Did anyone else cry during their first week as an exchange student?

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Hi everyone.

I'm an exchange student from the U.S., and I've been in Japan for about a week. I absolutely love Japan, and I'm so grateful to be here. My host family has been kind, and there have been many wonderful moments.

At the same time, I'm having a much harder time emotionally than I expected.

School has been the biggest challenge. During class, everyone already has their own friends, so when there's free time or people are talking, I usually end up sitting or walking alone. Some classmates have been very kind—a girl even gave me chocolate and helped translate something for me, and a few students say hello or goodbye but I still feel very isolated most of the day.

One thing that really upset me happened when a teacher came into class, asked if I knew Chinese, and after I said no, he started speaking very quickly in Japanese about it. The class laughed, and I couldn't tell if they were laughing at the situation or if I was misunderstanding everything. It left me feeling embarrassed and confused.

Sometimes I also feel like a few teachers don't really know what to do with me. In one class I just sat quietly in the corner most of the period without much interaction. I know they're busy, but it made me feel invisible.

The loneliness built up so much that I cried in the school bathroom on my first day, and today I ended up crying again when my host mom asked how school was. Thankfully, my host family was incredibly supportive and comforted me, which I'm very grateful for.

I guess what I'm wondering is:

* Is this kind of loneliness normal during the first week of an exchange?

* Did anyone else spend the first week mostly alone?

* How long did it take before you started feeling like you belonged?

* Is there anything that helped you make genuine friends?

I don't regret coming to Japan at all. I really do love being here. I just feel overwhelmed, exhausted, and honestly scared about going back to school tomorrow because I don't want to keep feeling so alone.

I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who's been through something similar.