#hostmother

[midori-turkey]

Today, I woke up at 12:30. It was too late. Actually I planned to visit Süleymaniye camii for today, but I struggle to function in the every morning, I couldn't achieve it today also, sadly.

But I didn't care it so much, and I showered soon. After then, my hostmother suggested me to go out shopping. We compared the prices of two supermarket's prodacts, and we have gathered all the nessesary items. She said "several prodacts' prices will be higher than now due to economic uncertainty, so we should buy nessesary things at this moment."

In the evening, I reallized that my hostbrother's birthday have already passed. I told my hostmother it, she suggested me to serve a Japanese curry for him. I thought it was really good idea, so I cooked it, and we invided him. The curry was delicious. We talked about Turkey's city where I should visit and so on during our dinner.

[funkyjeans]

Yea we heard about the Pokémon cruise but we had already passed Yokohama by then, and we are leaving tomorrow 😭 we got Yokohama Championship merch but we are missing the actual championship. Definitely a little jealous of your friend but I hope she enjoyed!

If I remember correctly denim Kimono were trendy for men back in 2019 but idk if they still are. I got a colorful two piece Kimono from my hostmother :) I’ll see about a picture when we are back!

As a best for last thing I got Mr. Katzen one of the big life size Fuecoco plushies today :) felt like a little kid fulfilling their plushie Pokemon dreams as I carried around the store, even though im a fairly new fan haha

Xoxo Katzen

WISHING YOU AND MR KATZEN SAFE TRAVELS BACK HOME!!!!!!!!!

my friend works marketing for this company that shows all the lil fun things to do in japan, ships stuff out, etc etc etc -- so it was an all-expense paid kind of thing! LOL!!! she had a blast! maybe next time, yall can catch something like that! -- but i did see ur lil pics from the pokemon center (?) w/ the huge statues and all!!!!!!!

waaaah send some pics over id love to see! im so glad you guys had a great time!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3

[tiredparker]

Not to be dramatic but I would die for Marie Kondo

[omoi-no-hoka]

Moderately Interesting Japanese Ep. 8 Hokkaido Dialect

The typical winter scenery of Hokkaido.

One of my favorite aspects of language learning is studying dialects. I am fascinated by how language branches and adapts to new environments like some form of linguistic natural selection. Japanese is rife with interesting dialects, some of which are so different from the standard that they can sound like a totally different language to the untrained ear. I thought I’d make a series of posts highlighting different dialects in Japanese. Since this sort of post will take a bit more research on my end and I plan to find native speakers of the dialect to confirm with, they won’t be very regular, but I hope that you enjoy them!

What are some of the main Japanese dialects?

Firstly, let me tell you how to say “dialect” in Japanese, because I know I’m gonna use it and I don’t want to cause any confusion. 

方言 (hougen) Dialect

___弁 (__-ben) __ Dialect, so “Osaka Dialect” is “Osaka-ben.” 

I daresay that just about 100% of all Japanese learners are familiar with Tokyo-ben, because it is Standard Japanese. The next most popular dialect is Kansai-ben, which is spoken in the Kansai region (Osaka, Hiroshima, etc.). The Kansai Dialect can be broken down into several smaller, regional dialects. Next would probably be Okinawa-ben. 

(Caution! Some people, particularly Okinawans, consider Okinawan Japanese to be a language independent from Japanese, and they can be offended if you refer to it as a dialect. Japan’s official stance is that Okinawan is a dialect, though, so I am calling it a dialect in my posts.) 

Now without further ado, let’s actually start learning about one of these dialects!

Hokkaido-ben, namara ii!

Hokkaido is the island in green. It’s the biggest prefecture in Japan by far.

I am a foreigner and Japanese is not my native language, but I have been living on the island of Hokkaido for 5 years now and am very comfortable with the Hokkaido dialect, so I chose to introduce it to you first. Also, it’s not one that gets talked about a lot, so I figured maybe there weren’t many posts about it. 

Hokkaido is the northernmost island of Japan, and it wasn’t settled and officially incorporated as part of Japan until the late 1800′s. There is a group of indigenous people here called the Ainu who speak a language completely different from Japanese, but their language has not bled into Hokkaido-ben. (Many place names in Hokkaido are from Ainu, though).

