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.

Much Ado About Bunkasai

Yes, I know I'm horrible. I haven't posted AGAIN. It seems to me that I start a lot of my posts these days with apologies about not posting but to make up for it I am going to tell you all about my week in detail with lots and lots of pictures.

But first, Moving: Abridged.

I moved. Hikari baked me an impromptu cake and Arisa gave me a letter. 以上です。


The first thing I was shocked about when moving into Koto's room is that it has been invaded by an army of Winnie the Pooh, plushies, carpet, curtains, photo frames, everything you can think of. It scares me a little.
We being Koto and her sister Mai went to have a Parfait after Bunkasai rehearsal on Wednesday. Mai works at a Patisserie close to school which means she occasionally brings home cakes and things. Puts me in a good position for my birthday. ^_～

Last sunday, not the one just past, the 1st of November we went out and saw fireworks in the cold and ate out for dinner.
For those who have read my recent blogs I had been kind of depressed and fed up with Japan. Don't worry, I'm okay now. I just wanted a break and to see all my friends again. I wasn't going out much and it was kind of just home, school, Bunkasai practice, home, watch television, sleep. We didn't talk much which made me bit meh...

But, this is how I got out of my slump.

The best friend: Gives me a good, well-needed kick up the bum for being such a party pooper in such an awesome country.

The mother: Abuses my email information and makes me a Facebook account without my knowledge.

The school: 2 day holiday and Bunkasai.

The new home: Internet access, Wii and fun siblings.

The person in question, a.k.a, me: Buys herself a Domo-kun plushie and thinks about how much everyone else is going to be jealous of her once she gets back to the motherland.
So, in summary, I'm back in the groove and there will be no more whining until I get back home and whine about how much I want to go back to Japan.

Okay, I'll concentrate now. Youtube is distracting me again. So, last week was a good week. Monday was school which was school like always but during lunch time and after school was practice for our performance of Mamma Mia and Take A Chance On Me which would be on Saturday. We even came to school both days of the weekend to practice. >_<
The first thing that I saw was Yuakoko which was the name Cocomi's band comprising of Koto: vocals, Yuri: Drums, Akane (Ikeda): Guitar, Morishita: Bass. They did 3 songs, the person who I was most surprised by was Yuri. Totally didn't know she could play the drums, she is kind of a shy-ish demure person so I was like Wow...I also found out that she has been Morishita's girlfriend for the past month. So didn't know that either.

The band was pretty good, they were the first band of the day so Koto was a little worried that everyone would be nyeh but the third year guys really got into it and danced and sung along, the were really great at kicking the atmosphere and the fun up a notch. From there, I wasn't quite sure what to do.

It was still to early to eat, although I forgot to buy coupons anyway, so I walked around for a bit, eager to see some of the attractions. The thing I wanted to do the most was go in the haunted house, I just always have the image of them mostly from anime, in particular Azumanga Daioh which I have found so useful in pointless customs. Lucky Star is of the same breed.

I went up to the haunted house, (おばけやしき, I made an effort to learn that word) there was no line which was good but unfortunately I was also by myself at that point having lost people somewhere along the way. A girl waved me over and was like, 'come on in', and I was like 'I want to but I don't want to do it by myself...' and she was like, 'Awwww....come on!' and I'm like, 'I really do want to do it, I promise I'll come back later once I find people.'

From there I went into the 'Planitarium' which was being hosted in our classrom, no one else was in there. It was kind of meh, it was walls covered with paint, cardboard stars, a full moon with Sirius Black's silhouette and the most baffling of all...a giant shoe...in a Planitarium...right...



I also had a look at the artwork which was of a pretty high standard of people doing melancholy/reflective poses.

So, I went to find people, Arina and Hikari ran past me once in a stairwell but apart from that mostly every one was outside listening to the bands or in the Gym watching the performances. Near the band area I found Kana, Jin, Natsuki and Oba already lining up for their hotdogs. Jin gave me a bite of hers~^^.

I bought a melon pan as although I brought an obentou, I knew I wouldn't eat until a lot later, it was around 11 at that stage. We watched the Kansho Dancerz which my cute darling little Sayaka is in. She is 100%energy that girl, you can't help but frothe over her.
The person in the center on the left is a male wearing a skirt and with implanted boobs dancing Gwen Stefani's Crash Zone(?). Welcome to a typical Japanese high school.

After that we went down to the Gym to see one of the Unmissable events, a whole bunch of Year 12 guys dressing up as girls. Something that would happen only in Japan and dress up the did, and well. Half of them were more girly than I am. >_< Haruna Ai for winning Miss International Queen 2009, a transsexual beauty paegeant.


This one came second, it's so cute too.



The person pictured above was the winner and the person I voted for as the teacher sitting taking pictures behind me gave me her little voting ping pong ball. I later found out that this dashing young lady is Sayaka's boyfriend. Every one has secret boyfriends here...>_<>

The rest were like longest river, highest mountain, American president, hollywood and things like that but half stealing the answers I managed to get them all right and receive my bounty anyhow whether or not it was ill-gained you can decide. The classroom was Halloween themed.

