Daisuke Kobayashi

2008-09 Inbound from Japan

Hometown: Okayama, Japan

Sponsor: Okayama-Korakuen Rotary Club, District 2690, Japan

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

School: New Smyrna Beach High School, New Smyrna Beach, FL

Bio

Daisuke's Bio

Hello. My name is Daisuke Kobayashi. Please call me DAISUKE. My birthday is April 3rd 1991. I’m 17 years old. I live in Okayama city which is located in the western part of Japan. There are four people in my family: my father, mother, older sister and me. My mother cooks very well. My parents run a Hotel. In the future I’d like to go to university and study business, because I’d like to help my father’s Hotel. I played archery in JAPAN. I have played it for 4 years. I want to try soccer in high school.

Okayama is famous for its fruits such as peaches and grapes. Okayama’s mascot is a grape. There are Hiroshima and Kobe near Okayama. Okayama city has a population of seventy thousands. Okayama is a very warm place.

I go to school by bicycle in Japan. It took me about 15 minutes. When it rained, I went to school by bus. My hobby is listening to music. I like the zoo. I also like cats, because they are cute.

I’m looking forward to my year in Florida and hope to make many unforgettable memories.

October 25 Journal

There are six in my host family. Father, mother, two sisters and two brothers. My host parents work at a DELI, it sells subs. One older sister is going to university. One older brother is also going to university. He works at the DELI. Younger brother’s name is Aaron who is a Rotex. He went to Japan last year. He helps me with my homework. I think this family is the best.

There are many students in my school. The students are very kind, so I can make friends very easy. I didn’t know everything then, but they taught me everything. Some students are interested in  Japanese, therefore we teach different languages to each other. I like my school, because teachers are kind. I found a Japanese student, but he was born in America, so, regrettably, he speaks Japanese not very much. His parents work at a Japanese food restaurant. I went there. There was a Sushi-bar and steak house. The food tasted very very good. I thought Japanese food is the best all over the world food. I think my school friends are best.

I went to St. Augustine with Rotary. We stayed with new host parents for two days. I stayed with Joonas. We played the video game in our house. We were able to communicate very well. I walked through St. Augustine’s streets and it was very beautiful. We ate alligator tail, which looks like chicken, so I like it. We did a River Cruise where we saw dolphins, and it was my first time seeing them, so I was moved.

Thank you Rotary for allowing me to have a good experience so far and I really look forward to the rest of my exchange.