Recently, I just completed one year of living in Japan. It also represents one year of living in Tokai which is also the longest amount of time I have lived alone... I'm currently at the same tournament I came to watch with the team soon after my arrival in Japan. In other words, I've been here for a while.

We started the day with the weird morning stretching, a little early, and then off to breakfast.



After breakfast, we had to finish packing and get everything completely cleaned from our room before practice. Luckily, I had packed most of my stuff the night before. I finished up my stuff, packing everything so that I could just place my gi in my luggage and go.



At last, here came the last practice. Now by this time, everyone was tired, and you could feel it.

After the first fifteen minutes, I felt something weird with my shoulder, so I decided not to do much that last practice. I didn't want to get a stupid last-minute injury. Which is what Fubuki ended up doing. He pulled his right middle toe during the last 30 minutes of the practice, and will most likely not be able to practice for two-three days.

After practice, we took pictures with our same year students. I normally stand with the 2nd year students, but I talk mostly with those from the 3rd year, so I was told to go in with them for the picture!

We then took the next hour to pick up the mats and clean the gym.



Lunch time, then onto the bus.

As I walked up the hill near my residence in the unbearable heat, pulling my suitcase, I recalled where I was last week, and how far I had come. This week has taught me a lot. A lot about the members of the club. It has shown me how they think. I was able to participate in the training camp with the Tokai University Judo Team this summer. One more goal completed.

Sweat, blood, and fire is what I left back there. But what I brought back cannot be put into words.

In preparation for the upcoming summer training camp, I performed various activities. I obviously packed my bags and such, making sure I had enough shampoo, tooth paste for example. I also prepared my medicine for my throat, making sure I had enough. Since this was my first time going out to a training camp here with the team, I wasn't too sure what to expect, and with my father being worried, it only made me worried. So I contacted many fellow club mates and those in charge to make sure I had the right information. It took many messages back and forth since no one seemed to know anything...


Now one of the biggest parts of my preparation for this camp started two weeks before. In order to perform my best at this camp, and not get any injuries, I had to make sure I was in my best condition. I must say, since it was summer, it wasn't always easy to get myself motivated to go and kill myself doing chin-ups and such. But I managed to get enough exercise in to feel confident.

Yoooouuuussshhhh! Here I come training camp.

So yesterday, I was able to see one of Japan's biggest fireworks display in Yokohama. On my way there, around 2:30pm, I ran into a couple of friends who were apparently also heading there. They offered me a ride since they were driving there. Now going by train would have most likely been faster, but it was a hot sunny day, and I felt like being with friends. So off we were, seven of us in a car, to Yokohama. I played music from my phone the whole way there, and we danced and sang while some slept. Must say it was quite fun. It's been a while since I've been in a car compared to Canada, where I ride one mostly every day.


They dropped me off an hour and ten minutes later in front of the Yokohama station. I said goodbye, thanked them for the ride, and entered the station to meet Arisa who was waiting for me. I also got the chance to meet her mother for the first time, which was interesting. After that, we headed off into the station, looking at many different shops, and then eating lunch at a fairly nice restaurant. The meal reminded me of my mom's cooking, and it made me think about my return back home.

After that, we started getting ready for the fireworks. We sat down in one spot at first, but as soon as the fireworks started we realized we could only see half of it, so after about ten minutes, we decided to get up and move. Now this is when Japan shows itself. The number of people walking in the streets is just incredible. There were over 20,000 people watching these fireworks. Whatever you believe to be a reasonable amount of space in Canada is reduced by about 6 times here. Basically a sea of people, of which we were now part of. We found a better spot in the end, and stood in the middle of hundreds of people taking pictures of the sky.

I must say, these fireworks were not bad at all. I saw some that changed colour halfway and others that changed shape. In the end, I believed it was worth it.


After it was over, we decided to go see Anzu who was working at Coldstone at this time. Now, after the fireworks, everyone obviously heads into the mall, so it was jam-packed. We spotted Anzu working hard with the millions of customers coming at her. Japan is crazy. Anzu managed to get them to sing a song for us which was really nice to see in person. I had heard from many people and seen many videos of her doing so, but seeing it live was just that much better. I must say, Anzu is just a great person.

While eating our delicious ice cream, we headed to the Osambashi, a boat shaped hall built half into the water. Last time I came here, again with Arisa, we had seen a world championship of Coma take place. This time, we simply went there for the view of the city. We stayed there watching the city's lights flicker.

I don't see this kind of scenery in Manitoba, and so this really blew me away. A city built by the Japanese society. If any of you have a chance, please take the time to check out the view of the Yokohama city at night from Osambashi. It's something to see during one's lifetime on Earth.

Almost one year has passed since I first set foot in Japan. Now on Friday, we had our closing ceremony for the Japanese Bekka Program. I didn't receive a certificate, which is weird, but I might get something later I guess. I think it's due to me not being an "exchange student", but we'll see. During this past week, I have had an exam every day, finishing on Thursday. I ended up with a good enough score as my final note, and according to the Japanese Language Proficiency Test we took in class, I have improved quite a lot since the beginning of this semester. Now if we compare where I am now to how I was when I first came to Japan, I have indeed come quite the way. Not only with my Japanese, but in many ways, I feel like this experience has taught me much more. After one year of hard studies, training, all while living in a completely different country, it is now time to look back on my journey.

Since September last year, the beginning of my stay in Japan, I would be a fool to say that I haven't changed. In fact, one might even say I'm a completely different person. My Japanese has evolved from being able to say a few memorized sentences to having complex conversations with friends, teachers, strangers as well as my family. With that being said, I realize that I have much more to learn, but I can say that I have given my best, and the best has paid back.

