W00T! Foreign Exchange to Japan!

I just got told by my foreign exchange program that I've been assigned to Japan! YATTA! Seriously I'm pumped and excited to get the opportunity to live in Japan for a year starting in August. Sayaka, is there any extra tips you might have for me to help me better prepare myself other than the obvious study your "kanji, kana, grammar and vocab"? Thanks, Derek

Derek-san, Congratulations! Omedeto! That is VERY exciting :P With your passion and enthusiasm for Japan and Japanese language, you'll be a star there, for sure. Japanese people love foreigners who love Japan. It's a bit of that 'Japanese national pride-thing' I believe. Anyways, make sure you mingle with Japanese people, and not other foreigners - as you'll only be speaking English...! And, if you can, try to go to some of the country-sides, where little children will simply STARE at you (very cute) because you're not Japanese, and if you speak Japanese to them, they'll be thrilled. Most of all, don't worry if you get the grammar wrong when speaking Japanese, and don't get offended if the Japanese person you're talking to tries to answer in English... often they're just trying to practice their English with you! Have fun! :P

[quo]*Quote from * Sayaka Derek-san, Congratulations! Omedeto! That is VERY exciting :P With your passion and enthusiasm for Japan and Japanese language, you'll be a star there, for sure. Japanese people love foreigners who love Japan. It's a bit of that 'Japanese national pride-thing' I believe. Anyways, make sure you mingle with Japanese people, and not other foreigners - as you'll only be speaking English...! And, if you can, try to go to some of the country-sides, where little children will simply STARE at you (very cute) because you're not Japanese, and if you speak Japanese to them, they'll be thrilled. Most of all, don't worry if you get the grammar wrong when speaking Japanese, and don't get offended if the Japanese person you're talking to tries to answer in English... often they're just trying to practice their English with you! Have fun! :P[/quo] さやかさん、 どうもありがとう！本当に凄く嬉しいです！もっと日本語を頑張っていますね！ The program has told me that I basically live with 3-2 Japanese families throughout the year and go to a Japanese High School etc. In other words the only other foreigners I might see are the English teacher, and a friend I know who got married over there who I might drop in and say hi to in a town called なかつ. I don't know the town's kanji so I'll leave it as kana. Other than that I'm going to try to learn as much Japanese as I can while there! The immersion will surely help me learn kanji a lot quicker and overall everything about the language xD! At first I'm sure I'll be a little overwhelmed but that's bound to happen to anyone not born and raised there. As soon as finals for first semester of school are over I'll be kicking my Japanese studies into full gear again. Later on in that year I think it'd be interesting if I spoke Japanese to them and they spoke English to me and we just had conversations like that... although it'd be better if I got more Japanese listening comprehension practice xD. (In other words I wouldn't mind if they spoke english or tried as it'd make it easier for me to understand everything, but honestly I'd prefer a genuine Japanese conversation as it'd be a lot more beneficial to my understanding of the language). My god though I can't wait for August! (Which is the departure time). :lol: *Impatiently waiting for August* Thanks, デレック