report 13 -My Summer

 Hi, everyone! I haven't written the report for a while. Today I'd like to tell you about my summer. 

So here, school ended on July 20th, and summer vacation had started. It's too short compared to American HS. I was not really excited about summer vacation though cuz I'll have big tests after summer vacation at school, and I had to study. Also I went to school during summer vacation any ways cuz I had special classes for summer.

I went to my grandma’s house during summer vacation. She lives in two hours away from my house. It’s rural area. It was a long time to see her so I was super excited. I went there one day before my family went. So that I can stay one night at my grandma’s house. It was so fun to tell her about the US. She was really interested in it. And I made her dinner and she liked it. The night my family came over, we went out to have dinner. This is the picture. 

The next day, my other family members came to my grandma’s house. Actually my grandma is twins so there is a lady literally same look as my grandma. Don’t you think so??

We talked a lot and was so much fun. I had a great time. 

Summer trip w my sis

During summer vacation, I was planning to go on a trip with my old sister, Yui. My mom wanted us to go to Hokkaido. Do you know where that is? It's north part of Japan. And it's famous for good food such as seafood, beef, lamb, fruit, and ramen!! The temperature in Hokkaido is much lower than my town, so it was really nice to go there in summer. 

We've stayed there for three days. First day of the trip, I had to take an English exam before the trip. I couldn't concentrate on it because I was so excited for the trip right after the exam. And also it was just too difficult for me. I'm not sure I made it or not, but we'll see!

After taking the exam, my mom and my sis Yui came to my place. And I and Yui went to the airport. It had been a while to go there, and it made me so excited. It took an hour and a half to get there which is not bad at all. 

She was super excited. 

We went to the hotel to put our stuffs. The hotel we stayed in was good. We got two beds, a big TV in front of the beds, a bathroom which is clean, and a small fridge as well!! 

First night, before we went to have dinner, we went to the mountain to see beautiful scenery of Sapporo (the city name in Hokkaido). We used the “road train”(idk how to say in English but you know what I mean). 

It was kinda like the cable car in San Francisco ig.  We rode a rope ways to get the top of the mountain. It was already dark outside and the lights of the buildings had showed up which was so beautiful!! 

But anyways I had never seen such a beautiful view before. I highly recommend there!! It was kinda far away from the hotel, but it was worth it. It was so cold at the top I knew it was gonna be cold cuz we were in the north part of Japan. But I didn’t expect that weather... we were freezing:(  But it was not all of it. When we got to the top of the mountain, there were so many ppl tried to go back to the foot of the mountain. It was rlly long line to get the rope way. We tried to walk to foot of the mountain cuz like I said we were freezing and hungry as well. But the staff told us there might be bears in the mountain so they don’t think it was good idea. As a result we waited in the long line for rope way. 

Finally we got to the foot of the mountain!! It was about 9 pm. But there were still a lot of ppl who was gonna go to the top. We were like they gonna stay there at whole night lol I hope they all could come back safely. If you go there, I think you should go there whenever there are few ppl. 

After seeing the beautiful view, we tried to have dinner!! We were literally tired, and hungry but we went to out to have dinner! Like I said, Hokkaido has a lot of good food so we decided we gonna enjoy having a lot of dishes!! Yui decided to have ramen for first night. So we went to the city near to the hotel. And we finally got to the restaurant!! Ramen at the restaurant was amazing. It was literally the best ramen I’ve ever had. 

It was kinda late at night so we went backwards to the hotel and took a shower, did something relaxed and went to bed. First day of the trip was kinda busy but it was really fun. 

And on second day we woke up early in the morning altho we went to bed late at night. We went to the university which my grandpa used to go and had breakfast there. Then we took a bus trip to Furano. It was so nice to see beautiful scenery and seasonal flowers.I went to the beach a lot, either with my family or my friends. It takes only 30 min. It's fun just to lay down on the beach. Some beaches have a lot of people, but I know the beach that is kinda local beach, and is clean. These are some photos! 

