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| A Homestay to Cherish |
| Hati's
dedication and commitment to HFC are unquestionable. I attended all the
Club activities I could join in. A typical Club meeting is characterized
by speaking and action singing in foreign languages. I watched in awe the
Russian bit which incorporated vigorous folk dance steps into the song.
In another meeting, they sang "Ikan Kekek" (Malay) with amusing
improvised actions, Ied by Hati. At two meetings, I introduced an adaptation
of a song we sing in the Catholic Church by just changing two words: "dalam
hippo". The rest of the lyric from that song fits in perfectly for
HFC. Observing how Hati juggled her time and managed herself as a die hard, super active Hippo, a wife, a mother, and a gracious host, I felt she had to be super natural. How she set her priorities and accomplished things was something I could only envy. When she couldn't personally take me out, she arranged with her friends to stand in. Mamiko Yoshida and Miki Iwasa dropped me at a huge bookstore and came back for me so that I could be safely brought back to Hati. Mamiko and Reita "Luko" Kamimura (heavy with child) took me to the Ichinomiya City Museum. This was the friendliest museum I'd ever visited. I was allowed to take pictures as I pleased, in and around the museum. Shigemi was a man of very few words. Ask him a question and he would disappear just to reemerge in no time with a computer print-out. He found out for us that it was the right time to go to Jo-An Tea Ceremony House in Uraku-En, a national treasure only opened to the public four days in autumn and four days in spring. Just the day before I left, Hati drove us - Fuyuko-san (mother-in-law), Fumie Fujii, Masanori and me - to the place. The tea ceremony was exactly the way Hati did it for Mamiko, Reita and me two days before - minus the kimono and the tea room set up. One sunny day, Hati and her childhood friend Hiroyo Toyoda took me to Gassho Village of Gero Onsen, famous for its hot spring. Gassho is an art and craft village up on a mountain. We took two train rides from Ichinomiya and transferred to a bus from the train station to the Village. I experienced how Japanese efficiency and honesty worked when, on disembarking, I mistakenly gave all my tickets to the ticket collector at the train station. When we had to take a train back in the afternoon, the ticket collector at the station said he kept the return ticket for me. Did I thank my guardian angel! What I gained and accomplished in eight days amazed myself. Besides those Hippo meetings in four different public buildings, I managed to visit three bookstores in three shopping complexes. I went wild with excitement when I discovered a one-stop craft shop on the way to a shopping complex. There were evening walks, exploring the neighborhood, observing dog walkers, watching students coming back from school, and wondering how those absolutely gorgeous vegetables in the neighborhood plots didn't get stolen. Mine was a very enriching eight days of getaway. Everything else considered, my encounters and interactions with these real day-to-day Japanese top the list. If quiet graciousness is the sign of wisdom, then I've seen wisdom. |
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