Of course, with the end of one road, another begins. After fall semester and a winter break that was spent doing very little but relaxing and catching up with friends, January 7th ushered in the start of spring, so to speak. The new IES kids and I were rounded up again at Inuyama, a small town north of Nagoya, for another orientation. Some of the full-year kids tagged along to act as ambasaddors. Or, in short, to answer questions and assure them that their semester abroad is going to be amazing. I took this as an opportunity to see Inuyama again and to get to know the new students in a neutral enviornment. Perhaps they were more friendly, or I was more comfortable, but we quickly made friends. Even got in some time with purikura and playground shenanigans.

From there, it was on to bigger and better new adventures! More specifically, my new host family. Admittedly, I was a bit nervous to go through the entire awkward process again of learning another house’s living habits, the rules, establishing my own comforts and such, but i’m happy to see that this time went around a little bit easier than in the Fall.

After arriving at Nanzan with the IES kids, I was, funnily enough, the first one to be picked up by my host mother. We drove all the way out to Kasugai, which is a town just North-East of central Nagoya. Over the next few days, I met Karin-chan and Ren-kun, my 4 and 7 year old host sister and host brother. Also met my host father, who is an English teacher in a Japanese high school. So new customs, new room, new commute, the works.

In terms of Kasugai, it’s small, but there are plenty of schools around and it’s seen as a pretty good place for parents to raise their kids. Thus, the schools, and thus, my host parents choosing to live here as well.

 I’ve only gotten a day to properly wander this area, especially considering that my host mother insists on driving me to the train station and picking me up, but I like it here. It’s not Ozone, a bustling corner of a lively city with everything you could ever want within reach. Here, there are only 3 convenience stores about 10 minutes walking distance from each other, a tiny clothing store area, and one large supermarket with a McDonalds and 100 yen store attached. The area around my new train station, Kozoji, is a bit more refined, but still quite bare. Strangely enough, it’s quiet where I live. This alone is surprising enough in Japan, where you are surrounded by constant noise almost 24/7. This change is good.

I’ve also started taking the JR Chuo line, which is an official railway for Japan. It’s crowded, with more commuters and businessmen than the grannies/high schoolers i’m used to on the subways, but it’s still a fairly simple commute (it added about 20 minutes to it), and I’m already growing accustomed. Then there’s the family.

My host mother is Akiko, who is a stay-at-home mom, through and through. She does laundry everyday, cleans the house everyday, makes all the meals, makes lunches for the kids, drives the kids to all their various activities, you name it. It’s a little bit strange to live in a household that seriously depends on the mother like that. She is always the last one to sit down and finish eating because she’s spent so much time getting up to serve everyone else food. I’ve tried volunteering to do dishes or help with cooking, but she’ll have none of it, sadly. Still, she’s tremendously considerate, always bringing up my laundry, driving me to and from the station, and just generally treating me as if I was her own child.

The host dad and the family often go to America for vacation, and they also often stay with friends as a very brief sort of ‘host family’ situation. We had a merry chat as he helped me with purchasing a Japan Railways pass today for my commute. He even went all the way with me to Ozone today so that I would completely understand. I definitely couldn’t have done it without him.

 Then there’s the kids. Oh, the kids. It took a bit of time for them to warm up to me, but Karin, the youngest little girl at 4, definitely got excited to have someone new to play with. We’ve been through the whole process of her bringing me random things to show off, and today, I honestly spent a good 6 hours doing nothing but playing with them. Ren took a little longer to get over his shyness, but when I started out my morning by him coming up to ask me for help with his homework, we got on well enough. He soundly kicked my butt at Wii Mario Kart multiple times today and then I tickled him in revenge. Alls well that ends well.

My room itself is extremely nice. No more bed for me, I now have a futon to sleep on. I also have my own TV, so i’m pretty excited about finally getting some more exposure to television. We also have the extended cable channels, so i’ll be able to watch dubbed episodes of American dramas, since okaasan seems fond of them. The host itself is also clearly new, all shiny and clean and unlike anything i’m used to, honestly, even at home in America.

I’ve been getting along quite well with the Takeuchis. We chat, and then I am distracted by hours of playtime with small children. Living in a house with youngsters itself is new for me, as I was always the youngest child, but I’m ultimately looking forward to it, as Spring boasts a large number of holidays revolving around children that I will be able to get involved in. All in all, it’s looking to be a very interesting new semester!

Location: Kasugai, Aichi Prefecture, Japan