These are from my first weeks with my host family. (These are in chronological order )

Here are the pictures from the last two days I had in Japan. I’ll only post a few because I have too many pictures.

There are so many opportunities to go to Japan as an exchange student. YFU offers so many scholarships to study abroad in Japan, Finland, Germany, and the list goes on. I cannot express my gratitude towards Mitsui for sponsoring my scholarship. I cannot express my gratitude to YFU for letting me go on this once in a lifetime journey.

I only ask for one thing in this very short reflection for now (a longer one will come soon). If you have the chance to study abroad, do it. Break out of the “comfort zone.” Don’t let opportunities slip out of your hands. The same applies to the reverse. If you have the chance to host an exchange student, do it. I haven’t had the experience of hosting an exchange student, but it has become one of my long term goals for the future. Studying abroad doesn’t just apply to high school. There are several opportunities at college to study abroad, so seize the opportunity!

That morning, we left the house at around 9:00 AM. Youko had to get on the train to Nagoya at around 6:40 AM, so it was our last goodbye. She told me to have a safe trip back. We hugged, and I wanted to start crying again, but I thought to myself…6:40 AM is too early to start crying…
Gorou left for soccer practice and Okaasan kept persisting that he say, “Sayounara“, but he didn’t. I told him have a nice tripp and “ARIGATOUUU GOROUUUU” and he replied with, “Un.” XD

My breakfast was cereal. It was raining so much…that didn’t make matters any better. Okaasan, Mariko, and I left for the Post Office at 9:00 AM, and we mailed my extra presents. I couldn’t even look at Mariko in the car because I would start crying. We drove down the street where the Eki was, and I looked at all the shops we went to, and my eyes started watering-up (is that even a wordddd.)

At the train station, everything happened so quickly. Akiko and Youko called and told me to have a safe trip back.
Mariko and Okaasan gave me a present from the family. It was this small gift book (?) and it was decorated with Rilakkuma stickers and messages from everyone in the family. Gorou wrote, “To be honest…I wanted to talk to you more…but I was too shy…” and that made me cry. The Shinkansen arrived, and it all happened too quickly. Mariko helped me move my luggage because I started crying since Okaasan told me also to have a nice/safe trip back and we hugged. I was about to board the Shinkansen, until I looked at Mariko, and gave her a hug. I seriously wanted to say, “ありがとう、まり子！”, but I was crying too much to say anything. I was so choked up. When they waved goodbye, I couldn’t look at them…because I would start crying again. I gave a wave and that was all I could manage…and then the Shinkansen started moving to Tokyo.

I forgot…to ask Mariko to email me the Purikura pictures we took on the last day.

At Tokyo, we met up with other YFU kids and started telling each other about our experiences. Everyone had almost the same experience. We kept talking to each other on the train to Narita. It took so long…My flight left at 4:20ish? It was delayed. Anyways, on the oh so wonderful 9 hour flight, I only slept for about 1 hour and talked the rest. I couldn’t fall asleep.

On the flight back to Michigan, I started crying on the plane…and I’m not entirely sure why I did. I had hours and hours of calming myself down, and I was calm, but it just happened spontaneously. I seriously don’t cry. I never did in America for so long. Toyohashi, my friends, my host family…they all became so important to me so quickly. I wasn’t even ready to leave. On the Shinkansen, I was “depressed” of some sort. I was frustrated on the Shinkansen that I didn’t really eat my lunch. I didn’t want to leave.

Nonetheless, I loved it. I loved it so much. Going to Japan was my dream…and all of a sudden, in six short weeks…it ended. I have over 2400 pictures…and a lot of looking back to do. Every day was a new experience. Every day I learned something new. I never thought that I would react as emotionally as I did in Japan. It shocked me (as stupid as that sounds).

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So I arrived in Michigan at 12:00 AM, July 29th, 2009. I’ve been awake for how longg? Too long. Over 39 hours since I was a stupid person and didn’t really sleep the night before leaving. My family greeted me, and we took my luggage to the car. I noticed how wide the roads are in Michigan…

I’m not tired because of jet lag…but I should get some sleep. I still didn’t finish unpacking everything from my suitcases. More like, my suitcases were opened and everyone took out the souvenirs.

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On a happy note, I checked my email today and guess who emailed me? Atsuko-senpai and Minami emailed me from their Keitai.

I have a lott of work to do tomorrow. I mean, today.