Because Hokkaido was settled so late in history compared to the other islands of Japan, their dialect doesn’t differ drastically from Tokyo-ben. There are some minor intonation differences that, frankly, I don’t feel confident explaining. I have internalized the intonations through exposure, but I’ve never been taught it and don’t really know what is correct. So I’m not going to talk about tonal differences, and instead focus on the different words and a wee bit of grammar.

投げる　Nageru

Standard Japanese: 捨てる suteru

English: to dispose of (lit. “to throw/toss”)

To an English speaker, “throw away” feels just as natural as “dispose of.” But to people outside of Hokkaido, it sounds very unusual and the image it conjures is comedic, like someone is hurling trash into the garbage can like it’s the opening pitch at the World Series. 

Example: そこの古い新聞を投げていいよ。 Romaji: Soko no furui shinbun wo nagete ii yo.

Standard: そこの古い新聞を捨てていいよ。 Romaji: Soko no furui shinbun wo sutete ii yo.

English: You can throw away those old newspapers there. 

おっかない　Okkanai

Standard: 危ない abunai

English: dangerous, scary, a “close call”

My hostmom uses this with me, like, all the time. According to her, I’m always doing okkanai things, like walking alone at night or *gasp* going outside with wet hair. I love her so much haha. 

Example: うちの子が熊のぬいぐるみだと思っ��遊んでいたのは本当の子グマだった。おっかなかったわ！ Romaji: Uchi no ko ga kuma no nuigurumi da to omotte asonde ita noha hontou no koguma datta. Okkanakatta wa!

Standard: うちの子が熊のぬいぐるみだと思って遊んでいたのは本当の子グマだった。危なかったわ！ Romaji: Uchi no ko ga kuma no nuigurumi da to omotte asonde ita noha hontou no koguma datta. Abunakatta wa!

English: Our kid thought he was playing with a teddy bear, but it was actually a live bear cub. What a close call!

（手袋を）履く　(Tebukuro wo) haku

Standard:（手袋を）はめる (tebukuro wo) hameru

English: to put on (gloves)

Winter in Hokkaido is long and cold. Gloves are one of the most essential articles of clothing here, and I have heard/used “haku” so much that “hameru” sounds incorrect to me. The “haku” sounds funny to other Japanese people because it is used for putting on socks, underwear, and pants, and they will imagine you putting socks or panties on your hands instead of gloves. 

Example: 外は寒いから、手袋を履きなさい。 Romaji: Soto ha samui kara, tebukuro wo hakinasai.

Standard: 外は寒いから、手袋をはめなさい。 Romaji: Soto ha samui kara, tebukuro wo hamenasai. 

English: It’s cold out, so put on your gloves. 

めんこい　Menkoi

Standard Japanese: 可愛い kawaii

English: cute

I included this because it’s one of the famous aspects of Hokkaido-ben, but I actually don’t hear it used that much. I tend to see it on souvenir shirts for tourists more than in actual conversations.

Example: この子猫はめっちゃめんこい！ Romaji: Kono koneko ha meccha menkoi!

Standard: この子猫はめっちゃかわいい！ Romaji: Kono koneko ha meccha kawaii!

English: This kitten is super cute!

Note: Even though it is functioning as an adjective and ends with an “i,” it is not an “i” adjective. It is a “na” adjective. 

あずましくない　Azumashikunai

Standard: 居心地が悪い、嫌 igokochi ga warui, iya

English: uncomfortable (surroundings), unpleasant

This is a word that many Hokkaido people use but struggle to explain. Azumashikunai describes any place that you find unpleasant or uncomfortable, maybe due to it being too crowded, or too empty, or because it’s very cramped, for example. 

Example: 日曜日の札幌駅が人混みであずましくない。 Romaji. Nichiyoubi no Sapporo-eki ga hitogomi de azumashikunai.

Standard: 日曜日の札幌駅が人混みで嫌だ。 Romaji: Nichiyoubi no Sapporo-eki ga hitogomi de iya da.

English: Sapporo Station is always crowded on Sundays and I don’t like it.

