REPORT ON JAPAN HOMESTAY BATCH 27 BY MUHAMMAD NABIL LANANG ALIMAN

MUHAMMAD NABIL LANANG BIN ALIMAN JAPAN HOMESTAY BATCH 27

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REPORT FOR

JAPAN HOMESTAY

MUHAMMAD NABIL LANANG BIN ALIMAN MRSM Pontian Batch 27 / January 2012 Tokyo, Japan


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

First of all, I wish to express my gratitude to Allah SWT for His

guidance and also for granting me the strength and good health

throughout the homestay program (9 January – 19 January 2012).

Alhamdulillah.

I would like to thank my parents for financially

supporting and providing me with the opportunity to be

where I am. Without them, none of this would be

possible. They have raised me up to be a proactive, caring

member of society, and to treat others with kindness and respect.

Also not forgotten to my host family, Tsutsumi-san, for giving me such a good hospitality and

treating me as part of the family. My host family are wonderful. They made me feel very

welcome in their home, and planned a week full of wonderful activities for me.

My deepest thanks and gratitude go to the coordinator of Japan Batch

Homestay 27, Muhammad Khairul bin Mahidin for guiding us

throughout the program.

Any attempt at any level cannot be satisfactorily completed without

the support and guidance of my friends who helped me a lot in

gathering different information, collecting data and guiding me from time

to time in making this report.

Last but not least, I am very thankful to everyone who all supported me, for I have

completed my report effectively and moreover on time.


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INTRODUCTION

Hiroshima International Club (www.hiroshimainternational.com)

The Club was registered on 28th November 2008 with the Registrar of Society (ROS) and has

sustained development until today. The club was appointed by the Ministry of Education

Malaysia to conduct official International and Local Homestay Program due to their technical

know-how and vast experience in managing student, teachers and government servant. Up to

date, the club has managed to successfully conduct more than 20 batches of Homestay program

in Japan, Australia and UK. In the near future, the club is planning to expand the program to

New Zealand and Germany.

In the homestay program, young people from outside Japan can stay in Japanese homes

for a few days. They will be able to meet Japanese people in an informal environment while


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spending time with them as a member of the family. It also means that the host family gains an

access to a new culture through their young guest.

All host families are carefully selected, and most have some English ability. Families host

because they are interested in sharing their lives with a new family member. The Japanese hosts

are members of the Hippo Family Club; an organization they have joined in order to learn

languages and meet people from around the world.

Before meeting up with my host family, I had already received a very nice mail from the

club as well as a picture of my host family, but still I was pretty nervous as to whether I would

like them or vice versa. Fortunately all worries were quickly washed away as the whole family

turned out to be very, very nice. My host family always took good care of me, cooked great food,

introduced me to their families and friends and took me out for interesting trips. I loved to play

games with my baby brothers. They made my stay in Tokyo enjoyable and helped me learn not

only more about Japanese language but also the Japanese culture and their family life.

My Details:

Muhammad Nabil Lanang bin Aliman

MRSM Pontian

Diploma in Nautical Studies, Akademi Laut Malaysia (ALAM)

[email protected]

Program Coordinator:

Muhammad Khairul Bin Mahidin

Has years of experience in coordinating this program

Participants called him sensei (teacher)

Participants:

7 boys and 11 girls

17 years old

All participants had just finished their studies in secondary school


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KAZOKU – MY FAMILY

1) Foster Father (Otosan)

Tsutsumi Kentaro

Public employee

Love gardening

2) Foster Mother (Okasan)

Tsutsumi Mamiko

Housewife

Enjoy having Japanese teatime

3) Foster Brothers (Ototo)

Tsutsumi Kensei (6 years old)

Tsutsumi Kazuma (2 years old)

4) Email : [email protected]


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ORIENTATION

To be in another country, we should keep ourselves well prepared with some knowledge

of what to expect and ideas about the country we are heading to. During the orientation, we were

briefed about the Japanese culture, their daily live activities, some basic words and greetings,

religious matter, dos and don’ts and et cetera.

The activities were as follow:

Parents briefing

Ice breaking

Games

Report task

Travel plan briefing

Nihongo (Japanese language) crash

course


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FIRST DAY

My watch showed 6.40 am when the plane touched the Narita Airport. (Japan is an hour

ahead of Malaysia). Farhana, whose foster family stayed near the airport, went first to be with

her family. The rest kept on moving after saying goodbye to her. We went to Chiba by bus.

Before we proceeded to the undersea tunnel, we stopped by at an island. The artificial island is

known as Umihotaru and the highway project goes by the name of Tokyo Aqua-Line, combining

central Tokyo with southern Chiba prefecture. Umihotaru is a parking and rest area which was

designed as a tourist attraction jutting out from the waters of Tokyo Bay. The tunnel from the

Tokyo side is the longest undersea tunnel in the world at 9.6km. Connecting Chiba prefecture

with Umihotaru is a bridge of about 4.4km. The whole thing took 31 years to finish. The view

was magnificent. As the place is at the seaside, the cold wind was blowing the mass of clouds off

toward Tokyo Bay, too cold for us to bear.

Then, we went to a building at Shibuya, Tokyo. There, we met Hippo Family members.

We had ice breaking and were given lunch there. They served us with so much food that we

could not finish them all. How generous were they! Then, we learned some origami and played


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games with them. I used my paper money (money bill origami) and transform them into hearts,

flowers, and more. Folding money is a quick and easy way to make a gift.

Then, we shopped at a mall nearby the building. At 4.30 pm, our host families came to

fetch us. Okasan and ototo came, while otosan came later as he was still at work.


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SECOND DAY

Early in the morning after we had our asagohan (breakfast), I followed okasan took

Kensei to kindergarten, just a walking distance from our home. Okasan, Kazuma and I then

visited a museum in the West of Tokyo: the Tokorozawa Aviation Museum. Tokorozawa played

an important role in the development of Japanese aviation technologies. It was in 1911 when the

first airfield was built in Tokorozawa and flight practices were held. The old airfield is now the

Aviation Park and the museum, which was opened to the public in 1993, is a part of it. Some of

the planes are outside the museum. Various types of helicopters and planes are presented in the

exhibition hall. I entered some of them to

take a look into the cockpit. Kazuma was

very excited and he led us all the way.

Kawai! (cute). A Japanese garden is in

the center of the park, with a pond and a

teahouse. We fed the ducks and had

lunch besides the pond. On the way back

home, I bought an adapter plug at Kojima


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Electronics Store.

At 3 o’clock, Babasan (grandmother) came to our home. We had some snacks and learnt

syuji (Japanese calligraphy). Like most artifacts of Japanese culture, writing entered Japan from

China about 1,500 years ago, and the art of calligraphy was one that was practiced by members

of the imperial Court, by monks, and, later, by warriors. It was closely associated with the

writing of poetry. Shuji is the skillful writing of certain characters in a way that gives them

balance and expression. It is not just writing a character on a piece of paper though. It is much

more than that. Each stroke has a proper way to begin and end and there is a correct order and

path to follow. It takes lots of time and practice to master, and it is essential to focus. The

slightest lapse in concentration will show in one’s work. It was rather difficult task for me but

fun; I learnt something new today.

Moreover, Babasan is

also an English teacher and her

English is impeccable! She is

also a good cook. She let me

tasted her homemade apple pie

and sweet potato. The pie was

so delicious, soft and sweet. She

did not stay for a long time.

After dinner at 1830, she said

goodbye to us. Otosan did not

join us for dinner as he had his

with his friends outside. At

night, my foster parents and I

had some discussion about my

program at the school tomorrow

morning.