FYT Japan 2009

The Last Day

2009-04-19T14:19:00.000-07:00

Well....kinda!

Sunday 19th April

Japan is very hot, there are bicycles everywhere and you can rent them for the day or to get from one place to another. Their baths are public and you all share to relax in one (this was not permitted for our younger members!) after a good shower to clean you first! Japan is also very very tall with lots of illuminous signs and neon on tops of buildings. They seem to fill any space they can find and things look higgeldy piggeldy. They are extremely friendly, even though most do not speak a word of English, they still try to help us when we need it! Their rail system is awesome, the drivers look like Air Pilots and bow to every carriage when walking through the train, as do the rest of the rail staff, they take great pride in this system which was originally based on good old British rail many years ago. Some of their supermarkets look psychedellic - with neon and bright cartoons and drawings all over the place inside! Lots of random english words appear throughout Japan including Happy, Wish, Lucky etc!! There are loads of vending machines which you can buy drinks from all over the streets. People walk around the cities in the most fashionable new dress next to someone in the most traditional kimono! They are buddhists mainly, proud of their history and generally a happy, positive nation.

Today we were all up by 9.30am and travelled across to the conf room to have our final drama workshop. Still impressed by the work on Hiroshima and Japanese History yesterday!

Today was exceptionally hot, with the air con not being hugely successfull we decided to open some windows (which was a bit naughty as we were not allowed!) Despite the heat, everyone got to work and were on task superbly!

We worked on modern Japan today, and began with a list of words that came to mind when thinking about being in Japan. We then created two pieces, mainly movement sequences based on the Train system and the other based on the Cherry Blossom. Again, the work was excellent.

We then moved on to creating several different pieces as a comparison to the groups view of Britain next to their recent experience of Japan. Two teams constructed short drama pieces to show the English way and the Japanese way of life side by side, from eating a meal to taking a bath and looking after tourists!

We went back to the hotel for a short break and then headed out to find the little restaurant we had eaten at when we first arrived in Japan, our treat! A task was set - everyone had to order their food speaking in Japanese. Unfortunately the restaurant seemed to be closed and there was disappointment so we had to find somewhere else to eat, we were right in the heart of honest day to day Japan and were yet again being stared at as a group of white Europeans!

We found a little place which could accomodate us, though we were very unsure of what kind of food they served. We seperated ourselves into different tables according to what kind of food we liked, red meat on one side and white meat on the other! Using the little Japanese words we had come prepared with, and adapting quickly to a different place, we tried to order what we could see was available! Unfortunately they didn't have white meat but sausages were available for those who didn't like plain pork or beef. At first we thought it was a make your own pancake place, very popular in Osaka, as a grid in a tub was laid in front of us with small metal bowls and a metal tub of Soy Sauce. We figured out that the grid was a cooling rack to place the battered meats onto when they were cooked. Every time you ate one of the meats, you took the stick it was on a placed it in a special pot on your table, this was so that the waitress could count the sticks and would know what to charge you at the end! very clever.

After another brief visit to the hotel we headed to Osaka castle park for a final picnic and relax together as a group on our last day! It was crazy to see the amount of green, when only last week the entire place was completely pink with cherry blossom! Just goes to show what a limited amount of time the cherry blossom is around for, we were very lucky to catch it as often as we did, with our travelling and Tokyo having Cherry blossom at a different time to Osaka etc.

We set up towels and food and chilled out on the grass. It was lovely. Presents were handed out which was much appreciated and a nice surprise! And we also served butter cake as a treat. We stayed for hours. There were some drummers and dancers nearby practicing and lots of teenagers were having huge picnics with specially made tables to kneel by. It was weird to be near big gangs of teens and not feel intimidated.

We found a place that sold slush puppies and ice creams and a few people went to watch the drumming or to stroll around the park. Things got more crazy as time went on, with acrobatics by our stretchier youth members and people jumping around and spinning each other around on the grass. Everyone really had a fantastic nice. A final, loud rendition of our FYT theme tune which has been constructed by the group over the past year! We left, trying to photograph the castle and it's beautiful reflection in the moat by the moonlight, to the sound of the crickets.

When arriving back at the hotel, most people disappeared upstairs pretty quickly to pack, hope everyone has managed to get a good nights sleep!

Toms Japan Blog

2009-04-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

Hi all, if you liked reading our blog, why not take a look at another FYT Japan blog from a youth member point of view?

http://miscellaneousletters.blogspot.com/

Insights into Japan by Tom Finch!

Enjoy!

Big Catch Up!

2009-04-19T05:43:00.001-07:00

Woooo...it's been very busy! Sorry for the late post!

Wednesday 15th April

Today was our 'day off' which meant a big fat treat - Universal Studios! A very American day out full of rides and attractions. We split everyone into different groups which included 'Thrillseekers' and those who don't like the big rides, and we arranged meeting points throughout the day to find out how everyone had been getting on and if there were any problems.

To begin with, the entry was slightly cheaper than I had told people (I always like to overestimate, it's better than not having enough!) but it did take us about half hour to get throught the gates and get our tickets etc. Scott filled in a questionnaire and got a free pen!

Gemma, Tom, Beth T, Charlotte, Helen, Beth L, Gracie and Charli all went on the MASSIVE hollywood dream rollercoaster which covers most of the park overhead and looks like a shooting star at night with its wonderful lighting effects! I think Beth R, Paige, Larni, Abigail and Daniel also had the courage to tackle this monster too!

Vicky took Sonia and Jordana to the show attractions and smaller rides for less stomach turning treats.

Everyone seemed to love the Spiderman ride which was a mixture of 3D special effects, animation, simulation and rollercoaster. The Back to the Future simulator was also really fun but it was the Jurrassic Park ride that got the most interest, even Sonia braved the big drop in this water ride - most ended up soaked and we all went on several times, collecting the photos at the end from the shop where everyone looked particularly silly.

Food was generally quite expensive but we managed to find some good places with cheaper deals! We met up around 4pm and I agreed to let them stay until the end, 8pm after the parade.