いずい　Izui

Standard: none

English: different (in a bad way), off-kilter, something is “off”

Hokkaido people really struggle to explain izui because Standard Japanese doesn’t have an equivalent for it, but I think it can be likened to “off” in English. You got something in your eye but can’t find it and your eye feels funny? Your eye is izui. You have a hair in your shirt and can’t find it? That feels izui. Sometimes it can be a mysterious ache not painful enough to warrant a visit to the doctor, or sometimes it can just be a sense that something is “off.” 

Example: 目にゴミが入って、いずい。 Romaji: Me ni gomi ga haitte, izui. 

Standard:目にゴミが入って、痛い。 Romaji: Me ni gomi ga haitte, itai.

English: Something got in my eye and now it feels off. 

汽車　Kisha

Standard: 電車 densha 

English: (train, lit. “steam engine”)

The first time I came to Japan, I could just barely hold down an everyday conversation in Japanese. My hostparents (hostdad especially) both spoke very strong Hokkaido-ben, and during my first meal with them my hostdad asked if I had traveled from the airport to their city by “steam engine,” and I was just baffled. Wait, did he just say locomotive? What year is it? Are steam engines still a thing in Japan?! Then my kind hostmother explained that he meant regular, modern trains. 

Example: すみません、函館ゆきの汽車はいつ出発しますか？ Romaji: Sumimasen, Hakodate-yuki no kisha ha itsu shuppatsu shimasu ka?

Standard: すみません、函館ゆきの電車はいつ出発しますか？ Romaji: Sumimsaen, Hakodate-yuki no densha ha itsu shuppatsu shimasuka?

English: Excuse me, when does the train bound for Hakodate leave the station?

しゃっこい　Shakkoi

Standard: 冷たい Tsumetai

English: Cold

Being the northernmost prefecture and next door to Russia, it’s only natural that Hokkaido-ben have its own word for “cold.” 

Example: このかき氷ってめっちゃしゃっこい！ Romaji; Kono kakigoori tte meccha shakkoi!

Standard: このかき氷ってめっちゃ冷たい！ Romaji: Kono kakigoori tte meccha tsumetai!

English: This shaved ice is super cold!

とうきび　Toukibi

Standard: とうもろこし Toumorokoshi

English: corn

Hokkaido is famous for their sweet corn, and “toukibi” is a word you will hear a lot here as a result. A popular summer snack is corn on the cob with soy sauce and butter, and it’s made just like in the gif above! Japanese people tend to eat it using a toothpick, picking off kernel by kernel. So when I just rocked up, grabbed an ear and started going to town on it, they thought I was a barbarian hahaha.

Example: やっぱり、とうきびに醤油だね！ Romaji: Yappari, toukibi ni shouyu da ne!

Standard: やっぱり、とうもろこしに醤油だね！ Romaji: Yappri, toumorokoshi ni shouyu da ne!

English: Soy sauce really does go good with corn!

なまら　Namara

Standard: とても totemo、結構 kekkou

English: very, super, rather

This word is like “menkoi,” in that it is famous throughout Japan for being Hokkaido-ben, but I rarely hear it in actual conversations. I hear people use it when they are surprised by something. “Namara oishii” has a nuance of “It’s (actually) very tasty.”

Example: 曇ってるけど、今日の天気はなまらいい。 Romaji: Kumotteru kedo, kyou no tenki ha namara ii.

Standard: 曇ってるけど、今日の天気はけっこういい。 Romaji: Kumotteru kedo, kyou no tenki ha kekkou ii.

English: It’s cloudy today, but it’s still pretty good weather.

なんぼ？　Nanbo?

Standard: いくら？ Ikura?

English: How much?

My friend asked me to go get a couple drinks from the convenience store. I came back with a bottle for her and for me and she asked, “Nanbo datta?” I thought that bo was maybe a counter for things, and desperately tried to figure out what we were supposed to be counting. Then she explained that, for whatever reason, “nanbo” means “how much (does something cost)?”

Example: そのお弁当はめっちゃ美味しそう！なんぼだった？ Romaji: Sono obentou ha meccha oishisou! Nanbo datta?

Standard: そのお弁当はめっちゃ美味しそう！いくらだった？ Romaji: Sono obentou ha meccha oishisou! Ikura datta?

