last first day of high school

Today was my first day back at school, and the last 'first day' I'll be having in Japan.
Crazy, screaming crowds of girls shrieking out あけおめ！(HAPPY NEW YEAR!) greetings to one another seemed somewhat familiar to when I first came to Japan in April, and the new school year had just begun.

I don't think the screaming will ever cease, to be honest.
This time around, everyone compared weight gain results, and many desperate やせたい！やばいよ、どうしよう！（shit I've gained weight, I wanna lose, what should I do?) comments could be heard bouncing across the hallways.

High school; gotta love it.

It's so cold in Tokyo, and getting up in the morning is one of the worst things that Japan has made me done in this exchange.
In Hiroshima, all the snow and your own wardrobe of warm clothing almost made winter the best season of all;
but in Tokyo, where it's grey, and no one seems to be happy to see each other at 7 in the morning,
waking up at 6AM today was needless to say my hugest achievement of the day.

I was meant to get up at 5AM, but I slept through my alarm splendidly, and fell out of bed having been woken up by my favourite Canadian and her emails to my phone.
Thanks, by the way ;)

Still, being here for 10 months, and standing at the end of my exchange,
I have to say that I still do not understand why I have to get up at 6AM on a Saturday to go to school.
No one does that.
Excluding most of the student population in Tokyo...no one, does that.
Mental people.

My winter vacation is finally over, and it's been a very fun one.
Going on trips with the host family, and hanging out in Tokyo with my friends and somehow still managing to make new ones, has been quite fulfilling and memorable.
A pleasant way to end my exchange, I have to say.

Coming back to Tokyo, I've made another ton of memories too.
The mannequins of Forever 21 in Shibuya have made quite an impression on me.
Yes; immature as it may seem, we spent nearly three hours in this store laughing at each individual plastic hairless and faceless person.
Do not judge. It's not nice.

 EXHIBIT A:

they managed to put on two pairs of socks on this mannequin; yet forgot pants...

EXHIBIT B:

the many awkward positions...

in which are deemed inappropriate in the normal world.

EXHIBIT C:

check out the black skirt. What, nuns can shop at Forever 21 too?

and taking many silly purikura such as...

It's endearing. Don't cringe.

all the way to eating sundae's so sinful you can get diabetes just from looking at it...

didn't manage to finish it.. Had a tummy ache halfway through =/

I have spent every single yen I've received from my host parents and their relatives over the New Years break.

Well done April. 

There's a New Years Resolution completely out the door.

Step One: Save Money

Step Two: Do Not Go Into Tokyo And Spend Money You Don't Have

Step Three: Ignore All Steps Above.

See; although it is so cold in Tokyo,

you kinda just block it all out by eating.

It's a method I like to call eat-until-you-realize-that-if-you-don't-stop-you-would-get-a-heart-attack method.
It's super effective. Blocks out the cold.

Who needs UniQlo's heat tech products when you can eat instead.

Being in Japan kinda feels like a dream at the moment.

Part of me is denying the fact that I'm actually going to be getting on a plane back to New Zealand in  two weeks and a bit.

The other part of me realizes the gravity of the situation I'm in right now; and it is robbing me of any sleep whatsoever. =/

So do the math, and divide all the free time I have left with school hours(resulting in a negative number), multiply that by unnecessary worrying, and add some other minor details such as paranoia and such;

and you get a very tired, grumpy April, with a zit breakout even those Proactiv people can't fix.

One of the main causes of my worrying right now though; WYS.

Yes, the dreaded exchange company has decided to really remind me how much they truly suck before I leave back for New Zealand. 

I wanted my last day of school to be on the 13th of January; so that I have about a week and a half to myself to do the things I wanna do.

Visiting people I haven't seen in a while, say my goodbyes, buy gifts/souvenirs for home, etc.

My school was supportive of my decision, as was my host family.

Unfortunately; when my company found out I had made this decision on my own, they flipped their nut.

After hours of phone battles and possibly me going into another one of their 'april-is-stupid' counselling sessions next week; I am sorry to say that I have completely lost the war.

I am now ending school on the 22nd, so my last days in Japan will be spent in a classroom.

Oh. Did I mention my changed flight plans too?

Bastards. Turns out I'm going to be staying at Narita Airport by myself on the 25th, and leaving for a flight to Hong Kong in the cold morning of the 26th.

Thanks for making my trip in Japan that much shorter. =/

However, all bitching aside.

I will try and have as much fun as I can with all the little time I have left.

With no time left for myself seeing that WYS loves me in my little schoolgirl uniform,

it's quite obvious to say that I will definitely be catching up on sleep during classtime.

I could start on my Level One studies for JLPT; but who am I kidding really.

All my love always,

April