Hi... Ok, ok, I really meant to blog but I didn't bring my laptop (which may not have been such a good idea actually) and I'd rather not ask my host family to use theirs... I'm at an electronics store right now.
So a ton of stuff has happened. I can't go over it all now. Hopefully I'll get a chance to write a long, detailed post another time.
I flew to L.A. on Monday last week (which seems like a really long time ago to me now) for the gateway orientation with the 36 other Americans who are going on the summer program to Japan this year. It was a bit slow and dull at times, but still enjoyable.
When we arrived at Narita airport on Wednesday (my birthday!) we spent a night at a hotel before going to our arrival orientation sites the next morning. I didn't get to go to Tokyo after all.
The summer AFS students go to a language school in one of these cities: Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Sapporo, or Fukuoka. The Tokyo and Sapporo students have their orientation in Tokyo, the Osaka and Fukuoka students have their orientation in Osaka, and the Nagoya students have their orientation in Nagoya.
I was assigned to Nagoya. So I spent two nights at an Aichi Youth Center for the orientation with 22 other students. We had discussions and learned more about the culture and the customs. We had lots of rice at meals and miso soup, which is great, but I still really didn't like the food. We also took a traditional Japanese bath together. It was ok, but the water in the bath was too hot! We stayed in rooms with tatami mats and slept on futons. I have some good pictures, but I'll have to post them another time.
Oh, and at Nagoya there are 11 Americans, 7 Italians, 2 Bulgarians, 2 students from Sweden, and one student from Hong Kong.
On Saturday we met our host families. I was so nervous. But it was ok. I actually don't live with my host family... It's hard to explain. I have a host dad and a host mom and a host sister and host grandparents. The grandparents live separately from my official host family, only down the street from them actually, but I live with the host grandparents. My room and everything is at the host grandparents' house, but I eat dinner at my host family's house. It's an interesting situation, but it works. My host family is very kind. But unfortunately I'm extremely timid around them, and I really don't talk much. I'm just shy and I hesitate a lot. I hope that I don't come off as being unfriendly or anything.
In Nagoya we all go to a language school for four weeks. It's only four hours a day, with a whole hour for lunch. On the first day, June 28, we took a placement test. There are four classes for the AFS students, based on how advanced we are already. Class C is for the most advanced students, with only four people. Class A is for total beginners (or at least for those who haven't learned hiragana and katakana yet). There are nine people in that class. I'm in class B, which is in the middle. But I'm rather disappointed. Everything we've done so far is fairly simple and very easy for me because I already learned it ages ago. So basically I've had a week of just review. It's frustrating, but there's not much I can do. I don't know.
Everyday I take the subway to and from school. It takes only 35 minutes or so, and I always arrive early anyway. I don't get lost. My host family gave me a cell phone to use for my stay here anyway, so I doubt I'll run into any significant problems with commuting.
Every weekday in the mornings so far, I wake up about an hour or so before my alarm is set to go off. I get dressed and ready before coming to breakfast. I usually eat with my host grandma. She's very friendly. I like her :) My host grandparents don't speak any English, but my host parents can speak a fair amount. Anyway, I always have bread (or a croissant) and blueberry yogurt and milk and sometimes a banana for breakfast. Then I watch TV for a while. Around 8:45 am I am driven to the subway station. I usually arrive at school around 9:25 am, and class doesn't start until 10:00.
So that's it for now. I like it here.
