My Day in Yokohama

Hey everyone!

Today I went to Yokohama City with my friends and it was so much fun! :D

We started the day with lunch here in Landmark Tower.

It`s huuuuge :O there are 69 floors, and from the very top you can see all the way to Tokyo. It`s full of shops and restaurants :D
I had a delicious katsu (breaded pork) curry with rice. おいしい！ (delicious!)

after that, we went to the POKEMON CENTRE ~~~

I was literally like a child in a sweetshop. The music playing is the game`s Pokemon Centre music, and all of the staff wear Pikachu hats. Card games are always being played, it`s awesome :D I went a little crazy and bought this Pikachu teddy, Pikachu&Eevee slippers, a Yokohama Pikachu phone charm and a Pikachu watch. You may have guessed that I like Pikachu. I also love Absol but there were no Absol toys :(

ピカピカピイイイイカアアアアア！！

Next, we did something I`ve wanted to do since I came to Japan- Purikura. Purikura (short for Print Club) is a popular hobby in Japan where you take your picture in a booth and decorate it, and then it`s printed into stickers. I loved it!

left to right: Christopher, Kosuke, Pratik, myself, Manami and Shotaro

Christopher and Pratik are the two American exchange students also attending my school at the moment :) Christopher has excellent Japanese but Pratik has none whatsoever. So it`s rather amusing :D

After that, we saw a live demonstration of samurai swords (katana) outside Landmark Tower, which was amazing! The two guys were running and jumping at each other with super sharp swords but never actually touching one another. While a display like this in Ireland might warrant passerbys` spare change, the people watching eagerly threw ￥1000 (about 8e) notes into their box afterward. They appeared to have made a small fortune :O

In the evening, we took a stroll around a different shopping centre and I tried taiyaki, a traditional Japanese pastry filled with anko (sweet bean paste). I don't like anko that much, but our taiyaki was smothered with ice cream so it was all good :D

So now I am sitting in my pjs, wearing my Pokemon slippers, munching on Pizza-flavoured Pringles and sipping Blue Skal, which is bubblegum flavoured.　日本大好き！(i love Japan!)

Bye all :)

クイーヴァ
Caoimhe

Soft Drinks #1

Hey y'all,

still haven`t figured out photos yet. Sorry :(
at the mo all photos are courtesy of Google.

Today`s post is about Japanese soft drinks :D

Ramune

GLORIOUS RAMUNE
ahem. I really like Ramune. My host mother bought the family a 6 pack when I arrived and it`s lovely! The one we have is Original flavour, which is kind of like a bubblegum-lemony flavour. The cool thing is that there`s a marble in the lid so when you open it, it just floats about in the top of the bottle :D  I love it.

Skal

This drink is the most weirdly delicious thing I have ever tasted. It`s lemonade made with skimmed milk and I don`t know why but it is absolutely delicious. I would drink it all day if I could. NOM NOM NOM~

Dragonball Cider

Lemon-lime drinks are called cider in Japan for some reason. This one in particular is really cool because of the cans :D They're only 100yen each so I've got one in my room that I don`t want to open because it looks deadly...so I don`t know how it tastes. But a different brand, Mitsuya Cider, is lovely so hopefully this will be too.

That`s all I`ve tried so far. Sorry this is a short post, I have to go to bed early because tomorrow I am going to THE POKEMON SHOP~~~~~

Night all!
Ｋｕｉ－ｂａ
Caoimhe

The Dreaded Toilet

Hello!

In Japan, as far as I can tell, there are four types of toilet.
yes.
FOUR.

1. The "true Western toilet" as I call it, is exactly that- a normal toilet, normal sink. Not much else to explain.
2. The "Western-style toilet" is exactly the same as a true Western toilet, except for one thing: the cistern has a sink in it to wash your hands. It uses fresh, clean water to wash your hands while it flushes. Very economical!
   
3. The "Japanese-Western" toilet is my favourite. It's a true Western toilet, sink separated, but it has loads of cool technology! They have seat warmers, built in bidets, and music. They are the deadliest thing ever and Ireland needs them.
   
4. "True Japanese Toilet" I don`t even know

 

 

 

こうこう（High School)

Hey everyone!

Today was my first day of Japanese High School, and whoooooa. SO different.

I didn`t really understand much, but I had fun. I'm gonna seperate this post into sub-headings because I have so much to say here!!

