As we get into the end of November, Hokkaido is finally living up to it's reputation of being cold. Not as bad Canada, however, from what I've heard from folks back home. We got our first real snow last night, the first that stuck anyway, though slush was falling from the sky as early as Saturday. And the weather isn't the only thing changing - this coming Saturday I'll be changing host families as well.
In a way, it's hard to believe that I've been here for a little over three months now - the time really does fly. But at the same time I feel almost like a different person from the me who stepped off the plane three months ago and got her fist taste of Japan. I feel like I've grown a lot, become more confident and more sure of who I am. I've learned tons about Japan and it's culture and can now (to a certain extent) converse in more than one language. Today during home-ec I ended up getting a lesson on Japanese history from one of my former classmates while we were knitting, and I'm proud to say I definitely understood most of it.
It's been quite the journey so far - everything from discovering purikura to eating octopus (on a semi-regular basis, at that) to learning how to work a japanese toilet with all the extra buttons - and it's been a great one. More thanks to everyone who has made this possible for me, especially the Kanno family, my current host family (though only for a couple more days). They had to put up with me getting used to certain aspects of the culture, deal with my language skills and help me adjust to everything, and have been incredibly patient with me and wonderfully welcoming. I couldn't appreciate it more.
It's been a great three months, and I can't wait to continue my journey! Thanks for reading despite me being less than frequent with my updates, and I hope you're enjoying the blog.
