Hey all :) こんにちわ！
I have now been here for about 2 months (1 month, 3 weeks, 3 days :D ). Time is really flying here. It's the most crazy thing. Yet again, I have done so much since my last post. I'll try and go in order.
My school bunkasai (culture festival) was held on September 22nd and 23rd. It was so much fun! My school is HUGE and many, many, many people came. Booths are set up and all kinds of japanese food is sold and shows are put on that represent some aspect of japanese culture, all performed and worked on by the students. Examples: Japanese Tea Ceremony, flower arangement, kendo and judo lessons, how to make some kinds of japanese foods, etc. I got to participate in holding a "Mikoshi". A mikoshi is a sort of portable shrine that is carried by many people on the shoulders. My homeroom class made the mikoshi so we carried it around the school during the Bunkasai for everyone to see. REAL mikoshi though are SUPER, SUPER heavy and made of real materials (gold, etc). My friend, Arlette, came to my bunkasai and we just hungout and ate japanese food and went to the shows. It was amazing :)
About a week or so after that, my second host mom (I have not yet moved to my second host family's house) took me to Kyoto! Kyoto is probably one of the most gorgeous places that I have ever seen. I was told it has over 3,000 temples and shrines. Just walking down the street, you see tons. I got to visit many of them. We stayed in a japanese style hotel. That meant no beds, tradtional japanese food, and japanese hot springs. The room was gorgeous. We slept on japanese style futons that were so comfortable. It was my firsｔ time sleeping on a futon, so it was definitely an experience. I loved it though. The food in Kyoto was...interesting. Before I came to Japan, I wasn't a huge fan of seafood. I've learned to tolerate it and I even like some of it now but the food in Kyoto consisted only of seafood. tons of sashimi, sushi, and things that I wasnt even sure of. It wasn't all bad though, lol. My second host mom is taking me back to Kyoto in February for my birthday. She is going to make me an appointment to be transformed into a Maiko-san for a day :) (Maiko-san are like geisha, but younger). I am SO excited :D
Just this week I went to Tokyo Disney Land and Tokyo Disney Sea with my host family! I had never been to Disney before so I was super excited. It was absolutely amazing. We stayed in a hotel and ordered room service and woke up early in the morning and went to Tokyo Disney land and sea. It's halloween time so everything was decorated in black and orange with pumpkins and skulls. It was amazing. My tolerance for high rollercoasters is getting better I think, yay! lol
Needless to say, I think I've traveled quite a bit since I've been here! The language is still very much a challenge for me. To me, it doesn't seem like it's improving, but I hope I'm wrong. School is really difficult because everyone speaks so fast and the lessons are all in kanji but I've made a lot of friends that are really cool! Everyone helps me out and is really nice, so I'm happy :) I just hope that soon, something in my head clicks and I'm able to understand japanese more, lol. This month (October 31) I have a 10 minute speech that I have to give in japanese at a rotary meeting. I'm BEYOND nervous. My japanese isnt good enough yet to give a 10 minute speech, lol. not sure what im going to do, i just want to get it over with though. i suppose im lucky though, as thats my biggest problem right now. Everything else is amazing :)
just thought I'd add a little segment about some of the food I've eaten. I recently had the experience of eating cow tongue. While I know that that is also eaten in the states, i would never have touched it. My host family has taken to not telling me what things are before I eat them, haha. So after I ate the tongue, they told me what it was and I was horrified. It actually wasnt that bad though. Other things ive eaten: eel, baby fish (which i also didnt know i was eating until i spotted the eyes and mouth. the fish are about the size of a fingernail. they were scattered in my rice in my bento(lunch) my mom made me for school), shark, fermented soybeans (natto). The food here is definitely interesting, but I've really come to like most of it!
That's really about it. Another post in a few weeks :)
じゃね！
シェリー
I've now been in Japan for 1 month and 3 days! :) It's been a while since my last post. It's hard to find time to write, but I'll try and include everything in this post.
