Friday, July 20, 2007
Boys Be Ambitious
When I woke up Monday morning, I hurried and got ready to go to the train station. I would be meeting Kentaro there since his hotel was close by the station. Today was the day that Kentaro and I planned to go to Sapporo. We were going by train and it was scheduled to leave at 8:00am. My host mother was driving me to the train station and we pulled in with the car around 7:55am. When I saw Kentaro, he was already coming towards us with his suitcase in hand. My host mother and I ran towards him because it was late. Kentaro gave his suitcase to my host mother and Kentaro and I bolted for the train. Kentaro had his ticket ready but I did not. I was digging in my pockets to find the right ticket so I could put it in one of those gates that have bars and open up when the ticket is inserted. There was a security guard there. Our train was right in front of the gate so the securtiy man just told me to go around and not worry about it. He was like panting though because he did not want me to miss it. Kentaro and I ran and got on the train just as the door closed behind us. If we were a couple second later then that we would have missed it. It was really funny how such a close call that was. We were tired on the way there so we slept most of the time. We arrived in Sapporo and we went around shopping centers to look at stuff. Kentaro had a book of all of the famous things in Sapporo. We went to the park that was in the middle of the city. It was very hot that day so it was hard to stay in one spot. We decided to go to a viewing hill that had several famous things about Sapporo just outside of the major city area. We took a bus toward the hill. The hill view was beautiful. You could see the whole city from the tip. At the top was a statue of William S. Clark. It is famous there in Japan and is known for the quote "Boys be ambitious" (There is writing on the statue and it starts with those words). There is also a restaurant with famous gengiskhan lamb meat. We ate there and took our signature picture with the same stance of the Clark statue. It was great fun. We returned back to the city and walked around site seeing some more. There was a famous dojo that we got to look at. We did not get to go inside though. For dinner both of us decided to return to asahikawa for dinner. My host mother was going to take us to sushi but we went a bit late and all the restaurants were closed. So there was a Ramen shop that was open late and we decided to eat there. The bowls they served were huge! (and very delicious) I got my self a coolish ice cream and then we took Kentaro to his hotel for the night. He would be leaving tomorrow morning back home. :(
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Purple
This post is called "Purple" because I believe I probably saw the most purple I ever have at one time in my life. I will get to that in a little bit, lol. So, Sunday morning, my host mom picked up Kentaro from his hotel. He came over and we prepared to go to the zoo. We would not stay long though because we made plans to fit in as much sightseeing as we could. Kentaro borrowed my host mom's bike and we headed off to Asahiyama Zoo. The bike ride was fun and we both took pictures. I wasn't the only one taking a lot of pictures, because this was the first time Kentaro has been in Hokkaido too. At the zoo, we visited the polar bears first. The lines were super long compared to the first time I went. This was due to a holiday weekend. The line did not matter though because I could talk with Kentaro. After seeing the polar bears, we visited the seals and penguins. It was extremely hot that day so it was nice to go inside the air-conditioned zoo buildings.
We had to hurry back home because we had to catch a train. It was to Furano to visit the lavender farms. I was super excited, it was what I wanted to see the most in Hokkaido. This time of year, the middle of July, is when the lavenders bloom. So a special train is running at this time because so many people visit. The train ride was about an hour to the farm. Outside of the windows we saw the mountain ranges with clouds resting right over the top of them and going down the sides looking like an avalanche. It was one of the coolest views ever. At the farm, we could see a ton of purple lavenders and red flowers along the side of a huge hill. When we reached the entrance, I purchased some lavender-flavored Calpis to drink. They had a ton of lavender flavored things. I am sorry I don't have pictures right now, but I will get them up as soon as possible. We were amazed at the amount of lavenders there were. Multiple acres of just pure lavender flowers. We then headed up the left hill and there was a huge patch of red flowers. We ran to the top and saw even more lavenders going all the way up to the mountains in the distance. It was one of the best views I have ever seen!
We stopped at another shop and I tried lavender jelly, lol. We visited the souvenir shop and then went to the flower rows. There were rows and rows of different colored flowers. White, red, purple, orange, yellow, and more. The whole section of the hill was covered in it. We headed back to the entrance for ice cream, thinking we saw everything. We happened to take a look at a map and then noticed we had only seen the left side! There was still a middle and a right side, lol. We almost missed the biggest patch of lavender flowers. So back we went. I was in awe of how many flowers there were. It was just, well, awesome. We got our lavender ice cream and took a seat on a bench in front of the field of lavender flowers. Kentaro and I relaxed for a while and enjoyed the beautiful view. We went to another souvenir shop and looked around some more. When we looked at the time, we knew we had to run to the train station because we took every minute possible to look at the flowers. That was a lot of purple! The pictures I took don't even show all of them. There were just too many to fit in one picture.
We went back to Asahikawa City and looked around for a place to eat. I wanted to try some food from the fast food restaurants before leaving Japan, so this seemed like a good opportunity and Kentaro was up for it too. I had seen and heard of MOS Burger (pronounced mosu baagaa. MOS is an acronym for "Mountain Ocean Sun", and it is a fast-food restaurant chain that originated in Japan. I was told that it is probably the second largest fast-food franchise in Japan after McDonald's.) Well, my brother told me that I had to try eating at McDonald's when I went to Japan, because it was so different there, so it was hard for me to choose. I decided that I wanted to try the teriyaki burgers at both MOS Burger and McDonald's. So I got one from each place. (I liked MOS Burger the best. McDonald's was OK, but MOS Burger was better.) Afterwards, we went to a curry rice restaurant and ordered a small plate. Then we went to Mister Donuts and got a donut. So it was a multiple restaurant meal, haha. At Mister Donut, Kentaro used some of his points he saved up and bought me a mascot ramen bowl. Each donut was around 3 points and the bowl was 150 points. So it was very nice of him to buy me a bowl.
