I really should be doing other stuff right now, but I'm motivated to blog. For those of you who don't know, 10 years ago we hosted a boy from Japan at our house. His name was Akira. And that's about all I remembered about him.
A few weeks ago Dad suggested that I try to find out where he is and meet up with him while I'm in Japan. All we had was his name, home town, and the year he came to our district. Luckily, we have the amazing power of the internet here! My host dad looked for a rotary club in his home town and we found his sponsor club. We sent them an email explaining the situation and asking if they knew any way to contact Akira now.
As it turns out, Akira's father is a rotarian at that club. He got the email and immediately got us in touch with Akira. Akira emailed my host dad, who gave him my email, and then he emailed me. He was so excited to hear from me and he said he never would have imagined that I'd be in Japan now. He was so happy I remembered him and asked how the family is and such. I gave him the basic updates. It was a really nice email from him.
Akira is now engaged to be married! The wedding is next month in Fukuoka. I've been invited. At first I thought, no I won't go. It's too much of a hassle to arrange it with Rotary and school and his family will be really busy anyway. I'd just be in the way. But I guess they really want me to come because the Fukuoka rotary club sent a formal invitation to my rotary club for me to go down there. My host dad offered (without me knowing, I heard this later from my host mom) to go with me to Fukuoka, but my host club president said he wanted to take me. So, it looks like I'm going to Fukuoka with my club president.
Today I find out that my host club's president can't or isn't going for some reason. I'm not sure why. So, now it looks like I'm going to Fukuoka by myself. I still have no idea what's going on with how I'm getting there or anything. Honestly, I've been hearing all of this besides the email from Akira through my host dad or my host mom, who hears it from my host dad. Who knows what's going on?! I'll just let the rotarians decide what they decide...
Friday, February 20, 2009
Busy Days
I'm sorry I haven't blogged for a while again. I have been really, really busy. Today is officially 6 months, which is crazy. I honestly don't understand how the time keeps going faster. Tomorrow I change families. Which is a lot of the reason I haven't blogged. I've been super busy trying to get everything ready to go., but more on that later.
So, I'm going to try to make this pretty quick, but that might be hard. On Sunday, February 8, some of my Rotarians took me to Harajuku. It was AWESOME! Harajuku is like a really famous teen-shopping district of Tokyo. Parts of it are pretty cheap, too! :D We went to the different stores that we wanted to see and we had lunch at a really good pizza, pasta, and curry buffet. The rotarians were so nice and one brought his daughter along, so that was fun. They took me and Iliana. For Saki, the rotarian's daughter's sake, we used a lot of Japanese. Iliana wanted to speak English, but I felt bad not letting her into the conversation at all so I tried to turn it into Japanese. I know what it's like to not understand your friends when they are joking and having a good time... It's a little frustrating. I ended up buying a cute skirt and a really cheap scarf, which is also cute. I tried looking for shoes, but they don't have my size. I am going to be in serious trouble once these ones wear out. And believe me, they are getting close. So, I definitely plan to go back to Harajuku a few times.
Harajuku!
School has been going much better (not that it was ever going poorly) lately. Lots of different girls have realized I almost speak Japanese now so I have more friends and lots of people talk with me between classese and such. After winter break was over we changed our cleaning duties. I used to be on the classroom, where you just sweep the floor with the help of 6 other girls. Pretty easy. Now I'm on the bathroom! :) Of course. But I actually don't mind it. I have a good time with the other girls during cleaning.
Happi and Yuki-chan. They are such fun girls!
Rinna, Nozomi, Me, and Happi. You've gotta love Toilet Souji.
On the 11th I had they day off school so I made dinner for my host family! I made PASTIES! It was so fun! And they turned out really good. My host mom and I did it together, which was probably the best part. I really enjoyed mine, and my host parents liked it a lot. Wataru ate his without complaining, but I could tell he didn't especially like it. Toru, well, Toru didn't want to eat his. The first thing he said when he saw it was "oishiikunai, yo!". That literally mean, "That's not delicious". Then my host dad told him he had to eat it because I made it. Then he cried. I felt bad and told my host dad I didn't care if he didn't eat it, but they made him eat it anyway. So, there were lots of tears and loud crying. He ended up eating a tiny bit of the inside. How bad could it be? It's just vegetables. The next night Mie wanted to try making quiche, so she did. It turned out really good. The kids asked, rather hesitently, if tonight was American food, too. haha! They were disappointed and Toru refused to eat his dinner once again... Oh, well. New food is hard for little kids.
Toru, Wataru, My host dad, and me.
Mmm.. pasties. Did you know these are like 800 calories?! My host mom was shocked! (me too!)
