2016 Toyokawa Sister City Visit Journal - Sarang Deshpande

Ever since I visited Tokyo as a tourist in the winter of 2014, I aspired to return to the beautiful country of Japan. I could never have dreamed of it, but two years later I had been selected to represent my city and country in the land of rising sun as a part of a student delegation. Preparations began and ended and in the blink of an eye, it was time to depart.

I must say I was extremely fortunate to be traveling with an amazing group of people. We could barely contain our own excitement at the departure gate in SFO. Most importantly, we were determined to support each other on this memorable and enjoyable journey of lifetime.

The evening we arrived in Toyokawa, city officials and host families jumped in joy to greet us as our bus pulled into city hall. As our group dispersed to our individual hosts, I was excited to start a long-lasting friendship with my whole host family. My partner Austin and I left with Kimie Ishikawa-san, our host mother, and Ren-kun, our host delegate’s younger brother. Then, we met Yosei, the delegate, and Kunihiko-san, the host father, and presented their entire family with a photo album and our gifts.

The next morning, our stay in Toyokawa officially opened with a welcome ceremony for our arrival. Here, the mayor and other city officials gave speeches with a small audience of mainly host families and press members in attendance. For the day’s activities, Toyokawa city organized a tour for the day for us which included the Toyokawa Inari shrine and a Toyota car factory. During such cultural or informational trips, I made mental notes of the differences in society between Japan and America and how we can learn from them. Throughout the bus ride, our group would be having a blast together by singing songs, playing cards, or just chatting. Upon our return, we met city officials, host families, and the Toyokawa delegation for a welcome reception gathering. At the dinner event, we ate and chatted with the Toyokawa delegates, including Shun, who is partnered with my host delegate Yosei, and also gave our choreographed performance of a collection of American songs by decade.

The weekend was especially memorable to be able to spend time with the host families and make new friends. On Saturday, the sports fan in me felt privileged to be able to watch junior high school league basketball and baseball games with a few other delegates. At night, we met with all the boys from both delegation groups for a dinner party. We shared stories, played games and just had a blast! It was a moment to celebrate our diversity. On Sunday, Austin and I indulged in some water fun at the Lagunasia water park with Shun and his family. We found the artificial wave pool quite unlike typical water parks in the US.

Monday and Tuesday were reserved for immersing in Japanese school experience at Chubu Junior High School. On Monday, we felt very special by their elaborate welcome ceremony. I gave a speech along with another Cupertino delegate, Kyle to let them know that we appreciated them as much as they appreciated us. We also performed our much appreciated show at the welcome reception. The goal of the performance was to offer them a small glimpse into American music. Our time at school was well spent in attending regular school classes as well as specially conducted workshops designed for us delegates geared around Japanese calligraphy and some cloisonné work. During the last hours of our visit to the school, the students held a closing ceremony where we played games and said our final goodbyes. This was the beginning of the bitter-sweet process of saying farewell to the wonderful city of Toyokawa.

At the farewell ceremony on Wednesday morning, we were feeling emotional with the thought that our unforgettable trip to Toyokawa was close to its end. We thanked the city for being so kind and generous. The experience of the trip had been so much fun but more importantly, we had gathered memories and made connections that would stay with us forever. I cannot thank my hosts, the Ishikawa family, enough for their unmatched kindness and love during the stay; they indeed made me feel one of their own.

Following a brief stay in Kyoto, our mind-blowing journey was complete when we returned to our parents eager to share all the stories we had made. However, the reflections of the amazing experience during this trip will keep coming back on every turn of my life.