Japan Part 1!

I had an Osaka University Student Exchange and Homestay in Japan—what a great experience! The students and my host family were so genuinely kind.

Osaka University students met us at the port of Kobe and took us to lunch and then Osaka castle. They were so much fun to hang out with and were really interested in us. Then we went to Osaka University to have our welcome reception—where we had dinner, tried on kimonos, and met our host family! It was so much fun and we all took tons of pictures. Japanese food at lunch and dinner was very delicious and I think I have perfected my chopstick skills—woo! For dinner, we had sushi and all these other finger foods. I also tried this green tea that these Japanese were making from some sort of powder. And I had to drink it in a particular way—I had to bow to say thanks, then turn it around 2 ½ times and then drink it in 3 sips and then spin it around again. Very peculiar. Some of the Japanese ladies also made this delicious kind of cheesecake—it was different than cheesecake from the US, very good.

Then, I met my host mom, Mrs. Ito, who was so cute. She drove Karen (another SASer) and I to her home where we met her husband. She said her house was small but was a traditional Japanese home. We were met by her husband at the door who gave us some slippers after we removed our shoes. They showed us our room, which was also supposedly a traditional Japanese room. It was covered by bamboo mats or something like that and then she put some futon-style mattresses and some blankets for us to sleep.

We then went into their living room where we started talking about ourselves and I told Mrs. Ito that I was born in Mexico and I showed her some photos of my family. She was very excited when I told her I was born in Zacatecas because she had been there before! We talked and talked and she gave us some Japanese goodies, like sweet red beans with mochi and some tea. Then, her husband took our his calligraphy materials and wrote our names in Japanese! Apparently, my name does not translate well into Japanese so it took a little while to figure out. I told them my name meant dew and it was so cute because Mrs. Ito had this little translator device where she would look stuff up she didn’t know and she looked up my name and was amazed. She told me what dew was in Japanese and I wanted to write it down but I didn’t so I forgot what it was. Then, Mr. Ito asked us for our favorite word and I said happiness. I wrote down happiness in Japanese characters and Mr. Ito was surprised—he was like, “How did you know?!” haha actually, the students at Osaka had taught me how to write it at the reception. Karen made it a little complicated by saying soliloquy and they were perplexed by the word, but they somehow made it work.

Then, they let us use the calligraphy pen and they just laughed at us because we weren’t as good as them. But it was fun. Then, the topic of names came up somehow and I wrote down my grandma’s name and Mrs. Ito just looked at me surprised at how long it was. The whole scenario was just very fun and interactive.

Mr. Ito woke us up at 7:45am the next morning and we got ready and had a Japanese breakfast. We had miso soup (yum!) and rice balls and rice wrapped in sea weed and pickled plum and this cabbage style vegetable that was interesting oh and these little egg omelet rolls that Mr. Ito made. And they also had “Western” breakfast foods like toast and fruit and a hard boiled egg.

At breakfast, Mr. Ito gave us a copy of a photo we had taken the night before—how sweet! They dropped us off at Osaka University where we met up with the rest of the students and families. Everyone had a great time with their host families!

For the rest of the day, we went with the university students to Kyoto to a golden temple and out to lunch in Kyoto. We spent some time shopping and then we had to get back to the ship. Overall, it was a really fun experience!! The students were so nice to take time out of their schedules to show us around and they were fun to be around. I even learned how to count in Japanese, which makes much more sense than English counting. I wish I had more time with my host family because they were so nice and welcoming and I felt I was learning a lot about Japanese culture by being with them. I have already sent them a thank-you email and Mrs. Ito replied with such a sweet email.

I can’t wait for Yokohama and Tokyo, Japan!