Yea. This is just an update, since I was too lazy to post right when I had something to say.
Yesterday: Exchange students came to our school from Japan. They were about our ages, maybe some in ninth grade or something. They spoke a little bit of English. They weren't fluent, but if we talked slowly they understood. Each Japanese exchange student was paired up with a Leadership student from our school. There were more Leadership than exchange students, so some of us didn't get a Japanese student. Basically, we were just supposed to take them around with us and show them what a school day was like in America.
Anyways, when they arrived we were pretty excited. They all had school uniforms. Five guys, and a lot of girls. I didn't count - there's a list on my table but I don't want to get up to go look at it. Strangely, despite having, like, a billion Leadership, only three of us were guys, so some of the Leadership girls were paired up with Japanese guys.
The girl I was paired up with was named Mari. She was nice, but really, REALLY shy, or else just bored out of her mind. I can't blame her though. They didn't even get time to deal with jetlag - the plane, then straight to see us. I feel so bad for them. They must have been exhausted. Anyways, my first class with Mari was English/History. We had a substitute, so of course all the class rebels sat where they wanted. By the time we got there, they had already moved into our seats, so we had to find new ones.
The rest of the day was pretty bad too. In music we DID have an actual rehearsal, but we played all our least favorite songs. In French, the teacher was showing us our grades. To make it even worse, she moved Connie and Katie (who usually sit behind me and keep me amused) to the front of the class, so there was no one to help me start a conversation. It was REALLY awkward. I'd try to ask Mari a question, but she'd shake her head to show that she didn't understand. And when she did understand, she answered so quietly so that I couldn't really hear it, so of course I couldn't continue the conversation.
For lunch, Leaderhip, the exchange students, and the families that would be hosting the exchange students overnight met in the library and had a pizza party. I felt so embarrassed. The exchange students had to sit and watch Anne and Chowyu having a pizza-eating contest. 6 slices vs 9 slices. Jeesuz. Welcome to America. I asked Mari some more questions, and she smiled and answered them. It was still kind of awkward though. I regret deciding to sit at a 4-person table instead of a 6-person one.
After we ate, the Japanese boys did this acrobatic performance, which was super cool. We never do those things here. Then the girls did a dance with fans and music, which we also never do. One of them was cracking up the whole time. It makes us wonder whose idea it was to do these things. They also showed us posters they made with their names written in Japanese, and they'd tell us what each character meant. A lot of the characters overlapped with Chinese. They were pronounced differently, but they still meant the same thing.
I missed the science test, but our teacher said we could do that on Monday. The pizza party went outside for a while, and we played around and took pictures. They I took Mari to math, which was also a super disappointment, since we pretty much had free time (aka group work time, but nobody did that). I had NO idea Ren spoke Japanese. Scary. Anyways, I took Mari down to the library and left her with the host family. Sayonara, Mari. I hope I meet you again some day.
Today: What can I say? Woke up at 11, not because I'd gotten enough sleep, but because the phone went off. It was my mom, telling me to go to the Yummi Sushi Restaurant in the plaza. We were having brunch with my godparents. I THINK they're my godparents. I know I have a godmother, but my mom never said anything about a godfather. Ah well.
Drawing class was a super killer. I have to finish the drawing by tomorrow, and I've still got the background to do. I stayed there for like, 3 hours, and then I had to leave to go take piano lessons. I was supposed to go back after that, but I had the volleyball end-of-season party. The party was pretty fun. There were drinks, chips, food, and VOLLEYBALLS. 8DD~ We played for the whole two hours - circles, hitting lines, even games. My shoulder hurts again. I don't know WHAT I did to it that Friday I learned overhand serving from Gina, but now everytime I whack a ball really hard, it hurts like crazy.
