The End

Okay, as most of you have probably guessed, there wont be coming many more updates from me anymore. With less than two monhts till Im returning to Denmark I have so many things I want to do that I simply cant find time to update my blog or write too many e-mails for that matter. So yeah, I will hopefully talk to all of you when I get home and I will be more than happy to enlighten your minds with eastern wisdom.. and stuff.
Thanks for reading along. And you can always send me an e-mail.

Emil

PS this means you dont have to check this blog for new updates anymore, btw



Okay, som de fleste af jer nok har gaettet, kommer der ikke mange flere updates fra mig her. Nu da der er mindre end 2 maaneder til, jeg vender naesen hjem mod Danmark, er der saa mange ting jeg vil naa at goere, at jeg simpelthen ikke kan finde tid til at updatere min blog eller skrive alt for mange mails for den sags skyld. Saa ja, jeg kommer forhaabentlig til at snakke med jer alle, naar jeg kommer hjem, og jeg vil mere end gerne oplyse jeres sind med japansk visdom... og saadan.
Tak for at have foelgt med. Og I kan jo altid sende mig en mail.

Emil

PS det betyder forresten, at I ikke behoever at checke den her blog for nye updates

Club - Brassband

As most of you would know by now I have been in my school`s brassband club for some 6 months and it has been a really big part of my life here in Japan.
Less than a month ago it was summer holidays which meant no school ... one would think, but actually at least 100 students went to school everyday anyway............... how come? well, there are many reasons. One is homework which there are loads of in the summer vacation, another reason is cram school or extra lessons for those who want to spend their holiday studying. And last but not least there are clubs. Almost every club at the school is active during the summer vacation as well, and for me that meant wakin up at 8 am almost every day (yes, during the holidays..) and going to school to play the trombone for some 4 hours.
Now, about 2 weeks after I first joined the brass band, my 2 trombone part members wanted to talk to me somewhere quiet. They wanted to tell me that from now (April) and till August, maybe September, they were gonna pratice for a brass band competition. This competition was really important for them and they really wanted to win, so they were gonna practise a lot and therefore not have time to teach me trombone, which meant I would have to play trombone alone for almost 5 months. They were really worried that I would leave the band because of that, but now that I had gotten to know everyone and started to like my instrument I, of course, said I would stay there till I returned to Denmark.
Well, well those 5 monhts went on and they praticed a lot, and I praticed a lot (alone). Of course I was not alone all the time. Another 3rd year trombone girl Miku was really nice to help me now and then when she was not praticticing for the competition. Anyway, finally the summer holidays started and there was less than a week till the competition. Everyone was really nervous cause this was what they had practised every day for for more than 4 months.
I got a free ticket to watch the show and even got the train ticket paid (which spared me a total of 2000 yen). Well, then they played and guess what. They were number 3 out of 50 high schools from Kangawa which meant they would continue to the next competition! They got character 9 out of 10.
THAT made me feel I was in really good hands, being tought by some of the best in Kangawa. And what`s even more cool, the next competition they won as well and therefore continued to the next competition for a bigger part of Japan which was in beginning of September. That one, however they didn`t win. They got allmost top grades by the judges, but you have to be extraordinary good to go on...
Anyway, that was really cool!


Som de fleste er jer nok ved, saa har jeg vaeret medlem af skolens brassbandklub i ca. 6 maaneder, og det har virkelig vaeret en stor del af mit liv i Japan.
For mindre end en maaned siden var det sommerferie hvilket betoed ingen skole ... skulle man tro, men faktisk var der mindst 100 elever paa skolen hver dag...... hvordan kan det vare? Det er der mange grunde til.
Een af dem er lektier, som der ikke er for lidt af i sommeferien. En anden er "cram school" eller ekstraundervisning, for dem som vil bruge sommerferien paa at studere. Og til sidst er der klubaktiviteter. Naesten alle klubber er aktive i loebet af sommerferien, og for mig betoed det at staa op kl. 8 hver morgen (ja, i sommerferien..) og tage toget til skole for at spille trombone i 4 timer.

