Having never been to Asia before, I set out with the goal to better understand how culture gets passed back and forth between the US and Japan and how it is reinterpreted when it arrives.  Thanks to the Kawamura Fellowship, I was given the opportunity to do just that and also to push way beyond any appreciation that I thought was possible of this once incredibly foreign country.

While some of the other fellows were all set to experience Japan with chopsticks leading the way, the part of Japanese culture that I was most surprised about appreciating was the food – especially delicious bonito sashimi.  I am glad that I will try anything once, because everything was great. Except uni (sea urchin).  I had so many types of food that my host family in Tokyo said I was more Japanese than they were, and in the future I will see traveling as not only an opportunity to meet people and see places but a unique experience to try as many new foods as possible.
My host families, the Nakashimas in Nagoya and the Fukudas in Tokyo, successfully made me feel like a part of the family.  The Nakashimas showed me parts of Japanese culture ranging from paper-making in Obara to table tennis in the local gym.  The Fukudas, especially my host brother Taka, spearheaded efforts for the fellows to have a good time at DisneySea, play with fireworks, and get his family to host me all because he had a great time with the fellows last year.