We just got the exciting news that we have the opportunity to be a host family for a week to a 12-year-old Japanese girl. One of the moms in my homeschooling group used to teach English in Japan and a friend of hers is coming to the States for a visit. Yoshimi teaches English in Japan as well and is bringing four of her students with her.

I'm really nervous as well. My Japanese is still embarrassingly poor, and whle I realize most host families don't speak Japanese at all, I'm ashamed of my faltering attempts. I'm also already having anxiety over doing something rude unintentially. One of my less desirable traits (although I suppose sometimes it can be desirable) is obsessing with minute details. What should I tell her to call me? Would it be rude to ask her to call me by my first name? What if she's really bored? What if she thinks it's weird that I have so many Japanese things, watch Japanese television, use Japanese craft books? What if we aren't American enough and she's disappointed with her American experience? And the biggest one--how are we going to keep family arguments to a minimum for a week? Because honestly, I am a shouter.

Wow, that's quite a list, huh. Pretty funny when I read it over. I'm still nervous.