EIL Intercultural Learning

I've been home from Japan about 2 weeks now, but I was so busy for my last few weeks there that I still have a few more blogs to update!!

Wow what a crazy busy week I`ve had!! Thank God I`m keeping a diary or I`d never be able to remember everything!! Last week I got to meet the city`s Mayor, which was nice. We chatted for a bit about Ireland and Japan, and he gave me presents (a book voucher and a clock that allows you to figure out the time in every time zone: pretty cool!).

Today I cycled home from school as usual, got stuck in a thunderstorm and was soaking wet. There was no one home but on the table there was a big bowl of mashed potatoes that my host mother made for me and a note saying `enjoy`!! I`ve turned them Irish already :P

I started High School on Thursday and it`s been really good. The classes are fairly boring as I havn`t a clue what`s going on so I mostly just sit and read (or sleep!! :P). I love the art class, and there`s English club at lunchtime and after school every Tuesday and Thursday so I help out.

So… It’s been about six weeks since I’ve gotten back from Japan. That makes it, what… three months since I set off? Wow. I didn’t realise all that time had passed…

And WHY have I not written a new blog sooner, I hear you ask? Well, I have been writing! I’ve been keeping track: this is attempt #836, or thereabouts. So, seeing as I’m building a little momentum here, let’s keep going shall we?

... the trick is NOT to freak out. As a person who self-identifies as an eternal optimist, I did what any rational-thinking person would do: tore my room to pieces. Ten minutes later, everything I possessed had been flung about the room, making a mockery of my oh-so-careful unpacking, and I knew that my passport was lost. Not that that stopped me from checking every pocket of every stitch of clothing (again), or flicking through every single stack of books. Twice.

Well. A bit of background. This post was SUPPOSED to be about "How to Speak Fluent Japanese in Ten Minutes - Success Guranteed!!!!!", and how I've been finding the language so far, but... I just got back from a festival in town with some friends, and I felt kinda pensive. So here I am, in the kitchen of my host family's home (otou-san is snoozing on the couch), laptop on-lap, trying to ignore the fly that keeps FLYING INTO THE DAMN LIGHTBULB. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BREAK THROUGH THE LAMPSHADE ANYTIME SOON, BUDDY!

Nah. It can't be. It has NOT been over a week since I last posted! Because if that were true (which would be ABSURD), that'd mean that I'm over halfway through my trip! Which means I'm getting deported in under 3 weeks! :-O

The moment I stepped into my first host family`s house, I knew I was going to have to make some adjustments to survive my six weeks in Japan: I immediately slammed my head into the top of the doorframe. This is not a country designed for six-foot plus, big-footed giants. However, as is clearly evident I have (surprisingly) lasted these first two weeks on the far side of the world! Not without a few mishaps, mind - but that`s half the craic, isn`t it?

So, since it's after midnight as I write this, TECHNICALLY it's the day before I fly out. BUT it's also still the day BEFORE the day before I fly out, so it's really the perfect time to write about going. I'm not so excited I can't sleep, nor am I rocking back and forward, wishing I had never agreed to go! So, before that happens, time to get a few thoughts down on paper. E-paper. Whatever.

Looking back over my photographs of Japan, I realise that I have yet to talk about my experiences in the city of Matsumoto with my host sister and her fiance.