Tahei Takagi

2007-08 Inbound from Japan

Hometown: Nomi, Ishikawa, Japan

Sponsor: Nomi Rotary Club, District 2610, Japan

Host: Gainesville Rotary Club, District 6970, Florida, USA

School: Buchholz High School

Tahei's Bio

Hi! My name is Tahei Takagi. I'm 16 years old. I'm from Japan.

I live in Gainesville, Florida now. I think we, exchange students are in the turning point of our life. This experience is probably the biggest event in our life.

I feel the flow of time is fast these days. I don't know well whether it is good or not. Anyway I have to make each day massive!

I have two big reasons as an exchange student. First reason is needless to say being able to speak and listen to English fluently. However I found my English skill might be the poorest of all 30 exchange students as to English conversation through first orientation. And there are about 20 teachers around me. Surprisingly they are exchange students! Their jobs is not really teacher! It's so funny and sorrowful. I'll work hard to improve my English skill with a positive attitude.

Second reason is learning different culture. I have already experienced a lot of differences. To be frank with you, some are interesting, others are a little uncomfortable. I have an opportunity to learn not only American culture but also 18 countries' ones. I want to learn as many as possible. I have some reasons except for them, but it is a little difficult to tell on the internet.

I became a member of cross-country club here. However I played basketball in Japan. I won't be able to play it here. I have two reasons. First reason is that the players are very tall and powerful. So I may not be able to keep up with them. Second reason is that communication is very important as in most sports, especially basketball. However I can't do it because of different language.  So I enjoy the activity of cross-country at present. The members are kind and funny. I think club activity is so good for me.

I think I will have difficulty doing most of the things I experience for this and next year. I believe they will lead to improving my human skill!

October 3 Journal

I spent about two months in FL as an exchange student. I have already experienced a lot of funny, hard and surprising things. I introduce some lives in FL that I've ever spent this time.

Climate:

The climate of FL is similar to that of Japan during summer. However winter is probably different. The biggest difference must be snow. In Japan we have snow every winter. I heard it is no snow in FL. I can't image the winter that I have no snow. So I'm looking forward the winter for me.

Food:

I like most of American food and I think they need ketchup. However I'm afraid of calories and nutrition. They are problems for me. Unfortunately I long for Japanese food these days, especially sushi!!! I really want to eat it because I haven't had it for one and half months. The term is very hard for me. In addition I think the quality of Japanese food is higher than that of American.

School:

I go to Buchholz high school. The school life is much better than I expected. I could make a lot of good friends. Most of them are funny and kind. Some of them call me T-money. I don't know the reason and meaning well. I want to believe the name is good.

I sometime have difficulty studying , for I can't understand the content of classes. I feel like changing some subjects.

I belong to the cross-county club. I really enjoy the activities although they are hard, for I began to practice with varsities two weeks ago. They are so fast. All I can do is keep up with them. I always practice hard to catch up with them.

I have experienced a JV race twice. One race was held in Jacksonville. We ran 3 miles. I thought I was going to die !!! It was very hard. My time was 18:48 and my place was 9th. I felt I could do my best. The other race was BOBCAT CLASSIC. Although the level of that race was lower than that of the race in Jacksonville, my time was 18:22 and my place was 1st!!! However I can't be satisfied with the result because I couldn't beat any varsities of my team. We have big races in Alabama next weekend. I will do my best!!!

October 27 Journal

Hello, everyone. I spent about two and half a months. I feel time is going by really quickly, for my life is full of school, cross-country, and sleep.

My English:

I don't feel my English improvement at all so far. I can't understand what others say well, especially TV and classes, for they don't talk to me directly. So conversations with friends or host family are the best method of improving my English skill, I think. However I often feel nervous about my English, because I doubt if the day will really come when I can speak English fluently.

Food:

I went to two Japanese restaurants last and this week. They were so good. Needless to say, I had sushi and American sushi was better than I expected. I had more than 10 pieces. I remembered Japanese flavor at those times. Miso soup, green tea, wasabi, umeboshi, Japanese pickles… a lot! I was so happy, for I long for Japanese food. I felt I wanna go back to Japan only in order to have food.

School:

My school life is very good except for some subjects so far. They are Geometry, World History and American History. They are so boring, especially American History is becoming sleeping class these days. My friends are so good. Although I can't always make new friends, I sometime make new friends even now. I've recently been feeling American friends may be better than Japanese ones. I had two nicknames at Buchholz. They are T-money and Takey. Most of my friends call me just Tahei or T-money. I think the name of T-money is very popular and famous, for the students who remember my name as T-money seldom forget my name. However it is so hard for me to remember all of my friends' names.

Cross-Country:

I've experienced three races since I wrote first journal. I got 1st place at one race as well!! I got a medal and my time was 18:02. I couldn't accomplish my task at that race. It was to break 18 minutes. I went to Alabama, another state, last weekend for another race. I couldn't get any medal at that race, for I was sick in the half of that week unfortunately and there were lots of fast runners. Without sickness, I could have got medal at least. I had one more unfortunate thing. I had a Rotary orientation during the same dates. I couldn't join it. It was so sad, for I can't seldom see other students and I really wanna visit good places in Florida. I will probably see them at Disney World next time. Although it is very long time, I will be much happier then. Everybody ran together at the last one. It means JVs ran with varsity and small race. It was first experience for me, for I run with varsities only at practice. I wasn't good because my time was about 18:56. Needless to say I couldn't get any medal and beat any varsity of the same team.

