Days Until I Come Home:

Merry Sickness...

Hello. 'tis I, back from the dead. I am writing because my mother told me to because I am slack. I had a lovely week this week and last week, actually, last weeks wasn't even really a week. To bring some order to my scatter-brained nonsense, I will work chronologically starting from Saturday the 12th.

Saturday: Kansho Live. An event to be kept from the teachers lest they find out that the students of Kansho are displaying their talent in public. It wasn't anything that they didn't do at Bunkasai. I walked from Koto's house to the venue and stumbled upon it quite by accident. Thankfully Chika and Miyuki were standing outside which helped me figure out where it was.

The venue itself was some studio which looked like a dingy little club on the fifth floor of some building. To get up you had the option of stairs or the elevator. I swear, the elevator hated me, it closed on like three times that day. It had a really short time span of letting people in and out, it didn't even have a sensor as standing between the doors made no difference. It just tried to squish you anyway.

The performances themselves weren't anything to rave about, most of them consisted of music too loud and too chaotic to be called music and the vocals mostly fell under a similar category. I contented myself to stand towards the back and to pretend to look interested while the more enthusiastic students had formed a mosh pit that pulsed with the beat.

Yuako, Koto's band, was the best of the bands that night, due to the fact that the music was subdued enough to actually make it bearable and Koto has the decency to have some experiene in singing before inflicting herself upon the public. A few of us stopped briefly at the nearby supermarket to get some food as starting at 3.30 and going to 8.00 is an ideal time for snacking. Not to mention, that I was destined to be there until the bitter end.

Once Yuako was over, the next act I wanted to see was Sayaka and another girl dancing in adorable Santa Claus outfits that they bought for one dollar. It is amazing the things you can find at a one dollar shop.

The end of the night saw my sitting down playing Solitaire on my iPod as I found after 3 or 4 hours I was quite over having unrecognizable screeching passing through my ears in stereo sound. But, all in all, it was something to do although I would have been more pleased if I could have gone home after Sayaka's act as only one or two other bands played and they incensed me to hit myself repeatedly over the head with a dull object. It may sound harsh but it was tedious and unskilled and may prove fun for those with the musical pitching of a Goldfish.

Monday: School. Normal classes with one difference: everyone was sick. O_o Swine flue has struck back at school. At Kansho is takes 6 people in one class to be away from Influenza to make everyone go home out of fear of being infected for three days. Within these days, you aren't supposed to leave the house in order to protect yourself and your fragile immune system. Even if you don't have Influenza, you are still banned from the outside world.

Monday we had about 8 people away which would normally result in a sick day, right? Noooo....due to the fact that we had International Day the following day where foreign teachers from all over the local area come to Kansho and frolic with Coccomi for the day. This was unable to be cancelled so we had to continue on.

Monday morning another few people who didn't feel 100% also went home leaving our 40 members to around 25. After the first classes, the teachers decided to let us go home for the day on the condition that we come the following day. With so many people away it made it quite difficult for us to perform skits that we had written ourselves and thus the preparations that Miyuki and I had done on Sunday were rendered useless. Speaking of that, I haven't been given back my ten dollars yet. (；一_一) Edit: Got it back.

We got sent home on Monday and spent the rest of the day lounging about. I do believe we ate icecream on the way home, I've been doing that a lot recently despite how freezing it is.

Tuesday: School. International Day. As it was my first International Day, I wasn't really sure what to expect but it was pretty fun. Every group was assigned an ALT (Japanese phrase meaning Assistant Learning Teacher which usually refers to foreign teachers). My group was called Y~MCA which I came up with as our group members were Yokota, Mako, Chika and me. We were assigned Graham who was a stuck-up blonde guy from New York who'd been in Japan for over four years and thus I had to respect him for being so good at Japanese.

Among the other ALT's, they were mostly American's although a South African and American-born, Malaysian heritage lady whose boyfriends, incidentally, happens to be our previous AL, Chris' girlfriend. Our ALT's introduced themselves, then we introduced them to the rest of the group. After that was Charades, although we could speak only in English and we couldn't say the thing we were describing. We won the first round and came second in the second round. Pretty good for us although, for some reason, I had trouble describing Batman, I said he could fly and had wings. xD Brain-fog.

The Japanese students tried to explain the lyrics of their national anthem which I also found very informative as I didn't know. Their explanation was just how little rocks become a large rock and becomes covered with moss, may the reign of their emperor live forever or something like that.

With that over and done with, we got to just muck around and eat snacks, our lunches and genrally mingle with everyone which was fun.

I just hung with the Japanese students, I talked to the ALT's but not a whole lot. There was one guy who looked like Neville Longbottom from Harry Potter. Lolzorz.

Being unable to do the skits we had prepared (on the day around 13 people were away) we did a quiz instead where the ALT's asked questions about their country and we had to choose whether it was True or False by going to either side of the room. Those who got it wrong, then were out and the remaining people became the winners. It went on like this until the final prize was given to Arina and it honestly, couldn't have been given to a better person. It was a giant rubber horse head. How hilarious.

It was a good day, it is always nice to be able to spend time with my classmates without haing to actually study or anything. It was fun-ish. Although I'm not sure how much the day accomplishes in terms of learning English but it is a good experience to communicate with people from all around the world.

The best thing about Tuesday was the end when it was announced that because so many people were away that we were to be given the rest of the week off! With that, we were all jumping around excitedly as a 5 day school week had suddenly become a 1 and half day school week and with the weekend, we literally got a five-day holiday. ^^

Wednesday: On Wednesday, Shigeru, Kiyo and I made plans to go and see the new one piece movie. I don't really know anything about One Piece but I was eager to get out of the house and do something plus I figured it was about time I learnt something about One Piece considering it is such a craze in not only Japan, but within the anime world.

Shigeru and I met at one o'clock outside of Isahaya station, making an effort to hide our faces from teachers in case we were found out. Well, Shigeru did, I did nothing. I wouldn't get in trouble even if I was found out. Worst case scenario: I lie, say I'm sick and am being taken to hospital. xD

So, Kiyo said he would come along as well. He didn't. We waited over an hour for him to come toggling between the nearby shopping center and the station to amuse ourselves. After an hour we decided to give it up as a bad job and go to the movies on our twosome. To be honest, I would have preferred Kiyo to come as out of all of the guys he is the one I am most familiar with and the easiest to understand, not to mention that it makes it less awkward. Shigeru and I are friends and are always pulling faces at each other and stuff but out actual conversations are far and few between.

