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We arrived in Japan on June 18th and took a bus to a hotel in Shinjuku. It was a really nice hotel too. We had room mates again and we were pretty much free to do whatever we wanted. On June 19th we went to the U.S. Embassy and then went and saw the Imperial Palace. We went back to the hotel and they gave us money for lunch and we were free to go wherever we wanted to the rest of the night. The people that were staying in the Tokyo area had to be back by a certain time though (maybe around 2pm) to meet their host families and the other people not staying in the Tokyo area (80 some people) stayed at the hotel another night. The next day (June 20th) everyone went to the subway station, train station, bullet train, airport, etc., to go to the city they were staying in for the summer. I went to Haneda Airport in Tokyo to take a plane to Osaka. There were maybe 10 other people that went to Osaka too, but we all went to different cities. After arriving in Osaka our host families met us and took us home.
I went to Matsubara City. I started school on June 24th at Matsubara High School and went there for 4 weeks. It was so much fun and a great experience and I met a lot of new people. I made some really close friends too. There was a French-Canadian exchange student that had been there for 10 months and left a few days before I did at the end of July. Also, there was my good friend from the Phillippines who had been there since March and he leaves in January 2004. I also made a couple really good Japanese friends. I think that if I could have gone there for a year without getting behind in school and without missing my senior year then I would have. But thats not how it worked out and Im really glad that I had the opportunity to go even if it was for only one month.
I had a great time in Japan. I got to experience using the trains on my own and it was great to be able to ride my bike pretty much anywhere. I returned home on July 30th after a long journey that took over 24 hours. Now Im back to my normalElife and I plan on graduating from high school in June 2004. I want to go to college and continue studying Japanese with a double major in something that is undecided right now (possibly International Business, but thats definitely not for sure or anything like that - Just a thought/possibility). After college I would like to return to Japan for a year or two and be an Assistant English Teacher.
This summer I went to Matsubara City, Osaka Japan. I went through the Youth For Understanding Program on a scholarship that I got through the Japan-America Friendship Scholars. There were 100 total people from all over the United States that received the Japan-America Friendship Scholars Scholarship. On June 14th we all went to San Jose State University in California for a 3-day orientation. There were also 10 people there that had the Okinawa Peace Scholarship. We stayed in dorms and all meals were provided. We were split into groups (kumi) and I was in the Orange Kumi. We did various activities and talked about Japanese topics such as Japanese High School, Japanese Religion, etc. It was actually a really fun orientation and I met a lot of people. On June 17th we left for the San Francisco Airport and then got on a plane to go to Japan.
During my time in Japan I had the chance to visit other cities and famous sites. I went to Nara and saw a really big Buddha at Todaiji Temple. I went to Kyoto and saw the Kyoto Tower, Golden Pavilion, and Silver Pavilion. I also went to Kobe and saw a big bridge (maybe the longest in the world, but not sure). I had the chance to go to Hiroshima on a school trip for a peace workshop and I saw where the atomic bomb was dropped, saw the peace museum, and also a lot of memorials in the park (it might be called the peace park). Of course I saw a lot of sites in Osaka as well. I went to Osaka Castle, Universal Studios Japan, Tennoji Temple, Sumiyoshi Shrine, went on a HUGE farris wheel at Tempozan (that claimed to be the largest in the world, but I dont know if it really is), and lots of other places.
