Hopewell-Nanzan Kokusai Exchange Program

Yuki's Diary

3/18/17
Today was the first day of this exchange program. At 8:30am we gathered at Chubu International Airport. At 10:50am our plane took off for Detroit. It took 12 hours to go there, so I watched many English and Japanese movies. These were many movies from different countries and one of my favorite was "Finding Dory." It was snowy when we arrived at Detroit. I was surprised because I didn't know it would snow on that day.
We arrived at Charlotte at 2:05pm. My host family couldn't make it to the airport, so Ms.Conner came to pick us up. On the way to go to my host family's house, I found many difference between here and the city that I used to live when I was in the U.S. However, some of the restaurants looked familiar, so it was interesting. As we arrived at our host family's house, me and Rio introduced ourselves and so they did. I know Adam and Aarons face before I came here because Ms.Penny(my host mother) sent me pictures in e-mail. I have never seen identical twins before, so I was surprised that they looked exactly alike. They took us around Hopewell High School and the lake near their house.
After that, I gave snacks that I bought from Japan. Ms.Penny said some of them looked familiar because she used live in Japan when she was young. They tried green tea Kit Kat for the first time. She said its good, but Adam and Aaron didn't like it. We had diner around 7:30pm. It was roast beef and I was surprised that they were eating brown rice. It was really good. I was really tired, so I took a shower and went to sleep.

3/22/17
Today we were on Titans TV. At 7:00am we met at media center, and Ms.Conner took us to the studio which was in a media center. I was little nervous when I was standing in front of the camera. Some of my classmates told me that I was on a TV in the morning after they saw it. During lunch and 3rd period, five of us(me, Rio, Marina, Yui, and Mr.Hiraiwa) went to Spanish class and watched movie(Shrek 2) in Spanish. After that, we used Spanish-English dictionary in order to search some words on an assignment. It was very interesting class and even though I couldn't understand Spanish, it was really fun. In that Spanish class, a guy named Leo was super funny. He said he likes Japanese anime and when we talked about something in Japanese, he looked so curious and asked many questions to us.
After school, I went to see Raiders practice because Adam and Aaron are in the team. They ran a mile first, and they did some other trainings such as rope crossing.
We went to Church around 6:00pm and had diner. We had soup, bread, and salad. We had services after that. I didn't know that they go to the church on weekdays.

3/26/17
Today we didn't go to church because Ms.Penny was sick. Around 10:00am she told us to make some Skittles butterflies. Adam counted a plastic bag and put Skittles into that bag, and I took the bag and got rid of the air in it. Rio clipped the wooden clip to make butterfly's body. And Aaron put moles and clips together so that it looks like butterflies. She said that she would give them to people at the hospital. We ran out of Skittles, so we stopped.
I realized that I didn't give stationary that I brought for Aaron from Japan. I gave pencils, erasers, sumo wrestler sticky notes, stapler, and more. They were amazed how great the Japanese stationary were compared to the ones they have in the U.S.
We went to Burkdale for shopping for about an hour and we went to grocery store to buy Skittles. While we were in the grocery store it started to rain. I was surprised that every one has their own umbrella. After we got back to the house, we ate curry and rice for supper.
At 5:30pm we went to Hospice to do random act of kindness with Adam, Aaron, and Deandre from our community church. We gave cookies, pray square and card from the church. After that we went to church and had some snacks. We read bible for an hour and talked about that. It was really interesting because we read and talked about the stories on bible like it's in real-life situation.
We went back home around 8:00pm, Adam and Aaron showed me the fishes that they have in their room. They found old Kiki and Rara pencil which Ms.Penny used when she was in Japan.
Me and Rio did video chat with Sakurako to show twins to her. She was confused when she saw both of them.

