Oddities of School

This blog is neither going to be informative of anything I've been doing lately. I just thought I would write a little anecdote in the 10 minutes spare I have and thus apologise for the lack of an acceptable literary structure.

So, like FOREVER ago I had the best lesson ever. For those of you who don't know, we all have to stand and bow at the beginning and end of every lesson in a sign of respect for the teacher. My favourtie lesson was by the maths teacher in a subject other than maths, it was short home room. It went a little bit like this:

Kiritsu (Stand)
Kyotsuke (Straighten up)
Rei (Bow)

Everyone sat down, the teacher said like two sentences and then this happened all over again:

Kiritsu (Stand)
Kyotsuke (Straighten up)
Rei (Bow)

The whole thing took under a minute. Seriously best lesson ever.

And now, I apologise for this stupid blog. But I got super happy when after cleaning the teacher told me to say Kyosuke, Rei. It's nice to be accepted as a normal asian instead of the foreigner I am. >_<

Ciao.

<3

Ashley-chan

Silver Week

is basically a rip-off of Golden Week.

It doesn't happen very often I don't think but this year, for one reason or another, we had a second mini-golden week. Three holidays in a row colliding with the weekend leaving a lovely Saturday to Wednesday holiday. Saturday I didn't really do anything. I remember sleeping, watching television and things to that effect. The following day, Sunday, Hikari arrived home from her two month stay in Australia. She brought a whole bloody supermarket home. I was flabbergasted.

This is an estimate:
>5 packets of Starburst
>5 packets of Tim Tams
>6 packets of various chocolates
>3 packets of M'n'M's
>10 mini packets of shapes
> And other stuff

The large majority of which went to other people. I didn't understand that. But it was nice to taste a little bit of home again having only one packet of Gobstoppers remaining from mother's latest care package despite me being a horribly slack child. Thank you. ^^

Hikari returned home around 12 having been generously driven by Sayaka's mother from Fukuoka airport back to Nagasaki. After that Hikari wanted to go to Cocowalk to eat at her Dad's restaurant. We did that, having Nagasaki Champon at a Chinese restaurant. >_<

Lolz. Oh yes, tragedy has struck me in the heart! That's right, my leather bracelet has broken. T_T Luckily it was as I was taking it off to have a shower so I still have my charm and everything, I bought a piece of leather at Cocowalk but unfortunately have no idea how to tie it so it is adjustable. It had instructions but it didn't seem very stable so I'm currently googling that.

The following day Sayaka came over for an unknown reason and stayed for like 5/6 hours. I talked/ watched the Disney channel/ ate Australian sweets. I was only there for the food. >_< We did a bit of sigthseeing, I got to see Shimabara castle and a statue of Buddha resting called Nirvana. After that and a lunch consisting of three onigiri's (small ones) and a bottle of Coca Cola which one by the distinguished form of Eeny Meeny Miney Moe, we went on to the Grandparents house. Staying for about half an hour to decide on what would be for dinner and when dinner would be before 7 of us rocked out at Karaoke.

The bad thing is that for some reason the Karaoke box hated me and wouldn't let me put in half may songs, continuously saying, ERROR. So I sung as many as I could, mostly anime. My singing repetoire has not changed at all since I've come here, the reason being that the songs I like are weird and I don't really know all that many famous, well-known songs that they have at Karaoke. Yes, I'm a social failure. But we already knew that, didn't we?

Dinner was Sara Udon which I've become rather fond of. We aslso had Takoyaki in the car, another thing which I7ve taken a liking for. I didn't love it all that much at first but now I've found that it can be quite enjoyable, especially when it is searingly hot. Sara Udon is udon noodles in sauce with whatever thrown on top, usually vegetables and meat. It also has like a counterpart where the noodles are cripsy like before they are cooked instead of cooked. I've only ever tried the cooked but I imagine the other is decent as well.

Ummm...yesterday was Nagasaki. Around 12 Hikari and I caught the train to Kikitsu, wishing to go to the library to research our trip to Fukuoka, having no internet at home, unfortunately being a public holiday, the library was, alas, closed. Luckily just outside the main library part was two computers with internet although both were ebing used. We didn't have to wait too long before one liberated itself of it's previous user and we were able to search to our hearts content.

Saturday is possibly Fukuoka, either that or the following Saturday. The plan is to halve the time of the day between anime and clothing stores, you can probably guess which half is mine. Will probably spend a whole lot of money as it'll likely be my only chance to buy ridiculously unnecessary amounts of anime related goods for the next however many years. Plans are Mandarake, AniMATE and GeeStore, a cosplay shop, and there are others in the area which I'll just look for once there.

