I talked with my Host Family!

Ok! Here's the post I promised about my new host family. So, less than 24 hours after the big mess-up with the host family that didn't know me, I sent the same email that I had first sent to the incorrect family to my new one.

The next morning, I checked my email and there was a reply from my adorable host sister, Kyoko-san! She's 17, super cute, and really loves fashion, fruit juice, taking naps, watching action and fantasy movies, music, reading, and talking a lot with her friends and family. She says that the whole family is talkative :D I like all the same things, even her favorite colors are the same (red and pink, and the mom and dad like blue like I do, too!) Also, apparently the mom and dad like tea, so I can drink tea anytime, and that's great! I drink tea everyday and I always make sure to bring chai or green tea with me to school so I don't go through withdrawals or something ;)

Kyoko studied abroad with AFS in Australia for 10 months and just came home in late December 2013. So, she speaks English very well, and that's going to be super helpful. I'm going to try to speak Japanese as much as I can while I'm there, but she tells me that if I don't understand or don't know how to say something, she'll help me with anything. Wow, how kind! I feel very lucky to have this family so far.

She tells me that my host family likes fish more than meat, too, which is fine by me! I like seafood a lot and usually sashimi (raw fish) doesn't bother me (Kyoko's favorite is prawn), especially on nigiri. Today I actually went out for sushi with my sister Anna after work, and it was oishii (delicious).

Here are some pictures of the food Kyoko says they like to eat:

(Disclaimer: these pictures do not belong to me)

Prawn sashimi:

Raw prawn. Kyoko's favorite!

Nigiri-zushi:

A yummy type of sushi made with sashimi. My favorite is salmon!

Nabemono:

Or just simply "nabe."

There are many variations of the dish. It's usually served during the cold months,

and it's usually a soup or stew with a bunch of different ingredients mixed in.

Nowadays, it's kept warm by a portable stove that's set on the table under the cooking pot.

Next, I also learned that Naoto-san (my host brother who's almost 21) goes to college in Tokyo, so he may visit but he won't live with us. Hopefully I will meet him though! I'm also pretty sure that the grandparents do not live with the family but I'm still not positive.

What's crazy is that my Australian friends Wayland and Brandon actually know Kyoko already! They met her at an AFS camp in Australia when she was living there, so that's really awesome. They say I'm in good hands :) Wayland is actually going to live in Nagoya, too, but in Midori-ku, across the city. His blog is here: http://waylandturnsjapanese.blogspot.com )

I am already friends on Facebook with Kyoko and my host father Yoshimitsu, who I'll call Otousan. Otousan commented on one of my Facebook pictures "Hi! Sarah.I am your host father.We can't wait to see you!!!!" They seem so nice! Kyoko speaks the most English, and Otousan speaks a little, but Okaasan (the mother) doesn't speak any and that's totally fine. She wants help with English, so Kyoko and I will help her and I can learn more Japanese at the same time :)

I'll tell you more soon. Host school information is coming up, too! Are you excited?

Thoughts on Nagoya

I'm still not sure about living in the city since I come from a town of about 4,000 people total. TINY. We all know each other here.

(Which is why everyone knows abut my exchange, I even had someone request that I be interviewed for an article that was just published in our newspaper, actually! SO many people read it, and I even had someone who owns a Japanese lesson company donate a ton of new laminated Japanese lessons to me. They actually lived in Nagoya-shi and taught ESL for several years! If you go to my post titled "My Newspaper Article!", you can read it for yourself!)

Anyway, living in the Japanese cities is usually crowded and houses are small, so I'm kinda worried about that. Plus, I really wanted to see the Japanese countryside and visit with my old friends. I'll be landing in Tokyo-Narita at 4:00pm  Japan time on March 19th, and that is exactly where I was last time I was in Japan! But, I think they are flying me straight to Nagoya which means that all the friends that wanted to meet up with me now can't. Also, many students in AFS just got notifications that they will be living in Chiba or Tokyo and I am very jealous! I am happy with my placement now, though. As you know, I can easily take a car or train to the ocean and I can walk to Nagoya Castle :)

Here's some more information on stuff in my area:

(Click to enlarge)

My host family paper says that the father (which is Otousan in Japanese) works in the financial business. Maybe they are rich?? Who knows! I'm still waiting for pictures and the full information, but I just talked to my host sister through email actually. I'll go into detail about it in my next post. I couldn't write the email in Japanese because every time I tried to use Google Translate, it put that my favorite foods include my grandma and the United States. What....Just...WHAT. No.

