Group I (Alicja S. and Magdalena W.)

　The day of the home stay was full of fun. We had the pleasure to prepare „pierogi” with three Japanese girls: Mei K., Miku H. and Miko Y. Thanks to working in a group, preparations were full of laughter and the meal was made quickly. It was really nice to hear that our guests enjoyed the taste of the „pierogi” and liked Polish sweets. Time flew faster due to interesting conversations which were held in Japanese. It was an amazing opportunity to practice the language and to get to know something more about Japan and Japanese people. We were surprised to hear that counters in kitchens in Japan are usually made from tin and that walls in apartments are white incomparison to colorful ones in Poland. The whole meeting made us very satisfied and we would like to thank the Japanese side for giving us an opportunity to spend the amazing time with them.

Group II (Julia P., Justyna C., and Małgorzata S.)

　This Thursday was a very exciting day! We had an opportunity to meet a culture we all are interested in, Japanese of course. Together with the students of Kyoritsu Women’s University we shared our views on the historical memory issue and after the official part of the meeting, we spent our time preparing traditional Polish food.

　The first part of our meeting with Japanese students was a conference dedicated to the historical memory of Polish-German and Japanese-Korean relations. Although most of the presentations were about the first one, it was really interesting to hear about it from the other perspective. Moreover, we could improve our Japanese capabilities as well. Our guests prepared their presentations not in English, but in Japanese, so it was truly enjoyable to hear a ‘native language’. It’s a shame that this ‘official’ part of Thursday’s meeting was so short, but fortunately another extremely interesting event was supposed to begun.

　Straight from the Jagiellonian Library together with two Japanese students we went home to prepare some traditional Polish food. Because of the low temperature and strong, cold wind we arrived a little bit tired, but we quickly got refreshed by drinking hot tea. Soon we started our preparation. We were really enjoying our time together. Our guests turned out to be lovely girls who were really pleased to share their time with us. We were absolutely sure they were not pretending that they were enjoying the cooking or that they liked the food; we were sure that they were just having great fun with us (and, of course, the cat, which became our celebrity). The only thing that we regretted is that we could not have more time.

　We are very thankful for the opportunity to spend our time with the students of Kyoritsu Women’s University and we hope we could meet once more.

Group III (Agnieszka P.)

　Home Stay Project was a great opportunity for me not only to hear the lectures, have fun and meet new people, but also practice my spoken Japanese. Together we made pierogis with white cheese, but we also drank some beetroot soup and ate cake that was liked by the pope John Paul II. This created the opportunity to discuss Polish and Japanese Christmas traditions and cuisine. My parents, who don’t speak Japanese at all, dined with us and gave me a lot to translate, so that all six of us could talk and communicate. We found out that we share our favorite anime and Ghibli movies. That was a great and very pleasant practice, since my Japanese studies are usually limited to the classroom. I had a lot of fun, got really emotional at the end, exchanged contact info and took a lot of pictures. I really hope we can meet again. Thank you for the opportunity!

Group IV (Wanda B., Kasia G. and Ada G.)

　During home stay program our group, consisting of Wanda B., Katarzyna G. and Ada G., had the pleasure to meet Mayu K., Natsumi K. and Yui O. Together we made pierogi, went sightseeing in Zakrzówek and had a lot of fun. It was also a great opportunity for practicing our language skills for which we are grateful. We want to thank Japanese students for this and for their kindness. It was one of the most interesting experiences and certainly it was something to remember. What piqued our interest was the fact that pierogi turned out to have a very similar way of preparation as gyoza; that was something unexpected. We also shared our favorite bands with Mayu, Yui and Natsumi. We learned more about Japanese music scene and in exchange we showed some Polish artists.

Group V (Julia E. and Jakub W.)

　During homestay program we had an opportunity to meet two really cheerful and friendly girls from Kyoritsu Women’s University. Even though we didn’t have much time together we wanted to show our guests a little bit of Cracow, that’s why we went for a walk through Old Town and visited Mariacki Church and Sukiennice. Before Ami and Sayaka visited us we prepared a lot of different Polish dishes; we wanted to let them try as much as possible flavors of our cuisine. Together we did cutlet, Polish salad made of cucumber and sour cream called mizeria, also beloved by all children salad made of carrot and apple. During preparation we were speaking in Japanese, which was a great practice for us and gave us a little bit more confidence in this language. After a big meal we were playing together a card game called UNO, which was a lot of fun, because we could talk, and make jokes in a silly mood, drinking tea and eating different kinds of cakes.