After resetting our internal clocks, more or less, during our hotel stay we finally got to meet our first host families on Saturday morning. The Hotel Sun-Route lobby quickly filled with our luggage and our hosts. Business cards and warm greetings were extended all around and we all enjoyed a delicious lunch in the hotel's party room before going our separate ways.
We were not to be separated for long. Evening brought our official welcome party and our first official presentation in Japanese. It was held in a traditional party hall within the walls of ancient Karasawa Castle. Pine mushrooms featured prominently in the menu. They are very aromatic and they only grow in the wild. We waited until enough beer and sake had disappeared and then we launched into our presentation.
Happily, all our preparation paid off. It went very well and I am proud of the team for all the hard work that went into learning their parts. It's sure to get smoother with practice, especially now that we're over the first-time jitters.
Sunday we had a free day with our hosts. I looked at bonsai, saw a wild monkey and ate soba noodles at an idyllic outdoor restaurant near a mountain stream. In the afternoon we drove to Ashikaga and visited the Ashikaga School, the first Confucian academy in Japan, founded in AD832. For dinner we ate at Kappa Sushi where you choose your sushi from a conveyor and your server totals up your bill by the number of empty plates on your table. It was very entertaining and delicious. I can't wait to hear what the rest of the team has been doing.
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