I met my homestay family yesterday afternoon for the first time and I must say, I lucked out. Not only is the family super nice and their 3 young boys (10, 8 and 5 years old) being super cool, but the housing setup is a great mix of personal space and social interaction with the family.

On this particular lot, the family has their own house, which is a pretty cool layout (newer style Japanese home), but also what I am assuming is the original house which belongs to the grandparents. And on top of that, is a smaller flat which is suitable for a single person or a couple.

So, at the end of the day, once I am done eating dinner, chatting and playing with the kids, I head over to my own place, fully equipped with everything (kitchen, full shower, washroom etc.). It’s a pretty wicked setup for someone looking for a lot of added conversation practice, but still feeling like they are living on there own.

I’ll have to add pictures of my time with the family as time goes on. As I write this, it’s only my second night so I haven’t taken much in the way of pictures so far.

I’ll try to do a quick video tour of the flat so you can get a better sense of what my living arrangement is.

I’m looking forward to all the interactions and activities I’ll get an opportunity to pursue with the family. I already told them that I enjoy the onsen (Japanese hot springs) so we are already planning to go on Sunday sometime.

I also started the Japanese school today, but I’ll touch on that and how it’s going in future posts.