SOO. In less than two WONDERFUL hours, I`ll be on the Shinkansen to Tokyo and leaving for America.

I am SO excited. (Sarcasm)

Yesterday was my last Marching Band meeting. Atsuko-senpai`s temperature was 38.1 C…so she had to go home early. Everything went as scheduled. We packed, we stretched, ate lunch, rode a kindergarten bus, and fixed flags.

We had Shuugou, and Hikosaka-sensei gave a speech about trying your best and not worrying about the mistakes you make. All of a sudden, he says, “Let`s move onto the important topic. Tomorrow, Lauren is leaving for America, so we`re going to have a Sayounara-Shiki (Sayounara Ceremony).“

Soo, everyone makes a half circle around me and takes out a small sheet of paper. Right after that, someone (Aya-sensei maybe?) starts playing the piano, and Rie-buchou says, “Seino–!“ and everyone starts singing this song from Ponyo if I remember correctly.

I said to myself that morning. I wouldn`t cry.

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Anddd of course, I started crying. I wiped my tears away, smiled, looked at the Marching Band singing, and started crying again. (Youko says everyone at Fujinohana is good at crying. LOL. It`s contagious.)

So! After the song, I got all these presents from Hikosaka-sensei and Aya-sensei. Every Marching Band member came up to me one-by-one, and we shook hands and slightly bowed.

Then…

Ayumi came up crying. I looked at Ayumi on the last day of school and cried. Now, I looked at Ayumi and started crying again. She kept saying, “LAURENNN. Stay in Japann. If you go back, come back to visit. Okayy?“ We cried for a while. Mariko came up next, and everyone said, “Mariko, you`re going to see each other when you go home!“ She was crying.

And then…

Minami came up second-to-last and she was crying so much. She said something along the lines of, “LAUREN, this is…I`ll give this to you! This is…this is your job to learn this song and understand it in English. ローレンの宿題！‘‘ in a choked up voice. I reply, “はい、分かりました、みなみー先生!“ and then we started crying again…

Aya-sensei started crying, but I didn`t see it. I had to give a final speech to the Marching Band after that.

I`m going to miss them.

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How many hours of sleep did I get yesterday? Three. 3 AM ~ 6 AM. Wonderful. I spent most of the night talking to Youko since she`s leaving for Germany today (Actually, she already left). When she said goodbye this morning and gave me a hug… I wanted to start crying again.

Crying at 6 AM in the morning? How about…later.

I didn`t cry at graduation. I didn`t cry when I left for California or Japan, but I`ve been crying so much these past few days.

I`m not ready to leave, but しょうがないいいい。

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Oh, there was an earthquake in Toyohashi yesterday at 10:00 AMish. Mariko and I were at 合宿 in Shizuoka, so we didn`t feel it at all.

Darnn. >:o

Todayy, I got my hair cut at LET`S GO 1000%! It wasn`t my idea, but Okaasan was like, “Lauren! Do you want your hair cut?? You won`t have time if you don`t go today!“ So we went. Japanese hair styles are so different, so I got scared. I wanted to get either “Abbey“ or “Minx,“ but I got…something else. I also got to try Auto-shampoo. LOL. It was so odd, but fun.

Today`s lunch was Omuraisu オムライス (Omelette + Rice). It was sooooo good. I got to try it because the other day, Minami was eating her Bentou and she always has オムライス, so I was like, “みなみィィィィィ、あれ何？“ She tells me that it`s オムライス and she offers me some, but I was finee. ありがとう、みなみ!

So you`re probably wondering why this post is named “Minami-senpaiiiii.“ Well the other day when we had the event (the 20th), the Ichinensei forgot their stockings in the truck, so Minami was changing in the other room and all of a sudden, all the Ichinensei say, “MINAMI-SENPAIIIIIIIII.“ Minami is the same grade as Mariko, but it`s so much fun calling them “Minami-senpai! Mariko-senpai!“ because all the Ichinensei do it. XD

Dinner was どんぶり at a restaurant. It was good. I had Katsudon (Tonkatsu Donburi). Donburi is basically a bowl of rice with food placed on top of it.

I packed everything today…! Except…the Yukata, Obi, Rilakkuma Towel Set, and Rilakkuma Mug because there isn`t enough room. I got an extra bag from my host family to put all my souvenirs in because I bought too much. x_x;

I`m pretty much done packing. I`ll double-check tomorrow morning before leaving for Fujinohana againn.

Tomorrow`s weather will pretty much be horrible, so we`re not sure if we can go to the ocean.

