Mon June 18 -- VERY LONG POST!

Today was a very exciting day.  I woke up at 6:00, to roaring winds outside of the house because of the typhoon that is supposed to come tonight.  I ate a very nice breakfast of sandwiches and soup (very similar to Baa`s curry,) and then wore my uniform and got ready for school.  We were running kind of late (we had to arrive at 7:00, 30 minutes before school started, for a small orientation,) so Otousan dropped Okaasan and I off right in front of the school.  I met the principal, vice principal, and the other YFU student who was attending the high school, and they basically introduced us to the school and took us to our classes.  The vice principal told us that at 8:30 we would have to give a small speech/introduction in front of all the teachers.

So, class was amazing!  First of all, they had drawn a beautiful sign on the backboard that said `Welcome to 1-9!  Nice to Meet You Amal!` It was very beautiful.  I walked in and the vice-principal asked me to introduce myself, which I did in Japanese.  When I started speaking Japanese there was a huge excited intake of breath and everyone began clapping J I don`t think they expected me to be able to speak English.  Anyway, I introduced ,myself in front of the class and then as I sat down a couple of kids introduced themselves to me.  (A lot of people wanted to know my height but unfortunately I did not know in centimeters.)

Anyway, my 0^th period was English, and the teacher was VERY VERY nice!  She passed out English worksheets and we worked in pairs, so it was very nice.  My partner helped me out with my Japanese and Kanji, and he helped me out with my English.  It is really funny that they were translating sentences that are grammatically correct but no one says, like `A ought to do B`.  I mean, no one say `ought to`, they just say `should!`  I`m pretty sure the Japanese I have learned is the same way, because while they can all understand me, I can only understand small parts of their conversations. 

After English we had a short break, when I and the other YFU students (again trying to refrain from using names) introduced ourselves to the teachers.  After that, we had homeroom, where our homeroom teacher read announcements, and then math.  After I understood the problem, the math was quite simple, but I also realized how dependent we are on graphing calculators, even for simple things such as visualizing graphs.  BTW, I am in a freshman class, since I am 15.  (There was another student in the class who had moved from California and apparently he was supposed to be a senior in CA (he missed the cutoff in Japan.)  It was pretty obvious he had come from CA because whenever he spoke English he used `hella.`)  Anyway, all the people I met today were very amazing; at first they tried talking in English but then at lunch they asked what I would prefer, and I said I would prefer they talk in Japanese, since I want to improve.  Even the kids that talked to me in English, I tried to respond in Japanese as much as possible.

After Math was Japanese, which I did not understand a word of.  They were learning how to read Chinese (strings of Kanji characters) in Japanese, which was completely Greek to me.  Anyway, I tried to pay attention although half way through I started doing my English worksheets.  I think tomorrow I will bring my Japanese book to class, because according to another exchange student I talked to who I will tell you about later, they do not care if we do something else in all classes except for English, because they figure we will not be able to understand it anyway.  As long as we use no electronics (they have a very strict policy on electronics, which my partner told me about when I tried to use my iTouch to search up a Japanese word.)  Meanwhile, I do not think we have a computer class, but we`ll see. 

After the Japanese class, the guys in the class took me for a tour around the school (which is a complete maze,) resulting in me and them being late for class.  The teacher (it was English again) did not really care it seemed, or maybe she was just going easy on us since it was my first day.  (It seems like a very laid back and fun school, but I am guessing I think that because I don`t know 1) the punishment side and 2) the hours that go into studying afterschool.  Anyway, for our English class, the English teacher had called another exchange student from Hawaii (in the 10^th grade class)  over to our class, and the English class basically consisted of a Q&A session between us two and the other students.  It was really nice; they were curious about where we were from, our favorite stuff, if we had been to Japan before, etc.  They asked the Hawaian exchange student to show them how to hula and teach them, certain words in Hawaian, and they asked me to introduce myself in Hindi.  It was pretty cool!

After that, I am pretty sure we had lunch (or actually, I think maybe the 2^nd English class was before the Japanese class, and the Japanese class was right before lunch.)  Anyway, during lunch I ate the fabulous Obentou Okaasan had prepared with my help, and talked quite a bit.  After lunch we had to go way down (It is a HUGE 3 storey high school) to our next class, which we were also late to (second class today, and both times I was late all the students burst out laughing because it was my first day and I was already late to classes. J Anyway, the next class was some sort of Cultural Connections/Study class, in which we were watching a New Zealand cartoon, which even I did not understand anything about!  (Although I was helping out some of the kids with the slang, or whatever little of it I knew.)  Half way into the class, however, there was an announcement followed by a huge cheer from all the kids.  I found out later that school　dismissed early because of the incoming typhoon, and that based on when the typhoon ends we may or may not have school tomorrow.  (The kids have all been VERY VERY helpful today in showing me around and helping me understand stuff.)  Anyway, my homeroom teacher called Otousan and Okaasan to let them know, and they said I should walk home, but I had completely forgotten the way so they, very kindly, came to pick me up.  I am pretty sure I know the way home for tomorrow, though.

Anyway, I am sure there is more I have to say but I cannot think of it right now.  Overall, school is very fun and exciting, and the kids are all extremely nice! (BTW, for those who do not know, in Japanese high schools, for the most part the students stay in the class, and teachers change rooms.)

Oh and I also have to wear shoes, not sandals tomorrow (if there is school,) take shorts for PE (most kids come in their PE uniform to school, but I don`t have one soo…) and take my Japanese book.

Yeah, I think that’s all for now!  When we came home Amma called and I talked to her, and yeah…Ok, bye for now!

BTW one Japanese mystery I am still trying to solve is why people tend to use kocchi instead of koko or kore, so if anyone reading my blog knows, please comment.  I am not sure if it is a dialectical thing or not.

Okay, bye, またね！