My first day at school

Hello. Today was my first day at school. I did not like it a lot because I did not know anybody and I did not know what to do.
I honestly feel that basic!
I'm skipping past cool entries about the dolls' festival I went to, and the tea ceremony, my first encounter with a Japanese old school style toilet, my shiny new Japanese mobile phone with instructions purely in Japanese and my growing appreciation for Japanese pop music; and sorry, still no pics as I'm still using a public computer that doesn't like my USB stick- but I needed to vent/update. I'll put those entries in later- with pics as soon as I can.

Today was my first high school's opening ceremony- which involved lots of long speeches in Japanese that I had to pretend I was listening to, whilst shivering in a cold gymnasium, on a stage facing all the pupils. It was scary.
Then I sat in the staffroom for several hours doing not much as there was nothing for me to do. To make things more fun, I can count the number of teachers who speak English on one hand... They then made me give a short speech in English over the P.A system that they then translated into Japanese. I hate the sound of my voice already, but I will admit I do sound beautifully English- which if you've heard me speak is a miracle in itself! Do I really have to go back on Monday?!

On the positive side I got sent home early :) but I have a sneaky suspiscion that I shouldn't get too used to it. I've already had a cheeky anklebiter grin and ask me in Japanese whether I understand Japanese- to which I replied in English- no. And I heard a girl describe me as 'kawaiee'- which means cute, as though I was a kitten or something!
On Monday and for most of next week I will be doing introductory lessons about myself- my name is Sanyu, I'm from England, my favourite colours are blue and green, etc...

This weekend I've been invited to a barbecue where there will be lots of other gaijins (foreigners)- and it co-incides with the city's cherry blossom festival (sakura), where people gather together to contemplate the beauty of the cherry blossoms and eat and drink.

This entry is a bit rambly and boring without the pics so I guess I should just stop here!