Merry Christmas!

メリークリスマス!!! Merry Christmas everyone! Well, I am a bit late but it's the thought that counts. I had planned to get this post up on Christmas Day, but I never got to it. First off I want to thank all of my family and friends who sent me Christmas gifts. I truly felt the love and it helped me get through my homesickness I was feeling in the weeks before the 25th. Also, I want to specifically thank my awesome Rotary Sponsor Club who sent me a beautiful Christmas card! I was so shocked when I got it in the mail today and even more shocked when I opened it. Thank you for all that you have done for me so far, and here is to what is to come in 2011 for us!

Now before I dive right into Christmas Day, I want to go back and tell you guys about all of the different Christmas Parties I attended and the other activities I did leading up to the 25th.First up was the regular Rotary meeting I attended. However, it turned out to not be a normal meeting. My host club had chosen their next year's exchange student and asked him and his father to attend that week to be officially introduced. His name is Hayate Sato and he is a year younger than me. He also goes to my school and I had met him before at the University Exchange Student Meet-and-Greet. Hayate is a good kid, very smart, and is hoping to go to Canada, which is really cool because I can teach him a bunch of stuff here and help him out in Canada next year! After the meeting, we both had so many questions for each other so we were able to arrange to go to Denny's (yes they have Denny's in Japan!) to chat. I think we were there for an hour and half, maybe more, and we both had a blast. I really hope he is able to go to Canada next year!


This is Hayate!

The first Christmas Party I attended was on December 9th and it was a joint Shirakawa Rotary Club party. There are three different Rotary Clubs in my city and members and their families from each club attended. It was held at an English Manor that is now used as a hotel and boarding school called British Hills (I think...). I'm not sure what time period, but when the King and Queen of England came to Japan, they stayed in this manor. Before dinner we got a tour of the place and it felt like I had magically transported to England, or into Hogwarts. Everything there was super fancy; from the rooms, to the food, to the British waiters and waitresses. It was kind pretty cool that the waiters and waitresses didn't speak any Japanese because I was able to test out my translation skills for the first time! Yeah, that's right! One of the waitresses really appreciated it and it also shocked me that I was able to help translate. The food was absolutely to die for and I was able to talk to all sorts of different people from the different clubs. I also saw snow fall for the first time since I got to Japan. This manor is located near the top of a mountain so when it snowed, it really came down. I really did miss seeing snow...(We still don't have snow here in Shirakawa.)


The dining hall looked exactly like something out of Hogwarts!

My host club`s president and me.


After dinner all of the `kids` got stockings full of snakcs from `Santa`.

We exchange students in the Fukushima district are so lucky to have such amazing せんぱい`s! (aka the Rotex.) Last week, on the 19th, Ayaka and Motoko, two of the Rotex, arranged a special Christmas party for us girls. (There is unfortunately only four of us now because Brendha, the Mexican exchange student, was sent home due to medical reasons. We miss you Brendha!!) We, Karly (Canada), Ena (America), Oceanne (France), and I, met the two Rotex in Koriyama and headed off to Round One, a entertainment/rec center. We played two rounds of bowling, took crazy pictures in Purikura photo booths, and played arcade games. It was a blast! Afterwards, we were all famished so we headed to a cafe that was nearby. What we didn't know was that Motoko had gone ahead of us and ordered special Christmas cakes for us! They were so delicious! We also pigged out on a bunch of other, very unhealthy, yet delicious food while at the cafe. It was such a great day that ended in an even greater way. We came by a giant shoe sale where I bought myself a new pair of boots as a Christmas present. あやかせんぱい、もとこせんぱい．．．ありがとうねええ～！！


They had bowling pin costumes at the bowling alley. LOL! Left to right: Motoko, Me, Karly.

Left to right: Ayaka, Ena, Oceanne.

Purikura.

Christmas cake~

My new boots!

On the following Wednesday was my third Christmas party and this time it was just my Rotary Club's party and their families. Momoko, she went to France last year, and Hayate were both there so we had fun talking to each other. I wasn't disappointed with the food, it was beyond delicious, and our Christmas BINGO game was crazy and fun. I won a very cute Snoopy towel and Minnie Mouse cosmetics bag.


Momoko and I at the Christmas Party.

My host mom went to Tokyo on the 23rd and couldn't bring me along so after the Rotary party I went home with the club president, who is my host mom's son, and his family. I stayed with them for two nights and I had a lot of fun. They have three children ages 6, 7, and 10 and if you didn't know already, I love little kids! I learned so much in those two nights from those kids, and they learned a lot of English too! We spent most of our time together shopping or playing Mario Kart on Wii. I see them as my host siblings because they are my host mom's grandchildren so I often get to see them. They also call me `おねえちゃん` which means older sister. Their mom even bought me a new pair of Converse shoes as a Christmas present!


