and now there are 6

Monday 6th July
School until about lunch time, that’s how it will be for the rest of term as well, we only have 3 classes a day now, well I have 2, English and maths, but they also have Kokugo (Japanese). Because of when the trains come and matching up times where I have to change trains I had a while to wait today, because I had stayed at school a little longer than need be to talk with some people trying to arrange things for when my family are here. So I went for a walk to the park in this time and boy have the cygnets grown in the last week and a bit since my last wander to the park! They are actually starting to look like swans now not just ugly ducklings. So then home it was and I didn’t get up to much it was mostly waiting, and waiting.

Waiting for what you ask? Waiting for Yoshi. Yoshi is my host brother, he returned today from a year’s exchange on the sunny coast, in the same rotary district that I come from, I met him almost a year ago at the first rotary orientation I went to, and from that day we have been good friends, I will never forget my first conversation with him, he had only been in Australia less than a week, and his English wasn’t great, or maybe it was and he was just really nervous, I know that my Japanese appeared to be a lot worse than it was when I got here because I was just nervous about it, nor will I forget the fact that he very excitedly told me I was coming to Takaoka and would be staying with his family before I actually got told by rotary. Anyway he hadn’t been in Australia long he I'm pretty sure he slept through most of that orientation weekend, well at least when we were being spoken to but I remember several conversations with him, in bits and pieces of broken English and Japanese. Sunshine safari again has many happy memories of times with Yoshi and all the other exchange students, by then his English was very good, and he spent a lot of time on the various bus rides helping me with my Japanese. The last time I saw him was at Australia zoo, when a group of us exchange students went together, saying goodbye then was almost as weird as saying hello again tonight. At that point we knew that I would be living with his family at this time, the time that he returned to Japan and so it was weird saying goodbye to a friend knowing that the next time I would see him he would be my host brother. Do you have any idea how weird it is to say welcome home to someone whose house you have been living in for 2 months, yet they haven’t been in for a year?
Waiting for him to get home today was weird, how much would he have changed since I last saw him, how much have I changed? Today has very much been an eye opener to what I will be facing in 6 months time, my return to Australia. In some ways it feels wrong being here tonight and that is why for once I am actually writing an entry the day that it is about, it feels wrong being here and spending time talking to him when his grandparents are downstairs and he hasn’t seen them in 12 months. Yet I feel honored that I am here, this family could have quiet easily said that it didn’t suit for me to be here now that Yoshi is home, and again I feel bad about that as I am in Yoshi’s room and he is now on a mattress in his mums room.
I got to watch as Yoshi and Ojisan (granddad) prayed to their gods at both the shrine and temple in our house, and then as Yoshi “unpacked” by which I mean he spread his stuff pretty much all over the living area down stairs. I was very surprised that he had a present for me, as with the rest of the family, and although you may be thinking but its something Australian why would you care so much, well what is was is an Aussie homesick pack, has some gum leaves, Billy tea, vegemite, a little flag, a match a badge with Aussie animals on it ect.
In hole a good day. I'm looking forward to catching up with Yoshi more and also just having the experience of living with a brother, and a house of 6! that should explain the post title, also applys to the fact that i now have been here 6 months, and have 6 months, left, also ironically its the 6th today!