Anyway, enough history. I was
scheduled to speak at the meeting so I brought along a speech that my counselor
in the US had written for all Japan Outbounds. My speech went great! So great,
however, that the entire club thought I was fluent in Japanese. Apparently I even
used a Japanese accent. Oops! After my speech I exchanged Rotary club banners
with the president of the club. Then Nakamura-san gave a speech. I wish I could
have understood it better. What I inferred was he was restating the mission of
Rotary International and was saying that Rotary needs to get the younger
generation working through Rotary so it may continue in the future.
When the meeting ended, there
were many people that came and talked to me. One man had heard that I play tuba
and he told me I should get involved with the brass band at my school, Nagano High
School.
It was so overwhelming and nerve
racking. I think I may have even been shaking before I went up for my speech. I
truly hope I made a good impression on the club and that they will be
interested in spending more time with
me. I will have another chance to tell the entire club about myself in about a
month when I give a speech about myself and home. Yikes!
That night, Gigi and Baba took me
to a tea shop in downtown Kawachinagano that is run by Morishita Hiroko, the
exchange student coordinator in Kawachinagano (for those in Northfield, she’s a
Vicki Dilley equivalent). She was hosting a welcome party for me and had closed
down her shop for the party. It was an incredible gesture of kindness. There
were 13 members of the Rotary club there including Baba, Gigi, Michimoto-san,
Hiroko-san, and Okita-san. One of my host mothers whom I hadn’t met in person
before, Yukiko Yamasaki, was also there. Hiroko-san had prepared a lot of food
for the occasion. There was sushi, noodles, takoyaki, vegetables, and pasta. It
was all very delicious. The son of Hiroko-san taught me to make takoyaki. That was
super fun and cool! It was also very hard to make perfect round balls.
Hiroko-san’s son, it turned out, went to a college for two years in New York
and spoke very good English.
I feel so welcomed by the club,
although I can’t help but wonder if I will mostly do things with adults or if I
will make friends my age as well. From what I’ve heard high school students
start running out of time to make friends with exchange students in their
junior and sophomore years.
Speaking of school, I start on
Monday. Originally I thought I would start on Tuesday, but there is orientation
for 2 hours on Monday. I will receive my uniform and sign up for various clubs.
Scary!
Last night it rained. I’ve never
seen such rain before! It poured and poured and poured! There was also thunder
and lightning. The thunder made the night feel like there was a war going on
because the cracks and bangs were so loud and close. When I woke up, the clouds
were covering the tops of the hills around the house. What a sight it was!
It really doesn’t feel like it’s
been a week already. I don’t know where the time went! I’m hoping that my
jetlag has started to wear off and I will be able to focus on everything more.
I had heard that being an exchange student is the most tiring thing you will
ever experience. Now I would have to agree! You have to be alert every second
you are awake and you can’t afford to tuck yourself away.
またね！
Wes
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