Where the Sun Rises

Apologies

2009-11-07T23:59:00.001-08:00

Hello there everyone! I am so sorry for my lack of posting. As I live in the countryside of Japan I do not have regular or proper access to a computer. I am also very busy since I joined the Judo club and switched host families! My time here is going wonderfully but I am very sorry to say that I might not be able to post many more blog updates, for when I do have computer time, I use it to speak with and email my close friends and family. If you know my facebook though, there are many pictures from my trip that I have posted there so yes! If I ever do get regular access to a computer, I will start posting more about current and past events that I haven't mentioned.

Lots of love,

Jane

Forgot to mention something awesome

2009-09-07T04:40:00.000-07:00

Bathtime

So in Japan, the bathrooms are like...a room with a tub, and the shower is outside the tub. So, you sit down on a stool and shower off completely before going into the bath to relax.

This is so inside homes of Japan.

But my host family does things slightly different.

There is a freaking ONSEN next door to my house. For those of you who are unfamiliar, an onsen is a Japanese hot spring. In the onsen next door (Appleland) there is an outdoor type onsen and an indoor one.

Every night I bathe in the indoor one. Yes, it is a PUBLIC BATH. Luckily this one is not co-ed (co-ed ones exist). But yes...the onsen is like a huge enormous indoor bathe tub and then there are the showers outside of the bath too that you use first. There is also a seperate room with apples floating in the water (hence Appleland). Pretty rad eh? Oh yes, and I forgot to mention that nobody wears a bathingsuit. How foreign eh?

Actually, this weekend was my first orientation! Our Rotary district is pretty small, so there are only 5 inbound students in total. 2 americans, one french, on finnish and one canadian (me). But we stayed in this old traditional japanese house on a farm and there was an onsen INSIDE THE HOUSE! So 4 of us and one of the inbounds bathed together in the onsen. It was so cultural. We also made our own sauseges (like...actually MADE them), dug for potatoes, watched drunken Japanese Rotary members launch fireworks, journeyed to a haunted house inside of a forest, road a pony, milked a cow, and spoke Japanese, English, and Japanglish. It was such a good time!

lots of love from the land of the rising sun...

Jane

First Post Since Arriving (sorry it took so long)

2009-09-01T01:36:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Sorry it took so long for me to update my blog...haha I have been here a month now and I have loads of things to share with you. First of all...Japan has been a wonder to behold. As I sit here in class on my second day of High School everyone is working diligently to the soft tapping of the keys on many keyboards. I am in informatics class...which is like computers and luckily I have been granted permission to go on the internet and do what I wish. So I have decided to provide to you the highly anticipated First Blog Entry since my arrival. And now that I am in school with frequent access to a computer, hopefully I will find time to update you folks more often. I believe I will separate my blog entries into sections, as that is the easiest way to organize my brain…

Rotary

The Rotary Club of Kuroishi is a small club but filled with wondrous people with big hearts. When I first arrived here, many members from the Rotary club and future and present host family members greeted me. They were holding up a huge banner that said WELCOME JANE ASHLEY HORTON SAN. It was such a wonderful greeting...I was so suprised and happy all at once. Soon after, they threw a welcoming party for me at the Appleland Onsen (an onsen is a Japanese hot spring). There was a buffet and many kind people. There, I gave a very short speech, and exchanges host club banners. My Summerland banner for their Kuroishi banner. Also, I recieved my okozukai (allowance from Rotary which I will receive monthly). My kozukai is a lovely some of 10,000 yen, which is equal to about 120$ Canadian. So far, I have been to two Rotary meetings and I believe I am expected to give a speech at each one of them, though at the moment I am allowed to keep them short.