Anyway, after orientation, they will start hosting me on March 22nd says the information sheet. Hopefully they will be a very nice family and a good match for me.  Well, that's all I have for now!!!

♥ STAY TUNED FOR HOST SCHOOL INFO ♥

New Host Family!

And a permanent one, at that!

So, if you know me or if you read my "I'll Laugh About it Later" post, you know that there was a mistake in my host family information from AFS Japan and they had no idea who I was. Less than 24 hours after I contacted them about this mistake, though, I was given a new host family!!

As you know, I'll still live in Nagoya, but I'll be in the Nishi Ward instead of the Shouwa Ward. There was a clerical error and I was given a similar host family's info! The mother from the last host family emailed me today, though, and apologized for her "rude attitude" on the phone call. She's worried that I hate Japan now and wanted to know if I would forgive her and her family since they all feel ashamed. There's no way I wouldn't forgive such nice people! Of course they didn't do anything wrong, it was all just a big, messy, misunderstanding.

My new host family seems great, though! My host sister is super nice and adorable. She's a little older than me!

Here are their names according to my information sheet:

1. Father (Otousan)....................Mr. Yoshimitsu

2. Mother (Okaasan)..................Mrs. Natsue

3. Brother (Oniichan).................Mr. Naoto (about 5 years older = 20)

4. Sister (Oneesan)...................Miss Kyoko (about 2 years older = 17)

5. Grandfather (Ojiisan).............Mr. Shigeo.

6. Grandmother (Obaachan).....Mrs. Toshiko

The parents are about 50 and the grandparents are about 80. I think the son is going to college and I'm not sure if the grandparents live with us yet! More information to come as soon as I get it! I have to go through all my old posts and fix the host family information too since it's all wrong. Sigh.......At least I got this one so fast!

Where will I live? (Different information!)

Ne ne!! I switched to a different place across Nagoya so I'm updating this and deleting the old info. I will now live in Nishi Ward.

I got my new host family information! It is not quite complete yet because I still need the packet with their pictures and interests, but I have their names and ages, plus the address shows up in Google Maps street view this time. I'll also update that in my next posts. Also, I'll live right next to Nagoya Castle! Holy cow!

(Disclaimer: I do not own these pictures)

Here is where Nagoya is located on a map of Japan:

Here are some pretty trees in a city park:

I think this was taken in Higashiyama Park.

Next is a faraway shot of the park and Higashiyama Sky Tower:

Here is the Great Buddha of Nagoya (Nagoya Daibutsu):

When I was in Japan last time, I visited the more famous "Kamakura Daibutsu."

This one here is 10 meters tall, at the Touhan-ji Buddhist Temple.

(Next: UPDATE)

Nagoya Castle: 

It's a reconstruction since the 1600's original was destroyed by firebombs in 1945,

but the new one is just as beautiful as the original national treasure

 and it has more advanced architecture, including elevators!

I'll now live a short walk away from it!

I'm happy to see trees!!

The construction reminds me of the Imperial Palace, which I visited in February 2013.

In the city:

That oval-shaped thing is Oasis 21, a huge underground mall

Nagoya is a port city on the Ise Bay/Pacific Ocean:

Nishi-ku is farther away from the ocean than my old placement since it is the westernmost ward,

but my host sister Kyoko says she will take me to see the sea! ;)

I'll add some more pictures when I know even more! Thank you for reading :)

Stressed, Depressed, but Well Dressed

Well, not so much depressed since I'm leaving in a month!! But I am very stressed. I'm still trying to make ends meet with money but there's only so much I can do by myself. I just got another donation on my Go Fund Me account, though, for $27 from a person that went to Japan with my the first time :) I am so so grateful for all of the support I've been getting.

Also, I'm getting ready to put out a letter out to all of the teachers at Blaine High School (and hopefully my old middle/elementary/primary school teachers) that explains why I'm going and that I would really appreciate any monetary help! So, hopefully that will be out soon. I've already got a few pledges from several teachers, my awesome World History teacher in particular. He's giving me a bunch of credit just for doing a couple things here and then going to Japan, which relieves a lot of stress and is super helpful!

