More than I imagined

I applied to this program with the goal of meeting and seeing how things functions behind the scenes of a Japanese household. I had been to Japan as a tourist before in several places and met a lot of people so I would say I knew my way around things and how to behave etc as there are a lot of customs to follow. So the goal of participating in this program was to see and experience first hand what I would not be able to as a tourist among the masses. I can definitely say that what I experienced was above and beyond. I got to meet three different families and staying with them was a blast. I got to know the families well by spending a lot of time with them during my stay and I appreciate the time we were given to socialize with our host families and it didn't feel stressed. It made me glad that the families had the same interest in making the exchange beneficial for both parties involved.

I highly recommend knowing some japanese to enhance the experience but your best interest in learning comes a long way. There is going to be some language barrier, I do not speak japanese fluently but I still had an awesome time even though I feel that if I go back I would like to know more japanese.

During the daytime we participated in different activities and got to interact with the local community which enabled us to get a different view of Japan. I can highly recommend anyone to join this program if you're curious to know about the culture in Japan, even if you've been to to Japan before or not it's going to give you a big insight into the daily life of japanese people.