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Last Day...

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:38:04 +0100

Well our GSE adventure is finally done...

Miriam and I just said goodbye to Holly, Chris and Mike (they are going to travel for a bit before they come back to Canada) and we are just waiting for District 2610 rotarians to pick us up to take us to the airport.

It has been a great trip and we are all a bit sad that it is over. We will miss Japan and all our rotarian friends in District 2610. Thanks again to everyone who made this GSE trip happen!

- Keri

Nearing the End...

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 15:41:09 +0100

Hello from Team Leader Miriam

I have been doing my best leading the team, and now I'd love to share an observation or two about Rotary in Japan. I can't write another word without saying a big thank you to Rotary International. The GSE program is absolutely amazing. So many doors have flung open to us in Japan, it has been a completely humbling experience. I was lucky enough to live in Ishikawa prefecture for three years, but have discovered culture, industry, and government realities that I didn't understand before. Japan is a legend in the industrial age, literally rising out of the smoking ashes of World War 2 to become such a powerhouse. With almost no natural resources in the islands of Japan, it is the people who are the richest resource in Japan.

Rotary in Japan is a very different experience than in Canada, as one might expect. It proves again that the organization's top level is the club, and not the bureaucracy of Rotary. Each club has had a much more formal agenda that they follow, with Secretary Reports, Treasurer's Reports, and attendance of course! The agenda was printed on a whiteboard in one instance, but usually printed out and widely distributed to the members. We heard two speakers. One man was an artist who makes pottery. I couldn't understand his whole speech, but a man from France told him his work was excellent and it seemed to be the impetus he needed to keep refining his craft. Another meeting had a newspaper reporter speak to the group. I couldn't get too much from his speech. I believe he asked how many people read the newspaper every day, and everyone put their hands up. Then he asked who read his paper, and most hands were up. The team remarked that a number of Rotarians had
their eyes closed during the speech. It is not uncommon for the Japanese to listen intently this way. However, I must report that when the team did their presentation, all eyes were on them, no nodding off at all!!

Yesterday I received a copy of the Governor's Newsletter. He had a list of Paul Harris Fellows, Multiple Paul Harris Fellows, Benefactors, and also a record of who transferred membership to another club or who resigned their membership. This is typical Japanese attention to recording the details, but I couldn't help but think it makes the experience of being Rotarian more binding and tangible.

I will wrap up for now by sharing how detailed the preparations have been for our GSE visit. Every club has assigned 2-4 or more people to spend the day or two with us to take us around and show us the cultural highlights of their town or to get us to our vocational visits. They all had our photos, names and ages on a sheet. The companies or offices we visited also had this information about us, and someone had translated our questions we wrote about our vocational visits for the managers or owners we met. Everyone was well-informed about our food requests and really bent over backwards to ensure all of us had full and rewarding days. The level of hospitality in Japan is beyond belief. We like to pride ourselves on our warm hearts and welcomes in Atlantic Canada, but the Japanese have that plus a culture of gift giving that has us bowled over. Rotarians have given us gifts that have in fact required team members to buy new suitcases, and I have taken out
my emergency hockey bag, which is getting very full. We have gold leaf mouse pads, mirrors, bottles of rice wine (sake), poems composed while cherry blossom viewing and wooden boards to display them on, kimono material, origami paper, post cards, pictures, t-shirts, lacquerware chopsticks and the list goes on.

I have experienced the generosity, connections and overall POWER of Rotary for the past 3+ years, and I know the team from Ishikawa and Toyama will have a wonderful experience in Canada. The weather has been wonderful for us and I really hope we don't freeze them out when them come to us! If you get a chance to meet Team Canada (we are Team Japan), please try to do so. The Leader, Mr. Mori, is a riot who loves motorcyles, cooking and drinking according to what he told us last night! The team of young professionals accompanying him are wonderful too. Thanks for reading the blog and following along as our amazing month in Japan has unfolded.

Final Days...

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 05:22:09 +0100

It is hard to believe that our GSE experience is coming to an end in just two days! It seems like just yesterday we arrived.

