Day Eight: Yokohama

I think I am probably Queen of Awkward Bowing.

I swear it’s not my fault; I just have absolutely no concept of when to bow and when not to bow. Because of this, whenever someone bows to me, my return bow is so hurried, it looks more like I just spotted something interesting on the ground, and I’m bending my head while slightly tilting my body to look at it. Except instead of actually looking down, I just stare at the person who bowed to me, and smile hugely, trying to look as friendly as possible. This tends to make me look like some sort of psychotic creeper. And quite frankly, I’m not sure what to do about it, because if I don’t smile, I use the murder gaze instead.

But enough about my bowing issues.

Today I went to Yokohama station to cash my Japan Railway pass, and afterwards, Otosan and I headed out to visit the city. Not Tokyo, but it was close to Tokyo. Yes, this is going to be the name of the city because I actually have no memory of the name of the city. Perhaps it was Yokohama, because that would actually make sense.

Whatever the case, we ate the lunch we’d bought earlier in a cute little garden corner because there were less people. Not-Tokyo-But-Close-To-Tokyo was incredibly crowded. For example, whenever it was safe to cross the street, entire crowds of people would head across in a steady stream in both directions. Actually, river is far more accurate that stream. The streets were a little less crowded because people had more space to spread out, but they were still the busiest streets I’d ever seen.

Joining the crowds of people, Otosan and I made our way over to the amusement park where there was this massive Ferris wheel. We purchased tickets and entered the line. While we waited, I watched this one pink roller coaster as it whipped around overhead and dove through a hole in the pool. What I mean is there was a large pool of water, and an opening through which the roller coaster would go. Some people may have read about or seen pictures of this. I know I had.

Once this source of entertainment was exhausted, I started watching a commercial for some sort of movie or show. It was clearly a romance, but other than that I really don’t have any clue as to the plotline. I grabbed a flyer anyway.

Our little Ferris wheel compartment was very exciting because it was made completely of transparent material. I took a few pictures with Otosan’s camera (mine was charging) and just generally stared out the flying box in a amazement the whole way.

Following this, we looped around a little and walked through a park. While there, I saw what I originally thought was a man with a dog, but it turned out to be a man with a pet rabbit. The rabbit had a frilly pink thing around its neck that it didn't seem thrilled about, but it still stuck close. It probably figured the man was the only one who could take the humiliating object off.

The other noteworthy animal person we saw was a woman pushing a carriage with four small dogs in it. I’m not really sure what her goal with this was, because clearly that’s not going to give them exercise of any kind, and I don’t know why else you’d take your dog out. But I the dogs looked pretty happy, although this was likely because they could stare around without being expected to do anything.

Just before we headed back, we watched a man juggle flaming sticks. This was really entertaining, and gathering from the audience’s response, the guy had a sense of humor too. Yet another reason I wish I spoke Japanese.

That evening, I wound up teaching Otosan about iTunes cards when I used one to purchase an anime I had a sudden, desperate need to see again. On a side note, did you know that iTunes cards purchased in Japan won’t work on an iPod set to Canada settings? Huh. Wish I’d known that before.

And to conclude this blog: If you have a pet rabbit, don’t put a frilly pink thing on it. This will only induce embarrassment in the event of four carriage-ridden dogs staring at it. 

Day Seven: Middle School Part Two

On day seven, it was back to Middle School for me, and the school day started with a P.E. class. I think they were doing fitness testing, but I didn't actually have to do any of this, I just did the long jump and tried this device that measures the strength of your grip. As it turns out, my left hand is weaker than my right one. I’m actually not that surprised by this.

The following class was Japanese. The teacher gave me a copy of the book they were reading, and I spent the entire class attempting to decipher the story based off the pictures. As near as I can tell, the story goes a little something like this:

Once upon a time, there is a man who loves his horse. One day, he walks out of his house to see a kappa (a Japanese river monster) trying to push his horse into the river so that the kappa can drown and eat the horse. In a fit of rage, the man grabs two tufts of grass and charges the monster. The prospect of being hit with blades of grass terrifies the kappa, who falls to his knees and drops a rope that was apparently concealed in his shell. Seeing how sad and injured the poor creature looks, the man takes pity on the river-dweller and apologizes. As a reward for his understanding, the kappa gives him a magical glowing green bottle and says he will lend this to the man for three days. It turns out that the bottle contains alcohol, and the man drinks himself into a stupor for those three days despite the disapproval of his neighbors and friends. When towards the end of those three days it finally occurs to the man to check on his beloved horse, it is too late and the horse has died. However, the kindly kappa (who evidently no longer cares about feeding his family) restores the horse to full health, and everyone lives happily ever after. The end.

After Japanese, I headed down to the science labs for my next class. I dutifully copied what was written on the board for the first half of the class, and then spent the second half watching a very determined lizard attempt to climb the glass walls of his home. This was both entertaining and sad. Despite the help of his buddy (who stood underneath and let the first lizard step on his head) the black and orange reptile failed to get himself more than a quarter of the way up the wall. He fought hard, but eventually he lost his grip and splashed back into the water of his tank. I gave him points for effort though.

In math, we had a test on what we’d been doing yesterday. This proved unfortunate for me, because I had no idea what exactly we’d done yesterday. Still, I tried to go through and do something. I wasn't even halfway done when the teacher called for the papers. I really would have preferred to hang on to that pathetic memorial of my time there, but the girl next to me didn't understand what I was saying, so I just handed it in anyway. I knew I’d never see it again, so in the long run, I guess it didn't really matter.

After lunch with the same girls from the day before, we went back to science class. I mentally encouraged the lizard to try again, but he only made one half-hearted attempt before abandoning the effort.

One odd P.E. class later (the entire time was spent on some weird dancing/exercise routine), we went back to the classroom and everyone had a job to do in regards to making the school clean. Some people left the classroom to get the halls and bathrooms, while others stayed to clean the classroom itself. I was one of the ones who stayed, and I got to sweep the floor and move desks. Personally, I think that if it weren't for the fact that most teens wouldn't even try, this would be another really great idea for Canada to adopt.

Before everyone left to go to their respective clubs or to just go home, I took a picture with the entire class on my iPod. I would have used my camera, but it ran out of battery power earlier that day. Then the bell rang and some of the students from the day before came to show me around the clubs. I dropped in briefly on the tennis club, the soccer club, the basketball club, the kendo club (this time I got to hit someone with a stick), the tea ceremony club, and the art club. During this time, I learned that the Middle School students were very excited to get to use English on me. Most of the younger kids would greet me in English as I passed, and they’d get really excited when I answered them.

