Yesssssss!

(No Wella was used during the making of this blog post) Haha, I'm so lame! xD

I'm really happy. School looks like it'll be a lot more fun now, and - hold on tight! - I might have found something to do after school as well!

A major school update - meaning lots of text:

I've started my new school year, meaning I've now become a 3 nen sei (3rd year student) and every body's senpai. Hah! This also means that there's more pressure to work hard and set a good example - but this is part of the school culture I don't really mind.

I think I've gradually and without realizing it gotten more used to the senpai-kouhai system now. It'll be weird coming back to Norway where nobody seems to care what grade you're in and it's all very informal. Now don't get me wrong - we never groveled at our senpai's feet, but people seemed to have a certain sense of admiration and respect for their experience. Maybe especially among the geibun course, where we performed and danced together with them. They were also spoken to a bit more formally (by the Japanese students, that is - I spoke to pretty much everyone in the same way, also because I didn't always know who were in what class). In return, I felt that they helped and to a certain degree taught us kouhais. And I quite liked that. (Again, there were 3rd years that I thought were utterly foolish fools, but for the most part they were cool.)

Other than that, we've changed classrooms (we're now up in the buildings further away from the main building, where the aesthetic people were last year) and also our tannin! Meaning our homeroom teacher. I. am. SO. HAPPY! No more stressed-out teacher running around like a beheaded chicken. Peace at last! (I wish her all the best and a few sleeping pills, though.) Our new tannin is Matsuo-sensei, the leader for the geibun course. (The performing and dancing guys.) She's funny, in control and pretty strict, but only when needed, meaning I like her. Also, I feel like she'll treat us all the same in a good way. And I'll definitely be told if I do something wrong. lol.

Apparently my schedule will change too, which is great. Up until now I've had cooking 3 times a week and cake baking the entire Thursday. Meaning lots of making food and eating. And no PE. (It's a conspiracy!!) Needless to say, I didn't enjoy that part very much. I'm the kind of person who needs to move during the course of the week or I'll go insane. It also gives me more energy and makes me happier. So now finally being able to participate in PE (which is also good for building relationships with class peers, I might add,) is wonderful! If I'm lucky I'll even get to take singing lessons, Chinese and art. Among other things. It'll be exciting to see how this turns out!

For the last couple of months (I think it's been months, I've lost track...) what I've done after school has been next to nothing. I came home. Period. My kyudo club didn't train anymore and my swimming course won't start again for a while, and so I had nothing to do.

Still, I've been wanting to try kendo, as I wrote in one of my previous posts, and my Rotary counselor has helped me find one! I don't know very much about it as of now, but it's a private dojo being taught by the police. (Apparently, Japanese police are required to train either kendo or judo. I haven't done a lot of research about this, though.) The people training there are of all ages and ranks, meaning they stretch from kids to grown-ups. Hopefully there will be more new beginners there too. My counselor was absent from the Rotary meeting today, so they said they'd call me with further information, and take me there so I could see what it's like for myself. I'm excited! :D

Location: Japan! Land of awesomeness.
Mood: Tired, but happy.
Listening to: the lap top's fan buzzing...
Eating: no
Drinking: tap water (chlorine taste yum!)