Arrived safely.
Limited access to the internet.
Will make a blog post as soon as I can.
Had orientation with JFIE on the 19th.
Met my host family on the 20th afternoon - after a shinkansen ride for 3 hrs from Tokyo.
Going to meet school principal today.
Just got my luggage just then.
Gotta go,
stay safe and take care everyone! :)
Monday, November 22, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
3 days! + pre-departure pack + a special thank you to asian group + WG.
3 days! o_o oh my, the days have gone so fast. but yay! 3 days! :D
Okay, I have received my pre-departure pack :) which contained the following:
- E-ticket number and itinerary. Departing at Sydney on the 18th of November, 10pm and arriving at Tokyo at 6:15am. The flight goes for a bit over 10 hours - I doubt I would be able to sleep. Just turn all groggy and half conscious. ^^;
- ISIC card which stands for International Student Identity Card. It has a photo of my face laminated on the card , looks quite dodgy IMO. xD I just went on its website - apparently you can get discounts for a range of services and products - YAY for discounts. xD
- Pre departure, transit, arrive and return information.
- Meeting at the airport at 7.
-There are 13 exchange students departing that day from Sydney and other cities. I have been talking to a few via msn - hope it helps with easing any awkwardness, which I usually get cause I'm just...socially awkward. > >;
That's about it. My luggage is pretty much all set. I still need to activate my Travelex card so mum can send me money if I run out. ^^" I better do that tomorrow. :/ I think that's pretty much it. ^^
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Non-exchange section:
Thank you to the ASIAN GROUP + WG for today's mini surprise farewell party.
Quite unexpected - definitely a shocker, lol.
Although its not like I'm leaving for a year or something, I just wanted to say that I am very grateful to have met every single one of you. We are like a mini family, we have our times of disagreements but also moments where we're just laughing together for no apparent reason. We've developed our own inside jokes and although we may not go out as much as other groups, being the studious (or lazy people) we are - we've made some memorable moments that I will cherish forever. :)
Special thanks to:
Bex - for starting the idea for the party. Hope we do keep in contact with each other, you're one of the few primary school friends that I've managed to keep frequent contact with. Sorry for all the days I've been absent in Ancient, and thank you for getting all my work. ^^"
Dang - Your presence at the party was a surprise itself. xD I don't think you read this blog but oh well. Thank you for the times you've given your words of wisdom to me - although you may have not realised it, lol. Please invite me to your future wedding in France, O-Professor Dang. :)
An - Thank you for taking part in planning the party. :) I will remember the times in 10O, those random drawings you did in my diary (I still have them), DT times and haha, I still have the video of us in Ms Ibby's room telling the 'JELLYBEAN STORY!!' LOL.
Cassie (WG) - First thing I think of is that advertisement we did with Nessa at the park about that chocolate bar - what was the name of it again? o-o Lol, from our ad, I don't think we'll succeed in the filming/acting industry, it was kinda a fail lol, but we had a good time and thats what matters 8) Thank you for today~ and all the best for the future.
Selena - First of all, thank you for eating that wasabi today xD Although we haven't known each other for that long, it's been a pleasure to meet you and to tell you off for always txting in Business. You are very welcome. :) Thank you for coming today - hope you have an awesome holiday and best of luck for the future.
Steph - I haven't met you for a long time also (relatively), I still have quite a few things to thank you. Thank you for all the times you took initiative to talk to me, although it may not have been your intention, I'm very thankful cause I know I'm not the most talkative person at times. > <; and thank you again, for reading this blog and leaving a comment. ^^" Good luck with your results, I'm sure your hard work will pay off. :)
I'm too sleepy to finish all my thanks, lol It's 11:23pm, going to sleep now. ^^"
G'night~
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
8 days! + Non-exchange related post.
8 days!!
My last post was quite disorganised - kept on having interruptions. I said I was going to 'continue the post' but I'm not in the mood right now. o.o; Apologies. I will definitely update the blog again when I receive the pre-departure pack which should arrive within this week :D
That's the end of the exchange-related part of this post. ^^; Sorry, I basically said nothing in this part.....oh wait,
It's not the end of this section, haha. Just received an email from SEA (organisation I'm with) about how we're not allowed to bring laptops. Mobiles are alright but you have to sign this declaration form (about how you will abide to the rules etc). D: Damn, I was planning to bring my laptop - for Skyping, blogging and holding all my photos and videos in the case where my camera runs out of memory.
