Viking Style?

The last couple of days I did not get a chance to make a post. Friday was the most eventful because I went to a Catholic church and out to lunch with a family that knew my host mom. The family name is Yamaguchi. It is a family of six. There are 2 sons and 2 daughters all under the age of ten I assumed. I was picked up around 9:45 and we arrived at the church at 10:00. It was a short mass, but very similar to Catholic churches in America. Of course there was one big difference, they spoke Japanese...XD. They also do not wear outside shoes in the church, just like any home in Japan. So I was given a pair of slippers to wear. It was funny because it was a one size for everyone type, but my entire heel was off the shoe, lol. Mrs. Yamaguchi held up the songs to me, so I decided I would give it a try. I was surprised because I could actually sing and read the Japanese without falling behind. There were actually some Kanji characters, but thankfully I knew them all.

After church we went to a big store complex and got some yakisoba (fried noodles) and other food from a restaurant to take home. While waiting for the food, there was a book store right next door, so we all went and looked inside. One of the Yamaguchi boys liked Keroro Gunso like I do so it was fun because I got to see a lot of Keroro stuff.

Soon lunch was ready and we went to the Yamaguchi house to eat. Their house was very, very nice. It was modern style, so the table had chairs with it. We talked a lot and ate. Mrs. Yamaguchi pulled out the Asahikawa map to show me where their family lived in comparison to where my host mom did. It was quite close. It might take me 20 min. on my bike to get there. All of a sudden, her son put a Keroro watch on the table. I was like woaaah. It was exactly what I was looking for. Both of her sons had the watch and one did not want it, so he gave it to me. I was extremely happy. I took the Keroro watch strap and switched it with my current watch strap. So I had the same watch I bought, but with a Keroro strap, lol. I had a great time at the Yamaguchi's.

A few minutes after I arrived home, the doorbell rang, and I received a package. It was a present from the Czaplickis for my b-day, early so I can use it in Japan! ahahha. It was a bike computer (I think that is what it is called). It tells me how fast I am going on my bike and how long I ride it. A magnet is placed on the wheel and a reader reads how fast it takes for the magnet to go a full rotation. This then tells me how fast I am going. I always wanted something like this :P. So I tested it out and got faster than 21 mph, but I will work on getting faster, lol. I still don't get how Michael Johnson can run faster than me when I use my bike and he just runs. LOL. So now when I ride my bike I always look at my total average speed, so I am always tempted to ride faster, lol. If I had one for running, I would probably run too hard and hurt myself, lol. Thank you very much for the gift!!!!!

So then for dinner when my mom got home, my grandpa wanted to go to the same restaurant two days in a row for some reason. The restaurant was like kaiten, but no conveyor belt. You just go and choose plates from a counter and each one had a different price. My host mom told me this was called viking style. LOL. I asked why, and she told me that it was because the vikings could get whatever they wanted, lol. I laughed and still was a bit confused...XD.

Mister Donut

Today my host mom was in a rush to go to work, so she gave me an equivalent of 10 dollars to go to the super market and buy lunch for me and my grandpa. I explored parts of the city that I haven't before, and I saw a few more supermarkets - that made me happy. A supermarket called Daiichi had cheaper candy. Yes! However, I also went to the usual supermarket I go to because it had a bigger selection of lunches. I got an obento for me and my grandpa that had rice, teriyaki chicken, potato salad, and egg. It was very good.

After lunch, I rode back to Daiichi to candy hunt. I looked around there, but I saw another supermarket called Big House. So I looked there, and I found juice was cheaper. I bought a Calpis water to try and a Mow strawberry ice cream to try. I needed strawberry ice cream after that soft serve I had the other day. I didn't notice until I got home that I purchased a drink and an ice cream brand that had a similarity in their names. Of course, just about anyone (American) looks at the name Calpis and notices it sounds like something else (self-explanatory), but the ice cream Mow sounded like Moo in Japanese, which sounds like mow as in mowing your lawn. That is the sound that a cow makes in Japan. I laughed because both of these items had a connection to cows. ahah. After a good laugh with myself, I enjoyed my snack. This was day 4 of "Japanese supermarket food testing". So far, I have liked everything.

