My first week has been spent at the home of my host family Tsujino and Misusu, their son and daughter in law Hironobo and Hisae and their grandchildren Misaki aged 7 and Chiota aged 5. They live in a beautiful Japanese house in Sakai City.
I have been given a suite of 3 rooms on the ground floor overlooking the garden, which is the Japanese custom. These rooms are separated from the long wooden hallway by series of sliding doors which I seem to be always opening and closing as I try to remember outside which room I left my slippers – just like that scene from Madam Butterfly. In Japanese houses you change your shoes for slippers at the entrance hall and then take your slippers off when you enter a room with tatami mat flooring.
Tsujino and his family are very generous. Chiota has taken an interest in me but he speaks much better Japanese which is embarrassing and so I resort to asking him to count to 100 which he willingly does and this gives me time to look up some translations. He has rumbled me however and starts counting from 81.
I have been given a suite of 3 rooms on the ground floor overlooking the garden, which is the Japanese custom. These rooms are separated from the long wooden hallway by series of sliding doors which I seem to be always opening and closing as I try to remember outside which room I left my slippers – just like that scene from Madam Butterfly. In Japanese houses you change your shoes for slippers at the entrance hall and then take your slippers off when you enter a room with tatami mat flooring.
Tsujino and his family are very generous. Chiota has taken an interest in me but he speaks much better Japanese which is embarrassing and so I resort to asking him to count to 100 which he willingly does and this gives me time to look up some translations. He has rumbled me however and starts counting from 81.
1 comment:
A short note to say 'hello' and 'a great on-line journal with the very positive words and photographs' - it is good to be reminded of the GSE team members and leader that visited Wales.
I will be heading back to the colder weather of Wales tomorrow - hopefully - as two local airline companies have gone into receivership in the last week, one of which we had seats resrved on!
Best wishes for the rest of the Exchange and kind regards to all.
YiRF
Mike - D1150 DRFCC 2008-11
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