Nyan~

Just to let you all know I'm still alive. (^^) The ju jitsu summercamp was great - although I really wish I could have stayed for all four days. I had to leave early this morning to get to Oppdal - I'll be going on a mountain hike with my parents for a couple of days. ....and my leg hurts! Well, it's really sore, anyway... :P I'm not sure what I've done, but I suspect my training might have something to do about it. Oh well. I'll just be slightly House-ish for a couple of days. No harm in that, I guess. XD

...oh, and I'm playing Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations. It's the third game... I've just finished the second case. Yay! (^^)v


I won't be able to blog for some time now, so please be patient! :P I know you're all dying to know what I'm up to... haha! Anyway, have a nice holiday and enjoy yourselves, okay? I'll be sure to do the same! :D

Summer Holiday~

And it feels good~

I've been quite busy with my exams and all the last minute things to do at school and so on. Still, it was all worth it - we had a lovely end-of-term celebration at Langøyene, and I got my grades... I'm quite proud of myself: I got a 4 on my math exam!! (ノ＞＜)ノ I've always had trouble with math, so being able to secure my precious 4 is well done. Yay! It's a glorious moment in history - I'm done with math at school! (^O^)/ ♪ (Norwegian school anyway... I'll probably have to study it while in Japan, so I won't understand a thing, haha!) Maybe I'll post my grades later, if I feel like bragging a bit *cough*. I'm really pleased, though, because with these grades I should be able to get back to my school even if I have to apply all over again after completing my exchange. Hah!

It was kind of sad saying goodbye to my classmates, since I wont be in their class ever again... but at the same time I'm eagerly awaiting my exchange to Japan, so I guess I'm too excited to think too much about that right now. That sounds cold, doesn't it? It's not meant that way - you know I love you guys! ;) Still, it's fair to say there's a lot going on inside my head at the moment. Most of it's positive, though, not to worry!☆

I'm going on a ju jitsu camp this weekend, and I think it'll be a lot of fun! My body will probably be quite sore by the end of it, though, haha! But it's all worth it - I'll get to train with Alain Sailly, a French martial arts master. His technique is amazing. m(_ _)m

After that I'll be heading up to the mountains with my mom and dad for some time before going to our cabin for a couple of weeks. I'll be home sometime in July, I think, but don't get too upset with me if I don't update here for a while. No internet equals no blog. Gomen, ne~!

Oh, and mom's made me an omelet sandwich! It's so good~ ☆ (^ ^)

I'll try to update my "A day at the beach" post with some pictures when I get back, ok? ^^

A day at the beach

Lately school's been nothing but a breeze. We have so little left to do that it's ridiculous. (Not that I mind.) Today we were cleaning our classroom. Let me tell you - it's unbelievable how much junk and paper you gather up throughout the school year. I'm amazed.

It's kind of sad for me, since this is the last week I'll be spending with my class. When I come back they'll all have graduated high school! @_@; Still, I'm really grateful that I got to spend two years with this class, and that I'll be able to spend a year in Japan!☆ So I really shouldn't complain.

After cleaning our classroom, a few of us (Thomas, Eivind, Matias and I) went to Langøyene. Actually, Matias and I went ahead of the others, so we were only two, carrying Eivind's tent. Originally the class was supposed to spend the night at the island, but in the end only Eivind and Thomas did. XD We'll all meet them there tomorrow and eat breakfast togehter.☆ ^^ It'll be fun!

The weather was really nice and sunny, and the sea was warm too. It was so nice~ There were some Canada geese there who had ducklings, and I ended up feeding them half my lunch... I'm sorry, mom! They were so cute! They even took food from my hand and...er...mouth. (It's not as bad as it sounds, really. They don't bite.) I took so many pictures!

While Matias read "Schottish Ghosts", I joined some kids in their hunt for crabs. I got several, because I have skillz when it comes to catching crabs with my hands. ^O^ I kid you not. After splashing around, getting my jeans all wet and taking lots of pictures I decided to join Matias on the beach, and we waited until Eivind and Thomas came to join us. I had a jellyfish fight with Thomas (using dead jellyfish, of course...) and it was great fun! They made these yucky noises: *splach!* It was quite cool. Tomorrow it'll be a combined water and jellyfish fight, I think... Some kids never grow up! :P

Aaah~, a great day!

