It’s been exactly 1 month since I got back from Japan and I thought it might be a good chance to do a recap on what happened. In the first week which we were in Japan for, we were sight seeing in Kyoto. We were able to go to NiJouJou (äŗę”åļ¼and it was really beautiful. We also went to Nara Park, where we got to see little ‘Bambi’s roaming around freely. They were so cute! Funny moment was when we bought deer biscuits to feed them but then we got cornered by a few deers and were so scared that we dropped everything and ran away.
Above: Nara Temple
In the second week, we arrived in the school. The school was in a mountain next to the sea so every morning’s bus trip to a different campus had such a lovely view. Unfortunately, no one was able to admire it, since everyone was asleep from the 6:30 wake up. Japanese people are very punctual and keep to their schedules, so we have a very strict timetable to live by. Wake up is at 6:30 and we have about 5 minutes to prepare before going down in 1 degree temperature for morning exercises and breakfast. Every morning was FREEZING and everyone would hold a Kairo ć«ć¤ć in their hands to keep warm. If you didn’t know, Kairos are these magical things which basically warm up and stay warm for about 12hrs after you shake them (for those who are interested, there are iron particles in their which decompose and give off heat). After that, we have about 30minutes to change into our adorable navy sailor uniforms and go to school.
School for us was just jam packed with lesson after lesson of Japanese, but we also had cultural lessons of Ikebana, Origami and also talking with theĀ EnglishĀ course students to improve ourĀ JapaneseĀ and also help them improve inĀ English. Lunch was obentou…it was soo….goood…..*drool*. After school we have club, and I joined the Manga Club. As my friend in the club said,Ā āThereās nothing like manga club, being able to do whatever you want, from sleeping, to watching anime, reading manga and drawing. Sitting in the comfort of a chair the whole time with air conditioned room plus being able to eat snacks. Thereās nothing better!ā Basically in the club room, the TV’s playing whatever anime is on and you can do whatever you want. The room is well air conditioned and is much more relaxing compared to the other clubs. My friend at the wadaiko club stood on the freezing floor barefoot 0.0 In japan there’s vending machines everywhere and food’s really cheap so if we want to skip dinner we can always eat our never ending supply of cup noodles and snacks xD
Above is my Anime Loot from Japan *most of it*
That pretty much sums up school. Homestay wise, I had two really nice families, and they had amazing food! The 2nd family we lived with, we had a never ending supply of mandarins, snacks and drinks on top of the kotatsu (heated table with blanket and is a piece of heaven) and I could honestly live there forever~~~ We experienced normal japanese family life, and were able to spend New Years with them.
Freakishly amazing food with homestay family at a restaurant!!! Full course Japanese 0.0
When we returned, we had a few days of school and then left for Osaka, Hiroshima and Kyoto and toured around there. It was really painful to say goodbye since it was such an amazing experience. If I were given the chance, I’d go again in a heartbeat ^^ Thankyou Japan!
Tags: alice, anime, culture, Exchange, feature, food, haneiy, homestay, Japan, manga, temple, tradition
Haneiy 