Allooo, pater. Today was a tiiiiiiiiired day. Went roung a huge science museum calles Miraikan and saw robots and other stuff but I felt rather stupid having no idea what anything was (the Japanese wasn`t the problem - it was the science!) and then we went to this car thing about design, I don`t know. I was too zoned out. We saw from the train the place where Arashi film their TV shows.
After that we had Soba in soy broth for lunch and went to Akihabara. It`s called Electric Town for a reason!
Everything was like flashing and it was so cool. We went to a maid cafe! Haha, it was so funny and surreal. They kept using `-sama` instead of `-san` which was really odd, but I guess it goes with the whole subservient vibe. Had coffee and they do this thing where they do a little dance and put love in your cup. So I had coffee with extra love.
They sell electronics and CDs and reels and reels of wire. It was so unlike anything I`d ever seen before!
Came back here, had sushi and fruit (again) for tea. Went out to Karaoke! It was loads of fun but only like 4 of us were willing to sing, which was a bit rubbish. Now we`re back at the hotel.
I am usually like zonked during the day, especially on the train, but I wake up in the evening, which is exactly the wrong time to feel awake!
Tomorrow we have a free day so we are dressing up in all our loligoth finery (including cat ears) and going to Harajuku and Shibuya (have located the shops I wanna go in) and it should be fuuuuun.
Tokyo is amazing. I want to stay. I know I`m a country girl, but I could really make an exception for here. I`ve seen so many places I wanna go in the future when I live here. So, yeah, book a plane ticket for yourselves, ASAP!
Tomorrow is the last night *weep weep weep*. I want to see you guys but I DO NOT WANT TO LEAVE JAPAN. Ever! It`s just like any other country, just with the awesome factor switched upto 11.
The food is so good and everyone is so beautiful and everything works!
The only bad part is the Gaijin Stare! EVERYONE here is Japanese! It is nothing like England where you get people from allover. We proper stick out here and get stared at all the time. It really annoys me because I just wanna come here and live like anyone else but you just get oggled constantly. It feels a bit like you don’t fit in!
It’s still amazing though and well worth living here. Maybe when I am surrounded by Japanese friends or I have like black hair or something then I won’t get stared at so much!
Peace out!* I love you all!*
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Monday, 2 November 2009
Sunday, 1 November 2009
6th email - Sun 1st Nov
Don`t have many 100 yen coins so short email. Incredible shopping. Bought so much. Loads of clothes including 2 sweet lolita outfits. Played cards with cute Japanese boys. Bought kimono-y thing. Bought so much! Went to the observatory and saw an amazing view of Tokyo. So fun. So tired.
Tomorrow museums. Tuesday free day. So many outfits to choose from! Ate nothing but fruit and sushi. That = good in my books!
Harajuku is amazing. Can`t believe I was there. Arashi pencil case. Drag queen. Jaw-droppingly discounted lolita clothes. Matching bag. 5 bento boxes.
I love you all!
xxxxxxxxxxx
p.s. Apart from Kagoshima and Vichy, Tokyo is the best city on earth. Living here year after next. Come here and let`s just stay!
Tomorrow museums. Tuesday free day. So many outfits to choose from! Ate nothing but fruit and sushi. That = good in my books!
Harajuku is amazing. Can`t believe I was there. Arashi pencil case. Drag queen. Jaw-droppingly discounted lolita clothes. Matching bag. 5 bento boxes.
I love you all!
xxxxxxxxxxx
p.s. Apart from Kagoshima and Vichy, Tokyo is the best city on earth. Living here year after next. Come here and let`s just stay!
Friday, 30 October 2009
5th email - Friday 30th Oct
Hallo again, daddy! Today we woke up at the hotel at 6 and got ready and then went to Kagoshima High. We hurriedly prepared a presentation for an hour and then gave it in front of like, loads of kids. The big classroom was packed full and it was more than slightly terrifying! I`d basically been annoying everyone for like an hour by stepping into my role as team leader and bossing everyone around! We`d done our presentation in three parts; before, during and after (Japan). On the before bit we had what we did to prepare for the trip and what our expectations were and on the during we talked about our stay and for the after we discussed what we were going to do in Tokyo (shopping!) and what we wanted to do with Japanese in the future. We had made each bullet point into an A3 drawing and we held them up and explained in reasonably coherent Japanese what they were about.
