Thursday, April 9, 2015

End of the Program UPDATE!

The End of a Busy Schedule
1 Year Abroad Finished

I sincerely apologize for not updating my blog for the last half of my exchange. It was due to computer problems, and me self-regulating my time on the internet. But let me just say, they were the best 6 months of my exchange. I apologize if my English doesn't make any sense! It's been a while since I've had to write a large amount in English...



Q: What happened during the last 6-10 months of your exchange?

A: In the month of August, I went to two festivals and mostly spent time with my family and friends. Due to it being summer vacation, I went on a mini-road trip with host family to Furano and Biei. I tried lavender ice cream for the first time (pictured)! If you ever decide to take a trip to Hokkaido, I would recommend you try it! And, spent a lot of quality time with my good friend Maya! After summer break, I had a series of tests because I was given summer vacation homework: Math, World History, English, Flower Arrangement, and Information Processing (typing). At my host school, passing was 30 points out of 100. Failing is called 赤点 (あかてん・AKATEN) which literally translates to red points. Out of that standard, I passed my tests with flying colors.



 At the end of the month, my friend Laura from Australia left Asahikawa! She was part of the semester program, and I sobbed every day that she was gone for the rest of August. I never imagined myself becoming extremely close with anyone during my exchange in Japan, especially with other exchange students. It was my goal, but I never thought I would actually achieve it. Thankfully, a new exchange student came from the United States right after she left (a week later): James J. I guess I was excited to meet him, because he was American, because I was the only American in Asahikawa at the time. Turns out, he's a pretty awesome guy! I also cried when we had to go our separate ways at the end of the program. But, I'll save that for the end! During the month of August, I had a lot of health problems. Like, I couldn't eat for a couple of weeks because my digestive system was slowing down.



September? September was such a forgettable month! I don't remember much! I just remember staying in my room, and constantly studying Japanese.  The month of September, I participated in my school's festival. Every year my host school hosts a festival, and it's called the Harvest Festival in English. What did the students do during this festival? We made mochi (mochi is a Japanese rice cake), and each class made their own dish with the mochi. My class decided to make matcha mochi (Japanese green tea), this other flavor that I don't remember, and this soup that consisted of meat, mochi, and vegetables. I also met an exchange student from two years ago. Her name was Lene, and she was from Norway. It was nice getting to know her, and was interesting learning a little about her experiences as an exchange student.

October was a fun month! Probably the busiest month during my exchange! I attended a wedding (wore a kimono for the first time), participated in a sports (ball) competition at my host school, had a break from school for a week, had tons of preparation for the school trip in November, mini road trip with my host family, and harvested the rice! Went on a rode trip to visit my relatives with my host family. I wish I could explain each event in order, and what I did exactly - but I'll save that for another blog entry! I also had a 3-day internship near my first host family's house, which was a lot of fun! This little kid had a crush on me! It was the cutest thing ever!

I went on my school trip for five days in November: Hiroshima, Kyoto, Osaka, and then Nara(?) I don't exactly remember the order. But here's a journal entry from those trips:

November 2, 2014 - Today we went to Tokyo: nostalgic. It was fun experiencing the flight from Tokyo to Hiroshima! The pilot decided to drop suddenly to make it seem like we out of gas or something. It was a first time experience. My biology teacher got really movement sick, and it was hilarious to see. After that, we went to the atomic bomb area, and I almost started crying. Even though everything is in the past now, it was awesome learning from another perspective about the war. I also listened to a speaker who survived the bomb.


November 3, 2014 - Today we woke up in Hiroshima at around 5:00AM to pack our things, and set sail for our next adventure in Hiroshima. Which was riding a ferry boat to Itsukushiima temple. There's nothing as old as these temples back in the Unites States. It was interesting to walk through the temple. But, I couldn't understand everything the guide tour person was telling it. It was a bit frustrating, but it made want to understand. Study. Study. Study. After that, all the students rode to the downtown area. We all were exhausted from the night before, and ended up sleeping on the bus. We went to another temple, and took a class photo. I was too tired to even function. After that we ate a famous Hiroshima dish. It was delicious, but huge! I could only eat half. Arrived at the station, where we had 20 minutes to buy souvenirs. Then we boarded the train, and set sail for Kyoto. We ate dinner, and had 2 hours to explore. During our 2 hours, we took purikura!

