these blank spots to fill in. I will try to recap the most major events of my holidays as best I can. Starting with the first and biggest event – my 10 day trip to Tokyo!
On the 29th of July I woke up much earlier than usual, as I had a very early Shinkansen to catch at 8:30 so that I could arrive at Shin Yokohama station, and meet up with fellow exchange student Craig, at 10:00. This was my second time riding the Shinkansen, or bullet train as most would know it as, and it’s definitely not as interesting the second time around. It’s extremely fast and super comfortable, but aside from this it’s essentially just another train. No complaints though, because it’s much more desirable than sitting on a long overnight bus ride.
I arrived in Shin Yokohama, met Craig and then we has to catch a few trains to get to his host family’s apartment in Kanagawa. This would have been easy, apart for the fact that someone actually accidentally took my transfer ticket from the gates as I was going out and we needed to cheat the system a bit to get through the next few gates at the other stations.
After finally getting to the station we had the task of carrying my excess amounts of luggage for the 15 minute walk from the station to Craig’s home. It wasn’t too bad with two people and the scenery was all new and interesting so it was exciting enough. When we arrived at the apartment, Craig’s host father Satoshi was just in the process of waking up, and Satomi was still asleep. Craig’s family are both very young (In their 20’s), not yet married, and often work late at night. It was such a different experience being able to live with them for such a long time and I really had great fun with them as well as Craig.
We decided we would go and see the new Harry Potter movie together that afternoon/night and headed to Kawasaki. This involved a fairly long bus ride, and the buses in Tokyo are different too! Here in Kyoto we pay for the bus fare when we get off the bus (At the front, you get on from the rear doors), but in Tokyo they use the same fare paying process as in Australia. It shocked me at first.
After we got to the shopping mall we had a look around and eventually got to the cinema where we went to see the movie. It was alright, I never have much expectation with regards to Harry Potter movies. After the film I went with Craig to search for the new Harry Potter book but soon found it futile, as with most places the shop was sold out. Eventually we ended up ordering it over Amazon, I got it and it was amazing!
Met up with Satoshimi (Satoshi and Satomi) again and we went to grab raamen for dinner, look around the stores a bit more and grab Starbucks before going home. It was storming and raining all this time, which was nice.
My trip essentially consisted of going with Craig around Tokyo and seeing/trying loads of things. Along the way I got to meet up with my friend Will from back in Brisbane who was also here on exchange, and Tomohiro and Ryoko. Tomohiro was at my school in Brisbane on exchange for a year and left towards the start of last year. Ryoko was a student teacher in my Japanese class for about the same time frame. We met them in Yokohama and went to China town and then a manmade island named Minato Mirai, where we got to ride a roller coaster and then eat dinner at an Okonomiyaki place. It was nice to be able to meet some familiar faces.
Other highlights included visiting a Maid Café in Akihabara with Samantha and Craig. This is something we were all pretty interested in doing, since there is absolutely nothing like it in Australia. Essentially it is something that first started in Akihabara, a district of Tokyo known to cater for the most elite of nerds (Particularly those fond of anime and most commonly referred to as otaku), but since the ‘Otaku Boom’ in which the geek culture got a load of media spotlight, the cafes have become more widely popular. When we went there was a variety of people there, including couples and a surprising number of female customers.
After lining up for about half an hour outside we were finally let in. When you walk in, all the waitresses (Who are fittingly dressed as anime stylised maids) all stop what they’re doing and turn to you to say “Okaeri nasai mase, goshujinsama” (Lit: Welcome home, master) and bow some of the lowest bows I’ve seen yet. One maid is then assigned to you and takes you to your seat.
We ordered drinks and Craig and I both decided to order a bowl of spaghetti as well, since I was keen to get a photo with a maid for a souvenir, and to do so you need to order both food and drink. The pricing was expensive for what you were getting, but it’s undeniable that the service was one of a kind. When the drinks came the maid serving us asked which colour straws we would like, and even poured and stirred the syrup into my glass for me!
In order to start drinking them though, we had to go through a little bit of an embarrassing routine. The maid said she was going to make the drinks more delicious by using her magic ‘moe’ powers (Moe is a hard concept to describe, it’s used in otaku culture to refer to burst of feeling one gets from something… for instance a cute girl dressed as a maid could be referred to as moe, or even the more subtle things like the lace on the dress or whatnot). She made a heart with her hands and then circled it around our glasses chanting ‘Moe, moe! Kyuu, kyuu’ and we had to do it too in order to get to our meals already.
