Chihiro Watanabe

2008-09 Inbound from Japan

Hometown: Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

Sponsor: Sendai Rotary Club, District 2520, Japan

Host: Orange Park Sunrise Rotary Club, District 6970, Florida, USA

School: Fleming Island High School, Orange Park, FL

Bio

Chihiro's Bio

Hello! My name is Chihiro Watanabe. I'm from Japan! It takes about 5 hours from my city, SENDAI to TOKYO by bullet train. And I am living in Orange Park with Steve and Lori Richards family while on exchange in Florida. I'm attending Fleming Island High School, and I'm going to try to play softball at school.

I'm so happy to come to U.S. and I appreciate to meet my great host family and friends. I have plenty of homework everyday, so I'm struggling all the time. It's not easy to tell people what I'm thinking in English, but I won't give up! I want to make many friends, and make many great experiences from now on!

By the way, I'm eating so many CHICKENS here.. But I love American foods! Especially, pizza, bagels, and CHICKEN! And I thought Florida was very hot, but it's soooo cold here! Of course it's very hot outside, but in the classroom, I'm always freezing..

Thank you for giving me such a wonderful experience this year!

September 29 Journal

Hello Hello Hello everybody!

How're you doing? I'm fine. This is my first journal in Florida, and it's gonna be a long journal. I spent the time about 2 months here, and I made some experiences until today, so let me tell them to you. I'm ready! Are you ready?

Go Go Go!

First I'm gonna talk about my great, funny, and very kind host family. I'm very very very happy to be hosted by this host family, and I'm enjoy spending the time with them. There're 5 people and one dog in my host family, dad, mom, one older brother, two younger sisters, and pretty doggy, Haley.

My dad, Steve

My dad is a teacher in elementary school and he teaches children of grade 2. And he is gonna have an election in November, and he is spending very busy day all the time. But he wakes me up every morning at 6 o'clock, and drives me to my school everyday. If I call him, he can pick me up all the time, so he is like my super hero! He is tall, has white hair, loud voice, and big smile! And I love his smile very very much. He always makes me smile, and he loves jokes. When I heard his English for the first time, I couldn't understand anything. I don't know why, but I think his English is very very American like 'L'' sound and 'R'' sound is great. haha Of course he is American, so it's a very basic thing when he speaks English, but it was very hard for me to understand what he said. So he tried to speak English slowly. Now, I can understand what he says! Anyway, he is very very funny, so I'm always laughing at him. I like to talk to him about funny story, and I like to laugh with him. And he is good at cooking, and it's very delicious! He is a good cooker in my house. I wanna say 'thank you'' to him. I've never saw his sad face, and I think he is trying to keep his nice face everyday. I don't know how I can appreciate him... I wanna hug him tightly, and then I'm gonna say THANK YOU 100000000 times! I love you, dad!

My mom, Lori

My host mom is awesome! She works with Girl Scouts, and she's a Rotarian. So I go to Rotary meeting once a month with her. And I went to her office a few times, and I think her job is very cool. And I said Girl Scouts was very nice, and I wanted to join it if I knew that. 14 to 18 years old girl can join the Girl Scouts, and I'm 17 years old, so I'm quite old... But I can go to some activities of Girl Scouts if I wanna go, so I'm gonna go someday. Because I think it's very cool! You think so? Amazingly, when I told my host mom Girl Scouts was nice, she told me American teenagers don't think it is nice. So I was surprised. They have a uniform, and they can put on many pins and stickers if they wanna do that. It's very COOL as my opinion like our Rotary jacket! My host sisters are Girl Scouts.

I'm taking American government, American history, Chorus, Pottery, English, and Team sports. I have plenty of homework everyday. I hate homework... But one day, I learned one of the word, "congress'' in the American government class, and next day, I found the same word in my textbook. It was an important word in that chapter. So I could understand and I was very very happy. Classes are very hard, but I think it's a very important thing to do my best, I realized. And my mom always helps me, and her explain is awesome! I appreciate her explain and now, I'm trying to do my best in each class. One day I asked host mom whether I can ride a bike all the way to my school. But she said 'NO''. It's very dark outside in the morning, so she doesn't let me ride. Why did she say NO? My mom always worry about my sister and I. She is a great mom, isn't she? Mom is like... I don't know how I can explain her existence for me. I appreciate her. Love you, Mom!

