Today we had the real hanami - with the food. :P
I'll post pictures later - it was really pretty when the lanterns got turned on (and really hard to take good pictures, so they turned out kind of crappy - but I'm going to post them anyway).
Also, I went out shopping the other day - I bought the art book from Mushishi, one of my favourite anime. It's a real beauty, and the art is inspiring in itself - so I decided to buy it after some consideration. I don't regret it! <3
I also bought Morning Musume's newest album, Platinum 9 Disc. I really like it! There's some really good songs in there, and even solo lines for the pandas! Tsunku, gogo! /Momusu fangirling
Location: Japan
Mood: I think I've caught a cold... again. -.-;;
Listening to: TV
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
桜
Yes! The sakura trees are in bloom! :D
I went with my family to partake in the hanami - flower wieving. We haven't done the whole thing with a picnic basket yet, but I think we will now during the spring holidays. Still, no food meant no ditracting me from all the beauty surrunding me. (Haha, I sound like such a glutton!) I'm not complaining - I needed all my senses to take in as much as possible. :)
The cherry blossom is Japan's national flower, and I must say I don't think they could have made a better choice! And with all the sakura trees here blossoming in perfect unison now, it looked like a veil of pink blossom clouds. It was really warm and sunny that day too, so it was a perfect day for a hanami.
I love flowers and trees, so a blooming tree is perfect! It was beautiful.
Without further ado, I bring thee: pictures! (click for larger)
Look! A chibi sakura! :P
Also, there's news on the bukatsu (clubs) part of things. I've decided to quit kyudo, as we hardly ever trained, and so I found little reason to stay. However, I had a good time when we did train, and I'm very grateful to both my wonderful sensei and my bukatsu friends. :)
Still, my goals in joining a club were to try something new, to have fun, make new friends and train so that I could get as good as I could withing a year. This cannot be achieved without training.
So! I've talked to my councelor in Ijuin Rotary club (for the first time, go me!) and asked him if he could pwetty pwease do a bit of snooping around to see if there's any kendo clubs close to where I live that would allow a cute little foreign girl to wave a bamboo stick around. (Since my school's kendo club will be history as of the new term.)
There's a junior high kendo coach that's said he's willing to teach me, though, so at least I know of one. Fingers crossed!
Location: Japan
Mood: um... hungry?
Listening to: Scarborough Fair
Eating: no
Drinking: cocoa!
I went with my family to partake in the hanami - flower wieving. We haven't done the whole thing with a picnic basket yet, but I think we will now during the spring holidays. Still, no food meant no ditracting me from all the beauty surrunding me. (Haha, I sound like such a glutton!) I'm not complaining - I needed all my senses to take in as much as possible. :)
The cherry blossom is Japan's national flower, and I must say I don't think they could have made a better choice! And with all the sakura trees here blossoming in perfect unison now, it looked like a veil of pink blossom clouds. It was really warm and sunny that day too, so it was a perfect day for a hanami.
I love flowers and trees, so a blooming tree is perfect! It was beautiful.
Without further ado, I bring thee: pictures! (click for larger)
Look! A chibi sakura! :PStill, my goals in joining a club were to try something new, to have fun, make new friends and train so that I could get as good as I could withing a year. This cannot be achieved without training.
So! I've talked to my councelor in Ijuin Rotary club (for the first time, go me!) and asked him if he could pwetty pwease do a bit of snooping around to see if there's any kendo clubs close to where I live that would allow a cute little foreign girl to wave a bamboo stick around. (Since my school's kendo club will be history as of the new term.)
There's a junior high kendo coach that's said he's willing to teach me, though, so at least I know of one. Fingers crossed!
Location: Japan
Mood: um... hungry?
Listening to: Scarborough Fair
Eating: no
Drinking: cocoa!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Spring graduations and nostalgia
I'm aliiive! ...and pretty healthy, too. At least I'm not as sick anymore. Just coughing a bit.
So today I went with my host mom to see the graduation ceremony for the elementary school kids. Which was the most enjoyable one to watch by far. (I've seen the one at Josei and my host sister Sayaka's at university). They all stood up and recited a kind of speech in unison, split up so that some parts we're said by groups and some by all of them. The 5th year students (Japanese elementary school lasts 6 years), who were there as spectators, also stood up and did the same thing, wishing the graduates luck and thanking them for these five years together. It was kind of nostalgic and reminded me of my last day as a elementary school student - not that I can remember any special ceremony being held that day. I almost wish we'd had one. Graduation from high school will probably not have a ceremony like that either.Although there'll be plenty of opportunities to celebrate and get drunk as a russ. Joy.