Around four thirty, I again thanked the students who’d led me around, and waved goodbye until I couldn't see them anymore. I didn't stop for a drink that time, but I narrowly avoided another one of those hysterical fits when I saw what looked like a completely normal husky other than its legs seemed to be only about three inches long. I probably would have burst out laughing, but the man walking the dog looked kind of scary and I decided I’d better not.

Right as I got back, I was off again to visit a small shrine within a park. This shrine felt different from the larger shrine we’d visited earlier in the week, possibly because it was so much quieter. I learned that the shrines have two animals (I say animals because neither I nor Otosan knew what they were) on either side. The one of the left always has its mouth closed, while the one of the right always has its mouth open. I asked Otosan why that was, but he said he didn't know.

It felt like I didn't actually spend that much time at the house that day, because we went right on to dinner afterwards. On the way there, I watched what I thought were swallows swooping around near the water. When I asked, I was told they were a type of flying rodent. That comment seemed odd to me at first, but then I noticed the different wing shape and realized they were bats. There were hundreds of them all flying around and catching the bugs. They didn't look very big, so I’m assuming they were a different type than the ones where I live, because I've been told that bats look huge when they’re flying.

At the restaurant, I tried okonomiyaki, a type of Japanese pancake made with vegetables and meats. It was very good, and I will definitely have to have some again. Before we left, I wound up taking pictures with two girls around my age we met at the restaurant. They were very nice, and seemed really excited about getting a picture with me. Being in Japan is literally forcing me to get over my fear of cameras.

Before heading back to the house, we stopped at a grocery store and a kind of bakery place. I still have a bit of a fascination with the grocery stores because they sell some very different foods there. Like octopus tentacles. And entire squids. (No giant ones though, so I’m thinking that the risk of them drowning me is pretty low).

There were no bats out on the way back, which was a little disappointing. I've been rethinking my plan of bringing a Japanese cat home, and I had started to consider a bat as an alternative. After all, bats are cute. Who wouldn't want a pet bat?

Day Six: Middle School Part One

I have recently discovered that, for whatever reason, I am now prone to random fits of hysterical laughter. When I say hysterical I mean eye-watering, nose-running, practically hiccuping hysterical. Anything can set me off- a drooping flower, homework, a funny-looking dog. I really can’t explain why this happens. I don’t recall it ever happening before to this extent. I can only hope that this isn't a sign of my imminent mental demise.

At any rate, my visit today was to the middle school. I had to go through the whole introduction thing all over again with both the teachers and the students, after which I was given a desk in the middle of a row. Unlike at the High School where they wore actual anime-style uniforms, at the Middle School, the uniforms bore a much closer resemblance to track suits. They consisted of a blue jacket and pants under which the students wore identical blue shorts and a blue t-shirt for when it got warmer. I was a little disappointed about this.

Moving on, the first class of the day was science, and we headed to the lab for that one. Once there, I sat with a group of other girls and was given a worksheet to write my notes on. I’m reasonably sure that they were talking about plant parts, but I don’t really know. This teacher was very fond of announcing things loudly at random intervals (probably to startle anyone whose attention was drifting), and mimicking whatever it was he was talking about. For example, I know he was talking about bees at one point because he made buzzing noises up to a random student and prodded the boy with his hands. Apparently, I was the only one who found this hysterical, and I had to spend the next five minutes preventing myself from throwing one of those hysterical laughing fits I mentioned earlier. All in all, I really liked this teacher.

The class following this was English. This teacher did more or less the opposite of what the teacher at the High School had done: She made the students stand up and introduce themselves to me in English using the following system:

Hello!

My name is ____.

Please call me ____.

Nice to meet you.

After that, there was just a lot of reading, something I felt very accomplished in. Did you know that when people talk to you in an accent, it gets to the point where you almost reply to them in an accent? This is a risky thing to do, as it could irritate or insult the person you’re talking to. Of course, I’m just making an assumption, that hasn't actually happened to me yet.

Math came next. This class quickly became an unfortunate experience for me when the girl next to me pointed out to the teacher that I didn't have a paper. Now, I didn't want a paper. In fact, I would have been perfectly satisfied and not at all disappointed if I never even got to see the paper. But alas, the teacher gave me a paper. The girl next to me also insisted that I try the questions too. She was really a very nice girl; I believe she was just intent on me getting the full Japanese Middle School experience. Anyway, I looked at the questions and suddenly thought, hey, I can do this! So I started answering them, but when the teacher wrote the answers up on the board and I realized they weren't right, I was forced to rethink my progress. On the bright side, this teacher did not find it necessary to check on me, so he did not get to see how monumentally sad my efforts were. Towards the end of class, I was fairly certain that I figured out how to fix my answers so that they were right, but then the bell rang so I just dropped the whole thing.

For whatever reason, Thursday was a half day, and that meant that the final class was social studies. If I’m being completely honest, I don’t really remember this class very well. I just know that I wrote down what was on the board because it’s in my notebook.

After lunch (which was shared with the girl next to me and two of her friends), I followed some students up to the music room for the brass band club. Once there, a group of kids gathered around me to stare. It really seemed to be quite the large group. Apparently, only the one boy spoke English fluently enough, so he stood at the front translating questions, while the other club members all crowded in behind him. They weren't standing terribly close, but the spacing was still uncomfortable, so I just casually stepped back a little. I tried to make it as subtle as possible. However, a few minutes later, I found that the group had moved as well, and we were back where we’d started. So again, I took a step back, and once again I found they all moved too. I swear we moved halfway across the classroom like this, and I seemed to be the only one who noticed it was happening. Eventually however, I was taken out of questioning and to the flute room where I practiced for the rest of the afternoon.

Finally, I figured it was time to go back to the house. I thanked the students and said goodbye. On the walk back, I noticed a vending machine sitting seemingly randomly in the middle of a fence. I swear the vending machines in Japan are in some of the randomest (shut up computer. It’s a word) places ever. Since I had yet to actually purchase a drink from one, and I was thirsty, I decided to try. I pulled out some change and pushed it into the machine.

When nothing happened, I pulled the lever next to the change spot and listened to my money clatter into the machine’s belly. Still, nothing happened. I tried pushing the button on the drink I wanted, but it didn't do anything. I was really irritated at the machine for eating my money, but I really wanted that drink, so I pulled more money out of my pocket, telling myself that if it didn't work this time, I’d just leave it. You’d think I’d learn, wouldn't you?

I put the money in, pulled the lever, and again, heard my money leave. And once again, nothing happened. I was just readying to kick the apparently stubborn machine when I noticed the change return at the bottom. It had all my money in it. I hadn't been listening to the coins disappear inside the machine’s stomach; I’d been listening to the machine pooping them out. Oh, I thought, well, that changes things. I took my money back and tried putting the coins in one at a time instead of just shoving them in at once. The machine calculated how much I’d fed it and the buttons for the drinks I could afford lit up. I chose the one I wanted, and the vending machine deposited my change and my newly purchased drink.

