Host family meeting day!!

Today we checked out of the OVTA hotel, walked over to the IES Center, and nervously waited to meet our host families. My host family was the last to arrive but THE AWESOMEST EVER. Tomoaki-san is the dad, Namiko-san is the mom, and Taku(mi)-chan is the son. They are soooooo so so so nice and very understanding. They have had four (including me) homestay students before, so they know how it goes and are very willing to explain things slowly and easily!! :D They love to go to neat places and live in a ridiculously cool part of Tokyo. It looked so foreign/unfriendly from Google Maps but actually being here is very easy and fun. The train trip was long and sometimes I will have to switch trains twice (3 trains total) to commute. But I don't care, this place is so worth it.

I was very nervous when I introduced myself in front of the group, but I remembered to say that in Japan I want to climb Mt. Fuji. Lots of the host family members laughed a little, and at the end of my introduction, Tomoaki-san said something in Japanese like, "We are definitely going to climb Mt. Fuji!" and Taku-chan yelled something in agreement. :) Everyone in the room was thinking, "Wow, Caroline has the coolest host family..." Namiko-san confirmed this by saying that they love to have parties at their apartment (a major rarity in Japan; homes are considered very private) and that everyone should come over and hang out with us. :D All of this was in Japanese, I can't believe I could understand it.

We commuted to their gorgeous apartment via trains after I bought my student commuter pass. The walk to their apartment building goes through the most lovely park, which I will walk through every day! They took me through an iris garden too, and we walked past a beautiful pond filled with turtles, and past a special park exhibit of rabbits (usagi) which are taken care of and exhibited for the joy of the children. Right after my host mom said that, an adorable girl started jumping around with happiness upon seeing the rabbits. So cute!

They live in a corner apartment, which means they have a much larger balcony that the central ones. I can't believe I have my own private bedroom! It is so spacious and comfortable compared to what I thought I would see in Japan! It is much better than a dorm room. :) The weather is so nice outside that we just leave the windows and doors open so the breeze comes through the screens all day. Namiko-san said that the rainy season starts in a week or two, so it might get a little wet then.

Here is the view from the 9th floor, where my family lives. Much like my new love of green tea (even unsweetened), I have suddenly become obsessed with really tall buildings. Thankfully, I'm in the right place. Tomorrow my family is taking me to Tokyo Tower!!!!!!!!! YESS, we can see Mt. Fuji from there!

After stopping by the apartment for a little while, we went out for sushi at "Sushiro" restaurant. It was heaven. I had this stupid grin on my face the whole time because I have never seen so much delicious sushi in my life, and so many kinds I had never tried before. My host parents were explicit in telling me to pick whatever I wanted from the conveyor belt, and they also handed me unknown sushi which I promptly put in my mouth. Several times I got a giant wad of wasabi in my onigiri, and it was hilarious to me and everyone else. It felt like my whole head was exploding but without a lasting pain, and it made my eyes water intensely. Tomoaki-san and Namiko-san laughed but I couldn't stop laughing either, because it really was great. I compared it to a rollercoaster, because it's scary but a lot of fun, and the fear turns into adrenaline.  They thought it was funny that I called wasabi "fun." :) Then we had flan for dessert, mmm. Here is a picture of Taku-chan with all of our sushi plates and miso bowls.

My family is unusual in several ways, all of them positive:
1. They have experience with hosting students before, so they are willing to accept help (like today when I offered to fold some laundry and help with dinner), unlike most Japanese families. Also, Namiko-san said it's okay if I would rather not take a bath, and it's also okay if I want to. (One always showers before a bath here, and I am accustomed to just showering.) They also explain things rather bluntly to me compared to what I was expecting, which is so great. The couple is young (30s) so I feel very comfortable in their modern living style.
2. They drive a car to get to many places, which may not be the best thing for the environment but it can be faster sometimes during non-rush hours because of where they live in the city. This is positive for me because if we are driving somewhere, I don't need to pay train fare. :)
3. They speak Japanese I can understand!! And they really don't seem to mind if I ask for repeats even twice in a row, which I sometimes do. I have understood many things they have said, and although they are learning English, they use that as a last resort, which is wonderful for me. Even Taku-chan is extremely patient with me, especially if we are playing with Pokemon toys. :) He loves to hide them and make me go find them, and then I hide them for him. Playing with Taku-chan is a lot of fun, even though I can't always understand what he's saying, haha. He has so much energy and it's very refreshing.
4. Namiko-san explained to me that it's optional to wear special slippers in the bathroom and that I don't need to flush the toilet while I pee to mask the sound. :D This is not typical in Japan!! Therefore they must be very modern, because in every public toilet, there is a button on the toilet to make a flushing sound to make pee sounds.

We had a home-cooked Japanese dinner tonight!! It was a specialty from Osaka. Click the photo to gaze upon its glory. Dessert was some awesome clear balls made of some plant substance, which I asked for when we were at the grocery store. It was cool! Not my favorite taste but a really neat texture. (Also at the grocery store, Namiko-san bought me fruity alcohol. :D)

I am absolutely exhausted yet again. I wonder if I will ever have a night where I go to bed lazily instead of dying to sleep, haha. I guess it is better this way, because it means I have really lived my day well!

On that note, I would like to declare this trip a success, even though it has just started. When I studied abroad in Mexico in 2008, I got so homesick and boyfriend-sick that I failed to have a good time, failed to make friends outside of my classroom (except for Jesus Franco, mi hombre!!), and failed to learn Spanish. I had some new experiences but very few compared to what I should have. But on this trip, I am so motivated to have wonderful experiences every day, to say "yes" to almost everything, and to speak Japanese and do fun things every second of the day. I am doing what I should have done in Mexico, and I'm so glad it's actually working. I live in the moment during the day and honestly forget about nearly everything in the US because I'm enjoying Japan too much. I am quite happy and I don't miss anyone. Sure, there are people I'd like to see, and I miss my dog, but I'm having the time of my life. I do enjoy checking my email but I think I will try to do that and my blog only at night, now that I am in my host family's house.

I leave you with the control panel (yes) on a public toilet. I have seen this panel on every toilet in Japan including private bathrooms, sometimes with more complex buttons. Cool, huh? Also, the seats are self-warming and they have sensors on them. It turns out they DO have low flow and high flow options on some of the toilet handles; earlier I just wasn't reading the toilet handles to see the kanji for "big" and "small." :)