☆Rotary Meeting and Blazer!

I'm a little late with this post, but I thought, "Better late than never!" ^^
Sunday, April 22nd, I attended my second Rotary meeting. During that time, we discussed some important issues concerning our exchange, like what to do if we're sexually harrassed, potential dangers, and the do's and donts. We learned the "4 Ds" of Rotary:

• No drugs
• No driving
• No drinking
• No dating

Apparently, there is a "secret" 5th D, which is "don't do anything dumb"!
After we went over all the material, we were given our blazers!!!

The color is Navy Blue! It looks quite nice!

The badge... I LOVE it! I can't wait to wear my blazer out!

This Friday, I will be leaving for another Rotary orientation. This one, however, will be taking place on Galveston Island! Our estimated time of arrival is 3 PM Friday afternoon (and will be leaving Sunday morning), meaning I get to miss part of school! ^^ The Rotary students will be taken to Galveston by the Rotarian that lives closest to us. The closest one to me is the manager of the YMCA club! ^^

We'll have free passes to Moody Gardens, and I think we might see the beach, too! They have numerous events planned for us, including a Talent Show- which we HAVE to participate in! My friend Toussaint and I have no idea what we're going to do yet. I think the other exchange students are in the same boat ^^; In the e-mail I received, it said we'll be sleeping in a school and that we need to bring sleeping bags and a pillow. I'm not sure how this is all going to work out, so we'll just have to wait and see.

My mom's boyfriend gave me his old camera, which is a wonderful Canon! It's a little old, but the picture quality is perfect for my needs. But now, thanks to my little brother, my laptop doesn't work, so I'm stuck using my mom's old one :( It barely works as well.

Well, anyways, I'll definitely take photos whilst at the meeting and make a blog post about it! Thanks for reading thus far! The time grows nearer!

☆What To Do in Japan~

I actually made a post like this on my last blog, but since I created a new one I thought it would be cool to add the list again, except this time I've actually thought about it a little bit more. There are some places I would like to see (like cities, historical landmarks, onsens, festivals, etc.) but I don't want to really ask my host family to take me, unless they ask me upfront. I don't want to seem rude, or like a burden. Some items on the list are completely obvious and something I HAVE to do, but that doesn't mean I don't look forward to it! ;)

Oh! By the way, I *think* that I know a little bit about my host family. On Sunday, when I was told my district, my mom talked to the man who told us it was Niigata prefecture. Apparently he knows the family that is hosting me, and he said that they've hosted 19 times in 20 years! I don't know if they are for sure my host family, but maybe most likely. I'm really looking forward to knowing them, and getting to meet them!

Onward with the list!

• Join a cool school club. Several of them, if possible. I'm really interested in traditional clubs, like tea ceremony, ikebana, and koto, but I think doing sports (like karate, judo, or even soccer) would be fun, too! Of course, it all depends on what clubs my school offers.
• Take a bento box to school. Again, this is something that I have to do (I think I can safely say that most Japanese students bring bento boxes to school. I haven't heard otherwise.) but it looks like it would be fun, and Japanese lunches (even bento boxes) are more elaborate than the American PB&J. Though, I have been known to bring spaghetti, ramen, and hamburgers in my lunch box.
• Have a "cool" mode of transportation to school. I watch a lot of Japanese "dorama" and the students usually ride a bike, train, subway, or walk to school. Since I'm most likely going to be in a "smallish" town, I'm thinking I'm going to walk or ride a bike to school. Another exchange student rides 2 hours to school on a train! In America, there is hardly anywhere to walk or ride a bike outside your neighborhood. I think this will be a cool change!



Japanese streets (http://airtower.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/sam_0162.jpg?w=500&h=375)

• Explore my neighborhood. Japanese architecture and houses are SO different from American! I personally like the way they are more. It feels cozier to me. I want to explore my neighborhood and town upon arrival! 
• See and experience "old" Japan. What I love most about Japan is its traditional culture, which was my main reason for taking an interest in the country. They're so advanced in technology, yet they still hold so many traditional values. I love the old villages, shrines, pagodas, castles, tea ceremonies,  martial arts, etc.
• Experience Cherry Blossom viewing (Hanami).
• See some big cities. I am thoroughly happy with my placement in a small prefecture. Even if I had a choice, I wouldn't trade it in... For ANY prefecture. I still would like to see Tokyo, and especially Kyoto.
• Visit a traditional Japanese inn & visit an onsen. I've read a lot about them! From what I understand, a lot of times when people visit an onsen (hot spring), it's connected to a traditional Japanese inn. You can do both at one place! I also hear you get to wear a yukata ;)
• Take part in festivals. I also would really like to wear a yukata to one ^///^ Just a little dream that I have! I also want to try all the delicious foods that I heard they have!
• Watch Japanese TV. I always see Japanese commercials and game shows on YouTube, and they are absolutely HILARIOUS! I can't wait to go to Japan to watch TV ^^; 
• Eat at a ramen stand. I always see pictures of ramen stands in Japan, and I can't wait to actually go to one! I can't wait to do everything that I always see people doing while in Japan!
• See geishas perform. I first got interested in Japan when I was in kindergarten. My teacher gave us (the students and I) coloring pictures of a geisha. I remember I thought she was beautiful. I loved her hair, and she had the large pin with the flowers hanging down (that I now know is called "kanzashi). I love geisha and think that they, and their arts, are beautiful.
• Have Japanese grandparents. I want Japanese grandparents so I they can tell me about their childhood or old Japan. I love when my dad tells me about Russia, my grandpa about Germany, my aunt about France, and my other aunt about Vietnam! xD Hearing about their childhood (let me emphasize... Their foreign childhood!) is so interesting and cool!
• Visit Lalaport. Lalaport is an awesome mall that's totally high-tech and contemporary. I'm not sure of its exact location, though I do believe it's located somewhere in Tokyo.

