Saturday, June 21
So, today at 10:00 am, our host families arrived to pick us up from the hotel
My Home stay family has internet access and so they said I could use it this morning (Sunday). Actually, last night I got onto Kodak Easyshare and showed them hundreds of pictures so they could see my family more. This family is incredibly sweet and gracious, and very interested in American culture an the English language. The husband speaks very good English as he lived in Canada for six months when he was in the University, and each member of the family goes to an English teacher, an American friend who lives here, once a week for English lessons. The Kids went to an international preschool last year which was taught entirely in English, so they speak and understand pretty well.
After they picked me up, we came back to their house for tea, then went to pick up their children from Kindergarten, which is in a different city and prefecture, but is really only 15 minutes away.
The school is right next to a Buddhist temple, so we were able to go inside and see it. The above picture is taken with the kids and Aira's teacher. The grounds were very lush and beautiful, and we were even able to see some turtles in a pond. After that we went to a Sushi restaurant right across the street from a huge fishing port. So we had incredibly fresh fish that was very good. Here is a picture of us in front of the restaurant.
Then we went to an Aquarium nearby, saw a small but very good dolphin show, and looked at a variety of fish and sea life. It was very kid-friendly and fun. We also climbed up a lighthouse there. It only had 99 steps, but it still offered a nice view. Unfortunately, it was overcast and a bit foggy, so it was hard to see in the distance, but what I did see was a coastal landscape resembling that of Oregon: rocky, full of tide-pools, and a beach broken up by intermediate cliffs. Then we went to a supermarket, returned to their home, and I spent some time playing with their kids.
The daughter knows "I’m a little tea pot" and "The wheels on the bus" and a few other common songs for English speaking kids. They actually have books in English that they read to her and her brother as well. Before dinner I was honored with taking the first bath, which is very traditional in Japanese culture, and they gave me an outfit which is called a Jim Beh, and is kind of like pajamas. They also gave Reed and Lucy one. So, I went into the "bath room" which is like a really large shower with a bath/soaking tub in it. So you wash and rinse off first, then you soak in a bath. It was really quite nice. After that, I put on my Jim Beh, came out and we ate.
Here is Tomma-chan and I sporting said Jim-behs. For dinner we had Yakitori, which is like small shishkabobs with meat only. A difference: with chicken, they eat the cartilage too. Crunch. Crunch. I tried one, but they understood that it wasn't my favorite. There were other meats also, as well as miso soup, a sliced beef and potato dish that seemed a little like a stew, as well as rice.
After dinner the husband and son took a bath and I sat and talked with Yukio, and she was so happy that an American was enjoying Japan, and her home, and her cooking, and she got overwhelmed and started to cry from happiness. She loves American culture and movies, and since this is her first time as a home stay host, she didn't know how it would go. And since I'm enjoying everything, she was very pleased.
After the kids went to bed, around 9 or so Saturday night, they kept getting back up, much like some people I know (Reed and Lucy). Eventually they fell asleep and we talked and looked at pictures until around 12:30. I slept on a futon mattress on the floor with a small pillow. I was able to sleep until around 6 am. Then I just laid there.
So, after eating breakfast, which consisted of freshly baked bread, jam, a kind of Asian omelets, some small sausages, rice, and salad, we got onto Skype and had a webcam conference with Gayle. It was really cool, since my host family was able to meet my wife and she could meet them. I even gave Gayle a brief tour of the house with the webcam. So, that was a highlight because despite the thousands of miles, I felt very connected to Gayle and she to me and what I was doing. God bless broadband internet service!
Next, Tomma-chan took me across the street to the hospital where he works, which incidentally is across the street from both the Junior High and Senior High School that I visited. With the exception of the ER, and the patients who are already there, the hospital is closed on Sundays. For the most part, every hall we walked down was empty. I saw 6 nurses and 1 doctor on duty while there. Perhaps it was just the orthopedic wing he took me to and the rest of the hospital was hopping, but it looked like a ghost town compared to an average American hotel on a Sunday. His daughter, who is extremely cute and is named Aira, which means “love is forthcoming” or something to that effect, walked in between us and held our hands. It was very sweet. When we returned from the hospital visit, she insisted on teaching me how to make an origami crane.
She was very patient and sweet, and obviously very skilled at the art. She and her brother, whom they call Mark-o, spoke fairly good English because they had gone to an international preschool where everything was conducted in English.
We then had lunch together and talked for a long time about everything from voter participation in our countries to the harvesting of cord blood from the placenta and then storing it cryogenically. I am the first person he has ever met who also opted to save his children’s cord blood. It was a cool conversation. Then I glanced at the clock. It was 2:15. I had to be back at the City Hall by 2:50, so the family and I jetted out to the car and were on our way. I had an excellent and most memorable time with them. When we said goodbye, they both seemed moved, and the Yukio, the wife, began to cry. It was touching. The experience was a memorable one that none of us will forget.