But thinking about it logically, (aka comforting myself lol), it's only for three months and it's not like it's for a year - so I guess I understand why they established a rule like this. But I still want to keep blogging throughout the exchange, I don't know how I'm going to manage that. D: Wait, I'm supposed to be thinking positively lol I was actually like 'oh, that's alright, I guess' when I read the email but Bich reminded me about this blog. Hm, I'll somehow try to find a way around it but I don't want to go on my host family's computer cause it's their computer....and it's also in the living room (well, it looks like it is when I skyped them) so I'd probably be disturbing them during Skype. Dilemma, dilemma.
As for the mobile, I'll see how it goes... although I'm sure my mum will urge me to take it with me. > >;
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Non-exchange section:
A little message,
I'm not very good with expressing my feelings with words.
But all I can say is, thank you guys. You know who you are - thank you so much for today.
It means a lot to me. It really does.
haha, oh the cheesiness *shivers* I shall stop now, I can't stand it myself. Bye. xD
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
9 days! + Update on Skype-ing with Host family!
9 days left! *drum sound*
- but that's not the main topic of this post.
It's currently 12:28am (9th of Nov,Sydney, Aus) as I type this sentence. and I've just returned from my Skype video call with my younger host sister, Chika, and host mum, Yuka. *crowd cheers* Yes, thank you, somehow I managed to not faint and remain calm enough to type this post.
Prior to the video call, being the paranoid person I am, I prepared a few generic questions/greetings/phrases that I thought I could use - yes, THOUGHT I could use, but only ended up using 2 out of the whole list. Some words were in Kanji that I was quite familiar with so I THOUGHT I had no problem reading but I blanked out during the call and ended up making random pronunciations. Why, oh, why Angel?
For the first few minutes of the video call, I was just like o_o and started doing my little self-introduction. Then I went on saying thank you like a million times while furiously bowing at my laptop. > <;; When I sort of calmed down, I totally forgot about my list of prepared questions and winged it. I think I have a clearer idea on what to get for my host family now - oh, I can confirm most of the items on my list. (e.g. Tim-tams, oh and add Macadamia nuts).
Oh and yes, I think I did some embarrassing things....
- and it's now 8:45pm (9th of Nov). Didn't get to finish my post. Glad I didn't cause I would have listed out all those embarrassing things I did - all I can say now is, that I was trying to use all this random body language actions that popped into my mind to express what I wanted to say cause all the Japanese I've ever learnt just disappeared from my mind...fail. Oh, and they have a dog! - I think his name was Yu-kun.
Other things that we talked about included:
- Plans for a family trip to Tokyo Disneyland! 8) * celebration dance*
- Chika-san (younger host sister) and her friends are planning to take me to a nearby amusement park around where we live (Hirakata City). Oh, I'm a bit nervous about meeting her friends ^^;
- Chika also told me that the English teacher said 'Angel looks very cute.' - Well, he's going to get a nasty surprise when he meets me. > >; lol
- Um, what else... oh yes, host mother said they don't have any particular house rules but that if I have any problems or concerns, to tell her honestly (ngaw! at how friendly she is). I also said that if she had any concerns about me, including any habits that she has an issue with, to feel free and tell me as well.
- and a lot of other random topics that came to mind. ^^; can't exactly remember...
Okay, time to move on to the next topic before I forget,
I went shopping today for all the things I needed to pack including the omiyage. I shall announce that I was very satisfied with the results. 8) Bought most of the things I needed, just need to buy the food omiyage and magazines - then I'm pretty much done! (I think)
I left the house at 10:30am and came back home at 6pm - lol, it was a long day today. I also bought some jewelery for Ayaka-san (Older host sister) - Thank you Steph for the suggestion!!
Shall continue post tomorrow, too tired right now~
Sunday, November 7, 2010
11 days!
Less than two weeks till departure! hurhur.