Naa, ca. 2 uger efter jeg blev medlem af bandet i sin tid, ville 2 af mine medtrombonister pludselig tale med mig et sted, hvor der var stille. De ville fortaelle mig at fra da af (April) og til august, maaske september, ville de oeve til en brassband konkurence. Den her konkurence var virkelig vigtig for dem, og de ville meget gerne vinde, saa det ville komme til at oeve sig rigtig meget og derfor ikke havde tid til at laere mig at spille .. hvilket betoed jeg skulle oeve mig alene i knap 5 maaneder. Og de var selvfoelgelig meget bekymrede for, om jeg stadig havde lyst til at vaere med i bandet. Men siden jeg efterhaanden kendte de fleste og virkelig godt kunne trombonen, sagde jeg selvfoelgelig at jeg ville blive indtil jeg tog hjem til Danmark engang.
Anyway, saa gik de 5 maaneder, hvor de oevede sig enormt meget, og det samme gjorde jeg (men alene). Selvfoelgelig var jeg ikke alene hele tiden. En anden 3. aars trombonepige Miku var virkelig god til at hjaelpe mig, naar hun ikke oevede sig til konkurencen. Naa, endelig blev det sommerferie, og der var mindre end en uge til sommerferien. Alle var enormt nervoese, for det var jo netop det her, som de havde oevet jeg til i over 4 maaneder. Jeg fik en gratis billet til koncerten og fik enda min togbillet betalt (hvilket sparrede mig for 2000 yen). Saa fik de spillet og tro det eller ej, de blev nummer 3 og ud af 50 High Schools fra Kangawa, hvilket betoed de ville gaa videre til den naeste konkurence! De fik karakter 9 ud af 10.
DET fik mig til at foele, at jeg var vi virkelig gode haender: at blive laert af nogle af de bedste i Kanagawa.
Og hvad der er endnu federe er, at de ogsaa vandt den naeste konkurrence og derfor gik videre til en meget stoerre konkurence for en stor del af Japan i starten af september. Den vandt de desvaerre ikke. De fik godt nok naesten topkarakterer af alle dommerne, men man skal vaere god ud over det saedvanlige for at gaa videre ...
Men alt i alt, var det virkelig sejt.

Pictures

Ok folks, it seems that I cant upload pictures to my blog anymore of some reason... Maybe it's full? I don't know. But that means I will have to find somewhere else to upload my pictures and untill then you will have to do without `em.


Ok folkens. Det lader til, jeg ikke kan uploade flere billeder paa siden her af en eller anden grund... Maaske er den fuld? Jeg ved det ikke. Men i hvert fald betyder det, at jeg maa finde et andet sted at uploade mine billeder, og indtil da maa I noejes uden.

Hanabi

The summer is over which also means that Hanabi is over. 'Hanabi' is Japanese and directly translated it means Fire flowers, and what else could it be than fireworks. In Japan they have a very different use of fireworks than we have, at least, in Denmark. In Denmark (and probably the rest of Europe as well) we only have fireworks once a year at New Year's Evening.
However, in Japan they have it practically every day during the summer. They have the so called Hanabi Taikais (Fireworks competition), where companies and firms of fireworks compete against each other in performing the most impressive fireworks show. Usually it takes place on the sea, where a lot of boats sail out some 200-300 metres from the coast line and then perform their show. Since it's a competition between big companies it almost always turns out to be really impressive.

The Japenese like to waer special Japanese clothes on the evenings. The women all wear something called Yukata. If you know what a Kimono is, it kinda looks like it just a lot more simple. Here's a picture of Yukata:


The men either waer Yukata, like the women, or Jinben which looks a bit more "normal" with a shirt with short sleeves and something that looks like shorts

Both women and men wear a special foot wear called Geta:


The fireworks evenings are of course an obvious opportunity for couples to go out.

In addition to these almost daily events during the summer, you can also buy fireworks on your own in any convenient store. These are really popular among young people. It's not anything big, actually it's more just like smalle sticks you light and then they glitter for some 5 seconds. However, young people and children find it really amusing (including me!).
I will upload some pictures I took of Hanabi during the summer.

(Im sorry, the picture uploader doesnt work right now. I will try again soon)


Sommeren er slut, hvilket ogsaa betyder Hanabi er slut. "Hanabi" er japansk og betyder direkte oversat Ildblomster, og hvad andet kan det betyde end fyrvaerkeri.
I Japan har de en meget anderledes tradition med hensyn til fyervaerkeri, end vi har i hvert fald i Danmark. I Danmark (og nok ogsaa resten af Europa) har vi kun fyrvaerkeri een gang om aaret: nemlig til Nytaar. Men i Japan har de naermest fyrvaeri hver eneste dag i loebet af sommeren. De har de saakaldte "Hanaba Taikais" (花火大会), hvor firmaer og producenter af fyrvaerkeri konkurrerer mod hinanden i ud udfoere det flotteste og mest imponerende fyrvaerkerishow. For det meste finder sted paa havet, hvor en masse baade sejler 200-300 meter ud fra kysten og ellers udfoerer deres show. Siden det er en konkurrence, er det for det meste MEGET imponerende.

Japanerne tager gerne noget specielt toej paa paa de her aftner. Kvinderne kommer alle sammen i noget, de kalder "Yukat". Hvis I kender Kimono, saa er det noget i den stil, men meget mere simpelt. Here er et billede af Yukata: (se ovenover)

Mandfolkene kommer enten i yukata, ligesom kvindernde, eller Jinben hvilket ser lidt mere "normalt" ud, med korte aermer og noget der ligner shorts

Baade kvinder og maend tager nogle specielle sandaler paa ved navn Geta: (se ovenover)
Hanabi-aftenerne er selvfoelgelig en oplagt aften for en date.