Today is a free day for us to spend time with our host families, move to the Crowne Plaza hotel (where we will be for our final two nights) and get our belongings packed up for departure on Tuesday. Thanks to Mr. Kobayashi (Kobayashi san), this afternoon we will also be attending a Koto concert. A Koto is a traditional Japanese string instrument which sounds similar to a harp. (Please see link for photo of a Koto http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Japanese_Koto.jpg) As I have been staying at Mr. Kobayashi (Kobayashi san’s) house for two days and his wife plays the Koto, I have been able to try the instrument out myself. I’m not so good at it but am looking forward to seeing and hearing the professionals play.

Yesterday Mr. Kobayashi (Kobayashi san) took our team up Mount Tateyama which is located in the Toyama Prefecture. The top of the mountain is about 3,000 meters above sea level. To get to our destination (which was 2390 meters above sea level) we had to take both a cable car and a bus. Once at the top, we were kitted out with warm winter coats, boots, mittens and umbrellas. We then ventured out into the snowy mountain day and took a walk through the Alpine Route which is a road that has 13-15 meter high walls of snow on both sides. The views were spectacular! It was a fantastic day.

Prior to yesterday we spent most of the week doing company visits, town hall visits to talk to mayors, vocational visits and managed to fit in some site-seeing. Some highlights included:

-On Friday we all spent part of the afternoon at the prefectural government office in Toyama City (equivalent of provincial government in Canada) and were each provided with a one-on-one information session from five different government departments that do work that relates to our vocations back in Canada.

-On Thursday we visited Nuzen and took a train ride up through the mountains. It was very beautiful!

-Since the beginning of the week, we’ve visited with five Toyama Prefecture mayors and have been able to get a snap-shot of main industries in the prefecture and current and upcoming projects in the area.

-Last weekend we attended a farewell dinner for the outgoing Japan GSE Team to Canada. We are very excited for them (they departed for Canada yesterday - April 25). We spent most of the night telling them about Canada and what they are to expect when they get there. They are a team of smart, talented and genuine individuals and I am sure they will get along great with in Atlantic Canada.

In addition to what we have learned and seen, we have also met some amazing people and have been blown away by the hospitality that we have been shown by the rotarians in District 2610. They have really gone out of their way to show us Japan and provided us with VIP treatment. In fact, if we had come to Japan on our own, I know we couldn’t have had access to half of what we have been able to see and do.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone in Canada and Japan who made this trip happen for us. It was mind-blowing to say the least!!!!

Thank you / Arigatou gozimus! - Keri

PS - we are going to try and get some more pics posted soon so stay tuned....

Outbound Japan GSE Team Farewell Party

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 11:04:21 +0100

2009-04-18

Tonight we joined the outbound GSE team for their farewell party in Toyama. It was really great to sit and chat, share our experiences thus far and offer advice on their trip to come. It’s interesting too though, because the last time our groups met, we had just arrived in Japan and we were full of questions and awaiting the unexpected, now two thirds way through our trip, the beginning seems like a lifetime ago. Not only have we physically seen and done so much, relevant to culture, work and play, but also we’ve been processing so much information and experiences that we will surely be contemplating and learning from for much longer than the short weeks we are here. It really makes you think about what we’ve been through so far. The experience is unforgettable and truly a gift, I’m looking forward to the reflection and personal development when we get home almost as much as the next week and a half.

On a lighter note, when listing off my words of wisdom to one of the outgoing team members, this is what came to mind first:

- we have learned that in Japan it is customary (automatic even) to slurp one’s noodles when eating and to slurp exceptionally loudly when paying a compliment to the chef, that is not something we do in Canada

- here in Japan, generally the toilet is not in the same room as the shower or bathtub, and the shower is separated from the bath (you shower, then bath, a great concept really, especially when sharing water with your housemates), in Canada, they are all put together

- in Canada, we drive on the right side of the road, it’s still interesting to see the steering wheel on the right side of the car and all the cars driving on the left

- the food is quite different, but delicious in both countries

- Canadian sweets are much sweeter and unfortunately we haven’t quite caught on to cooking sweets with adzuki beans, however I am going to bring that idea and dango back with me

- usually before an evening meal here someone will offer a ‘cheers’ or ‘kampai’ and everyone will toast to a drink of sake or beer, I warned our new friends that people ‘cheers’ often and many socialables will be called throughout a single evening

- expect to eat a lot, imagine eating more than you ever could, then repeat each day, food is such a great way to share culture, so enjoy all the delicious treats along the way

In both places people are lovely and friendly and happy to open one another into their worlds (in our experiences anyways), so on a final note, we wished one another good luck, shook hands, shared smiles and parted ways once again.

