Yes, it’s October already! And it’s slowly getting colder. Especially in the morning and the evening. I do really like it with my new family! Only the long travel to school makes me a little tired.
This weekend was an extra long weekend because Monday was a holiday. We had a kind of Sports & Health day. I do not exactly now what it’s for and I think I am not the only one.
(click on the picture for a larger one, sorry for the poor quality!)
Family picture!
Sunday I went with my host family to Niseko. I was there before with my first host family, I went skiing that time. Niseko is also very nice in the summer, there are lots of activities. You can go rafting, canoying, climbing, playing golf, go into the mountains with a ski lift and have a walk. There is also an amusement park.
We went to a climbing center and an air cushion park on the Hilton hotel premises. It was about 2 hours of driving and that was quite long since my little sister, Keito, was a little annoying. She is only six years old and then sitting in a car for two is not such a success. Keito however is always very nice and sweet to me but sometimes she acts a little bit spoiled. But, as I said, she is only 6.
I did not climb myself but watched Keito climbing. She only dared to go 2 meters high and then started almost crying and calling she wanted to get down. That repeated for about 20 times 😉
We wanted to have lunch at the same place but it was rather busy .The estimated waiting time for 3 hamburgers and spaghetti was 30 minutes. After 45 minutes we still had nothing and asked when we could expect our food. A woman told it would take another 20 minutes. Other people that were waiting a long time left without food and so we did. Next to the restaurant was a Taj Mahal. That is an Indian concept, like a Mac. The food was rather spicy but really delicious. It was an all you can eat so I had a lot.
Next we drove for half an our to the Hilton park. There you could do a kind of survival and the was an Air Cushion for kids. Since Keito is quite young we went to the air cushion park. Keito and I played together.
You had to climb high and then jump down on the cushions. It was not even that high but it was pretty scary! You could also play wrestling at a height of about three meters and when you fall down you fall softly into the cushions. You could walk on a rope balancing and trapeze. I tried the trapeze and found out a circus career is no option for me!
When Keito and I were completely tired we went home. Keito and Okaa-san were sleeping soon and I was sleeping a little later.
We had no plans for dinner so we went to Costco, a wholesale store. I was there before with the other host family were I stayed for one month. I like Costco, they sell everything!
We had salads, sushi and rolls. That night I went to bed early!
Monday Kanji would come to my home to give a kind of souvenir he had bought in Osaka. It’s a Japanese tradition to bring a small souvenir, usually food of the place you visited like cookies and sweets. But he had an extra training so he could not come. We then went to my host fathers parents. They live near Odori, the place to be in Sapporo. Grandmother was very funny and sweet. They kept talking and completely overloaded me with food. I had to eat a lot! Grandmother and grandfather are originally from Hakodate, the place where Kanji is from too. Hakodate is also in Hokkaido but people from there have quite an accent what sounds very funny. Fortunately I could understand them well. My school is only 10 minutes by metro from their place and therefore my host family is seriously thinking to drop me at grandfather and grandmothers place during weekdays in January because it will be terrible with all the snow and will take at least 2.5 hours getting to school and another 2.5 hours to get back home again. But that is not decided yet, so we will see later!
This week I went to tennis and that was quite a while ago because I had been ill and after that the allergic reaction all over my body because of the medicines.
The were all very enthusiast that I was there and they all said: お帰り！(Oka-eri, Welcome back)
This week I was also invited by my classmates to go to a large shopping center. I was there before with Yui, a third year girl, and also with Kanji. I went there by train before but this time the girls thought it was a good idea to go there by foot. Well, that was also the last time. We walked for an hour! Then we had our lunchbox and took, as always, Purikura and had an ice cream! We have been laughing a lot but I had to leave on time since it takes a long time to get home. I took the subway together with a girl from my class that had to go to the same station as me! Next I only had one minute to catch the bus to my home. There are not going that many buses so I was determined to catch it and I ran for it. I was lucky! Ten seconds after I sat down he left.
I was completely exhausted when I noticed the guy that lives next door was also on the bus. He was surprised like me and we talked all the way home about school, clubs etc. Usually boys are not that talkative, but he is very nice and not shy at all.
Furthermore… well actually nothing special except: perhaps I am going to see Amber, the other Dutch AFS student that lives in Fukuoka. She is coming to Hokkaido in December with her host dad.
And… next month I am going on school trip to Kyoto, Nara and Tokyo. I can hardly wait for it!
