New Classes, New Friends, and a New Rotary Club

My second week at school is almost over, and I'm still having tons of fun. I've decided I need to start carrying a camera everywhere to capture all the unique and interesting sights I've seen here (examples, a huge, animatronic teddy bear at the mall, and about thirty bicycles right next to a sign reading 'no bicycles' in english) so from here on out, you can start expecting more photographic evidence of my adventures abroad.

And adventures they have been! My schedule's been reorganized a bit, so I have several classes with the grade four students (because my school is both a high school and a junior high, the first year of junior high is called grade one, so grade four at Hokusei would be grade ten at Canadian schools, and grade one at most Japanese high schools) who have all been happy to have me, and have welcomed me into their classes with open arms. It's fun seeing how each class has it's own unique flavour. Because the same students are almost always together, the classes seem to have a stronger sense of community than the classes at my high schools in Canada did. With each new class comes new friends, and new experiences, one class spent about twenty minutes quizzing me on my thoughts on various boy bands.

Overall, everyone's been awesome, and I have a really great schedule. Since I don't have to worry about credits, I'm pretty much taking a bunch of fun classes, and missing out on the classes I don't like so much (math, I'm looking at you). I have history, a couple english classes, a class on Japanese culture, music class, a few P.E. classes, a Bible class, a couple home ec. classes, and of course, Japanese. Yup, no math for me! I'm getting more comfortable with the layout of the school and working on my Japanese, so school seems to go a little more smoothly every day.

Today, however, I had to leave class early to go to my first rotary meeting, which, like many of my experiences in Japan, made me both excited and nervous. Excited to meet all the new people, and nervous because I'd be giving a presentation completely in Japanese. Because of the venue for the lunch meeting, I was unable to use the powerpoint presentation I'd prepared in Canada, so it was just me talking in front of the whole club. I think my Japanese was a little sloppier than usual because I was so nervous, but my fear was unfounded as everyone was very kind to me.

The rotary meeting of my host club had a somewhat different feel to my sponsor club in Canmore. The club is made up of mostly men (I believe there were three women present, including me) and was in a slightly older age bracket. However, they were very kind and made me feel very welcome. The meeting was held in a very nice hotel, and the traditional Japanese lunch was delicious. After lunch I was brought upstairs for a meeting with a few key members of the club, who explained the rules about months reports and my allowance, which was a little intimidating at first, but also very informative, and was a pleasant experience overall.

In other news, my host sister Ai returned from a week spent in Nagoya yesterday, and brought back some of the city's traditional snacks. Yum. I love the food here.

First Earthquake

Seeing as I've spent most of my life in Alberta, an area that, to my knowledge, simply doesn't have earthquakes, my first minor quake here in Japan was a bit of a surprise. There isn't much of a story to tell, but it certainly got my heart pounding. I was simply laying in bed, trying to get some sleep, when I felt the shaking start. It took a moment or two for me to realize exactly what was going on, and my thought process was alternating between 'oh my gosh this is scary' and 'wow, cool, an earthquake'. Anyway, the shaking lasted for what felt like a minute or two (though it felt like I was still shaking a little afterwards, I guess I'm not used to the sensation) before dying away. It was a pretty minor tremor, did zero damage, and probably felt very commonplace to the locals, but it still seemed like another adventure to me.

School & Summer Heat

I've been reading the Sapporo & Hokkaido section of my Japan travel guide, and they really like to emphasize how cold this area supposedly is. The island repeatedly described as a 'frozen hinterland' and 'bitterly cold' while summers are apparently mild and good for 'escaping the heat' in the rest of Japan. I feel very confident that whomever wrote that has never been here in August. The past few days have been crazy hot! But thankfully, the heat is my only complaint, and according to my guidance councillor, it only gets this hot for a few days each year. 

Anyway, I'll stop boring you with my silly complaints about the weather (I guess I'm just too used to Canada) and get onto what this post is really about: school in Japan. My first day of classes was yesterday, and I admit I had absolutely no idea what to expect, but it certainly wasn't what I got. People had told me that foreigners tended to be popular, but I definitely did not expect my class to scream the first time I walked into homeroom. Though after the initial excitement died down, everyone was incredibly welcoming and friendly, as well as very patient with me and the language barrier. I introduced myself in front of the class in Japanese and in English, and each member of my home room introduced herself to me as well. They seem like a great group, and the class seems to have a high energy, fun vibe to it. 

It's also been interesting seeing how much of my classes I've been able to understand. I have a pretty good grasp on numbers, so I was able to manage in math. Except for doing the actual math, apparently I have no idea how to do trigonometry without a calculator. One of my history classes and my bible class were also easier because I was already familiar with the material (the interwar period and Noah's arc, respectively) and I have one English class that seems to be conducted mostly in my mother tongue. Japanese History, what I think was Literature, and another English class that revolves mostly around grammar were more difficult, though I could catch a word here and there. We also had an assembly today, very little of which I was able to understand, but there was some singing and lots of excitement. 

So far, school in Japan is both fun and challenging, and seems simultaneously similar and wildly different from my old school in Canada. I'm finding the uniform thing pretty easy to get used to (no pictures yet, sorry, but I look just as goofy as you'd imagine in a sailor style uniform), and the religious aspect and lack of boy is also fairly easy to adjust to. The obvious language barrier is the biggest challenge, but I hope to keep working on my Japanese until I can overcome it. In the mean time, however, I'm still managing to make friends and enjoy the experience. 

