And there I was, happily surprised by the host family allowing me to use the computer for more than one hour, when the host mother asked something about a laptop. The next thing I know, I'm sitting in my room with a laptop borrowed to me for the entire length of my stay.
Did I mention my new host family is awesome? (no I did not).
It would be a pain to explain everything without detail so I'll just keep transcribing my diary until you guys catch up with me.
29/8/09
Saturday (Cont'd)
I actually had access to a computer for some time today, the host father offered me to use theirs after taking me home from the restaurant. But I did'nt make an entry on what I wrote yesterday since, unfortunately, I did'nt bring this notebook. Instead I used the oppurtunity to check my mailbox and answer a few, along with reading some manga. (Bleach was surprisingly not as awful as usual this week, One Piece was awesome as always, with loads of two-page panels, Naruto contained blasphemy).
By the way, as of today I've been here for exactly 3 weeks, that's approximately 7% of my total stay here in Japan. It's either good or bad, depending on the perspective.
...
Two songs from FLCL have been played in a row from my cellphone. What are the odds? (Seriously, somebody must clear that out for me, I've got 322 songs on my mobile and 12 of them are from FLCL, what is the chance for two FLCL songs to be played in a row?)
This diary keeping thing is going pretty well for me (so far). This way I might actually be able to write about every single thing I experience over here
Now, half an hour after starting to write, my inspiration is leaving me. I'll probably put down the pen (which is red and has a nice grip) and find something else to do until dinner (which I think is in 1 1/2 hour, but I'm not sure). I might gather the courage to ask if I can borrow the computer. But won't do that until it's at least 6 o'clock so I can say "Konbanwa" without hesitating.
Joakim, signing out for today.
PS. Final Destination just started playing, totally miss those good ol' times dude.DS
30/8/09
Sunday
I'm in bed again (seriously it's a good place to write from). It's about 10.30 in the evening.
To my pleasant surprise, today actually passed quite quickly. That's because yesterday at 9.30, a Norweigan (albeit Chinese-born) guy arrived, so I had someone to talk to.
He is the kind of guy that says "like, dude that's so totally sick" five times per minute, but we get along quite well. I felt pretty proud of myself for mentoring him in how things work around the house and in japan in general. Later on we ended up talking about manga and anime. He did'nt have the same interests as me (for some reason he kept claiming that One Piece sucked, silly man) but at least he watches Bleach. So I gave hime the usual "why we all must hate Ulquiorra"-treatment, he agreed.
It's funny, while showing him around the area, I felt a tinge of nostalgia. I've just been here for three weeks but I feel kind of connected to this place already. I wonder if this will happen a lot during the year.
Oh right, before I forget. Yesterday, a few things happened after I wrote my last entry.
I did'nt get access to the computer at six since there was nobody to ask inside the house. But while walking around aimlessly I met the host mother in the garden. After a minute of not understanding what she meant, I realized she offered me to go up on the roof, I obliged.
The view from the roof was not stunning at all, since most of it was blocked by the trees. There was not much of interest to be found up there, except for a stone with the text ”子ども わし” (Child I). It was confusing.
After a short while of me doing some unamazed gazing, the host mother came up to join me. She pointed out a walking route between the trees, so the next thing I knew, I was on a walk between the rice fields. It was quite pleasant (but not much to see). After the walk I tried killing time by sitting in my room doing nothing (time survived the attack).
Eventually it was dinnertime and I gladly ate.
When I was done, I was offered to sit by the computer for an hour, I gladly accepted. But I did'nt take that chance to write on my blog since I figured that one hour was not enough time, especially since I would have to go to my house to get this notebook first.
Instead I took my time to write a mail and visit that anime forum that I like so much. I wrote a few posts but did'nt get the chance to see the replies.
I also managed to get MSN up and working, but there was nobody of close relation to me online. But after a while, Erika logged in and I could spend my time chatting with her, though the chat came to an abrubt (is it spelled like that) stop when the newcomer arrived and I was no longer allowed to use the computer.
Tomorrow is the day I leave this place, visit school and move into a new family. It's going to be exciting, but also tiring. If I am lucky, I might actually get some time in front of the computer before I depart (I did), then I could actually get the chance to post all of this (I did'nt).
It's just about 11.15 now I want to go to sleep so tomorrow arrives faster (and so I'm not tired on such an important day).
I missed you today too.
*End of diary*
Though I'm still alive (one more Mirai Nikki reference for the counter!).
So yeah I intended to write about what happened on monday and today (tuesday) too, but It's getting late and I need to sleep well before tomorrow (second day of school, but now it's the real thing). I'll see if I can get the rest up by then.
This message has been brought to you by: Joakim.
tisdag 1 september 2009
måndag 31 augusti 2009
A journal, too.
Three days ago, I suddenly got the impulse to write down my thoughts in my notebook (I know, it surprised me too) for later use when I had access to my computer. Here's the results of three days of writing:
28/8/09
Friday
It's 10 o'clock in the evening, I'm laying in bed, doing nothing more than think of the one most dear to me.
