Requests: Culture shock

So I've been asked to write a post on more 'culture shock stuff'. Including what I do, eat, differences in daily life, being offensive, and bath time. Lol I'll do my best.

I'm at the point right now where I do miss some things at home, but I can't tell whether it is because I am homesick, or whether I am in culture shock. I think it's important for you readers to understand that it's hard to determine which one I am in.

Things I do: Every weekday in Japan is roughly the same, and I am predicting that I will have this reutine for the rest of my stay. This can be a good thing or a bad thing. My first class of each day is at different times. If it is an early class I wake up at 6:30 am, go potty, wash my hands and face and put my futon away in the futon closet. I am downstairs for breakfast by 7 am where my host mother proceeds to feed me the entire refigerator's worth of food. I still eat salad every morning.. ick, but she's been giving me pan, or bread with peach jelly or prune spread on it.. it helps. Then sometimes there's sweet potatoes and raisins, or yogurt and raisins. Tea or a veggie juice. But all in all it's a HUGE breakfast which I have been trying to tell her to make smaller.. It takes me about 30-35 minutes to eat my breakfast because my hand muscles can't use chopsticks for somethings... it is very hard. After breakfast we watched the news together. Otousan leaves early for work, so every morning it is just Okaasan and me. After some time I go abck upstairs and finish getting ready. If I have a late class in the morning I do my laundry. The washing machine is really efficient and cool, I just wished they owned a dryer. Hanging clothes is a pain, especially if it is going to rain. When it's time to leave, I say goodbye to Okaasan and Taro-kun, the dog, and walk to the train station near the home. Hoshigaoka station is a small station, and I only got on the wrong train that one time. I haven't gotten lost since. When I get to Hirakata station I push my way past the crowds and walk down to the bus stops. Most of the time I take the bus to school and I walk back to the station. This helps if I'm running behind schedule. When I get to school which is anytime between 9am and 11am I usually go to the computer lab first to do posts like these. Classes are next. The morning half of schedules everyone has their language courses. I have Japanese speaking 5 times a week and so on. Time between the first half and second half is where I eat lunch, sometimes If I have a 5th period class I only have 25 minutes so I have to hurry. I eat lunch in the big cafeteria. They display what is for lunch on a table near the doors so you can decide what you want ahead of time. (They do this in a lot of restaurants as well. ) I usally pick the udon, soba, ramen, or meat dish-usually pork. And this comes with miso and a bowl of rice. They have forks and spoon in the cafeteria and my hands like a little rest from chopsticks every now and then. After all my classes are done I walk back to Hirakata station. Depending on how late it is sometimes I just go back home. Other times I hang out with friends in the city. When I return home I finish any homework I have and then starts the end of my night. It is dinner time. Dinner consists of 5 or so small-hard to eat with chopsticks- dishes. After dinner, Otousan takes Taro-kun for a walk. After the walk we have tea time. With more food, usually fruit or a red bean bun. Otousan takes his bath first because he goes to bed early. Then It's my turn. I shower, then soak in the tub. It took me awhile to figure out why it is necessary to soak in HOT water. In Japan most houses, including my own, have no central heating. The house is always colder than the outside. When you soak in the hot bath you stay warm until you go to bed. This is very nice and I take FULLLLLLL advantage of this. After my bath I go upstairs and pull out my futon. If the internet is working I check my mail, if not I go straight to sleep, never later than 11pm. Basically my night ends when dinner starts. It can be a bad thing, but at least I get sleep.