Eighteenth Post, My Halloween in Japan

November 2, 2018

Not much happened during Halloween, except for the candies and cute costume wear in convenience stores but I got to go to the movies with my friend, eat dinner at a restaurant and met new friends of my host sisters! We talked in Japanese for a few hours while eating chocolates on our bikes outside of one of their apartments, and it was so much fun.

Nineteenth Post

November 2, 2018

Today was a holiday in Japan/day off school, so I went exploring some temples and shrines in Kyoto with my friend! I woke up with bad hair so it took me a while to wash it but I met my friend Tomoya at a train station that my host mother showed  me the night before on our bikes. Next Tomoya and I went to Sanjūsangen temple, where we took off our shoes and saw many, many Buddha statues. No photos were allowed indoors but I will say it was so cool. They were gold, and there were 1001. We lit candles, and bowed/prayed. After this we went and walked around the garden where we saw beautiful fruit trees and leaves turning red, orange, and yellow. 

After we took a bus to a restaurant where we got udon and soba noodles to eat, and some ice creams afterwards! 

Our next destination was by bus to another temple called ‘Kiyomizu-dera’. It is very famous especially in the spring and autumn season. Many women were wearing kimonos and there was even a couple in Japanese wedding attire getting photos done. That was on kiyomizudera street which was filled with people from everywhere and omiyageya (souvenir shops). We took photos, went in the temple, walked around the paths outside and washed our hands in special water that is supposed to bring good luck! 

The last place we went before going home was to a temple called ‘Nanzenji-tera’ (Tera meaning temple in Japanese). There was only half an hour until entrance into one of the prefectures closed but we made it in time and climbed up super steep stairs to get to the top. Boy, was it worth it. The view was beautiful and the trees leaves were the colours of autumn. It was breathtaking. 

I’ve heard that lot of young Japanese people aren’t interested in going to temples and shrines, but they are very interesting to me. Maybe because I am a foreigner and I’m not used to living with temples in (practically) my backyard haha. 

Twentieth Post

November 13, 2018

This weekend was fun. On Friday after school, I went to Kawaramachi with my classmate friend Nao, and we ate ice cream and went to a healthy restaurant for Japanese food for dinner. After that we walked around a bit and went to a movie theatre to see ‘Ladybird’ together. It was a good movie but seemed long. We both had already watched it but it was fun to talk and hangout. While we were walking around to find a restaurant we passed by an owl cafe- which I read something about online and thought there were owls inside. 

On Saturday, I’m my host family told me more about it and that there weren’t actual owls but we went there for lunch and the food was so good. The cafe was owl themed so no animals but still cool. Possibly the best food I’ve tasted in Japan. The main part was a roasted chicken sandwich but there were other ingredients and side dishes that made it so amazing. After the cafe, we went to do a bit of shopping again near kawaramachi and I bought a very cheap small strawberry bag. We rode our bikes to an underground bicycle parking area and walked to a place where we went down some stairs and there was a small room, with beautiful warm lights and flowers. There were chairs and in the centre of the room on the white wooden floorboards was a beautiful black grand piano. There were three ladies in gorgeous dresses playing piano flute and violin. It was so harmonic. The piano player was a friend of my host mothers. I ate an apple flavoured candy and we left to ride home. 

The next day, Sunday I woke up at 8 to leave at 9am to catch the bus with my host sister to meet her fathers uncle and his wife to go sightseeing. First we walked to Tofukuji temple, which had a beautiful Japanese garden and some traditional art inside the temple. It was so peaceful, and there were other foreigners speaking French there. The next place we went to was called ‘inari shrine’ and it’s very famous in Kyoto. It had ‘kitsune’ statues which means fox statues in Japanese. We saw the famous ‘one thousand shrine gates’ and walked under some of them, but since it was getting close to lunch time we didn’t go through all of them. The food by the shrine was so delicious. I got okonomiyaki- my favourite Japanese food, and some roasted corn on a stick. There were also some things that looked like nuts with a dark brown bark like shell but inside was sweet potato like food. After, we went to McDonald’s and had more lunch. Then my host sister and I went shopping and walked home eating cool ice creams from a convenience store. We later watched a movie called ‘fantastic beasts and where to find them’. It was good, but I’d already seen it, so this morning - Tuesday - my host sister told me we would go see the second one which comes out near my birthday and see it after school on the day of my birthday! 

Last night -Monday- my host mom surprised me by bringing Macedonian and cheese (KD) to the house- which I didn’t know they had in Japan. I made some for them for dinner and they really liked it. 

Today I woke up as usual 7:30 ish to leave me a half hour to get into my school uniform and eat breakfast and ride my bicycle to school. It usually takes 20 minutes on my bicycle to get to school from the house when I leave at 8am. My breakfast was cream corn soup, cucumbers, toast, and tea. It’s different everyday, but sometimes I have leftovers from dinner for breakfast which I don’t really like. It’s not something I’d complain about though. I have an ESS (volunteer event club) during lunch today, then have my afternoon classes and school will end. Then I usually go to my music club and practice piano or violin, then study until my host sister is ready to go home as well. 