It was getting late so we took the bus back home to Mrs. Mikami's house. We talked and I had some melonpan. We were joking around and I was laying on the floor. I pretended to fall asleep and then my host mom said "Adam, Wake up!" I looked up and she had her fist over my head so I bumped into it. She was laughing hysterically at the classic joke. HAHA.
The next day Kentaro and I were going to take the train to Sapporo city. We had to wake up early so to bed we went. (That sounded like Yoda.)
We had to hurry back home because we had to catch a train. It was to Furano to visit the lavender farms. I was super excited, it was what I wanted to see the most in Hokkaido. This time of year, the middle of July, is when the lavenders bloom. So a special train is running at this time because so many people visit. The train ride was about an hour to the farm. Outside of the windows we saw the mountain ranges with clouds resting right over the top of them and going down the sides looking like an avalanche. It was one of the coolest views ever. At the farm, we could see a ton of purple lavenders and red flowers along the side of a huge hill. When we reached the entrance, I purchased some lavender-flavored Calpis to drink. They had a ton of lavender flavored things. I am sorry I don't have pictures right now, but I will get them up as soon as possible. We were amazed at the amount of lavenders there were. Multiple acres of just pure lavender flowers. We then headed up the left hill and there was a huge patch of red flowers. We ran to the top and saw even more lavenders going all the way up to the mountains in the distance. It was one of the best views I have ever seen!
We stopped at another shop and I tried lavender jelly, lol. We visited the souvenir shop and then went to the flower rows. There were rows and rows of different colored flowers. White, red, purple, orange, yellow, and more. The whole section of the hill was covered in it. We headed back to the entrance for ice cream, thinking we saw everything. We happened to take a look at a map and then noticed we had only seen the left side! There was still a middle and a right side, lol. We almost missed the biggest patch of lavender flowers. So back we went. I was in awe of how many flowers there were. It was just, well, awesome. We got our lavender ice cream and took a seat on a bench in front of the field of lavender flowers. Kentaro and I relaxed for a while and enjoyed the beautiful view. We went to another souvenir shop and looked around some more. When we looked at the time, we knew we had to run to the train station because we took every minute possible to look at the flowers. That was a lot of purple! The pictures I took don't even show all of them. There were just too many to fit in one picture.
We went back to Asahikawa City and looked around for a place to eat. I wanted to try some food from the fast food restaurants before leaving Japan, so this seemed like a good opportunity and Kentaro was up for it too. I had seen and heard of MOS Burger (pronounced mosu baagaa. MOS is an acronym for "Mountain Ocean Sun", and it is a fast-food restaurant chain that originated in Japan. I was told that it is probably the second largest fast-food franchise in Japan after McDonald's.) Well, my brother told me that I had to try eating at McDonald's when I went to Japan, because it was so different there, so it was hard for me to choose. I decided that I wanted to try the teriyaki burgers at both MOS Burger and McDonald's. So I got one from each place. (I liked MOS Burger the best. McDonald's was OK, but MOS Burger was better.) Afterwards, we went to a curry rice restaurant and ordered a small plate. Then we went to Mister Donuts and got a donut. So it was a multiple restaurant meal, haha. At Mister Donut, Kentaro used some of his points he saved up and bought me a mascot ramen bowl. Each donut was around 3 points and the bowl was 150 points. So it was very nice of him to buy me a bowl.
It was getting late so we took the bus back home to Mrs. Mikami's house. We talked and I had some melonpan. We were joking around and I was laying on the floor. I pretended to fall asleep and then my host mom said "Adam, Wake up!" I looked up and she had her fist over my head so I bumped into it. She was laughing hysterically at the classic joke. HAHA.
The next day Kentaro and I were going to take the train to Sapporo city. We had to wake up early so to bed we went. (That sounded like Yoda.)
KENTARO!!!!!!!!
I had a long-time friend come visit me in Japan this past weekend! Although Kentaro lives in Japan, he had to come by plane from Honshu (the main Island in Japan) in order to get here to visit me. Kentaro stayed in Asahikawa for the weekend and then we went to Sapporo together on Monday. This was such an amazing weekend, but first there is a connection to Kentaro and the fact that I am in Japan that I need to explain.
My friendship with Kentaro Matsumoto is special. I first met Kentaro when I was in the 3rd grade. How does that work out? Well, in 3rd grade, Kentaro's family came to America because of Mr. Matsumoto's job. He lived a couple of streets down from me and we became great friends. Throughout our friendship, I was introduced to the Japanese culture by visiting his house and spending time with the Matsumoto family. My brother and I were invited to Japanese outings with them and it was very interesting to both of us. Sadly, in 7th grade, Mr. Matsumoto's job was completed here and Kentaro and his family moved back to Japan. Our friendship never faded, though. Last summer, for their vacation, the Matsumoto family came to visit us for a while. So, I guess I would say that my interest in Japan began with Kentaro and the Matsumoto family and that is part of the reason I chose Japanese as a language I wanted to learn. So, when I found out that I received the scholarship to go to Japan, the first thing I thought of was that maybe, this time, I could visit Kentaro, but when I learned that I would be on a different island, my hopes of that were gone. In any case, I contacted him by email that I was in Hokkaido (the northern most Island of Japan) he was excited to learn that I was there, but it was very far away. That was a big problem. Kentaro got around that dilemma by using his frequent flyer miles XD.