The parade was pretty impressive, we could hear it coming from some way away and just as it was about to turn the corner to us, our street was blacked out and this created a lot of surprise and anticipation! The parade was really long with loads of HUGE floats that were completely lit up! It was great because all of the Japanese people sat on the sidewalks so there were no issues with people not being able to see or being stood behind someone tall. They even had animation played through some of the large screens on the parade floats.

We had a pretty quick journey home that night, discovering that Hiroshima was not as far away as expected, allowing everyone a bit of a lie in! Celebration!

Thursday 16th April

Today we got back on the bullet train with our amazing Japan Rail Passes and headed into Hiroshima. This place filled many of us with anticipation, what would we see? what questions would be answered? what questions would be raised?

Firstly we got to take a streetcar here, a Tram as they are known in Britain! Everywhere you go on a Streetcar, you just pay Y150 (£1-ish) regardless of destination and you drop it in the box on your way off the car. Their transport system is very much based on trust. And what a fantastic system it is.

We arrived at the A-Bomb dome, this was slightly to one side of where the actual Atomic Bomb exploded in Hiroshima, due to its structure and the fact that it was almost at the centre of the bomb part of it remained standing amongst the levelled out ground of Hiroshima. The Genbaku Dome was originally scheduled to be demolished with the rest of the ruins, but the fact that it was mostly intact delayed these plans. As Hiroshima was rebuilt around the dome, it became a subject of controversy; some locals wanted it torn down, while others wanted to preserve it as a memorial of the bombing.

Some debates broke out amongst the youth members, those that had learned about it at school, those that had read bits in books, trying to figure out the facts, who was to blame etc. We read the signs around the dome and were approached by an elderly Japanese gentleman with a badge saying 'Free Guide'. He was a survivor from 1945 A Bomb on Hiroshima, having only been in the womb at the time but developed cancer because of the radiation. Both he and his mother survived despite fighting terminal illnesses, she is about to turn 92.

He showed us Ground Zero, a small plaque down a side street where the bomb had actually detonated. He showed us pictures and drawings of the effects which we were not quite prepared to see. This was upsetting but all of the youth members agreed it was an important experience and they really appreciated meeting him and having the tour, there were many tears.

In a way it was incredible to see these young people so upset about something that happened so long ago, they cared so much and kept asking why people do these things? They are now determined to be part of a world that does not let this kind of horrific tragedy happen ever again, and I really hope they succeed.

We also visited the monument of Sadako Sasaki (our summer play, A Thousand Cranes, was based on her life) and we lay our paper cranes at the monument of ashes. Sadako's statue was incredible to see after the performance we had created last summer, it was a really moving experience.

We also visited the memorial hall and the Hiroshima Museum which held all the information regarding what happened to Hiroshima when the A Bomb fell. Another sad yet important experience. We saw photos and belongings of Sadako, including her full story and some of the cranes she had begun to fold before her death.

More debate was sparked about the A Bomb, whether it was necessary to end the war or whether it was an excuse for the US to test their new creation on a living society. Regardless of the political views, everyone held greatest respect for Hiroshima and its victims and hope that such tragedy will never happen again.

Friday 17th April

Today we got up fairly late!

We headed back to Kyoto to see a different part of the city. We caught the bullet train, it was the last day of our rail pass so we thought we would put it to good use!

We arrived in Kyoto and headed to the costume museum. It did not seem much at first, especially when having to pay to get in which was unexpected! But after looking around the minature figures in a tiny replication of ancient Japanese temples, we started to learn about the way of life, different dresses and uniforms worn and then we stumbled upon another room with larger models in where we could try out the costumes ourselves!

This was quite fun, the costumes were really extravagent and you could also pose with some of the pre-set mannequins. Nearly everyone had a go at dressing up and lots of photos were taken.

Finally we headed out and after a fairly long walk we flopped onto the grass along the riverbank for lunch and rest. This turned into a very long rest! People napped in the sun and drew pictures and took photos, generally chatted and relaxed!

We then found ourselves at the same shopping markets we had been to earlier in the week! We allowed everyone to have a really good look around and pick up last minute souvenirs and gifts from the lovely shops in the area.

After another long walk, we took our final bullet train journey back to the hotel were we all headed for food and rest.

Saturday 18th April

Today we visited the MASSIVE electronics building in Osaka, it has EVERYTHING...including clothing, gifts, restaurants...and a sweet exhibition where you could buy some amazing sweet treats and deserts!

We spent a LONG time exploring this place, broke for lunch, then carried on exploring. Several people bought iPods which was quite exciting and extra little bits were purchased such as keyrings, phone accessories etc.

As we were trying to leave, an elderly Japanese lady approached us with enthusiasm as she had been teaching herself English and was keen to speak to us. She was really funny and 'loved us' lots and kept hugging people and asking about George Michael and the Beatles.

We came back to the hotel where groups were allowed to stay in the hotel to relax, go on a tour of the local area to explore shops and Den Den town or, for the older ones - go out on Bikes!

After that, we all went over to the Conference room where we had a drama workshop using our experiences of Japanese history to create short dramas, firstly based on Hiroshima were groups came up with scenes about the bomb dropping, the immediate aftereffects as well as the long term effects on the local community.

The final task was to create pieces based on the Temples and Ancient History, the pieces that developed included the girl who was drowned in the well for eavesropping as well as dramas centered around Emperors etc.

We also went over the things we had learned about Japan, the culture, the history, its comparison to Britain and also what we had learned about ourselves.

Historical Japan to Modern Japan!

2009-04-14T07:20:00.000-07:00

Monday 13th April

Today we took a trip on the Bullet Train for the first time! We allowed a fairly late-ish wake up ready for a trip to Himeji Castle. The bullet train is awesome, we go on the Hikari which is the second fastest (our rail passes do not allow us on the Nozomi which is the fastest bullet train, but it is only about 30 mins difference anyway!) The speed is phenominal but you wouldn't know it when travelling inside as it is as steady as an airoplane.

It was great to be able to see Japan whizz by, many places we will not have chance to visit, fabulous country side and loads of hidden bits and pieces such as secret archways with bells in the middle of the trees - possibly leading to a temple?

