I set my alarm for 6:30 pm, so I was late eating breakfast. Naturally, because I'd been awake since 2:30 this morning I got sleepy at wake up time. (I forgot to mention that my pillow is made of dried beans. It's actually fairly comfortable.) For breakfast, she'd fixed a large salad, corn soup, rice, and toast. I hate breakfast and never eat it because it makes me want to puke. I choked down a few bites of my huge toast and poured my corn soup back into the pot while she wasn't looking. I had to tell her that I simply am not able to eat much breakfast and will probably have to tell her again at dinnertime. I dread mealtime.
I didn't know what were were supposed to be doing and I was too slow eating. She hurried me off to collect my things and we made our half hour's walk to the train station. There we met the other students from yesterday and rode into Hakodate together. After a quick train ride, another half hour's walk to the HIF school. It was time for our placement exam.
I could answer about 40% of the questions on the test. It lasted 2 hours with a 10 minute break in the middle. There are no water fountains in the whole fucking building. Oh, and did I mention that it has been rainy and cold all day, and that I was soaked and freezing?
After the test, there was a ceremony where a bunch of old people spoke Japanese into a podium microphone and then a reception. I ate several pieces of "American" food which didn't taste American at all. There was also some icky cold tea. I looked at how well the other students communicated and got along with their host parents.
Before the party ended, we were taken back to the station by our parents and rode to Nanae, our suburb. From there, we took a taxi because the weather sucked. I'll be going to school with a girl with a beard. She lives a block away and has a good mother. Her name is Jakobina or some shit and is part Icelandic and has a stubbly beard and long braid and many zits and glasses.
After I got home, my host mother went out again, so I went looking for an international-capable phone. I didn't find one. So not only do I not know when I will have internet access, but I don't know when I'll be able to call home again. I AM SO MISERABLE AND HUNGRY.
It will be dinnertime soon. Even worse, tomorrow is Saturday. What the hell am I going to talk about in my pathetic Japanese to these people for 2 whole days?
One week down, 8 to go. Why did I agree to this? Fortunately, I talked to another student this morning and he actually did throw up at mealtime. And this is his second time in the program. The motherfucker came back!
Well, dinnertime wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. My father wasn't there so it was just me, my mother and brother. I spent most of it teaching my brother about English words. The food was better too. I was feeling better so I guess it tasted better.
After dinner, I had a bath and watched a little tv with them. First I watched a show about Shimauta, a song I learned in class. Then I watched part of the Japanese dubbed version of the Mr. Bean movie. It was amuzing. My host father told me to eat more food so I'll gain weight or not dry up or something. I can't help but wonder if it was because I wasted some food. I can't express myself to them to tell them why I eat the way I do. I don't even like much food in America, and this is really starting to stress me out.