Back to this weekend. On Saturday morning, I watched Keroro Gunso at 10:00 (something I look forward to here in Japan when I get the chance) and then my host mom and I went to Furano to take her parents to their therapy. Afterwards, in the mid afternoon, we went to Asahikawa train station to pick up Kentaro!!!! I was super excited to see my friend. Kentaro, my host mom, and I all got along great with good laughs. My host mom had to go pick up her parents from therapy and take them back home. So, during that time, Kentaro and I talked, went to the supermarket to look around, and shared things that happened since we saw each last year. When my host mom, Mrs. Mikami, came home from taking her parents back to Furano, we thought it would be nice if we would all go get something to eat together. We went out for kaiten sushi! Kentaro's and my favorite, LOL. We went and had a few plates and then my host mom did not like how sushi was not coming out fast enough. She said she wanted fresh. So we went to a different one, lol. I know she really did that for us, so that it would be just right! It was so much fun being with Kentaro. When I found out I was going to Hokkaido, I thought I would not be able to see him, but since he was able to come to me, I was very, very happy. We went back home and talked for a while and then headed downtown to the hotel where Kentaro was staying. He was staying in a capsule hotel, which both of us have never seen before. It was not as tightly spaced as I thought, but was still only enough room for just one person and that's all! I was actually surprised there was a TV in there. He put his bags in and then we went around the city for a while. We thought about what to do for Sunday, and our plans were to visit the zoo and the Furano lavender farms. (The lavender farms are what I wanted to see the most in Hokkaido.)
My friendship with Kentaro Matsumoto is special. I first met Kentaro when I was in the 3rd grade. How does that work out? Well, in 3rd grade, Kentaro's family came to America because of Mr. Matsumoto's job. He lived a couple of streets down from me and we became great friends. Throughout our friendship, I was introduced to the Japanese culture by visiting his house and spending time with the Matsumoto family. My brother and I were invited to Japanese outings with them and it was very interesting to both of us. Sadly, in 7th grade, Mr. Matsumoto's job was completed here and Kentaro and his family moved back to Japan. Our friendship never faded, though. Last summer, for their vacation, the Matsumoto family came to visit us for a while. So, I guess I would say that my interest in Japan began with Kentaro and the Matsumoto family and that is part of the reason I chose Japanese as a language I wanted to learn. So, when I found out that I received the scholarship to go to Japan, the first thing I thought of was that maybe, this time, I could visit Kentaro, but when I learned that I would be on a different island, my hopes of that were gone. In any case, I contacted him by email that I was in Hokkaido (the northern most Island of Japan) he was excited to learn that I was there, but it was very far away. That was a big problem. Kentaro got around that dilemma by using his frequent flyer miles XD.
Back to this weekend. On Saturday morning, I watched Keroro Gunso at 10:00 (something I look forward to here in Japan when I get the chance) and then my host mom and I went to Furano to take her parents to their therapy. Afterwards, in the mid afternoon, we went to Asahikawa train station to pick up Kentaro!!!! I was super excited to see my friend. Kentaro, my host mom, and I all got along great with good laughs. My host mom had to go pick up her parents from therapy and take them back home. So, during that time, Kentaro and I talked, went to the supermarket to look around, and shared things that happened since we saw each last year. When my host mom, Mrs. Mikami, came home from taking her parents back to Furano, we thought it would be nice if we would all go get something to eat together. We went out for kaiten sushi! Kentaro's and my favorite, LOL. We went and had a few plates and then my host mom did not like how sushi was not coming out fast enough. She said she wanted fresh. So we went to a different one, lol. I know she really did that for us, so that it would be just right! It was so much fun being with Kentaro. When I found out I was going to Hokkaido, I thought I would not be able to see him, but since he was able to come to me, I was very, very happy. We went back home and talked for a while and then headed downtown to the hotel where Kentaro was staying. He was staying in a capsule hotel, which both of us have never seen before. It was not as tightly spaced as I thought, but was still only enough room for just one person and that's all! I was actually surprised there was a TV in there. He put his bags in and then we went around the city for a while. We thought about what to do for Sunday, and our plans were to visit the zoo and the Furano lavender farms. (The lavender farms are what I wanted to see the most in Hokkaido.)
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
More High School and Spending Time With the Kubo Family
Two of the nights that I spent at the Kubo house, Yuichi, Tasuku, and I went outside to a nearby parking lot to set off some small fireworks. Fireworks are huge in Japan. Kids buy them not just for holidays, but as an any day entertainment. The first night of fireworks were just nezumi hanabi, which are mouse fireworks. This particular type of fireworks had this name because the firework scurried around on the ground like a mouse. The next day after class, the whole family and I went to a kaiten sushi restaurant again! It was really good. I had lots of fun with Yuichi and his family. I am going to miss Japanese food when I get home. Many people told me that I will want a break from Japanese food, but I am still hungry for more! I want to make sure I try everything that represents the culture. After our sushi dinner we stopped at a super market to buy ice cream and bread. I was happily surprised that some of the bread I liked was purchased. I just thought it to be a coincidence. It wasn't until later that I realized that Mrs. Kubo must have contacted Ms. Mikami (my host mom) about what I like to eat, because all of my breakfasts contained my favorite bread, pudding, and so on. It made me smile...XD. It is really nice that they did that for me.
A while ago, my host mom asked me if I like cereal. I said yes. It is hard to communicate sometimes though, because when my host mom asks me if I like something, it pretty much means she will buy it for me. I always stress that I want to try new foods, but my host mom wants to ensure that I am happy, so she wants to buy stuff I like. It is very nice of her, but sometimes confusing. While I am here, I really want to eat Japanese food, because, well, it is just that I can eat American food when I get back home to the States...XD.
