torsdag 30 april 2009

A short answer to a comment...

I dont really care about lowering my golf handicap, ill just play some to improve here and then when i get back to sweden i can start going down in handicap.

The gym and the running makes one loose weight, im not really overdoing the gym like i do in swden because i do it every day so i think its an optimal way to train.

Its also very nice to be dead each weekend :P It feels like you have accomplished something.

I would also say that when you combine moderate gym exercising and running you dont get hurt like you might do from only gym exercise.

onsdag 29 april 2009

I am breaking the "Silence" ...finally! Sorry for the long absence.

I havent had enough time to sit by the computer that much this week, and for that i am sorry, but now i will post a long post... Hopefully :P (Maybe even with some pictures).

Here we go... Everything is great by the way, just to clear up that.

This two latest weeks i have done alot of things. I am running every day for about half an hour, the golf club is more like a "Track & Field Club with a little bit of golf thrown in"... But it feels great to be dead every weekend. :P The running is done at a nearby park that is called "Chikusa Park" Its really beautiful and its really big. We run 7 laps around it and then we are done. I havent gotten a chance to take any pictures yet because i have been busy running and i can never remember to take my camera with me. I will soon, i promise.

After the running, when everyone is really tired, we go to the school gym and work out for about one to two hours. Im the strongest one in the team by the way :P.

After the gym, the club is finished and we all go to change in to our bloody school uniforms again. They are really really warm and the training does not make it better.

On our way to the train station, wich is like 20 minutes away, we stop and buy something to drink at a little store. Its almost like 7 eleven, named "K". (I think) xD


Enough about running... We do actually play golf aswell.
Last saturday it was raining as if someone was pouring buckets full of water down everywhere. but we still went out on the course for a 9 hole round.

I was playing with "Lik-chan" and a guy i dont know the name of but i am allowed to call him "Johnson". Why? Because the first time we met, he held out his hand and said "Hello... Johnson!"
I think thats about his limit for communicating in english but we get along well anyway, i do know fairly much japanese by now. Because of all the socializing and the... I dont want to admit it... Kumon.

The round in itself was really enjoyable even though it was raining buckets full of water. I putted like a god and the other clubs worked fairly good, i ended up with 10 over par. Im satisfied.

I forgot to mention it, before each round we stand for like 3 hours just shooting at the range, luckily the range mats have roofs... all of them! Its fairly good to get the swing and the hit right but its kinda tiring.

The golf club members usually stay the night at the club and play another round on the sunday but i didnt have a permission form from yfu until this week so i had to go home.

This weekend i am going to stay for 3 days, we have a week of holidays next week, it fells AWESOME!

School is still kind of boring but im learning a little more stuff, im trying to follow the lessons but its pretty hard so mostly i am just doing by kumon. wich is becoming quite a challenge by now, im on level C... I started out on level 3A, and it goes on to 2A, A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H... and then there are more. xD im gonna do as many as i possibly can without overdoing it. xD

Today we changed seats in the classroom, i got a great seat. In the back of the classroom and with cool people around me. It couldnt get any better.

The english classes are not really anything for me, they are so easy. I dont have to do anything, i dont even get asked about anything anymore. They ask me some stuff during the history lessons and sometimes english about sweden, and then i answer.

Some funny facts about japanese high school students:

1. They eat all the time. Every time there is a break in between lessons they all pull out a sandwitch or something, and start eating. Im still full from the breakfast when its time for lunch so i dont really know how they can eat all the time.

2. Many students sleep during classes, in sweden we are not really sleeping during classes. The reason i believe is that the classes are so much more boring than the swedish ones. In sweden we have to be active during lessons. During japanese classes, all you do is listen to what the teacher says and write it down. Thats it. I can admit that the classes are really boring, and i think even more boring when you cannot understand them.

3. Most of them stay up at night really late, that may also be a reason to the sleepy lessons.

To be continued on this one :P


Yesterday everone had holiday, it was a red day because it was the emperor`s birthday. That day i slept for more than usual, i had to catch up on some sleeping. I have a long way to school so i get up pretty early.