After that, we asked and were asked questions about lots of things. We chatted to a lot of people in the class and wrote our email addresses on the big whiteboard at the front. MANY pictures ensued, I`m sure you can imagine. Sometimes I feel that, although I definitely do want to have lots of pictures to remember everything by, that I spend more time doing pictures than the actual experience itself!
After that we showed some pictures of us doing our Wolfreton Japan day and then ate lunch in the canteen, to many squeals. People are STILL going utterly nuts! I thought they would have been bored of us by now! Had yummy udon noodles in broth for lunch.
Straight after lunch we took a bus to Kagoshima city hall to say thank you to the people that had helped us organise our trip. The man who we thanked said we all looked like fashion models! Pah! It was unseasonably warm! Like an English summer!
After city hall, we cashed our travellers cheques. I have never been handed a wad of cash that thick before! After that we had about 40 minutes to go shopping and I bought Ella a bento box and accessories and some tights and some kitty ears because we thought we were going to go to a Halloween party but we didn`t and it was basically cat or nothing!
We then got the bus back to Kagoshima high and took MORE photos on the roof. The roof was beautiful! You could see all of Kagoshima! Apparently there was a small earthquake earlier today but I didn’t feel a thing! After that we went to see these amazing taiko drummers they were just insane! So talented! We even got to play a bit ourselves! But I did feel a bit bad sitting on a chair at the front of the room being played to! I would much rather have sat on the floor! After that we saw the brass band. They were amazing too. It makes me feel like I do nothing outside of school.
After that there were many tears and hugs because everyone was so sad that we had to leave Kagoshima. I really want to stay in Kagoshima After that sensei, Elliot and I came back here to the hotel and went to the huge railway station shopping plaza and I bought stationery from Muji. We looked at all the lovely and expensive shops. Sensei’s family met us at the train station and took us out to dinner at one of those restaurants where sushi comes on a conveyor belt. It was delicious but I am pretty sure my stomach has shrunk because I normally want tea at like 5 but it got to like 9 and I still wasn’t hungry and I couldn’t have much sushi. Am ambivalent on the subject of raw fish. Maki is the safest bet. Had yummy sushi with Egg on top and also eel. Sensei’s family are just like her.
Oooh! forgot to say. We were in the newspaper. There is a quote from me as I am team leader so I will translate that for you when we get back. We had to use umbrellas because of the volcanic ash falling. When we got back we had yummy presents from our host family. Cup cakes for Elliot and lots of fruit because that was the large majority of what I ate with them.Bed time now. Our flight is about midday Japanese time tomorrow. Will email you as soon as I can.
I love you all.
xxxxx
After that, we asked and were asked questions about lots of things. We chatted to a lot of people in the class and wrote our email addresses on the big whiteboard at the front. MANY pictures ensued, I`m sure you can imagine. Sometimes I feel that, although I definitely do want to have lots of pictures to remember everything by, that I spend more time doing pictures than the actual experience itself!
After that we showed some pictures of us doing our Wolfreton Japan day and then ate lunch in the canteen, to many squeals. People are STILL going utterly nuts! I thought they would have been bored of us by now! Had yummy udon noodles in broth for lunch.
Straight after lunch we took a bus to Kagoshima city hall to say thank you to the people that had helped us organise our trip. The man who we thanked said we all looked like fashion models! Pah! It was unseasonably warm! Like an English summer!
After city hall, we cashed our travellers cheques. I have never been handed a wad of cash that thick before! After that we had about 40 minutes to go shopping and I bought Ella a bento box and accessories and some tights and some kitty ears because we thought we were going to go to a Halloween party but we didn`t and it was basically cat or nothing!
We then got the bus back to Kagoshima high and took MORE photos on the roof. The roof was beautiful! You could see all of Kagoshima! Apparently there was a small earthquake earlier today but I didn’t feel a thing! After that we went to see these amazing taiko drummers they were just insane! So talented! We even got to play a bit ourselves! But I did feel a bit bad sitting on a chair at the front of the room being played to! I would much rather have sat on the floor! After that we saw the brass band. They were amazing too. It makes me feel like I do nothing outside of school.