It seems like I've been here for longer than 1 month! The langauge is still really difficult but I THINK maybe it's getting a tad bit better. Grammar is really hard but my vocab is definitly improving. Everyone here talks so fast. I usually know what people are saying, but I have to ask them to repeat because they are talking so quickly. One thing that is slightly annoying too is people's tendency to only speak in english to me. My host dad does it all the time, lol. I'm like "Otousan, nihongo KUDSAII!" (dad, japanese please!). Everyone is always so surprised when I speak in english too, it's like it's the most awesome and wonderful thing in the world, lol. It's hilarious.
I've started school! It's amazing and weird at the same time. My first day was crraaazzzy. I don't think I've heard the word kawaii (cute!) so many times in my entire life. Everyone, including the teachers, stared constantly, whispered in the hallways, yelled my name and waved all day long, and followed me everywhere. I had to give an introduction speech in my homeroom class and as soon as I set foot in the classroom everyone was screaming, not exaggerating, at the top of their lungs. I was so nervous. The speech went pretty well though. It was something like "こんにちは！私のなまえはシエリーです。あめりかのOhioからきましたと１７歳です。日本語がすこしわかりますデモまだじょうずじゃありません。みんなさん、よろしくおねがいします！” (Hello! My name is Sheri. I'm from Ohio in the United States and I'm 17 years old. I understand a little bit of japanese, but it's not very good yet. Everyone, it's very nice to meet you!" Very short and sweet but I was reaaally glad to get it over with as I hate giving speeches of any kind. At the point in the speech where I said 'but my japanese is not very good yet" a girl interrupted and said "うそ！じょうずだよ！” (Lie! It's very good!) which made me kind of happy, lol.
I'm taking about 14 classes all together (physics, english, math, information technology, classics, world history, chemistry, biology, english, gym, contemporary society, japanese, art, and health). For the most part, my classes are okay, but I don't understand very much of anything yet. Everything is written in kanji, which I don't understand yet either (but am working on). The teachers are all nice, especially my physics teacher who was nice enough to introduce himself in front of the class to me in english and also writes the hiragana equivalent next to the kanji so I can understand some of the things taught in class. Uniforms are worn at all times. They aren't too bad, I actually kind of like them!
The uniform includes a gray pleated skirt, white collared shirt with a navy blue or white sweater overtop, green bow worn around the neck, navy blue knee socks, and black loafer-style shoes. All students are given a navy blue leather bag to put books in and are also given a gym uniform, navy blue winter coat, and shoes for wearing inside the school and for gym (different shoes than the loafers are worn inside the building. they are known as house shoes). I definitely like my uniform here better than the one I had in Ohio, lol. Making friends at school isn't a problem as people usually just kind of introduce themselves to me as my new friend. it's hilarious! so yeah, school is definitely good. hopefully as time goes on, ill start understanding more of class!
I've done a ton since I've been here.
A friend took me to Tokyo for sightseeing where I got to see Harajuku (<3), Ginza, Asakusa,etc. I must say, the shopping here is 10 times better than in the U.S (and also 10 times more expensive). The style here is amazing! I love it. I find myself buying something new everytime I go out, lol. I'm going to Kyoto with my second host mother at the end of this week (The 29th and 30th). Kyoto is considered one of the most beautiful and ancient places in Japan. It's full of temples and shrines, beautiful scenery, and Maiko-san (sort of like Geisha, but a bit different). I'm also going to be going to Onsen while there, as Kyoto is also chock full of those. Onsen are very popular in Japan. For those who don't know, Onsen are public baths otherwise known as japanese hot springs. Everyone bathes together in the springs, and it's supposed to feel amazing and relaxing. I'm somewhat nervous to bathe with a ton of other people, but it's a part of the culture. we'll see how it goes! I'm beyond excited for the chance to travel to Kyoto though. I can't wait!!
