mathieutozer.com

Australian life is very LAZY!
I'm watching this Japanese TV show, and these poor people have to go 100 hours without food, and if they do, they get 100manen. Every meal [time] different cooks come in and try to tempt the contestants with whatever they can cook up, and they serve it before them, and some people eat, and loose, and some people (7 left) migt stick it out. it's quite good.
2 people left @ 110 hours and they both one. I mean won.
Today Sibyl wasn't at school, because, as later I found out, she's going to the hospital tomorrow for an operation on her appendix! So that came as a surprise. This afternoon I went to science club, and we went bird watching in Wakayama (I think) on the river + lake anyway, and we saw some birds (wake), also learnt that there are only 2 species of birds left in Japan [Actually I think I go this part wrong!]. (native I think) but it was fun, but VERY cold.
We got home about 5.30 to 6 or something. I was so hungry, but then we took the dog Koro for a walk. Masakazu got up @ 5.30 this morning and went to bed @ 2.30, from studying! He loves School. He went early thismorning for a maths class.
Did I tell ya that when I 1st arrived, Toshio (Otoosan) forgot where he had parked his car, and we came out onto the 3rd level, and he couldn't see it. So we took all my luggage up the steps to the next level, and it wasn't there so we took it up to the NEXT level, 5 and he found it there! It was funny though. [I also remember arriving as if in a dream, and being thirsty. I kept saying "sui -sui" I meant Mizu, which means water." I got my hands on some though. The first thing I bought.]
I love oocha, cold. It's really refreshing.
Classes are boring, becaus I don't understand them, but when I get correspondance school stuff, maybeit wont be so bad because I'll have somethign to do: but lunchtimes are fun.
I bought at the canten a Y180, cold, small, strange, mystery meatd, cabbage filled "Hot (or) cold dog 'to dog' but it was quite an experience. I don't think I'll buy one again!
I hope Syb is not watching the same show I am, they're showing greusome operations and making it really errie. It's like good medicine, erm, medicine. Well, that's all I can rememberfor today, but I learned these Kanji.
EIGA - eiga - movies
BOKU - boku - I/Me, for boys only
NAN - nan / nani - what

Today I have been more tired than ever I think, and speaking in Japanese has been difficult, and writing in English dosen't help! Tonight I went with Masa to his English class [ECC], which was great fun, the teacher, who is not scary, gave Masa and me a towel!
I will give her a present next time perhaps. But she has lived in Australia for 3 years so she speaks English very well, I had to speak nihongo (Japanese) and everyone else English! But it was fun. I bought this pen + a pencil shop after school after a sort of club session today (kendo) which was OK but there was no teacher there today and we left early. So I didn't see all that much.
I just had a conversation with my host Mum. She's nice to chat with in Japanese.
I just popped on my new single for the first time! GIIII!
My skin is hideous at the moment, and I have two huge pimples on my nose.
Okaasan wa ofuro ni wairimashita. [hairimashita!!] My host mum had a bath.
After her I'll have one in the same water. The bathing situation is as follows... You use the handhelf shower to wash yourself with soap, wash your hair, whatever, and then when you are clean, you get in the bath and relax, so the water stays very hot. I think that when they prepare the bath, they don't put ANY cold in at all, they just leave it for a while and get in.
This napkin reminds me of................[When I skipped school with Syb and rode our bikes (past these orange clad pathway worker men)] and had Mos Burger! (secret)
I got another 3 letters today. Did I say there's only about 6 or 7 boys in my class and the rest are girls? Geez! I bravely let my pencilcase out in the open today, I haven't before for fear of mockery [!!], (Toyboys) but no-one seemed to know. daijoobu. I'm fine! I use that word 'Daijoubu' alot, because everyone says, are you ok! how is it?
It's been what, 5 days? it seems alot longer, but its been heaps of fun. Only 5 months left, better hurry up and learn Japanese! (I am slow)
Japanese music is strange, it's a mixture of Japanese + English. It changes randomly. I think I'll send this journal home when I fill it up, then I'll have to buy a new one.
Things are sooo expensive here. A buger at Moss Burger was 270Yen / nihyakinanajuuen, and with that you got at (deliciously) yummy chicken buger, made to order so, totemo atsui, (very hot), and a small water (Mizu). So what's that, almost 5 bucks!?! Oh well, I don't have Moss Burger all that much I don't think! Anyway, I am going to see what's on TV.

