Showing posts with label Host Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Host Family. Show all posts

New Year's 2015 - A Japanese Experience
January 5, 2015

This year, I was fortunate enough to celebrate New Year's Eve with 'family'. On December 31st, I arrived without many problems to the Iwasa's house at around 6 P.M. with Reiko waiting for me. Since everyone would be arriving later that night, we spent some time together talking. Here's the supper I ate that night!




(Yes, I realize how lucky I am ok...)


At around 8:30, I realized that I forgot my glasses and my contact lens solution, which would be a huge problem since I was staying there for a few days. So after receiving explanations from Reiko on how to get to the closest 7eleven, I threw on my jacket and was off into the night. I didn't really have any problems getting there. I managed to find what I needed and I soon arrived back home. By this time, Yoshiki had already arrived home. I had already eaten supper with Reiko, so I simply talked with Yoshiki while he ate. Then, Reiko turned on the TV so that we could watch the National New Year's Eve program that almost every family watches during this time. It includes things like performances from all the big artists, speeches, small little acts, and the whole time they have a theme they follow. But a short while after that, Yoshiki switched the channel to watch the Japanese boxer who was in the final for a world boxing cup. So we ended up watching that, which was pretty exciting. 

Once that was done, we switched back to the New Year's Eve program, and soon, Kenzo arrived home. After greeting him, he sat down and ate as well. But we were soon all served another meal called "Toshikoshi Soba" which is the traditional meal that the Japanese eat on New Year's Eve. Eating the "soba", Japanese noodles that resemble spaghetti, as the years change is supposed to represent that one will live a long life this year again. Since the noodles are long, you can get that image as you're eating it. The noodles were great, and I really couldn't believe I was actually doing what I had heard of and studied many times before.

(Toshikoshi Soba: The Noodles of the New Year)


After the meal, we watched the program till 12:00, and at that time, we all said: "Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu. Kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu." which can be translated as: Happy New Year. All the best wishes for the new year. And then we were off to sleep haha.

The next morning, I woke up early with the boys. Since they still had SCHOOL on New Year's Day, they had to leave early. So for breakfast, Reiko had made the traditional New Year's Day meal called "Osechi". And she really put a lot of effort. This meal has a lot of history behind it and I still don't understand all of it, but here's what I got.
This meal was made by the mother, but back then, there were no microwaves and refrigerators, therefore most meals had to be cooked the day of. But in order to allow the mother a break during the holidays, this meal was prepared in large quantities, much like my mother's cooking..., and would be eaten during January 1st to 3rd. This food could be kept at just cooler temperatures, and therefore could last that long. The meal consists of many different kinds of small little appetizers, all separated into the compartments of a specially designed traditional box. What is even crazier is that for every appetizer, there is a special meaning. For example, the golden food you see in the picture below is called Kurikinton, and it is said that if you eat these during the New Year, you will make a lot of money this year.

(Osechi - 2015 Edition)

(And more...)

(Shigenori even got my name written on the chopstick sheets which made me feel part of the family.)

(Traditional miso soup with mochi in it called Ozouni)

(They even gave me the traditional money offered to kids from family member during the New Year.)


So yeah, I was really grateful to be able to eat this meal. After that, Kenzo left for school, and I passed out again. Soon, Daisuke and his wife arrived and they ate their share of the breakfast and we chatted on a few different topics. 

Once they were done, we got ready to leave. Daisuke and Shuko were taking me to a temple nearby to make our year's wishes. Originally, we were supposed to go all the way to Hakone to do so, but lately Shuko's health had been bad so we decided to stay close. We got to the temple and of course, we waited in line. Japan is crazy for that. As we were waiting, it started snowing, quite heavily actually. It was one of the most beautiful snowfalls I had ever seen. When we finally got in, we washed our 'souls', threw our coins, bowed twice, then clapped twice and made our wishes. Once that was done, we grabbed some hot drinks and stood next to the fire.

(The temple with snowfall adding to the feelings of the fresh new year.)

But soon it was time to head off to... an "onsen"!!! Well not exactly an onsen, but a smaller version called "sento". Both include hot water baths, and so I was very excited. We got there, said bye to Shuko who would be entering the female side of it. Daisuke and I entered the male one, placed our things in a locker and cleaned our bodies before entering the baths. Daisuke showed me all the different types of baths. That day, we tried a normal hot tub, a sauna, an outdoor bath (in the snow, which was perfect), a lay down bath, with water just running down your back, an extremely hot bath 43°C I think, and lastly, my favourite, a cool bath.

