Though I didn’t know much about my host family besides their names and ages, I did my best to bring some thoughtful gifts: a coffee mug that I made in Houston, a bottle of soy sauce aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels, a jar of fresh raspberry jam and a green tea candle from one of my favorite shops in Texas. Apparently, I had hit the jackpot; Kazuko-san shared my love for food and even had her own cooking Instagram and Baba fell in love with my bourbon aged soy sauce.
I got along so well with my host family that they began claiming that I was like their own son after only a month! Kazuko-san, Sae-chan and Hiroshi-san had busy schedules, so most of my afternoons were spent with Baba and our two poodles, Melo and Sena. After a few weeks of living at the homestay, I mentioned to Baba that I wanted to find a pottery studio in the city. Before I mentioned pottery, it had just felt like sheer coincidence that I happened to share so many interests with my host family, but it was what Baba revealed next that made things feel like fate; Baba’s nephew Hiroki (Dai-san for short) was a well-known ceramic artist in Saitama, and he was willing to teach me pottery every Monday evening.
After meeting Dai-san, my community in Tokyo exploded. I soon made friends with all of the other students at Dai-san’s studio, all of whom were at least thirty years older than me. Dai-san took it upon himself to show me the best of Japanese culture by taking me to sake tastings, Buddhist ceremonies, dinner parties and even arranging for me to receive private lessons in Sadō, the ancient Japanese tea ceremony. Suddenly, my family in Japan consisted of more than just my host family, but of Dai-san’s family and my newfound pottery friends as well.
