March 26: Bathroom Humor

It's time to move again...
Today we left our third host family to head to Kanuma. This was the hardest switch for me - I have enjoyed every host family, but this last one in particular was so amazing. They were so kind and generous - even taking care of me when I was sick. (By the way, I'm finally starting to get over this cold!)
We loaded up our luggage - again making everyone laugh. On a good note, I'm giving away more gifts than I'm getting - so my luggage is getting a bit smaller. I shouldn't jinx myself though - I'm sure it's going to get worse by the end of the trip. I have already choosen a few items to toss before I head home - like my sweater that now has holes in the armpits! It's been so cold I'm now sleeping in it - and it's pretty trashed!
Okay - back to the day...
We met several Rotary members from Group 7 for lunch at a Kanuma department store. The food as usual was tasty ... but the members warned us about dinner - saying it was going to be traditional japanese food. I'm not sure why, but people keep thinking that japanese food is so foreign - hey - as far as I'm concerned it's tasty and I like just about everything except anything with beans. But hey - I'm that way in the US as well...
After lunch we took a tour of the Kanuma police and Kanuma fire department. The most interesting thing about the police station was the lack of crime in the area - they said there was only about one murder a year and maybe 10 robberies -- and only about 45 fires and 30 rescues a year. That's like a week in the bay area - heck maybe a day in some months!
Once again we have a fabulous driver - Kiyoshi-san - a dried fruit and nut importer who works out of Sacramento two months a year. He even said his first visit to California was to Fresno! Where else if he's going to be buying raisins!
We had dinner with all the big-wigs of the Nikko area Rotary clubs. This turned out to be a blast - everyone was so nice and had a great sense of humor. We were laughing all the time!!! We broke out into song again - rocking the Karoke. As usual Sheila and Amy were fabulous - I just tagged along for the ride with my bad voice. I get a kick out of singing - but I feel sorry for the dogs in the area :-)
One of the nice things about this group is that we'll be in hotels the entire time. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED being with the host families, but you have to be on the ENTIRE time and it can get exhausting. This is a nice break and is realy good for us as a team. We're at the ChiSun Hotel in Utsunomiya - it's a really nice hotel and has nice big double beds - yummmy!