The water was really nice!

They were so cute~!

Poor Nii-san didn't get to read his book in peace, haha! XD

I love water! And I love splashing in it.

This girl was looking for crabs too!

I named him Arnold.

When fiction becomes reality...

I'm sitting at my kitchen table one night, playing Phoenix Wright II (as usual) ,trying desperately to defend my innocent client (as usual). I'm working on the last case - "Farewell, My Turnabout". Now, throughout this case there's a piece of evidence that's been haunting me - it's this:

A glass of tomato juice.

But let me tell you - it's the tomato juice of doom! During this trial I've been presenting this wine glass as evidence more often than I care to remember. Every time you think it's fulfilled it's purpose, this darn glass pops up again. And to top it off, it was found at the scene of the crime, in the victim's room. Creepy.

Now, I decide I'm hungry, so I pause the game and walk over to the fridge to see if there's anything to eat... and what do I find!?

Tomato juice!! GAAAH!

I think I can safely say I've played too much Phoenix Wright... my beloved fictional game is turning into reality! @_@' ...on the other hand, if that means there's a Phoenix and an Edgeworth involved, I'm all for it.

Japan exchange!

I got my papers from Rotary today. As it turns out, a lot of things will be different from what I'd first been told when I wrote this post.

Here's the new information:

I'll be living in Hioki, a small city founded on May 1, 2005(!) It was founded from the merger of the towns of Fukiage, Higashiichiki, Hiyoshi and Ijuin. As of 2005, Hioki had an estimated population of 53 400 and a density of 211 persons per km².
...Wikipedia says.

There's six people in my main host family. They are:

Hiroki (father)
Atsuko (mother)

Sayaka (22)
Madoka (19)
Ryotaro (15)
Momo (8)

...I've never had so many siblings in my life! XD I think it'll be fun. (Although I'm slightly worried I might take to long in the bathroom... I use a long time to shower! Guess I'll have to speed up. :P )

My school will not be Kamikawa English School, but a fully Japanese high school called Kagoshima Josei High School. (Meaning all my classes will be in Japanese! I'll learn a lot! Kitto!) School starts at 1st of September.

...just.... wow! This will be great! XD

Tea for more than two...

I like bringing Japanese or Chinese tea from our school's library up to my classroom so I can drink it during class. Usually there's nothing wrong with that. I drink my tea and end up going to the toilet about 40 times a day. That's it.

Today turned out differently. During my history period (which is pretty boring anyway, especially now when there's nothing to do,) I moved my laptop... and ended up dragging my tea cup with me. Full of tea, no more. Pet Hedgehog's books, however, were. I'm so sorry! Luckily she reacted quickly and dried them off. I ran to get paper and cleaned off the desk and the floor. Our history teacher was mildly surprised: "Did something happen?" After a short pause he continued teaching while I ran back and forth with paper. Karoline went to get some paper too, and I failed to notice the hand that came flying as she tore it off... *SMACK!*right in my face. Bull's eye! This caused an outcry of "ouch!" and lots of laughing, which annoyed my teacher... In other words, an eventful day.

...On the bright side, I probably won't have to pee for ages now...

Oh, and I'm going to pick up my new manga, "Brain Powered", at 4PM today. 120,- for four books. Not bad. ^^ Then I'll have manga to read on the bus on my way home too~

Cosplay in progress...

