First week

Both son-in-laws with their gear

Ah....the younger days

This is what we were collecting

Was awoken by Papa-chan the next who invited me on a fishing trip at 7am.. Still a bit sleepy, I didn't really pay attention to the surroundings on the way to our fishing spot. When we arrived, it didn't look much like a lake or a river. Turns out we were gonna collect muscles. Yes, you heard right.. muscles. We dug for a few hours, shell after shell, and finally at around 12 noon, we couldn't take the heat anymore and left for home with pails full of em. In the end, we collected so much, that it lasted for 3 weeks. 

Communication for the first weeks were somehow troubling. At one point, I knew I would have to do something, so before entering school on the second week, I spent most of my days picking up on Japanese vocab and grammar. It turns out after one week, we could converse without using the dictionary although still we used it when I didn't know the word in Japanese.

Bank book, Signature Stamp, Debit Card

If you're a foreigner who is planning to reside in Japan for quite awhile, no matter who you are, you are required to obtain your Alien Registration ID ( ID Card ) and bank account. Mama-chan took me to the nearest AEON ( Jusco ) to buy my very own signature stamp which was kinda....expensive ( RM 342 to be exact ). So what other things were required before you're fully ready for an adventure in Japan? Simple. MONEY. Be sure to be careful if you're wiring money from your local bank to your Japanese account... they charge a hefty sum. On a note, most banks in Japan do not have interest rates although the more recent ones start to encourage their people to save.

Left > Right. Jean, me, Nimol, Hope

Apart from picking up my Japanese for the first week, we had our first Chapter picnic event. A chapter is like a region whereby exchange students nearby are placed in. It so happens that my chapter comprised of 4 members, a German boy - Jean, a Cambodian - Nimol, and from Denmark - Hope. They were the first few friends that I actually had when I first arrived in Japan. Unfortunately, Jean and Hope had to withdraw from the whole program due to unexpected circumstances.. Nevertheless, they were some of the amazing people I have met throughout my life.


First Picnic~

Welcome! AFSers!

King of the hill

Picnic~ Wohoo!

 It was held in a beautiful park. That's when I started to notice how caring Japanese are for their environment and how strict their culture is. You won't see any garbage scattered anywhere, literally. It's like a place that's rubbish free. The people know how important the environment is to them, thus the responsibility. The landscape for a considerably "small" park was quite awe-striking. Bridges, rows of flowers, tennis courts, exercise machines, it was very much a mix of everything in one recreational park. Thus the name - Oobu recreational center & park.




That was the beginning of an epic chapter in Japan. From then on, it was school on weekdays, some outings with friends, AFS events and time spent with my splendid host family.

~TB Cont.~