I thought we'd go to Tenjin together and then seperate, buy stuff and come home together but that was a ダメ (No) from Hikari's mum which is far enough. Fukuoka is scary. ０_～ Anyways, from Kikitsu Hikari said she wanted to buy Arina a birthday present at Amyu in Nagasaki so we went together and I bought earrings. There are four, each a suit of playing card, hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades. They would look really cute all together, shame I've only got one hole in each ear. ^_～

Then, Hikari and I went to the little version of AniMATE in Nagasaki where I spent 3000 yen on 3 Code Geass figurines, 4 badges, Rei key chain and a Kuroshitsuji thingy. I know what you're thinking, expensive. Yeah, you're telling me but it is like that every where. ><

What else? I like drawing. I've downloaded over 100 episodes of Ranma 1/2, oh I'm such a rebel. Japan is hilarious, they don't block anything here except for Youtube and Megaupload. n00bs. Hence the ridiculous amount of downloading. I think that is all for now. I can't think of anything else to say except I love you all and on Saturday I've been here for six months,(!) and not long to go now. I can't wait to come back and show off my asian skills, but you can all laugh at my hopeless english. I'm afraid it will take me a little while to adjust back. And you'll have to slap the head nodding and 'un' sounds out of me but I'll get there.

Don't lose hope! Currently reading: The picture of Dorian Gray which I am enjoying immensely.

<3

Ashley-chan

And this picture is just because Severus Snape is so Gosh Darn Smexy. XD

Pretty Kitty

Hey Ash, I saw Kitty looking pretty. She looked beautiful, as you can see here. You looked beautiful at your formal too. Two beautiful friends! Love Mum x

I'm Happy.

Want to know why? Well, we've got Bunkasai coming up. It's still a fair while away being on the 6th and 7th of November but we already have to start preparations. Bunkasai is basically a cultural festival held at school with bands and dance and food and haunted houses and all sorts of fun things. So, today we decided what 2-5 would do. They had like choir, play and stuff, I suggested a musical. Guess what they chose? Mine. Wow, happiness.

I think I also get to be a main person and help out with it cause I'm experienced which makes me super happy. Realising that no one knows many musicals here as they are all in English, we decided to just put in normal songs but it is still going to be super fun. So yeah, I'm excited.

Oh yeah, and I might be going to Tenjin in Fukuoka soon but did I already tell you that? That will be great the AniMATE and Mandarake there are huge. I was telling Mie-san, Hikari's mum, how I wanted to buy a Yukata and she found a cheap one in Omura with all the accessories and has insisted on buying it for me. It is red, I haven't seen it so I'm just going to have to trust her judgement. It's a gift anyway so who am I to judge?

Apart from that, school is back to normal. Koi shite Akuma which is a TV drama I like finished last night with Kunomiya-kun being a vampire but refusing to drink blood, disapparating into nothingness with Makoto, his teacher and child hood girlfriend, by his side. When Kunomiya was bitten, he stopped aging and like hid from everyone but his girlfriend kept growing which is why she is now his teacher. She was going to get engaged to some other teacher but Kunomiya is like 'I'm a vampire.' so she broke it off with him. Makoto was like, 'bite me, turn me vampire!' but Kunomiya was all like, 'No, I couldn't do that to you. I want you to live...blah blah blah' and disappeared. I thought it would have been cooler if he did bite her and they were all vampirish forever.

What else? I wanted to buy Hana Yori Dango but it is way expensive so bad luck there. In Japan Season One and Two are over a $150 and on 6 discs each but I swear I've seen Season 1 and 2 in a set before. The movie isn't a bad price but there is no point buying Hana Yori Dango Final when I haven't seen all of season one and none of two. Ah well. I'll just have to watch it on youtube. >_<

This isn't meant to be a real blog, I was just happy and wanted to tell someone. I went to Arisa's bunkasai which was pretty small. They had some dancing, singing, bands, and Ramune. Ramune is the best drink ever, it is in a glass bottle and has a marble inside. The best thing they did was a parody of Super Mario brothers. Basically, they made it look like a Super Mario game. They made a mario and all the monsters and things that go with it. It was on a black background with people dressed in black working it so it looked really good. Then puppet Mario got a red mushroom and became big when a real person dressed as Mario jumped out in the puppet's place. They had Peach and Bowser too, then everyone came out and danced looking like the ninja's on Big Brother. It was good.