English: That bento looks super good! How much was it?

ボケる　Bokeru (for produce)

Standard: 腐る kusaru

English: go bad (produce)

In standard Japanese, “bokeru” means “to go senile” or “to develop dementia/Alzheimer's.” While I wouldn’t say it’s a slur bad enough that it would be bleeped out, it certainly isn’t a kind way to refer to aging. 

So when my host mom told me, “I would give you some apples, but they’re all senile” I had no clue what she was going on about. But then she showed them to me, and they were all wrinkled like this:

Not exactly the most appetizing, but also not entirely rotten. I’m really not sure why Hokkaido-ben likens produce to senility, but if I had to guess, I’d say it’s because pretty much every single person with Alzheimer’s/dementia is wrinkled.

Example: このリンゴはボケてるから、パイでも作ろうか… Romaji: Kono ringo ha boketeru kara, pai demo tsukurou ka...

Standard: このリンゴは腐りかけてるから、パイでも作ろうか… Romaji: Kono ringo ha kusarikaketeru kara, pai demo tsukurou ka...

English: These apples are about to go bad, so I guess I’ll make a pie...

～べ　~be

Standard ～だろう、～でしょう darou, deshou

English: ..., right?

This is probably the most famous aspect of Hokkaido-ben. Japanese people get a real kick out of it when this white girl uses it haha. “~be” is a sentence-ending particle that functions about the same as “darou” or “deshou” in that it:

asserts the speaker’s confidence in the likelihood of something

asks for the listener’s confirmation

This sentence-final particle has its roots in the particle ～べし (~beshi) found in Classical Japanese, which had a similar purpose. Other forms of ~beshi survive in Modern Standard Japanese with the words べき (beki) and すべく (subeku). 

Here are two examples, one for each function ~be fulfills. 

Example 1: 君の飛行機はあと5分に出発するって？間に合わないべ！ Romaji: Kimi no hikouki ha ato 5 fun ni shuppatsu suru tte? Maniawanai be!

Standard: 君の飛行機はあと5分に出発するって？間に合わないでしょう！  Romaji: Kimi no hikouki ha ato 5 fun ni shuppatsu suru tte? Maniawanai deshou!

English: You said your plane takes off in 5 minutes? There’s no way you’ll make it! 

Example 2: このサラダに白菜も入ってたべ？ Romaji: Kono sarada ni hakusai mo haitteta be?

Standard: このサラダに白菜も入ってたでしょう？ Romaji: Kono sarada ni hakusai mo haitteta deshou?

Standard: There was napa cabbage in this salad too, wasn’t there?

～れ　~re

Standard: ～なさい ~nasai

English: imperative command

I really don��t like giving grammar explanations because it’s been a long time since I’ve formally studied Japanese grammar and I’m scared of explaining something poorly or incorrectly. But an upper-elementary level Japanese learner should know that there are many different levels of imperatives in Japanese that vary in politeness. In order of rude to polite, we have:

Imperatives that end in an “e” sound or ろ, as in:

死ね！Shine! Die!

待て！Mate! Wait!

食べろ！Tabero! Eat!

Imperatives that end in tte, te, or de and are not followed by kudasai

死んで Shinde. Die.

待って Matte. Wait.

食べて Tabete. Tabete.

Imperatives that end in nasai. (These are most often used by parents/teachers to their children.)

死になさい Shininasai. Die.

待ちなさい Machinasai. Wait.

食べなさい Tabenasai. Eat.

Imperatives that end in tte, te, or de and have kudasai after them. 

And then there’s super formal Japanese, but that’s a whole other kettle of fish.

Anyways. Back to the Hokkaido-ben. I went to a picnic here with a Japanese friend’s family, and her aunt gave me a plate of food and said, “Tabere!” I knew that this had to be an imperative, but I had never studied it before. It felt like it was the same as the rudest imperative, and I spent the whole rest of the picnic wondering what on earth I had done to have her family speak to me like that. Conventionally, they should have been using the -tte form or -nasai form with me.

After the party, I asked her, “Dude, what’s the ~re stuff for? Do they not like me?” I was close to tears I was so hurt and confused.