The blue lake 

I really enjoyed seeing beautiful natures in Hokkaido! After the bus tour we walked around the city which is near to our hotel to find a restaurant for dinner. Yui wanted to have soup curry which is really famous in Hokkaido. So we tried to find it. But it was not that easy cuz we didn’t know where we are and we tried to google the place, but the buttery was low. And finally, we found the restaurant. At the time we were dead tired and our feet and all parts of body hurt a lot. I and Yui ordered the same menu, chicken soup curry. It was really good. I loved it. Because we were super tired it tasted much better than usual. The 2nd day was long day, as long as 1st one or maybe longer but I really enjoyed it. I felt a lot of natures in Hokkaido. 

Finally, third day, it was raining. So, we were worried that whether we could visit the city called “Otaru “or not. It seemed not to rain badly so we decided to go there. We left our stuffs in hotel and took train to Otaru. It took about an hour which is kinda far but not that bad. When I saw the ocean while I was on the train, I was so excited to see around in the city. Whenever we got there, it stopped raining, and I was even sweating. We walked around the city there were a lot of cute stores and restaurants which made me feel much more excited. Because Otaru is famous for seafood we decided to have lunch at seafood restaurant. I had sea urchin bowl. It needed to be eaten as fresh, so it tasted very good. It was literally the first time I had such a lot of sea urchin. It made me feel satisfied with seafood!! After that, we had much more food, desert of course and just walked around.

Then, we went to the airport just chilled out and got some souvenirs. 

The trip was really fun and I really enjoyed traveling in Japan as much as in the world! I hope I can go there someday again!!

Report 12

 Hey this is hana. I have a lot of things to wanna tell u today too. When I posted the last report, i got a lot of good messages from my friends in the US and they look forward to reading it. I love to do this too cuz it’s kinda like a diary and i can tell u about japan and a Japanese girl’s normal lifestyle. I’m sure that there r many differences so I want u to know about Japan and someday come to visit me in Japan!

First of all I’ll talk about my family. I told my family how much I love nacho cheese. Then my mom tried to make it. My American mom sent me a recipe but cheddar cheese is really expensive here. So my mom figured out how to make nacho cheese as her style. And it was really good. I literally love it and so does my family. I told my sisies to make whoppie pies for them but I didn’t do it yet. Yui often asks me when I make it. And Claire does too. So I gotta make them soon. I learned a lot of American jokes from there so I try to say it. The other day I was talking w Yui, my old sis, and somehow she asked me who. So I thought it’s good chance to tell her ur mom jokes. After I said ur mom, she couldn’t even catch it. She goes “What? What is it?” And next time she asked me who, I said “asked “ like who-asked. But she couldn’t get that one either. So I laughed by myself. It was kinda sad to laugh by myself.

 My sis asks me a lot of questions about English. She asked me to fix the sentences of the letter to her professor the other day. But there were many things to fix, so I just rewrite it. And when I checked her, she was like "Ahhh I didn't know the way u write. This is much better." I'm not perfect, but I'm trying to help her :) Yui told me that she learned when u write a letter to ur professor or like polite people, u should not use shorten words like "I'm". It was kinda interesting for me cuz I never thought about it and I often use shorten words. Maybe it's more polite to write whole sentences. We also hav shorten words in Japan, but we don't use them when we write like polite letters and so on, But I feel shorten words are less work to type, and they r cool;)

I’m getting used to have school life in Japan. I got many new friends. Some of them talked to me to know about the US. So I always try to tell them a lot of things there. But I feel teachers are more interested in the US. Teachers often ask me questions like “How did u take classes in the US?” “Did u understand what they said?!”and so on.  I love to talk w ppl so I’d love to answer these questions. And I think it’s very good for them and also me to share my experiences w them. 

I had speaking English test few days ago. My partner asked me a question randomly, and I need to talk about it for a minute. My friends were super nervous but I was not. My question was if I go to foreign country, where would I go. So I said Dillsburg in PA. I was like I miss everything there so I wish I could go there rn. I never stop talking and it was easy to talk whole minute. My teacher was like good job!!! Then it was my partner's turn. He was talking about why he thinks sports are important. While he talked about it, he had kinda struggles. He didn't hav any topics to talk about any more. So I asked him a question to give him a topic to talk about. And he could keep doing it. As a result, we did it!! We were good pair and we did gr8 job! It was super fun. 