Lesson of the day: Do not be angry with vending machines. Oftentimes, they are actually smarter than you are.

Day Five: High School Part Two

It’s funny, when I first started at my current high school, I thought it was just about the most confusing building I’d ever seen. But it literally has nothing on the high school in Japan. I walked in feeling very confident about what I was doing. I swapped my shoes for the slippers just as I had the day before, and started off down the hallway. I knew the room I was in was on the fourth floor, so I started up the first set of steps I came to. There was just one problem: My classroom wasn't there. Hiding my panic, I tried to look like I’d just wandered up onto the fourth floor on purpose and had every intention of going to my class as soon as I was done looking at other classes.  I walked back down, looked around, and walked back up again. My classroom still wasn't there. I repeated this action several times, as if by repetition I could will it into existence.

When the fourth floor still wasn't doing what I wanted it to do, I walked to the staff room on the second floor with the intention of asking a teacher for help. I got to the door, peeked in, and stopped. I really didn't want to go in there. I wound up sort of hovering outside, smiling vaguely whenever a teacher inside made eye contact with me. Eventually, the English teacher from the day before came out and helped me find my classroom. I suspect that one of the other teachers probably told her that “The weird Canadian girl is just standing outside staring in forlornly. Can you go find out why she’s acting like someone just died?”

In the long run though, I don’t really care how it happened. I’m just happy that I found my classroom.

According to my schedule, the first class of the day was supposed to be math. In fact, by the looks of it, everyone else thought it was supposed to be math as well, so when the Japanese teacher came in, we were all a little confused. I’m assuming that she explained the reason for his absence, but I don’t really know what it was. So it happened that we had Japanese before math instead. This class quickly began to irritate me when the teacher kept standing directly in front of the line I was trying to copy. It was like she was doing it on purpose, because I’d start a line and she’d shift to stand in front of it, so I’d go to start on the next line, and she’d move just enough to block both lines at once! Then, when she finally did move, she’d point out something and her arm would hide the one character I needed. Tell me, how could this possibly have been a coincidence?

After Japanese class, the math teacher showed up looking alive enough to proceed and the day continued as normal. That is to say that I tried using “Serina’s System- For When You Just Don’t Know What Else To Do” again, and unfortunately it failed utterly this time. It’s a pity that he no longer thinks I’m some kind of genius, but I’ll probably never see him again anyway. And admittedly, he never actually said that he thought I was a genius.

This class was followed by Japanese history. I spent the entire class once again copying from the board. It really felt as though the teachers had some kind of conspiracy going though, because the teacher always managed to stand in front of what I was trying to copy too. And when he wasn't in the way, boy-in-front-me took over the position with his head of anime hair. (Do you have any idea how distracting that is?)

The final “class” before lunch was an evacuation drill. Although personally, I don’t think that it taking ten minutes for the school to evacuate to the gym is the best way to go. What good is the gym gonna do? It’s part of the bloody school! And ten minutes? I’m pretty sure that the top floor would be completely screwed.

At lunch, I sat in the group of girls again, and partway through two students from a different class came up and started talking to me. They both had very fluent English, and the boy spoke French as well! I would have asked them where their English got so good, but the bell rang and they left. Plus I’m not very good at thinking on my feet, and honestly, the question didn't occur to me until much later.

My last two classes of Japanese High School were biology and physics. Biology went much the same as the day before, but I understood physics. I even did several of the questions. It was in this class that I really longed to understand Japanese, because the teacher kept making the class laugh.

Before the end of the day, one of the girls I’d talked to a lot brought me a gift. I was able to return the favor because I had been thinking ahead that day and I’d brought some presents. It was very nice of her, and I’d like to perhaps meet her again someday.

At the end of the day, I went to the ikebana club (Japanese flower arrangement) and made a couple of arrangements myself. Only one of the girls there actually spoke English, and it wasn't the teacher supervisor. Communication was very interesting. Whenever an idea was successfully conveyed to me, everyone would cheer.

 After that class, two of the girls took me for a short visit to the kendo club. This was entertaining because I got to watch people hit each other with sticks. I wish I could have stayed longer, but I knew that I had to get back soon, and I only watched for about ten minutes. This was followed by a short visit to the badminton club where I played a game with three other students. It was fun, and again, I wish I could have stayed longer.

By then it was past five, and I decided I’d try to find my own way home. I thanked the ikebana girls who’d led me around the school, and waved goodbye as I left the premise. Then, I was too focused on not getting lost to think too much about school. I made it to the busy street and paused in confusion. Unsure of which way to go, I decided to continue along the sidewalk. A couple of steps in this new direction revealed the gas station I’d gone to the other day, and I realized that I actually did need to cross back where I’d been. Retracing my steps, I crossed and, thankfully, found my way easily from there. I was feeling pretty proud of myself as I entered the house and confidence was one my side, so I decided to wing it and use the term I’d heard used in anime when the character arrived home. As it turned out, I was right.

I've found watching anime has proved useful in a few situations. For example, I probably would have attempted to jam my bag into my desk had I not known about the hooks on the side.

And in conclusion, based off these recent occurrences, I’d like to think that I’m no longer prone to wandering off by mistake and drowning in a gutter somewhere. I’m not saying my sense of direction is great, but provided nobody moves that black truck, I think I’m all set.

Day Four: High School Part One

Public speaking has become the bane of my existence.

Especially public speaking in another language.

Today I went to school and introduced myself to the entire staff of the high school using a memorized paragraph in Japanese. Then, I took the same paragraph and introduced myself to my new class, 1-1. I found that uttering the final line and bowing gave the impression that my speech was done, and they would clap without the prompting sometimes necessary in presentations back home. (Ex: “Sooo…yeah.” “The end.” “Um. I’m done.” And the famous, *Walks back to seat* “Oh, that’s it”.)

At first, everyone seemed a little wary of me, but they got over it and soon I had a cluster of girls around my desk. The boys kept to themselves more, but one gave me a Kit Kat as a welcome. He came by himself, although I’m pretty sure that wasn't his original intent. I watched as he walked slowly up to me with a couple of friends, but as he got closer, they began to fall back and edge their way back to the windows. It was kind of funny when he turned around, realized his friends weren't with him, and visibly panicked, but it was too late to turn back by that point. At any rate, it was very sweet of him.

