September 18, 2016
Toyokoro is crying today as it is our last day here! :-(. Well.....for the first time since our arrival we're facing a day of drizzle so I'm gonna go with the crying concept.
Our day started with a walk (in the rain) over to the lodge where as always our breakfast was served by the two lovely ladies in the kitchen. Each day they manage to make the buffet look beautiful and today it was made even lovelier by a gorgeous bouquet in the middle of the table. One of the women had picked the flowers from her garden and honestly the arrangement looked like it had come straight out of a magazine! As always our breakfast included a wide array of choices from eggs and bacon or sausage to fruits and salad. The toast and endless supply of coffee were popular options as well. The peanut butter came in tiny jars that were branded "Snoopy" which happens to be Sharon's absolute favourite character and so those little jars were washed out each time another one was emptied. By the end of our visit Sharon will have quite a little pile of them! It will be interesting to hear how she decides to use them back home. :-)
After breakfast it was a full morning of cooking and our collective results turned out to be delicious as the plan was that we'd enjoy the fruits of our labour for lunch. We made pork patties simmered in a light gravy, tofu donuts, tofu wrapped in bacon and fried till crispy and golden then wrapped in a lettuce leaf and drizzled with homemade BBQ sauce, and of course there was the ever present rice and nori so we could custom make our own sushi at the table. (I will add here that the tofu donuts were amazing! They consisted of tofu, pancake mix, a beaten egg and enough milk to make a dough that could be rolled into balls and deep fried to a golden hue then rolled in sugar while still warm.)
Once we were all sufficiently stuffed it was off to a ceremonial tree planting to commemorate the 20th anniversary of our Sister City connection. It was literally "all umbrellas at the ready" and the ceremony managed to come off with barely a drop of rain making it through the ceiling of umbrellas that covered the area.
Today was another full agenda and so the students hurried off with their home stay families and five of the women in our group joined Mrs Sato and were treated to the experience of a formal traditional dressing in the kimono. At the same time as they were being "dressed" Masumi (librarian) entertained them with a samurai sword demonstration! Masumi is a tiny little bit of a thing and that sword is almost as big as she but she sure could wield it! In the end, all five of the women looked amazing in their kimonos! The kimonos had been selected especially for them...to compliment their colouring.
Park Golf had been in the plans but due to the drizzle that had to be cancelled so some folks went to the library where there is wifi access, others headed off to the gym, and a couple of us took the opportunity to put our feet up for a couple of hours before the Sayonara Party tonight. Three guesses who might have gone to put their feet up and the first two don't count. :-)
Sayonara Party tonight was amazing as always! Carmen had decided she'd like to keep her kimono on for the party and so she arrived in full traditional Japanese dress. She was gorgeous and all of the Japanese men simply uttered "WOW" when they caught first sight of her. The price she paid for wearing the kimono was that all she felt confident enough to eat was two grapes for dinner! Fear of food slipping from her chopsticks and falling onto the silk dress was just too great....but.....it was worth it and she carried off that kimono like she'd worn one all her life! :-). As well, her decorative obi meant that there was no learning back on the chair and the rigid brace round her mid-section meant there was no slouching either. Aggghhhh the cost of beauty! :-). At one point Carmen's obi started to unravel but Mrs Sato was at the ready and had it repaired in a flash so all was well in the world of kimono catastrophes.
The Taiko drum team opened the evening and took my breath away as they always do. It's hard to believe that this little town can have such an amazingly talented taiko group. They performed a piece that tells the story of a family watching fireworks in the sky. Each section of the taiko group tells a different part of the story and by the time they're approaching the end of the piece all the drums are playing together. When the number ends and the drums all stop in unison the vacant space that is left as the sound ceases is as loud as any drum beat had been prior. It is that kind of manipulation of the beats and the spaces between the beats that gives me goosebumps every time! That....and the fact that there are so many drums playing in a relatively small space is actually beyond description that does it justice. Included in the taiko team tonight were the seven junior players as well as the adults. It is great to see that the next generation is keeping up this tradition and doing their town proud!
Later in the performances tonight all six of the youth in our delegation joined those seven junior taiko players to surprise us with a performance they'd worked on since our arrival. It was great to see and actually very good too! :-)
Other entertainment for the evening included: a young woman with a karate demonstration, the four Summerland Royalty performing a dance, Summerland Princess Kush doing a traditional Indian dance, Hannah playing the piano and singing Hallelujah, the Toyokoro ukulele troupe, and the ceremonial exchange of gifts between the town representatives and the sister city committee chairs. Dinner at the Sayonara party was delicious and was topped off by the official cutting of the Sayonara cake that we all managed to make short work of once it had been cut.
As is always the case....the party was over right on time as planned and we were loaded back onto the bus for the return trip to our lodge. Of course....as is also always the case there was the 2nd party to look forward to and in short order most of our group and many of our Toyokoro friends had gathered in a room at our lodge for some less formal fun and laughter. It was during this 2nd party that somehow a bag of something that looked like dried bugs but that they tell me were baby squid found its way into my hands. Supposedly these things are very expensive and a great delicacy. No one else in my group wanted to try them so of course I couldn't let the opportunity pass. I tore open the bag and discovered that while the flavour was at best "interesting" the texture wasn't half bad. Much like beef jerky actually. Once I'd broken the ice, Carmen was next in line to give them a try (yeah! The Forde girls kicked butt on this one!) and then once she'd survived too....a few more decided to give the baby squid a go before the bag made its way to Koji's end of the table where it stayed till it was empty.
It was another great day and fun filled evening where great memories were created and friendships formed or deepened. Hard to believe we'll be leaving here in the morning. Our time here has flown by and I will miss these people and this great little town.
Till next time,
Lorrie and Darlene
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