April 23rd. Host Family and Other Junk

All is well here now. Its April 23^rd now. Monday. Had a wonderful day at school. I really do enjoy school. Its funny. Its hard to make friends with the 3^rd years and my class (2-3) but the first years, all they want to do is talk to me in English! I find they are super adorable though. They are so shy about everything its just so sweet. And its true. Japanese girls like to say the word “kawaii” a lot. That is all I heard for the first couple days of school. I honestly hate the word kawaii honestly. Its just … SOOOO annoying! XD I am not cute yo! I am almost 20 years old! You little ones are cute I say!

Wow I typed all this without even thinking. I am watching TV right now and there is yummy food on the tv YUM YUM! I think its Udon and Miso? But still it looks super yummy!
Then I saw a fat asian guy on tv stuffing his mouth with that yummy food. YUP! I have now been turned off of food for the day!

Also also! My host family has a bird and a dog! And they are just so cute! I was told by my host sister that the dog does not like people and he will bark. When I got out of the car and saw the dog I was expecting it to bark at me.
Instead; all it did was stare at me, his head went side ways. He didn’t know how to react to me XD!
It was so cute! My host mom was laughing because the dog didn’t know how to react to me.

Nothing really else has happened today. Found out today that the other exchange student at my school. Lets call her A for short since I don’t think I put her name anywhere yet. And I don’t think she would want her name anywhere on the interwebs xD

She actually found me through my blog so I find that funny. ANYWAYS! Lucky butt gets to go to Tokyo for the weekend with her program, and the butt gets to go to Tokyo Disney! I am so jealous! I need to give her money to buy me junk! xD

Well I think that is it. The only complaint is the no internet and the many many rice fields. Honestly. I am going to make a blog dedicated to fricken RICE fields while I am here. My teacher told me that this village is famous for growing shrimp in the rice fields. But I feel like she was pulling my leg xD

I believe that is it. I will hope to write down more soon. Woot woot. 

Host Family #2 and Rice Fields

Well its been awhile.
Sorry for the very long needed blog. Right now I just moved to a new host family. And sadly. They do not have internet access D=
So I am in a fritz trying to figure out how to get Internet right now. But I guess I probably found out how since I posted this or I am already 3 months in the future at my new host family xD

Anyways. This week was SUPER busy for me. School is still a pain in the butt but I really like it. Just super tired. Wednesday was my Birthday! =D I am now officially 19 years old. Dude. I feel old. My last host family and I went to a Kaiten Sushi (conveyor belt sushi) restaurant on my birthday. Had lots of fun!

Then yesterday I was being moved to my next host family and I got to hang out with another family for a couple hours. There was a mom, dad and they had 3 sons in their 20’s. The one son who was the youngest was 24 I believe and came with us. He lived in Vancouver, Canada for a year when he was in Junior High school and his English is actually very good still!

They showed me around Yamaguchi City a bit, then went to Kaiten Sushi (Because we originally were going to KFC and they asked if I liked it, I said no. LOL Their reactions! Don’t tell someone u don’t like KFC xD They were like “WHA?! How can you not like it!” xD it was super funny)
But that is besides the point; this week I probably ate the most sushi I ever had since I got here! And no one will know what good sushi is until you come to Japan and have it here! Dear lord the things I really love xD
I love squid, octopus, shrimp, tempura, crab and so much! Its all so yummy!

Now onto some other school like subjects. My week is super busy. I am at school from Monday to Saturday from 8:30AM till 5PM everyday other then Saturday which is a half a day and I believe Wednesday is also around 4PM instead of 5PM.

It’s a lot of work and the students there are super nice!
I actually got to be friend a couple first year students from my school, they are super nice and really adorable XD We were waiting on the train on Saturday after school and they were asking me which Japanese bands I like or who were my favourite members. It was so hard to think of some at the time xD
Then they were pulling pictures they have in their pockets of their favourite idols and showing me, I swear they ALL have pictures of the idols they like on hand 24/7! XD
But this one girl pulled out her book and it had Matsumoto Jun from ARASHI in her book, and he is one of my FAVOURITE members of Arashi, when Im like “AH! Matumoto Jun!” she was so thrilled that I knew who he was! xD

Good day I say!

Well now I am with my new host family (so you know, I am writing this in parts, so every day could be different. This might be a story from 2 weeks ago! XD You will never know!)

But yes. I am with my new host family right now. I really like them! But I hate where I am living. I am out in the middle of NO where, I am in a small village between Honfu (or Hofu or something) City and Yamaguchi City. Which means I am even FARTHER away from my school =_=.

