Ok, so sorry that I haven’t updated in forever…very busy here!  Very fun!  I’ve divided this into sections so you can follow it easier!

Arrival/Plane-  This took a LONG time.  Both flights were very boring.  MN to MI isn’t really memorable, just a run-of-the-mill flight with me reading and playing my DS.  Detroit airport was pretty big, but Danny and I found the gate and waited ‘n stuff.  I was glad I wasn’t flying alone!  It’s always good to have a friend to confer with.  Flying to Osaka was, as you could *probably* image a 14 hour flight being, very boring.  My laptop had no room to fit between the seats with the other stuff, so that was one form of entertainment gone.  DS was VERY helpful.  Watched a few movies on the plane, tried to sleep and did for a nice chunk of it….uneventful.  It was AMAZING seeing the ocean before I saw Japan, as I could see huge oriental ships sailing around, my first real view of the culture.  Airport was HOT with no air conditioning, and one of my bags was lost.   It was recovered about 4 days later, which was a huge relief as many of my electronic chargers were in there, along with most of my clothes.  But everything’s good now!  My Rotary Club/Host Family was waiting for me right outside customs with a big Banner that said “Welcome to Japan Paul Franz”!  I was like “wow”.  heh, but that night is a blur since I was dead tired.  Had some Japanese food for dinner at the airport which was…interesting and rather spicy, not too bad.

Host Family-  I like my host family A LOT, and I think God really blessed me.  I fit in really well, get along with my siblings, and they’re not way strict but not unattentive…it’s awesome.  Perfect.  They also always stock my favorite ice cream treat here and Diet Coke after they found out it was my favorite drink.  High speed wireless internet from my room, yeah, life is good here!

School- I’ve successfully completed a week of school here!  I *do* have friends, everyone’s really nice!  Lots of people say “Hi” and “Bye” when I’m coming to/leaving school, so I feel special =)  I don’t like the actual school part much, as I can’t understand much of anything in the classroom.  Math, Biology, English, and PE are the best classes for me to at least semi-know what’s going in the first two and understand the latter two.  Teachers usually don’t give me anything and hand hand-outs to the person behind me in the row, so I really haven’t gotten any homework yet.  Not complaining there.  It is really hard to sit through a class for 50 minutes and have nothing to do…so it’s not really that great.  But friends make it fun =)

Places- I got to go to ExpoLand Amusement park which was very fun!  Two best roller coasters I’ve ever been on there!  One was the “inverted” type and one was the kind where you actually are buckled in standing, pretty extreme.  I’ve also gotten to go to Osaka Castle, very historic and fun and also the Osaka Historical Museum.  Both were really cool to go to, and taught me a lot about Japan and Osaka’s history.  Mt. Maya was Sunday’s adventure, hiking like 57 km or something took a VERY long time and it was VERY hot and I was VERY tired.  But the nature was amazing.  Right out of National Geographic honestly.

Troubles-  The only trouble I have right now is my swim uniform, which is basically really small spandex underwear.  It’s ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE!  I dun’t want to wear it…but coming up on Friday…ahhhh.  Everyone else wears one, so when I finally have to wear it, I won’t stick out in my “American” swim shorts.  The boys here are also anorexic, which makes me, a “normal guy” stand out horribly.  I have a BMI of 22, which isn’t bad.  Guys here are only a few inches shorter than me and average weight is 110lbs.  They’re skinnier than the girls in my opinion.  There goes eating for the next month…heh.

Anyways, I’m having a GREAT TIME HERE and sorry I didn’t update sooner!  I miss my family and friends, but am not homesick, and fit in here great =]

~Paul