Udover de naermest daglige fyvaerkerishows, kan enhver der har lyst ogsaa selv koebe fyrvaerkeri i en hvilkensomhelst doegnkiosk. Det er enormt populaert for unge. Det er ikke noget specielt imponerende, naermere bare en pind man saetter ild til, som saa lyser ca. 5 sekunder.
Men unge og boern synes det enormt underholdende (ogsaa mig!).
Jeg vil laegge nogle billeder op, jeg tog af Hanabi i loebet af sommeren.

Baseball

Baseball... Baseball is a great sport !! ............. I found out after I came to Japan. Coming from Denmark, the only place I have ever seen baseball in my entire life was in a Disney movie on TV once, and they basically made fun of it.
I dont think there is just one baseball player in Denmark and it's a shame really, because it's a great game.
First when I came here some 5 monhts ago and turned on the TV I would see one of 4 things: News, Japanese samurai Drama, Sumo wrestling or Baseball. Always!
News, I didn't understand (you try reading a russian newspapaer and see how much you would understand!).
Japanese samurai Drama, I thought, was really weird. In the west we are used to see samurais as fearless killers with cool swords and a fancy dress. But seeing those half-bold men with two swords at their side crying because their only love left them was just too stupid ...
Sumo I had seen in Denmark once in a while on Eurosport and at that time thought it was really entertaining seeing two fat people trying to push eachother out of a ring. But as my hostdad explained to me all the history and the mental stuff about sumo, I would soon realize that sumo is really more of an art than a sport (at least for the wrestlers - if the same goes for the audience is arguable).
Baseball I just didnt understand. And I didnt understand it for quite some time. Then after two monhts in Japan my hostdad asked me, "Do you know the rules in baseball?" and I had to say plain "no". So I got a minicourse in baseball and now I see why it is so fun.
I think America and Japan are, not the only two, but the two countries that play baseball most.
Now, in Japan they have something that has indeed become a yearly tradition and everybody loves it. It is called "高校野球" or High school Baseball. It's a baseball tournament between all the high schools in Japan (or all the high schools that have a base ball team .. which are a lot). There is a spring tournament and a summer tournament and the summer one is the most important one.
Now a little subject change. In Japan they have many indicators of the 4 seasons. For example when certain bug sounds start to appear it means its summer, and when they fade and others start to appear it means its autumn. When a certarin flower blooms it means its winter etc. etc.
And, believe it or not, High School baseball has become one of these. To make it short, people in Japan say that when the baseball team of your town or city is played out of the tournament (loses) the summer ends - which is usually somewhere in August.
It's not like all the leaves of the trees in Yokohama turn yellow the day the Yokohama team loses ... that would be wicked. But people have the mental picture that summer is over and it's getting autumn.

I actually went to see a match with the Yokohama team which has won the entire tournament the last two times (however, this time they failed). I would love to upload some pictures from the match but I cant seem to find the pictures anywhere.. I will upload them as soon as I find them.
My neighbour works at the school where the Yokohama team is from, so me and my hostmum got free tickets and we got to sit with all the students from the school, cheering for their classmates. It was really fun, hot though, but fun. The Yokohama team won something like 14-7 I think, so that was cool. But again I will upload some pictures when I find them.


My point with this post is, however, that baseball is really popular in Japan. Probably as popular as soccer is in Denmark (and England for that matter). There are always a lot leagues going on, and since Japan and America are the two only countries (as far sas I know) that play baseball this much, a lot of professional Japanese baseballplayers play on teams in the US. The most famous player is a guy called Ichiro. This is his first name. Usually people have their last name written on the back of their shirt when they play, but since he is so popular and everybody knows him as Ichiro, he has his first name printed on his shirt. He is, as my hostdad put it, a genious in baseball.


Here he is:

The way he stands just before hitting the ball has become really famous, and he does the exactly same thing every time (which includes something that looks like he is wiping his nose!)

Baseball... Baseball er en herlig sport!! ...... fandt jeg ud af, efter jeg kom til Japan. Da jeg kommer fra Danmark er det enestes sted jeg nogensinde har set baseball var i en Disney film med Fedtmule paa TV, og de gjorde mest af alt grin med det.
Jeg tror ikke der er en eneste baseballspiller i Danmark, og det er egentlig en skam, da det er et virkelig fedt spil.
Da jeg foerst kom her til Japan, ca. 5 maaneder siden, og taendte for fjernsynet, ville der vaere en af de foelgende 4 programmer koerende:
Nyheder, Japansk samuraidrama, sumobrydning og Baseball. Altid!
Nyheder forstod jeg ikke noget af (proev du bare at laese en russisk avis, og se hvor meget du forstaar!).