I've become really, really close to all of the other exchangers in my district here. Arlette (Mexico), Brenda (Ecuador), Rue (France), Beaut (Thailand), Ethan (Indiana), Hannu (Finland), and Rodrigo (Brazil). Arlette and Brenda are who I hangout with the most. Everyone is amazing and I'm so glad we're all here together!
That's really about it. I can't say enough that I love Japan, it really is an amazing place and such an intricate and interesting culture. I had a talk with my host dad the other night. He told me that in the future he wants me to come back and visit the family and that they would always be here for me. I've gotten really close with my host dad. I think that in the future, living in Japan permanentaly would be something that I would seriously consider doing. I love it that much, lol.
so yeah, not much else to write! I'll post in a few more weeks with everything else that I've done! :)
じゃね！ ：）
シエリー （Ｓｈｅｒｉ）
Hey all!
I've finally arrived in Japan! It's amazing, to say the very least. It's so unbelievably different, but that's what I came for so I'm definitely loving it. Here's a rundown of al the goings on so far:
I left Columbus International airport on August 18th for a 14 hour flight to Tokyo Narita Airport in Tokyo, Japan. I was lucky because I sat right next to the other exchanger going to Japan on my flight. The flight was of course long and boring, but I suppose it wasn't too bad and it could have been worse. I arrived in Tokyo at 3:35 pm to Hiroki (a rotex student that had previously exchanged to my city in the states) and Uegata-san holding up signs of ‘ようこそシェリー！‘ (Welcome, Sheri!). I was so happy to see Hiroki, and Uegata-san was very nice. We left the airport by bus and traveled to Yokohama where I met up with Akatsu-san (club president and my next host dad), a few other rotary members, and my host family.
My Host family: my host family is amazing. period. They try and make me feel as conmfortable as possible and they are just so nice. I've become really close with pretty much everyone in my family. My host father is hilarious as is my host brother and I've fallen in love with the little girls.
My bedroom: My room, not to mention the whole house, is very nice. I got really lucky! I have my own bathroom, fridge, microwave, TV, and air conditioner set in my room! It's really very nice!
Language school: From the second day I arrived until August 29th, I attended language school everyday except for sundays. It was so much fun. I met all the other exchangers in my district and we all became fast friends. We all try and speak as much japanese as we can to eachother, which is usually pretty funny. I learned a ton. and probably the best part for me was going to the combini (convenience store) during lunch and picking out amazing japanese food. In the states id probably never stop at a convenience store to buy lunch, but here the food is amazing and pretty cheap at the combini (and by cheap i mean japanese cheap. stuff here is SUPER expensive, lol). Language school ended with everyone wearing yukatas and giving big speeches in japanese. I think it went well :)
Food: Japanese food is beyond amazing. I've tried so many different things, things I know I'd never usually eat, and found that I really love them (except for whale..didnt like that). Favorite foods so far: Okonomiyaki, shabu shabu, tamagawa nashi, inarizushi, sushi, noria, curry. i love it allllllll.
I'm proud to say that I can officially navigate and make my way through the train stations here without getting lost. I was sort of forced to learn the stations in a day because I had to go to language school everyday. . Trains/subways are a huge thing here and super convienient. It's going to suck going back to the states and not being able to use them :)
I've also had the privelage of doing and learning many aspects of japanese culture in the 2 weeks that I've been here. I've participated in Kendo (sort of like fencing but way more intense), Traditional Japanese tea ceremony, Calligraphy, I've learned how to put on a yukata, and how to make various japanese dishes.
and finally, something that makes me very happy and everyone else laugh: I can now watch Yamapi on live television instead of searching for his stuff online in the states. I can buy all the jpop magazines I want and listen to whatever japanese music I like. So yeah, I'm obsessed with japanese entertainment and my host family thinks it's the best thing ever :)
So, yes. In short, JAPAN IS AMAZING and I most definitely love it here. I can't wait to see what happend next.
