Host Family
My host family has to be the most perfect match I could have asked for! Man, are they great. (Had to get that out of my system first and foremost). Ok, but seriously, I love them. My host parents are both extremely nice and are usually out working for the majority of the day, though we often have dinner together. They have two little boys, a 1-yr old, Ryoga-kun; and a 3-yr old, Aoto-kun. Although, sometimes its hard for me to believe Aoto is only 3 considering his straight-forward personality haha. Both of them are so much fun, though, and every moment I can I find myself playing with them, laughing with them, watching cartoons or building up foam architectures, and sometimes even learning Japanese! Also, luckily for me, we live only a 15 minute bus ride from Nanzan. Contrary to this I usually walk to and from school, partly for exercise and money saving, but more-so just to really soak up and enjoy the experience of actually being in Japan. Both of my host parents speak a good bit of English so communication is never a problem and makes it easier on my Japanese studies when I can explain the point I'm trying to make in English. My host mother's side of the family is similar to my actual mom's side of the family in that it is compromised of several artists and creative minds. My host father's side of the family is similar to my actual father's side of the family in the sense that his parents (specifically his mother) is very interested in obtaining different types of knowledge and is particularly fascinated with the English language. My father's side of the family is consisted of aunt's and uncle's who are very interested in books and spiritualities and just knowledge in general, a perfect example being me and my cousin Josh, who are both currently abroad right now, Japan and China respectively, experiencing new languages and experiences in attempts to gain new knowledge. So anyway, I must say I fit in perfectly in this humble house in Nagoya, Japan and will most definitely stay in touch after departing! (Can't wait to see Ryoga-kun and Aoto-kun grow up!)
南山大学 (Nanzan Daigaku)
Interacting with like-minded people in a completely new environment is not as difficult as one would think. There are 130 currently international students enrolled at Nanzan University this fall semester, and I am glad to say I have met and made friends with a large number of them. The CJS International Office's student body hails from all over: almost every region of the continental states, Hawaii, Britain, United Arab Emirates, India, China, and many more. In addition to international students I have made friends with a lot of Japanese students as well. These friends have been made from them striking up conversations with me (usually due to my afro I assume lol), me striking up conversation with them, study sessions in various parts of the school specifically set up for international and domestic student interaction and of course, my awesome friends I've made from joining the Calligraphy Club! A good bit of these Japanese friends I have made speak English, Nanzan has a very good English program, although I try to limit my English use as to further my proficiency in Japanese. In addition to new friends, new lunches, and club activities, my sensei's are all very good. My Japanese sensei is one of the nicest people I have ever met and works very well with every person in my class. My Hanga (Woodblock Printing) and Sumie (Chinese Black-ink Painting) teachers are both amazing artists and only use Japanese in they're class meaning I have to focus double as hard as any other class. My Japanese Culture and Art teacher is a former film-producer and currently a sculptor in addition to teaching at Nanzan. Granted, you can only have so much fun in a lecture course, I personally love the class solely because of the sensei's pure interest in the topic (which just so happens to be a topic I am also immensely interested in, pre-modern Japanese art!).
Welp, that's all I got for you guys this time! Tune in to my next post for more new friends, new locations, new adventures and new knowledge! I'm off to do some homework. :)
Photo gallery description:
Pics from my host family's awesome welcome dinner! Fully equipped with 4+ different types of sushis, American flag decorated chopsticks, laughter, and an amazing hand-made cake by my host grand-mother on my mother's side. Sooooooo good.
2 photos from Nanzan's beautiful and almost never quite green area. Normal crowds there include various lunch picnic dates, study groups and none other than the unable-to-break-character thespians. Normally practicing for roles that are mistaken by people walking by, as someone genuinely screaming in pain or fighting. (In that sense, I'd say they're pretty good.)
Oh yeah and also a crowded cafeteria at roughly 12:30 (nearly everybody, international and Japanese, have the same lunch period). And two shirts bearing the Nanzan seal that all international students got for free... some people got red and some people got blue.
