My home stay was better than I thought it could be. My family couldn't have been sweeter and they made me feel right at home. I left Senri High School with Mayuko Abo, 15 years old, and met her mother, Yumi, at the car. We went to their beautiful home where I met Mayuko's grandparents and her little sister (13) Nanoko. That night we had a wonderful dinner of sashimi, and rice topped with egg, salmon flakes, salmon eggs and seaweed. After dinner we watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (they're bigs fans like I am) and played uno (with Harry Potter uno cards!).
After a good night's sleep on my tatami mat, I woke up for breakfast and met Mayuko's father, Mr. Abo, who had just returned from a business trip--he owns an insurance company. We had a delicious breakfast of fruit pastries and then drove to Kyoto where Mayuko, Nanoko and I made pottery. I made a coffee mug. It was quite difficult to communicate with the man helping me...
Afterwards we walked to Kiyomizu Temple. I drank from the natural spring. The water tasted so good! We then ate Kyoto-style Okonomi-yaki. This was very different than the first Okonomi-yaki our group ate; it was an actual pancake, topped with things such as egg, cheese or udon and then folded over like an omlet. It was so good too! We got back to the car and headed to the supermarket (ichiban). It was overwhelming! Raw fish, pickled everything, fresh fruits and vegetables-- it was like Walmart times ten! It was such an experience.
We got back to their home Mayuko, Nanoko, Mr. Abo and I played volley ball and badmitten in the street next to their house while Yumi was preparing dinner. We ate shabu-shabu (main course) for dinner. We also had tempura, sashimi, rice, and edamame! Yumi was a great cook.
After dinner we played with sparklers in the street. We had at least fifty sparklers. It was a blast!
The next morning we drove back to Kyoto to go hiking in Mino. We walked up a paved pathway to a beautiful waterfall at the top of the mountain. There we ate rice balls before hiking back down. Then we drove up another mountain and saw monkeys just sitting by the road. There were about five and two babies! So kawai (cute)! We stopped at a sweet shop, (they definitely kept me fed at my homestay) and then we drove back home. After getting ready we headed out for the farewell party, a delicious meal of Japanese-style Italian food. Saying goodbye to my host family was the hardest part of the trip (harder than eating the sashimi!). I love my host family like my own family, even after only two days! I couldn't have asked for a kinder, more accomodating family, and I promised them if I return to Japan I will stay with them again.
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