Memoirs of a YFU ‘gakusei’   

To be 16 and hungry for a once-in-a-lifetime adventure is a perfect way to start the year 2006. It’s been nearly seven months since I, a student of De La Salle Zobel, and my fellow Youth for Understanding (YFU) delegates – Jika Regala of Philippine High School for the Arts, Nichole Reyes of Assumption Antipolo, Ena Garcia of Colegio de San Lorenzo Quezon City, and Vianne Torres of Parañaque Science High School – left for Japan (Nihon, as the Japanese call it) to participate in a month-long fellowship program. I remember feeling psyched out by the prospect of living in a foreign country alone for 27 days, armed only with 20 kilos of luggage, the most basic Nihonggo, and a yearning for one hell of an adventure. But it is true what they say – time flies, especially when you’re having a blast.

At exactly 4 a.m. of January 19, I woke up with a big grin on my face. I wasn’t able to sleep much the night before because of what seemed like endless packing, loads of reminders, and my adrenaline running in overdrive. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel sleepy at all in the car, as my mom and dad drove me to NAIA. I was wide awake, visualizing myself splurging on Mangas, eating my all-time favorite tempura, and going to school wearing those cute Japanese uniforms! I remember telling myself: "That’s the life!"

At around 5:30 a.m., we said our goodbyes to our teary-eyed parents, our dear Tita Emy Celi and Tita Leny Gatchalian of YFU Philippines, who were both at the airport earlier than us to see us off. My mom and dad gave me one long, warm hug, reminding me for the last time to always pray. We entered the airport feeling overwhelmed that after months of preparation, we were finally going to experience the real deal. This was it!

The five- to six-hour flight to Japan seemed like a million years to me. We tried to entertain ourselves by doing what we all do best – chatting. We did everything we could to banish the feeling of boredom and anxiety.

About an hour or two before landing, a flight attendant distributed an entry/exit form to be filled out. I had never filled out a form like this in my life. It was usually my mom or big sister who did it for me. Since it was the first time any of us had traveled alone, we ended up partially copying each other’s forms, praying hard that we didn’t get deported. The last thing we wanted to do was to screw up legal matters. Upon seeing the seatbelt sign go off, I was ready to jump off the plane. Arriving at Narita airport, we felt lost as all the signs were written in Japanese characters. Fortunately, we managed to spot a few familiar words.

We spent our first four days in Tokyo at the National Olympic Youth Memorial Center where we studied "survival Nihonggo." Keiko Enatsu, head of YFU Japan, welcomed us with a big smile on her face. I felt as if she was even more excited for us than we were for ourselves. She gave us a rundown of what was in store over the next 26 days. Mr. Kobayashi, a member of YFU Japan, showed us around and informed us of the house rules, which basically boiled down to "Guys, BEHAVE!" My room was quite Spartan: It had two beds, a cabinet, a chair and a table. We had assigned room arrangements. I was paired up with Ena while Jika, Vianne and Nichole stayed together in another room. For the next three days, we were taught how to introduce ourselves in Nihonggo, both formally and informally. The class was divided into Swiss and Filipino groups. It was nerve-wracking at first, like it was the first day of regular classes, but as the days wore on, I felt somewhat at home with a foreign language. I felt more confident not only of my Nihonggo speaking skills but also of myself. Every day was a challenge – a challenge to learn Nihonggo, to be independent, to use the public washroom! But I felt so blessed to be around such amazing people every day. The five of us were practically glued together. I didn’t really miss my parents that much because, quite frankly, I didn’t feel lonely at all. I had my friends and my YFU family with me. Every night, we studied either out in the freezing cold, wearing our pajamas, or inside the building eating and chatting the night away. No curfew whatsoever!