Great. Not to impressed there honestly. And I have NO internet AT ALL! No WI FI or ANYTHING! And its driving me MAD!
I am a girl built on technology! Without my computer I will surely die!
Plus I do voice work… and not to long ago I pretty much signed a contract with a big named video company to do voice work for them. And if I don’t have internet… oh f*ck there goes my chances of a debut of professional work down the drain! =_= I also do voice work for another big named voice actor who does videos based on a webcomic and he is like tumblr famous xD
But anyways. Its hard for me to get lines to him if I don’t have internet! My LIFE is the internet! D=

I know I should be enjoying my time here in Japan. I AM! I am learning so much! But Voice Acting is kinda my future career… and I am getting screwed over while I am here…
Its frustrating me. =_=

UPDATE: I FOUND INTERNET IN THE HOUSE! WOOOT WI FI LIVES EVEN IN THE STICKS XD

And So My First Day Of School

Well I really hate this new Blogger thing going on. But anyways lets not talk about Blogspot/Blogger being stupid and changing everything. WELL its been awhile hasn't it?! Well today was my first day of school at Xavier High School! Had a great time! Met another exchange student from Australia at my school so its nice to have another English speaker. So we had to do speeches today. Oh my gosh that was such a day! I got up at 6AM, at breakfast, got dressed, left for the train at 6:30AM for the 7:05AM departure; got to the train station at 7:45AM, walked again and didn't get to the school till 8:15. Oh gosh that is a long trip. But its alright after I got there xD I didn't have my uniform yet so I was just in jeans and junk.

Got there; left my host sister cues she had to go another route into the school, got dressed into my uniform. Met up with the other exchange student, went into the teachers office together to do a small introduction. Then went back to a room to wait, then was taken to our classes, I am in 2-3 which is the equivalent to Grade 11 in Canada. Woopie. LOL! So if you go on an exchange, you will most likely be put into a grade below grade 12 since the older students are always busy studying and really dont have time to talk or interact with an exchange student I find. Now where was I... Alright, so got shown to my class, then I had to do another small introduction. Sat in class for a bit listening to my sensei (which I could barely understand XD). Talking about the schedule for tomorrow since the other students have exams tomorrow, I don't. But I might take the English exam just for kicks. Then we had to go to another school assembly (my school has maybe less then 200 students) So we all sat in this smaller gym sized area, then I had to give my long speech in front of them. Not to bad.

Then we were told we had to give the speech again... this time to future student's parents, future students and the graduating class plus all the teachers this time... and it was just so nerve racking! I was so nervous! I totally screwed up XD But a lot of other junk happened, lunch was fun. OH!! OH OH! First thing in the morning (before all that jazz and we were in the classes') The whole school had to clean up the school (cleaning windows, sweeping floors, cleaning desks' and so on) which was really different from Canadian school XD !

They don't have janitors in Japanese schools, students do the cleaning. Lunch was fun. Went to the class next door to chill with the other exchange student and a group of other students. I wish my Japanese was a lot more advanced then right now... but all I can do is study and hope for the best! And try! XD Hm... I think that is it really... Nothing much else to say. Welp I am off; so here is a picture of me in my uniform xD

So finally getting something done

So if you guys dont know I have VLOGS so make sure you check them out!: www.youtube.com/user/haleyinjapan

anyways.

So; alot has happened since I last updated! I went to stay with another family for 3 days because I was super sick and my host family couldn't host me for a couple days because they got super busy with their shop and I was sick. So to make sure my health was improving I went to live with a elderly couple. They were SUPER nice!

Hm... I went to a lot of places. I got to check out Xavier Memorial Church, Sesshutei Garden and Rurikoji Temple and the Five Storied Pagoda. It was a lot of fun! I also made a friend!

Her name is Junko; the woman on the right is who I stayed with and Junko is on the left.
At first; it was SUPER awkward. She is 21 can you believe that?!

ANYWAYS! So we were just sitting under the kotatsu (its a Japanese table with a blanket and really warm heat!) XD And she was asking me a lot of questions in English! Like about Canada. Then she asked me if I liked American TV, and I said of course!
She started listing shows like GLEE and ER (which I do enjoy) then she said "how about Criminal Minds?" Oh my gosh. You dont know HOW happy I was to hear that! I said "OF COURSE!" She looked super exited; told me to hold on and came back with the First Season Box set of Criminal Minds! She asked if I wanted to watch. I said of course!! But I told her I didn't know Japanese well; she said not to worry xD She played it in English and put Japanese sub's at the bottom! We sat and watched it for a good 2 hours. She also started asking why I wanted to go to Japan and stuff. And how Yamaguchi is "hick town" and "country" which is kinda true XD BUT ANYWAYS! Then the conversation of ANIME came up! Oh gosh. The minute she found out I like anime. she was like "YOU LIKE ANIME?!? What about Astro Boy? Black Jack? EH!" She was so happy xD I knew all those to so it was fun!