And that when she laughed and explained that the ~re is a facet of Hokkaido-ben, and it is the same in politeness and nuance as the ~nasai imperative used by parents and teachers to their children.

So I had spent several hours thinking that her family hated me, when really they were treating me like I was their own child! 

Example: ちゃんと野菜を食べれ！ Romaji: Chanto yasai wo tabere!

Standard: ちゃんと野菜を食べなさい！ Romaji: Chanto yasai wo tabenasai! 

English: Eat all of your vegetables properly.

The End!

This was a monster of a post. There are actually a few more words I wanted to introduce, but I had to cut it off at some point haha. I hope that you enjoyed this segment of Moderately Interesting Japanese. I plan to make more on the other dialects within Japanese, but they will take a considerable amount of time so they won’t be very often. 

Thanks for reading!

[teenagedbiomass]

I arrived several days ago here in Canada. My room is tiny but I have almost the entire basement only for myself. I have relatively few things to do. I usually text my friends and family up until noon and I don’t do anything in the afternoon most of the time✌️😀 But on some days I do a little bit of sports tho; stretching, modern dance and so on.

Sometimes my hostmother gives me things to do: for example, I got a puzzle with van Gogh’s painting Starry Night. It has 300 pcs and I finished it within two days. And I got a ✨DIY diamond art kit✨ but I haven’t really started it yet. And also, my hostmother gifted me a piece of canvas on which I painted a ✨stunning painting✨

(I think that the image with the painting turned out quite aesthetically btw)

[jetrabbut]

I mentioned it on my main blog, but I’m signed up to take the N4 in July. Why the N4 after living here for nearly two years? Well, my guy, I have the self-confidence of a gnat when it comes to grammar, so that’s why. I’m doing it really just to test myself, so there’s no pressure. V & C told me as soon as I came back from vacation that I should sign up like the rest of the cool kids. So yeah, peer pressure working in a good way. A++ My memrise account is anti2ben, and I’ve had wanikani + kaniwani for awhile now. If you have any other suggestions, I’d love to hear them!

[baluva]

Ama-la ❤️

My host mom is leaving for Nepal today. And although I can’t see her off, I want her to know a few things:

Read more after the cut:

I was very eager to have a host family when I went to Nepal in 2007. It wasn’t easy at first - everyone was very shy. And my host mom, Ama-la, and I had the added challenge of a language barrier.

But slowly, we started to get to know each other, despite not being able to speak the same language. There are some things that can’t be translated - like someone’s inherent goodness, their passion, compassion, and .love.

It came through in her actions. How excited she would get when I brought home Fire and Ice pizza (all the way from Thamel to Boudha!). Her lectures - translated by her son - telling me to eat more because I was too skinny. Her remedies for my various maladies. Our struggles to communicate in any way possible because we both wanted to know each other’s histories, stories, interests, lives. The beautiful prayer beads she sent along one year upon request.

And of course, in the Tibetan chupa (dress) she commissioned for me - she selected the colors and material and it was gifted to me upon my return to Nepal. I was incredibly surprised and touched. The beautiful purple color was spot-on and I loved the material (that dress is in the first picture!).

During my last visit to Nepal, I had an undiagnosed chronic disease and the symptoms kept me close to home most of the time. Ama-la and I spent our mornings with her open English book and steaming cups of butter tea, talking and laughing in our contrived mix of English, Tibetan, Nepali, and sign language.

She managed to tell me her life story one morning. It’s not mine to tell and I would love to put it on the blog someday under her terms. But I deeply admire her for her perseverance, her spirit, and her ability to rise above circumstances.

She is a beautiful person inside and out. I am so lucky I won the host family lottery 11 years ago. It’s been a privilege to be her host daughter.

P.S. Ama-la - come to NH next time!! I LOVE YOU.

[nucbfsp]

My host grand mother cooked traditional food which the name is “Roast beef dinner"or"Sunday dinner”. It’s a kind of special British dinner on Sunday. It was sooo delicious😋🍴 My host mother cook dinner everyday so I appreciate her. ・ ・ ・ #nucb #fsp #uk #traditional #british #dinner #hostmother #hostgrandmother #SK

[icelandventure]

Something beautiful

Right this second something beautiful happened, so beautiful it can’t wait till tomorrow.

