A busy three days

My orientation was this weekend and it was really long. Some parts of it was fun the. It took place at a hot spring. So there were about 10 kids there but only three of us were inbound students. One girl was from France and one girl was from Canada. When we first went there we had lunch at the restaurant and then we listened to speeches and we had to make a small speech. We went up to a tatami room and sat on the tatami mats and listened to the kinds from Rotex speak. They are kids who already went on there exchange and came back. After we went to the onsen which is a Japanese hot spring. It was so relaxing. The water comes from the sea so there is good minerals in it for you. It makes your skin sift. It was also very hot so I only stayed in for a little while. Next was dinner and at the end they brought out a karaoke machine and some people sang. I did not sing at dinner. After dinner the kids went to one of many small rooms where you can use a karaoke machine. There I sang one song and I learned that I am not good at karaoke! The next day we went and listened to a guy from Canada talk about culture differences in Japan. He has lived in Japan for 8 years so far. It was really interesting. Then we took a bus up into the mountains it was a pretty drive but it was too hot and the roads were very curvy and I got car sick. We went to a place called Nito Pass. Then we took a rope way that carried us up to Mt.Myoken and then we had a short little climb to the top of Mt.Fugen. Next to Mt.Fugen is Mt.Heisei Shinzan which is a vol canoe which we saw. After we went back to the hotel grabbed our luggage and went back home. It was about a two hour bus ride from the hot spa. On Sunday after we got back we ate dinner but after there was a little festival going on right outside of my host family's apartment. We went and walked around. They have this one game where you can try to catch as many goldfish as you can without braking the net thing. Which does brake very easily and I didn't know it so I broke it very easily and didn't catch any fish but they gave me some fish anyway. After I got this really good dessert. It was ice with chocolate and banana on it. Then we saw fireworks which were amazing and they were so pretty! The best fireworks I have ever seen. On Monday I went with part of my third host family to the penguin aquarium and we saw many penguins they were so cute! After we went to one of there restaurants and ate a big meal with the rest of the family. They were experimenting with what foods I liked. Some of it was good some stuff was interesting and I wouldn't want to eat it again. I will write again soon to tell everyone how my first days at school went!

Various Things I have Done

So I have been here officially for more than a week yes! Yesterday I went to my first Rotary meeting in Japan. I had to make a speech which went very well. That night I also had my welcome party. Many people came and again I had to make a little speech. I met my second host family and my host mom of my second host family. Again I wore my kimono. On Wednesday my host father took me to ride the street car to my school. After I get off the street car it is a long walk from there to school! After we went to three malls. All were quite close together. We walked around mostly so when I start to go out by myself i can find my way around. However in one of the malls I did buy a tshirt. The clothes here are absolutely amazing! Also the other day I cooked pasta for my host parents. It had tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and parmesean cheese in it. They liked it a lot! This weekend is my orientation and it is going to be held at a hot spa. This afternoon I am going to an art museum. 

Pictures From My First Week

My First Week in Japan

Hi Everyone,

After a very long day of travel I am here in Japan I didn't really have any troubles except at the Haneda Airport in Tokyo I kept asking where to go and kept getting sent to different counters. My next trouble was my luggage was overweight but all they had me do was pay money. When I got to the Nagasaki Airport my first and second host family was waiting for me. I was finally glad to get to my first host family's house and all I could think about was going to sleep. The first day we went to the supermarket and went to register for a Nagasaki id card at the city hall. We also went to the train station to pick up my host parents niece. Then we went out for Chinese food where I had a very tough time eating. The next day we went to Grover's Garden and Dejima. Both are famous historical places in Japan. Dejima was the only window to the West during  Japan's period of isolation. It was also Obon my second day here which was a day where the spirits came back. We went and visited the graves and we lit incense and firecrackers. The firecrackers were for good luck. Next we went to get gelato and I tried green tea gelato. It is not my favorite. At night we saw people carry these boats to the water to send off the spirits I think. There were many firecrackers going off so I wore earplugs. My host grandmother gave me a kimono and so I wore it that night. The next day my host father took me to the Nagasaki atomic bomb museum. It was really sad but very interesting. In the entrance area there were tons of paper cranes. Then we went to see where the bomb hit which is now a park and we went to go see a park with the Peace Statue in it. The Paece Statue is a prayer for everlasting world peace. It was unveiled on the 10th anniversary of the bombing. That night we went to an Italian restaurant and the meal lasted three hours! Meals are a lot longer in Japan than in America. At the restaurant though I had a big achievement and I tried one clam! It was really bad. Yesterday we dropped my host sister and host brother off at the airport. They were going to Tokyo to go back to school. Today we went to my school Kwassui and I met my principle, assistant principle, class teacher, and english teacher. I told them I wanted to join a dance club. But they spoke japanese and I couldn't really understand a lot of what they were saying. Now I have wireless so I will try to update my blog much more frequently!

Hi Everyone!

So Tomorrow I leave. Right now I am very nervous and excited. I am ready to go after preparing for so long! Finished packing at 1:30 today and feel semi prepared to go. Next entry will be from Japan!