明けましておめでとう

The Lucky Ones- Brendan James
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_qSuVCOTQc

Life- Beckah Shae
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8EpFKN1q6Q

I Believe- Honey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29NgBfM8hKo

明けましておめでとう (Akemashiteomedeto- Happy New Year)! Also, a quick Happy Birthday to my Grandma!

This week has been full of cleaning, building up to the New Year. The Japanese do this as a way to start the new year fresh and clean. Today I spent several hours, like my host family, organizing. The house has been cleaned, dirt wise, but today we had to organize papers and such to see what we actually want to keep or get rid of.

My host mom has also been preparing a lot of traditional and symbolic food (I will have to blog about this in my next post as I haven't actually seen this food yet).

Looking back on 2012 I have to say it was a pretty eventful and successful year. Starting first and foremost with my excitement about coming to Japan (I found out about it right before Christmas but the excitement lasted for awhile... as in I am still super excited to be here!). I also had a great year with my Robotics team, turned 18, attended my first and only prom, played ultimate frisbee, dislocated my knee, and graduated high school. Then the fun continued into a great summer spent with family, friends, and my wonderful nannying job. In August I packed my bags and came to Japan where I have been on a major adventure ever since.

I have already experienced so much this year. I have had great moments and also terrible lows but that's all part of the exchange- and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I now have two families that I love (one biological and one host) and I have made a lot of new friends. I think that my goals for 2013 are to continue to build these relationships, experience anything and everything that I can, and continue to work at learning and understanding the language.

Then in June I will return home, work, then go off to college in the fall. It is a strange feeling thinking about my return date... I still have quite a few months to enjoy Japan but the date seems to be approaching at a scary fast pace.

I have to say thank you to my family and friends for all of their love and support this year and a huge thank you to Rotary for making this big part of my year possible.

Sayonara from Osaka, Japan.