At a pottery festival (fire festival) with my host family in May
What’s it been like living with your host family?
Right off the bat when I first arrived at my host family’s house, I was greeted with a hug. My host dad and sister were away for the first few days so I got to spend some bonding time with my host mum, and even with the language barrier we had some amazing conversations. When my host dad and sister got back from their trip, I got to spend 2 or 3 weeks with them before I started school, so being able to spend that time with them really helped to deepen our relationship. My host family also has a nickname for me (I share a name with their dog) so that’s also helped a little bit I think.
Doing some activities with my host sister at my school cultural festival
I have a 7 year old host sister, and even though I love her to pieces, it took a bit of time to adjust to having a younger sibling as I am the youngest in my whole family back in NZ. I love watching her do her activities and laugh a bit when she gets into arguments with my host mum, she reminds me a lot of myself when I was younger.
How do you and your host family show affection? Is it different from in NZ?
It’s not common to show [physical] affection in Japan, so we don’t really do anything. But right from when I found out that my grandpa back in NZ had cancer up until the day he passed away, they supported me a lot and gave me hugs the day I found out he was gone. I am very grateful for that. [With my host sister,] whenever I go somewhere, I like to bring a small gift back for her, and she recently came back from a camp and she even bought something back for me, it was so cute.
Went to Fukuroda Falls with my LP (support volunteer)
What’s your advice to families who are hosting in NZ?
My biggest advice for host families in NZ is to just communicate. My host family have always been honest with me, about the rules in the house, about food, about expectations and they also ask me to be honest with them. Honesty and communication is such an important thing and I think it can really help to keep a happy relationship between students and families. I think also trying to learn a bit about their culture is also very nice. Although I am not of Māori descent, I have still talked about Māori customs, legends and the culture with my host parents and at the same they teach me about Japanese culture. We even found some connections between the two cultures!
Wearing a yukata (summer version of a kimono)
Could you offer a student like Emma an amazing NZ cultural experience? Find out more about hosting and choose your new family member today! Want to have your own adventure in Japan? Find out more and apply here!