Free day - Lauren Baskerville

Happy Mother's Day!  Today, we all enjoyed a free day with our host families.  Some host families already had commitments, so a group of us went to the Gokoku shrine together.  As a group, we were able to try on kimonos, enjoy lunch, and go shopping at a mall. 

The kimonos took about 25 minutes to put on, even with two assistants.  They are quite tight and it is difficult to breathe with them on at first. The ladies in the group all wore kimonos with long sleeves which meant that we were not married.  When a woman is married, the sleeves are cut shorter. We all got to try on kimonos, visit the shrine, and attempt to eat with them on. It was definitely a fun time to experience the culture in such a unique way.

We also got to hang out with a group of young girls from a local dance academy. They performed a couple of dances for us and it was a blast. We went shopping at a local mall with them and we of course had to enjoy the experience of a Japanese photo booth, called Purikura. 

 

It was really fun communicating with my host family. I have a Spanish minor so it was neat to find out that my host mom knew spanish as well.  We communicated with a mix of Japanese, English, Spanish, and charades! So much fun! I ended my day going on a walk with my host family and their dog Riku. Boy, did Riku have a lot of energy!!! They live on a farm and the view was incredible. What a great way to end Mother's Day- as a family!