The following post comes from Felisa:

Ohayo gozaimasu! Good morning!

We are on our second day in Arao City Japan. The days are just as full for us as they were for the Sanvino team when they visited us in Colorado.

The kids all looked great on their first morning. They recovered well from the exhaustion of travel and got up for the first day of school without any problems. Many said they fell right to sleep when they got home. Families have really gone the extra mile to make sure the girls are comfortable. It looks as though they have given up their air-conditioned rooms for the girls. Our kids feel a little bad about it, too. It has been very hot, though, and I'm sure that sleeping un airconditioned would have made it much harder for them to recover from the trip.

Thankfully, on our first morning, it seems that the families planned to let everyone sleep in; they had set up the school program to begin well after school had started for their Japanese siblings. Two interesting tidbits: Joseph mentioned that the kids take off their shoes and put on slippers when they get into the school building!! And, just so you know, our kids were treated almost like rock stars. As the mayor later pointed out, a visit from a group of Americans in extremely uncommon here. The girls looked great in the "uniform". Dahlia mentioned that school was just like in the Hiyo Miyazaki movie "Whisper of the Heart". The uniforms that the kids wear, the bicycles lined up in front of school, the bell ringing for lunch. I think it gave her some comfort and was a bit odd, too, to find herself on a movie set!

The school had set up a program for the kids. They had a "fine arts" class where they worked on calligraphy with Japanese brushes. Each as a piece to bring home. There was a presentation with choral singing, traditional japanese music and a martial arts demonstration.

At the same time, the adults visited a shrine. Oscar and Joe were requested to help with the ringing of the bell. It took six men and one flying monk to send the clapper ringing against the outside of the bell. (We'll try to get video of this linked.) In between strikes, the monk chanted prayers and the helpers bowed. We all got our first taste of local sushi at "Yuki's hut". The menu had been set and was ready when we arrived; a California roll, a piece each of yellowtail, shrimp, tuna and salmon, and a side salad. A cold barley tea was served as well. It turns out that the owner's wife had lived in Hawaii for about a year and a half. She was very happy to meet us all. Many of us would like to go back for another meal. Oscar says he'd like to go back for a full meal!!! Before we left we were given a "necklace" with candies inside. It's not like the candy necklaces we have in the U.S. Everything was wrapped in the same piece of plastic which hung around the neck. It looked like a lot of Christmas crackers. Thanks to Terri, we all learned another good time to use "sumimasen". In this case it means, "oh, you shouldn't have."

As an aside, there is much bowing here in Japan. On the airplane flights from LA and Tokyo, the stewardesses would make their announcements and then, even though almost no one could see them, they would bow. After they had made their rounds they would bow to us before sitting. Hotel desk clerks, the dignitaries, the taxi riders and drivers. Everyone made a bow before getting down to business.

The two groups met up after school lunch to meet with dignitaries - the mayor, the superintendent of schools, and the head of public works for Arao. Mayor Maehata gave his speech entirely in English! (He was reading from a prepared speech) I have portions of it recorded and will try to get it linked up with Joe, too. Interestingly enough, he said that Lafayette/Louisville and Arao share a mining history. Each girl was introduced and they all bowed to the mayor. Ivy made a small (and excellent) speech. Oscar presented the letters, proclamation from Louisville and gifts.

After the Mayor's visit, the team went off to TV TKU where they got to see a taping (and I'm told that the tv cameras were turned on them). We are waiting to see the videotape of the visit as we missed the news (here's a link to a story about the story, but as of yet, there's no video clip - http://www.tku.co.jp/pc/news/view_news.php?id=18426&mod=3000. At the same time, the rest of the group were able to visit a sword making shop. Joey, Dylan and Reed were happy to be included in this side trip. They wielded the large hammers (I know there's a better name for them) and struck the anvil. Carol thought there was a beautiful rhythm and tone to the strike; that it made a sort of music.

There was a short break before the official welcoming party. Many of the girls changed into summer dresses. The families went out of their way to prepare delicious dishes for us. There were two sushi handroll stations. One featured tuna with the rice, another had a fermented bean as the staple. For both one could add rice, cooked egg and cucumber. There was miso soup, soba noodles, fish, tempura, miso soup with daikon (radish) and a clear speckled mushroom. There were more things, in fact, than I even got a chance to try! The meal was oyashi (delicious).

I can say, though, by the end of the evening (about 10 p.m.) everyone in our group was ready for bed. Dahlia, who is sharing a room with me at the hotel, fell asleep before I finished reading a full paragraph to her. I was not far behind.

This morning most were fresh and ready to go; we were all very hungry by breakfast time, especially those of us who went for a morning walk. Terri and Carol walked up to a cemetery. Carol was surprised that all the headstones had fresh flowers on them. Pat remarked how everything was so clean. We had walked on a street just by the train tracks -- one would assume it's the low rent district -- nonetheless, there was no trash to be seen on the streets anywhere.

This morning we were allowed a slightly later breakfast. We have all enjoyed the all you can eat buffet breakfast at the hotel. The typical fare is miso soup, raw egg (didn't see any of our group partake in that. I think you scramble it in your bowl and put soup with it.), rice, fish, salad greens, cooked spinach, yogurt. They do have cooked scrambled eggs (i didn't try those as they looked more odd than the other foods) and sausage, bread with butter and jam, coffee (hot and cold), tea, juices etc. Sharon misses pancakes or oatmeal. I miss my coffee, but haven't gotten a caffeine withdrawl headache. So it's all good, but all different. I figure that my internal clock is so messed up that it doesn't matter that breakfast looks like dinner.

The whole group will meet up again this morning for bowling at "Pasca world". The big question is weather they will have shoes big enough for the men. At the welcome party, none of the adult men could wear the slipper as almost half their feet stuck out the back. Luckily, wearing socks alone was acceptable. We tried to ask Coach Yamada last night and when we said that they'd need about a 45 he almost drove off the road!

We hope everyone back home is getting enough information. If you want to send any specific questions to your children, feel free to email me. I'll try to get online again after the bowling.

Regards,
Felisa