The menu options were certainly foreign to Warren County students during an 11-day trip to Japan.
Instead of American mainstays like pizza and cheeseburgers, local students experienced Japanese staples such as sushi, seaweed, and squid.
“It wasn’t Pop-Tarts or cereal for breakfast,” said Leigh Ann Stewart, one of two adult chaperones for the Sister Cities exchange program between Warren County and Japan. “Probably the most exotic meal we had was at a Japanese restaurant where we had meat on a stick. We were thinking the meat might be something like chicken or seafood, but it was organs and glands, and I’m still not sure from what animal. One man we were with ate a bowl of bowels, but we didn’t eat that.”
Tena Self, the other adult chaperone, was more reluctant than Stewart to experiment with unfamiliar food choices.
“Leigh Ann could eat a cardboard box,” said Self, who didn’t exactly embrace the food choices.
The Sister Cities program just finished its 21st year. It allows students from Mikawa, Japan to visit McMinnville, and students from McMinnville to visit Mikawa in alternating years. This was the year 10 local students made the 15-hour flight and were treated to life in Japan. The group returned last week.
Making the trip were students Rachel Stewart, Gracie Self, Marlie Henegar, Valeria Vargas, Anna Wanamaker, Gracie Upchurch, Aiden Cary, Kaleb Smith, Jalen Smith and Cameron Jones.
Highlights included a swim in the Sea of Japan, a judo lesson, jellyfish ice cream, watching a geisha performance, dancing in a parade, a hot spring foot bath, and visits to Tokyo and several temples. The Japanese tea ceremony, which you could say is steeped in tradition, was also noted for its rigid guidelines that require tea to be consumed in a precise cultural fashion.
Another unique aspect of Japan was its cat cafés. Because of limited space, few people in Japanese cities have the luxury of owning a cat so the café provides people a place where they can pay to spend time playing, petting, and snuggling cats. For people who are fortunate enough to own a cat, the normal cost is around $5,000.
“It’s a cultural exchange so one of the big things for the kids is they get to stay in the homes of Japanese families,” said Stewart. “It’s not just a tourist experience. They are supposed to do things locally that tourists wouldn’t do.”
Staying with her host family made an impression on Vargas, who said she enjoyed the unique cuisine, but wasn’t used to the temperature of the home.
“It didn’t have AC except in the small bedroom where I slept,” said Vargas. “The rest of the house was really hot. They don’t use AC like we do.”
Vargas said one thing she noticed was the active lifestyle of the Japanese people. She said several senior citizens took part in a trip to Mount Haguro, which included a climb up some 3,000 steps to reach an ancient shrine.
“There were a couple people who were probably in their 70s and they didn’t hesitate to climb all those stairs,” said Vargas. “We were tired but they kept going.”
Stewart made the same observation.
“We went to one place where they were doing karaoke and there was a 90-year-old woman up there singing,” she said.
Another highlight was a visit to two schools which were still in session and not on summer break. The schools were very clean, yet it was pointed out there are no janitors. The students do all the cleaning.
Mikawa is located on the western coast of Japan, about an hour and a half from Tokyo by airplane. The group returned Aug. 3.