After that there were many tears and hugs because everyone was so sad that we had to leave Kagoshima. I really want to stay in Kagoshima After that sensei, Elliot and I came back here to the hotel and went to the huge railway station shopping plaza and I bought stationery from Muji. We looked at all the lovely and expensive shops. Sensei’s family met us at the train station and took us out to dinner at one of those restaurants where sushi comes on a conveyor belt. It was delicious but I am pretty sure my stomach has shrunk because I normally want tea at like 5 but it got to like 9 and I still wasn’t hungry and I couldn’t have much sushi. Am ambivalent on the subject of raw fish. Maki is the safest bet. Had yummy sushi with Egg on top and also eel. Sensei’s family are just like her.
Oooh! forgot to say. We were in the newspaper. There is a quote from me as I am team leader so I will translate that for you when we get back. We had to use umbrellas because of the volcanic ash falling. When we got back we had yummy presents from our host family. Cup cakes for Elliot and lots of fruit because that was the large majority of what I ate with them.Bed time now. Our flight is about midday Japanese time tomorrow. Will email you as soon as I can.
I love you all.
xxxxx
Thursday, 29 October 2009
4th post - Thurs 29th Oct
Daddyyyyyy!
So much has happened!
I am so sleep-deprived but it is counteracted by sheer joy!
Today I woke up at 6 like always and got ready and bits and walked the 5 minutes to school and went to the mini homeroom they have set up for the 6 of us and we waited there for about an hour and made notes for the presentation about our trip that we are going to give to our class tomorrow and at 9 we got in Mr Fukumoto (reeeeeally nice maths teacher and Misaki`s homeroom teacher, also the person Mrs Holland is staying with) and we drove for a while through the (jaw-dropping) countryside until we got to an old samurai village. We went walking around the gardens there. All of the owners of the houses are descendants of samurai who felt it was important to their national history to open up theor homes and gardens so that people could see how the samurai lived. The gardens were beautiful and we could see the safety reinforcments (like really windy paths and lack of direct entrances) that the samurai built to protect their homes. The gardens were either based on water or the mountains. But they recreated water with rocks and plants so there was no actual water in the water garden! Butyou could really see the shape of the ocean. They were so beautiful. Koi carp and green tea! There were LOADS of huge spiders hanging off the tree so Natalie got very scared. We never have as long as we would like in these places because we always have to pack so much into the day, but we were still really pleased that we could go. Fukamoto sensei had organised everything for us and drove us there, explaining everything. He was so sweet and you could tell that he really wanted to share his culture with us.
After that, we went to a "Soba making experience" where we got to don aprons and make our own soba noodles for lunch! It was good to do something that resembled cooking as I have been missing making my own fod. The way you make the soba is really interesting. There was a big, beautiful water wheel outside the place and it was decorated beautifully. We had our soba cold and with sauce and traditional Kagoshima fishcakes and Tamagoyaki (Japanese omlette) and it was delicious! We got a little card that is like a pretend liscence to show that we have been taught how to make the noodles by proffessionals!
After that we went to an utterly surreal English museum about the really strong relationship between Kagoshima and England. They sold loads of English things (even Terry`s Chocolate Oranges!) and had Beatles music playing. It was utterly surreal! There was a big, red London bus outside! We had a cup of tea in the tea room in really ornate cups. I think they would be dissappointed to learn how the English really drink tea!
The next bit is the most important.
We went to a museum to commemorate the Kamikaze pilots and Mr Fukamoto bought us English guidebooks because he wanted us to understand. There were letters and wills that the pilots wrote to their loved ones just before they died. I have never been so moved. Natalie, Elliot and I wept and sobbed and shook all the way through. Those boys were my age, dad. Eighteen. They could have been people at Kagoshima High, or people we danced with at the gig on tuesday. The feeling of guilt at my country being partly the cause of these young men`s death and the feeling of sheer waste was physical. We read letters and looked at keepsakes that they had left behind and although it was utterly horrible, I think it was really important because it wasn`t just a museum to commemarate the people who died for their country, but it was put there to remind people so that it need never happen again. We walked through the gardens with shrines and gravestones and it is something that is now seared into my memory. I can`t even express it. So, so important. As we were getting in the car, Mr Fukamoto said "Please, don`t forget", and all I could say was "zenzen".
So it was with pale faces that we drove to the last place. It was a spa, unique in Japan and the world. We drove right down to the very bottom of Japan, right to the south ocean near Okinawa. We went to this little building by the sea and changed into Yukata. We went out the back and laid down and got buried upto the neck in hot, volcanic sand. It was amazing. It was boiling and, because of the heat and the pressure, it felt like all of the blood vessels in my body were pumping at like ten times normal. After that, we paddled at sunset on the southern ocean in our yukata. It was amazing. We were right next to the last mountain any of the Kamikaze pilots saw as they left Japan for the last time and, nice as it was to go to the spa, I couldn`t get the Kamikazi of my mind, and I am sure it was the same for the others.
