日本の友人とイースターを祝う - A Reunion With My Japanese Family

Yesterday, I had the honor of reuniting with the Saikano family of Isesaki, Japan, 17 years after they welcomed me into their home as a Fulbright Memorial Teacher Scholar. At the time, Naoko was only 22 years old and she volunteered her family to be a host to an American teacher, which was me. I was approaching my 30th year on earth at the time and applied as a gift to myself after seeing the Class of 2001 graduate (the group of kids I taught for 4 straight years - sadly for them, I was their only high school English teacher). When they left the Brown School, I knew I needed a way to reinvent and recharge myself, so spending a summer in Japan visiting schools, museums, government and cities was the perfect escape to relearn my world.

The Class of 2002, in fact, became a product of this time as the year after we visited Louisville's Crane House, learned to make sushi rolls, practiced calligraphy, and created what we later called epic haikus - a series of 7 or more haikus on any topic.

The Saikano were gracious hosts, feeding me, watching me walk with head sideways in their home because the ceiling was so slow, laughing at me as we at dinner on the ground, seated at the table, and tutoring me on their fancy, digital toilet I called R2D2. It had a remote control, many gadgets - including a bidet that came out and squirted me in the face. I also learned how to fold myself into their bathtub and shower. It seems like yesterday and I remember the Japanese humidity, the incredible food, the kindness, and all the beautiful paper they used to wrap gifts and food. It was remarkable.

Yesterday, Naoko visited NYC with her two daughters, Momo (age 8) and YuYo (age 6), and I brought them easter gifts and candy. Sadly, her husband, Ikuyo, couldn't come, nor could her brother, Mitsuhiro, or her sister, Yoshi and her husband Ryousuke. Yoshi's child was just an infant then and is now 18 years old. Lucky for me, however, Kazo and Nariko made the trip with Naoko and came to see the sights of the Big Apple. They got a really nice apartment to rent and we all went to an Oyster Bar for lunch (although stuffed from Sunday's dinner, I only had soup).

I came home from the trip and pulled out my scrapbook from my time in Japan and I'm glad I did. This was a time where cellular phones were all the rage in Japan and I remember telling my students that soon they would be typing on their phones writing to one another. They didn't believe me, because we were still a society of flip phones and pagers. I also remember that it was when the Internet took off, but we had to use dial-up to connect. Every morning, I would attach my computer to a telephone wire and receive messages from the U.S. while sending the ones I composed the night before. Interestingly, I did this through a card I bought and payphone I could find. It seems rather prehistoric now.

In my classroom after that visit, I painted the words spoken by Susumi Ishitani, an A-Bomb survivor from WWII who said, "Sorrow is good medicine for the soul. Those who do not drink from the cup of sorrow will never understand the significance of life."

Naoko's two girls are absolutely precious and I cannot imagine traveling to the U.S. from Japan at their age. Around 2, jet lag set in and the two of them couldn't keep their heads up. They were falling asleep at the table.

They loved their bunny ears, jelly-beaned eggs, and chocolates. Naoko, too, is in her late 30s and so much life has happened on two sides of the planet. It's amazing to think that after all these years she reached out and we connected once more. I wasn't sure I'd be able to find them in Grand Central Station, but I recognized Kazo right away. He looks exactly the same, just a 70-year old version of his fatherly self. Noriko, too, looks great and travels the world with her senior group (having visited LA a few months ago and Costa Rica before that).

Kazo was a carpenter and built incredible homes and temples in their part of Japan and I was in awe of his woodmanship. He gave me a beer opener at the time - a magnet of his face with an advertisement of his company - that I still have on my fridge and use to open my beers!

The entire day touched my heart at the deepest levels. Who would have ever thought that our friendship and family would be brought together once more.

Naoko and Mitsuhiro came to live with me for a while in Kentucky and I remember how mesmerized they were by squirrels. They couldn't get enough photos of them!

I am very grateful that I had the Monday distraction after the holiday Hooplah of Sunday. Of course, now it's Tuesday and the marathon over the next three days is too intense for me to even think about. Ah, but it's time to get to work!