This weekend I am working 12 hours at my sister's coffee shop!  My sister Anna started and owns Lettered Streets Coffee House, a very nice and quality coffee shop with a great ambiance. I always like to go there, and their products are tasty. I'll be staying with her overnight since the shop is about 30 minutes away in Bellingham. So, that should help me with funds, too!

Here's some nice pictures of the shop and my sister:

(Disclaimer: I do not own these pictures)

Pretty, huh?

I'll Laugh About it Later!

Well, my host family has not been replying to the emails that I've been sending and it's been a little over two weeks so I called AFS to figure out if the information was right and if they've been getting my emails at all. (I sent one with information and pictures of me, waited a week, and sent another really short one with my name in Japanese as the subject, and asked them to reply in Japanese).

AFS told me to continue waiting and being patient since they could be on vacation or something, and then they told me to call them with my questions and to say hi and check if the email is right. I was super excited, so I called them over Skype. I checked the number multiple times and it was definitely the exact one that AFS gave me and the area code is Nagoya.

A woman answered, and I asked in Japanese if it was the Sudo residence (their last name) and she said yes, it is. I introduced myself in Japanese and where I'm from and why I was calling them, and she got a little freaked and said that they've been getting my emails but don't know who I am or how I know them. I'm pretty sure that somehow I got the wrong contact info since I know that I have a host family (the family themselves sent me pictures of themselves with captions and some info a while ago through AFS). So, AFS is very concerned and apologetic and they immediately got on top of it. I feel a lot better now.

No one else is having problems or has had any problems like this. Mostly everyone is in contact with their family and they knew their school weeks ago. It's very unusual for AFS Japan to make a mistake since they are so organized, but to be fair they do have a ton of students and locations and families and schools to file through!

I'll update soon, I was told they'll figure it out ASAP! :)

My Newspaper Article!

I forgot to mention that I just got this article done on me a couple weeks ago! It seems to be the talk of the town, and it feels so weird and awesome to have people come up to me left and right congratulating me. I am so grateful for all of the support I'm getting from faculty, students, family members, friends, etc.

Here's the link to read it online: 

News :: The Northern Light Newspaper for Blaine and Birch Bay WA

Please check it out! :)

Some info is wrong: I was in Japan for 10 days and not 5 the first time, and I've always been interested in cultural understanding and harmony, not just since my trip to Hawaii last year. And a couple other minor things but that's okay.

The editor took out that I need donations, so if you want to help me I would very much appreciate it! I'm working very hard but I just can't come up with all the money on my own. Please contact me at sarahthedean@gmail.com for more information on my exchange and how to help me! In the next post I'll link my online fundraising account. ♥

Acceptance! Weird Orientation.. Placement! Host family! What the heck!?

WHAT. I haven't posted in like 1289472897 years! Why is that?

Well, first I was just waiting for something to post about...but then I just got lazy. Hey, you all do it! So, the day after I got out on winter break, I was awoken by my dad yelling at me as if I was in trouble. I quickly went to see what I did wrong this time, and he showed me the acceptance e-mail from AFS Japan! This was on December 19th, 2013. I was one of the last to get accepted (probably even the last over all) because of my medical issues with my shoulder and the late interview which was the fault of AFS. Oh well. I'm going to physical therapy again, but this time for my back. It bothers me 24/7. But enough of that!

Next, on the 19th of January 2014 (Happy Holidays everyone...only a tad bit late, huh?) I went to my Pre-Departure Orientation. It was weird. The main staff people were trying to scare us as much as possible with horror stories about people being sent home. Some of the rules are as follows: Someone spread a rumor about you doing drugs? Well, you automatically go home, no drug test or anything. You drove someone to the hospital to save their life? Oops, sucks for you you're not supposed to drive, you're going home. They are extremely strict but I'm going to do as they ask for sure! I like being a good kid anyway :)

At the PDO, I met Lexy in person, she's a girl from Seattle that is hopefully also going to Japan in March, and we talk all the time about our experiences. I also met Mallie, a girl I had never talked to before but she's also from Seattle and going to Japan. She'll be in Hiroshima, and at that point Lexy and I both weren't sure of our exact placement. There are a lot of AFSers going to Japan in my area! I wonder why? There are 35 maximum in all of the U.S. I think.