Then, on our third day, at 6:30 a.m., my roommate Ena roused me from bed with a hint of urgency in her voice. It was snowing! We grabbed our winter coats, slipped into our rubber shoes, and excitedly ran into the open air. It was so beautiful! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! The sky was still quite dark while the snow fell like streaks of light. On our way to breakfast, the snow began to thicken. According to Ms. Hakone, our Nihonggo teacher, when the snow becomes two meters thick, we can already slice it with a knife. Before classes started, we fooled around in the snow like kindergarten kids. We held snowballs in our bare, near-frozen hands and threw them at each other, running around and posing excitedly for pictures. Embarrassingly, I slipped two times, landing on my back. Nonetheless, it was all good!

After classes, our Nihonggo teachers toured us around Asaksa. Strangely, there was no bus that waited for us. I didn’t know if it was part of the adventure or if they were just torturing us, but we had to walk to reach most of our destinations. Thank God for the trains, teeming with people in business suits reading Manga comics. Gratefully, we were able to squeeze in. We managed to go back to the center in one piece. As the five of us Pinoys nearly froze to death, the five Swiss delegates appeared unmindful of the weather. After all, they come from Switzerland’s winter wonderland. The tour gave us an opportunity to bond with our Swiss brothers as well. I remember one of the Swiss delegates, Annina Jacky, attempting to say "I’m hungry" in Filipino. She had quite a thick American accent as she was an exchange student in the US for a year. For my part, I tried to say thank you in Swiss but only ended up making a fool of myself. The day was coming to an end and I tried as hard as I could to describe everything that happened to me in my journal. The following day, we had to say farewell to one another. I felt miserable and sad for I knew it would be a long time before we saw one another again. Most of us, whose foster families lived nearby, stayed in a convention room, waiting excitedly for our foster families. One by one, we introduced ourselves to the people who would serve as our family for our remaining days in Japan. We hugged each other for the last time and wished each other good luck. I guess the real adventure was just about to begin, but I wasn’t so sure if I was ready for it.

The first day in my foster family’s home was nothing like I envisioned. Their house was not exactly a typical Japanese home. Maiko Suwa, my foster sister, picked me up from the center together with their area representative. From the center, we took a one- to two-hour train ride to her place in Yokohama-shi. The houses in her area seemed westernized. They reminded me of the homes in Canada (I went there when I was only seven to visit an aunt with my whole family), but smaller. I was afraid to step into the Suwa house because a four-legged creature was restlessly waiting for me behind the door. My foster family had a black, almost 36-inch-long housedog named Ringo. I am petrified of dogs and cats! But still, I agreed to stay with this family with this Labrador because I wanted to face my fears. So much for facing my fears, though, for the next thing I remember, I was running around in circles as my foster brother tried to hold off Ringo from approaching me. I looked pathetic – I wanted to scream for my Mommy like a six-year-old. Maiko escorted me to her room, which became my official room as well. She showed me photos of when she was also a YFU exchange student in the Philippines for a year. I guess we instantly clicked; however, even if I felt comfortable with her, I still felt alone and homesick. For starters, my foster mother Mari Suwa and grandfather Tohru Okubo were both in Chiba while my foster father Mitsuru Suwa had to go to an urgent meeting. My foster brother Shun was busy burying his nose in his books. To make matters worse, there was a black four-legged creature barking behind the door of my room. Still, it was an experience I wouldn’t trade for the world.

The following day, I had to attend regular classes. Maiko informed me that I was scheduled to introduce myself in front of the whole teacher faculty in Nihonggo! I didn’t think they’d actually bother meeting a 16-year-old exchange student. We woke up at 6:30 a.m., dressed up and took a 50-minute train ride to my foster sister’s school. Boy, I was getting used to riding trains and getting sandwiched in the process. We passed by the ever-reliable 7-Eleven for breakfast, where we bought tonkatsu sandwiches that cost around 400 yen. Maiko studied at Kanagawa Soh Goh High School, a public school in Japan. It wasn’t your typical public school. Actually, it didn’t even look like one. It had 10 floors, each floor housing a different department. The walls were colorfully painted in pink, green and yellow. The school had elevators at every wing. I wished my school in the Philippines looked like that! Maybe I’d enjoy studying more if my environment was that beguiling. It was the first day of regular classes and Maiko’s adviser led me to the faculty room where they had my bio-data circulated. My big, chubby face was plastered on every sheet – I felt like I was on a "Wanted: Dead or Alive" poster. My introduction didn’t go as smoothly as I expected. Let’s just say I interchanged the use of some Japanese words. Maiko’s school offered other foreign language lessons such as German and Spanish. I had a chance to attend classes in Spanish, which strangely sounded more familiar to me than English. Maiko introduced me to all of her tomodachi (or friends). Basically, I had to introduce myself and the Philippines every day in each class. When my okasan (mother) got back from her trip, she prepared a bento box every day as my baon for school. I always finished my food down to the last morsel, which really pleased my foster mom.