We left feeling peaceful.

That day, we did some grocery shopping, talked a lot, relaxed at home, ate a meal, and soon, it was time for Daisuke and Shuko to leave. Daisuke was falling asleep just sitting there holding Mirei, it was kind of funny and cute. Both he and I had passed out after the the hot baths, which can really drain your energy. I got to hold Mirei quite a lot and she was soo cute. Daisuke, Shuko left, and shortly after that, I was talking another hot bath haha, and was off to bed.

(Mirei chan!)

The next day, I woke up to eat with the two boys again, and to say my goodbyes. I wouldn't be seeing them for a while, and I was glad I had been able to speak to them this time. I played a little bit of guitar as Reiko made me bento, and I was then off.

(A regular breakfast at the Iwasa's.)

(Thank you guys for being so nice to me.)

It was a very interesting New Year's experience, but I'm glad I got to see a traditional Japanese New Year's celebration. I didn't get to see Shigenori this time around since he was visiting his mother's family in Akashi, but it had still felt like I was at home. 

Thank you Reiko for everything.
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Christmas Iwasa
December 30, 2014

 In order to celebrate Christmas, I was invited over to the Iwasa's house to eat dinner with their family on December 23rd. I left the dorm at around 3:30pm and arrived at the closest station near their house at around 5:07. So if you ride the fast train, it takes around 1 hour and a half. A few minutes later, Shigenori arrived smiling. It had been a while and it felt amazing to see him again! 

He walked me through the illuminations near the station and Shigenori insisted on taking one thousand pictures of me with the hello kitty illumination. Then we rode the bus that leads to his house as he explained to me so I would know the next time I came.

(The illuminations in Japan are just crazy.)

(This picture kind of worked...)


We arrived, and after shouting out "tadaima!", Reiko came to great us! Reiko is one of the sweetest persons I've met in my life and since my stay at their house when I first came to Japan, I have really become accustomed to their house. Thus it felt like home. And maybe that's why I didn't really feel like I missed Christmas this year.

I met with Daisuke's wife for the first time, and I also got to see their three month old child, Merei! Daisuke is Iwasa's oldest son, and I had met him three years ago when first coming to Japan. He arrived a few moments later and he recognized me right away! This time though, we spoke only in Japanese, while previously we had only communicated in English. Daisuke is an English teacher and therefore his English is really good.

(Daisuke and his three months old daughter, Mirei.)

Reiko then begged us to sit as she was starting to serve the dishes. And as usual her dishes were as plenty as they were delicious. It really felt strange though, since everything was in Japanese. Although I didn't understand everything, I now understood the majority of the conversation and even catching on to some of the jokes. I was also given a few gifts from Reiko and Shigenori.

(The meal was exquisite! Yeah, you should be jealous!)

(Daisuke feeding Mirei with the watchful eye of Shuko.)

(The cake. It had "Joyeux Noël" written on it, which is the French way of saying Merry Christmas.)


After the dinner, Reiko and Daisuke's wife started to sign Christmas songs and Daisuke's wife even played piano! It was funny to hear Christmas carols in Japanese but I liked it and it made me realize that these crazy holidays can affect people, the world, and life.

(Music makes everyone happy!)

After that, Reiko insisted I played some songs on the guitar. It had been a while since I had played, but I managed to pull off a few songs. The baby was sleeping therefore I tried to keep down and if anyone knows how I play the guitar, it's rarely at a low volume. But anyways, it felt great to play and I think they enjoyed it.

Yoshiki, their youngest son, then arrived home as I was getting ready to leave. Like his brother Kenzo, he has to prepare for the upcoming university entrance exams. To do so, many Japanese high school students opt to go to preparatory private evening schools specializing for that kind of studies after regular school hours. So we knew that both of them would come home late. Soon Daisuke and I were out the door since he had kindly accepted to drive me back to the station. But as we were getting to the car, Kengo popped up on his bicycle! So I got to see everyone that day!

(Mirei chan had had a long day.)