I've been feeling I'm becoming worse. However I won't quit running. I have extra running except for practice. They are running in the early morning and using running machines at night. They are so hard, for I feel my body is so heavy in the morning and I'm usually tired at night because of school and hard practice. But I make it a rule to do at least one of them in a day.

December 15 Journal

Almost 4 months. Time goes by so quickly. I realize I need to make the most of each day.

My English

I hope it has been improving little by little, however, I don't feel so yet. Although some people say my English is better than the beginning or it's been improving, I don't think so. For I can't understand TV, radio, what people say if they speak at natural speed), and so on. I wish I could speak and listen to English like American people immediately. However I think it is probably good experience in my life to have difficulty communicating with people in English. I hope the day will come when I can speak and listen to English fluently.

My new family

They are so nice and I have a good time with them so far. I have one younger brother and sister. They go to the same school as me. So I had already known my new mom and them before I moved. They are good friends, especially he was a member of cross country. That's why he has been a good friend of mine for a long time and I talked with their mom a lot at the races.

Honestly I have to share a room with him. At first I thought it kind of hard, but it's a lot of fun because I can talk with him a lot even when I'm at the room and it's like staying overnight at friend's house so far. Unfortunately I was told the term of staying this family will be short. However I hope I can stay as long as possible.

Cross Country

It is over completely as a team. To be honest, I think the cross country team of my school was at its best this year, for there were many good senior runners, especially top two guys. They were awesome. However they are leaving. I wish I could spend at least one more year here and joined the cross country team again.

We had a cross country banquet in the end of November. It was so awesome and must have been the best of all cross country events. In addition, it is one of the best things in my American life. Long awards and DVD made by some member were so funny and impressive. I got two awards and made a speech. At the end of the banquet, I was so sad because can't join the cross country team of my school any more.

School (friends)

Most of them are pretty good. Honestly I'm feeling that American friends might be better than Japanese ones because they are more friendly and it is much easier to be friends. Some of them, especially 10th and 11th grade students say that I should stay here at least one more year and they'll miss me. Same here!!! I'll really miss them after I go back to Japan.

By the way, I guess the number of my friends who call me T-money has been becoming larger than that of them who call me Tahei. I think I could make lots of friends thanks to that funny name. So I appreciate some senior guy who named me T-money.

Halloween

As I heard from some people, I felt Halloween was so big celebration in America and it is quite different from Japanese one. For although little children probably do something at kindergarten or school on Halloween, I don't think most of more than 4th grade students, especially middle and high school students, do something. However I went to trick or treat with my host brother and his friends. I guess it was my first time to go trick or treat on Halloween. I got lots of chocolates and candies. Honestly I didn't think it fun, I got a good experience.

Thanksgiving

To be honest, I was disappointed because I hardly did anything on Thanksgiving day and after it. I was just bored. I thought people did something special on that day, however, I was told most of the people are just relaxed and eat turkey or ham by my parents. I wanted to do something unique because we don't have Thanksgiving in Japan.

I'll write about Disney trip, Christmas, and New Year at next journal. Tahei TAKAGI Rotary District 2610 Ishikawa, JAPAN

January 20 Journal

Hey everybody!! I'm doing well these days. Let me tell you my experience in December and January.

Disney World

Oooooooh, it was very great. We went to four major parks. All of them were so awesome, but I liked Magic Kingdom the best. We did ride the same rides over and over again because they are excellent. I long for them already. I'm sorry to say this, but I have one disappointing thing. It was that most of the major rides in Disney World are almost same as Japanese ones. I thought Disney World has more interesting rides. However I had a very good time, for it was super long time no see for me to see other students. What's more, we hang out with the students in the other district in FL. They are also pretty good people. At last, thank you so much for all of the Rotary people who organized this event, especially Gainesville Rotary Club for me and Daytona Rotary Club that gave us dining card.

Christmas

American Christmas!!! I missed Japanese one, but it didn't matter because Japanese one is too small compared to American one. No, I wanna say American one is toooo big!!! In America, most of the stores are closed and nobody goes to work, people usually invite or visit relatives, and most of the children get a bunch of presents. There are more strange stuff for Japanese one, however, all of above stuff have never happen and will never happen in my memory. Let me tell you Japanese one easily. First, most of the stores are still open. Second, lots of people still go to work. Third, most of children get just one present, or some of over middle school students can't get anything. In detail, when I checked the schedule of my high school, it said a bunch of students went to school just to study. Surprisingly, some of them wished to do so. This is how American and Japanese Christmas are quite different. I was so surprised to have known how big American one is. I visited my host family's relatives on Christmas day and one of them came over my host family's home before and after Christmas. I had really good time with them and I knew the excellence of American Christmas.

