Feb 11 (Mon)

Snow-Canceled Class

We couldn't go to class because of snowstorm, so I stayed home with my family. After I painted a picture with my host father Mike, I watched the movie “Skyscraper” with my host mother Sheila. It was an action movie, so I understood easier than those in the other genres. Then, I talked with Sheila about the differences between America and Japan. After dinner, I watched the movie “Guardians of the Galaxy” with Sheila. After that, I watched a special program of Michael Jackson on TV with Mike. Mike gave me a lesson about Michael Jackson and he sang “Beat It”!

Thanks to my family, that day was a wonderfully productive day.

Borrowed 72 Colored Pencils from Mike

Feb 12 (Tue)

Another Snow-Canceled Class

I was informed from Sheila that our class was canceled again that day. It made me disappointed because I wanted to meet my friends. I watched the movie “Independence Day” with Sheila, but I fell asleep in the middle of the movie. After I got up, I played a video game with my host brother David. We enjoyed Mario Kart. I was unable to bite into him because he was a good player of the game. I ate pepperoni pizza, which Mike likes. The pizza was huge, so I got full soon. After dinner, I asked Mike how to use a washing machine, and washed my clothes. When I turned back to the living room, I found a duck on the water in a glass! I realized that the duck was just Mike's playing a prank.

My First Time Eating American Pizza!

Duck on the Water

Feb 13 (Wed)

Seattle Excursion

I felt relieved because I finally met Mr. Nonaka and my friends. At first, we went to University of Washington, whose mascot is a husky. We looked around a library like Hogwarts in Harry Potter movies. Then we went to a chocolate shop Theo's Chocolate. It was my first shopping time using money in America. Our teacher guide Alissa helped me and I felt easy because the clerk was so kind. We bought some chocolates for Valentine's Day on the next day. Next, we went to Space Needle, which is known as a landmark in Seattle. I got a view of the whole city. I shared a burger with my friend for lunch. I ordered a shake but a clerk brought two shakes to me. I was so surprised at the amount of them. After lunch, we went to Pike Place Market. We bought matching T-shirts, took pictures in front of the Gum Wall and enjoyed shopping at the first Starbucks store there. I was glad to go to such nice places because I had studied those tourist spots in advance. At last, we went to Uwajimaya, which is an Asian grocery store. I bought some vegetables and Okonomiyaki flour for ingredients of Japanese food. I lined up at a Japanese cashier. I put up some merchandise on a belt conveyor, and experienced American culture.

I came home late, and Sheila cooked soup for me. Then I showed her webpages written by my senior student in Seiryo Junior College who stayed with the Criscione family 20 years ago. She had written about Mike's treasures, so Mike showed me a lot of rings. He used to hunt treasures using his metal detector. I was really surprised because I couldn't believe that those rings were found from underground.

See-through

Extra Shake

Mike's Treasures

Feb 14 (Thur)

Visit Local Fire Department / Valentine's Day

I gave four chocolates to Sheila because it was Valentine's Day. I asked her to hand over the chocolates to the other family members, but she said, “Can I hide the chocolates?” I laughed because she was joking.

We went to a fire department as a study tour. There were three beautiful women and two men and they answered our various questions. I remember that I couldn't ask the questions smoothly. I should have practiced more in advance. Then we learned how to put on a fireproof suit quickly. A female firefighter made it only in 42 seconds. We tried it too, but the suit was too heavy to change easily. Also, we experienced a firefighting practice and looked inside an ambulance. The firefighters treated us with great kindness.

After that, we came back to the study center, and exchanged Valentine cards which we had written on the day before. In Japan, we just give candies to friends. I thought that Valentine is a great event in America because we can put our thought into words.

When I came home, Sheila gave skittles to the family members at dinner time. David made dinner. I tried to mash a potato and eat it with a fork following my family. At first, they were amazed because I ate the potato with salt without mashing.

Before going to bed, Mike gave a Valentine card to Sheila. I thought such a scene never happens in my house in Japan.

Worst Firefighter

Valentine Box Alissa Made

Big Potato!

Feb 15 (Fri)

American Holiday Activities / Welcome Party

We experienced some American holidays in class. After we studied 10 holidays, we experienced Christmas, Halloween, Easter and Thanksgiving. We decorated a Christmas tree, dressed up in Halloween costumes, hunted eggs and ate a big turkey at lunch time. We got interested in American holidays in a short time. After lunch, we went to a mall near our study center. I was shocked to see the sale section after Valentine's Day!

