ragedaddy
後輩
- 17 Feb 2003
- 193
- 4
Yep, it's all in the luck of the draw if you get a good host family or not. I had a total of three host families throughout the 2 years that I was studying in Japan. The very first one was for 3 weeks, and they were the nicest people ever. They cooked good meals for me, they always tried to talk to me, and made sure I had eveything I needed.
The second family I stayed with for three weeks was the complete opposite, to say the least it sucked hardcore. The first thing was that my language school was in Tokyo, and the homestay was off in Chiba Ken (so it took about an hour and a half each way to get to school). The Family wanted me to write my schedule for the month up on their little calender board. I was like is this a joke, I don't even plan out my schedule until the day I'm starting, so that was rather lame. They wanted me to purify my mouth everytime I entered the house by gargling, and I thought that was a little odd as well. I had a supposive curfew of 11PM, and I was like 23 at that time. I actually wasn't aware of it though, so I guess it all came back to me at the end of the stay.
The didn't give me a key, and so in the morning I had to be out of the place when she wanted to go out. They basically treated me like I was in Kindergarden. When I first got there, they had this big thick packet of lame rules. They got mad, because I didn't remember every single one. On the last day of my stay I asked the homestay mother about how I get to school from there by the subway(Because I never used that method before). She was like why should I help you, when you never did anything for us. I was kinda dumbfounded by her words, and I was like what? Her English was pretty good, because she studied a little while in California, and at that time my Nihongo skills were lacking. She blew up on me and said I should have helped clean the house, and I told her I would have if she asked me. She was like, well that's why I wanted you to write your schedule down, so I could schedule chores around your plans. I told her all you would had to do is ask, and I would have helped you out with whatever you needed. Also, she was mad that I would always come home around 12 or 1 AM. They would always tell me I need to come home earlier in Japanese, and I guess I didn't really understand them. I told her, if you are so upset about this then why didn't you tell me in English. She really didn't know what to say, so we realized there was a miscommunication. However, even if I knew there was an 11 PM curfew, I probably would not have obeyed it due to the fact I'm not a little kid. I feel sorry for their little daughter, because she is going to grow messed up by her Mom trying to smother her. I was glad to be out of that place, I can respect people's rules to a certain extent, but if you are going to give me over 10 pages in rules then forget that noise.
The third homestay was the best out of all, because they treated me like a real person. They took me with them when they went on trips, they made me excellent meals, and they gave me a great deal of freedom. They had 2 little boys as well, and so that was pretty enjoyable. However, sometimes they would come in and terrorize my room, and throw my things all around. They would attack time after time too, at first it was kinda funny, but after a while it got a little old. By that time I was able to speak better Japanese, and so I could tell the kids to knock that crap off. Overall, I had a really good time, learned lots of Japanese from them, and was able to go out with friends whenever I felt like it.
I wouldn't let people's bad experiences deter anyone from going to Japan, because it is a wonderful place to live. The culture, language, and people are very interesting. If you don't give Japan a chance, you will never know on what you will miss out on. Even if you run into a bad homestay, it is generally pretty easy to get switched, well at least from my experience.
The second family I stayed with for three weeks was the complete opposite, to say the least it sucked hardcore. The first thing was that my language school was in Tokyo, and the homestay was off in Chiba Ken (so it took about an hour and a half each way to get to school). The Family wanted me to write my schedule for the month up on their little calender board. I was like is this a joke, I don't even plan out my schedule until the day I'm starting, so that was rather lame. They wanted me to purify my mouth everytime I entered the house by gargling, and I thought that was a little odd as well. I had a supposive curfew of 11PM, and I was like 23 at that time. I actually wasn't aware of it though, so I guess it all came back to me at the end of the stay.
The didn't give me a key, and so in the morning I had to be out of the place when she wanted to go out. They basically treated me like I was in Kindergarden. When I first got there, they had this big thick packet of lame rules. They got mad, because I didn't remember every single one. On the last day of my stay I asked the homestay mother about how I get to school from there by the subway(Because I never used that method before). She was like why should I help you, when you never did anything for us. I was kinda dumbfounded by her words, and I was like what? Her English was pretty good, because she studied a little while in California, and at that time my Nihongo skills were lacking. She blew up on me and said I should have helped clean the house, and I told her I would have if she asked me. She was like, well that's why I wanted you to write your schedule down, so I could schedule chores around your plans. I told her all you would had to do is ask, and I would have helped you out with whatever you needed. Also, she was mad that I would always come home around 12 or 1 AM. They would always tell me I need to come home earlier in Japanese, and I guess I didn't really understand them. I told her, if you are so upset about this then why didn't you tell me in English. She really didn't know what to say, so we realized there was a miscommunication. However, even if I knew there was an 11 PM curfew, I probably would not have obeyed it due to the fact I'm not a little kid. I feel sorry for their little daughter, because she is going to grow messed up by her Mom trying to smother her. I was glad to be out of that place, I can respect people's rules to a certain extent, but if you are going to give me over 10 pages in rules then forget that noise.
The third homestay was the best out of all, because they treated me like a real person. They took me with them when they went on trips, they made me excellent meals, and they gave me a great deal of freedom. They had 2 little boys as well, and so that was pretty enjoyable. However, sometimes they would come in and terrorize my room, and throw my things all around. They would attack time after time too, at first it was kinda funny, but after a while it got a little old. By that time I was able to speak better Japanese, and so I could tell the kids to knock that crap off. Overall, I had a really good time, learned lots of Japanese from them, and was able to go out with friends whenever I felt like it.
I wouldn't let people's bad experiences deter anyone from going to Japan, because it is a wonderful place to live. The culture, language, and people are very interesting. If you don't give Japan a chance, you will never know on what you will miss out on. Even if you run into a bad homestay, it is generally pretty easy to get switched, well at least from my experience.