I got a text from my hostmother saying I should go outside so me and the younger boy went outside. And there they were, the northern lights. Very weak but so beautiful I was so stunned I started jumping and giggling like a little girl.

I also saw them changing to pink but just for the tiniest of seconds.

[halipula-aika]

In German, the verb bekommen means to get something. I got an official email from the Berlin Police telling me to inform them if I become my stolen wallet back.

I myself am a native Finnish speaker, and while I can write English, when speaking I tend to skip "a" and "the" because we just don't do those in Finnish. My dad used sie/seine pronouns for me when talking to my German hostmother. My swedish-speaking cousin usually says 'i like' instead of 'i think' when speaking Finnish, because in Swedish "tycker" means think and in Finnish "tykkää" means like.

i love it actually when nonnative speakers make mistakes that reveal how their native languages work.

lots of koreans online say they "eat" drinks which would assume they only have one word which covers the concept of consumption.

arabic immigrants in sweden (my mother included) have a hard time differentiating between "i think/i believe/my opinion is" which suggests that in arabic these different modalities of speaker agency is treated as one or at least interchangeable.

swedish speakers in english will use should/shall/have to/must with much higher nuance precision than native english speakers, to the point where they sound well awkward, because the distinction between these commands in swedish is much clearer than in english. i make mistakes between is/am/are and has/have constantly because swedish only has one pronoun covering all grammatical persons.

i've heard speakers of languages without gendered pronouns (finnish, the chinese dialects, and a tonne more) make he/she mistakes because it's hard(!!) to learn two or more gendered pronouns and when to use them correctly.

how neat is that?! it add a charm to international english usage in particular and make our appreciation of both our native languages and our learnt ones stronger...!!

[chuck-clenney]

While in Nara, I caught up with my host mom, Kiku Kadowaki, and we ate some Kakinoha (persimmon leaf) sushi, a traditional treat. Since there is no ocean in Nara, the preservation of fish, mainly cured mackerel, was vital. Because the fish was salty, the rice was added and to help the fish keep, the antibacterial properties of the persimmon leaves were added. We had the Horse Mackerel, Chub Mackerel, Salmon, and Sea Bream and I never eat the leaf, but some people do! We came back to Kyoto, but because of the state of emergency, no restaurants were open so we made an insanely delicious gourmet meal made mostly of ingredients from 7/11. #奈良 #奈良町 #柿 #柿の葉寿司 #寿司 #魚 #さば #大和郡山 #ホストマザー #たい #あじ #さけ #美味しい #グルメ #京都駅 #夕陽 #nara #japan #japanese #food #japanesefood #kakinohazushi #sushi #persimmon #leaf #mackerel #sunset #kyoto #station #hostmother❤️ (at 加茂駅) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTPlM5wJxy4/?utm_medium=tumblr

[funkyjeans]

I worked in Himeji right before the pandemic so seeing it again made me really nostalgic. they light it up at night and I would always walk past it after work. Mr Katzen took that pic for me because my phone camera is ass at night.

Also my Hostmother from my time in Japan gifted Mr Katzen a denim Kimono. A Jimono if you will haha

Xoxo Katzen 🐈

oh my godness!!!!!! that's GORGEOUS!!!!!!

im so glad to hear that were able to visit your hostmother!!! it must have been such a fun time for yall omg -- AND she got to meet mr katzen!!!! omgggg

i have a friend who lives in tokyo, and she visited yokohama the other day!! she went on some pokemon cruise -- and i immediately thought of you! maybe that's something that you can catch while yall are there!! :000

and i had absolutely NO idea that denim kimonos existed omg!! id love to see the fit!!!!! did u get a matching one???

much love!!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[seeyousoonus]

Watched frozen 2 with my hostmother and sister and watched the parade in Santa Barbara afterwards 🧡

[marlene-in-estonia-blog]

Today was my birthday.

Tere-tere!

Today was the day many exchange students are afraid of. I was afraid too. It was my first time not being home while having birthday. A very different feeling, but the day was amazing.

I woke up having a big shock: My hostfather connected his phone with the musicbox in my room and turned on a jazzified (?) birthdaysong. Full volume. I nearly shit my pants.