On Valentine's Day I was invited to go to a Young Single Adults dance at my church here. I'm not really old enough, but I look like I am and I go to the YSA meetings on Sunday so they let me come. It was really fun! It was all social dancing, which I am really bad at, but it was fun to talk with all the different people. I practiced a lot of Japanese, but lots of people knew English, too. Lots of guys asked me to dance, so that was fun. Don't worry Dad, they were all too old. :) Most people I talked to asked me what my major was. I go: ...umm. I'm a high schooler. Then they go into shock. Then they'd usually stop the next person walking by and have them guess my age. They'd usually say something around 22 or 23. Only 6 or 7 years off, right? I'm pretty sure my age became a topic of conversation for people that weren't talking to me because everyone had "heard that" by the end of the dance... odd. So, it was lots of fun and it gave me an excuse to wear one of my dresses for the first time here. It was really formal dress, so I wore that cute black and green one I have that only AnnaMarie and Caroline know what it looks like. Sorry, but I didn't take any pictures there. I didn't know anyone.
Last Sunday, the 15th, I had a Rotary trip. We all went down to Kamakura. It was awesome! We saw the temples and Big Buddha and stuff. I'd seen it all before, but it was fun to see again with a different group of people. It was also really fun to see everyone again. We got to experience zazen. Zazen is buddhist meditation. It was.... okay. A really good cultural experience, but it made my back hurt. We did three 12 minute sessions. The monk, who was very nice, walked around with a big bamboo stick gently correcting people's posture. And if you signal him by putting your hands together in front of you, he will "help you focus your mind" with his "stick of encouragement". He slaps you on the back twice on each side. It's between the spine and the shoulderblade so it's not supposed to hurt too much. I didn't understand you had to ask him to do it to you until the last session and I was just about to signal him, but his seat was just to the left of mine, and he was walking from that direction, and then just as I was about to put my hands together... he sat down. The last session was over. It would have made a better story if I'd gotten hit....
Me and Iliana. Thanks Katja... :P
Then we got an exclusive tour of the temple there and ate lunch the same way the monks do. It was actually good food, but they made extra salads and stuff for us because we are guests and most of us were still hungry. No wonder those monks are all so skinny. All they eat is rice and soup every day. And no meat. We had tofu though... yumm.
Felipe, Ruan, Me, Vincent, Iliana, Korn and Katja.
After it was over we went to the beach and stood on the wet sand for a while then went to a mexican restaurant at Yokohama for dinner. It was fun. I was so tired by the end of it though. And I've been tired ever since.
Vincent, Camille, Katja, and Abbey
I can't even believe how this week flew by. I am spending my last night in this house tonight! Well, for 3 months at least. There's a good chance I'll be coming back which takes the sadness out of leaving. Dinner was sukiyaki! I love that stuff! Its like meat and vegetables cooked in sause and then you put it into your bowl of raw egg and mix it all up! Y-U-M! I will definitely be making that when I go home...
So, I now have almost everything packed. Just my school uniform and random things I've been using this week. Like computer cords and such. I think everything is going to fit in my suitcases and bags. Most of the new stuff I have now are big things like 3 coats, 2 school uniforms, shoes for school, and a whole bag of school books and supplies. At least I don't have to deal with a weight limit now. Hopefully the house I'm going to has an elevator or I'm on the 1st floor. :) Now I have to go sync my external hard drive and clear all my stuff off of this computer. I'll try to blog soon and tell you all about my new family. I still haven't seen the house, but it's supposed to be big! I'm excited, a little nervous, and still slightly stressed about all the stuff I still have to do.
I'm pretty sure that this is my favorite picture of the whole 6 months I've been here. And that ice cream was awesome! Sweet Potatoe flavor. We tried taking the picture from farther away first, but we had to get a little too close for comfort and I kinda freaked out... haha.
So, I'm going to try to make this pretty quick, but that might be hard. On Sunday, February 8, some of my Rotarians took me to Harajuku. It was AWESOME! Harajuku is like a really famous teen-shopping district of Tokyo. Parts of it are pretty cheap, too! :D We went to the different stores that we wanted to see and we had lunch at a really good pizza, pasta, and curry buffet. The rotarians were so nice and one brought his daughter along, so that was fun. They took me and Iliana. For Saki, the rotarian's daughter's sake, we used a lot of Japanese. Iliana wanted to speak English, but I felt bad not letting her into the conversation at all so I tried to turn it into Japanese. I know what it's like to not understand your friends when they are joking and having a good time... It's a little frustrating. I ended up buying a cute skirt and a really cheap scarf, which is also cute. I tried looking for shoes, but they don't have my size. I am going to be in serious trouble once these ones wear out. And believe me, they are getting close. So, I definitely plan to go back to Harajuku a few times.
Harajuku!
School has been going much better (not that it was ever going poorly) lately. Lots of different girls have realized I almost speak Japanese now so I have more friends and lots of people talk with me between classese and such. After winter break was over we changed our cleaning duties. I used to be on the classroom, where you just sweep the floor with the help of 6 other girls. Pretty easy. Now I'm on the bathroom! :) Of course. But I actually don't mind it. I have a good time with the other girls during cleaning.
Happi and Yuki-chan. They are such fun girls!