---

Holly’s recent random unforgettable moments to make you smile:

- receiving a tray of delicious food at a golf and country club dipping my tempura in my tea instead of the tempura sauce (and it didn’t taste too bad either!)

- in the bath room at a hospital on a vocational visit primarily for Mike (but interesting for all), searching for the flush button and accidently pressing the ‘immediately call nurse for assistance’ button. The hospital should be proud, she took less than thirty seconds to arrive!

Another Day...Another Posting

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 14:09:00 +0100

What a day! We started off Friday with a wake-up call at 5:30am and by 6:30am we were all standing along a roadway (that hugged the Japanese Sea coastline) and collecting garbage bags along with a number of other volunteers....it was roadside clean-up day in Himi City:) With the rain and wind against us, our team walked along the roadside, in the woods and along the beach collecting as much garbage as we could before breakfast. It was a tough morning but one that was very rewarding.

Throughout the rest of the day our team visited the local wharf and watched as the morning's catch arrived on-shore, visited a kimono making business, dropped into a local kindergarden and had 40+ children sing a good morning song to us in English, had a face-to-face meeting with the mayor of Himi City and joined the Chignon Festival which was taking place in the downtown core.

The Chignon Festival is a festival which is said to have originated in the olden days when geishas wishing for a happy marriage, tied their hair into a chignon, the symbol of married women, and paid their respects to the 1,000 armed Goddess of Mercy. These days, women tie their hair into a chignon and walk in porcession to the Sende-dera Temple, with drummers and small children, to the sound of trumpet shells being blown by moutain priests. See link for photo of a chignon. http://img2.tfd.com/wiki/4/45/Geisha-kyoto-2004-11-21.jpg

After the festival the team travelled to Takaoka City (about a 20 minute drive from Himi City) and we will be here until tomorrow evening.

As you may have noticed from previous posts, the trip has been spectacular so far! We are learning so much about the culture and also about our vocations in Japan. We've all had an opportunity to visit with local companies/organizations who have taught us about our vocations in Japan. The vocational highlight of my trip has been spending the afternoon with the Public Relations Team Leader for the Prefectural Government in the Ishikawa Prefecture (equivalent to our provincial government in Canada) and learning about the Japanese government and about how they promote their programs and services to the Ishikawa public.

In additional to my vocational visits, Michael has visited a couple of hospitals and a rehabilitation centre that uses Judo Therapy. Holly and Chris have visited with a local university, a local high school and with a prefectural government office that have provided information about volunteerism, education, immigration and international exchanges/studies in Japan.

We'll check in again soon and let you know how we are doing. Until then, keep well. Good Night/Oyasumi nasai:)

- Keri

Finally, some photos

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 03:55:46 +0100

We have finally added some photos for your viewing pleasure:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37342321@N07/

A third of the way there

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 03:09:39 +0100

Currently, we are on the Noto peninsula, in a small bed and breakfast / cafe that overlooks the Japan Sea. Our residence last night (Flatt's Inn and Bakery) is owned and operated by an Australian and Japanese couple who fuse traditional foods and cooking methods with wonderful experimentation, and - as always - present the food in such a manner that encourages salivation. The food is fresh, local, and delicious, and reminds us of how delicious and healthy the food can be the less distance it has to travel to reach our plates. And this is just one shining example of how accommodating Rotary and Rotarians have been during our time in Japan.

This town (or several townships) hugs the coastline and is dotted with warfs and fishing vessels that remind us very much of eastern Canada and, as Mike pointed out, St. Pierre. I am thinking for those out there who love to drive, this stretch of road would make for a divine cruise along the coast in a vehicle that hugs turns very well - but still modestly enjoyable for those Yaris drivers out there, such as myself. By the way, the Yaris is called the "Belta" and there seems to be 16 makes and models of Toyota cars on the road. I can talk at length about the cars - a personal fascination of mine while over here.