Hijemi was amazingly different to anywhere else we had been so far, the streets were wide and empty with large important buildings down the main street, very much what I imagine America to be like. Loads of trees lined along the sidewalk, most of the cars seem to be either black or silver in Japan? They are nearly all Hybrids from what we have seen.

From the main street we can see a fabulous view of the most impressive castle in Japan, it stands high on a mountain ahead of us and has been featured in many films like James Bond!

We have packed lunch in the lovely parks surrounding the castle and see a black cat skipping about among all the visitors. Then we seperate into groups and head into the castle to explore. The castle grounds were full of interesting facts and places, deep wells and secret escape routes. The castle itself was gigantic and we climbed about 7 floors up the the very top where you could see an amazing view of the city.

As the youth members met again in the castle gardens they decided to act out short scenes based on American tourists etc which amused them for some time, and a few of the girls created a fan dance using their Japanese fans!

For lunch we found a lovely cafe and were able to get everyone seated. This was great as we could order and pay one at a time with no fuss and they had a fairly decent selection! This gave everyone a different option for a change, aside from the usual Noodles!

We headed back as quickly as possible in order to get a good nights sleep ready for an early start the next day in Tokyo! On our arrival at the hotel, we spent most of our time ushering youngsters to bed and rushing them to get their showers etc, they had dutifully worked out a rota between them of who would shower that night and who would shower in the morning to avoid a big queue!

Tuesday 14th April

Tokyo today! After setting off at about 5.15am...AM!!! We got the loop line over to the Shinkansen (our bullet train again!) and arrived just in time to grab some cheap breakfast bits and jump on the first bullet train of the day! Incidentally, the Rail Passes we bought are AMAZING, they allow us on MOST trains in Japan and it has made a massive difference to our wallets! We could pretty much go anywhere we wanted around Japan really...

It was a 3 hour journey but several youth members slept or read books, or updated their diaries so it whizzed by. Arriving in Tokyo, we made sure everyone got something to eat if they needed it before jumping quickly onto a loop line to Shybuya, the notorious trendy shopping area for the youth of today! This is the place famous for starting youth fashion trends around Japan and the world! Getting out of the train station was pretty amazing, with MASSIVE skyscraper buildings and flashing neon signs, very much iconic of Tokyo we see on TV. In fact, we even saw TV crews and cameras filming some young people!

Everyone was pretty blown away by the sight and enormity of it all! Then we went shopping....after brief exploration we decided it was best to split the young ones into groups and send them with a youth leader per group to accompany their shopping spree. We had a special meeting place agreed at every section of Tokyo we visited. A few bits and pieces were bought, generally things were quite expensive though. A few of us sat and 'people watched', the Japanese people in Tokyo were very very different to the traditional Japanese people we had seen in Osaka. These young people had crazy hairstyles and fashion sense! Some a little too over the top!

For lunch we found a fab pizza place, something we had not eaten yet! It was an all you can eat buffet which we could pay for individually in advance along with our drink order and then help ourselves to slices of different pizza, spaghetti and even rice and curry! The pizza was delicious, they had different options with plenty of vegetables! We had a good meal and fuelled ourselves up so we would not get hungry too quickly in the afternoon.

We then went to the Sony building to look at their showroom, this has all the latest technology including stuff that hasn't even been released yet! So we are going to keep our eyes out for adverts for the stuff we have seen, such as the Rollo! We got to play with a lot of expensive equipment, from video cameras which automatically capture photos when you smile, to amazing cameras and music players.

After this we headed to one of the largest Asian markets in Japan, this was a wonderful bizaarre market with LOADS of stuff imported for good prices such as Chanel and Gucci (it used to be a huge black market but is now very legal and popular!). This is where the group really had fun spending money on well priced bags, shoes, coats and even pineapple on sticks as snacks!

Tokyo was fun but is not as fantastic for young people unless they are incredibly rich with loads of time on their hands! Most of Tokyo seems to be aimed at older people who like Sushi bars, karaoke, great nights out on the town, museums and sophisticated boutique shopping. Needless to say, we made the most of it anyway!

We grabbed some snacks from the train station, ready for when we got hungry on the train home then hopped on board the Bullet train in order to head back to the hotel. Another early night was agreed even though it is not an early wake up tomorrow. Just to make sure we catch up again with our sleep!

Night!

Kyoto & Nara

2009-04-12T05:19:00.000-07:00

Saturday 11th April

Today we met up with Alan, our new friend from the hotel, who had offered to give us a guided tour around the most interesting parts of Kyoto on his day off today! He has been fab, he is currently staying in the hotel to arrange business with them as he runs a travel company that specialises in tours between Japan, Australia and other countries.

This was fab as it was the first time we were going to use the big trains out of Osaka today and we had been nervous about getting it right, but Alan (born in Birmingham!) had lived in Japan for about 30 years and spoke fluent Japanese which helped us out a lot and he knew the exact trains to get to Kyoto. He had been really impressed with what we were doing, especially by ourselves with no expensive tour company or anything and had been helping the group learn bits of Japanese and find out about common curtesys etc. He is extremely proud of Japan as a country.

So, getting to Kyoto was easy! We then had a quick burger lunch and then followed him through the streets of Kyoto while he explained about the different parts. We saw another traditional Japanese theatre, lots of souvenir shops (not tacky like many European souvenir shops!) temples and shrines!

This was a bit of a trek as we headed upwards to some find archways and temples, Japanese traditional buildings etc. We kept going, and had a few stops at various shops where some of the group bought some Japanese fans, parasols and other bits and pieces. The heat was incredible!

Eventually we came into the main market area where some of the group also bought some second hand kimonos for cheap! So these are real Kimonos, which had been worn by REAL Japanese women, and in good condition too!

The markets were fantastic. There was also a large stand area surrounded by lanterns where someone famous or important was actually getting married as the Japanese papers were taking photographs and reporting. We then carried on into the main Temple itself, Kiyomizu Temple, where we walked up again and saw some amazing views of Kyoto! Lots of photographs were taken. We ventured around the temple and its grounds, sipped fresh spring water from special silver ladles and enjoyed the views and the incredible structure itself!