Japansk samuraidrama, taenkte jeg, var virkelig uderligt. I europa er vi vandt til at se samuraier som frygtloese draeberer med seje svaerd og noget underligt toej. Men at se de her halvskalede maend med 2 svaerd haengende ved siden graede, fordi deres enste ene har forladt dem var alligevel for aandsvagt...
Sumo havde jeg set i Danmark en gang i mellem paa Eurosport, og paa det tidspunkt synes jeg det var virkelig underholdende at se 2 fede asiatere (ikke kun japanere) forsoege at skubbe hinanden ud af en ring. Men min vaertsfar forklarede mig om sumohistorie og det alt mentale som er en del af sumo, og jeg blev hurtigt klar over, at sumo mere er en kunst end en sport (I hvert fald hvor sumobryderne - jeg ved ikke om det samme gaelder for publikum).
Baseball forstod jeg bare ikke. Og saadan forblev det i et godt stykke tid. To maaneder senere spurgte min vaertsfar mig "kender du reglerne i baseball?" og jeg maatte selfoelgelig svare "Nej," saa jeg fik et minikursus i baseball, og nu kan jeg endelig se det sjove i det.
Jeg tror USA og Japan er, ikke de eneste to, men de to lande der spiller mest baseball.

I Japan har de noget, som er blevet en aarlig tradition og alle elsker det. Det hedder "高校野球" eller High School baseball. Det er en turnering mellem alle Highschools i Japan (eller alle dem, som har et baseballhold ... hvilket er mange).
Der er en foraarsturnering og en sommerturnering, og den om sommeren er den vigtigste.
Nu et lille emneskift. I Japan har de rigtig mange ting der indikerer de 4 aarstider. F.eks. naar nogle bestemte insektlyde begynder at lyde, betyder det, det er sommer. Og naar de saa forsvinder og nogle andre kommer, er det efteraar. Naar en bestemt blomst blomstrer, betyder det, det er vinter etc. etc.
Og tro det eller ej, High School baseball er blevet en af dem. For at goere det kort: Folk i Japan siger, at naar din bys baseballhold bliver spillet ud (taber), er sommeren faerdig - hvilket typisk er et sted i August.

Det er ikke fordi alle bladene paa traeerne i Yokohama bliver gule paa dagen, hvor Yokohamas baseballhold taber, men folk faar en fornemmelse af, at sommeren er ved at vaere slut, og det bliver efteraar.
Jeg var faktisk inde og se en kamp med Yokohamaholdet, som har vundet hele turneringen de to sidste gange (men denne gang vandt de ikke). Jeg ville enormt gerne upload nogle billeder, fra kampen, men jeg kan ikke finde dem paa computeren.. Jeg laegger dem op saa snart, jeg har fundet dem.
Min nabo arbejder paa Yokohamaholdets skole, saa mig og min vaertsmor fik gratis billetter og kom til at side sammen med alle eleverne, der haeppede paa deres klassekammerater. Det var virkelig sjovt ... varmt, men sjovt. Yokohama vandt med omkring 14-7, tror jeg, saa det var cool. Men igen, jeg vil laegge nogle billeder, naar jeg finder dem.

Min pointe med posten er, at baseball er enormt populaert i Japan. Maaske ligesaa populaert som fodbold er i Danmark. Der er altid en masse ligaer koerende, og siden Japan og USA er de eneste to lande (saa vidt jeg ved), som spiller baseball saa meget, er der rigtig mange professionelle japnaske baseballspillere, der spiller paa amerikanske hold. Den mest populaere spiller heddder Ichiro. Det er hans fornavn. Normalt har alle spillere deres efternavnt staaende paa troejen, men siden Ichiro er saa populaer, og alle kender ham som "Ichiro", har han faaet Ichiro skrevet bag paa troejen. Han er, som min vaertsfar sagde, et baseballgeni.

Her er han:

Den maade han staar paa lige foer han rammer bolden er blevet enormt kendt, og han goer det praecis samme hver gang (hvilket inkludere noget der ligner, at han toere naese i hans arm).

Summer break

Finally my year here in Japan has reached its point where summer break begins! But oh what a summer break. Can you believe it? Only 1 month!!!
I don`t know what`s wrong with these Japanese people, they must really like studying. Also when I ask all my friends what they are gonna do in the summer break I get the same answer all the time: Study
For most European people this sounds absurd I am sure. To spend your entire summer break on studying! But the Japanse student`s case is a little different. For in order to enter a University (which almost everybody at my school is going to), you must pass a REALLY tough entrance exam. In Denmark it works a bit different, you have the most important exam at the end of high school and if you pass, you can go to various educational institutions. However, in Japan all those places have an entrance exam and a LOT of people fail them year after year. Especially the entrance exams at famous universities such as Tokyo University only let very intelligent people through.
Now, the entrance exam is one thing - next is the payment. Because as opposed to Denmark (I really love my country for this) where education is free, the prices in Japan for going to universities are extremely high. Only rich people can graduate with a high education at a famous university.