My host brother, William

I have one host brother, his name is William. He goes to college, and he's junior in his college. And he went away from home, and he shares the room with his friends. So I can see him only a few days in month... He graduated my school, Fleming Island HS. He is like... funny? He is my good older brother. When I was in Japan, I was an oldest child on my family, so I wanted older brother or sister. So I'm happy to have an oldest brother now. He's studying Journalism in his college, and he wanna be a reporter in his future! I think he is gonna be a good reporter, and I cheer him. September 22 was his birthday, and I gave him one present. Actually, I made the present. I went to bed at 3 o'clock... I made a calendar for him, and it's a count calendar toward his graduation! When I left Japan, my friend gave me a calendar for my exchange year, and then, I was very very happy to get it. So I wanted to give it to him too! I went to Wal-mart (it's a supermarket) and I bought many stuffs to make it. I like to surprise people, so I made it secretly. It was very hard to keep secret, because all of my host family was very interested in what I was doing. haha When I gave it to him, I was very happy like... I could do it! And I hope he likes it... I have a few times to make an experience with him, but I wanna make experiences with him from now on! He's a nice guy. Love you William!

My host sister, Kate

This is one of my host sister, Kate who is 16 years old, she goes to Fleming Island HS, it means we go to the same school. She's junior now, and she likes Japanese anime very much. She knows Japanese anime more than me, and she wanna be a movie director in her future, so I think that's why she knows some of Japanese anime, and is interested in Japan. But I don't like anime so much, and I know a few anime... When I went to my school for the first time, and till I adapted to my school, she took care of me. Where is the best toilet in my school... where is the library...where is.... I could do well with her help, so I appreciate her. When I'm in Japan, I have two younger brothers, so this is my first time to stay with some of the girls. When I heard there were two sisters in my host family, I was a little nervous. But now, I love my real Japanese brother, and American sisters very much. I am very happy to have sisters here, and it's gonna be my good experience, because girls are funny... Kate is like... amazing! She has a talent to make something like bags, accessories, and good at draw something. Her room is also amazing... There are many stuffs she made. I like to look at it in her room. Love you Kate!

My youngest host sister, Emily

She is my youngest host sister who is 14 years old, and she's a freshman of FIHS. And I play softball in my school in America, and she's also member of my softball team. We play slow pitch now, and I'm gonna play fast pitch soon. I've never heard slow pitch before, but rule is same, just speed of ball is slow. There're many people who have never played softball, so it's like easy practice for me. Because when I was in Japan, my school finish about 4 o'clock in afternoon, and after that, we practice for 3 or 4 hours in the school. I was belonging to the tennis club in Japan, and I usually go back to my house 8 or 9 o'clock. It's a big difference between my Japanese school and FIHS. After school, I have plenty of my free time here. But I am usually tired, so I take a nap all the time... haha And my free time became a study time everyday... Emily likes to go shopping, make up, and..... She is a pretty girl, and she is funny. I think I spend many times with her, because we have same clubs, and we go back to home together. We usually play up each other, and it's very very funny! We can trust each other, and we like it. And if I don't speak English correctly, my host sisters fix my English. I wanna talk to them like American people as soon as possible. I appreciate that... Emily is my good friend, good member of softball, and good sister. Love you Emily!

I wrote a lot about my host family.. but I need to have more time to talk about my host family, because they're like... awesome!! Next let me talk about my school, FIHS.

When I was in Japan, I went to an only girl's school, and it had about 700 students in the school. Oh, my school in Japan has an exchange student from America this year, and her name is Georgia. You can see her on Rotary outbound exchange students page! I talked to her on the internet once, and I'm sure she is a good girl, and we talked in English and Japanese! It's awesome, isn't it? haha So it's very different from my school and FIHS. FIHS has lots of students, and there are many subjects which we can learn. And our football team is very strong, and I've never saw they lost the game before. And I have plenty of homework, tests, and quizzes all the time. It's very hard for me to understand everything, but I'm trying to ask somebody if I don't understand what's going on, and what we're gonna do. My most favorite class is the lunch time! haha (it's not a study, but it's a good time to spend the time with my friends). I hope I have best friends some day. I'm still struggling with language, because all of the students and my friends speak English fast. When I'm in Japan, I'm very talkative, so if I don't understand what my friends said, it's gonna be my stress... Compare with August and now, I think my English is improving a little bit. So I can understand what my friends say, but it's not complete... as soon as I wanna understand everything, and then I wanna be like real American! But I don't wanna get fat anymore! haha

