Summer Abroad

Yesterday was a holiday, I think it was the last emperors birthday, so I got a free day from school! It was amazing I`d been told about the festival but I could`ve never imagined it would be so much fun. I got to wear a traditional Japanese yukata and my mom even bought me and my host sister new geta because we had none for me. They kept telling me I looked adorable but I felt like a foreigner invading a Japanese yukata...

First my mom drove me to the train station where we handed the car off to my dad. Then we met up with Bailey. It was really interesting how we met up. My mom made me choose what line we should go on, the whole time telling me Bailey`s line is this and Bailey usually does this when she goes home after school. I was going to choose the easier looking line but at the last moment she jumped on the train. I couldn`t have been more surprised that she was going to join us. I guess our parents brainstormed and figured the aquarium alone wouldn`t entertain us until the festival.

Once at the aquarium I got so many stares and smiles. A foreigner in a yukata, no way! My host mom got stopped a few times to ask ehr questions about me and I think a guy even "slyly" took a picture of me on his phone. It was awkward at first but just like I got used to the stares without the yukata I got used to the stares with one on. As we got into the aquarium I heard a guy chanting "sushi" by the way. Wow. THat`s all I had to say. Japanese aquariums really aren`t any different than American onces excpet they`re cleaner and the people seem so much nicer.

Anyway, matsuri time! We got there just as all the floats were coming in ( I don`t think they`re floats but they look like floats so...) and we got to meet some of the people. Most were drunk but they were still so much fun to talk to! Like this one guy who was almost naked except for the huge bib looking thing that covered his entire front half of his body. Me and Bailey had been staring in shock and laughing so hard that other members of the team looked over and made him come over. He happily abliged. He came nearly skipping over to us and said in broken English:

"Do you like?" We nodded, huge smiles on our faces. He beckoned a fellow team member who instantly took our cameras.

-Where you from?

-USA

-Oh! US WAY!

I tried to correct him but before I could he started chanting "USWAY, USWAY! I love the USWAY" The camera man quietly tried to correct him but the King (That`s what he was called) didn`t pay any mind. I`ll have to post the picture of him later he was just so nice and hilarious!

The main attraction was the traditional dancers. They were beautiful with their matching yukata`s and fans. They all moved so smoothly. I can imagine they practiced for hours on end just to get the synchronization just right. In the background were hanabi (fireworks). They weren`t snyched to music like in America but Japanese fireworks are so much cooler. I mean ours is pretty much the same but who else has fireworks shaped like smiley faces, watermelon, clowns, and fireflies?

 

The festival was amazing and I`d do it again if there was another one but maybe when another one does come I won`t wear a yukata. It was a pain having to keep readjusting and the shoes were killing my feet by the end. Still I had so much fun last night.

 

 

 

Okay, so today everyone from the Japanese language school that is in AFS went to Arimatsu. Arimatsu is a town that is best known for it`s tie-dye skills and creations. It was so famous for it`s tie-dye that the people of Japan decided that it was to be preserved as it was during the Edo Era...I think...I`ll check that and change it later if I`m wrong. But anyway we went there together and we had a blast.

On the way we saw so many interesting things. First was the sign that says "Please do not walk in front of train" Okay...It's sad that they need a sign to tell people that. It has to be because the suicide rate in Japan is high, but still, I don't think anyone (If willing enough) will listen to a sign...especially one written in only English. I wish I'd gotten a picture but our train came too fast.

Then there was the Pokemon train on the Meitetsu line. I didn't see it at first but then a guy sitting next to me, an older man who seemed to enjoy the presence of foreigners, pointed it out to our group. Everyone got so excited and we all instantly pulled out our cameras. The man sat beside me laughing an enjoying the sight ot many foreigners, both American and Italian, enjoying the mere exsistence of the train. He's probably seen it more than a million times.

I got a picture but it was so blurry!

