I am still going!

With the earthquake that had devastated Japan, about a month ago, I was contacted by AFS notifying me that the year long exchange had been cancelled.  However, I was invited to attend the six month program departing in August.  For the last couple weeks I have continued to fundraise which will make the exchange less of a burden on my family's allowance.  So far I am just 4,000 dollars for the entire exchange to be completely financed through fundrasing!  I thank everyone for their support for my dream and their patience to hear news on this matter.

SAT

Just a small update.  I took the SAT yesterday.  Which was mentally draining, but nothing caffeine can't fix.  I replied back to the Kato's email, it took me awhile because I've been busy.  When I hear back from them I will talk about it.  Today I am writing some scholarship letters and editing some to submit.  Thank you all for your support!

A snow day

This morning I awoke to discover that I had received an email from that Kato's.  Apparently it had snowed that day, and quite a bit at that.  Yoshiyuki and Chiharu made a snowman outside, expressing they wanted my opinion on it which I was happy to give.

AFS PDO

Today I went to AFS Pre-Departure Orientation.  There I met some of the volunteers I have been talking to during my application process.  I also met other exchange students. I believe there were 10 of them. (Two going to Argentina, One going to Australia, One to Italy, One to France, and 5 to Japan (including my self)) It was fun talking to the people and very informing of the program.  It was a general overview so it wasn't really country specific.  Some things I learned there was that there are 3 rules to AFS 1. Don't Drive 2. Don't do drugs and 3. Don't hitchhike. All of which will get you sent home immediately.  Also if I am to learn the language and experience the culture I should use English as little as I can.  This means that while I am there I won' have my laptop and calls are probably not going to be good.   I will continue to post on my blog and send email news letters.  Snailmail works too but for all my friends I require them to be in Japanese :P (Its better for the both of us)  It's exciting to finally come to realize that this is actually happening.

 Also today when I came home and napped.  I received an email from Chiharu talking about her day etc.  I to talked about mine however it was a bit more lengthy.  I was one of the few that have already learned who my family was so I count my self lucky that I am able to have communicating with them.

Fragmented conversation

I have made contact with the Kato's!  After some confusion with emails I was able to talk to Yoshiyuki.  There was only a couple sentences and the English was fragmented, but I could still understand him.  I replied in Japanese at some length, the quality of which I am still curious about.  The next day Yoshiyuki replied confirming that the current email he was using is the working one.  Then wrote about how it has been cold in Obu, therefore he was sitting under the こたつ (kotatsu). A kotatsu is a table that has a blanket skirt around the sides and heater underneath.  I also found out that they have a dog named Ruby (the dog was under the blanket as well).  Before I could reply I received an email from Yukie, my host mother.  Which gave a brief description of the family.  It was interesting to hear about the family also her English was much better than Yoshiyuki's, with only a few minor errors.  In return I replied in Japanese, which I now regret.  After I hit the send button I read what I had actually written, which leaves me to wonder what I really did learn in those 3 years of Japanese.  My verbs and sentence structure was odd and I even used the wrong post-fix on a verb that strictly is not suppose to have a post-fix.  When I was writing I used a Japanese dictionary I had received for Christmas and so I was worrying about my vocab rather than the actual Japanese I was writing.  I would like to think that I was still understandable however it must have made a bad impression.  Since then I haven't received a reply.

Here is a picture of a Kotatsu for those who don't know what I meant.

Family

Just the other day I received my Host Family info!  I will be living with the Kato's, a family of five in the town of Obu-shi.  Obu-shi is a little south of Nagoya, the 4th biggest city in Japan.  I will have two siblings, a 13 year old girl, Chiharu and a 15 year old boy, Yoshiyuki.  I will be attending school at Anjou Senior High School which is located in the city Anjyou-shi (a short train ride away).  My host parent's names are Ryozo (father), Yukie (mother), and Tamiko (grandmother). Since the grandmother lives with the family I expect it to be more traditional than the typical family.   I am so excited to meet them!

In other news I received word from Peninsula Odd Fellows. They have voted to kick start my trip with $1,000!  This week I will contact the Elks and VFW to see if they are willing to help me as well.  Thanks for the support everyone!

A Breif Summery

My name is Michael Manning.  It is impossible to explain my personality through my name or words alone; however, by explaining my thoughts and dreams it is possible to grasp who I am.  One dream of mine is to learn 5 or more languages.  The other dream is to be a Game Designer and to one day create my own full completed game.  These two dreams are very different, yet in the mind of a 5th grader (at the time) I had blended them perfectly in my head.  Upon entering Arts & Communications Magnet Academy, my high school, middle school, and family, I was given the opportunity of a start towards the completion of one of these dreams: Japan.  After 3 years of Japanese, I discovered American Field Service’s (AFS) student exchange program through a friend. Through AFS I have the opportunity to travel to Japan as a foreign exchange student for a whole year!

During this experience I will live with a Japanese host family and attend school at the local Japanese high school.  There I will work to become fluent in the Japanese language, improve my ability to communicate to people I have never met with, and experience a culture completely different from my own!  Through this process of becoming an international student I will learn much more about myself and the world in which I live.  I believe Japan will mentor me in these things and help me pursue future dreams and goals for myself in the future.

I am currently a junior in high school and this is my last chance to study abroad in a foreign high school.  During the application process, my mother, a single parent, was laid off work making the completion of a study abroad look more like a dream rather than a reality.  She still believes I can do it and supports me one hundred percent in spite of our current situation.  Through scholarships and fundraising I still have the chance to make it to Japan.   I am currently looking for scholarships through multiple organizations to see if they are willing to support my dream. With all this support I believe I can raise the remaining $9,000. 

If you would like to contribute to help me reach my aspirations, click on the Chipin button for a non-tax-deductible donation.  No amount will not go unnoticed or unappreciated.

Thank you for taking some time to read my story and support my dreams. If you know anyone else who may also be interested in sponsoring me, please share this link with them: http://michaeladvjapan.blogspot.com/

Thank You.