September 11, 2008
I've been here for a little over a week and i love it. The spanish is going really well. Everyone keeps telling me that i can understand a lot and that my accent is really good. School hasn't started yet, because here it starts later but it's going to start next week and i'm really excited. I've already met a girl that lives in my neighborhood and she introduced me t a lot of her friends. I've been having a great time. The food is really good too and my family is very nice. They are very patient with me when they ned to talk a little slower of reword something. The weather is really nice, pretty sunny and around 80 degrees or up I'd say. Really, the only negative thing i can say right now is that when I hang out with a group of kids, sometimes it's hard because they all talk at once and it's really hard to understand them, but that all comes with time. I'll keep you posted.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Cathryn Salamone (Colonie-Guilderland Club) -- Japan
September 7, 2008
Kochi-shi, Japan
NAME: Cathryn Anne Salamone
NAME/ADDRESS OF HOST FAMILY: Kenji & Hinako Urata, 3-14-11 Hyakkoku-Cho, Kochi-City, Kochi Pref., JAPAN 780-8015
HOST CLUB: Kochi Chuo Rotary Club
ADDRESS: 1-3-35 Takajo-Machi, Kochi-City, Kochi-Pref., JAPAN
WHAT WAS YOUR PARTICIPATION IN ROTARY FUNCTIONS THIS MONTH?
On August 28th my host club held a Welcome Party banqet for me at a nice hotel. Several Rotary memebers attended, along with a teacher from my school, the school`s principal, and four former exchangers who have just completed their year abroad in the US. In total there were about 30 or 40 people there, I was so thankful and couldn`t believe how many people came to welcome me to Japan. It was a wonderful night.
WHAT WAS YOUR PARTICIPATION IN SCHOOL/EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES DURING THE MONTH?
I began school on September 1st, on which was the school`s welcome back ceremony as the school started up again for the next semester. I gave another speech at the ceremony, in front of 2,000 girls (my school is an all-girl`s school), all dressed alike in the school`s uniform. It was great, and I felt accomplished after giving the speech, as I wrote it and read it in the japanese script of hiragana, katakana and a little kanji, instead of using the roman alphabet. I have gotten involved in the Koto club at my school and am learning how to play the Koto, a traditional japanese instrument. In addition, I was offered to take Nihon-buyo, traditional japanese dance, which meets every Thursday, and I accepted. I love school very much and I enjoy my classes, even though I understand very lttle outside of English class.
WHAT IS THE STATE OF YOUR HEALTH?
I am healthy.
REPORT:
I arrived in Kochi Ryoma airport on August 23rd at around 8:30 or so at night after around 25 hours of travel. I was beyond the point of exaustion, when the mind spaces out and when you don`t really think or feel anything. But when I left the baggage claim and walked through the two automatic doors, a large cluster of cheering people appeared, with three girls holding a gigantic American flag. I remember walking out of Narita airport in Tokyo, anxious to make my connecting flight in a different airport, and seeing families holding signs of the names of my fellow exchangers that I had just met and eagerly scanning the crowd of people. I wished that my journey had ended there like so many of the other Rotexes, but I still had one more flight on my journey. But at that moment, finally at Kochi Ryoma airport, finally seeing my host family and Rotary club members and the girls from my school, I then realized that I was home. I left Albany, New York, I arrived in Chicago, then to Tokyo Narita, I boarded the bus to Haneda airport and navigated Haneda airport alone, found my gate and boarded the plane just in time. I did it, and I was finally home.
My life in Kochi has been great so far. I love my host family, Kenji and Hinako Urata. I speak enough Japanese and they speak a little english so that we can usually understand each other, which has been fantastic. I`ve always been a little nervous about not understanding people, but so far it has been not too bad. At school I can understand my classmates fairly well, and I am so thankful for the japanese class that I took at my high school last year, it has helped me so much. My home is small but not too small, and my room has an air conditioner, which is great, because Kochi is very hot, even in September. I ride my bike to school every morning and it is very nice, in America I`ve always wanted to ride my bike to school but I livet too far away and there was no place to put it. I like the ride to school, I ride over a large bridge and I look down at the river and look out to Kochi City in the mornings and the evenings.
