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.