Arisa's band K-on which is the name of a manga, were decent also. Their singer was probably the best. I don't remember the song though. The worst thing was these two girls who did a dance recital to two Arashi songs and a Hey Say Jump! song. It was murder. Only one of the two knew what she was doing, the other just copied and badly with a two second delay every time. The first person most likely made up the dance but it was shocking. All three used exactly the same moves and they put no energy into it at all. It was a relief when by the end of the second song two overly-enthusiastic boys stood up in the crowd and copied them. It entertained me for the third song anyhow. But apart from that, not much to see. We went shopping then, Mie-san and I. I didn't buy anything but Mie did, whe was buying a present for someone in a super rich store.

Oh yeah, in Sadou bu right. All we are doing right now is watching the third years and some second years practice 'O te mae' which is the actual super hard thing of making the tea. It isn't hard as much as difficult to remember what step comes next. It is all so precise and everything but here is the worst part, next week, the teacher said she wants me to try. I'm like, 'I've never done it before though, I can't do it in front of everyone' and she's like, 'Everyone hadn't done it before at some stage.' I mean I want to do it but not with 10 first years watching me. Having never done it before I'll obviously make a horrible amount of mistakes and get scolded and not understand heaps. Angst. Not to mention there are no step-by-step guides on the internet to practice with. Damn. Maybe the library has something...I might check that tomorrow.

Anyway. Yeah. School is alright at the moment, I'm getting better at being social I think. I'm not scared anymore. I can't believe I've only got four months left, it is going to go so damn fast. >_<

<3

Love,

Ashley-chan

Moving: Take 2

Sorry, sorry, I know I'm horribly lazy. Don't blame me, blame my evil twin. I don't remember her name, I think it was Sally or Suzy or something. Do you remember, mother?

EDIT: Actually, blame Kiyo-chan. I was planning to do this yesterday but then we started talking about holidays and stuff and I feel mean to just be like, 'Shut up, I need to blog'. It's always fun to talk to Kiyo anyways, his voice is higher than Nicholas'. Lol. I know, you wouldn't think such a person exists, right? No offense, Social Butterfly.

Anyways, yes, I moved but before I get to my new family I'll talk about the old. They were lovely. During the last week of summer holidays we had a little barbeque with some of the neighbours, Shota's and Akane's friends and stuff. They were pretty funny, the guys, I think it is the most I've talked to males in a day and actually understood what they said. So, the barbeque was outside, we had to make our own fire and everything. I spent most of the time cooking, it was really hot but it was fun. Half of the adult males got drunk which seems to be the custom.

You know what else I learned, I always thought the groovy little Japanese trees were pronounced Bonzai, turns out I was wrong, it's Bonsai. Yes, it does make a difference. I was astounded.

I left the Furukawa household on Saturday the 30th of whatever last month was. August? The night before we had a combined celebration of me going away and it was also Nozomi's 13th birthday. I don't know what was up with that, they seemed really relaxed about it. I'm not sure if she even got presents, I made her a card in the shape of a DS with happy birthday and a manga version of Nozomi on the inside. For that night, we went to a Yakiniku bar where you have the grill and you cook the meat yourself. Although it does seem to defeat the purpose of going out to eat, doesn't it?

Everything was very nice and I ate more than was good for me, it's okay, it was たべほうだい which means that you pay a set amount, then you can order whatever you want and however much you want off a set menu. The icecream was really tiny though. It was fun though, we ate and talked and laughed at the loud, drunk guys in the booth behind us and complained about the forgetful staff. That night was the beginning of 24 hour television which was a special that ran for 24 hours, they have it every year. I watched that with Akane until 2 o'clock in the morning because it was funny. I mean, it was my last night, I wasn't going to go to bed early, I'd feel the guilt of neglectfulness descend upon me like a hawk, but enough simile's. From 24 hour television, 2 good-looking males from a band called NEWS got the new version of influenza going around. Our school also got a lecture, it is in Nagasaki now.

The next morning, I got up at 7.00 so that I could write my thank you card and pack my bags while Akane was still sleeping. I would've written my card earlier but I'd been making Non's birthday card the day before. Akane woke up before I was finished, we ate a ridiculous lunch together (Melon bread with banana cream inside) and watched 24 hour television. A comedian called Imouto was doing a 126 kilometer marathon. I finished packing at about 1.00 after which we took some crazy pictures which was great considering Akane is usually totally against photos. She always hides behind something.

What else happened? The day before Mai came over and we made pancakes. A bunch of us went to Cocowalk for like a little farewell Yui shopping escapade. Yeah...