Most of our time on the train was spent wondering where Kiyo was, why he didn't come and how we should scold him terribly at school on Monday. Not knowing whether we should go to Amyu or Cocowalk we decided by Jun Ken Pon (Paper, Rock Scissors) and I won which meant we got off at Urakami and walked to Cocowalk. I was happy because I thought as Public Enermies had come out that I would be able to by like a keychain or something at the store out front of the cinema that has goods from the movies currently showing. (If only I was there for Dr. Parnassus...)

We bought our tickets and then with time to spare before the movie started we went down a floor and took Purikura. Lolz.

On the way into the movie theater, we were given a small One Piece comic which I later found out is quite rare and they only give out so many within Japan. It is the Volume Zero of the One Piece manga series. So, maybe I can sell it on ebay. Ahahaha....I just looked on ebay and the lowest price it is selling for is $35. The highest is $80, if I wait a while, I could make a pretty penny. ^^

I love the showings before the movies, everything seems funnier in Japanese. Not to mention this little animted skit with a bull and two rabbits where they are asking him what happens when he sees the colour red. They use the phrase まじですか？ which means 'Seriously?' a lot in the most droll voices. Gosh, I love it. That alone is worth the $15 dollars.

The movie itself was alright, it may have been easier for me to understand if I already knew the names of characters asides from Luffy and Tony Chopper. But, I figured it out soon enough although the plot was a bit...huh? It was funny in moments though, enough to keep me entertained for two hours. By the time we got out of the cinema it was close to six o'clock which surprised me.

We had time to kill before catching the train home so we ate Taiyaki (the normal type, it was my first time, it was nice but the White Taiyaki is definitely my favourite. The difference being the normal type is crunchy and the white is all soft and gooey. ) I should have taken a picture. xD I do have a picture from the ones I ate on the 26th though.

Then we wondered aimlessly around the shops and Shigeru bought a hat and a jacket. With that done and it getting kind of late, we headed home. I got back at around 7.30 or so as it takes the better part of a half an hour just for the train ride.

Thursday: Karaoke. We met at the station at 10.00 and got on a train to Oomura. Already on the train when we got there was Akane, Hikari and Sayaka. Sayaka looked soooo cute wearing glasses. もえ　の　炎　～　(Gehrke: Think Ouran.) 　At Oomura station we met Rina who also looked adorable, Japanese girls really make an effort whenever they go out. Even just to answer the door. >_<

We stopped in at McDonalds first and foremost and we ate an early lunch. I had the Chicken Fillet burger which tastes so nice it is just Chicken, Lettuce and Mayo but it is my favourite. I also got a free coke because I had a coupon on me. After we all feasted, we walked to Karaoke and it was spitting rain.

The Karaoke in Oomura was really cheap, one person was around $5 for however long we wanted until 7 o'clock. I don't remember what time we started but all in all, we sung for about four hours. Sayaka and Hikari were all energy and danced around, I, on the other hand, started the ritual of singing while sitting down instead of standing up and moving to the front of the room. Too showy. Most of my songs consisted on anime songs or English songs, although I know Japanese songs I'm not confident enough to sing them without knowing whether or not I know all the lyrics beforehand. That was fun though...it was nice to get together with everybody.

Once Karaoke was done and it had gotten kind of dark, we walked to the Jusco nearby and took Purikura.

Also, everyone was like Icecream...so, me thinking that everyone else would buy as well, bought one but alas, it turned out I was the only person. So, I traversed back to the station, in the cold with light rain and occasionally, light snowfall, eating a Goddamn icecream. Seriously, there has got to be something wrong with me. >_<

Friday: Friday saw us heading off to Huis Ten Bosch. We were planning on going regardless of the holiday, not that it made any difference. We left the house around four as Koto's aunt had to work until then although we went on seperate trains. Koto and I managed to get a seat together but the Yoshiko had to sit with a random. I listened to music for the journey which was faster than I thought it would be. Last time, I went by car and that took close to two hours but on the train I swear it took under one.

Sooner than I thought, we had arrived at the station. We walked up to go over the bridge to get into Huis Ten Bosch and I was the coldest I think I had ever naturally been (excluding the giant freezer at work) I had on four layers, a scarf and gloves and yet the wind seemed to pass right through me. Bloody cold, I tell you.The place was lit up beautifully though with a definite Christmas feel to it.

We had some trouble finding out how to get to our hotel room, we had to catch a bus, then go to another hotel then be driven to our little cabin in the woods by one of the staff. It wasn't actually that far away but it seemed more hassle than necessary. The place itself was, essentially, a little house. It was a two floor shack with a bedrooms, a living rooms, two bathrooms and a tiny, miniscule kitchen the size of a cupboard. The first thing I did was break out the Celebrations which I'd brought along. Everyone seemed to like them and both Koto and I ate our fair share before Mai and Koto's Aunt got there via. the slightly later train. I graciously disposed of the Turkish Delights as they didn't seem to keen on them.

Once everyone was there, we watched some mind-bending Television before venturing out into the cold to find our dinners. We ended up at a steak-house. We all had a hamburger steak set which was very nice, Mai and I had the bread and everyone else had rice. I did what I do and burnt a straw. I do believe I was kind of high because I remember laughing a lot about nothing in particular.

From the restaurant, our next stop was to a nearby store where we bought Caramel Popcorn, Cola, Alcohol and some chips and having procured our provisions we got back into our little hut and spent the rest of the night with fun and frivolity. I don't even know what most of the fun and frivolity entailed, mostly gorging ourselves on food while laughing at each other and the television in turn.

By the time I got to bed it was close to 1:30 in the morning or so, but the rooms were nice and cosy as were my pyjamas (I took mine even though no one else did. They all used the ones provided.) and I got to sleep in no time. Despite a small quarrell about bedding (Mai refused to sleep in the same room as Koto where as Koto wanted to sleep in the same room as me) I ended up not knowing who was sleeping in the other bed until I woke up the following morning.

