Happy New Year!

SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, kinda... Not really... ish...
It snowed for a bit, but it never settled...
So, I'll still say that I haven't seen snow.
Anyway
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Now to tell you all about my wonderful time at the New Year's countdown camp.
After I get my brain working again...
As I'm sure you can tell, I've had one hour of sleep since about 6:30 yesterday morning. Wonderful...
And yet, I don't feel like going to bed!
I'll go to bed early tonight, though. Maybe about 8:00. Tsumu's already in bed, but she didn't sleep at all last night as far as I know.
So, yesterday morning we packed for the camp and then went to Tasumu's grandmother's house to cat the mochi, then had lunch. After that, we packed the car and it started snowing!

Yeah, you can't see much snow in her hair... It didn't snow much.

When we got to the camp, we pretty much dumped our bags, had a quick parade and ran off to start on the camp. 

Speaking of Parade, I don't think I've ever mentioned the differences. I think that that's pretty important. 

First off, unlike Australia's horseshoe parade, the Japanese stand in lines according to their section. A line for the bevers, another for the cubs, the scouts, and so on. The section leaders say some quick things to their line, normally just a welcome, before passing the parade to the group leader, who is the one to tell everyone what's happening. To close the parade, they just salute and it's done. No outward step, which has become such a habit over the past decade. 

Also, the salute is different. Not much, and it actually took me three parades to notice it, but they salute like the navy, just with the same three fingers. It's something that even I didn't notice until now, that we salute with a vertical palm, while the Japanese hold their hand almost horizontal.

But that's just a bit more on that. 

Back to the camp!

We left the camp half set up to prepare the candles, and oh wow... 

This was quite possibly the worst part of the camp, and yet the best at the same time.

The actual act of laying out the candles and designing this year's pattern was lots of fun, and I also had to redo a heap of coloured candles by wrapping coloured plastic sheets around them.

But, at the same time, my toes and fingers were absolutely numb!

It was freezing!

But that was the only negative of the camp. the fact that the whole time it was cold enough to freeze the lake! (That picture's further down.) 

The candle plan. The scouts are tasked with lining the walkway to the temple with candles, so we're allowed to design the patterns.

Just wait, and you'll see ;)

While we were lining the candles we found this dog. I've seen horses this size!

Dinner!

The second course.

See? It's amazing!

This adds a whole new meaning to the term "Fire bucket".

OK, so you've had pictures, now for a description/explanation.

After we set out the candles, we went back to the camp, finished setting up and had some free time. Some other leaders and... Well, I think they're like our branch members. You know, deal with finances and stuff, instead of actually scouting. We had another parade for them, and they gave me some gifts, including a handmade Japanese scouting hat! I'm really getting concerned that I'll have to post things home. I still need to get presents for some of my family members...

Oh well.

We also had 3 venturers from another group join us for the evening. I didn't get to talk to them much, but they were nice. We had some introduction activities, and I stressed out a bit too much and ended up just going quiet... But that's what I love about these people! They noticed and didn't push me to say more. They let me just listen and try to pick up on things.

After that, we venturers made dinner, which you saw above. It's just noodles with a kind of soup (I don't remember the name, but it was just a basic soup to add flavour.) and some kind of leaf, that tastes a bit like seaweed. 

After that, more free time. We just huddled around the fires and talked a bit. 

Then, midnight!

We had our countdown, and some of our venturers mimicked fireworks, playing off what I mentioned earlier about how we normally watch fireworks on new years eve. I'm going to miss these people... XD

Pretty much straight away we left the camp and headed to the temple for meditation. 

It was interesting, to say the least, being taught a new way of meditation. 

I don't think I've meditated since early grade 11 when I stopped having time and energy for my old morning routine. I used to work out with push-ups, and such, then meditate to clear my mind before I go to get ready for school. I've never done it on a cushion or in that position before, though. It was nice to try something new.

Then we headed back to camp and said goodbye to our visitors. After that, more free time! We played Uno in one of the tents, nibbling on Japanese snacks like rice crackers, mochi, and chocolate biscuits. 

I decided to turn in about 4:00, but I was the only one to do so. I woke up about 5:00 or 5:30 when my hair got stuck in the zipper of my jacket, which I was using as a pillow because, just like every camp I've ever been on, I forgot to bring a pillow. 😄

I sat by the fire with one of the scouts and a couple of the leaders until the sun started coming up, and we went to get the others to watch:

The first sunrise of the new year!

And a frozen lake to top it off.

