Saturday, October 24-Sunday, October 25, 2009-

These are the weekends for which I signed up to be a Rotary Exchange Student!

I left for the capital city of Tochigi Prefecture, Utsunomiya, Saturday morning excited for a weekend with friends and Rotarians. The fact that I’m now home 7 at night the next day and am completely exhausted I think speaks for itself. I am realizing how much I truly enjoy the city life and although the countryside is beautiful, access to a large city is something I definitely find appealing (at least for a 19 year-old in a foreign country!).

Yesterday was spent at the incredible Round1 宇都宮. It’s basically I gigantic amusement area where for only 1500 Yen ($16-$17 US) you could spend the afternoon doing anything your heart desired.

There were 7 of us total. Me, my friend Ayano (she was in Minnesota four years ago), her friend Shogo (he was in South Carolina the same time), Max from Florida, Amberly from Canada, Anaïs from France, and Anaïs’ friend Gustaf who lives in the same city as her but is here from Sweden through AFS. It was a hilarious crowd and we spent the time playing arcade games (unlimited, all for free), at a roller rink on which we also raced miniature motorcycles, ping-pong, billiards, a bucking bronco, a real life fishing pond (I was forced to get Amberly and Ayano’s carp off the hook for them), and a huge upstairs area with soccer, basketball, tennis, archery, and baseball courts. I already want to go back = ) Ayano, Shogo, Gustaf, Max, and I walked back to Max’ house as it grew dark and it was so fun to be in a busy city where the bustle just kept right on moving.

The Recreation Area at Round1 宇都宮

Walking back to Max' house: Max, Ayano, Shogo, and Gustaf

For dinner Max’ host family took me, Ayano, and Shogo out for dinner to a western style hamburger and steak place. We all laughed when Max’ burger was literally served on a platter shaped like a cow and filled the whole plate! To be honest it at first felt strange to use a fork and knife again. I realized how used to chopsticks I’ve become and laughed at the fact that I’ve probably gone about a month without using a fork and knife! My burger was tasty but it just didn’t feel right not having a bun with which to eat it. The Japanese don’t really do the bread thing as much as we do, so their burgers are just served whole (and usually boiled instead of grilled) on the plate. They are nice and juicy, however.

I stayed up until 12:30 simply watching the MTV international music video countdown with Max’ 16 year old host brother. He wants to learn English so he’d talk in English and I’d try to answer in Japanese. It was, to be honest, perhaps the most refreshing and satisfying couple hours of the weekend. When I signed up to be an exchange student that is what I had in mind for a host family and so it was so great to finally experience.

Sunday was filled with Rotary, Rotary, and Food. We listened to the Rebound (last years exchange students from Tochigi) tell about their years abroad. It was so cool to hear my friend Chisaki tell about her year in White Bear Lake, MN. She truly took so much away from her year, I only hope to leave with as happy of memories as she has. I found it somewhat ironic that we were actually tucked away in the tiny chapel of a large park in Utsunomiya. The Rotarians were meeting across the street in a hotel and so the students, their parents, and some visitors crammed into a warm, dolled up wedding chapel on a Sunday morning for a very different kind of service.

Chisaki's Speech

Lunch was in a GIGANTIC park tent that was filled with Rotarians from all over Tochigi coming to their annual convention. We as the inbounds were invited to join them for food, to introduce ourselves in from of everybody, and then to a very entertaining Hawaiian Luau afterwards. The food was all fresh seafood and fruits and we even had live entertainment from a group of Hawaiian dancers. At one point we were dragged up onto stage to help them dance, all I can say about that is: Oh Geez! Now I’m absolutely wiped out and headed to bed early. Good weekend!

Hangin' Loose with: Shogo, Anaïs, Ayano, & Eriko