In the morning, Koto and I did the hounourable thing I got rid of the remaining Caramel Popcorn. From our little balcony we could see swans on the lake. How awesome is my phto. xD
Then we ventured out into the cold to have breakfast, it was very cold again. Unfortunately check out was by 11.00 and at 10.15 without yet having had breakfast we realised that we wouldn't be able to eat and get back in time to check out properly. Thus we traversed back, got all our bags, checked out and proceeded to have what can only be described as Brunch.

Brunch was a hamburger, Japanese style which means it was just the meat with a fried egg on the top which was nice. Also, quite randomly, there were other foreigners in there who waved jovially and one kind of portly fellow with a beard who wore a Santa hat and rode around on a bicycle.

After lunch and a quest for the toilet, I bought me, Mai and Koto Dippin' Dots, the adults were content to eat ours. I got the Banana Mix which was Banana, Chocolate, Vanilla and Strawberry, I usually get the Chocolate Mint but I thought I'd try something else for a change.

One of the best things about Huis Ten Bosch is that there are samples everywhere. ^^ Then, for buying icecreams Mai bought me lollies. >_<

We wondered around for a short time, I am glad I'd been there before or else I would have felt cheated as we didn't go into any of the attractions, just browsed around the stores.

I, true to my word, bought some more Pirates of the Caribbean stuff that for some unknown reason they sell there. So now I've got a keychain full of POTC stuff. I know it is kind of pointless, but I love Pirates (Johnny) and it was cheap and you can't really find official merchandise anywhere else so meh. >_<

Koto and I wanted to go Ice Skating but when we got to the place it was really small and out in the open and you had to wear a helmet so we quickly decided that we were fine to not do it. With that out of the way, asides from visiting a few shops, we were pretty much straight on our way home and arrived back at 3.00. So, we were only gone for a day but it was still fun and a nice change.

Monday and Tuesday: School, Dodgeball Taikai.

Mondayand Tuesday was spent playing Dodgeball, Volleyball, Soft Volleyball and watching the other teams compete. As every team had to have an even chance at play, we only did two matches a day which went for 7 minutes and then the rest of the time we spent cheering on our class in other events or socialising in the classroom. Also, Monday saw us say Goodbye to five of our students who are going to Australia for Christmas and New Years for only the holidays so I will see them before I leave.

Wednesday was a public holiday, Koto had to get together with her band to figure out what songs they would play next and then I joined Koto and Yuri at Joyfull for Dinner. I tried the Doria for the first time, it was chicken and cheese over rice and it was pretty good but I prefer the Pizza and playing with Tobasco Sauce which is hilarious. I didn't realise how much it burns but Koto and I took turns in dipping chips into it and then holding out for as long as we could before drinking water. xD Then, Wednesday night I decided to decorate the tree. Koto helped a bit but she said she'd be more of a hindrance than a help even though I tried to convince her otherwise. In the end, I did all of it by myself but since I like things like that, it didn't bother me at all.

Thursday was the final day of school, turns out my second last day of school ever as Term Three starts back on the 8th of January and I go home the next day. So, that was a little melancholy but I managed fine. I also had to say Goodbye to Zhong Ming, (Pronounced: Jon Min or close to it) our Chinese teacher as he would be going back to China for the holidays and I would be gone once he got back. That was sad as he and I had been decent friends and he had encouraged me a lot to keep studying Japanese despite my hopelessness at Chinese.

I gave out the Candy Canes mum had sent over, enough for two a piece.

Everyone seemed to like them but it seems that Japanese people have a certain reluctance to mint. Not everyone but a large portion, they say it tastes like toothpaste.

The ceremony itself was over pretty quick then it was just cleaning and we were on our way home before 12.00. Koto had planned a little Christmas Party with some members of Coccomi and we bought chips and drinks and pizza. The whole Schamozzle.

We spent the first hour taking photos of each other. 'We' being Shibata, Anan (the two other Coccomi Sadoubu peoples) me and Koto. I love that my camera has 'Rensha' which is a high speed setting which takes photos every second, it makes for some great photos. After a while everyone else filtered in, Hitomi and Nami being the first, they seemed really tired and took a nap whilst we broke out the Wii. We were all playing under Koto's name to make it easier so I'm really annoyed now because I got a near perfect score on the Parade and yet Koto's name shows up next to my record. I'll have to point that out to her.

After their clubs had finished, Nishiyama, Oba and Yuri also came over. We feasted on junk food and had a lot of fun with the wii but then everyone started leaving and by 5 o'clock it was all over. So、I thought that would be it for Christmas Eve celebrations considering Japanese people don't particularly 'do' Christmas when, to my surprise, another lot of people came over around 7o'clock.　

I didn't know who they were and upon asking later I was informed that they were friends of the family but they brought over Moss Burger Chicken and Cake which was really really good so they were fine by me. So, I ate so much food that day it wasn't funny. The girl was really cute and they kept trying to force her to speak to me in English, poor thing. I didn't like it as much as she did. They didn't stay all too long, they went home before 10 and Mai decided she'd have some fun and straighten my hair for no particular reason. Because it doesn't happen very often, I took photos of myself once the room was clear. I'm such a poser. xD

For all the fun had on Christmas Eve, I found quite the opposite to be true of the following day. Not to say it was bad, just that most everyone was at work which left Mai and I at home doing nothing all day. My Christmas consisted of watching Made of Honour, and playing the Impossible Quiz and such. I was given a present of two Japanese style bowls and two pairs of chopsticks for mother and I. Possibly in exchange for mum sending them a Christmas Card. xD

And of course, chocolate! Santa came to everyone bringing us my favourite Chocolate, how lovely.

That pretty much brings us up to the present. Until yesterday, my days have been spent, taking down the Christmas tree, watching movies, watching television, reading and playing on the Internet, playing with dogs belonging to other people. Which makes me even more slack for not having posted for so long. I humbly apologise but as you can see, I've been busy and no news is good news, right?

Yesterday began the preparations for New Years. I was lucky enough to go to something called MochiTsuki in which they actually make Mochi, white sticky stuff, from scratch. The special mochi rice is boiled over a fire then poured into a giant, granite like pot and then hammered repeatedly with giant wooden hammer things.

Then, it is broken up and rolled into balls which you usually buy it in. That was interesting, I helped roll the balls and even tried my hand at the smashing thing but my partner, it being her first time to and having the heavier hammer, struggled. Either way, it was a decent experience and not one you normally are exposed to.