After saying our farewells, we left for the station. Moments later, I was riding the train back to home.
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Thank you to the Iwasa Family
September 10, 2014

Yesterday I finally entered my dormitory. But that also meant that I had to say goodbye to my host family, and I believe they deserve a little bit of merit.

So ever since I got to Japan, I've been living and spending my time with the Iwasa's.
 - Mother: Reiko
 - Father: Shigenori
 - 2nd son: Kenzo
 - 3rd son: Yoshiki

How do I know them? If it wasn't for WW2, I wouldn't haha. After the war, a new Japanese university with strong American influence was created in Tokyo, the International Christian University (ICU), and soon became one of Japan's most prestigious private universities. Both Reiko and Shigenori, as well as my father, graduated from this university. So this is why or how I know them.

Now, upon arriving in Japan, I had, and still have, a lot of paper work to fill out. Even though some, and by some I mean very few, of these papers had English indications, it would have taken weeks to complete these. Without any help that is. Reiko and Shigenori both took many days off work, drove me around the city to get me to the desired places, helped me fill the paper work which made it almost effortless for me.
(Their house)

Reiko spent a day with me, taking me through the train system in Japan, in which one could easily get lost. She did all the work as I simply smiled and followed, pretending I knew what was going on. We shared many good discussions and she listened attentively, always smiling, and always giving me her entire attention, even though we were in a very busy situation. Not only that, but when we got home after 12 hours of non-stop activities, she immediately started making dinner even though I could tell she was as tired as I was. Did I mention that her cooking is always... SUPREME as my dad would say? Thanks to her, I didn't miss my mom's food, and I ate more at every meal than I should have.

(Reiko, the master of her own kitchen)

Shigenori helped me all yesterday to get some of the things I will be needing throughout the year. This included going to many different stores to get a bike, a futon mattress and blanket, a router for the internet (his great idea) and many more things. He helped me set up my meal plan at Tokai. All of this would be considered easy could I speak the language, yet it is almost impossible to do this in English. Shigenori and Reiko's English is very good, therefore they could always understand my thoughts. I found out the hard way that it is not that common in Japan. Most people can barely speak English, never mind understand complex scenarios. This demonstrates once more how fortunate I was to have them helping me. After we had finished everything we needed to do, Iwasa and I spent over an hour and a half looking for a pizza restaurant, during which time we couldn't help but laugh. I couldn't have asked for a better ending to my "previous life" here in Japan.

(Shigenori loves his motorcycle! And his suit... :P)

Kenzo and I had some fun little encounters at home. He really liked my music that I showed him and he always smiled whenever I bothered him. Kenzo has been studying for the past year in order to be able to enter the university of his choice, ICU. And by the past year, I mean the past year, everyday, even on Sundays, from 9 in the morning to 9:30 at night. I respect him a lot for being so persistent and I wish him the best of luck. Even though he must have been exhausted when he got home, he never showed it. He would always ask me questions and gave me much of his time.






During my stay at their house, Yoshiki had to sleep in Kenzo's room so that I could have a room to myself. Yoshiki was very busy helping organizing some of the activities at his school's festival, and so I didn't have much chance to connect with him. My Japanese isn't very good, and added to the limited time we had together, it didn't allow either of us to express ourselves. This just gives me more reason to want to learn Japanese.

Smiles!
All in all, this family gave me something that is priceless: they made me feel at home in this country so different from my own. Their patience to explain and answer all of my questions, to try and decipher my English and Japanese, while providing me with the best of services is something for which I cannot begin to express my gratitude. Did I mention that they paid for ALL my expenses while I was there? Including my bike and everything else. And on top of all that, they gave me many other objects such as bowls, spoons, forks, towels, etc.

Thank you Reiko, Shigenori, Kenzo, and Yoshiki.

As my dad would say: "Tu ne connais pas ta chance."


Here's to you Iwasa family. Here's to friendship. Here's to the next year.

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1st day in Japan
September 7, 2014

Well, the title lies since it's been 2 days, but we'll let that one slide for the dramatic effect haha.

Day 1: 

So, the flight went well, not too much turbulence. I was fortunate enough not to have anyone else sitting next to me, which provided me with more freedom. I watched three movies during that 14 hours flight: X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and Godzilla. I also managed to sleep for about one hour and a half, which means that the rest of the time, I was awake. So what else did I do? I listened to music while filling out the papers for the customs and entry to Japan. I had to ask a lot of questions to make sure I had everything right, yet I still managed to make a few mistakes. I also read a little bit and ate. 


