The international organization known as Rotary promotes annual trips that everyone between the ages of 26 and 40, men and women, and from all backgrounds, should know about, because it’s a Rotary-funded, six-week shipboard study and anyone can apply to be in addition to this significant life experience. If you fall into this age group, you might enjoy the kind of experience described in my notes in this article. For more information about the program, visit Rotary International’s website and search for GSE (Group Study Exchange) and contact your local Rotary Club for more information.
Our adventures continued:
April 15 — Friday:
Antonio San went to Kyushu University in Fukuoka today, Monica San to Fukuoka Parish Center, Julia San to Kyusyu Keiso Inc. and Harry San to Kurume Fire Station.
It was a day of similarities for me. Teiko took off her leather jacket (as I would in my closet), walked me into town (as she would in our small town), stopped at the salon for a quick wash and dry (as she would in the city). and when we arrived for our shopping trip we immediately liked the same things, without much linguistic communication, it was easy to have a fun day.
We boarded the train in the middle of the small town, about a four block walk (as if you were on the main line in the Philly area), and arrived in Fukuoka at a big new underground mall (similar to Valley Fair), about 30 minutes on the train. We quickly passed by, and on the street we found lunch on a side street – we entered through the sliding doors to a Japanese-style bar and a delicious sushi lunch. We take off our shoes everywhere, even here for lunch. Teiko said the best stores were across the street: Daimaru and L’Equipe Yoshie Inaba (Neiman Marcus and Saks of Fukuoka). We toured the designer departments, names we both knew from famous Italian, American, and French designers. Teiko headed to his favorite department, yes, I like it too, and we both made a purchase, a nice silk skirt for me. Teiko’s daughter, Miki, joined us with her daughter (Teiko’s grandchildren are very sweet and polite), and we stopped downstairs to buy some chicken for later (looked like the amazing food buy at Harrods in London (Japanese only) selections that made you stop in awe to take it all in. We quickly got back on the train, at the Ogori stop, and picked up some fresh vegetables from the farmers market (just like in Los Gatos, my home) and stopped at the fish. store – for the party that night.
Hiroshi and Teiko have a beautiful Japanese garden outside their back door. The home is spacious but not large, and there’s plenty of clever storage, like cabinets around the top of the kitchen and a shed on the back porch to store kitchen items. His office is a front building on the street, and the house is in the back. People from the Rotary Club of Hiroshi began to arrive and a barbecue, unlike any I had ever seen before, was created in my honor. Not true, I’m not getting any skinnier here, there is an endless selection of fish (raw and cooked), meats, vegetables, ice cream, cakes, it was a very festive occasion in their backyard garden. The people at the party seem to really enjoy each other, and Japanese men love magic. Each of the men in turn had magic tricks and we all went ohhh and ahhh and wondered how they did it. We sat for a long time at the picnic table and talked about our lives, and Ai translated. It’s kind of a nice conversation where one person makes a comment, then the translation, and then another. I met the second Rotarian woman I’ve met here, she’s at Hiroshi’s Club, where there are three women. She had a lot of questions about the experience of women in Rotary in my country, and was it difficult for women there? I noticed that all the men sat at the tables, mostly by themselves (except I joined), and the women did all the work. The women joined the table when the work was done. One of the men wanted to know if I was a natural blonde and if I wasn’t a blonde movie star (a compliment). The women laughed that the “dumb blonde” joke was the same all over the world, and also in Japan (a similarity). My experience here is that people are very generous, and I had several invitations to sightsee and dine, and one to visit a company where they make fine, hand-sewn women’s clothing for famous brands, that should be fun.
April 16 – Saturday:
When we started our trip, we landed in Fukuoka and went by train to Omuta, this route was from north to south, with Omuta relatively in the middle of the island, and our travels have taken us to points in between, including Ogori. Today we were heading to Yanagawa, between the city of Kurume and Omuta. Yanagawa is where Mr. Tachibana (he is the Governor of the Rotary District-and a direct descendant of the Shogun) and his wife own a hotel-where the Rotary District Conference is held. Hiroshi took us there with GPS in his car (voice activated and you can also enter a phone number to plot his destination). Chizuka, Tachibana’s daughter, greeted us at the door of the hotel – and soon the rest of my team would arrive. It’s a really picturesque place, with canals running through the gardens, which they used to pass out sake and soy sauce, and tomorrow night we’re having a party on the canal boats. I’m staying at the Tachibana’s (now they’re my host family), and it’s a big, modern house behind the hotel.
We’re the GSE team, decked out in our blue blazers, and it’s District Conference opening night, and a ceremonial party. The flowers on the table and the cutlery reflect the high-class status of Rotary in Japan. We are sitting right in front of the stage with Izumi, Mika, Hisa and Kenji (GSE leaders) at our table. We all comment when the dinner service begins, because there are five glasses set, and each of us was served champagne, beer, sake, red wine, white wine (we were wondering which one to drink), along with another intricately crafted dinner. Several people spoke, and then we got up to greet each other. A famous film director in Japan was there to talk in the afternoon and was there for dinner: Obayashi Nobuhiko. When I talked to him, he told me that George Lucas wrote nine Star Wars sequels, but stopped after six, because he decided he needed to create movies called Star Peace (Rotary has globally meant “peace”), and that his movies were also about Japanese culture, nature and people living together in harmony. Then there was magic, yes the entertainment was a magician that we all enjoyed. Many people throughout the night recognized the GSE team: we stood up for recognition, the magician played with us, the RI representative recognized us, and we received the “happy kimono” from the District Governor.
This article is a series, so read on, and many days to come in our splendid adventure!