Nearing the end of an unforgettable trip....Sayounara Nihon!

The past two days have been a memory I will never forget. During the past 48 hours, I stayed with my host family that was very kind and attentive. I'm not going to lie it was definitely awkward at first, but later we all became comfortable after making Takoyaki (octopus balls) from scratch for dinner. The whole family came together and ate. Very interesting first night trying to communicate and understand each other. This was most likely the best part of the homestay because I got to speak with people who live a completely different lifestyle and have a different culture. Being able to have a conversation and listen was just incredible and something I will always remember. The futon bed was the best bed I have slept on before. The next day we went to one of the biggest aquariums in Japan called Aquas. Sadly the white dolphin (beluga whale) exhibit was under construction, but the sea lion show was just mind-blowing. The sea lion balanced a ball and a 12-foot broom on his head (I can't even do that). We returned home and headed out for yakiniku (grilled meat) which was also unforgettable because the whole family attended. I couldn't wish for a better host family and it is easy for me to say undoubtedly that this was the best part of the trip. - By Kawehi

School is just around the corner and it feels like only yesterday when we first arrived in Osaka. The past few days were spent with our individual host families. Kawehi and I shared a family that lived an hour and a half outside of Hiroshima. They lived in a large house (when compared to most houses in the area) and within lived a mother, a father, a grandmother, Ryosuke, and Yui. The first day was spent at the Aquas Aquarium. There we saw an animal show starring a seal lion and we also saw many different other small fish. The next day we went to a very large mall in Hiroshima where they both showed us their favorite stores. Ryosuke is very into puzzles and his father loves carp. He owns many carp ponds in front of the house. I had a great time with the family. - By George

Where did my spring break go? It was here one minute and gone the next. My host family was really nice. Yuta is 18 and is going to a university soon. He is a very smart boy and he is also musically talented. He surprises me every time I see him. He speaks really good English and his family is super nice. I ended up playing board games with his mother one night. Although we basically played charades the whole time, it was fun trying to communicate with her. His father was a super cool guy and he is quiet most of the time. Yuta's sister, Ayumi, was sick so I didn't really get to talk or know her too much. Overall I am very happy with my experience in Japan. I am very thankful for the opportunity I was given and I hope I get to see all my Japanese friends again. - By Reyn

Today I woke up at 7:45 in the morning for a nice breakfast of rice omelet, yogurt, miso soup, and milk. After this, I packed my bags and got ready to depart. I said goodbye to the host mother because I would not see her until 5:00 in the evening. After she drove me to the station me and my host sister went to the center of Hiroshima. Here we meet Reyn and Yuta and went to a beautiful Japanese garden. There tons of carp there that I was able to feed. After we went to Hiroshima Castle. We went to the top and there were beautiful sights. We then met with Keilea and her host sisters and went to get ramen. It was very oishii (delicious). After lunch, we decided to go to Round One to take group photos. Then we went to a Karaoke place to sing. We spent almost two hours there. After we headed to the high school to meet back up again with the group. This is where we made the final goodbyes to the homestay and headed back to the hotel. After changing we all went to dinner and tried things like raw horse meat and cow tongue. I thought that it was all pretty good. After we reflected on the trip, got ice cream and now here I am. I am sad at the thought of leaving Japan because it is such an amazing place to be in. I am very glad that I got the opportunity to come to such an amazing place. I am also very grateful to everyone that came because it was a very good group and I enjoyed everyone on the trip. Well off to bed for a 7:15 wakeup. Oyasumi (good night)! - By Josh

Konbansa! It’s Kealia again. As usual, everything about Japan and my trip has been wonderful! I couldn’t have asked for anything more. I’m so thankful for Inaba Sensei, Jason, and the rest of my peers who have made this trip even more spectacular. I’m sad that this is our last night, but am hopeful that one day I will return in the future. This afternoon, I reunited with everyone after a two night home stay visit! We were each partnered with a student from Kokutaiji High School in Hiroshima. My partner’s name was Hana, which was ironic because that is also my older sister’s name. I was very excited about my home stay, but I was also very nervous because I don’t speak Japanese well and I wasn’t sure if I would be able to communicate. My situation and family was very unique. My host sister was hard of hearing, her younger sister was completely deaf, and my host mom spoke very good English! They all spoke Japanese Sign Language. At first, I felt very out of place, but everything quickly turned around and I began forming relationships with all three of my host family members. They were so sweet and kind. Totemo Yasashii (very kind)!! I am so happy to have met them. I quickly realized that even though it was a little harder to communicate, this family was a blessing to me. I was able to be in an environment that I have always wanted to experience. I am very interested in American Sign Language and even though it is very different from Japanese Sign Language, it was still awesome to be able to learn new signs and have this experience. They took me to many different parts of Hiroshima and we even went ice skating! My favorite thing I did with them was a Tea Ceremony. This was soooooo cool! I was also very happy to sleep on the futon on the Tatami Mats. It was very comfortable!  The home stay was a great experience. I was able to practice my Japanese and they were able to practice their English. They fed me delicious food and we all shared many stories and aspects of our live. We exchanged LINE (a social media platform that’s very popular in Japan! Everyone has it!) and hopefully through this, we can keep it touch. I am very grateful that they hosted me and I know that one day, we will meet again. I am going to sleep now! I have a very busy day tomorrow full of sight seeing and traveling by Shinkansen and plane. Oyasumi! - By Kealia

