It's winter vacation in Hiroshima

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So, I'm officially on Winter Vacation - my second in a year! Two weeks of holidays. It doesn't look like I'll be at school for Christmas after all, thank goodness. It's strange though, having TWO winters. It is now very, very cold. I'm regretting saying that Dunedin is colder, because it SO is not. I've been seeing some of the punky Japanese girls walking around in those teeny skirts, and it makes me feel cold just looking at them... I'm such a nana. =)
Anyway, about the octopus. It wasn't exactly fish and chips. It was chewy. And you could feel the little ring things that are on the tentacles in your mouth. It didn't have a flavour really, but then, it's octopus - it's not meant to taste like lollies. But I ate it, and I felt very proud. I'm eating lots of foods I wouldn't normally eat - like salad, cold fish (for lunch), and of course, octopus. Mum & Dad, you should be very impressed with me; I'm such a healthy girl. ;-) I also drink at least 2 cups of Japanese tea every day. HOWEVER, I would give ANYTHING to tuck into a massive container of Pringles. I miss snack food - my family isn't really into snacks, three meals a day does the job for them. As for me, I need 3 meals, plus lollies, chips, toast, biscuits... I haven't had a single biscuit in 2 weeks!
Speaking of food, I get to take this thingy called a 'banana case' to school everyday in my lunch. It is the most hilarious looking thing ever. It is a yellow, plastic, banana shaped container, and yｏｕ can put your banana in it, and can carry it around. =D I don’t know what the point of it is, but I love it.
What have I been doing lately? School. Making mistakes. LOTS of　mistakes. At the station during rush hour, I got on the wrong side of the escalator, so all these busy salarymen were stuck behind me, until my host sister realised what was happening and yelped at me to move out of the way. I was incredibly embarrassed. Stupid foreigner with the strange coloured hair.
I'm still loving it, I love riding on the train, and talking with my friends at school, and eating new things, and EVERYTHING. But sometimes I get frustrated with the language，and the sound of it, and the fact I don't know it very well, ａｎｄ the fact that my host family knows I don't know it very well. I'm constantly being talked to in 'English' (or some version of it), even when I would understand it fine in Japanese. Sometimes it would be easier to understand in Japanese.　For example, yesterday my host mother said, 'you go home, shan clous, eato sunaku'. I was like, 'so... I go home... Santa Claus...?'
Then she burst out laughing, and said, 'no, no, shan clous!'. After a bit of charades, I realised she meant 'change clothes'. Duh. And today, I was talking to my homeroom teacher (who is AWESOME), and he was telling me he once went to Pakistan. Then he tried out his English, and told me, 'I went by sheep'. So I was like, 'sheep?! Hitsuji?!'
He started laughing too, and I realised he meant 'ship'. But I had this image of him holding a sheep by its ears, riding it all the way to Pakistan. =D
Sometimes the sound of Japanese makes me shudder. I can't help it. At midnight the other night, I was woken by the shrill, nasal tones of my host mother and sister talking. Very loudly, and fast. It's ALWAYS fast. Maybe I wａｓ just annoyed because I was tired, but errrrghhh. And yesterday, my host sister thought it would be a fun game to repeat everything she said at least three times, in a silly voice. At first I pretended it was mildly amusing, but after a while I nearly throttled her. I actually had to leave the room, just to get away from the sound.
That's all for now!!

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Comments

[Kim]

Oh man, Pringles...but good on you, trying new things - that's the ticket. I figure even if it's the worst tasting thing ever, then at least you've got a good story out of it. =D Ah, escalator ettiquette. They have it in the city here too, lol. People get pissed if you stand on the 'walking' side. Engrish is hilarious. =D If you see signs or stuff with funny English translations on, you have to take photos. =D It doesn't really flow, Japanese, does it? Not like Spanish or something. It's quite accented.

[Monica]

Don't get too frustrated, Siobhan. You're doing amazing (especially with the trying different kinds of food! I am impressed. ^_^ ). And right now you're probably being overloaded with new experiences... and sounds. Do you get a decent amount of time alone? I know that I, being a hermit, would need to have a store of alone time to be able to get on throughout the day. Anyway, have a great winter holiday. My last day is tomorrow.

[RockTheChopsticks]

Re: Kim
Hehe, I will - I haven't seen any interesting English signs yet, but I'm on the lookout for you! By the way, would you like a postcard or something? Coz if you message or email me your address, I would love to send you one! =)

[RockTheChopsticks]

Re: Monica
Thank you, and thanks for all your comments so far too! I love getting them. Congrats on making it to Winter vacation - that must be a relief! ;-) Freedom for a couple of weeks, yeah? Enjoy it! Mmm.... I get some time alone. I usually just go to bed early and read Harry Potter, and that makes me feel better, lol.