Report from Lauren Owens
Outbound Youth Exchange Student in Japan
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                            School started September 1st—the first three days were the school festival, which was a lot of fun. I participated a bit during the sports festival. Unfortunately, my team didn’t win, but I had fun anyways. School isn’t exactly exhilarating, but it’s fun being with my friends. When I am in a class that I can’t participate in, I study Japanese or read a book. I read The Wild Geese by Ogai Mori the other day. I really liked it, but it wasn’t long enough and I finished it in a few class periods. I haven’t gone a lot of places so far, but I have been to Fukuoka and Nagasaki. I am pretty busy between school and volleyball club because I arrive at school at 8:00 AM and after school finishes at about 4:30, I go to volleyball club until 7:00 PM. I don’t have volleyball Sundays or Mondays, but I do have it Saturdays from 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM. I’m a bit busy, but it’s a lot of fun, and everyone’s very nice, so I don’t mind! I have tried a lot of Japanese food, an d I like a lot of it, although sometimes it’s a bit out of my comfort zone. I am enjoying the higanbana blooming right now, and I really like my host family. They are very kind and fun.