Me and Chihiro, yes, she is wearing a mask. As of today, 4 people in my class have swine flu if it gets to 6 we all have a week off. After that I was running out of time so I rushed over to Sadou bu, there were 2 people inside but they were talking and I didn't want to interrupt so I just stood outside. Then the teacher came by and was like, 'What are you doing? You can wait inside.' Turned out that it was just my two classmates, damn my fallible courage.

For the next hour we didn't do much. I fought off the hordes of invisible customers breaking down our rice paper walls. We mostly talked, oddly enough, about the differences between Aus and Japan and what I wanted to do in the future and such. Something I haven't really talked about before at Sadou bu. We always just seem too busy. It is a shame that Sadou doesn't draw in all that many customers because the room did look rather lovely in it's traditional Japanese style.

Isn't it pretty? Despite the Japanese atmosphere I gave up on seiza about 10 minutes in as it wasn't practice although sitting with your legs crossed is a definite no-no so I just sat on my side and waited while my right leg slowly went numb by degrees.

With not much time left before we all had to make our way back to the Gym for notes and things, I rushed over o the Haunted House but they had already cut off the line saying that they didn't have time. I was even prepared to go in by myself! But no sweat, I just figured I'd make sure that I got to go in the following day.

Went over to the gym passing a whole bunch of pictures made with paper mache, ours was of Audrey Hepburn and the best by far although some of the Michael Jackson ones weren't bad. The theme was famous people. Straight after school ended we had our first tech rehearsal which I filmed as I kew I probably wouldn't get another chance. A tech rehearsal being what a tech rehearsal is, my poor camera just sits there filming curtain and people shouting for the first 10 minutes. But at least I got some footage, although at the end my camera suddenly tilts unexpectedly which leaves you with only half of the stage for the last minute or so. No big loss but a bit of a pain.

I kind of hyped up at rehearsal, just thinking about how fun the day had been and how great it would be to do it all again tomorrow, not to mention our real performance. So, I left the day on a high, mucking around with dance steps and singing which was fun. After that Koto and I finally made it home and I dumped my photo and watched a Niel Cicierga video I think called The Sleepover which I don't recommend for cowards like me how even get sqeamish at a Zac Efron cardboard cut-out villain. >_<>

So, instead I found some Japanese adds which I like for your entertainment.

Lotte Fits Gum Commercial, (You can stop halfway through, it repeats)

And, a very strange commercial. Chip Chop!

That's all for today most likely, especially as I'm having a fight wth Blogspot right now. I finished this post yesterday, I go to put in pictures and Wallah! half of my bloody post is deleted. Not happy Jan. I'll start day 2's blog now if I feel up to it as tomorrow is Sadou bu and Saturday, I'm going to a Wedding Ceremony, in my school uniform. >_< That's the thing to do in Japan.

<3

Ashley-chan

Nothing much...

Sooooo....

Sorry I haven't written much lately but we have been busy with our rehearsals and preparation for Bunkasai which leaves me with not all that time to write. For Bunkasai (Cultural Festival) we are singing two songs from Mamma Mia, Take a Chance on Me and Mamma Mia. I have a solo in Mamma Mia which is good because it means I get out of dancing. xP

Not to mention that I've recently become interested in webcomics, more of just a way to waste time...aside from Cyanide and Happiness which most of you should know, I'm perusing Ctrl+Alt+Del which is a whole lot of nerdiness.

Today Miyuki pulled a funny face but she's very cute. >_< (Miyuki is a friend from my class) She told me to write that.

Nyahh...nothing that interesting has happened to me lately. Here is one weird thing: I had like a spare period and I'm sitting in the communication lounge studying and I suddenly start humming to a song playing somewhere when it hits me, it's 'Still Alive' from Portal. I'm like...what?

Because recently our school is undergoing renovations and there are builders every where so I stuck my head out the window thinking that some crazy labourers are playing this song that nobody knows. But nope, wasn't the builders, I go next door and there is Matt, our new ALT from America sitting there being a nerd and singing along. I thought that was hilarious, I mean honestly, not that many people know that song.

After that we talked nerdiness for a while and I taught him some Japanese which kind of perked me up, I'd been kind of myehh...I don't know. It's gotten cold and I was depressed-ish. But I am feeling better now, I don't know I just was kind of like school...meh. I was a bit over Japan and I was getting a cold but I took medicine and I am keeping warm so I'm getting better now and happier. Not to mention, every day coming home on the 6 o'clock train, getting home just before seven and on Saturday and Sunday we had to come to school again for practice. >_<

I just have seen this amazing picture of my cousin, it is fanatastically weird but I can't help but feel sorry for poor Toto. Who needs a Wicked Witch to get her little dog too when her master is so vicious...>_<

Anyways, the people below are a comedy duo called Audrey, left is Wakabayashi and Right is Kasuga. I brought this up because I'm raising one hand, looking masculine and saying, 'Bai'. Even though the picture below is of his 'Tous' gag, the meaning of which I don't fully understand.

<3

Ashley-chan.