We talked a bit more then went to the book store. We looked through the manga a bit and then I picked up a manga by PEACH PIT (I cant remember) she asked "Ah Peach Pit!" Me: "Yea I really like them! Like:" And in unison we both say "Rozen Maiden" It was so funny! We both started to laugh!

I really connected with Junko a lot; I am so sad that I had to leave the same day! She lived next door to where I was staying.

I had great fun!

Hm. Now back to more information!
woot woot!

This past Sunday I went to Mine, Yamaguchi. Its really popular tourist spot. It has HUGE mountains and fields with Onyx rock and lots of caves!
I had a lot of fun!

We also went to visit Wa-chan's (host mom's nick name)mom in the oldie folks home. And we ran into this display! They told me that they only displayed this for 2 days and I was super lucky I could see it!
The dolls were so beautiful!

And a picture with my host mom Wa-chan and my host dad Yu-chan.
I really love this host family.

I dont know what else has happened xD but thats about it for now! See you guys next time!

~ Haley

Ah. What a couple days

Sorry for the no update as of late!

I haven't been doing much because well.. I got really sick. I had a case of mild bronchitis (I have never had it before! XD) So I have been sick in bed, my host mom has been taking good care of me!
I hit a fever of 104F (roughly 40C) for the past 2 days. What a way to start living with my host family!

But I feel like I have grown a bond with my host mom a bit since I was so sick and she was always there to take care of me. She even stayed beside me while I slept to make sure I was alright. She checked my temperature every 10 minutes xD

I cried a bit because honestly; I hate being sick (who doesn't right?) And I really wanted my mom from Canada T_T I had that I miss her and want a hug from her kind of couple days. Sickness is totally not my forte xD

But I am feeling a lot better today! Yesterday I slept SOOOO much! (I slept from 2PM in the afternoon till 8AM this morning!) Long huh? Taking lots of anti biotic's that the doctor gave me. Still a bit of a cough but it should go away soon. Still very tired from all this sick ness.

I hope to walk around the neighbourhood soon once I am all better.

Will keep updated!

Till next time!

Day 2 with Host Family

Today was a lot of fun!

Woke up at 8AM, Wa-chan (Host mom) made my breakfast; yogurt, chicken hot dog (with chicken, lettuce, and ketchup) it was super yummy! Also she made a egg hot dog (it was a hard boiled egg with mayo, smashed into a sandwich. It was alright, not a big fan of egg though. Also had strawberries! Oh dear Japan has probably the BEST strawberries! I haven’t seen a strawberry that BRIGHT RED before! So good! And I think she added brown sugar on the side and it was just so good! I also got to watch some SMILE Pretty Cure on the TV this morning. Its not so bad as I thought it was. Then I saw a trailer to the new Pretty Cure DX Movie!! I so want to see it! My Japanese has just gotten worse and worse I have noticed xD So hard to talk to people. Yuu-chan (Host dad) know’s a bit more English and so does Aki-chan (host sister). Wa-chan doesn’t know as much so it’s a bit hard to talk. But we understand after awhile! After breakfast, Yuu-chan took me out for a walk around Yamaguchi City a bit. We went to pay our respects to his families’ grave. It was a very nice walk. We both love classical music! So it was a conversation starter! XD

For lunch we went to a Ramen shop! First time eating REAL ramen! It was SOOOOO good! I think it had pork in it? And I also had Gyoza! Soooo good! And a onegiri. After lunch we went to the 100yen shop to buy a cup for Sora-chan (Isao’s daughter, host brothers daughter). After that we went to Aki-chan’s sensei’s house (her trombone teacher’s house). Earlier that morning Wa-chan showed me a DVD of Aki-chan’s teacher and his wife performing (She is a Soprano singer) and he is a world famous trombone player. They were super nice! He knew A LOT of English (He studied abroad to France and learned English as well). So Wa-chan asked him questions to ask me in English like; “What kind of food do you like?” or “What do you not like?”. After a while I realized everything I don’t like are spicy or salty foods xD But I love sweet and flavourful foods. Yum yum!

