My husband David and I were delighted to be hosts for two members of the All Izumo Green Honor Band this year, Ayaka Sumigawa and Mikuri Sakane. The Green Band Association is very well organized. It had provided information sheets about each of the girls, so we learned that Ayaka played the flute and Mikuri played the bassoon in the All Izumo Green Honor Band and they both were 17 years old. We also knew that they both wanted to learn to speak English better and that they both loved dogs. For foods that they liked, Ayaka wrote that she liked pasta and Mikuri said that she liked tomatoes and ice cream.
From those bits of information, I prepared a spaghetti and meatball dinner, with salad, garlic bread and Dump Cake and ice cream for dinner on the first night of their stay with us on December 30, 2012. They ate the spaghetti and meatballs and enjoyed eating the cake and ice cream.
We do not have any dogs, but since our grandson Keith Kono was staying with us for a few days, he brought his two dogs to also stay with us. Ayaka and Mikuri were happy to see Yuki, a Bijon Friese, and Shiro, a Maltese, and played with them as often as they could.
We did not have too much time to spend with them at home because the girls had to go to Kennedy High school early the next morning to practice for the Rose Parade. However, they were able to have a choice of items in a breakfast of fruit, juice, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage with mini English muffins and jam before leaving for practice. They prayed before eating, saying in Japanese, “Itadakemasu.” We learned that phrase last year when we hosted two students from Tachibana High School also in Japan.
While the girls were at practice, my husband David was practicing how to use information on the Internet in order to be able to ask or answer more questions in Japanese and English. I am of Japanese descent, of what the Japanese call “Sansei” or third generation in America, so I could speak and understand some Japanese a little, or “sukoshi.” I found that my husband was able to communicate even more by using our iPad! It also helped to have an English to Japanese dictionary on hand to translate simple phrases such as “Where is the bathroom,” “Good morning,” “Good night,” and “Are you hungry?”
We picked the girls up from practice about 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 31 and asked them what they wanted to have for lunch. From a choice of Korean, Mexican or Carl’s Jr. hamburgers, they both wanted hamburgers. They actually chose teriyaki hamburgers and french fries for their lunch. We also took the girls shopping at the Los Cerritos Shopping Center for a few hours since they wanted to shop for some gifts, omiyagi, for friends in Japan.
Since it was New Year’s Eve, I prepared a traditional Japanese New Year’s Eve noodle dish called soba, noodles made of buckwheat, and dipped in a soup made with a fish base dashi and soy sauce. I also served shrimp tempura and pickled cabbage. It was a light dinner because the girls had to be brought to the Holiday Inn in Buena Park by 8 p.m. in order to be ready to go to Pasadena by 4 a.m. the next day for the Rose Parade.
We picked the girls up from the Holiday Inn at about 3:30 p.m. after they returned from the Rose Parade on January 1. I served them another traditional Japanese dish, mochi and vegetables in a soup called oshiruko for good luck. They were tired after all their early morning marching for five miles during the Rose Parade, so they took a nap for two hours.
At six o’clock in the evening, my son Mark, his wife Lisa and their daughters, Ashley and Celeste, came for dinner along with his in-laws, Bob and Dora Witkowski. We had a multi-cultural dinner with Japanese rice, Teriyaki Beef, Chinese Chicken Salad, Japanese Chicken Umani Vegetables, with Spanish Flan, Mexican Pan Duce and hot chocolate for dessert.
No one was hungry after that dinner!
Ayaka and Mikuri learned how to play Mexican train dominoes after dinner. Ayaka learned the game well enough to win one of the games and Mikuri came close to winning too! They also learned to play a card game called Pounce while they did their laundry late at night.
I learned that Ayaka and Mikuri usually ate miso soup with tofu and rice for breakfast, so I prepared those things for breakfast the next morning, Jan. 2. We planned to take them out to a restaurant of their choice for lunch, but the girls said they were really tired after the past day’s activities so they slept in till 10:30 a.m. and then had a brunch of miso soup, tea and rice.
The girls had to be at Kennedy High Performing Arts Center by 1 p.m. to practice for the evening’s performance, so we delivered them there on time. We did not see them again until the concert began at 6:30 p.m. We were so proud to see them performing with the All Izumo Green Honor Band and looked for them as they performed on stage.
My husband and I were sad to say good-bye to our two Japanese visitors who were like “granddaughters” whom we came to know and love in the short time that we spent together. We hope that they enjoyed their stay with us as we learned more about their city and customs, and they learned about how we live here in California. My husband said visits like these probably help to increase international understanding about people. People are the same the world over with their love of family, of children, of dogs, and also, their love of beautiful music that binds them all together.