2007 Exchange Program/Ikata Homestays
From IkataWiki
| Sightseeing Tour | Ikata Homestays | Red Wing Homestays | Message board |
Ikata homestays followed the Kansai tour as part two of the 2007 Exchange Program between Ikata and Red Wing. See what the Red Wing student group did in Ikata from July 23 to 31.
- We're in the newspaper! Check out the translation of the article from the town newsletter: Red Wing students experience homestays in Ikata
Contents |
[edit]
Useful links
- Ikata, Ehime on Wikipedia
- Areas of Ikata
[edit]
July 23
- Homestays
[edit]
July 24
Today's schedule:
- 4:45pm — Tree Planting Ceremony in Red Wing Park
- 5:30 — Welcome Party at Seto Agritopia
- 8:30 — Overnight stay
Notes:
- It seemed like the whole town turned out for the Tree Planting Ceremony! The mayor gave a few words, then the local cable company filmed each of the Red Wing kids and their host families shoveling in some dirt to cover the newly-planted tree.
- You could really feel the history of this exchange program from the row of trees planted on previous years, filling an entire corner of the park.
- The Welcome Party was held in a beautiful, recently-built retreat facility up in the mountains.
- First, a local student taiko (traditional Japanese drums) group gave a gut-vibrating performance.
- Then the Red Wing students tried their hands at playing the taiko drums!
- Inside, we started off the party by presenting some gifts to the Red Wing group: Ikata t-shirts.
- There was food, food, and more food! Barbecued meat, yakisoba noodles, onigiri rice balls, and grilled squid were all served in vast quantities. For dessert: kakigōri shaved ice with syrup.
- English teachers from Misaki High School treated us to a live guitar performance of "Country Road" and a Japanese classic, "Furusato" ("My Home").
- The Ikata student delegation to Red Wing also sang a song.
- Two of the host families wore traditional kimonos and served traditional green tea along with Japanese sweets.
- After the party, the Red Wing students and the Ikata students and host siblings stayed overnight in the Agritopia's posh cabins. From the laughter and chatter, we think they may not have gotten much sleep.
[edit]
July 25
Today's schedule:
- Morning — Calligraphy and games
- 1:30pm — Tour of the town
Notes:
- In the morning we all got up and had a breakfast of ochazuke, a kind of tea & rice soup, pastries, and Ikata's fabulously tangy orange juice.
- We then broke out a Nintendo Wii and had the kids face off in Wii Sports.
- At 9, a local calligraphy teacher came to show everyone how to write Japanese Kanji characters. The Ikata students came up with Kanji to represent everyone's names:
| English | Kanji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Ben | 勉 | Hard work |
| Chad | 茶土 | Tea + Earth |
| Jackson | 砂来尊 | Sand + (to) Come + Respect |
| Jennifer | 次日葉 | Next + Day + Leaf |
| Lindsay | 鈴時 | Bell + Time |
| Nicholas | 笑楽素 | Laugh + Enjoy + Essence |
| Sam | 瑳夢 | Improve + Dream |
- We then made sumo wrestlers out of origami and faced off in a tournament. The winners received fabulous prizes.
- We made lunch: Cold sōmen noodles and rice.
- After lunch we got on a bus and headed to the Seto Wind Hill Park. There you can see the peninsula stretch out into the distance, dotted by windmills and surrounded by the ocean on two sides.
- Next stop was the Seto Agriculture Park. Everyone had ice cream and checked out a Christmas tree decorated with orange peels.
- Finally we walked through the Ikata Visitors Center, a futuristic-looking science museum all about the nuclear power plant.
- After a long day, everyone split up to go back to their host families.
[edit]
July 26
- Homestays
[edit]
July 27
Today's schedule:
- Morning — Middle school visits
- Afternoon — Misaki High School visit
Notes:
- In the morning, the kids went to the nearest junior high with their host siblings.
- Each school had activities planned. At Ikata Junior High we toured the school, then joined the kendō (traditional Japanese swordfighting) club and learned a few moves. Then we played some 3-on-3 with the basketball club. Afterwards we practiced calligraphy and chatted in a nice air-conditioned room.
- After lunch we all gathered at Misaki High School at the tip of the peninsula. Every year Misaki students go to Australia for a few days of homestays; students going this year, as well as past participants, greeted the Red Wing students with some songs and group activities.
[edit]
July 28
Today's schedule:
- 8:30am — Kinahaiya Ikata Festival
- 7:00pm — Kinahaiya Dance, taiko performance, fireworks
Notes:
- Everyone gathered in Old Ikata early in the morning for the festival.
- The festival began with a lot of speeches by important people, and then an introduction of the Red Wing group on stage! The all-important interview questions:
- What's the most impressive thing about Ikata? Answer: The ocean!
- What's the most delicious thing you've eaten in Ikata? Answer: Mikans!
- After the interview, the festival kicked off with party poppers and mochi maki, a ceremony where everyone on stage throw rice cakes at the audience, who competes to pick up as many as possible.
- It was incredibly hot, but there was lots to see and do! Kakigōri flavored ice, mikan juice, giant slides, children's sumo tournament, taiko demonstrations, and more.
- Luckily we had secured an air-conditioned room in the school to rest in. The group grabbed some lunch and hid out for a while watching the Simpsons.
- In the afternoon, Ben tried his hand at barehanded fish wrangling. He caught three big fish!
- In the evening everyone put on traditional festival outfits—yukatas for the girls, and happis for the boys.
- The evening festivities began with over 300 people, including us, dancing the Kinahaiya Dance in a giant circle in the parking lot in front of the Town Office. We of course received no instruction beforehand, so we just faked our way through as best we could.
- Once it grew dark we were treated to an impressive fireworks display.
[edit]
July 29
- Homestays
[edit]
July 30
Today's schedule:
- 6:30pm — Farewell Party at Suka Park
Notes:
- Everyone got together at Seto's Suka Park, a beautiful little patch of green on a thin sandbar sticking out into Mitsukue Bay, about halfway down the peninsula.
- Beef! It's what's for dinner! ...and lots of it, too! Each family had its own barbecue and went to town putting away heaping trays of meat, vegetables, rice balls, and so on.
- By the time everyone finished dinner it was dark out, so we broke out the fireworks and had ourselves a dazzling (but safe) time.
[edit]
July 31
- Homestays
That's all for the Ikata side of the 2007 Exchange Program! The adventures continue in Red Wing, where 7 Ikata students and 2 chaperones will enjoy the hospitality of our friends in America. Keep up with their activities on the 2007 Exchange Program page.
[edit]
See also
- Town newsletter article: Red Wing students experience homestays in Ikata
| Sightseeing Tour | Ikata Homestays | Red Wing Homestays | Message board |