These last few days have been great. I've had a lot of new experiences and I've been able to see what it is like to live in a real Japanese family and get to understand more about the culture what is the normal thing to do in different situations. The first thing I was to say is how much fun I had with my host family. It was kind of hard to communicate but thanks to their willingness to make me feel comfortable they tried their best to speak the best English they could and it ended up actually being very good.  I had so much fun playing different strategy games with them like chess and Go. It was really fun to learn new games that I would play in the United States. I also had the chance to play video games with my host family and that was a lot of fun because I got to play the games in Japanese that was a completely new experience for me. I also played ping pong and baseball with them. Ping pong was especially fun because everybody was very evenly matched and we all had to try our best to beat each other. By the end, we were all sweaty because of how much effort we put into the games. Baseball was also a lot of fun because it made me get used to holding a bat again and I realized just how much practice I really needed because I was not playing nearly as well as I used to. I was also able to have regular meals that people in Japan cooked every day and that was really nice because I was able to get a real idea of what a normal Japanese person would be eating every day. Despite communication being an obstacle, it was still very nice to get to know my family and get to know their hobbies and what they wanted to do when they grew up. All in all, I had a great time being with my host family and I really enjoyed having the experience of a normal Japanese family. - By Khaled

Ok everyone, it’s Fisher again for the last time. My homestay went super well and was much easier than I thought it would be. My host brother Ai spoke English very well and my host mother spoke a little as well. Although there were also two sisters and a dad, they weren’t home very much so communication was pretty easy. Another thing I was worried about that turned out really well was my day being jammed packed full of things to do. I was afraid I would be super tired and not enjoy them, but my family gave me time to sleep in until 9 and had a lot of time where we just hung out at home and relaxed. Of course we didn’t do that the whole time. The first day we went ice skating where we met up with Reyn, Ivanni, and Kealia, along with their host families, and skated for about three hours. After that, Ai and I went to a rock climbing place that actually turned out to be super difficult. There were labels that marked the specific “rocks” you were allowed to use for the short courses. Black was supposed to be the easiest, but I could barely complete them. We met this crazy awesome girl in a Superman shirt who must’ve been about 8 years old who was climbing some incredibly difficult routes. We tried to climb with her for about and hour and then headed home. The next day we planned to visit an onsen - the public bathhouse for those who don’t know - on another island nearby that we took the ferry to get to. Unfortunately it turned out to be closed and it seemed like we were stranded for what would be hours. To avoid being waiting around for five hours we hitchhiked our way to a bus stop which took us to another port where we could catch a ferry back. After arriving back in Hiroshima we wandered around a shopping district until it was finally time to meet up with the group once again. I had a really fun time having some one on one time adventuring with Ai and getting to know him. I’m sad we have to leave tomorrow but it’ll be nice to be back home again. さよなら (Sayonara) Japan!!! - By Fisher

It's quite a nerve racking thought to be in a stranger's home with a language barrier and only a tiny chisel to break it down. What will happen if I forget not to put chopsticks on my rice bowl, or even how to say "toilet"?! Thankfully, my host family made the last two nights much more comfortable - with the help of the interwebs, of course. The Osedo family welcomed me into their humble home. I was introduced to the traditional lifestyle of Japan in the suburbs, which is a quiet atmosphere filled with laughs and smiles behind wooden doors. Here, I would eat some delicious homemade food and watch ostentatious Japanese ads that popped up on the television. My host family took time to show what Hiroshima had to offer. We enjoyed sushi, visited some shrines, and enjoyed ice skating. I was introduced to a couple of my host sister's friends and took some cute, yet scary, purikura (sticker photo) in a mall.  Although the language prove a little difficult to navigate, a little game of charades and google translate helped to gain a mutual understanding. - By Ivanni

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