When I was sixteen years old, I visited Japan for the first time through a program called Youth for Understanding. I lived with a host family in Toyota City (yes, like the car) for six weeks and briefly attended a Japanese high school. Last May I decided that on my way home to America I'd stop by my old "hometown" and see my friend Akane. This was only a day before I left for America after studying abroad in Japan for a year at Kansai Gaidai University.