After lunch, me, otoosan and okaasan went to a museum. It was a toyota museum of industrial technology, i think... But anyway, it was really interesting. Here follows some pictures.



This is a future car thingy that toyota would make or something like that, it was really cool though. Those lights could have any colour.

This is kind of obvious that its a broken carwindow, they showed some different glass types and how resistant they were against smashing.

This is a long line of car motors, Its not much to say about them. They are japan made.

This is the big car exhibition hall, it was quite intersting. It continues underneath the ledge i stood on when i took the picture.

This is toyotas first car, the Toyota model AA. apparently the guy who built it was studying the arts of carmaking in england. I think it is kind of obvious if you look at the picture.

This is the same AA model but in wood.

This was a house inside a bigger house. They had recreated that cardesigner`s workshop.


This was at the entrance, its a machine made by toyota that makes cloth.


Today i woke up and i was sick... Sick... I dont want to be sick. I went to school anyway to see if it got any better but i dont think it did. I dont have any fever or anything im just having some pain in my throat. Hopefully it will go away soon.

Because of my "Condition" i didnt go to the golf club training. It wouldnt be good to run and train with a cold.

Tomorrow i wont go either but, after the club tomorrow me and my friends are going bowling. Its gonna be really fun. I hope it goes allright. But it will be fun anyway.


Today we also had an earthquake drill, we went outside, folded our jackets and put them on our heads for protection and then we sat down in the middle of a parking lot, and i bet it was atleast 35 degrees in the air, it was "mecha takusan totemo choo atsui" :P. Which means something like "Very Many Very Extreemly Hot" :P

onsdag 22 april 2009

Hmm...

I have got this feeling that people has given up on my blog... I dont know but no-one ever asks me anything anymore so i have not so much to write about.

I have taken all the pictures i can for now and you have seen them, i dont know what to take a picture of other than the things i have photographed...

Not much things are happening these days... or maybe way too much is happening, since i joined the golf club i havent really been able to write anything of great importance on the blog.

I can tell you about the karate lesson i went to today, but i dont have any pictures so please imagine yourselves and dont ask me for pictures either... when i get the feeling to take a picture and actually share it i will.

Today i went to look at the karate lesson, since i dont really know much karate i didnt join in because today was like an examination for the members to get another belt.

So today i just watched, they begun with kata. Kata is like a decided pattern of different moves that someone does.

Nothing much happened except for the fact that it was cool to watch.

The second, and last thing was fighting... Real genuine karate fighting. It was awesome to watch, those small guys were like machines! they just kept going and going. There was this one guy i thought he would drop dead, he just kept getting hit and then he just kept going and going... The bigger guys were more for really fast and hard hits and not for the berserk kind of super punching as the smaller guys.

Everyone were really good and i cant wait until the next lesson where i get to join in.

Its gonna be awesome!!!

söndag 19 april 2009

Thought i could put some pictures up for a change :P

Here is a couple of new pictures i have taken.

The first one is a picture of my new training bag, for my golf clothes. It looks really really cool, i think anyway. It has the swedish colours.

The second one is a picture of my new cap i got from the golf team, it is pretty much obvious if you read the text in the front.

The last picture is a picture of my new golf shoes... i dont think i have ever had a pair of shoes that are this comfortable, not even my slippers i wear at home is this comfortable.


There you go people. Have a good day.

The club itself

I am in the golf club... The golf club is AWESOME! I have played one round of golf this week and i cant wait to play the next one. Unfortunately we only play golf on saturdays and sundays. On weekdays we run for like 45 minutes or something and then we train at a gym for one and a half hours. But its ok, i have to get used to all the running, thats all. :P

Otherwise everything is going well and the days just fly by... i cant believe i have already been here a month... its really creepy.

fredag 17 april 2009

Change of club...

According to the answer on the question about club i will jioin the swimming club but thats wrong. I have joined the golf club instead. And i am training karate outside of school so i still get some martial art. Thats all i had to say today.

onsdag 15 april 2009

The answers...

Question ----
Is it possible to buy the magazine called "fruits" where you live?
Answer ----
Maybe, im not really cruising around all day looking for it :P


Question ----
How is the japanese going? Can you speak to friends so that they understand you?
Answer ----
The japanese is going quite well...
I can understand the main points of conversation and they can understand me, but i dont really know that much to say yet. I speak both english and japanese,
but we can understand eachother.


