jan/feb Rotary report

So I've been on my exchange for about a month now and wow time really does fly when you’re having fun. In a lot of ways it doesn’t seem like I've been away from home for a month.



The trip to Takaoka was in itself a very enjoyable experience a one I could write a lot about. It went fairly smoothly in a since of the word. In fact our Singapore to Tokyo flight was a very rough one as we were flying through stormy weather. Landing in Tokyo it was -2 degrees but we didn’t have much time to actually experience the cold as we were swiftly met by the drivers who transferred 8 of us over to the domestic airport that’s about an hour’s drive from the international one. This was a beautiful drive as it was a clear day and we could clearly see Mount Fuji. We had a fair wait at Haneda airport and the 8 of us stayed as a group for probably the first 2 hours but it was a little impracticable so we split into smaller groups, making sure we stayed with the people we were on our next flight with. So I spent the time with Josh this was quiet nice getting to know him (he’s staying in Toyama itself which Is the capital of my prefecture and about half an hour away) and having someone to share the worry with as they kept announcing that our flight may have to be canceled due to snow in Toyama. Thankfully that was not the case and we made it to Toyama safely. To me Toyama really was a winter wonderland as I had never seen snow before and everything was white and covered it in. it even started snowing on our way home. I was met at the airport by all of my host families except my first mum who had stayed at home knowing that our flight may be diverted or canceled and it was only their home number I knew to contact them on. As well as my host families there were several other rotary members and even one of my classmates from school (who is going to be my host cousin in my next family).



I spent Australia day getting measured up for my Japanese school uniforms and buying my 2 pairs of inside school shoes. I still think the fact that I have 4 pairs of shoes for school is a little excessive. But I did hang one of my flags up in my room and sing our anthem (and the rotary one Thais and I wrote) and ate some of my vegemite.



The rest of my first week here was spent doing a mixture of sightseeing with my host mum, visiting my host grandparents and wandering the local area by myself when my hosts were busy. I think the stand out memory of the weeks sightseeing was when we went to Himi coast and I was standing on the beach amongst all this snow… that was surreal enough as it was but then it started snowing… talk about abstract.



Kojo park which I can see from my bedroom window was and still is one of my favourite places to wander and I'm lucky enough to walk through it to and from school everyday… doing so is a slightly longer walk than what I could do but the ever-changing sights are worth it. The zoo is also home to our local zoo which I was shocked to see has some Australian animals… an emu and some kookaburras and some sort of fish that I can’t remember the name of. Of course it also has Japanese native animals.



The Saturday saw me going to Toyama to meet a fellow in bounder but one who has been here for 7 months (I think) and is from Canada. (her host mum is my host dads sister) we went out for lunch with our host parents and we got along really well to the point that she invited me to spend the afternoon with her and her friends from school as they were going to karaoke and doing purikura(photos). This was such a fun day and it was great to be able to talk to someone who came to the country with no language skills and just see how far she has come. She was also able to give me some very useful advise on school and the likes that yeah its stuff that makes sense but it seems more real and worthwhile coming from someone who is here doing what I am doing but has a little bit more experience in it.



Had Rotary orientation the next day ironically it was held in a Chinese restaurant so we ate traditional Chinese food. Orientation here was nothing like back home. And nowhere near as much fun it was just a sit down here’s the rules thing. And I realized just how good a job the D9600 committee had done when none of the information was new to me and the 2 boys didn’t know half of it. I was disappointed to learn that there are only 8 in bounders to our district … the 3 of us Australians and 5 from America and Canada.



Starting school was great. And I continue to enjoy every day of it. Of course it’s a challenge but it’s a good one and one that is becoming increasingly easier to face. I am getting used to the language and getting less and less nervous about speaking it and making mistakes and there are a lot of those. However I do toughly enjoy their English lesson which often leave me feeling very sorry for my class mates as sometime I think what they are doing is hard. However what they learn is technically correct English not the natural English we speak every day and its American so I am often amused by either just the pronunciation of things or what they are called. I'm still trying to convince my friend that what I wear to school is a scarf not a muffler… it is not a very successful argument I keep telling them I'm the one that speaks English I think I would be the one that knows the English word for it but anyway.



