Day of activity: 2013 August 13th
Not being able to join everyone to a two night stay in the mountains, I was finally able to meet everyone at the Ecofull town in Toyota city. There we learned about how Toyota city is trying to change to a more environmentally friendly area, especially after the disastrous flood in 2010 that had cost the city a great deal of forestry. The experiences included a chance to see a future smart house which currently 65 residents in Toyota own on a trial basis. With the smart house, one is able to conserve energy, and also at the same time be conscious about the environment we live in and how we can save a little more money.
For lunch we interacted with local community members and at the same time ate together as well as we exchanged a little bit about each other. Following lunch was a chance to listen to shamisen which is a traditional Japanese instrument made from cat fur. Finally after the experience with local community members, we were all able to meet our host families. My host mom was Naomi Sugawara and we have been looking forward to meeting each other for two weeks! Nao-mama and I have been emailing each other and we finally got to meet face to face! That night we took purikura pictures together and ate kaitenzushi. I look forward to making more memories with Nao-mama!!
Allison Lai (Canada)