The last weekend!
The delegation from Walla Walla City came to Tamba Sasayama will soon return home after a 12-day stay.
After spending weekdays at a high school and a children's school in the city, experiencing pottery making, harvesting edamame (young black soybeans), and sightseeing, this is their last weekend here.
Many of the things on our guests' wish list before coming to Japan have come true.
One of their biggest wish was to visit the Pokemon Center in Osaka.
The boys' high school friend who came to Japan with them and his host family joined us on the trip to Osaka.
It has been a really long time since I went to Osaka last time!
We took the train from Sasayamaguchi to get there, but what a surprise!
It was the first time for the boys in their lives to ride a train!
I was surprised 😲.
Come to think of it, it's true that the U.S. is a car-based society, isn't it?
After arriving in Osaka, we had a hard time to find the place, but we managed to get to the Pokemon Center!
The Pokemon Center was packed with people. It was so crowded with foreign tourists that I wondered what country I was in.
The boys were very happy to be able to buy the items they were looking for!
At the Ghibli store, the guest mom also enjoyed shopping her favorite Ghibli goods.
I was amazed at the impact of Japanese anime😲
We had a hard time getting a good Wifi connection, and it was difficult to stay in touch with each other once we got separated, but we completed our mission!
On the way home, we went to the McDonald's in Sasayama to fulfill the last on their wish list, which said to go to a Japanese McDonald's.
They were very curious to see how the American one differs from the Japanese one.
What did they think after they tried?
"Well, McDonald's is just McDonald's." 😆
The next day was the Goodbye Party.
I was expecting a casual party, but what do you know, although it was a buffet style, each family sat at a round table and the venue looked very fancy!
After a delicious meal, a lot of moving speeches, a few tears, and a wonderful time spent with everyone involved, we went home early afternoon.
Yes, they still have a big job to do: packing!
After returning home, everyone stayed in their rooms and worked hard at packing. They bought a lot of souvenirs!
Tomorrow, they will be on their way back home.
On our last night together, the four adults talked over drinks 🥲🍷.