Home(s) away from home...

At home in Mihara...

I will never forget a single moment of my whole stay in Mihara town. It was such a nice, little town with, as I mentioned in the earlier entry, the loveliest people. They're all so warm and friendly. My foster family, the Shibaikes, really treated me like a real daughter. The whole time I was with them, I never felt like an outsider or whatever. Never mind that Otoosan (Father) and Ikuko (my 17-year-old foster sister) didn't speak English. I was able to communicate with them in my halting Japanese and by asking them to "yukkuri shabete kudasai" (please speak slowly). Okaasan (Mother) and Takanori (my 22-year-old foster brother) knew English, but later on, Okaasan started talking to me in slow Japanese as well. I had no problem with that, I even liked the idea because I was able to really practice my Nihongo and got my ears a little bit used to native Nihongo speakers.

While I was there, they introduced me to Alicia-san (a Filipina who's been living in Japan for the past 27 years), who went with us to the Public Ofuro/Onsen (Bath/Hot Springs). The experience was great. I've always loved going to the Grand Bath, but I usually went with friends and in smaller ones, like there would only be about seven to about fifteen other people. The Public Ofuro they brought me to, in Sakai City, was huge! It was, after all, a public one. There were looots of people. And, again, I appreciated something about the Japanese people. They really have no hang-ups whatsoever about their bodies. Everyone was just like, "oh, who cares?!" The Public Ofuro was much more relaxing than the ones I've been to in the past. There was even this nice man-made cave we entered. The experience was really, really nice. :)

We were in homestay for four days (four nights). The first day, we didn't go sightseeing because there was supposed to be a typhoon coming and the foster families were scared that if we did go out, the typhoon might suddenly come and ruin the day for us. So, what we did was we had a party at one of the foster families' house. Five families gathered. We, three Filipinos with some help from the two Australians there as well, prepared and cooked Filipino food. We had a great time that day. It never rained that day, but it was really cold outside. That night, we walked to the Karaoke (which was about fifteen minutes away) and partied until late at night. We were still singing until the time we were walking home.

The Mihara International Friendship Association (to which all the foster families belonged to) had another party the next day. This time, everyone helped in preparing Japanese food. It was pretty much like "bayanihan". It was great! We, Filipinos, were used to that. There were even games and singing. We had so much fun.

And, that night, we had an International festival where all (almost all) foreigners residing permanently and temporarily in Mihara were invited. There were Americans, Indonesians, Chinese, British, etc. People from each foreign country were asked to perform one number after the elementary and high school kids performed for us. Our Australian friends sang their "Give Me A Home" and we, Pinoys (including the other Pinoys there), sang and danced. It was such a fun night. The next days we went sightseeing a bit and went to shop at the 100 yen shop for little souvenirs. And then, we had to go back to the Kansai International Center.


Farewell, Osaka...

In the evening of the same day (the 11th) we came back to Kansai, we had the heart-breaking Farewell Ceremony. We had to say goodbye, not only to our foster families, but, to our co-participants, our Japanese counterparts, the staff, etc. We had another round of performances and for the last number, we, the PPYEP participants sang "Farewell" and cried our hearts out. Everyone went to his/her foster family and just cried and cried. Participants (Japanese and foreigners) and foster families alike cried. Everyone was just hugging and crying.

The next day, the participants left by batch (according to the time of flights). We, Filipinos, didn't have to leave until the next day (the 13th) so we saw every contingent off. It was quite difficult to see everyone off. It was really sad that night because the place was just so quiet and, sometimes, I'd hope or expect to see the other participants in some places we usually hung out in.

Early the next morning, we had to leave as well. Our closest staff member friends saw us off at the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) station. It was another "crying moment" for me. I was saying goodbye to them... and to Osaka. And, we were off to Tokyo. :)


Tokyo homes...

When we got to Tokyo, we met with some SSEAYP 1995 people since Ate Felma (our co-participant) was from batch 1995. We went to the Ana Hotel Tokyo to see the people in the 21st Century Renaissance Program. Renaissance is another Japan government-sponsored program. In this program, only SSEAYP and SWY (Ship for World Youth Program) alumni could participate. This is basically why SSEAYP Japanese and Japan-based alumni would always visit the participants. There would always be familiar faces or batchmates participating. And, so we also went. There were, indeed, familiar faces and I had two batchmates in this year's program (Wai Leng from Singapore and Hau from Vietnam).

We had dinner with batch 1995 and 1997 and then my batchmate, Keiko, picked me up. We left for her Kawasaki place after a few minutes of socializing with the other batches. I homestayed with her and her really cute and smart husband for two days (two nights) and, again, my stay with them was great. Their apartment was so nice and so "sweet". Poon, our batchmate from Thailand, remarked, "In this place, you don't need to use sugar because it's such a 'sweet' place." Keiko made me watch her SSEAYP video, which made us laugh and cry. By the end of the video, we were hugging each other. She took me to the Yokohama port, where we had such a great time. It was a great chance for us to catch up with each other's life, too.

And then, in the morning of the third day, she brought me back to Tokyo. We were met by Ban-chan (another batchmate, of course), with whom I homestayed for two days (two nights). Ban-chan lives with her whole family, so my stay felt like SSEAYP or PPYEP homestay. I was treated like another member of the family. Even their pet bird, named Raku, felt so at home on my shoulders and my head!:) Ban-chan brought me around Tokyo, to places I wasn't able to go to during SSEAYP time. We also went to the NYC Olympic Center (one of the places we stayed in back in SSEAYP) and ate at the same cafeteria we ate in. It was really nice to have gone back there and reminisce things. Her family also brought us around the next day. We went to more places and the Harumi Port, where Nippon Maru docked four years ago. I had such a wonderful time with them.

And, finally, on the third day, we went back to Keiko's place for a mini-reunion which many of our batchmates joined (even Poon and Kong, both from Thailand). That night, I went home with Aya, another batchmate. I homestayed with Aya and Ryoko (another batchmate of ours and board-mate of Aya) for another two days (two nights). The first night Ban-chan and Risa stayed with us. It was a long night of reminiscing and laughing. Aya and Risa prepared really good pasta for brunch the next day and then Aya and I went around Tokyo once more, to places I haven't been to. We went anywhere and everywhere. It was really tiring, but really fun! We had another reunion the next night, this time with Wai Leng and other batchmates who couldn't make it the night before. We went to a Karaoke Place. Hehehe:) And then, the next day, suddenly it was time for me to go... Hay! :(


I spent my last night in Japan, at the Ana Hotel Tokyo, with the Renaissance people. The next day, I prepared to go home. I took the Airport Limousine Bus and took the plane back home on my own. I was pretty sad for I was leaving a place I so loved and people I cared about. But, I know that one day I will be back and they will come visit us here, too. When that time comes, it's time for me to return the favor and make them feel as at home as they made me feel. They have made me feel so thankful and blessed. I realized how great it is to have really good friends around the world because it is important that wherever you are, you have a home. :)