In the nine months I have lived in Japan, I have only missed two days of school. The first was because of a trip with my host family to Tokyo and the other because of a bad cold. I personally love school and look forward to it everyday, so the fact that I'm having to stay home because I'm exhausted is kind of upsetting. To be honest, I have needed to take a day off for about a month now but have just kept putting it off because of how much fun I always have at school. But I think if I can take a day off to rest and that makes me feel more energized, than perfect. In my last two months here I need all the energy I can get.
Going back a little ways, last month I was able to participate in my school's sports festival! As seen in some of the photos, I competed with my class 3-3 wearing awesome class patches and participated in the relay and tug of war. Our class would have won tug of war but we lost in the last round against all the teachers. Still, it was super fun! During the lunch break I also performed a dance to "Shake it Off" with Cheer club for the first time! It was so exciting to be wearing the uniform and performing in front of my whole school. Immediately after the performance I asked my captain if I could stay on the team and cheer at the summer baseball games. She told me it would be very difficult to learn all 32 cheers in time but if I worked hard, I could do it. From then on I have practiced cheer after school almost everyday and participated in my first baseball game! So let's talk about that now.
Everyday after school we spend about two-three hours practicing cheer by the river. Of course if it's raining we practice at school, but most days we all take the five minute walk to the river bank and just practice there! (Can be seen in our group photo) Our everyday regimen includes running through our cheers, one specifically fifteen times in a row to build endurance for the amount of times we perform it during the games, and voice matches which happen just so: all the club members get mixed up so that it's always different people, then two people move very, very away from the group and from that far away point they shout out cheers as loud as they can. The person with the louder cheers gets to return to the group while the other has to stay and compete against the next person. It's super fun and I always look forward to it.
About two weeks ago I got to participate in my first baseball game! We arrived in our uniforms, had a quick meeting, and then as soon as the game began we started to cheer. It was super cool because at the beginning we had a greeting for the other cheer team and then they did the same. It was so respectful, but in a fun way! Throughout the game we cheered nonstop. Okay, technically we had a few 2 minute breaks but it sure didn't feel like it. Our cheer captain would yell out a cheer name and boom, we'd immediately start doing it. It felt awesome to be cheering for our school and felt even better when we won 12-0! I can't wait for the next game in July.
Yesterday was a very difficult experience for me. Last October I was lucky enough to meet Kori, another exchange student living on my island from California. Throughout our time in Japan we have technically only met 12 times. Which is funny, because I feel like I've known her for years. Going on exchange creates an indescribable bond between people. There's no explanation to how it works, but I know I've made connections that will last forever. That's why saying goodbye to Kori yesterday was so hard. Yes, I know she lives in California, very close. But we all have lives that keep us busy, so I don't know how long it will be until I see her again, but also this puts the fact that my exchange is also ending on my radar. Of course I still have about two months here, which I am unbelievably grateful for, but the fact that I had to say "so long" to one of the people who lived this life in Japan with me, is a wake up call. Time is only going to go by faster from now on. So here's to you Kori, one of the funniest people I've ever met, and here's to our amazing adventures we've had. I hope one day we can explore this country together again.
All in all, I'm very happy here and will keep trying everyday to learn and experience as much as possible. Until next time, this is Summer, who just got a huge reality check.