Soccer was short, but fun. We had a scrimmage and I talked more with the team. I am going to try and talk to the vice-principal and see if I could still be able to go to school. After soccer, I went for a run, but I experienced something that felt like a bruised right hip bone, but right when I was the farthest from my house, it swelled up and I could barely walk. So I took a little break, and I started to walk towards home. When I got to what seemed about only 2 miles left to my house, I started to jog a little. I ended up ok, but I got home a little late.

I had dinner with my host mom and grandpa. After dinner, my host mom asked me not to be sleepy. I was confused because I did not get it. I understood that after a day of running, soccer, and biking everyday, I was pretty much extremely tired around 9:00. Since I got home late, it was getting close to around that time. Afterwards, I found out she asked me not to be sleepy because she wanted to take me to Mister Donut, a donut shop. Mister Donut is a popular donut shop around Japan, and I even knew about it in America. I wanted to visit it really bad, and now I had the chance. My brother had told me that if I ever go, I should try a particular donut. So when we got there, I took my brothers advice and I picked the curry filled one. My host mom picked an assortment of donuts and jelly snacks to take home. I later found out that they were for me and my grandpa. All the donuts were very good, especially the curry filled one. Thanks for the advice brother. :)

After Mister Donut, we stopped at a book store and my mom picked up some flash cards on a ring. When we got home, she told me to right down any English word I wanted to know in Japanese on one side, and later she would put Japanese on the other. We would do this throughout the rest of the stay. This was a good idea. I was happy because there were many words I wanted to know. Afterwards, I went to bed with a filled, happy stomach.

Soccer Scrimmage and BBQ

One of my host mom's friends is catholic, so before I went to the soccer scrimmage, I visited the catholic church. I stayed for only part of the mass because my host mom had to leave. One of the interesting things I noticed was the parking lot. Since parking lots are not as big as the ones in America, cars were parked in the aisle ways all the way up to the door. Not one more car could even pull into the parking lot at all. I just wondered how they would fashionably get out.

At 11:00, I headed to the school and there were two kids from the team there to ride with me to the opposing team's school. The school was pretty far away so it was a little lengthy bike ride, but not too bad. Most of all I enjoyed talking with them. At the other school, the field was gravel also and the school building almost looked identical except for the color. My school, Tohei High School, is green. We would play 4 games against the other team and each game was about 30 minutes long. Unfortunately, my team did not score any goals, and the other team scored a lot. I was happy anyway because I got to play in the last game. I talked with other kids that were not playing during the first 3. Since these games were short, there were no subs, that is why there were 4, so different line-ups could be used. I played ok, but the other team was definitely better, so my team did not have many passes put together. I still had a good time. Before I played, I asked some of the kids on the team to take some pictures and they said ok while giggling. I glanced at them a couple of times when I was playing and they were laughing, so I expected some funny pictures. Then one of the kids took the camera and took some good shots of the game. I was pleased. I looked at the pictures and it was hilarious. Most of them were just funny faces.

When I got home, 2 families came over for a BBQ. The food was great and I talked with them for a long time. One of the families wanted me to try to go to an onsen (natural spring). I said I would be thrilled, and they were happy.

Hokkaido Folk Arts and Crafts Village

Saturday I had soccer practice at 1:00pm, so there was some time to do something beforehand. So after breakfast my host mom took me to a museum. It was called the "Hokkaido Folk Arts and Crafts Village". Inside there were actually three museums. The first one I went to was the Yukara Ori Folk Craft Museum. In this museum there were woven cloths that resembled nature. They were very cool, but if you wanted to buy one they were very expensive. The second museum was my favorite. It was the Snow Crystals Museum. This museum was all white marble and glass with snowflake emblems all over it. There was a room with large glass viewing windows so that you could look at the tremendous walls of ice on the other side. Of course the room was very cold XD. The last museum was the International Dyeing and Weaving Art Museum. There was clothing from all around the world. We did not get to stay in the museums very long because we were short on time. I wish I could have stayed longer.

