Life in America

We carved a pumpkin in one morning without class. We brought our own pumpkins, carved them, and put a candle inside to complete the process. On Halloween night, a party was held. Everyone enjoyed dressing up. The party was magnificent; a DJ was invited, and everybody danced in the middle of the hall with EDM.

On Thanksgiving day, Cynthia made oven-baked Brussels sprouts, and we celebrated at Kai's girlfriend's mother's house. People brought turkey, pie, tart, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, kale salad, stuffed turkey, and clam chowder on the dinner table. The table was gorgeously set. We all had dinner and chatted with each other. After having the best meal, we played some games. GRC also had Thanksgiving as a university-sponsored event, so I guess it’s another good opportunity to experience this celebration.

Christmas（December）

Cynthia brought a real tree home. My host family has the practice of buying a new ornament with the year number every year. The number of gifts had increased day by day, and there were more than 30 presents by Christmas Eve. In the morning of Christmas Eve, we baked cookies and monkey bread, built and decorated gingerbread houses, and watched Christmas movies. On Christmas Day, we opened the presents in the morning. When Kai didn't like one of the gifts, he asked Cynthia, “Do you have the receipt?” and returned the gift to Costco. They usually keep receipts to return them just in case, because this kind of thing happens frequently. Neighbors were also really enthusiastic about Christmas. They installed huge and gorgeous lights at their house. There were several neighbors still leaving the Christmas lights outside after Christmas, and the Christmas mood continued into the next year.

New Year（January）

　Japanese culture is so prevalent in the host family that they celebrate the New Year every year. On the last day of the year, they had Toshikoshi soba (special buckwheat noodle) . The moment the year ended, we went outside and played with firecrackers. That was fun. In the morning of January 1, we had Ozoni (traditional Japanese soup) and played mahjong.


Favorite Bread	Capcakes	Chocolate Tasting

Favorite Craftshop	Whasington University	International District

At Costco	Seattle Chocolate Factory	Red Robin