That pretty much wraps up what I've been doing for the last week or two. It is hard to believe that I've only got two left. It's kind of freaking me out. I'm happy but I'm going to be in pieces when I leave. >_<

<3

Ashley-chan

Lolz. Random Arashi fandomness. This is my schedule book for next year, I've got stickers and stuff too. ^_^ Can I be any more of a fangirl?

The Coming of Ages.

So...yesterday was my birthday. Yay! I am now officially an 18 year old living in a country that doesn't really care. I wasn't as excited about my birthday as I thought I would be, mostly due to the lack of hype surrounding Birthdays and that turning 18 is just another number. But, it was a good day and even if it wasn't the party I thought it would be when I was younger, it was memorable in its' own way.

12:20 am. Mai (Koto's sister) walks into my room and unceremoniously places a plastic bag on my bedside table, she wishes me a happy birthday and walks back out. I thanked her and rolled back to sleep without looking at the bag because I thought if I looked I would start brooding and then not be able to sleep. Thus, it was only when I woke up at 6:40 in the morning (after stirring several times during the night) that I looked into the bag and discovered a small horde of Japanese snacks. Most of them will probably come back to Aus with me as I already have an astonishing amount of food sent it from family and friends. Most of which is chocolate. xD

I received cards from my sister, my best friend, my aunt, my grandmother and my mother. I read mum's on my birthday because I knew somehow she'd find a way to make me cry. She suceeded. Nanny's was probably the most hilarious card I've ever received that, upon opening, blares High School Musical songs without end. Oh, how classic. My aunt sent me scratchies on which I won 10 dollars and my lesbian lover and my sister sent me chocolate and happy cards.

When Mai gave me the bag she said it was from all of them, so I went on the presumption that was my present. I wasn't expecting anything major but I thought they might have done a little better than that. So, when I came downstairs to eat my breakfast I thanked the mother for my present, she looked kind of confused but didn't say anything as I continued to eat my breakfast, ogled Johnny Depp on TV (he's here for my birthday, I swear) and went and made myself publicly presentable in the bathroom.

On coming out of the bathroom, I was handed with a letter and a present, disregarding the Japanese cutom to open presents privately, I read my letter and opened my present which was (ZOMFG!) an Arashi DVD which I like flipped about. Yaaaaaaaaa~y! I kept thanking them and tried to keep myself from bouncing up and down with excitement. This way I've got Arashi in Aus as well.

Then, with my delays, I had to hurry to get myself ready for school. Then, as we were running late, (not my fault, I still managed to be finished by the time I normally do) Koto protested that we be driven to school on my 'special day' instead of walking. Koto's mother reluctantly agreed but mostly because we were now in a position that we couldn't arrive to school on time unless we half jogged. We were dropped to the 7/11 near school and Koto bought something for Kana-chan who also had her birthday on the same day. I'd brought a packet of Gobstoppers for her. ^^ But, once we got to school, how horrible, Kana wasn't there as she had been struck by the vicious infection calling itself Influenza. That was a real shame because I was looking forward to sharing a birthday with her, she's such a nice thing.

So, I walked in and most everyone wished me a Happy Birthday which was nice. Class started, I went on the computer and read all my charming notes of love on my Facebook. (!) After that, we went down for P.E and practiced for our Dodgeball tournament next week. I am an ok Dodgeball player, I'm a decent dodger but I'm bad at throwing the ball, it's too light to keep a proper aim. In any case, it was a lot of fun to all be playing together.

The third and fourth period saw us doing some activities with a Uni lecturer that has lived in Japan for 22 years and was teaching us memorization techniques to learn things faster. The techniques did have some merit but seemed more hassle than it was worth. This is the poem I memorised yesterday in around 20 minutes or so:

My heart leaps up when I behold
a rainbow in the sky;
So was it when my life began,
So is it now that I am man,
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man,
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.

Not that hard, we memorised the poem by learning one line at a time going from the bottom to the top, then we cut it up and put it back together like a puzzle and did other such activities.

Btw, I think something have must have happened with Gobstoppers and a kid as the packet has this new warning saying: This product in not suitable for small children. It consists of small balls which may present a choking hazard. It must be something. Sorry, I'm just eating some right now which is why it sprang to mind.

I wore my 18th badge which mother sent me and everyone seemed really fascinated by it. Everyone kept asking whether it was homemade as if you couldn't buy them in normal shops. So, I had to explain that people sometimes wear them but especially on the important ones they tend to and everyone was like...'Wow..' We fuss over birthdays much more than they do it seems, as well as Christmas.

Lunch time was eating with everyone, receiving Pocky from four different people and playing a card game which is basically like Snap! Then, they wanted to play Speed but I was surprised to find that the way they do it is different. They split the cards in half and put down five single ones in front of them, then once the put a card into the middle, they take one from their remaining cards to replace it. They also play with Jokers in, the Jokers become any card you want. I like our way better.

The afternoon was pretty normal, I was going to go home before Koto as she had some preparations still to do for International Day. When Mai asked me whether or not I wanted to come along with a few others to a nearby International Uni to watch a presentation by the foreign exchange students. With nothing else better to do, I agreed and went on my merry way to the uni with Mai, Ami and two Akane's. The Uni was surprisingly close to Koto's house and I had asked in advance what time it would finish so I could be sure I'd get home in time for my mother's phone call. Mai said 5.45 at the latest so I figured I'd be safe.

During cleaning, I handed out Red Skins, everyone said they were nice but were surprised at how hard and chewy they were. xD

The presentation itself was very interesting, there were around 10 students all from different countries: Brazil, Canada, England, Thailand, Russia, Cambodia, China, Korea, Vietnam and a few others I can't remember. Each dressed in their countries traditional clothing, those from Brazil, Canada and England all wore normal clothes and they each did like a traditional little dance.

It was pretty cool, then the meanings of their flags were introduced and then it became just like a panel discussion. The main guy was most liekly their teacher and I swear he was gay, he reminded me of our irritating PnO Cruise Director Adam. He came on yelling, 'Do you love me?' with his hands flapping all over the place. Lolz.

