Good-bye Tokyo~ Hello Nishinomiya!

Leaving Tokyo was almost as hard as leaving Miami...Meeting all my friends and making new memories with them was so much fun that I didn't want to leave it behind. Having so many wonderful people to spend time with really makes a foreign place feel like home. I'm really grateful to everyone who spent time with me and let me stay in their homes. Thank you all so very much~!! (^^)

On the bullet train to Shin-Osaka Station, it really, REALLY hit me: I'm going to a new place, to meet new people, and make new friends...whoa, can you say overwhelming?! Despite that scary feeling, I got myself all the way to my new home station, Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station, without much trouble and in a decent amount of time! 

I've heard that everyone in Kansai speaks in Kansai-ben (Kansai dialect), but that's not the case; all of the station workers spoke regular Japanese haha. So far, it's not much different from Tokyo! The only difference I've noticed is the way they ride the escalator: in Tokyo, you stand on the left and walk on the right; in Kansai, it's the opposite! No culture shock just yet; I guess that's what happens when you've been to Japan before and stayed in an actual home. 

My host family is amazing! The grandmother is super talkative and spunky; she cracks me up all the time. The grandfather isn't really home much because he goes out to work, but he's very soft-spoken and well-mannered. In other words, the complete opposite of Grandma haha! Their 40 year old daughter, Yuko, works at the Uniqlo nearby and is very sweet. Yuko and her son, Miyu, both live with us. Miyu has down syndrome, which is something I'm not used to. He's very talkative and energetic, a typical, cute 12 year old. They also have a Golden Retriever, Rocky. He's adorable and knows I'm a dog person; every time I walk into the room, his tails starts wagging and he comes right up to me. 

Here's a peek into what life is like so far at my new home: Last night at dinner, I was pouring myself water when Miyu asked me to pour him some, too. I took his cup and poured him some; when I handed him the cup back, he gave a huge smile and said, "I'm so happy!!" Grandma said, "Miyu knows a cute girl when he sees one!" We all cracked up :D 

Everyone is really laid back and easy-going. They invited me to go to Miyu's school's end-of-summer festival! I'm officially a part of the family (^^) Yaayy~ 

Tomorrow I visit KGU for the first time. I'm super nervous and excited at the same time!! There's 100 kids total in the program, so that's a lot of new faces and names to try to remember haha. I'm looking forward to meeting new people and making new friends~~ It's a wonderful start to my study abroad, and I have a feeling it's only going to get better (^0^)/