I hav another fun story to tell u. My classmates say jokes to me studied abroad. In a gym class, we played volleyball and whenever I made a serve, my friends were like " Wow this is American serve! She is from Pennsylvania." It doesn't make any sense but this is just funny for me. They try to connect everything to America. I'm a Japanese tho!!

My HR teacher told me that I might have a chance to have  a presentation about the US. Some of u know I had Japanese on for freshman in Mr. Ramsey’s class. It’s kinda like that ig but this time is Japanese one. So I try to remember what I was surprised in the US? what r interesting things in the US?   I want u to help me like coming up w ideas and sending me pics. And if u hav something that I should tell ppl here, u gotta tell me. I was thinking I should tell them American handshakes or like show them caps and gown for the graduation. I need ur advices!! What should I do?

I had sports festival in middle of July. I ran relay which 4girls and 4boys in each HR ran 180m, and against each class. I was first runner and I didn’t do any exercises from track club in the US. So I was kinda worried what if I got hurt...but at the time I also thought just suck it up!! And I ran. I was good at starting cuz I practiced a lot in track club in the US. So I got first  of 4runners. The result was gr8. My classmates said good job to me and I was so happy to run w them. Even some guys in different classes talked to me. I was so glad to talk w them. This is one of good points to have school events. I can make new friends:)

My relay team

 the scores

Only one month has passed but I feel I lost my English skills a little bit. Listening or writing r fine, but speaking is not. I don’t have any chances to use English to communicate. So I needa make by myself. So I started to say whatever I feel  in English and record my voice. So that I can listen to it later. Also I joined English club in school. There is a teacher from the US. So I often talk w him. The club has few members and they also have other clubs as well. So there r only me and the teacher most of time. But it’s fun to talk w him. He’s from Washington state and has a daughter and son. We talked about lots of things like Japanese schools and American schools, traveling abroad, Starbucks and Tully’s. I really want many students to join us. So I’m trying to invite my friends. It’s definitely good for u to study English. The club had  a debate in English and I went there. It was about diversity. It was kinda difficult topic but I could do it. I talked about studying abroad. And it was fun to talk w students from different school!!

Id like to introduce Japanese restaurants to u!! I love American food, but also Japanese food!

There is a ramen restaurant near to my house. I havn't had ramen for a long time, so when I had it it was so good. It is soy sauce base, and has sliced poke in it. Mmm so yum! Hav u ever heard that it's ok to eat noodles w making noises in Japan. If I do same thing in the US, I'll b killed, it is so rude in the US isn't it. U can feel different culture from ramen:)

I love sweets too. Some Japanese restaurant is very cheap and good. R there a lot of family restaurants in the US? I didn't see them in Dillsburg. In Japan, they r popular. They hav a lot of kind of dishes, and most of them hav soda foundation! This is a pic I went there to hav sweet w my mom the other day. It was big, good , and cheap!!! It was less than $5 ig. U definitely should try to go there some time;)

menu

U can order menu by iPad. 

Guys finally summer vacation has just started!! I hav English HW during summer vacation which is fun. I needa take a lesson online to improve my English skills. I talk w teachers from different countries, and just talk for 25min. I hav talked w a teacher from Philippines. It was fun to share own school systems, and so on. And I'm so happy to talk in English. I mean I already hav chances to talk w foreign ppl. Like facetime w my host fam and my friends.  It's so fun!!

There is a big high school baseball tournament in the summer. Each prefecture competes to b NO.1 baseball team of all high schools in the prefecture, and there r another tournament to compete NO.1 baseball team of all of Japanese high school. My friends play it so I went there to watch it. I like watching baseball so it was fun. It was hot tho lol.