It was so much fun trying to do shiraboshi (again the paper isn`t near me so I need to check on that) with everyone. THe boys were complaining the whole time and the girls were struggling but even through all the pain from the needles it was still a lot of fun. Especially when the cameras came in. YEs, there were cameras and cameramen that came in to shoot us for a news segment. I was paranoid with everything I did from then on, but it was fun talking to my friends about what we can and can`t do or say on camera. A few of us slipped however. Oh well Nagoya city can see us Americans and Italians making fools of ourselves while trying desperatetly not to screw up our design.

Anyway I`ve got to go. Until next time. Ja Mata ne~

Okay so I haven`t been writing as often as I`d like so I`ll sum up the past week. Nothing much really happened really (omg I hate Japanese keyboards it`s taken about 5 minutes,no exaggeration, just to write the above sentence. I keep pressing the button for hiragana) except for school and shopping.

The first day of school was boring. We took a test then sat there a while. The test was a lot harder than I thought it would be by the way! It was all in katakana and hiragana and I thought at least some of it would be in romaji, but no. Well I did what little I could and handed it in surprisingly enough I was put into the middle class while my new best friends Bailey and Aia were put into two seperate classes, Aia in the highest level and Bailey in the lowest. I don`t think Bailey`s class does much though I hear way too much talking and random singing to think so, although my class can`t talk. THe day we heard someone singing the mochi song on loud speakers outside we were singing it all day.

 

My class in general is pretty cool. I have one friend, Kathrine, and she knows a lot more than me. I honestly think she should be in a higher ranked

class. I also have to mention this one guy who`s obsessed with anime. I mean wow I hope that`s not the only reason he came. He was looking for the anime store a few days ago that my mom took me to. He didn`t find it. I took my friends there a few days ago and we had a blast by the way and Aia bought a very smexy book.

The next day was equally as fun. We were in a different building so we got seperated from everyone else but we still went to the shops and arcade on our own. We went to a 6 story or more department store and it was amazing. Everything was so bright though, but they deffinetly have cooler stuff than we have in America. INside the store is an arcade that we wandered into. We tried not to stay long seeing as the day before we`d managed to waste a lot of money getting caught up into the UFO catchers with the cute stuffed animals.

I tried again even though I knew i shouldn`t have and got a prize on the first try! I was so happy! Later that day the store people rigged it since too many people were winning.

In the end it turns out everyone was in the same store we just somehow never met up.

Hello, again everyone. I`m in Japan with my host family after living in a youth building for about a day for orientation. First of all I should tell you about the adventures in just getting to orientation. For one we were late. We got off the Japanese plane after about 14 hours (the flight was so long and tiring and i couldn`t even manage to sleep) but once we landed it was so awesome being inside the Japanese airport! WE dropped the Tokyo people off then after going though customs (though we found out we didnt have to...) we ran for our flight which was supposed to leave about 20 minutes ago. THe people were so nice to hold our plane so we could fill out tons of paperwork and make a mad dash for the flight. It was hilarious but at the time I was kind of pissed.

So after flying for about an hour we landed in Nagoya! IT was so cool but I was too tired to care I was in Japan until I saw all the neat signs! I took pictures but we:re about to eat so I:ll post later. ANd sorry if there:s any errors it`s hard to use a japanese keyboard...So anyway we took a Japanese style bath before bed which is a whole story in it`s own believe me then headed to bed on futons. WAking up in Japan felt so surreal! I loved it but then the orientation bored me to death and I kind of didn`t care about anything but sleep until I met my host family.

My sister Mika was very cool and we communicated slowly but it still was very fun. My mother also tries very hard to speak to me too and she`s taught me a lot. I love them all and I especialy love how they`ve treated me. It was the first day and I already feel like we`re family. Although yesterday wasn`t all good we went to eat sushi and I ended up being sick all night...but I guess that`s because I`m not yet okay with the transition of foods.

Anyway talk to you later! Ja matta ne.

Okay, so now I'm in Los Angelas! I probably spelled that wrong but oh well. It was really nerve wracking when I first arrived. I was so sure that my bags had been left in Baltimore (I was so skeptic that I was watching the people put the bags on the plane) But apparently I should have more faith in the airport crew. I'm here safe and with other AFSers in the pre-depature hotel.