It was then a long walk back to the train station through the Markets and souvenir shops yet again. A very tiring day but well worth it! Check out our pics on the Flickr photo site!

Back at the hotel, after dinner, Vickie very kindly went through money with any one who was worried. We had managed to keep spending down to a minimum on food so everyone came away relieved, pleased and surprised at how much they had left! Then off to a good nights sleep.

Sunday 12th April

Happy Easter! We have had a few younger ones missing parents and family...and cats but it has been really nice to see them look after each other and comfort each other. So just to let you know that they are all fine and are keeping each other in good spirits!

The strange thing about Japan is the pets people seem to keep, we have seen Rabbits and Squirrels sat around in parks on a lead held by their owners, happily munching on bits of food and lazing in the sun etc! Kittens with little collars were being sold in the street the other day and were gathering lots of interest.

Today we had a later start after our trek yesterday. We got the train to Nara, which was the capitol of Japan 400 years ago! This is where the trains got tricky as there was less and less in our alphabet and more words and instructions in Japanese symbols alone. We managed it though, with only an unplanned change in trains half way through which made the journey a little longer than expected!

Nara had lots of big impressive shops and buildings with illumious signs as well as the little Japanese traditional shops and restaurants. We walked from the train station until we came to a lake where we stopped to have lunch. We saw turtles/terapins, schools of tiny fish and pond skaters (?) all over the water.

We then had a walk through the big parks to the Todai-Ji Temple, to see the great buddha hall with the HUGE Buddha statue! Todai-Ji Temple is the largest wooden structure in the world!

We allowed the group some time to explore the markets here, as we had made them rush past many yesterday! A few small souvenirs were bought and we all tried an ice cone from the nearby drink stall, crushed ice in a cup with many flavours of syrup to squirt in flavour. This re-hydrated everyone and also gave us a bit of a sugar rush to get us back into gear!

We reched the most impressive temple and split into groups to see the Buddha. The size of the statue was awesome, absolutely huge and I don't think our photos do it justice! We spent a long time looking at the Buddha and all of the other statues around. We felt quite sad that perhaps, dedicated buddists may not find it easy to visit this very important place for worship because of the tourist attraction it had become. But we don't know all of the details of that?

We headed back through Nara to find somewhere to eat out for dinner for a change and after being rejected by a burger bar (no seats?!? I think he was just worried about us making noise!) a little restaurant/cafe squished our entire group in their 10 seater group room. The Japanese seem to be able to fit anything anywhere! It wasn't uncomfortable though and everyone had enough space. There were a few issues with the menu, he only had 5 pizzas when about 9 of us wanted pizza etc but we all compromised and everyone ended up with something yummy in the end! Several people also had desert - many pancakes with chocolate or strawberry syrup! The waiters were brilliant and very apologetic when they couldn't easily accomodate so many people. But it was nice for us because it was the very first meal we had been able to have together properly (the hotel table is not big enough for everyone so we eat in shifts!).

It was getting darker so after we sorted out the bill between everyone (still quite cheap!) we thanked them a lot and left to get the train back. This time the train was direct to the station outside of our hotel and only took half an hour so we were back pretty quick!

Lunch has been prepared for our trip tomorrow, another late start so everyone can get a lie in. Will fill you in with more soon! Please don't forget to keep checking our flickr page for photos!

Sayonara!

Drumming, Subways and Cherry Blossom

2009-04-10T07:30:00.000-07:00

Thursday 9th April

Today we all got up fairly early to be on time to get the Osaka Subway! Here we were going to buy our Multiride Tickets for the subway (the £30 train fare?) It should be enough to last us the entire stay in Osaka.

We were all up and rearing to go, we knew we had a few changes to make between subway lines so set off early, and its a good job we did! We had a map and directions from the hotel staff and still couldn't find the subway system! We had also been past it previously but it seemed to have disappeared...finally we found an entrance into the line we needed and rushed in to buy our tickets.

The man behind the counter did not understand what a multiride ticket was, well, let's face it, he didn't know what ANY english words were - none of our Japanese sketches could help us here...we tried and tried and eventually he pointed us to the ticket machines which we literally around the corner! We panicked as they are renowned for being in Japanese - but they were in English too! AND the Multiride option was there - so my research had been correct after all :-)

We were pretty successful on the trains, even though they were very busy and packed full of people, managed to change without incident and got off at the correct stop. A LOVELY Japanese lady and her husband not only gave us directions to the Dawn Centre for our workshops but also walked us there to make sure we arrived safely. Japanese people are SO friendly and helpful and very very polite. They love the younger members of our group and keep calling them cute and beautiful in a very respectull way.

We got to the Dawn Centre and got changed into 'dance' type clothes as the workshop leaders set the drums up. We met Ako, out workshop organiser and also Yuko and Kasumi, our translators for the day. They were very nice and helped the group with Japanese words.

Taiko Drumming was AMAZING. We watched the performers do a demo and then we got to get up and have a go ourselves. As a group we learnt an entire piece over a few hours. Although there were some tricky bits, the leaders were strict but LOADS of fun and had a great sense of humour. Everyone seemed to have a fantastic time and loved performing the piece when we all finally had it right. There was a really buzz in the atmosphere, we had some great photos with the drummers and then set off with Ako, Kasu and Yuko for lunch before our Noh Theatre workshop.

Ako had brought a polythene sheet to spread on the ground under the cherry blossom near Osaka Castle on our way to the next workshop. It seems to be the done thing here when sitting in the park or having a picnic, and of course we had to take our shoes off :-) Ako was delighted we had made her some sandwhiches to share and everyone had a good chat until our half hour was up and it was time to move on. Ako said 'Lets Shift, move your Asses' in her fantastic Japanese accent which made us all laugh. On the way we saw little children in very posh school outfits and mothers in very posh Kimonos, this was Osaka's 'rich' school where all the wealthy families send their children.

