Spokane-Nishinomiya High School Exchange

Wow Japan is amazing. Most people (including myself  for the last 5 weeks) focus on the differences between Japan and other countries but recently I have been focusing on the similarities. I am aware of all the strange difference but I’ve come to realize we are more similar than we think. I believe we can learn a great deal from this country and will continue to do my best at not only learning their culture but also sharing my own.  Over the last two weeks I have had the opportunity to travel to Kyoto twice. I was specifically interested in traveling to Kyoto because of its history as Japan’s ancient capital and this means a lot more “old Japanese” sights to see. The first time I went to Kyoto it was with my host parents. We drove their which was nice for a change because we have been using the trains to go everywhere and in a car you can see more of the scenery and get a better sense of the people and environment. We stopped at a famous ramen shop on the way there. I knew...

I have now been living in Nishinomiya for 3 weeks. This means I only have 3 more weeks left. Time really does fly. I have become acclimated to my new home but the generosity of my host family continues to shock me daily. The meals that they cook and the relationship between each family member is crazy. Everyone is always happy and friendly. I believe this stems from the high level of respect that everyone holds for each other. This level of order and structure is one of the many reasons I love Japan.  For the last 3 months my whole school has been preparing for our Bunkasai which means Culture Festival. Each class chooses to do something for the two day celebration. My class chose to do a dance but other classes choose to cook takoyaki, churros, french fries, or sell ice cream, juice, or candy. Some classes performed plays or they decorated their classrooms into pictures taking areas or game rooms. In preparation for this 20 minute dance we had been practicing everyday at lunc...

Hello everyone! Wow. It has been a crazy week and I can’t believe it has already been over a week since I first arrived. The routine that I am starting to build goes something like this: 6:00 am I wake up, talk to my friends in America, get dressed, and do my physical therapy exercises (I tore two ligaments in my ankle back in March so I am still trying to fully recover from that). I eat breakfast with Nanase at 6:50. This usually consists of rice with some variations. We leave at 7:15 and walk about 15 minutes down and extremely steep hill to catch the overly crowded bus. Usually there is standing room only. After riding the bus for about 30 minutes and another short walk, we arrive at school. School starts at 8:10 and ends at 4:00 but club activities do not finish until 6:30. This means we get home at about 7:15 at which point I take a quick shower and then eat dinner with the whole family. Recently Nanase and I have been practicing our class dance that we will perform at our sch...

こんばんは！ Good evening everyone! I can’t believe I am actually here. I have finally shaken off my jet lag although I still feel a little tired from all the traveling. I’ve noticed that constantly using my brain by speaking Japanese is very tiring so I am making sure to get quality sleep every night. The flight from Seattle to Osaka took over 11 hours but it went by very quickly. On the plane ride I began to get nervous about meeting my host family. When the flight attendants on the plane spoke in Japanese I realized how little Japanese I can actually understand. However this fear quickly went away once I arrived and met Nanase for the first time. Her English is so good it's crazy. I told her she must study very hard. Her mother, Mayumi san, is very sweet and is similar to my own mother back in America. She is also a very good cook and all her food is delicious. My younger host brother Sho is a little shy but he is also  kind and when I gave him my Omiyage (souvenirs) he was very ...

こんにちは 私の名前はヒルはなです。 今十六才です。 私は楽しみにしっています。 Hello everyone! My name is Hana Hill and I am currently a sophomore at Mt. Spokane High School. Ever since I was a little girl I have been surrounded and influenced by the Japanese culture. This is because my mother is Japanese and we used to live in Tokyo. However, after moving to America at the age of five I quickly forgot the language as well as what life was like there. Since then I have attempted to continue speaking the language with both my mother and siblings but it has proven more difficult and my ability to speak Japanese has slowly deteriorated. When I first heard about this program I was a middle schooler. I started studying Japanese more intensely in hopes of improving my skills and one day getting to go on this amazing trip. Since then I have completed year 4 of high school Japanese and still continue to independently study everything I can. I know I can keep studying the language but nothing will compare to being full...