#ywep

This is honestly the first chance I’ve had to write a real blog post, and even still, it is not going to be as in-depth as I’d like it to be. `Perhaps I will find time soon to go back and add to it, but honestly it’s the 2nd week already and I haven’t found any time until now (when I should be sleeping), so I can’t make any promises.

My host family last week was wonderful. I was nervous at first, because I was told that I would be living with my host grandmother, and I wasn’t sure how well we’d communicate, or if she’d be a strict woman, but she’s such a lively, happy, genki, kind woman and it was so fun talking to her. I also ended up doing this weeks homestay with another intern/small group leader from Wellesley, Mika, who I didn’t know at first but now I definitely know her and she’s great (and if you’re reading this Mika HI YOU’RE THE BEST). Although my host sister has two older brothers and a father, my first homestay experience mainly consisted of my host grandmother, mother, sister (Mako), myself, and Mika. All women, which is pretty natural for a Smithie like me ;)

Mako is a little quiet and shy at first, but she is seriously so snarky and funny and adorable; even with a slight language gap, we got along swimmingly. She absolutely crushed me at playing the wii multiple times (I’m gonna rematch her the next time we meet, though. So if anyone has a wii they want to lend me, )that’d be great cuz I need to get my training montage on.) 

[There’s Mako, relentlessly dragging Mii through the dirt] Mako’s mother is a gigantic sweetheart. Seriously, she is so kind and understanding and helpful. I couldn’t have asked for a better first week homestay, and a better friend to experience them with. The host-family aspect was perfect; the only possible flaw I can think of is that it only lasted a week. 

The Young-Womens’ Empowerment Program, however, was not without its flaws. That’s not to say it wasn’t a good first week; I just mean that there were some surprises and some obstacles to overcome (but, as we like to say, we turn problems and obstacles into opportunities ;) .) I found myself getting out of my comfort zone a few times, and doubting my skills as a leader. I am not a teacher, I know that, but even leading a small group of four or five is difficult, especially when doing so in a language that is foreign to your students. I totally appreciated what teachers do every day even more after those first few days. The program was full of long, awkward silences, that I am learning to embrace and use to my own, as well as the students’ advantage, small victories, surprises, improvisation, and often times a lot of faking-it-till-I-make it.

 I frequently wondered if we were making a difference in the some 35 students’ lives, but on the final day of the program, while we were saying goodbye to our students, I realized how sad many of them were that the program was ending, and how sad I was to have to say goodbye to so many of the brilliant young women I had come to know over those five days. Their messages on Line, facebook, and email, many of which state that they “want to be strong women” or that they “feel empowered and want to help empower other women” clearly show me that the program has done its job.  After the YWEP week ended, we got to sleep in on Satruday, which was very necessary. In the evening, Mika, Mako, and I went to a Natsu Matsuri, or Summer Festival. If anyone has been to one of the summer Feasts in the North End, picture that, but with Japanese culture replacing Italian. There were tons of amazing Japanese food, music, and games, and the weather was lovely. Mako’s grandmother insisted we were Yukata to the event, and I felt much more comfortable sharing in my host family’s culture and using their clothing than I did during our orientation weekend, in which the whole group of us were made to a store, got dressed up in Yukata, and paraded around in Asakusa while people (tourists and Japanese locals) photographed us. At the Natsu Matsuri, there was much less inner dialogue about my potential, involuntary, cultural appropriation, and much more comfort in the fun I was having with my friends.