Question ----
Can we chat on skype soon?
Answer ----
I dont really know, i am in school or sleeping the time you are free. Maybe during the weekend.


Question ----
How does the japanese subway REALLY look? Do they have the "White glove train people pushers"?
Answer ----
Yes, they do have the "White glove train people pushers" but its not really that many people in the nagoya subway so they are mostly there to organize the queues into the trains.
They have really many lines and nagoya is like the central station so its enormous... Its maybe a little hard to find my way around it but i know how to get to and from school and thats all i need for now.


Question ----
Do you miss anything swedish?
Answer ----
Actually i dont really miss anything in particular... Maybe ill return with something later that you can send :P Hehe.


Question ----
Do you have a tan?
Answer ----
Yeah, it would bee weird not to in this sun... and im walking forever from the station to school
so yea, i think i have become a little more brownish in the face :P but i have to wear the school uniform so i dont really get tanned anywhere else.


Question ----
Do you know how old your parents are?
Answer ----
Yes i know how old they are. They are 47 and 49.


Question ----
Which club will you join?
Answer ----
I am joining the swimming club, one, because they dont have training every day and two,
because i am pretty good at swimming.


Question ----
How and when do you eat lunch in school?
Answer ----
Lunchtime is usually around 12 so i eat lunch around 12...
I eat my lunchbox that okaasan makes for me in the morning.
Me and my classmates push our tables together and eat our lunchboxes in the classroom.


Question ----
After school, between classes and clubs, is there anything eatable to buy?
Answer ----
Yes, the lunchplace has a little shop, and there are like 2000 vending-machines
in and around the school. xD


Question ----
Do you have any lockers at school?
Answer ----
No, i have to carry everything in my bag every day.


Question ----
What do you do after school?
Answer ----
Either club, shopping or just hanging out at home.


Question ----
Does the family do stuff together?
Answer ----
Yes they/we do... we have gone to many tourist places here in nagoya.


Question ----
Can you help the mother with the cooking?
Answer ----
I ask her if she wants any help but the cooking is fine without my help so i just make the table.


Question ----
Is there anything that is cheaper to buy in japan that one would want to have?
Answer ----
I think that probably, most things are cheaper than in Sweden. But i dont really care about that.


Question ----
Can you take a picture of your classroom?
Answer ----
Ehm... Yes, some time :P


Question ----
Can you take a picture of your new friends?
Answer ----
Yes...


My friends think that those horses are very interesting :P ("Omoshiroii!!!")

Group picture :D but not everyone... someone has to take the picture right? :P

My friend trying on a really cute hat... :P

Question ----
Have you found any nice katana store?
Answer ----
Not yet...


Question ----
Can you post a little more pictures of your hood?
Answer ----
I have pretty much taken every available picture of my
"hood". :P


Question ----
How much does it cost to buy something to drink?
(Japan has many good and whacky drinks.)
Answer ----
All drinks cost between 100 and 150 yen (all the ones of interest anyway) and they
have really many cool drinks everywhere.


Question ----
Is there anything that you want from sweden?
Answer ----
I cant really think of anything right now... maybe some really salt liquorice.
(They dont have that here)


Question ----
Can you speak to your classmates?
Answer ----
Yes, we can speak some but not about everything yet.


Question ----
How long school days do you have?
Answer ----
School starts at 8,30 and ends at 15,00.


Question ----
Does the family eat dinner together?
Answer ----
No, only on weekends. Kento comes home at 21 and otoosan too... so we other people
eat dinner before them. but we keep them company when they eat.


Question ----
Have you managed to learn sin, cos and tan yet?
Answer ----
No i havent. But im not really making an effort to. Im focusing on japanese right now,
that is one of the reasons why im here, right?


Question ----
When you are free from school, do you spend time with your siblings
or study in your room?
Answer ----
I spend time with the family, i dont have to do any homework and i get much japanese studying
done at schol so i have nothing to study at home really.
I think it is better to just socialize at home instead of sitting in myroom.

tisdag 14 april 2009

Ask some questions or something :P

There is not much things happening right now, only like school and stuff so ask me some questions. and not like one per person. i want atleast 5 from each so i can make an entire post about them :P

post 5 or more questions in the comment.

måndag 13 april 2009

Cool things...