I don't have anything exactly special to report on but I've been emailing with host family - and I might be calling them on Skype the coming Monday! My host mum even went out to buy a headset so I can call her. (ngaw! moment) but I'm so nervous right now. Just thinking about it makes me have butterflies. I don't know what I'm going to be like when I'm about to meet them *faint*
-Yep, it's confirmed. Skype on Monday 11pm (Sydney, Aus time) ohcrapohcrapohcrap
Anyway, I'm going to be studying Japanese like crazy between now and Monday. D: But I'll probably end up blanking out and speaking random Japanese phrases that pops into my head. ;_____;
On another topic, I haven't exactly started packing - I swear I'm going to forget something important. Must starting packing now. noww. I can't imagine if I had to pack for a year exchange :S Let's not picture that. I just did - disastrous thought.
As for omiyage, I'm having difficulties on what to buy. ;____; I was wondering whether we're going to have to buy their Christmas presents too or do we buy that in Japan? Discussed it with Meagan (another exchange student, on the same program as me) and we've decided 'nahhhhhhhh' xD Lol, but it's mainly because it's going to take up a lot of luggage space (we only get to bring one item for checked in baggage). So yeah, but what to do about the gifts?
Here are some ideas that I've got so far from past exchange students and exchange forums etc:
- Tim-tams.- Apparently they have it in major cities, but it's expensive and they only have a limited (not really) rangeof flavours. (Original, Double Coat, White Choc, Caramel).
- Vegemite! - I don't exactly like Vegemite but hey, apparently it's an Australian icon and maybe (though I doubt it) they will like it. xD
- Nutella! - According to Bec (exchange student that is currently in Japan), they don't have it there, or at least, not near where she lives. Others have had said the same so far, so I'm definitely buying some Nutella. (Yay, I got something that's confirmed. ;___;)
- Wow, my list is all food so far. :S - non-food item: magazines! for host sisters. But there's not exactly a range of choice available. Dolly, Girlfriend....or K-Zone!!! xDD
- Music CDs - LOL. Those that know me know that I mainly listen to K-pop, Chinese, sometimes a bit of Jap, songs. So, I'm going to have research about what's 'in' right now in the 'Western' world. ^^; Ahh, I hope they don't ask me information about the artists....Must study! lol
- Australian calendar/photo book/memorabilia e.g. ...ehh, magnets? or little koalas/kangaroos?
That's about all I got.o-o; But I don't think any of this will be new for my older host sister, since she's been here before. :/ What shall I do? D:
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Am I allowed to talk about non-exchange related things here? o.o;
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
'First' post!
Hooray! for renovation. ヽ(´∇`)ノ
Deleted all my old blog posts - only keeping the ones that are exchange-related. 8)
Shall I do a little intro? Nah, I never know what to say in those.
How about a brief overview of my host family + host school etc.
Firstly, I am going on exchange to Japan for three months from November 18th - February 12th 2010. (Yes, I miss out on Valentines Day in Japan - nooooooo~ D: lol)
Host family
First of all, I'm so grateful for them accepting me! :')
Sooo, I'm going to be living in Hirakata City (between Osaka and Kyoto) with my host parents and, ...my two host sisters! Shall be interesting to see what it would be like to have a sister~ (although I wanted a brother as well, but I shan't get too greedy xD )
My older sister, Ayaka, lives at the university campus. She's been on exchange to Australia before, for 11 months - so I'm not sure what to get her. :/
Younger sister, Chika, looks so cute! - haha, she's 16 & she's in the dance club at school. That's all I know about her so far lol and yes, I'm going to go to her high school :) ...I promise I'll try not to follow her around too much just because I have a feeling I'm going to be a loner at school. ;____:
If everything goes as planned, I'm going to be staying with this host family for the full length of my exchange. ^^
Host school
Kyoto Tachibana High school ^^
Private co-ed school located near Momoyama - (about an hour of travel)
The uniform is not too bad - not the typical sailor uniform depicted in manga/anime (;__:) haha, let's just say it looks quite - sophisticated?
School runs from 8:35am - 4:30pm on Mondays to Fridays, with an exception on Tuesdays with school ending on 3:40pm (yay for early day!) There's also school on Saturday - which goes from 8:35am to 12:40pm.
I have to bring 3 pairs of shoes for school. Black leather shoes, indoor sports shoes and outdoor sports shoes. T_T I'm going to buy a new pair of black leather shoes because my one is...dead. & I thought I didn't need to wear it ever again.... lol
& that's about it. :D
I have to start packing and buy some omiyage for my host family ;3
じゃ、またね~
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