Anyway, I was talking about summer vacation. Besides from studying (I guess I became a little Japanese after all) what am I gonna do?
The answer is simple, do everything I didnt have time to before. Since I have been going to school from morning till evening every day and been busy almost every weekend I have not have much time to anything at home. There is more to Japan than studying, really! I`m gonna play the piano, I am gonna practice writing calligraphy, I am gonna explore Japan, I am gonna walk around in Yokohama, I am gonna have fun with my friends, Im gonna go on a camp with my club and Im gonna spend time with my host family.
A month ago I talked to the other exchange student from Thailand, Ford, about what we were gonna do in the summer holidays, and we both agreed that we were gonna be extremely bored since the Japapanese youth dont really spend a lot of time hanging out together the same we as we do in Europe (and apparently Thailand as well). We would just have a whole month doing nothing!
However, I just realized recently that this is my chance to do all the things that I dont have time to do normally because of school. Yay!

Tomorrow or soon I am gonna upload a whole bunch of pictures from the last couple of months. Since I havent been to good at updating this blog (it takes much more effort than you would think) the summer break is also a chance to get it up to date again, and write about all the cool things that has happened here in the East.
Tomorrow or soon, that is.



Endelig er mit ophold her i Japan naaet til det punkt, hvor der er summerferie! Men hvilken sommeferie... kun 1 maaned!!!
Jeg ved ikke, hvad der er galt med de kaere japanere. De maa virkelig kunne lide at studere. Oven i det, naar jeg spoerger alle mine venner, hvad de skal lave i sommerferien, faar jeg hver gang det samme svar: Studere
Jeg er sikker paa det lyder absurd for det fleste europaerere: at bruge hele sin sommerferie paa at studere! Men japanerne har en god undskyldning. For for at komme ind paa et universitet (hvilket naesten alle paa min skole skal), skal men bestaa en ENORMT svaer optagelseseksamen. I Danmark fungerer det lidt anderledes. Vi har vores mest vigtige eksamen i slutningen af gymnasiet, og hvis du bestaar, kan du fortsaette paa diverser uddannelsesinstitutioner. Men i Japan er der en optagelseseksamen paa alle de steder, og rigtig mange dumber aar efter aar. Specielt optagelseseksamen paa diverse kendte universiteter som f.eks. Tokyo Universitet lader kun meget begavede personer igennem.
Men optagelseseksamen er een ting. Noget andet er betalingen. For i modsaetning til Danmark (Jeg elsker virkelig Danmark for det her), hvor uddannelse er gratis, er priserne for at studere paa et universitet i Japan utrolig hoej. Kun rige folk har raad til at lade sig udraabe til akademiker paa et kendt universitet.

Naa, det var sommerferien, jeg kom fra. Ud over at studere (det lader til, jeg er blevet lidt japaner naar alt kommer til alt) hvad skla jeg ellers lave?
Svaret er simpelt: goere alt det, jeg ikke har haft tid til foer. Siden jeg har vaeret i skole fra morgen til aften hver dag og har haft tralvt naesten hver weekend, har jeg ikke haft meget tid til at goere noget som helst herhjemme. Der er mere at goere i Japan end at studere, tro mig! Jeg skal spille klvaer, jeg skal oeve mig paa at male kalligrafi, jeg skal udforske Japan, jeg skal vandre rundt i Yokohama, jeg skal have det sjovt med mine venner, jeg skal paa lejr med min klub, og jeg skal bruge tid med min vaertsfamilie.
For en maanedstid siden snakkede jeg med den andne udvekslingsstudent fra Thailand, Ford, om, hvad vi skulle lave i sommerferien, og vi blev vist begge enige om, at vi kom til at kede os. For den japanske ungdom bruger ikke rigtig tid paa at haenge ud sammen paa samme maade, som vi goer i Danmark (og aabenbart ogsaa i Thailand). Vi ville bare have en maaned til at goere ingenting!
Men jeg indsaa for nylig, at det her er min chance til at goere alt det, jeg ikke har haft tid til at goere foer pga. skolen. Yay!


I morgen eller snart, vil jeg laegge en masse billeder op her fra de sidste par maaneder. Da jeg ikke har vaeret for god til at holde den her side up-to-date (det kraever mere selvdisciplin end man skulle tro) er sommerferien jo ogsaa en god chance til at opdatere det hele og skrive om alle det sjove ting, der er sket her oestpaa.
Det bliver i morgen eller snart.

