First of all, I'm doing great! Japan really is an awesome country! the people are so nice and polite (sometimes a bit too polite) and I am really enjoying my time here! My hostfamily is awesome, they're so nice! they take me to a lot of places and even though it's 'only' been one month, I have seen a lot of things! in this post I'll try to make a summary of what I have been up to for those who are interested :)
First week
I must say, the first week was the most hard week of all, after the exhausting way to Japan we had an orientation camp in Tokyo, it was great, but really tiring! we had to get up early every day even though most of us were exhausted.. I didn't sleep at all on the plane, but luckily I could sleep well at the orientation because of that! And because of that I barely experienced a jetlag! on Sunday we went by bus to meet our hostfamiles, I don't think I have ever been this nervous. meeting your new family, the people you are going to spend the next year with, it was nerve wracking! they had been waiting for over an hour because we missed our bus (it wasn't our fault!!!) after taking pictures and meeting our LP's we went seperate ways, to our new homes. in my case, we went to McDonald's. my new home here ;)
we went for lunch since they were pretty hungry from waiting and all. I wasn't really hungy, but I won't refuse food, and it was better to eat, to get used to the rhytym here. if you know me a bit, you know I hate mayonaisse or any kind of sauce, it makes me sick! I didn't want to be picky but mayonaisse? no way! so I asked of they could order without mayonaisse, no problem at all! I had a chicken burger, it was so good! I'm in love with chicken, seriously! after that we went home and they showed me my room and explained some things. I gave them some souvenirs from the Netherlands and they really liked them! from my older hostsister I got a shirt that she bought in the USA (she went there on exchange). the next days I went shopping with my hostmom for an obento-box and some schoolstuff and on monday we went to settle some stuff at my new school, and to measure the size for my uniform! after that we went to have lunch together with my LP and the chapter president at starbucks, this was probably a bad idea because ever since I'm addicted to frappucino's and ice blast cocoa.. oops!
on wednessday it was my first day of school, another nerve wracking moment, even more nerve wracking than meeting my new host family. imagine a school full of people who look different, speak different and all look at you, and there is no way to blend in. luckily I didn't have to do a speach in front of the whole school like a lot of people had to do, phew! I only had to give a presentation in front of my class, which went really well! so after that I had 3 days of normal school, which weren't really special or anything. in the weekend I had japanese class with the people from my chapter, Alexia and Sandro. the lesson itself was okay, and after that we went to have lunch. we could pick food and drinks up to 500 yen in the store, I think we spent about 45 minutes deciding what to eat, so many things to choose from!! after that we went to Machida, for some shopping but we ended up spending our time in a gaming centre. it was a lot of fun, and we played all sorts of games. after that we took some purikura, it was hilarious! since this was our first time we didn't know how it worked but we figured it out!
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the next day some friends of my hostsister would come to visit and make takoyaki (octopusballs) if there's something I don't like it's seafood, but I tried anyway! and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! :) even so, I didn't eat a lot, just because seafood isn't my thing. at all.in this week I also became really sick, not once but twice, it turns out I'm allergic to shellfish!
Second week
this week my school had tests, but since I can't really understand japanese I didn't have to take any tests. so they put me in a room without air conditioning for 4 hours... riiiight! it was super hard to fight my sleep, and the first hour or two I studied but after that you reach your limit of concentration, and since there was no distraction, sleeping was my escape. I had something to look forward to because after school we were going to go to 'sweets paradise' which is basically all you can eat sweets version! I ate so much food! they had like 40 different kinds of cakes and pies, pudding, pizza, pasta and fries. and not to forget a chocolate fountain and ice cream! after that we went to a gaming centre, played some games and took some purikura, all in all, a lot of fun!!
that saturday I went to Odaiba with some friends, for those who don't know what odaiba is, it's the harbor of tokyo, well, next to it. we strolled alongside the beach, and went to palette town, which has this huge ferris wheel! we went in it and the sights were amazing!
the next day I went to Tokyo university with my hostmother and hostsister, we went to see and origami exhebition and after that we had lunch in a french-style restaurant. I had the beef, it was really good! it had been a while since I last had a big piece of meat and this was just great!
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the next days I went to Ikea, and an all you can eat pizza place after school, and every time it was a lot of fun! I'm not going into detail here but let me just say that the food here is absolutely amazing! it's so good! my hostfamily eats very western, which I really like, of course they eat japanese food too, but not that much.
on friday I went to take purikura with some friends and after that we got some ince cream, yummy! the McDonald's is so much cheaper here!
on saturday I went to a school festival for the first time with some other exchange students, I had a blast! it was a lot of fun and I laughed a lot! it's fun to meet people from other nations and share your experience! some japanese people joined us, and don't be suprised; we took some purikura again!
on sunday I went sightseeing with hostparents and to an AFS meeting and after that we grabbed some lunch at the best ramen shop they knew, it was delicious! though the bowl for Ramen is huge! it's easily 3-4 normal european bowls!
this week contained some normal schooldays and on thursday and friday we prepared for the school festival, which was on saturday and sunday! this was a lot of work and since my japanese still isn't super there wasn't a lot for me to do, so sometimes it was kinda boring. but when I look back it was totally worth it since the school festival was wonderful! so much fun and so much food!!! :D I sold crepes and it was a lot of fun! after the festival on sunday there was a long concert, maybe a bit too long for my feet, man my feet hurt after that! it was fun though! and the big suprise after that; HANABI!! a lot of fireworks, the festival really ended with bang! and it was a good timing, cause at that time I was exactly one month in Japan, what a way to mark that day! :)
the day after the festival was a national holiday and we went to an american restaurant with the family, really good hamburgers! every sunday we go somewhere and have lunch out, it's great! I really like my hostfamily, they're the best! :D after that I had a meeting with my LP until around 6 and after that I went home.
the next day was cleaning day, and we cleaned the half day. the 2 days after that I had holiday, because of the festival and I went to asakusa with friends! again a lot of fun! we went to a museum about the Edo-tokyo period first, which was really interesting and after that lunch at a really cool restaurant. after lunch we went to asakusa by taxi, and went to the shrine, prayed for good luck and ate some gelato. It was a lot of fun!! :D
now this is a really big overview of the things I have done, and I wanted to describe in greater detail, but that's so much work and it would take so much time! so I'm gonna update more from now on, with (hopefully) more details! :)
See you later everyone!
Reinhilde
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