The Family

I actually got my host family information yesterday, but I've been really busy these past two days and I haven't been able to update this blog. Well, nothing much has happened since I recieved my scholarship.. I mean, I went to the Pre-Departure Orientationa t the Berkeley Tilden Regional Park, but it wasn't that great. It was so-so, I would say. Well, in approximately tweleve to thirteen hours, I will be at San Jose State University, to start my Japan exchange, but you guys are probably wondering about my host family, right?

Well, I'm staying with the Shimizu family, and my host-father's name is Satoshi and my host-mother's name is Takako. I have a little brother who is eight years old, but I have no idea what his name was, it wasn't included in the paper they sent home. Well, as you can guess, I was really excited when I got my host family information yesterday. Apparently, I'll be staying in Miyakojima-shi in Okinawa, the same place Jimmy Ly (another recipient of the Okinawa Peace Prize last year) stayed last summer. I can't wait to meet my host family, but I'm going to have to wait at least a week before I see them, because apparently, I'll be staying three days at San Jose State and then another three days in Tokyo where I would be thanking sponsors and visiting some places.

So, today, I actually went out to buy some gifts for my host family. At Costco, my mom told me to bring some dried fruit for them.. blegh, and then we headed to the Great Mall to grab some gifts for my family. Well, I bought two shirts from Nautica for my little host brother, and my mom had some jewelry that was brand new, that she never even touched, and that is going to my host mother. My dad recently got some new socks from his co-worker and he never opened them, so I'll also be giving those socks to my host father. Oh, I also went to Target and bought four Pringles tubes for my little host brother and Jenga. I'm pretty sure that'll be a fun ice breaker between me and him, so I got it so he could play with me, but not only that, he could play with his friends too!

This afternoon, I actually called my host parents, but at the time, only my host mother was at home. It was really awkward because I didn't really know how to speak it, so I kept flipping through my Japanese-English dictionary to try to get the words right, and I think I exchanged my e-mail with her, but she might have copied it down wrong when I gave her the address, I don't know how Japanese people read out their address for people to copy down but yeah.. Anyways, as awkward as the call was, my host mother was very kind and patient, and so I can't wait to meet her at all!

Well, I leave for San Jose State tomorrow, and some of the things I'll need to bring with me that I haven't packed are: nice/formal shoes, black and white converses, eyebrow plucker, pads(! xD), money, and laptop. I also need to fold my clothes from all the baskets downstairs and bring them up and arrange them in my closet all nice and neat. And, if you haven't figured out by now, this is just kind of a section to remind me what still needs to be done.

I'm so ready to go!