Then, today I got a call from AFS and found out I'll be in Aichi-ken (the prefecture, kinda like a province), Nagoya-shi (shi means something along the lines of "city"). Nagoya is the capital of central Japan, Chuubu region, Honshuu (the main island). It is the 3rd largest city (if you don't count Tokyo as a city since it's actually a special district).

The top 5 list goes: 

-- Tokyo............13.23 million

1. Yokohama.......3.68 million

2. Osaka..............2.66 million

3. Nagoya............2.27 million

4. Sapporo...........1.91 million

5. Kobe................1.54 million

Nagoya has over 2,000,000 people! Holy crap! I didn't want to be in the middle of a city but ah well. I'll find out soon exactly where my house is. I'm looking forward to that a lot. The lady on the phone wouldn't tell me that much and she couldn't pronounce Japanese words, which I thought was pretty hilarious even though it was kinda frustrating :)

(Update 2/8/14: The following host family info is old, see newer posts for correct information about my new family)

My host family consists of:  parents, a host sister (about 17) and a host brother (about 19). It will be so strange having a brother! I only have one sister in WA and she's 29 so I'm basically an only child. It will be very interesting to have a new family experience. I will get an e-mail with their personal information and contact information soon so that will be very helpful. I know almost nothing about my family now, and absolutely nothing about my school so far!

Oh, also, they can only host me until September, which is very odd for AFS. I don't know why yet, but it's sad to think about. It will be amazing to learn about Japanese culture through more than one family, though :)

Ayyyyyshiteru (Japanese jokes, "aishiteru" means "I love you")

Thank you for reading!

P.S. I also got an article in the newspaper! It's very good and makes me seem really intelligent and deep. Although it got a few facts wrong, they did not quite matter to the story and the interviewer was very nice. The only problem is that the editor took out that I need donations so I don't know what I'm going to do now. I need to make about $2500 more. This is so stressful and I don't know what to do.

It's Off to Japan!

My application is off to Japan I mean.

Finally, I got my interview done. (I waited months longer than everyone else because all of the volunteers were busy in the Greater Puget Sound Area). My full application is being processed by AFS Japan right now and I should be accepted within 4-6 weeks.

The only thing I'm a little worried about is my shoulder. When I was born, the doctor screwed up and did some stuff he wasn't supposed to, which resulted in a nerve being torn apart in my right shoulder. I'm left handed now, but I had to have major surgeries on my shoulder and I have lots off issues and loss of movement in it. It doesn't stop me from living a normal life though, I just can't do push-ups or have a super heavy backpack and several other things, but mostly I've learned to adapt. AFS USA got a doctor to write a medical recommendation to AFS Japan for me, so hopefully they'll still accept me! They can't say anything until the application deadline, which was moved to October 10th, so all of us students in the US have to wait until then, sadly.

I also applied for a full scholarship (called the Yoshi Hattori Memorial scholarship, in memory of a Japanese exchange student that was shot and killed by an American). If I got it, I would get all $14,000 of the tuition covered for me! I'm praying that I'm at least a semi-finalist. I should know in the next week or two.

To apply, I had to write four different essays. The prompts were questions such as:
What is the responsibility of an exchange student abroad and when they return? Do you believe in gun control? When have you displayed leadership? Why do you want to be a exchange student?

I think I answered all of them well and to the best of my ability, so we'll just have to see!

That Much Closer...

I just sent in my first tuition deposit! It was $900, but I already had that money so it was no problem.

Right before he pressed submit, my dad turned to me and said "This is a huge deal, are you sure you want to be away from home for 11 months?" Why ask that now? I am so ready. It's all I can think about. I'll finally be able to leave how I've always lived and go find myself while doing what I love to do!

I feel really close to Japan now. THIS IS HAPPENING. For real! I feel like I'm in some sort of dream.
I'm going to submit everything except the interview tomorrow, and then I'll be yet another step closer to the Rising Sun.

One of my favorite quotes is:

"Making a big life change is scary...But you know what's even scarier?

Regret."

I first saw it on a post on tumblr, in one of the exchange student tags, and it's proven to be very true so far. I'd rather live my dream and plan my future than sit back and relax in my warm cozy American home. As much apprehension and nervousness I feel as the departure date nears, the excitement I have will always trump it.

I'm ready to see the world!!