Hi Everyone!
I have done so many things these first six weeks, I don’t know where to begin. Well, I’ll start at the very beginning, that’s a very nice place to start! (Clearly I was a musical fan from way back!)
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| Saying Goodbye to friends before leaving for Seikei High, Japan |
I was very glad that Colleen and Sue were going to Sydney with me, but I was also very sad because Mum wasn’t coming with me. :-(
When we arrived in Sydney, Colleen’s Aunty Ollie met us at the Airport. She is very rich! We all stayed at her apartment for three days. The first day we went swimming in the in-ground pool at the base of their flat. That day we plastered sun tan oil on all of us and I got very sun burnt. (No sun-smart campaigns back then!) It was great to just lay around all day in the sun and do nothing at all! (Yes, I remember those days very well!)
The next day we couldn’t go to the beach because it was raining, so we did some shopping instead and did some cooking to prepare for a party we were going to have that night as a kind of farewell party for me and also to celebrate Uncle Bill’s win at the horse races.
Most of the people there were old and disgustingly rich! :) The men were all big and acted as if they were playboys! Two other people from Cowra were there, Michael and Juliana Wittle. I met Michael about 5 years ago in Cowra when he lived there. After the party which ended at about 11.30pm, we went to the beach for a midnight swim, but the tide was up so we din't go in, we just paddled on the edge of the surf. After that we went back to the apartment and went to bed. I slept in the same bed as Colleen, but I will never again because she kicked, punched and hit me all night! She also nearly pushed me out of the bed a few times!
The next day we stayed on the beach all day. Then that night I left for the airport. When we arrived I didn’t know what to do. Lucky Aunty Ollie was there. She knew what to do since she has travelled a lot. After I checked in, I waited for a while to see if I could see Arthur. The I remembered I had to pay my departure tax and just then I caught a glimpse of Arthur. Well not really, it was his clothes that caught my eye, not actually his face! So I yelled to Colleen and Sue to Chase after him down the elevator while I payed my $20 tax. When they emerged I had a real shock because after Arthur came Pete Zech. The reason I was shocked was because after Angello’s and Beverly’s wedding Arthur and Pete were fighting and said they would never be friends again!
After everything was done, we all went to the bar and Aunty Ollie brought a bottle of Champagne and we all had some of it. Aunty Ollie took some photos. Then the clock struck 10.00 pm and I had to go through customs and go to gate 6 all by myself. So I had to say bye to everyone, that was when a strange thing occurred. A flash flood! It started when I had to go through customs and didn’t stop until about 2 Hrs later when I was talking to a couple returning to Japan after a 2 week honeymoon in Australia. Then we had to get on the plane so I didn’t see them again. On the plane I felt very lonely and felt like crying again but I was too embarrassed, because there was a man sitting next to me. He was nice to me and tried to start a conversation but I only knew some Japanese and he only knew some English, but we established who we were and where we were going, and why. The conversation ceased and didn’t start again except where necessary.
On the plane and the first day I was in Japan, were the worst times of my stay. It only hit me then that I was in Japan and was going to be here for a long time! Another reason was because I didn’t see mum at the Sydney Airport and at the Cowra Airport it was too busy, I hardly had time to say goodbye with so many people there. On the plane I also had a lot of time to think, and the things I thought about weren’t very good. I thought about what would things be like when I got back, would everyone still be there and I thought about my friends in Cowra and how when I got back they would all be scattered around Australia and I’d have to go to school with the form below me next year, and I don’t like any of them too much.
I’ll also Miss Colleen and Julie and going out to the Lachlan Valley every night, but I suppose if I was in Cowra now, I’d probably be too busy with school work to go out….
When I arrived the first few days were horrible, because I was always left alone which was very different in Cowra. I was always with people in Cowra, whether it was at the shop, or Grandma’s talking to Jim or anyone else there. The only time the whole family was together here was at dinner, the rest of the time they all went their separate ways. The only person I talked to a lot was the mother Mrs Midori Yamamoto. She is a very nice lady and the one I talked to all the time, mainly because she was always around and could speak fluent English.
The day after I arrived I went to school. I went with the younger brother Ken on number 10 bus. I don’t think he was too happy about going with me because he didn’t speak to me at all, except to tell me where to go. When I went to school, I went to the English teacher’s staff room and was met by Nakajima Sensei. He spoke to me in Japanese and when I couldn’t understand what he said, he was very disappointed and didn’t say anything but I could tell by the way he talked. Also when I met Charles McKee and Elisabeth Bentel, he seemed to get on with them really well, probably because they could speak fluent Japanese. In that meeting I also met my homeroom teacher, Minami Sensei. He was really nice but seemed to be a bit forgetful and later I found out that he was a lot forgetful!