The first class of the day was math. I opened my notebook and decided to just copy whatever was written on the board and hope for the best. The teacher came in, the lesson began, and I put my plan into action. Everything was running smoothly until the teacher gave us questions to do ourselves. I wrote them down with everyone else and then just stared at them. That was roughly when I felt the teacher come up in front of me and look down at what I was doing. Not knowing what else to do, I winged it, guessing at what the numbers and signs would be based off of his previous examples. I call this: “Serina’s System- For When You Just Don’t Know What Else To Do”. When I was done, I looked up at him. He nodded and smiled in approval, probably thinking what a brilliant foreign student I was. He even had me read out my answer to the class. Sadly, this impression likely didn't last long. The next set of questions didn't work with my system, and I just stared blankly when he tried to explain it to me. After all, he was explaining in Japanese, and the problem was quite literally that he was speaking in a foreign language. Eventually, he gave up.

Fun facts about Japanese High Schools: They have ten minute breaks between every class, and every one of those classes is only fifty minutes. The teachers move around for the most part (unless P.E. or music), not the students. There are six classes every day. On an unrelated note, the desks have hooks on the side for your bag. I feel this is very handy.

This brings me to the next class I had: Music. And by music, they mean singing. This was a very fun class, mostly because everyone actually sang. We moved classrooms for this one, to a room with a piano. The first few songs were in Japanese, so I just hummed along occasionally singing a word or two. The next couple of songs were English songs, and English songs I knew well at that (White Christmas and Edelweiss). The teacher had me read out the lyrics for the class. Each time, they clapped when I was done. I've noticed that there seems to be a lot of clapping involved in school.

Following Music, I had Biology. Having been given no prior instructions, I vowed to just copy whatever was written on the board. This proved difficult, as everything was obviously written in Japanese. If it had been English, it probably wouldn't have taken that long, but Japanese took forever. My system worked as follows: Okay, line, line, loopy-thing, and circle. Number one and number two, line over those, little dash-thing. Is that another dash or just a dot of chalk? Better write it down just in case. Oi! Boy in front of me! Trying to board-copy here!
At some point during this mental rant, I realized I really needed to pee. That was when my thoughts began to follow a pattern more like this: No! Don’t write another sentence! Geez, I really need to pee. I wonder if I have to ask in Japanese. Move your head, boy-in-front-of-me! I haven’t decided if I’m going to pee yet, I still need to see the board! Okay, line, dash, dash, t-shape. Does that look like water to you? Was the bathroom near this classroom? I can’t remember. Oh look, boy-in-front-of-me looks like his head is missing. No, focus. Line, circle, thing that looks like a b…

The final class before lunch was English. I’d been anticipating an easy time, but what ended up happening was I was called up to the front of the room and requested to answer questions from the class. Even though this is something I would usually loathe, most of my focus was on not peeing myself as I stood before everyone. And it’s hard to concentrate when you’re worried that the slightest movement will dislodge the liquid waste inside you. I probably stood there answering questions for nearly twenty minutes before the teacher let me go back to my seat and the class was instructed to read the book.

Lunch came after English. Earlier, one of the girls had asked if I would eat lunch with them, and I’d said yes, so the majority of the girls in the class pushed the desks into a rough circle shape and we all sat down. After I ate, I answered more questions from the other girls. They’d discovered that a decent form of communication was using a translator on their phones and reading or showing the questions to me. Often, the translations came through weird and I’d still only have a loose idea of what they were asking, but I made it work. Some of the questions included:

“How tall are you?” How the heck should I know? Five foot eight or something.

“What is your favorite food?” I hadn't really thought about it. Please stop staring at me. Okay, okay! Um, chocolate. Oh. Japanese food? Uh, let me think… Rice?

“Who is in your family?” This is not a question I’m normally asked. But I can answer it.

“How old are you?” Oo, oo! I know this one in Japanese!

“What brought you to Japan?” Good question. I can answer that too, but I really wish you wouldn't all cluster around my desk like that. And why are the four of you looking nervous? You have strength in numbers!

“How is it that you like about Japan?” I literally have no idea what you just said. No, showing me the question will not make me understand it. It’s not that your pronunciation is off; the question just doesn't make sense.

I also got to finally use the bathroom. They had crouch-toilets, which was interesting. When I got back, I was immediately requested to be in multiple photos on various girls’ phones. I managed to get a few taken with my camera as well, although the number there is nothing compared to the number of shots I was in that day. Despite my intense fascination with the building looking just like in anime, I didn't actually get any pictures of the building by itself, but you can see the elements in the back of a few of the photos, such as the sliding classroom doors.

There were two classes after lunch. Japanese went much like biology: Line, line, dash, line. Hey, boy-in-front-of-me-has-anime-hair! How did I miss that before? Oh right, I thought my bladder was going to explode. Dude. Seriously. Focus.

But P.E. was very interesting. Looking at the schedule, I saw that P.E. that day was Japanese folk dancing. I was quite sure that was the sort of dance that had partners. Awkward. Very awkward. When we arrived in the gym, we organized ourselves into two circles with girls in the outer circle and boys (with a few girls mixed in due to number inequality) in the inner circle. When I saw this, I hoped that maybe- just maybe- this meant we’d be doing some sort of jig circle. My hopes were crushed however when everyone started pairing up with the person in front of them and holding hands. I copied what the others were doing and the dancing began. Now, let’s get something straight, I really can’t dance. At all. We also switched partners every- well, let’s call it a round, and the whole thing had my head spinning. Eventually, we finished the dance that everyone seemed to know, and began on the dances that everyone didn't know. And that was where it got fun. The music would start, and the room would become a confused flurry of what could be called dance as we all tried to sort out the moves we’d just been shown. I was laughing and apologizing along with just about every other person in the place. It was hands down the best P.E. class I've had since elementary school. Seriously, I can barely remember the last time P.E. was fun, and I've never found dancing in P.E. fun. I would gladly take another P.E. class there again.

After school, I joined the brass band club for the afternoon. As some of you may know from anime, clubs are very popular in Japanese high schools, and about 75% of the student population is in at least one club. I joined a room of other flute players, and partway through my time there, one of the girls came up to me and asked if I’d like to play a song with her. I agreed, and we played through a few songs together before I figured I had to go. The same girl led me back down to the office where I’d left my shoes. I can honestly conclude that the students in Japan are some of the friendliest, sweetest people you will ever meet.

The day came to an end with me calling Otosan and him coming to pick me up. I felt bad about it, but I couldn't remember the way, and frankly, I was scared to try.