The Noh Theatre workshop was in a traditional Japanese theatre, this felt incredibly prestigious immediately and we were warned at how respectful and quiet we had to be while there. We took our shoes off and we were led into the theatre by a Japanese lady in full Kimono. On the stage two men entered and while one sang in a low voice, the other moved around the stage with a fan, it was very different to anything we had seen before.

The main man then stayed to talk about Noh Theatre and its origins, this was a fairly long discussion and explanation and the group did really well to keep up and listen intently. He then asked Tom, our older lad, to come and be made up in a masked outfit as a Japanese woman - using mask! It took them ages to wrap him up in material and gown, with a horse hair wig and everything tied the correct way, finishing by putting the mask on his face. He looked fantastic (pics on Flickr soon!) Everyone was told they were allowed to take photos! Then, within one minute the 3 actors on stage took the entire outfit off Tom and explained it would need to be done this quickly for costume change!

We then had a tour backstage, bamboo floors and sliding doors. There is a big gap underneath the stage with big pots which help make an echo noise when you walk across it! Again we had photos and thanked everyone politely as we left.

We then went back to the park outside of Osaka Castle and stayed for quite a while, relaxing and chatting, doing cartwheels (and flips for some!) Met some lovely Japanese students and brought the younger youth members bags of sweets as presents, we gave them some English money as a gesture from our culture and they were fascinated! Everyone was so nice, some of our group showed the two girls their Japanese scenes from the night before and they were very impressed.

Friday 10th April

Today was a lie in, everyone had to be up by about 10am and we were back in our little teams for the other day! Each team had to figure out how to use the subway to get to Osaka Castle without any of the adults interfering. They then had to take us there as if we were the youth members. They all did really well, some confusion at times but NO mistakes! Everyone arrived at Osaka castle together, almost!

After lazing around in the amazing warm weather for a bit, we ventured up the the Castle grounds. They were fab, we had a slow wonder around, looking at some of the food stalls, (buying Hello Kitty stuff) gift shops etc and went to look out over the city!

We then went into Osaka Castle, which was free for under 15s! This was new so it was great that the younger ones were able to save a bit of money. We then had to walk up 8 flights of stairs to get to the top observatory and look out over the entire city! It is HUGE! There were many photos taken. We then headed back downwards, looking around each room and its exhibit of how the castle was built (some were obviously more interested than others) A few got dressed up in Samurai outfits to have pictures taken which was loads of fun!

At the end of the Castle visit we all walked around to the side of the castle walls to see all the big cherry blossom trees. Large pieces of polythene were spread out in different areas so that anyone could sit down. We chose a piece and sat to have a chat and some snacks. Many played games on the large rocks and stones that decorated the park and some took photos...of themselves...MySpace?

Each group then had to find their way back to the Hotel via Subway without interference from leaders. This had now become a challenge and each team was determined to win! So off we all had to race, with us slowing them down and encourage them to THINK carefully about where they were going so as not to make a mistake. Many lessons were learned and everyone arrived back successfully. The youth members are now confident in using the subway system ... and hopefully won't just follow us around like sheep - they will now have an idea of where we are going and can be involved in getting there!

Back at the hotel we all got showered and changed and had dinner. We chatted to Alan in the hotel who will be taking us (kindly for free) to Kyoto tomorrow to meet some Geisha's in training in the streets of the town (a local tourist attraction) and see some less touristy parts of the place. We also spoke to Coultan, a canadian who is studying Japanese and staying in our hotel, he has been helping with local knowledge and Japanese customs.

A great experience so far! Please leave us your comments below?

Photos of Japan Trip!

2009-04-09T07:19:00.000-07:00

Hi all, don't forget to check out photos of our trip - HERE!!

We are uploading as regularly as possible :-) Please also leave your comments for us on the blog at the bottom of each post? Would love to hear from you all!

First Impressions

2009-04-08T05:09:00.000-07:00

27 hours of travelling, coach, plane, train...and we arrive in Osaka! The plane wasn't too bad, there was much excitement all the way here, we were with Emirates and so got a pillow, blanket, big tv screen with games, movies, music etc PLUS exterior cameras so we could watch the world go by and see the ground after take off! The group were even given Kiddy travel bags as one male steward took a shine to them. So that was fun.

We found the hotel by about 7pm as predicted (despite a tiny mix up with exits at the train station!) signed ourselves in and started to get used to the space we had.

Some have shared rooms with 'proper' beds and some have single rooms with futons. The hotel is nice, not what we expected - they gave us the impression that they had many rooms when we were booking, it turns out that all of those rooms are combined in the foyer!!! HOWEVER its really nice, friendly and we are managing to fit ourselves in nicely, it also means I can keep everyone together easier!

Everyone got a shower (again the showers are all downstairs when I was told there was a shower room on every floor - they had meant toilets on every floor, but this is fine since most of us are downstairs anyway playing cards and chatting, internet and diary writing!) Then it was off to bed for an early night in order to keep the Jet Lag at bay!

Today there were many bright faces (although a little tiredness did creep in as we went along) we deliberately had an easy day today. Everyone was allowed up late for breakfast etc, then we all set out in groups to explore the local area! We saw quite a lot of REAL Japan (as we are not staying in a 'tourist' area as such) and we got stared at a lot because we are not Japanese.

We found lots fun little streets with 100Y store (the equivelent to our £ shop, though things are 105Y to 150Y!!!) lots of decorations around the streets, lanterns etc and many sushi bars and places to eat.

When all the groups met up we chose one of the food places that people had seen on the adventure and made our way there together, it was only around the corner. We managed to get everyone seated, it was only small, and the waitresses were lovely but didn't speak a word of English, the menu was also completely in Japanese symbols. Luckily the chef DID speak English so they went to get him while we were rummaging through our language books!!!

He was lovely and asked us what we wanted him to cook, which was good because we wanted to avoid things like uncooked seafood etc! So he offered to make BIG dishes of lots of things like Rice, Chicken, Pork, Noodles etc so we could all share, then asked what price we would like to pay so he could cook enough to suit the price and ensure we could afford what we ordered! Despite his struggling English, and our appalling lack of Japanese, it all happened and the food was brilliant! Everyone tucked in and were careful to avoid sticking their chopsticks in the rice and made sure they thanked the waitresses in Japanese etc.

