My Japan Adventure!: 1st Post

AYyyYYYYY FIRST POST! Let's hope that I can cover everything!!!!

Me, Anna, and Emma in LA for
the orientation

I made some good friends from AFS on the first day :3. We had lots of orientations for two days and then it was off to Japan!

Cool building I saw on the bus ride!

When we landed in Tokyo, AFS USA met up with every AFS student from across the globe who decided to study in Japan. It was so cool meeting students from 31 different countries! And most of them had surprisingly good English too! It was fun meeting them and becoming their friends, even though many of them asked for my opinion on Donald Trump :/. After orientation there, a group of AFSers who would live in Osaka were taken there on a 13 hour bus ride. I was among them :D. The ride was actually very interesting, since we got to see the countryside of Japan. It was so cold though :(

In Osaka, the AFSers were taken to an international youth hostel. It was fine there and the AFS group leaders were very fun and nice. However, we had a public bath. It was kind of awkward going in there with your friends, but it turned out to be actually very chill and relaxing. After more orientations, it was finally time to meet our host families!!!!

Most of the students had to take buses, trains, and planes to get to their host families, but my hosting chapter was right
where the hostel was. So, the 3 other girls from the Osaka-Minami chapter and I all got to get picked up by our host families. At around 10 I met my Liason Person and my Host Mother. They are both such nice people!!!!

Me and Reiko!!!

Soon I met my host father and siblings at their apartment. They are all so polite and don't get frustrated at my poor Japanese bless their souls. My host sister, Reiko, is very nice to me. I can tell she wants to be a good friend of mine, but the language barrier makes it difficult. My host brother, Koushi, is very small and rambunctious; he is quite amusing. This family is very close and sweet with each other :D.

Food-wise, I haven't had anything really out of this world yet. I did have takoyaki though and it was delicious :p

Today my host family took me shopping. They even took me to a small Love Live! store! My past anime-crazed-self came out and I bought some souvenirs XD. Then I met Reiko's friend, Satori, and her father. We all went shopping together and I bought my first Japanese-esque outfit. It is too cold to wear it right now though. Afterwards, my host father bought me a crepe and we all ate some food in the

gotta be KOTORI

LL STORE

food court. Then, Reiko took me home on the subway. We went through the very large, Tennouji subway station. We walked next to the largest building in Abeno, Osaka!!!