かんぱい！ :)
-Sheri
So, I leave in 3 days. It's not real yet. I seriously just can't grasp that I'm leaving and won't be back for a year. But I am SO excited. Japan is going to be so amazing.
Should be getting my passport/visa and my plane tickets in the mail on Monday. Hopefully that all works out.
I also realized something today. I won't be able to speak to Stacy-chan whenever I want to anymore. She won't be in Japan until a week or two after me. But still, no more talking/texting 24/7 everynight. BUT. Once she arrives and we're both settled in, it'll be on. Haha, we're gonna explore Japan togetherrrrr! woot! :D lol
Anyways, so yeah. I'm leaving in 3 days and I actually think I'm in pretty good shape. I did all the rest of my shopping, my going away party is tomorrow, I set up a bank account, got a state ID, and finished packing (for the most part). It feels good.
Now for the big part. 3 days.
WISH ME LUCK :)
So after much trouble, I FINALLY got my flight itinerary! I get to leave for and arrive in Japan one day earlier too :) YAY.
Flying American Airlines
Depart Columbus, Ohio on August 18th at 11:10 am
Arrive in Chicago, Illinois (OHARE) at 11:25 am
Depart Chicago, Illinois at 12:50 pm
Arrive in Tokyo, Japan (NARITA) on August 19th at 3:35 pm
My flight from Chicago is 14+ hours, ahhh! But, good news! My travel agent is trying to get me and a friend of mine grouped together so we can sit close together on the flight from Chicago to Tokyo. That would make me infinitely happy! 14 hours on a flight alone would have really sucked :)
ONE WEEK and counting :)
-Sheridan
Craziest thing happened: I got a new host family! Or I guess I should say my real host family, lol.
Apparently, they had just put down the President of my host club (Kawasaki-West Rotary Club) as my host family information so that they could send me my guarantee forms so that I could go ahead and apply for my visa. I got an email the other day from my japanese counselor saying they had found me a host family! lol. He also told me a bit about my school. He told me that my high school is one of the highest levels of private schools in Japan. Intimidating much? lol ahhh :)
I've emailed back and forth with my host brother a few times and my host father once! They are so nice! I'm so happy that I got such an amazing family. My host brother said that when I get there, they won't be speaking any english to me so that I can learn japanese faster! lol, I'm actually pretty happy about that! He also sent me a picture of my family!! There are 6 people living in the household. My host parents, my brother and his wife, and my brothers 2 little daughters (who are absolutely adorable). I also know that they own their own Real Estate Business. My father is the chairman and CEO and my host brother is the president! I also have 2 older host sisters that live away from home.
From left: 2 older host sisters and little Erika (one of my host brothers little daughters), the next two men are my two host brothers-in-law as they are married to my two older host sisters, The next man is my host brother, my host mom, and on her lap is one of the girls daughters, my host father and my host brothers second daughter, and finally my host brothers wife. :)
About it for now. about 15 days to departure :D YAY.
Sheridan
Hey all!
So my Otterbein Conference was this weekend and it was AMAZING. There were exchangers from all of the states that are a part of the Ohio-Erie multi-district (Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina). Needless to say, there were tons of people there and we all had a great time.
We got to stay in dorms the whole weekend and were assigned roommates that were also going to the same country (although my roommate was going to Thailand because there were an odd number of Japan outbounds and she was the only outbound to Thailand). She was really cool and we got along really well.
District 6690! <3 I'm the first person on the far left, second row from top.