かもく (subjects)
I`m taking all the same classes as my Buddy System partner, Mana-chan (who is the most adorable lil thing) here they are:

• English Conversation
• Freshman English
• Japanese (very difficult for me)
• Maths
• Home Economics (surprisingly the subject I understood the most after English)
• World Science (basically a mix of Science and Geography, an absolutely deadly class)
• P.E
• Computers
• Music (very different to Leaving/Junior Cert Music, it`s completely performance-orientated)
• Social Studies
• Health

I thought Maths would be easy enough, as, y`know:
"why are you taking 12th grade calculus?"
"cos it`s the same in every country"

OH BOY WAS I WRONG

Students
Japanese students are the sweetest thing! I love them!
Today I heard the word "Kawaii" (cute) at least two dozen times. Literally everything I did was adorable to them, my accent, my clothes, even my yawns :P
Everyone seems fascinated by me, which is lovely. All the girls have taken my photo already :`) at one point, everyone was touching my hair and saying "kawaiiiiii" over and over again.
Also, cos I can`t go on Facebook at the mo, somebody please tell Aisling Kearns that there is a girl in my Home Economics class that looks and sounds exactly like her. Except, y`know, Japanese.

Also, the students here are more lax regarding rules. Everyone has a phone in their pocket and texts between classes (and sometimes during) and the teachers are completely unfazed. Long conversations take place during classes and it`s completely normal.

Uniform
Although the school has a set uniform, the rules are very lenient. The essential components are the school skirt and a white shirt. After that, you can choose your own sweater-vest, socks, tie and shoes. My vest is a navy button cardigan, I love it :)
Each brand has it`s own logo on the chest. Mine is a man riding a horse- like Ralph Lauren ;) - and lots cater to the "cute" culture of Japan. However, I`m not sure that the logos are completely understood, because I`ve seen a good few Playboy Bunny sweaters and socks...
Some other popular logos I`ve seen are the Eiffel Tower (on my socks), Statue of Liberty and Minnie Mouse.

General amusing things

• A teacher asked me today if I watched football, so I said yes and he raised his arms and said "ROBBIE KEANE"
• There are sinks in the hallways where the girls brush their teeth at the end of the day
• I brought a big box of Love Hearts for the class, and they are a huge hit
• I would not be considered small here :D :D

Ok, I`m off now. Actually, I think I`ll do the toilety post cos people have asked..

Big shout out to Joe Fontana in Macari`s Tullamore who awesomely sponsored my trip :D

Caoimhe

Culture Shock

Hey everyone!

I've arrived safe and sound in Japan. I LOVE THIS COUNTRY. It's amazing~

Okay so before I write anything, a few updates.

• The internet here is wired, so for the moment, I can't upload pictures because I have to use the laptop (and my iPod cable is broken.) Unless I find a new cable or WiFi, I'll probably upload all the photos in bulk when I get back to Ireland.
• The internet in my home is restricted, so I can`t use facebook to contact people. But, email and blog is fine.
• I can use the internet for an hour or so in the evenings, and Japan is 9 hours ahead of Ireland, so if you need to contact me,best idea is to email around 12pm Irish time.

Japan has been a huge culture shock so far. Some things have absolutely amazed me so far...

1. On elevators, if you are standing, you MUST stand on the left. If you are walking, you MUST stand on the right.
2. There are 4 different types of toilet (I think) I`ll save them for a separate post.
3. The shower and the bath are completely seperate, I`ll explain these in the toilet post.
4. Everyone is soooo polite. It's so cool. That said, I stick out like a sore thumb with my blonde hair. So I get lots of stares!
5. A lot of shop assistants, but not all, speak in a weirdly nasal, high pitched voice. I don't want to ask my host mam why, in case that's their real voice, but surely it`s not. Think Janice from Friends, but tenfold.
6. Everyone calls me cute :D and everyone, EVERYONE, I have spoken to so far has told me "にほんごじょうず！！” (brilliant Japanese!) even if I've just asked where the bathroom is.
7. The hardest thing by far to get used to is the slippers. There are very strict rules about wearing slippers. You must wear slippers inside the house, except in a room with a special bamboo floor called "tatami." Also, in the bathroom, you must take off your inside slippers and wear toilet slippers. And, in shops, you must take off your shoes before you go to the dressing room.

Okay, I'm gonna go take a shower now, then go to bed- school tomorrow!!

If mam, dad or Daire are reading this, please send me Mam's work number by email please, and I will call tomorrow.

Sayounara minnasan! (bye everyone!)

Caoimhe

楽しみです！(excited!)

It's almost midnight here in Ireland, and in 5 and a half hours I will be on a flight out of Dublin. *cue excited screaming*

I am far too excited to sleep.

Today I finished my Leaving Cert and I am quite happy with it overall :) Religion and Geography were tricky I must admit but I did my very best :) Japanese was a lovely paper too :D

I'll be arriving in Japan on Sunday, 7:50am local time, so it'll be tomorrow night in Ireland. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaah excited (^з^)-☆

さよなら！(goodbye!)
Talk soon,
クイーヴァ
Caoimhe