...now I'm at home again, watching parts of King Arthur on YouTube and looking at pictures.
There are some quotes from a part of this movie that's stuck with me since I first saw it. Maybe especially after I knew I was coming here. They're said by Guinevere as she's speaking to Arthur while they're traveling. And I've come to realize they may be more true than I had imagined.
Location: Japan
Mood: Nostalgic, "nature...horses...nature..." (YouTube fault I say...)
Listening to: Hold the Ice - King Arthur OST
Eating: Sakuramochi inside a sweet roll :P
So today I went with my host mom to see the graduation ceremony for the elementary school kids. Which was the most enjoyable one to watch by far. (I've seen the one at Josei and my host sister Sayaka's at university). They all stood up and recited a kind of speech in unison, split up so that some parts we're said by groups and some by all of them. The 5th year students (Japanese elementary school lasts 6 years), who were there as spectators, also stood up and did the same thing, wishing the graduates luck and thanking them for these five years together. It was kind of nostalgic and reminded me of my last day as a elementary school student - not that I can remember any special ceremony being held that day. I almost wish we'd had one. Graduation from high school will probably not have a ceremony like that either.
...now I'm at home again, watching parts of King Arthur on YouTube and looking at pictures.
There are some quotes from a part of this movie that's stuck with me since I first saw it. Maybe especially after I knew I was coming here. They're said by Guinevere as she's speaking to Arthur while they're traveling. And I've come to realize they may be more true than I had imagined.
"I belong to this land. ...Where do you belong?"
"It is a beautiful country, is it not? (...)This is heaven for me."
Location: Japan
Mood: Nostalgic, "nature...horses...nature..." (YouTube fault I say...)
Listening to: Hold the Ice - King Arthur OST
Eating: Sakuramochi inside a sweet roll :P
Saturday, March 21, 2009
School Days
(@ Shadowleaf: Pun intended ;P )
This Wednesday (I think it was) we had our final day of real school before the spring break. Our music teacher had brought a koto to school, so we all got to practice a bit and play "Sakura, Sakura". It was a lot of fun! And I got praise for my playing, haha! Only thing was I didn't know how I was supposed to end it, because I only remembered the melody up to a certain point. :P The next class after music was self-study, so Sato, Yase and I stayed behind and practiced for about an hour. Great fun!
We also had a class match again the other day, basically a sports day where all the classes compete against each other in sports like basketball, volleyball, ping pong or othello. This time around I joined the othello with Tsuru, some of the other girls and Francesco. We lost, but it was quite fun. Also, it was a good opportunity to talk to everyone and just hang around.
Having spoken to Mr. Kamikawa and Rotary it seems like I might get to change my schedule for next year. Not so much cooking, yay! :D
So, on to the not-so-fun-part...
The last couple of days I've been sick. I've been really hoarse, so I couldn't perform at the charity concert with the chorus. I feel tired even though I've just woken up, and sometimes (like now) my head hurts. This is really blah. I haven't got a fever or anything as far as I know, it just keeps "simmering" like this. I just know I'm definitely not well. *sigh* I just hope this doesn't ruin my spring break or prevent me from going out on a picnic the day the cherry trees blossom. ;_;
Location: In bed (my futon, I might add. Momo, get out... or sleep. Stop the acrobatics!!)
Mood: sickly and tired (aaaawww!)
Listening to: Jeremy Irons interviews (Inside the Actor's Studio) ...he was the voice of Scar...<3
Eating: no, not feeling like it...
Drinking: should be drinking more water, I guess...
This Wednesday (I think it was) we had our final day of real school before the spring break. Our music teacher had brought a koto to school, so we all got to practice a bit and play "Sakura, Sakura". It was a lot of fun! And I got praise for my playing, haha! Only thing was I didn't know how I was supposed to end it, because I only remembered the melody up to a certain point. :P The next class after music was self-study, so Sato, Yase and I stayed behind and practiced for about an hour. Great fun!
We also had a class match again the other day, basically a sports day where all the classes compete against each other in sports like basketball, volleyball, ping pong or othello. This time around I joined the othello with Tsuru, some of the other girls and Francesco. We lost, but it was quite fun. Also, it was a good opportunity to talk to everyone and just hang around.