The same deal happened with the food, but that was after the maid who brought it to us (A different one this time, and much more outgoing, I was glad that she took the time to have a bit of a conversation with us) stirred the sauce into the spaghetti for us. After we finished I ordered a photo for Samantha and me. This costs extra, but was worth it since I doubt I’ll be going back anytime soon.
We took our photos and then an event started. They have daily events where the audience participates in games with the maids who stand on the stage out the front. Aside from this you can pay to play kiddy board games with the maids like Uno, the alligator game where you push down the teeth until it bites down, and a similar one with a pirate in a barrel. This game was a big game of Scissors, Paper, Rock and the winner got invited out on stage and received a prize from the star maid of the café, Hitomi. Sadly all three of us lost in the first round! After the game had ended, and the nervous (No doubt socially inept) otaku had stumbled off of the stage, another special event started! One of the customers was having his birthday the next day and the maids helped him celebrate it by singing him happy birthday, giving him a cake and inviting him on the stage to have a photo with every maid there (Except of course the star maid, who took the photo for them). When asked what he thought of the café he replied with, “It’s the best! I’m going to come back for my birthday next year!”.
That day we also went to Odaiba with Samantha. Odaiba is a big manmade island in Tokyo and to get there you take a completely remotely operated monorail with no driver at all. On the way back we got into the front car and you can sit at the very front window and look at the tracks below.
Another highlight of the stay was making our way to Fuji Q Highland. This is a big theme park near the foot of Mt Fuji, and home to three very famous and record breaking roller coasters. One is called Fujiyama, and when it was opened it was the tallest in the world. Now it’s been defeated, but it’s still the tallest in Japan and was lots of fun. The second is Dodonpa and was once the record holder for fastest acceleration and it gets to over 150mph in less than 2 seconds. The most recently opened is called Ee Janai Ka!? and is the current record holder for the most loops/inversions in the world. This is partly due to the fact that you aren’t in the regular cars, but in seats that spin around in 360 degree circles as you are going around regular loops. It was very high too, around 75m in comparison to Fujiyama’s 80m.
Another of the rides we went on was a Haunted House that takes around 50 minutes to walk through. It was designed like an abandoned hospital and was very elaborate, and genuinely scary! One of the girls who came in with our group was with her boyfriend and kept throwing herself onto the ground in tears while screaming to be let out because she’d had enough. Makes you almost feel sorry for the guy haha.
All in all I had an amazing time, and Tokyo wasn’t a disappointing thing at all. I went to just about all the places I’d wanted to go and had fun going out to dinners with Craig’s host mother, her friends, and at another point with Craig’s friends who live in Australia. There weren’t any days where nothing at all happened, so as a result I was absolutely drained of energy when I got back.
I will hopefully write about a trip I had with my host family to Nagano soon!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
Kaspar! in Katsura
It's been almost a month since I last posted an update here, and over that month so many things have happened that it would be impossible to list them all. My social life improved a lot, I've made great new friends and started really feeling at home. But now that's changed again, because I have moved host families for the first time. I am now living away from Kyoto's city center, and in the Western suburbs of Katsura. I'm no longer with the Tomori family and now part of the Ota family!
I just moved yesterday, so my impressions and feelings are still all messed up and all over the place. The distance is a worry for me. Mainly because I feel more cut off from my friends as well as all the places familiar to me... That said, the scenery is nice. There is greenery and trees everywhere, although being a city boy myself I quite enjoyed the scenery back in the city.
The family is nice and have been very welcoming. I have an older brother and sister. The brother is 21 and is studying at Ritsumeikan University. The sister is 18 and studying at Ritsumeikan High School, and she spent one year on exchange in Adelaide last year. They are a busy family, which is different to the Tomori family. With the Tomori family, the father was always busy and I almost never saw him, but the brothers didn't do club activities and the mother didn't work, meaning there was usually at least one person home. This morning I woke up and no one was here, so I've been home alone all day and it's a really weird feeling.
There's not much point thinking about the negatives, because I have to live here at the end of the day, and it will take adjusting, but I just need to do my best to fit into this new family. Since it's Summer Vacation I have more time to get to know the area better, and hopefully get out with some of my friends, since I think that's what I really need most right now.
I just moved yesterday, so my impressions and feelings are still all messed up and all over the place. The distance is a worry for me. Mainly because I feel more cut off from my friends as well as all the places familiar to me... That said, the scenery is nice. There is greenery and trees everywhere, although being a city boy myself I quite enjoyed the scenery back in the city.
