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One month Update

   It’s been one month since I said good bye to my family. One month since I landed in this wondrous country. One month since I embarked on a life changing journey. 

                                                   And I love it! 

   I’ve had quite a few adventures so far. Some are tiny minuscule occurrences such as seeing my first wild gold fish or shrine, and others nerve wracking like getting lost on a bus and ending up close to the city limit. I’ve had ups and down. Homesickness does effect all long term exchangers I think. However the Rotary support system has been here to guide me through me it. 

  I’ve been able to experience traditional Japanese art and culture by day and see the bright nightlife by dark. Since I can’t really go for jogs I’ve decided to ditch the bus pass and walk to school daily with the exception of coming home from my clubs since I don’t fancy running in the dark. Walking has opened my eyes to shrines and small parks that I would of never seen otherwise. My favorite shrine to visit is one that has bunnies! I’ve also run into small ‘mom and pop’ shops that are sort of hidden. 

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#rotary

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5 day update

My suitcase set came in so I’ve repacked and everything is under the max weight limit. I’m allowed two 50lbs suitcases plus one carry on and one personal item. Both suitcases are around 30lbs and then I have a duffel bag thingy to put in the over head compartment and my laptop bag. 

Made pretty good contact with my host family. They seem super nice. 

I’m nervous that I’ll get lost in the airports actually. I called to confirm some information like bag checking etc and keep  going through the whole ‘what if the airport loses my bags’ scenario. 

Ordered my Yen from Wellsfargo! Currently have 40,000 yen in my wallet. Made the mistake of asking for it in 100 yen notes tho...I also have $20 for any purchases between AZ to LAX. Also have the equivalent of $200 in the currency used in Taiwan since I have a trip their too.

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40 more days

Sorry for inactivity everyone 😭 But I’m back in action now and ready to keep y'all updated. As the title says I’m leaving for Japan in 40 days. Truthfully I feel a mix of excitement and anxiety. A year is a long time to be away…I’ll miss the new season of OITNB. And all the memes 😭 I’ll be back soon with an update and and links to other social medias.

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What are you doing or what did you do to get all of your credits? I leave quite soon and I'm pretty stumped on how I'm going to get a years worth of credits so I don't have to repeat a year.

Sorry if this reply is late! Starting the summer before freshman year I started taking online highschool courses. By the last month (really two days before term was over) of sophomore year I had completed all of my junior and senior reqs. Now I've moved onto taking some dual enrollement classes for college to get a little ahead.

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Updates for 6/11/17

Host family update Just received my first host family’s contact information as well as a conformation of my school! Ahhh I’m so excited!!!

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Remember to do your slide show for rotary kiddos

Because I totally forgot and now am panicking to finish it within the allotted time

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Pre exchange thoughts

I'm a sophomore right now...already half way done with high school. But really I've made up all my credits for the year I would be missing so it works to keep me on schedule. Basically I'm leaving sophomore year and when I return for the 2018-2019 school year I'll be able to graduate early. But like school gets out in two weeks. And then roughly three months after that I'm leaving and get to study abroad. I remember sitting at home the summer before freshman year and nervously filing out my application. Double checking every single letter to insure there were no mistakes. Time truly does fly. I'm both excited and scared at the same time.

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Outbound orientation

4/29/17 So I'm a very lazy trash can and just now got to writing this up. Anyway, I just got back from outbound orientation with my other exchange buddies! It was actually super fun despite having to drive so far away. First night was basically just a game night for the inbounds and outbounds to waste time before lights out. The next two days was some informational speeches and advice from Rotex (kids who came back from their exchanges). Sunday, which was the last day, was super sad! No one wanted to leave in all honestly....we sort of hung around until the parents started to round us up and told us it was time to leave. I'll try working on some videos for you guys so that you can see all the activities we did 💝

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Sometimes I can tell if it's going to rain without checking the forecast just by looking at my hair in the mirror

I have literally never experienced heat w/o humidity I wonder what it’s like to not have to worry about frizzy hair

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The たら conditional

A conditional sentence is one that expresses a condition and a possible outcome. 

“If I study, I will graduate.” 

There are two conditional’s in Japanese たら and と. Lets focus on たら for now. 

