American Fesival!

On my second day of school I had an English class with the High School students of the 2nd year. The teacher placed me next to a girl who is actually half British and half Japanese! Hence she is bilingual (but I think she is better at Japanese) and we talked a bit. At the end of the lesson the girl, Isabell, and her friends invited me to an American festival which took place on the following Sunday. I was so happy about the invitation that I instantly said yes. On the actual day, Isabell sadly couldn't come but she said her friends will pick me up from the Station and together we'll go to the festival. The girls introduced themselves as Sea, Moe, Kiri and Emi and they are all so unbelievably nice and friendly! Their English is quite good and we already talked and fooled around in the train.

Before we went to our actual destination we stopped at Hachioji and entered a mall. There we took Purikura (Japanese photo booths and a must) and then back to the station. 

The festival took place at an actual American military base! A looot of people were there. First I was afraid that I might not be let in, since me being a guardianless, underage, foreigner /student but it was no problem and they let me in like anyone else. The military base was even more packed with people than at the entrance so we got to the airfield at a pretty slow pace. On our way we saw of course a few American soldiers and the girls, especially Sea, went crazy over the good looking foreigners. Around the airfield were many stalls selling food. I got a 'kebap' (It's really not comparable to the ones I know in Germany) and a Cheese Dog which is just fried dough filled with cheese. We ate and sat around, listened to the music and took pictures together.

It was already dark when we went home and everyone was tired. Still we had an absolutely great day!

Pictures in the gallery!

A trip to Shin-Okubo (Korea Town)!!!

On October the first, Marion and I met up at Shin-Okubo, Tokyo's Korea Town. If somebody asked me to describe this district in one word it would be: Heaven. 

Simply put, Korea Town is a pilgrimage for every Kpop fan. Stores with your favourite idol's merchandise everywhere. Korean restaurants, KPOP CAFÉS, and more. The merchandise is really cheap and you can find almost everything there. From photocards over fans to music boxes, lamps, a group's offical lightstick, bottles, handkerchiefs, meme-shirts, accessories that your bias wore at a concert….and so much more. Marion and I just went from one store to another, buying merch. We did take a break though in the so-called Caesar Café, a café that plays Kpop music and serves your drink with Latte Art, in form of your favourite Kpop group's logo. I got (of course) a BTS latte macchiato and Marion ordered a caramel latte with SHINee. Everywhere were posters of Kpop idols, even in the hall leading to the toilets were BTS posters! 

I did say you can find everything in Shin Okubo so it is no surprise that we found a BTS handcream set in one of the shops. We were a bit uncertain if we should really buy it but then we thought "nah, just go for it". One thing concerned me though: 

T:" Do they have like different scents or…?"

M:" I don't know but it's different members"

The shop assistant was a funny guy. Marion and I were discussing who should get whose cream, and she said she'd like to have Taehyung, since he's her BTS bias. The shop assistant then: "Noo I take Taehyung, I like him", and so on. Then later when we went to pay he asked us where we are from (France and Germany) and what means "annyeonghaseyo" in French and German. And also what's "saranghae" in French/German. When we were about to go he gave each of us a High Five. 

Both of us fully loaded with 6-7 bags each, we ordered some food at a McDonald's. There we split up the creams, Marion got Taehyung, Jungkook (bc obvious reasons), Namjoon and Hoseok, I took Jimin, Yoongi (again obv reasons) and Jin, since my sister's bias  is Jin. Marion also gave me a late birthday present! A hand mirror with Jimin on the back and a Jimin photocard. Aaand a big SHINee poster because she bought their album and got an extra poster with it, though she already had that one so she gave it to me. At the end we were both pretty exhausted but so unbelievably happy. 

(In the end I got: a BTS postcard photoset (I will never use them, just stick 'em to my wall), a Jimin photocard, a BTS sticker for my suica card, a BTS 'In Bloom' T-Shirt, a Jimin poster, a Jimin Hand mirror,  BTS and  Seventeen buttons for my backpack, a Seventeen keychain, a Twice poster for my friend Sae, a SHINee poster, a BIGBANG folder (T:"I don't know, should I buy it?" M:" Do you like it?"-"Yeah"-"Then buy it"-"ok"), a Jimin fan, several stickers for my laptop (BlackPink, BIGBANG, ikon, Got7, Stray Kids, Nct, Astro) and a cool earring that Jimin has (and he even wears it on the fan I bought!))

Pictures in the gallery :)

School Part 2

Remember I said I will update the next day? I noticed I'm not really the update-on -the-actual-day-type. Oops?

So my first topic I want to talk about are my teachers: 

Since I have a lot of English teachers, I can communicate with them just fine. One is from America called David, then there is the young Canadian Fred, another American woman, Sandra, but she also grew up in Japan so she is fluent in Japanese (hence also my private Japanese teacher) and one teacher, Mami, is half New Zealand? I think? She can speak English. Some are Japanese which gives me honestly some cringy moments when one teacher especially pronounces a word completely wrong. Everyone is nice though. 

My Spanish teacher is from Columbia and she speaks Spanish, English and Japanese. I found out that she can only speak JP but writing is apparently another matter, she needs help from Sandra to translate the questions on some worksheets. 

