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Karly's Update
Posted by Naomi Ducklow
Sunrise Rotary Club, I'm wishing you happy holidays and happy new year from Japan! Time is passing by so fast here. I can't believe it's been 5 months already!
Every day I am having new experiences and improving my Japanese. I have started emailing with my Japanese friends, and I find that with the help of my trusty English/Japanese dictionary I can understand every thing they say, and can say anything I want to. Of course, speaking Japanese is a little harder, but I can usually understand when people talk to me, and can hold a decent conversation. For my Japanese class I have to write in a journal every day in Japanese. Writing 5 or 6 lines a day has really helped my writing.
I'm at my third host family now. My host dad is a doctor, and runs a hospital. We live in a huge house; I have a floor to myself. My host dad loves golf, so we have a small putting yard in front. We also have a maid who cleans and cooks for us. My host family is so kind to me. Every time I sneeze or even hiccup my host mom says "Oh! Karly, are you okay? Are you cold? Do you want some water?" and turns the heat up.
Every one here showers and takes a bath in the evening. So when I caught a small cold a couple weeks ago, every one thought it was because I shower in the morning. "But Karly, it's so cold in the morning!" Since the temperature is always around the 0 degrees mark, I assured them that it's probably colder in Canada. Every now and then we get a light coat of snow, which is usually gone in the morning.
I had quite the new experience the other day. In Japan it is normal to go to the onsen. An onsen is a hot springs pool. Thing is, everyone goes completely in the nude. There's two seperate boys and girls pools. As you can probably understand, for a Canadian this looks pretty daunting. It took till a couple days ago to get up my nerve to go. Me and my second host family went to a water park, with a theme of Hawaii. Along with hula dancers and a wave pool, there was also an onsen. So, I asked my little sister if she wanted to go, she said no. "Wait, do you want to go, Karly?" she asked, as she knew I was somewhat nervous about the idea. "Yeah, I want to go." "Okay, I want to go too then", she said. And that was that. It was definitely uncomfortable at first, but my host mom and sister were just so nonchalant about it it was hard not to relax. By the end it was actually really relaxing, and the pools were beautiful. It's something I could never do in Canada, and I'm really glad I did it.
When I left Canada, I was fairly sure that I didn't like mushrooms or shrimp. But now I can eat pretty much anything. Or at least try. But I have to say, I'm not too fond of sea urchins. They have got the strangest texture. But that's so small compared to the overall changes. Now I think back to when I first came to Japan and I think "Why didn't I bow and say yoroshiku onegai shimasu (nice to meet you) when I met someone? Why didn't I like green tea? Why was a scared to eat fish eggs? They're delicious! Did I really hold my chopsticks like that? How emberassing." I've been changing in ways that could never have happened in Canada. I'm learning about a new culture, a new way of life. For all this, I thank you, all of you, for helping make it happen.
I'm at my third host family now. My host dad is a doctor, and runs a hospital. We live in a huge house; I have a floor to myself. My host dad loves golf, so we have a small putting yard in front. We also have a maid who cleans and cooks for us. My host family is so kind to me. Every time I sneeze or even hiccup my host mom says "Oh! Karly, are you okay? Are you cold? Do you want some water?" and turns the heat up.
Every one here showers and takes a bath in the evening. So when I caught a small cold a couple weeks ago, every one thought it was because I shower in the morning. "But Karly, it's so cold in the morning!" Since the temperature is always around the 0 degrees mark, I assured them that it's probably colder in Canada. Every now and then we get a light coat of snow, which is usually gone in the morning.
I had quite the new experience the other day. In Japan it is normal to go to the onsen. An onsen is a hot springs pool. Thing is, everyone goes completely in the nude. There's two seperate boys and girls pools. As you can probably understand, for a Canadian this looks pretty daunting. It took till a couple days ago to get up my nerve to go. Me and my second host family went to a water park, with a theme of Hawaii. Along with hula dancers and a wave pool, there was also an onsen. So, I asked my little sister if she wanted to go, she said no. "Wait, do you want to go, Karly?" she asked, as she knew I was somewhat nervous about the idea. "Yeah, I want to go." "Okay, I want to go too then", she said. And that was that. It was definitely uncomfortable at first, but my host mom and sister were just so nonchalant about it it was hard not to relax. By the end it was actually really relaxing, and the pools were beautiful. It's something I could never do in Canada, and I'm really glad I did it.
When I left Canada, I was fairly sure that I didn't like mushrooms or shrimp. But now I can eat pretty much anything. Or at least try. But I have to say, I'm not too fond of sea urchins. They have got the strangest texture. But that's so small compared to the overall changes. Now I think back to when I first came to Japan and I think "Why didn't I bow and say yoroshiku onegai shimasu (nice to meet you) when I met someone? Why didn't I like green tea? Why was a scared to eat fish eggs? They're delicious! Did I really hold my chopsticks like that? How emberassing." I've been changing in ways that could never have happened in Canada. I'm learning about a new culture, a new way of life. For all this, I thank you, all of you, for helping make it happen.