Shutoro (Shu-chan), age 10.

Yuzuha (Yu-chan), age 6.

Both Karly and I were a bit homesick around the holidays so we decided to do something about it. On Christmas Eve Day, we took over the streets of Shirakawa in the name of Canada! Well...not really, but Karly did come and visit and we walked around town for like two hours, went to a restaurant, and rented a movie. We both agreed we wouldn't know what to do if we weren't on this exchange together and our friendship gets stronger everyday. Love ya girlie!

Christmas Eve eve was really weird for me. I am so used to going to a Christmas Eve Church service and then spend the rest of the night with my family opening our stockings. I have to admit, after my host mom went to bed that night, I felt pretty alone. But thanks to today's amazing technology, I was able to Skype my parents and grandparents and being able to talk to them made me feel so much better and I wasn't dreading Christmas Day as much as I was before. On a side note, I think my homesickness is very backwards! Or at least in how I deal with it. If I am really missing someone, I tend to send them an email or set up a Skype date with them and after talking with them for awhile, my sadness is pretty much gone...you would think it would be the other way around.... I'm so strange! Haha.

Christmas in Japan was very...different. It almost felt like Christmas just skipped over me this year or that it got canceled or something. Japanese people don't really celebrate Christmas. It's mostly a holiday for kids under 10, who get candy and one or two gifts, and couples. And because Japan is a Buddhist country, the center focus of Christmas for them is Santa, not Jesus. Which was very, very strange for me because I was raised in a Christian home. Despite Christmas not feeling like Christmas, I am glad to report that it did not turn out to be Dooms Day like I had thought it may be.

I spent my morning opening the presents I had gotten in the mail from my parents as well as finishing up wrapping the presents I would be giving to my extended host family later that evening. I then shared a nice breakfast with my host mom and I gave her what she told me was her first Christmas present. In the afternoon I walked to a local grocery store to pick up some ingredients for my `famous` chicken noodle soup I was making for our family Christmas party. I was a bit surprised to find out that the party was being held at my host mom's house because she has a such a small place, but it turned out to be a great time. My, what I like to call, `extended` host family includes: my host mom's son, his wife, and three kids, and my host mom's daughter and her daughter. It was a full house! Haha. For some reason, a traditional Japanese Christmas dinner consists of fried chicken. Why fried chicken, I don't know...But it was delicious all the same! My chicken soup and mashed potatoes were a huge hit as well! I was also glad that everyone loved their Christmas gifts. I love gift giving and it really helped me feel better as well. My goal for that day was to go to bed with a smile on my face and I am happy to say that I was able to accomplish that goal.


This is a picture of me and my entire extended host family. (Minus one person who was taing the picture.)

Everyone opening the gifts I gave them!

More Christmas cake!

Hana (Ha-chan), age 7.

December has been my toughest month so far because I love Christmas and all of my family and friends' traditions and missing out on them was a struggle for me. But thankfully, I was able to stay busy and share some of my Christmas traditions to my host family and friends here in Japan, therefore staying relatively happy. One of my exchange friends said that if she could get through Christmas without her family, she could get through anything and I couldn't agree more. As I wrote this entry tonight I was able to look back a bit and realize that everything I went through this month has made me a stronger person. I don't really know how to explain it but, I just feel different, like I struggled to climb Mt. Everest and did indeed get to the very top. Hmm, yeah, I like that. December was my Mt. Everest and my perseverance paid through in the end.

I hope everyone had a great holiday season and best wishes for 2011! I am so looking forward to New Year`s in Japan; their New Year`s is like our Christmas. It should be a blast!

じゃまたね! Until next time!

~Stephanie

November in a Picture Nutshell

Today I am going to make my entry a bit different from the others. I want to tell you guys about all of the amazing things I was able to take a part of but, I`m having a hard time finding enough free time right now to sit down and write it all up. So instead I will take you throw a `picture nutshell`. Now what is a picture nutshell you may ask? I will post a bunch of different pictures of stuff I did and then add small captions below describing the picture. I hope everyone will enjoy it!


November 3rd. My 17th Birthday. For awhile I wasn`t looking forward to my Birthday because I did`t know what to expect, but it turned to be one of my most fondest memories so far. These three girls, Sayaka, Shouko, and Natsumi, threw a Birthday party for me and it was so much fun. My host family, later that evening, also held a huge dinner in honor of my Birthday.


At my Birthday party my friends threw for me, we made Takoyaki. Takoyaki is fried dough with octopus inside and by far one of the best things I have eaten here. This is what it looks like when you first put in the batter.


This is what the Takoyaki looks like after we flipped it once. We are trying to make them into a ball shape.


The final product! Mmmm~ We made like three or four batches of these things and by the last batch our Taoyaki all had perfect ball forms.


