Days 13/14: The Homestay

In order to provide each of us with a genuine Japanese experience, we were all given the opportunity to spend two days and a night with a Japanese family. My family was a middle-aged couple whose children were grown and out of the house. My host mother, Mariko-san (san is a word added to names as a sign of respect) is a piano teacher and my host Father, Koizi-san, an office worker. The morning we all met I was a little bit nervous, and I’m sure they were too. That all disappeared moments after we greeted each other. Koizisan and Marikosan were very kind and made me feel right at home. Koizisan spoke enough English to allow for some good communication. I soon learned about their children, jobs, and hobbies. They reminded me of my own parents. As soon as we arrived at their house, I was treated to lunch of cold udon noodles, which were dipped in a glass of iced soy sauce. I had a little bit of trouble using chopsticks with the slippery noodles, so Marikosan got me a fork. In Japanese households people leave their shoes at the door and step into slippers. When lunch was over, we drove in to Saga and went to the painting museum, history museum, and castle museum. We then went to Kiyomizu waterfall. It required a small hike and I was amazed by the lush forest and countless Buddhist and Shinto statues and shrines. For dinner Marikosan made sukiyaki, which was absolutely delicious. In a frying pan she cooked onions, cabbage, and thin sliced beef in soy-sauce and sugar. I was shown how to break a raw egg into a bowl and whisk it with my chopsticks. When the meat and vegetables were cooked, they were dished into the bowl with the egg. The hot temperature of the meat cooked the egg that coated it. I ate and ate and ate until I couldn’t eat any more. It was yummy! After dinner I was shown where I would be sleeping. A futon had been pulled out of the closet and onto the tatami mat floor. I slept great and anticipated the trip we would take the next day to Arita. Breakfast in the morning was an omelet that I thoroughly enjoyed. When I finished, Kiozisan got a twinkle in his eye and asked me if I had ever tried natto. I told him no. He then asked if I had tried noni or sour plums. I again said no. Soon Marikosan appeared with all three. Koizisan informed me that these were the three things he heard Americans didn’t like to eat for breakfast. Then he asked if I wanted to try. I said sure, and dipped my chopsticks into the natto, which are fermented soy beans that have excreted a sticky syrup. Koizisan watched in delight as I placed them in my mouth and swallowed hard. Then came the nori, small strips of seaweed paper that are dipped in soy sauce and eaten with rice. The nori was actually quite good and I even had seconds. I can’t say that about the sour plums. One of those put a look on my face that had Koizisan and Marikosan laughing out loud.

Arita is a small town where world famous porcelain is made. Our destination was the ceramics museum, which has an amazing display of historical and contemporary pottery. We spent a good amount of time at the museum and then headed into town to see some galleries.

At 3:00 PM we met back up with the others from my group and their host families for the goodbye reception. It was the end of a brief but incredible experience I will never forget. As our bus pulled away all of the host families waved goodbye with both hands until we could see them no more.

From the reception we headed straight to Karatsu for a stay in a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn. Every ryokan has rooms with tatami mat floors, an onsen, and yukatas for all its guests. Our ryokan was on the beach with a view of the Sea of Japan and Karatsu castle, one of only four original castles in Japan. Karatsu is also known for its own style of pottery, which is simple in design. Dinner was a traditional banquet where we were once again treated to all sorts of raw and cooked sea things. The most interesting had to be the plate with a fish head and tail but nothing in the middle. After dinner most of the group stayed for karaoke, which is extremely popular in Japan, but I opted instead for a walk along the beach and a dip in the onsen.