Day Three: Of Nodding and Wandering

I think Otosan and Okasan are beginning to think of me as the creepy ghost they willingly let into their home. I have this rather nasty habit of not making enough noise when entering a room, so no one knows I’m there until they happen to look up. Picture this: You’re standing in the kitchen making tea and watching the cup to make sure it doesn't spill. In the next room, you can hear your husband typing on his computer. Everything is quiet. You know the girl you’re taking care of should be up soon, but you don’t know exactly when. That is when you look up and see the aforementioned girl standing in the doorway. You’re unsure of exactly how long she has been there, but her deer-in-the-headlights look tells you she’s been there for a solid minute at least. You want to tell her to announce her presence next time; however, because you are a kind person, you just smile and wish her good morning.

Does that seem a little creepy? I think it does. At any rate, after my usual ghost act, Otosan took me for a brief visit to the Middle School and High School. On the way there, he taught me a simple Japanese greeting to say to the teachers. That greeting is as follows:

Konnichiwa (Hello. I’m going to awkwardly half-bow in your direction because I have no idea what the heck I’m doing)

Hajimemashite (It’s nice to meet you. Please excuse the hesitant head-bob and pretend you didn't see it. That will be easier on all of us)

Watashi wa Serina desu (I am called Serina. It may or may not be obvious at this point that I only have a loose idea of what I’m saying)

Yoroshiku-onegaisimasu (Please remember me. I will bow deeper this time, almost smack foreheads with you, and remember why I’d opted for the half-bow in first place)

After using the introduction in both schools, I went on a short car trip to drop some things off at Aiako-san’s house. Then I had some free time before going back to the high school again at four. So, I decided to go for a walk to the 7 Eleven-type place and maybe buy a few things. I’d watched very carefully which direction, and was confident in my ability to make it there and back.

I think I spent nearly half an hour wandering through the store looking at things. In the end, I opted for a box of Pocky, a mechanical pencil (forgot to bring one), lead for the pencil, and a black notebook to use in school. I managed to pay with no problems, despite the fact that I had no idea what the woman at the till was saying. I just smiled and nodded a lot, thanking her when she passed me the bag.

I walked out of the store and felt a brief surge of panic when I felt disoriented, but I looked around, mentally calculated, and remembered which way to go. Everything was going great until it came to which street to turn down. My mind just totally blanked. I had absolutely no idea where to go. Fighting panic, I told myself that it would be okay, if I honestly couldn't find my way, I would use the cell Otosan lent me to call and ask. That would look very pathetic of me; since chances were I was only a couple of streets away, but if it came down to it…

I told myself that it wouldn't, and started looking. My thought process as I walked along went something like this: Oh, there are the characters on the road I told myself to watch for! No…this isn't’t right. Never mind. Oh, I see. The words are on every street. Great. Just great. Okay. Don’t panic. There’s a yellow bag! The street had a yellow bag. Nope. Not right either. Crap, all the streets have yellow bags. Stop staring! I’m not lost! I can feel your eyes judging me! Oh, post lady. Maybe I should ask her… No. Too scary. Uh-oh. She’s glancing at me. She probably thinks I’m stalking her. That’s okay, I’m sure this street is right anyway. Shiznits. It’s not. Right. Now I’m following her. Aaand she’s looking at me again. This is, like, the third street I've followed her down. Haven’t I seen those boys before? Crap, I am so lost…

This went on for a while until I finally managed to locate the right street. The sad part? It was the first one. Through some cruelty of fate, I’d just kept skipping over it for the last half-hour. But at least I was back and none the worse for wear. In fact, I was back just in time to head out for the high school again. We took the car this time because it had begun raining at some point, and I had to use my greeting on a few more people, including an entire class. Now that was terrifying. They all just looked at me with wide eyes and I had a tough time preventing myself from staring back with obvious fear.

I was also introduced to the principal, and had my picture taken with him and some other teachers. He had a rather lengthy discussion with Otosan about something or other. About halfway through, I realized that everyone was nodding except me. In a desperate attempt to blend in, I started nodding along as well, until I realized that everyone there knew I didn't speak Japanese and if I nodded too, it would be obvious that I was just nodding for the heck of it. Either that or they’d think I actually spoke Japanese, something that would definitely cause me problems later on.

I stopped nodding.

Before leaving, we stopped by the chorus club in the music room. I think this was to give me an idea of what clubs are like. This was basically my first introduction to other kids my age. There were several girls and two boys in the club, and they were all very friendly. They introduced themselves and the girls complimented the pink ends of my hair. Then they performed a song for us. It was beautiful, and they harmonized their voices perfectly. After we’d applauded, one girl came forward with her iPhone and asked if she could have a picture. I agreed and we all crowded in front of the piano, making peace signs (a popular pose in in Japan among girls, I believe). It was incredible to me how accurate anime is in terms of the school design and even basic behavior. Honestly, the whole thing had me a little hyped up. When Otosan said they were going to the public baths and asked if I wanted to go, I said yes without fully realizing what I’d just agreed to.

The public baths, well, they’re literally public baths; this means you need to- how to put this delicately- wear your birthday suit. Prior to actually entering the baths, I felt like the stupidest person ever, just standing there in a slight panic with my towel. But it was actually a pretty nice experience. My biggest issue was figuring out where to look, but compared to the warm water and the fact that there weren't too many people there, this wasn't much of a problem.

 And yes, the outdoor baths looked just like they do in anime.

Day Two: The Kimono

The Japanese kimono has long been admired for its elegance, beauty, and relatively simple design. The intricate weaving is seen as delicately beautiful, and it creates an aura of gentle, feminine charm.
I’m not sure that was the case with me.

The arrival of my Japanese family’s friend (whom we will call Aiako-san for privacy’s sake) was what marked the beginning of the lengthy, nearly two-hour-long process of putting me in a kimono. After twisting my hair up into a bun, and placing a comb in it, I was given a brief explanation of how to wear the kimono underclothes and sent off to put them on. I probably would have received more assistance if it weren't for the lack of pants, which was necessary so the kimono didn't bunch weird. Originally, this didn't bother me, but this lasted only up until I put on the wrap skirt and realized that the pink fabric was almost completely see-through.

Feeling more than a little awkward, I folded up my pants and shuffled as fast as I could to the tatami mat room, trying to keep my butt angled towards the walls at all times. Luckily, I didn't have to worry about this for long, as I was quickly dressed in a short, pink kimono that was thicker and not see-through. Over this under-kimono went the actual kimono, which was yellow with flower embroidery in black, green and white.
I believe it was likely the obi that was so time-consuming. Honestly, I’m not really sure what Okasan and Aiako-san were doing, but I had multiple layers and strings tied around my waist by the end. When they went to go grab the socks (special socks that were like mitts for your feet), I just sort of stood there feeling unbalanced and quite certain that bending would be impossible. And, as it turned out, it was. If I dropped something, I had to shift into an awkward crouch to get it back.
But I was talking about the socks. There was a problem there that I had been going over in my head during my extensive dressing: I have big feet. Or maybe they’re average feet, but either way, there was just no way the socks were going to be big enough.
Unfortunately, my fears proved correct. My enormous feet were actually too big for the largest size available in Japan. I crammed my feet in anyway, but it really was a pity, as that meant the beautiful golden sandals didn't fit either.
Walking in the kimono was also an interesting experience. Because the fabric is close to the body, it’s more of a shuffle than a walk. But I have to say, I think the hardest thing to do in the kimono was get into the car. You have to sort of lean, lift the edge a little, and plop one foot in. Then, hop forward until you can sort of fall into the seat, bringing your other foot with you. Complete the process by folding both sleeves nicely on your lap. (You may need to rescue one sleeve from beneath your butt).