What I do during summer is prob finishing HW, visiting my grand parents, going to the beach, and just chilling  out. I'll try to hav a lot of plans! And I'll keep telling u. 

THX so much to read this! HAV A GR8 SUMMER!!

Report 11

 Hi Friends! I’m Hana.  

I started writing a report in English for studying English! There might be some weird expressions, but please suck it up!

First I could come back to japan safely. Thank you all for supporting me and giving me lots of happiness. 

The plane I was in.

I was so excited to see my family and my friends in japan cuz I’ve not seen them for a long long time. I didn’t even keep in touch with them. First night when I came back from the US, I couldn’t speak in japanese. So I spoke English and they talked to me back in Japanese. My little sister, Momo couldn’t understand what I said so my mom translated for her at dinner. After we had dinner, I opened up three suitcases. My Japanese family was so surprised that I got most of clothes from Paige. When they saw my body works, they went “Omg. I wanna this”. They were so excited to see what I got in the US. 

At the airport 

At home with my sises

Then I called my host family to tell them I arrived at home. When I talked with them, I was so happy to talk with them cuz I didn’t see them a long time. 

After I had a video call, I realized that I left there for Japan. Like it was so weird. I felt they are far away. This is true but I actually felt it.I can’t see them in person soon. We’ll be fine cuz we can often have a video call. But there are big time differences and they and we gonna be busy.  I’m not with my host family any more. I was so sad and I’ve missed them a lot. I was not sure that I can do this. First night I stayed up late. 

School 

My high school is really near to the ocean. I can see it from classroom. It’s rare to have such schools in Japan. I go to the station by bike, and take a train, then change another one. This one runs along the ocean so the view is awesome! I go to this high school for three years.

The station 

My high school had school festival so I started going to school like 4 days later when I flew back. I went school on Monday to see my home room teacher. I told some of you, but I’ll tell you again. So I’m going back to same grade for studying for college. Which means I’ll be in the class which are students are younger than me. So I’ve never seen them and my old classmates will be older grade. I made this decision cuz I thought I should spend time to study and it’s gonna be fun to go to school which is near to the beach for three years. I also thought I can make a lot of friends. 

After I talked with them, I saw my old friends who I used to have same class together. When I saw them, they jumped up at me and we screamed cuz we didn’t see each other for a while. We didn’t even keep in touch while I stayed in the US.They were surprised that I could speak Japanese. They thought I forgot Japanese. I regretted it. I definitely should talk to them in English!!

On Tuesday I went to new class. I went to school early in the morning just in case. There were few people studying. So I asked them my seat. They told me and went back to study. It was kinda awkward. When everyone was in the class, my teacher asked me to introduce myself. So I did in English. When it’s over it was so quiet then everyone said “Wowwww I didn’t understand what she said!!!” So I was like this is me,  a foreign exchange student lol!!

I made new friends. But they are different from my friends in the US. My friends in my class care their bangs. I don’t even have one tho. They never talk about cursed words. I used to say a lot in the US...lol I think my basketball team remember that. When I have lunch with them, they asked me some questions about the US. It’s so fun to share with them.

School is so hard. I  have a lot of homework every day. We have quiz every class so I need to study for it as well. We have big tests after summer vacation in every class. So we can’t just be lazy and hang out with my friends in the summer. I gotta study in the summer which SUCKS!! Guys, it is different “your summer “and “my summer “ But it’s alright cuz I like being busy and I’ll do some fun stuffs in the summer anyway lol.

On the weekend, my school had school festival. We wore original t shirts and sold Japanese snacks. After school festival, I went to the beach with my classmates and hang out together. It was really fun.

These are all my classmates.

At the beach 

Japanese people 

I feel Japanese people are really different from American people.It’s just my opinion, and that’s not about everyone. But I feel there are a lot of people have serious and careful personality. For example, we still wear face masks here. We don’t often say jokes. We have a lot of rules in public, and home. For example, there are many recycling rules for trash.

I also feel American people are very good at expressing feelings. When I talk with them I realized that many people talk with using hand gestures, reaction and so on. I got used to do these, so sometimes I’m not sure that my family or friends are really happy even if they are cuz I can’t tell. 

