The international organization known as Rotary promotes annual trips that everyone between the ages of 26 and 40, men and women, and of all backgrounds, should know about, because it’s a Rotary-funded six-week shipboard study and anyone can apply for it. be in addition to this meaningful life experience. If you are in this age group, you might enjoy the kind of experience described in my notes in this article. To learn more about the program, visit the Rotary International website and search for GSE (Group Study Exchange) and contact your local Rotary club for more information.

Our adventures continued:

April 15 — Friday:

Antonio San left for Kyushu University in Fukuoka today, Monica San for Fukuoka Parish Center, Julia San for Kyusyu Keiso Inc. and Harry San for Kurume Fire Station.

It was a day of similarities for me. Teiko took off her leather jacket (as I would in my closet), walked me into town (as she would in our small town), stopped at the hair salon for a quick wash and dry (as she would in town). and when we arrived for our shopping trip we immediately liked the same things, without much language communication it was easy to have a fun day.

We boarded the train in the middle of the small town, about a four block walk (as if you were on the main line in the Philly area), and arrived in Fukuoka at a large new underground mall (similar to Valley Fair), about 30 minutes on the train. We hurried past it, and down the street we found lunch on a side street – we walked through the sliding doors to a Japanese style bar and a delicious sushi lunch. We take off our shoes everywhere, even here for lunch. Teiko said the best stores were across the street: Daimaru and L’Equipe Yoshie Inaba (Neiman Marcus and Saks of Fukuoka). We toured the designer departments, names we both knew of famous Italian, American, and French designers. Teiko went to his favorite department, yes, I like it too, and we both made a purchase, a nice silk skirt for me. Teiko’s daughter, Miki, joined us with her daughter (Teiko’s grandchildren are so sweet and polite), and we stopped downstairs to pick up chicken for later (looked like the amazing grocery shopping at Harrods in London (just Japanese selections that made you stop in awe to take it all in. We quickly got back on the train, at the Ogori stop, and picked up some fresh veggies from the farmers market (just like in Los Gatos, my home) and stopped in for fish. tent – for that night’s party.

Hiroshi and Teiko have a beautiful Japanese garden outside their back door. The house is spacious but not large, and there is plenty of clever storage, including cabinets around the top of the kitchen and a shed on the back porch for storing kitchen items. His office is a front building on the street, and the house is in the back. People from the Hiroshi Rotary Club began to arrive and a barbecue, unlike any I had ever seen before, was created in my honor. Not true, I’m not getting skinnier here, there’s an endless selection of fish (raw and cooked), meats, vegetables, ice cream, cakes, it was a very festive occasion in their backyard garden. The people at the party seem to really enjoy each other, and Japanese men love magic. Each of the men in turn had magic tricks and we all ohhhed and ahhhd and wondered how they did it. We sat for a long time at the picnic table and talked about our lives, and Ai translated. It’s kind of a nice conversation when one person makes a comment, then the translation, and then another. I met the second Rotarian woman I’ve met here, she’s in the Hiroshi Club, where there are three women. She had many questions about the experience of women in Rotary in my country, and was it difficult for women there? I noticed that all the men sat at the tables, mostly alone (except I joined), and the women did all the work. The women joined the table when the work was done. One of the men wanted to know if I was a natural blonde and not a blonde movie star (a compliment). The women laughed that the “dumb blonde” joke was the same all over the world, and also in Japan (a similarity). My experience here is that people are very generous, and I had several invitations for sightseeing and dinner, and one to visit a company that makes fine, hand-sewn women’s clothing for famous brands, that should be fun.

April 16 – Saturday:

When we started our trip we landed in Fukuoka and went by train to Omuta, this route was north to south, with Omuta relatively in the middle of the island, and our travels have taken us to points in between, including Ogori. Today we were heading to Yanagawa, between the city of Kurume and Omuta. Yanagawa is where Mr. Tachibana (he is the Rotary District Governor-and direct descendant of the Shogun) and his wife own a hotel-where the Rotary District Conference is held. Hiroshi took us there with GPS in his car (it’s voice activated and you can also enter a phone number to plot his destination). Chizuka, Tachibana’s daughter, greeted us at the hotel gate – and the rest of my team would be arriving soon. It’s a really picturesque place, with canals running through the gardens, which they used to hand out sake and soy sauce, and tomorrow night we’re having a party on the canal boats. I stay at the Tachibana house (they are now my host family), and it is a big modern house behind the hotel.

We are the GSE team, decked out in our blue blazers, and it’s the opening night of the District Conference, and a ceremonial party. The flowers on the table and the cutlery reflect Rotary’s upper-class status in Japan. We are sitting right in front of the stage with Izumi, Mika, Hisa, and Kenji (GSE leaders) at our table. We all comment on when the dinner service starts, because there are five glasses on, and we were each served champagne, beer, sake, red wine, white wine (we were wondering which one to drink), along with another intricately crafted dinner. Several people spoke, and then we got up to greet each other. A famous film director in Japan was there to talk in the afternoon and was there for dinner: Obayashi Nobuhiko. When I talked to him, he told me that George Lucas wrote nine Star Wars sequels, but stopped after six, because he decided he needed to create movies called Star Peace (Rotary has meant “peace” worldwide), and that his movies were also about Japanese culture, nature and people living together in harmony. Then there was magic, yes the entertainment was magic which we all enjoyed. Many people throughout the evening recognized the GSE team: we stood up for recognition, the magician played with us, the RI representative recognized us, and we received the “happy kimono” from the District Governor.

This article is a series, so keep reading, and many more days of our splendid adventure will follow!