I have three different host families in America, and I've already met all of them. I went to the beach with second host family last weekend, and I'm sure they're gonna be my good host family. I guess I'm gonna go to second host family's house in December after I go to the Disney world. And they have two little kids. They're amazing... too pretty... My second host brother is 4 years old, and when we met for the first time, he was very shy.. And he said I was not his friend. oh... But after a few times when I went back to my house, he gave me his ice cream, and we became friends! And I went to the football game with him, and he was more friendly than before. And my second host family call me Chie Chie which is my new nickname in America! Actually American can't pronounce my name correctly, so they call me Chie. (My name is CHIHIRO) But I like my new nickname very much. And my second host sister is 2 years old, and she is amazingly pretty. I like her smile. But... it's very hard to understand what she say, so I'm very careful when I talk to her. I'm sure I can enjoy spending the time with them. Second host family is also nice people! I met my third host family only once, so I hope I can see them again. And one of my host brother in my third host family is an exchange student from Florida this year, and his name is Joe Hirabayashi. Before he left Florida, I met him once in my welcome party. He was a nice guy, and I think I'm gonna spend a nice time with his family too! He has two brothers (I'm not sure), and I'm so excited to stay with them.

I'll do my best from now on too, and I wanna make a great exchange year! I'm getting very very tan! That's a nice thing! I love my family, school, friends, and American foods! I wanna enjoy more! See you soon, and love you everyone! Thank you for reading my first journal.

Chie (Chihiro Watanabe)

	At orientation	Beautiful women (ha ha)	Birthday party
Grandma's birthday party	Host sister and Haley	My favorite sports	My friends
My great host family	My homework	Talk to my Japanese mom	William's birthday

November 2 Journal

HEY EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!

How're you doing? I'm fine and it's been about 3 months now since I began my exchange. I can't believe it though.. The times passed very quickly, and I was always tired, sleepy, and hungry... haha. Everything is still hard but it's betting better compared with the month which I arrived in Florida. I'm learning some of English everyday single day and I'm sure it's gonna be a big English skill in my future. My host family helps me all the time, and especially, my host mom is my great English teacher. She is very patient when she listens to me. I told her that when I make a mistakes even though it's a little mistake, I wanna know it. So during my host mom and I talking, she always tell my mistakes to me. I appreciate that. And I love my host mom very much.

Let me tell you my recent American life! First of all, I'll tell you about one of my great and amazing weekend with Rotary people. It was October 17 through 20, and 28 exchange students got together at same place, St. Augustine then. We went to Alligator Farm, Beach, Shopping, and we were hosted by Rotary people in St. Augustine. That was my great memory in my life, and I really enjoyed it. I wanna appreciate all of the people, and I was very happy that I went there with them. All of the exchange students were awesome, and we shared same issues about our life and school in America, so we could share our problems then. I felt that I was not alone. They're not just my friends, and they're my family too. I think that was very very cool that bunch of people who all over the world got together for three days. Already, they became part of my family, and I'm sooooo happy I got to know them. Can I say once more? I'm soooo happy I got to know them! LOVE YOU EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My host mom in St. Augustine was great woman, and I have to say 'thank you'' to her for thousands of times... I was hosted by her with Twang, who is from Thailand. She was really kind to me, and her little babies (she has two dogs) were amazingly pretty. We took them for a walk every morning, and host mom and I were talking about many of the things every evening. Mom loved me, and I could feel it, so I could also love her. Her job is helping homeless people, also a police officer, and she told me she is proud of her jobs. I respect her, and surprisingly, I wanna be a police officer in my future too. It's miracle that I met her in St. Augustine, and I was hosted by her for two nights. You know, I eat so much chicken in America, so I missed fish so much. And I told it to my St. Augustine mom, she took me to the restaurant which we could eat some fresh fishes. That was delicious and I was so hungry, I ate almost all of my foods. We promised to go to the Japanese restaurant next day. But next day, we had a BBQ with Rotary people on the St. Augustine beach. I remembered to go to the Japanese restaurant, and I really wanna eat Japanese foods, so I tried to eat BBQ a little a bit. ( I ate three pieces of gator fries, a bread, and water.) When I told my St. Augustine mom that I tried to eat BBQ a little a bit, she laughed a lot. I was very happy because we went to the Japanese restaurant after we went to the beach. That was good! I think I'm becoming an American girl, because I ate a piece of pizza there even though I went to the Japanese restaurant. Remember? One of my favorite American food is pizza! It's funny thing.

