2007 Exchange Program/Red Wing Homestays
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Red Wing homestays followed the Ikata homestays as part three of the 2007 Exchange Program between Ikata and Red Wing. See what the Ikata student group did in Red Wing from August 1 to 9.
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August 1
- 12:30pm — The Ikata delegation arrived on time and with all of their luggage. They appeared excited to be in Minnesota and only a bit tired.
- As the Red Wing group was not scheduled to arrive for a few hours, we decided to leave the airport and get a snack at McDonalds. Most of the students had Vanilla Shakes. When we were done, we continued north towards Minneapolis and the United Noodle grocery store. It was fun to watch the students shop at this "American" Asian grocery. With rice, vegetables, and wasabi in hand, we went to the Minneapolis Art Institue for about one hour - it was time to return to the airport to retrieve the Red Wing students.
- 6:00pm — The Red Wing students' flight was delayed out of Chicago by over 1 1/2 hours. We did not leave the airport until 7:00pm.
- 8:00pm — We arrived in Red Wing to see the host families with welcome signs for all the kids. It took almost 28 hours of travel from Ikata to Red Wing! Red Wing
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August 2
- We understand that some of the Ikata students "slept in" today, getting up in time for lunch!
- At 4:00pm today we met at Colvill Park for a tree planting. We planted a Cathedral Elm. This is a new variety of tree, more hearty and disease resistant than previous Elm trees. The planting was witnesses by our Mayor, a City Council Member, and member of the Sister Cities Commission.
- Following the tree planting, we walked to our pavillion for our Welcome Picnic. The picnic was attended by all the host families and numerous commissioners
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August 3
- After spending the day with their host families, the students gathered at the Reese's for dessert. The Reese's have a wonderful home overlooking the Mississippi River. The students had smores & Coke floats. There was a big bonfire, card games, rocks to throw in the river, and even a little guitar music.
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August 4
- Progressive Dinner
- This is always a favorite for the students and their host families as everyone gets to see each others homes.
- At 3:00pm we all gathered at the Larkins for appetizers. The kids played Uno and we watched Joe & Asuka play a wicked game of chess. Joe won the match and avenged an earlier table tennis drubbing by Asuka.
- At 5:00 we went to the Walch's for the main course. Each family brought a meat to cook on the grill and a dish to pass. The highlight of the evening was watching Kamada Sensai play Guitar Hero.
- At 7:30 we went to the Bjorklunds for dessert. Cookies, ice cream, and floats were on the menu. There were many games of table tennis and air hockey along with plenty of good discussion.
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August 5
- Today we marched, along with 80 other floats, in the Red Wing River City Days parade. The Ikata students, as well as most of the Red Wing students, wore traditional Japanese clothing. When we were done, we watched the rest of the parade. The favorite was the gorilla on roller blades playing the accordion.
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August 6
- Ice Skating at Prairie Island Arena: The students showed off their ice skating skills today. We think they had fun, especially throwing the shaved ice at each other. The number of blisters was kept to a minimum.
- Tonight the Red Wing High School held it's Fall Sports Signup night. This was a great opportunity to give the Ikata students a tour of our high school. During the sports meetings, the Ikata students were led around the school. This was also great exposure for our exchange program, as many people asked about the Ikata students and how they felt about Red Wing.
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August 7
- Featherstone Pottery for farm, pottery, and lunch.
- Wow! Thanks to the Larkins for a wonderful afternoon at a great place. Someone asked, "Why don't we bring the Ikata kids here every year?" The kids had so much fun going on a wagon ride and taking their turn at the pottery wheel.
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August 8
- The students had a busy day today. Many of them went with their families to the Mall of America to look around and do some shopping. The Mall of America is one of the biggest shopping centers in North America.
- We all gathered at Nybo's Bowling Alley at 5:00pm. To the students surprise, Aaron showed up and displayed his bowling talents. After the bowling we went to Godfathers Pizza and enjoyed many different types of pizza.
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August 9
- We had a very good farewell picnic at Colvill Park. There were short speeches given by Chris, Cathy, Kamada, and Michiko, as well as the Ikata students. The evening was topped off by the signing of t-shirts. Everybody likes this tradition.
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