November 9th. (?) University Exchange Student Meet-and-Greet sponsered by Minami Shirakawa Rotary Club and Asahi High School Interact Club. I was asked from some members of the Rotary Interact Club at my school (which up to that point I didn`t know that club existed) if I wanted to take part of this meet-and-greet. When I told my host parents, my host dad told me he would take me to the special dinner party the following night as well. It was so much fun.


November 13. Rotary Trip to Tokyo Disney Land! It was by far the most fun and exhausting day I have experienced. Unfortunatly, the exchange student from Mexico wasn`t able to come because she was ill.


Believe it or not, but we stood in line for this ride for more than three hours. We went on the first Christmas themed weekend so it was completly packed. We only ended up going on three different rides that day.


Our waiting was paid off when a huge parade went passed us as we stood in the last stretch of the line.


Everything was so beautiful with their Christmas decorations. It has really made up for the lack of decorations you would see on a day-to-day basis in December. (Japanese people don`t often celebrate Christmas. At least, not like at home.)


We had a Fast Pass for Splash Mountain and we went at 9pm. You could say Karly and I were `drunk on life` and very very very overtired by that point so it caused for some crazy jokes and laughs to be had as we went through that ride. I HAD to buy our picture when I saw it. We were all trying to make the peace sign but only Oceanne succeeded.


November 14th. Rotary Trip to Asakusa and Ginza! This place was amazing! It`s considered as its own town and it is a huge tourist attraction in Tokyo. There is a giant marketplace where I got a lot of Christmas shopping down, tons of food stalls, and it was all built around a temple!


Asakusa Pagoda.


View of Asakusa from　the top steps of the temple.


A very busy crosswalk in Ginza. Ginza is known best for its shopping, one clothing store had like six different levels! I was able to buy some very nice new clothes for myself.


As we walked through the streets of Ginza, we got stopped by a reporter and camera crew and they asked us if they could ask one of us some questions (in English). I decided to `Be First` and step right up and I am glad, and so were the other girls, that I did because they asked me all sorts of questions about `J-Pop` or Japanese Pop. (Which I absolutly love and know a lot about it.)


November 21st. Joint Shirakawa Rotary Club and Preservation Park Project. I was asked if I would like to voluenteer and help plant trees with my Rotary Club, plus the two other Rotary Clubs in my city, and I immediatly said yes. We planted a lot of Cherry Blossom trees, I can`t remember how many, and next spring they will have very tiny flowers on them but I can`t wait to see! They told me that in five years they will be mostly mature, so that gives me a good reason to come back to Japan! Haha.


Working hard! On the left is the president of my Rotary Club, Minami Shirakawa, and to the right of me are the two other Rotary Clubs` Presidents.


After all of our hard work, Nishimai-san (my club`s President) took me on a very scenic mountain drive up to Shirakawa`s own active volcano, Nasu-san. We even took a gondala up as well as walked up the side of this volcano! Once we got back down, Nishimaki-san treated me again and took me to a relaxing Onsen, a type of Japanese bath house.


We only made it to the halfway point on Nasu-san.

Just as a quick update, I have been with my new host family for a week now and it has been really good so far! My next entry will most likely be about my crazy move and more of my involvement with my Rotary Club.

じゃあまたね！Until next time!

~Stephanie

Rotary District Conference and "Flower City"

The rest of October after my school trip was very slow. We started getting back into school, all suffering from a bit of sleep deprivation, and other normal routine activities. I don’t remember much of what else happened in October; it was one of those good kinds of blur moments when I look back. Nothing too exciting happened, nothing extremely drastic happened, it was just a time of relaxing and calm and every exchange student needs that.

I do, however, remember two special weekends in October after the school trip. The first one happened right after the school trip, literally. As soon as I got home from my epic adventures in southern Japan, my host parents tell me I have to wake up early (again) and go to this mysterious Rotary event. I didn’t really understand what it was and when I talked to Karly, the other girl from our district, about it she said we exchange students were going to a museum for the day. Well, that turned out to be only half true. My host dad, another member from my host club, and I drove to Fukushima City, the capital of Fukushima-ken (“-ken” means prefecture), and low and behold it was their Rotary District Conference. All of us exchange students were completely shocked and had no idea this was going on that weekend. Oh the life of an exchange student. Haha.

