|
|
|
|
|
My home visit program was on Saturday, 6 – Sunday, 7 November 2004 with the Yamashita family who live in Hachioji. The first impression I gathered from this family was they are a quiet family, which initially I find difficult to adapt not only because I was exhausted from my birthday party on the previous night but because of communication problem. They only speak a little English and I hardly speak any Japanese. However, the overall home visit turned out to be pleasantly interesting and fun. We all do things together as though as we are one big happy family. We went food shopping together for dinner, I made some Japanese sweets with Takumi, the only child of Yamashita family. After, I helped and learned to cook tempura for dinner. After dinner, Takumi invited me to play with him. He is a very interesting boy. He was interested in me being there with his family, however, he was too shy to express himself. Most of the time I tried to speak easy English and some words in Japanese. He thought me so many Japanese words, however I can never remember them all. We also played card games as a family. I taught them a new card game that I normally played with my family, they were so happy. We also played Japanese card games where we have to pick a card with a hiragana/katakana mentioned. It was hard for me as my Japanese is not good yet. Takumi is a smart boy. He was very good at this game. The next day, we went to take Teddy, their family dog for a walk around the area. After, before we go to Showa Kinen Park, they gave me a Doraemon key ring mascot and a card for me as a little gift. Takumi also has drawn a picture for me as a gift. Later that day we went to Showa Kinen Park in Tachikawa and spent the whole day there. We rode bicycle, drank macha and Japanese sweets, have lunch, and enjoyed the beautiful day. We did so many things that I could not put all on a piece of paper. Their kindness has touched my heart because on that day, they genuinely treated me as a member of their family and they wrote to me in a card that they would like me to come back to their home. I am very pleased to meet them and glad that I spent these two days with them. |