Friday, July 23 - Colin left last evening to fly to Seoul, South Korea. He called his West grandparents last evening from the airport, and then used a computer in the airport for 100 yen (about $1.15) to email us at home too. He called home Wednesday morning at 1:30 am (5:30 pm his time) and we talked for a little while. His host families have been "very kind and generous," he said. He is really enjoying this trip! Then he called again Wednesday evening (Thursday morning his time) to talk to Brady, Garrett, and Annabelle. They all enjoyed talking to each other, and Colin and Brady talked about the start of middle school for Brady. Annabelle told him about a letter she has written to him (and fully decorated the envelope with hearts), but we don't know how to mail it to him. (partly because there is no room on the decorated envelope for silly things like addresses and stamps).

We did go to a Japanese restaurant on Wednesday night. After a little research, we realized that Sakura is very American and barely Japanese at all. So, we went to a place called Samurai. The reviews were glowing and said that it is "every day Japanese fare," and many Japanese people recommended it. It was great! In fact, we saw several Japanese eat there while we were there. Always the best recommendation! We tried Ikasansai (marinated squid and vegetables). It was a cold salad--a little sweet and very good. Then we split two different main dishes, Yakiniku and Teppan chicken. The Yakiniku was pan-fried slices of beef and vegetables with special sauce. It had potato salad, sunomono (sweet cold cucumber salad) and rice with it. Then we tried to get sushi. We cheated and had California rolls, which were crab, cucumber and avacado. No raw fish, but it still looked like sushi and was very good. We brought a couple home and Brady tried it too.

Colin said Wednesday that from that day on, he has a concert every day for the rest of his trip (except Friday when they spend most of the day travelling to Seoul). He is surprised how quickly the trip is progressing, and he couldn't believe a whole week has passed already. I don't know if we'll hear from him this week. His phone card doesn't work in Korea, and we will probably be limited to email. He will also be very busy at the festival all week.

Saturday, the boys have been invited to perform at South Korea's "Everland" park. It's like a Korean Disneyland, and they have an American West/cowboy themed section of the park. The boys will be singing their cowboy songs and doing their rodeo roping.

Here is a link to a very brief video on our ABC local news of the boys in Hiroshima. You can see Colin (with glasses). Click on the link, then click on the video below called "Tucson Boys Chorus visiting Asia." http://www.kgun9.com/Global/category.asp?C=172043. When the video stops, there is a still picture of Colin.

Here is a fabulous video showing the 2010 World Vision Festival that the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus is going to be part of all next week in Seoul Korea. They were the only choir selected to represent the United States of America at this international festival. What an experience of a lifetime!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txwbTSAVelM

Tuesday, July 20 -- Colin had a day of sightseeing in Tokyo. They visited Tsurugaoka-Hachimangu Shrine and old street of Komachi then took a 2-car train to Hase Temple. Then to Enoshima Island to enjoy the beach. After the beach, they took the Enoshima Monorail train to Yokohama Harbor area to the Minato Mirai Area and the highest building in Japan.

Tonight Pete and I decided to go to a Japanese restaurant tonight to experience a bit of Colin's travels on a more experiential level. We haven't decided where to go, but are thinking about Sakura. Surprisingly, there aren't a lot of famous Japanese restaurants in Tucson, 60 miles from the Mexican border . . . or at least, we're out of the loop on them. The kids will be staying home and eating spaghetti with grandma and grandpa. There is no need to throw that money out the window. I hope to try some version of Okonomiyaki, and I might try sushi for the first time. I know, I'm probably the last person I know who hasn't tried it (well, except Pete, who is as sheltered and steadfastly uncool as I am), but I'm a little more motivated now. It takes a lot more than "urban coolness" to motivate us to try raw fish. I'm pretty sure seafood is meant to be cooked--with drawn butter. We'll have to eat something wrapped in seaweed too, since Colin has. The only thing I've ever had wrapped in seaweed is my foot -- at the lake. Stay tuned as we try fermented and rotted Korean fare next week. . .

Colin is in Japan

Colin left for Japan this past Thursday, July 15. He had to be at the Tucson airport at 5:15am to meet the rest of the boys. All the boys were wearing their red Chorus collared shirts and black dress pants to travel as an ensemble. They all look so professional and respectable. Colin was so excited to go. Pete drove him to the airport, and before he left he kept saying to me, "I can't believe it's really here! I'm really going to Japan!" It was about a year ago that they were first told of the upcoming year's international travel plans. It has been a full year of planning, saving, and experiencing the great generosity of our friends and family as God has provided for us in every aspect of this trip.

The first we heard from him was the next day with a quick email saying he was fine and very busy. And that's about it. He later told us they had had an uneventful plane trip to Tokyo, but that several of them had somehow ended up on the wrong train from Tokyo to Hiroshima. Fortunately, two of the four adult leaders were with this group and helped them to navigate their way to Hiroshima, although a few hours late.

Saturday, July 17 - For lunch Colin ate okonomiyaki, a specialty of Hiroshima. It's a Japanese pancake with noodles and an egg on top. He has also tried Japanese pizza (not a favorite) and rice cakes wrapped in seaweed. That afternoon, the boys visited Peace Memorial Park (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima_Peace_Memorial_Park). It is a park dedicated to Hiroshima as being the first city to experience a Nuclear Bomb. It was built to honor the victims and to promote the idea of world peace. There is a children's peace monument with a statue of a girl holding a paper crane above her head. It is based on the true story of Sadako Sasaki who died from radiation from the bomb. She believed that if she folded 1000 paper cranes, she would survive. Today children still send paper cranes to the memorial. I haven't heard Colin's perspective on the visit yet, but I imagine it was very moving.

After such an experience, the Tucson Boys Chorus met the Hiroshima Boys Choir and joined them for a concert in the evening. The boys then went to their homestays for the evening.

Sunday, July 18 -- The boys visited the Itsukushima shrine and later that day made Hiroshima traditional sweets, which Colin had trouble describing to us--not really a pastry, but not a candy either. He seemed to enjoy the experience though.

Monday, July 19 -- The boys left Hiroshima for Tokyo by train (about an 8-hour trip). They were to arrive at St. Mary's International School to meet their next host families around dinnertime. St. Mary's is an all-boys school in Tokyo with about 1000 students from 60 countries.

 

A huge THANK YOU to all who have generously contributed to Colin's trip with the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus. He has raised $2600 of the $3500 necessary to travel in July. We are so appreciative of your partnership, and that's why we wanted to create a place where you could stay tuned to his travel news.

I'm creating this blog to record Colin's travels this summer as well as his preparation information as he prepares to travel the world!