Cammi Clark

Me and my first host family in Japan.

It’s only been four days and most of our interactlions were games of charades, but I feel like I’m leaving my longtime friends who I may never see again.
Tonight I move from my first host family to my next. How do you say goodbye to someone who has tried to share with you years of their family tradition and opened their minds, homes and hearts to a stranger from New York – a faraway pace they’ve only heard exists in books and on TV.
Now granted, I’ve only seen the inside of one Japanese home (theirs), but their home is breathtaking. I will post lots of pictures once I gain full internet again.
Our last night dinner was amazing. Even though I had already eaten a delicious meal at the rotary club meeting, my family insisted I eat more.
“Number one. You eat,” my host father commanded while holding up one finger and unveiling a spread of sushi apparently prepared by the top sushi chef in all the land and fit for a Japanese queen.
He’s very boisterous and animated and often talks with his hands.
But he’s a man who is extremely proud of who he is, where he came from and traditional Japanese culture.
After many laughs over dinner (again mostly because we had no clue what the other was saying) and even more flips through my English to Japanese language book (thanks Dan) they showered me with gifts representing their world.
They will forever be in my heart as my first – first introduction to Japanese family and first experience struggling to communicate in a world far from my own.