New Year's days

We went to Gator parade. It was pretty cool. After that, we had a party. It was also pretty cool. I had a good time with other students again. Thank you so much for taking care of us for two days. American and Japanese new year's days are quite different too. In America, lots of people don't have anything particular to do. However in Japan, we need to go to the temple and ring a big bell with a big wooden stick just when years change. We also need to go to the big shrine and pray, draw a fortune slip, and buy some stuff for a household Shinto (Japanese religion) altar on New Year's days. We usually invite or visit relatives. So I longed for Japanese New Year's days a little bit.

Tahei TAKAGI Rotary District 2610 Ishikawa, JAPAN

February 12 Journal

Almost half a year. Time is going by super quickly. Let me tell you guys my new experiences in America.

My English

Lots of people say my English has been improving, honestly I don't feel comfortable about it yet though. I can't speak, listen to, read and write English fluently. Unfortunately I often feel nervous these days, for I don't think I will be able to do above four things even in the end of my exchange life. I'm reading a book whose level is 6th grade, but I have lots of unknown words and expressions. That's why I have difficulty reading even the book that is for 6th grade students and I can't read it without my dictionary. Also I must have an accent problem. I'm often told correct pronunciation by my friends or family and I usually have difficulty correcting my wrong pronunciation. I really hope I'll be able to speak and listen to English like everybody.

St. Augustine

I went to the oldest city in FL called St. Augustine with my host family. We took five bikes and saw around the town. Actually I really liked it. I saw lots of funny stuff and most of them were impressive. Although I don't really care about religion, I was impressed by very big church and super big cross. We had to be very quiet in that church, which means we had to talk in very low voice. I thought it was so much more historical and much holier than regular church my host family go to every Sunday. Anyway I had a wonderful time. If I have a chance, I wanna go there again.

Karaoke

I went to a private karaoke with my siblings and a couple of friends. Let me tell you about karaoke in America. In the first place, private one seems to be unfamous and unpopular. I guess karaoke means that a bunch of people gather and they take turns singing songs in America, however, we have completely opposite style in Japan, which means private one is very famous and popular and public one is just kind of. In the second place, a private one is super super super expensive!!! What's worse, they don't have enough songs. In detail, the payment was 30 dollars per an hour without any other stuff such as food, drink and so on. We just pay at most 6 or 7 dollars per an hour. As far as I know, if each people pay about 4 dollars, we can sing and drink as much as we want for about 3 or 4 hours in the cheapest place, where lots of people gather. That's why I thought it super hard to go to karaoke in America.

Club MOD

We had a dance party for all the high school students in Gainesville in the middle of January. I attended it for the first time and I got so crazy with lots of my friends. I thought it was completely American style.

I guess we have a similar stuff in Tokyo or some of the big cities, but I've never got that kind of event and I'll never get it in my hometown. So I had really really good time there. It seems we have one again pretty soon. So I'll surely attend it!!

March 12 Journal

Hey, everybody. I had some great experiences since last journal. So let me tell you the summary of them again.

Sea camp

Sooooo Amazing!! It might have been better than Disney trip for me. I really liked boat trip. We swam under the water and searched for lots of sea stuff such as a bunch of kinds of fish. They were totally beautiful. That experience also reminded me of some tropical place in Japan called Okinawa and Hawaii. When I was a little kid, I did the almost same thing. Also we had a very big discussion and a disco. I learned lots of things about environment from the former and I had really good time from the latter. They were also very amazing. I really liked Florida Keys. So I wanna visit there in the future, if possible.

New host family

I moved to third family in the middle of February. They are pretty nice. Thanks to them, I can run on the track team very well now because they provided me with lots of stuff for track such as running shoes, uniform, and fair share. Also they have a weight room. I really like it. So I almost always use it. I'm trying to get lots of body muscles, especially pecs (chest muscles).

I began to play karate, judo and aikido just a little bit with my new host brother. They are all Japanese traditional sports, but I can't play any of them well. So I'm learning little by little once a week.

Track team

Finally track season started!! Of course I'm running so hard every day. I'm a member of long distance such as at least half a mile, a mile and 2 miles. I think long distance people are so hard. Actually I'm sometime dying even when practice. We had a relay race in Jax last Friday. Our long distance team was so strong. We completely defeated opponent teams. A trophy was given to a team and medals were given to each runner. I got 4:52 for a mile and 2:10 for half a mile. If you think they are good, thank you!! BUT I can't be satisfied with them because I think I can run faster. So I need to learn how to keep the same pace and keep running every day. I hope I will run at least 2 minutes faster next time.

Valentine's Day

Ummmm, it was so weird in US. In general, boys give something to girls or do something for girls in US. It's very weird in Japan! In most of the cases, girls do give chocolate to boys. So I got chocolate on a couple of last Valentine's days. BUT I followed American custom this year. I gave a bear to some girl I like at school. Nothing really happened after that, however, I completely learned one more different culture.

Also, in Japan we have a day called White Day. It's a month later after Valentine's Day. This time, boys give something back to girls in return. Of course, I did on a couple of last White days. I heard they didn't have anything like that. I think it's kind of sad.