Home at long last

well, we're home. I'll give you some more update later, but suffice it to say that we are home and safe.

Harajuku

too tired for a proper update, harajuku was HUGE! with everythign from walking human vending machines, china dolls, flea markets and traditional Shinto wedding ceremonies - we certainly had an experience today.

We　wandered the streets for hours and did a bit of shopping - although navagating the human sprawl was trying ...　literally like swimming up stream.　After lunch, we went to Meiji Jingu shrine where we saw not one but two traditional shinto weddings. very surreal,　very beautiful.

tomorrow is Disney, everyone going to　bed early - myself included. will　let you know how it goes. Corey

A two day update

Hey Grandad and other miscellaneous relatives! This is Emma again to say we have been having a simpry dericious time in Toyko.

After all the hype about Akihabara, we went last night and it was a bit lame desu. Prices were pretty much the same as at home and nowhere near good enough for us to spend our rapidly dwindling funds on. Although there was a very cool phone that looked like a storm trooper.

We finally found a hundred yen store, which everyone went a bit mad in. If you are expecting presents from your children, they probably bought them last night.

This morning we went to the fish markets and saw whale (Yes, Mitchells mum, whale!) as well as some decapitated tuna that weighed even more than Mr Edwards!!

We then went into the Ginza which has the most expensive real estate in the world but having said that, it wasnt really much to look at. None of the galleries we had planned to go to were open and none of us had $1000000 to spend on a handbag.

So unfortunately, the group was dragged to (insert drumroll here) Shibuya: the biggest teenage shopping district in the universe, where we were locked in a building 9 storeys high filled with sequened micro skirts and knee high boots. Sweet desu. Angela finally got another piercing and Ahlia bought bright red suspenders in a second hand clothing shop.

Tomorrow we go to Harajuku, well let you know how that goes too.

p.s. Angelas mum ... She didnt really get her piercing.

Ghibli Museum & other cool stuff

Well gang,　weve had a busy day - but COOL! we went to the Ghibli museum and were welcomed by the director of International relations! This is no small deal - the dude is on first name terms with Walt Disney and the whole crew at Ardman entertainment - not to　mention the man Hayo Miyazaki himself!

We planned to be there for 2 hours and left after about 3 1/2 - still having not seen everythign there was to see! We even got to see a movie that is never going to be shown outside the museum! leavign with our wallets a lot lighter, we headed home for a rest before we went to one of the biggest shopping centres in the world - the sunshine 60 plaza ... only to get there and find it closed - by 8pm. sux to be us right?

During the time between the museum and the hotel, we did manage to lose a student in Shinjuku station - the biggest and busiest in the world ... right at peak commuter hour. The student in Question will remain nameless (Geri, can you guess who it was?) but she was absoloutely perfect in checking the platform we were leaving from and thenb going straight to the information desk to wait. I myself only realised that we were one short as we were boarding so i had to crash tackle a grandma in my desperation to get off - earning me the somewhat questionable nickname of the granny-snapper. nonetheless, find her we did and all is well that ends well.　

anyway, we did a bit of exploring　in Ikebukero which was good and one group had a pizza party! some of us tried to get a round of karaoke going, but too many were weak! anyway, tomorrow we are going out to Nikko, a world heritage park for temples. then off to Akihabara, which has some of the girls in raptures at the thought of International model phones!

Tokyo - the greatest city on earth?

Well hello again! We've had an interesting couple of days out in Kyoto ... Internet connections that were supposed to be there weren't - the boys missing out on showers because we found out only after arriving that 'communal showers' really meant communal showers.

Here's the update of things we have done so far - We went to Tohei film park yesterday morning, it really was excellent! The Haunted house was, at the very least, terrifying and Ahlia decided to break my arm to match her ankle *geri - her ankle is not broken and neither is my arm ... that's the last time I let a student post without my checking it first! Apparently Ahlia thought it would be funny. I am not convinced. It is slightly swollen after a mild sprain, but she is keeping up fine now.

We are doing well on the injury front, having only cracked open the school's 'Dianna Ferrari' Med kit once for a minor complaint - Emma the Hypochondriac! that's payback for the last post.

We were all hugely dissappointed to have missed the raked gardens and Kinkakuji temple - the golden pavillion, wejust couldn't get there in the time we had - I don't think the guide books were factoring in the time it takes to mobilise teenagers - this is not to suggest that they weren't/aren't an excellent group its just that moving 23 of us around is a little bit liike herding cats!

