Journey To Japan

Official photo with the TOMODACHIs and Matsue hosts.

After about 15min of hugs, handshakes, bowing, and official photographs—these too are a thing—we were paired with our host families to return with them to Matsue.  I was warmly greeted and spirited away by the matriarchs of the “Suzuki” family—the wife of the patriarch “Natsuko” and her mother-in-law “Setsu”.  I instantly felt a connection with the two: Natsuko was attentive and kind-hearted, and Setsu was lively and down-to-earth. On the ride to Matsue, I was mostly quiet, taking in the enormity of being in Japan with my new caretakers and reflecting on the day which began in New Orleans and ultimately ended up with me being in another country, on the other side of the planet.  There was also my somewhat irrational fear of the oncoming traffic.

Mid-drive, I found out that we were headed to an area called Fukutomi, a tight-knit, industrial community in Matsue that sits between the Ohashi River and Lake Nakaumi on the eastern edge of the city. Natsuko bobbed and weaved adeptly through the narrow, snake like streets of Matsue with a precision likely cultivated from years of muscle memory.  Before I knew it, we were pulling up to the Suzuki household—a charming, 2-story Japanese style home surrounded by a forested slope made up of various plants, vines, and of particular note, chestnut and bamboo trees. Once we exited, I grabbed my things and followed gingerly behind my hosts, juggling useful Japanese phrases in my head, and praying that all my years of study would prevent me from being a complete slob and inconvenience on the Suzukis for the next 10 days.