This is Part 2, please check out Part 1 HERE if you have not yet read it.
Now let's continue with Day 5 and the day we got to finally meet our host families.
Day 5:
Today was the day, I was so nervous but we got to go on a shinkansen (bullet train) which is like plane on land and can get up to speed of 320 km/h. We were on our way to Susono which is also the sister city to Frankston where I live.
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| Our shinkansen |
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| Look Mt Fuji |
When we got to the council we saw this little sign, it felt weird seeing it.
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| We are 8,100km a part |
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| Lunch they gave us |
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| With the Mayor |
It was now time to go to the school. The school is Tomioka Junior High School with the levels ranging from 7-9. We got greeted by a teacher who was in charge of us and went to our home room where we got given a little pack of itinerary and a snack.
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| Everything was delicious |
Also we got the best greeting with signs, here are some photos.
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| Shoe holder for our outside shoes |
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| A student actually did this |
We then got to meet our host student. My host student was named Tahira (たひら) and both of us likes One Direction and she is in year 9. We then went off to the classrooms, I was by myself with other people from the trip having another person and some were by their selves like me. We had to introduce ourselves to the class and then sat in the class for a bit. It was very different and a lot of Japanese was being said. Then we headed off as the class was going to sing for a competition well they were practicing. After I went back to the home room where we got more information with what was happening and to meet in the home room for a meeting and then join our host student with bukatsu (after school activities) if you wanted to but I don't think Tahira did one so that was good as I got to hang out in the home room.
It was then time to head home, so the parents came and got information as well and then it was time to go saying goodbye to everybody. The mum and little sister came to the school to pick me and Tahira up. They only lived about a 5-10 minute walk from the school and I had a very old suitcase so it broke halfway but it survived the whole trip for Japan but when I got back to Australia it went straight into the bin.
Tahira's house was a two story house and pretty modern, I settled in and gave presents for the family, some Australian souvenirs as well as Vegemite, Tim Tams and Caramello Koalas. We then went shopping, food shopping that is and listened to One Direction and then got me some chopsticks. We returned home and had dinner which was stew and then I had a shower and watched Hugh Jackman on a Japanese show as the mum loved Hugh Jackman. She has good taste according to mum as my mum loves him as well. It was then for bed ready for the next full day at school.
Here is a photo of the room I stayed in.
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| I made myself comfortable, sorry about the mess |
First full day at a Japanese school. Breakfast I had toast with vegemite, the mum even tried it and said it was bitter and sour but still ate, I think she was being nice. Then it was off to school. I went into the home room and hugged everyone as we all talked about how the night was and what we did. It was time to get changed as we were doing a performance for the school. We were performing Possum Magic and I was Grandma Poss.
It was a very awkward moment when we walked into the gymnasium where the assembly was held. We were all in our costumes as we walked in the middle of the whole school as they cheered. We got on stage where there was a row of seats for us to sit on and the school sung to us and then we performed. It was horrible, I don't think they understood well but they still cheered at the end. The assembly ended and we went back to get changed and then we split into two groups to join some classes and help. At least we got to be with our group for this.
First off my group which was group b had humanity which the class just got everyone's names. Bree and I felt like stars as everyone came to our table, it was like giving them our autograph. Next we had English where we met Sam who was from Frankston like us but he looked so familiar it was not funny. But oh well I will never know where I have seen him before. The next three classes we had was English where we helped the students out with their English.
It was then time for lunch with our host students. It was very awkward as they are given their lunch in class and had to serve it them selves, the teacher didn't do much, it was more the students running it and it was hard to know what they said as I do not know that much Japanese. It was an alright meal but I didn't eat much as I sat there silent and ate smiling at Tahira at times but then I went back to the home room which luckily it was down the hall. I sat next to Bree as she wasn't feeling well and helped her with a word find. That was when I had a panic attack and lost it when one of my teachers asked if I was alright as I was trying to stop myself from crying. It's the worse when someone asks you if you are alright coz I lost it after that.
I think it was home sickness and being alone in the class not having at least someone there that I could calm myself down, some people were fine by them self but I wasn't, I'm pretty confident with talking but being in another country it just hits harder. Luckily we got to spend sometime with just our group as we got to have a tour of Tomioka Primary School which on the same ground as the high school.
We also saw Sam there again. He was totes a babe he made mine and Josh's list of boys (This will be explained later). I also saw Tahira's sister there which was good. We then returned back to the home room and did some Shodo which is calligraphy. It was nice to be calm and collected with everyone. Literally everyone was quiet and concentrating on the Shodo.
