Heyyo~ So this is Day #24, Post #31 and this is going to be a little different ehehe. So we have a Ishinomaki-Detroit collaborative website that the people on this trip post to. Today was my turn to post so I copied a lot from what I posted there to here so please enjoy! I did a lot of reflection in the post and a view on everything so I might've repeated myself if you've read my previous blogs but yea. I will link the collaborative website here cause it honestly is such a cool site and gives a good background to this program :) Idk if this is okay like copying from their website but its my post butttt all rights reserved (?) lol. Alright here's the rest of my day~
So I start almost every morning by waking up at 6 AM and running up and joining a group of elderly locals up on Hiyoriyama Park. We do basic stretches that go for about 15 minutes and it honestly is so refreshing and immediately wakes me up! Since coming to Japan I wanted to befriend the locals in an effort to understand Ishinomaki better and to practice my Japanese. I wanted to put the one year of studying Japanese at UofM to use and build on the foundations of the language. I think this morning group is the locals that I’ve been looking and I’ve learned so much already just from observing their interactions with each other and with us. Like, JAPANESE PEOPLE ARE SO NICE! Now, I’m not saying that everyone else is cold-hearted but there’s just something about the respect and culture here in Japan that is so fascinating and is the reason why I want to learn more about it. All the people that I’ve met here in Ishinomaki have their own unique stories to share and their motivation/drive to move forward is really something to admire and learn from. It is very important to never forget what has happened and to learn from it and move forward with your head held high. It is easier said than done, and that’s why I respect the locals here so much :’) I’m just going on a random tantrum now but I want to type what I’m thinking so I hope this is comprehensible! Now… ONTO BREAKFAST!
As stated earlier in a different post, the breakfast at Ishinomaki Grand Hotel is amazing. Honestly, I have yet to be disappointed by the food selection here in Japan. I’m going to be really sad after I return back to the states and realize how overpriced everything is again -__- but I’ll save that negativity for a different day- only good vibes here! In the above picture, there’s a soft boiled egg (near raw) and a bowl of plain rice. Estella introduced me to one of my favorite food that I’ve tried here in Japan: tamago kake gohan. It’s basically white rice with a raw egg and soy sauce bowl :) I was hesitant at first to try it but man was that a tasty bowl. It’s so easy to make so please give it a try! Google into it more though, because I don’t know how safe it is to just eat the raw egg like this haha. But let’s move forward to why I titled this post “ラジオ石巻” which translates to “Radio Ishinomaki” :)
So pictured from left to right is Maica, Jennie Frost (hehe), myself, and Estella~ All of their Japanese is 100 times better than mine but I’m so grateful to still have the chance to sit in the radio room (is that what it’s called?) and have the amazing opportunity to share what Brightmaki Night Festival is about and what we’ve been doing. THANK YOU BRAD AND THE WHOLE TEAM FOR THE OPPORTUNITY! But basically the whole interview was live broadcasted in Ishinomaki on FM76.4 and let me tell you, I WAS SO NERVOUS. Like, in the end, I knew I was going to make mistakes but I would learn a lot from this experience so I was able to relax a little. Like one of the interviewers asked me a specific question (in Japanese) like “How many lamps are you making for the event?” and I choked and said “Yes”. One of the things that I learned from this is that I really need to study Japanese more! Another thing that I learned is that just how amazing the people of Ishinomaki is. They were willing to take in a group of foreigners and allowed us to express ourselves LIVE to the whole community (that’s a lot of trust haha). When explaining the festival, I took that chance to really reflect on what we’re doing here in Ishinomaki up to this point. Although in broad terms, our impact is small and we can’t really help the people of Ishinomaki in their efforts to get people to return/ live in Ishinomaki, I think that’s okay This trip isn’t about being the heroes and coming into a different country and saving the people. The people THEMSELVES have been making incredible progress and their approach to how to solve the issue of declining population in Ishinomaki is truly amazing and unique and I have full faith it will work over time :) I like to believe that our presence here is one where everyone can learn from each other. I’ve learned a lot during my time here and I feel like that just communicating with the locals (as foreigners) is something that doesn’t happen everyday and that I hope we can brighten their days a little bit. I hope to take what I’ve learned back to the states and try my best to share my experiences with everyone because honestly, it’s sad how little people know about the efforts being done in Ishinomaki and Detroit. I really hope all this is making sense because I have so much to share and I really don’t know where to start but let’s continue :)
I spent the rest of the afternoon chilling and catching up on some work in the info center that was nearby. This is a random picture but I wanted to take the time to address how much I love this trip. There’s always something to do/ to learn from every day on this trip and no matter how busy we are, there’s always time to also sit down and really reflect on our experiences.
Oh, and I also had a taiyaki! I know much praise have already been given to Taiseien but I just wanted to reaffirm how AMAZING Mitsu-san and Chi-san are! They are the cutest couple and the nicest people I’ve ever met. Taking the time to remember all our names is so heartwarming :’)
Alright, I’m going to wrap this up real quick but I just wanted to share what I had for dinner! From the pictures, you can probably tell what we had but I just wanted to say how DELICIOUS THE FOOD WAS and it was all at a very good price! So this was a group dinner with Rebekah and Chiba-san and the Ishinomaki lab group (Nick, Rhianna, Linh, Shayaan, and I). Linchen (Fish) couldn’t make it tonight because he had a homestay (mines tonight and I’m so excited). I love Ishinomaki Laboratory so much. Their goals are so beautiful and the origin of the company is so crazy to imagine and I can’t help but get emotional sometimes thinking about how far everyone has come since 2011. Rebekah, Chiba-san, and the whole team have been very nice to us and I am so grateful to be able to work and help out in the same environment as them. We went to this one bar called スイスイ and omg I highly recommend. They do this thing where on Sundays it costs 800 yen (around $8) to get in and then she just starts making random dishes to finish off the week’s ingredients. We could only plan to go on a Saturday but maybe next time I’ll come myself :’) We are planning to have another group dinner (with Fish this time as well) on Tuesday at Chiba-san’s dad’s sushi restaurant and I can’t wait! But I think that covers about everything :) UPDATE: didn't include this in the original post but the last drink is like a rum and tonic water mix and omg it was amazing. Chiba-san treated us to dinner and bought all the food/ drinks and omg it was a lot. It was cheap but I bet the price added up quickly so THANK YOU CHIBA-SAN <3
I just wanted to take this final chance to thank everyone on this trip with me. It’s been a crazy journey experiencing Japan with everyone. I’ve learned so much from each of you guys that I’m going to be really sad when this program ends :'( But I am confident that we will stay connected once we all return to Ann Arbor and so heres to the future!~ じゃまた :)