We're very grateful to the fine people at KNT who are working so hard to accomodate us and get us to MN at last.
Unfortunately, since it's a weekend during summer vacation, the first flight we can get on won't leave till Sunday night. We'll have a long layover in Hawaii, and finally reach MSP very early Monday morning-- around 6am on August 2nd.
We are wondering if our Red Wing host families would consider extending our homestays till the morning of August 11th. The kids would much rather spend more time with you than sightsee.
Tom and the Red Wing students got on their flight leaving Tokyo for Seattle.
The Ikata student group was not allowed to check in for its 4pm flight since we arrived at the airport at 3:15. Tonight we'll have to stay in Tokyo, and then try again tomorrow to get on a flight. Will update when we know more.
It's hard to believe we're already down to our final day and two nights in Ikata! We had planned tonight's party for Muronohana Park, but rain made us change the venue to the local agricultural co-op center. All the barbecuing means a lot of smoke, but it's still good to be all together for the last time.
In about half an hour, we'll get up on stage to introduce ourselves at the opening ceremony of the Kinahaiya Matsuri. The grounds of Ikata Junior High School are bustling as organizations get their booths ready for the day.
After visiting junior high schools in the morning and Misaki High School in the afternoon, we dropped the kids off in their respective neighborhoods. We had half an hour to kill by the time we came to the Old Ikata neighborhood, so we stopped to watch the grade schoolers practice for Sunday's sumo competition at the Kinahaiya Festival.
This morning we visited Densouji, a Buddhist temple in the Misaki area.
After meeting Mrs. Kae Tada, who lives at the temple with her family, we tried rolling tea leaves outside. Back inside the temple, Kae let us try some Zen meditation. This silent time began with the sound of wooden blocks struck together, followed by four chimes of a bell.
Next we used brush pens to copy a sutra, or sacred writing. We also had fun coloring in the picture of the bodhisattva Kannon.
We were fortunate enough to hear a Buddhist hymn sung by a local ladies' group. Later, as we tasted Japanese tea and sweets, we could still hear snatches of music as they practiced together.
Today we woke up in log houses at Seto Agritopia and had a quick sandwich and sweetbread breakfast. Then the town bus came to pick us up. First, we went to the Misaki area, to a Buddhist temple called Densouji. There we rolled tea leaves, tried Zen meditation, copied and colored in Buddhist sutras, and tried Japanese green tea（matcha).
Next we went to Seto to see the shirasu fish packing plant. Afterwards the kids got ice cream--mostly chocolate or vanilla, but Someone was adventurous and got the ice cream with shirasu fish in it!
Now we are driving along the coastline again on our way to the Visitors' House for lunch.
We took a ferry from Hiroshima to Matsuyama Port. There to meet us when we landed were Mr. A. Sakamoto (Policy Implementation Division, Town Hall), Mrs. T. Wakida (Policy Implementation Division), and Mr. H. Hirose (Ikata Int'l Exchange Assn. Chairman).
After dinner at a buffet restaurant called "Taiyou no Gochisou" (The Sun's Bounty), we took a long bus ride down the coastline to our final destination, Ikata. The students were all excited to meet their new Japanese families, and the families to meet their new American family members. Mayor Yamashita gave everyone a warm welcome, and Mr. Hirose followed with his best wishes for the next ten days. We hope everyone enjoys this special time in Ikata!
Here in Miyajima, deer are as common as squirrels. From ancient times they have been revered as messengers of the gods, so no one is allowed to harm them.
This morning we passed by many deer as we walked to Itsukushima Shrine.
We had an early Japanese-style breakfast at 7am, but many of the group had woken up as early as 4 or 5pm! (Good old jet lag.) Now we are on the way to the pickup point for our Hato Bus half-day tour. It's already a hot, hot day.
Since it's a little hard to keep track of all the comments in different posts on the blog, I've made a Facebook Group site where we can all post the messages, photos, and even videos we want to share with our friends in Ikata and Red Wing.
If you are not on Facebook yet, it's free and easy to join. Even if you decide not to join, anyone can view The Flying Mikan group site, so check it out!
Now that the program is only five (!) days away, please note that everyone can use the comment boxes to talk with each other. Check the Japanese post below for a note from Honami, and say hi! I'll translate all the comments I can. :)
Although the best thing you take home from this trip probably won't be tangible, here are some ideas for things you can make or buy in Japan to remember your time here.