I went to soccer practice and talked with the kids on team. It was really fun. Some tried teaching me Kanji, and some liked asking me if knew famous actors and singers that they new of. The practice went to about 4:45. For the scrimmage that would be tomorrow, one of the kids told me to meet him at the school at 11:10 and we would ride our bikes to the other school to play. After soccer, my host mom came home from Furano after picking up her father. We went out to dinner at a very delicious restaurant that served fried sea food. I got a combination plate with all the different kinds they served there...mmmmm. Afterwards, I got a strawberry soft-served ice cream cone. Japanese soft-serve ice cream is awesome! The strawberry ice cream was the best strawberry ice cream I have ever had.

Kaiten sushi

So today I decided I would do a longer run. North and south of my house are two rivers. Those rivers are pretty much exactly 5 kilometers apart from each other. So I decide to run from one river to the other and back to make 10 kilometers. My legs were getting sore and I had annoying blisters on the bottom of my feet from soccer. I finished and rode my bike around town looking for the library. I could not find it, so I went inside a few local convenient stores to look around. It started to rain so I went home and watched some TV for a couple minutes before going to soccer again.

At the beginning of soccer, the coach was not there so we chose teams by counting one and two in a circle. We played a game. The coach came and he told us to continue playing. So the whole practice was a huge scrimmage and it was fun. Although my legs were cramping really badly, I tried to walk it off. I talked with the kids on the team a lot. It was fun. After practice, my host mom told me it was her pay day and we were going out for sushi for dinner. I was super excited. When we got to the restaurant I got double excited because 1) I love sushi, and 2) It was Kaiten Sushi. Kaiten sushi is where you sit around a conveyor belt that goes in a circle with plates of endless sushi on them. Each plate costs a certain amount of money. So you just grab the plate you wanted. There was also something that looked like a hot water faucet at every seat. It was for green tea. It was like a pop machine where you press a button with your cup and it dispenses the beverage. I had a great time. Every piece of sushi I tried, I liked. After sushi, my host mom stopped at her favorite dessert store. It was called Chateraise. We have gone there before and it was delicious. My host mom loves it because everything in the store uses no preservatives. They sold jelly desserts and some things in sauces that I did not know, but was still delicious, lol. My host mom told me to choose two jellies. She chose two also. Last time I had strawberry, so this time I chose grape and peach. Afterwards we went to the movie theater just to see what was playing there, and at what times. We looked to see what was there for Saturday so we could maybe go see one. When we got home we had another dessert; I did not know what it was, but it was still good XD. Afterwards I went to bed.

Soccer

Yesterday when my host mom and I went shopping, we picked up some grapes. This morning for breakfast I had some. I took one and I ate it and then my host mom told me I ate it wrong. I guess with their grapes you do not eat the skin, just the inside (similar to Concord grapes). So I sucked out the insides and it was very refreshing. The grapes were delicious. They had more flavor and were smaller than the ones in the U.S. After breakfast I went for a run. When I got back, I took a shower and straightened up my room. I then had rice balls, more grapes, and melon pan for lunch. I explored the city a little before I had to go to soccer. Soccer started around 4:00. I got there and I introduced myself to the team. We started practice immediately after that. I did not have soccer shoes, so I had to borrow another kid's extra pair. The coach said he was surprised at the size of my feet. He told the team and they were all surprised too. Only a couple kids had feet around the same size and one kid had an an extra pair for me. So we started practice and I was doing very badly because I haven't played in a while. In between drills I got to talk with some kids and as practice went along, more talked to me. Some were trying to play games like saying their name was something it was not to trick me. Towards the end of practice we started a scrimmage. A little into the scrimmage my calf muscles were starting to pull; most likely because I ran, rode my bike, and now played soccer. I played until I reached the point were I felt I was about to get a charlie horse or something, lol. So I went to the bench and talked with the coach and the 3 soccer managers. My coach's English was okay and the three managers' English was actually rather good. They tried talking in English to me, and I tried talking Japanese back. I gave my coach beef jerky that I brought from home and he shared it with the managers. The managers' names were Ami, Shiori, and Natsuki. When practice ended I had a bag of Nestle assorted chocolates that I gave to the team. I also had some pins and pencils from Troy, Michigan that I gave them. The candy went very fast and they were happy XD. I took a picture with them and then everyone left. I would be going to practice the next day and maybe play in a scrimmage against another team Sunday.

