Sasha on her experience as a 2016 JA

Out of anything that I remember about Japan, the food was something. Everything was awesome about the food! Even the way that they would serve it! At a sushi restaurant that me and my host family ate at, they would offer you the sushi by putting it on a conveyer belt and the belt would go all around the restaurant. If you wanted a specific kind of sushi, ramen or dessert, you could order it and it will come by a super-speed conveyer belt!

Another restaurant that I went to had okonomiyaki, or a pancake that can have anything you want on it. It’s usually served with okonomiyaki sauce, which has ketchup, soy sauce and worcestershire sauce in it. After it’s cooked, you can add mayo to it and it turns out delicious!

Other than the food, the people that I met were very nice. At the Marin House, we got to meet many people, including the Indonesians, Australians, Kiwis, Russians, Cambodians, Hawaiians, Cook Islanders, South Koreans, the Taiwanese, Palauans and the Peruvians! All of them were great friends and I hope that I will see them sometime soon! At the Marin House we went to a magic show and a festival that had a dubstep remix of Let It Go! When we left the marin house, we went to a school to perform our special dance of assorted music. After that, we met our host families and stayed with them. We had an awesome time with a mom, dad, a brother, a sister and 2 dogs. Their names were okasa, otasa, Daigo, and Waka. Each night, after dinner, we would watch Japanese cartoons and relax. When I went to school with Waka, the only person that could speak english was a guy named Josh. His father was british and the funny thing was, when he spoke in english, he spoke with a british accent!

When we had a welcome party at Justin’s giant house, we tried many things including products from a JAPANESE Costco and Skal, which is a soda made of skim milk. The funny part was that the house had an elevator and we would try not to let one of my friends, Justin, in while going up and down on the elevator. It was so funny to see Justin’s reaction to the elevator leaving.

To keep memories and contact with my friends, I received their phone numbers and emails to stay in contact with them.

If I could do anything, I would go back to Japan and reenact this all over again.

By: Sasha Tarassenko