The family is nice and have been very welcoming. I have an older brother and sister. The brother is 21 and is studying at Ritsumeikan University. The sister is 18 and studying at Ritsumeikan High School, and she spent one year on exchange in Adelaide last year. They are a busy family, which is different to the Tomori family. With the Tomori family, the father was always busy and I almost never saw him, but the brothers didn't do club activities and the mother didn't work, meaning there was usually at least one person home. This morning I woke up and no one was here, so I've been home alone all day and it's a really weird feeling.
There's not much point thinking about the negatives, because I have to live here at the end of the day, and it will take adjusting, but I just need to do my best to fit into this new family. Since it's Summer Vacation I have more time to get to know the area better, and hopefully get out with some of my friends, since I think that's what I really need most right now.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Kobe, Osaka, Karaoke and Lots of Gyoza
The past few days have been excellent. If not extremely tiring. Since it has been exam week at school, I haven't been required to attend at all, meaning I had heaps of free time on my hands. I decided to spend it with the other foreign students from my school, Miyako and Ellen. Mostly since they are both leaving at the end of next month and we may never see each other again!
On Tuesday we met at school and rode to Teramachi and Shijo to do some shopping. Originally we had planned to see a movie, but over Starbucks it was decided that we would go to karaoke instead (Much to Ellen's dismay). Karaoke was fun, but Ellen had to go and meet her sister so we had to leave fairly quickly. We took purikura and then Ellen left. Afterwards Miyako and I grabbed some KFC to eat. It was my first time eating KFC in Japan, and it wasn't all that different haha. It was filling though, and not too disagreeable. It started raining while we were riding home, which was annoying, but kind of nice since it was so hot that day and helped cool us down a bit.
On Wednesday I met up with Miyako again and we went to a nearby art/craft center where her grandmother works. We tried our hand at making some...things. I don't even know what to call what we did in English, that's how unartistic I am. But it was fun and afterwards we watched a kimono show and then ate lunch at the cafeteria with her grandmother.
Thursday was fantastic. I met up with Miyako again on the bus to Kyoto Station and we caught a train to Osaka. At first we just explored HEP5, a big shopping mall out the front of JR Station Osaka. I went there last time I went to Osaka, and it's most recognizable by the huge ferris wheel on its roof. I saw heaps of stuff I wanted to buy but it was all kind of pricey. 8,400yen for a belt is a bit extreme for me.
After HEP5 we walked around Osaka a bit and where feeling hungry. Lucky for us we stumbled upon Gyoza Stadium! Craig had told me about this place before and said it was great, so I had to go myself. It's kind of like a theme park attraction in the fact that it's very themed to the point where they play mock traditional Japanese songs about gyoza all the time. There are two main seating areas and around each one there are differet stalls set up. They all specialise in different types of gyoza, and they're fairly affordable. So you choose a seat, order from 2 or 3 different stalls and then you can eat all the gyoza you want! It was all really, really good.
Gyoza Stadium was a hit, and I'm definitely going back there sometime. But after that we had no idea what to do! Miyako suggested catching a train on the Hankyu line and going to Sannomiya in Kobe. I thought it was a great idea, since I'd never been to Kobe before. So we set off that way! Sannomiya is great. It's a much more lively and interesting shopping district than anything in Kyoto. There are those digital TV screens on buildings and everything.
After looking around Sannnomiya we started walking towards the sea and Harborland. We had a mission... after trying Gyoza Stadium we had to try Kobe's Sweets Harbor. A themed place like Gyoza Stadium, only specialising in sweets and cakes from all around the world. We finally made it there after a lot of walking and went in. It was designed to feel like a harbor, with the seats being little ships and everything! In Gyoza Stadium fashion there were a lot of different stalls specialising in different things, from ice creams, to cakes, to a stall which boasted to have all the different types of pudding from around the world!
We ordered ice cream first and Miyako went with the random ice cream flavour. The store has a new flavour every day which is a mix of lots of different things, once you order it you have to try and guess what it is! I think this time it was Coffee, Melon and something else all mixed together. I played it safe and went with a Mango ice cream haha. After that we ate this wafer-ish thing with strawberries, custard and cream on it. Very filling.
After Sweets Harbor, I got a message from Carissa who I had emailed knowing she lived in Kobe. I called her and we planned to meet up in Sannomiya for a karaoke get-together, and she was bringing along Felicia, who I had met last time when we all went to Osaka together.