With all of us in the car, we headed to a shrine. Getting out of the car proved to not be quite as difficult as getting in, this was a relief to me because there were more people around to play witness to my awkwardness. Shuffling along and feeling vaguely like a Japanese princess, I explored the shrine with Okasan, Otosan, and Aiako-san. Before going in, we cleansed our hands and mouths at a small water area (for lack of a better word), drawing the water from the dish (?) with small wooden ladles.

Just as we were about to enter, a group of people came out and stopped on the steps. The girls were all wearing kimonos, and most of them clearly weren't Japanese. (I'm positive about this. One of them was blonde). The woman in the middle was however, and her kimono was pure white with an interesting head piece. Otosan told me that this was a Japanese wedding. We watched as the happy couple (a Japanese woman and an American [I’m assuming] man) got their pictures taken with their respective families organized on either side. After they moved on, we walked through. I got to pray out front (bow twice, clap twice, bow again), draw my fortune (which was good) and write on a small wooden picture. Both the fortune and the picture were hung outside the shrine when we left for good luck.

One deliciously self-butchered lunch later, we were back at the house again enjoying a Japanese tea ceremony with two more friends of Otosan and Okasan (let’s call them the Tanaka family). He spoke English, but his wife did not. They were both very nice, though.

The tea ceremony was interesting and presented another difficulty for me: Kneeling in the traditional Japanese way. My legs just weren't used to it and cramped up pathetically easily. I ignored this and sat traditionally anyway.

Near the end, Aiako-san (who was performing the ceremony) offered to let me try. I eagerly agreed and stumbled clumsily to my feet, my motions hampered by the kimono. I knelt beside her and she showed me what to do with gestures while I copied with the actual objects. My favorite part was definitely whisking the tea, for some reason it was just really exciting.

Everything was going great until I went to stand with the tray. I had been focused so intensely on what I was doing; I hadn't even noticed when my feet fell asleep. Trying to stand in a kimono with a tray in your hands and sleeping feet is no easy task, I assure you. Aiako-san had to take the tray while I pushed myself to a standing position with my hands and stumbled about for a minute. Fortunately, everyone there was very good-natured and easy-going, merely laughing along with me.

Changing out of the kimono proved to be much faster than dressing in it, and I was changed back to regular clothes within roughly five minutes. Everyone met in the living room, were we (yes, even me) talked for a while before the guests left. I was sad to see them go, they were all very kind people, and were very supportive whenever I said something in Japanese. When I thanked Aiako-san for helping with the kimono, they all cheered for me, a sweet gesture that made me feel like I'd accomplished something.

So in conclusion, people with big feet should not expect to be able to wear pretty kimono shoes. They will only be disappointed.

Day One: Exploring The City

I’m in love with the way guys style their hair in Japan, I really am. Anime was not necessarily lying about this. Some guys really do have longish, spiky hair. I don’t know if they use styling gels or what, but it’s freaking awesome.

We kick-started today with a trip to the beach. I took plenty of pictures, and found some pretty cool stuff. To be honest, I was a little hesitant about taking it, because they seemed just like the sort of things most people would take, and I didn't know why most people hadn't taken them. However, it turned out that it was perfectly okay. I am now the proud owner of a large possibly oyster shell, some smooth white rocks, some pretty aqua rocks, and a small dried starfish. (I know, right? How is it that no one else took this?)
This was then followed by making a brief loop around Enoshima (an island) to give me an idea of what it’s like. Busy, in case anyone was wondering.

Next we went to a downtown-type area and through a few stores. Each one had around five levels, but they were just stores, not malls! It was at about this time that my Japanese family discovered I love cats. Due to a discussion the previous night on mushrooms, I’m now fairly certain that my identity here revolves around three things: Cats, mushrooms, and Canada.
After wandering through a few of these stores, they took me to the train station to show me how to purchase tickets. We have yet to turn in my railway pass, but as I haven’t yet had the need to use a train, it doesn't really matter. Fortunately, there’s an English option, but it still looks confusing- you have to select a number based off of the station you want to arrive at. Okay… Just take my word for it; it looks a lot easier written down.
On our way to find somewhere to eat, we saw a school band!

They were performing on what I suppose qualifies as a street corner, and they were very good! We listened to a few songs, and then headed to a sushi restaurant. Fun fact: In Japan, you clean your hands with a small white cloth before eating. These are provided by the restaurant for free, along with green tea and water.
I tried eel, which may sound a smidge odd, but was actually delicious. All the sushi I tried was. There was only one I didn't try, although I’d been eyeballing it for a while. It was wrapped in nori (seaweed) with round orange fish eggs on top, and it was filled with these tiny white sprout-like things. They had small black dots on them and looked harmless enough, but something told me to be wary. After I finished, I asked what kind of sushi the funny white sprout-thing was, and I was told that the white things were actually tiny fish. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the black dots were eyes! As much as I want the full Japan experience, I’m not sure how I feel about eating something with its guts still inside it.
Side note directed at my mom: It is not impolite in Japan to put the entire piece of sushi in your mouth at once. I have perfectly average manners. So there.
This leads to Thing I Didn't Know About Myself Number One: I make eating with chopsticks look like I’m fighting a raging battle with my food. First, it tries to escape a few times when I take it off the plate. Then, it struggles and screams as I awkwardly stab it until it’s in half pieces. And finally, bloodied, broken, and on the brink of death, it makes a final escape attempt by taking a dive into my soy sauce, where it promptly drowns.
I even make eating things I've eaten all my life- such as spaghetti- look hard.
They had displays like this outside of every restaurant.

It was around when we were walking through the city hall and city office that I began to notice the stares. As a tall, Canadian girl with curly brown hair, I stand out a little more than most people. My hair seems to be the biggest cause for fascination, though. I even had someone ask to touch it, and I let her because she’s a friend of my host family and she was nice. I’m sure the pink ends help matters as well.