Twenty-first Post

November 13, 2018

Twenty-Second Post

November 17, 2018

Community service day 

I went on the bus to umenomiya Takisha bus stop to meet the English teacher from KGN. I was early so we waited for the other 6 volunteers to arrive before walking to the community service senior place. We first introduced ourselves, then sat by some old ladies and helped fold some wet towels they were working on. Then we separated around the room and building talking (all in only Japanese) to the seniors about their lives and what we were doing. They were very sweet. We did a little exercise session with them, some of them in wheelchairs moving their arms to the music. After that, we talked to them more and served them lunch. Then we ate lunch ourselves, in a separate room and joined them again. I will always remember talking to an old lady, we were chatting when the conversation came to a pause. I noticed a shining ring on her finger and mentioned how beautiful it was- and asked if she was married. Her face lit up and she smiled, saying ‘yes’, and we talked about it a bit. She said how she was 23 years old when she got married in Kyoto, at a shrine. She told me about her kimono that she wore on her wedding day. It was nice to see her talking about it and remembering past good memories. 

After that, the volunteers and I prepared our songs and sang with a karaoke machine to some elders. We sang two different songs in Japanese, and we moved around the building so we sang 2 songs around 4 or 5 times. Then we said thanks you and what we enjoyed about today. A nice lady came up to us before we left with a bag of omiyage for me and presents of origami for the others. My omiyage was also origami. We then walked out and I took the bus home. (We weren’t allowed to bring our phones with us in the senior center area so I couldn’t get photos with them unfortunately) was 

Twenty-Third Post

November 18, 2018

Today I woke up early to go to Arashiyama with two of my classmates. It was super fun. First, Manami and I went to Arashiyama station to meet our other classmate Honoka, and then we crossed a bridge where we met an old lady who asked me (in English) for directions on how to get to two different places. This was hard for me to explain because I had no idea where to go- I was following my friends. Thankfully they were very nice and helped her out a little bit. After, we climbed up a mountain for around 20 minutes to go see monkeys at the top of the hill. There were so many of them and they were really cute! We got lots of pictures. The next place we went to was the main city area- where there were tons of small shops and food stops. We got some okonomiyaki and got to meet a nice family and got to talk to them a bit. We went to an omiyage store where I bought a t-short that has Japanese on the back. I can actually understand what it says! Then we got some tapioca drinks and went to the famous bamboo forest. There were so many people. 

We parted around there and I went back to my home stay for a few hours before I got ready to go to Kyoto station where I met up with my two friends, Tomoya and Nao! 

We went to a place called ‘Rolly’s’ where they sell rolled ice cream. The lineup was really long, but I think it was worth it. Te process of making the rolled ice creams was really cool to see, and it tasted delicious! We couldn’t find any tables to sit at or any spots that were available right away so we all went outside and sat on the edge of a garden. We took lots of pictures! We wanted to see koyou- which means ‘autumn leaves’ in Japanese, so we took the train to a temple called ‘Byodoin’. It was dark out, so there were lots of lights that lit up the temple and showed it’s complete and flawless reflection on the pond surrounding it- as well as the red and yellow autumn leaves. A camera would never be able to perfectly capture the true essence of it. We took our time through the paths and then walked to a restaurant for dinner. After some yummy food, we are now on the train to go home and get ready for another week of school. The thing I can be excited about for that is that Friday is a holiday in japan/ thanksgiving labour day’ is what Nao told me it was from google translate, and then on next Monday it’s my 17th birthday! Super stoked :)

Twenty-Fourth Post, My birthday

November 29, 2018

On Nov. 23 we didn't have school because of a holiday, so my host family had a mini birthday party for me. I slept in, then met with both of my host sisters at a train station. We ate brunch at Lotteria, and then went to a temple near my homestay. Then we played badminton at a park by the Kyoto Aquarium for a few hours. We got home and ate dinner, had cake and went to a lights event with acapella singers! It was interesting.

It was my 17th birthday on Nov. 26! My host family forgot in the morning but when I went to school a lot of friends gave me presents and letters <3 After school I went to dinner and then to see the sequel of one of my favourite movies with my host sister and her friend. The movie theaters in Japan that I've been to are pretty much the same, but I've noticed that most people tend to stay in the theater seated until the credits are finished and the lights come on again.

I got home and my host family wished me a happy birthday, and went to bed because I had school next day.

On Wednesday, I wrote a speech with my Japanese teacher for the closing ceremony before winter break. I will make a short speech about how I enjoyed Japan, the exchange, and any words I wanna say to the student body. It is all Japanese! Speaking of which I actually had two conversations today speaking quite fluently in Japanese! It's a good feeling. I was practicing piano in my music club and met a Japanese university student, and we talked at the school gates for a bit, so it was cool :))

Twenty-Fifth Post

December 22, 2018

I made two speeches, one for the faculty and another for the entire school. I received a certificate for completion of my courses at KGN and my exchange. It’s coming to an end soon- less than two weeks! 

Everyday I have plans with my classmates and other friends to hangout for the last time. I went to a monjayaki restaurant, a cat cafe, a few temples, a candy shop, karaoke, and many other places. Today I went ice skating and to a movie that had no English or English subtitles! I understood quite a bit to my surprise. I was really glad because today I went took the bus and train to a station I’d never been to before all by myself, and that is really difficult for me to do in Japan. Since I also slept in and came home late, I didn’t see my host family today but they had a piano recital. 

Tomorrow my host sister will invite her friends over to have a Christmas party, and then the next day (dec 24) I will get to tour around Shiga with my friends Tomoya and Nao! They are very close friends so it will be hard to say goodbye (it is for everybody anyways). On Christmas Day, my host family will be busy with clubs and work because it isn’t a holiday in Japan, you don’t get the day off. That’s okay though since they have so many other festivals and holidays to celebrate!