#11 Introducing My New World

Today started out at 5:50 am. Yeah, that was not very fun. I almost freaked out on my roommate because I thought it was 6:50 and we had to be in the lobby at 7:10. I didn’t though.

We all had to go our separate ways today. :/ Some had to fly to other locations, some had to bus, and others had to ride a train. I was on the train. :) The bullet train in fact. It was pretty fast. It’s very famous in Japan. There were about 20 of us going on Shinkansen? (Japanese for bullet train, I think?), so it wasn’t goodbye yet.

The 20 of us got to Tokyo Train Station pretty early so we got free reign to explore the gigantic place. Jared, Jacob, Andrew, Eric, Mary(?), Claudia, Zach, and I explored together. I found a Starbucks.

Haha. The only thing was, I didn’t remember until after I had bought the coffee that, in Japan, you’re not supposed to eat/drink and walk at the same time. We had to sit down to drink, unfortunately cutting our exploring time down a little.

When we got back to the group we all set out for the train that ran along the Nagoya/Hiroshima line.

It was an hour ride. Not long at all. I did have a bad experience with my bento box. It had a freaking hair in the potato salad. Not going to lie, the freaking thing was disgusting in the first place, and now this! Omg, I almost wanted to puke. We had the same bento box yesterday and it was nasty too. Luckily, Eric, the guy sitting next to me, had bought a much better bento box for himself earlier at Tokyo Station and offered to share with me. It was eel (unagi) and rice (gohan). It was pretty good too.

About half of us got off the train at Nagoya. We had to say goodbye to those who were continuing on to Hiroshima. After the goodbyes, we walked to greet our host families.

Horoko (my Okasan or mother) and her sister Tomoko were waiting for me. They were so excited! I couldn’t help but be excited too. It was a little awkward with the greetings. I gave my Okasan a hug even though she probably wasn’t used to it. Haha. Then I had to bow even though I wasn’t used to it. They both shook my hand too. Which I was surprised that they did. Shaking hands is very western you know.

When the excitement died down we left the bullet train area and went to a different area for a smaller train to Handa City. It turns out that Claudia, another exchange student, was taking the train too. Her host family and she sat right next to us. Claudia’s host family didn’t speak any English and she only has 2 years of Japanese under her belt. I wish her the best of luck! My Okasan speaks English very well, Tomoko does pretty good too. Thank goodness!

We talked a lot on the train. My Okasan has been to a lot of different countries and she also said she met the Emperor not too long ago! Crazy!

I had some kawaii (Japanese for cute, yes I am trying to learn!) signs in my room when I arrived at the house.


Yes, you do have to take off your shoes every time you walk in.

I get my own room by the way! It’s got a toilet and a sink as well as a real bed and space to move around. This is all really rare. Space is very tight for the Japanese, so I am grateful. :)


This is my new house. :)

The blue door is my room. Its seperated from the house. It makes it more private. Privacy is definitely far and few between in Japan.

They have a dog (or i-nu) called Tane (tah-nay). He is a toy poodle and very adorable. He makes me miss my Jack Russell Terrier so much!

He even loves the ball like Pep.

This is the inside.




We took a walk around the neighborhood. I got to meet my Okasan’s cousin too. She has a basketball hoop and she offered to let me use it anytime. (How sweet!)

They have 7-11’s in Japan! The outside looks pretty much the same but the inside is very different. All the food is in Japanese of course!

I met Iri (my host sister) briefly. Japanese kids in Junior High and in High School have a lot to do all the time. She gets home around 6 because she has brass band after school. After she gets home she goes to extra classes! Didn’t get to see her much…

I haven’t given them my gifts yet so I might do that tomorrow? Tomorrow I get to learn calligraphy. I am super excited about that. :)