So here's a run through of the weekend as a whole:
Friday: Everyone was told to check-in from 4-7. I got there around 5 along with a lot of the other people from my district. I checked in and got my room keys, towels, sheets, and blankets, and went up to my room. The dorm room was pretty small but it was really nice (although not air-conditioned. Hence the reason they asked us to bring an oscilating fan with us, lol). From 6-7 was dinner where all of the many exchange students got together in the cafeteria and ate for an hour and a half. They then had an opening ceremony. After all of that we were told we'd be having meetings by country with our country contacts. I found the room I was supposed to go to and met my country contact, Terrance, for the first time. He was so nice! He told us that this was our first 3 of three meetings that we were to be having with him that weekend. This first meeting we just talked about our guaranteee forms and a little about our placements. All of the exchangers then got together again and we all learned how to play BaFa BaFa! SO much fun! I loved it. Kind of hard to explain though if you've never heard of it :) It's pretty much just a cultural simulation game- very entertaining. After that was over it was already about 12:15 am and we were told to get ready for bed and that lights were to be out at 1:30. Such a good start to the rest of the weekend :)
Saturday: Saturday was the big day. The whole day was pretty much informational meetings and such. Very busy. Wake up was at 7:30 am and breakfast was from 8-8:45. After that, we had a general meeting about culture shock. My second country contact meeting about Japan followed. This one was a little more informational. We learned about the food, some cultural aspects, safety, etc. Very interesting. We also had a representative come in from IYWT (It's Your World Travel) and speak with us for a few minutes about our flights. After that was lunch followed by a student protection meeting. Next was something I had pretty much been dreading since I heard about it in January: Talent Show Tryouts. This wasn't exatly the official Talent Show, but it was leading up to it. We all signed up for it (everyone had to participate) and practiced for an hour. Next was the final meeting with Terrance about Japan. This one was definitely different than the other meetings. We were told to line up outside the door and wait. The rebound that also talked during the meetings greeted us outside the door in Japanese, bowed, and welcomed us inside. We all took off our shoes, as is customary before entering a room in Japan, and sat down at the table. Lined up on the tables were tons of japanese foods, chopsticks, and drinks. We were told we'd only be aloud to eat with the chopsticks and that we should try everything they had (if able). The food was amazing! They had miso soup, seaweed (nori), Japanese dumplings (gyoza) that were filled with seafood and pork i think it was, sticky rice, and sushi. The parents were also given a pair of chopsticks to eat with. Sooo funny watching my dad try to eat with them :) After this was over, We had free time and dinner. Next was the actual talent show. I was terrified. We ended up being the 17th act out of 30. It actually wasn't that bad. We had a big group of girls from District 6690 and we sang a couple verses of "Leaving on a Jetplane" by John Denver. It was over quick. The rest of the acts were amazing though! I loved watching them all! The talent show was followed by a pizza party in the boys annex. Margo (to poland), Kayla (to Italy), and I all left a little early though because we wanted to get cleaned up and just hangout. The three of us took showers and hungout in my dorm room for a while. 4 other girls from my district knocked on the door with tons of pop and a whole pizza and we ended up staying up until about 3 or 4 talking. It was amaaazing. Something I'll never forget :)
Us girls from District 6690 about to sing our little song :] I'm the 5th from the left.
Sunday: Today we woke up at 7:30, walked from our dorms to the main campus center and all of the districts
had individual District meetings with their students. At ours we got our Business cards, Insurance cards, and ID cards that had the address and phone number of our first host family. We also got rotary duffle bags to take with us, I got a huge American Flag to take with me and hangup on my wall in Japan, and also a Rotary nametag to put on my blazer. They then told us that we were all going to have breakfast together for the last time before we left :( It's crazy how close all of us are. I've made so many close, close friends and I love every one of the exchange students in my district. I don't know what I'm going to do without them. After that was check-out. I went to my dorm and cleaned everything up, went back to the main campus center and began saying goodbye to everyone. We all exchanged business cards. Everyone was trying sooooo hard not to cry :( It was such an amazing weekend. I will definitely never forget about it. It helped prepare me even more for my trip to Japan.
38 DAYS! :)
Sheridan :]
Hey all :)
A few updates:
I got a call from my host dad the other night!! He was so incredibly nice and he spoke some english too which is good. He explained to me that he has a daughter that lives in Reno City, Nevada and also a son who is living with him who is 38. He kept saying how much him and his family were excited to have me :) I asked them if they had an email address that I could contact them with and he said no, but he said that they were going to make one and email me! I'm so excited to meet them!