After I took a break at home, I went to the study center with Sheila, Mike and David again for our Welcome party, which had been canceled a week before. I saw each host family of my friends. We had a meal there, and then we made family flags with each family. Japanese students made a speech about the meaning of the flag at last. I got so nervous!

with Prince Natsumi

Valentine's Section

Family Conference

Feb 18 (Mon)

Class / Shopping

I couldn't get up myself that morning, so Mike woke me up! Thank you so much.

We discussed American holidays which we had asked each family in advance. Most families chose Christmas or Thanksgiving as their favorite holiday. The two holidays are special for American people because they can stay with their family for that.

After class, we went to Krispy & Kreme Doughnuts, which is a super sweet doughnuts shop. Mr. Nonaka bought us some doughnuts, and we shared them. The doughnuts were not so sweet as I had thought, but so delicious! We saw their making process too.

Then we went to a shopping mall to buy souvenirs. Natsumi and Ayu's host sisters took us around in the mall. I was interested in the Build-A-Bear Workshop, where we can make a teddy bear by ourselves. Also, we enjoyed an ice cream shop too. We chose flavor and toppings of our favorite. Those shops made me curious because we don't have such shops in Niigata.

Mike made spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner. The sauce he made contained a lot of meat and tomato, which is different from that I often eat in Japan. Before I went to bed, I listened to some songs which Mike made with his computer. Just then, I felt that I had to go back home a week later, and got depressed. Mike said that he would give me a song before I went back to Japan. I was surprised and pleased.

10 Kinds of Doughnuts

Mike's Special Spaghetti

Feb 19 (Tue)

Visit Local Police / Class

I got up and made a strawberry sandwich. Sheila drove me to the study center. Thank you so much!

Sheila drove us to the police station, and then she came along with us too! After arriving there, a man who worked as a volunteer showed us around in the station. He spoke with difficult English and it was so fast that I felt it hard to understand him. We visited a law court too. There was a judge who looked dignified. He answered some of our questions, and then he let us put his judge's robe on. The robe was so big and heavy for me.

In the afternoon, Alissa read us some picture books which were famous in America. One is “The Cat in the Hat.” Mike used to tell me about the same series of the book before, so I was happy when Alissa read it to us. After that, we played a word game in English and talked about how to spend the vacation in America and Japan. We had a good time.

When I came home, I met a friend of Grandpa's, who is his fishing companion. We enjoyed dinner together. After the dinner time, I made popcorn with Mike. There was a big microwavable container to make popcorn. I had never made any, so I was trembling with joy. I seasoned popcorn with butter and salt, and Mike seasoned it with butter and red pepper. When I tasted his popcorn a little bit, I was likely to breathe out fire!

Then David came back to the living room and he asked me to watch Japanese anime in English. We had made a daily routine of watching one after dinner every day. Finally, we reached the final story of the anime. After that, David asked me of my impressions of the anime. I told him that I wanted to watch the anime again in Japan because it was so attractive!

At the Court

Big Bowl

Feb 20 (Wed)

Seattle Excursion

We met all the homestaying members after a long time because a friend's health recovered.

We met Kim for the first time after a week and we got help from him again. First, we went to see a waterfall, but we couldn't really see it because of the fog. Then we went to Northwest Railway Museum, which is a railway museum, an outlet mall and another mall. We got a lot of souvenirs. We ate Chinese food at the mall for lunch. Also, we went to the Seattle Mariners' shop, which my friend wanted to go. We got brave to ask some people for directions to the shop. Finally, we learned the directions alright. There were so many shops, but we finally made it, and we were moved.

At the end, Kim drove us to Alkai Beach, which is a seaside park located near Seattle. We saw the great reaches of the sea and the view of downtown, so we took a lot of photos with delight!

Sheila and Mike took me to eating-out in the evening. I ate fish and chips that I had wanted. It was as tasty as I had expected, but I got full immediately as I had expected. The shop offered its customers a piece of pie for free on Wednesdays, so we ordered a pie among a wide variety for each.

We quit halfway through the dinner because Sheila received a call from Mary to join her volunteer meeting.

Then Sheila and I went to the meeting place for volunteer work. Volunteer workers were talking about a difficult thing, so I read American magazines with Shion and talked about our host families there. We had a good time silently.

With Alissa!

Fish and Chips!

