Sapporo n' stuff

WARNING: this post has tons of pictures, with or without people in them. so sorry for the inconvenience. and this post may last for eternity. so if you are short on time, I suggest you either come back to it, or skim through the important parts.

so, a brief intro: after girls camp, all my friends returned to church. and then, school started for them. along with school came early morning seminary! I have to wake up twice a week at 4:30 in order to catch the first train to get to the church, which leaves at 5ish. I know, very fun, right? every sunday, from 4-6 PM after church, we also do some seminary. I go to my friend Jayne's house and eat there and just chill until 4. (I am always the only one on Sunday who is still wearing a dress by that time!) I've also been called as the temporary pianist for the short time I'm still here. but you all know that I hate waking up early.

on Thursday, I had to wake up at 4:15. Worse than seminary. we had to catch the first train that leaves for the Haneda airport so we could get to our flight at 8. but this flight wasn't to Provo like I wished. Instead it was to........

Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan!
{which is a city on a different island in Japan that is usually very cold and a lot of dairy products come from there and is way more spread out than Tokyo, which I like much better than Sapporo.}

like most of our big trips in Japan, this was for some chemistry thing that I don't quite understand the purpose of yet. as soon as we got off our plane, Satoshi, dad's friend, got us on a train to meet up with some chemistry students. they took us to a historical village, a restaurant where we got some fancy Japanese lamb that I didn't care for at all (it's impossible to chew!), a ski jump which was used in the 1972 Winter Olympics, and special Hokkaido Soup Curry for dinner. (I don't even like curry, but this stuff was okay.) the whole day, I was pretty tired, so I don't remember too much. but the hotel was super nice! we got 2 rooms, one for my parents, and one for the kids! in my room, there was the closet, my bed, the bathroom, and the TV. behind this really nice divider were the boys beds, so I would be all alone! the food was great, the room was incredible, and there was an onsen (hot springs). it was very nice.

day 2: this was Dad's day at the university, so the rest of us did some sightseeing! we saw the Sapporo TV tower (which looks like the eiffel tower, but a tomato), some fancy government buildings, and the park where they have the snow festival! after that, we had a really healthy lunch of the famous Sapporo Factory Ice Cream! I'm not kidding, this place is one of the best there is! The flavors are amazing. to get even healthier, we went to this chocolate factory with the cutest decorations! along with the chocolate stuff, there were vintage toys on display, immaculate stained glass windows, and so much cuteness/corniness that I couldn't stand it!

 even the toilet was cute!

for dinner, we met up with Dad, Satoshi and his wife, Satoshi's boss, and another professor at this fancy restaurant. we had really good pizza, pasta, crab meat, salad, and even more ice cream. we are very healthy people.

day 3: we checked out of the hotel right after breakfast. Satoshi got a tour guide to drive us all around the Sapporo area to look at lakes and volcanoes and other national park stuff. everything was pretty cool, but we were in the car all day and I was pretty carsick. not how I like to spend a vacation! but because Satoshi was so nice to get this tour for us, I couldn't complain, because after all, it was pretty legit. we finally made it to the airport, ate the famous Sapporo Ramen for dinner, ate even more ice cream at Baskin Robbins, and flew away!

CHOICES- Girls Camp 2012

now, I know what you're thinking. another church activity over the course of let's say... a week. I don't know. was Youth Conference really that long ago? it's crazy. I feel like I've just got back! but girls camp wasn't highly anticipated for me. sure, all my friends would be back from the states (those are the losers who didn't go to Youth Conference with me!), and that it would only be one night of camping in a tent (which just isn't my thing), and that I could have fun, but again, I just really don't like camping or hiking. but if I had to choose, camping is a lot worse. you can never sleep in tents because the ground is so hard, it can be noisy, it can rain, I can't breathe because of the smoke, there's tons of mosquitoes, and I've had some pretty bad camping experiences with my family which I would prefer not to blog about. but sure, it may be fun if you like to pretend you're homeless! and after being at an amazing youth conference, I just had really high expectations. plus, I didn't bring any camping gear to Japan. but the biggest thing of all is that it was the first girls camp/youth conference without my mother. I'm a real big Mommy's girl here, and I just really miss her whenever she's not here. I know, I'm a baby, but it's true.

our theme was C.H.O.I.C.E.S. every Mormon activity always needs some cool acronym, right? this one stood for: Church. Home. Outside Influences. Eternal Salvation. we had workshops on all of those choices we have to make. and of course, with every church activity, along with a theme, you need something cutesy to go along with it! in this case it was Dr. Seuss. we talked about Oh, The Places You'll Go! and how if we make good choices, it can lead us to the right places. we got these cute little Dr. Seuss lanyards, but my name was spelled Mariam instead of Miriam. this happens way too often. you'd think that after hearing my name, you could figure out how to spell it, and we didn't throw in any weird spellings either! my name is Miriam Elaina Castle. it's as simple as that. spelled exactly how it sounds. but this mistake was fixed, and everyone started calling me "Miiiiiiiiiriam" to avoid further spelling mistakes.

