Upon Moving

I changed host families for the first time last week. It was not at all like what I thought it would be. It came so fast that I had forgotten to pack until the day before.(Oops)
When I first came here, all I brought was two suitcases, a carry-bag, and my computer. Packing my stuff this time, I realized how much more stuff I have gotten in just two months of living here. I had so many extra bags, I had to have help to carry them.

Moving host families is something every rotary exchange student has to do, so I was prepared for it, but I didn't realize how attached to my first host family I had become. I found it really hard to leave them; they taught me so much when I first got here, and were always so patient with me. When it came time for me to leave, My host mom told me "Come visit anytime, and when you do, still say ”ただいま”(I'm home/I'm back)". In the card they wrote me, that I read after getting to my new home, she had written "To us, Ku-chan is our daughter now too." When I asked if I could still call them ママ and　パパ, she told me "of course"
I felt so sad and so happy at the same time in that moment. I am so grateful to the Tanaka family. I only lived with them for two months, but I feel as if they have become a real family for me, just like my family back in the states.
田中ファミリー、心から、ありがとうございました。