Tomorrow the two remaining students living in this family will leave (Alex left today already). I've recently been informed that I won't be moving to my next family before monday, which is the same day I visit my school, the day before it starts. All of the other students already know which family they will move into and have already visited their schools. I feel kind of left out.
I made more friends than I thought these three weeks (which have passed with blazing speed) and now I realize that I won't meet the majority of them ever again. That's a pity.
It gets dark so early here, the days are short. The sun goes down before six and rises again by 5 (which makes it hard to sleep in the morning). There is not much time to get things done during the days, it's mostly travelling here and travelling there all the time. My legs ache every night from standing for hours on the train and my shoulder hurts a bit after carrying my bag while standing there (but I bet it's good for me).
*random whining part that was omitted*
Living in what's more or less a forest is pretty scary, there are lots of spiders here (and arachnophobia is not one of my good attributes) and I've seen quite a few other things, like lizards (tiny ones), a snake (though it was dead, but Alex once saw a live one), a mantis (those things are huge!) and loads of different creepy insects (not to mention the cicadas). Needless to say there is a lot of noise from the outdoors.
I've been writing for half an hour, which is pretty impressive since I've never managed to keep a diary in any form before (I did'nt even plan on having one while here), though my handwriting is still horrible as ever (it's a pain to transcribe this, by the way).
As inspiration is filling up my existance and I am in desperate need of distracting my thoughts from all the things I left in Sweden, I'll keep writing about anything that comes to mind.
Oh yeah, I wanted to write about this long ago: Last tuesday (18th), the organization took us students to a furin maker.
Furin are those Japanese wind bells you see every once in a while in manga and anime. We all got one glass bell each and then we got to paint it. From the inside, which was apparently a clever method to paint them with.
I did'nt really know what to paint so I just made a few random things, I will probably take pictures of it at some point (or just send it home, or both). I've been really bad with taking pictures while over here, I better shape up and do that more often in the future.
Japanese food is kind of a yay or nay to me, either I like it or I dislike it (there is no in between). For example, I really love the whole "pan" thing here in Japan, they've got billions of different tastes for their bread. So for lunch every day I used to buy two different pans and a random drink (they had loads of different drinks too, but I tended to buy a pineapple juice every once in a while, it was just so good), it was both fun, tasty and really cheap. Awesome.
However, I noticed to my great dissappointment that I don't like seaweed (and believe me, I tried), so onigiri and the likes are a no-no to me. But oh well, at least it seems like I'm able to eat enough of the Japanese food to stay alive.
Funny coincidence, the very evening of the day I wrote that long blog entry (that sunday you know) my host family took me and the others to a sushi restaurant, along with their son, his wife and his daughter (who is adorable, by the way). I gracefully avoided eating any raw fish while there and instead got some tamago sushi (egg sushi), ham sushi, a slice of honey melon and a big bowl of Japanese udon. It was all quite tasty.
The sushi restaurant itself was very interesting. The food arrived on a "rullband" (there is no English word for it, as far as I know) and you simply picked the food you wanted from it. The portions were very small so you could try many different things. You could also make special orders and the food would soon arrive on the band with your table's number on it (as with my udon). In the end, I had about six empty plates on top of each other in front of me, with a nearly empty bowl of udon by the side. However, the others ate like 12 plates each, plus three or four side orders. I was pretty amazed by their capacity.
This will have to be it for tonight. I can't belive I just wrote 3 1/2 pages just on impulse. I can see how my mood changed over time (which is pretty interesting). But now I must go to sleep, there is a busy day of cleaning, laundry and goodbyes tomorrow. I hope I won't have troubles sleeping.
29/8/09
Saturday
I'm in the bed again, listening to music on my cellphone. It's about 5 o'clock and I'm very lonely. The girls left today, they did'nt even say goodbye, they were simply gone. It was very mean of them to do that.
I finally got to know about my new family today. They're a family of four, the kids are five and seven years old and the parents are in their thirties (so they know English, yay!). They live in an apartment about 50 minutes from the school by train, not bad at all (by Japanese standards). I'll only be staying there for 2 1/2 weeks, so it seems like my family finding troubles are'nt over just yet.
This day has passed so much slower than any of the prior days. I've done all I can to make time pass but the pointers of the clock just won't move. At least I can proudly say I've done a lot of chores today, and I've taken enough pictures to please the entire population of columbia.
I also joined my host father for a brief visit to his restaurant (apparently he owns a restaurant, who whould've known). It was a nice place, with a display of old cameras in the window and Jazz music playing from an LP in the background.
*I must stop here, I just have 10 minutes by the computer left and I need to write some other stuff*
Today is monday and therefore the day I leave and the day I visit my school. That's going to be interesting. I'll be going with my (soon-not-to-be) host father to the station in 40 minutes and they want me to leave the computer in ten.
I feel pretty confident about the school and the host family even sent me a welcoming mail with pictures, so I'm not worried about that either.
Unfortunately, I don't know when I can reach a computer again, this might be the last you hear of me in a while. But know that I'm still here with exciting stories to tell as soon as I get the chance to.
I miss everyone so much, but most of all I miss you.
28/8/09
Friday
It's 10 o'clock in the evening, I'm laying in bed, doing nothing more than think of the one most dear to me.