It was really hard for me to say 'goodbye'' to my St. Augustine mom at the alligator park. Before I went there, I drew her face, dogs faces, Twang, and mine, and I gave it to her. She looked so happy. She was happy, so I was happy too. And it meant I had to leave her home, I felt very sad, and I cried. Also she drove Twang and me to the Gator park, I was thinking about the three days which I spent the time with her in her car. I had such a good time with her, and she already became my great mom. I was very very sad when I said 'see you later'' to her, and I cried again. We didn't say 'goodbye'' and we promised to meet again soon, and keep in touch from now on. She is great woman, and I love her so much. I'm sure that I'm gonna go back to her home soon. I think that two days is too short, so I wanna be at her home for one year next time! ( haha I'm just kidding, but If I can, I wanna do it!) Thank you for giving me a chance to meet her in St. Augustine. And mom, I love you so much, take care. I promise to see you soon, and I'm always thinking about you. I appreciate my opportunity to meet her. And thank you for hosting me mom!

I went to Kennedy Space Center and Universal Studios in Orlando with my host family. I remember reading about Kennedy Space Center in my textbook in Japan. So I felt some strengths, because I was in the place which I saw on my textbook. Hopefully, I wanna see the launch during I am in Florida. I had a good time there, and buildings are very spectacular! Ok. let me tell you about my horrible time in Universal. Before I go there, I was exactly excited, and I was very happy. And my host family and I picked my host brother up in before we go Universal. Also I saw my host brother's university. The university is very big, and it looks a good university. After that, I ate hamburger in the car, and that was ready to go to Universal. But... it made me sick. I could ride a very popular ride in Universal, and the name is THE HULK. I rode in front of the ride, and I like it. Before I ride it, I was really scared about it, but after I ride it, I was extremely excited. And I rode some of rides there. And when I rode a Red rollercoaster, I got really sick. I usually love a roller coasters, but I didn't enjoy a lot in there.. But I appreciate I got to get there, and I'm so sorry for my host family. My host mom say 'No more rollercoaster for Chihiro!'' hahah

And my mom has a funny laugh, I think. So it's much funnier than her laugh even though I watch a funny show on TV. She wonders why I laugh at her all the time, and she asks why I laugh at her. That's just funny for me. I can't stop laughing! But I'm gonna apologize just to make sure, mom. Sorry! :)

I cut the pumpkin in Halloween with my second host family! This is my first time to cerebrate Halloween, and I enjoyed cutting the pumpkin. But cutting the pumpkin is very hard work, especially the big one. My second host mom worked very well, and other family was playing side of her! hahah My host brother and sister are very cute, and they got accustomed to me recently, so I like to go to their home. second host parents and I also went to the airplane show, and I saw very cool air planes there. They looked tough, and I think I got sick when I rode a rollercoaster, so I can't be a pilot like them.. That was very cool. My second host family is very kind to me. I appreciate them, and I like them. Thank you!

I'm a lazy girl from Japan, so I don't wanna work on my homework all the time. I have plenty of homework every single day, and I give up early. But one day, I felt very sad while I was working on my homework. I couldn't stop crying then, and I talked to my host mom. She listened to me very carefully, and we found a good way what I need to do. I'm in Florida far away from Japan for about three months. If there aren't any people who can help me, maybe I give up in August. But there are many of people who help me, make me laugh, and love me, so I can stay in Florida, and I can write my journal right now. How can I appreciate them? I don't know why, because I'm not a good girl, so I think it's hard for my host family to take care of me. hahah I wanna enjoy spending the time in Florida more, and I wanna be a good daughter for my host family. I wanna speak English more fluently, and I wanna be an American girl except my gain weight. It's already three months since I got here. Everything is English around me, and nobody speaks Japanese. But I'm surrounded by warm people in Florida, so I can enjoy and laugh. Thank you so much. I won't give up even I get sick. And I promise to be a good English speaker toward end of my exchange year. I wanna speak English! I wanna understand everything! I love my friends! I love my host family! I love Florida!

Recently, I got perm! :) I'm very happy now, and everyone says, 'I like your hair, Chie!'' Thank you everyone, and I like my hair too even though sometimes my hair is exploding!!! I'm becoming an American!!! Love, from curly girl, Chihiro!