Feb 21 (Thur)

Green River College / Senior Home

I had a dream to fly back home to Japan, and I woke up with a sad heart. “I wish you could stay longer,” Sheila said. I felt I was going home soon, and I felt sad.

That day we were planning to make a presentation about how to count from １ to 10 in Japanese at a senior home. Shiori's host mother Jane coached us for the presentation before we went out. We were also going to sing two songs “Frog Song” and “Bear Song” in Japanese.

At noon, we went to Green River College and met three friends of ours, who were studying there as foreign students. They spoke English fluently. Cool! I was surprised to see many students eating lunch at the huge stairs.

After that, we went to the senior home. They had a luxury life beyond my imagining. They had a relaxing time with some music on the piano. We made our presentation in some atmosphere of tension. Then we enjoyed talking with the senior people. They told us many interesting stories in life at the senior home.

After class, Sheila took me to a one dollar shop. I found some items for Saint Patrick's Day in March.

Sheila, Mike and David took me to a buffet in the evening. There was a strange man who was selling balloons at the nearby table from ours. After a while, David took me to the man. The strange man asked me what I liked and he made a cute balloon of a teddy bear and a flower! He gave Sheila a balloon of Olaf's face too. He was a gentleman, not a strange man after all. I was glad to make a good memory!

With a Kind Lady

With a Balloon Artist!

Feb 22 (Fri)

Craft Day / Bowling

We started making photo frames and journals which we planned to give to our host family at Sayonara Party. Alissa prepared a lot of materials for craft. We worked silently to complete our work in time.

At lunch time, we went to a bowling alley with Mary and Sheila. Mr. Nonaka ordered root beer and nachos, and we had a little taste of them for lunch. We thought the root beer tasted like medicine.

I bowled at the same lane as Mr. Nonaka and Natsumi. I was not good at bowling, so Alissa, Mary, Mr. Nonaka and Sheila advised me a lot. Thank you so much! I was surprised that Mr. Nonaka and Mary got high scores every time. At the end, a clerk showed us the backstage of the alley. The working machines looked so exciting.

I was planning to make dinner with Shion that day, so we went to the H-mart after class. Shion made us her special dish yakisoba and I made nikujaga. My family, especially David, liked yakisoba. He asked Shion, “Can I get more yakisoba?”

After dinner, I enjoyed UNO with Sheila, David and Shion. The rules were different from those in Japan. We were prohibited to show the same numbers at one time. When David was a dealer, he made a shuffle of the cards on the table with his hands. He said, “This is crazy shuffle!” Shion and I were laughing because he handed out our cards with the front side over.

Our Photo Frames

Nikujaga and Yakisoba

Feb 25 (Mon)

Craft Day

We focused on working for craft because Sayonara Party was getting really close. I wrote about my address, recipes of Japanese food and letters for my family in the journal. At first, I asked Alissa to correct my English because I wasn't full of confidence, but then I accomplished the journal by myself from that time.

That day, Sheila had to go to hospital, so Mary took me back to my house. When I came home, Sheila was waiting for me. I felt so sorry for her.

Sheila had ordered various types of Chinese food for dinner. She ate the food with the chopsticks which I gave as a souvenir. She was better at using them than me. I was so surprised!

I drew the picture of my family until after two in the morning. It was secret work from my family!

Various Chinese Food

Accomplished in the Dark!

Feb 26 (Tue)

Craft / Preparation for Sayonara Party / Sayonara Party

We took the whole morning to complete our journal. Every journal of ours had individuality and uniqueness. It was fun to see them each.

Alissa took us to Ivar's as a reward for our hard work. I learned about Ivar's in Japan, so I wanted to go and eat clam chowder there for a long time! The clam chowder was so delicious!!! I had a good memory.

After that, we went back to the study center, and we practiced our presentation for Sayonara Party. Alissa corrected our pronunciation and gave us some advice. We practiced for the first time during the stay, but we got used to it smoothly in the end.

We changed into yukata and welcomed our host family to the study center. I was tensed up and skipped a line during the presentation. After that, we were out in front of each host family one by one. We gave our host family the photo frame and the journal we made. I gave them a portrait too. They were surprised because they didn't know when I painted it. I was glad to hear that. We gave Alissa some gifts too. When I got a hug from her, I was almost crying.

It was the final day to talk with my family before I left America, so we talked a lot. Before I went to bed, Sheila helped me do my packing. She was good at packing!

Ivar's Clam Chowder

Thank You, Alissa!