Before heading back, we took a short detour to watch some kids probably about my age use these massive bows to fire arrows at targets. It was both exciting and terrifying. I believe it was some kind of competition, because there were adults in the same clothing with what appeared to be scoreboards.
We watched for a couple of minutes after which I walked back with Okasan while Otosan took the car.

Random Observation About Japan Number One: They make the culverts look like works of art, with pretty designs and pictures on them.

After a delicious dinner made by Otosan, I helped Okasan clean up and used the bath again. It is currently my firm belief that if Canada plans to take part in any aspect of Japanese culture, we should adopt the home baths. They are amazing and one of the most relaxing experiences ever.

They also have heated toilet seats. I agree with this one as well.

Pictures I took of the place:

A popular way of travel in Japan is by bike. In fact, so many people ride bikes, they actually have places to park said bikes. Here is one of these places:

Flights and Arrival

I'm sorry for the delay in blogs, my computer just got hooked up to Wifi today. A little more consistency will be my goal from now on. Fortunately, I've been keeping up by typing in Word, so here goes nothing:

I don’t think the fact that I was leaving really sank in until I was standing in the line to get my carry-ons checked. My mom followed me most of the way through, before hugging me and leaving. She was crying, which made me want to cry too. I didn't, in case you were wondering. Stay strong and all that.

Anyway, I got through the line with no problems. I was pretty sure my plane was the bigger one that I’d seen my suitcase going into (although I forgot about the suitcase in that moment). I walked over to the front door, and then just sort of stood in front of the steps looking pathetic and confused. The flight attendant spotted me and took pity on me. She called down to ask me where I was going, and a brief discussion ensued.

I finally managed to get on the plane and find my seat. Then came what felt like at the time one of the biggest challenges I’d ever encounter: Trying to put my smaller suitcase in the overhead compartment. Originally, I thought it would be easy. Swing up, slide in, I figured. But I was wrong. I stood there for what seemed like a good ten minutes attempting to slide it in, then putting it down again and muttering, “That’s not gonna work.” It actually got to the point where people were cheering me on. “Come on, you can do it!”
It must have looked like I suffered from Dory-type short-term memory loss. I just continued to repeat more or less the same actions over and over until the man in the seat in front of mine asked if I needed help. Feeling kind of stupid, I gratefully accepted as he jammed it in. “There,” He said kindly. “It’s in. I don’t know if it’ll come out though.” I thanked him and proceeded to bang my head on the overhead compartment as I took my seat.
Hailed as the “passenger of the day” (apparently I wasn't the only person he helped), the kindly man pulled my suitcase most of the way out of the compartment for me before getting off. I thanked him again, and- as seemed to be the new norm- I cracked my skull against the compartment on the way out, too.

As I climbed off the plane, I felt grateful that I had a plan in place for the Vancouver airport: Meet up with my grandparents briefly and grab my luggage. Unfortunately, things didn't work out that way. It probably started when I got off the plane and couldn't find them. Not knowing what else to do, I went up to an information desk and asked them where the luggage pickup was. Then, feeling uncertain, I asked if I was actually supposed to be picking up my luggage. The man looked at my ticket and told me no, they would transfer the suitcase over for me and it was headed straight to Tokyo. Not knowing what else to do, I asked where my gate was instead and began the long walk to find it. Partway through, I got turned around again and had to ask for directions a second time.
Most of the way, I was attempting to contact my mom through iMessage. Since I had no cell and no way of directly contacting my grandparents, I figured that was the best I could do. The only problem was that the Wi-Fi sucked. I tried FaceTime and email, but nothing would send through. By that time, I had reached my gate, and although I was reasonably certain I had the right one (right gate name, the flight was to Tokyo), I decided to ask anyway. According to my ticket, I had only about fifteen minutes until boarding.
I clarified that I was indeed at the right flight, but the problem of contact still remained. I was worried that my disappearance and my fail to locate my grandparents would send my entire family into panic mode. Internally freaking out, I asked about a phone and was directed to a payphone.
Keep in mind, I had never used a payphone before and had literally only ever seen them used in shows. I sat down and stared at the strange device in front of me for a moment. Instructions slid by in electric blue and I did my best to follow them. I picked up the phone and dialed my mom’s cell number. When it asked for money, I momentarily blanked. Then I began rooting around in my backpack for a dollar. My mom had given me change for water that morning, and that change was all I had on me. It took forever to fish it out, and I kept expecting the screen to just turn off.
I literally just about smashed the phone when the screen went back to the opening just as I dropped the dollar in. I was so mad. Now I had to use a Toonie, and the stupid thing didn't give change. However, finally, after the phone basically stole my water from me, I managed to make the call. There was no answer, but I left a message and hoped that no one died of a heart attack before my mom got it.

I never did see my grandparents, but I did meet a very nice man on the plane. He was going to Delhi, and gave me the cookie from his lunch because he doesn't eat sugar. This meant I received two desserts, which I felt rather made up for the payphone eating my money. We actually talked quite frequently, where he told me about his son. Fortunately, I didn't hit my head even once (and if I did, it must have been pretty hard, as I don’t recall), although I did come to once drooling.
My first impression of Japan was something along the lines of I’m going to like this country. It looks like it’s going to be a very f- whoa! Something sparkly! After that, I got off the plane, bid my seat buddy farewell, and began following the mass of people. One impressively long walk later, I found the place-where-everyone-forms-a-gigantic-line-and-gives-the-nice-person-at-the-counter-their-passport-and-that-white-paper-they-gave-us-on-the-plane. I stopped and joined the end of the line, eyeing a Japanese reporter and camera duo nervously. Roughly five minutes into the wait, the reporter came up to me and asked in English if I was okay with answering a few questions. I was so horrified that I stammered out a yes before actually thinking it over. The questions began and it took all my willpower to focus on what he was saying and not the giant camera lens pointed right at me.
Luckily for me, there were only two questions, both about the length of line. I spewed out some crap answer about thinking it was reasonable because we were foreigners trying to enter another country blah, blah, and he left me alone after that.

I had some difficulties getting through the place-where-everyone-forms-a-gigantic-line-and-gives-the-nice-person-at-the-counter-their-passport-and-that-white-paper-they-gave-us-on-the-plane because I didn't know the address or telephone number of where I was going, but they were finally able to let me through. Honestly, I think my expression of terror and stress had something to do with it.
I then picked up my suitcase on the other side, and went to go meet the family I’m staying with. I was incredibly nervous, wondering how best to confront the situation, but they put me at ease by both greeting me with hugs and just generally treating me like I was family. They asked me to call them Otosan (father) and Okasan (mother), as they’re my Japanese parents for a month. We got into their car and started on our way, which was when I got to see some interesting differences from Canada right off the bat.

