Dear Host Family,

Hi ! This is Riko!

I’m 16 years old , sophomore in high school. I live in Okinawa prefecture which is island in the southern part of Japan, known for beautiful oceans ,amazing cultures and friendly people. I’m so proud to be from Okinawa!

First I would like to introduce about my family. My family is my mother and my older sister. My mother works as a daycare sick babysitter at a clinic. And my older sister works at a restraint. She found out she’s pregnant last July so she will be welcoming her baby this March. I love babies, and I can’t wait to meet my new niece!! Both my mother and sister are very supportive of my dream to study abroad and I’m so grateful for their encouragement!

I go to school with an international class. This class has more English and second language classes compared to regular classes. A lot of students who like English or want to study abroad join this class, I am one of them. Several of my friends and older students are also working towered studying abroad. I am studying English very hard and enjoying it! My classmate and I support each other in reaching our goals, and we have a good relationship. Next year, I will start taking my French classes, and I am really excited to about it!

Next, I’d like to share a bit about my hobbies. I love music, and I love playing the instruments. I play the viola in an orchestra ,and I also play the Sanshin which is traditional instrument from Okinawa. It has unique and beautiful sounds that makes me feel identity as an Okinawan people. It’s our precious part of culture!

I also play the guitar in my school band. And it means daughter sell. I named it after I learning about daughter sell in biology class. Isn’t cute?! I think I did pretty good job naming it. We sometimes perform at school festivals. I love being on stage, it’s so much fun!

 Since elementary school, I’ve also played the recorder, especially the bass recorder. And I have won in awards, like first place in all of Okinawa Prefecture and gold medals in all of Japan.

I would love to play them for you and enjoy music with you!

My favorite artists are Ed Sheeran and Conan Gray and Fujii Kaze! I am a big fan of them!

I also enjoy sports, especially, badminton! I was the captain of my middle school’s badminton club, where we practiced intensely every day. The daily running practice was the toughest part back then, but now it’s a cherished memory. And the teammates who went through those tough practice are very special to me. I still enjoy playing badminton with them sometimes.

Another hobbies of mime is cooking and baking! I cook family meals at home about twice a week. My favorite dishes to cook are omelet rice and curry rice. As for baking, bagels are my favorite! I especially like chocolate bagels the most! I would love you to try them someday!!

Lastly, I’d like to share why I want to study abroad in the U.S. First, I have a dream of working for the United Nations, focusing on education and becoming a leader who can make an impact on education in Okinawa and Japan in the future.

The reason I started having this dream is because I read a book about a Japanese woman who works for the U.N in Paris. She was working with children. I love children. And I realized that the U.N. could be a place where I could make differences for kids around the world.

Since English is one of the official languages of the U.N., I want to study in the U.S. to become fluent in English and prepare myself for this dream.

Another reason is I want to experience and learn from situations that have problems from differences. I think If I work at the U.N , I will meet many differences such as culture differences , thinking differences , values differences, racial differences and so on.It’s because staffs in U.N are from so many different countries.I’ve never met situations like that. So I want to experience these challenges through studying abroad, and learn what problems they can cause, understand how to approach them.

In addition, my senior, who participated in this study abroad program, told me it is a grate opportunity to connect with other students from Okinawa who are also studying abroad. These connections often continue even after graduating, and many of these students end up in different countries around the world. I believe this network has great potential and can help expand my perspective.

How was my introduction? I can’t wait to see you all there!!

Interested in hosting—whether 6-8 weeks or the entire school year?