This is one of the meals I ate on the plane. For the airline's own sake, I won't even try to compare this with my mom's food... ;-)

The moment I took a step off the plane, I immediately felt the humidity and heat like a blow to the face. I had been warned, yet I was expecting a little more AC within the airport premises. Walking through the airport, my visual memory kicked in and I could remember most of it from my previous visit three years ago. Very useful in a country whose language you do not fully understand.

Now, apparently I attract trouble because I wasn't in Japan for more that 20 minutes when it started.It took me one hour to get through immigrations as well as customs. It's quite frightening to have three Japanese men and women discuss while glancing in your direction and holding your credentials. And that's how it ends. They didn't let me in, and I was sent back home. 

Just kidding. Once I had passed immigrations and customs, I walked out and immediately found Shigenori Iwasa, my friend, waiting for me. Hugs were exchanged, pictures taken, and we were off for a long four hour ride to the Iwasa's house, who live in the Tama-shi part of Tokyo. Shigenori declared me "ame otoko", which can be literally translated as "rain man" because I apparently brought rain and traffic to the road back home. After a few wrong turns, a few stops, more than enough phone calls as well as discussions, a stop at a supermarket to get my sleeping gear (futons, covers and pillow), Iwasa san and I made it home...

... where Reiko, Shigenori's wife, was waiting for us with her usual big smile. I also got the chance to meet Yoshiki, the third son, for the first time. 

After the introductions, it was clear that Reiko would only speak to me in Japanese... At least I'm getting good practice. My Japanese isn't as bad as I thought it was, yet, it is clear that I have come to the right place to learn.

FOOD! Reiko has always been famous in our family for her cooking. You will most likely see many of her meals on my blog, every time I visit. I'll just let the pictures talk for now (drooling is allowed).


After Skyping with my family, I was off to take a relaxing, japanese-style bath, in which I almost fell asleep, to finally end up in my bed.

Day 2:

In Canada, my room has no windows (illegal, I know...). But, this allows me to have no light whatsoever in my room, which in turn lets me sleep in, undisturbed. I do not have that luxury in Japan, or anywhere else I sleep, as a matter of fact. So there I was woken up at 6:30 a.m., jet lagged, yet wide awake. Reiko was not ready to make me breakfast, yet she so kindly did. Now, by breakfast, I mean a Japanese breakfast, which most of us foreigners would call a full 3 course supper. Delicious none the less, it takes some adjustment to eat such food at such an early part of the day.

I managed to study some Japanese with the textbook I brought from Canada. I also got to say hello to Kenzo, the Iwasa's second son, before he was off to school. Yes, he had school on a SUNDAY!! A brave lad, having to study for a full year in order to enter his desired university.

At around noon, I decided to take a nap to help me recuperate from this jet-lag. I had originally intended to sleep for 2 hours. Apparently, my body had other plans. I slept till 6:45 p.m., at which time I jumped out of bed. Reiko simply laughed when I explained, and ushered me to the dinner table.

(Reiko made Gyoza especially for me, since she knew I really like Gyoza and apparently Gyoza and beer go well together. This picture was intended to make my dad jealous :P)

As I was finishing my supper, I managed to have a profound conversation with Reiko and Shigenori, something I would consider as priceless. We talked for over an hour yet it didn't seem like such a long time. Probably because Reiko's food is sooo delicious. Sorry mom, you have some fierce competition over here.

Kenzo soon arrived home from school, and we watched part of Yoshiki's school festival. Yoshiki had been asked to be the commentator for a humoristic wrestling match between funny characters. It was quite entertaining, and I regret not being able to understand what he was saying. Afterwards, Shigenori wanted me to show him my DJing, so I played one of my mixes while I explained how I usually go about recording one. I then brought him and Kenzo to "my" room, where I had installed my laptop. I showed them a little bit about how electronic dance music is made, although I'm sure it's hard to understand. Especially since I explained it all in English.

Soon after that, Reiko helped me prepare my outfit and the stuff I'll need for tomorrow. I will be heading to Tokai University in order to meet with a few people as well as get my visa.  After a warm bath, and writing this blog article, I was then off to bed.


(Left: Kenzo Iwasa / Right: Me all dressed up)
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