So this is just a short list about some stuff I want to do whilst in Japan! There are many other things, but I believe that this list is fine for now ^^ I have about 4 months and 2 weeks left now!

☆Niigata Prefecture

As I said in the previous post, I have been assigned by Rotary Youth Exchange to live in Niigata prefecture starting this August, 2012, until either June or July in 2013. Even though I haven't a clue about which city I'll be living in, who my host family is, or what school I'll be going to, I'm still extremely excited and happy! From what I've read and seen, Niigata Prefecture is absolutely beautiful and is enriched with traditional culture.

Niigata Precture on map (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niigata_Prefecture)

Even though it's near the coast, it snows A LOT, which I am particularly happy for since I live down south... My state borders Mexico ^^; No snow here! Also, Niigata seems to be a bit of a "farming" prefecture. Apparently they provide Japan with most of its rice!

Niigata is known for its tulips, ski resorts, cherry blossom viewing (yay!), its castle, shrine, and several festivals. I know one in particular is the "doll festival" which showcases many well-preserved dolls dating back to the edo period! 

There is an incredibly awesome festival (called the Fox Wedding Festival) where a woman and a man are painted as foxes and are married with a traditional Japanese wedding (even if they aren't really getting married). You can find more information here:  http://jetcyndi.wordpress.com/2009/11/17/fox-wedding-festival/ 

Cherry blossoms next to a traditional Japanese castle (http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/season/spring/joshinetsu.html)

All that's left now is to find my town, host family, and high school!

Finally, one MAJOR thing I forgot to add is that the prefecture I will be living in is considered to be one of the top 3 most prestigious geisha districts in all of Japan! I'M SO EXCITED!  I wanted to be placed in Kyoto so I could see geishas. I first learned about Japan when I was 5 years old and my teacher gave the class a coloring picture of a geisha. Since then, I've been learning about them and their role in Japanese society.

A lot of students were disappointed when they found out they weren't being placed in big cities, and instead little towns, but I'm actually really excited and happy. It's different, in a good way, and I feel like I'll be more in Japan rather than just a tourist visiting. You will be able to learn about a new town that not many people have heard of, or would have thought of visiting. Honestly, if I was offered a different district or city (even if it was Tokyo or Kyoto) I would still stay with Niigata <3

☆Rotary Orientation and My District!

Right now I am so unbelievably excited and happy! I had my first Rotary orientation, though it didn't really feel like it since we had a seminar at the end of our interview on January 25th. The orientation was a lot of fun; the Rotarians explained the rules of Rotary and what was going to be happening for the next few months. They also gave us our districts... I'm going to be living in Japan district 2560... Also known as... NIIGITA PREFECTURE!

Every exchange student was given this list at the orientation. It has all of our names on it, along with our e-mail, hometown, and the district we're going to. 

I'm extremely excited! The prefecture isn't really "famous" (no major cities, and not many attractions), but who cares?! The prefecture is right next to the ocean, and has a famous temple, shrine, and ski resort! I don't know what city I'll be living in yet, but I'm sure I'll find out soon. I'm going to research the high schools in the area to see which one could potentially be mine ;) After this post, I also would like to make a new one dedicated to Niigita prefecture! From what I've seen, it's absolutely beautiful... I'm on the verge of tears. You'll see why when I make that next post!

There were 3 people who originally wanted to go to Japan in my district (which, apparently was huge since there was only 1 or less each year who wanted to) and at the end, only 1 wound up going. My friend, Toussaint, is going to Sweden, and the other girl is going to Thailand. I really want to thank Rotary Youth Exchange for giving me this privilege!

Interestingly enough, only 3 out of 14 students in my district are actually going to non-European countries. France, Germany, Belgium, and Spain were EXTREMELY popular! Especially France and Germany! One girl is going to Brazil, the other to Thailand, and I to Japan (obviously!). Toussaint kept throwing jokes and remarks behind me trying to make me laugh xD His mom was hilarious! When the Rotary club asked if any parents were going to see their child while on exchange, our moms didn't raise their hands :( Haha! That's okay, though xD Ah, I'm rambling now. I shall start on some hardcore "Niigata" research!

☆New Blog

Hello, guys! I've created a new blog because I was having trouble logging in with the last one. I had to make a Gmail account I didn't use, and it kept saying that my password was wrong even though I know it was correct (the password worked all the times before, and I wrote it down). I like this new blog more (I figured out how to create and upload a header!) but Blogger completely re-did the website layout, so I had a difficult time figuring it out. I like the original one more, it was easier to navigate through.

Tomorrow I have my Rotary orientation, which I am thrilled for! We will be giving our blazer sizes so we (hopefully) have them for our next Rotary orientation, which is at the end of April. I also was very excited when I printed out the application for our Rotary summer camp (in June)! When I looked at the PDF file, under "host country" and "host language" they put Japan and Japanese! I know they recommended me to go to Japan, but I didn't know if they were serious or not, so that made me feel better. x)

4 months, 3 weeks, and 4 days until I go to Japan! Or 146.7474 days!