November 4, 2014 - Recently my stomach has been acting pretty funky; not being able to eat in the mornings. Another day in Kyoto, we explored many places. I'm really tired when writing this, but it was a lot of fun! I was able to buy a lot of souvenirs for my host family and family back in Seattle. And, it was amazing to walk in the temples that have been around for thousands of years. But, I wish I could have gone to the temple that was made completely out of gold...Maybe next year! After that, we were really tired. But Maya (friend) wanted to go to Suzuka's (friend) room. And, Suzuka started crying! Hahaha It was the first time a friend has ever been so worried about me that they started crying...I laughed so hard. But, I'm truly happy and lucky to have friends that care. Going back to Seattle is going to be difficult.

For the last full day, I didn't write an entry! I went to USJ Osaka. I don't like crowded areas, so I wasn't that excited about going on the rides. Yeah~ but, we stayed there for a night. The returning day, we went to Nara. It was so much fun!

After returning home, I hung out with my friend from another school. It was the first time I hung out with a guy by myself, but it was a lot of fun! It wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be. I balloons, and he bought a pen. We wrote nice messages, and gave them to random people. Good times~

I think I also entered a speech contest? I was dead last, but I still received a reward? I honestly didn't care about that speech at all... I was so unprepared.

My birthday is in the month of November. I don't think I did much for my birthday with my host family? Everyone was too busy: my host sister had finals, my mom had work, and my dad also had work. So, we celebrated it in December! Ah, but a lot of people gave me presents at school! And, even the guy I liked and his friends gave me pudding. So, I pretty happy about that.♡

In the month of December,  I confessed to the guy I like by giving him a love-letter. He never told me how he felt about me, besides him being happy and that he will absolutely come to the US someday. Then winter break came, and I hung out with my friend Maya on Christmas Eve. My chapter in Japan hosted a Christmas party for exchange students to meet Japanese students who were interested in studying abroad. In Japan, I think that most people spend it with their lover. Hanging out with friends is fine though! I then went to an EXILE concert with my host family. After the concert, my host mom got really sick. So, I had to switch host families for a week. Boom! It was January!

For New Years, I went to my grandparents house and ate sushi. I went shopping with my sister, and bought some clothes. On New Years day, they sell clothes in big bags. Usually clothes shops sell these bags that cost around $110, and you don't know what's inside them. Good luck or bad luck, kind of deal. Winter break finishes, and school starts again. I have two weeks left of school, and I give my farewell speech.

皆さま、おはようございます!私はここに立つと懐かしい気持ちになります。最初の自己紹介を覚えています。しかし、もう少しでアメリカに帰りますから、さようならの挨拶がやっぱり一番つらい気持ちです。たくさんかんしゃしたい事があります。去年はとっても楽しかったです。いっぱい友達が出来たし、たくさん笑ったし、いつも廊下で挨拶をくれた人もいたし、すごい思い出を作ったし、手伝ってくれた人もいました。1年間は本当に早かったです。日本に来た時、日本語をあまり話せませんでしたが、ちょっとだけ話せるようになったと思います。けど、日本語をあまり分からんなかった時、2Lの生徒から日本の文化を教えてもらいました。皆さま私に話しかけてくれて幸せでした。

1年生へ
もう少しで新しい留学生が来ます。1年間は早いので、たくさん話して欲しいです。

2年生へ
もうちょっとで3年生になりますね!最後の1年を楽しんでね!頑張って下さい。

3年生へ
そろそろ卒業するので、未来にむけて頑張って下さい。

皆さまは元気でいて欲しいです。
◎◎◎◎◎◎◎高等学校はホストスクールになってくれてありがとうございます!

This first year student asked me some questions, "How was your stay in Japan? Enjoyable?" She looked so nervous when asking me these questions, so I couldn't help but giggle. I was trying to make her smile, but I don't think it worked. Anyways, I received flowers. January was basically the preparation period for going back home: exchange students had a farewell party, then I had a farewell party at school, went skiing three times with my class, and hung out with people for the last. I didn't like the month of January because it went by way too quickly. Gave farewell letters, and said thank you to everyone. 学校で私は皆に「お世話になりました」と言いました。

February, I left Asahikawa! Then I lived with a host family in Chiba for three days. It was so much fun, and I can't thank that host family enough. When I had to say goodbye to my sister and my host mom; they started crying. It was a brief goodbye~ Then I was off to go back to the United States.



 The End.
I'll make another entry talking about the impact of studying abroad in another entry! But that sums up what happened during my exchange during the last half.




No comments:

Post a Comment