(Note about the translation: everything in parentheses is there to clarify something to English readers -- it wasn't in the original speech. I tried to maintain as literal of a translation as I could, but I had to bend a few words to make the English sound halfway reasonable. You may still think it sounds sort of strange, being translated as literally as it was.)

  My First Homestay
  Daniel Laursen
  Good morning.
  Today I'm going to speak on my first homestay. The reason is because the homestay was very interesting and because I enjoyed it. At that time, I hardly understood Japanese and was also hardly able to carry on a conversation, so I was worried, but I did my best. After the homestay, I thought that the homestay turned out very well. I learned various things.
  Today, please watch my first homestay pictures on the TV.
  First, I went to the Yamadas' house by car with a person called Mitsue Yamada. I thought the house was splendid. For example, in one room there was a fireplace, so it was warm. After self-introductions, I met a person who makes drums. His name is Mr. Sugimoto. These are the drums he owns. This drum was made 250 years ago from one tree. Recently, Mr. Sugimoto attached new leather (to the drum). That's Mr. Sugimoto's job, but his kids don't like making drums, so he said he was sad. It's regrettable, because in Shiga (prefecture, like a U.S. state) there are hardly any people who make drums.
  After the drums, we went to the supermarket to buy food for dinner. I had never eaten nabemono (a Japanese stew) before, so Mr. Yamada taught me how to make nabemono. I thought the nabemono was very delicious.
  After dinner, I went into the ofuro (a Japanese style bath), and then went to bed. In the morning, I ate a Japanese breakfast -- things like pickled ume fruit, boiled rice, a flaked fish topping, fermented soybean soup. That day, there was a party, so after breakfast we made lots of food. I made an apple pie. While the pie was baking, I learned how to make onigiri (a Japanese rice ball) with the kids.
  Around 12 o'clock, Mr. Yamada's friends came. I talked to different people in Japanese while I ate the food. It became lively.
  A student called Hashiguchi understood calligraphy (Japanese calligraphy) well, so I asked him, "could you please teach me calligraphy?" While watching Hashiguchi's hand, I wrote my name in kanji (Chinese pictographic characters imported into Japanese long ago).
  Lastly, I took a picture of everyone. I think that the things I did at the homestay were very enjoyable.
  Thank you very much.