Tokyo Orientation

Day 0 - August 22
After a 14 hour sleepless flight with two really awesome people (one of which is going to the same school as me), I finally made it to Japan. Three trains and one broken bag later, I was at the National Olympic Youth Memorial Center. There, all the exchange students with EIL were put into rooms. I shared a room with an Italian names Francesco.
After being put in rooms, we went for dinner. I had omurice, which is rice in an omelet. It was amazing.
After carrying bags from the airport, I was sweaty and needed a bath. The catch? They were public baths. Meaning there were a few rows of showers and a big bath were people soaked in (after washing themselves in the shower first). I went in not thinking about what I was doing. I walked in the change room, got naked, and went to shower, then got in the bath. When in Rome (Japan), do as the Romans (Japanese) do. Nonetheless, the bath was really nice and calming.
After 25 hours without sleep, I got to my room and slept

Day 1 - August 23
(I'm tired, so I'm doing a quick rundown of events)
- Went over rules and expectations (again)
- Basic Japanese class
- During dinner, we (the exchange students) were noticed by a group of Japanese girls (or rather, the blond one was noticed, and the rest of us jumped in). I was called Justin Bieber... which I'm not sure how to feel about.
- We went on a mini-adventure to the convenience store. I had my first Gari Gari (a kind of popsicle). They also had a lot of  Hatsune Miku stuff. I bought a PoPiPo vegetable juice :3

Day 2 - August 24
Went on a Tokyo-Tour
- Saw a shrine near the Memorial Center
- Harajuku - a lot of stores
                  - Purikura
-Asakusa - Old stuff
                - HUGE shrine
-Akihabara - Anime, manga, games
                   - openly advertised hentai
                   - An angry monk guy who got angry when our guides wouldn't let him (probably) scam me

Day 3 - August 25
I didn't have to leave until 4:00pm, so I had time to see more of Tokyo
- Shinjuku, Roppongi, Shibuya
- Went to Roppongi Hills
- Went to Shibuya Crossing
- Saw a guy with pink hair and a leopard-print spandex tank top
- at 4pm, left for Kobe on a Shinkansen (Bullet Train)
- arrived at 7:30pm
- Met host family, area representative and a teacher from my school
- Left for host family's house
- lots of talking

Pictures soon. I think ima go to sleep. Not sure if jet-lag, or new sleep schedule is putting me to bed at 9

The beginning of a bond

I've been emailing my host family back and forth a bit recently. It's kinda funny. At first, the conversation felt so impersonal and as if I was just talking to some random person. But in the last email I got, my host mom typed a bit less formally and they sent me a family picture, and now I actually feel a bit closer to them.
It's funny how after seeing who we're talking to, we feel a stronger bond with them. I'm totally taking psychology when I get back to Canada, cause the way the brain works is fascinating.
Speaking of psychology, I may end up posting my thoughts about things not related to Japan, but about  things that I've noticed about after being in Japan. Some of it may be a bit profound. Not so profound as finding the meaning of life, but still pretty profound.

Host School and Orientation

I got an email the other day telling me where I'll be going to school in Japan!

ホストの学校についてメールをもらった！
I'll be attending Kobe Ryukoku High School in Kobe, in Hyogo Prefecture. 

兵庫県の神戸で、神戸龍谷高等学校に出席します。

Kobe is about an hour to an hour and a half away from Kyoto and Osaka

神戸は京都と大阪から１時半から１時半間までぐらい。

(The two places that I wanted to be placed in, so all works well.)

（それはいいね。京都や大阪で留学したいから。）

Winter Uniform
冬服

Spring/Fall - Vest
合服－ベスト

Spring/Fall - Cardigan
合服－カーディガン

Summer
夏服

I like the uniform :3

制服が好きだ。
It looks comfy.

快適そうだね。

Also, they have a kendo club!

剣道部がある！

It seems like a really nice school, so I'm excited. You can check out it's website here. It's all in Japanese though.

いい学校みたい。ここでホームページを見える。全部日本語だ。

This Friday is my orientation in Toronto. 

今週の金曜日はトロントでオリエンテーションがあります。

I kinda have an idea of what will be discussed, but I'll just make another post about it when I get home on Friday.

よく分からないけど、家に帰るときアップデートをします。