Today's million-dollar question: What is awkwardness?
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こんにちわ!
Today was probably the most exciting day in the year 2012 for me so far. I don't think I've ever spoken so much Japanese and felt close to the country as much as this.
Yes, the girls from Hakata Girls' School came today.
楽しいだった。
Alright, so here's how the day worked:
At 8 o'clock, right after our assembly ended, we went to the toilets to change into our traditional clothes. I borrowed Fifi's, since we're about the same size - I'm probably slightly bigger-sized than she is - and then headed back to the Teacher's Lounge.
At around 9 o'clock, the bus came. Everyone was super excited and stood in one straight line. The kompang group played whilst the Japanese entered, so even when we greeted them with おはようございます, they couldn't really hear.
Bloody hell.
Anyways, after we greeted them and stuff, we proceeded to the "Bilik Gerakan" - also directly translated to "The Moving Room" - ...
-.-
There, we heard about the school's history through the presentation that they had very bertungkus-lumusly set up. We also heard speeches from our principal, their teacher and their fellow student representative. The representative was quite fluent in English. Stutters were evident, but compared to the other students, she was good.
Anyways, after all that, we lined up outside to find who our fellow buddies were. It was quite funny because Lee and Rue were completely speechless. So, I had to introduce them and break the ice -.-
My buddy was Matsuda Yoshiko. She gave me her first name, so I just called her Yoshiko-san.
:)
After that, we all went to our first destination on our little tour - the library. It was quite nice. We went to see the AV room, CAC, then went off to the museum. I found it quite hard to find the right words, because I've never had to say "success", "achievement" or stuff like that -.-
Thank God I knew what "uniform" in Japanese -.-
Haha.
Next stop was the Judo dojo. There, we saw performances by the Judo club. After taking a few photos - okay, a LOT of photos - we left to the Teacher's Lounge to start with our indoor games.
You know what was really stupid, though? I couldn't find the right words to explain how the game was supposed to go? So I just ended up stuttering like a bloody idiot before Laili came to my rescue. Haha. She was literally my knight-in-shining-armour. Thank God for that little Malaysian Japanese :P
The Japanese students thought congkak was おもしろい. Why? I have no idea. I mean, I guess it's interesting - I actually like the game - but it's really funny, the way they get playfully annoyed when you get to continue putting the marbles into the hole while they watch.
They're really, really, really cute people.
An hour after that, we were headed to the Skylite when I asked Yoshiko-san what her hobbies were. She said she listened to music. When she asked me, all I said was "anime" :P
And then it started :P
Not Yoshiko-san, though. It was another one of the Japanese girls, Ogata Reika. She's really, really an anime person. She likes One Piece. The minute I said "Luffy", we were like, "Ahh! Luffy! Luffy!"
And then, *drum rolls*...
... She said "Full Metal Alchemist".
I swear, I literally screamed. I was like, "AHH!! ED! ED!" We said it in the Japanese way of pronouncing it, of course. We were like the two idiots there -.- Haha.
Well, at least, I was :P
At the Skylite, the whole lot of us sat in one line two-by-two and waited as the groups came up one-by-one to perform. Quite unfortunately, they realized that even after the Japanese students finished performing, there was still quite a lot of time so they had to find a way to prolong it.
By giving impromptu performances.
Once again, unfortunately, Kanga, Cleo and I were called upon to perform. Obviously, since it was unprepared and all that, it turned out horrible. The microphones were the real disaster, but it doesn't change the fact that it turned our whole performance into a flop.
Either way, I don't mind performing on stage. It's just that sometimes, even though it can be embarrassing, it still helps me get over the whole stage fright thing. Having friends help too, but what's the point if no one is willing to get up there again just because one small little thing like this happened?
-.-
Lunch was served after that, but I didn't eat - neither did the two MCs - because we didn't have the appetite. I don't know why, though. I just... couldn't bring myself to eat. After my "buddy" was done with her food, we exchanged gifts. I gave her the Genting keychain my mom gave me and she gave me a pair of really cute hair clips. They're really cool. If I ever get rajin enough to do it, I'll take a picture and post it here.
Haha.
Not long after, we finished lunch and headed out to the Skylite where we took a huge group photo before sending them off :)
I really had fun today. It was... a new experience. Plus, I get an international certificate for helping out. It's not that I did this just for the cert. Honestly, I think the cert is just a plus point. The real deal is spending time with the people who come from the country I love most in the world :)
Japan.
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