A little Japanese man was trying to be friendly with us but he was a bit drunk and the Waitress told him off and made him move away from us - so we are definitely being looked after! The Chef asked if we were from Liverpool and said that we come from the land of Harry Potter! He was keen to know why we were in Japan, how long for etc and invited us back. So we plan to go back towards the end of the trip to see him and try out our new Japanese words on him!

We arrived back at the hotel to rest shortly before heading out to the conference room (which is above the 100Y shop?!?!) to do a workshop.

The conference room is well smart and we began by talking about what we had seen and learnt earlier today when walking around Osaka. The group shared their stories about what they had seen etc and then talked about what they DIDNT like, most worries are not being able to speak to the language well while everyone is keen to meet new people and bond with the group.

We then worked on some Japanese phrases and words together and split into groups to discuss various things such as what they are looking forward to, what they are worried about, what they want to gain from the trip etc. This was fun and the answers were great!

The groups first imressions of Japan off the top of their heads when asked were:
Bright
Colourful
Friendly

They also talked about how different Japan is to the UK, here we have heated toilet seats and 'bum washers' in the toilets (!), different language, trains in the sky, lanterns and decorations etc

After this we played a quick warm up game and split into pairs to act out a scene using only Japanese language, so the group were able to look through the guide books and language sheets and create a situation using Japanese only! We showed some of these and they were pretty impressive! I hope everyone has learnt some words to put to use now.

Everyone is currently having dinner (or tea as it was argued!), it is 9.20pm. Then it will be bed time as we have a very early start tomorrow!!

Thanks for reading :-)

WE ARE HERE!!!!

2009-04-07T18:43:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone, we are in Osaka!

I'm going to come back later and give you a proper update, but basically, after a 27 hour journey, we finally landed in Kansai Airport in Japan!

We are just having breakfast and then out to go on a local adventure.

I will try to upload some photos ASAP today on flickr, so please check.

Hope you are all well back home, it is very warm here.

Em.

2009-04-05T12:23:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

In about 8.5 hours we will be leaving Grimsby and heading to Heathrow Airport to begin our journey!

We stop in Dubai at about midnight and change flights which take us straight to Osaka!

Please check this blog daily to see regular updates on what we are up to in Japan and also messages from the youth members!

You can add comments on our posts without having to sign up to anything, we would love to hear your thoughts etc

Please also visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/fyt/sets/ where you can see our Japan photo album as it grows during our trip (hopefully, depending on our technology!) Just click on the set named JAPAN on the top row!

Thanks to everyone for all their help and support, hope you enjoy our story....

Recent E Mail:

2009-03-23T06:47:00.000-07:00

Hi for all those who did not receive the information (it has all been posted to you weeks ago - apart from the final countdown and the fact file!!!!), please find it attached to this e mail along with a factfile compiled by Gemma Quickfall. Please ensure you have read our information carefully, this saves a lot of time and worry.

A few things which we would like your response on -

Scott is thinking of organising a group exchange of currency after speaking to the people in town centre exchange bureau, please let us know as the more we exchange then the better rate they give us!
We have been told you may receive flight socks on the plane, however I know I will definitely buy some in advance just in case!
A couple of people are choosing to get a Hepititus shot from their doctor because it can help prevent against illness caused by eating seafood, this is your choice so please visit your doctor for advise. I think I am going to be very brave and go and have it done - better safe than sorry!
I am keeping updates on http://fytjapan.blogspot.com/ so please keep visiting! You can leave comments and questions there withouth having to sign up to anything. We will also keep this updated DURING our stay in Japan (all being well with my laptop!) so please keep reading!!! It is cheaper than phoning to find out what we have been up to!
If anyone would like to add anything or respond to any of the above then please click REPLY ALL and send us all a message back!

Please see below some research on mobile phones, kindly sent through from Pete:

Hi Emma,
Don't know if this helps but it's info you can share with everyone if you want.

I rang O2 to see if our phone would work in Japan etc.
I was told any Duel band phone would work there, (most are now Tri or even Quad Band).
One good bit of advice for them is to turn off voice mail as they will be charged for each call!! (but not you as we might need to get hold of you!).

based on pay monthly - call charges in Japan are: -

To recieve a call £1.40/min
To make a call £1.69/min
Texts to send 40p each
Texts to recieve FREE.

But on O2 you can buy (before you go) ITS for £2.99 and that reduces calls to:-

To recieve a call 85p/min
To make a call £1.20/min
Texts to send 40p each
Texts to recieve FREE.

Hope this helps, only other thing is it's probably worth a quick call to your supplier to check your phone etc.
Pete.

Also just to confirm, please see below a list of people attending the trip:

Emma Nicholson (adult)
Scott Middleton (adult)
Vickie Parkin (adult)
Gemma Quickfall (adult)
Helen Nicholson (adult)
Tom Finch (adult)

Charli Parkin
Beth Love
Beth Rouse
Paige Kirk
Beth Thompson
Sonia Chuahan
Gracie Mason
Jordana Grant
Charlotte Adams
Larni Martin
Abigail Stocks
Daniel Stocks

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us via this e mail, you can begin a group discussion by hitting REPLY ALL rather than just reply.

Hope you are all having a lovely day! The weather is horrendous here in Barnetby eek!

Em.

Fundraising Continues...

2009-03-23T06:40:00.000-07:00

Fundraising continues in full flow as the group went bag packing at Morrisons on Sat 21st March 2009.

We raised over £800!!!! Well Done everyone!!

A big thanks to Brian and Morrisons for letting us pack bags.

Also a big thanks to Stuart, Tasha, Shirley Nicholson, Pete & Sue Milsom, Bethany Jessica Laverick, Jordan Musson, Patrick, Aly & Pete Rouse, who all came to help out even though there aren't coming to Japan! We couldn't have done it without you guys xx

T Shirts & Hoodies!

2009-03-23T06:36:00.000-07:00

FYT - T Shirts & Hoodies!

