The past month and a half have been very busy. I’ve been sick quite a bit, first with strep throat and then with bronchitis. I’ve been to the doctor four times, so I feel like I am getting a practical introduction to the Japanese health care system. It makes it so much more real than reading about the system in my Issues in Japanese Society class. However, I think I’m getting better now. It’s hard to believe how quickly time has gone by. In some ways it feels like I just got off the airplane yesterday, while in other ways I feel like I’ve been here forever.
Living with my host family is great. I love playing with Koko and Yui. Both of them are getting bigger everyday! It’s been a lot of fun to learn silly games and learning Japanese nursery rhymes and children’s songs has been a challenge. Keitaro and I have also been playing “Yu-Gi-Oh” a lot. It’s fun, but I don’t really understand the rules, so I lose every time we play. ^_^; My host parents and I get along really well. After the kids go to bed, we watch action movies, and sometimes my host mother and I will sit for hours and just talk to each other.
School is a little crazy. Finals start on Monday, so everyone is studying hard. I think I’ll be okay on the finals, but writing the final paper for a couple of my classes is difficult. I’m glad classes are over for the semester, mainly because I don’t have to get up by 7:30 in the morning every day. I’m also going to miss hanging out with all my friends during class and studying afterwards. Yesterday (Friday Dec. 7th), my friends and I went to Kuzuha to go shopping and take a study break. It was nice to forget we had finals to worry about. But then, reality set in when I went home. Other than yesterday, I haven’t done anything but study all week.
I’m looking forward to winter break because I can sleep in every day. I’ve been having fun comparing American Christmas customs with my host family’s customs. For example, I think it’s funny that everyone in Japan eats chicken or turkey on Christmas day. At least in my family, we eat turkey for Thanksgiving in November and ham on Christmas. My host parents didn’t know that Santa is married. I thought that was really funny, too.
The only sad part about winter break coming is that most of my friends are leaving after this semester. Hopefully, I’ll be able to make lots of new friends during the spring semester. In the meantime, I’m trying to enjoy the time I have left with my friends and host family. We’re planning lots of small trips for break to places like Hiroshima and maybe Nagasaki. I also really want to see Tokyo and see how different it is from Osaka. For now though, I have to stop dreaming about traveling and focus on doing well for the end of the semester.
Take care!