It was then time to go back to the host students' classroom where I tried not to cry and then we went off as they sung again. I then went back to the home room where Bec and myself had some quality talking time, it was nice, you sometimes get sick on hearing Japanese sometime.
Then it was time to go home which I was not looking forward to as I felt like I was going to cry more but I kept it in until I went to bed. When we got home I got to meet Tahira's grandmother and she was nice. For dinner we had Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake/savoury pancake) and it was amazing and beautiful. Then I got a call from one of my teachers seeing how I was as well as giving me a KD Card which I can use to ring my mum and the most nice thing is that I didn't have to pay them back which was really nice of them. I then tried to ring my mum but it didn't work which was poopy but at least my host mum knew that I was home sick, so did a pretty good job keeping my mind off it. We then had some snack food like chocolate and chips.
Before bed I had a shower and met the dad briefly as he works late and then I went to bed.
Day 7: (again no photos)
It was morning and the last day at the school. Walked to school for the final time and got to the school, went to the home room where we had another Shodo lesson. I tried to ring my mum again at the school but that still didn't work as well but my mum at the time was also on holidays on the Ghan.
And then back into our groups. We had sport first where the boys in our group went to the gym with the boys of the class we were with and the girls went to the baseball pitch where we just sat and watched. Then had some more English helping and then it was lunch time. Lunch again was alright but I kept to myself as usual and then walked quickly to the home room where we got to stay the period my group which was nice. Another but last English helping lesson and then back to the home room.
Now we were suppose to go to our host students room but I asked if i got to stay with the teachers which was good when they said okay or I was going to loose it in crying. So I hanged out with the teachers going to classes when Tahira found me and asked me to go with her, the teachers followed as I had that look of nooo. Nothing against the class, seriously I was happy with them but I had an anxiety attack whenever I was left alone, something weird in my brain. We followed her the music room where they sung just for me and gave me presents. I was going to cry, but happy tears. I thanked them and then left with the teachers still and got some cake and nibbles as it was one of the girls birthday.
We had cake and drinks and sung her happy birthday and got time to chill in the home room with some of our group and some of the host students until we had to leave. The next day was a whole day with the host family, the teachers checked up on me before they left to see if I was going to be alright and they would see me on Sunday.
We got back to the house where the Grandma was waiting for us as the mum was out. So I got changed and did some origami with her. Tahira was like a little translator for me, she did really well with English. We then left to go to a restaurant for dinner called Bella which was an Italian restaurant. The grandfather met us there and it was literally a feast what we had. Dishes kept coming out when we finished one, I think they were trying to be nice with all the food.
We then headed back to the grandparents house for a while and played some games and I wasn't expecting it but the Grandma gave me a present, it was so nice. The mum came and picked us up. When we got back I tried to ring my mum again and I got through woooo. It was so good to hear her voice, it calmed me down a lot. But I found out when I got back that she was drinking when I rang her. Anyway when I rang her she was watching the footy, which was Hawthorn versus Geelong, and we don't have a good record since 2008 with Geelong when we beat them in the Grand Final so I told her I didn't want to hear the score at that moment. (Day 9 I will tell you the result). I then went off to bed after talking to mum in a way better mood after the anxiety attacks at school and missing home.
If you are wondering I still had a good time at the school and being with the host family.
And that is the end of Part 2, the school days of being Susono. Sorry for the lack of photos, I didn't take any at the school as you saw I was a mess so my mind was somewhere else always thinking of the worse, also sorry for a lot writing. I hope you like this again if you have not read Part 1 click HERE.
It was a very awkward moment when we walked into the gymnasium where the assembly was held. We were all in our costumes as we walked in the middle of the whole school as they cheered. We got on stage where there was a row of seats for us to sit on and the school sung to us and then we performed. It was horrible, I don't think they understood well but they still cheered at the end. The assembly ended and we went back to get changed and then we split into two groups to join some classes and help. At least we got to be with our group for this.
First off my group which was group b had humanity which the class just got everyone's names. Bree and I felt like stars as everyone came to our table, it was like giving them our autograph. Next we had English where we met Sam who was from Frankston like us but he looked so familiar it was not funny. But oh well I will never know where I have seen him before. The next three classes we had was English where we helped the students out with their English.
It was then time for lunch with our host students. It was very awkward as they are given their lunch in class and had to serve it them selves, the teacher didn't do much, it was more the students running it and it was hard to know what they said as I do not know that much Japanese. It was an alright meal but I didn't eat much as I sat there silent and ate smiling at Tahira at times but then I went back to the home room which luckily it was down the hall. I sat next to Bree as she wasn't feeling well and helped her with a word find. That was when I had a panic attack and lost it when one of my teachers asked if I was alright as I was trying to stop myself from crying. It's the worse when someone asks you if you are alright coz I lost it after that.