There is one かっこいい イケメン English teacher (Japanese) but sadly I don't have lessons with him. But my homeroom class does (T_T). My Math teacher doesn't really speak English but sometimes he does try to translate and that is really nice of him. In Biology I don't understand anything at all, even though I learned all that stuff in my German School (They are Talking about DNA right now).

Now on to the next topic: My classmates!

Now, almost two months later I know everyone's face and name in my homeroom class. I can't say that about the other classes I have lessons with. I do know some from the class 2-3, but only like 4 people from the 3rd year. Let's not talk about the Middle School classes. My classmates are really nice and everyone gets along with everyone which is amazing, considering there has been a lot of differencies in my old German grade. In fact, they are so nice that some even gave me birthday presents which I totally didn't expect! I almost cried honestly. Everyone kind of speaks English but also on different levels. I like them all and they are already really precious to me, particularly after the school festival! I know a lot more about them and have some themes to talk about with particular people! Kpop, Figure Skating, Dating ...

I'm just gonna name them all now, no idea what to write about (^.^)'.

Nago, Sae, Koha, Nene, Kano, Natsu, Hana, Honoka, Karin, Kurumi, Risako, Noriko, Yuka, Haruka, Saho, Yurina, Miu, Saku, Yuta, Ryu, Tsuji-Shun, the other Shun, Ryouzen, Takao, Masatsuki

School! (09/12 - 11/01) Part 1

My first day of school was … something. On the way to the school I almost threw up in the bus, no kidding.  I  met up with my instructing teacher and with the teacher for the next class. He was luckily an American guy, so no difficulties in communicating. The first task of the day was me presenting a small "quiz" about me to the students (Middle School 3rd grade). I was simply reading out loud a description of me: What are my hobbies, what music do I like... that kind of thing. (I had to fo the same thing the next day in front of another class)

At that time everyone was still wearing their summer uniforms, but ol' me only got the one for winter: Long shirt, longer and with another color-skirt, high socks and a necktie. To say it was weird standing out that much is an understatement. And the students didn't change uniforms until one month later? I really would have liked to already get the summer AND winter uniform, since in March or so everyone will change back again. In addition I was just hot. We still had like 30°C outside and walking around in long clothes is a bit...warmer. 

The subjects I have:

English Conversation (1, 2, 3 year High School), English Newspaper (2nd year), English Grammar (HR 1), English (HR 1), Active English (3rd year Middle School), Spanish (2), Home Economics (3), Art (2), Biology (HR1), P.E. (HR 1), Self Study, Information (HR 1), International Studies (HR 1) and a Seminar every two weeks.

I have a lot of English.... Well with most of the teachers I can communicate, luckily, but like in Home Ec or Art I just have to try, filter every word I know and make sense of their demands/questions/etc. . In self study I honestly don't study all the time. Though I found a good book that has every necessary Kanji one needs to know. I think the number is about 2300. I am currently on number 107. So there is still a looong way ahead of me. Especially when I even can't remember all 107 I did. 

My last point for today is club activities! 

I really joined the Volleyball club! Yeiii! Though I think it is not as serious as at other schools. At least the Voba club isn't. We only have practice on two days of the week, Thursday and Friday, and sometimes we have to wait for hours until the (3) boys leave the court. My teammates are nice though. From what I can make out, since their English is reaaaally bad, it's always a conversation of wild gestures (Even though everyone learns the same stuff in English? So I really don't understand why some are so much better than others). Still I am happy as long as I can play (but I have to be honest and say that I miss my old German school's Friday Volleyball...).

Part two will be up tomorrow or on Saturday! 

September 5th until October 29th (*silently crying, praying for forgiveness*)

I have risen from the dead! And my computer as well!

A lot has happened in the last 2 months and I want to tell you as much as possible in this gigantic update. Since I honestly can't remember every single date and day this will be a report on how things in general are. I'll upload multiple small stories instead of one big one. First, it will look better and second it is currently 11.25pm and I have school tomorrow and don't have enough time to update everything at once.

The last days before school: A trip to Shimokitazawa! (09/09/18)

Before school started I went to the district of Shimokitazawa, a vintage-y crazy fashion neighborhood with a lot of second-hand shops. Originally the plan was to meet up with my friend Emily but she didn't show up? So without further ado I decided to explore Shimokitazawa on my own. The shops had some crazy stuff to offer: Adventure Time - Doc Martens (sadly they didn't fit), shoes with pandaheads in the front? A shirt with the Mendelian Rules on the back? A 'Die Toten Hosen' concert T-shirt from 2009? Vending machines with fruit and Halloween hats for your cats?

Whatever your weird taste is, you can find it here for 500 Yen. I, for my part, actually found some shoes for school, 300 Yen (!) and a backpack. I have been walking around for like 4- 5 hours, passing the occasional store playing BigBang and Twice, when I found a 7/11 and with that Free Wifi. At exactly that moment I got a text from Emily, saying she just got out of the house. 