So back to the Kubo house. Wednesday morning, cereal was on the table. My favorite sports drink was in the refrigerator. Melonpan was in full supply. The chocolate filled cone bread was there too, and of course, the pudding I like...XD. Food was not the only thing that was probably put out for me I noticed. There was something that made me laugh really hard. When I arrived the first day at the Kubo house, I noticed something right away in my room. My futon cover was Keroro Gunso, LOL. The house had three cats and two dogs. The dogs barked around 6 in the morning so it was a good alarm clock. I woke up at 6 ever day for school...XD. All of the cats wanted to sleep on my Keroro sheets so I had to guard the threshold. Mrs. Kubo told me to just close the doors so the cats would not get in.
Day two of fireworks was really cool. I keep on getting off track, lol. When we were at the supermarket, Tasuku bought 2 bags full of fireworks. We enjoyed each of the fireworks one by one. I almost got my hair caught on fire, but let's keep that on the down-low. :D (Proof is in a picture Yuichi took of me, LOL.) The picture is quite funny because you can actually see what appears to be a spark on my head and me just about to rub it, lol. When I showed the picture to Yuichi, we laughed at how close that was...XD. We both had our close moments during the week, lol. On the last day while riding our bikes back to Ms. Mikami's house, Yuichi was talking to me and there was a series of like 4 poles inches apart from each other. He was looking at me and his left handlebar barely touched the poles. I noticed it as he was passing it, but I could not say anything because it happened so fast. Half way going by he noticed it and his reaction was priceless...XD. We laughed at that as well. If he was any closer he would have hit it...XD. We also stopped for soft cream on the way home. Of course, I eat a lot of soft cream because Hokkaido is known as "Milk Land". Being famous for milk, it is also famous for soft cream. The best soft cream. So I eat as much of it as I can while I am here :D.
At Kousen, I made a lot more friends. During an English session, all of the kids had to walk up in front of the class and introduce themselves to me in both Japanese and English so I could learn, too. All of the kids said nice things. Of course, I had to go up in front of the class many times. It was fun.
Since I am in Japan to learn about culture too, I will describe some of the things I observed. During class, the kids pay full attention. Well most of them. I will get to that in the next part. The teachers move from class to class and the kids stay in the room unless it is like gym or computers of course. So during the 5 minute break, all of the kids whip out their cell phones, and DSs, LOL. It was funny to watch many kids all play Pokemon with each other. My host mom made fun of me because I liked Pokemon because she said it was for kids. I told her in America that many high school students still buy the game. I knew it would be the same in Japan, and I was right :P So of course I had to pull mine out and trade Wi-Fi numbers so that we could play over the internet when I am back in the U.S.
Back to classes. This is a brief explanation of how it went. English was me following along with the class. Japanese was me observing. Chemistry I did not understand. Math I knew from the school year I just finished. Physics I knew from the school year as well. Art was fun, especially clay day. We had to make a "monster". I just put it in my head that Keroro was a monster, so I made Keroro. It turned out well, let's just say so, so. I got to take it home with me. Some of the monsters that kids made were really good ideas. In Gym we played baseball. I was 2nd batter and I got a few hits :D In HTML class, it was the day that kids learned the basics, so I finished my website in a few minutes...XD I actually did extra and made 5 pages instead of one! XD In Computer Programing, I never had done it before, but it was also an easy day for everyone. For me it was easy because all of the code were in English letters. I could type fast, so I actually finished very quickly and the kids were amazed, but I actually had no idea what I was doing...XD. At the end of the week the class presented me with two boards with signatures of every classmate and a short message. One of the kids in the classes drew the card pictures and it looks very nice. I will definitely picture frame it when I get home. I wish I could go to Kousen more, but I ran out of weeks. :(
I wish I would have gone earlier so I could have fit in more days, but everything so far has been perfect, so I actually don't regret anything. I met some of Yuichi's friends and a couple days we rode bikes home with some of them. One of the days Yuichi pulled out his guitar and bass (he had 2 of each). Of course he is super busy with school so he does not have much time to play. He was like me, he knew how to play a song or two, but that was about it. So he showed me a song he knew and I showed him a simple one I knew. He was very happy when he saw that I had some interests like him. He liked similar Manga, he liked HTML, some of the same bands that my dad and I listen to (Dad, I will learn to play a song by The Who just for you XD). So I showed him a site with guitar songs that people could use that did not know how to read music. He immediately pulled up a Red Hot Chili Peppers song and started learning how to play it. He knew Led Zepplin, so I showed him Stairway To Heaven XD. It was cool. Overall, the whole week was very fun. I got Yuichi's email and we are going to keep in touch that way. He said it would be good for practice too. He said he would type in English and he told me to type in Japanese. I am looking forward to it.
A while ago, my host mom asked me if I like cereal. I said yes. It is hard to communicate sometimes though, because when my host mom asks me if I like something, it pretty much means she will buy it for me. I always stress that I want to try new foods, but my host mom wants to ensure that I am happy, so she wants to buy stuff I like. It is very nice of her, but sometimes confusing. While I am here, I really want to eat Japanese food, because, well, it is just that I can eat American food when I get back home to the States...XD.