This was a beautiful sunrise. These pictures don't do it justice.

After we packed up the camp, we went to a temple for a ceremony.

You take one of these from the table and write what you wish for this year, like happiness, or health. 

On mine, I wrote Safety. That's normally the thing that I worry about most. Car crashes, falling off the horses, getting mugged, and so on. 

I personally don't believe in spirits and gods and whatnot, but I'm open-minded enough to try these kinds of things, just in case they work.

I feel like over just this past weekend, I've learned so much more about the Japanese culture. 

The biggest thing that I've noticed is that New Years Eve and Day focus more on the year to come, than celebrating the year that's gone, like in western cultures. Meditation to clear the mind, prayers to wish for a brighter future, and so on. They don't have parties, or fireworks like we do because those are to celebrate the year that's gone. The Japanese people are much more concerned about the future than the past, which is possibly why they don't seem to have as much of a sense of shame or embarrassment. 

This camp taught me so much, that simply can't be put into words. It truly is a feeling that needs to be experienced first hand.

So...

That was written yesterday, and I fell asleep before I posted it. Uta woke me up for Tsumu's Aunt and Uncle (Masahiro's brother) and their 2 daughters who came for dinner. We played card games, like both Australian and Japanese speed, Uno, and Shinkeisuijaku. Fun name, right? 

They also tried the promite, and the two girls both said it was too salty! One of the girls also drew a picture of me, and another of me a Tsumu. They are so cute, and I plan to hang them on my wall when I get home.

They went home, and I fell asleep right away. 

Then, I got up this morning and was immediately whisked away to Mt Fuji!

a Ninja house renovated into a market sort of thing.

Just a heads up to anyone going to Japan.

When they ask if you want some Lemonade, FORGET what you know lemonade to be.

A better description would be lemon tea because it's hot and actually made of lemons.

It's NOT a soft drink.

Just a heads up so that you can avoid confusion.

breakfast

A three-hour drive, so obviously she fell asleep!

No idea what these are. Graves? Memorials? Part of a shrine or temple? No clue, but it's cool.

MT FUJI!!!

A theme park of JUST roller coasters. Apparently famous for the most thrilling roller coasters in Japan. Thankfully, we didn't go there. (I'm a chicken for roller coasters if you can't tell.)

Yup. We drove that. It was great!

A sky cart that takes us up to the top of the mountain to look out at Mt Fuji. Sadly, we weren't allowed to climb it, because it's closed off when the snow settles. It gets too dangerous with all that ice.

Characters from a famous Japanese fairytale based in this area. I've got pictures of the story further down.

Hug fair.

Not even Tsumu has a clue what it is!

That bell is a real thing on top of the mountain. I'll explain it when we get to that picture.

Don't ask me to translate this fairytale. 

The gist is, once upon a time, there was an old couple that lived in this area.

One night, this creature (No idea what it's supposed to be) killed the old lady.

The old man was very upset about this (Obviously) and I'm not sure if he asked the rabbit to, or if he simply talked to the rabbit and it decided to take matters into its own hands, but...

The rabbit proceeds to torture the creature by lighting it on fire,

Cutting it's back with clam shells, I think, and attempting to drown it.

And that's it.

A wonderful story, isn't it?

It probably has a proper ending if I bothered to translate it, but that's about all I can get from the few words I recognise, the pictures, and the MANY statues around. 

I love the view from the top of this mountain. Get ready for LOTS of photos of it surrounding area!

The top of the sky cart. So cute!

A wonderful, friendly statue to the rabbit using shells (again, I only think they're shells) to cut the poor creature's back.

And people think that our western stories fairytales are bad... At least we don't make statues of Ariel dying and turning into sea foam, or the stepsisters from Cinderella having birds peck out their eyes...

MOCHI!

One with Bean powder, and the other with Soy Sauce. Delicious!

Tells about the goddess of the mountain, who wants to bring happiness to all creatures. So, to do that, she made the bell in a couple of pictures.

Why does he look so happy as the rabbit lights his stuff on fire, while it's on his back?

Now that I look at it, I think it might be a Tanuki...

(Google it!)

The bell.

They say that if you ring it with your partner before you get married, it'll bring you happiness as a couple.

Pretty sweet, I think.

Heh, who needs that sky cart when you can hike all the way down the mountain!

Utayo apparently doesn't like hiking, so she took the cart back down and waited for us at the bottom for about 40 minutes.

This is more my kind of hiking. 