Exploring the City

The picture above is the supermarket I went to called CO OP

The picture above is melon pan, which is a bread snack
that was really delicious. The one I had was flavored with chocolate chips. The picture below is of me eating the melon pan.
These pictures were taken for George from the California orientation.
I wish I could give you some George :D. Oh, and you are right,
they are delicious. XD

Below is a picture of part of the city. This part did not have many
tall buildings, but when we drove farther into the city there were more.

My lunch I bought, mmmm.

Tuesday the 19th was an exploration day for me. Like everyday, I awoke to have a delicious breakfast with my host mom. My host mom went to work and I went running. When I got back, I got on my bike and I went to the supermarket. The word "supermarket" is not an overstatement. It was a 2-floor store with lots of stuff. The second floor had a section that was a 100 yen section, just like dollar stores in the U.S. I looked around at everything in the store to see what things I liked. I found many things that I would have liked as souvenirs. Well, I decided to take a picture of everything I had an interest in so as not to forget something when I make my purchases towards the end of my stay. LOL.

It got around lunch time and and I went down to the first floor, which was the grocery section, and I got myself a little tray of food. There was a very large selection of pre-packaged meals that it was hard for me to choose. I went home on my bike and I ate... mmm, mmm. Afterwards, I went and explored the city more. I did not know what time it was, but I guessed it was around 3-ish. So, I went to the elementary school to see my host mom after school let out. As I went in, many kids were leaving so many of them pointed at me and said "Gaijin", which means foreigner!!! When I got into the school, I said hi to the vice-principal (the same one that I went to Bikkuri Donkey with) and asked where my host mom was. I laughed when she was called down on the PA system. XD. My host mom rushed in and I just told her I came to say hi, LOL. So she told me that she will be home in 2 hours. I had to leave then. As I was going back home, an elementary student called my name, so I crossed the street towards him. He asked me something extremely fast in Japanese and I could not understand him. It sounded like he was asking me where I was going, but I could not understand the last part. I told him I did not understand and all he did was repeat himself at the same speed. After his second try, he said bye and went home. Other kids waved to me as I was going by.

I practiced some Kanji and then my host mom got home. We left to go shopping. Since I never know the time once I leave the house, and I want to track my running times, I thought it would be a good idea if I got a watch that had a timer on it. I also wanted one with Japanese on it so it would be a nice souvenir for myself, too. So we went to the sports shop first, and the helper at the store brought us to the watches. My host mom did not understand exactly what I was looking for, but all I wanted was an inexpensive watch. She told the guy all of these things and he took us to a section where watches were like 100 dollars. I laughed. My host mom looked at the most expensive watch that measured your heart beat and had a 300 lap time memory. AHAHA. So we went to two other shops that were like a 1-minute walking distance away. They carried only expensive ones. So when I assumed we were going to the grocery store for the salad dressing she wanted, we stopped at this designer accessory shop that had expensive brands like Gucci and more. She went to the counter and asked for a sports watch. So the store clerk brought us to these like $300 dollar gold watches and I was laughing in my head pretty hard. My host mom said, "Wow, expensive" and we left. We ended up going to Jusco, a supermarket, and I got a $10 dollar watch. We got home late and I went to bed.

Attempt to the mountains. (I did not know what I was thinking.)