Darn.

Yes, stress. Youko and Okaasan reminded me today that I only have four days left in Japan. Four days…

The 5 weeks passed by so quickly…now I have to start packing…

Mosquito/Gnat Bite Count: A wonderful 50

Today, we went to Kyoto and visited the Kinkakuji, another temple, and shopped for Omiyage. I finally met the last member of my host family! I met my older brother, Tarou, and he`s soo funny. It`s a shame he`s coming back home in August because I`ll already be gone.

I spent…very little at Kyoto. That`s bad. I still have 18,000 Yen left to spend tomorrow (My last day to go on a shopping spree at Seibunkan)!

The Shinkansen express leaves at 10:43 AM next Tuesday. We have to leave the house at 9:30 AM.

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Time passes by too quickly.

What is Goya? Goya is a small green vegetable that can be found in the U.S. and is commonly referred to as Bittermelon. It`s really bitter, hence the name. Okaasan made Goya the other night with tofu and it was really really good. It wasn`t as bitter as I expected it to be. In the U.S. we always had it with soup, so I didn`t really like it that much.

Today, Okaasan and I went to see Harry Potter since I`m not attending all of Gasshuku. It was really longg. After the movie, we ate Takoyaki (Fried Octopus) for lunch. It was soo good, but really hot. After that, we went shopping for Ojiichan`s towels and fish.

We went home, went to a sports center of some sort and played tennis.

Tomorrow, I`m going to 京都 with Oneechan and Okaasan. Funn. Sakiko-senpai told me how Kyoto has a lott of 日本っぽい (Japanese-looking) things. I`m looking forward to that. We`re stopping at the Kinkakuji and other shrines before going shopping.

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I have to start packing…my days left in Japan are so limited and I won`t have time the next few days because I`ll be at camp with the Marching Band. On the 26th, we`re going to the Pacific Ocean in our Marching clothes and wading in neck-deep water. This is supposed to be a secret, but on the 26th, we`re also going to an Obakeyashiki (A Japanese haunted house), and everyone told me that it`s really scary; especially when someone dressed up as The Grudge taps (トントン)/grabs your shoulder. There are also Ohaka which, according to Minami, are the “Sleeping Dead.“ I`m really excited, but really scared.

Okayyy, soo a week or two ago, I told Mariko how Calpis is Calpico in America because Calpis sounds like “Cow Piss,“ and if I said, “I`m drinking Calpis,“ someone else would say, “Oh my god, you`re drinking Cow`s piss??“

Tomorrow is the start of Gasshuku! It`s a summer camp for the Marching Band, and Mariko says it`s sooo strict. I thought today`s practice was strict; apparently not. Sakiko-senpai would always say, “もう一回。一年生遅い。“

I`m only attending two days of the summer camp because I..still have shopping to do. I went on some wonderful shopping spree yesterday with Mariko and Okaasan and spent about 100 dollars at Seibunkan (A book/stationary/gift store). We went to the 100 yen store and I spent around 50 dollars there. (I felt SO bad for the cashiers because they had to count every single one of my items, and at the 100 yen store, the old lady was like, “30…40…forty…forty-eight“) Now I have toooo many souvenirs and too many gifts from Marching Band, school, and my host family.

We tried to watch Saw IV last night, but it was too Guro (Gross) and Gorou came home, so Okaasan was like, “Turn it off! Gorou can`t watch this!“ D: I was laughing (as usual) because it was so…strange? It wasn`t scary, it was just really bloody.

If you`re wondering about the Solar Eclipse today, Mariko and I slept through it. It happened at around 10:30 AM, and we woke up at around 11:15ish. I woke up earlier and the sky was really…yellow? It was strange, so I went back to sleep. Ayumi was telling Atsuko-senpai about the dream she had and it was sooo funny. She was saying how she was at marching and I was talking to her about something?

The other day, Moyuka-senpai (Moyu/Moyuka) gave me a present since I danced on the 20th. It was a mirror with a pair of socks that said, “チカラモチウサギ“ (Chikaramochi Usagi Powerful Bunny) Now whyyyyyy Chikaramochi? I help with packing at Marching Band when they have events, so I get to carry the instruments, flags, etc. etc. and every time I pick up a box/instrument, they`re like, “力持ちねえええ。‘‘ I raced Shiho (a freshman in the Color Guard) yesterday to get the pom poms.

No no no, I`m not strong. I`m weak.