well, fun stuff first. we combined with the Tokyo 2nd English-Speaking ward (none of whom I knew), and I made a ton of friends! I instantly bonded with KC and Lisa. we talked together, ate together, and partied together! In my tent was Lisa and Sarah, my roommate from Youth Conference who is already in my ward. we were up all night talking and singing and telling weird jokes! we finally decided to go to bed at like 3, but like I said, it takes forever to fall asleep. and right as I was drifting off, Sarah started snoring (which didn't happen at youth conference!) I only slept about 3 hours. I was so tired the next day!

other stuff we did that night: getting-to-know-you games, a workshop, and testimony meeting. We also had a "snipe hunt", which apparently every girls camp does. but in my first 2 years, our ward never did one. But I got the experience here, and sorry to say, it was the stupidest, most pointless, freakiest activity ever. basically, the Laurels (16-18 year old girls) try to scare the younger girls by telling us about snipes, these furry white creatures with crazy red eyes that bite really hard. they are prone to attack if they see/hear: humans, loud noises, and light. the only way to protect yourself is to put toothpaste all over yourself. I don't like being forced to do pointless stuff like that, so I put my foot down and said, "This is lame. I am not putting toothpaste all over myself just because of some stupid activity." well, that didn't work. the Laurels just got mad and had to watch me put on toothpaste. it itched really bad. so, my wonderful Aussie friend Scarlett who is like my younger sister and I just kinda hung back. but not until after I got attacked by Shay.

this sweet girl here is Shay. she's always very happy, friendly, and super fun to be around. but as a baby, she had a lot of seizures and because of that, she acts more like a child instead of a 16 year old. she arrived later than most of the girls, so I hadn't been introduced to her before the snipe hunt. but right before, out of nowhere, this girl I've never even seen before jumps out and grabs me and drags me around. I thought it was one of the Laurels pretending to be a "snipe." so, naturally, I screamed "LET GO OF ME!!!!!!!! I DON'T KNOW YOU! THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" but then her mom was talking to her all calmly and told her to let go and not to scare people and to introduce herself. I felt so bad because I reacted the wrong way! but she is really a sweet girl! even though I nearly wet myself!

after getting all covered in toothpaste, we all looked pretty sick. we washed ourselves off and then did testimony meeting. after that we got in our PJs and did campfire songs. Scarlett and I talked the whole time, and after the closing prayer, Lisa, Scarlett, and I sang pretty much every song we knew until the leaders yelled at us to go to bed. it was super fun!

 Lisa and I made matching toothpaste mustaches because if you are forced into doing a stupid snipe hunt, have fun with it! unfortunately, by the time it was done, our mustaches came off so you can't really see them.

 Sarah covered herself pretty good! It took forever for her to get clean again!

India put toothpaste all over her legs, and here she is, struggling to remove it.

the next day, we woke up to rain. we tried as fast as we could to get our stuff out of the tents, but it still got pretty wet. we ran into the workshop place for shelter. after eating a nice breakfast, we did skits. I did mine with Shay, Marissa (a Laurel), Shay's mom, Kelly (our amazing leader), and India, Scarlett's sister who's just a grade ahead of me. Oh, how I love the Aalders sisters. when I first moved into the ward, India was the first person to welcome me into Sunday school, and she is super smart, friendly, and always happy. She and my friend Savannah introduced me to everyone, and as soon as I met Scarlett, something just clicked. Like her sister, she's also really friendly and happy and bubbly, but really spunky and energetic and never stops talking! kind of like me. you can see why we're friends! but anyways, we did a really cute skit. I hope the video works. but if it doesn't, I was supposed to "shelter myself" from the worldly influences with my high gospel standards.

 working on the skit!

 India and me, with poor Mia falling asleep!

here comes the spiritual part. we did a lot of workshops, but there was one that really affected me. Kelly, who also did the skit with me, was in charge of it. She talked about the OI part of choices, outside influences. she came from a really good family, raised in the church. but as she became a teenager, she was doubting it. so, she stopped living the gospel standards and was greatly influenced by the world. she rebelled, quit going to church, partied, and didn't make really good choices. but all of that changed when she had an impression to move to Japan for education. in Tokyo, she met a Buddhist lady who invited her to practice her religion with her. at first, she didn't really mind, but later on, she got this feeling that it was wrong and that she should start going to church again. So, she did, and she felt the Spirit so strongly that she decided to change herself. she stopped making bad choices, dressed modestly, repented, read her scriptures, and returned to the gospel. since then, she said, she's been "happier than ever" now that she isn't as influenced by society. and that's really an amazing thing. but what I especially liked was that she said that it's actually good to care about your appearance and make yourself presentable. it's okay to wear makeup. just as long as you don't lower your standards and become too influenced by "the world". and Modest is Hottest!

then we ate lunch, talked some more, and went home. it was a nice, short girls camp, and I'm glad that I came! I have really come to love Japan and the people there, and I'm still not ready to leave yet! Oh, but don't worry. Only 20 days until I come back!

carpe diem, YOLO, live in the moment.

