One of the greatest experience for every one studying abroad was to get a chance to interact with people from different backgrounds,
such as language and culture. Fortunately, Momoyama Gakuin Universty provided all international students a home-stay program to enable them to achieve such things. I was one of the international students that joined the program. Living with my home-stay family was very wonderful. I
enjoyed every single moment with them day by day.
The family welcomed me in the first night with a very delicious dinner. My home-stay family and I ate okonomiyaki. Takuto, the son of the family, cooked it for us. At first, I was worried about the taste, because I did not believe that he could cook very well. When I tried one bite of it; however, it tasted very delicious. I had never tasted such delicious okonomiyaki before. In fact, I could not stop eating okonomiyaki until I finished my fifth portion. Actually, I wanted to continue eating it, but I thought that it would be very embarrassing. After dinner, we watched television together in the living room. Moreover, we also shared our experiences. I told them a little bit about Indonesia, such as Bali, Surabaya, Jakarta, and Yogyakarta. I told them what to do, where to stay, and when to visit those cities. It seemed that my family really liked geography so much, because they checked on the atlas every single place that came out from my mouth. I really enjoyed telling them about Indonesia, because they listened to me so attentively as if they would like to go to Indonesia some day.
In addition, I went to Kishiwada
castle with my home-stay family in the second day. They told me that the castle was more beautiful that Osaka castle, and they liked to go there instead of going to Osaka castle. Kishiwada is very near to Izumi city. It did not take too long to get to the castle. We took pictures in front of the castle, as it was forbidden to take pictures inside the building. The entrance fee was not expensive; it cost 300 yen only. After walking around outside and inside the castle, we went to Bayside Mall. I really loved the scenery that I could see from the mall, because it was very beautiful. I could see the port and the bridge which crossed over one road to the other. I took several pictures of it. However, I did not buy anything in that mall, since I thought that I did not need new apparels. Finished with shopping (my family shopped several things, such as sunglass and shoes), we drove home, and had dinner. We had Nabe for dinner. It was very good, and the portion was very big. Moreover, I really loved the dessert. We had a chocolate cake for dessert. It was very rich and sweet. After finished eating dinner, I played with the dog. His name was Knight, but my home-stay family called him in Japanese tongue, “Naito”. He was very intelligent so that he could do anything commanded to perform.
In the following day, I cooked Nasi Goreng for lunch. The whole family helped me to make it, such as slicing the onion, cutting the chicken meat, preparing all the ingredients needed. It seemed that they were really curious about cooking Indonesian food. Having finished cooking, we ate Nasi Goreng together. I asked them whether it was good or not, and they told me that it was oishii, but it was a little bit spicy for them. I was glad that they enjoyed it. After that, we went to karaoke together. I was a little bit disappointed, because I could not find Indonesian songs. There were Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Philippines songs. However, I sang some English songs that I knew, and they told me that I have got beautiful voice. I was flattered at that moment. In the evening, Mr. Miura cooked Japanese fried rice in order to let me understand the difference between Indonesian fried rice and the Japanese one. He was very good at cooking so that he could cook and create original recipe by his imagination only. I really enjoyed eating foods that he cooked.
The most thing I liked was the last dinner with my home-stay family. Mr. Miura cooked steak, fried chicken wings, and corn soup. They tasted very delicious and original, because he created the recipe himself. Having enjoyed the dinner, I said to him that I should like to taste more recipe that he had created, because they must be very delicious. We took pictures together just before I left the house. They told me to visit them anytime I want, because they would surely welcome me.
I reminisced my experience living with them, and I found out that it would be an unforgettable moment in my life while living in Japan. I would miss that moment in my life.