Also, with the Rotary Club, I danced in the Kuroishi Yosare. This is a big summer festival where people from Kuroishi danced for 2 -3 hours in the street while spectators sit on the sides. It is a pre choreographed traditional Japanese dance which was difficult at first, but I eventually caught on. In the middle of the dance, a two man television film crew ran out into the middle of the road, turned on a big blinding light, and filmed me while I was dancing since I was the only caucasion in the parade. I was so nervous! I was also announced on the loud speaker in Japanese. They said something to the effect of: "And with the Kuroishi Rotary Club is Jane! An exchange student from Canada! Do your best Jane!" This also, surprised me a lot. That day I got the autograph from a famous sumo wrestler too. I forget his name though, since it is written in Japanese Kanji. But there was this one time in the parade where we stopped infront of the sumo wrestlers and danced in a circle and they all joined in with their intense hair and yukata etc! It was so much fun!

Host home/family

I'm going to start off by saying that I love my host family and I will cry intensely when I have to leave them. I don't have any host siblings, but that is okay since people and friends come over every day! Also, before she left, I made friends with my host parents' granddaughter, Akane, who is the exchange student in Meritt, BC right now. My host family is so kind and my host father is absolutely hilarious. He has a strong accent due to growing up with the local dialect called Tsugaru-ben, which is extremely different from standard Japanese. Though all of them understand and can speak standard Japanese as well. For example (and this has been a great joke for parties), when my host dad says Hashi (chopsticks), Hasu (floating flowers), and Hashi (bridge), it all sounds the same. So funny...haha

The lifestyle of my family is also very active. When I first arrived, they took me to 7 festivals, and then when we weren't going to festivals, we were having yakiniku (Japanese BBQ) parties, doing karaoke, and going out to eat almost every day. In fact, my host dad and friends and family drink lots of beer every night. But the atmosphere is not that of an alcoholic. It is simply normal and fun, with a warm and cheerful atmosphere always. I will say right now, that being with the Japanese when they are drinking, is one of the most entertaining times one could experience.

In total, I have a whopping 5 host families. 3 of them are taking me for 3 months, one is taking me for one, and the other for 2. I have a feeling that moving is going to be a pain in the butt though, especially since I basically packed my whole house into two bags, and I keep getting presents up the yingyang (the Japanese are a very giving people. it is customary to give gifts in Japan).

School

My high school here in Japan began last week. Every day, I commute to and from school by train using a student pass. From the station, I then walk for about 5 minutes to Kuroishi Koukou (high school). It takes about 40 minutes each way to get to and from school every day.

School begins at 8:30am and goes until 3:20pm every day. After school, most students will attend an after school club. Sports club practice EVERY DAY (weekends and holidays too). Later, I plan on joining the Shodo club (Caligraphy). The days of a regular Japanese student start early and end late.

At the beginning and end of each class, the entire class rises and bows to the teacher. In my class, ni-nensei (like grade 11), 23 homeroom, the students are DEAD SILENT ALL CLASS. It mildly drives me insane, but it is also a nice environment to study my Japanese in. Especially since my brain is constantly absorbing the Japanese that the teacher is speaking.

Everyone in the school wears a school uniform. This consists of a blouse, knee high socks, skirt, and no make up (this was difficult for me to accept), dyed hair, or piercings. Though a lot of the girls subtly wear make up anyways, and for a female student to roll up their skirt is normal.

All classes are taught in Japanese...and for me this means half standard Japanese and half Tsugaru-ben. So confusing haha! But all of the textbooks are in standard Japanese. Oh and each day my host mom makes me a Japanese obentou (lunch box). Sooo yummy...it usually has rice with furikake(rice topping. mine are pokemon themed!), eggs, weeners, chicken, salad, edamame, and sometimes she adds some blueberries for desert.

But yes...all in all, I don't really understand the classes (except for English, which I help out with usually), but I study my own Japanese every day. So far I can write in Hiragana, and katakana, and I am progressing in Kanji.

