Meeting My Host Family
The end of orientation filled me with anticipation but also a kind of sadness. Most of the people I had gotten close to during orientation weren’t going to be joining me in Osaka so today I would be saying goodbye to them as we all head in our separate directions. The students staying in the Tokyo area would be picked up by their host families from the hostel while the others would be flying or taking a bullet train(Shinkansen). After an obligatory group sing along to “Try Everything”, distribution of SIM cards and double triple checking everyone was going to the right place I was ushered along with the other students heading to Nagoya and Osaka to take a bus to the station. The bus ride was not long and we arrived an hour early for our train but it was a nice opportunity to get to finally talk to the other international students who I would be going to school with. Students from Argentina, Italy, Turkey, Mongolia and Hong Kong would be joining me and my other American pals for a grand total of 14 students headed to Osaka*.
*Technically some of my classmates live in Nara and Hyōgo not Osaka but because of the efficiency of public transport they commute into Osaka for school everyday.
I really enjoyed my trip on the Shinkansen, it definitely felt faster like a normal train and I swear the pressure made me feel like I had to pop my ears a couple times. I was seated in the west window seat, ideal to see Mt.Fuji except it was way too overcast and cloudy to get a clear view of the mountains. Fun Fact: Japan is 70% mountainous! From Tokyo to Osaka is about 313 miles and the trip only took us 3 hours. The AFS staff helped us load our baggage and get settled on the train and then they were supposed to leave. Except the doors closed before they could get off so they ended up having to get off at the next stop, and while i’m sure it was stressful for them we all found it rather amusing. The students going to Nagoya had to get off first and that’s when I started really feeling nervous about it all. We watched them load all their stuff off with host families and AFS staff all waiting on the platform to greet them. When it was our stop we all bustled off into a crowd of various families and staff all holding signs and such with smiles on their faces. I ran into a lady, who conveniently was my liaison person**, and she helped me find my family who had strategically placed themselves off to the side of the feeding frenzy that was the rest of the group. Before arriving I knew where I was going and got the names and ages of my family but this was my first time directly meeting them. I have two host sisters who are 12 and 17 and the family has a black cat named Rō. After I shakily introduced myself and then we left the station together and they asked if I was hungry and I replied that I was alright(AFS had given us each two Onigiri and water for our trip) but once we got into the car my sisters asked if I liked ice cream and since I was sweating buckets I happily obliged. We stopped off at a convenience store to pick out some ice cream. My younger sister kept talking about this one kind of ice cream called Papiko, and having no idea what other things were displayed in front of me I went for it and couldn’t have been more pleased. The consistency is similar to soft serve and it comes inside two little original-coke-bottle-shaped plastic containers that have little tear off tops and are made with soft plastic so you can push the ice cream up. Since this first day I have seen various types of Papiko around but the one I had was chocolate-coffee flavored and it LOVED it (somebody raid an American Japanese grocery store for me and let me know if they sell these).
My host home is build within a gated housing area where houses are built very tall rather than wide. On the first floor is my familys’ bedrooms and a small powder room. Upstairs is the main living space, which my bedroom is built off of, along with another small powder room and a bigger bathroom are containing a vanity, washer/dryer(its combined into one) and shower/bath. Upon arriving at the house I was led upstairs and got to meet the cat who was perched on top of the printer on a shelf above the Tv. As my host dad gestures for us to sit down at the table, the cat starts hacking violently. Everyone yells and rushes towards him, luckily he is scooped up fast enough to barf on the floor not any valuable electronics but I found it an amusing way to welcome me into my new home.
**each student is assigned a volunteer liaison who works/lives in the local area and they are your touch point with the AFS program and are there as a support system for us.
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| All signs and loudspeaker announcements also contained English versions |
*Technically some of my classmates live in Nara and Hyōgo not Osaka but because of the efficiency of public transport they commute into Osaka for school everyday.
I really enjoyed my trip on the Shinkansen, it definitely felt faster like a normal train and I swear the pressure made me feel like I had to pop my ears a couple times. I was seated in the west window seat, ideal to see Mt.Fuji except it was way too overcast and cloudy to get a clear view of the mountains. Fun Fact: Japan is 70% mountainous! From Tokyo to Osaka is about 313 miles and the trip only took us 3 hours. The AFS staff helped us load our baggage and get settled on the train and then they were supposed to leave. Except the doors closed before they could get off so they ended up having to get off at the next stop, and while i’m sure it was stressful for them we all found it rather amusing. The students going to Nagoya had to get off first and that’s when I started really feeling nervous about it all. We watched them load all their stuff off with host families and AFS staff all waiting on the platform to greet them. When it was our stop we all bustled off into a crowd of various families and staff all holding signs and such with smiles on their faces. I ran into a lady, who conveniently was my liaison person**, and she helped me find my family who had strategically placed themselves off to the side of the feeding frenzy that was the rest of the group. Before arriving I knew where I was going and got the names and ages of my family but this was my first time directly meeting them. I have two host sisters who are 12 and 17 and the family has a black cat named Rō. After I shakily introduced myself and then we left the station together and they asked if I was hungry and I replied that I was alright(AFS had given us each two Onigiri and water for our trip) but once we got into the car my sisters asked if I liked ice cream and since I was sweating buckets I happily obliged. We stopped off at a convenience store to pick out some ice cream. My younger sister kept talking about this one kind of ice cream called Papiko, and having no idea what other things were displayed in front of me I went for it and couldn’t have been more pleased. The consistency is similar to soft serve and it comes inside two little original-coke-bottle-shaped plastic containers that have little tear off tops and are made with soft plastic so you can push the ice cream up. Since this first day I have seen various types of Papiko around but the one I had was chocolate-coffee flavored and it LOVED it (somebody raid an American Japanese grocery store for me and let me know if they sell these).
My host home is build within a gated housing area where houses are built very tall rather than wide. On the first floor is my familys’ bedrooms and a small powder room. Upstairs is the main living space, which my bedroom is built off of, along with another small powder room and a bigger bathroom are containing a vanity, washer/dryer(its combined into one) and shower/bath. Upon arriving at the house I was led upstairs and got to meet the cat who was perched on top of the printer on a shelf above the Tv. As my host dad gestures for us to sit down at the table, the cat starts hacking violently. Everyone yells and rushes towards him, luckily he is scooped up fast enough to barf on the floor not any valuable electronics but I found it an amusing way to welcome me into my new home.
**each student is assigned a volunteer liaison who works/lives in the local area and they are your touch point with the AFS program and are there as a support system for us.