So back to the station and meet up with the Norwegian girl. We decided to go to Harajuku again. Here we actually found the Line-Friends store! And. they. had. BT21. Merchandise. (and I bought a cute Chimmy- shirt ofc). 

Pictures are in the gallery!

September 4th

I'm alive! Just for those who were worried after watching the news and hearing about Typhoon Jebi. We only experienced very strong wind and rain, here in Yokohama. Though the news are full of video clips and warnings about the typhoon. Other regions like Osaka and Kyoto aren't so lucky. 

So what did I do today? As expected not a lot. I mostly stayed in my room and read fanfictions and when my host mom came back from work, Mari and her daughter with her, we sat together at the table and drank juice and ate grapes. Mari had to go for a short while so my host mom babysat for her. One time she had to get something and asked me to hold Aya on my lap. Never was I so afraid of doing something wrong. It's been a while since I held a baby, okay? It only lasted for a few seconds so I was "saved" quickly. 

What else...Right, yesterday my teacher called again and I can come to school on the 6th to buy shirts and socks for my uniform! Skirt and jacket though, I don't know when I can get them. So I still have to go shopping for more long pants, since I brought only 2 and one of them might not be "appropiate" enough, considering they're ripped. 

Oh, and I've been in Japan for exactly 1 month now → August 4th

September 1st

Today was my first day of school (kind of) and man, I am so drained and tired and exhausted. Last night I was so nervous I only slept like for 3 hours. My alarm should have gone off at 5.45am. I was awake at 5.00am. So I took the bus at 6.44am to get to Mitsukyō station and then take another bus to Kirigaoka kokomae. I feel so proud of myself for asking the bus driver if this was the right one! In Japanese! I made it to school without any problems. My first stop was at the teachers' office where I met up with my instructor of the school, Asano-sensei. He led me to a private room and I presented my little speech I had prepared (ofc I wrote it instantly after the first meeting at school. Who am I to write such an important thing only a few hours before, in the middle of the night?). A few minutes later my instructor explained today's schedule. First introduce myself to the teachers during a meeting  which they hold every morning (It went pretty good, I met the principle and she greeted me in German! She explained that she lived for 3 years in Lervekusen), then in front of all the school's students. BUT! Not like you might think. The school has a little studio where they broadcast the morning speech of the principle and other important occasions directly to a TV, which is installed in every classroom! You get to stand in front of big cameras like they use in a movie production! So in the beginning the principle spoke to the students and then I had to step into the camera's view and introduce myself. That was definitely so much easier than it probably would have been if it was personally in front of 900 students. After that Asano-sensei brought me to my classroom. Year 1 class 2 (In Germany it would be smth like 10b or so). As I entered the classroom the students were pretty excited and I noticed how two girls wanted the teacher to put my desk behind theirs. They were currently watching a 'show' on the TV about two families that get caught up in an earthquake and one family knows how to react, the other one isn't prepared at all which leads to a lot of drama. As soon as the movie ended the girls sitting in front of me turned around and introduced themselves, Sae and Nago, and asked me a lot of questions: Which sports I do (Volleyball and horseback riding), what's my favourite Japanese food, what kind of anime I like (I said "Banana Fish", the one that's currently airing and they both didn't know thatt one and were pretty confused) and so on. Oh and they asked me to join the soccer or Tea ceremony club (the ones they attend). Shortly after, the fire drill went off. We had to get under our desks, in case there is an earthquake, then everyone evacuated, outside onto the sports field. All the teachers and the principle were there and the principle said something, oh and we were crouching down? which was pretty tiring after a while. 

After the drill I went back with Asano-sensei and we discussed the subjects I'm going to take. Art (though in the 2nd year), Spanish (I could have also chosen Chinese but considering that they already have had lessons since spring...), PE, English, mayyybe home economics (which is like just how to household with cooking and stuff), Math (........ ....  ... do I need to say more?) and Biology.

For a few subjects I'll have to go into another year, 2nd or even 3rd grade but my actual class is 1-2. Asano-sensei said I shouldn't choose Japanese because it might be too difficult for me. So a lot of exchange students take science instead. I told him that I haven't had Physics and Chemistry in two years, only Biology until my graduation. Hence I don't have to take Physics and Chemistry now. YEIII! We discussed a few more points, also about the uniform. The one I can't order before the 14th. That means I have to go to school without a uniform but with something similar like a white blouse/shirt and LONG dark pants (I wore short ones today and later, when Asano-sensei called my home bc he forgot something  to tell me, he said to me I shouldn't wear these kinds of pants. They could have told me sooner but oh well, I have to go shopping anyways). We talked out all the for now important formalities and I made my way back to the bus stop. On my way back I noticed how every remaining drop of energy was sucked out of my body. Coming down from my nervous adrenaline trip I became so exhausted! How I managed not to fall asleep in both the busses, I have no idea. On my way back home I dragged myself up the hill that leads to my apartment complex. After drinking like 2 litres of every liquid I could find I fell into my bed and slept for 2 hours. Then my host dad woke me bc Asano-sensei was on the phone and after the call I fell back into bed. Only to sleep for 4 hours more.

Guess who won't be able to sleep this night!