In actual fact, I am hugely impressed by the aplomb with which they are managing life here, I don't have much to complain about. We arrived into possibly the busiest station in the world last night and the group just numbered off and wandered straight out of the west gate - perfect!

today is a big day, we are finally in Tokyo and today we will be heading out to the Ghibli museum - something we are all hugely excited about! I personally had a fairly rude awakening when Stacie and Agela came banging on ly door at 6am, fully dressed and ready to go asking if the group had left them behind ... we weren't planning on leaving 'till about 8. it seems some uncharitable soul had changed the clock in their room and they had woken at 10 to 8, showereed dressed, put makeup on abd woken their teacher up all before 8.02am ... 12 minuites start to finish - as I said to them, impressive!

I am having trouble with posting photos as the wireless internet is way too slow to even check email - I am posting this from the hotel lobby. I will give youpictures just as soon as I am able. until then, mata ne?

Hi parents - sorry we have been so lax in updating this, but power (and time for that matter) has been an issue ... anyway, here is Emma with the update, Corey


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Minnisan Konnichiwa! It is hard to believe that we have only been away for 60 hours because it certainly seems like much longer. Right now, it is about 11 o'clock and we have just got settled back in at the youth hostel after exploring Dotonburi, America Mura and Shinbashi. Ahlia is sitting next to me eating ice cream, Mitch is drawing a giant octopus in his travel diary and Mr Edwards is looking over my shoulder making sure i'm not telling you what's REALLY going on on the trip. Joking, parents.

This morning we went to Takurazuka and the Astro Museum (possibly the coolest thing on the planet, aside from a giant Spiderman on the side of a building). We also saw lots of pretty cherry blossoms and stuff like that.

Yesterday we went to the ninja village, Iga-Ueno. We watched a dude throw death stars and machette-like instruments at a board and pretend fight another dude. Sweet.

Katrina bought a UDL and all the seniors got trashed at the convience store. no.

We went on a giant ferris wheel looking out over Osaka, kind of scary but very cool.

We have met some cool (well at least interesting) new people. A sweet transvetite at a train station, with pink flowers in his hair. Girls in America Mura dancing along with a character in a commercial on a giant tv screen. Some hardcore Japanese skater boys. A 'famous japanese comedian' working in a shoe shop. A forty year old woman in a hot pink ninja outfit and some cute ninja kids. A pimp and some mafia cars.

We bought ice cream from a vending machine.

And most importantly, I have been crowned the Octopus Queen after beating EVERYONE in a takoyaki eating competition.

Running out of battery!!!!!! Sayonara!


P.S. Ahlia has a broken ankle. She loves you, mummy and is sorry for being rude to you at the airport.

We're here!

Hello parents, goodmorning! We have arrived and are safe and sound. The plane flight was uneventful but quite good and we arrived at the youth hostel about 15 minuites before curfew. after a few false starts (conversations about making sure we all had clothes on before opening the door and leaving keys in the lock aside) we managed to get a bit of sleep. the 6am wake up call was stressful for a few, but all managed to find breakfast OK!

Today we are off to Iga Ueno for the start of their ninja festival ... photos to follow tonight!

Updates, Updates, Updates 26/03/07

Hi again everyone, just a quick update to let you know how things are going.

Firstly, there will not be a meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) night! Basically, despite our best efforts, we are unable to get a code for the new building so there will not be a meeting this week. We will have one on Thursday at 1st lunch however.

Secondly, we have been informed that Qantas have changed their baggage allowances from when we first checked - they will only allow 20kg on the return flight (not 30kg as we were originally told). Also, they only permit 1 carry on bag. If you plan on bringing a handbag (and I seriously discourage this) then know that you will only be allowed to take your handbag and not your backpack on board with you - meaning you will have to check your backpack with your suitcase! What this means is that if you are taking a handbag on board, your backpack will count towards the 12kg limit for outbound luggage and your 20kg limit for inbound luggage (coming home).

Thirdly, if you have not yet emailed your buddy in Japan, please do it - it will make things a lot less weird when you get there! You might also find that you are able to co-ordinate things with them to ensure that you do something cool that afternoon!

P.S. I spoke to a friend in Tokyo and he tells me that the weather dept. us predicting a full bloom of cherry blossoms by Saturday - in his email he wrote: it looks like they are going out to welcome your trip".

new customs laws clarification

Sheree asked a pertinent question re: taking drinks on board the plane with the new quarantine laws. Basically, students don't need to worry about taking food, drinks or snack on the plane (and won't be allowed) as this is an international flight and food and drinks (coke, chips, peanuts, water etc.) are all free - well, you've already paid for it in your ticket.

hope this helps. Edwac0

P.S. There will be a meeting for students next Tuesday at the normal time (5-6pm) where you can ask any final questions.

On the issue of baggage

Given that some of you may be doing well just to log on to this page, I will flag a discussion happening in the comments section of my last post regarding luggage:

Two question were raised on this issue -
the first of which was: During the homestay, will we be carrying our luggage to the school and then to our homestay house and back again the next day.
The second question was: Can I take a large handbag instead of a backpack?

