Surprised and Well

Since I last wrote I have exchanged homestay families. It was hard to say goodbye to my first family; they have treated me very well and I have learned a lot from that experience.

After a week of slowly packing my things back into my luggage (which was impossible and I have no idea how I'm going to bring it all home) and mentally saying my goodbyes I was ready for the change in pace though. My first family was much older and much quieter. The town was likewise more rural and quieter in nature. Overall, as you can gather, life was not fast and that suited me as I was stumbling through my first months in Japan.

However, now that I have enough experience under my belt I am ready to push my speaking further and myself further than I have been able to thus far. My new family is extremely nice, and much different in that I now have two younger sisters, one of which who is also a university student. They live in the city and the area is much more "alive" in terms of shopping and things to do. In my switch I also went from dear old Hankyu railway to Japan Rail, which is ok with me! But I do miss my crushed green velvet seats!

One thing I should note about my family, is that they are not your typical Japanese family. For sake of privacy I won't name names, but my homestay father is actually a famous television personality in Japan. You may find this hard to believe, but in all truthfulness he has appeared in movies as well as has regular programs. Talk about living the surreal life! I had no idea until a week or two ago how famous he actually was.

Famous aside, the family is very down to earth and has welcomed me with open arms. So much so in fact that I am trying to find ways to repay their kindness! For example, to my utter astonishment, they are taking me to Korea with them at the end of March, all expenses paid.

All I have to say is, I am very fortunate to be having this experience and I fully appreciate how much I have to be thankful for in my life right now.



It is remarkable how well my experiences with the homestay families has worked to the benefit of learning Japanese.