It is April 13th, though if you ask me the day I have to think long and hard. Being 11.5 hours ahead of Newfoundland (12 ahead of PEI) has taken some getting used to, but it feels great to be able to call home and report on what the next day has in store :-) And if you are in this part of the world, it has been sunny and 16 for the past week (knock on wood). We started the day with a visit to a Judo therapist - I know: to those outside the realm you might picture, as I did, an aggressive, slightly violent physical treatment. But this therapy dates back more than 1200 years and, as Michael can attest, is quite effective (today he was our standardized patient, "volunteering" to undergo some basic Judo therapy). This, and so many similar experiences over the past couple of days, have made me realize how fragile the human body is, and how we can easily employ some simple preventative measures to enhance our day-to-day living. In fact, before leaving the therapist handed us a banner of 10 simple rules to living healthier. Ask me about those later.

Well, we should take off. Hope everyone back home is well. We'll be sure to update with all of our other activities as they happen. Take care. Chris.

a quick sampling

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 23:42:55 +0100

Things have been so incredible I don’t even really know where to pick up on the blog. The taste of culture we’ve been experiencing is beyond any of our expectations. We’ve visited incredible museums and the interactive component is so engaging- we have the opportunity to paint our own designs on to laquerware, make our own postcards in a traditional Japanese paper making style, gild golf leaf onto items and experiment with origami (awesome warrior helmets).

The Rotary clubs we’ve met are hospitable, generous and welcoming. We’ve delivered our presentation a number of times now and it’s stronger each time. Our audiences seem to really enjoy the visuals and the comparisons we make between our two countries.

You wouldn’t believe the precision we’ve seen in both the landscape and the food. Everything is just so, and the effect is more than pleasing. It’s been a feast, both for our eyes and our bellies. The pictures we have taken can speak much more articulately than I could ever write- the cherry blossums are in full bloom (a sight that will never get old), the mountains are nearby, the traditional gardens are calming and inviting and luckily the sunshine has been no stranger. The spring season here seems to rival with our summer at home! I may stay a little longer.

While we’ve only had a couple of homestays each just yet, it’s been memorable. The families that have taken us into their homes and shared a little of themselves have been welcoming and enthusiastic to make connections. We’re surely going to be sending emails, postcards and pictures to one another throughout the future.

This is only a quick sampling of our experience, more to come!

We have arrived!

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:11:46 +0100

We are happy to report that we have all arrived safe and sound in Japan!

Two days ago our team met at the Toronto airport and departed on a 13 hour plane ride that took us to the other side of the world - Tokyo, Japan. Once in Tokyo (well at an airport outside of Tokyo) we made a quick airport bus transfer and boarded a flight to our final destination - Toyama, Japan.

As you can imagine, we were all pretty tired upon arriving in Toyama but we got our second wind when we saw the large group of smiling District 2610 rotaries waiting for us inside the airport. They were all so excited to see us and we were so excited to see them. They welcomed us with open arms!

Currently we are staying in Komatsu City and will be here for two more days. Today we were provided with a free day to walk around and see Komatsu City on our own. We visited a temple and took in a baseball game at the local stadium. We were also treated to the most INCREDIBLE meal by District 2610. GSE District 2610 Chairman - Masanori Sugimoto took us to a local sushi restaurant where we were served 13 courses (yes - I said 13 courses!!!). Every time we thought the courses had finished, they brought another one out. Needless to say, we were all very full afterwards and had a hard time walking:) It was wonderful.

Komastu City is very beautiful and peaceful. It is surrounded by mountains and, on account of the time of year, the weather is warm, the grass is green and the trees and flowers are in bloom.

So far we can't say enough about how well we have been treated. District 2610 has really gone the extra mile to make us feel welcome and comfortable.

Stay tuned for pictures and video which will be linked to this blog shortly.

Stay tuned for future updates from Team Japan...

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:18:52 +0100