Having spoken to Mr. Kamikawa and Rotary it seems like I might get to change my schedule for next year. Not so much cooking, yay! :D
So, on to the not-so-fun-part...
The last couple of days I've been sick. I've been really hoarse, so I couldn't perform at the charity concert with the chorus. I feel tired even though I've just woken up, and sometimes (like now) my head hurts. This is really blah. I haven't got a fever or anything as far as I know, it just keeps "simmering" like this. I just know I'm definitely not well. *sigh* I just hope this doesn't ruin my spring break or prevent me from going out on a picnic the day the cherry trees blossom. ;_;
Location: In bed (my futon, I might add. Momo, get out... or sleep. Stop the acrobatics!!)
Mood: sickly and tired (aaaawww!)
Listening to: Jeremy Irons interviews (Inside the Actor's Studio) ...he was the voice of Scar...<3
Eating: no, not feeling like it...
Drinking: should be drinking more water, I guess...
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
A natural craving
Blame my Norwegian genes. Blame my culture. On second thought, blame my dad. Or my... 小学校...小学校... elementary school! teachers.
...or the Japanese for being totally weird.
But I miss nature. I miss it so much it hurts! I crave it! I miss moving more. (Although going to the pool today helped.) I miss walking, and especially going for walks in the woods, or somewhere involving woods or natural surroundings in general. I miss climbing random trees! I miss sitting in them! I miss nature.
This is not to say there's not a lot of beautiful nature around Kagoshima. Because there is! It's just that people don't use it. Upon asking my host family if I could go for a walk in the forest on the hill that you can see from our house, I was told that that I couldn't do that. Why? "Because it's someone's forest." Someone who, let me tell you, couldn't care less if I went for a harmless walk in there. Can I climb trees around here? "No, not unless there's a sign that says you're allowed to."
What is wrong with people?!
Taking a walk in a forest is not terribly dangerous. I'll bring my cellphone, I promise. For the second time: the people owning it won't care. I will not be cutting down "their" trees. Maybe just climb them. God, please let me climb~ Dazey has told me of these beautiful places around here that he's found while walking. And nobody's ever out there. I've never had anyone take me for a plain old walk here the same way dad would drag me out every Sunday if I let him. You'll never see anyone camp out here. And no, there does not have to be a sign. I just need to make sure nobody's looking.
In short: I'm going crazy. And I need to stop asking about small stuff like this. That way, if I get caught, at least I didn't know. My plan now consists of finding a way up to the woods and going for a walk "anywhere" which just happens to end up "there".
This is not me sneaking out to get drunk downtown at 1:00 AM. That would be a big thing (and one you'll never see me do). This is me surviving. This is the poor, deprived Norwegian seeking trees.
Dad - I'll join you when I come home, I promise! Walking, skiing... I'm in!
(And enjoy it while it lasts. ;P Eventually there'll be days when I'd rather stay inside drawing. But by the looks of it that'll take some time. I need rehabilitation! XD)
Location: Japan
Mood: nature deprived (and not moving enough!)
Listening for: the wind in the willows (or actually listening to "Colors of the Wind" - fitting.)
...or the Japanese for being totally weird.
But I miss nature. I miss it so much it hurts! I crave it! I miss moving more. (Although going to the pool today helped.) I miss walking, and especially going for walks in the woods, or somewhere involving woods or natural surroundings in general. I miss climbing random trees! I miss sitting in them! I miss nature.
This is not to say there's not a lot of beautiful nature around Kagoshima. Because there is! It's just that people don't use it. Upon asking my host family if I could go for a walk in the forest on the hill that you can see from our house, I was told that that I couldn't do that. Why? "Because it's someone's forest." Someone who, let me tell you, couldn't care less if I went for a harmless walk in there. Can I climb trees around here? "No, not unless there's a sign that says you're allowed to."
What is wrong with people?!
Taking a walk in a forest is not terribly dangerous. I'll bring my cellphone, I promise. For the second time: the people owning it won't care. I will not be cutting down "their" trees. Maybe just climb them. God, please let me climb~ Dazey has told me of these beautiful places around here that he's found while walking. And nobody's ever out there. I've never had anyone take me for a plain old walk here the same way dad would drag me out every Sunday if I let him. You'll never see anyone camp out here. And no, there does not have to be a sign. I just need to make sure nobody's looking.
