Info, Info, Info! [T - 33 days]

I received a bunch of information today that I'm happy to say is making me more excited than overwhelmed or nervous. I CAN DO THIS!! 

First off, I found out I will be spending my long weekend homestay (October 4-6) with the Hosoda Family:

• Erina is a senior at Bunkyo University.
• Her older sister Marina is 23.
• Their mother Mami is 48.
• Plus they have a dog!

I sent Erina a brief email introducing myself and telling them I was looking forward to meeting them. I sent them a couple photos of me, my family, and my dog. I also bought gifts for them today.

• A 2014 calendar for Mami, with beautiful drawings of fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
• A pretty blue scarf for Marina.
• A small coin/keepsake box for Erina.

Our program directors have told us how lucky we are to get to do a homestay. Since Japanese homes are so much smaller than ours, it is not very common for them to have overnight guests. I know they will be eager and welcoming, even with the inevitable language barrier.

[Editor's Note: My program director just came in to the office where I am working/writing this to tell me I "got a great homestay family"! Score!]

On the information form, there is a section where the student can write why her family is participating in the homestay program. Here's what she wrote:

"The reason is because I am eager to share time with international people as much as I can.  Because I experienced homestay in USA and my host family was so nice, I want student stay my house and to give her good memories of Japan."

How sweet, right? And in response to what they would like to do with me while I am there:

"I would like to cook Japanese food together, to visit place where many traditional architectures are, and to do something interesting for the student."

Yes to all of those things!

I also received my class schedule today. No class on Mondays, and class until only 10:40 a.m. on Fridays? I can definitely work with that. The classes are a bit interesting in that SA 375B and HIST 300D (as they are called at CSB/SJU) are actually each composed of three once-a-week classes. The grade from each class is averaged to get the overall grade which goes onto my CSB/SJU transcript.

I have a whole handbook to read and decipher and condense into spreadsheets. I will post more soon!