After that, we were supposed to go to another onsen but we got a call from the school to say that several people in my class have swine flu, including Misaki and Elliot`s homestay, Takeshi. So we drove straight back to the school (me still covered in sand) and had an emergency meeting with the deputy head.
Elliot, Tomomi and I are now staying in a hotel for the next two nights and I won`t get to see Misaki again! :( It`s so rubbish. Mr Fukamoto picked up my luggage from Misaki`s house and brought it to the hotel. Misaki`s mum had washed and foded every single thing and left a sad note saying she was sorry and wanted to see me again before I left Japan. That class are so cool and it is so rubbish that we won`t get to see them. We are going to leave special messages in their homeroom.
It is, however, much fun in the hotel! Tomomi took us to the Konbi for dinner but Ell and I weren`t really hungry so we just got some sushi and Tomomi bought be a magazine and a Muji notebook!
We origianlly had a room each that was supposed to sleep 3-4 people but Ell and I wanted to share so now we are 2 of us in a room meant for 4 (it was originally gonna be just me!) and we have chilled out and watched Arashi on TV barging into karaoke bars where people were singing their songs.
So much hotel fun!
Today has been tiring, educational, excruciatingly upsetting, fun, sad, happy and exciting.
That`s all for now. Will email tomorrow if I can.
I love you all so much. xxxxxxxxxx
So much has happened!
I am so sleep-deprived but it is counteracted by sheer joy!
Today I woke up at 6 like always and got ready and bits and walked the 5 minutes to school and went to the mini homeroom they have set up for the 6 of us and we waited there for about an hour and made notes for the presentation about our trip that we are going to give to our class tomorrow and at 9 we got in Mr Fukumoto (reeeeeally nice maths teacher and Misaki`s homeroom teacher, also the person Mrs Holland is staying with) and we drove for a while through the (jaw-dropping) countryside until we got to an old samurai village. We went walking around the gardens there. All of the owners of the houses are descendants of samurai who felt it was important to their national history to open up theor homes and gardens so that people could see how the samurai lived. The gardens were beautiful and we could see the safety reinforcments (like really windy paths and lack of direct entrances) that the samurai built to protect their homes. The gardens were either based on water or the mountains. But they recreated water with rocks and plants so there was no actual water in the water garden! Butyou could really see the shape of the ocean. They were so beautiful. Koi carp and green tea! There were LOADS of huge spiders hanging off the tree so Natalie got very scared. We never have as long as we would like in these places because we always have to pack so much into the day, but we were still really pleased that we could go. Fukamoto sensei had organised everything for us and drove us there, explaining everything. He was so sweet and you could tell that he really wanted to share his culture with us.
After that, we went to a "Soba making experience" where we got to don aprons and make our own soba noodles for lunch! It was good to do something that resembled cooking as I have been missing making my own fod. The way you make the soba is really interesting. There was a big, beautiful water wheel outside the place and it was decorated beautifully. We had our soba cold and with sauce and traditional Kagoshima fishcakes and Tamagoyaki (Japanese omlette) and it was delicious! We got a little card that is like a pretend liscence to show that we have been taught how to make the noodles by proffessionals!
After that we went to an utterly surreal English museum about the really strong relationship between Kagoshima and England. They sold loads of English things (even Terry`s Chocolate Oranges!) and had Beatles music playing. It was utterly surreal! There was a big, red London bus outside! We had a cup of tea in the tea room in really ornate cups. I think they would be dissappointed to learn how the English really drink tea!
The next bit is the most important.
We went to a museum to commemorate the Kamikaze pilots and Mr Fukamoto bought us English guidebooks because he wanted us to understand. There were letters and wills that the pilots wrote to their loved ones just before they died. I have never been so moved. Natalie, Elliot and I wept and sobbed and shook all the way through. Those boys were my age, dad. Eighteen. They could have been people at Kagoshima High, or people we danced with at the gig on tuesday. The feeling of guilt at my country being partly the cause of these young men`s death and the feeling of sheer waste was physical. We read letters and looked at keepsakes that they had left behind and although it was utterly horrible, I think it was really important because it wasn`t just a museum to commemarate the people who died for their country, but it was put there to remind people so that it need never happen again. We walked through the gardens with shrines and gravestones and it is something that is now seared into my memory. I can`t even express it. So, so important. As we were getting in the car, Mr Fukamoto said "Please, don`t forget", and all I could say was "zenzen".
