Host Family Information!

Hello everyone! So I have not made a post in quite a while, but as March comes closer, I happily anticipate the time when I will finally be in Japan, and the actual blog will begin!!!
Ok, SO, I.AM.VERY.HAPPY. Though midterms are currently taking place and are furthermore causing mass sleep deprivation on top of mass sleep deprivation, I AM VERY HAPPY.


I HAVE A HOST FAMILY!!!! When I saw the e-mail in my inbox titled "Host Family Contact Information" I totally flipped. Here's the story:

I arrived home from a friends house (I eat 1+ pint of Ben and Jerries ice cream each time I go over there, which is at a minimum once a week, by the way), where we totally "studied" for our second day of midterm exams happening tomorrow 1/21/10, which I actually seriously should be doing now BUT, writing this is way more enjoyable. ---> So I arrived home with my dad at about 5:30 PM, however I had absolutely no expectation regarding information on my host family. My dad had called the admissions counselor (and left a message, which is why I arrived home without the expectation of an e-mail from the admissions office) we are currently connected to at YFU, regarding host family information, which (I mean host family information) acts sort of as a tree with a bunch of other important topics branching off of it which we will begin to understand and be able to discuss ONCE, I know of my host family. In example, once I would be informed of my contact information of my host family, I could begin discussing my school uniform and how to come about it, essentially, along with various visa information, the visa process, and OF COURSE, CREDIT EXCHAAAANGE WWOOOOO FUN STUFF! <-- Precisely the epitome of my concern, quite frankly. I have mentioned this in every post posted thus far. Anyway, back on topic: Without the expectation of an e-mail from the admissions office at Youth for Understanding, I checked my e-mail, to find, .....an e-mail from YFU titled "Host Family Contact Information". I squealed, and flipped as stated before. The moment was incredibly frustrating however, since my computer decided to be excruciatingly slow at the time, and so the contact information DID NOT OPEN. The beginning of the e-mail read as follows (I wont post the second part of the e-mail) :

"First and foremost, please find attached the contact information for your host family in Japan! Feel free to contact them- a letter with this information has also been sent to you via mail and should arrive in a few days."

HOLY FRICK I WAS DYING AUUGH! The attachment wasn't opening and I WAS SO FRUSTRATED LET ME TELL YOU. It did open after about 50 seconds though, so it was all good. Among the information received, I was given:


-The family name and first names of my Host parents. I do not want to post their names on the internet without their consent.

-The ages of my BROTHER AND SISTER! I have a 15 year old brother and 20 year old sister!!

-School: Hibarigaoka Gakuen High School. I checked the website....um, wow. WOW. WAOWWWWW

-The fact that a grandfather and/or grandmother is/are not present in the host household.

-Their address and phone number, and address and phone number of my WOW high school.


Ok, SO! PARENTS!!! I love their names! I may post their names later but I just have to say, that those names are marvelous. As of yet I do not know the names of either my host sister or brother, but I do intend to call my host family once midterms are finished, and I will receive more information then. Also, a fact I must let you know of. I tried to anticipate the time when my host family information would come, without any expectations. I personally did not care in the least what my host family would be made up of because quite frankly, any type of family would have been marvelous. Single parent, two parents no kids, a bunch of kids and one parent, an old couple, an old lady, an old gentlemen OMG ANYTHING WOULD HAVE BEEN AWESOME! I had no serious standards as to what type of family I wanted. And as long as they would/will smoke outside if they do indeed puff, I would/will/do not mind that either. However if I must sleep every night in a dense cloud of cigarette crud, um, no. Will not appreciate. Otherwise, no rules and or standards, as long as I can spend a year as an exchange student in Japan, I will be eternally satisfied of course!

SO, what I had originally tried to say at the beginning of that paragraph, was that I actually did sort of wonder (EVERY DAY) what kind of family I would have ended up with. Personally I did not mind what kind of family shape/structure etc. I would have joined for a year,(but I wanted a brother who was about my age and a sister who is in college, and that is what I received). In conclusion, I am frickin pleased.

One more topic to cover--my school. Yes, the WAAOOOW school. I will now decipher the hidden meaning behind those "wows".
The school is impressive. It is a private school known as Hibarigaoka Gakuen High School as stated before, and it is gorgeous. The website is beyond impressive, it is incredibly fancy, preppy, informational, and just plain attractive. The school building looks unbelievably nice, it is only about 1.5 miles from my house OH YEAH I TOTALLY FORGOT TO SAY WHERE I AM STAYING!! I'll post that later. Anyway, there is a seemingly very nice list of apparently famous alumni who are now fairly well known icons, and just in general, the school is very impressive.

Here is the school website : http://www.hibari.jp/

The second tab down on the left is the school's high school catalog (link - http://www.hibari.jp/calendar/hs_digest.pdf ). Very impressive. Just LOOK at those school uniforms! Just LOOK at that SCHOOL! I checked the rankings of the school compared to all other Japanese schools, and Hibarigaoka is one of Japan's most prestigious high schools. The campus has a temple-like building for tea ceremony, two pools (one is 50 meters), a train station seemingly connected to the school, a freaking AMAZING auditorium, all among many other buildings. There are pictures on the 12 (last) page of the 2010 school catalog which I provided a link to at the beginning of this paragraph.
Also, the school offers a wide variety of clubs:
-合唱 (chorus)
-囲碁将棋 (japanese chess)
-放送 (broadcasting)
-書道 (calligraphy)
-演劇 (traditional and modern theater)
-科学 (science)
-箏曲 (koto music) <-- Koto playing. Koto is a traditional stringed instrument.
-美術 (fine arts)
-茶道 (tea ceremony)
-華道 (flower arrangement)
-鉄道研究 (railroad research) <-- This is new to me. Never heard of it before
-吹奏楽同好会 (wind instrument music) <-- Traditional wind instruments
-ESS (english speaking society) <-- Probably will come in handy for me ;D
-インターアクト (rotary interact club) <-- The school has a rotary club! That is cool
-マンドリン (mandolin/stringed instruments)
-写真 (photography)
-サッカー (soccer)
-剣道 (kendo) <-- Swordmanship/Japanese fencing
-合気道 (aikido)
-ソフトテニス (soft tennis)
-バスケット (basketball)
-バレーボール (volleyball)
-硬式テニス (hard tennis) <-- The tennis we know
-柔道 (judo)
-水泳 (swimming)
-硬式野球 (baseball)
-軟式野球 (softball)

Goodness, I feel so fortunate to be able to attend such an institution...


It is marked where my town is. I will be living in the city of Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture　池田市、大阪府　
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This is where I am in relation to the greater Kansai region/central Honshu area. Ikeda is essentially at the corner of Hyogo, Kyoto (YESSS! Kyoto is the best), and Osaka prefectures.


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This is my high school. Hibarigaokahanayashiki 雲雀丘花屋敷 is the station, as you can see it is right next to my high school. The school is literally, a mile and half from my door step (and it's in Hyogo prefecture while I am in Osaka).
Wow, definition of the Japanese suburban life :D I made a preference to be near Kyoto, in an outskirts town rather than the center of a city.
SO EXCITED!!


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So, thank you so much for reading! I apologize if my reading is at all difficult to follow. This was in a way an act of procrastination from my Honors English review for the exam I have tomorrow.

I AM SO HAPPY! Ikeda, Japan will be LOVELY MAAAAAN! They could not have picked a better location for me.

Thank you!

-Oliver