1-Personalized
--Bring a camera, sketchbook and pencil, and/or journal to record your time in Japan from your own perspective. Just take care not to spend the whole time capturing images and thoughts; you need to live a little, too!
--E-mail addresses to keep in touch with your host family and friends later
--Crafts you make with your host family and friends
2-Practical
--a nice set of chopsticks to use (and reuse) at home
--Japanese-style pottery, cups, bowls, etc. (we are planning to decorate some pottery in Ikata, by the way!)
--T-shirts and other clothing
3-Quirky
--Japanese 100 yen stores (usually Daisō) are full of small and interesting items, making it easy to bring back something for everyone. (However, most merchandise is made in China, so read labels if you are intent on buying something genuinely Japanese.)
--If you have your heart set on a katana (sword), yukata (summer kimono), kimono, etc., research online to see how expensive the item is, and bring enough money to pay for it.
Last Word: Memories are worth more than things. Achieve a balance, and don't spend all your time worrying about stuff when there are people to meet and things to do!
質問はもう１つの種類があります。 ・今日は何したいですか？What should we do today? ・夕食は何が食べたいですか？タコスですか、ピザですか？What would you like for dinner, pizza or tacos? ・テニスをしませんか？Do you want to play some tennis?
自分の意見、または意志を聞かれると、戸惑ってしまうのがいやだけど仕方がない。 大切なコツは、曖昧な質問に、質問で答えよう。というのは、「今日は何しますか」と聞かれたら、「選択肢は何ですか？」（What are our options?)という返事は大丈夫です。 そして、もっと大切なコツですよ。「別に」という気持ちであっても、１つ選択肢を掴んで答えよう。
When you think of Japanese traditional clothing, does a kimono come to mind?
Wikipedia has a great breakdown of the different styles of kimono and other traditional clothing in Japan. Kimono literally means "thing to wear." But above are some pictures of clothes you'll see in Ikata this summer.
There are two kinds of jimbei and yukata. One is plain, dark, and earth-toned with geometrical patterns--this is the style for men and boys. Ladies' jimbei and yukata tend to be more brightly colored, with fruit, flowers, fireworks, butterflies, or dragonflies as decorative motifs. The yukata obi (belt) is tied at the back. Men's obis are fairly narrow at about 10 centimeters, and tie simply, while women's obis are much wider at 30-40 centimeters, and can be tied in a variety of ways.
Jimbei are most often worn as men's pajamas and in casual situations, much like sweatpants and beaters in the US. Jimbei for women and children are also gaining popularity, though you never see women running errands in them. This kind of clothing is often seen at festivals like the Kinahaiya Matsuri.
Yukata are most often worn at festivals, especially for the fireworks display.
Another kind of clothing is the happi, which is a jacket like a jimbei top, but tied with a thin belt in front and made of thicker material. A lot of happi are designed with logos, so that the wearers can promote their company or club at special events. At the Ikata Odori (dance), you will see happi in different colors, representing different dance teams from local associations and the town hall.
英語では、「～しませんか」 （お誘いの時に）、won't you...? じゃなくて、よくあるのは do you want to...? です。この方がカジュアルで言いやすいです。だから、ホストマザーが「Do you want to go to the grocery store with me?」と言ったら、｛「スーパーに行きたい？」「いや、別に行きたくないけど」｝という意味じゃなくて、「一緒に行かない？」という意味です。参加する時は「Sure」と言えばいいです。断る時は「No thanks」がいいです。
What to bring your host family? Here are some ideas if you're stuck:
1-Home (something representative of Red Wing, Minnesota, or the US in general)
--T-shirts, jerseys, caps, local products, nice photo books, art
2-Soul (something that reflects your skills or values)
--Your own handmade arts and crafts, tastefully framed, mounted, or wrapped
--Ingredients and a recipe for a dish you can make for the family
--Fair-trade coffee, chocolate, clothing, or other products (*be aware that many people don't own a coffee bean grinder, so pre-ground coffee is a safer option. Also, chocolate will assuredly melt in the summertime.)
3-Sundry
--Music CDs, especially if you e-mail with your host family before the trip and learn about an artist or style of music they enjoy
--Most DVDs are region-specific, so American (Region 1) DVDs will not play in a Japanese (Region 2) DVD player and vice versa. (Not recommended.)