Before catching a train back to Sannomiya I got around to purchasing an ICOCA card. Basically it's this nifty alternative to buying train tickets. You scan the card in at the gate when you go into the station, and then when you go out again at whatever station you end up at; it calculates the fare for you and deducts it from the prepaid charge balance on the card. Better than having to choose which type of ticket to buy every time, which can be annoyng and tricky if you aren't sure.
I've heard I may be changing host families within the next few weeks and will probably be catching a train to and from school, so it will be handy to have. Anyway, we met up with Carissa and Felicia who had just come from school in their school uniforms (Haha) and we went to karaoke. They had to be out of the city by 9PM, since their teachers were apparently patrolling the city to catch any students who were out late at night! Only in Japan. We ended up taking purikura after karaoke and eating McDonalds. I tried the teriyaki burger for the first time and it was rather agreeable, they sure didn't hold back on the mayo though.
After McDonalds we all headed home. Once we were back at Kyoto Station we found out the bus we would normally catch to get home had already finished, so we had to catch another bus that went on a huge detour. I ended up getting off out the front of the Daitokuji and walking home for 20 minutes or so. This wouldn't be too bad, but despite being past 11 at night it was still around 28 degrees or even higher, and ridiculously muggy and humid.
I was home a bit late, which wasn't so good. But this is the first time it's ever happened, so I got let off the hook for now... haha. I need to be more careful about the trains and buses here! I didn't realise how long it would take just to get back home.
Today I am recovering from all the walking done yesterday and just relaxing for my last day off school before classes start again on Monday. Not long to Summer vacation now! How exciting! I have photos from all the stuff I did, and hopefully will get around to putting them up soon!
On Tuesday we met at school and rode to Teramachi and Shijo to do some shopping. Originally we had planned to see a movie, but over Starbucks it was decided that we would go to karaoke instead (Much to Ellen's dismay). Karaoke was fun, but Ellen had to go and meet her sister so we had to leave fairly quickly. We took purikura and then Ellen left. Afterwards Miyako and I grabbed some KFC to eat. It was my first time eating KFC in Japan, and it wasn't all that different haha. It was filling though, and not too disagreeable. It started raining while we were riding home, which was annoying, but kind of nice since it was so hot that day and helped cool us down a bit.
On Wednesday I met up with Miyako again and we went to a nearby art/craft center where her grandmother works. We tried our hand at making some...things. I don't even know what to call what we did in English, that's how unartistic I am. But it was fun and afterwards we watched a kimono show and then ate lunch at the cafeteria with her grandmother.
Thursday was fantastic. I met up with Miyako again on the bus to Kyoto Station and we caught a train to Osaka. At first we just explored HEP5, a big shopping mall out the front of JR Station Osaka. I went there last time I went to Osaka, and it's most recognizable by the huge ferris wheel on its roof. I saw heaps of stuff I wanted to buy but it was all kind of pricey. 8,400yen for a belt is a bit extreme for me.
After HEP5 we walked around Osaka a bit and where feeling hungry. Lucky for us we stumbled upon Gyoza Stadium! Craig had told me about this place before and said it was great, so I had to go myself. It's kind of like a theme park attraction in the fact that it's very themed to the point where they play mock traditional Japanese songs about gyoza all the time. There are two main seating areas and around each one there are differet stalls set up. They all specialise in different types of gyoza, and they're fairly affordable. So you choose a seat, order from 2 or 3 different stalls and then you can eat all the gyoza you want! It was all really, really good.
Gyoza Stadium was a hit, and I'm definitely going back there sometime. But after that we had no idea what to do! Miyako suggested catching a train on the Hankyu line and going to Sannomiya in Kobe. I thought it was a great idea, since I'd never been to Kobe before. So we set off that way! Sannomiya is great. It's a much more lively and interesting shopping district than anything in Kyoto. There are those digital TV screens on buildings and everything.
After looking around Sannnomiya we started walking towards the sea and Harborland. We had a mission... after trying Gyoza Stadium we had to try Kobe's Sweets Harbor. A themed place like Gyoza Stadium, only specialising in sweets and cakes from all around the world. We finally made it there after a lot of walking and went in. It was designed to feel like a harbor, with the seats being little ships and everything! In Gyoza Stadium fashion there were a lot of different stalls specialising in different things, from ice creams, to cakes, to a stall which boasted to have all the different types of pudding from around the world!
