In which I talk about how my host family is cooler than yours...

As promised, I will now take this opportunity to talk (i.e., brag) about my homestay situation and the reasons why my homestay > yours. However, I should add the disclaimer that my homestay situation is probably one of the better ones out there and by a rather substantial amount. I'm incredibly lucky to have been placed with such a great homestay and I'm extremely aware and appreciative of that.

The ever visible 五稜郭 Tower by which I essentially navigate my side of Hakodate. Click to see the pretty rainbow lighting!

先ず, as I have probably said many times already, my homestay is located in the 五稜郭 (Goryokaku) region. As such, I essentially live right behind 五稜郭 Park (the pentagonal fort used by the rebels during the Tokugawa Shogunate). It's pretty much centrally located and any person here can point you in its direction if you can't already see 五稜郭 Tower looming in the distance. This also means that I can hop on any of three buses (106, 106-27, 6-2), and if the bus times are inconvenient, I can hop on the tram (runs every 10 minutes or so) and just walk an extra 5 minutes from the tram stop to get home. Hanging out w/ friends late in 五稜郭 is never a problem, because even if public transportation ceases past a certain hour, I'm always within walking distance of home. Yeah, location location location! Kind of a big deal. If you don't think so, talk to Ashok or Elliot who live in an entirely different city (Hokuto instead of Hakodate) where all the excitement centers around a Daiso (100 yen store) and Co-op conbini (convenience store) and various rice paddies in the area. Exciting city indeed.

REASON #2: My okaasan aka host mom. She's this small Japanese lady who often pantomimes things for me, frequently breaks out the Japanese onomatopoeia in everyday conversation, is always smiling and/or laughing, and occasionally dances for no reason. She also broke into the "Where the Hell is Matt" dance in the living room once when Yosihisa and I were watching the video on youtube. Whenever it rains, she refuses to let me take the bus to school and drives me, and she always offers to drive me to places to where I could easily walk, such as Iai High School (also in 五稜郭) where I went today for an English Club BBQ (more on that later). More evidence that my okaasan is amazing? She misunderstood something I said the first week to mean that I don't drink things with caffeine and immediately went out and bought tons of caffeine-less coffee and tea purely for my consumption. While on the topic of food, she's an AMAZING cook and my only complaint is that I can't ever finish the amount of food she serves me, although she's quick to notice and always tells me "残してもいい" or "It's okay if you don't finish it," and encourages me to ignore Japanese customs and be rude in similar manners, further described below.



Reason #3: INTERNET ACCESS. And, not only do I have internet access, it's WIRELESS. I'm currently sprawled on my futon in my single tatami room without a care in the world blogging away. For those few others w/ internet access to begin with, most require permission and the use of the family computer or telephone lines, making them less likely to ask to use it. Anyway, my having really convenient, easily accessible internet access has both pros and cons. Pros? Asaoka-先生's tendency to email important assignment/class information doesn't make my life overly difficult as it does the others who scramble to find internet cafes (although those are readily available through the town too). Additionally, I can look at the daily powerpoints in his emails whenever I want and can work on our internet assignments (weekly topic-based email exchange w/ a Japanese grad student) and do internet research for my Independent Study project at my leisure. As a sidenote, IS is pretty much the worst thing ever and makes you hate life. Just ask Victor. More to follow later...

Additionally, those few people about whom I care enough to keep in touch (or vice versa, because in my defense for those of you with whom contact has been somewhat sparse, it requires some degree of reciprocation) I can do so easily via the internets here. I definitely recommend getting Skype because it's free to call other computers that have the program installed and it's fairly cheap if you want to call actual telephone numbers, although I haven't done that. I've been using it mostly to talk to my family (and Bubba! His ears perk up when he hears me too!) and Maji, as well as David, with whom I'm actually conversing at this very moment, plus Kevin (3-way-skype conference call!). They're currently arguing about god knows what right now---I guess I should probably turn my volume down. FAIL.

In all honesty, I probably spend too much time talking to David instead of studying, but he keeps me sane, and sometimes I need to rant/worry/get advice about things with somebody who's actually there to sympathize/listen/give advice instead of just messaging Denno to complain a lot all the time. Even without that, sometimes I just really really need to speak English and be able to converse freely without racking my brains trying to think of a word or grammar structure. I know David reads this but I'm not sure you do, Sunshine, but multas gratias to both of you =). Anyway, I guess this brings me into the one con of having the internet---time spent maintaining contact w/ the people I care about from back home equals time NOT spent with my super amazing okaasan and really making the most of my homestay. Well, that and studying, but studying isn't as important I think...

REASON #4: I have to say my family isn't quite the most traditional Japanese family and doesn't strictly adhere to conservative Japanese customs. Of course there are rules about removing shoes upon entering the house, and we say all the ritualistic phrases before/after eating or upon leaving/entering the house, but I almost have complete freedom in all other regards. I have no curfew nor is there a set time when I'm supposed to shower, as applies for some other students and as the Yale SAC guide booklet warned us was possible. If anything, my family really is very hospitable and if anything overly accomodating with regard to my comfort. I've been told countless times by my okaasan that I should do XYZ whenever/wherever/however I want, despite normal Japanese customs.

例えば, we were at a ramen place a few weeks back and having noted my "ow-everything-hurts-why-did-I-sign-up-for-judo" look and misinterpreting it to mean that I was uncomfortable sitting as I was in a proper Japanese ladylike fashion (legs folded to the side), my okaasan immediately told me that it would be okay if I crossed my legs. I posited a "In Japan, don't only males sit in this manner?" but she admitted that even though that was true, she and Mina didn't adhere to those rules, even choosing to cross her legs "Indian-style" then and there perhaps to reassure me that it was okay.

最後: Yoshihisa and Mina, my host siblings. Unfortunately, I'm just about tuckered out so an extensive explanation about why my host siblings pwn yours will have to wait...bedtime. I leave you with this picture taken the night of the 五稜郭 Musical (Yoshihisa and my host-grandmother who lives next door)

Baba and Yoshihisa! I'm pretty sure it's Enomoto Takeaki and Hijikata Toshizo respectively (click for wikipedia links).