There are many students aren’t willing to do first at Japanese school. We decided a leader of dodgeball other day but nobody wanna be it. Then I said “Ok I will do that !” So I’m  a leader and also first runner of class relay.(Nobody wanna be this either so I did.)

My Japanese family was so interested in everything in the US. I mean not only my family, my friends, teachers at school, people read my report about my lifestyle in the US. So I wanna tell them as much as I can, there are a lot of things and Idk what I should start from!! Even small things, we are so surprised cuz it’s different from ours. I will show them the pics I took, or like I can make American food by using the special recipe my American mom made for me!!!

My older sis, Yui always goes “When do you make Whoppie pies?! I wanna have them soon!”. So I gotta make. And my favorite dishes!! 

If you have any suggestions, just text me and lmk!!

On the weekend 

I saw my friends at junior high school other day. They held on karaoke party for me. They prepared Japanese food for me and tell my good friends. We talked and sang a lot. When I sang up town funk by Bruno, everyone sang together but after that they got quiet. So It was kinda awkward. But I enjoyed a lot!!

These days, I often go to the beach on the weekend. Even though I go there every day for school, it’s not enough for me. I just take pics and post on the Instagram, or swim in the ocean. You must be jealous of me cuz I can go there whenever I want:) I can share pics with you!

I am getting used to lifestyle here, but I am missing EVERYTHING in the US sm. I wish I could come back there. I saw my friend’s instagram and they look like having fun at the vacation, I was jealous. I already had a video call with my host family and friends in the US. I talked like 2 hrs with one of my friends lol. I have more things to tell you. And I wanna know over there as well.

I’m scared to lose my English skills what I got in the US. I try to use English, but there are only few chances to use it in Japan. So if you have free time, I’d love to have a video call!!

Anyways I’ll see you soon:)

report 10

帰国までの日にちが刻々と迫ってきていて改めて毎日の大切さを心の底から感じています。

夢のPROM!!

前回のレポートからこれまでの中で最も重要な出来事は、もちろんプロム！！

私にとって人生たった一度のプロムで、アメリカの映画の影響などからめちゃくちゃ楽しみにしていました！

プロム前日に私と同じハイスクールに通っているもう1人の留学生が私の家に来て、一緒にプロムのネイルをしました。momがネイルをしてくれてとても可愛く仕上がり嬉しかったです。

私のネイル

赤と黒で、ドレスの色とシューズの色とマッチしています！

プロム当日は朝からいつ準備を始めようかと心がソワソワして落ち着きませんでした（笑）

ヘアセットはホストシスターのClaire がしてくれて、メイクはmomがしてくれました。

※Claire はshy です（笑）

プロムデートの友達が私の家に迎えに来てくれた時は緊張と興奮でいっぱいでした。Boutonniereを友達につけたのですがこれがとても難しくて結局momが友達につけました。 dadがとても良い天気の中最高の写真を撮ってくれました。

　　　　　

その後車でdillsburg のレストランへ友達に会いに行きました。車の中では私のお気に入りのBruno Mars のソングを聞いてテンションが上がりました。

レストランでは友達と写真をたくさん撮りました。外で写真を撮ってとても暑くなりました。

その後みんなでレストランでご飯を食べてプロムへ向かいました。

プロムの会場は、Harrisburg のホテルでとても綺麗でした。プロムでは友達と会ってお互いドレスを褒め合い写真を撮りました。友達たちのドレスを見てそれぞれ個性が表現されていて興味深かったです。いつもハイスクールで見る私服の友達とプロムでドレスアップした友達は、より一層大人っぽく見えてかっこよかったです。

ただHomecoming とは違い、ダンスを踊っている人が全然いなくて立ってお話ししている人がたくさんでした。プロムは、想像していたものとは違い特に何もせず少しつまんなかったです。そのためプロムを早めに去り、アイスクリームを食べに行きました。

