Because of my jet leg, the next morning I got up around 6am. I stayed in my bed for about an hour, just staring at the ceiling trying to get my head wrapped around the fact that I was actually in Japan. After a quick breakfast, Kobi and his granddaughter (I can’t remember her name but I think she was around 10 years old) took me out to tour Shirakawa by car. The city is nothing like I have seen before. First of all, the drive on the opposite side of the road so that threw me off a couple times. I swore we were going to crash into oncoming traffic. The streets and sidewalks are also extremely narrow so when you are driving down Main Street, it doesn’t feel like Main Street. It feels more like you are driving on a side road. Another interesting thing I noticed were the vending machines. THEY’RE EVERYWHERE! You can get drinks, snacks, and even cigarettes from them. Kobi drove us to Komine Castle first and it was just spectacular. We didn’t get close to it this time, but I am sure I will get to soon. I couldn’t how green everything was at the grounds of Komine Castle. I’m still blown away just thinking about it. Natural beauty at its best. Next, we drove to Asahi High School, where I will be attending starting August 25th. The school is open all summer long so students who want to get extra help or have club activities can get in. The school was huge and if my exchange counselor wasn’t there I am sure I would have gotten lost. There was even a rock/Zen garden in the courtyard! (I wasn’t able to get a picture of it but I will when I start school.) I met the Vice Principal as well and he was very gracious to let us walk around as we pleased. Soon we had to head back to Kobi’s house because his family were leaving that morning. Before Kobi’s family left, they gave me a Totoro key chain and I gave them some Canadian gifts in exchange. I hope to see them again soon; they were extremely nice to me.
Soon after they left, Kobi took me to Nanko Park. I was speechless when we got there. It is the oldest, public, park in all of Japan and oh my goodness is it ever beautiful. We didn’t even go into the main part of the park! We went to a quaint little restaurant in the park area and the food was by far the best I have had thus far. It was really neat because we took off our shoes and sat on pillows at low-to-the-ground tables.
After lunch we did a whole bunch of visiting. I was able to meet the mayor’s secretary, Eriko, who is the secretary of Shirakawa Minami Rotary Club, and my second host parents. My second host dad is actually a Buddhist priest and their house is located right on their cemetery/temple grounds he takes care of. His mother also lives with him and she is such a sweet little old lady.
When we got back to Kobi’s house, jet lag hit me hard. I told my counselor that I was going to lay down for a bit and he reminded that we were having guests over for dinner. I slept for a good three hours. Haha. When I came out of the bedroom our guests were already there and they were just putting dinner on the table. I felt really bad, but I had really needed that sleep. The guests that came over were Maria, her mother, and Maria’s friend Yuki. Yuki will be in the same grade as me but in different classes. I felt much more confident about school knowing I will not be “alone” on my first day.
Bottom: Yuki, Me, Maria
The following day, I moved into my first host family’s house. My host parents are in their 50’s and my host dad’s parents live with them. They have a cute dog named Hari and a son who currently lives in Tokyo. My host parents own and run a paper/printing company that is a short walk down the driveway. No one in my host family speaks English so it can be a bit of a challenge sometimes but we have gotten used to using hand signals at each other and using my dictionary to translate words I don’t understand. I am actually very glad that they don’t speak English because that means I have to apply myself more to their language and I am picking it up a lot more quickly in practice.
After a quick tour of the house, I unpacked all my stuff in an hour and stored away my suitcases to make my room feel more “homey”. One of the strangest things in the house has got to be the toilets. They look like regular North American toilets but that is really deceiving. The seats are heated, which is a really weird sensation, and there are different buttons you can press to get “special features” from the toilet. One of them sprays water up as you sit on the toilet seat. I haven’t tried any of the “features” yet. The toilet upstairs has a sink built into the top of it so when you flush, water comes out of the tap. And the toilet on the main floor has option buttons on how you want to flush. As I said, these toilets are very alien.
I had another nap that day, still weary from jet lag, but I made sure to set my alarm so I would wake up in time for dinner. I was still pretty tuckered after dinner and pulled an early night, marking the end of my third day in Japan.
Hooray I am done this blog entry! It’s dinner time so I will continue with my adventures tomorrow. Ja matane!
~Stephanie
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