Day 8 Thoughts
On the morning of Saturday, July 1st, each of the teachers in my group gathered in the lobby of the Ofunato Plaza Hotel to meet our host family. The teachers each felt a bit sad about leaving our peers and our guide and felt a bit anxious about spending 2 days with a host family. Come to find out, the host families were also anxious about this event. I was assigned to the Kawakami family. I believe they became involved because of Mr. Kawakami's involvement in the Lions Club. Most of the host families were involved with the Lions Club, the Rotary Club or another community organization. The Kawakami's home was gorgeous. Their former home had burned in a fire a few years back, and this new one was built. They wanted to keep their home traditional, though, so they included rooms with tatami mats and printed screens. Their furniture was low in all of the rooms except the kitchen. I consider myself very fortunate to have stayed in such a traditional home and to have had as thoughtful hosts as I had. I had some difficulty in the home, though, because one was to wear slippers in the hallways between rooms and remove them before entering rooms with tatami mats. I kept forgetting to do this. I also had difficulty sitting for long periods on the floor. Luckily the Kawakamis had a low table that had an cut-out area below it in which to hang our legs and feet. Phew!
These decorative horns belonged to either a water buffalo or an ox. I had difficulty translating.
Name:
Anne O'Brien