Day 13

So, the past few days have been a blur...I can't believe it is already day 13!

Today was not one of my favorite days, but it definitely had highlights. In the morning, we met the deputy mayor of Kumamoto City and then headed to the traditional crafts center. After that, we went to a rotary club meeting where the district governor spoke. He spoke for 40 minutes and, since we didn't understand a word of it (actually, not true. I understood the word "rotary"), we were all struggling to stay awake. I had about 5 cups of tea to try to keep my eyes open.

That lull in the day caused to next part of the trip, a visit to a factory, to be a struggle as well.

After that, we went to a traditional Japanese restaurant where we were able to relax, watch the food being made, and then have dinner. I had to get over my issue with seeing my food whole before eating it when the chef cut open a fish and then asked me to try it as sashimi. It was very tasty, actually, but the process was a bit disturbing.

I am staying with a new host family tonight. Kotaro, a member of the Japan GSE team, is hosting me. As soon as I walked in the door, his two little girls sat me down so we could read stories. Then, we played with sticker books and toys while one of them played the piano. They are absolutely adorable (2 and 5 years old). :)