I always have lots of ideas for cosplay costumes I want to make, even though I'm not that good at sewing. Thankfully I have mom to help me out. Still, I think I'm quite good at making props and accessories. I love making things, especially small, detailed things... *_*

Another thing I've started doing, which is a great help, is to print out pictures of various cosplays I want to make and put them in a small cosplay-book I carry around with me. It's great to have when I'm going to flea markets, since I can look at it for reference. Humans have trouble remembering colours. Since I'm a cosplay freak, I usually need to have the exact hue of the colour for a costume. So I tend to use my book a lot. I love flea markets, they have all kinds of things I can use! Especially shoes, which is a pain to find, and especially if they belong to Franziska von Karma aka. Mei Karuma. >.<

I'm also working on a cosplay of Anna Kuyoyama from Shaman King. I found a black velvet dress at Fretex (secondhand shop), red fabric and black sandals at a flea market and bought a plastic pearl necklace. The rest of the necklace I made myself. The dress needs a bit of customizing, but I think this is a fairly easy cosplay. Which is good, since I don't have time to do all the advanced and complicated cosplays I want to do before leaving for Japan. I guess they'll have to wait. :P

Her earrings. These were a pain to make, because they
kept braking when I fastened them to the metal part.

I'm very pleased with how these turned out.
The orange on her pin is mixed with gold paint to give it a nice shimmer. <3

Franziska von Karma. I love her!
Hopefully the completed costume will look something like this.

The itako Anna Kuyoyama. She's almost as cool as Franziska.

Rotary meeting

This Sunday I went to a Rotary meeting in order to get more information on my exchange to Japan and what it means to be an exchange student. Basically it was a meeting to inform you about all you need to know when traveling with Rotary. I also got to meet all the other exchange students. A lot of them were going to USA, some to Brazil, two were going to Taiwan (they'll learn mandarin!), one to Ecuador, some to Australia, two will be going to France and Germany...and two to Japan!

I finally got to meet Jack, the boy I'll be traveling to Japan with. We are going to take the plane together to Nagoya, and then I'll be going to Kagoshima from there. Whooop! ^^ It's kind of strange - I can't wait, but at the same time I'm a bit nervous and can't believe I'm actually going through with this. Haha! Jack was really nice. He likes manga and anime (like I guessed :P), and has been to Japan for a six week exchange before. I was relieved that he turned out to be a person I like. I was kind of worried I might end up sitting on a plane for nine hours stuck with someone I didn't get along with. But no more worries! I think the flight will be fun! ^^

We'll also have a girl living in our home for a couple of months. She's from Brazil and likes dancing and music. She's studied English for ten years and is the best in her class, so I'll be able to communicate with her for the few weeks I see her before I leave for Japan. Apparently she'll be arriving sometime in August. I saw the papers she sent at the meeting - we'll get a copy soon as well. I'll soon get more detailed information about my Japanese host family as well. I'm so excited! I hope there's a picture!

Some of the previous exchange students also came to tell about their experiences, which was really fun to listen to. Apparently there's a lot of rules when going on exchange, but most of them were really just common sense and being able to behave. I definitely think I'll enjoy this. :)
Also - some of you might remember that I said my exchange would last for 8 months. I was wrong, the tickets will be changed. My exchange will last for a minimum of ten months!! Ya~y!

I can now go to sleep a happy person. Oyasumi~

Rotary meeting. Lots of people, lots of notes...


...that I took very seriously. *cough* No, really, I did! This was just my last page...


Jack at the table where we ate. See the pose? We're half Japanese already.

My dessert. Yum~ They had a buffet, and needless to say I ate. A lot.

Gyakuten School

Even though it's just a few more weeks to go before the summer holidays, we're still getting assignments to do at school. Which I know about, but wish I didn't.

It was when I saw my assignment in Norwegian that I decided to turn things around and make it fun. Gyakuten School! "Write about a video game"... Needless to say, I chose Phoenix Wright, which results in a lot of fan squealing while writing... an assignment. That sounds so wrong, doesn't it? Still, I find this pretty amazing. I get to visit Court Records, find Gyakuten Saiban trailers on youtube, surf the net for Phoenix Wright screen caps... and it's school work! Talk about turnabout! (Ehehehee.... My jokes are getting worse by the minute. All thanks to Capcom, I swear...)

Well, I'm gonna work some more before I go to my last Japanese lesson. We'll eat udon at Mitsu café! I'm looking forward to it! ^^ Oh, and then I'll have to return the two Gyakuten Saiban games I borrowed... Hum hum.

