The day began with a trip to HamaCross Mall. Kaho met us there and took us shopping. As a gift, she gave Perry a yukata with geta. She took us to Daiso and another $1 store. Kaho helped us buy a child's yukata for a friend of Perry's. She made us get a mask to put on geisha makeup so we can send her a picture. The mask is kind of like a fake tattoo: put it on your skin and get it wet, remove the paper. I'm not sure how I feel about this.
We had lunch with the group at a place her mom likes a lot. It was buffet style with sushi and other Japanese dishes.
In the afternoon, Kaho joined us as we visited Sakuramachi Primary School. The students were about 6th grade age. I gave a 10 minute presentation on school in Minnesota, but I focused on snow days and what students at my school are interested in. A lot of people in the group said I did well. Some people from the group felt the need to interrupt my presentation from the audience because they knew my presentation better than I did.
I may have been popular though. When it came time to split up into small groups, a group of girls started calling me over.
They taught us the Nagasaki Bura Bura. This was Perry's first time attempting Japanese dance. He struggled. It didn't help that the boys who were teaching him exaggerated the moves. But we were pretty strong dancers by the end. We brought small gifts from home for the students. From my job: a lanyard, magnet and notepad with my school logo on each one. Perry brought from his job sweat headbands and wristbands. By far the best gift was from Perry. The boys all wanted the headbands and the girls all wanted the wristbands. They wore it all for the rest of the visit. The place we were at had no air conditioning and was hotter inside than it was outside. Those kids must have been melting under those bands.
The students all said good-bye many times. We enjoyed the time we spent together.
Dinner was on our own. Fumiko-san guided the entire group to a mall to find food. Then she told me and Perry that she wanted to show us something.
She brought us to the Nagasaki Library. There was either a replica or remains (I'm not sure) of Shinkozan Primary School. It became a relief center, or makeshift hospital, for several months after the bombing. The room was set up with medical supplies and a video documenting the initial days and months after the bombing. It was called On That Fateful Day.
This was Perry's first exposure to anything related to the atomic bomb exhibits. I think it was a shock to him. He wasn't prepared. I don't think he expected to see something so graphic. He asked a few questions, but that was all he spoke.
I think it's hard seeing something one way and then being forced to confront another side in a more personal and painful way. It's easy for us to see the bombing as a means to an end. But we don't confront the lasting impact it had, and has, on the people.
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