I think it was home sickness and being alone in the class not having at least someone there that I could calm myself down, some people were fine by them self but I wasn't, I'm pretty confident with talking but being in another country it just hits harder. Luckily we got to spend sometime with just our group as we got to have a tour of Tomioka Primary School which on the same ground as the high school.
We also saw Sam there again. He was totes a babe he made mine and Josh's list of boys (This will be explained later). I also saw Tahira's sister there which was good. We then returned back to the home room and did some Shodo which is calligraphy. It was nice to be calm and collected with everyone. Literally everyone was quiet and concentrating on the Shodo.
It was then time to go back to the host students' classroom where I tried not to cry and then we went off as they sung again. I then went back to the home room where Bec and myself had some quality talking time, it was nice, you sometimes get sick on hearing Japanese sometime.
Then it was time to go home which I was not looking forward to as I felt like I was going to cry more but I kept it in until I went to bed. When we got home I got to meet Tahira's grandmother and she was nice. For dinner we had Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake/savoury pancake) and it was amazing and beautiful. Then I got a call from one of my teachers seeing how I was as well as giving me a KD Card which I can use to ring my mum and the most nice thing is that I didn't have to pay them back which was really nice of them. I then tried to ring my mum but it didn't work which was poopy but at least my host mum knew that I was home sick, so did a pretty good job keeping my mind off it. We then had some snack food like chocolate and chips.
Before bed I had a shower and met the dad briefly as he works late and then I went to bed.
Day 7: (again no photos)
It was morning and the last day at the school. Walked to school for the final time and got to the school, went to the home room where we had another Shodo lesson. I tried to ring my mum again at the school but that still didn't work as well but my mum at the time was also on holidays on the Ghan.
And then back into our groups. We had sport first where the boys in our group went to the gym with the boys of the class we were with and the girls went to the baseball pitch where we just sat and watched. Then had some more English helping and then it was lunch time. Lunch again was alright but I kept to myself as usual and then walked quickly to the home room where we got to stay the period my group which was nice. Another but last English helping lesson and then back to the home room.
Now we were suppose to go to our host students room but I asked if i got to stay with the teachers which was good when they said okay or I was going to loose it in crying. So I hanged out with the teachers going to classes when Tahira found me and asked me to go with her, the teachers followed as I had that look of nooo. Nothing against the class, seriously I was happy with them but I had an anxiety attack whenever I was left alone, something weird in my brain. We followed her the music room where they sung just for me and gave me presents. I was going to cry, but happy tears. I thanked them and then left with the teachers still and got some cake and nibbles as it was one of the girls birthday.
We had cake and drinks and sung her happy birthday and got time to chill in the home room with some of our group and some of the host students until we had to leave. The next day was a whole day with the host family, the teachers checked up on me before they left to see if I was going to be alright and they would see me on Sunday.
We got back to the house where the Grandma was waiting for us as the mum was out. So I got changed and did some origami with her. Tahira was like a little translator for me, she did really well with English. We then left to go to a restaurant for dinner called Bella which was an Italian restaurant. The grandfather met us there and it was literally a feast what we had. Dishes kept coming out when we finished one, I think they were trying to be nice with all the food.
We then headed back to the grandparents house for a while and played some games and I wasn't expecting it but the Grandma gave me a present, it was so nice. The mum came and picked us up. When we got back I tried to ring my mum again and I got through woooo. It was so good to hear her voice, it calmed me down a lot. But I found out when I got back that she was drinking when I rang her. Anyway when I rang her she was watching the footy, which was Hawthorn versus Geelong, and we don't have a good record since 2008 with Geelong when we beat them in the Grand Final so I told her I didn't want to hear the score at that moment. (Day 9 I will tell you the result). I then went off to bed after talking to mum in a way better mood after the anxiety attacks at school and missing home.
If you are wondering I still had a good time at the school and being with the host family.
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| I lied here is a photo of Tahira and I at the restaurant that night. |
And that is the end of Part 2, the school days of being Susono. Sorry for the lack of photos, I didn't take any at the school as you saw I was a mess so my mind was somewhere else always thinking of the worse, also sorry for a lot writing. I hope you like this again if you have not read Part 1 click HERE.
Part 3 will be up soon.
Please comment what you think of this series.
Catch you on the flip side
-KadekLouise xxx
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