So it was with pale faces that we drove to the last place. It was a spa, unique in Japan and the world. We drove right down to the very bottom of Japan, right to the south ocean near Okinawa. We went to this little building by the sea and changed into Yukata. We went out the back and laid down and got buried upto the neck in hot, volcanic sand. It was amazing. It was boiling and, because of the heat and the pressure, it felt like all of the blood vessels in my body were pumping at like ten times normal. After that, we paddled at sunset on the southern ocean in our yukata. It was amazing. We were right next to the last mountain any of the Kamikaze pilots saw as they left Japan for the last time and, nice as it was to go to the spa, I couldn`t get the Kamikazi of my mind, and I am sure it was the same for the others.
After that, we were supposed to go to another onsen but we got a call from the school to say that several people in my class have swine flu, including Misaki and Elliot`s homestay, Takeshi. So we drove straight back to the school (me still covered in sand) and had an emergency meeting with the deputy head.
Elliot, Tomomi and I are now staying in a hotel for the next two nights and I won`t get to see Misaki again! :( It`s so rubbish. Mr Fukamoto picked up my luggage from Misaki`s house and brought it to the hotel. Misaki`s mum had washed and foded every single thing and left a sad note saying she was sorry and wanted to see me again before I left Japan. That class are so cool and it is so rubbish that we won`t get to see them. We are going to leave special messages in their homeroom.
It is, however, much fun in the hotel! Tomomi took us to the Konbi for dinner but Ell and I weren`t really hungry so we just got some sushi and Tomomi bought be a magazine and a Muji notebook!
We origianlly had a room each that was supposed to sleep 3-4 people but Ell and I wanted to share so now we are 2 of us in a room meant for 4 (it was originally gonna be just me!) and we have chilled out and watched Arashi on TV barging into karaoke bars where people were singing their songs.
So much hotel fun!
Today has been tiring, educational, excruciatingly upsetting, fun, sad, happy and exciting.
That`s all for now. Will email tomorrow if I can.
I love you all so much. xxxxxxxxxx
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
3rd email - Weds 28 Oct
(Texted by Rosie from phone - slightly edited for readability!)
hi daddyyy blog is great idea. am on misakis phone and cant do caps or punctuation. where do i start - the last two nights have been the best of the whole trip but will tell you in a minute. at school we literally cannot go to the loo without being followed. it is insane. people wait outside our classrooms and ask for pictures and autographs. will email in detail at weekend. went to amazing gig that i cannot do justice on this phone. met bands danced busted nose in pit bought cds and tshirt tiny but awesome venue. innnnsanely amazing night. today two museums got amazing photos. but everything was outshone by tonight. potluck dinner in school cooking classroom. school choir sang for us so much food. teacher played country roads on guitarand sang. best evening ever. speeches games fun. tomomi and natalie and i cried because we were so happy. dont want to ever leave - you should come here. want to live in kagoshima for ever and ever. host family are beyond nice. will write this again properly at weekend. love you all so much. xxxxxxxxxx
hi daddyyy blog is great idea. am on misakis phone and cant do caps or punctuation. where do i start - the last two nights have been the best of the whole trip but will tell you in a minute. at school we literally cannot go to the loo without being followed. it is insane. people wait outside our classrooms and ask for pictures and autographs. will email in detail at weekend. went to amazing gig that i cannot do justice on this phone. met bands danced busted nose in pit bought cds and tshirt tiny but awesome venue. innnnsanely amazing night. today two museums got amazing photos. but everything was outshone by tonight. potluck dinner in school cooking classroom. school choir sang for us so much food. teacher played country roads on guitarand sang. best evening ever. speeches games fun. tomomi and natalie and i cried because we were so happy. dont want to ever leave - you should come here. want to live in kagoshima for ever and ever. host family are beyond nice. will write this again properly at weekend. love you all so much. xxxxxxxxxx
Monday, 26 October 2009
Live link to Mount Fuji
Live link to Mount Fuji (for instant update on Japanese time of day and weather!)
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