School

Okay, I think its time for an update!

First of I all I don`t wanna make up any excuses for not updating my blog, I`ve just been too lazy tbh.

Today is Thursday and that means only one more day till the weekend. And actually it`s not just the weekend but a whole week of holiday (for my case anyway) as we have got tests at the school. However I`ve only got 1 test (Information A - computer) so I`m only going to school on thursday next week which is awesome.

Okay, I think it`s time for me to show you my school schedule which is the best schedule I`ve ever had (probably because I chose every single subject myself!).


Okay, jeg tror det er tid til en opdatering.!

Foerst og fremmest vil jeg ikke finde paa nogen undskyldning for ikke at have opdateret min hjemmeside. Jeg har bare vaeret for doven.

I dag er det torsdag, og det betyder kun 1 dag til weekenden. Og fatkisk er det ikke bare weekend, men en hel uges ferie (i mit tilfaelde i hvert fald) da vi har proever paa skolen, og siden jeg kun har en proeve (Information A - computer), saa skal jeg kun afsted om torsdagen i naeste uge, hvilket er herligt.

Naar, jeg tror det er ved at vaere tid til, at jeg fortaeller lidt om mit skoleskema, hvilket er det bedste skema jeg nogensinde har haft (nok fordi jeg selv har valgt hvert eneste fag!).





As you can see there are many creative and interactive subjects such as Piano, singing, orchestra, volleyball, Iai, Kyudo etc.
Also you might notice that I have Japanese lessons every single day, whihc is awesome. The reason for this (that it is awesome) is not just that I love Japanese, but also because they are not lessons in the way you would normally think of a language lessons. The teachers are not school teachers but voulenteer (did I spell that right?) school students who though it could be fun to teach a foreign dude/gal Japanese. Of course we have a text book which we follow (it would be too much to ask of them to make up 90 min. of Japanese lessons every week), so we always have something to do. We usually have loads of fun and after all I think people on your own age are waaay better teachers than adults.
When we run through the examples in the text book they almost always say `Geez, that sounds so unnatural` or `Only my grandpa would say that`, so in that way I learn to speak like the Japanese youth - which is great.

Som I kan se er der mange kreative og interaktive fag som f.eks. klaver, sang, orkester, volleyball, Iai, Kyudo etc.
Noget andet som I maaske har lagt maerke til er, at jeg har japansk hver eneste dag, hvilket er herligt. Grunden til det (at det er herligt) er ikke bare, at jeg elsker japansk, men ogsaa fordi det ikke er almindelig undervisning. Laererne er nemlig ikke skolelaerere, men frivillige skolelever, som taenkte, det kunn vaeret sjovt at laere en fremmed japansk. Selvfoelgelig har vi en tekstbog, som vi foelger (det ville vaere for meget at forlange af dem at skulle forberede 90 min. japanskundervisning hver uge), saa vi har altid noget at lave. Normalt har vi det enormt sjovt, og naar alt kommer til alt tror jeg, folk paa ens egen alder er langt bedre laerere end voksne.
Naar vi kigger gennem eksemplerne i tekstbogen, siger de naesten altid: "Haha, det lyder saa unaturligt," eller "saadan ville min bedstefar sige," saa paa den maade laere jeg at tale ligesom den japanske ungdom - hvilket jo er fedt.


Bukatsu!

In the Japanese school system they have something that is (at least I think) unique to the Japanese, club activities. I know they have club activities in the US as well but they are season based, the Japanese are not.
At the school there are oh so many clubs - maybe more than 20. There almost all kind of popular sports (soccer, volleyball, badminton, tennis, kyudo, hand ball, swimming etc.) and creative clubs (calligraphy, singing, brass band, string orchestra, pop/rock groups, painting, drawing (manga), writing, broadcasting, photographing etc.).
When I first came here I had been thinking about joining the Kendo club (which I was later to find out didn`t exist on my new school) or at least some other sports club because of the strong relationship between people that usually exists. However I, of course, fell in love with the talented musicians and just had to join a music club. Hence, I ended up joining the school`s brass band and I`m now learning to play the trombone, whihc I think I`m doing pretty good with.
We have practice everyday after school including saturday, and from next week we have practice on sundays as well (whihc I`m not gonna attend though, as I think it`s a bit too much). School usually ends between 3pm and 4pm and band practice ends at 6:30pm, so I get home around 7:30pm every day.
It was really hard in the beginning but now that I`m starting to get used to it, I can`t imagine what I was gonna do if there was no club.

Anyway, I think that`s enough for today.



