Receiving the Information

My scholarship included a special 3-day orientation in California before I went to Japan. I would leave to San Jose, California on June 9th. I started to get nervous the week before I left because I did not have my newly-applied-for passport yet or my host family information. I ended up recieving my host family information on the 7th and my passport on the 8th. It was a very close call. The anticipation of finding out where and with whom in Japan I would be living was so high I could hardly stand it. I was very excited to have finally found out about my host family. The information sheet only listed the names of the family members, address, telephone, occupation, the age of my host sibling and the school that I will be attending. My host family's last name is Mikami and there is only a mom named Yoko and her son named Hiroshi. Hiroshi is 16, but I found out I would not be able to see him during my stay in Japan. I only found this out when I called my host mom. I held the beginning of the conversation in Japanese, but my host mother could speak English rather well. My host mom said that Hiroshi is studying in Canada and would not be back until August 3rd. I return home just before that. I was bummed, but I also found out that there would be a grandpa in my house who is 80 years old. I am still very excited to see my family.