We ordered ice cream first and Miyako went with the random ice cream flavour. The store has a new flavour every day which is a mix of lots of different things, once you order it you have to try and guess what it is! I think this time it was Coffee, Melon and something else all mixed together. I played it safe and went with a Mango ice cream haha. After that we ate this wafer-ish thing with strawberries, custard and cream on it. Very filling.
After Sweets Harbor, I got a message from Carissa who I had emailed knowing she lived in Kobe. I called her and we planned to meet up in Sannomiya for a karaoke get-together, and she was bringing along Felicia, who I had met last time when we all went to Osaka together.
Before catching a train back to Sannomiya I got around to purchasing an ICOCA card. Basically it's this nifty alternative to buying train tickets. You scan the card in at the gate when you go into the station, and then when you go out again at whatever station you end up at; it calculates the fare for you and deducts it from the prepaid charge balance on the card. Better than having to choose which type of ticket to buy every time, which can be annoyng and tricky if you aren't sure.
I've heard I may be changing host families within the next few weeks and will probably be catching a train to and from school, so it will be handy to have. Anyway, we met up with Carissa and Felicia who had just come from school in their school uniforms (Haha) and we went to karaoke. They had to be out of the city by 9PM, since their teachers were apparently patrolling the city to catch any students who were out late at night! Only in Japan. We ended up taking purikura after karaoke and eating McDonalds. I tried the teriyaki burger for the first time and it was rather agreeable, they sure didn't hold back on the mayo though.
After McDonalds we all headed home. Once we were back at Kyoto Station we found out the bus we would normally catch to get home had already finished, so we had to catch another bus that went on a huge detour. I ended up getting off out the front of the Daitokuji and walking home for 20 minutes or so. This wouldn't be too bad, but despite being past 11 at night it was still around 28 degrees or even higher, and ridiculously muggy and humid.
I was home a bit late, which wasn't so good. But this is the first time it's ever happened, so I got let off the hook for now... haha. I need to be more careful about the trains and buses here! I didn't realise how long it would take just to get back home.
Today I am recovering from all the walking done yesterday and just relaxing for my last day off school before classes start again on Monday. Not long to Summer vacation now! How exciting! I have photos from all the stuff I did, and hopefully will get around to putting them up soon!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Ice Cream: My Best Friend
Today I as I was walking home from the local 7/11, I received the strangest 'What-The-Hell!?' stare since I have been in Japan from a father walking along infront of me with his son. I have had the mouth wide open gapes from people riding past me on bikes while I walk to school, but this was on a whole new level. It doesn't surprise me. I haven't showered for 24 hours, it's disgustingly humid and here I was waddling down the road with my skinny leg jeans, thongs and an obscenely brightly coloured yellow Astro Boy shirt on. Fashion faux pas, my bad.
The stare was worth it though. I arrived home with a tub of Häagen-Dazs Green Tea ice cream. Kind of expensive, but worth every cent. This is the nicest tasting ice cream ever. Well maybe not. It's not as sweet as chocolate or vanilla, but it's damn nice and very refreshing on a day like today.
The past week or so has been a bit hit and miss. On Sunday my friend Ayano visited me from Hyogo and we went shopping in Shijo-Kawaramachi and Teramachi. It was kind of fruitless. I saw heaps of stuff that I wanted but didn't want to part with money. I did end up buying a new (And rather gangster) short sleeved hoodie. It's for Summer so the material is really thin and nice. Ayano randomly bought a watch from one of the Department Stores we visited. After shopping and trying the limited Azuki Bean Frapuccino at Starbucks (So good, this is one we won't be seeing in Australia anytime soon), we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3 at the cinema.
Our seats were so close to the screen, since all the other tickets had been bought. One of the downsides of reserved seating in theatres. The movie itself was mediocre. The series has become progressively worse as it goes along, and a fourth one is already being planned! Quit while you're ahead, I say. It was overly long too. By the end of the credits I just wanted to sleep. I'm being pretty negative though, it wasn't THAT bad. Entertaining at least, and funny at times.
On Thursday in PE we had track and field. Running 50 metre sprints for an hour first up. Japanese kids are good at everything. I guess because they are so active in club activities and do PE as a compulsory subject. I was outrun by most of the people there haha. But my times weren't too awful. After running we went to the gym to do Muscle Training on the equipment. It was tiring, but worth it. I reckon going to a gym at least once every week would make such a difference.
Tomorrow I'm attending a seminar-ish thing being held at a nearby University. It's being held for students in Kyoto and is about international exchange and the like. Should be interesting. Part of the deal is that I have to make a 7 minute speech about school life in my country and my experiences in Japan thus far. I am still in the process of making myself get down to writing said speech. It will be done eventually.