Lifestyle and Culture

Toilets

So you can imagine the look on my face when I entered the bathroom in my host family's house and the cover of the toilet seat auto opened for me. When I sat down, the toilet seat was heated (oh it will be hard to leave this in the wintertime), and I had the option of spray jetting my bum, and then air drying it. Then the toilet auto flushes and the toilet seat closes. Its....AMAZING. But there is also its counterpart. In most public places and in my school washroom the counterpart can be found. The infamous...Japanese Squat Toilet. It is basically a regular toilet with the shape of a hole in the ground. This was so odd the first time I used it but now I am used to it.

Food

Oh lawd...okay I'm going to start by mentioning that the food here is absolutely AMAZING. I love Japanese food...oh god...but after I list off some of the things I have eaten, you will probably beg to differ from pure FEAR! That's right...cower in the might of my brave scary-food-eating skills. OKAY...so here is a list of what I can remember at the moment....

Kani (crab): I eat this crab raw. Raw as in, it still looks alive and has eyeballs and hair. And I rip off its head and eat the green paste out of it with a spoon. And then, I rip off its spikey legs and eat the meat out of them. BUAHAHAHA.
Fish: I am just going to say fish because there are so freaking many kinds of fish. (I love sanman) And the fish is cooked, but also still looks alive so I tear it apart which chopsticks and take out all the bones and eat it with rice ahahahaha...
Yakisoba
Soba
Udon
Ramen
Octopus (sooo good raw with soy sauce and wasabi)
Eel
Myoga (burdock root thing)
Pumpkin
Shrimp Pilaf
Eggplant
Tofu
Tokoro Ten (diet food...its like clear noodley slimey things. its from sea plants)

Ummmm there is a lot more but I dont remember right now!

Festivals

During the summer I went to MANY MANY festivals. First of all, I saw the famous Aomori Nebuta festival, which feature hundreds of floats that depict paintings of samurai warriors, beautiful maidens, angry demons, and dragons too. They are lit up from the inside and some of them are as tall as houses! People parade down the streets playing flutes and banging on giant drums as they follow the Nebuta down the streets. It is certainly the epitome of Japanese culture. I actually got to try one of the drums too! And also I was surprised for a second to see the swatstika on some of the floats. In fact, the swatstika is also still depicted on some of there man whole covers in the streets as well. Maybe these are left over from the world war II period. Anyways, I went to Nebuta Festivals in: Kuroishi, Hirakawa, Aomori, and Hirosaki. So much fun!

The other festivals I went to were the Kuroishi Yosare (which I mentioned previously) and the Kuroishi Genki Matsuri. Genki Matsuri had bands playing on a stage leading up to fireworks. Now let me tell you right now...Japanese people go ALL OUT with their fireworks. They are always without a doubt...going to be AMAZING. And I am serious...Kuroishi is a pretty small town as far as Japan goes and their fireworks were AWESOME. Im just going to leave it at that.

Wrap up

For now, I cannot think of much else to write. Oh except that Japanese Karaoke and Purikura is SO FUN! There are many Karaoke buildings with individual rooms where you can order food and have parties and such. Purikura are photo stickers which you self decorate after. Lots of fun...

But yes, I am so sorry that I did not update for such a long time. I hope this entry makes up for it. I will do my best to update more often from now on.

Lots of love to everyone! Pictures of my adventure are on my facebook (add me under Jane Horton. I will only add future, past or current exchange students, rotary members, family, or special cases) and later I may post some here!

Jane

Visas...ticket...and beyond!

2009-07-11T12:18:00.000-07:00

Okay…So here it goes.

I got my visa! I was so excited. It has a lil picture of me in it and everything. Plus, I went to the embassy in Vancouver and there was no line. It took about 10 minutes AND I got it in a mere week! Though, It does expire in May of 2010, which is a slight problem since I want to stay until July of next year. I guess I’ll have to take the train to the embassy in Sendai or Sapporo to get my visa extended.

Anyways, so after figuring out all my visa stuff, I called Mary Jo, my travel agent, so that I could get my plane ticket. It took a long time…and after communicating between my travel agent and the Rotarians in Japan, I’ve finally got my ticket! I depart on Saturday July 25^th, out of Vancouver airport. I will arrive at Aomori Airport on the 26^th…my new home.

