Japan

__**Japan﻿**__  **At the moment Milla is in Japan, having an amazing experience of a different country and culture. She is sharing parts of her trip with us, and hopefully taking LOTS of photos!** Hey everyone!!! This is probably my last email before I come back to NZ L. As much as I love NZ, I really love it here too and don`t want to leave just yet!!! Yesterday (Wednesday) we went to the Tokyo Tower which is very big and looks much like the Eiffel Tower, we also went to Ginza which is the most famous street in Japan, it is mostly famous for its highly expensive shopping mall and shops!!! We got to another shopping center by boat, it was like a cruise, when we got to the jetty/warf thing I was sooo shocked to see how polluted the water was, there were dead fish, chip packets and lots of other things that you do not find in NZ oceans!!! The shopping there was great too!!! Today was a lot of fun, we went to the Minami Elementary school, we peformed for them and they peformed for us then we were each assigned a class. I was by myself, I received a wonderful welcome from them!!! They taught me lots of Japanese games, stories and other activities, I taught them Simon says and afterwards they asked me some questions. I`ll tell you more about that when I get back J. We then went to a shopping mall nearby for lunch, Stirling and I went cone-ing, it was hilarious!!! That was followed by Lalaport!!! I was absolutely amazed to find that at the end of the 2 hours we spent there, I had not bought anything but a bottle of water!!! Akihabara and more shopping tomorrow and then on Saturday, the farewell ceremony and then we leave for NZ L. I will see you all on Monday. Milla xx
 * She would love to hear from us, so we can use the discussion tab on this** page to ask questions and find out more about her trip and Japan. Check in often to see how she, and the others on the trip, are going.

P.S: I experienced my first earthquake today, well actually it was only a small shake, but it was still an earthquake!!! Saturday 24th September  Sadly this morning we had to go to school!!! It was actually pretty fun, first of all we did an art class where we made Traditional Japanese fans then followed by that was an English class which seemed very complex but quite interesting!!! I still prefer our English class 10,00000000000000 times better J. For the NZ students who had to stay at school after 12:00pm there was a Tea Ceremony which was fascinating but in some parts it was quite boring!!! I really enjoyed shopping in Lalaport after school with my host mother, Stirling (My Japan trip friend from NZ!!!) and Stirlings host mother while Yui and Stirlings host student were at tennis club!!! Lalaport is the biggest shopping mall in the whole Asian area, it really was amazing!!!

 On Sunday I spent the whole day at a fantastic place called Harajuku which is also a great place for shopping though it was very hard to get into the shops as there were sooo many people!!! I was joint by my host family and also Stirlings host family, it was really fun!!!

 Monday was fun too!!! We went to a science museum and Toyota mega web, luckily the Toyota mega web was pretty much part of a shopping mall because I can`t say that I am overly interested in cars!!! So instead of looking at the cars I spent my time like most others, in the arcade and shopping!!!

 Tuesday was probably one of the most exciting days so far. Guess where we went??? Disney Sea!!! It is much like Disneyland but water based and a whole lot more exciting!!! Sadly I missed out on the tower of terror!!! The line was huge and the waiting time was over an hour, as you know, I am not that patient!!! There were plenty of other AMAZING rides to go on though, like the ride Journey to the center of the Earth which was just the best ride I have ever been on!!! You are in this cart and in one part it goes completely dark and you just drop, you pretty much go flying straight through the air, struggling to breathe and screaming your head off!!! The adrenaline you feel when you hop off that ride is just great J. Another great ride similar to that 1st one is the Indiana Jones Adventure but it isn`t as scary!!! In one part they take a photo of you and afterwards you can go buy it, I bought the photo and my face looks hilarious!!!

 Well in just over 5 days I will be back at school and I will definitely be showing many photos and sharing this great experience with you all!!! I will keep you posted Milla xx Friday 23rd September  Today was a holiday for Japan students so I went to Karaoke with Yui and 16 of her friends!!! I had a blast, I also sung many Justin Bieber songs!!! I bet you had already predicted that I was going to say that :)　I took a video of one of the boys singing, he was really funny, all his friends were cracking up laughing at him and after his song he laughed for ages!!! It was absolutely hilarious!!! I also went to a temple nearby our home this morning and that was very interesting, there was a spooky looking tree and I was looking at it and Yui told me that there were ghosts under that tree and she seemed pretty serious. I`m still unsure about that though, hahaha!!! I have bought many gifts and things for myself too!!! Tomorrow I have to go to school for half the day why? I don`t know!!! I am also going to Lalaport shopping centre with my host mother and father while Yui is at tennis. I am going to Harajuku on Sunday (I`m pretty sure thats not how its spelt!!!) It is a very good place for shopping so I am very excited!!! I hope everyones having a great time at school and keep those discussions coming, I enjoy hearing from you all!!! Milla xx

