Where are you now karmie?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! I have about 3 weeks left in Japan. Soon I am coming home. I don't quite believe it though. It seems like I still have more time here but i do miss home yet I don't want to go home kind of feeling right now. TORN. hahaha Anyways there is no christmas service here. So I am relaxing at home. Yesterday we ate cake. I sure ate a lot of cake. It was really delicious cake. Christmas eve I spent it with my band club. We finished practived at 12 and went to Karaoke and then took a puri. December 21st was the white concert . it was fun. Got to play with some professionals.

So this last week was the basketball event. our class got 2nd place. yay and boo. Pride got the best of us. By the way out of topic. What is the meaning of this proverb, "A bowl of soup with someone you love is better than a steak with someone you hate" If you understand this tell me! Anyways, school is going well. 40 days till I return back to Canada. 35 days till Band concert. Interesting. The tunes we are preparing are: "Secret Code" by Kinki Kids http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=XlNvJ5aZX9g&feature=related "Departure" from the drama Good luck "Cutie Honey" by Koda Kumi "African Symphony "(I think) "Make her mind" from the movie Swing Girls i think that is what its called. So as we are preparing for that. I am practicing on Christmas EVE! MAybe even Christmas DAY! So i don't get to go to Church. Maybe. MAybe. Let's hope not. I probably don't even get to go to Church because I am practicing on Christmas eve. I a...

Christmas is in 26 days and I am quite looking forward to Christmas in Japan. Already in Okayama city they have illuminations up. It is beautiful. Here in Ibara the Cake shops, cellphone shops are screaming Christmas. Next week the 2nd year students are off to either Canada or Okinawa. Canada meaning Toronto. They will be there for 3 days. As for me. I want to go to Okinawa so bad. Said to be the hawaii of Japan. I want to go there. Anyways During that time, 1st year students are having a sports event. basketball, badminton or table tennis. Guess what I am a part of? Basketball. Very fun. During P.E class we played against the boys and one time the girls one and the other time the we tied. Very funny though. After that the school is going to Kyoto to cheer on the track and field team. but Band students don't get to go of course because there is a concert on that same day. Oh Last time I didn't go to Kyoto for the reunion. This time as well I can't go. Someday I will go to K...

So I realized that maybe my school is older than Canada itself. I can't remember Exactly when Canada started. But man it is old. We went to see where the school's afterschool area is located and all the school history. I mean my school is even in the history books. Weird feeling. Anyways days are getting colder here. I am starting to hate being a girl because of the stupid skirt. That's all. Very very cold. My feet feel like icecubes as I bike to and from school everyday. Today I will be going to see a clarinet ensemble concert in Sakuyo University in Kurashiki. I must say I go to Kurashiki a lot these days. And fukuyama. Sakuyo University especially to see Saxophone concerts and such. Now it is clarinet. OH ya I went to see another saxophone orchestra concert. AMAZING. I am starting to like classical saxophone. ONLY as an orchestra or ensemble. I don't quite enjoy solo pieces tho. Decemeber 5th is another sports festival. Only basketball badminton and table tennis even...

days are getting harder. The mood is really low but each day i survive . Tomorrow we play with the middle school band. it's going to be interesting I must say. I finally recieved mail. Pleasant surprise from my school. Forgot about grad transitions I must say. The band club is preparing for a concert on January 12th. Gonna be interesting as well. 5 days later I leave. I can't believe I have another 2 months left. One time I'm thinking 2 months is quite long but another time I'm thinking 2 months is quite short. I completed the song I composed for my school. Is pretty short and melody and accompaniment is simple but hey i'm a beginner. It is in Japanese I must say. Money situation has been sort of solved. Today I took the time translating my father's letter for my homestay family. Quite a chore but it is complete. Oh ya I should say everyday I write a diary in Japanese. My friend writes a diary in English. we exchange and check everyday. I hope my japanese has i...

so a lot has happened since i last wrote. Kojokan's girls track and field team got 1st and 2nd place in the marathon relay. And the boys got 2nd place in the marathon relay yesterday. The band club went out for some fun at a bowling alley. That all went well. The sports festival went well. Running with a flute is really really difficult i must say. Then I went out with some friends and such. Studying times are getting hard. Now I am starting to get homesickness why? mainly because my school's 2nd year students are going to Canada in December for one week. that's all they talk about. Aaaa My bike had a flat tire so I had to walk with my bike home. Kinda tiring but the next day it was okay. Lately I have been in a rut. Friends are making me choose between them. Music club friends or class mate friends. I hate having to choose. urgh. The worse situation in the world. Himeji went well. Went Karaoking, saw Himeji castle and ate some really good food. Nice to meet them again. I w...

So I didn't write last week mainly because I was busy. Last week was the school's open school so the middle school students come to kojokan to check it out. See if they like it or not. Kind of thing. Well I was busy with that. Also practicing for the Saxophone festival thing. I never knew that Classical Saxophone was so big here. Our trio got 3rd place of course. Mainly because we were beginners. 1st was middle school students and 2nd was ELEMENTARY Students. Got me off guard. They were really good at it. I was amazed at how they were very good. The next day we went to Tivoli Park to play with the Saxophone Orchestra. Yes Saxophone orchestra. First time I heard of it. Really interesting. Very fun though. Got some great tips about saxophone and stuff. Very fun. Some Chinese people came to Kojokan to teach us RONGO class. I don't know RONGO but I didn't understand a thing. On Monday more Chinese people are coming but this time they speak english so lucky me. hahahaha. Nex...