This week I started planning a trip to Tokyo with my friend Craig. The idea is for me to stay there with his host family for a week or so and at some point go to climb Mt Fuji with Samantha. Hopefully it all goes ahead! I coudln't pass up a chance to explore Tokyo properly, and climbing Fuji is a once in a lifetime kind of thing which poses so many photo ops.
Next week I have every day but Monday off school! Reason being that Tuesday-Friday is exam period for the other students. I don't take any exams, so it was either study in the school library or stay at home. Obviously I chose the latter. I'll use the time to do some more exploring around town and waste money on some more Summer-friendly clothes for my wardrobe.
The stare was worth it though. I arrived home with a tub of Häagen-Dazs Green Tea ice cream. Kind of expensive, but worth every cent. This is the nicest tasting ice cream ever. Well maybe not. It's not as sweet as chocolate or vanilla, but it's damn nice and very refreshing on a day like today.
The past week or so has been a bit hit and miss. On Sunday my friend Ayano visited me from Hyogo and we went shopping in Shijo-Kawaramachi and Teramachi. It was kind of fruitless. I saw heaps of stuff that I wanted but didn't want to part with money. I did end up buying a new (And rather gangster) short sleeved hoodie. It's for Summer so the material is really thin and nice. Ayano randomly bought a watch from one of the Department Stores we visited. After shopping and trying the limited Azuki Bean Frapuccino at Starbucks (So good, this is one we won't be seeing in Australia anytime soon), we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3 at the cinema.
Our seats were so close to the screen, since all the other tickets had been bought. One of the downsides of reserved seating in theatres. The movie itself was mediocre. The series has become progressively worse as it goes along, and a fourth one is already being planned! Quit while you're ahead, I say. It was overly long too. By the end of the credits I just wanted to sleep. I'm being pretty negative though, it wasn't THAT bad. Entertaining at least, and funny at times.
On Thursday in PE we had track and field. Running 50 metre sprints for an hour first up. Japanese kids are good at everything. I guess because they are so active in club activities and do PE as a compulsory subject. I was outrun by most of the people there haha. But my times weren't too awful. After running we went to the gym to do Muscle Training on the equipment. It was tiring, but worth it. I reckon going to a gym at least once every week would make such a difference.
Tomorrow I'm attending a seminar-ish thing being held at a nearby University. It's being held for students in Kyoto and is about international exchange and the like. Should be interesting. Part of the deal is that I have to make a 7 minute speech about school life in my country and my experiences in Japan thus far. I am still in the process of making myself get down to writing said speech. It will be done eventually.
This week I started planning a trip to Tokyo with my friend Craig. The idea is for me to stay there with his host family for a week or so and at some point go to climb Mt Fuji with Samantha. Hopefully it all goes ahead! I coudln't pass up a chance to explore Tokyo properly, and climbing Fuji is a once in a lifetime kind of thing which poses so many photo ops.
Next week I have every day but Monday off school! Reason being that Tuesday-Friday is exam period for the other students. I don't take any exams, so it was either study in the school library or stay at home. Obviously I chose the latter. I'll use the time to do some more exploring around town and waste money on some more Summer-friendly clothes for my wardrobe.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Mostly Living
It has been too long since I've updated here, so I am kind of forcing myself to sit down and write something. This time I haven't been updating simply because I can't think of anything worthwhile to say! The past week hasn't been the best ever, I can say that much.
Last Saturday was enjoyable, as it was my host father's birthday party. It was held at the house and lots of family friends attended. It was interesting to meet their friends and whatnot. About an hour into the party Hiroki disappeared and didn't come back until long after it had finished haha. Seems to be normal for him these days, he hasn't been around much at all.
As seems customary at Japanese parties, much alcohol was consumed by all in attendance. I was greeted with a new bottle of beer everytime I finished one off, without even requesting it! By the end of the night people had drunk too much to drive home and plenty of taxis were called.
This week has been fairly dull. I took Wednesday off school because I was feeling mentally and physically exhausted. I really felt like I needed a day to just relax and lounge about, and it did help. In PE on Thursday we played Volleyball (Which I am pathetic at, still) and it left me with bruises all over my arms and hands. What I found funny is that on Friday half the class turned up to school with bandages on their hands, apparently Volleyball is hard work!