Thursday 22nd September **I have replied to all of the discussions already and would love to hear from more of you!!! I`m sorry but I won`t be able to upload any photos as I don`t have my camera cord here in Japan :(****I have taken many photo`s already and can`t wait to share them with you all when I get back!!!****The school is great but very big!!! I almost got lost there this morning.****The typhoon was actually a really exciting experience for me as I have never been in one before!!! Luckily all our town suffered was lots of broken umbrella`s! I counted 17 on the way to school!!!** Today we went to Disneyland, it was AMAZING!!! I wanted to go on the Splash mountain ride but the waiting time was 1 hour and 20 minutes!!! I went on plenty other rides though and looked through all of the shops, of course I had to buy something! I ended up getting Minnie Mouse ears and a Disneyland T-shirt!!! I have tried many new foods that I probably never would have even tried in NZ!!! Most things I have tried are really good but there have also been things that I will NEVER eat again!!! Vending machines are also very popular here!!! Tomorrow is a holiday for all Japan school students so Yui is taking me to Karaoke with some of her classmates, one of them has a NZ student who I talk to a bit so that will be cool! Callum and Dakota, maybe I should video me singing something at Karaoke and then you`ll believe me, LOL!!! Nah, I`m kidding!!! Yui says that they have Justin Bieber songs!!! We also have to go to school on Saturday morning and then we get the rest of the afternoon off!!! On Sunday I am going shopping somewhere about 1 hour away from Chiba (Where I am staying) with Yui, Yui`s mother, Yui`s friend and her mother and also Stirling (Another NZ student) who I have become very good friends with! I am really enjoying the shopping, hahaha!!! Who`s been watching the rugby??? I haven`t! All I have been watching is a whole lot of Japanese stuff that I don`t understand but I act as though I do anyway, LOL!!! Well I better go now but I`ll keep you posted and like I said before I really would love to hear from you :) Milla xx  <span style="color: #1f6cf4; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; text-align: center;">Wed 21st Sept Hi Mrs Currie, Mrs Hitchcock and room 7!!! I am having an amazing time already!!! I woke up at 2:00am on Monday morning and we left at 3:15am to get to Tatanui turn off which is half an hour away from Matamata. We hopped on the bus at 4:00am and arrived at the airport at 6:00am. We got our tickets and then we still had half an hour extra time to get breakfast and do a little duty free shopping!!! Soon it was time to go through customs and then board the plane. Being on a plane for 11 hours may seem exciting, but after being on the plane for 4-5 hours your legs start to cramp and after watching 4 movies and reading books, boredom kicks in and we all started complaining about when we were going to get off!!!

<span style="color: #1f6cf4; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; text-align: center;"> Finally when the plane did land we all rushed off into heat that we never expected, it would have been at least 25 degrees. After getting through customs we got on the bus and headed to Makuhari Junior High School where we would meet our host families. My family is very nice and they can speak english well enough for me to understand!!! Before heading home we went to an Italian Restaurant. We then went home and they showed me around. I don`t have to sleep on the floor mat things, I get my own room!!! The next morning I had to wake up at 6:00am then Yui and I left home at 6:45am. We have a 15 minute walk to the train station then we took the train to a station 15 minutes away from Makuhari Junior High School and then we walked the rest of the way. When all the NZ children arrived at school we left for Makuhari International School a school for kindy children up to children our age. We had a tour of the school then after recess (Interval) we went with the grade 4 class to a place nearby, it was a bit like the Hamilton Gardens, it was very beautiful. Back at the school we played baseball and did some maths activities. The students that were being picked up before 5:00pm stayed at school then all the rest of us went shopping before being picked up a 6:00pm. On they way home the train wasn`t as full as on the way to school!!! I hope you are having a wonderful time at school :)I`d love to hear from you! Milla :) <span style="color: #f01919; display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; text-align: center;">Hi again!!! It is raining alot!!! We had to leave school at 11:30am today as the typhoon would stop the trains, we went home on the train and then Yui, her mum and I went shopping!!! I bought lots!!! When we got home Yui taught me how to do Shuji which is Japanese Calligraphy, it was very tricky, I will bring what I have done back home with me :) The school is very big with sooo many people!!! Last night I left school at 6:00pm because Yui had tennis and when we left there weren`t many people but today all of the teachers told the Makuhari students to get home as fast as they could, this made the school very cramped and hot!! We had a tea ceremony at the gardens it was very interesting!!! i think i`ve already taken more photo`s than I have in my lifetime!!!