January 11

Today was the first day I woke up to an alarm. Again, I spent a lot of time sleeping, but I also wrote a letter to thank あずみさん.

Today, I met my host family! I was finally able to talk with お母さん around 9:oo am. She was so excited, I was encouraged. I had been having trouble with my 携帯, so when 管理人 came knocking on my door at 3:00pm, I truly びっくりした. He seemed flustered too. He hurried me down four floors to my host お父さん, who was waiting with a 白い車. After that, things got better and better.

My host parents are すごく親切な人! お父さんが英語が上手ですよ! お母さんもすごく親切だ! The house reminds me of home so much it’s scary. There are objects everywhere (as much as in our bonus room at home) and plants everywhere (just like our dining room). I have my own room (separate from the rest of the house, but nice, and a western-style bathroom to myself (not like the ones at school). After おくつお父さん drove me home and got me settled, I met お母さん. We sat down to tea (which I regrettably did not have milk in (yes, Jason, I’m turning) though they did, and they asked what I ate for breakfast, when I ate it, etc. They even filled out my commuter application and said they would go to the station with me to get it.
We spent a lot of time synchronizing 携帯, but it was a nice experience. My phone now seems to work in both ha and 3g mode, yay! Working with お父さん, I could tell we were having a generation-technology lag, the kind that is universally recognized, but it was okay! Both お父さんとお母さん have phone straps (お母さん has many), and the same 携帯, though お母さんのはピンクだ. They used to have a corgie, but he died (exactly a month ago) of cancer at six years old. 本当にかわいい犬だった. “good boy” と言う犬だった. お母さんが自分で書いたえを見せました. 本当にすごいだ. Luckily, my fear that I had broken the gas heater was remitted when お母さん turned it off. I can’t get over how 親切 they are. They have given me everything; slippers when I entered, my own closet, towels, a jacket for when I get out of the shower, a mat to sit on, internet, extra blankets... I hope I can coordinate myself well enough to treat them to an outing when the time comes.

At 7:00 pm, we had dinner. お母さん made a mixture of American, South African, and Japanese food (since she and お母さん管理人 had lived in 2/3 of the countries. We had chicken with mushrooms (slightly spicy), miso, salad (made me so happy), and the German equivalent of fruitcake (ironically a Christmas gift). 全部おいしかった. Afterward, I played the piano for a bit, tried to figure out paperwork again, and (drumroll) used the internet!!! It was such a relief. 家族 let me use it until 10:00 pm (happy!) so I checked my e-mail (no problems, thankfully), facebook (yay), and did some catching up. Afterward, I took a shower (the room is unheated, sot was a super shocker) but at least it was clean and now I’m clean too. The question now is; where and how can I do my laundry?