Homestay

This home stay experience was one of the best experiences I have had and it is something I will never forget. My group of 6 stayed with the Shimokawa family in there lodge in Hakuba Village. It was a very old and traditional place and our room had two beds and a separate area with tatami mats and a kotatsu.

Two people slept in another room with 2 beds only and the last two of us slept on futons on the tatami mat. I was one of them and it was so comfortable. The dinner they made for us was hot pot and this was the first time I had every had this. It was pretty amazing, and I happily ate as much as I could. That night we were told to take a bath downstairs, it was one of those communal baths, or traditional Japanese baths. Five of us got in, it was slightly awkward at first but we got over it quickly and really enjoyed the bath. I have never felt so relaxed after a bath than after that. We helped them with the dishes to show our gratitude. In the morning we gave them our gifts and they seemed to be very happy to receive them. Breakfast was also Japanese style and very delicious and ate everything on my plate. Waking up it was very cold so we drank a lot of tea.

We later went to a ski resort and went sledding. My group was the first to arrive so we were able to destroy the smooth snow before anyone else. It was exciting and exhausting constantly moving and jumping through the snow and up the mountain. We sled down the hill, made snowmen, and had a snowball fight which included Shimokawa-san. He seemed to enjoy the trip as well.

When we got back we made soba from scratch, it included mixing powder then adding water to make dough, flattening out the dough, and then cutting it into thin strips to make the noodles. The noodles were cooked immediately and we ate lunch. We were complemented for our chopstick use, they were impressed by how well we use them.

After lunch we went to the store which we all may have gone a little crazy with buying gifts for people. When we got back we sat around the kotatsu for a bit them went downstairs for tea and snacks. They gave us paper to leave a message for them so we worked on that during that time. For dinner we made our own sushi at the dinner table and it was absolutely amazing. I have never had sushi that good and I really enjoyed the constant home cooked meal they provided us. After dinner Mrs. Shimokawa-san dressed us all in her kimono. She spent about 15 minutes putting it on us along with the obi. It was so beautiful and I was so grateful that she let us wear her kimono. She told us that she got it as a present from her mother when she was 20, but she also sewed it herself so her mother probably helped her with it. I was so amazed by the kimono and I really enjoyed it.

The next day was the last morning of our home stay with them. It was sad to know that we would be leaving since we really got to know them and it was really great to get a feel for traditional Japanese living. I was a little torn to leave them but we took some pictures and left for the day. We had our farewell party that night and it really hit me that we would be leaving. This couple was so kind and hospitable to us and I am really grateful for everything they did for us. The whole HPU group performed a song for the home stay families and I was actually extremely surprised to find out that the homestay families had a performance ready for us too. It was really amazing and I will miss my home stay family a lot. I hope I will come back to Japan and see them again or just have some others go to Hakuba Village.