Living in Hakuba Village

Me with the Shimokawa family

By Erica Sagisi-Buxton
Dec 2, 2015
The students were all split up into small groups and were sent to do a homestay with a family in the area. I was lucky enough to stay with the Shimokawa family. They were a friendly elderly couple with one son in his late 30s. When we arrived at their place they made us feel so at home. I think I loved the homestay portion of this trip to Japan the most because of the Shimokawa's hospitality. They even let us call them mama and papa. Even though they spoke little English and I spoke little Japanese, we did not let this language barrier get in the way of this experience. I was able to learn so much from my homestay family. During my stay I learned more Japanese vocabulary and I was also able to learn how soba is made and eat it too. One morning my homestay dad took our group out to go sledding at Escal Plaza. It was such a fun bonding experience for all my homestay sisters and our homestay dad. We stayed there for nearly an hour and a half playing Around in the snow. 

I got to eat so much great food in Hakuba, Nagano: hot pot, japanese tamago, soba, sushi, and a whole bunch of foods I still don't know the names of. My homestay parents were very good cooks and everything they made was very beautiful in appearance.

(Above) Ono food my homestay family prepared.

(Below) We helped make soba noodles for lunch. 

 

On the last night of our homestay, our homestay mom let us try on her kimono. From the first day we walked into their home we noticed the kimono there on display and thought it was such a beautiful thing. We were so happy and grateful to get to try on the kimono. My homestay mother even said that she and her mother sewed the kimono themselves when she was twenty. Trying on the kimono was quite a process. We had to put on these socks, followed by the kimono and all the special belts that go around it. Everything had to be positioned perfectly and even though the process was around 10-15 minutes for each person, my house mother was was delighted to go through the steps for each of us. Getting to homestay in Japan was such a fun experience and given the chance, I would do it again.