So back to the Kubo house. Wednesday morning, cereal was on the table. My favorite sports drink was in the refrigerator. Melonpan was in full supply. The chocolate filled cone bread was there too, and of course, the pudding I like...XD. Food was not the only thing that was probably put out for me I noticed. There was something that made me laugh really hard. When I arrived the first day at the Kubo house, I noticed something right away in my room. My futon cover was Keroro Gunso, LOL. The house had three cats and two dogs. The dogs barked around 6 in the morning so it was a good alarm clock. I woke up at 6 ever day for school...XD. All of the cats wanted to sleep on my Keroro sheets so I had to guard the threshold. Mrs. Kubo told me to just close the doors so the cats would not get in.
Day two of fireworks was really cool. I keep on getting off track, lol. When we were at the supermarket, Tasuku bought 2 bags full of fireworks. We enjoyed each of the fireworks one by one. I almost got my hair caught on fire, but let's keep that on the down-low. :D (Proof is in a picture Yuichi took of me, LOL.) The picture is quite funny because you can actually see what appears to be a spark on my head and me just about to rub it, lol. When I showed the picture to Yuichi, we laughed at how close that was...XD. We both had our close moments during the week, lol. On the last day while riding our bikes back to Ms. Mikami's house, Yuichi was talking to me and there was a series of like 4 poles inches apart from each other. He was looking at me and his left handlebar barely touched the poles. I noticed it as he was passing it, but I could not say anything because it happened so fast. Half way going by he noticed it and his reaction was priceless...XD. We laughed at that as well. If he was any closer he would have hit it...XD. We also stopped for soft cream on the way home. Of course, I eat a lot of soft cream because Hokkaido is known as "Milk Land". Being famous for milk, it is also famous for soft cream. The best soft cream. So I eat as much of it as I can while I am here :D.
At Kousen, I made a lot more friends. During an English session, all of the kids had to walk up in front of the class and introduce themselves to me in both Japanese and English so I could learn, too. All of the kids said nice things. Of course, I had to go up in front of the class many times. It was fun.
Since I am in Japan to learn about culture too, I will describe some of the things I observed. During class, the kids pay full attention. Well most of them. I will get to that in the next part. The teachers move from class to class and the kids stay in the room unless it is like gym or computers of course. So during the 5 minute break, all of the kids whip out their cell phones, and DSs, LOL. It was funny to watch many kids all play Pokemon with each other. My host mom made fun of me because I liked Pokemon because she said it was for kids. I told her in America that many high school students still buy the game. I knew it would be the same in Japan, and I was right :P So of course I had to pull mine out and trade Wi-Fi numbers so that we could play over the internet when I am back in the U.S.
Back to classes. This is a brief explanation of how it went. English was me following along with the class. Japanese was me observing. Chemistry I did not understand. Math I knew from the school year I just finished. Physics I knew from the school year as well. Art was fun, especially clay day. We had to make a "monster". I just put it in my head that Keroro was a monster, so I made Keroro. It turned out well, let's just say so, so. I got to take it home with me. Some of the monsters that kids made were really good ideas. In Gym we played baseball. I was 2nd batter and I got a few hits :D In HTML class, it was the day that kids learned the basics, so I finished my website in a few minutes...XD I actually did extra and made 5 pages instead of one! XD In Computer Programing, I never had done it before, but it was also an easy day for everyone. For me it was easy because all of the code were in English letters. I could type fast, so I actually finished very quickly and the kids were amazed, but I actually had no idea what I was doing...XD. At the end of the week the class presented me with two boards with signatures of every classmate and a short message. One of the kids in the classes drew the card pictures and it looks very nice. I will definitely picture frame it when I get home. I wish I could go to Kousen more, but I ran out of weeks. :(
I wish I would have gone earlier so I could have fit in more days, but everything so far has been perfect, so I actually don't regret anything. I met some of Yuichi's friends and a couple days we rode bikes home with some of them. One of the days Yuichi pulled out his guitar and bass (he had 2 of each). Of course he is super busy with school so he does not have much time to play. He was like me, he knew how to play a song or two, but that was about it. So he showed me a song he knew and I showed him a simple one I knew. He was very happy when he saw that I had some interests like him. He liked similar Manga, he liked HTML, some of the same bands that my dad and I listen to (Dad, I will learn to play a song by The Who just for you XD). So I showed him a site with guitar songs that people could use that did not know how to read music. He immediately pulled up a Red Hot Chili Peppers song and started learning how to play it. He knew Led Zepplin, so I showed him Stairway To Heaven XD. It was cool. Overall, the whole week was very fun. I got Yuichi's email and we are going to keep in touch that way. He said it would be good for practice too. He said he would type in English and he told me to type in Japanese. I am looking forward to it.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Kousen High School
Monday morning I went to the Kubo's house. I will be staying with them for the week and attend Kousen High School with Yuichi, Mrs. Kubo's son, who is 17 years old. There was not a lot of time for getting acquainted that morning because we needed to get to school. Yuichi and I got on our bikes right away and headed for Kousen so that we would not be late. It takes 40 min. to get to the school by bike. It is difficult though due to 4 bridges and a huge hill right at the end before ｒｅａｃｈｉｎｇ the school. My legs got very tired after the bike ride. XD It was arranged for me to be in a class with kids the same age as me. My home room teacher is Mr. Yasuda, who is the English teacher as well. So it is nice, because If I have any problems I can always talk to him in English. Classes go until 4:40 and soccer goes until 7:00 pm. So for the week at Kousen, I will be able to nothing besides school. I get home around 9:00 due to the long bike ride and after a little bit of time talking with some friends ｂｅｆｏｒｅ leaving for home. Each day the schedule is different for classes. Monday I had Japanese, English, math, physics, and chemistry for 2 hours. That particular Monday, the school had 2 hours off at the end of the day due to a competition the past weekend. In the Japanese cｌａｓｓ we listened to a tape while reading a book. I got to help out in English class with Mr. Yasuda. In Chemistry we took plastic bottles and made soap with them. I got to take mine home with me, LOL. I was ｔｏｌｄ to wait one month before opening it. Even though it was a long day, when I got home, I watched Nacho Libre with Yuichi and his little brother before going to bed.
