Nathan

11/06/14
          Finally arrived but it still hadn't quite hit me yet that we're In japan. The food from the airport was actually really delicious. I'm extremely tired and after sleeping tonight I know i'll be ready for tomorrow's endless train rides. 

11/07/14
         Go time. I woke up feeling super refreshed today and ready to hit the road running. Unfortunately though we had to endure a 3 hour train ride. It was actually kind of fun because I got to look out the window and see scenery go by. It was really cool getting to see what life on the country side looks like. I saw all kinds of little houses and fields, but through it all there was the common them being beautiful architecture. I only wish that I could have taken a picture, but the bullet trains are called bullet trains for a reason. They are really really fast. It was really a long train ride-and that's saying something- and I managed to get some work done but I also slept too. After the ride I heard that we actually passed Mount Fuji but I was sleeping when that happened so I missed it. I still have so much homework to do too.

11/08/14
11/09/14
11/10/14
11/11/14

11/12/14

Wow today is the day. The most nervous part of the trip is today. Today is the day I meet the mysterious Oki. The Oki who will be hosting me for about 7 days. On the host list which contained all the information about who hosts who and the emails for contact, there were 3 without any information at all besides grade and name, Oki  being one of them. I was super nervous about it, but I pushed that away till it would be important. Fast forward to today. We woke up around 6:30 and ate breakfast. After breakfast we headed to the train station near us in 4 taxis because sensei thought that we were going to be late after some of the girls were lagging behind. We ended up like 25 mins early but it was definitely a safety precaution that we needed to take because if we missed the train then it would be a very very long time till the next one and the host families would also be super inconvenienced. I got a bento box from a konbini which had some delicious looking chicken, rice and random other bits. We then rode the train for like 3 hours or so and it felt like forever. On the way there Rodrido, Atul and I helped write a speech for Susannah to read to 400 people at KJ, or kokusaijoho- our Japanese "sister school"- for tomorrow. If I was feeling nervous, I should have tried to put myself in her shoes.... Anyway, we eventually arrived at around 5:00 at urasa eki, or urasa station. Throughout the entire trip to the home stay I was hoping for "one more train" or "one more bus" but when we arrived here and were given a small pep talk, we were somewhat surprised to find out that our students were actually waiting the next floor down and that this biz begins right now. With my heart racing we rounded the corner and saw a small gourp of students waiting for us. It became apparent that the mysterious Oki, just got a little more mysterious. Although to be fair it seemed like only 70% of the students were there right then. It all worked out ok though because as I was talking to some students and greeting some who I met last year at the Japanese party at my house and from hosting, I saw another student arrive through the doors. It was Oki! He looked like a nice dude and we shook hands. I said "Hajimemashite", a greeting that translates to "Nice to meet you". He replied kindly. We got along really well and took a 40 minute ride from the station to his house, a beautiful little apartment nestled in the neighborhood of tokamachi. To top off the night, his dad and I kicked it off extremmely well after discovering that we had the same jacket and both loved adidas. Oki has a brother, named Mao who is 15 (jyugosaidesu) and Oki is 17 (jyunanasaidesu). His mom is really really nice and we ate a delicious dinner of chicken, rice, egg soup thing, and some other stuff including misou soup. All in all it was an amazing day. AMAZING.

11/13/14
We woke up today at about 6:30 again. Seems like a common theme, hmm? I was wondering how far the school was so I asked Oki and he told me that his mom would drive us to a close train station like 5 minutes away and then we would ride 2 trains and a bus to the school. I was satisfied with that and after breakfast we headed out. It was really cold in Niigata so I brought a hoodie and my adidas jacket to school. On the way we met Oki's friends who also take that transportation to school. Some were KJ students and others were simply commuting to their respective schools. It was all really really interesting. It was like they were friends through trains. We met up with Daniel and Alexandra on the train and rode the rest of the way to KJ. It was a very cool looking school although quite smaller than ETHS. At ETHS there are 3500 people and at KJ there are around 400 people, so you could say is it was quite different. Like middle school all over again. kind of. We were welcomed into a room where we talked and then we left for a welcoming ceremony. The entire school was there and Susannah had her moment to shine. She did amazing and we all received nice coffee containers with KJ's emblem on them. Then I got to see the rest of Oki's classes. They were really interesting but Japanese class was extremely hard to follow and I really didn't understand any of it at all. My favorite class was probably Government/ Economics. The teacher was really funny and interesting. Instead of students getting up and walking to their next class like in ETHS, the KJ students will only sometimes leave the room and instead the teachers will change. For lunch Oki's mom packed an amazing bento box type meal and I cannot stress enough how good it was. We ate with friends and then attempted to play frizbee but it was way too windy and it kept blowing around and we had to chase it everywhere. It was still a lot of fun and helped break up the loooooong day.
11/14/14
Today was a really fun day. we wple
The first act









































































11 comments:

  1. Hey everyone whose following me!! I'm super grateful for everyone whose supported me in getting to japan and now that I'm sitting here in the airport, moments from leaving, Its really starting to hit me. Once we figure this site out more, Ill be able to properly comment, but for now its gonna look like this. Getting ready for an awesome trip!!!

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  2. Nathan, I hope you have the most awesome time in Japan. Experience as much as you can and try to have fun too.

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  3. Dude, you KNOW I'm following you!!! What are moms for? At 2 pm Chicago time I see that you now flying over Canada. I know that you are going to have an amazing time on this trip. Looking forward to your updates! xoxox Maaaaaa

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  4. I just saw you land. Very cool app, flight radar 24. It even gives you a 3D view. So you're in Japan now, so have fun and go explore.

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  5. I'm so sorry I havn't posted as much as I would have liked to, expect a FULL update tomorrow with pics, stories, etc! The wifi has been a little iffy and for that Im sorry, but know Im having such a amazing time!

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  7. LOVE the hair photo! You've got an eye, mon! Keep enjoying! Writing is great for remembering these experiences. Hope to see more.

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  9. Good morning buddy. Great stuff. We yearn for more so that we can live vicariously through you in your stay in Japan. Say hi to Oki's family from all of us back in the states. If you have pics of the family that would be cool. Fill in the other days when you have the time while the feelings are still fresh in your mind. Be safe and have a great experience.

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  10. OMGgggg; great pics! Are those little kids siblings of Oki? Everything looks amazing. We are going to dinner tonight with Carly's parents, and we're going to a Japanese restaurant in honor of all y'all! Savor away, kiddo!

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  11. You know you can comment to us on here and answer some questions eh? from the looks of the pictures it looks like you're having a blast. Oki's family looks awesome. Now we need more!!! You've shown and written some fun stuff. Have fun.

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