I am the Tennoji staff helping to facilitate the study program. My name is Jonathan. I just wanted to let you know a few things about our trip up until now.
First of all, we were so excited upon leaving Japan and hanging out at Changi Airport in Singapore that we couldn't really sleep on the plane. Either flight. I think the average participant slept only 2 to 4 hours total. Despite this, the members of TSC were so excited to see their homestay families. It was like finally meeting them gave us more energy. I think that most of us will be in bed by 9pm tonight! Also, I personally got invited to go to a BBQ with Takeru and Lachlan and it was amazing. Lachlan's family was full of amazing members - his grandfather could not only fix anything with his hands but also had travelled all over the world in the 1960s and 1970s and his mother can speak Japanese fluently. The food at the "barbie" was awesome! We had alvacado salad with lettuce and peppers, another salad that had beets and kale, the best burgers ever, spicy chicken, and pumpkin with feta cheese sausages. All of this was washed down with rasberry bitters (a type of refreshing, bubbly drink). Delicious! I am trying to figure out how to upload a photo now...
BTW, "barbie" is Aussie slang for BBQ, thanks Wakana!
Another BTW: I noticed today that Australians use "drink" as a noun much more than we Americans do. For example they say things like, "Mom said that you are having to much drink." I think that Americans usually would say, "Mom said that you are having to much TO drink." Americans would use "drink" as a verb. Interesting nerdy English point!
Bye for now!