Tuesday I had Math, English, chemistry, history, and computers. Math was two hours and computers was 3! I have been making many friends and having a great time :)
At soccer it was much different than Tohei High School, since it was more of just a club and not a school team sport. Kousen being a 5-year senior high school/college (Asahikawa National College of Technology) specializes in computers, robots, and so on. Most of the kids there are very talented. I was lucky to be allowed as a guest student there. It is very difficult to get into this school, and once enrolled, the students must maintain their academic levels in order to continue there. Mainly the students graduate with an associate of engineering degree, but some go into medicine. It was an odd sight for me to be going to school with students that were twenty years old. I guess it was funny to me because there was such a big age difference between the students there.
Again I don't have much time, so I ｗｉｌｌ detail more and add pictures in time. I am very sorry. The computer lab closes in 3 min. XD I gotta go, LOL!
Tuesday I had Math, English, chemistry, history, and computers. Math was two hours and computers was 3! I have been making many friends and having a great time :)
At soccer it was much different than Tohei High School, since it was more of just a club and not a school team sport. Kousen being a 5-year senior high school/college (Asahikawa National College of Technology) specializes in computers, robots, and so on. Most of the kids there are very talented. I was lucky to be allowed as a guest student there. It is very difficult to get into this school, and once enrolled, the students must maintain their academic levels in order to continue there. Mainly the students graduate with an associate of engineering degree, but some go into medicine. It was an odd sight for me to be going to school with students that were twenty years old. I guess it was funny to me because there was such a big age difference between the students there.
Again I don't have much time, so I ｗｉｌｌ detail more and add pictures in time. I am very sorry. The computer lab closes in 3 min. XD I gotta go, LOL!
Sapporo
On Saturday, I went to the school festival at Tohei High School. Some kids from the soccer team were there, so they guided me around the school. I got to see a school play, watch the band play, eat some food, get a massage, and view decorated rooms. One of the rooms was filled with paper animals to represent Asahiyama Zoo. It was very clever and well done. The students went all out on their decorations, so it was very exciting to see. They even had a room that was set up to give massages. I went into the room for a massage, and it was one of the soccer members that massaged me! They had pop bottle caps on the ground to massage the feet, but it hurt more than massaged, LOL. Overall, the festival was very enjoyable.
Sunday morning my host mom and I headed to Sapporo, the largest city in Hokkaido. We first went to a city nearby Sapporo called Otaru. Otaru is famous for glass and sound boxes. Another special thing ａｂｏｕｔ Otaru is their ice cream. I went to the ice cream shop with the supreme soft-cream special which contained lavender, milk, melon, strawberry, and coffee flavored ice cream. It was so delicious.
Once in Sapporo, we went to some shopping centers - they were all around. Sapporo was huge. It was much bigger than Asahikawa city. I had a great time with my host mom. She was looking for a summer bag as a purse to carry around. So I kept on joking with her and pointed to small shopping bags and said "Look!!! Summer bag!!!!" LOL, she laughed. We went to a Toys R Us in Sapporo to see if there were more Keroro things. We also stopped at a pet store just to look around. I went right to the parakeets because I miss my birds at home so much. One of the birds tried to bite my nose and my host mom laughed at me. The malls there were all really cool with grass and trees indoor. Everything was kept up very well. Who would think that shopping could be so much fun!
After leaving the city, we stopped at the home of a friend of my host mom's. We were invited there for dinner. We had curry rice ａｎｄ it was very delicious. I can't help but comment on how good the food is...can you tell I like the food? HAHA. It was a very enjoyable weekend.
The next morning I needed to wake up very early. I was going to the Kubo family's house for a week. I am short on time right now, so I will detail my post more later and add pictures. I am very sorry.
Sunday morning my host mom and I headed to Sapporo, the largest city in Hokkaido. We first went to a city nearby Sapporo called Otaru. Otaru is famous for glass and sound boxes. Another special thing ａｂｏｕｔ Otaru is their ice cream. I went to the ice cream shop with the supreme soft-cream special which contained lavender, milk, melon, strawberry, and coffee flavored ice cream. It was so delicious.
Once in Sapporo, we went to some shopping centers - they were all around. Sapporo was huge. It was much bigger than Asahikawa city. I had a great time with my host mom. She was looking for a summer bag as a purse to carry around. So I kept on joking with her and pointed to small shopping bags and said "Look!!! Summer bag!!!!" LOL, she laughed. We went to a Toys R Us in Sapporo to see if there were more Keroro things. We also stopped at a pet store just to look around. I went right to the parakeets because I miss my birds at home so much. One of the birds tried to bite my nose and my host mom laughed at me. The malls there were all really cool with grass and trees indoor. Everything was kept up very well. Who would think that shopping could be so much fun!
After leaving the city, we stopped at the home of a friend of my host mom's. We were invited there for dinner. We had curry rice ａｎｄ it was very delicious. I can't help but comment on how good the food is...can you tell I like the food? HAHA. It was a very enjoyable weekend.
The next morning I needed to wake up very early. I was going to the Kubo family's house for a week. I am short on time right now, so I will detail my post more later and add pictures. I am very sorry.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Spending time with the Yamaguchi family
I am sorry I have not posted for a few days. I was away from my house, so I could not post. I was invited to spend some time with the Yamaguchi family again.
