Team Gakuin does Awajishima!

Hi everyone! (If anyone is actually reading this!) This is Sam.

We're all good here in Kobe, been busy learning lots and drinking our weight in Van Houten chocolate milk (well, the others have, I've sold my soul to cold coffee).
Last weekend saw an overnight trip to Awaji Island with some other foreign students. We even crossed Akashi Bridge (fun fact: it's the bridge with the longest central span in the world) on the way. We left the uni around 9.30am, and arrived at the National Awaji Youth Friendship Center (http://awaji.niye.go.jp/) around 11am.
As it was torrentially raining the sports we had planned for the day had to take place inside. So after a buffet lunch, we (still full!) changed into our sports gear and met up with our respective teams.
The first game was mass skipping, pretty funny. We managed to get seven people jumping in unison. Then we did basketball, which was pretty intense. Kester outdid himself playing pretty much every game, and Elen showed her infamous competitive side (which won her three baskets).
In the evening we played the Japanese equivalent of duck, duck, goose and bingo, when Kester won but gave his ticket to me hee hee. We ended up winning a takoyaki grill (fried ocotpus balls-better than it sounds) which is awesome as I flipping love me some takoyaki. We're gonna have an octopus party in a few weeks, although the tako-haters are intending to experiment with banana and chocolate flavoured balls!

On the sunday we were woken up at 6am, but sirens. I honestly thought I was in a prison, weirdest and most unpleasant experience in Japan so far, 6am was just not fun. We joined everyone else outside for the famous Japanese Radio exercises, which look a bit like this:

Then, I had to read the flag raising speech which was rather embarassing, but I had the lovely Erika helping me. We then trudged off (sleepily) to breakfast.
After breakfast we were shown a demonstration of how to row in a boat the japanese called 'cutter's. After that we took to the water, wherein I was eaten alive by mosquitos. The rowing was fun but pretty hard work, and we all paid for it Monday morning in aches and pains! In the end our boat won the title of best rowers waheeeey, and we got some uni tshirts.

After a well deserved lunch each team had to design a piece of sand art on the beach. Mine and Kester's team chose to our national flags, so we had the Japanese rising sun, the Chinese stars and the old Union Jack. Elen and Hil's teams did a series of sculptures based on japanese themes (I'm making this sound so posh) such as a geisha and Mt Fuji-which were verrrry pretty, and they rightly won.

We were all pretty knackered on the bus home, and have spent the last week in a state of tiredness, trying to catch up on our work, when we'd really just like to catch up on some sleep.

But the fun goes on! Tomorrow we are having our first joint host family outing to an Autumn festival in Kobe, which should be nice, and we can do some family bonding :) There is also a trip with our Law class planned next week, to Kawasaki World and some other official buildings in Kobe...
With so many events and socials planned each week, time is flying by, I can't believe it's November already. Soon we'll be meeting up with everyone else in Tokyo at Christmas, and the first semester will be nearly over... :(
Time flies when you're having fun.
Til next time, Sam x