Shilo Christiansen -- Japan

September 9, 2013

Shilo Christiansen
09/09/2013
Host Rotary Club: 2560
Sponsor Rotary Club: 7190
Current Host Family:  Minami
Counselor Name:  Fukumura and Nishiyama

Hi everyone! I’m very healthy and I’m doing great! I’m very comfortable with my current host family and we get along fabulously.

            I love school so much. I have gone every single day so far. I haven’t joined any clubs or official after-school activities yet. In school, everyone is preparing for the cultural festival. So after school, I have been helping my class with that. I have made a lot of really great friends.  It’s really easy for me to carry a conversation, so I think that made making friends an easier process. Everyone in my school is really nice to me.
            I attended the big district meeting on August 25^th. I also attended my city’s Rotary club meeting last Thursday, on the  5^th. They went really well. None of the foreign exchange students except me speak Japanese, so I can only speak English to the other foreign exchange students. I received my monthly allowance of 10,000 yen, which is about 100 US dollars. I would say my relationship with my host club is good and my relationship to my counselor is excellent. I think Fukumura-san is my official counselor. I haven’t met with him much, so our relationship is just okay. As for Nishiyama-san, who I think to be my actual counselor, our relationship is great. He is so kind and helpful to me, and I really like seeing him.
            I’ve gone to Kyoto a few times, and seen a lot of beautiful historical things. I’ve also gone to Oksaka a few times and done a lot of shopping! I love where I live so much, it’s a really great city. It’s the perfect balance of traditional and modern, and it is very close to two really big cities. I’ve seen the Big Buddha, all sorts of temples and palaces, and it has just been simply amazing.
            At each Rotary event I have introduced myself.  I’m no longer nervous. I had to introduce myself in front of my class at school. I was a little nervous. I was even more nervous for the introduction in front of the entire school. That went really well, and after that I am no longer nervous about self-introductions.

I felt a huge improvement in my Japanese in my first three days here. It’s almost been a month, and it’s as if I’m whole different person in terms of my Japanese level. I’m really glad that I learned a lot of the language before coming. I think that has opened so many doors for me in terms of enjoying my time here. I just have had the best month of my life.

Sincerely,

Shilo Christiansen