Yesterday i got my japanese phone ! Yay!... Its really cool phone and the battery lasts forever.
But the best part is...

Look at this picture and guess!

It has TV!!!
Its really really cool, i can watch 10 japanese channels... For free! its incredible. And i can also mail my friends (only have one email address from a friend right now but ill be getting more :P)

That was all for today... This picture was taken by my new camera. xD

torsdag 9 april 2009

Yeah people... !

Yep so today begins a new story, about school...
So i spent all evening the night before practicing the speech that i was gonna hold infront of the entire school, in japanese by the way, and they are like 2000 people.
I went to bed a little early and woke up way too early, it takes like 15 minutes for me to eat breakfeast and get ready... i woke up one and a half hour before. But it was fine, i worked really slow with everthing. like trying to get the tie to be the most perfect and the hair to become great but i was still done after half an hour so i just watched some tv.

Then i left for school... The thick dark blue winter uniform and 22 degrees outside. Hell yeah, not!
And the train was like too much people... but it was allright.

I have like a bike ride to the station Nakajima, one train to Nagoya, subway to Ikeshita and then like 20 minutes walk to the school. But that walk is not the most annoying part... its the Nagoya - Ikeshita subway. Its just so much people...

I got to school, and our class had to meet in out classroom before the opening ceremony.
The walk to the classroom was quite interesting, i got countless "Hello" and "How are you doing" in bad english xD. But it was quite nice. Everyone was smiling and looking and saying hello.

I got into the classroom and met the class teacher, he is very good. He is also very weird in a good way... We had some kind of information. I didnt understand a word, by the way. Then we went in to the big gym hall... or whatever its called :P. Big sports place with a stage. everyone sat dow in perfect rows. And then everyone stood upp and stood really really straight, I did as the others did. Then they checked everyones shirts and ties and skirts and bowties. Everything had to be perfect. And then the principal came in and had some kind of an opening/welcome speech, which i didnt understand att all either. Then it was my turn and they told me to do the speech in english. That was maybe lucky, maybe unlucky... but at the time i was more thinking that i was lucky. I then went up on the stage and looked out over the 2000 students sitting in perfect rows. All the nervousness dissapeared and i started talking about me. And the english teacher translated.

After that the most interesting exams i have ever done begun. We went to the classroom and sat down. We then did different tests... In japanese. Even the math was impossible becuase half was understandable but the understandable was really not understandable in a math point of view... I havent even heard of the things the test was about... So well, it was... Interesting...

The english test had questions in japanese so i just guessed and got 50% right on it :P

The japanese test is not even worth mentioning... it was... in japanese.

After that i went home, at around 13.15 maybe it was.

On the train home i met a really nice girl that i tried to talk a little to and she tried to talk to me. She went off at the Sakae station.

The second day.

The second schoolday was very good. Many lessons that ya dont really get anything out of... people sleeping around the classroom :P (Not me, i promise xD), People doing other subjects homework, and then there were the people who were actually listening.

But i got alot of help from my new friends with everything. Their names are Liza and Yuki. Later after all the lessons the school had a club orientation. It was three hours where the different clubs showed different stuff to recruit clubless second and third years and ofcourse the new firstyears. Who are about 700 by the way :P.

I was sitting with some really cool people that didnt have a club either. One of them was gonna join basketball and another tennis. I still dont know wich one to join...

After the baseball teams performance they all (and i mean everyone) went up and sat around me xD i bet it must have looked really fun. it was like me in the dark uniform and them in white/purple baseball wear. They are all really nice and they taught me some japanese.

Today was another day at school. During the first two days every girl in the entire school had introduced themselves to me and the third day everyone came asking if i could remember their names... i couldnt. only Liza, Shiho, Yuki, Ai, and Yuu. I dont remeber as many guys names though. Only Masato, Masahiro, Takae and Masako.