Everyone got home from Nozomi's Kendo match which they lost. Once they got home, they rung the Mine family and I sat there nervously listening as they organized my hand over. I could feel myself getting teary, knowing that this would be the last time I live with them. The moves are transitional phases. It's sad to leave the families, I'm looking forward to the new one too, of course, but it also signifies that another part of my time here is over. Basically, moving is just the day where it all seems to come out.

Not to mention on 24 hour television they had the story of a junior high school student who died of a bad heart and her mother and friends were crying as they played her favourite song. I always get sucked in to sappy things like that which made me even worse. I was crying, mind you. I was just having occasional teary spells. Once we sorted out where I was going to be swapped, we basically got straight in the car and left after managing my immensely heavy bag (I have no idea why) into the back seat.

Before getting in the car Akiko gave me a collage from the family, there was a photo of me and Akane at Huis Ten Bosch in the middle and on the outside everyone had written thank you notes. I only got to read it at Hikari's house though as otherwise I would have totally balled in the car. I was just feeling emotional.

We got to the Book Market in Nishi Isahaya, the one I visited by myself forever ago. There I was met by Hikari's mum, Akane's mum (Akiko) and Hikari's Mum (Mie) talked for a while. It is kind of odd, meeting someone for the first time, getting in there car and totally flouting the 'Stranger Danger' rule, going to there house and becoming part of their family for a short time. Not to mention, by Tuesday I'd been given a key because I usually get home first. That's a lot of trust to put in someone you've just met. I kind of cried when we said goodbye, but then as soon as I get into the new car, I pull myself together, tell myself that the time for emotion is over and I get on with it.

So, Mie-san is Hikari's mother. She's 46, works in various places doing office work, I don't remember and she's very nice. Everyone is, we had a good conversation on the drive home, I kind of asked about everyone and what they did and stuff. She likes 80's music, I think her favourite is Queen. She doesn't have much confidence in her ability to cook even though it tastes nice, the first time I thanked her for my obentou, she was like, 'You don't have to thank that much for it, it won't be very good.' It is nice and simple, I stressed the whole, I don't each much thing at the beginning so I'm not overloaded.

When we got home, Arisa who is the 19 year old sister was waiting for me. I already really like Arisa, I knew she was into anime and manga but our personalities are very similar. She's 19 but in year twelve after having dropped out previously. She plays the bass guitar, like chocolate mint icecream and owns an entire collection of Clow Cards.

The father, Tatsuaki isn't home much. He comes home late as he is a Chef at a Chinese restaurant at Cocowalk. He brought home cake though so I don't mind. The household itself is pretty relaxed, it is kind of do what you like which is cool. Plus, on their TV they have like the Japanese version of cable so they have two anime channels and the Disney, Discovery and a movie channel, most of which canbe listened to in English and Japanese depending on my mood. I saw Colin Firth on the Disney channel the first night with Amanda Bynes, I can't remember the name of the movie but it was nice to see a familiar face.

Oh yes, the day before school started Arisa had Bunkasai (Cultural Festival) rehearsal at her school. I tagged along, listened to my iPod most of the time and met a very bizarre child whose name I can't remember even though after a short conversation he named me his third best friend. I was originally first but was demoted. He's quite an idiot, a very friendly, nice, amiable one but you can tell he's one screw short. With Arisa's bunkasai tomorrow, I'll probably go. It'll be my first time even though it will be a small one. Kansho has their Bunkasai on the 6th and 7th of November.

After rehearsal we went to change my address on my Gaijin card at Nagasaki City Hall and from there we went to ANIMate or something. It had a whole bunch of anime stuff, I bought some stuff for me and other peoples, I didn't spend much as I didn't have a whole lot of money on me. Next time I go, I'll buy heaps more. Not to mention I am trying to con Arisa, Hikari would go, to Fukuoka with me as there is a huge one up there.

I talked to Hikari last nigth on the phone, she calls Japan way more than I call Australia. She's only been there two months and she has called over 10 times. We talked for a bit in Japanese, Hikari didn't want to speak English. Though it does sound like her English has improved. She like Australian chocolate as well and I think is the first Japanese person I have met that also likes Vegemite. I thought that was brilliant so she is going to bring some home with her. Yay!

Anyway, I have to go as by the time I out in pictures, I'll be lucky to make my train at 5.08. Oh noes, how irritating. I don't have internet at home so I'll blog whenever I can. I'll blog next week with updates from Arisa's Bunkasai.

Lots of love to everyone, not long to go now!

<3

Ashley-chan.

Picture about bullying in my school. See how awesome Japan is?