My summer experience in Japan

Hello! My most memorable story from when I was in Japan was whenever we went to my host mother's mother's house for a family reunion they were having. At first, it was a little awkward because I didn't know what to say to everyone after the greetings were done. And I think these were one of the experiences that in a way made me feel closer to my host parents. They knew it was a little awkward for me meeting all these people at once, and I felt that they really did begin to treat me as a part of their family from that moment on because they sheltered me and protected me as if I was a daughter of theirs and tried to make me feel a little at home just by being around them. My host father bragged about me to his father in law about me being bilingual already and how I was trying very hard to learn Japanese and was doing well in his opinion. And my host mother introduced me to her nephew who was closest to my age ( I was 17 and he was 19) and we went out to the garden her mom kept and all three of us looked at the different vegetables and flowers she grew and my host mother's nephew (keita) and I caught a few grasshoppers for fun. They both had their own way of making me feel comfortable and relaxed and I enjoyed the time we spent there. Once we got back home, their daughters Midori (14) and Akane(16) invited me to go to their rooms and we looked at the posters of anime they had and of Jpop stars they liked. On that day, I felt that the family began to open up to me. And I think a reason that also contributed to this was the fact that I always tried to spend time with them and talk with everyone. Even though I was no where near fluent, I didn't let that stop me from trying to make a connection with them. From them seeing this, it made it quicker for them to be able to open up to me and treat me as one of their own instead of just a guest everyone had to walk on eggshells around. That's what I believe is the key to getting a full experience, giving it your all no matter how frustrating the language learning process can get and actually caring about your host family because they aren't opening up a hotel for you, they're opening up their home to you.