たら conditional corresponds to English clauses starting with “if” or “when” 

Here’s the formula ; “Plain past tense form of verbs/ adj,/ copula+ら”

1.) 日本へ着いたら、電話してください。(nihon e tsuitara, denwashite kudasai) -> When/If you arrive in Japan, please call me. 

2.) 勉強したら、卒業します。(benkyoushitara, sotsugyoushimasu) -> If I study, I will graduate.

3.) 大学に電車で行ったら、３０分かかります。(daigaku ni densha de ittara, sanjuppun kakarimasu) -> If I go to University by train, it’ll take 30 minutes. 

4.)学生だったら、もっと勉強してください。(gakusei dattara, motto benkyoushite kudasai) -> If you are a student, please study more. 

*the main clause (following たら) can be non-past or past tense*

1.) 家に帰ったら、家の前に友達がいました。(uchi ni kaettara, uchi no mae ni tomodachi ga imashita) -> When I went home, my friend was in front of the house. 

2.) 会社に歩いて行ったら、一時間かかりました。(kaisha ni aruite ittara, ichijikan kakarimasu) -> When I walked to work, it took one hour.

3.)クラスに行ったら、先生も学生もいませんでした。（kurasu ni ittara, sensei mo gakusei mo imasen deshita) -> When I got to class the teacher and students weren’t there. 

*when the main clause is past tense it expresses something the speaker was surprised about* 

4.)日本人だったら、もっとたくさん漢字を知っているんですけど… (nihonjin dattara, motto takusan kanji wo shitte iru n desu kedo…) -> If I were Japanese I’d know a lot more Kanji but…

5.) お金があったら、新しい車を買うでしょう。(okane ga attara, atarashii karuma o kau deshou.) -> If I had money I would probably buy a new car.

たら　is also used when asking for or giving advice

1.) 日本語を勉強したいんですけど、どうしたらいいですか。(nihongo o benkyoushitai n desu kedo, dou shitara ii desu ka) -> I want to study Japanese, but how should I do it? 

2.) 日本に留学したらいいですよ。(nihon ni ryuugakushitara ii desu yo) -> It would be good if you studied abroad in Japan. 

3.)東京駅に行きたいんですけど、どうやって行ったらいいですか。(toukyou eki ni ikitai n desu kedo, dou yatte ittara ii desu ka) -> I want to go to Tokyo station, how should I get there? 

4.)電車で行ったらいいでしょう。(densha de ittara ii deshou) -> It would probably be good to go by train. 

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Wooo coming up on the two week notice for it! I'm super excited and can't wait to see the other outbound.

First outbound orientation

My first outbound orientation is in a few weeks. So excited!! I can’t wait to see all of the other outbounds next month. I’ve also been thinking about what to pack for my host gifts. Any suggestions?

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Host families

So my district says that we are supposed to get our host families addresses any day now! I already met one of them online, and their daughter is actually on exchange to Canada right now. I'm so excited. I hope t ask my hosts what they like/how many live in the house so that I can bring the appropriate gifts. On a side note the kids in Japan are coming back this month so I'm tying to meet one of them.

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Following Spree

Hey everyone! My dash is pretty empty right now, and I’m currently gearing up for my exchange trip to Japan this summer. That being said, I’d love to follow some more blogs that are dedicated to my interests! Please reblog this post (likes won’t count) if you post about any of the following:

The Japanese language Japanese culture and food Japanese history Literally anything Japanese (I’m trying to stay away from anime blogs, however, just because I’m trying to focus on the language and culture at the moment)

Also, if you’re an exchange student for the 2017-2018 school year, no matter where you’re going, I’d love to follow you! So please reblog this! Also, if you are/were an exchange student to Japan in the past, and are okay with me randomly asking questions and advice before I go, I’d love to follow you as well! Thanks in advance!

I’ll be checking out everyone who reblogs this! Bonus points if you have a tagging system!

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A small rabble about packing for exchange

So I’ve begun to think about what exactly I will need to pack for my trip…and I’m realizing I’ll have to buy an entire winter wardrobe :’( I mean I’m not worried about the price or anything it just really hate having to try things on in store I guess? The thought that other people have possibly had on the same pair of pants I am putting on just gives me the creeps. Anyway I’m super glad that all of the online stores are having sales for their winter coats. We don’t get very cold weather where I live so I’m assuming that wool coats will be fine.