That same day I went to my first class at Seikei Koutou Gakkou. When I first got there I had to make a speech to the whole class. I said in English and Elizabeth said the same thing in Japanese for me, because she was in the same class as me. I didn’t know what to say so I just said in English what Keiko Aibara wrote for me in Cowra, or should I say some of it, plus a bit more. In that lesson I just sat and watched. I didn’t listen because I couldn’t understand what was being said. One thing that really amazed me about the class was that it wasn’t like I thought it would be. It was very rowdy and about 3% of the class was listening to the teacher, the rest were either throwing chalk, eating, looking at photos, playing games or just plain talking to each other. It was not like the classes we had been told about. At first I thought it was because the class had been disturbed by me, but later in my stay I learnt different.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that when I arrived, I was met at Narita Airport by Nakajima Sensei, the next exchange student to Cowra High, Miss Yoko Mitsui, Mr Mitsui and a teacher from Seikei and an ex-exchange student to Cowra.
At the airport in Japan it was horrible. I didn’t know who I had to see, what I had to do or where I had to go. I felt like doing the same thing I did in Sydney and that was to cry. Only by luck did I find out what I didn’t know. After we got off the plane the people broke off into 3 groups. It was only by luck that I followed the right group to the immigration department. When i t was time to collect my baggage, I didn’t know what to do. With the amount of baggage I had brought, I wondered what I was going to do to get it out, then I spotted a man pulling a trolley along with his baggage on it, so got one and piled on my luggage and followed him.
Tomorrow, Saturday the 13th of March, I'll be going on a trip to ‘Nikko’ for a ski trip. It’s only for one night but that’s still great. Also in Marchi I’ll be going with my class to Shikoku, so I’ll be going on the Shinkansen from Tokyo station to the bottom of the main Island and then take a boat to Shikoku and then go sightseeing on the island. From there we will return nearly the same way, by boat, then by Shinkansen. This trip is for 4 days and three nights, and it starts on the 24th of March. Then in April I will go on a ski trip with my family and in May I will be going to Nara and Kyoto with the Junior High School. Near the end of the year I will go on two more trips. One with the senior high and one with the whole school body, for a third skiing trip. I think that’s all the travelling I’ll do, which isn’t bad for a year, because there isn’t much else to see.
Today and yesterday, I went to a kindergarten school to see how they operate. Boy was it great! The kids there were all great! Cute and friendly. When I arrived they all ran around yelling GAIJIN, which means foreigner. They all thought I was American, so when I told them I came from Australia, they all went Heee or Waaa, which in English,means ‘What?’ or ‘Gee!’. There was one little girl who wouldn’t leave my side, she hung onto my hand as if I were a lifesaver!
As you have probably guessed by all the trips I’ll be taking this month, that I have finished school. It will restart in April.
Well, I’m coping with the language, mainly because most of my family here can speak english. The only bad thing about my lifestyle here is that they eat 5 times more than I ate in Oz. They always say to me ‘Try this’. So I’ve put on a bit of weight but am trying to go on a diet, but with all the food they give mit it’s very difficult.
Well today is Monday, sorry I didn’t write more on Saturday,but I was very busy sightseeing and Skiing!!
Well it took about 4 hours to get to Nikko, so we arrived at approx 3pm. We got equipment for skiing from the motel we were staying in Called Korinso. We hired skis, boots, and stocks which I relied on heavily at first. After we got our gear, we all started up the slope, I couldn't barely stand up, but somehow I made it up. Then we got a rope from halfway up to the very top.
Then came the interesting part trying to come down without falling down the hill, which I didn’t do because I fell over even before we started. Mainly because those stupid skis are too long. I couldn’t even go straight because if I did, I’d go too fast and wouldn't be able to stop! Mainly because they didn’t tell me how, so the first time I had to fall over to stop. Then when I tried to turn the corner, I couldn’t, but after the first 2 very slow and sore skis down the slope I learnt how to stop and turn, which I valued as much as my life, cause if I didn’t I wouldn’t have a life to value!
After the first day we stayed at the slope until 5.30 and then we went back to the motel and had tea, which was all typical Japanese food. Fish, oysters, pickles and seaweed, all of which I don’t like! So I didn’t have much to eat, which was good for my diet! ;-) Then we had a Japanese style bath, Yoko, Satoo Migsui and I. The bath was a hot spring which smelt of rotten eggs.