My school uniform is a typical Japanese sailor outfit but I'm used to it now however the first few days in it I did feel a little ridiculous however it is a little chilly on the half hour walk to school with just stockings covering most of my legs.

I have joined 2 clubs at school … the brass band and the English speaking club. Theses have seen me spending the entire weekend at school as well at the national holiday we had last week.



I take most classes with the exception of Kokugo (national language) as its traditional Japanese and not at all helpful to me when I'm trying to learn modern Japanese plus most Japanese kids find it difficult so I have no hope of understanding it at this stage. My Rotary club also provides me with a tutor at school twice a week to teach me Japanese I must say this is very helpful although at the moment I think she is still trying to establish just what I do already know. The other time I don’t attend class is when I am required to attend rotary meetings as my host club is a lunch time club. On those days I leave school early and walk to the meeting which is held about 5 minutes walk from my current hosts house. I am not required to go back to school on these days however so far I have because I have had club on those afternoons.



Rotary meeting over here scare me a little, they are very different to back home. Mostly in the fact that they are all male and my club here has about 50 members where as back home I came from a fairly small club. They sing/chant the rotary creed and the 4 way test to start and end each meeting. Other than that I don’t actually understand the meetings yet but it will get there.



My second weekend saw me taking a trip back to Tokyo this time on the bullet train rather than flying. And wow what a wonderful trip that was. my host siblings live in Tokyo and my host dad has a branch of his business there so that was the reason for the trip but a lot of sightseeing was fitted in for my benefit and that was the start of the already very many badges that are covering my blazer. Not to mention how flashy my hotel room was… I'm being told that it’s the same hotel that Hillary Clinton is staying in so that probably gives you some idea of just how flash it was.



I have also had the experience of trying on a full kimono... like all the under layers the collars the whole deal at my host grandparents kimono shop. The process of getting it on is a very long and lengthy process and one that you really wouldn’t be able to do by yourself very efficiently even if you did know what you were doing and wow I knew kimonos were expensive but the one I tried on was about $4000 just for the outer kimono itself that is not including all the other layers the ties, the obi or any of that sort of thing.



I have already attended 2 festivals both held in Takaoka on valentine’s weekend. I am extremely lucky to have come to Takaoka this year as it is the towns 400th birthday which means that it is hosting a lot more festivals than normal. The first festival was a light up of the most famous temple in the area and the second a food fair of a lot of the foods that this area of Japan, in particular the west half of the Toyama prefecture are famous for. I have also experiences Setsubun the start of spring according to the ancient Japanese calendar which involves throwing beans around the house yelling “devil go out good spirits come in” and then you are also supposed to eat the number of beans that is your age and this will bring you good health for the following year.



I love the Japanese style of bathing and enjoy it every night, though I do still feel a little guilty at the amount of water I'm using. But they have a lot here it has never been an issue and my classmates really struggle to understand the concept of a drought and only being allowed 3 minute showers.



As far as my host family is going seeing as I haven’t really said much about them yet. I get along with them fine. My host dad annoys me from time to time as he always speaks in English to me which yes at times is helpful but I didn’t come here to speak English I came here to learn Japanese. My host mum is awesome and I do a lot with her, mainly because shes home a lot more and I think she really enjoys having me around. She was absolutely shocked that when we went shopping I went to carry the bags …. Even when what we brought was my school shoes or something else of mine. Apparently kids just don’t do that over here. My host mum is really understanding of what its like to be away from home and everything I'm used to after all I am the 10th student they have hosted and their daughter went on exchange to America a few years back. So although she has never done it herself she has had a great deal of experience with the program.



It is very almost the end of school year here so I have very little to attend at school over the next few weeks as its all tests and I am not doing them. So my host parents have planed a trip to a ski resort not to ski but to just see the views and to go to the onsen (public bath) up there. There is also a rotary trip in our school holidays to Hiroshima, Kyoto and surrounding areas. I am greatly looking forward to theses trips and everything else that I am yet to be faced with in the year ahead.