September 25th, 2006: Ueda (heck) are we?

September 25^th, 2006: “Ueda heck are we?”

• After a tearful goodbye to our first host families in Omura, we head out for our long journey to Ueda. Neither Carlos nor I wanted to leave Yukiko or her sons. They were so amazing to us. That AND their friends were so nice to us as well. We really got spoiled being hosted together, with a host mother that spoke English, with two sweet boys, with four cute dogs (and an aging K9 outside), and fantastically energetic friends.

From bus, to plane, back to a what-was-supposed-to-be-a-2-hour-bus ride (which actually ended up being about 3.5 hours…hence the quote “Ueda heck are we?”) we finally arrived in Ueda, to find Yasuyo and Wouter in kimonos J

Presently I think I am one of the luckiest people in the cast so far. I am hosted with a pediatrician and his wife, who speak enough English to communicate well with us. He is also in the process of learning German. Hopefully he will be able to get plenty of practice, as Caroline is hosted with me, as well as Jeff (Taiwan/Switzerland) and Olga (Mexico). This is going to be “a trip”. I’m psyched to be hosted with this many Uppies and the house, well, is beautiful. I’m staying in a traditional tatami room….so beautiful.

So I’m sitting here, with Jeff to my right speaking Taiwanese, Olga behind me speaking Spanish, and Carolina just next to her speaking German. I just took a traditional Japanese bath (shower rinse and soak in a hot tub), ventured to use the bidet (interesting sensation), AND I am connected to the world via wifi. Life is good. Hopefully I’ll be able to get caught up on my journaling this week. We’ll see.