On Monday, after my host mom went to work, I happened to look outside and stared at the scenic mountains in the distance. I decided that I would ride out that way on my bike and then maybe... run up a mountain. The idea was crazy, but I wanted to do it. So I took a piece of paper and drew myself a map so I would not get lost on the way back. I left around noon because I spent a lot of time in the morning trying to get pictures to upload . It looked like the mountains were close, but as I pedaled and pedaled, I did not get any closer. It took me a while to realize that those mountains could be possibly 20 miles or more away. Of course, I could never know the exact amount unless I actually went there or looked it up. XD I decided on a different plan. I remembered that when I looked outside from my house, I also could see what seemed like a hill in the distance. It appeared closer than the mountains, actually much closer, so I now decided to head towards it. It looked like I would reach it in only around 5 to 10 minutes. So I pedaled and pedaled. It still appeared the same distance away. I was determined though and after a long, long time of riding , I finally got there. I found out it was actually a very big skiing hill. It only appeared a small hill from my house. So I started to run up and then I hit grass that was taller than my waist. I heard some snakes rattling and there was white foam on the ground and I was out of there . HAHAHA. So I may have ran for 5 minutes and then I realized that I would be super tired because I still had to ride back home! I did not even know what time it was. I arrived back home around 3:30, so that means I rode my bike for around 2-2.5 hours . I wish I knew how many kilometers the hill was away from my home here, but I still do not know. All I know is that it was a lot of miles.

My host mom arrived exactly at the same time I did back home. We talked, watched TV, and ate dinner. I gave her some beef jerkey that I brought from the states for her to try. I was really tired after a long day of biking, so I intended to go to bed early. It was an adventurous day for me, but I wish I would have been able to go to the mountains. Maybe I will find some way another time. My host mom said that the mountains by Furano (where my host grandparents live) had bears there and people die, so needless to say I got scared a bit when I thought about my plan to go to the mountains. But my host mom said that it was safe by the ones in Asahikawa. I was relieved at first, but then I thought that these mountains were so far away that they are actually about the same distance away as the mountain range in Furano. So I am not really sure if bears could lurk there or not. I hope not. I will probably ask again to make sure.

The pictures are of when I was biking along. There were rice fields as far as the eye could see with mountains all around. I saw horses on the side of the road and I could only get as close as about 5 feet away from them because of the barbed wire. I thought of Babcia and Ciocia when I saw them. This is the hill I went to. This picture was probably taken several miles from where it was located. This picture is me standing maybe in the middle to bottom of the hill.

Furano

I had another delicious breakfast and afterwards my host mom and I went to her friends children's elementary sports festival, it was very fun. After that we went to the downtown area of Asahikawa. We shopped around and got some food for dinner because we were visiting my host mom's mom and dad. They live in Furano. In the grocery store it was different to hear ghostbusters music while looking at what fish you want for dinner, but it was funny XD. It felt like I had to walk with a beat and do a couple dance moves. So after we went to the parking garage to leave, I saw how their parking worked. It was very cool because the cars came one by one by a type of ferris wheel. So we waited for our car to spin to the bottom and we left. Furano is known for its lavender flowers blooming all over in July. Well, I did not get to see the bloomed lavender flowers, but I will see them next month when we go back. I saw pictures though of when the flowers were in bloom and it was gorgeous because rows of differenct colored flowers spread throughout the fields, hills of rich green grass, neatly aligned farming fields, and most of all the gigantic beautiful mountains in the background. My host mom was laughing at me because I was taking so many picutres. It was soooooooooooooo beautifull! My host mom surprised me by stopping at a soft serve ice cream place on the side of the road. But it was not an oridinary one, because Furano is known for their lavender flowers - so I got to try a specialty there, lavender flavored ice cream!!! It was one of the best soft serves I have ever had. You may have never guessed, but the color of the ice cream was... lavender. Aahahahhahaha. It was a hot day so it was double refreshing and there was nothing better than eating ice cream on a tall hill and looking at mountains everywhere in the background. We stopped at a sausage factory and my mom picked some sausage up. We drove to her parents' house and I saw her old school and the house she used to live in. Even if the drive was 5 hours or more I would have enjoyed it just as much because driving through the nature there is unbelievable. In actuality, the drive was was only around 1.5 hours though. We stopped at a little shop on the road and got some asparagus from a field. Arriving at the house, I met my host grandpa and grandma and also a uncle. The house was very traditional and small. If I was one inch taller I would hit my head on the top of a doorway. They were very nice and welcoming. While my host mom and grandma prepared dinner, she told me to ride a bike around Furano for 15 minutes. I got on my grandma's bike, which was small, and I attempted to ride around. I did not get very far, but I still got to see mountatins, vast fields, and hills. For dinner I had rice and sashimi, which is raw fish. It was very good. After dinner, my host mom, grandparents, and I went to my host mom's aunt's house. The house was the same style as my host grandparents'. We had milk tea, calpis, and tea to drink that we picked up from 7-11 just before. My grandparents and aunt asked me quetsions and I tried my best to answer back. It was hard because they would talk so fast and I could not comprehend so fast. It was late when we finally drove home. I noticed some differences like arrows above the road that told where the edge was sowhen it snowed, people would not hit the curb. There was also many shops to put chain around your tires for traction in the snow. I know there is that in the U.S. too, but I have never seen so many. Also, on the side of the road where there was steep hills, there were sideways fences present. I looked at them and wondered what they were for. It was pretty funny to see fences completely horizontal, steaked in the side of a hill. I was tired and went to bed after a very nice day. This weekend was the best!

