Host Family

My host family are some of the nicest and funniest people ever. Since my first night in Himeji, all they have done is laugh and have fun. It's just me, Ayane (my counterpart who comes to Phoenix), Nodoka (sister), and the mother and father. Ayane, my counterpart is so incredibly nice. She is always constantly looking out for me, asking if I need anything, and making sure I am taking care of. She is also incredibly smart (tensai) and is a hard working girl. I am so glad that she is my counterpart. I can't wait for her to come to Phoenix so I can show and tell her all about Phoenix and let her have as much fun as I had in Himeji. Nodoka, Ayane's sister, is also so funny. She constantly does these little things that are so funny and make all of us laugh. For example, she would just start breaking out in little dances and weird faces. She HATES studying but still perseveres through it. The father, who i call chi chi, is pretty quiet most of the time, but is still open and himself around me at home. I worried that people in the family l would only try to present someone who they weren't for me, but I can tell that this is who they are. All the time. They don't let stress or any of their problems get to and effect who they are. They come home, have some fun and family time, and just be there with each other in the moment. I feel like too often in America we let our work, our school, or whatever other problems we are having effect the present and effect what relationships we have with others. We don't live in the moment that we are having and instead tend to just focus on what is going wrong in our life. The mom is one of the sweetest person I have ever met. Every morning her and I sit at breakfast and we try to teach each other our respective languages. She is mainly the reason why I learned so much of the Japanese language. She laughs and smiles all the time and constantly makes sure everyone in her family is taken care of. I respect how hard she works both at home and with her 30 kindergartners (part-time job). I can tell that it is going to be very hard to leave such a fun and loving family.