As exams are over at 学主因, students use the last 1 and a half weeks of the school term to enjoy club activities. Thus, at the moment, I am not actually going to school, per say, but just joining random clubs as they enjoy their ‘high school life’.

For the past school week, my days have gone something like this…

6:30 – Wake up, for some reason I am still in Australian mode. As nobody is really active, I use this time in the morning to do holiday homework, study Japanese and write blog posts, as well as the standard social media roaming.

8:30 – Have breakfast downstairs with 夏帆 and 千嘉ちゃん, as the others are at work/university. Breakfast usually consists of a large variety of food, including leftovers from last night, cereal, assorted bread, fruit and salad. We choose what we like and how much we desire to eat, which I am grateful for, as apparently one of my friends staying here has to eat and enormous set meal everyday {delicious, yet too large to finish comfortably}.

9:20/40 – Leave for school. It normally takes me about one hour by train to get to school. The first leg, to Shibuya, is incredibly crammed – I’ve found that Shibuya is one of the most popular train stations {think Flinders Street x 10000}. Though the second leg is usually more roomy, and sometimes I am able to find a seat.

10:30 – Greet whatever club I am assigned to and participate in / watch their club activities. Most recently, I visited the Tea Ceremony Club, and was treated to beautiful Japanese candy and Matcha. All of the girls work fluently and gracefully, and are totally dedicated to their art. It was a very peaceful experience.

11:30 – Return home. You can see that the days are incredibly short at this time! After arriving at home I’ll usually do homework / study with 夏帆 downstairs. Throughout the whole day, the house is filled with music, as my host mother is a piano teacher. It is really lovely to listen to and also incredibly fun to meet some of her students. As it is the end of the year, my host mother is receiving many gifts for her work, and as a result 夏帆 and I get to enjoy sweets from all over Japan.

2:30 – Go somewhere. This part of my day is rarely planned, I might go shopping or exploring the city. Recently 桜 and I visited the aquarium. It was amazing and gorgeous, and there were even these amazing skeleton fish, pictured below. However, seeing some of the animals {such as a reindeer} locked in an incredibly small cage saddened me a little. I think that people can get caught up in the novelty and holiday spirit and neglect to stop and think about issues like that. I only hope that after hours those animals are able to enjoy a larger and more natural habitat.

4:30 – Come home again. Around this time I will normally take a bath or shower and do homework until called for dinner, which is usually around 6:30/7:00. After dinner, everyone who is home will sit around the table and chat about everything and nothing. When the tea is cold in the kettle, I head upstairs to do some of my assigned reading before going to bed {around 10:30/11:00}

So there you have it, a day in my life. However, this is about to change as Winter Holidays are coming up. Around New Years, I will be visiting my host mother’s family shrine in Saga, Kyushu. I am incredibly excited and can’t wait to see her hometown!

-H