Its not that they have that hard names to remeber but its too many people under such a short time. Ya dont really get the chance to register a face.

Today i went to the kendo practice to watch them in action. It was really cool, DAMN they are fast. I dont think i will join the kendo club becuase of morning training wich i have a hard time getting to, since i have an hour to school. and They have long practice every day... I want some freetime too. So i will do some more browsing. Havent decided any club yet. But i will do Karate every weekend i hope.

Alot of talk and no pictures... Thats what it will be today. I havent taken any pictures. I am gonna buy a camera tomorrow or saturday.

Got any questions, dont hesitate to leave them in a comment. Have a good one mateys!

söndag 5 april 2009

Yay, Adventure!

Just a little pre story, Today we went to the castle of Nagoya. It was really cool, the pictures that follow ar from there and from Atsuta Shrine.


This first one is a picture from inside the castle. Its a samurai sword, obviosly. And it looks really cool. :D


This picture is taken from the top floor of the castle. It was just a room with lots of windows. Really cool view though. This is the view towards my part of the city.

This is another picture from up there. This one is like nagoya. dont know what part of town.

This is a picture from just outside the castle. Its me and my host mom.

This picture is from outside the castle walls, there was theese people playing japanese drums. It looks really cool when people play it. And it sounds really powerful. My first night in my host family they took me to a concert.

This is just another picture of the castle and the other house on the castle area.

This is just a picture of the map over the castle area.

This is an awesome picture of alot of sakura.

This is a fortune from the shrine. It lsays that my lucky colour will be white. I will be very lucky soon. If i work hard i will be even more lucky. People i wait for will be late. And stuff like that. Its really cool. :D

This is a big thing that was at the shrine. Everytime we passed one of these we had to stop and bow to it.

This is a 1300 years old tree. Apparently one of japans national treasures is a sword that was forged from the tail and a head of a eight headed snake living in this tree. According to japanese "mythology"? Or maybe Legend... Anyway. It was a really awesome place. They have so much to see in japan.

That was all the pictures i had to show you today. Next week school will begin so ill maybe write something more next weekend, it depends on how much time i will have.

torsdag 2 april 2009

Answers...

Things cost like they do everywhere, i payed like 7000 for the converse, no idea about jeans, other shoes and other clothes. There are many second hand cloth stores so maybe not so expensive.
I will take the train and subway to school, my mom payed the train card, its like the one we have in sweden. There were several english books in the bookstore, but i did not buy anything, we were just there to check out the japanese language books that lars had used and recommended that i use instead of kumon. I havent bought any pens or that stuff, but i will during the weekend. You guys ask hard questions... maybe i will know the answer later.

Yeah, Sakura and sunshine, could it get any better?

So, today i went out for a little bike adventure around the area where i live. It was really nice and i went in to some small shops just browsing around. This area is really beautiful. There was this bridge over a canal a little while from my house. I was just crossing it when i saw how beautiful it was with the sakura and the sunshine.

Heres a picture for ya.
Some answers to your questions, School starts the seventh of april.
There are like 2000 students at the school.
I am finally finished with all the kumon that i have got, so now i send it to the kumon tutor and get 2 new books.
The city i live in is not that crowded because its such a huge city, people are spread out.
I live in the harbour area, so there aint that many people running around. most people are in the central nagoya.
I will have to get used to the kendo training... Wake up very early, training at 6 until 8.30 when the other lessons start and then training after school a very long time... But hopefully kendo is a fun sport and you know what they say, the more you practice the better you get.

onsdag 1 april 2009

Watermelon colour...

The pants are striped green and blue, just like a watermelon, and the tie is the same colour. thats what i ment by watermelon colour. just to clear up some misunderstandings. or something.
The picture doesnt really show off the watermelon characteristics. and it is too big, but it is very comfortable.

There are several cheap computers here fritjof af herserud. lets just wait until the end of the year, the one i have might be alot cheaper then, or something.

Some questions that came up.

We dont sit on the floor when we eat. We have an ordinary table.

I can understand and talk some japanese now, the thing i am best at is reading.

My sister and brother are really great. We dont really talk that extreemly much but i try to talk japanese with them and try to understand what they say. We can communicate quite well.