The day following Okazaki we had a more relaxed schedule as we were spending the entire day in Kariya. Early in the morning Yoko-san drove me over to Mississauga Park, where all the delegates were being dropped off. Yoko-san herself had the morning free, as did all the other host families. The delegates were invited for a special visit with the Mayor at City Hall, followed by a culture day at the Kariya Cultural Center.

We waved goodbye to our host families in the parking lot, then stepped out into a brisk, windy morning at the park. Everyone was shivering from the cold as our tour guide took us around Mississauga Park. There was one building down the pathway that was made to resemble the Mississauga City Hall. Another sculpture called the ‘Water Road’ was specially commissioned and brought over from Canada. There was also a giant red maple leaf that was sent to the park after the World Expo in Aichi in 2005.

After 20 minutes of getting wind-blown, we loaded up on the bus to take us our next stop of the day – Kariya City Hall. The moment we stepped inside it immediately gave off the ‘brand new’ feeling. The interiors were spacious with high ceilings and natural sunlight was filtering in from the windows. We went upstairs first to visit some of the city staff we met earlier in the week, then we waited around till we were called to the Mayor’s office for our meet and greet session.

The Mayor wasn’t in that day, so we met with the Deputy Mayor instead. Everyone filed into the conference room and took a seat around the circular table. All the other city staff lined up on the side of the room with their notebooks and cameras ready. It was a pretty big event for us to be personally welcomed inside their new facility. The Deputy Mayor gave his greetings, then all of us gave a short account of our experiences so far in Kariya. Gary, our delegation head presented our official gifts to them. In turn, we were given the key to the city hall. Everyone then posed for a commemorative photo (which they printed and distributed to us before we even left the room!).

Afterwards we went on a tour of the building, including a visit inside the council chamber, where we all had a chance to sit in the Mayor’s chair. Then we visited their emergency conference room, equipped with multiple screens to keep up with the latest news. Later we were led to the basement to visit their evacuation room and saw the dampers they use to stabilize the building in the event of an earthquake. (Put to good use in light of recent events.)

For lunch we were driven over to the Kariya Cultural Center, where we then walked across the street to an Italian restaurant called Passione. We were seated at two long tables towards the back of the restaurant. Everyone already had three full days of nihon ryori, so we were all looking forward to eating with a fork again.

After lunch we began our ‘cultural’ part of the day and headed back across the street to the cultural center. Several rooms on the upper floors were built in the Japanese style, complete with tatami mats and sliding doors. For that day in particular, they were using it to host the tea ceremony. Again we all sat around in a circle while we were presented with tea and sweets.

Later on we all took turns dressing up in kimonos. I was totally wearing the wrong outfit that day because they were putting kimonos on top of the clothes we were already wearing. (I was in a sweater.) I’m not sure if the heat was worse, or the tightness of the sash. I knew I was in a losing battle. We tried our hands at some of the crafts they laid out, including origami and playing the koto. Then of course we had to pose for a million photos to capture the experience.

Once we finally changed out of the outfits, we were taken on a tour of the building. We visited their kitchen, where they hold cooking classes, as well as their computer labs and their wood and pottery studios. We also saw their main performance hall [and took a bow from the stage]. Towards the end we visited their recording studios and practice rooms as we wrapped up the tour.

Yoko-san came to pick me up once the tour ended, then it was back home for dinner. We cooked at home that day and Yoko-san made this amazing slow boiled pork dish topped with orange marmalade. I helped by putting the lid on top of the pressure cooker. =)

Nara tour up next!