Rebecca went her own way and Tomoko (the mum) and Kentaro took me back to their house in their Mazda MPV. We have an MPV in Canada and I immediately began to feel at home.

My host brother Kentaro, or "Ken", is really cool. Perhaps the coolest student at Poole. He is really into music, particularly rock, and is the lead singer of his band. He has lots of friends and introduces me to a different group every night. He has a big honda motorcycle that makes a lot of noise. The only uncool thing about him is the dorky uniform he has to wear at his part time job at Lawson (a convenience store).

His younger brother Kotaro, or "Kochan", is also really cool. Hey plays bass in his band and is also into rock music. Kochan gave up his room for me to stay in and I feel bad about displacing him, but hope I can one day return the favour.

The mum is incredibly nice and totally spoils me. She does my laundry, cooks delicious meals, and leaves notes with instructions (in English and Japanese) if she will be out. After six years of living on my own and taking care of myself its quite a readjustment - but not one that I would complain about!

The dad is relatively quiet. He works long hours like most Japanese employees and likes to unwind at the end of the day. He enjoys Chinese tea after dinner while reading the newspaper. He does all kinds of handiwork by himself including changing the oil in his car. He likes cars and has changed all the driver seats in the cars to Recaro seats. There is even a custom made Recaro seat on a wheeled office chair base in front of the computer in the living room!

The dog is huge and very friendly. I am not really a "dog person" but it is hard not to enjoy Marilyn's exuberant company. I have been warned that she likes tissues and I have seen her scoff one left unprotected.

They are the most generous, friendly, and welcoming family that one could hope to stay with.

Host-guest relationships are innately fragile as both parties enter an implicit agreement using expectations derived from differing histories. The cultural divide adds another degree of fragility to the situation. Though I am careful to behave well and pay extra attention to emotional feedback, there is always the possibility I will make a mistake and cause some kind of problem. I only hope I can be as good a guest as they are hosts.