Today was spent at home, since I have a splitting headache. I watched some movies to get away from the Japanese overload and here I am updating this blog! Earlier today I was sitting in my room and I heard my name being called repeatedly from out on the street. Surprising to say the least, but it turns out some of my friends from school were outside my house screaming out my name haha. They were nearby so they dropped by to say hi, which was nice of them.
Tomorrow I plan to go out shopping and hopefully see Pirates of the Caribbean! I'm going to force myself to wake up early so I follow this plan through.
Last Saturday was enjoyable, as it was my host father's birthday party. It was held at the house and lots of family friends attended. It was interesting to meet their friends and whatnot. About an hour into the party Hiroki disappeared and didn't come back until long after it had finished haha. Seems to be normal for him these days, he hasn't been around much at all.
As seems customary at Japanese parties, much alcohol was consumed by all in attendance. I was greeted with a new bottle of beer everytime I finished one off, without even requesting it! By the end of the night people had drunk too much to drive home and plenty of taxis were called.
This week has been fairly dull. I took Wednesday off school because I was feeling mentally and physically exhausted. I really felt like I needed a day to just relax and lounge about, and it did help. In PE on Thursday we played Volleyball (Which I am pathetic at, still) and it left me with bruises all over my arms and hands. What I found funny is that on Friday half the class turned up to school with bandages on their hands, apparently Volleyball is hard work!
Today was spent at home, since I have a splitting headache. I watched some movies to get away from the Japanese overload and here I am updating this blog! Earlier today I was sitting in my room and I heard my name being called repeatedly from out on the street. Surprising to say the least, but it turns out some of my friends from school were outside my house screaming out my name haha. They were nearby so they dropped by to say hi, which was nice of them.
Tomorrow I plan to go out shopping and hopefully see Pirates of the Caribbean! I'm going to force myself to wake up early so I follow this plan through.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Japanese Cuisine
Today we went out in order to celebrate Hiroki (My host brother) and Hideharu's (My host dad) birthdays which are this week. We headed into Shijo at around 5:00 to buy Hiroki's presents which were reasonably enviable. First stop was a Louis Vuitton outlet. Everything in that store was way out of my price range, that's for sure. He was looking for a small carry bag, but didn't like anything there so we soon headed for the Prada store. A small satchel-like bag (And by small I mean small) was settled on and cost about $700 Australian! Amazing. He also bought new, nice shoes for about $200.
After the shopping was over with, we made our way to the restaurant we'd be eating at. It was a small, but expensive, restaurant called せき川 (Sekigawa) a mere walk away from the main shopping street of Shijo. The restaurant was totally traditional Japanese food. Meaning lots of raw meats and seafoods were eaten, horse and whale meats included. I did not want to eat the whale meat at first, but my host family insisted so I thought I may as well try it. It was not revolting but very edible. Must have cost a fortune though.
As far as I could tell the horse meat was raw and very cold and chewy. Not really a remarkable taste either. But overall the meal was delicious and relatively filling while not being fatty at all. After eating lots at Western style restaurants you always feel bloated and large, but after this I felt the same as when I went in! Minus the stomach pains, of course, I was starving beforehand.
It was interesting to experience some of the more Japanese styled foods, and I was surprised that I actually liked most (If not all) of what was on offer!
After the shopping was over with, we made our way to the restaurant we'd be eating at. It was a small, but expensive, restaurant called せき川 (Sekigawa) a mere walk away from the main shopping street of Shijo. The restaurant was totally traditional Japanese food. Meaning lots of raw meats and seafoods were eaten, horse and whale meats included. I did not want to eat the whale meat at first, but my host family insisted so I thought I may as well try it. It was not revolting but very edible. Must have cost a fortune though.
As far as I could tell the horse meat was raw and very cold and chewy. Not really a remarkable taste either. But overall the meal was delicious and relatively filling while not being fatty at all. After eating lots at Western style restaurants you always feel bloated and large, but after this I felt the same as when I went in! Minus the stomach pains, of course, I was starving beforehand.
It was interesting to experience some of the more Japanese styled foods, and I was surprised that I actually liked most (If not all) of what was on offer!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
No, I Don't Have a Girlfriend
I have been pretty slack regarding updating lately, for no good reason really. Whenever I have time I feel unmotivated to type anything up, and when I am motivated I have no time or access to a computer! Disaster in the making. But here I am, forcing myself to sit down and write a bit about what's gone on lately.