Kochi is a great city. It`s big but not too big, and so far seems very safe. Everyone is so incredibly friendly at school and always are happy to help when I don`t know where my next class is or have a question about the lesson. My favorite subject in school so far is Dance, it is incredibly fun and I honestly get far more of a workout from Dance than from Gym. I again am so happy for the little japanese that I do know, because I have been able to make a few aquaintences and am able to hold a little conversation and make jokes at lunch time. I enjoy Japan so much already, it is very different and I enjoy learning about the differences greatly. I hope to have a year filled with experiences and I am working hard and studying japanese every day.
Kochi-shi, Japan
NAME: Cathryn Anne Salamone
NAME/ADDRESS OF HOST FAMILY: Kenji & Hinako Urata, 3-14-11 Hyakkoku-Cho, Kochi-City, Kochi Pref., JAPAN 780-8015
HOST CLUB: Kochi Chuo Rotary Club
ADDRESS: 1-3-35 Takajo-Machi, Kochi-City, Kochi-Pref., JAPAN
WHAT WAS YOUR PARTICIPATION IN ROTARY FUNCTIONS THIS MONTH?
On August 28th my host club held a Welcome Party banqet for me at a nice hotel. Several Rotary memebers attended, along with a teacher from my school, the school`s principal, and four former exchangers who have just completed their year abroad in the US. In total there were about 30 or 40 people there, I was so thankful and couldn`t believe how many people came to welcome me to Japan. It was a wonderful night.
WHAT WAS YOUR PARTICIPATION IN SCHOOL/EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES DURING THE MONTH?
I began school on September 1st, on which was the school`s welcome back ceremony as the school started up again for the next semester. I gave another speech at the ceremony, in front of 2,000 girls (my school is an all-girl`s school), all dressed alike in the school`s uniform. It was great, and I felt accomplished after giving the speech, as I wrote it and read it in the japanese script of hiragana, katakana and a little kanji, instead of using the roman alphabet. I have gotten involved in the Koto club at my school and am learning how to play the Koto, a traditional japanese instrument. In addition, I was offered to take Nihon-buyo, traditional japanese dance, which meets every Thursday, and I accepted. I love school very much and I enjoy my classes, even though I understand very lttle outside of English class.
WHAT IS THE STATE OF YOUR HEALTH?
I am healthy.
REPORT:
I arrived in Kochi Ryoma airport on August 23rd at around 8:30 or so at night after around 25 hours of travel. I was beyond the point of exaustion, when the mind spaces out and when you don`t really think or feel anything. But when I left the baggage claim and walked through the two automatic doors, a large cluster of cheering people appeared, with three girls holding a gigantic American flag. I remember walking out of Narita airport in Tokyo, anxious to make my connecting flight in a different airport, and seeing families holding signs of the names of my fellow exchangers that I had just met and eagerly scanning the crowd of people. I wished that my journey had ended there like so many of the other Rotexes, but I still had one more flight on my journey. But at that moment, finally at Kochi Ryoma airport, finally seeing my host family and Rotary club members and the girls from my school, I then realized that I was home. I left Albany, New York, I arrived in Chicago, then to Tokyo Narita, I boarded the bus to Haneda airport and navigated Haneda airport alone, found my gate and boarded the plane just in time. I did it, and I was finally home.
My life in Kochi has been great so far. I love my host family, Kenji and Hinako Urata. I speak enough Japanese and they speak a little english so that we can usually understand each other, which has been fantastic. I`ve always been a little nervous about not understanding people, but so far it has been not too bad. At school I can understand my classmates fairly well, and I am so thankful for the japanese class that I took at my high school last year, it has helped me so much. My home is small but not too small, and my room has an air conditioner, which is great, because Kochi is very hot, even in September. I ride my bike to school every morning and it is very nice, in America I`ve always wanted to ride my bike to school but I livet too far away and there was no place to put it. I like the ride to school, I ride over a large bridge and I look down at the river and look out to Kochi City in the mornings and the evenings.
Kochi is a great city. It`s big but not too big, and so far seems very safe. Everyone is so incredibly friendly at school and always are happy to help when I don`t know where my next class is or have a question about the lesson. My favorite subject in school so far is Dance, it is incredibly fun and I honestly get far more of a workout from Dance than from Gym. I again am so happy for the little japanese that I do know, because I have been able to make a few aquaintences and am able to hold a little conversation and make jokes at lunch time. I enjoy Japan so much already, it is very different and I enjoy learning about the differences greatly. I hope to have a year filled with experiences and I am working hard and studying japanese every day.
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