By Holly Guentz
The student delegation from Hekinan, Japan arrived in Seattle on Friday, August 1 for a thirteen day visit. For most of the 13 students and 2 teachers, it was their first time in the United States. They were greeted by several members of the Sister City Commission and escorted to Edmonds. En route, students were excited to see downtown Seattle and the Space Needle. They were thrilled with the comfortable weather here, leaving behind the hot, humid weather of their native country.
The itinerary for weekdays was managed by the Sister City commissioners and was filled with a variety of activities. Weekends and evenings were spent with host families who generously shared many adventures with them during their time together. This year’s visit was even more special with the addition of a group of local Edmonds high school students who volunteered their time to enjoy activities together with the Hekinan students.
On August 2 some of the delegates were in the Sister City booth at the Edmonds Farmer’s Market. Passers by stopped to talk with those in the booth, and many enjoyed having their names written by Japanese students in Kanji as a souvenir.
A Welcome Dinner was held on Saturday night in the City Hall Brackett Room. The Hekinan group, host families, Commissioners, and guests from the community enjoyed a pizza dinner. A highlight of the dinner was when the local Edmonds students presented each Hekinan student with a Friendship Bracelet.
On Monday we visited the police and fire stations in downtown Edmonds.
Commissioner Beth chatted with Hekinan student Masanari at the police station. He said he really looks forward to learning to drive. Then at the fire station, when the officers invited the students to explore the huge fire engine, Masanari was the first one to climb up into the driver’s seat. He was beaming and checking out all the options, obviously relishing the fantasy of maneuvering that huge truck down a city street! Afterwards, we toured Edmonds-Woodway High School and were given bright orange Freshman Class T-shirts donated by the ASB store.
On Tuesday we worked on a pottery project with Tim Cashman, art instructor and a chaperone for our 2008 Edmonds student delegation to Hekinan. The creations included a colorful fish, many small animals, and a bright yellow pokemon character. The afternoon included a visit to Ballard Locks, Gas Works Park, and shopping at Archie McPhees.
The evening was capped off by an exciting Mariners Game against the Minnesota Twins. The students made signs to cheer with and were surprised to see our group up on the big screen in a crowd shot. They all bought Ichiro T-shirts and celebrated when Ichiro had the game-winning catch with bases loaded, saving the win for the Mariners. Mr. Suda, a Hekinan chaperone, took over 300 pictures at the game!
The next day we held a BBQ and swim party at Yost Park. We were led on a trail walk by Ranger-Naturalist Val. We did not see any animals as we were a very chatty group of 15 from Hekinan plus 10 local students. While the students were swimming, Mr. Suda again took his camera and quietly explored a nearby path … and came back with his “prize shot” … a squirrel posed on a tree trunk. Later as the entire group left the pool to walk back to Edmonds, we passed the same tree and discovered 4 squirrels chasing each other up the tree trunks. Out came a lot of cameras as the suddenly quiet students were enthralled by the animal antics. Mr. Suda was elated: “It’s like being at the zoo!”
Thursday the group had a fun time at the Frances Anderson Summer Camp Games. They had relays, tug ‘o war, a rice cake toss, and other fun games with kids from the Summer Camp program.
On Friday the group headed off to Vashon Island for a BBQ lunch hosted by the Shiosaki Family. We went for a boat ride in an old wooden boat modeled after the boat depicted in “Mutiny on the Bounty”. We had to work in unison to row across the bay using very heavy oars. As the story goes, the captain and 19 crew members survived 44 days and traveled 4000 miles in this kind of boat. We couldn’t imagine rowing more than a few minutes! We spent a sunny afternoon listening to live guitar music and singing put on by local Vashon teens, visited the lighthouse, and took the ferry back to Seattle.
Monday, August 11 the Hekinan delegation, two Commissioners, and several student volunteers boarded the bus and went into Seattle for the day. The local students escorted the visitors to Pike Place Market and to downtown stores for shopping. This might explain why many of our guests had extremely heavy suitcases to check in on their departure day. They love shopping!
On Tuesday, August 12 our guests were taken to Uwajimaya to shop for the Farewell Dinner. The dinner was attended by host families, Commissioners and guests from the community. It was prepared and presented by the Hekinan delegation, all of whom were dressed in Japanese attire. In addition to the delicious dinner of teriyaki chicken, ginger pork, and yakisoba, the delegates had stations around the room for guests to try calligraphy, origami, and traditional tea ceremony. The pottery work done by the Hekinan students was on display. They had guests join them for fun folk dancing. Delegates introduced their host families with such tenderness that it was clear how fond they had grown of each other in less than two weeks.
Wednesday, August 13 was the day for their departure. They had enjoyed a wonderful visit and all of them were wishing they could stay longer. This is a good example of the successful blending of two cultures that takes place each time we visit each others' countries.
