JAPAN- october 8 2006

I finally have internet access and some free time to write something.. This is my third week in Japan and I still cant believe im here! Sometimes it hits me, when Im walking on the street and everyone is asian, when all I can hear around me is japanese, when I try to read the signs to figure out what way to go and I cant understand anything, cause its all in japanese... thats when I realize "oh s**t, Im in japan!" My first three weeks have been incredible! No major cultural shocks so far, except from the first day. After a 14-hour flight from Texas to Osaka, we had to stay in a hostel in Nara before going to Nagasaki. I was sick in the plane, sick on the bus (a 12-hour ride, good thing Sarah was my bus-date) and then at the hostel I experienced the japanese showers and toilets for the first time. All the girls in tha cast had to take a shower together, naked. I kind of freaked out, but I wasnt the only one.. I know its not that bad, but I was so tired that it just seemed like a torture. It was a big room with many showers (no curtains) and a big bathtub. Thats how the japanese do it, they enter the room naked, they take a shower, get in the tub and then take another shower. They all use the same water. Kind of weird! And the toilet is just a hole on the ground most of the times. I ve been lucky so far, all my host-families have a western type toilet, with many buttons. I ll post some pictures soon and you ll understand what Im talking about. So apart from that first day when I got to see many of my fellow cast members naked, I didnt experience anything dramatically awkward. First city was Omura, Nagasaki. I had the best traditional japanese house, I slept in tatami for the first time and from my window I could see endless rise fields and the sea. My first family was amazing.. They didnt speak any english, but communication was no problem at all! I had sake (traditional japanese alcoholic drink) every day and my host-dad and I just teased each other all the time. He taught me how to make origami dustbins and he took me fishing (I caught about 50 sardins). My host mum was a real sweetheart too.. She dressed me up in a kimono (pictures to be posted soon) and taught me how to make pictures from dry flowers. I also had a host-sister who was really nice. I tried sushi and sashimi for the first time (raw squid was the hardest, but I ate everything else and the raw shrips were actually good!). My host mum cooked very traditional, so I got to try many different japanese foods and I like most of it. Except sweet beans, I hate sweet beans, its the only thing I cant eat! On free day we visited Nagasaki and the atomic bomb museum. It was a shocking experience, to see what the atomic bomb can do.. You read about it, but being there makes you realize the size of the destruction it can cause.. Its scary.. And people are still dying of cancer because of that.. My host mum was crying when I left, and I was really sad too, they were so great.. They gave me so many gifts and I really dont have space in my luggage for it! Good thing I cant buy any clothes here (the sizes are so small, even x-large is too small for me, I feel so fat!). My next host family in Ueda, Nagano was very different. They were younger, they lived in a flat and their way of life was more western. I had an 18-year old sister and a 15-year old brother, both of them very cute! I hardly ever saw my host-dad cause he worked so many hours! People in Japan work sooo hard, they leave the house early in the morning and come back very late at night. At least the men. All the host mums I ve had so far are house wives. And they do absolutely everything! My host mum in Ueda was so nice and sweet. She tried really hard to communicate, even though she didnt know english. She sent text messages to her other daughter that studies in the U.S and asked her to translate things she wanted to tell me. When I left she was crying and told me "Nico, my daughter", which moved me.. I felt pretty loved in that family, my host sister was like my biggest fun! Everything I did and said was perfect to her and she kept reminding me how pretty, intelligent and nice I was (nothing personal though, its part of the japanese culture). I got a japanese haircut which I dont really like, it looks good on japanese people but not on me! But I had fun with the hair-dresser, he was so funny, and he brought his pc and googled cyprus while cutting my hair. I also went to a karaoke bar with mum and sister, Karaoke is the biggest thing in Japan, you get your own room and you can sing for hours. Now Im in Suita, Osaka and I have a family where english is the first language. Host dad is American, a very unique guy who travelled all over the world with his bicycle for 4 years before settling down in Japan and marrying the love of his life, Tomoko. Tomoko is just beutiful, she is almost 50 but she looks 30 (japanese people look so much younger!). She is a perfect cook (we had western food the whole week). Their 3 kids are just beautiful (I guess american and japanese genes mix well) and very intelligent. Its the perfect family, they love each other and treat each other very good. Their house is amazing, traditional japanese on the outside and a blend of asian and western on the inside. i stay here with Maia from Estonia (one of my best friends in the cast) and we each have our own room. We took public transportation every day this week, which was awsome! Seeing all the beautiful japanese women and business men going to work just made my day. They were looking at us too, there arent so many western people around! Kids were smiling at us. if you think that 99% of the people in Japan are Japanese, then yes, we were kind of extraordinary! Highlight of the week was our free day, Maia and I went to Kyoto, the most ancient city in Japan, that has more than 1000 temples. We visited some of them, the imperial gardens and nijo castle and we walked around and just enjoyed being in Japan. There are many westerners in Kyoto, at first we were excited to see non-japanese people but then it became normal. Kyoto is the place to be in Japan I guess! In the afternoon we explored downtown Osaka, it was fun but we were both exhausted. We ended up in a bar, where we couldnt order anything cause the menu was in japanese. We were thinking about taking a chance and ordering just whatever but then the waitress came and saw that we were holding the menu upside down. She laughed and she brought some small glasses with tester drinks for us to try. So we got to drink the testers for free! I wonder if anyone will manage to read everything I wrote so far! I better stop even though I have so much more to write! Tomorrow I leve for Uda, Nara, a very small town, Im sure I wont have any internet. Then we go to Toyota, where we ll meet the famous Mr Toyoda (head of the Toyota company). Last stop is Tokyo and then its Europe. Many people in the cast are already tired of Japan and are waiting for Europe as the promise land! I love Japan and I want to come back one day. I dont know if I ll get tired of it in 3 weeks, but Im planning to enjoy every minute! Its so different, I know that I may never have this experience again.