3/30/17
Today was the last day in Hopewell. I felt that two weeks passed so quickly.
In 1st block, we played Twister in Mr.Gurdo's class. We used four mats for about 30 students. In a break time, I brought Japanese cookies for the class so I gave those to them. Marina, Yui and two other girls won the game. After playing twister, everyone in the class signed on the mats and Mr.Gurdo gave it to us.
In the beginning of the 2nd block, we had fire drill. I didn't know about that, so I was surprised with sound of alarm. I was making 3D cheese burger figure in Mr.Hansard's class, so I got that from him. It was failed, but he said that he would make another one and mail it to me after he finished making it. However he said to the class that they could sign on my cheese burger. Even tough it was failed, but it became one of my precious memories in Hopewell. Rest of 2nd block, we painted the wall of Mr.Gurdo's classroom.
Our 3rd block was French. Today was their make-up work day, so Mr.Fresse asked us to teach some Japanese to the class. They were little shy at first, but once we talked to them, it was really fun. They were surprised when I wrote words in Japanese and explained the meaning.
We didn't have a chance to take ProStart class because teacher was sick. So we gathered at the library and wrote cards for my friends that I made in this school. I couldn't believe today was the last day that I come to this school.
In the evening, we had closing ceremony at Red Rock. It's been a while since I wore Yukata, so I was worried that I can wear it properly. After we finished dinner, Ms.Conner gave us a diploma of Hopewell. I was so happy, but it also made me feel sad.
When we got back home, I packed up my clothes and snacks into my suitcase.

Marina's Diary

March 21st Tuesday

Today was the first day spending B-day. I could understand all of the classes and it was not hard to me. On third period English literature class, they were reading "Macbeth". I've read that before at Nankoku, so I was able to understand the story. During fourth period psycology class, I watched a video about OCD. Mariana had to stay after school, until 19:00, so Yui and I decided to go to Northlake Mall and shop. First, we went to Yui's host student, Annabelle's house and waited until her mother came back. About 17:00, Anna's mother came back from work and took us to the mall. Yui and I bought many clothes and used about $80. We also talked about how our host families are alike. Then about 19:30, Mariana and Kailey came to pick me up. During the way to my house, it started to rain hard, so Kailey had dinner together at our house and watched dramas until the rain stops.

March 25th Saturday

 Today, I woke up at 10:00, then I ate scrambled egg, bacons, and bread which my host mother cooked. Mariana had to go to school for theatre by 13:45, so her mother, her sister, and I went to McDonald's. I ate 6 pieces of chicken and drank sweet tea. Then we went to Concord Mills which is very huge, and many stores were there, so I was able to buy everything I wanted. About 18:30, Mariana, Kailey and Morgan had finished theatre, so they also came to the mall. Kailey and Morgan had to find their prom dress, so we went to "Group USA" which had many prom dresses. Kailey also picked a dresses for me to try on. There were so many dresses that we can't even pick one. When I told them that I wanted all of them to wear a dress and take a picture, they responded to my request pleasantly. All of them looked so beautiful with dresses. I wish I could've stayed until prom. After that, we went to food court for a dinner. After dinner, I went to Cold Stone ice cream. When we walked back to food court , Mariana's parents and sisters were also eating ice creams and waited for us. After all the people finished eating, we went back to each houses. When we got home, we showed each other the things we bought.

March 29th Wednesday

Today, for first block, we went to Mr.Gurdo's class. He showed us dead rabbit, which is going to be used for dissection. And I worked on a worksheet about nerves. On second block, we went to digital arts class to finish a work from the day before. After we finished coloring each face, Ms.Watson printed it out for us. But we still had time, so she showed us her students' work. All of them were very beautiful. On third block, we walked around the school and took many pictures. The weather was very nice, so all the pictures went very good. From 11:00, we had pizza lunch at office. During we're waiting for pizza to come, Ms.Lou came and told us she could take us to Concord Mills afterschool. So, afterschool , we went to Concord Mills by Ms.Lou's car. I apologized to her, because she was probably bored while we're shopping. But she said, "Don't say sorry. Today is your day." We bought everything we wanted. After shopping, we went to eat dinner at "Jim'N Nicks", except Yui. She treated for us. North Carolina style port tasted delicious. After dinner, Ms. Lou dropped us off at each houses.

Overall

First, these 2 weeks was the best 2 weeks ever in my life. I was so nervous and worried at first, because all Nankoku students who went to NC could speak English fluently except me. But I didn't have to care about it. Every people in Hopewell High School was very nice to me, so I was able to speak majestically. I was thinking Nanzan Kokusai is the most free and open school, but it wasn't true at all. Hopewell High School was also very free, so many students were full of originality.

 And I want to thank my host family the most. They took me to wherever I wanted, whatever I wanted to eat. I knew Mariana was very busy staying afterschool for band, Calculus, and theatre. I think she actually didn't had time to stay with me. But she was always nice to me and told me the things that I didn't know.

 I was disappointed that I couldn't speak English fluently. So I hope one day I can go abroad and learn to speak more.