While I'm normally hiking through terrain like bellow, these paths are better than the road last time. They at least have rocks and roots that you could trip over, and branches that could slap you in the face.

Not even half-way. A wonderful hike!

Yeah, they have a word for this. Shimobashira. 

It's water int he soil that's frozen and come to the surface. 

Although considering we have a word for a pond left by a dried river, I can't think that this is weird.

I swear, if you combined every language, you'd have a word for literally everything you could imagine.

This is a WWII memorial of the local soldiers.

Hydroelectricity.

That's it. I just like seeing things that I spent a term studying, like alternative power production, actually in practice.

So, after that wonderful experience, we moved on to the Narusawa Ice Caves.

More birds for me to try memorising the names of! This is the kind of homework that I love!

The ice caves!

These pictures won't do it justice because honestly, I was more excited about being in there than taking photos, so sorry about the poor quality.

It's a little shrine statue at the bottom of the ice caves. And it's adorable!

This basically says (according to Masahiro) that if you try to climb over the fence to the rest of the caves, you won't be coming back.

Friendly.

The gift shop!

Combining chocolate, wafer, strawberries and cheesecake. 

MY LIFE IS COMPLETE

But, sadly, I didn't buy it...

Get ready for a postcard, family!

So, we went to a restaurant for lunch, and this was the view. It's great!

Literally one thing on the menu here. How is it so popular then, you may ask.

'CAUSE IT'S DELICIOUS!

Somehow the people around us were getting one each. We barely managed one between two.

What kind of person needs a chair this big, other than Hagrid?

(Congrats to you if you get it. If you don't... You clearly haven't read the right kind of books)

Party tables!

That's the outside of the restaurant. Pretty funky design, huh?

Can you spot the bird?

How about these ones?

They're so cute! 

No idea what they are though. I never got close enough to compare them to any of the signs I've seen. They're pretty skittish.

The Japanese are pretty good at suspending chopsticks in midair with just plastic noodles.

Handmade.

Handmade.

Handmade again.

Noticing a pattern here?

Still handmade.

Don't think these are handmade though.

I WANT THEM ALL

In a world of owls, red pandas, cats, dogs and tigers, there is one brave crocodile to add some green to the mix.

I can't be the only one that thinks this bear could be animated and put into a cartoon as a villain, am I?

I mean, red, with the 'evil' moustache, and the hat. I would watch that cartoon and expect a fun, over-the-top villain that's more interesting than the heroes. 

Props to you if you know Anpanman.

A nice, big moon to finish off the day.

So, another action-packed day.

Wow... When I get home, I'm going to just sleep for a week straight! then spend the next week hiding in my room with books and video games, then the next week with Charlie (my horse) because he'll be back from school by then. And THEN I might consider socialising...

This is the kind of day that I've been hoping for. Going with the family to do something that even they don't do on a regular basis. School and scouts, and going shopping is fun, but this was amazing!

Which leads me on to another tip!

6 - Don't be scared to tell your family what you want to do.

I don't think that you could leave an experience like this with a feeling worse than "I wish I'd done that."

Don't try deciding for yourself whether it's possible or not. Your host family know the country better than you do. 

I mentioned to them that I wanted to see Mt Fuji because, well, there's no way in hell that I'd come this far and NOT visit the most popular tourist attraction, and tallest mountain, in Japan.

They mentioned to me that it was a two to three-hour drive away. However, unlike what I expected, they didn't say that we couldn't go. Instead, they said that we would simply have to leave early and get back late. Which is what we did. We were gone by 8:00, a bit later than we planned, and didn't get back until about 8:00.

Your host family will probably want to make this the best experience for you. Don't tell yourself that you can't do it until you ask. I considered not mentioning Fuji, and almost didn't go and have the best day of my trip so far! Just ask, and they'll decide. Don't go home wishing that you'd tried it.

Just like the plan of going skiing next week. If I hadn't mentioned it, we wouldn't be doing it.

If you want to, just do it.

But it's 11:00 now, so Imma off to bed!

Tomorrow we're going to karaoke, so I'm hoping for a more relaxing day...

Let's see how that turns out! XD

You can expect another update tomorrow, but for now, before I leave, a quick idea of what's planned.

3-Karaoke

4-Disney Sea

5-Disney Land

6-School

7-Volunteer work with scouts (No idea what to expect!)

8-Coming of age ceremony for people who turned 20 last year

9-School

10-Skiing

11-Skiing

12-packing

13-packing, Tokyo, hop on a plane.

Not many days left...

Time to make the most of it!

Goodnight World!