Last week was exams and as such I didn't have regular school, meaning lots of sleeping in was done and very litle time was spent at school. I had to go each day to work on my presentation for Australia, but apart from that I was fairly free. On Wednesday I went with the teacher in charge of me and the other foreign students, Yoshimi-sensei, and a foreign student from Germany named Miyako (She's 3 quarters Japanese) to an art shop in Shijo to take part in a lesson on dying handkerchiefs using a Kyoto technique. It was more fun than it sounds and was very enjoyable. After that we ate lunch at an Italian Family Restaurant which was great.
All this week I have presentations to give to various classes within the school on Australia. Yesterday I and the other foreign students presented to my class and another second year class, which went well. Some of the questions asked were a bit odd though. Naturally we got the standard 'Do you have a girlfriend?', 'Is there someone you like right now?' kind of questions, but for variety they also asked 'Are you hungry?' and 'What time is it?' :D
Today I presented to two first year classes in a row this morning by myself. It went fairly well, I think. The teacher was happy with it and he invited me to come back to the class at any time, which I may, since everyone was super nice!
I was thinking of joining Kendo club so yesterday after school I went to check it out. They practice from 4:30-6:30 every school day except Fridays, so it's pretty intense. I think I might take part though. The only thing I'm not sure of is the uniform and gear you need, which is really expensive. It would be nice if they had rental stuff, but the club doesn't seem that big or popular.
I've also managed to get out of Biology classes, since they were becoming a pain. In the classroom it's okay for me to tune out and do my own study, but in Biology we often go to the labs to do work and experiments etc. I can't follow the class sometimes and I felt like I was getting in the way when my friends had to help me out all the time. I've joined another second year English class now, and I've gained some more self-study periods in the Library... which I can't say I'm too fond of, I'm hoping to get them switched into some classes soon though.
I also talked to my family last week about switching host families at some point. I really want to go ahead with it, since I want to try and experience as much different stuff here as I possibly can. While spending the year with this family would be amazing, and really comfortable for me, I can't help but feel I could experience so much more! I think if I didn't change at some point I would regret it. I'm hoping I can move around the start of Summer vacation in late July/early August, but I'll need to talk to my coordinator about it.
And that's about all I can think of to say really! I will try and update every few days, but if I disappear for awhile I wouldn't say that's unusual haha.
Last week was exams and as such I didn't have regular school, meaning lots of sleeping in was done and very litle time was spent at school. I had to go each day to work on my presentation for Australia, but apart from that I was fairly free. On Wednesday I went with the teacher in charge of me and the other foreign students, Yoshimi-sensei, and a foreign student from Germany named Miyako (She's 3 quarters Japanese) to an art shop in Shijo to take part in a lesson on dying handkerchiefs using a Kyoto technique. It was more fun than it sounds and was very enjoyable. After that we ate lunch at an Italian Family Restaurant which was great.
All this week I have presentations to give to various classes within the school on Australia. Yesterday I and the other foreign students presented to my class and another second year class, which went well. Some of the questions asked were a bit odd though. Naturally we got the standard 'Do you have a girlfriend?', 'Is there someone you like right now?' kind of questions, but for variety they also asked 'Are you hungry?' and 'What time is it?' :D
Today I presented to two first year classes in a row this morning by myself. It went fairly well, I think. The teacher was happy with it and he invited me to come back to the class at any time, which I may, since everyone was super nice!
I was thinking of joining Kendo club so yesterday after school I went to check it out. They practice from 4:30-6:30 every school day except Fridays, so it's pretty intense. I think I might take part though. The only thing I'm not sure of is the uniform and gear you need, which is really expensive. It would be nice if they had rental stuff, but the club doesn't seem that big or popular.
I've also managed to get out of Biology classes, since they were becoming a pain. In the classroom it's okay for me to tune out and do my own study, but in Biology we often go to the labs to do work and experiments etc. I can't follow the class sometimes and I felt like I was getting in the way when my friends had to help me out all the time. I've joined another second year English class now, and I've gained some more self-study periods in the Library... which I can't say I'm too fond of, I'm hoping to get them switched into some classes soon though.
I also talked to my family last week about switching host families at some point. I really want to go ahead with it, since I want to try and experience as much different stuff here as I possibly can. While spending the year with this family would be amazing, and really comfortable for me, I can't help but feel I could experience so much more! I think if I didn't change at some point I would regret it. I'm hoping I can move around the start of Summer vacation in late July/early August, but I'll need to talk to my coordinator about it.
And that's about all I can think of to say really! I will try and update every few days, but if I disappear for awhile I wouldn't say that's unusual haha.
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