It’s really hectic you know…all of my friends are like “oh we need to get together before you leave” all of a sudden. I don’t think I’ll have the time to spend with all of them since I sort of leave in two weeks and I definitely haven’t gotten everything I need for the trip. Packing is especially crazy since I’m going to be an Amazon woman in Japan. Nothing is going to fit me because I’m so tall! I probably won’t even be able to find shoes my size…

But even so…I couldn’t be more excited or nervous in fact. It’s coming up so soon and before I know it I’ll be stepping off the plane to greet my new host parents whom I haven’t even spoken to yet! I don’t think they speak any English. Though…that’s all the better for developing my Japanese skills.

I suppose I’ll update you all once I get to my host country! Or if you’re lucky, before then. I hope it doesn’t take me too long to figure out getting my internet set up in Japan.

Lots of love!

Jane

PS: Oh right! I graduated from High School too...they were amazing times!

Vernon District Conference 5060

2009-06-02T23:39:00.000-07:00

OKAY! So I went to Vernon for the district Conference, where a whole bunch of Rotarians gather to learn more about Rotary and receive and give out awards.

For us exchange students it was a little different.

We stayed at the army barracks in Vernon which was...well let's just say it was a "new" experience. A very cold one actually. Though, the girls were lucky since we each got our own rooms with a bunk bed in them. The boys got the huge room with all of the bunk beds lined up. I heard that they were being very mature and making farting noises and throwing those popper things that make loud noises when you throw them at the ground.

All in all...it was super fun. I realized during that weekend (May 7th-May 10th) that awesome people actually do exist. Well I knew that before...but for all of the most awesome people to be in one place at one time was amazing. For this conference, not many outbounds came so it was mostly the inbounds from other countries. Which was great actually because I got to get to know the inbounds a little more. It was a joy to get to know them...I love foreigners. Haha and those crazy South Americans!

Anyways...the point is, it was a happy time. We didn't do all that much that weekend, but here's the list of what we did do:

-Kicked a ball to each other in a circle for at least an hour

- Went Gold Panning in Cherryville (I'm not kidding)

-Went up to the nature center (I wish I was kidding)

-Home hosting dinners (we were sent to different houses for Rotary Dinner Party things. I got lost on the way there with Whitney and Andrew...it was an adventure)

- Watched a show with many random things...such as hoola dancing and Edith Piaf music
- Yelled at people on the road while riding in a ghetto bus (yes it was ghetto. it had giant
speakers too)

- Played California Kickball (in Canada...I know) and Soccer

-Watched people play this torure card game thing. It's when you play a round and the person who loses has to put their hand in the center. Then the other people draw cards that state whether or not your hand will be stroked, pinched, slammed by a fist, or have knuckles scraped against it. The number on the card indicates the pain level... As I said before, I just watched.

- I made a speech to a whole bunch of Rotarians representing the outbound students (apparently this went well)

- Hung out with the most amazing exchange student kids in existence...

But yes...that's pretty much it. It was an amazing weekend and I learned a lot about Rotary and got even MORE excited for my exchange. In the next post you'll see why I'm even more excited now then I was then (but you'll have to wait a little bit for my next post).

And sorry for not posting in so long! I've been a busy lady with school and organizing a Man Pageant and whatnot. (Yes that's right. A pageant for men)

Thanks for reading!

Jane

2009-04-08T21:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I received an email from an English teacher at the school where I will be going in Japan!!!

I can't believe I was ranting only a few days ago about how much I wanted to know where I was going...and now I know!!!

I'm in for a crazy experience...

