Skip to main content

Danielle- Osaka!

Osaka Family Reunion


Guess who came back from a week-long family reunion in Osaka?! :D

Time for some background information! Five years ago, me and my family hosted a 12-year-old boy from Osaka. He would come to our house for one month in the summertime to experience homestay in America. It was absolutely wonderful to host him, as he was a very respectful, smart, sweet little guy. Five years later, I got to meet him and also his parents for the first time, and oh my goodness, HAS HE GROWN! I feel like such a proud, older host sister! He's in his third year of high school now, which is a notorious year for Japanese students to be exceptionally busy as they get ready for testing into college. But I think he's doing very well for himself, and I'm glad to have met up with him again after so long.

So while my little bro was busy with school, me and my super cute, super energetic host mom (my host mother, as it were) went out and did some traveling!

We visited Uji (their green tea is AMAZING)...


Osaka (met lots of people, saw lots of pretty scenery)...


Kyoto (saw lots of temples)...


Nara (saw lots of deer)...


Something cool I should mention about Osaka is that the people are a lot different than the city-slickers back in Tokyo. I found them to be easier to approach (as they have a lot of gusto!) and it's not uncommon for strangers to say "hello" to each other or give each other a nod when passing by. I felt very comfortable in Osaka and had a blast meeting all my friends out there.

Oh, and did I mention they have an "Osaka-ben" dialect that I had to adjust to? Being a lover of language, it was super fun for me to try out, and in general, I just think it has a country-charm to it - rather than the strictness of formal Japanese. :)

...And by the way, I would totally take another 10-hour bus ride again. It wasn't all that bad :D

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sama Otsukare!!

Sama お疲れさまですした！ 韓国の文化おしえてくれて감사합니다!! Nos vemos en cualquier parte del world!👋💫 Wait for the last Sama blog very soon!  サマのラストーのブログ待って下さい！！👐 Sama,いってらっしゃい！
Post a Comment
Read more

Stephanie-こんにちは！Konnichiwa! Hello!

こんにちは！Konnichiwa! Hello! My host sister Asuka and I in 小えど, Japan Hi everyone!  My name is Stephanie, but in Japan I've already been given the nickname  Su-chan　 す－ちゃん    (su from Stephanie since the Japanese pronunciation is su-teh-fah-nee, and -chan is added to the end of a name when you are speaking to a younger person or a friend), so you can call me Su-chan! I am one of the five Hippo interns working in the LEX headquarters office in Tokyo this year. In addition to me, from Wisconsin, the intern team is made up of Tino from Mexico, Sakun and Ken Ken from China, and Hiu-chan from Korea. It's great to have such an international group!    Before coming to Japan I attended the University of Wisconsin and graduated with a degree in fine art. During that time I also worked for Wisconsin 4-H International Programs, which is how I first learned about Hippo through the 4-H/Hippo summer and yearlong exchanges. Last summer I had the opportun...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jess- Half Way

Half Way The arrival of March marks my halfway point through my Year-Long stay in Japan. In the past six months I have made more language discoveries than I am even aware of. Japanese, Thai, and Korean have started sneaking their way into my dreams at night and are invading my thoughts throughout the day. It's a transformation that I didn't consiously make but one that comes with the nature of being in this language rich environment I call home. In the past 6 months I have had countless opportunities to meet people from all over the world and all over Japan. Recently I gave a presentation at an elementary school where students from Thailand, Korea, and England participated in our activity. At the end of the school visit, the guy from Korea came up to me and asked "nan nen gurai nihon ni imasuka?" "how many years have you lived in Japan?" Although it is a fairly simple question, I was thrilled at the way it was worded. At the time he asked me that, I ...
Post a Comment
Read more