Nancy Teeters
Japan Journal

May 22, 2005

We had a long train ride today from Kyoto to Kumamoto. When we arrived at the train station we hopped into a cab and went to PUK to meet our hosts. Hiroko is my host sister that I met. She and her father picked me up and gave me a ride to their home. She lives with her father and mother only and has an older brother and one older sister. For dinner we had some sushi, rice, veggies, beef, and watermelon. It was a good dinner. After dinner I was so tired that I passed out right away.

May 23, 2005

Today Hiroko and I arrived at PUK at 9 a.m. It is orientation day. First we met the faculty that helped put together the visit to Kumamoto. Next we toured the campus a also met the president of the school. We had some nasty food for lunch and hung out with the International Studies club. They had games set up for us like volleyball, basketball, and gestures. It was really fun interacting with the Japanese students. Later that day we dressed up in kimonos. It didn’t take long to figure out what a complicated process it is, but we managed to work it out. At the orientation we met many of the PUK students. They were so excited to see and meet us. All in all the celebration was a blast and definitely helped break the ice with the host families.