But he, and one other teacher, posed questions about the differences in culture and everyone went around and answered them which often led to other topics of discussion. It ranged from, 'What was the first thing that surprised you in Japan?' to 'What do you use to eat food with?' and 'What do you think of Japanese guys?' and so on. This was all of course, in Japanese for the audience although sometimes they'd explain in English when they couldn't in Japanese. I was pretty much around their level of speaking although they were a tiny bit more grammatically and structurally conscious than I usually am.

Then I went home, having just missed mum's phone call, the Uni thing must have run late as it was 6:06 when I got home. Mum called again not long after and we had a lovely little chat, then Katherine called as well, which was an unexpected pleasure. Although Katherine and I have a tendency to talk about non-important things at length so I ended up missing the entirety of vs. Arashi although I could watch it from where I was sitting. Having English spilling in your ear and reading Japanese subtitles (most variety shows subtitle what the people say but only when it is interesting) at the same time can be most confusing. But, there is youtube.

From 8-10 o'clock we ate whilst watching the first disc of my Arashi DVD which has film clips from all their best hits. In the first one they are soooooooo unbelievably young as it is their debut clip when they are only 16. MatsuJun is really dorky but Aiba hasn't changed a bit.
So, all of us laughed at that for two hours and I ate Sara Udon (the crunchy kind, crunchy noodles and a mix of vegetables on top) and sushi, I was full with the Udon but I kind of felt that I had to try everything so I also squashed a Koroke down.

Koto was supposed to be at a band rehearsal as they are performing tomorrow at an event called 'Kansho Live' which the teachers aren't supposed to know about but she seems to have come down with a cold which is bad timing on her part. She came to school today but left around 10 with a fever so I hope she is okay. She asked to watch the second half of my Arashi DVD, maybe that was her plan all along? >_<

10 o'clock saw me watching Himitsu no Arashi chan, the latter half of the show had a section I hadn't seen before which got to see everyone act. For example, the gave each of the Arashi members sushi, one of them had a generous dollop of wasabi in it but everyone had to act like theirs was normal. Then the other team had to guess whose actually had the wasabi in it. They were all surprisingly good at acting. Although Nino decided to help out and act like his had the wasabi as he could see it was in Jun's from where he was sitting. Love the team work. ^^

After that, we ate cake. It had shifted in the box and thus some of the icing off the side had come off, the mum was really apologetic but I was totally fine. I told her we were going to eat it anyway so it didn't matter what it looked like. Mai used her skills and made me the whole cake, it was like a nutty creamy flavour with apricot and nuts in it. It was very nice.

Koto's mum gave me a present of a really nice shirt and a calendar with Japanese phrases on it for every day of the year and Koto's Dad gave me some Hello Kitty pens which was good because they were the ones I didn't have yet, as I collect Kitty charms.

Then at around 11:20 I went into the Ofuro and bathed, I came out, thanked everyone for a fabulous day and went to bed. By the time I was fussing about my room and putting clothes away and finding places for presents (I also got a Rilakkuma cup from An-chan!) time had passed the line between day and night and it no longer was my Birthday but very early in the morning of the day of which my Birthday was yesterday. So, quite happy I went to sleep. and that was my 18th.

So, thank you for the love and well-wishes and I will be back in a month now. Time does fly. I don't even feel like a grown up, the only thing that has changed in Japan is that I can now legally enter a Pachinko building. Lolz. (Pachinko is their form of gambling with lots of flashy lights and sounds.) I may even take advantage of that liberty just to say I've been in one.

So, that's all for me. I don't have my camera on me now so no photos. Check back later and I'll stick some on. Woah, the bell just rang. I got to get out of this empty classroom before I get in trouble. xD

<3

Ashley-chan. (The adult)

Gatherings of...people.

Television is getting my through the week, these days. Monday is always...uhhh...school. Tuesdays is Liar Game Season 2. ZOMG! So interesting. Katherine told me to bring back lots of drama's so we have Hana Yori Dango which now has 3 people I like in it, Matsumoto Jun from Arashi, Oguri Shun and Matsuda Shota as Liar Game's Akiyama-san. (Not to mention, Quiz Show) Wednesday is Red Theatre which is comedy and Thursday is Arashi and they have 2 shows. Yaaaaay!

Anyway, enough about television. You don't want to hear about that. So, the day after Bunkasai was over, which is actually a while ago now, was Ochakai. Now, I didn't actually have all that much idea about what was going on and despite being tired from the days before, I dragged myself out of bed and got to Isahaya train station by 8.30. Meeting the other second years in the inside of train station. So, we had Bunkasai clean up the day before right. I didn't realise I was supposed to help clean up during the clean up time, I thought I had to help my class and then help clean up Sadou bu after school so I failed to hear the instructions on not bringing a big bag which I got scolded for.

It wasn't even that big! It looks big but there was hardly anything in it, so meh. I also haven't yet mentioned that the day before Bunkasai all of the second year kids got scolded because we were fussing about Bunkasai arrangements and someone said that they didn't care which got us into a 15 minute lecture after school. The teacher was furious because we didn't seem like we wanted to be there and we never greeted her and then she teared up saying that even with glasses on she has less than 50% of her vision but she always looks out for us so I'm now making an effort. Not that I didn't before.

Anyways, we waited 10 minutes for the train to arrive and all got on together. I listened to music I think and stole one of the available seats because I really suck at standing on a train without making a fool of myself. I make a fool of myself just standing still without the rocking of the train thrown into the mix. Once we got to the station we walked to wherever it was we were going, I tried to remember the route in case something disastrous happened and I got lost or left behind but I soon gave up on that. We ended up going to some cute little shrine. I really like the Japanese style shrines and houses, a lot of Nagasaki is still like that, I love the olden atmosphere. I am really impressed with the ability Japan has to mix old and new, like nearly every house still had tatami rooms and Buddhist shrines that they actually use. I think it is great.

Ok, you need to realise that I had no idea why I was going to Nagasaki, having never been to an Ochakai before. I thought that we'd be participating as in making the tea or something. Well, I was wrong. It wasn't horrible at all, all I had to do was sit down, eat my odd shaped anko snack, drink my tea and leave.

