Final Farewell

In the morning I woke up and went to the breakfast room in the hotel. I ate a quick breakfast with Mrs. Ueno and my host mom. This morning was very short with them, surprisingly short. There is not much to say because it happened so quick :( We headed towards the terminal and I was not completely sure when I was leaving. I had it in my mind that I would be able to talk with them for a while more. The gate was very close and my host mom just said hurry! you will miss the plane! I was shocked because it was like "woah I have to go right now" I only had time to give my host mom and Mrs. Ueno a hug goodbye. I waved as I walked through security. It happened that fast. I boarded on to my plane and I was on my way home. The plane out of Hokkaido was around an hour. I met up with some friends that I knew from YFU on the way to Japan. It was nice to see them and talk about our trips. We took a bus to Tokyo Narita Airport and all the kids going to east side United States were on the plane with me. We were heading to Chicago airport. I got to call my family in Chicago. Everything was happening so fast. With another hour flight home to Detroit I met up with my family at the Airport. It was good to be home. It was hard to Imagine that earlier that day I was still in Japan talking with my host mom. This trip was a life changing experience for me. Something I will never forget.

Soccer party

Today would be the last day I would be in Asahikawa because My host mom and I would be driving down to Chitose Airport to stay at the hotel. Today summer vacation started for the kids so I had a party with the the soccer team as a goodbye party and my birthday party because it was also my birthday. My host mom rented out a place and around noon I went there to meet up with everyone. We all had rice balls and cake to eat. It was a really great time. I took pictures and we ate Jelly Bellies. I brought them from home because It is a fun activity especially because there are flavors that are not in Japan. Most people do not like black licorice in Japan so it was fun to dare the kids on the team to eat one. There faces was priceless. As soon as they tried it they searched for it in the jar and went to tell another kid that it tasted good. I played rock paper scissors with a teammate and I won so I got to watch them eat it. The funny part is that if I did lose I would not be really affected by the black licorice taste. One of the coolest gifts that I received was from the soccer team today. It was a soccer ball signed by all of the kids on the team. It also had the school name printed on to it like all of there soccer balls. It was super nice of my host mom to put on this party for me. The party came to a close and It was a kind of rush to get home grab my suitcases and leave. I said bye to everyone and gave out my email address. I came into a really nice surprise when I got home. It was the Yamaguchi family with the four kids! I was really surprised since yesterday was supposed to be my final goodbye with them. I got all of my stuff in the car and I only got to talk with the Yamaguchi's for just a while. But just seeing them before I had to leave was a great by itself. I waved as my host mom and I drove off towards Chitose. We talked in the car ride and we stopped for snacks on the way there. It was a several hour drive. At the hotel connected to the Airport I got to see Mrs. Ueno again. It was very nice to see her. We talked in the hotel lobby for a while. I had to wake up early in the morning in my flight so I went to my room for sleep.

last day with the Yamaguchi family

All of the last days came down to just goodbye days for people I knew. This one happened to be the day I said bye to the Yamaguchi family. I did some more shopping again in the morning. This was the day I bought most of my candy to bring back home. My host mom said that she would have a lunch break around noon so she said we would go to mos burger. At mos burger I ordered three different kinds. Teriyaki, ebi(shrimp, and the original mos burger. They were all delicious. Right next door was a Mister Donuts so we went in there as well. I got a free Pon de lion(mister donuts mascot lion)squishy toy. My host mom had to go back to work and Mrs. Yamaguchi picked me up. She took me for a little last minute shopping. It was fun talking with her in the car. Tonight for dinner we would go for yakiniku again. I was very excited. We picked up the kids from school and we met Mr. Yamaguchi at the restaurant. It was traditional style so we sat on the floor around a table. It was a good time with them. We went back to their house for fireworks. A while back when I went to Toys R Us with Mrs. Yamaguchi, we bought fireworks. We did not get a chance to use them so we decided it would be a good time now. I showed the kids some of the things Yuichi showed me with fireworks. Mr. Yamaguchi made a bonfire and after all the fireworks were done we sat there for a while. When It died down a little we went inside to talk and take some pictures before I had to go. I played othello with Mrs. Yamaguchi and after a while all the kids fell asleep. Mrs. Yamaguchi was going to take me home. I said bye to everyone else. On the way home Mrs. Yamaguchi said she was going to take the long way home so we could talk more. We talked and Mrs. Yamaguchi had tears, it was very hard to say goodbye. When we got close to the house we decided to take another loop around before going back home to talk more. When we arrived at my host moms house, my host mom came out and they talked a little. The time came and I gave my final goodbye as Mrs. Yamaguchi drove off. It was past midnight and my host mom was actually sleeping when I got home so we both went to bed.

last day with the kubo family

When it hit Monday I really felt my stay was coming to a close. I would be leaving Asahikawa Thursday. I only had a few days left to see everyone again. My host mom would be going with me to Chitose airport the upcoming Thursday and would stay at the hotel with me. In the morning I went shopping for things to bring back home that I have been looking at since the start of my stay. I biked to many stores and even to the downtown area for things. I had soccer again for today and tomorrow being my last day. Soccer was fun and I talked with kids on the team more than usual knowing that this was of the last that I would see them. After soccer I would be having dinner with the Kubo family and my host mom would go with me. We went to Kaiten sushi. It was very exciting but very sad to know it was my last day with them. The Kubo family gave me a summer robe as a present and it was very nice. The sushi was great. My host mom kept on telling me to eat more because it was my last time eating kaiten. It was sad to say bye to the Kubo's. I waved as they drove away. My host mom and I went into the super market and I picked out some last day snacks to eat. We went home and talked for a while. The next day would be my last with the Yamaguchi family.