My experience in Sakaide was one that I will cherish forever. It was the first time that I had ever traveled out of the country and I hope it will not be my last. What made this trip so special to me was that for the whole trip I felt like I was still at home. My host family was very inviting and I am thankful for that. I hope that if I ever get to travel back to Japan that I will get the chance to visit them again. It was not just my host family that was nice. I will say wherever I went, whether it was the beach, the mall or to a restaurant, everyone was welcoming. The one thing that was challenging for me was the language barrier between me and most people I talked to. Only one of the kids in my host family could speak English and even then he could only form a few sentences. I will say that it was my fault because I didn’t take as much time as I should have to learn the language, but I did try to find other ways to communicate.
