Home Stay
Hello Everyone,
I want to take some time and talk about my home stay experience. First of all, my time at LEX is not my first time coming to Japan. I may have stated it previous before in older post, but just in case I didn't or maybe you forgot, I have studied in Japan at two different universities. During those stays I lived in the university dormitories and I lived alone. Therefore, coming to Japan through Hippo has been a very interesting and fun experience. Coming through Hippo I got the chance to live with 3 different Japanese host families. At first I was very anxious and worried about living with a family. After all I do not live with my own family in the U.S. so going back to a family setting was troublesome, I thought. But OH, I was wrong.
I lived in three different areas of Japan. The first place I lived was in Omiya, Saitama. It was a family made of 5 people. "Dad" "Mom" and three brothers. Of course I did not call them Mom or Dad, instead I called them お父さん and お母さん which is just mom and dad in Japanese.
I had a great time with this family. Of course everything was not great all the time. We had our ups and our downs, but I always tried to talk to them honestly about what I was thinking. Through some easy and some hard talks we gradually became closer as a family and understood our culture differences. We lived together for roughly 4 months. At first it was hard learning everything about the house, how to their shower, how to get to the station, and etc. I had a great time with them. I even made them chicken Fajitas! It was my first time making them so I was unsure about the taste. But it turned out great!
I lived with my next host family for a long time. Roughly 7 months! We got along great. Again I had 3 brothers, but they are all older than I am. My last host family had 2 younger kids. A girl and a boy. Being the youngest child myself, I was not sure how to treat them. But again I was surprised at how great things went. We played cards a lot. I won't go into too much detail about my host families, but they were all amazing people.
When I came to LEX I was 23 years old, now 24 years old, I thought that I had everything figured out. In the U.S. I lived alone, I was independent, I needed no one. But coming to Japan was a different experience. There are language, culture barriers, and a whole new world that I didn't know about. But thanks to my host families I was able to learn different things about Japanese society, culture, and the Japanese language. But most important they were there for me to rely on. I wasn't alone. Traveling and doing an exchange alone at first seems scary, but knowing that I have not one, not two, but three families waiting for me, made me feel secure. Also knowing that I can always come back and have my Japanese family welcoming me is a great feeling. It is amazing the things you can learn from your family when you open your mind and listen. I am grateful for all my family. This includes my real family back in the states as well. As my time progressed here, my family gradually grew. Not only my host family, but all my friends in LEX, all the LEX members gradually became part of my family as well.
Thank you.!
-Omar
.jpg)
I will never forget my family!
I want to take some time and talk about my home stay experience. First of all, my time at LEX is not my first time coming to Japan. I may have stated it previous before in older post, but just in case I didn't or maybe you forgot, I have studied in Japan at two different universities. During those stays I lived in the university dormitories and I lived alone. Therefore, coming to Japan through Hippo has been a very interesting and fun experience. Coming through Hippo I got the chance to live with 3 different Japanese host families. At first I was very anxious and worried about living with a family. After all I do not live with my own family in the U.S. so going back to a family setting was troublesome, I thought. But OH, I was wrong.
I lived in three different areas of Japan. The first place I lived was in Omiya, Saitama. It was a family made of 5 people. "Dad" "Mom" and three brothers. Of course I did not call them Mom or Dad, instead I called them お父さん and お母さん which is just mom and dad in Japanese.
When I came to LEX I was 23 years old, now 24 years old, I thought that I had everything figured out. In the U.S. I lived alone, I was independent, I needed no one. But coming to Japan was a different experience. There are language, culture barriers, and a whole new world that I didn't know about. But thanks to my host families I was able to learn different things about Japanese society, culture, and the Japanese language. But most important they were there for me to rely on. I wasn't alone. Traveling and doing an exchange alone at first seems scary, but knowing that I have not one, not two, but three families waiting for me, made me feel secure. Also knowing that I can always come back and have my Japanese family welcoming me is a great feeling. It is amazing the things you can learn from your family when you open your mind and listen. I am grateful for all my family. This includes my real family back in the states as well. As my time progressed here, my family gradually grew. Not only my host family, but all my friends in LEX, all the LEX members gradually became part of my family as well.
Thank you.!
-Omar
.JPG) |
I will never forget my family!
Comments
Post a Comment