So, today at 10:00 am, our host families arrived to pick us up from the hotel
My Home stay family has internet access and so they said I could use it this morning (Sunday). Actually, last night I got onto Kodak Easyshare and showed them hundreds of pictures so they could see my family more. This family is incredibly sweet and gracious, and very interested in American culture an the English language. The husband speaks very good English as he lived in Canada for six months when he was in the University, and each member of the family goes to an English teacher, an American friend who lives here, once a week for English lessons. The Kids went to an international preschool last year which was taught entirely in English, so they speak and understand pretty well.
After they picked me up, we came back to their house for tea, then went to pick up their children from Kindergarten, which is in a different city and prefecture, but is really only 15 minutes away.
The school is right next to a Buddhist temple, so we were able to go inside and see it. The above picture is taken with the kids and Aira's teacher. The grounds were very lush and beautiful, and we were even able to see some turtles in a pond. After that we went to a Sushi restaurant right across the street from a huge fishing port. So we had incredibly fresh fish that was very good. Here is a picture of us in front of the restaurant.Then we went to an Aquarium nearby, saw a small but very good dolphin show, and looked at a variety of fish and sea life. It was very kid-friendly and fun. We also climbed up a lighthouse there. It only had 99 steps, but it still offered a nice view. Unfortunately, it was overcast and a bit foggy, so it was hard to see in the distance, but what I did see was a coastal landscape resembling that of Oregon: rocky, full of tide-pools, and a beach broken up by intermediate cliffs. Then we went to a supermarket, returned to their home, and I spent some time playing with their kids.
The daughter knows "I’m a little tea pot" and "The wheels on the bus" and a few other common songs for English speaking kids. They actually have books in English that they read to her and her brother as well. Before dinner I was honored with taking the first bath, which is very traditional in Japanese culture, and they gave me an outfit which is called a Jim Beh, and is kind of like pajamas. They also gave Reed and Lucy one. So, I went into the "bath room" which is like a really large shower with a bath/soaking tub in it. So you wash and rinse off first, then you soak in a bath. It was really quite nice. After that, I put on my Jim Beh, came out and we ate.
Here is Tomma-chan and I sporting said Jim-behs. For dinner we had Yakitori, which is like small shishkabobs with meat only. A difference: with chicken, they eat the cartilage too. Crunch. Crunch. I tried one, but they understood that it wasn't my favorite. There were other meats also, as well as miso soup, a sliced beef and potato dish that seemed a little like a stew, as well as rice.After dinner the husband and son took a bath and I sat and talked with Yukio, and she was so happy that an American was enjoying Japan, and her home, and her cooking, and she got overwhelmed and started to cry from happiness. She loves American culture and movies, and since this is her first time as a home stay host, she didn't know how it would go. And since I'm enjoying everything, she was very pleased.
After the kids went to bed, around 9 or so Saturday night, they kept getting back up, much like some people I know (Reed and Lucy). Eventually they fell asleep and we talked and looked at pictures until around 12:30. I slept on a futon mattress on the floor with a small pillow. I was able to sleep until around 6 am. Then I just laid there.
So, after eating breakfast, which consisted of freshly baked bread, jam, a kind of Asian omelets, some small sausages, rice, and salad, we got onto Skype and had a webcam conference with Gayle. It was really cool, since my host family was able to meet my wife and she could meet them. I even gave Gayle a brief tour of the house with the webcam. So, that was a highlight because despite the thousands of miles, I felt very connected to Gayle and she to me and what I was doing. God bless broadband internet service!
Next, Tomma-chan took me across the street to the hospital where he works, which incidentally is across the street from both the Junior High and Senior High School that I visited. With the exception of the ER, and the patients who are already there, the hospital is closed on Sundays. For the most part, every hall we walked down was empty. I saw 6 nurses and 1 doctor on duty while there. Perhaps it was just the orthopedic wing he took me to and the rest of the hospital was hopping, but it looked like a ghost town compared to an average American hotel on a Sunday. His daughter, who is extremely cute and is named Aira, which means “love is forthcoming” or something to that effect, walked in between us and held our hands. It was very sweet. When we returned from the hospital visit, she insisted on teaching me how to make an origami crane.
She was very patient and sweet, and obviously very skilled at the art. She and her brother, whom they call Mark-o, spoke fairly good English because they had gone to an international preschool where everything was conducted in English.We then had lunch together and talked for a long time about everything from voter participation in our countries to the harvesting of cord blood from the placenta and then storing it cryogenically. I am the first person he has ever met who also opted to save his children’s cord blood. It was a cool conversation. Then I glanced at the clock. It was 2:15. I had to be back at the City Hall by 2:50, so the family and I jetted out to the car and were on our way. I had an excellent and most memorable time with them. When we said goodbye, they both seemed moved, and the Yukio, the wife, began to cry. It was touching. The experience was a memorable one that none of us will forget.
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