So, how did I find Japanese fashion? I always felt out of date when it came to fashion and being in Japan made me feel even more behind the times. Though it was the dead of winter, most of the people my age wore mini-skirts, high-heeled shoes and colorful jackets. I, on the other hand, always wore a winter coat, denim pants, and rubber shoes. Simply put, I was a fashion calamity compared to everyone else’s style. Everywhere you looked, you’d see a colorful fashion parade. Say hai to Japanese fashion!

Did I miss my Catholic Sunday obligation in Japan? Luckily, my grandfather was also a Catholic. Sundays, I’d accompany him to Mass. As expected, the church was full of Filipinos. Being the only two Catholics in the family, my grandfather and I established a special bond. Sunday mornings made me feel closer to home.

Most of the time, my family and I ate a very late dinner at 11 p.m. and I took a bath at 12 a.m., but it was something I easily adjusted to.

Maiko, who was only 17, was frequently at work. Kids her age usually work after school hours. During her free time, she’d take me to the mall, but unfortunately, I could only stare at and admire the clothes as they were so pricey!

After school, it was usually me and dear Ringo alone in the house. Because of that, I had no choice but to bond with the gal. Surprisingly, I found myself enjoying her ever-playful company.

My dad lived a hectic lifestyle. I’d see him mostly on Sundays. He wanted to take me to lunch in Tokyo – just the two of us – but we were late and got stuck in the freezing weather, hunting for his nowhere-to-be-found car. He was rather funny, quite unlike most stern Japanese fathers.

My foster mom was a regular housewife. Ironically, she was rarely at home. She was always on the move, doing community service. She introduced me to her friends, who greeted me warmly. Once, she took me to her best friend’s house for a tea ceremony just so I’d know the reason for its popularity, Afterwards, Erika, her friend, taught me how to make a creamy baked cheesecake. I ended up getting the biggest slice of one of the best cheesecakes I had ever tasted. Oh, the perks of being an exchange student!

Shun, my foster brother, was quite reserved. He was athletic and, like Maiko, worked hard every day. I guess you could say it runs in the family. Though 27 days just weren’t enough to really know each other well, I still felt like he was the brother I never had. He was my kuya.

Days before I left, Maiko gave me the biggest surprise that made me love her even more. She invited me to Tokyo Disneyland! Upon seeing the huge, almost fairytale-like landscape from afar, my heart began to skip a beat. I had always dreamt of visiting Tokyo Disneyland. It was certainly a dream come true for me. I posed everywhere I could. I even bought an overpriced Minnie Mouse headband, but I didn’t care at all. I felt like I was sucked into another dimension. At the end of the day, I splurged on seven cans of cookies for my family back home. I forgot all about the baggage limit so I ended up having a difficult time packing.

From feeling extremely homesick to plain homesick to beginning to have fun to having a blast, the YFU experience had been an unforgettable one. It helped me grow as a person, and I don’t mean around the waist or hips. Though I was asked to talk in front of people several times in Japan, I still feel nervous now when I’m placed in the spotlight. But now, though I feel a certain tinge of nervousness, I am 100-percent sure that I can do it. As Robert Frost wrote in his poem "The Road Not Taken": "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference."

Hai!

* * *

For YFU short-term program scholarships to Japan, call YFU/Philippines at 731-8780 and 415-2919.