Our First Guests for this Summer!

As I mentioned earlier, this summer is to be an incredibly special one, starting and ending with homestays. There will be 15 guests in total, both adults and children, that we have the pleasure of hosting. So excited!

The first guests arrived in the last week of July for a 4-night, 5-day stay.
The family currently lives overseas due to the father's work, but they came back to Japan during the son's summer vacation.

The 10-year-old son and his mother came to visit us. We met at the station, greeted each other at the ticket gate, loaded their luggage into the car and off we went to grocery shopping.🚗

We went to 2 of the local discount supermarkets. Particularly with one of them, they were amazed by the low prices and wide variety of products with good qualities. The mother was thoroughly enjoying shopping! They tried Takoyaki for 100 yen(0.68USD), which they liked a lot, for both the taste and the price!😆

Although the mother wanted her son to experience the countryside life, the 10-year-old son seems to have a very different idea for the summer. As a pre-teen, he already has his own worldview, which is quite impressive.

It took a few days, but gradually, he started opening up and talked more.

On the third day, we went back to the local supermarket LAMU for some snacks, and then we took them on a driving tour of the major tourist spots in the Oyama area. The mother showed a lot of interest and empathy for the history and importance of preserving the old things in this region.

On the fourth day, we went to the Namikimichi central park and rented bicycles to ride around. (We recently go to this park so often with the various guests since children really enjoy the moving dinosaurs and the long slide there.🦖🦕)

After the park, we had lunch at the country-style buffet restaurant at the "Kuromame no Yakata". It was relatively empty on a weekday, so we could relax and enjoy the meal.

On the way back, we also stopped by the Kozoji temple.

At home, we had many engaging conversations with the mother, covering topics like child-rearing, life philosophies, countryside living, astrology and personalities, etc. She was a very friendly and pleasant person to talk to.

On the last day, they visited the Kaseido confectionery shop that I had mentioned earlier, drawn by the mother's interest in the "pure chestnut steamed yokan" (a traditional Japanese dessert). We chatted with the third-generation owner lady and talked about her granddaughter who participated in the traditional ceremony.

"You know, there really is a difference between the countryside and the city. We can communicate with the local people so easily. They are so friendly!" the mother remarked on the way back after the purchase.

The 4-night, 5-day stay passed by in a flash. I'm not sure how the son felt about the experience, but I hope he will cherish the memories in some corner of his mind and/or heart.💖

And so, this was the story of our first guests this summer. Tomorrow, we will be welcoming another family. I wonder what new experiences await!