Ever since Youth Conference, something has just.......changed. I made a lot of friends, hiked Mt. Fuji, had an amazing time, and just a life-changing experience. When I returned back to our little apartment, things just weren't the same. I felt like I have been missing something this whole summer. I'm not talking about in terms of the Hoff Cousins blowing on napkins trying to make them sound like brass instruments, and me epically failing and shooting napkin bits across the table. Although I do miss that a ton, actually. You see, in our family, my dad is a professor and he is at work all day either teaching a class, grading papers, preparing to teach, or doing research. Dinnertime is the only time of day we actually see him (besides breakfast, if I wake up early enough, which in Provo, I usually don't), so we are all very excited to tell him about our days. But because he doesn't want a lot of noise, we have a "no loud unnecessary noise, playing with food, or singing at the dinner table" rule, so mealtime has been very boring! Anyways, I'm getting very off-subject. My point is that I realized something I should've realized a long time ago; my love for Japan.

if you have been a long time blog reader, or a recent stalker (either way is fine), you already know that I wasn't too happy on the idea of coming here. most of my posts are rants about how I want to return back to Provo. and it makes a lot of sense. But for those of you newcomers, when I first got here, I was pretty upset. I was going through major culture-shock, I didn't have any friends, I wasn't used to getting around the city, I didn't know any Japanese at all (not like my Japanese has improved or anything), I wasn't very independent, the food was different, and most of all, I didn't have any personal space at all. I spent most of my time complaining about how much I wanted to go home, how I missed all my friends, how I needed personal space, and that everything was so different and not the way that I was used to at all. Everytime Mom tried to teach me Japanese, I was resistant. Whenever we were about to go to a new museum or the park, I always begged to stay home and waste time on Facebook, desperately trying to communicate with friends back home. Sometimes it worked and I was glad I stayed; other times I was forced to go, and I ended up having a really good experience. But most of the time, I was unhappy. Homesick. Lonely. Pretty pissed off because I didn't have any time to myself. I was very moody and unpleasant to be around, even though I tried my best to be happy. As the weeks went on and on, I started to get used to everything and even learn to appreciate it, knowing I was only this much closer to returning back to Provo. Because why go to Japan and not have a memorable experience there? I wish I knew that at the beginning of summer.

Youth Conference, which you can read about here, was one of those places I wasn't too excited about going. But if you read in the post, I had the most amazing week of my entire summer. It taught me a lot. As I got to know all these wonderful knew friends, I realized that they have either been in Japan for a lot longer than I have, or they moved around a lot more than I have. And they were all very happy about Japan! they would ask me about what life was like in Provo, and I already knew that it was extremely different. But as I was talking to them about where I was from, I experienced nothing I had ever experienced before. I have lived in Provo for 9 years, and it's one of those places that everyone claims to hate, but never leaves. When people actually do leave, even for the shortest amount of time, they freak out because it's like a whole different world. They are exposed to materialism, people with completely different standards, hardly any Mormons, and my own brothers would freak out even if they just see someone drinking coffee or tea. They are lost and hopeless and don't know how to cope in a world that isn't Happy Valley. Being in Japan has taught me that it's okay to get outside your comfort zone. Keep your standards high, but not to freak out about every single thing. To get to know different people. After hearing about my old life, my friends were all like "Well, that sounds like a really nice place to live!" Which it is. But to all you fellow P-Town pimps (I don't know the correct term for people from Provo!), there really is a lifestyle that is completely different from yours. and it's a good one. You get to have new experiences. Try different foods. Not take everything for granted. Be more relaxed and.....brave, instead of freaking out about everything. While still staying true to yourself. and I am so grateful for my opportunity to get away from Provo and get a completely different experience. It's been the best summer of my life.

Before Youth Conference, my friends weren't in school yet, I was on the computer/iPod 24/7, and I was pretty much wasting my whole summer. But youth conference happened, everyone started school, I actually made friends, and I come back to Tokyo, and none of my Provo friends are "there" anymore. The day after I got home, my dad gave me my first assignments: to contact all of my teachers and ask for assignments. I have also had to work on Japanese, read actual books, and write a whole report about Peer Tutoring. It's been a lot of work. Even though I still consider it "summer" because I'm not officially in school, I'm a lot busier than I used to be. and it's really sad to think that it has been wasted. So, as all you teenagers say, YOLO or You Only Live Once, so I will enjoy it while I can. For those of you more educated people, carpe diem, or sieze the day. or, as I say, live in the moment. 

{for once, I am actually sad to leave Japan. It has grown on me so much.}