After a long day full of adventures, which included touring the Sakushin Gakuin High School where we participated in Japanese archery and calligraphy classes and also had a combined concert with the students there, all of the members of the Wind Ensemble were ready for some well needed rest. Although, we still had to meet with our homestay families and head home for the evening. It’s always a nerve racking time when going into somebody else’s home, especially in a different country, but we’ve already been with this family for one night so the nerves aren’t as high.
All Japanese homes are different but most include an entryway, kitchen, bathroom, shower room, washitsu, and 1-2 bedrooms. The entryways in Japanese homes, called genkan, is a small room where you take off your shoes. After you take off your shoes you point them towards the door and step on the higher platform. Here is where you put on slippers before entering the house. This is done to avoid damaging the hardwood floors that are within the house. 
Japanese kitchens include the majority of the same appliances used in American kitchens, but the overall size of the kitchen is much smaller compared to America. Bathrooms in Japan are very different compared to American bathrooms. In America the shower, tub, toilet, and sink are all in the same room, but in Japan the toilet has its own room while the tub and shower are in another. Sometimes the sinks in Japan are on top of the toilet and only work after you flush. Don’t worry, the water that comes up from the toilet is clean! Other times the sinks are separate from where the toilet and the tub/shower are. 
Japanese homes also have a room that is called washitsu which is similar to a living room in America. Washitsu’s are typically unfurnished and serve as a family room by day and bedroom by night. Doing laundry in Japan is quite different from America. Majority of Japanese homes only have a small washer, usually found outside of the toilet, and do not include dryers. Without dryers, they hang their clothes outside or inside of the shower room which sometimes includes a drying system within the ceiling. As you can see, Japanese and American homes have a lot of similarities but also many differences (Wikipedia).
My homestay experiences thus far in Japan have all been great! My first homestay was when we were in Ichikawa for two nights and was my first homestay in a Japanese home, so you can imagine the nerves I was feeling. Despite my nerves, the family was very nice and welcomed me with open arms. Their home was very small and only had 2 bedrooms, toilet, shower room, kitchen, genkan, and washitsu, which is where I slept. They also didn’t speak much English, which was scary at first, but they knew certain words and pieced them together to figure out what I was asking. This was my first homestay family! 
Then, my next homestay is the one that I am currently staying at, and we are here in Utsunomiya for three nights. My host parents are very lovely people, but they speak no English at all. Usually something like this would scare me, but because of my previous homestay I learned to use technology as my best friend to help us communicate. Even though we are talking more to our phones rather than each other, we still are having a great time! Currently, my host mom and I are at her sisters restaurant, which their family built themselves, and are having dinner. All the food here is homemade and is very delicious! Hear are some pictures of what we ate! 
Tomorrow we have an entire day to spend with our host families, so we will go to Nikko and get to see more of the Japanese culture! Japan has been the ultimate trip of a lifetime for me and I’m so grateful that I get to spend it with my Wind Ensemble family! Less than 2 weeks before tour is over. Where did the time go?? See you before we know it America!
Wartburg College Wind Ensemble International Japan Tour 2019 