(decoration at Iwakuni Airport)

Hi guys!

As promised, here's the next post of my Japan exchange year, this time featuring my first week, in at least two parts, since for some unknown reason the blog site blocked it as I was trying to post it in one peace. ^^"

First of all, how we got to our host-families. By 'us', I mean the exchange students who came to Yamaguchi-prefecture, 3 people in total, including me. It was quite funny at the orientation, watching all the students get in huge groups, like 20 people each, and our small Yamaguchi squad stood there looking lonely. But hey, I bet no one else had as much fun as we did! :D

Our little team was formed out of a kind and smart Finnish girl, a talkative Spanish guy, and a way too enthusiastic Hungarian (yeah, that's me). We all woke up around 7 AM, then had breakfast, where Ninni (the Finnish girl) and I kind of started to bond. Ariel, the poor Spaniard was afraid we wouldn't take it well if he interrupted us, as he later told me, so he just sat there, listening to us, but later on, he opened up too, which I was really happy for. :)

(Here, I just want to note how adorable the Yamaguchi mascot is! <3)

We left the NYC (where the orientation was held) around 9 AM by bus, all excited, but just a little bit nervous. Our destination was Hanada Airport in Tokyo, where we got on a plane around 12:30 PM. Until then, we chose the perfect place where we could be the unquestionably annoying European tourists. It was a pillar in front of our gate, where we simply sat on the ground. We got all those looks from the locals that said "stupid foreigners", but it was totally worth it, we had a great time shouting and making a nuisance out of ourselves! :D (Of course, that wasn't our intention, but being quiet isn't an easy task for three over-excited teenagers.)

Soon, we got on the plane, being the only foreigners, so of course, we received all those curious looks (For one and a half hours, non-stop!). Our plane headed to Iwakuni, which is a small city in Yamaguchi-prefecture. Throughout the flight, we didn't improve much in volume. We talked about everything, where we would stay, what our families are like, about our school, I even learned their zodiac sign and blood type! :) (Fun fact: in Japan, they believe that each blood type has a different personality, it's similar to the horoscopes. What's funny about this is, all three of us have the same blood type, which seems to be the "exchange student" material! :D)

When we arrived, I was quite calm; that didn't last for too long. Soon we collected our luggage, and gathered our best manners together. We turned to the exit, and we saw a Japanese woman holding her phone up, taking pictures of us. First we thought she was just curious, capturing the foreigners, but then I saw the "Welcome to Japan" sign beside her, that's when we realized they were from AFS with our host-families, standing there, waiting for us.

To be continued...