I have also being able to experience the Japanese culture. I had the chance to visit many world renowned places, participate in many Japanese activities, and of course, fill myself with succulent Japanese cuisine. I was able to see different aspects of the country and from different perspectives, from Tokyo's busy life to the quiet villages; a student's life and more, of one being part of a sports club. Now due to my progress in Japanese, I was also able to hear the opinion of many of my friends, and understand their perspective on life. That is probably the most incredible thing I was able to receive from this whole trip.

I also had the incredible chance to make friends from all around the world. Those I was studying with, whether they were from Thailand or Spain, showed me that life is such a wonderful thing. I realized that no matter where you are from, everyone has the same needs. We simply express those needs in different ways. I was able to see this with my own eyes. I was able to interact with them, see them smile and laugh, get mad or frustrated. I was able to share my ideas with them and listen to theirs. If I thought, before coming here, that I was the only one fighting a battle, these new friends of mine taught me differently.

My stay in Japan is not over just yet, but now that my studies are completed, I feel as if I have reached another chapter in my life. This next chapter will be full of changes, full of hard decisions. But thanks to my family, I was able to acquire this experience which has prepared me for this next step. And for that, I am beyond words as to how much I am thankful to them.

Almost one year has passed since I first set foot in Japan. Yet I feel like it was just yesterday.

About two weeks ago, there was an announcement at the end of practice: an offer of a part-time job for the following week's Friday's fourth period. It caught my interest so the next day, I asked the announcer about it. I told him that it might be odd, but I would like to try this job. He said he would enquire if it was possible.

About two days later, he informed me that it would be possible for me to go, but there would be no payment, just food. I told him I would think of it, although I was pretty certain that I would go. After verifying I had nothing that night, I told him I'd join, and on Friday April 17^th, I walked to the front of the university's gymnasium to catch the bus picking us up.

I wasn't the only one going of course, 20 other judo members had also been selected. There were others that had already walked over there. I stopped at the new convenience store near Comsquare (where International Friday Night was held), bought some cough lozenges and masks, and then got ready to ride the bus.

I got a seat near the front, and no one else sat next to me. I guess that has its ups and downs. We were given "bentos" which is the Japanese word for packed lunch, and ate while we received an explanation about our job that day. After confirming with my friend Kato, I found out that our duty that day was to bring a "o-mikoshi", a portable shrine all the way up a mountain, pulling it using ropes, that it would take 3 hours in total, and that some part of the mountain were up to 45˚, which made it fairly steep.


We arrived at the city of Oiso, and were immediately directed to a lounge room to wait until the beginning of the festival, which was about one and a half hour later. We were given cookies, and our outfit for the evening. Everyone then pulled their phones out to relax and chat. I just laid down on my back pack, and grabbed about 20 minutes of sleep. After that, we started getting ready. This was the first time I would wear something like this. I had never really thought much about the outfit before, but it is true that the festival's workers all wear the same thing. I was glad to be able to take part in this. Not many foreigners get to do this, especially be treated like a Japanese and not a foreigner.








Just the first climb up the mountain was ridiculously steep and dangerous. Soon, we got the signal to start and we pulled a little bit on the rope. Now I thought it was going to be much harder, but with the staff there, and everyone, we had quite a lot of breaks. The whole way up, we would pull for about 10 seconds, then wait for 5 minutes. They needed to anchor the ropes all over the place to ensure the safety of the shrine and so that the rope wouldn't get too tangled up. They would called out: "Hippatte!" which I found out means to pull haha, and we would then all pull until we were told to stop. We did this the whole way up.

Now soon, it got really dark, and we couldn't see too much, which made it even more dangerous. You would often hear someone say: "Abunai!" which means dangerous, when they slipped or fell. Some of the old town folks were walking around with head lamps.

The whole thing felt like we were a team, which made it quite cool since like I said before, normally, I never could have been here. Thanks to my effort in class, this is what I get.

At about 5 minutes before reaching the top, the squad stopped us all to take a break. We were given onigiri and water while reporters and cameramen shot reports on the shrine and some of the judo guys. I was probably filmed in the background somewhere, but I didn't bother asking when it would be aired.


After that break, we carried the shrine up the last part of the mountain and the celebration started. They started bouncing the shrine up and down, like they do very often during festivals here in Japan. But what was even cooler is that I got to carry the actual shrine myself and bounce in a circle with everyone! It got quite heavy at one point, but I must say I was quite happy to have done it!

After that, they brought the shrine under a tent, and the formal part of the ceremony started. A man dressed in interesting clothes walked in and out carrying things, saying long monotone sentences which might have been a prayer? Names of the important related people were called out. When this whole thing was happening, I had found a spot higher up a tree so that I could see better. One of the man in front of me gave me a look, and told me to take off the ribbon I had on my head. After that, I looked around, and everyone else had done so already. They must have announced it, but I didn't even catch any of it or noticed when everyone took it off. Maybe it's just a custom during festivals.

Once that was done, we were served champagne, and were soon on our way down the hill. We all grabbed a part of the rope and walked slowly back. This was also dangerous but I made it back without injuries.

We handed the outfits back, and were served a meal. We only had about 20 minutes to eat before the bus left, but it wasn't too bad since I was given two bentos in total, which have since served me as lunch. We were dropped off in front of my dorm, lucky for me, and I walked back home, to my room, feeling accomplished and happy!