Despite the slight confusion at the beginning of the conference, we ended up having a lot of fun. I think if you stuck us five girls anywhere we would make most of the situation and have the best times of our lives. I really love those girls. It was my first time seeing three of them since the Summer Orientation, Karly and I got together between then, so we all had a lot of catching up to do. After the opening ceremonies of the conference (it was a two day event and we went on the second day), some Rotarians ushered us out of the auditorium and we got on a bus and did indeed go to a museum. I don’t remember much of the museum; we mostly wandered around aimlessly just chatting for the most part. Don’t worry, I didn’t miss out on some important Japanese cultural museum, the museum we went to was an Egyptian museum…yeah… Anyways, our next stop was at a little ice cream shop where they had very bizarre flavors including things like pumpkin and soba flavored ice cream. (Soba is a type a buckwheat noodle.) I think all of us just went with peach in the end. Before we headed back to the conference, we stopped at another museum/cultural arts type building where we watched people make and form glass and glass objects like bowls and cups as well as people making traditional Japanese wooden dolls which are called Kokeshi.


I was kinda dumb and forgot my camera so these are my friend's photos. This is at the opening ceremony.

Us exchange students and some Rotarians outside the museum! From left to right: Ena (USA), Me (Canada, Karly (Canada - she left her blazer in the bus), Oceanne (France), Brendha (Mexico).


These are all hand made and hand painted Kokeshi.

The rest of the conference was actually quite dull for us exchange students. We were able to introduce ourselves to the crowd by standing up and bowing when they called our names but nothing else too exciting happened. I’m sure if we were able to understand the speakers we would have enjoyed them a bit more. But at the end of the day, I was glad I was able to go and be a part of their District Conference as well as see my exchange friends.



Either the weekend after the conference of the weekend after that (I can’t remember) my host grandparents took me to a small town called Hanawa to see some of its amazing Dahlia gardens. (Hanawa translates to Flower City/Town I believe.) I was a bit confused and not really expecting much from this town’s flower attractions because really, it was late October and you would think flowers would be dead now. Was I ever wrong.

Let me take a moment for a second to explain what the weather has been like here in Japan. When it’s not raining, the temperature is usually between 10-15 degrees Celsius with a slight, refreshing autumn wind. It also wasn’t until the last week of October to the first week of November that the leaves on the trees began to turn color and fall. They just finished their rice harvesting season but many of the family gardens I see are still growing and blooming. Just two weeks ago I saw people PLANTING flowers in their garden. What is this insanity? Haha. I really love it though, me not being a snow kind of person. Who knows when we will get our first snow here?



These two pictures were taken in the first week of November. Crazy eh??

Anyways, back t o Hanawa! We first stopped at this farmers’ market type place where obaa-san (my host grandma) bough a bunch of different types of vegetables and flowers. She also bought me Dahlia flavored ice cream that is made from real Dahlia flowers! It was one of the most amazing tasting ice cream cones I have ever eaten. Afterwards, we drove to the biggest Dahlia garden in Hanawa and I was simply blown away. For one, the sizes of some of those flowers were unbelievable! Their “heads” would be drooping because they were too heavy for the stems to support. And the array of colors! The garden seemed to go and on and on like a sea of bright colors.













I apologize for the massive amounts of these flower pictures. Haha.

We then took a drive through the mountains, sounds pleasant right? Haha. Haha. No. I thought for sure I was going to lose my lunch. My obaa-san is probably the world’s craziest driver. For starters, the mountain road was very narrow, hardly any room to hold two cars going in opposite direction. Secondly, being a mountain road, it had many twists and turns all the way up. And lastly, obaa-san decided to take the speed limit signs as just “suggested speeds”. That part of my day was very….memorable.

When we arrived near the end of mountain road takes you, we pulled over and walked a bit to this temple in the middle of the forest. The view was spectacular and across from the temple, you could see this shrine built right into the mountain. Obaa-san told me that if I wanted to climb up the mountain and see the shrine closer up I could and that she would wait in the car. It’s so hard to describe how beautiful it was and how awe-struck I was by it.


The view of the shrine from the temple.

When I was making my way to the stairs it felt like I was walking in a middle of this giant rainforest, which it probably was. From a distance, the shrine didn’t look like it was so high up but it was only until I was halfway up the stairs until I realized how crazy high this thing was. Man, I was so sore the next day. The shrine was built into this cave in the side of the mountain but I’m not sure if the cave itself was man-made or not. There was the main shrine, some smaller shrines and statues, as well as this “prayer tablet wall” where you write down your prayers and wishes. It’s so different for me to see other cultures’ religions up close and personal because I have been raised in a Christian home. Once I was finished looking around, I realized my now daunting task to walk back down all of those stone, slippery stairs. Thankfully, I made it back in one piece.


Look at how green everything is!

At the bottom of the stairs, looking up to the shrine.

The main shrine in the cave.

The prayer card board.

I’m really glad that my host grandparents enjoy taking me out to places on the weekends; it’s just so nice to spend time with them. I’m defiantly going to miss them when I have to move host families, which by the way is pretty quick here. (December 4th.)

I was going to try and fit in my birthday adventures, but this entry is getting really long already and it’s also getting late. So, I will try and have the next entry up as soon as possible! Thanks for being so patient everyone!

~Stephanie