こんにちはに日本！

WOW! That's the only thing I can think to say. I arrived in Japan at 2:30 PM. Customs and immigration were surprisingly easy to get through and I would give most of the credit to the fact that I was wearing my Rotary blazer. The immigrations officials knew exactly what Rotary was and they lightened up significantly when they understood. After I passed through with my brand new residence card, I went through customs and out into the airport. There I found several of my host families (Tani family, Tawada family, and Masahide Michimoto) waiting for me as well as the president of the Kawachinagano Rotary Club. They were all carrying signs with my name on it and were extremely welcoming. This is my first host family, the Tani family. From left to right they are Nanako, Papa Kazuhiro, me, Mitsuki, Mama Akane, and Ojiisan Gigi.

 All in all, it was very confusing after being awake for twenty-some hours and being thrown into an unfamiliar language. Momoka Tawada from the Tawada family is traveling with Rotary to Minnesota and she was leaving an hour after I arrived in Japan. It will be hard to remember everyone that I saw there although I will try my best.

The Tani family and I went to the parking garage to drive home. When we walked outside I had to take my blazer off because it was so hot and humid! Papa Kazuhiro and Gigi sat in front while the rest of us piled in back. I guess the laws here require only the front passengers to wear seatbelts. To put my parents to rest, I do still wear my seatbelt. I am especially ok with wearing it because the roads are insane. a lot of the time the country roads are one lane but they still have two way traffic on them. The also follow the curvature of the hills because they are so steep. Mama Akane asked me if I liked roller coasters when we went past an amusement park and I told her that we were on one already!

The ride back to the house was quick. We would around through the hills and through a couple tunnels. The Tani house is out in the country on a steep hillside. When we arrived, I meet Obaasan Baba.

 I was shown my room and then Kazuhiro, Nanako, Mitsuki, and I walk the two dogs, Ryu and Bingo. After dinner we went to a night market that happens once a summer in Kawachinagano. It was fun and interesting. There were Buddhist dances being done around some trees in the middle of the market. We had cotton candy and grilled sausages. There was a came in which you tried to retrieve bouncy balls from a bucket of water. The trick was that to get them out you had to lift them on a small tissue paper fan. When the fan got too wet, the balls would fall through and you wouldn't get them. Nanako was able to get 5! We ran into the third child of Kazuhiro and Akane, Yoshino. She was staying at a friends house that night. When we drove back to the house, I fell asleep because I was so tired. When my head hit the pillow, I was out for the night.

When I got up it was sunny and hot. Baba made me eggs and toast for breakfast. Kazuhiro, Akane, Nanako, Mitsuki, and I went to a pool nearby.

 It was very refreshing and we spent a long time there. I had my first experience talking with a stranger! One of the lifeguards started talking to me as I was heading to the bathroom. I didn't know anything he was saying and I didn't know what to do! I eventually picked out that he was asking me if I was an American. Somehow I was able to communicate that, yes, I was and that I didn't know very much Japanese. Phew! That was difficult! I am so thankful that the Japanese people are patient and willing to talk to strangers.

When we finished at the pool, we went to McDonald's. That was quite the experience. There is a mixture of Japanese and English on everything. The food is also in much smaller quantities than the US. The burgers are about half-sized. I was continuously asked if I had enough food.

Kazuhiro and Akane had decided to take me to Osaka proper in the afternoon. We drove into the city around 1 PM. It was nuts. Cars were everywhere and the lanes seem to be optional. We parked in a parking garage 2 stories underground.

 If there were American cars everywhere there would be pile ups and traffic accidents everywhere. It's a good thing that everything is smaller here. Except for their malls and stores. The mall we went to was outside and there were people everywhere. We walked past the hello kitty store as well as the Disney store. I've never seen so many stores! This must not count as a true mall because it was definitely bigger than the Mall of America in Minnesota. We went past Glico man and a big moving crab which are famous in Japan.

Kazuhiro bought a guide book to Osaka for me and Akane bought me flip flops. It was very generous of them. We also went to a restaurant that seemed to serve only appetizers and had takoyaki (deep fried octopus). On the way home from Osaka we past Ikea (pronounced ee-kay-aah in Japanese).

It turned out that we were not actually going home yet but we were just picking up Yoshino and a friend of hers and going to dinner. The restaurant we went to was very cool. We sat at a booth with a big heated pan in front of us and the servers put okanomiyaki (Japanese pancakes is the only way to describe them) on them.

These first two days have been very interesting as well as helpful. I know how cliche it is to say the ignorance is bliss, but it is the most true statement that I know right now. There is all this Japanese being spoken around me and I can't understand a single bit of it. Yes, I did take Japanese before coming on exchange and it was from a very good teacher, but I feel that no amount of lessons could have properly prepared anyone for this. It is quite the experience and very refreshing to feel the utter ignorance.

さよなら！

Wes