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i had my first truly difficult and frustrating situation today; the post office.

together with my host dad and my older host sister, we went to the local post office so i could send off a package to my family, and about half a dozen smaller things for some of my friends. unfortunately, after leaving about an hour later, AU$50 poorer, only the parcel for my family made it over the counter.

what i never realised was that to post something from japan includes ALOT of information from my end. that is, what EXACTLY is in the parcel, how much did it cost, does it contain alcohol, what's the recipients phone number, etc etc etc. so, even though i knew what was in each parcel, and i would put my parents phone number for the numbers i didn't know, and i probably could've been able to post everything at once, for some reason my parcels and i were all sent back home to re-write all the details.

the mistake i made was a simple offhand comment in the post office that i had no idea would cause trouble. i was becoming a little overwhelmed and frustrated at the language barrier (between myself and my host family), and "why can't i just send the damn things", when i bowed my head and said to my feet, in a low voice, "far out this is stupid" - you don't think of it in Australia, because, well, it's not offensive there, especially when it's said in a casual tone whilst smiling, which is what i was doing. but my host sister took it very seriously, and i didn't realise she was offended until we were in the car driving home. my host father and i were talking about how japanese post is difficult, and different to australia, when my host sister started talking to me in english, "yeah well that's australia isn't it. and if you EVER say it (the system) is stupid again, i will never forgive you."

i literally couldn't reply - she'd said it in english (she quite fluent), so the rest of my host family had no clue what was going on. it came as a bit of a slap in the face; i'd said the comment to myself, and she'd just overheard. all i was trying to express was that it was a difficult and frustrating process just to post a couple of gifts home, something that would've usually taken me only 10 minutes.

so back at home she stormed off and i went into my room and had a good cry to my dad on Skype. anyway, basically i just needed a bit of a rant. it's definitely been a difficult afternoon. i don't really want to have to see my host sister again, which is a shame because i thought that we were actually getting on well. i know that it's hard for them too, to have a near-stranger live with them for 3 months, but it also is upsetting to me that she could so easily tell me off like that, and say something that harsh, too. it really did hurt, but you know. what can i do about it.