Tomorrow is the first day of the Otterbein Rotary Weekend. It's the last rotary get together with all of the outbounds before everyone leaves! It's a huge deal and takes place all weekend long. I'm nervous but also really excited! I'll be meeting my country contact, some people from IYWT (It's Your World Travel), along with all of the Rotarians that I've been in contact with since the beginning. I'll be sure to take pictures!
40 Days!!!
That's all for now I think. I'll post maybe on sunday with pictures and news from Otterbein :D
I finally got my placement!!! :)
Well, I thought that Yokohama was a for sure thing but it's not! I am going to Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan!! :) It's right in between Tokyo and Yokohama! I am so excited!! :D My father's name is Takeo and my mother's name is Akiko. There is also another adult in the household named Hirosh. It doesn't list whether or not I have any host brothers or sisters but I'm anxious to find out! I will be attending Toko Gakuen Highschool. It looks amazing! It's really, really big and has lots and lots of clubs to choose from! I can't wait to get there. It's a co-ed school but the classes are single-gender. I'm actually really glad I'm not going to an all girls school, haha.
The only downside: They didn't provide me with an email address in which to contact them with! I emailed my japanese counselor whos information was also included with the guarantee forms and hopefully he knows a way in which I can contact them! I'm really hoping!!
Downtown Kawasaki :)
Hey everyone!! :)
I haven't posted in forever! A few new things:
1) I will for sure be going to Yokohama, District 2590. Yay! I've been talking to some of the other outbounds that will be in my district in Japan and they all seem really nice! I am so excited!
2.) I started the visa process! I'm actually done with all of the paper work which is awesome. It really wasn't that much. Parent consent forms that needed to be notoraized, 2 passport photos, and the actual visa application. Way easy :) All I need now in order to get the visa are the guarantee forms from Japan!
3.) Guarantee forms! I got a bit impatient so I emailed the district chair, Sandy, and asked her if she had any news about a hostfamily for me or the whereabouts of my guarantee forms. She replied back in saying that my guarantee forms were mailed to me that day! That was on Monday (June 15th), It is now the 20th so hopefully they'll be here soon! I'm getting anxious!!!
Anyways...since I haven't posted in months all of the monthly rotary meetings are over and some of the inbounds have already left back to their home countries! :( It's really sad. I'm going to miss everyone so much! There is only one meeting left for all of the outbounds before we all leave for our countries. It's being held at Otterbien College and it's a huge deal. It will be held July 10-13th. It's a whole weekend long and it's mandatory for students and parents alike. The students will be paired up with other students going to the same countries and will be staying in the same room. So cool :) The only thing I'm worried about it the talent show on saturday that is mandatory for all students. I have the worst stage fright. ugh. But I'm sure it won't be too bad. A whole bunch of the outbounds from my district decided that we were all just going to do our act together and sing a song. haha, should be interesting.
Other updates: I got my Rotary Blazer along with a few Rotary shirts. I've started to gather pins for it :) Hopefully I'll have pictures on here soon! Also, our business cards we're made! All of the outbound exchange students will get them during the Otterbein Weekend. I should be getting my flight itinerary soon too! So exciting. I found out that I will now be able to fly with my best friend Stacy-chan! :D Very happy about that. I wasn't too keen on the idea of flying all the way to Japan by myself. But thanks to IYWT (travel agency) they made it possible for us to meet up in Chicago and fly together! Woo. I also got my $1,000 scholarship check in the mail. It goes towards the plane tickets. Another reason I want to see the itinerary, I want to see how much these tickets are going to cost!!
That's pretty much it for now. Hopefully I'll another update with my hostfamily/school/host club information soon seeing as I should hopefully be getting those guarantee forms here in the next few days! :D
-Sheri-chan :)
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Traveling Notebook: 09-10!! Updated: Feb 16, 2009
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