Home stay

This weekend is one of the highlights of our trip - our weekend stay with a family in Japan! Some of the teachers went by themselves, but I was placed with a teacher from Denver, Laura. We are staying with a wonderful couple, the Totsukas.



We enjoyed a delicious traditional Japanese dinner last night and then I went to bed on a futon on tatami mats.



This morning, after breakfast, we went to Takino cemetery and Takino Park. The cemetery has these incredibly large statues. The park has spectacular gardens. There were also fields and fields of lavender!






After lunch at the park, we headed off to Art Park for the opening of the Pacific Music Festival. Leonard Bernstein started it 23 years ago, and it is internationally recognized. The opening group was from the Sendai Junior High School. After the earthquake and tsunami last spring, the members of the brass band lost all of their precious instruments. They have received donations and new instruments, and they played like professionals. It was a wonderful afternoon, spent outside listening to music.




Before dinner, we went to the mountains to watch the sunset. We drove up Mt. Moiwa and took the gondola to the top! (The sun sets and rises much earlier in Japan than it does in the United States. At this time of year, it is setting about 7:15 PM and it rises at 4:00 AM!!! Yes, 4:00 AM! Yikes! That is early for me!)



Then back to their home for another fantastic home cooked Japanese dinner.

Location:Sapporo, Japan