--Toys if there are younger children in your host family
--Popular magazines, posters
--Water balloons
--Little things like American coins, pens, pencils, stickers, and gum for other people you meet in Ikata
Japanese homes are famously much smaller on average than an American home, so think ahead when you are gift-shopping. An oversize knickknack, even if it's regional or soulful, will probably just collect dust. The vast majority of Japanese gifts are food or drink.
Last word: Whatever you decide on, make sure to put some thought into the gift and wrap it carefully and attractively. When you give a gift to someone, he or she might decide not to open it right away--waiting for a private moment to do so--but this is simply traditional etiquette and not a dismissal of your gift.
The Japanese food most Americans are exposed to is made for a restaurant or grocery store. When you come to Ikata, you will be eating day-to-day, home-style Japanese food.
Japanese cuisine puts a big emphasis on whole (minimally processed) foods, and salty or pickled food. Rice or plain bread is the base of every meal, surrounded by a number of small side dishes providing protein, fiber, iron, fat, and roughage.
Ikata has access to a lot of seafood and seaweed. Some things you may not be expecting are chirimen, tiny white sardines that are dried or fried and eaten whole; jakoten, palm-sized patties of ground whole fish; and hijiki, a kind of seaweed that looks a little like a black coleslaw, boiled with mirin and sugar. In addition, there are some varieties of glutinous potato which feature as a side salad or in okonomiyaki. You may have heard of natto, fermented , viscous soy beans eaten with soy sauce and raw egg or spread on toast. Eggs are not always refrigerated, and are mixed with soy sauce and eaten raw with sashimi (raw fish) or with shredded daikon (giant radish) on top of rice. These are all typical foods, nutritious and delicious.
Your host family will probably not give you natto or sashimi without asking you how you feel about it. They may give you Western style food if they feel you are not eating enough. The US, though, is not the only country that has contributed to Japan's image of "Western food." France has had a big influence. So don't expect all the bread, soup, stew, pizza, gratin, etc. to taste the same, but do keep your tastebuds open to delicious new flavors!
Most of the milk sold in Japan is whole, not low- or non-fat, and the taste is slightly different from American milk. Cheese is very mild. Breakfast cereal is still a rarity, and there are often only a few kinds to choose from. Most people eat a Japanese style breakfast of rice, miso soup, and fish, or a Western style breakfast of various sweetbreads, or eggs and sausage. "Scrambled" eggs are made like an omelet and folded over into a neat patty, and may contain sugar. Pancakes ("hot cakes") and waffles are considered desserts and not breakfast.
Last word: try everything and be polite, but don't push your body past its natural limits.
This is an example of a Japanese bathroom. Literally a bath room, it is separate from the toilet and sink.
When taking a shower or bath in Japan, the most important thing to know is that you must be absolutely clean before entering the bathtub. To do that, you have to take a shower outside the tub (the floor with the diagonal lines in this picture). Be careful not to get stray soap or hair in the tub, since the full bathtub will be used by everyone in the family.
The second most important thing is that everyone bathes at night, usually between 7-10pm. Please respect this custom at your homestay; your host family will love you for it!
Some useful words...
A- the bathtub, or ohuro B- a shower stool, or shawaa isu C- a plastic basin, or senmenki D- a lever, or rebaa E- the faucet, or jaguchi F- the shower head, or shawaa heddo
Some notes...
*Your host family may or may not have a shower stool and basin in the bathroom. Some families will have a thick, soft, plastic mat on the floor instead. *If your homestay bathroom has a lever next to the faucet, point the shower head away from you while you try the tap, unless you would like to be surprised by a burst of cold water from an unexpected direction. :) *I have yet to see a shower head stuck to the wall in Japan. They are all detachable for convenience. *Japanese hotels often provide body soap, shampoo, and rinse (conditioner).
Japanese bathrooms are usually in their own area of the house, next to the toilet room, sink, and washing machine. This forms a sort of hall that can be closed off with a sliding door, so when you take a shower, just close the door and leave your towel and clothes outside the bathroom. When you finish, grab the towel and dry off inside the bathroom so as not to create a puddle on the floor outside.
Some homes have an electronic pad on the wall of the bathroom. Ask your host family to explain it to you; it's for turning on the hot water, but there are other buttons, such as a "panic button" that will send your confused mutters straight to the kitchen.