Info about where I'll be going in point form

- I'll be going to Kuroishi City in the Aomori Prefecture of Japan (in district 2830)

-It is the Japanese countryside and their 4 seasons are distinct

- There are only about 4 foreigners in my entire city! I will be stared at, pointed at, talked about. People in the city will know everything about me within a month

-I will be going to Kuroishi Senior High. My school actually has a 5 year nursing specialty course, so there are typically more female students than male

- In Aomori, they speak standard Japanese, but they also speak a different dialect of Japanese called Tsugaru-ben. Think of it as country Japanese..maybe..hick Japanese? lol

- Uniform: Brown cardigan with red necktie, white blouse, black skirt, and knee-high socks. No make-up, piercings, or crazy hairstyles allowed

-I will be the only exchange student in my city. My school hasn't had an exchange student in over 5 years

- I'm in for a difficult experience of a lifetime and I am SO EXCITED!

Guess I should study some more before I go eh? It'll be hard enough learning normal Japanese with this dialect floating around.

I don't have info on my host family yet, but the English teacher says that there aren't many english-speakers in rural Japan, so maybe they won't speak english? I might not be in much contact with them until I arrive.

Anyways...I decided to give a brief update...As I am far too excited to stay here typing any longer! Here's a photo of the opening to my High School as compensation for the short post.

Progress/Revelstoke/Naramata

2009-04-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

So it's been a while since the first post...and I think I'm ready to do a second.

I'm going to the Aomori Prefecture of Japan. District 2830. Basically what I know is this:

-Aomori is a rural part of Japan
-In Aomori, many of the people speak with an accent and a different dialect of Japanese
- Aomori will be my new home for a whole year
- Aomori will become my heaven

"If it is to be, it is up to me"

This Rotary Youth Exchange motto has served thousands of students on exchange worldwide. So I know that it is the truth. So therefore, I'm going to make Aomori into my heaven. I know that I can. Nothing makes me more happy then the prospect of learning a new language and culture. It means that my glasses will become less tinted to a culture that I have grown up in. I will be able to see the world through a new shade. One that is less restricting.

I will change. I will gain insight. I will open up the communicative doors to speak with and learn from millions of new people.

I'm such a freak about this exchange >_<

And so...my story shifts to...

REVELSTOKE!

Okay! So I went to Revelstoke in February and got to meet my fellow outbound exchange students, the inbound, and the outbound students! I LOVE THEM ALL. Everyone is made out of awesome. Not only that, but Revelstoke was incredible.

THERE WERE NO RULES!

I mean, other then the four D's. In Rotary, the famous exchange rules are the 4 D's.

for Revelstoke, it was something like this

No Drinking, Drugs, Driving, or...Dintercourse?

Okay the last part was the joke they made. (It's usually drinking, drugs, driving, and dating)

Haha, basically no thex with anybody!

Those were the rules...so we partied and learned about how to cope on an exchange and met our fellow RYE students. We stayed up forever (except me who had a dress rehearsal for Chicago the musical the day I got back, which basically created instantaneous stress and paranoia) and we danced and partied, and hot tubbed and....omgoodness.

All while the Rotarians had there own drinking/gambling shindig (those Rotarians haven't forgotten how to party!) haha

Okay, so basically Revelstoke had me RevelSTOKED.

It was in a pass in the snowy white mountains of awesome. So we had an epic toboganning/ snowball battle. There were soldiers stationed on either end of the tobogan track...which meant intense snow in the face for anyone who dared brave the tubular torture. It was so fun...

Basically Revelstoke happened and there was great happiness.

And then there was Chicago the Musical, and I became famous! XD

Annnd during Spring Break I went to California, Disneyland, California Adventure, Magic Mountain etc with my best friend Kyra. Which was sweet!

And last weekend there was...

NARAMATA!

Naramata was amazing. It was a mandatory orientation, so ALL of the outbounds were there. There were also inbounds and rebounds. There was still lots of partying and even more learning. They basically crammed the brains of all of the students and parents with information about visas and such....

Also, more friendships were forged and others were stregthened. And food was consumed:

Okay, I didn't eat that ENTIRE plate of food. It got cold really fast and became gross. Those fries were definitely LIMP.