I det japanske skolesystem er der noget, som (tror jeg) er unikt for Japan: klubaktiviteter. Jeg ved godt, at de ogsaa har klubaktiviter i USA, men de saesonafhaengige, det er de japanske ikke.
Paa skolen er der forfaerdelig mange klubber - maaske mere end 20. Naeste alle populaere sportsgraene (fodbold, volleyball, badminton, tennis, kyudo, haandbold, svoemning etc.) er repraesenteret, og kreative klubber (kalligrafi, sang, brass band, strygerorkester, pop/rock grupper, maling, tegning (manga), skrivning,
broadcasting, fotografering etc.).
Da jeg kom her til Japan, havde jeg taenkt mig at melde mig ind i kendoklubben (hvilket jeg senere skulle finde ud af, ikke eksisterede paa min skole) eller i hvert fald en eller anden anden sportsklub, pga. holdaanden der er blandt sportsfolk. Men selvfoelgelig blev jeg forelsket i de enormt talentfulde musikere, og jeg blev bare noedt til at melde mig ind i en musikklub.
Altsaa, jeg endte med at komme i skolens brass band, hvor jeg nu laerer mig at spille paa trombone (traekbassoon), hvilket jeg synes, jeg ikke er helt daarlig til.
Vi oever hver dag efter skole inkl. loerdag, og fra naeste uge oever vi ogsaa om soendagen (hvilkeg jeg dog ikke har taenkt mig at komme til, da det bliver lidt for meget). Skolen ender normalt mellem 15 og 16 og klubaktiviter slutter kl. 18:30, saa normalt er jeg hjemme omkrign 19:30 hver dag.
I starten var det enormt haardt, men nu da jeg er ved at blive vandt til det, kan jeg ikke forestille mig, hvad jeg skulle goere, hvis der ikke var nogen klub.<

Naar, det var vist nok for i dag.

First day in school

OK, now I am gonna tell about my first day in school

My first day in school was confusing. I thought I would never be able to go around at school on my own. Everything was so confusing and in Japanese.
I met around 8:30 at the 6th floor in front of Honma-sensei`s office. I was told I was to be there at exactly 8:25 and that I was gonna give a speech to all the teachers 8:30. I arrived at the 6th floor 8:26, and there was noone.
I didn`t know what to do other than wait, so I sat down and waited. Some 3 minutes passed and a teacher came up the stairs and asked: "emiru-kun desu ka?" (are you Emil?) and I replied "Aa, hai!" - I then followed her down to 1st floor (I think) and I met Ford there (the exchangestudent from Thailand) waiting for something. I sat down beside him and we talked a bit about the speech we were gonna hold. Both of us had just prepared a few sentences introducing ourselves.
After maybe 10 minutes Honma-sensei came out of the room with all the teachers and waved us in. We followed him up front, walking past all the teachers, and sat down on a couple of chairs. Then 2 mintues past and Honma-sensei told them that we were two new exchangestudents ... and then he said just the things about us that we had prepared (being name, age, nationality etc.)! Well, he then waved me up, I stood up, walked up to him as all the teachers were looking and I basically repeated what Honma-sensei had just said. How nice! (Ford did the same).
Anyway, after that we had free time untill 10am where we were going to a welcome meeting in the big hall/auditorium. At 10 we arrived there, got in and sat on one of the front rows. Suddenly a western looking girl came to us and asked in English with a Russian accent, if we were the new exchange students which we, of course, confirmed. She then introduced herself being Angela from Romania, been here since 6 months. She also told us about Fabian, a german exchange student who had also been here fro 6 months, but he was sitting somewhere else in the hall.
Then the `show` started and there were a lot of speeches from teachers etc.... and then me and Ford of course had to do another speech in front of the entire school (being less than 1000 students). We did exactly the same thing as we did in front of the teachers. Honma-sensei said everything about us and we repeated it immediatly afterwards. There was one difference though: As I said "Minnasan ohayougozaimasu!" (Goodmornin everyone!), the entire hall would shout back "OHAYOUGOZAIMASU!!!" - it was really funny and I couldn`t help laughing into the microphone.

Well, after that show I was gonna meet my class, 11C. I was completely lost so Angela helped me and showed me the way to my classroom (504). Her best friend, Yoichiro (cool guy), is in my class and I would soon follow him into the classroom. He told me to sit where I wanted - Reo from my class moved a table from the circle that the tables formed into the middle and made a movement suggesting I should sit there. I laughed and shoke my head and sat down at some random table in the circle. Hara-sensei entered but everyone kept talking and it was just like lunchbreak. Finally she made everyone silent and said something and afterwards asking me to introduce myself -_- again! Even though everyone had heard my introduction in the hall I had to do it again. I said the same things and added something in English that I`m sure nobody understood.
I dared talk to nobody that day - except Angela and Ford - and I was soooo confused. I went home saying good bye to the few people from my class that I would recognize and arrived at home around 3pm, and I slept till 7pm where dinner was served. Afterwards I slept again. That was my first day in school - the following 2 months shall soon be revealed!