Hey guys! Our Fusion Youth Theatre T Shirts and Hoodies have arrived!

If you want to buy them we currently have sizes S, M, L & XL

They will be available at youth theatre workshops, events and performances.

T Shirts - £10
Hoodies - £15

We are currently looking into providing these in children's sizes from age 4+ as well. Please let us know if you would like to order a childs size as this will have to be more specific and go in as a seperate order :-)

Lots of News!

2009-03-08T00:30:00.000-08:00

We have lots of news for you about our Japan fundraising!

The flights are booked with Emirates as we have already said and we are pleased to have finalised booking for our Hotel - Hotel Chuo in Osaka.

FUNDING

We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded ANOTHER grant of £2,500, this time from the Sasakawa Foundation (as recommended by Vickie Parkin! Ta!) This is only half of what we asked for so we are still a little down on funds but it is certainly better than nothing and takes an enourmous strain off us! This ensures that the final fundraising lot of £200 each is purely for travel and other entertainment whilst in the country!

MEMBERS

We raised nearly £150 with Charli and Beth at the Car Boot sale a week ago.
Jordana raised £50 at her Swap Shop Party
Charli raised almost £100 in one week through selling cakes!
Beth Rouse raised over £200 with her trolley raffle at Morrisons last month

EVENTS

Our recent 'Young Talent' competition raised nearly £200 in participant fees, ticket sales and refreshments!
You can get involved in our QUIZ NIGHT next Saturday 14th March, 7pm! Bring a team of up to 5 people, £1 each!!
Charli is about to undertake a 10 mile bike ride next Saturday morning so get your sponsorship money in!
Beth Love is going to do a Triathlon across Cleethorpes!
Our Bag Packing at Morrisons will take place on Sat 21st March, 10-4.
ONLINE

Meanwhile, catch up with us online! We now have an ongoing FYT blog by the members themselves! http://fusionyouththeatre.blogspot.com/

You can also check out our photos on http://www.flickr.com/photos/fyt/sets/ Please e mail us at fusionyt@gmail.com if you would like to order any prints.

Car Boot Sale!

2009-03-01T11:49:00.000-08:00

Today we all got up at about 5am to go to the Car Boot at Hemswell!

It was a really good day, and between our two pitches we made nearly £150!! We plan to do it again next week, buy just ONE pitch and invite more fyt members to take part!
Let us know if you can make it?

Charli & Beth with their pitches!

It's really easy! just get all your old unwanted stuff, get friends and relatives to donate any of their old unwanted stuff and sell it on! even if everything is 50p or £1 - you still ending up making a nice bit of money!

2009-02-25T03:15:00.000-08:00

JAPAN UPDATE

We are waiting for the result of a funding bid next week so fingers crossed! This will determine the exact content of the trip which we are finalising now, we have several plans depending on how much money there is! We have budgeted for worst case to best case scenario.

It was great that we received support from the Daiwa Foundation, sadly it was HALF the money we asked for which is why the flights and dates had to change. With times as they are, other organisations have supported us with little bits and pieces, less than we had hoped for but we are still grateful.

And of course myself and Scott and other FYT leaders are working really hard trying to bring in lots more money - we all work voluntarily as you know and are currently selling DVDs of shows, organising meetings and social nights etc, I am working for Lindsey School for free at the moment to ensure our productions can be staged there free of charge! And we are also setting up a new Thursday night group there which will bring some more money in to FYT.

PLEASE PLEASE keep fundraising, we encourage this because the more fundraising people do, the less we have to ask from you personally, please ask if you want us to help you organise an event or activity to raise money :-)

Please keep YOUR fundraising stories coming in as we know you have all been working just as hard to raise the money to make this trip a success!

Anyway, the hotel and flights are booked and we now have a rough outline of the trip! Hurrah!

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY:

Friday 6th March, 7.30pm @ Lindsey Community Arts College

YOUNG TALENT 2009

We have some wonderful trophies to give away to winners of this great talent comp!

YOU CAN HELP BY - encouraging young people to enter the comp, getting people to buy tickets from the Caxton Box Office, Gy Central Library, 01472 346251

Saturday 14th March, 6pm-7pm @ Gy Central Hall

JAPAN MEETING

Come along and enjoy refreshments at this social gathering. A relaxed chance to pick up final info, chat to each other, ask questions and hear announcements! This will be followed by...

Saturday 14th March, 7pm-9pm @ Gy Central Hall

QUIZ & SOCIAL NIGHT!

craft stall, treats & refreshments, games & prizes, Origami making and MUCH more!Bring a team to enter the Quiz or make a team on the night! £1 per person

YOU CAN HELP BY - bringing at LEAST 5 other people outside of the Japan team along to take part in the event. It's open to ALL so please encourage friends and family members, school mates and work colleagues along to get involved!

Saturday 21st March, 10am-4pm @ Morrisons

BAG PACKING!

Choose your till and get packing bags! Oganised by Aly and Beth Rouse, this event raied £400 last time, if we get MORE people taking part we could raise double that amount at least!

YOU CAN HELP BY - Coming along and packing bags, bringing friends and family along to do a shift as well! The more people involved, the more breaks everyone gets too! :-)

Keep us updated with what YOU are doing! We can spread the word and help you recruit!

Flights!

2009-02-24T02:58:00.000-08:00

Hi all, the flights have been booked and as per my e mail the schedule is as follows (please note date changes as agreed):

EMIRATES

EK 2U 06APR Heathrow-Dubai 1400 arrive 2355 – 6hrs 55mins
EK 316U 07APR Dubai-Osaka 0235 arrive 1720 – 9hrs 45mins
EK 317U 20APR Osaka-Dubai 2315 arrive 0530 21APR – 11hrs 15mins
EK 1U 21APR Dubai-Heathrow 0745 arrive 1215 – 7hrs 30mins

More info on the company we are flying with - http://www.emirates.com/english/

2008-12-29T01:03:00.000-08:00

Christmas Events

Carol Singing this Christmas took place at Sainsburys, Tesco and Asda! We raised £460 singing carols at Christmas!