They also have a baby! His name is Louis and he is 10 months old. SOOOO Cute! Japanese babies are the cutest! Aki-chan and I played with Louis-kun for awhile then he fell asleep. During that time though sensei’s wife, Aki-chan and I made I think it was Dango. It started to look a bit like mochi at first. It was a lot of fun to make! Aki-chan and I took turns mixing the batter all together then rolling them and putting the balls of what looked like mochi into a pot of boiling water. After they were rising sensei took them out of the water and put them into another bowl of water to cool. Aki-chan and I started to prepare the bowls to put it in. In the end it was SOOO good! There was this sauce, and what looked like macha powder on top, plus this other dango looking thing full of vanilla ice cream! It was all so good! Also sensei’s wife gave me this little kuma (teddy bear) keychain! It was soooooo cute!

A lot of translating later, I feel like I am really close to my host mom and sister now. Aki-chan and I both hate math but like world history, we both like the arts, and we both hate salty and spicy food!

I also found out that there is going to be 2 Australian exchange students at my school! I get to meet one of them tomorrow! I am so exited! And happy that I am not going to be the only one! Lets hope they know little to no Japanese as I do!
Also I have been writing my speech. Arg… I found out that it has to be 3 minutes long!

oh dear! I only have a good…1 paragraph finished! I have time though. I don’t have to get it done till April 5th (Aki-chan’s sensei is coming over for her lesson so he is going to translate it all to Japanese woot woot) So I just have to write it in English. Don’t know what I am going to talk about for 3 minutes but I will think of something. This is seriously one long blog. But I think I am almost done. Today was a very good day. I can’t wait for tomorrow!

Here is a picture of Aki-chan's teacher!
He is SOOO good at playing the trombone!

I HAVE ARRIVED!

Gosh! Its been awhile hasn’t it? I am writing these blogs all separately because I don’t have internet right now till the 26th. Or later…. Arg. WELL! The 3 day 4 night orientation was GREAT! I made a lot of new friends from that. I also have a video of my journey and I hope to post them all up on Youtube very VERY soon!

I did however write in my journal. So I am probably just going to type everything out and post it. Lol. Welp; here goes me typing out my journal!

“ It has been a couple days hasn’t it? Orientation was great! I met a lot of people. There was 4 of us from Canada (myself, Josh, Matt and Elise), 3 from Australia (Max, Meika, and Penelope), 1 from Finland (Evallina) and 1 from Italy (Martina). On the 1st day we were in a class, Japanese lesson’s and so on. A lot of us had jet lag (us from Canada and Martina from Italy expecially). Also, I got to try out a public bath! The first night was awkward, but it wans’t so bad after awhile. The next day we went to a Shinto shrine, Harajuku (I saw BodyLine and Closet Child shops! Ah! My inner Lolita fan girl was happy!) Also had a strawberry crepe, it was soooo good! Next was Akihabara, lots of UFO Machines and arcades! I had lunch at burger king with Josh, Max and Evallina. Martina went to a sushi bar and everyone else went to McDicks (McDonlads). The last place we went to was Asakusa, it was a very old styled part of Japan, with lots of temples and kimono’s.

When we got back to the Olympic center we were so tired. Went for dinner and every meal we had came with rice! SOOO much rice! On the first night I had beef curry, and man was it SPICY! On the second night we met a couple of AFS students and YFU students at their orientation at the Olympic center. When we were all just sitting at these couches, a group of older Japanese men came over to out group and started to talk. If I tried to explain what happened it would sound SO stupid but for everyone who was there, gosh it was the funniest thing EVER!

The last breakfast with everyone was a bit sad. We all were going separate ways. I am the farthest from everyone. Evallina is in Chiba, so her host parents picked her up at the Olympic center. Josh and I had to take a plane, Martina had to go another way, and the rest took the bullet train. The plane is really small; it was a 2 hour trip to get to Ube City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Welp I’m off!”

Well that was a boring blog if I do say so. Lol. But when I got off the plane, I saw signs! That read “HALEY (enter last name here)” and Im like Oh dear! Was all embarrassed! I also got to meet my second host family! They have a daughter who is my sisters age (almost 16) who speaks VERY good English! She went to New Zealand for a year so her English is VERY good. And I met my host mom for that family to. Hm… I also met my rep and teacher at my school who is in charge of the program. Kinda fun!

For dinner we had this Spanish rice with onion soup and chicken fingers. It was very good! Also Aki-chan (host sister) and I got to watch WALL-E. Since well; there isn’t much speaking to understand what is going on. And it was in English! Woot woot!

Well I guess that is all for now. See you next blog!