First Week In Japan

So today marks one week that I've been here, and man, it's been a great experience so far. Though I've only been here for seven days (I guess it's closer to six, I arrived kind of late monday night and it's only midmorning as I write this) I've been lucky enough to see so much and try some great food. My Japanese is still pretty rudimentary, but I'm learning new words every day, and getting better at communicating with my host family.

Earlier this week, my host family took me on my first trip within Japan. We drove up to northern Hokkaido to meet my extended host family, if that's the right term for it. I got to meet my host father's parents as well as his brother and cousins, who had a two month old daughter. Everyone was very kind to me, and it was a great experience. We also saw a traditional Japanese temple and the ocean, where there was a small aquarium of sorts housing several seals. A presentation on the animals was given (in Japanese, so I didn't understand much, but I was able to learn how the seals were related to one another) and then we were allowed to pet them. I even got a kiss!

We stayed for one night at a hotel that had it's own onsen, or, in english, hot spring, though onsen are quite different from the hot springs back home. You wash before entering, and every one is naked (male and female baths are usually kept separate). I was a little uncomfortable at first, but a situation is only awkward if you let it be, so I think I'll get used to it pretty quickly. On day two of our trip, we began driving back to Sapporo and stopped at a few gardens along the way. One of the gardens, Kaze no Garden (Garden of Wind) was also famous for having a drama television by the same name use it as the setting. The gardens were all very nice, and a welcome brake from long drives.

From left to right: My host father Tatsuo, me, my host sister Ai, my host father's mother, my host mother Naomi, my host sister Anri and my host brother Tarou at Kaze no Garden

Since returning home, I've most been relaxing and working on my language skills before school starts, with a few outings to go shopping, go to a sports club, and eat at a few japanese restaurants. Today I'm going to see my school in session for the first time, meet the Principal and some of my teachers, as well as get my uniform. All in all, having a great time in Japan! 

In Japan!

Hello, everyone! Though it still feels a little like a dream, I arrived in Japan last night! I'm really here! It's almost hard to believe this is really happening, being here is a dream come true. Before I say anything else, I want to thank everyone who's made this possible for me. My family, friends and the Rotary Club of Canmore have all been amazingly supportive of me and have done so much to help me get here. No matter how hard I try, I don't think I'll ever be able to find the words to express how extremely grateful I am for this opportunity. I want to thank my parents for supporting me on this journey so far, everyone at rotary who's made this possible, and especially Janet Matthews, my host counsellor for everything she's done for me and Sari, the other exchange student from Canmore. I also want to thank my coordinator, Rob Whitfield, the International Chair for Canmore's Rotary Club and President Elect, John Waterhouse, and everyone here in Japan helping me along the way.

It's been a wild couple of days. Yesterday I had to say goodbye to my family, board several planes, navigate Japanese airports and then finally arrived in Sapporo. Though I expected one or two people, I was greeted by a large group of rotarians, my current host family, two of my future host families, my host counsellor, and another exchange student here from Australia. Everyone was incredibly warm and welcoming, making it a very pleasant surprise, if a little overwhelming for a tired traveller. My host family then took me to my new house, where I learned how to use a Japanese toilet and and bathroom, had some juice, called home to tell my family I had arrived, and went to sleep. 

Today was a day for new experiences. I was taught how to use the transit system here, and got to explore the area by daylight for the first time. My new host sister, Ai, helped me navigate the transit system here to find my school, a bus and two train rides away. After checking out campus, we met up with Thomas, an exchange student from Australia, and two Japanese girls named Haruka and Midori. We explored the giant shopping centre of Sapporo and bought me some chopsticks, a water bottle, and a Japanese lunch box called a bento. After that, the group showed me the mall's game centre, something that doesn't exist in Canada. Imagine an arcade, but bigger, brighter and more colourful. They had a whole section dedicated to Pokemon! While we were there I got to try purikura (a sort of Japanese photo booth) for the first time! I didn't really know what I was doing, but it was a lot of fun! Next we went out to lunch, where I tried Udon noodles for the first time. Yum! After lunch, we did karaoke, also lots of fun, and then Ai and I separated from the others and went to the Ward Office to deal with some official matters before heading back home. 

It's been a great day, and so far my experience here has been incredible. I can't wait to keep exploring, learn more Japanese, and continue experiencing this amazing country. Thanks again to everyone who's made this possible, and I'll post again soon. 

So close!

Well, things are finally coming together now and my days in Canmore are running out. I'll be departing on Sunday the 12th and arriving in Japan Monday the 13th. I'll change flights twice, once in Vancouver and once in Tokyo. I finally have my visa and a solid date, just pulling some loose ends together before I leave.

It's a little nerve wracking, I admit, being this close to my departure, though I can't seem to find the words to fully describe how I feel. I suppose everything is feeling more solid, tangible, and that is both very exciting and well, rather frightening. The next post on this blog will probably be made from Japan!

As for what I'll be spending my last days in Canada doing, I'll be buying some more gifts for my host families, packing (haven't even started yet! Gulp!) and spending a little more time with family and friends before I depart. I haven't got much else to say, so I'll talk to you soon. Thanks for reading and wish me luck!