Tomorrow the two remaining students living in this family will leave (Alex left today already). I've recently been informed that I won't be moving to my next family before monday, which is the same day I visit my school, the day before it starts. All of the other students already know which family they will move into and have already visited their schools. I feel kind of left out.
I made more friends than I thought these three weeks (which have passed with blazing speed) and now I realize that I won't meet the majority of them ever again. That's a pity.
It gets dark so early here, the days are short. The sun goes down before six and rises again by 5 (which makes it hard to sleep in the morning). There is not much time to get things done during the days, it's mostly travelling here and travelling there all the time. My legs ache every night from standing for hours on the train and my shoulder hurts a bit after carrying my bag while standing there (but I bet it's good for me).
*random whining part that was omitted*
Living in what's more or less a forest is pretty scary, there are lots of spiders here (and arachnophobia is not one of my good attributes) and I've seen quite a few other things, like lizards (tiny ones), a snake (though it was dead, but Alex once saw a live one), a mantis (those things are huge!) and loads of different creepy insects (not to mention the cicadas). Needless to say there is a lot of noise from the outdoors.
I've been writing for half an hour, which is pretty impressive since I've never managed to keep a diary in any form before (I did'nt even plan on having one while here), though my handwriting is still horrible as ever (it's a pain to transcribe this, by the way).
As inspiration is filling up my existance and I am in desperate need of distracting my thoughts from all the things I left in Sweden, I'll keep writing about anything that comes to mind.
Oh yeah, I wanted to write about this long ago: Last tuesday (18th), the organization took us students to a furin maker.
Furin are those Japanese wind bells you see every once in a while in manga and anime. We all got one glass bell each and then we got to paint it. From the inside, which was apparently a clever method to paint them with.
I did'nt really know what to paint so I just made a few random things, I will probably take pictures of it at some point (or just send it home, or both). I've been really bad with taking pictures while over here, I better shape up and do that more often in the future.
Japanese food is kind of a yay or nay to me, either I like it or I dislike it (there is no in between). For example, I really love the whole "pan" thing here in Japan, they've got billions of different tastes for their bread. So for lunch every day I used to buy two different pans and a random drink (they had loads of different drinks too, but I tended to buy a pineapple juice every once in a while, it was just so good), it was both fun, tasty and really cheap. Awesome.
However, I noticed to my great dissappointment that I don't like seaweed (and believe me, I tried), so onigiri and the likes are a no-no to me. But oh well, at least it seems like I'm able to eat enough of the Japanese food to stay alive.
Funny coincidence, the very evening of the day I wrote that long blog entry (that sunday you know) my host family took me and the others to a sushi restaurant, along with their son, his wife and his daughter (who is adorable, by the way). I gracefully avoided eating any raw fish while there and instead got some tamago sushi (egg sushi), ham sushi, a slice of honey melon and a big bowl of Japanese udon. It was all quite tasty.
The sushi restaurant itself was very interesting. The food arrived on a "rullband" (there is no English word for it, as far as I know) and you simply picked the food you wanted from it. The portions were very small so you could try many different things. You could also make special orders and the food would soon arrive on the band with your table's number on it (as with my udon). In the end, I had about six empty plates on top of each other in front of me, with a nearly empty bowl of udon by the side. However, the others ate like 12 plates each, plus three or four side orders. I was pretty amazed by their capacity.
This will have to be it for tonight. I can't belive I just wrote 3 1/2 pages just on impulse. I can see how my mood changed over time (which is pretty interesting). But now I must go to sleep, there is a busy day of cleaning, laundry and goodbyes tomorrow. I hope I won't have troubles sleeping.
29/8/09
Saturday
I'm in the bed again, listening to music on my cellphone. It's about 5 o'clock and I'm very lonely. The girls left today, they did'nt even say goodbye, they were simply gone. It was very mean of them to do that.
I finally got to know about my new family today. They're a family of four, the kids are five and seven years old and the parents are in their thirties (so they know English, yay!). They live in an apartment about 50 minutes from the school by train, not bad at all (by Japanese standards). I'll only be staying there for 2 1/2 weeks, so it seems like my family finding troubles are'nt over just yet.
This day has passed so much slower than any of the prior days. I've done all I can to make time pass but the pointers of the clock just won't move. At least I can proudly say I've done a lot of chores today, and I've taken enough pictures to please the entire population of columbia.
I also joined my host father for a brief visit to his restaurant (apparently he owns a restaurant, who whould've known). It was a nice place, with a display of old cameras in the window and Jazz music playing from an LP in the background.
*I must stop here, I just have 10 minutes by the computer left and I need to write some other stuff*
Today is monday and therefore the day I leave and the day I visit my school. That's going to be interesting. I'll be going with my (soon-not-to-be) host father to the station in 40 minutes and they want me to leave the computer in ten.
I feel pretty confident about the school and the host family even sent me a welcoming mail with pictures, so I'm not worried about that either.
Unfortunately, I don't know when I can reach a computer again, this might be the last you hear of me in a while. But know that I'm still here with exciting stories to tell as soon as I get the chance to.
I miss everyone so much, but most of all I miss you.
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