In short: I'm going crazy. And I need to stop asking about small stuff like this. That way, if I get caught, at least I didn't know. My plan now consists of finding a way up to the woods and going for a walk "anywhere" which just happens to end up "there".
This is not me sneaking out to get drunk downtown at 1:00 AM. That would be a big thing (and one you'll never see me do). This is me surviving. This is the poor, deprived Norwegian seeking trees.
Dad - I'll join you when I come home, I promise! Walking, skiing... I'm in!
(And enjoy it while it lasts. ;P Eventually there'll be days when I'd rather stay inside drawing. But by the looks of it that'll take some time. I need rehabilitation! XD)
Location: Japan
Mood: nature deprived (and not moving enough!)
Listening for: the wind in the willows (or actually listening to "Colors of the Wind" - fitting.)
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
I wish...
If I could play the piano, dad, I would play this:
I'd also play various Otsuka Ai songs - I saw a book with her music and lyrics in it, with piano notes. *sigh* That would be nice. At least I can listen to Momo practicing for her piano lessons. :P
This has very little to do with my exchange, but I'm posting it all the same. Also, it's my 120th post! Hurray~!
...Oh, and Dolle? Concider this a hint.
Location: Japan!
Mood: tired
Watching: Dexter (FOX Crime on TV, whoo~!)
Eating: bento
Drinking: water
I'd also play various Otsuka Ai songs - I saw a book with her music and lyrics in it, with piano notes. *sigh* That would be nice. At least I can listen to Momo practicing for her piano lessons. :P
This has very little to do with my exchange, but I'm posting it all the same. Also, it's my 120th post! Hurray~!
...Oh, and Dolle? Concider this a hint.
Location: Japan!
Mood: tired
Watching: Dexter (FOX Crime on TV, whoo~!)
Eating: bento
Drinking: water
Monday, March 2, 2009
Japanese graduation
Yesterday I went to school to watch the 卒業式 (sotsugyoushiki) graduation ceremony...
(Now, this following example is typical of my Japanese school life. :P)
I'd asked Madoka and heard the bus driver mention it, so I knew the bus would take me to school like usual at
It turned out that the entire geibun (the half of our class that studies performance art - dance, singing and so on) had been told there was no need to come because there wasn't room for everyone anyway. So I moved on to the next question: "OK, so when does it start?" "...Uh... I have no idea. Sorry." So after asking around I still had no clue - because nobody else seemed to know either. I didn't know when it started, where we were supposed to sit or... anything, really.
My saviours turend out to be Mr. Dazey and my tea ceremony teacher. Dazey told me it started at 10 (why the bus went so early and why we had to wait so long I do not know), and my tea ceremony teacher told me that the second year students should be sitting approximately in the middle of the hall. Information obtained!
So after hanging around and waiting for about an hour, I went into the hall trying to look for some of my classmates to sit with - not easy! Still, with a little help from Oosaki-sensei (my kyudo teacher) I found a place to sit by Mori, a girl in my class. Yay!
The graduation ceremony in itself was not spectacular in any way, but I'm happy I came to see it anyway. They did a roll-call, reading the names of every single student (all 300-something of them!) in the third year, and they all answered and stood up. Then a representative for each group would come up and get the diplomas. Then there were a million boring speeches. Somewhere along the line I dozed off and came to again - just to discover there were more speeches. Oh yes, the joy!
Still, I really liked when they all got up, and shouted "thank you!" to the teachers. And then turned around and shouted (towards the parents) "Dad, mom! I've managed to graduate! Thank you for these 18 years!" ...and then there was the obligatory amount of tears, of course. =p (Which, in spite of my slight mockery, I can relate to)
...so, all in all, I'm happy I went. And of course having today off was good too. =) Tomorrow there's another big round of tests that I'll fail impressively. So wish me luck flunking those tests! :P
Oh, and I found this at Maren's lovely blog (in Norwegian). It made my day, so I'm sharing it with all of you (who are also YouTube addicts, right? Right? o(>////<)o )
Location: Japan!
Mood: twilight~ (blame youtube, seriously. I want to see that movie. Now.)
Listening to: Momo jumping on a big sheet of bubble wrap. It's driving me crazy. D: So I'm turning up the volume of Tori Amos' "Winter" instead. <3>
Eating: No
Drinking: water
PS: blogger keeps killing my text format. (Which explains the text size here and at the "Sotsugyo kouen" post.) And I can't figure out why! It annoys the living daylights out of me. I even made a template for it! Grrr...
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