This is my lovely host family, the Yamashita family.
Left to right: Keiji-kun being silly, Okaa-san, Eiji-kun, Ojii-chan, Obaa-chan, Otoo-san
So, I wish I'd been more genki when we finally made it to Japan and had my camera out and not been so tired I didn't even feel that nervous because I wish I could have taken a picture of Obaa-chan when I first came down the steps into Hamamatsu Station. We had sent a picture of ourselves to our host families ahead of time so they'd know what we looked like, but we had no idea what our host families looked like. So when Obaa-chan saw me, she was ready to push through the ticket booth the wrong way to say hello :) After hellos and handshakes and bows and smiles and "Gonbatte yo!" from Kadekawa-sensei and a very shy Keiji-kun not wanting to look at me, we all drove to the Yamashita house.
They had one of their traditional tatami rooms ready for me, with a desk (takusan benkyoshite kudasai! - please study a lot!) and tv (which I've only used with Ojii-chan and Obaa-chan when we have free time), and a small rack for my clothes to hang from. After a quick drop off of bags we walked briskly to a nearby diner for a late night dinner and a discussion I barely understood - it took so long to get used to their dialect! It's not so much that they use different words it's just the way they come out!
Things that have absolutely melted my heart:
~ Keiji-kun suddenly warming up to me at the DVD store after I told him I like Dragon Ball Z: He grabbed my hand and ran me back to the DBZ section and started pulling out his favorites (he's watched them all, of course) and then asked me which one I wanted to see and told Obaa-chan that we were renting that one
~ Keiji-kun always unbuckling my seatbelt for me when we ride in the car together (he always wants me next to him now), making sure I have yummy food when he has it, and generally being a little man taking care of a lady at the age of 6. OMW absolutely melts me every time he takes care of me.
~ BEST part of my first weekend here was studying Japanese homework for like...3 hours with Obaa-chan and Ojii-chan. They were so excited and very helpful, taking time to really explain things and working on my intonation. Now every time I have a new dialogue, they want to go over it with me, and are constantly repeating new vocab so that I learn more.
~ working in the garden with Obaa-chan
~ Otoo-san taking me to the petting zoo on Sunday because I said love little animals [[HEY. You are NEVER too old for a petting zoo, ok???]]
~ Okaa-san letting me help her make dinner and her excitement when I mastered eating a sunny side up egg with chop sticks
~ the way Obaa-chan and Ojii-chan worry that I'm not eating enough (you should see how much they feed me...not over feeding but it's plenty of all the right parts of the food pyramid), getting too much sun, might get rained on, walking home alone from the bus stop...etc...
~ Obaa-chan giving me the BEST massage I've ever had because I hiked up a mountain and told her I used to work for UPS and understood how hard it is to stand all day (she works at a Honda factory, on a "rotation" line from 8 AM utnil 6 PM M-F)
~ Ojii-chan looking up every word I don't know and sewing (very well I may add) up a hole in my shirt he found when he brought in the laundry
Basically...I love this family. I already feel at home here and I'm actually understanding them more :)
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