The next day we went sight seeing to the Chusenji Lake and to the Kendon Falls which are 198m high. It was fantastic because around the bottom, it had ice or snow with stalactites hanging off it! Then we went to a Shinto Shrine to pray. It was great!! In the building it had a hand carved Buddah which was caved hundreds of years ago.
Then after lunch we went back to skiing. I had forgotten all I Had learnt the day before and had to start all over again. Then after about 2 skis I got the hang of it again! I was rapt!! :-D I was going down as fast as the other people with me! I can’t wait until April!! :-D
17th March 1982
Well after I went to Nikko I didn’t do much that was interesting until today! Today I met a friend of mine Hiroaki Tanikawa! Yes! You got it! He came to Cowra last year with the Tokyo University of Agriculture Choir, or Chor Farmer.
We met at Nishiogi Kubo. The only thing wrong was that I didn’t recognise him because when he came to Cowra he had long hair, now he has very short hair, but I didn’t feel too bad, cause he didn’t recognise me either as I had very short hair and now I have long and wavy! After we established who we were and that we were the right people, we went to MacDonalds for lunch and then returned to the Yamamoto’s house where Hiroaki and Mr Yamamoto had a good talk about Cowra and a lot of other things. I think Mr Yamamoto learnt more from him than from me about Cowra and why he went there.
Later we went to a park and zoo in one at Kichijoji. We walked around the park and went into the Zoo section and saw heaps of birds and fish, of which I took heaps of phtos. After we had finished at the Zoo we left and went to a coffee shop, which I didn’t like all that much, cause it tried too hard to be American! It had heaps of meaningless posters up on the wall, just they were printed in English and had pictures of Americans. Most of them were old newspaper clippings and one was an advertisement for coffee. The music was also American, but I didn’t mind that because some of the songs were by Australian bands.
When we returned we said goodbye at Nishiogi Kubo and he invited me to his place in Shizouka. If I have time this month I would like to go.
19th March 1982
Today I went to Yokohama with Mrs Tesuka. Her daughter went to Cowra on the same exchange I am on. She went the year before Eri Nakanishi. When we arrived in Yokohama the first thing we did was to go to a place called China Town. It seems every country has a Chinatown or two! :-) There we met Mr Tezuka, a very nice man, who works for a shipping company. So we got the tickets for the ship and the Marine Tower cheaper. I don’t know ho much cheaper, because I didn’t have to pay. We had lunch at Chinatown and t was very delicious. I also bought a pair of happy shoes at Chinatown. Yes I actually found a pair of shoes that fit me!! They were only Y1000 ($4) so I was very glad they were cheap, because I have spent too much money so far.
Then when we finished looking around etc, we returned to Nishiogi kubo. Mr and Mrs Tezuka asked me if I would like to go to their place for dinner one night, but I don’t know when cause right now I have too many things to do that I don’t know where I’m going. People left right and centre are arranging things for me!
30th March to 1st April 1982
Well on the 30th of March I got up at about 7.45am (which is nearly unheard of in the school holidays) to go to a tennis camp with Otoosan and his university students. Later I found out that we were to go alone cause the students had already been there for a day or two.
From Nishiogi kubo we had to take a train to another statin and change trains twice and then take a bus to the camp. It’s right on the coast. It is very well known for it’s many tennis courts. When we got off the bus we asked the bus driver where exactly the Motel was, so we followed his directions and found the right place. Except that there were two motels with the same name! One on the main road and one at the very end of the long lane. Ours happened to be the latter one. So we walked about 100 yards and then Mr Yamamoto decided he had better ask someone if we were going the right way. So we turned around and walked back to the first motel where we met a group of girls who said we were going the right way. So we turned around and went towards the correct motel. There were heaps of kids there because there was some kind of carnival on.
When we finally reached the very last tennis court, my hand was ready to drop off! You know how much I pack whether I’m going away for 3 days or 1 year! Since we had been going back and forth for about ½ an hour, I was beginning to get very hot, sore and angry!
By the time we reached the courts, I had convinced myself it was going to be the worst trip I had been on since I had come to Japan, but as usual I was wrong! After I got changed I went out to meet everyone and do a bit of training which they had already started early this morning.
I was met by one guy and one girl. The girl was a senior at Seikei Uni and the guy was the organiser of the whole trip.They were both in their early twenties. I couldn't believe it! :-) (guessing I meant that they looked much younger! :-) ) Then in the group I was in, I met everyone and was told their names, but the only one I seemed to remember was a guy called Ohashi-kun. While we were playing tennis or practicing our shots, I enjoyed myself immensely! I’ve always wanted to play tennis but I have never been game to incase I wsan’t as good as I thought I was! Here it didn’t matter. I had a great time and met some really nice guys and girls! :-)
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