My lunch going Asian

I've discovered what I think has to be one of my favourite shops. It's called the TT Market. Here you can buy all kinds of Asian food. Even sweetened, cold green tea like the kind I lived on while in Beijing! I was in heaven when I discovered it here. Although this one's Japanese, it tastes about the same. Green tea~ That white puffy thing is a bao zi, a kind of dumpling. It's delicious~

A couple of months ago I even had bento! (Japanese lunchbox.) It was made for me by my über cute boyfriend, he's so sweet! ^^ (Out of the two of us, he's probably the best to cook. Although I'm not completely hopeless. Keyword being not completely.) The eggs in my bento looked like little animals! He knows me too well. :P

My bento box. See the chicken? And the rabbit? <3

The carrots were shaped as a heart and a mushroom! =^.^=
...and of course I ate it with chopsticks...

OK, it's time for my Japanese lessons soon, so I'm off. We're gonna see the anime "Paprika". Yay!
...wow, I can't believe the next lesson will be the last... Time's flying! At this rate, I'll be in Japan before I know it. Kind of scary, actually. But I'm still looking forward to it! (>'' )>

Oversleeping...

I overslept this morning for the first time this year. (Sounds unbelievable, I know... I'm always late!) Well, yes, I've been late before. Lots of times. But I've never actually overslept so that I had to skip more than one period. (We have two periods each week that we're allowed to skip. If you choose to attend them anyway, you get +2 periods... and so on.) It just might have something to do with me watching the anime Vampire Knight late at night when I should be sleeping... (Hey, vampires are at their most active at night, you know!)

Still, I've got +13(!) periods, so it's OK. Something tells me I'll be skipping a lot of them this week. >w< There's no point in having lots of extra periods at the end of the school year. It'd be a complete waste, wouldn't it? ... Exactly.

Also, I'm supposed to analyze (or at least write down my thoughts on) the movie "Leon: The Professional" in my Norwegian class. Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to find Norwegian reviews on a film from 1994!? *Sigh*

It wasn't until afterwards that I discovered the other assignment: "write about a video game". Oh my supreme being! I could write about Wright! :cip: (My jokes are getting as dry as Capcom's, this is not good!) So now I'm stuck - I'm cooperating with my friend Maja on the film, but I really, really, really want to write about the Ace Attorney series... Phoenix Wriiight... So maybe I'll do both. I'm such a good student. :P

花見

My 10th post!

花見 (hanami), is the traditional Japanese flower viewing which takes place every year when the cherry blossoms, 桜 (sakura), bloom. Because of this, there was a Japanese culture arrangement taking place at the University Museum of Cultural History today. I got an sms from my friend Ikuko asking me if I wanted to go with her. Since I was already going with Eirik and some friends, we decided to meet each other there. We also ran into Jana and Jan, one of the owners of Neo Tokyo, who came with his wife.

Today it was 30°C, so it was really hot inside the museum with so many people. Nevertheless, I thought it was worth it. There were some free Japanese snacks, rice crackers and pocky, and they served green tea. I managed to get the last melon green tea rice cracker. Go me! (A rice cracker covered in a layer of... um... green tea.) Oishii!

I also got to try origami, paper folding. It was so much fun! I spoke Japanese with the cutest Japanese guy. He was one of the people teaching origami there. (Eirik liked him too, so it's OK. ;P) I asked him how to make a paper shuriken (throwing star), which he wasn't entirely sure of himself.

Helene: Muzukashii desu ne? (Hard, isn't it?)
Japanese guy: ...! Nihongo dekiru? (Can you speak Japanese?)
Helene: Hai, benkiyoushimasu. (Yes, I study (Japanese).)
Japanese guy: Aa, sugoi! (Oh, great!)

