Wednesday 11 July 2012
I Lied
You know when I said I won't be posting again for a little while. Well, I lied. Sorry. Though in my defence, I didn't know I was lying at the time. Adding another short little update to tell you that I now know the day I'll be leaving Canada and Arriving in Japan. August 13th, a monday. I start school exactly one week later. One month and two days in the country! It suddenly feels really, really close. I'm still not sure if it's really hit me that this is actually happening! I've been thinking about it almost every day for a long time now, but I still feel like it hasn't totally hit me yet. I am super excited though, and in all honesty, a little scared. Better work on my japanese (I can almost read hiragana without looking a chart now, woot!). I'll update when I get back and/or when I have something else to tell you.
Update!
First off, sorry I've taken so very long to update this blog, but I've honestly gotten very little news about what's going on. I'll try to update more frequently once I'm actually on exchange.
So I finally have some more news about my exchange to Japan! The documents came to confirm I'll be in the city of Sapporo (the capital of the Hokkaido Prefecture) and more specifically, my club with be Sapporo East. I'm very excited about Sapporo, from what I've found in my research, it's a city rich with culture and history, is near some excellent skiing, and is also home to the amazing Yuki Matsuri (or snow festival, the english translation)
I also learned a little about my first host family, and have been in touch with one of my host sisters through Facebook. I'm going to have three host siblings, two sisters, aged twelve and nineteen, and a host brother who is my age, sixteen. My eldest host sister, Ai, went on exchange for the 2010-2011 exchange year and came to my district in Canada! She stayed in a city very close to my town, so we already have that connection. I can't wait to contact and talk to the rest of the family.
As well as learning about my host family, I learned that I'll be going to Hokusei Gakuen Girls' Junior and Senior High. As the name says, I'll be going to a girl's school. At first, I wasn't sure what to make of that, but after giving it some thought, I'm excited! I've never gone to a single gender school, so it'll be a new and unique experience, which is what exchange is all about. I'll also be wearing a uniform, which you can see on the school's website here (the page is in Japanese), which I'm also looking forward to. No more trying to decide what to wear in the morning! School starts on August 20th, a little over a month from now, and I will likely be arriving in Japan a week before then. Already beginning to count down the days!
I probably won't be able to update this for a couple more weeks, as I'm going to the Grand Canyon with my family, but I'll be sure to update when I can.
So I finally have some more news about my exchange to Japan! The documents came to confirm I'll be in the city of Sapporo (the capital of the Hokkaido Prefecture) and more specifically, my club with be Sapporo East. I'm very excited about Sapporo, from what I've found in my research, it's a city rich with culture and history, is near some excellent skiing, and is also home to the amazing Yuki Matsuri (or snow festival, the english translation)
The festival by day
Lit up at night
I also learned a little about my first host family, and have been in touch with one of my host sisters through Facebook. I'm going to have three host siblings, two sisters, aged twelve and nineteen, and a host brother who is my age, sixteen. My eldest host sister, Ai, went on exchange for the 2010-2011 exchange year and came to my district in Canada! She stayed in a city very close to my town, so we already have that connection. I can't wait to contact and talk to the rest of the family.
As well as learning about my host family, I learned that I'll be going to Hokusei Gakuen Girls' Junior and Senior High. As the name says, I'll be going to a girl's school. At first, I wasn't sure what to make of that, but after giving it some thought, I'm excited! I've never gone to a single gender school, so it'll be a new and unique experience, which is what exchange is all about. I'll also be wearing a uniform, which you can see on the school's website here (the page is in Japanese), which I'm also looking forward to. No more trying to decide what to wear in the morning! School starts on August 20th, a little over a month from now, and I will likely be arriving in Japan a week before then. Already beginning to count down the days!
I probably won't be able to update this for a couple more weeks, as I'm going to the Grand Canyon with my family, but I'll be sure to update when I can.
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