Charli organised a masked Christmas ball and raised £230! A good festive season of money making for our trip!

Halloween Fun!

2008-11-11T04:35:00.000-08:00

Well done to all those who attended the Halloween party, sadly the weather was not as kind as it was last year so we didn't get the same turnout. It also meant that the bonfire and fireworks couldn't be enjoyed as much!

BUT Charli brought a trick or treat bucket and Gracie ran a candle tombola and both raised a bit of cash towards their funds.

Nathaniell ran hoock a duck in the bathtub! We also had a great time with Apple Bobbing and some gruesome looking buffet offerings!

Beth Rouse won the fancy dress competition as her teeny witch, Beth Love came second in her home made cat outfit!

The Party itself raised £67.50 through donations on the door!

It's all going well everyone..

2008-11-11T04:22:00.000-08:00

so Keep up the good work!

Some fundraising stories:

Gracie Mason has raised nearly £300 through her bingo night, fashion exchange and candle tombola!

Beth Rouse has raised nearly £500 through her trolley raffle at Morrisons and other events!

Coming up:

A Christmas Carol, adapted by our youth members through dance, drama and song will be performed at the Lindsey School on 6th & 7th Dec, tickets available from caxton box office on 01472 346251, please promote this to as many people as possible!

Charli Parkin is organising a fantastic Christmas Masked Ball on Thurs 11th Dec at the Stamford Club. Tickets are £5 and you can invite friends and family!

We are currently confirming venues and dates for Carol Singing, if anyone wants to join us then watch this space to find out when we are performing!

The Japan meeting went very very well, we are currently chasing up answers to everyones questions and will post and e mail out all the info over the next few weeks.

We have recently hit £3500.00 in our fundraising, so keep up the good work everyone!

First Milestone!

2008-10-02T02:53:00.001-07:00

Hi all, we have just reached and passed our first milestone in fundraising!

£1,216.84

Congratulations all! This money was raised by participants fees and fundraising, keep it coming in guys!

In the meantime, Gracie has announced two fantastic events which she is hosting at her home in Humberston:

Bingo Night - Sat 25th Oct @ 7pm

Fashion Exchange - Sat 8th Nov @ 7pm

Tickets are £3 and you can buy them from Gracie on a Wednesday night!

The Bingo night will feature a range of prizes, free drink & cake and other games & stalls. The fashion exchange is a great way for young ladies aged 10-16 to donate clothes they do not wear and swap them for other clothes, bags, jewellery that fit better, look better and feel better! - recycling, raising funds and its fun!

We would also like to thank everyone for sending in their poetry, we nearly have enough for the book, please keep those poems coming, our working title for the book is 'Life, Memories and....Japan!' since that seems to sum up the themes of the poems we have received so far...but if you have any other ideas then please let us know.

Don't forget to visit our website on www.fusionyouththeatre.co.uk

it has recently been re-vamped and is now our official site!! Keep visiting because there will be regular changes and updates!

Just a few bits!

2008-09-28T13:04:00.001-07:00

Hi all! Here is an update on our fundraising efforts, so far we have raised a total of: £751.84

Keep that fundraising coming in, and don't forget to get your fees paid up!

Here are a few little events and activities that have taken place to raise money:

Charli, Beth and Vicky have walked the Humber Bridge several times and each raised funds for their personal fundraising.
Freya and Karen have taken part in the Lombard fun run and raised £65!
Emma (me!) and friend Steph are going to be biking from Grimsby to Lincoln on 22nd Nov.
FYT will be releasing two books, one a collection of poems written by the members and another a collection of plays written by Andy Evans which have been performed by the group, these will go on sale and raise money for Japan.

SO....here's how you can continue to help!

On Fri 10th Oct, we have our two dramas - Classic Shakespeare in the form of King Lear and stunning new drama Riding the Rainbow by Andy Evans.

These shows will be performed on the Lindsey Community Arts College stage, tickets are £6/5 from Caxton Theatre Box Office on 01472 346251. Get as many people to attend as possible!!

Send in your poems to be included in the poetry book too! We are hoping to gather as many as possible as soon as poss in order to get the ball rolling on this.

Current Total...

2008-09-20T22:44:00.000-07:00

Hi all, here is the current running total that we have raised so far:

Participant Income + Garden Party = £675.40

Here are some pics by Charli, from the Garden Party!

Please visit http://www.fusionyouththeatre.co.uk/ for a list of all the upcoming events and shows that we are looking for support with!! We would also love for you to comment this with any of your own fundraising events or ideas!

Please encourage people to come see our productions as any profits will go towards Japan!

The Fundraising Begins!

2008-09-20T09:43:00.000-07:00

So the forms have gone out, people have signed up and we have been applying here, there and everywhere for funding and sponsorship to take a group of young people to Japan in 2009! We have also set up a group e mail via fusionyouththeatre@hotmail.co.uk

The trip takes place 4th - 20th April 2009 and we are awaiting confirmation from our friend Nori about where exactly his puppet master is in Japan...though he has now confirmed that it will be possible for us to work with a dance worker over there too!

Today, we held a garden party/arts & crafts fair at 6 Marklew Avenue (my mums house).

Charli had a stall with a sweets board & find the witch game,
Beth L had a name card going and sold various bits and pieces,
Beth T sold some lovely home made cards,
Abigail & Daniel brought loads of their toys and books etc to sell,
Steph & Scott had a bit of a photo/craft shop going,
Vicky was making ice creams (with & without sprinkles as requested) in return for donations,
Shirley, Alan & Helen had made loads of cakes and sausage rolls etc and were in charge of refreshements!

The day was a great success with lots of different people of all ages visiting, parents sat down with a cup of tea while the young children played with finger puppets on the lawn.

In total we raised - £185.40 !!!

Everyone who had their own stall got to put their garden party fundraising toward their own personal fundraising.

Meanwhile I am selling raffle tickets for our Christmas draw during A Christmas Carol, and I am also looking for sponsorship for my 40 mile bike ride to Lincoln with Steph!!

I will give you an overall update of the running total and any success with funding etc in my next post