Last week was a very long and hectic week. It was school festival preparation all the way. From Monday till thursday night even friday night. Festival was Friday and Saturday. It was a very fun day. I loved it. Thursday night I stayed at school until 8:30 at night working on the mosaic art. Some students stayed there all night working on it. Friday was stage performance. The piano playing went well. There were a lot of guys dressing up as girls there. There was even a highschool musical performance/dance show. It was very fun to watch. EVEN teachers dressed up as girls. My english teacher did. hahaha. Too bad I didn't get a picture. That day my camera sort of died on me. Anyw ays it was towards the end where my homestay father/principle of the school came by me and said to play piano because there was still time left. OUT of the blue. So I had to. I played A thousand miles by Vanessa Carlton. Yes I sung as well. It was very nerve wracking of course but in the end it was all fun. A...

This week very busy. Saturday afternoon I baked some chocolate chip cookies and it was gone under a day. hehehe. I baked quite a bit. So I think I need to bake a little bit more. Sunday was Church. Ouchi's place was what I expected a normal japanese family would have. Very small and nice. My homestay house is very big for Japanese people. Well Church was fun because it was nice and small everyone was inviting. After that we went to a small old area in Kurashiki. It was very nice. A wedding was taking place there. Very interesting to see. Than we returned home. Monday was very slacking though. It was the last day of testing. Tuesday was very long and tiring. I had to be at school at 7:30 for a trio sax rehearsal. Of course I went by bicycle alone this time. Than at 8:00 was off to Kurashiki. We arrived at Kurashiki Minami Highschool. Where there was another highschool there as well in which I forgot their name. Sorry. There we rehearsed as sectionals first. Those clarinet players ar...

This week I was very free. The school had a test. So I was free this whole week. So I would go to school. And go to the library for some alone studying. Than when test is over I would go to the classroom and clean and then go home. This whole week except friday I went to school by bicycle. I am slowly getting used to it. I am slowly remember the roadway. Slowly. Step by step. Monday was a holiday here. I bought some manga books. Sunday was the middle school sports day. It was really a fun day. Except really hot. Asuka chan was working hard. I also bought some origami paper to work on whenever I am bored. I bought a hat for only 7 bucks. Canada it is normally 20 bucks for a single hat. Here it is sooo cheap. There were fashionable shoes for 3 bucks. A fashionable vest for only 9 bucks. Where as in Canada is in the 20s. I have 5 months to purchase those. hahaha. I only bought a hat tho. Next week I have tuesday off because the day is half and half. 12 hours day and 12 hours night. Kind o...

Last thursday, I rode a bike for the first time. Yes. Very very scary as the roads are very very narrow. Normally 20 minutes it took me 30 minutes. Very scary. On the way back I was half an hour over the time I was supposed to be back. It took me extra time to get back as it was dark and I had a snack on the way back. Roads are also very narrow here so it's really hard to maintain my straightness...hahaha. I had to apologize many times that I came home late. I was concentrating to hard on my biking that I forgot to call. The way back I was with a friend as well. The way to school I was with my homestay sister and her friend. As the middle school and highschool is very close together. Every saturday afternoon I go on the computer. Everytime it takes me a very long time to reply to e-mails but it's okay. On saturdays I think I am always alone with the grandmother in which has a very strong accent. Hard to understand her most of the time. Lunch at school I always have to buy in w...

This week felt so long. When I'm not in class I'm in the library or Lunch. Then afterschool I have brass band. Concert is tomorrow and we sound...lets jst say interesting. Its quite a beginner band. So I am teaching them in the end. Kind of hilarious and weird at the same time. Very difficult learning Kanji. I am busy with bukatsu and homework and I have to make a speech in japanese about Nelson mandela for my Social Studies class. aaa half of my classes I don't understand. but it's all for the good For those of you who know. I now can play Utada Hikaru's Prisoner of Love song. YAY~ Today I have band practice from 1 - 3 I didn't understand a thing yesterday so I have no idea how I am getting to school today because normally Morihara- Sensei (English teacher) takes me to school. So today I don't know. Tomorrow as well I don't know how I am getting to school and concert area. Today I am getting my haircut. I hope I Can communicate what I want. Oh ya on we...

I am currently in Japan. It's a saturday morning and I am having quite a free time. First time on the computer and I see 42 new e-mails. Yes it is taking me a while to reply but that's okay. Anyways, Orientation in Japan was very fun. I had to make a goal speech fully in Japanese. that was interesting but everything was fun. the food was very good there as well. Took a bunch of pictures with the teachers there. After 2 days in OVTA (the orientation location. The place is like a dorm and there were other people there as well) I finally went on a shinkansen (bullet train). It was going so fast but it was fine. I was not alone on the shinkansen one of the orientation teachers is from Hyogo which is one station before Okayama station, and she accompanied me. There was also another exchange student from Australia (Liam was his name) who was going to Okayama as well. Got to the station and I met my homestay father. Who reminded me so much of my uncle Purba in Indonesia. And my teache...

So I'm off in like 10  hours~ To Richmond at least. Last night here in my home town~ Very nervous and quite anxious but very excited nevertheless~ I hope things go well during orientation. I hope I can get on this at least 3 weeks at a time to update. But for now So long abbey, hello richmond, bye richmond and hello japan~ ^0^ karm signing outta abbey