Thank you letters from Tania

    To Sakaki family

    I am sure no letter will ever be enough to thank you for everything you did for me. My first week was the hardest because I had no idea Japanese was way faster that what I had been learning. It seemed impossible to comprehend, but thanks to you I was able to hang in there. Thank you for always finding a way to communicate with me. Google translate sometimes didn't help much, but you always found a way to express yourselves. I would've wished to know more Japanese to get to know you more, but I will keep studying and visit you again. Mom's food was definitely one of my favorite cuisine, I liked every single thing I ate at your house. Thank you for my takoyaki party, it was delicious! For the first time I got to experience having a sibling, way younger than me. Kosuke is literally one of my favorite humans, he's such a kind boy. I cannot stop talking about him to all of my friends. Mizuki is also very kindhearted, she reminds me of my little sister so I always felt like I was home. Though I didn't talk much with Nao, I loved her smile and the way she also tried to communicate. Everyday I had a lot of fun playing games after dinner. I learned a lot from you as I was being surrounded by another culture. Thank you for taking me as another member of your family. You will forever live in my thoughts and heart.

    To Murata family

    My stay at your house went by extremely fast, not a single day went by without laughing. When I first found out you were going to be my host family I read your comment that said "our family is always cheerful and lively". I would've never imagined how real it was. Everything we said turned into a joke. I was surprised by how many things we had in common. I enjoyed listening to our favorite songs wherever mom drove. Izumi, your English relieved me a bit, we could communicate very well and you could actually understand my jokes. Thank you for keeping up with my clown side. Rina, you're very funny, I really appreciate you were always there to guide me, I learned a lot of Japanese from you "英語ダメー", I want to keep studying Japanese for you (and many other people too, but you are one of them). Grandpa, thank you for buying me snacks and ice cream, we could never have a conversation but I appreciate you making an effort, thank you for the oranges too! Mom, thank you for making delicious food and driving me to school, I love your energy! Thanks you for taking me to Kumamoto city to experience new things. Thank you for opening your house to me and making me feel like a Murata, I will never ever forget all of you and the memories we created. 

    To Ouda Junior High School

    Dear classmates and teachers

    First of all I would like to apologize for not preparing a speech for my farewell ceremony, I am really sorry. But here it is, the speech I would have loved to share with you:
    As one of my favorite Disney characters said "How lucky I am having something that makes saying goodbye do hard." I would've never imagined how much you would all mean to me after only knowing you for two weeks. We never had full conversations, nor did I get to know much about each one of you. But I still felt like we had a strong bond. I've never enjoyed going to school so much, you were all very sweet and made me feel welcome. Ouda Junior High School is the smallest school I have ever seen, I have way more cousins than the amount of students the school has, and that's why I felt like we were a big family. If I could go back in time and pick my host school, I would always pick Ouda over any other school. I would like to give a special thanks to the 9th graders. At my school I would never talk to 9th graders because of their behavior, but you were all very cool (I still remember all of your names by the way, and I don't think I'll forget them any time soon). Thank you to my UNO best friends, I really enjoyed the time we got to spend playing together. Thank you to the guys who invited me to their soccer game, you're all very talented, if I visit you again, I will join your game. Thank you to my cleaning 友達、I had a lot of fun with you. Thank you to all the girls who always had a bright smile to greet me whenever we saw each other. Thank you to all the teachers who tried their best to communicate, and practiced their English with me. Though my Japanese is very limited, I was able to learn a little from you, and remember things back from middle school. Thank you to my girls from 8th grade who complemented me everyday, my self esteem is really high because of you. Thank you to all the other students that said "hello" every day. Lastly, thank you to my English teachers, without you I would probably be completely lost. I would never forget you guys, and I hope we will have a chance to meet again sometime in life. .

    To Volunteers

    It is because of your efforts that I got to live one of the most unforgettable experiences ever. I cannot find the right words to express my gratitude towards all of you. Because of you I was able to accomplish one of my biggest aspirations and along the way find another part of myself I did not know of. Without all of you I am sure I would have never been able to experience Japan's beauty at such a young age. Please continue with your hard work to change other's lives and I hope at some point I can also be contributing to other students' experience. Again thank you very much!