After that the rest if the conversation went almost entirely in Japanese. I told him that I'd studied Japanese after school for almost two years. He explained that it's usually older people who know how to do origami, younger people often don't. "Even for Japanese, it's quite hard, see. :)" Still, he managed to figure it out, and I got a blue shuriken. Yay! Also, I made two chou (butterflies), a neko (cat), a kabuto (helmet) and a crane. I understood almost everything he said, so I was quite pleased with myself! ^^ Lots of "Konno kanji de..." (Like this...) "Konno pokketo no naka..." (Inside this pocket) and some "Eetoo... Chyotto matte kudasai..." (Uuum... please wait a bit...) The times I didn't understand, I usually understood by watching what he did. (I think I'll survive in Japan!) He was a bit shy, but really friendly. So cu~te! I thanked him for teaching me, bowing and saying "Arigatou gozaimashita!" (Thank you so much!) An older Japanese man standing by gave me a nod, smiling. Aawww!

I talked to a Japanese girl at the origami table too. I told her about my exchange to Kagoshima, to which she replied "Oh! Kagoshima's really hot, but it's a very nice place!" ...and I can barely survive 30°C... ^^; I told her that I'm interested in Japanese manga and anime, so she asked me what kind of manga I read.
Helene: "Ettoo... Ichiban suki na manga wa... Vampire Knight desu." (Uum... My favourite manga is... Vampire Knight.)
Japanese girl: Eeh, Vampire Knight? Ah, Zero wa kakko ii desu nee! (Vampire Knight? Ah, Zero's cool, isn't he!)
Helene: Sou desu ne! (Isn't he!)
OMG! That was so cool! She knew Vampire Knight! It's one of the mangas I've been reading on the internet lately, and I love it! Zero is one of my favourite characters, and I thought it was quite awesome that she liked him too. (Almost like when I met the Chinese student who also thought Shikamaru and Temari (characters from "Naruto") should be a pair. They're made of win.) She said that the animated TV-series is currently airing in Japan. I watch the episodes online. Oh, the joy. <3>With Eirik and Ikuko watching I even got to try on a yukata (like a light kimono, sometimes worn in the summer and after bathing). The lady helping me asked which one I'd like to try.
Eirik: Kawaii mono! (Something cute!)
Ikuko: *laughing* kawaii mono...
I got to try on a really nice and cute-looking blue yukata with pink flowers on it and a red obi (belt). Eirik took some pictures with his cellphone. Maybe I can upload them here if I get them. I looked like a doll according to Ikuko. Just take her word for it, will you? I'm extremely cute.

Afterwards I went to Mikaku with Eirik, Sensei, Heika-sama and some other people to eat. They serve really good food! I ate tempura, and stole some of Eirik's soba (noodles made from buckwheat flour). Mmmm~

It's been a nice day.

New opera house!

Yes, I'm slow, but I keep my promises!

As you know, I went to see the opening show at the new Norwegian opera in Bjørvika. It's kind of weird for me to see the new house, since all my memories are from the old opera. I remember I used to hide in closets and run around gaping at all the beautiful costumes. I'd watch rehearsals when mom was dancing, or go with my dad to the orchestra... And I loved the mirror hall! I used to hide there during premiere parties. Always great fun. Aaah, the memories!

Anyway, the new opera house is great! It's so big! The orchestra's finally gotten their long awaited rehearsal room, and now there's enough space for all the dancers, singers, musicians and everyone else who makes the opera what it is. I get really annoyed when people say that we didn't need a new opera. They can't possibly have known anything about the working conditions in the old one.

Actually, what I saw was the dress rehearsal. So I saw it before the king did! Hah! I'm so cool. I took a look around with mom, and we listened to dad and some of his colleagues playing "Marble Surplus" (which originated from my brilliant dad's awesome idea, FYI.) before we went in to watch the performance. I also got this shot of mom before we went in to the foyer:

I always knew she was one...

The performance itself was really good. There were a number they had to do over again, but other than that everything went as it should. There was even a stand-in king! "The queen and I are delighted to be here tonight..." *silence followed by laughter from the audience* It was a lot of fun, and quite special for me to be able to see the opening ceremony. I'm glad I got the chance to do so.

This picture turned out really small. Click it to view full size.

1: The large screen they had on stage, displaying various footages.

2: Musicians being directed by the composer.

3: My dad and his colleagues playing.

4: I'm not quite sure what they were doing here...