The first thing I noticed was that the driver is on the opposite side of the car, and therefore, they drive on the opposite side of the street. A lot of the vans also favor the boxy shape over the smooth angles of the cars back home. Whereas Canadians seem to prefer blacks, silvers, whites and darker colours, many of the cars in Japan are more of a pastel. I saw more pink cars in one day in Japan than I have my entire life in Canada.
After observing the cars and vegetation (the trees here truly fascinate me), I started noticing people. There were quite a few with white masks over their mouths and noses. I believe these masks are worn if one has a sensitivity to dust or pollen. Perhaps this is something that Canada should adopt, as it’s really not a bad idea at all.
The first time I saw a group of girls in school uniforms, I nearly broke out in excited, spastic motions. They look exactly like they do in anime! The skirts, the tops, everything! Quelling my urge to have an excitement attack, I grinned hugely and began watching the streets closely for more uniforms. I started an attempt to mentally call them to myself: Come on, school kids. Don’t be shy. Walk passed the car. Here high schoolers. Here middle schoolers, middle schoolers, middle schoolers.
After doing this for a bit, I realized how creepy it sounded- even in my head- and stopped doing so. I still made mental comments on everything we passed, though. Sadly, they weren't intelligent or informed, mostly consisting of things like: Oo! Shrine. Oo! Bell. Big bell. Oo! Graveyard. Wait. Maybe I shouldn't sound so excited about that…

The drive back to the house took about two hours. We arrived in their neighborhood, which strikes me as very quiet in comparison to the rest of the city. In my opinion, the whole place is totally adorable. (Observe in pictures below). They gave me slippers to wear in their house, and a tour of the place. The room I’m in is very nice, it even has a desk! Then we went out for dinner to a really nice little restaurant about a two-minute walk from their house. I tried these delicious potato-things, and something called a “hamburger steak”.
Before going home, we went to a small, 7-Eleven sort of place, and a supermarket. I found both places fascinating, and probably could have stayed and stared at everything for hours. I became fond of the game if-I-stare-at-the-foreign-language-long-enough-maybe-it-will-start-to-make-sense. Eventually, we went back home, and I got to use the bath. To bathe in Japan, you always shower first, as the water is shared by everyone and you wouldn't want it to get dirty. I got into the water intending to only sit there for a few minutes, but the water was so warm and the tub was so deep and comfortable… I have no idea how long I sat there, fully submerged for. But at some point, I made myself get out and after getting ready for bed, I gave Otosan and Okasan their gifts. From their reactions, they were really happy, which was a great relief to me as I’d been a little worried about the whole thing. Otosan came up to my room to show me how to close the windows for night, because you have to slide metal blinds across them; they are a lot like what we have in schools.

Then I went to bed. Staying up for over twenty-four hours can really exhaust a person.

Here are two pictures of the street, one taken in each direction:

 And this is the awesome driveway of Otosan and Okasan:

Preparation and Planning

It recently came to my attention that I have less than a week left before I don't live in Canada for a month, and I still have a lot to do.
See, I'm that person that constantly puts things off under the guise of "I'll do that later", and when I realize that later is here I'm in a big rush-and-panic to finish everything on time. In this case, that was mostly the learning of the language, and studying manners. I know there's no way I'm going to learn to speak Japanese fluently within the next couple of days, so I have to settle for the next-best thing which is teaching myself all the words and phrases that are the most important. I can already say single words like hello, thank you, please, good morning, goodnight, excuse me, stupid, and cat, but there are still some life-or-death phrases I would like to learn. These include:
"Can you direct me to the bathroom?"
"I don't speak Japanese."
"Do you speak English?"
"Where can I find a giant Hello Kitty plush?"
"Help! There's a giant squid after me!"
"Please help, I'm dying!"
"Do you know where I can find the anime merchandise?"
"Where's the hospital?!"
"Help! I'm drowning!"

Looking back at this list, I'm thinking just learning the word "help" will cover at least three of these potential problems. But I feel I should try to learn the sentences anyway, because you never really know how oblivious people will be. And I'd feel pretty stupid if I got eaten by a giant squid right in front of potential saviors just because they didn't perceive the violent, many-legged creature as a man-eating threat. This may be an unrealistic fear, but the day I don't prepare for it will be the day it comes true.

The second thing I crammed into my brain was manners. They have different etiquette there, and I'm sure I'll be getting myself into enough awkward situations without further complicating lives with my lack of manners. I figure if I take notes though, I can study on the plane ride, but I'll bet there'll be tons of things that I don't think to search until I'm in a situation requiring the information. Which will be extremely awkward. Fortunately, I've coped with many an awkward situation in my lifetime so far, so I'm fairly familiar with them.
'Though I'm not sure if this is handy or just sad.

There's also packing. I have an incredible amount of packing to do. In fact, every time I think about how much packing I have to do, I die a little more inside. So to help myself stay semi-organized (because I have recently learned that I will never be organized no matter how hard I try), I will include a list of items for packing. This is mostly for me, but perhaps some future human will find this useful. Or a dragon could find this useful for all I know. Perhaps they worry about remembering their laptop and pajamas as well. Just putting that out there.
List of Objects to Pack For Japan:
~Laptop and charger
~iPod and charger
~Camera and charger
~Kobo (Umi) and charger
~DSi and charger (possibly)
~I did not know I owned that many electronics
~Pajamas (warm-weather ones)
~Passport
~Money
~Wallet (preferably with money)
~Swimsuit and cover-up
~Dresses (Yay. Love dresses. My passion.)
~Scarf to- as my mom says- "change it up"
~Shorts
~T-shirts/Tank tops
~Socks
~Thank-you cards
~Books with info on Japan
~Various undergarments
~Healthcare card (because as you can see from my previous list, I'm very concerned with dying)
~Bathrobe/Housecoat
~Toiletries (shampoo/conditioner, brush, elastics, face stuff, toothbrush, blah, blah, and blah. You get the idea.)
~Pre-purchased train ticket/pass thing (cheaper than just buying tickets in Japan, and unavailable there too!)
~Sunscreen/Sunglasses
~Gifts (for hosts and others I may meet along the way)
~Canadian candy in case of homesickness (because apparently this helps)
~Pufferton The Traveling Bear Agent (basically a bear-shaped pillow/blanket combo for plane rides.)
~Walking shoes and fancy sandals (for going out)
~Advil or Tylenol (For that sickness I'm so terrified of getting)
~Textbooks and work (Ah, school. How I'll miss you.)
~Chocolate eggs to hide for hosts for Easter (This may be more of a seasonal thing)
**SIDE NOTE** If you are a boy, you probably won't need everything on this list. Like your passport. Because according to the all the romance books I've read, guys have this superpower that allows them to illegally cross borders like they don't even freaking exist.