It was really funny because I was sitting near our teacher, who is quite strict and she was instructing the hosts from another school on how to give and take the tea properly. Pwned. So, that was the first setting. It was a little different to normal as we were sitting on benches, not on the floor or at a table which meant we had no place to do our normal bows and stuff which made the procedure a little different.

From there, we walked a short way to Nagasaki's history museum where all different people had gathered to drink/watch the tea ceremony and I bumped into a friend (from Akane's place) from another school who also was in Sadou bu. Do you remember the twins by any chance? Well, it was them. Couldn't remember their names for the life of me, but, I managed to fake it.

We had an hour and a half to spare before going into the proper sitting one. The teachers said we had free time to do whatever we wanted and to walk and have a look around. I was walked around with Kana-chan who lived close-by and therefore knew the area quite well. We could see her unit from the museum. That being, she took me outside the museum for a walk around although I'm not sure we were meant to.

Not 500m. away was a bomb raid shelter remaining from World War II which we went into. The sign said, 'This will take around 10 minutes'. We went inside and had a look around, I found it rather fascinating that real people afraid for their lives were occupying the space that I was standing. It still had the smell of underground and fear clinging to it and I was trying to express how you could imagine how scary it would be for it to be dark and all you can here is guns and screams but I think it somehow Kana mistook it for I was scared. >_<. Oh, it is hard to express in any language, so we ended up taking less than a minute getting through the rest.

After that I was thirsty so we bought drinks and walked around before heading back. We still had another half an hour so the teachers recommended we head downstairs where there were kids performing tea ceremony. I was like, 'OMG! You are torturing children too?' No, not really, I just found it hard to believe that kids as young as like 7 and 8 were able to do this. Not the giving part, that's easy but actually making the tea (Ote-mae) in like the proper way without screwing up. Envy.

Then I looked at the gift shop which was pretty average except for having some ridiculous products. A wallet: $1000 dollars. wh...wha...wha...WHAT?!?!?

How did that get there? It was pretty average looking the only outstanding feature was the gold design on it which made me assume that the gold was real gold because there is no way that it would sell for that much. I feel sorry for the idiot that buys it.

Going back up to where everyone would soon be waiting, I once again awed at the awesomeness that is Japan. Lets torture children! By the way, did you know the death penalty in Japan is legal even though, for reasons I don't understand, surrogacy is illegal. WTF? Go figure. So, ending life is fine but helping it begin is a no-no?

That aside, Kana and some others of our crew went back up and met with the teachers. We proceeded to line up to wait for our turn in the proper tea ceremony thingy. We took of our shoes, and were taken to a waiting room where we had to wait (in Seiza!!!) for about half an hour before going inside. Waiting rooms are for waiting not slowly killing off potential customers by making them sit in a completely uncomfortable way. I would have been okay if not for the waiting room by with 30 minutes strain on my legs I became worried how I would go once we actually got inside.

In due course we came inside, I was tagging along on the end which, unfortunately, meant that I had to sit next to some old ladies. Not that that, in itself, is a bad thing it is just that it meant that I forfeited my right to fake seiza if it was necessary. With someone next to me I couldn't release the pressure on my legs by sliding down to one side without being noticed.

The room itself was very beautiful, I wish I could have taken a photo but the atmosphere was much too formal for that. It was a room of Tatami mats but unlike most rooms the tatami were new or of a kind I hadn't seen before as they weren't the standard yellow but a light green in colour.

The atmosphere really kind of transported me back to how it would have been to live in ancient Japan. With the tatami, all the women in kimono's and even though we couldn't really see outside, when they opened the door you could see white pebble stone and a big tree full of the colours of autumn. Also, outside the sounds of two men that sounded like they were rehearsing for a samurai play. It was just one of those moments when you think, 'Wow, Japan has such amazing culture, it is really conscientious of them to preserve it as they are.'

We all waited patiently through some polite greetings and frivolous conversation before the actual ceremony began. I played my part and was grateful once the maker had finished making the tea but then to my great annoyance, she began preparing a second cup for the other person in place of honour. It meant at least another five minutes in this torturous position. By halfway through my legs had completely lost all feeling. I tried subtly shuffling around, wiggling them, and then I tried to balance on the balls of my feet but they were so numb that my toes wouldn't comply and I just slid back int the position I had been sitting in.

We received our snacks and tea, the snacks were remarkable. One of them I don't remember, it was just a normal anko snack but the other way was a momiji (the five point autumn leaf) leaf made of a sugary substance and the colour faded from a vibrant red to a dusky orange. It really captured the beauty of autumn. That sounds stange to say but the leaves really do change colour fantastically over here.

The tea was as it always is, very hot and refreshing on a cool day as it was. I took great relief in bowing as it was the only time I could take the pressure of my legs which meant I suddenly became a fan of bowing very deeply for a very long time. I honestly do not understand how people do it, Seiza hurts. It really does and while I can sense some improvement in my tolerance threshold it still doesn't change the fact that the contant pain is like the devil stabbing you with a pitchfork over and over again.

Once the dreaded yet fascinating thing was over I tried to stand. I encontered a problem. What I laughingly refer to as my 'attempt to stand' ended up as me holdin on to other people as I hobbled to my feet and then having to stand there for a minute or two twirling my ankles trying to get some blood back into circulation. The most embarassing part is that I even had to have help just to stand as I swayed to and fro slightly and seemed very much in danger of falling down if left unaided. Fail. Much to my relief, there seemed a few other people were having the same problem. xD

Once I got my bounce back, it took a while, we left and walked back to the station from where I would be departing. The day took a lot less time than I expected so we arrived at the station at around 12.30, I bought my ticket with the others because it is cheaper if you bulk buy. Then Kana and I went off on our own, into Amyu, we had lunch as neither of us had brought anything. Lotteria. My first time, I had a cheese and bacon burger it was nice although a little greasy.

Kana and I had a stroll around Amyu and I decided I would take the 2.30 train as Kana had to leave by 3.00 to go shopping with her sister. That is when I bought my dear Domo-kun. They had little ones but considering the price difference between the small and big was only 500円 I was like, meh...so buying it.

Kana used her pass to get through the gate and took me to the train where we talked for about five minutes before it left. I was fussing about with my Domo-kun getting strange looks from nearby passengers. I don't really feel self-conscious anymore, I find it more entertaining than anything else. I also really like the feeling of walking around alone, it shows people that even though I'm a gaijin doesn't mean I have to be looked after by a Japanese person 24/7. Just because I am in a different country doesn't render me useless.

