Fulbright Experience:
Iris Zucker's
Homestay in Nishinomiya

I met Mr. Satoshi Sasaki at the reception hosted by City Hall. After many introductions and speeches by dignitaries it came time for the host families to meet their guests. Mr. Sasaki approached me and introduced himself.  He then, with a big smile on his face, went on to say how excited his children were because a guest from another country was staying in their house. Meeting him at the reception served as an icebreaker, and relieved me of all the anxiety of not knowing who my host family was. A few minutes into our conversation, Mr. Sasaki stated he knew of my wishes of going to Kyoto, and that he and his wife had already made the arrangements to take me. At this point, I realized how fortunate I was to have been assigned to a family who was going to receive me in their home with eagerness and great enthusiasm, and whose children were waiting anxiously for this big event - my visit. I thought how lucky, for they had already planned the activities they knew were going to please me.

With this new feeling of comfort and friendliness toward my host family, I set to envision how the upcoming visit was going to be. As expected every minute spent with them was great, full of wonderful excitement and joy.

Mr. Satoshi Sasaki is a thirty-six year old English teacher at Hamakoshien Junior High School. After school he is a baseball coach, a sport that he truly loves. He talked about his school and explained to me how he loves teaching English.

Naoko Sasaki is thirty-five years old. She is a nursery school teacher. Naoko and Satoshi got married in 1990 in a typical Japanese Buddhist ceremony. Naoko took great pride in showing me her wedding album and in explaining the Japanese traditional wedding.

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KOTARO: 
Kotaro Sasaki is an eight year old boy with a big smile. He is very quiet, but inquisitive. Like his father, he too loves baseball and belongs to a minor league. He does very well and spends his Saturdays and Sundays in practice and games.
 

SHUHEI:
Kotaro's seven year old brother, Shuhei, also shares the same love for the sport. It was fascinating to see how they  got up, quickly got ready, and happily left on their bicycles to their practice game.

ARRIVAL TO MY HOST FAMILY HOME

Mr. Sasaki picked me up from city hall and drove me to his house where his children anxiously awaited me. When I arrived the children stared at me, I said, "hello," and they politely answered. After showing the Tatami room, where I was going to sleep, Naoko showed me the way to the kitchen. They had set the table with a beautiful spread of Japanese delicacies. Satoshi very proudly stated that they wanted me to be exposed to a typical Japanese meal. He quickly began to grill the Masatake mushrooms and to name each plate. After showing me all the types of fish in the Sashimi platter, he pointed to the perfectly made Kobe beef, his mother had prepared for me. To my disbelief he had also bought for me Fugu or blow fish (the one I promised to never eat, just in case it was poisonous, but it was delicious!). The children enthusiastically sat next to me. 

During our dinner they kept asking Satoshi to translate the many questions they had for me. In one of my answers I indicated that I learned English after I married my husband, that I was born in Puerto Rico and that as a child and teenager I only spoke Spanish. Totally amazed at that information Kotaro told his father that if he marries an American woman he would then have to learn English and stop speaking Japanese. He thought about it for a few minutes and then realized that there was a solution for such a problem... his wife will have to move to Japan and learn Japanese!

After dinner we took a walk to Satoshi’s parents. They served us green tea with pastries. The mother made a special Sakura tea for me and explained how special it was to get this tea. They were so pleased to have an American guest in their house, and I was so moved by their attention to me.

A TRIP TO KYOTO WITH MY HOST FAMILY

The second day we set out to go by train to Kyoto. Satoshi, Naoko and I walked to the train station early in the morning. 

I spent a beautiful day with my host family. We first visited Arashiyama, a small town outside Kyoto, with bridges, shrines and beautiful craft stores. We visited a Kimono factory, saw a parade, ate the wonderful Okonomiyaki from a street vendor and posed with a geisha for this picture.
 

KYOTO:
Japan's oldest capital. Kyoto was the center of culture for the court, the nobility and intellectuals of the Heian Period. During this period Buddhism and temples flourished throughout the city. In Kyoto we visited the Ninomaru Palace, built in 1603 by the first Tokugawa Shogun Iemitsu, and the Nijo Castle, the official Kyoto residence. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking through town. We visited shrines and temples.

KOBE BEEF AND KARAOKE

Back at my host family’s house for green tea and fruits, we met with another host family and guest. We talked about Japanese traditions, marriage, housing and education. After a lively conversation it was time for dinner. Satoshi and Naoko had wanted me to go to their favorite restaurant, Bora Bora. This wonderful restaurant was very small and well known for the Kobe beef. Since we had to wait our turn, the restaurant's owner asked us to go to the Karaoke Room. This was the first time I experienced Karaoke. Together, both host families, children and all, sang in Japanese as well as in English. The laughter and joy was so great that after we finished the meal we went back for some more Karaoke, and stayed there singing for three more hours. 

My homestay experience will stay with me forever. I have been fortunate to spend time with this Japanese family. I learned so much from them, and I am still learning because we have kept in contact and expect to visit each other again. I have gained new friends, as well as an understanding of the Japanese people and culture. As educators, Satoshi and I felt that our students should also benefit from this experience: We have begun an electronic pen-pal program for students in his school and students in my school. I now know the goals of the Fulbright Memorial Fund Program, to promote cultural understanding among Japanese and American educators, have been met.

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