Today I have been quite tired. I got up at 6:30 to be at school by 8 to make a speech to the entire staff, to find that when I got there, they'd changed it to Monday!
Right now I am sitting at the kotatsu eating curry snacks. I had better not eat any more because I want to eat my tea!
Sybil came over today after school for lunch, we went to the post office, to send 2 letters (300 yen), and then we went to 'book off', a second hand book store that (whoops, eating another curry) sells, CD's, laser disks [saw the evangelion ones!], pornographic calendars and books!
Oh, and wait for it, they sell NEON GENISIS, the ENTIRE SET, on LASER DISK!!! Wow! It's in Japanese of course, and on laser disk, but still it was a VARY GI moment!
Anotehr downside is it's 7500 yen ($150) which I guess is not too bad for the size of the box and cover.
Anyway I got 5 (a total of) letters from 5 different girls today, I will read them afterwards, and glue them in!
Maths today was sooo boring, but we also watched a homestay video which was funny, and I got to hang around with friends.
After book off we went to the stationary shop and bought some super mario cart glue, writing paper, and some airmail envelopes to payback Masa.
You wouldn't BELIEVE the pencil case I got from my host family, it has printed across the front "TOYBOYS!" and then, "we are fond of playing tricks!!!" Very strange, but it isn't what it sounds like!
Masakazu went to caligraphy (shoodo[hehe]) cram class thisafternoon, and he has a VERY scary teacher, (who ever heard of a scary calligraphy teacher!!!) But she is. When we came to the door, Masa said 'shinai!' and we had to leave, fast, as not to disturb. So that was very funny! But Masakazu is a very good student at shodai [lol] so she must be good. [I learnt the work mikan while on the way there!][I remember a really skinny raised road above some tanbo's] I don't knwo where Masakazu finds hte energy. He does Kendo, school, cram school, plays soccer at lunch time, studies, sleeps, and everything else in between!
[Hiragana chart practice]

This was my first shot a shodo: It's crap but it brings back memories of when I did it. It was funny. At one stage Syb just called out 'buttocks' and I pissed myself, and of coursde noone else understood! (And then I did the same)
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Tid (oopsm told ya I'm forgetting English!) DID I tell you about how when Syb came over on her bike, we had trouble organising how she was getting home? Well the bike wouldn't fir in the car, so after a while outside we worked out that Syb was to ride, I was to walk with her, and Okaasan was to drive! Me and Syb thought this was very strange! So we started walking down the road and we got to the hill, where Okaasan started to drive slowly. Then me and Syb realised the strange thing that was happening, and we thought it was funny!So I said I would run, and I did, it was so much fuin, running down that hill, I was laughing my head off at the strangeness of the situation, and Syb was crying she was laughing so much. [To this day I don't know why we were doing this entirely] I took my camera out and took a couple of photos of Syb. It was soo funny.
Anyway today was good. It was a lazy, cold day. Masakazu went to school, for a test (this is unusual) but he still had to wear a uniform. He was home by about 1.30. I have been full pretty much since I woke up thismorning, and I still have to face tea! Anyway it should be OK. Mum, Dad, I eat seafood now, I don't mind the flavour, it's just that I'm squirmish! Then Masa's friends came over, Takeshi whom I like, and his other friend I don't really know that well because he dosen't speak English well, Masa says he dosen't like it, but he is friendly, but dosen't talk much. We played video games, Super Famicon + 64, and Takeshi layed the guitar. (He's good) Just then we went out to Docomo (do communications over the mobile network) Mobile phone shop, where they have cool phones, with colour HUGE screens, and Masa upgraded his service on his phone so he can send messages (it was free).
Then we went to the CD shop and I bought the Neon Genisis Evangelion single, which comes on a little CD, and in a strange case. Hmm, tea was Tea was delicious! It was Japanese pancakes. Now I am really full!
Before I got here they put a photo of Dad, me, Alana, Jas + Mum (from left to right) in a clock frame and put it on my desk in my room. I hope they didn't buy it new just for me because it looks pretty new! Did I say that someone in Masakazu's class said I resembled Ricky Martin!!! What A JOKE!

Transcript:
Today we had the welcoming party for Syb and myself. We went to Mc Donalds for lunch with the people in the above starry picture, taken next door at sega world, and all sega arcade. I had the best game of air hockey of my life - it was 4 player, 2 teams, and sometimes one or two more pucks would drop out of the automatic dispenser. Also, thre was this videogame called 'samba de genero' (Or something) set in Rio ge Genario (or whatever) and the controls were 2 marrakas - they're those shaky things they use. So what you do to play is, shake the marracas in the direction shown on the screen! It's ridiculous. So, it's a dancing game, you chake the marracas to the music. Also, there's another dancing game where you jump on sensors to play! I reckon they could secretly vedio tape people doing it and use it as blackmail!!! (You would look very stupid dancing all by yourself in front of a machine!)
Anyway again I got 1 billion hellos from a trillion girls who somehow know me, and on the way home thisafternoon Masa told me that someone in his class said I look like Ricky Martin [There's where it all started people....!] 'Nai nai nai na' (NO NO NO) I said!
Also today I did shodo[u], or Japanese caligraphy [I can smell that room still mmmm...], it was very hard! I also took some whotos of my house, and garden.
I am very full now because I ate my Ubento as well as Mc Donalds.
Everyday I have my own thermos of cold oocha (Japanese tea) which I love, and drink every last drop of!
Although it's only been a day, I think I am communicating better, if not in Language then in gestures and things!
Tomorrow I have to get up early to get to school by 8 to make a speech to the teachers to introduce myself [hehe that was funny, I don't think I even wrote that speech, something about wanting to see otera's and fuji san kamo ne, Syb said she wanted to go to disneyland - funny, I think we ended up going to all those places!] Penporn (Jun) and sue [???] helped me with it. I hope it's OK, but I find it very corney. [Here was pasted a sheet from the 13th of Overjoyed that reminds me of the class. NATSUKASHII!!! The smell of the paper brings me WAY back]
Syb's phone number
is 77 - 5941
Ibata Family