I'm going to japan on foreign exchange?

Question:

I'm fifteen and it will be for a month. I can speak japanese fluently and I'm completely literate. I will be stayong with a host family. Any advice or important experiences from your trip to japan?

Answer:

I'm 14, and I was born there and go back every year. If you are both fluent and literate, this will be easy for you! I can barely read (only hiragana/katakana) so that was hard for me. Otherwise, everyone is very kind, helpful, and polite. You will rarely get any kind of attitude or rudeness.

Actually, I was just there a couple days ago. When I came back, I was kind of reverse-homesick, like I wanted to go back. You will feel homesick when you get there, but you will start to appreciate it within a week or so.

The food is delicious. If you don't like traditional japanese food, japan is becoming pretty westernized, so you can find pretty much any kind of food at the supermarkets.

If you're going to be going to a school, there are a lot of weird customs that you won't be used to. You might have to take off your "outdoor" shoes when you go inside and put on "indoor" shoes. You will have to clean at the end of the day. Expect some other things that you're not used to!

When you're at a store, like if you go to the mall and try some clothes on, take off your shoes before you go into the dressing room.

In general, be cautious and aware of customs. Make sure you're very polite, and watch what other people are doing so you don't feel like an idiot!