Nami This month I am helping prepare for the In Japan Midterm Meeting. It's an event for all the students that came to Japan from all over the world who are doing a year long homestay. It has been 3 months since they arrived and we want to check in with them and give them a little motivation. Yoshiko, Gotaro and I had a lengthy meeting talking about some issues that develop during this time and ways we can help the students overcome their homesickness, culture shock and language challenges. As we talked about this, of course, I offered up some suggestions and personal ideas about dealing with these difficulties. After the meeting I couldn't help but continue to think about culture adjustment and language acquisition. During the meeting, some personal struggles, challenges and triumphs came rushing to the front of my consciousness. Although it is my job to be a mentor to the high school students throughout their stay, I am also going through a similar struggle. Although,