I am extremely grateful to have been involved in a homestay during my time in Kyoto, which took place during my third week of the exchange. My family consisted of my host parents, and two daughters, Miki and Asuka. They also had a pet ferret called Ponta, but don't even get me started on my hatred for that thing. I'm not a fan of being targeted, constantly bitten on the ankles, and even having it break into my room and get INSIDE my pillow case.
It was obviously meant to be, as there were numerous Hello Kitty things in the house, and my room (a small guest room downstairs with a futon) came complete with Hello Kitty curtains.
I'll always remember how the first thing my family asked me was if I got car sick, and with good reason too, I think my host father fancied himself as a bit of a boy racer down the small Kyoto side streets. My family were super cute, as they struggled with pronouncing my name, like most Japanese people do. Instead, I acquired the nickname of "keito". This was my favourite thing because whenever my host mother would run a bath, she'd shout that to get my attention from upstairs.
Somehow, through a lack of me paying proper attention, I even ended up cooking lasagne for the family one evening because they wanted to experience both my cooking, and some western food. Afterwards, Miki was feeling super sleepy so I taught her the phrase "food coma", which she absolutely loved!
Asuka was studying English for her university entrance exams, so we really helped each other develop ways to remember certain things in our other languages. She would always get confused over her left and right, so I taught her the simple trick of looking at her hands to find the “L”. It was so adorable to see how happy she was after I'd taught her such a simple thing, and needless to say, I trusted her directions a lot more from that point on.
Most evenings after dinner seemed to be the time when my host family would socialise. It often ended up with me telling them about random things they wanted to know about England. One evening, I even spent almost two hours trying to teach my host mother how to say "the earth is round" without making her r's sound like w's. It ended up with me making her practically growl to get the noise out, much to Miki and Asuka's amusement.
Another evening, there was a discussion about my dislike of heated Japanese toilet seats, which they couldn't understand my logic of it feeling like someone has just been sat on it before you. Also note to self, never, ever try to explain the concept of a Yorkshire pudding to anyone in Japanese, it's not going to go well!
I'll always remember how the first thing my family asked me was if I got car sick, and with good reason too, I think my host father fancied himself as a bit of a boy racer down the small Kyoto side streets. My family were super cute, as they struggled with pronouncing my name, like most Japanese people do. Instead, I acquired the nickname of "keito". This was my favourite thing because whenever my host mother would run a bath, she'd shout that to get my attention from upstairs.
Somehow, through a lack of me paying proper attention, I even ended up cooking lasagne for the family one evening because they wanted to experience both my cooking, and some western food. Afterwards, Miki was feeling super sleepy so I taught her the phrase "food coma", which she absolutely loved!
Asuka was studying English for her university entrance exams, so we really helped each other develop ways to remember certain things in our other languages. She would always get confused over her left and right, so I taught her the simple trick of looking at her hands to find the “L”. It was so adorable to see how happy she was after I'd taught her such a simple thing, and needless to say, I trusted her directions a lot more from that point on.
Most evenings after dinner seemed to be the time when my host family would socialise. It often ended up with me telling them about random things they wanted to know about England. One evening, I even spent almost two hours trying to teach my host mother how to say "the earth is round" without making her r's sound like w's. It ended up with me making her practically growl to get the noise out, much to Miki and Asuka's amusement.
Another evening, there was a discussion about my dislike of heated Japanese toilet seats, which they couldn't understand my logic of it feeling like someone has just been sat on it before you. Also note to self, never, ever try to explain the concept of a Yorkshire pudding to anyone in Japanese, it's not going to go well!
My confidence in speaking Japanese has come on leaps and bounds, proven by the fact we had to give a speech about our experiences to fellow classmates at the end of the exchange. On the first day, I was put off by just introducing myself in the language to people I knew had a greater ability, but by the end I was much more confident in my own ability. I know this is definitely down to being involved in a homestay, and even though sometimes I had no clue what my host parents were saying to me, I managed to find ways around this and be able to wing it.
In Kyoto we saw so many people dressed in kimonos and yukata, and one evening we even got a chance to wear yukata ourselves at a festival on campus. There was also a Hawaiian themed DJ night going on, which I can only describe as if the SU was more tame, had a cream carpet and closed at 8:30. What a random experience that was!Aside from my time with my host family, I made a trip to Osaka to try the famous okonomiyaki and visit Dontonboori, where I took an obligatory photo with the iconic Glico sign. KUFS also organised us to experience a calligraphy session and a tea ceremony, which was a great insight into traditional Japanese life.
Our final day involved a ceremony and leaving party, which consisted of a lot of picture taking, goodbyes and also a nice little certificate saying I'd successfully completed the programme. We ended our final night by visiting Osaka for a firework display along the river during the Tenjin Matsuri.
I don’t think I’ve taken as many photographs as I have during these past three weeks, and yes, I have been that tourist taking pictures of trees. You could live in Kyoto all of your life and still have only just scratched the surface, and I really hope I get the opportunity to go back some day!
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