その後友達の家に行き、ホットタブに入れてもらいました。外はとても暖かかったけれどとても気持ち良く、星が見えて最高でした。

この一日は本当にあっという間でした。プロムは思っていたものとは違い少し落ち込みましたがとても良い時間を友達と過ごすことができとても幸せでした。日本のハイスクールにプロムがないのがとても残念ですが、アメリカンハイスクールでのプロムで楽しむことができました！

プロムに誘ってくれた友達にとても感謝しています。夢だったプロムを経験することができとても良い経験になりました！

Graduation

次にgraduation 卒業式について書いていきたいと思います。

過去のレポートにも書いたように私は16歳なのですが留学生として最上級生のseniorとして扱われているのでアメリカの卒業式に出ることができました。

卒業式のためにアメリカの映画で見るようなキャップとガウンを買い、キャップには自分でデコレーションをしてとても楽しかったです。ホストファミリーや友達からは卒業式はみんなの名前を呼ばれるのを見て、校長の話を聞くだけだからあまり楽しくないかもねと言われたのですが、私的にはとても楽しかったです。

卒業式の会場についてホストファミリーと別れて生徒だけの場所へ行き友達と会ってお話したり写真を撮ったりしました。

卒業式での校長のスピーチと生徒代表のスピーチにとても感動しました。ここでは、ハイスクールは日本とは違って学区によって分かれて行くので長い付き合いの人が多く大学で離ればなれになってしまうので悲しそうな生徒もいましたが、この夏に遊ぶことを楽しみにしている生徒もたくさんいました。卒業証書授与の時には、日本の静かな雰囲気とは反対で生徒の家族や友達がその生徒の名前を呼ばれたときに叫んでいて私的にはこちらのほうが楽しいなと思いました。ステージに行くのは特に緊張せずホストファミリーがどこにいるのか探していたりしました。自分の名前が呼ばれたときにmomとdadが私の苗字を叫んでくれてとても嬉しかったです。また私の名前が呼ばれてから卒業証書をもらうまでは私が注目されている時間であり、アメリカの卒業式などたった一度の経験であったのでたくさんの気持ちを心でかみしめていつもよりゆっくりと歩きました。生徒全員が卒業証書をもらい終え、キャップのタッセルを右から左へ変えてそのキャップを上に投げました。自分のキャップを隣の子がキャッチしてくれたので失くさずにもし変えることができました。

卒業式後、ホストファミリーと会ってハグをし写真を撮り、友達と会って写真を撮りました。卒業式は想像していたよりもあっという間でとても楽しかったです。

After graduation

ハイスクールが終わってから帰国まで一週間あまりあったのでパッキングを始めだしました。日本からスーツケースを２個持ってきていたのですがそれだけでは足りずmomの友達からスーツケースをもらいました。物がありすぎて、重量制限もあるため、パッキングを何度も何度も繰り返して疲れました。

他には、ハイスクールの友達と遊ぶ約束をしました。たくさんの友達と帰国するまでに遊びたかったので予定をたくさん組んで忙しかったです。帰国までの3日間は特に予定を組まず家でホストファミリーとのんびり過ごしていました。ホストファミリーが夕食に私の好きなレストランのBBQを用意してくれたり、Claire特製のマグケーキを食べさせてくれてとても嬉しかったです。

最後の日には夕方に家族でアウトドアスポーツをしました。CornholeやSpikeball、KanJam

に加えてバレーボールのネットを張ってプレイしてとても楽しかったです。ホストファミリーと最後の夜をワイワイ楽しく過ごすことができました。その時は自分が明日帰国するという気持ちがなくいつも通り過ごしていました。

Flight

私のは朝早いフライトであったので、朝４時起きでした。ホストシスターは起こさなければいつまでも寝ていれられるけれど、この日は私のフライトのために朝早くから起きてくれました。外はまだ真っ暗のまま家を出たので最後にDillsburgの景色を見ることができず悲しかったです。車の中では一人で飛行機に乗ることへの緊張感などはなく、帰国することのワクワクとここにずっといたいという心の底からの悲しみでモヤモヤした気持ちでした。

