Black girl in Japan..

Well I will be leaving for Japan in March 2009 for the school year and I have no idea what to look forward to. I have never been to Japan before and I am 15 and an African American. I’m sure that I will have a host family. Are there any African American women out there that have gone on a foreign exchange program to Japan?
I do not know what I should do about my hair! I don’t have like really coarse hair but not the best hair in the world. Are there any salons and cater to black people? My mind is just rambling right now. I'm scared that I will become homesick and it will ruin the rest of my trip. I have never been away from my parents for 11 months! I hope my host family is nice…
How much money should I have to buy stuff with? What should I pack? How is the temperature? What about the school uniforms and stuff? Will I have to buy them? How much do they cost?

I can't give you too much info, just tell you not to worry so much.I know how you feel as I did something similar year ago, only for a summer only and in Europe. You MUST put yourself in a very open frame of mind. Everything will look and feel different but you must accept it, not fight it or dislike it. Who arranged your schooling in Japan? your school? then they should have the answers about uniforms, costs etc. and also about the way the average Japanese family live. They may have a house or an apartment. Some rooms will be western style, others Japanese style (sitting on the floor on tatamis). You may sleep on the floor on a futon (Google it). The kitchen and bathroom will surprise you, especially if the house is relatively new as they have some fancy stuff. You must shower outside the bathtuband only use the tub, after you are totally clean, to relax in hot water (and no bath salts!). Don't bring too many clothes as your new home will have a washer. It is hard to tell you about the temperature and about clothes without knowing where you go! Japan is narrow but as long as the USA so the climate goes from cool in summer,cold in winter up north to mild in winter, hot humid in summer in the South. You may be in a small town or in a huge one where the crowds will shock you unless you are used to New York. Check the section A-Z at the very top of this site for lots of info about Japan. there are quite a few black American women that have gone to Japan to study, live, travel. There was a huge tread on this site but I can't find it!

No bath salts? You wouldn't want to add them without asking, but it depends on the family- my host family often puts cedar-fragranced bath salts (nyuyokuzai) or other fragrances in the water, and I don't think this is unusual at all judging by the large range available at the drugstore.

I am going with the programs AFS and thank you so much for the information