First week of school

Fun fact, Canada's public school system is a ぞうだん (joke).


It's really amazing how I never really realized that there were flaws in the Halton District school board, albeit, I am stereotyping all Canadian schools based on the few schools that I've seen. However, this blog is not about Canada, it's about nipon, so instead of bashing B.C.H.S. I'll tell you why Japanese people are "crazy smart". 


1. When you're 14, you have to take a test to get into highschool.  Depending on the score you recieve on said test, you either go to a high end school, a middle class school or you "gtfo".  Yes, if you fail this test, no highschool for you. This results in having no deadbeat kids who skip class and smoke pot at lunch because they are just too damn cool for the whole school grind.

2. Every single person is in their seat 5 minutes before class starts, when the Sensei enters, the class stands up, bows and says "thank you sensei" after that there is absolutely no talking. What inforces the no talking rule? Respect.

3. No cell phones at school ever. What's the punishment for doing such an unspeakable thing? No one knows, no one has been だら (stupid/foolish) enough to try it.


4. Equipment, my gym class was astounded that my school didn't have a pool.
Try having maps on which there is no Nunavut.


5. There are no janitors. The students clean the school. 
At the end of each day every student does a short cleaning job that was assigned to them, these include sweeping, chalkboard washing, eraser grinding, mopping etc. 
I mop, students who didn't hand in homework or did poorly on tests clean the washrooms.




As you were reading that I'm sure a thought crossed your mind along the lines of  "that school sounds like the military" and if that though didn't pass through your head, you are quite possibly a nazi.


Just kidding.
But all those harsh rules result in a clean environment full of people who want to learn. Something to think about bchs.

Fast forward.... first day of school

Fun fact, in japan, white = god.

So, here's my uniform, tailored to be four sizes bigger than they make...

At least everyone has to wear them....

So my wonderful Oto~san provided me with the worst bike you can possible imagine, when the breaks work, i'm impressed.
So, I ride into my school bike lot with my piece of crap bike and every one stops what they are doing and stares. It scared the $%*# out of me, it was like something straight out of a zombie movie, when the zombies notice the delicious white boy whose method of escaping is a rusted tube with wheels on it.

Fun fact, they don't get used to you being there.
&
Calling the white kid sexy and macho while he changes for waterpolo is totaly normal.

So the fact says it all, throughout the entire day I was stared at, every person I looked at would run up, giggle, say "hello" then run away.  All day I was hit on by girls, boys and teachers alike, it was pretty hilarious and I'd be a liar if I said i didn't enjoy every minute of it. I'm taking all the cooking, pe and arts classes I possibly can, so going to school is actually fun... which is a really weird feeling.

Hello Japan.

Fun tip, don't use the Japanese phrases you learned, reciting them perfectly makes your host parents think you can speak Japanese.

So whatever, I get off the plane I urinate, I switch planes yadee yadee ya, I'm in Komatsu airport, I have my luggage and my host family is blabbering at me in rapid Japanese after being decieved by my "Konnitchiwa, yoroshiku onegai shimasu" (hi, I'm very please to meet you).  To great me at the airport was not only my host family but 6 other rotarians! The two on my right are my okasan and otosan, they're both really really nice and hilarious. So after I told them that I spoke very little japanese (amari nihongo ga dekimasen) , on the car ride home we talked a lot but not much got through.

Fun Fact, be nice to the cat. Or else.

So after we got home I crashed onto my bed and was out like a light, the next morning I awoke to sasuke the cat sitting on my chest and sniffing me. I. Hate. Cats.  I picked the cheeky thing up and dropped it outside my room, closing my door in it's face. I fall back asleep and a few hours later I wake up to... the freaking cat curled up beside me. I later learned that the cat is the boss, he goes wherever the hell he wants and if I don't let him do what he likes I will enter my next life as a sea urchin.

Goodbye Canada

Alright so I posted a few witty remarks on facebook and next thing you know people want a blog, great, goodbye social life, hello blogging.

OK, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. A blog will allow me to spend some alone time and kinda keep my sanity while all this ... stuff's going down.

Fun fact, packing my life away wasn't as depressing as I thought it would be.

Last outbound to leave, I've been waiting for this since January, and I can't help but feel a little sad as I pack away everything I own and say my farewells.

Fun tip, on a 16 hour flight, say no when the fat asian man asks for your isle seat.

He slept, I didn't urinate once.

An 80 lb hockey bag, my laptop, my backpack and a goodbye mom.

I'm off! Most people have trouble falling asleep on airplanes, not I, 20 minutes after take off, while listening to my Ipod with Japanese phrases on it (courtesy of Mrs. Singlehurst) I fell asleep. 10 hours later I woke up, desperate to urinate and fluent in the 12 Japanese phrases that were played into my head as I slept. I looked at the guy I so graciously gave my isle seat to and wondered if he was awake. Deciding he was asleep and that I shouldn't wake him, I pulled out my table, put my head down and fell back asleep, cursing under my breath in Japanese (dame futoru dame.. grrr).