Well, I think everyone knew I wouldn't post before I left, simply because I said I would... Sorry!

Hokkido was great! Mom, dad, when I get back, you guys are learning to ski during the winter, it is so fun! And hard.

First was I the fist year students met at the school and I was just in time. Everyone go on to 10 charter buses! 10 of them! It was a a train going down the road. Joho (my class) was of course trhe last buss.. We get to the airdport wait an hour and get on to a 747 and fill it almost to the max! there were maybey 30 other peopl on thet flight with us. not chartered, public flight. It was a japanese 747 though and the seat were really really small.... it kinda sucked, but it was decently fast. We arrive at hokkido and no snow, everyone was really cold, except me, I was just fine. we get on 10 different busses, and off we goes! teh buss was really comfortable and I ttook a long time to get up to the "hotel" it was really a camp with extra facilities. the rooms slept 8 and there was a huge gym, a doujo, and a big cafeteria. oh, no private baths, there was a onsen insted... that was indeed different....

alright no th einteresting part, skiing! everyone was given the same snowpants, jaket, hat, gloves and googles. most of the boots were the same as well, but the bigger sizes were differnt colors, easy to find... luckey me! orange jaket, black pants, white and putple hat, black or white boots, depending on size. and black googgles, it was reaaly comfortable and warm the hole time, but maybey becasuse i'm used to the cold it wasn't very cold. THe fist day had perfict weather, ther was snow enoth to keep the hil from tuning to ice, and most of the time you could see 100 feet infront of you while skiiing.

I was the fist to get to skii, the instructor was really interesting in my I suppose, beinging th eonly american there. The fist lesson was stopping, a very important skill I think, and a hard one at that. I was goiing good, good good, oh sh*t. there I go, see you a a couple minutes when I walk back up the hill. didn't hurt at all just was scary the first time. the next attempt was ok. after a while we went on the lift to the top of the hill, and we were the fist, the photographer can up and took our pictures, he can skii.... very well. Ok, it was scarry at fist and I almost went down the advanced hill by mistake coming off th lift. no problem though. I got dow the fist litty l slope and didn'yt fall and then I could see the next part.. that was steep, very steep, we started going, an being adventurious I was a little to fast, and I then tryed to follow the teacher and turn to go the other way... I didn't make th efull turn and skiied halfway down the hill at 45 mph... the I rolled the last half.it was really cool, no pain, just adrenallan. my skiis were were I started rolling and I had to clime back up and put them back on. really great. I was able to make it the rest of the way down without falling, and after it leveld off alittle manage without any problem.

We went back up andi fel one more tiem at the same place, but I didn'T roll and my skiis stayed on. at teh bttom of the hill is a small bump, maybey 2 feet in hieght, I jumped of that 2ce. it was great, andi almost lost it the secondd time.

THe next day was sunny and butifuall you could see mountains in the distance and everything. We whent up the mountian agian and skiid down befor going on the really hill... it took 5 minutes but the highspeed lift to get to the top, we were so high, it was 4 times the lenth of the bunny hill and 7 times as high or more. that was scarry. I was all right for half teh way down and then WOOOOSH! I onloy hope I wasn'T goting 50 miles an hour... I didn'T fall untill after I got down the hill witch was a good thing and I was slowd down a lot and that was even better and I was going striat for deep snow, my skiis when in and I thought, ok, I haveny fallen yet, I made it and my skiis stoped, I kept going... about 5 feet and a face ful of snow. is was perfict, I with I could have a video, a nice soft highspeed crash and a face full of snoww. I sat up and what was this? my wallt? nope, may wallet was still there, were my face has stoped was someone elses wallet and identification, I wanting the fist person to do that exact same thing, that made me happy. the rest of the hill was ok, and I ditched once becausei thoughi I was gonna go off a cliff, but that was all, I t was really fun.

We didn'T go all the way down he hill the rest was way advanced, and we took a small lift back to teh top. there wi had a photo shoot and toot eh highspeed lift back down. we got one more bunny hill in before time was up and I didn'T fall once. I didn't　bring my cameras,(woI, i have a good digital camera, my PDA and my cell phone..... ;P never noticed thatI.)i thought that would be a little dangerious, bIt i think in a little while we will get our pictuere that the photographer took. justy like the sports festival.

That night ichiko was called my one of the teachers and he seid nanya as he turnd around... Everyone that was already in the rooms got to hear what ichiko got. 10 minute fo srceamin gin his ear... there was some one in our room that was in th eroom across the hall and he just waited for it to stop befor leaving... the teacher seams to be a 5$ cop to me. a person with power and nothing to do with it. During the final cerimony after arriving back at kumamoto he made everyone in strict formation and yelled at the top of his voice to stand p, at ease bow, sit...... the principal even gave him weird looks for this, the kind of look that is, shut up already. maybe hejust rubs me the wrong way...even the disiplinarany isn't as loud when hed disiplining students. (yes, kumakou has a person just for disciplin.

the last day we got back on the bus and whent to a small town and whent shopping and were released upon the city. my group whent to a sushi place aId i had some things that iwere realy good,and that was great, after taht wer decided to take a shortcut and got lost. eventually we got out thanks to my spoting a big tower tath I recongnized and we saw other kumakou students.

we went into one store and everyone but me and kakei bought somthing, little glass musice box type thingI, i couldn't think of the soIg i wanted untill after, oh well.. sakura, sakura MMMmmmmmM.... yea, that one.. we got back on the bus and off we whent to sapporo.

sapporo is the largest citie on hokkido, and the capital of the preficture. the is a small saying... hokkido daikkido. dai is the prefix for big. mening all of japa in small except for hokkido witch is huge,and if you turn it upsidedown it looks like texas. I got all kindsd of sweets and chocolate for my host family and stuff, it is custom to bring back sweets after going on a trip somware.

the flight back home was achartered flight, a charters 747... Kumakou reserved an entire 747!!! and almost filled it to the max too! th eseats wer comfortable on this flight too, it was about the same type thIt i flew on across to japan. maybe the same type. 747 SR is what it sIw i think... We stoped half way for a small breake aId i slep though it. I slept though landing and a take off and woke up 15 minutes before flying over kyushu! that was amazing, then agiIn i slep though seriuos turbualance the fist tiIe i whent to japan.I only knew about it becasue masushima sensei told me about it.

I was going up the escalator at the airport and turning my cell phoine back on, and who is at the top of the escalatar with his hand outstrached, the principal of the school! I didn't get my PIN entered and it was in my pocket in half a second.... :P He asked me a couple of questions , like did you enjoy it, do you like skiing and one moIe i didn't understand. Taht was a close one...

well that was hokkido, thank you Kumamoto Heisei Rotary club for paying my way!

sayonara!