On Wednesday, Mrs. Yamaguchi picked me up in the morning to go shopping. This time all of her kids were at school, so Mrs. Yamaguchi took me to Toys R Us to look for some Keroro Gunso items. (I LOVE Keroro Gunso) I was really happy because there were Mario and Keroro things all around. I bought a lot of Keroro things and Mrs. Yamaguchi was supprised because she knew I liked Keroro, but not that much, LOL. So after leaving the store with a big bag, we went to the supermarket to get some lunch items. Afterwards, we went to pick up her daughters, Yume and Towa, from their bus stop. They go to a Catholic kindergarten and they are twins. They are super cute and try to talk to me, but I don't understand. Their bus was pink and all the students wore light blue hats. Yume had gotten a bloody nose at school I think, so she had a wad of tissue in one of her nostrils, lol. We went to Jusco afterwards, which was a 3 story super market and department store. We went to look for Keroro toys from the little capsule vending machines. (I guess they are called "Gachya Gachya") We found another spot with Keroro toys, and Mrs. Yamaguchi bought me one as a present. It was very nice. We went to their house for lunch and afterwards I was dropped off back home.
Later, my host mom said that she invited Kyoko (a friend's daughter she introduced me to) to go out to dinner with us. (My host mom was nice to try to find someone my age to spend some time with.) The previous day, Kyoko and I went to Asahikawa city to look around and explore. I had my very first purikura, lol. A picture taking machine that also enables you to doodle on the pictures you take. These personalized snapshots are about the size of a postage stamp and are printed out in sheets. There was a room with like 20 of them. It was fun. At dinner I had ordered tempura, which is one of my favorite foods from Japan. Of course, sushi tops it though.
The next morning, Mrs. Yamaguchi picked me up again to go to church. After church, we went to a car wash and we both washed the car together. Afterwards we visited both of her sons' elementary school. Koushiro is in 1st grade and Yotaro is in 3rd grade. I felt bad for Koushiro because he was the only 1st grader in his class, but it was very cute when he studied with the teacher. Yotaro had 4 kids in his class and one was a 4th grader. I enjoyed watching them in class because I was actually learning too. We picked up the girls and then went back and picked up the boys when their school ended. The six of us went to a supermarket called CO OP to get food. Right before the entrance we saw the new mascot bear of CO OP just walk out of the truck. I guess this was the first time they have done that. I was the first person to take a picture with it, lol. It was funny to see the bear dancing around the store while we were shopping.
Back at home, Yoshiro had some Keroro Gunso episodes on tape that he recorded because he loved Keroro, too. Both boys actually had Keroro underpants and Koushrio ran around in them. I would be staying the night at the Yamaguchi house. The day before, Mrs. Yamaguchi had invited me. I had my own room and a real bed so it was comfy to be able to be in a bed again lol. I drew pictures with the kids before diner and played New Super Mario Bros. with Yotaro on both of our DS's. (I am sorry you missed out on a Mario Bros. match with me, Chris Carder XD). While I was playing, the other 3 kids took my camera and started taking pictures with it. Koushiro took pictures of my DS, and Towa and Yume took pictures of each other. It was funny to look back at them and see what they did in there pictures. At dinner we had Sukiyaki, which was awesome. Everyone took a raw egg and cracked it into thier bowl. Then Mrs. Yamaguchi had a stove-type thing in the middle of the table. In a pot, meat, mushrooms, tofu, and noodles were being cooked. everyone took what they wanted one by one from the community pot and dipped it in the egg to eat it. It was very interesting and good. Since it got a little messy, newspapers were set around the table. Right by Koushiro's seat was a picture of a man and an animation with a golf club in swinging motion. It was hilarious when he was drawing pictures all over him and drawing poop pictures on him. The best part was when he drew a poop with the "swish movement" lines right were the golf swing was. I almost was on the floor laughing. We all made funny faces in the pot because our faces appeared distorted from the concave and convex areas of the pot. Mr. Yamaguchi came home from work, but he went out with his friend from work right away. I got to meet him and say hi, but that was about it. It was late and I went to bed.
In the morning, we had bread that we chose from the previous day. Of course, I chose melon pan and a chocolate filled roll. I never liked bread so much in my life. At the supermarket, there must have been at least 10 different kinds of bread I wanted to eat including the curry filled one (I misspelled it last time because I am so used to Japanese Katakana being "karee" LOL. XD)
Mrs. Yamaguchi and I then went to church. After mass, we went to a discussion about the New Testament with the priest there. He studied in America so he could speak English quite well. We met some of Mrs. Yamaguchi's friends, and we went to lunch afterwards. I had rice and pork with curry. (Well, I feel the need to say it... mm mm.)
After being out most of the day, we picked up the kids and went to the house. We played games just like before and watched Star Wars episode 3 in Japanese. It had English subtitles so I could understand at least. :D It was a an enjoyable afternoon.
Later in the day, we went to a restaurant called 5 Star to eat. We met with Mr. Yamaguchi there. It was a viking style restaurant, but a little different than the other one I went to with my host mom. This one had a grill in the middle of the table. (I'm still a bit confused as to why it is called viking style, but the best way to describe it is the Japanese version of all-you-can-eat.) The dinner was very similar to the sukiyaki, because we all chose meat to grill and and ate what we wanted. Yakitori, sushi, tempura, and melon soft serve ice cream was what I chose to eat. It was one of the best meals I have had. So many of my favorites were available to me. By the time we got home it was late, so I talked with the parents for only a little bit before going to bed.
