9/2/00

Well, where do I begin? So much has happened that I can write about. So I'll just write about them in these reports, whether it happens monthly, weekly, or whatever. Let's see, where to start? Well, I begin school on the fourth of September. So I am a little anxious. 

I have met with both my host club and the governing club here.  Let me start with the governing club since I met with them first. The  meeting was in the evening and it was at a rather large hotel banquet hall.  As I walked in I saw the other foreign exchange students in their trademark blue sport coats. I was of course wearing mine. Then I noticed two of the exchange students wearing red coats. This intrigued me so I therefore sat next to them. Those two exchange students were from Canada, what that has to do with them having red coats is beyond me. Perhaps some sort of historical meaning, but hopefully not the historic meaning that "red coats" has to Americans. Of all the exchange students there was one other American (he was from Wisconsin). Also there were only two girls one was from New Zealand and the other was from Finland. They were both very nice and the girl from Finland was very beautiful. I only noticed that there were two girls because it was strange, not because of any other reason mind you. Ahem, well everyone was really nice to the exchange students and everybody wanted pictures of us and to speak with us. We then all gave short speeches followed by the speeches of the old exchange students who have returned (This includes Daisuke.) We then all ate. 

During dinner we all spoke and came to the conclusion that none of us were homesick. We then wondered if this meant we were heartless or just incredibly busy, hmmm? Either way, all the exchange students traded phone numbers so that we could all get together and hang out on our own. It's amazing how quickly one can make friends if the necessity exists. I guess we all felt so comfortable with each other because we had experiences to compare. Either way, we all gained about 10 new friends.

My meeting with my host club was not as fun or as comfortable. It too was at a rather large hotel banquet hall though. We all sat at tables and they served us lunch. After lunch we all did a stretching exercise similar to how 
I stretch before doing martial arts. At this point I began to wonder if we were about to do some sort of physical exercise. That would be strange. But no, we then heard from the president of my host club. They then introduced 
me and I stood by the podium while they kept speaking (this was probably for a good 15 to 20 minutes) so you can imagine I began to feel a little uncomfortable. They then handed me the microphone and I talked about myself 
and gave a short speech. Then my counselor and my host father both told me I had free time while they continued the meeting. I left the meeting and had about two hours to roam. Since I was near downtown I decided to explore the street and see what was around. Of course you ca9n imagine me feeling just a tad strange to be walking around in my Rotary sports coat. Luckily I do not have too many pins yet (the more pins, the more awkward). I found a mall nearby. This mall has around 13 floors. I found any type of store I could possibly want (except food).  Luckily I had just eaten or else this could have been a problem. Well I did not buy anything but I met some people in the mall and held a pretty good conversation. When I noticed I was running out of time I returned to the meeting. At the end of their meeting they presented me with a gift. It is a towel with the Rotary symbol and Osaka club number on it. I thanked everybody and left.

Let me write about my life for a minute. My Japanese is getting better everyday and I can already say everything that involves my host house. As you can imagine I have done an incredible amount of walking while I have 
been here. The other day I told my family I was going out for a walk because I wanted to buy a skateboard. They said just to be back by dinner. I walked to a sports superstore (eight floors) it is called a sports Takashi. I am 
not sure why I have decide to take up skateboarding again because I have not done it in over four years, and once I started driving I had just about given up on skateboarding. I guess I figured since I cannot drive here I might as well dust off a dream I had put to rest a long time ago. When I returned home with my skateboard my host family asked me where I went to buy the skateboard. When I told them they were shocked. Apparently it's about seven kilometers to the Sports Takashi and seven back. They asked me if I rode the bus or skateboarded. I said I couldn't skateboard because it had been raining and I did not ride the bus because I said I was going to walk. 
Well, apparently walking 14 kilometers is supposed to be a lot. Either way, the important thing is I now have my skateboard and I have been all over with it in the last two days. I had almost forgotten how much fun it is. I 
wanted to be able to skateboard to my school since it is only ten kilometers away and on a skateboard that is nothing, but my host mother says she wants me to take the bus and train to school. So there went that idea. In other news I have been eating a lot. Most of you who know how much I eat were probably worried that I would not get enough to eat since the stereotype is that Japanese people don't eat much. This is simply not true; my host 
family alone eats almost as much as I do. 

All the food here is delicious.  Except one slight problem. In all my life I have not encountered a food that I did not like. So therefore I could eat anything no matter where in the world I went. I have finally encountered something I do not like. I don't understand why I did not foresee it. I mean I should have figured that irony would find a way to fit into my life here. The one food in the world I do not like is sushi. This is of course irony in its purest form. My first time eating sushi was here and I could barely pass it down. This could be a problem!

Well, I must go but I will write again soon. I will try to solve any and all 
problems I encounter until then.

Roly