11/10 blog post by Madison

Today was the second and last day of us visiting Shintoku. I met many people and made many new friends, but what surprised me the most was how fast the students warmed up to us, even though we were only there for two days. The first day, I, as well as some others, were worried that the students were making fun of us since we couldn’t really understand what they were saying. When we walked around and they copied what we would say, or ask easy questions, I took it as mockery, but I think that was far from the truth. I think that the students would copy us so that they could learn a better American accent. I also think they asked easy questions so that there wouldn’t be any miscommunication and so that translating would be easier. Also, simple questions can be fun! Like what a dog sounds like in both America and Japan, two very different noises.

The first day was really awkward, students would say hi to us to be polite, we would have to introduce ourselves, and the room would be filled with what seemed like a forced applause. By the second day, however, the ‘hello’s in the halls were more than just to be polite. I started to recognize people, and they were very friendly towards me! I would get many enthusiastic ‘hi’s and many more involved questions that sprouted into conversations. After giving my gifts to my class partner, Chiharu’s, classmates, they all asked to take pictures with me. The room went from a deathly quiet to loud and cheerful! It was great! Even while cleaning up, as soon as I walked into the room, I was given many hugs and was talked about! Though I couldn’t understand at first, I think they were talking about how they didn’t want me to leave. I found this out after when one of Chiharu’s friends asked me to stay in Japan and have Chiharu take my place going back to America! I wish I could have stayed longer, but there is still much to do here before our time in Japan is up! While I am very sad to leave such a welcoming place so soon, I am excited to meet even more people and make more friends at Kojo.