空港で荷物のチェックインをして、ホストファミリーとの別れの時間になってしまいました。私は泣くのをこらえてまたいつかここへホストファミリーや友達に会いに絶対に戻ってくることを約束しお別れしました。

セキュリティチェックを終え、私のフライトのゲートも確認し何もかもがスムーズにいっていました。フライトの時間になり、お客さんが飛行機に乗り始め出し私も順番を待っていました。その後、お客さんが飛行機から出てきて何かおかしいなと感じました。

飛行機の機長から、この飛行機はエンジンにトラブルがあるため飛ばないことを聞かされました。一時間遅れのフライトが用意されたので、ホストファミリーと日本の協会に伝えました。１時間待ち、まだ飛行機に入れてもらえずおかしいなと考え始めたとき、フライトが完全にキャンセルされたことを聞かされました。アメリカと日本の協会がフライトを探してくれて自分でも空港のスタッフに聞いたのですがわからないと言われ結果その日のフライトをとることができませんでした。その時は予定が突然変わりパニック状態で日本の家族や他の留学生との再会をできないことや、次のフライトがいつになるのか、空港で待つのかなど色々なことを考え一人で空港で泣きました。その後ホストファミリーが空港まで迎えに来てくれハグをくれてとても安心することができました。

ホストファミリーと家へ帰りのんびり過ごしました。ここへ将来来ることを約束していましたがまさかこんなに早くなるとは思わず驚きでした。突然の出来事にもかかわらず、私のことを受け入れてくれたホストファミリー、そして私のフライトを探してくれたFLAGのスタッフの方々とBIEEの方々に感謝でいっぱいになりました。ホストファミリーとの再会はとても嬉しかったです。

私の次のフライトは三日後になったのでそれまではホストファミリー宅でステイさせてもらうことになりました。しかし次の日からLeahとClaireはキャンプに行く予定があったので家でホストペアレンツとPaigeと過ごしました。

その後もう一度ホストファミリーとお別れをして帰国しました。空港では、ホストファミリーとお別れをする自覚がなくてまたすぐに会えるのではないかと思いました。帰国予定日から三日間、本当に大変なことがありましたがホストファミリーをはじめ日本の家族とFLAGや日本の団体が私に助けをくださったことがよくわかり感謝でいっぱいになりました。

帰国して、久しぶりの日本につきはじめは日本の家族に英語で話していたものの二週間が経ちまたここでの生活に慣れてきた気がします。それでも、アメリカでの生活との違いに驚きを持ったりすることは少なくありません。

このプログラムを通して沢山の「違い」に触れました。それは楽しいものだけではなく、なぜこの人たちは理解できないのかがわからないとストレスを感じることもありました。

しかし、そこで気がついたことはただ違うだけということ。アメリカへ行って沢山の人からアメリカと日本の生活どっちが良いかと聞かれることがありました。その時私は、「良い悪いではなくただ違うだけ。どちらも好きだ。」と伝えました。このことに気がつくことができ、個性を大切にすることがとてもかっこいいということがわかりました。

私は留学する前に、日本の高校で流行っていたからでもあり髪の毛を違う色に染めたいと思っていました。アメリカへ行って沢山の人を見て、それぞれがそれぞれの個性を出していて自分らしく生活しているところを見て自分らしくいることがとてもかっこいいと思いました。外見だけでなく、内面に対しても同じことが言えます。自分らしくいること、それがとても大切なのだと思いました。それと同時に今まで私は周りの目を気にしすぎていたと感じました。

この留学を経験して、日常の小さなことやどうでもよさそうなことから自分を見つめなおすことができました。違う環境で今まで会ったことのない人と一年間も過ごすことで沢山の感情を感じ自分を成長させることができました。

沢山辛い思いをしました。しかし本当に最高の経験をさせてもらうことができました。日本の家族、ホストファミリー、友達、日本の団体の方、FLAG の方々に本当に感謝でいっぱいです。

この一年間お世話になりました。ありがとうございました。