I arrived home at around 3.15 after walking for 40 minutes from the station to Koto's house. I arrived back with plenty of time before Coccomi would be getting together to celebrate a successful Bunkasai. I changed and did something...>_<

Not before too long, Koto and I got dropped down to the YakiNiku bar which was closeby, it was drizzling rain. We went down early as we wanted to take Purikura together and then with some friends.

Miyuki and I played Taiko (the drumming game) which was also my first time at a real center. I got pwned but that was partially due to half way through Miyuki wanted to swap sides so then I kept looking at the other prompts insead of my own. It was really cheap though, 100 for two songs. Yay.

At that place they also had Kuroshitsuji figurines inside the machines so naturally I tried to get Sebastian, tried and failed. I managed to knock the box over, it just happened to swing the wrong way. Angst. At 200 yen a piece I wasn't game to do it again. If you put in 500 yen you get three goes, maybe just maybe I'll do that next time. I don't like throwing money away but you've got to live a little right?

After that, we all went inside the Yakiniku bar, not too many people came this time as there was some influenza going around and it seemed that $30 for a meal was too expensive for some people. I understand that it is kinda pricey but it is all you can eat and drink for like 2 hours. That's not even mentioning the fairy floss and snow cone machine.

I sat at a quieter table, it was still fun but just a little more low key, you don't even talk that much at Yakiniku everyone just orders, cooks and tries to get their money's worth before the time runs out.

I taught everyone how to use toothpicks as holders for corn. >_<

Koto and I had some camera trouble. I only had one bars worth of battery left bu I figured that Koto was there so if mine ran out, I'd just steal her photos but then it turned out that she had brought her camera but she'd forgotten to bring any batteries at all. Luckily my camera didn't run out, I just thought that was amusing.

I like Coccomi very much, they are all very much one unit. Most classes have groups within groups and while Coccomi has that as well, everyone talks to everyone, they really do. There aren't any enemies or rivals, it is a really good relationship between everyone. I'm grateful for that. So, i was fun all around. The pose below is Koto's band's pose.

And the Purikura version:
Lolz.
This Yuuri who is probably the weirdest kid in our class. >_< (Above.) Below is Kiyo and Shigeru.

Strange faces all over. Once the whole gorging ourselves with food and drink was over, we all went over to take Purikura together. That was pretty hilarious too.

Personal record of the year: 18 people in a photo booth.

18 people! Isn't that cool? We all hung around for a little while and by the end Koto and I ended up going home pretty early. We were back by around 9.30 or so.

That, is all I am writing right now, I know I have been slack recently. Wedding will come on the weekend. Pinky promise, but you can't help but blame yourselves a little people. It used to be Email>Google>Blog. Koto has added youtube to the mix and mother added facebook so it has become Email>Facebook>Youtube>Blog, can you see why I'm getting slow?

Now, all I have to do is add photos and state for the record that Saturday is 6 weeks. How phenomenal is that? I can't believe how many memories I made, I just sat for the last 5 minutes with my finger holding down the right key watching all the photos and fun times I have had this year blur past my eyes. It really has been an unforgettable experience and even though it has been hard without my family and friends it was definitely worth it. Definitely.

So, with that, I am signing off. Having missed vs. Arashi as Koto had a music show she wanted to watch. So, love you all. Miss you all. See you in 6 weeks. ^^

<3

Ashley-chan.

Much Ado About Bunkasai: Day 2

Hello, again. I have come upon a stroke of luck as everyone is in the Gym for Health which means I get the run of the classroom for one free period and have decided to use it to try and catch up on my blogs despite my efforts. Today I've got Sadou bu which means I won't be able to write tonight so I will try and get as much done in the next 35 minutes as I can.

I spent the other time googling a show called Liar Game which is shaping up to be a very interesting drama. Although right now they are on Season 2 and I kind of wanted to see if I could download season one. I've found links but they are mega upload which I can't use at school which means I'll have to do it at Koto's house. By the way mother, what happened to Quiz Show?

So, the second day of Bunkasai. Let me get my thoughts together. Okay, I've now shoved in all my pictures both to help me remember what to write about and so that everything doesn't delete all over again.

At the beginning of the second day, like the day before we all seated ourselves in the gym. I was right towards the back being number 40 in the class, we are seated by number. Vertically. Which means that I had to use my zoom to the fullest to get any idea of what was going on. Probably to the annoyance of the people behind me but this is my one and only Bunkasai so I don't really care.

The first item of the day was the school's band which is really quite impressive considering you can here the members practicing almost every day after school. Their performance had a variety of songs, two of which I knew I think, I'd heard them on the radio and was able to hum along and then for their final piece they did a Walt Disney medley and everyone put on Mickey and Minney Mouse ears, even the conductor which gave everyone a good laugh. Straight after the performance Ikeda left Bunkasai claiming Influenza which was the first signs of it in our class and left us worried about her and what Kiyo would do without his partner in Mamma Mia today.

After that, Baton Bu featuring Minori and Sayaka, they were pretty good although you would hear the occasional thump of a baton dropping to the floor and the footsteps scrambling after it whilst trying to look like nothing had happened. The second years did their performance to Aqua's Cartoon Heroes, a song which I haven't heard in quite a while so that was nice. They also did a cheerleading performance with Pom Poms.

With that over and done with, it came time for one of the biggest anticipatory events in Bunkasai: The Fashion Show. Class 7, I believe is kind of like the Home Economics class which means instead of doing ridiculous amounts of English they get to sow and cook. I have seen the class working in my spares but I didn't realise how amazing some of their skills were. It wasn't until the fashion show when we got to see their best works from the year that I understood how hard they worked. The dresses were really impressive, they made Yukata's, Kimono's, Fashionable dresses, Bridesmaid's and Wedding Dresses all of which seemed to be of a high quality.

It was a scramble to take photos, every one was clicking and flashing away, standing or kneeling on their seats, absolute chaos and being selfish, I promptly did the same in order to get some decent shots.

Most of them were blurred as the person was moving or on the stage too far away that even a Digital Zoon of 16.9x couldn't reach clearly. But I did get some decent ones although they turned out more arty than the kind of straight forward shots that I wanted but nonetheless, it was good.

