Greetings from Osaka!

I'm gonna start with a cheesy Hey everybody!

I'm looving my stay here in Japan. Everybody are so nice here. My family is great, they always have great ideas of what to do during the weekends and national holidays. This morning I woke up for example at 4:30 to climb a mountain next to the house and watch the sunrise and see a great view over the Osaka, Kyoto and Nara at the same time. It was so cool! I've been to an amusement park, I set off fireworks with my family, I have had 4 trips to Kyoto temple visiting, sports center, I went fishing in the Pacific ocean, onsen, I suddenly got into a mexican festival downtown and so many other great things. I went to Kinkakuji temple in Kyoto which is definitely the most beautiful temple I've seen here in Japan.

Downtown Osaka is ridiculous. It has like a huge underground city of shopping malls. It's so easy to get lost. I walked the other day for two hours without knowing were I was and then I realized I hadn't moved moved anywhere, I had just been walking in the same area underground, on the street or in big buildings without noticing. I guess I'm maybe not the only one who has gotten into that situation during their stay here. I didn't see enough enough in Tokyo to get to see how it actually was there (I guess it's a bit similar) and plus, I come from Iceland with 300.000 inhabitants so it's a bit overwhelming.

The school is great. I'm studying japanese on my own in the classroom or in the library most of the lessons. I'm doing sports, calligraphy and english as well. From the library where I study a lot I have a great view over Osaka Castle and it's surroundings, I love it. I go to school around 7 every morning and I usually come back around 7 in the evening so I'm often very tired. I have around 1 hour of commuting, including standing in a train stuffed with people that doesn't stop for 20 minutes. The school festival was 2 weeks ago. I participated in my class play, I played thee role of an english butler,which was quite funny. It was a lot of fun and my class went to a restaurant afterwards in the evening.

The weather has been great, even the typhoon that was supposed to hit Osaka, never came. It's starting to get a bit cooler after the summer that means I'm not sweating like a monkey when I get to school. I'm going to my second family next monday and I'm just excited about it and I hope they'll be as great. My little brothers in both of these families are in my class so know my little brother in the next family.
Has anyone changed family yet? How was it?


A few responses to other blogs:

Eva, Random people are always saying hello, especially girls at school. People are so curious about me everywhere i go, always saying some phrases that they know in English.

Marco, It doesn't matter that my school has air-conditioning. I'm still always sweaty, or was, since it's getting a bit cooler, but still hot, to many commas.
There hasn't been any matsuri here and the pictures look cool, I wanna go to a Matsuri.


I have no idea were the pictures will come so here is some information.

Nr.1 I took a picture in the train I take very day. I'm a bad person, I thought it was so rude to take up the camera and flash straight into their sleepy faces but it was worth it. I've been in so much more stuffed trains than this but I had the camera that day.

Nr.2 My and my 2 host family brothers by The Kinkakuji temple

Nr.3 My hometown, Katanoshi, between Osaka and Kyoto. I bike for 20 minutes every morning along rice fields on my way to the station.

Well, best regards and I hope all of you continue having a great time or if it hasn't been very pleasant for you, I hope you start having a great time and enjoying your stay here!

Ólafur Páll