To the zoo and strawberry farm!!!!!

Saturday was the best! I had sooooooo much fun. When I woke up, my host mom and I had breakfast. After both of us got ready for the day, we got on bikes (I used Hiroshi's). We went to the bike shop to get our tires filled with air. I dont know how long the bike ride was, but it was definitely a lot of miles. The view was beautiful. Everywhere I looked, there were mountains. I took so many pictures. We went to the Asahiyama Zoo which was located between mountains. The zoo was a lot of fun. We went and looked at all the animals and took pictures of them. We watched the monkeys climb over our heads to another part of their cage. The zoo was very nice, and well kept up. I liked how every sign in the park had pictures of cute animals. After leaving the zoo, my host mom asked if I wanted to eat and she said we would go look for a restaurant on the way back. But then she said turn left at a certain intersection instead of continuing straight. We were going to a strawberry farm. It was another several miles to get to there by bike. When we got there, we went strawberry picking. Happily I found out that while you're picking, you can eat as many strawberries as you want straight from the plant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So my host mom and I ate strawberries non-stop for quite a long time. They were DELICIOUS!!!!! After my fingers were completely red and I was full, we picked more strawberries to take home. The strawberries there were red all the way to the middle and extremely juicy. It was probably the best strawberries I ever had. After paying, we departed for home. We rode our bikes for another long time : D. Right before the house we stopped at some little kids playing baseball. They just finished practice and my host mom called them over. I introduced myself and some were shy and ran away and some introduced themselves to me. It was funny because one of the kids took off his hat and wanted me to try it on. I put it on and they said "KAKOIII!" which means COOL! One of the kids pointed at my shoes and thought they were cool, while the others all tried to stand on there tip toes to see if they could be as tall as me. After they all left, my host mom and I went home. I asked her why one of the kids wanted me to put the baseball hat on and she said because they thought an American with their hat on was cool. I laughed. I had curry with meat and veggies for dinner. It was very good. It was a super exciting day for me.

Surprise Donkey

On Friday, I woke up and my host mom had made me breakfast. It was very delicious. She went to work so I had a ton of free time by myself. I spent time unpacking and trying to get my email and blog working on the laptop. The internet connection is slow, so it does not seem that I can post pictures. I am still going to see if I can find a way. It is very hard for me to work on the computer fast, so blog posts may come a lot slower than usual. I am sorry. When my host mom came home, we went with the vice principal of the elementary school to Bikkuri Donkey, which means surprise donkey. It was a hamburger place that served the meat like a steak. It was SOO good. After returning home, my host mom and I spent a lot of time talking. It was very nice.

