2017 Toyokawa Sister City Visit Journal - Sydnie Yu

There are countless words I could use to describe my first trip to Japan, but ordinary is definitely not one of them. From the moment we got off the plane at Osaka, I could already tell these 10 days would be incredible. We spent the first night at a Japanese-style hotel and our second day touring Osaka. Lastly, we arrived at Toyokawa City Hall. I saw the Toyokawa delegates, parents, and City Hall members. I felt so honored to be welcomed in such a grand way with such a wonderful group of people.

When Sunny and I arrived at our delegate Yui’s house, we met her family of six and were shown to our room. The whole family did their best to understand us and we broke the ice quickly by finding out that we all enjoyed Japanese anime and manga. They had a whole shelf full of “One Piece” manga books!

On Saturday, Sunny and I were picked up by our other delegate, Miho, and her family to visit Nagoya City. We arrived at the subway station and took the train to Nagoya, where our first destination would be Nagoya Castle. We then took a taxi to a gigantic shopping mall. It had 11 stories with just about everything you would want to buy. From music stores to handicraft shops, they had it all in just one building.We went to a conveyer belt sushi restaurant, where we ate lots of sashimi. On Sunday, I got to learn how to fry takoyaki and make sushi!

Seibu Junior High School welcomed our delegation with two beautiful pieces played by the brass band club and a dance performance. Class 2-1 took Sunny and I in and we experienced how it was like in a Japanese school. One big difference was that the teachers move classes, while the students stay in a single homeroom class. We were taught calligraphy, koto, and many more traditional Japanese customs.

The ten days I spent in Japan were filled with memories. The happiness I felt could never be replaced, and I hope to be back one day.

Image 1: Dressed in traditional yukata, Sydnie and Sunny take a look at pictures they took in the photo booth

Image 2: Sydnie and Sunny spend time with their host family while shopping