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Sister-city visitors in dance at Senior Center before returning to Japan |
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Written by Rieko Tanaka
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Page 3 of 4
Wednesday, April 30
The Nagaokakyo group visited the Hardy Elementary School and Arlington High School. Their day started at Hardy at 8:30 a.m. The students from kindergarten
through second grade welcomed the group with their songs. The
Nagaokakyo group responded by performing their dance, Naruko-Odori. The student leader, Yuuna Benzaki presented principal Deborah D'Amico a
beautiful traditional painting as a gift to the school.
 Arlington's Nagaokakyo visitors cheer on Matsuzaka on April 30 at Fenway Park.
The group visited the superintendent's office. The gifts were
exchanged and Superintendent Levenson talked about the one-year study
program which Arlington High School offers to Nagaokakyo students.
The group participated in cookie baking at culinary class, followed by
the meeting with Principal Charles Skidmore. They exchanged gifts with
the principal, and then went off to the school building tour with AHS
students as the guides. After the lunch at AHS cafeteria, a school bus
took the group back to Hardy Elementary School.
Katherine Goldman, who was a teacher at Hardy and now is teaching in
Nagaokakyo, met her former third- and fourth-grade students in the
cafeteria. She talked to them about her experience and the elementary
school life in Japan. After answering many questions from eager
students, Ms. Goldman were joined by Nagaokakyo students, who had been
observing first and fifth-grade classes.
Nagaokakyo students demonstrated some traditional Japanese games such
as kendama, spinners, and origami. They taught Hardy students how to
play those games and also how to make origami shapes until dismissal.
 Hardy School Principal D'Amico welcomes visitors on April 30.
In the evening, many members and friends of host families and all
members of Nagaokakyo group met again at Fenway Park to watch the Red
Sox and Blue Jays. Luckily, Daisuke Matsuzaka was the starting pitcher
of the game and Japanese students were very excited. They cheered
Dice-K and held up a hand-made signboard at the end of each inning. They left the stadium very happily after seeing both Japanese players --
Dice-K and Hideki Okajima -- and witnessing the dramatic walk-off victory
by Red Sox.
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Enuma Elish
performs "Metropolis" Thursday, Nov. 20, at 8 p.m. at the Regent
Theater. General admission...
