(Author's Note 1)

Hey! I have a couple things to say.

First of all, it's astounding to read through this journal, because I remember almost each and every day, and certainly the events I wrote about --- but when I think back on the days, I didn't realize that I only wrote about so little of them! I mean, these journal entries already took a lot of time to write, but the memories that I have that are so strong don't even show up here, some of them, and I'm just surprised! I guess it shows what really was on my mind at the time, at least at the time of going to bed, since that's when I wrote most of the time.

Also, a second note: The letter 'P' at the beginning of a name indicates an older person. Not necessarily old, but older than whoever is talking, if that makes sense. It's a form of respect. I wrote with it in front of the names of the people that I called that, and at the same time, my host siblings would have to put that syllable at the beginning of my name. Just wanted to clear that up!

And lastly, if the names of people getting abbreviated to only first letters gets confusing (when there are people whose names begin with the same letter), I apologize. It's how I feel most comfortable writing.