Date of activity: july 6^th

This afternoon we helped the community of masuda making mochi ‘rice cake’ with big hammers, after which we fought for food during an awesome “Nagasi Somen” lunch.

An awesome combination of food and fun! I will treasure these memories forever.

In the evening we performed the last Arigato Evento of the second session. Although it was the same show we did before, there was more excitement from the public as well as the participants followed by sadness because people had to go home after or leave their host families. We jumped, we screamed, we laughed and we hoped that the time could stop at that moment; I felt happiness dispersing like dyes in my heart.

I only had the time to stay for one session, but after these short two weeks I really hoped I could stay longer because of all the friends I made and the memories we created together.
Come back, they said. I will come back, next summer if not sooner!

Ying – China

Date of activity: July 5^th

The day starts off perfectly; rain is pounding down so terribly hard, arriving dry is something only the best accomplish. Today we’re doing the last school-visit of the WCI program this year, so everyone is super excited. The group is divided among the elementary- and junior high school, with eight going to the junior high school. This means that our little group is exactly the same size as the group of students in the whole school. It is actually the smallest junior high school in the prefecture. We spend the day presenting our different countries and learning part of a traditional rice-planting song called taue-hayashi.

I’ll miss going to japanese schools, because the children are truly interested in my dull live. I Love it!

Marijke – The Netherlands

Date of Activity: July 4^th

In japanese folklore there is an old story called Kaguya Hime. A old bamboo cutter went into the bamboo forest and saw a glowing bamboo. He cuts the bamboo and within is a little girl: Kaguya hime. The bamboo cutter takes the girl home and together with his wife he raises kaguya hime.

Today we went into the bamboo forest as well, to cut some bamboo. It reminded me of the Kaguya hime story. Unfortunately the weather forecast was not accurate. Instead of a sunny day it became a wet rainy day. Therefore we had to stop bamboo cutting even before we started, we were lucky however we did cut some bamboo before we went down the mountain on which the bamboo forest was located.

We went to a small camping site were we had to cut some bamboo into our own cups, which was actually pretty cool to use. Meanwhile we were waiting for the rice to be cooked so we could start our lunch: onigiri!!!!

Because of the knowledge of the onsen visit later on most of us were pretty exited. The day ended with a visit to the nursery school which was behind the host family house I currently live in. Because it will soon be tanabata we made decorations with the 1 to 4 year old kids. It was great!

Ellery Oosterberg – The Netherlands

Date of Activity: July 3^rd

The skies over Kumamoto city were crying forcefully as we left our host families behind this morning. Despite our (too) short stay in the city, we left with heavy hearts. For the following 6-ish hours we traveled by bus from the Island of Kyushu to Honshu. Some were sleeping, others talking excitedly, sharing candy or enjoying the scenery. We ate lunch around noon next to the huge bridge that connects Kyushu and Honshu, and sat in a row with our obentos while enjoying the beautiful view of endless sea and mountains.

Around four thirty in the afternoon, we arrived at the Fureai hall Mito in Masuda.

We were all a bit weary, and somewhat confused when we were told that the major were to attend the Host family welcome ceremony. However, we all turned “genki” again as we played a game together called “Ninja”; taking turns we jumped across the room trying to hit other people’s hands. It really wasn’t as brutal as it sounds (the final breakdown between Vaya and Kyle was very exciting, and the latter emerged as the victor).

The ceremony started with speeches from amongst others the major, and he sincerely welcomed us to the city. Afterwards each host family came up to the stage where we sat and called our names, we took a picture together and joined them in the audience. Then a local group performed two songs on Taiko – traditional Japanese drums.

The first song was lively. But the second song, a lumberjack song, was truly powerful. A woman playing a small wooden flute did the opening part, the sharp and melodious tune taking us far far into the ancient forests of the Japanese country side. And the energy of the drummers – every strike felt like a thunderbolt splitting a tree trunk in half. Feeling somewhat awed after the performance, we left the hall with our new families….

Torunn Olsen – Norway