Rotary Orientation Camp

The orientation camp was...fantastic!
Francesco and I took the train early to Kagoshima station, where we spent some time shopping. (I bought Tanaka Reina's (member of Morning Musume) photobook "Reina" and W's DVD "Miss Love Tantei".) We also went to take purikura. (Did you know boys are not allowed in alone? On a sign in front there's a sign with a lone blue male crossed over. Male w/pink female is OK, as is lone pink female. Haha!) Then we met up with Mr. Kamikawa and Jessa, the exchange student from Texas, USA, now living in the neighbouring prefecture Miyazaki. I can say we hit it off right from the start - she's the kind of person I find it easy to like. Outgoing and fun, while having a serious side. We discovered we were very much alike, but at the same time quite different - which I think is a great starting point for a friendship. Needless to say, we had a great three days together! I'll try to sum them up short here.

The first thing that happened was that Mr. Kamikawa drove us to an enormous building that I at first thought was our hotel. Kamikawa casualy explained that "No, you're staying someplace nicer. This is where we're eating lunch". My eyes popped! The view from the window was amazing - even though it was cloudy and raining, we could see out over all of Kagoshima City.

After eating we went to Kamikawa English School, where we read the "Rules of the road" paper out loud together. We started laughing when we all read a number differently. Mr. Kamikawa asked us to "please be serious about this, because I put a lot of effort into writing this, and I wrote this to help you". This made us feel bad, and we awkwardly explained that it was our mistake when reading the number, not the rules, that we found funny. He said he understood that, but it still felt kind of weird.

Next we were driven to the hotel we'd be staying at - the Sun Royal Hotel where we had lunch with Mr. Kamikawa's Rotary Club the first time. It. was. fancy! They had an onsen (hot spring) on the 13th floor, with an entrance on the 12th... and really nice rooms! The ones we stayed in were not really big, but clean and cozy. (I've always liked hotels rooms...) We unpacked and went for a quick shopping round at the mall close to the hotel. I bought a Hello Kitty skin for my pink Nintendo DS lite at a 100 yen shop. And of course we took the obligatory purikura:

Ichigo gaijin!

We also took a set that we gave to Mr. Kamikawa and his wife:

The text says "Mr. and Mrs. Kamikawa, thank you!"

Once we were done shopping, we went back to the hotel and hung out in Jessa's room before we headed to the onsen. It was lovely! Jessa and I spent ages talking and relaxing (it even had a steam bath!). From the large windows by the onsen we looked out over the city lights of Kagoshima City sparkling in the darkness. It was so beautiful! And it was really quiet and peaceful at the onsen too. I want to go back just thinking about it. *sigh* We finished soaking, got dressed in our yukatas and went back to Jessa's room where we crashed for the night. It was really late before we went to sleep.

The second day we (naturally) overslept, and scuffed down our breakfast in about 5 minutes before dashing to the waiting taxi that took us to Kamikawa English Shcool. We read the rules again for a representative from Ijuin Rotary, and he held a speech in Japanese (later translated by Kamikawa) about his hosting experience 20 years ago. It was very interesting, and to my surprise I understood most of what he said!

Later that day we had a radio interview too - a nice lady interviewed us a bit before we headed in to the studio to do the recording. It turned out to be a lot of fun, although I messed up on my age when asked, haha!

Radio lady: "How old are you?"

Helene: "I'm sevent... I've turned eighteen!" XD

It was all in Japanese, but she and her male co-worker (he's gone to Josei, haha!) were really conciderate and spoke clearly, explaining when it was needed. I understood almost everything that was being said, though, and felt pretty cool. v(^_^) It was a new experience for me, and it felt a bit celebrity-ish, actually. It was really fun! I recognized the artists and songs they played too! Utada Hikaru, "First Love", Ootsuka Ai, "Sakuranbo" and... I got to pick and introduce the last song: "I WISH" by Morning Musume!
I've always liked this song, and it was also sung on Nono and Aibon's graduation form Morning Musume. It's one of my Momusu all-time favourites. <3

The rest of the day was spent having dinner (tonkatsu, yum!) and shopping a bit again. I bought some "diamond" cross-shaped earrings that I've been searching for a while. They're reminiscent of those worn by Tanaka Reina and Nozomi Tsuji in some photos. ...yes, I know, H!P again... *cough* Once back in the hotel, Jessa and I went to the onsen again before going to sleep in my room.

Me outside an official Sanrio shop. (The guys responsible for Hello Kitty.) I actually managed not to buy the entire shop - I bought most of Kuromi, actually, which you can't find in Norway. And, OK... I admit it: a thing to make Hello Kitty-shaped rice! XD

The third day we got up and packed before eating breakfast... which lasted 15 minutes. We were late again, haha! Then we were picked up by Kamikawa, who took us to a newspaper interview. (Tight schedule, check! Interviews, check! Celebrity... oh, whatever... check!) I didn't understand this guy, though. He almost mumbeled in fast keigo, and I had to get translations from Kamikawa. Oh well.

Next we dragged Mr. Kamikawa to take purikura with us. We went in to the pinkest, most sparkling purikura machine we could find! (And I can totally see all the Rotary members going in there with their suits and ties, haha!) Decorating those was a lot of fun - I put a maid hairband on him, and the other two put him in a wig. We made Mr. Kamikawa decorate one too. Oh, the seriousness! XD It was wonderful!

After finishing the purikura, we met up with Jessa's councelor and had dinner (we chose Italian sphagetti, making a big point out of showing it to Francesco, haha!). Once we'd finished eating it was sadly time to say goodbye to Jessa. At first we bowed to each other. This was followed by a scilence during which we were both standing there, looking at each other before I blurted out "Oh, screw this!!" and we gave each other a big hug. The gaijinness provails!

Kamikawa brought Francesco and me back to Kagoshima station, where we (okay, I) bought some CD's: Utada Hikaru, Morning Musume (all singles complete) and Onitsuka Chihiro. This was followed by more purikura. At last we decided to take the train home, both of us exhausted. I, for one, did not feel like going back to school and bake cakes the next day. XD But I survived that too, of course!

Jessa and me being exhausted in the hotel's corridor.

Jessa and me looking terrible in a nice hotel - it was raining, and we couldn't resist the fun of running through the rain with closed umbrellas. *ahehm*

Location: Japan!
Mood: Tired
Listening to: the sound of the TV
Reading: "Twilight" (the first book in the "Twilight" series). Can't... put... it... down! Vampires~ <3!