Answers to Questions:

Q1) Yes, during our visit to the school you will need to take all your luggage with you. We will lock it in a room at the school, but yes - you need to take it home with you that night. I will talk to them about leaving your luggage locked at the school and you taking an 'overnight bag' i.e. your backpack but at this stage, it all goes home with you.

Q2) In terms of taking a handbag instead of a backpack - the answer is no! You must have a backpack to go on day trips and a handbag is not a substitute for this. you may bring a small handbag if you absolutely must, but I think it will end up annoying you.

MEETING TIME UPDATE - VERY LATE NOTICE!

Hi again, apologies for the very short notice, but due to the fact that the school has a new security system in place that arms itself automatically, we need to be out of the school by 7:30 tomorrow night (They have not yet given us individual access codes). In deference to this, the meeting will be starting exactly at 6pm so please make sure that you are there on time. We MUST be out by 7:30 or we will set off the alarm system!

Final parent meeting date

The final parent meeting before we go on the trip Will be on the 20/03/2007 and will be held in the library starting at 6pm. Realistically, the meeting will go until about 8pm because I am certain that there will be lots of questions. All parents and students should endeavour to be there as this is the time we will be handing out the final itinerary, packing lists, duty-free and customs information, language phrase book, diary and travel documents.

Students have been given a home stay application form to fill out and this should be returned ASAP so that we can fax it back to Japan. Some students have already received email from their host buddy and we expect this to go a long way towards calming student's nerves about the home stay part of the trip.

Money Exchange and meeting cancellation

Hello again, I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about money exchange as many of you have been asking about this recently. I have spoken to a number of money exchange outlets and, to date, the best has been Cash EX (Bureau de Change) in the city centre. they are located at 63 Abbott Street (directly opposite DFS, on the same street as Woolworths in the city). Their telephone number is 0740515158.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to secure a fixed exchange rate, largely due to the instability of the hare market in China recently. Exchanges are still quite good (much higher than any time recently) but we did drop about 2-3 yen to the dollar last week. When I spoke to the manager there, she agreed to a substantially better price than their usual rate (on the day i was there, their rate was 84yen to the dollar, she was willing to give me 88.5) however, this was still less than the advertised price at suncorp and other institutions. My advice to parents - do your homework; go to several of the exchange places in the near vicinity (Suncorp, DFS etc.) and see what their price for selling notes is. then got to Cash Ex, tell them you are with Gordonvale SHS and ask what the rate of exchange for our group that day is. When she tells you, compare that to other exchanges and ask if they will match it for you. They should be willing to do this. the reason their exchange may be lower is that they do not charge a fee/commission whereas most of the major exchange places do. The other thing to remember is that you may be able to negotiate a slightly better rate if you exchange a larger amount rather than doing it over time. Of course, you will have to work out what is going to be the best for yourself and your child, so please feel free to use another service (such as your local bank).

The second part of this post is to remind all students that Tuesday's meeting is cancelled and that next Tuesday's meeting (20/3/07) will be for parents as well as students - this is our final itinerary meeting and is when you will receive your documentation for the trip!

If you still have forms outstanding, please ensure that we receive them ASAP and we (meaning you) cannot leave the country without them being in and processed!

Regards, Corey Edwards

(11/3/07)I have been thinking about money exchange some more - I recommend asking for the total amount in either 1000yen notes or 5000 yen notes (don't mix them where possible - get one or the other). All Japanese money looks quite similar and it may be easier to just have 1000yen notes bundled into lots of 5 (I will be taking my money this way, with each lot of 5 notes rubber banded together). If you are planing on making big ticket purchases (i.e. Camera, electronic goods, grad dresses etc.) then 10, 000 yen notes are quite acceptable, just keep them separate from your 1000 yen notes. possibly put them in a separate envelope or something.

Welcome note

Parents, students and friends, This is the first test of the GSHS Japan Trip '07 blog . Until we leave for Japan (21 days from today!) and while we are away, this website will be your best source of information about the '07 Japan trip. Check in here each day (when possible) and see any updates, notices or announcements we might have for you about the Japan trip and, while we are away, keep up to date with the things we are doing. Each time I, Mrs. O'Malley or one of the students post here, we will try to include a relevant summary of events, timeframes and (hopefully) lots of pictures.

You will be able to contact myself/Mrs O'Malley through the 'comments' section of the page and we will try to address your questions through the next posting. Of course, you can still contact us through the school but, where possible, try to ask your questions here so that other parents/guardians see what you have written and get access to our reples.

in addition, feel free to contact me via email - cedwa38@yahoo.com.au or on my mobile - 0438416900 (During business hours except in case of emergency). Please also note that this mobile number will be active while we are in Japan but we ask you only to call in emergencies. remember: mising your child and wanting to talk to them is not considered an emergency.

Again, welcome to the first GSHS Japan trip '07 weblog - enjoy!