First Day of He...I Mean School<3

​I open my eyes still in shock i’m in Japan. I Sit there absorbing my surroundings. 
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6am I get ready for school then  *foot steps coming down the stairs...knock knock*  Yuki comes in "Memory Breakfast" As I head into the kitchen my Otousan greets me in English and I try to reply in Japanese "Ohayogozaimasu". After breakfast my Okaasan hands me my lunch bag, umbrella and pocket money. Yuki tells me about our day and we head to the train station by car. We then train From Chigasaki and bus to Hiratsuka and our school bus picks us up from there. As I walk through the school I’m super excited, learning I’m going to be here for the next few weeks. We walk into their library and our first class is introducing us to some teachers, making name tags and reading about tanabata. We are then given a tour of the school, which is so massive and beautiful. Second period we went into a 4th grade English class. We give introductions in Japanese and then split into six groups. My first thought was “how can they be so cute?” We compete in a quiz, guessing the company for the given slogans. After the quiz we complete a formal ending before lunch. The formal ending starts with a meditation for one minute then commands are given to the students to stand, stand straight and bow whilst thanking the teacher “Arigatou Gozaimashita”

Lunch time comes and we go to our designated classroom (seminar room 2) which has been decorated for us. As i open my lunch bag, I get a bento bowl. Different to my lunch in New Zealand but it was definitely sugoi (amazing) and oishi (tasty). We stay here and have lunch together. While eating we reflect on our day. Everyone expresses how tired they are and how much they are loving it already. After eating we walk around school and everyone is being so nice and greeting us. We make it to the cafeteria and they had loads of amazing food and refreshing drinks.
I enjoyed being in a different environment, going out of my comfort zone a little more than usual. 

Today was quite long..."R.I.P"

After lunch we head to the bus stop where we catch the bus to  Oyama. Here we caught the bus to Oyama. Oyama looked like a small beautiful village with beautiful scenery and many shops as you climb flights of stairs to the cable carts. I made it halfway before stopping. The stairs literally said "Your half way there!" Only half way? I rested with Sakiko Sensei before we returned back down and we walked to the shaved ice shop. Where our buddies were already waiting for us. It was supper fun and different. Something i've never tried but it just tasted like strawberry ice flakes (which is what it is)
Then I went home, showered, had dinner, had ice cream and spoke to my Otousan and Oniichan (older brother).

Days were always long but I was never tired. Physically maybe, but mentally I never wanted to sleep. 
Even from my first day, I encourage students reading this, from New Zealand or where ever in the world, to travel and study abroad. 

Personally, I thought it was going to be scary, I felt nothing but safe. I was always excited because I never knew what was going to happen next.


😁Arigatou & Meitaki Ma'ata😁
😊Thank You😊
​Memory