Rinna, Nozomi, Me, and Happi. You've gotta love Toilet Souji.
On the 11th I had they day off school so I made dinner for my host family! I made PASTIES! It was so fun! And they turned out really good. My host mom and I did it together, which was probably the best part. I really enjoyed mine, and my host parents liked it a lot. Wataru ate his without complaining, but I could tell he didn't especially like it. Toru, well, Toru didn't want to eat his. The first thing he said when he saw it was "oishiikunai, yo!". That literally mean, "That's not delicious". Then my host dad told him he had to eat it because I made it. Then he cried. I felt bad and told my host dad I didn't care if he didn't eat it, but they made him eat it anyway. So, there were lots of tears and loud crying. He ended up eating a tiny bit of the inside. How bad could it be? It's just vegetables. The next night Mie wanted to try making quiche, so she did. It turned out really good. The kids asked, rather hesitently, if tonight was American food, too. haha! They were disappointed and Toru refused to eat his dinner once again... Oh, well. New food is hard for little kids.
Toru, Wataru, My host dad, and me.
Mmm.. pasties. Did you know these are like 800 calories?! My host mom was shocked! (me too!)
On Valentine's Day I was invited to go to a Young Single Adults dance at my church here. I'm not really old enough, but I look like I am and I go to the YSA meetings on Sunday so they let me come. It was really fun! It was all social dancing, which I am really bad at, but it was fun to talk with all the different people. I practiced a lot of Japanese, but lots of people knew English, too. Lots of guys asked me to dance, so that was fun. Don't worry Dad, they were all too old. :) Most people I talked to asked me what my major was. I go: ...umm. I'm a high schooler. Then they go into shock. Then they'd usually stop the next person walking by and have them guess my age. They'd usually say something around 22 or 23. Only 6 or 7 years off, right? I'm pretty sure my age became a topic of conversation for people that weren't talking to me because everyone had "heard that" by the end of the dance... odd. So, it was lots of fun and it gave me an excuse to wear one of my dresses for the first time here. It was really formal dress, so I wore that cute black and green one I have that only AnnaMarie and Caroline know what it looks like. Sorry, but I didn't take any pictures there. I didn't know anyone.
Last Sunday, the 15th, I had a Rotary trip. We all went down to Kamakura. It was awesome! We saw the temples and Big Buddha and stuff. I'd seen it all before, but it was fun to see again with a different group of people. It was also really fun to see everyone again. We got to experience zazen. Zazen is buddhist meditation. It was.... okay. A really good cultural experience, but it made my back hurt. We did three 12 minute sessions. The monk, who was very nice, walked around with a big bamboo stick gently correcting people's posture. And if you signal him by putting your hands together in front of you, he will "help you focus your mind" with his "stick of encouragement". He slaps you on the back twice on each side. It's between the spine and the shoulderblade so it's not supposed to hurt too much. I didn't understand you had to ask him to do it to you until the last session and I was just about to signal him, but his seat was just to the left of mine, and he was walking from that direction, and then just as I was about to put my hands together... he sat down. The last session was over. It would have made a better story if I'd gotten hit....
Me and Iliana. Thanks Katja... :P
Then we got an exclusive tour of the temple there and ate lunch the same way the monks do. It was actually good food, but they made extra salads and stuff for us because we are guests and most of us were still hungry. No wonder those monks are all so skinny. All they eat is rice and soup every day. And no meat. We had tofu though... yumm.
Felipe, Ruan, Me, Vincent, Iliana, Korn and Katja.
After it was over we went to the beach and stood on the wet sand for a while then went to a mexican restaurant at Yokohama for dinner. It was fun. I was so tired by the end of it though. And I've been tired ever since.
Vincent, Camille, Katja, and Abbey
I can't even believe how this week flew by. I am spending my last night in this house tonight! Well, for 3 months at least. There's a good chance I'll be coming back which takes the sadness out of leaving. Dinner was sukiyaki! I love that stuff! Its like meat and vegetables cooked in sause and then you put it into your bowl of raw egg and mix it all up! Y-U-M! I will definitely be making that when I go home...
So, I now have almost everything packed. Just my school uniform and random things I've been using this week. Like computer cords and such. I think everything is going to fit in my suitcases and bags. Most of the new stuff I have now are big things like 3 coats, 2 school uniforms, shoes for school, and a whole bag of school books and supplies. At least I don't have to deal with a weight limit now. Hopefully the house I'm going to has an elevator or I'm on the 1st floor. :) Now I have to go sync my external hard drive and clear all my stuff off of this computer. I'll try to blog soon and tell you all about my new family. I still haven't seen the house, but it's supposed to be big! I'm excited, a little nervous, and still slightly stressed about all the stuff I still have to do.
I'm pretty sure that this is my favorite picture of the whole 6 months I've been here. And that ice cream was awesome! Sweet Potatoe flavor. We tried taking the picture from farther away first, but we had to get a little too close for comfort and I kinda freaked out... haha.
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