Saturday morning we had biscuits and jelly for breakfast. I had milk tea to drink, which is one of my favorite drinks here in Japan. We talked a little and later I showed Yotaro an infinite life trick in Mario Bros. XD. Afterwards, it was time for me to go home. (Perfect timing - I have been wanting to watch Keroro Gunso on TV because it is on Saturdays at 10:00 - I would make it home just in time :D)
I thanked the Yamaguchi family for everything. I had a unforgettable time with them. They want me to stay at there house again sometime before I leave. I hope to do so, too.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Asahidake
The tallest mountain in Hokkaido is Asahidake. That is where I went Sunday. It was a long car drive there, but enjoyable with being able to study 1st grade to 3rd grade kanji, like Mori Sensei said :D. The mountain was huge and a chairlift was needed to go up around half the height. My ojiisan (grandpa) went, too. When we reached the part to walk though, he stayed in the rest area and just enjoyed the view, while my host mom and I began to climb. The path had lots of rocks, so I had to be careful where I stepped. The view was gorgeous. Mountains, valleys, rivers, and city all were in sight. My host mom kept on asking me why I was enjoying it so much; I guess she is used to seeing mountains everyday XD. She got tired and told me to continue by myself. I had to go to the bath at the base of the part where it started getting steep fast. My host mom did not want grandpa waiting. I did not get to see the top of the mountain because we ran out of time, but it was still a nice view. If I ever went back, I would definitely climb to the top.On the way back, we stopped for some lavender ice cream again in Furano, while driving grandpa back to his home :) . Grandpa would stay for the week at his house and return maybe over the weekend or next week. We stopped by the home of my ojiisan's sister, which was very close, and they had melons and cherries. I was given a melon and we picked cherries. It was fun. The melons were very delicious. I have been wanting to try a lot of fruit now, because some are so different in size and flavor from the fruit in America.
By the time we got close to home it was late at night. We went out to get some sushi anyways, and like always it was super delicious.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
A day full of activities
One of the delicious strawberries
Me and Mac (I am not fat lol, that is just the wind blowing XD )
Me and the mushroom block
Asahikawa city from a higher view
My grandpa had therapy at 7:00pm, so my host mom told me that we would drive around and go site-seeing for a while. We drove to a city called Pippu, which is famous for strawberries. We went to go strawberry picking again!!!!! My host mom had stopped some residents of Pippu to ask which strawberry farm had the best selection because there were farms everywhere so it was hard to choose which one to go to. They told us that Makino had the best. So we went to Makino Farm and it had strawberries galore. What made this farm special was that it had different types of strawberries. My favorite was the Kentaro kind. :D (Funny, because Kentaro is also the name of my friend from Japan that lived in America when we were younger.) The man in care of the strawberries came up to me and started talking to me in perfect English. I was surprised and he told me that he was a retired college professor and studied English in America for six years. He told me to call him Mac. We talked about differences between America and Japan and how Japanese fruit have so much more flavor than the ones in America XD. The strawberries were delicious. I probably ate more than I did last time. After strawberries, we went to a town right nearby that was not famous for strawberries, but for mushrooms. (No, I did not see Mario there, hahah.) We went to a mushroom house and my host mom asked if I was allowed to look around. The keeper was glad to and we went into the dark and cold chambers in the back. There was aisles of mushrooms. I got to hold the blocks they had that the mushrooms grew out of. It was cool, but hillarious, I mean I was holding a block with mushrooms popping out of it. HAHAHA. After getting away from strawberry and mushroom land, we next traveled to what seemed to be watermelon land. Of course, we did not buy one because they were like 50 to 75 dollar watermelons! They were huge and looked delicious though.
After visiting those three places, we drove up a huge hill with a road on it, so I could see the entire city from the top. It was awesome. I put my hand over my eyes and looked afar. Starting from the left I looked across the city. When I looked at the right side, something caught my eye. It was my rival. AHHAAH! I laughed because that one skiing hill I went to a while ago was standing tall in the background. It reminded me of how I could see it from anywhere and it seemed close, but was actually very far away. After we had taken grandpa to his therapy, we took the bus to the downtown area of Asahikawa. We went to a restaurant there and it was Izakaya style (this is a common Japanese bar and restaurant). It was delicious, like all the food I have tried :P. There were 4 people next to us that seemed to be in their 20's. At the end of my meal one of them started talking to me. It was hard for me to understand. My host mom came over and he talked to her. He talked to her for a very long time. While they were talking the other guy told me that he loved me and he will give his life up for me while holding his beer up and shouting. LOL. So I said bye, but the guy that was talking with my host mom walked over to the exit with us. He said he wanted to learn English from me. My host mom assumed he meant for money, so she asked him how much, lol. He said he was poor, but then he asked what food I liked. My host mom replied with Meiji chocolate. So I had an offer to teach English for boxes full of Meiji chocolate and maybe dinner or lunch sometimes. His name was Hirama, and he was very nice. I haven't decided what I will do yet, but he told me to call him Monday if I am ok with it. At the time, I was super confused, it was not until later that my host mom cleared this up.
After dinner we ran to an Anman (steamed cake) shop, it was a little store that was just outside. The dessert was something like a little bread loaf or bun filled with Japanese azuki sweet beans. There were porcupine shaped ones also, filled with sweet potato. Those were very cute, lol. My host mom bought 2 of each so we each could have the azuki and sweet potato. They were soooooo good! I did not want to eat the porcupine one because it looked so perfect, but I couldn't resist. It was delicious, lol. We made it to the 11:00 bus just in time and headed for home. My host mom and I talked for a while and I thanked her for the awesome day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)