Today's update will actually be short (I promise) mainly because my parents will be arriving in Akita this afternoon and I will be very busy for the next few days with them. However, in the meantime I thought I would share with you another really cool experience/opportunity that I have here in Japan. Many people have asked me if I would be living with a host family while staying in AIU. AIU houses its students on the campus dorms, so the short answer is no. However, they do provide for a watered-down host family experience. The Akita International Association is an organization working out of Akita City that pairs up international students from all of the local universities with interested host families. The students don't live with the host families as in the more traditional programs; rather, the organization facilitates the initial connection with an interested family, and from then on you and your host family decide on what kinds of activities you want to do. This usually includes dinners, spending a weekend at their home, trips to various places, and other activities.
I signed up for the program within the first few days of orientation, when they gave us the information about this program. I was a bit concerned at first because my Japanese is so poor, and I expressed my reluctance with the representatives of the program who had come to give an informational session in April. They assured me that they would do their best to find a family that would meet my circumstances.
Anyway, fast forward almost two months. Yesterday was the first get-together sponsored by the organization in order to meet your "Home Stay" family. I went with four other AIU students. While we waited, students from other schools arrived as well, though we didn't really mix or mingle. After a short while they invited us to a room where our families were gathered. They sat at long tables (about 14 or so), one family to a table. Most of the families had young (newborn - 12) children, though there were also a couple of older people as well. After some initial introductory announcements, they then announced which student got which family.
I got paired up with the Oi family, and they are super. The family consists of Keigo (the father), Rumiko (the mother), Shuichiro (or Shu, the son, 7 yrs) and Aneko (the daughter, 4 yrs). Keigo could speak English pretty well...not fluent but he could hold a conversation without much problem. He looked to be in his mid-thirties. He works for an insurance company and is also a rice farmer. Rumiko looked to be about the same age as her husband and was a house-wife. I was surprised to learn that the family had lived in Seattle, Washington for five years (due to business), and that the children were born there (which means they are also US citizens). Keigo also used to live in Colorado for some time, which explains his relative proficiency with English. Rumiko could speak basic English, problem at the same level as many of the office workers in the Administration Building on campus. Shuichiro knew a few words but I don't think they taught him English while they lived in the US. Shuichiro was also too young to have learned it at school (I think he started school after their return to Japan).
They were a really cool family. Keigo (and to a lesser extent Rumiko) and I exchanged questions and answers, getting a feel for where we came from, what we do, and our relative levels of language proficiency. I am a bit bummed out that I don't know more Japanese because I would love to talk and play with their children more. Aneko (the daughter) was very shy and did not really talk to me, contenting herself with drawing for most of the day.
After some time of chatting, there were a few games scheduled for "fun." The first was a game of "Hot Potato" with a taiko (hand drum) used for "music." The person left with the potato after the drum stopped playing had to wear a namihage (a type of oni or demon) mask and make ridiculous grunting sounds. It was hilarious. After a couple of games (I never had to grunt) we then played a puzzle game where they gave us a gray map of Japan divided into its Prefectures (similar to a state or province) as well as small colored puzzle pieces shaped like the prefectures which we had to glue onto the map within an alloted time. It took a while, as Japan has an incredible amount of prefectures given its size (47!). After that, we then had to name all of the prefectures within another time limit (Keigo was especially awesome with this part...I knew of about six prefectures by name, making me pretty much useless). There were also some pictures taken, both of the individual families and their international student, and then of the entire group as well.
Towards the end of our time together we exchanged contact information, and this was the only time where I seriously missed having a cell phone. If I was staying more than a semester I would seriously consider getting a "pre-paid" phone but as it is it doesn't make economic sense to get one when I will be in Japan for only two more months. It should be okay communicating via e-mail though. They mentioned that they were going to take the children cherry picking next month and invited me along. They also mentioned they wanted to have me over for dinner. I had already talked to them about my parents visiting this week, so we decided to plan it after my parents returned to the US. Keigo also invited me to see his rice farm at some point (hell yes!).
All in all, it was a fun time, and I'm super excited about my host family. I will keep you all updated regarding any events that I do with them. Hope everyone is having a great end-of May! Summer is just around the corner!
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