Ariving in Japan

My flight to Narita Airport in Tokyo was around a 10-hour flight. The long wait was worth it though. I was so excited that I was not tired even after the time zone change. We went to a hotel for the night and in the morning everyone would go their separate ways to their host families. Some of my friends' host families picked them up right away from the hotel because they were so close by. We were forced by the YFU reps to stay in the hotel and to not leave. At first we were bummed because we thought we would be cooped in our rooms for hours, but the hotel was actually connected to a mall. Some of my new friends and I went around the mall. Even though we were not allowed to go outside, parts of the mall were connected by outside walkways, so I still got to see some of Tokyo. After a long day, I thought I would get a good night sleep, but because of the time zone change I woke up around 4:00.

The images are:

1) Michael (another exchange student) next to a Japanese many button-toilet














2) Micheal, Gram (fellow exchange students), and I















3) Mrs. Ueno next to me with Cliff and his host family on the other side


















4) My host mom's living room

I took the bus to the domestic airport. After saying bye to everyone left, I headed off to take the flight to Hokkaido. Only one other YFU exchange student was going there. Cliff and I boarded the plane and arrived in Sapporo an hour and a half later. After getting our baggage, Cliff's host family and my YFU rep were waiting for us. We had a great time and had some orange juice in a cafe in the airport. The YFU rep Yoko Ueno was very nice and was very helpful to me. Cliff and his host family left while Mrs. Ueno and I went to the train to head over to Asahikawa. We talked about my stay a lot on the train. She was very helpful. In Asahikawa, my host mom came by car to pick us up. Together we went to the high school I was to attend to see the principal and soccer coach. They said I would be able to play soccer starting next week Wednesday, but they dont think I would be able to actually go to school. I was really bummed by that. I do not know about track, but i definitely want to join that. I am going to still see if I can find a way for me to go to school. After that we went to my host mom's elementary school where she teaches. I met the vice principal and other people that worked there. They were very nice. We had ramen there which was very good. After that, we cleaned up and we dropped Mrs. Ueno back at the train station. My host mom and I then left for the supermarket to pick up some food. I had a great time and got to pick out some fruit that I liked. I also was very happy that she got me a Meiji milk chocolate bar. We went home and her apartment room is very nice. I have my own room with a futon to sleep on. After getting settled in I gave my host mom a welcoming gift. We had some ice cream and she showed me some photo albums of her and Hiroshi going to different places. It was very enjoyable. After that I went to bed because it was late. It was a very exciting day for me.

Orientation Day 3

The third day was much like the second, but there was more free time and celebration activities of the last day. I got to choose two Japanese culture sesions to learn from. I was in the Onigiri (rice ball) and Japanese entertainment. I managed to fit in a run later in the day during some down time. For dinner we had Obento. It was very delicious. The big part of the day was the Kumi Challenge where each kumi would have to come up with a dance from the songs in which we previously danced from the Coal Miner's dance. The first place kumi got to get dinner first. My kumi won! George helped us pull together a very creative dance that pulled our kumi to victory. I had a great time at the orientation and I made many friends there too. The orientation was a good experience to help me in my transition to a new culture. The next morning I would leave to San Fransisco airport headed for Japan.

Orientation Day 2

I woke up at 6:45 to go to breakfast. The food was good in the dining hall. We did radio exercises and spent all day in classes. With just a little free time, I got to throw a frisbee around with a new friend of mine named Max. I made many new friendships there. There was little other free time because the schedule was so packed.

Orientation

After arriving in San Jose, I immediately went on a bus to San Jose University for my orientation. I got to see my brother there because he was an Alumni Assistant. I brought my suticases up to my dorm room and then got to meet many other kids. Everyone was sorted into different colored groups which we called a kumi. I was in the orange kumi with Alex and George as my kumi leader and alumni assistant. They were both very helpful and enjoyable to be with. My schedule was filled with classes for being an exchange student. There was also several classes to learn and practice Japanese.

Time to fly

I left for the airport early in the morning with my mom, dad, Natasia, Louise, and Louise's mom. It was very hard to say goodbye. I left for the terminal while waving goodbye. Past security I waited a short time to board the plane. Arriving in Chicago, I waited an additional 30 minutes to board the next plane to San Jose. I met some other YFU kids in the airport. It was a moderately long trip to California and I did not sit close to any other kids from YFU.