🇯🇵 Day 16 🇯🇵

Rest Day

Today was a day of reconnecting and revisiting.

The morning started with a relaxing breakfast with Yuki and Masa, followed by laundry and the usual “rest day” duties.

Then it was off to lunch with our old friends Mokoto and Yuriko (Kakeru’s parents.) They welcomed us with their usual laughter and stories of travel. Yuriko prepared カレー焼きそば (karē yakisoba – curry fried noodles) and even shared her secret recipe with us so we could make it at home and think of them. We also enjoyed some 漬物 (tsukemono – fermented pickles) and a delicious creamy イチジク (ichijiku – fig) dessert.

After lunch we headed to the junior high school for a ceremony to kick off the 学園祭 (gakuensai – school festival), where we were introduced as surprise guests. Jim gave a short speech in both 英語 (eigo – English) and 日本語 (nihongo – Japanese). The principal’s care in making the event special, along with the thoughtfulness of the teachers assigned to help, made the whole experience feel like an honor. The students were captivated and supportive, cheering loudly.

Following all the excitement, we took a nostalgic walk (TV crew in tow) through the school. Jim shared stories of walking the hallways, sitting at his old desk, and pretending to teach in his former classroom. The crew was especially interested in how the school had changed since Jim’s days there. He noticed エアコン (eakon – air conditioning), computers at every teacher’s desk, Google Chromebooks in classrooms, whiteboards replacing blackboards, and brighter interiors thanks to LED lighting.

After more cheers and waves from the kids, as we got into the car to leave and made our way to the 図書館 (toshokan – library)—a place Jim had always found relaxing. Some parts were unchanged, while others had been updated: a model of 東京タワー (Tōkyō Tawā – Tokyo Tower) honoring the architect from Kushigata, and the auditorium where Jim once attended meetings, still decorated with its striking curtain artwork. He led us to the 英語の本 (eigo no hon – English book) section, filled with titles (some gifted from Iowa), and pointed out where he used to sit and read the 新聞 (shinbun – newspaper), often with a view of 富士山 (Fujisan – Mt. Fuji) in the background.

One last stop on the tour was along the 川 (kawa – river) where the festival is celebrated each spring. After saying goodbye 「またね！」(“matane!” – see you again!) to the TV crew, we headed back to Yuki and Masa’s for a short rest and a tour of their son’s beautiful new home under construction.

Later, we visited Cassie and Hiro’s Kid’s Design Class (https://kidsdesignclass.com), a modern Japanese-style space where kids and families can express their creative talents. Work on graphic design projects. It is a super cool idea. The students work on one project for seven weeks, such as designing wrapping paper, playing cards, waterbottles, postcards, and even Rubik‘s cubes. These graphics can then be turned into gifts or even items to be sold.

Cassie is Annie’s sister and one of my prize English students from 25 years ago.
It was heartwarming to see how well she is doing, to reconnect with het, get to know her husband, and meet their children, who were busy creating art and enjoying the space while we shared a meal together.

Another fun filled day with many events and another seven hours with the TV crew had us exhausted in a good way.

Two more nights at Yuki’s house and we are off for our C Spoke to Kakeru‘s house in Kanazawa.Lue lisää