The delegation from Kariya, Japan came last week for their visit to Canada. In case I haven’t mentioned this on here before (or did I on another blog…?), but I was busy helping out with preparations for their visit. I really have to thank Yuka for responding to my SOS email. I was in charge of preparing name tags and compiling a list of free events to visit that week. Aside from other typing duties, I was also asked to translate the itinerary into Japanese.

(@_@;)

Thankfully that”s where Yuka stepped in.
手伝ってくれてありがとうございます！

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Tuesday afternoon I drove straight from work over to City Hall for the welcome reception. It was a short meet-and-greet, as I’m sure the delegates were a little jet-lagged from the long flight. Everyone was really nice and I was able to introduce myself in Japanese to a few of them.

There were other activities planned during the week, including a tour of City Hall and a trip out to Niagara Falls. However, with work getting in the way, the only event I was able to attend was the Farewell BBQ (送別会) on Saturday.

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We couldn’t have asked for a better day (or a better spot) for the BBQ. Even though it was sticky humid during the week, Saturday was by far the nicest day. There were picnic tables and lawn chairs set up outside, along with a crafts table in the center. The delegates prepared origami and other handicrafts to share with us.

All the ladies were dressed in yukatas, while some of the men wore their happi coats. One of the delegates, who I’ve named ‘Balloon Man’ (later known as ‘Tora Man‘) made me my own monkey on a banana tree. Hehehe. All the delegates were so thoughtful and I received many presents like mochi-shaped erasers, stationery, candy and a uchiwa. Plus the location was gorgeous. If I had a backyard that overlooked a river, I would never want to leave!

The actual BBQ part was great too. Our Chair prepared so much food for everyone. I ended up piling my plate and sitting down with three delegates who were around the same age as me. I was really grateful they made an effort to include me in their conversation!

After dinner the delegates got ready for their performance. I didn’t know what they had prepared to sing for us, so I was really surprised when they broke out in a rendition of ‘O Canada’. It was really cute! Then we sang, ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It’ and once more in Japanese.

Then it was the dance performance. I missed out on dancing the Tanko Bushi at school last year. More like I missed a quarter of the semester. I was really happy to take part in it this time around. Of course, dancing in someone’s secluded backyard is ten times better than dancing in the middle of the hallway at school!

Overall it was a very fun evening. By 9 o”clock the sun was starting to set and we had an amazing view of the sunset.

I’m so glad I had the chance to help out with this year’s delegation. While I wasn’t able to host this year, it was still fun being able to participate in some of the events. Hopefully next year I will be able to visit Kariya when it is our turn to send a delegation. It’ll be the 30th anniversary next year!