Ok, nu vil jeg fortaelle om min foerste skoledag.

Min foerste skoledag var forvirrende. Jeg troede, jeg aldrig ville laere at finde rundt alene. Alt var saa forvirrende og paa japansk.
Jeg moedte ca. kl. 8:30 paa 6. etage foran Honma-senseis kontor. Jeg havde faaet besked paa at vaere der praecis klokken 8:25, og at jeg bagefter skulle give en tale foran alle laererne. Jeg ankom paa 6. sal kl. 8:26, men der var tomt.
Jeg vidste ikke, hvad jeg skulle goere andet end at vente, saa jeg satte mig ned og ventede. Efter 3 minutter kom der en laerer op ad trapperne og spurgte: "Emiru-kun desu ka?" (Er du Emil?), og jeg svarede "Aa, hai!" - Jeg fulgte efter hende ned til 1. sal (vist nok), hvor jeg moedte Ford (udvekslingsstudenten fra Thailand), som sad og ventede. Jeg satte mig ned ved siden af ham, og vi snakkede lidt om talen, vi skulle holde. Vi havde begge bare forberedt nogle faa saetninger til at introducere os selv.
Efter maaske 10 minutter kom Honma-sensei ud fra rummet med alle laererne og vinkede os ind. Vi fulgte efter ham, forbi alle laererne, op foran og satte os ned paa et par stole. Der gik maaske 2 minutter foer Honma-sensei rejste sig og fortalte laererne, at vi var to ny udvekslingsstudenter ... og saa sagde han praecis de ting om os, som vi havde forberedt (navn, age, nationalitet etc.)! Naa, han vinkede mig op, jeg rejste mig, gik op til ham, mens alle laererne kiggede, og saa gentog jeg i grove traek, hvad han lige havde sagt. Hvor smukt! (Ford gjorde det samme).
Naa, bagefter havde vi fri indtil klokken 10, hvor der var et velkomstmoede i den store hal/auditoriet. Klokken 10 var vi der, gik ind og blev dirigeret til et saede paa en af de foreste raekker. Pludselig kom der en ikke-asiatisk pige hen til os og spurgte paa engelsk, om vi var de nye udvekslingsstudenter, hvilket vi maatte indroemme at vaere. Hun introducerede saa sig selv som Angela fra Romaenien. Hun havde vaeret her 6 maaneder. Hun fortalte ogsaa om Fabian, en tysk udvekslingsstudent, som ogsaa har vaeret her 6 maaneder, men sad et eller andet andet sted i hallen.
Saa startede "showet", og der var en masse taler fra laerere etc.... og saa skulle jeg og Ford selvfoelgelig ogsaa holde endnu en tale foran hele skolen (mindre end 1000 elever). Vi gjorde praecis det samme nummer, som vi gjorde foran laererne: Honma-sensei sagde alt om os, og bagefter gentog vi det hele. Der var dog en forskel: Da jeg sagde "Minnasan ohayougozaimasu!" (Godmorgen alle sammen!), hele hallen raabte tilbage "OHAYOUGOZAIMASU!!!" - det var virkelig sjovt, og jeg kunne ikke lade vaere med at grine ind i mikrofonen.

Bagefter showet skulle jeg moede min klasse 11C. Jeg var enormt forvirret, saa Angela hjalp mig og viste mig vej til mit klassevaerelse (504). Hendes bedste ven, Yoichiro (cool guy), er i min klasse, saa jeg fulgte efter ham ind i klassevaerelset. Han sagde jeg bare kunne saette mig hvorsomhelst - Reo fra min klasse skubbede et bord fra cirklen, bordende formede, ind i midten og gjorde en bevaegelse til, at jeg skulle saette mig der. Jeg grinede og rystede paa hovedet og satte mig ved et tilfaeldigt bord i cirklen. Hara-sensei kom ind, men alle blev ved med at snakke som i et frikvarter.
Endelig fik hun alle til ro og sagde et eller andet, og bagefter bad hun mig om at introducere mig selv -_- igen! Selv om alle havde hoert min introduktion i hallen, blev jeg noedt til at goere det igen. Jeg sagde de samme ting og tilfoejede noget i engelsk, som jeg er sikker paa ingen forstod.

Jeg turde ikke tale til nogen den dag - undtagen Angela og Ford - og jeg var SAA forvirret. Jeg drog hjem efter at have sagt farvel til de faa personer fra min klasse, som jeg kunne genkende, og jeg var hjemme omkring klokken 15. Jeg sov indtil kl. 19, hvor der var aftensmad, og bagefter sov jeg igen.
Det var min foerste dag i skole - de naeste 2 maaneder skal snart blive offentliggjort!