After that, I went downstairs and saw my whole hostfamily with a big smile on their faces waiting for me. They all wished me happy birthday (in estonian of course) and gave me presents and the big package of my natural family.

The next thing I saw, was the big, beautiful cake on the table (pictures follow).

After eating this really healthy breakfast, I went to school, bringing some candy with me, to follow the tradition. Arriving at school, my friends came and gave me hugs and much love. All my classmates also wished me a happy birthday andI gave them candy in exchange. (I love that tradition!!!)

Then there was this moment, in which I had a full conversation in Estonian with one of my classmates. That was amazing. I didn’t understand everything on th first try, but after a repetition, I got everything. I know that it wasn’t that big of a deal for her, but if you read this, that brightened my day even more! (Liis <3)

Before the second lesson my friends gave me their present (pictures follow) and told me, that they will kidnap me to the theater. I love theaters. They told my hostfamily before, so everything was already planned. It felt like a movie.

Even my classteacher gave me a present, mostly because of the presentation I gave on Monday, but still: Nii armas!!!

After school I came home and opened all the presents of my German Family. I think I can feed three families with all the candy I have now.

The evening came and so my hostfather gave me a ride to the theater to my friends, where we watched an amazing play. (It was without language, only mimic, gestic and music.) I fell in love with that play immediately.

Coming out of the building, I saw my hostfamilie’s car driving towards me. When I came in, I realized that everyone was in the car, and that my hostmother brought my laptop with her. They planned a surprisedinner for me and took my laptop with them, so that I could skype my German Family.

It was one of the best days I had so far. Dear future exchange students: don’t be afraid of your birthday. It’s the best.

(I’m sweet sixteen now.)

[teenagedbiomass]

Today is the first day of spring break and of course, my very first action during the break was sleeping in until noon. What a surprise, am I right? Anyways, we went to Robert’s Creek today, it is only about twenty minutes away. It is a small, artsy town. They even have a space next to the beach where inhabitants and visitors can paint a small spot on the floor every year, but this year they didn’t allow it because of COVID. All in all, that town is really colourful.

This is the painting space for people to paint on. My hostmother said that her and my hostsister went there every year for a couple years but now their thing is painted over. We ate our lunch, sitting on nearby benches. I had some Chinese veggie noodles.

We went to a playground back in Sechelt after, but I didn’t take any pictures there.

When we were back “home”, my hostsister and I took a short walk along the street to the “duck pond” which is just down the street. We also looked for a short way to the beach but unfortunately we couldn’t find one.

This is the duck pond and as you can see, it is in a corner of two streets meeting and it’s very close to the family’s home. We fed the ducks with a mix of seeds.

When we got home again later on, we just went on the trampoline for another thirty minutes.

Here are two pictures of the view from my street because why not. Just to brighten up your day [and because I love amazing views]

[andersargentina]

Speaking of spirit (in my last post): I just came back from my first Argentinian football match with my hostmother, Marisa, she lives but one block away from Estadio Diego Armando Maradona. So we went and the first thing I recognize as different from what I am used to is that there are no seats, just a staircase of concrete, not thinking too much about it I sit and wait for the game to begin. Once the game started; however, it made sense because no one was sitting down for the entire game. Also, I am very used to chanting along with the songs of my team, and even though I had no clue what was being said I got caught by the moment and tried my best to keep up with the other 20.000 Spanish-singing fans. What I wasn't prepared for, but happily surprised by the fans energy; the chanting and dancing for 95 out of 90 minutes with the same level of energy all the way - with sugar on top when our team scored. And so they did. Five minutes before this video and 75 minutes into the game: Argentinos Juniors got a 1-0 lead against Racing Club (and almost killing half the fans from nearly falling down the concrete staircase because of pure excitement.) Second goal: overwhelmed, happy, jumping, screaming, hugging Marisa and various bare chested men; another chant broke out and one I was confident in singing along to: "Argentinos!" Now I am determined on learning all the chants by heart, getting a team shirt, and becoming a part of the neighborhood - as the football culture here in Argentina isn't just about sport, but social identity. And as the Argentinos Jrs. chant go: "Yo soy del Barrio la Paternal" - I am from the neighborhood Paternal.