Goodbye To My Second Host Family
Yesterday I changed host families for the third time, which will be my last host family while I'm in Japan. I was really sad to leave my previous host family because I had just gotten to know them very well and really enjoyed staying with them, but before we were able to do a lot of things together before I left. My host sister Maron-chan and I went shopping in Harajuku together, which we had been planning to do for a long time since she likes going there, but hadn't found the time. The other day she had a day off from school though, so we were finally able to go.
Harajuku is a trendy shopping area for young people and very Nihon-poi (Japanese taste). Maron-chan said that the best thing to eat there is tapioca juice (I've seen it called bubble tea in the U.S.), so one of our missions was to find it. My host mom joined us later and we went to a place with プリクラ ("puricura", a Japanese-icized version of Print Club), or photo booths that make your eyes look huge and let you add all kinds of cute decorations to your photo before you print it out in a sheet of little stickers that you can put on everything. In other words, very Japanese. It was really fun!
I also bought some of the ridiculously long fake eyelashes that are very popular with Japanese girls and when we got home Maron-chan and I dressed up in the fashion.
If you want more proof of the popularity of the false eyelash trend in Japan, see this music video a song by Kyari Pamyu Pamyu that is really popular right now. The title of the song is "Tsukema Tsukeru"; "tsukema" is fake eyelashes and "tsukeru" is to put on. Maron-chan taught me all the lyrics, so now I have to practice so I can sing it next time we go to karaoke!!!
They day after, my host mom and dad took me out to lunch and since I hadn't eaten unagi (eel) yet in Japan, we went to a really nice Japanese restaurant whose specialty was ungai. It was delicious!
My second host mom is also a Hippo fellow the Hippo club in that area has a lot of members, so I got to know a lot of people there and I even stayed with two other families for a few days when my host family was on vacation, so I got to know those families very well as well. Tuesday was my last night with my host family and also my last Hippo club in that area so they had a big farewell mochiyori party for me. It was so nice and everyone had very nice things to say to me :) I will miss them all too! But hopefully I'm sure I will see most of them again before I leave Japan. I will also still get to see my host mom a few days a week in the Hippo office. :)
Even though I was sad to leave my previous hosts, my new host family is also a very nice family!
I met my host dad yesterday, but today he left for Nagoya (an hour and a half away from Tokyo by Shinkansen), where he will work and live for the next year, so I won't see him that often, but he will come home on weekends when he can, so I will see him once in a while. My host mom is really sweet and also a Hippo Fellow. She has her own club near where we live on Thursday evenings. There are also several other Hippo clubs in the area that my family attends on Fridays and Saturdays. I haven't met anyone from these clubs yet but I'm sure I will soon!
Though I haven't gotten to spend that much time with them yet, my host sister who is 13 and my host brother who is 9 are really cute and seem like a lot of fun. The night I arrived my host sister showed me all her photo albums and they taught me a card game and already have lots of plans for fun things they want to do with me like go swimming and go to an amusement park.
Harajuku is a trendy shopping area for young people and very Nihon-poi (Japanese taste). Maron-chan said that the best thing to eat there is tapioca juice (I've seen it called bubble tea in the U.S.), so one of our missions was to find it. My host mom joined us later and we went to a place with プリクラ ("puricura", a Japanese-icized version of Print Club), or photo booths that make your eyes look huge and let you add all kinds of cute decorations to your photo before you print it out in a sheet of little stickers that you can put on everything. In other words, very Japanese. It was really fun!
If you want more proof of the popularity of the false eyelash trend in Japan, see this music video a song by Kyari Pamyu Pamyu that is really popular right now. The title of the song is "Tsukema Tsukeru"; "tsukema" is fake eyelashes and "tsukeru" is to put on. Maron-chan taught me all the lyrics, so now I have to practice so I can sing it next time we go to karaoke!!!
They day after, my host mom and dad took me out to lunch and since I hadn't eaten unagi (eel) yet in Japan, we went to a really nice Japanese restaurant whose specialty was ungai. It was delicious!
My second host mom is also a Hippo fellow the Hippo club in that area has a lot of members, so I got to know a lot of people there and I even stayed with two other families for a few days when my host family was on vacation, so I got to know those families very well as well. Tuesday was my last night with my host family and also my last Hippo club in that area so they had a big farewell mochiyori party for me. It was so nice and everyone had very nice things to say to me :) I will miss them all too! But hopefully I'm sure I will see most of them again before I leave Japan. I will also still get to see my host mom a few days a week in the Hippo office. :)
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| Farewell party with members from my Hippo club |
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| A T-shirt that Kazuyan made for me and everyone signed with lovely messages! |
I met my host dad yesterday, but today he left for Nagoya (an hour and a half away from Tokyo by Shinkansen), where he will work and live for the next year, so I won't see him that often, but he will come home on weekends when he can, so I will see him once in a while. My host mom is really sweet and also a Hippo Fellow. She has her own club near where we live on Thursday evenings. There are also several other Hippo clubs in the area that my family attends on Fridays and Saturdays. I haven't met anyone from these clubs yet but I'm sure I will soon!
Though I haven't gotten to spend that much time with them yet, my host sister who is 13 and my host brother who is 9 are really cute and seem like a lot of fun. The night I arrived my host sister showed me all her photo albums and they taught me a card game and already have lots of plans for fun things they want to do with me like go swimming and go to an amusement park.
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