The journey to this hotel wasn't easy. I made a call to the hotel just the light yellow paper AFS gave everyone said and I got a guy who spoke little to no English. He hung up on me the first time I asked him to pick me up >.< But it's okay now!

The hotel doesn't look the best and when I first saw it I was kinda hoping that there was going to be another stop for hotels,  bot nope, this is the one. It's a dark color and kinda dingy but I'll live. It's only for one night and

while I'm around friends who are also thinking the same thing it'll be a hell of a lot easier.

Well, I"m off I'm on a timer with this pay computer and I think we should be getting our rooms soon (they were supposed to be ready when we got here but the hotel is so damn slow!)

Anyway Ja Matta, ne!

I've been researching a lot about Nagoya for the past few days and it's making it even harder to wait for the next 4 days to go by. It seems like time is moving so slow and there's nothing I can do to make it seem like it's going faster than it really is! Well, actually, I finished packing and that helped a little bit. Although, the whole time I was freaking out thinking "Omg, What if I forget this, or don't need this and over pack?" In the end it ended well though! (though now I'm just realizing I forgot to pack something....)

Good news! My host family began to e-mail me! I was getting worried that I'd never get to talk to them before I left for Japan, but now everything's cool. They e-mailed me the day I was going to send off a letter to them! What good timing they have! So anyway the host daughter e-mailed me and she seems really, really nice. I can imagine getting along with her really well and I hope everyone's as easy to talk to as she is.
Here's some of what she sent me:

Japanese summer is very hot!! It will be more hot after this(T_T)/~~~
I think Japanese summer is hotter than MD.(It was not so hot in MD when I lived in )
Japanese summer is really damp...It's unpleasant summer.
 
 
Have you ever eaten Japanese food??(sushi,natto,rice...and so on)
Do you have foods anything you can't eat?　And what food do you like?
My family live on rice and bread both. 
 
 
Where do you want to go in Japan?
We plan to go to a volleyball game.(Becouse I like watching that^^)
If you have places where you want to go,we try to go there.(amusement,museum...and so on)
 
Mika

Haha, natto is fermented beans for any of you who don't know. I actually what to try that just to say I was brave enough to put it somewhere near my mouth. Here's a picture of it.
 

After days of checking the mail I've finally gotten my host family! I was actually hoping to be placed in Osaka and get at least one brother instead of three sisters but ,hey, I'm not complaining; I'm going to Japan!

So, I'm leaving June 25th for my Pre-departure orientation in Los Angeles, California (less than a month away!), then after that I'll be going to live with my host family in Nagoya, Japan. I have one dad who's a professor at Nagoya University, way cool since I want to become a teacher, a mom who's a house wife, and three sisters, but one doesn't live with us.

I must say that it'll be interesting going from a family with one mom who makes all the decisions to one where I have a dad who makes all the decisions. I guess I'll get used to it seeing as in Japan they seem to favor the men more so then women. But, hey, maybe I'll learn how to cook while I'm down there.

In a few months I will be embarking on a once in a lifetime adventure. An adventure that will take me far from the country I've grown up in and away from the place I call home. Seeing another part of the world is always fun though, and I expect that though I'll be far from my comfort zone I'll be able to adapt to whatever new culture is thrown at me.

This website will be used to document what's on my mind and how I'm doing while on my exchange trip. In the long run I hope I'll be able to use it when I get back to keep track of my memories of both my good and bad moments in the country that is chosen for me.

Even if you're an outsider, go ahead, poke around a bit and see if there's anything you like. I'll do my best to update while on exchange, but don't expect much. I expect I'll be very busy in the upcoming months both preparing to leave and learning in my host country.

This blog was made after I made my Piczo blog because I wanted something where I could type an entry, put a picture in, and be on my way. Most of my earlier posts are there however so if you want to see them go to summerabroad.piczo.com. I'll be updating both of them though, but the Piczo one may be updated a tad bit slower.