Especially when the girls in the Wedding Dresses came out and everybody squealed when the teachers came out one by one in suits to be their partners, the best of which was the last when he actually lifted her up and carried her up the stairs. The students nearly died. Lolz.

Then they got this massive cake and fed it to each other like a real wedding. How hilarious. I actually got to eat some of the left over cake which was sponge with pieces of mandarin in it. After the hype of fashion show was over everyone departed to their various places and Coccomi got together in order to get changed for our performance at 12.00. I went over and got my stuff, being deprived of a watch I didn't realise that we were an hour early but everyone wanted to curl their hair to look pretty for their 10 minutes of fame. I was like, do mine!, but they were like, 'It's already curly...n00b...' It may be curly but it isn't pretty curly not after it has been put in and without hair stuff. >_<

So we changed and I hyped myself up, warmed up my voice, tried to calm down the people that were nenrvous and soon enough we were hauling ourselves upstairs for the big show that we'd been practising so long and hard for. Well, the performance itself was fine. The nerves in my voice showed a little on the first bit of my solo but I soon got into the groove of things. You could clearly see the audiences faces, not that many people came...maybe 50 or so. You could see Go-chan (our teacher) filming us on his video camera, I'd ask for the footage but he doesn't know how to do it and he wouldn't trust me with his precious video camera and Matt wearing a bright (!) orange shirt. Right... Chris also came which was nice, first time I'd seen him in quite a while, didn't get around to talking just a wave and a smile.

Once the performance we posed for some photos before I got changed and shot out the door hoping to be able to squeeze into the Haunted House between now and the 3rd year Coccomi class' performance one hour later. Yuki-chan kind of hoped along with me but I bumped into Mie-san (Hikari's mum) along the way and had to stop for a chat.

Once we got to the Haunted House I realised it was quite impossible as we only had half an hour left and the line was considerably long. I didn't even bothered to get in the line, instead I directly changed course for food considering I had to buy my own lunch today. Once I got to the bread, there wasn't much left and the line for everything else was long so I bought some sugary thing and ate it while walking towards the Gym, something you're not supposed to do but meh. Yuki-chan ditched me saying she wanted to get back the Gym although to be honest I didn't mind that much. Yuki is like the shyest person you'll ever meet, nice but socially very awkward which makes it a bit hard for her to pick up on some social clues. Very smart though but おとなしい to the max.

I got back to Gym with 10 minutes to spare, found Mie-san again then she ditched me and I sat minding things for Arina and Hikari just because I was sitting there. Mie-san's seat was stolen by Matt who I poked fun at. I think we've become friends, at least I've told him that the student-teacher relationship does not exist within the Communication Lounge where I spend half of my time. The dynamics between Japanese students and teachers and the Australian version differs greatly. You can muck around with teachers but still respect them but if you played around with a Japanese teachers they'd get mad. Except for Yamasaki sensei, he gravitates on the friendlier level, at least to me.

Anyway, sorry about that. I watched the third years performance of 'Oh Happy Day' and another Jebus song which I don't remember the name of right now. They weren't too bad, had a lot of energy.

After that, I had a quick wander around but not enough time to really do anything having to beat feet over to Sadou to do my stupid Kouken. (Kouken is when you help the person making the tea and greet the customers and stuff) I was second to go and luckily, only two actual customers were in the room, the others being an assortment of teachers and students. Yay.

I also got to leave early.

After that I ran to the haunted house, didn't care whether or not I had to go in by myself or not as it was my last chance and I had to get in. The line was shortish but I was still worried about getting cut off but luckily I saw some Coccomi people ahead of me, waved and discreetly sidled along beside them both moving up the line and finding company to scream with. In the line was Miyuki, Anna and possibly Akane (Don't remember) and Nami was also in the line. Nami was all like: 'I'm gonna die!' so I said, 'let's die together.' and then An-chan pointed out that she was with her boyfriend so I was like, well, 'I'll just die over here then...'

We got in pretty quickly and I wasn't scared at first,though the darkness in the classroom exceeded my imaginings. We were confronted with a rolling heads, spider webs, rounded a corner and there was a 'The Ring' style girl with the white dress and long hair reaching out to us. I promptly told her she was cute and asked her if she'd come home with me. Then there was a tunnell....my precious...., through the tunnel a person emerged from nowhere with a flashlight shadowing her face but around the corner laid horrors beyond my imagining.

You know the creepy chick from the Grudge? She was rolling around in the narrow corridor in front of us, we all sidled past and then she tried to grab my ankle which propelled me several feet into the air with a loud squeal and we all kind of just ran out of there like a bat out of hell while people chased us with a water squirty bottle. >_<

With the Haunted House over and done with, I had no more time but to return to the Gym for the closing ceremony which had a pretty slideshow with lots of pictures (I got in it again) and they announced the winner for the pictures made of paper. Of course, being awesome, our class won and Arina went up to accept the award as she had done the most work on it by far.

We had to end the day on a slightly more domestic note, cleaning, replacing desks and you remember that giant shoe in the planetarium? I helped take that apart. There was a hell of a lot of bottle lids glued to cardboard and everyone had trouble getting them off but I was like, 'Let me at them!' and I was by far the fastest, ripping and tearing like I was a dog without concern for my fingers (I even started bleeding) everyone was speechless and my unabashed enthusiasm. All I thought was, damn, this is a great stress reliever. Sometimes it feels good to be able to rip and tear things without getting in trouble.

With that, the day ended. We had some speeches and we thanked everyone. I was asked to do one, just like a thank you or our thoughts on how it went. Mine went a bit like this: 'This is my first and last bunkasai ever'...and every one went Awwwww... and then I kind of got teary as I'd had a lot of fun over the past few days and realised how sad I would be when I wouldn't be able to create anymore fabulous memories with these people. Then I just said I'd had a really good time and was happy I could share it with them.

Gah! I'm missing vs. Arashi so I'm going to wrap this up. I also was given a mini tea set by my Sadou teacher so I can make you n00bs tea the proper way when I get back.

Okay, I think that is all. I will get around to Sunday's numerous activities when I can. Possible Sunday or sometime next week, I'm going to a wedding on Saturday.

<3

Ashley-chan


Lolz.