Summer Event at Tsukahara

 

 

I’m pleased to report that the summer event at our home was a great success. One of the parents did a fabulous job of planning and preparing the festivities. Without her help, none of this would have been possible. Our guests arrived promptly at 5pm in a caravan of four cars. The weather cooperated by giving us a break with the hot temperatures. A light, cool breeze was welcomed by everyone. After a short time of getting settled, the kids started playing soccer and the parents began barbequing. It was a good time for some of the parents to kick back and relax. Lucky and Kiley were busy with a huge bone. Soon, it was time to eat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was plenty of food to go around. After the main course was served, it was time for the dessert. Dessert? You can’t have a decent barbeque without…marshmallows. My mom shipped us a couple of bags of campfire-sized marshmallows from the U.S. and the kids went nuts over them. I think the adults did also. They had never seen marshmallows that large. I gave a short class on the intricacies of roasting marshmallows. The kids soon got the hang of it and were happily roasting away.

 

 

 

 

 

Before it was too dark to see my sheet music, we started to sing…in English…of course. I think I enjoyed that portion of the evening the most. I had envisioned playing the guitar in front of a group of people, at our home, before we ever moved to Tsukahara. It was a dream come true when I saw the kids singing with the mountains as the backdrop, a campfire glowing, and a blanket of stars above our heads. We sang “Hey Let’s Go!, It’s a Small World, and Doe-A-Deer.”

 

 

 

After the food and entertainment, we went for a short hike around the neighborhood. It was dark, but we had flashlights and lots of enthusiasm. We walked Lucky and Kiley with the kids taking turns controlling the leashes. “Hey Let’s Go!” was the appropriate theme song as we explored the darkness of the Tsukahara countryside. After about 20 minutes, our walk was suddenly cut short with the boom of fireworks. Lucky and Kiley were frightened by the pyrotechnics, so we headed back. We arrived in time for another short fireworks display that was being held somewhere close by. 

 

Before it was time to call it a night, I had everyone sign our “Home Sweet Home” guestbook. Well, it was a piece of washi that would go into the guestbook. I’ll write more on the construction of that project in another post. Overall, it was a good time for all. According to our guests, the highlights of the event were the marshmallow roasting, playing soccer, singing, and hiking. I had hoped that we could have had more activities which involved English. I believe this will materialize in our next event. Next event? Hey, why not? I was discussing with Erika that we should do this every week. She thought I was crazy, but you never know…        George