The point is...Naramata got me so excited for my exchange that I can barely even THINK about school anymore. Plus I miss my new friends so much. I LOVE YOU ALL.

There was the update...and now...I am waiting. Just waiting to hear from a host family...and waiting to go on the BIGGEST ADVENTURE OF MY LIFE.

LOVE,
Jane :)

The First Post

2008-12-30T22:48:00.000-08:00

Okay so I haven't left yet...But I thought I'd give this Blogging thing a test run first. My name is Jane, and I am going on a Rotary Exchange to Japan. I don't know where in Japan yet...in fact, there is still a small chance that my forms won't be accepted by the district they were sent to.

However, I know one thing. I'm going on a Rotary Youth Exchange. My dreams are becoming reality. I'm going to learn another language. It's such a crazy thought you know...One day, I was trying to figure out Universities...now, I'm going to Japan for a year. I leave in about 7 months.

So this first post...I thought I would let you know a little about Rotary, and how I came to be accepted by my town's club as a RYE (Rotary Youth Exchange. I'm going to be using this abbreviation in the future) student. One morning I woke up. I think it was a Saturday morning...I woke up and went on my computer. As the obsessive "thinking about the future all the time" freak I am, I started my morning by looking up different Universities and their Engineering programs and all that. And then...I don't know. Those voices rang in my ears. The ones of those friends and teachers that like to be inspirational now and again. They said: "Follow your dream. Do what you've always wanted to do." And maybe I thought of my friend Alex. She's on a RYE in Germany right now. She actually initially wanted Japan, but something went wrong and she didn't get it. Though, she's having the time of her life now. So I found the Rotary International website, and had a revelation. I realized that this was everything I wanted. This is it. In those few minutes...I decided. It didn't take a whole lot of thinking. I called a contact from my local Rotary club and asked about it.

Turns out I was just in time...the first interviews were the following week. It was my first panel interview. Only 3 people...but still, I didn't know what to expect. I went there and they asked me situational questions about being in another country, Canadian government questions, and questions about Rotary. I didn't know as much about Rotary then. I did so much research. I love Rotary. For those of you who don't know what Rotary is...it's an international service club, dedicated to helping people in need. It promotes goodwill, creates peace, saves lives (PolioPlus is an example of this), and it helps people in need. So I made it past my first interview. This year, there were only four of us. Other years, there have been over twenty. Two were chosen from those four. A very awesome guy named Bowen, and myself. We were now "competing" for the spot. I hated it, because he deserved this too.

We both toiled over an 18 page application form (which was a serious pain in my buttocks, not gunna lie), and then, we went to the "big time." That's right...the infamous, District Interviews. Six people on one side of the table...me on the other. Once again I was asked situational questions (close to a trillion of them), a Canadian Government question, and a Rotary question.

Examples of Situational Questions:

If you were sent to South Africa, and your host father was white and also very racist, and he started to beat the black servant boy infront of you and call him a "good for nothing" and "garbage" what would you do?

scary question definitely...but my favorite was:

If you were sent to Finland, where they are really into Saunas, and you got all ready and into your bathing suit, and when you entered the Sauna, your entire host family was naked, what would you do?

Anyways... I made it passed that. I was made to wait two days before I found out. Two days of anxiety and flying hormones. Two days of purgatory. Then...I got the call. I made it. I didn't know where I was going...but I was in. I was going somewhere. To one of these countries:

Japan
France
Argentina
Germany
Brazil
Switzerland

And two weeks later...I received another phone call. I had gotten my very first choice. Japan. My dream is on its way to becoming reality. And now...well now they've shipped off my forms to Japan, and I'm waiting to find out about which host town or city I will be staying in and the host families I will be staying with. I hope everything works out okay. I should know by around February or March. I'll keep you posted.

That was my very long-winded first post. Hope there's more to come.

I'm sure my English will get worse and worse when I'm in another country and you'll be able to laugh at me.