My First time meeting my host family.

Today I met my host family. Well, actually only my host mother because Shunji (my host father) will be late at work until about 11 or 12. My host mother seems really nice. I think I got a family that is very traditional. A lot of Japanese houses these days are becoming more western, but my host family’s house is very traditional Japanese. Tonight I’ll sleep on a futon, and my room is a tetami mat. It all looks very traditional Japanese. I’ve hit my head twice so far, and I plan to hit my head at least once on every doorway and low ceiling in the house…

My stomach still hasn’t quite adjusted to Japanese food yet. I haven’t been able to eat a full meal but today I did eat a lot more than the last few days at dinner. It’s very strange. It’s not that my stomach feels bad, it’s just that I don’t feel like eating after only a little food. Maybe it’s nerves because whenever I get really nervous, I can’t swallow very easily. I’ve been having a mild headache since I got here too, but I’m not sure if it’s just the fact that my brain is working really hard on the language or something else is the cause. I have had this same mild head pressure whenever I studied back home for more than three hours strait. It hasn’t left me in a while. It’s not really that annoying though.

The Japanese treat sickness with incredible seriousness. If I get sick even with a mild cold, I’ll be quarantined to my room and won’t be able to go to school. If it’s anything more than a cold I’ll have to go to a doctor and have him sign off on a form that will allow me to return back to school. I really hope I don’t get sick… but I don’t see much chance in that happening.

A good thing happened today. My host mother is friends with two other host mothers that have students that I’m friends with. I think we might do something together Monday. It’s silver week starting tomorrow so I’ll have some free time to do stuff. The only problem is that I can’t easily contact my friends because we all don’t have cell phones yet. After I post this blog I’ll probably try to find them on face book.