Just wanted to drop a short line after what was an amazing couple of nights here in Tokyo! Yesterday was the day where plans came together to meet Akane and Yu, two of my japanese exchange students whom I hadn`t seen since 1997-1998! Everything worked out wonderfully! Yu spotted me waiting at the subway the evening we went to dinner, and she still looked exactly the same! Akane met us later (running late from work) and she definitely looked a bit different! I remember her with black hair, and now it is a cute brown-black colour. We had a great time ordered different little 'tapa' like dishes (ie. small dishes that you could share with everyone).
Today, the plan was to meet Akane again, as well as another Japanese friend of her's from Toronto, and then go to her Mom's house for dinner! It was so wonderful to meet her Mom, and it felt like a full circle experience. I think her Mom felt so happy to be able to not only meet me in person, but to have me in her home and be looked after with such a great meal! As we walked down the street to Akane's house her Mom was already waiting with the door open, and 4 pairs of slippers lined up in the entrance! She served us a full course meal, while each course we chatted about everything. At the end of the meal, Akane showed me some old photos of us 14 years ago, I can't believe I was that small! She also showed me a cute essay-project she did from her trip to Canada, with another photo of us all up at Norfolk lodge in Algonquin Park! I got her to tell me bits of what she wrote, it was all very cute!
I was very happy to present Akane's Mom with a family gift, a pressed gold Maple Leaf ornament from Canada. She was extremely tickled by the gift, as she received a similar gift those 14 years ago from my Mom, a maple leaf brotch pressed in copper which she said she absolutely loved and wore all the time. Apparently she also loves ornaments, so it was all very appropriate :).
Myself and Patrick were also presented with a few litle gifts, most were to celebrate the 'coming of age' festival which is on March 3rd I believe, so that was very cute to learn about!
All in all it was a wonderfully surreal evening. I never thought I'd say this, but thank goodness for Facebook, and the way we can communicate these days, as I'm not sure if I would have ever been able to get back in touch with Akane and Yu as I did, and now, hopefully again in the future we will be able to visit each other again!
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