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This year has sped by so fast. We’ve had a lot of activities so far this year. In February we had 10 French students visiting. Then in April we had a delegation of adults go to Okazaki, Japan, which included our Mayor Steve Rosansky, Councilman Don Webb and Mrs. Webb.
What a wonderful time we had in Okazaki! We had a visit with Mayor Koichi Shibata, a visit to Dr. Okada’s hospital with a tour and a very nice reception. At the reception at Dr. Okada’s hospital we were able to meet our favorite Sumo wrestler, Kotomitsuki, and the artist Issei Yamauchi. We attended a reception one evening hosted by the Okazaki International Association.Then Dr. Kamiya held a traditional tea ceremony for us. I was honored to mix and serve the cup of tea to our host after all was served. A few of us went out and did Karaoke one evening. What fun! Then we had to say our good byes.
In July I was fortunate to be able to attend the annual Sister City International Conference in Fort Lauderdale, FL along with 4 teens. It was so very nice to meet and learn what other sister cities do around the world. Yes, I met individuals from Japan, China, and even Ireland. In 2008 it will be in Kansas City and 2009 they will venture to Dublin, Ireland.
While visiting in Japan the City of Okazaki asked me if we would be willing to host 6 essay winners and a city official in our homes this year. In the past the essay winners come every 3 years and would stay in a local hotel. Of course, I said yes, and once we returned, much planning and preparation occurred for our guests who arrived on Oct 5th. just a few days after the 6 Okazaki exchange students who arrived on Oct 3rd. Thank you to the committee that consisted of Dixie Allen, Jeannie Celeketic, Dan Hoffmann, Kathy Leek, Kent Moore, Justin Myers and Connie Skibba.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our hosts of the essay winners. I would like to extend a huge thank you to each of you for graciously hosting and attending to the needs of our Japanese guests. The word back from Japan is that everyone enjoyed their visit to Newport Beach with the beautiful blue skies and ocean. Just as the exchange students who didn’t want to return to Okazaki, the adults also felt the same. So thank you to the hosts, Dixie Allen, Dory Ford and Family, Judith (Judy) Kambestad, Gerry Kawamura, Kent Moore, David, Makiko Widerman and Hannah, and Councilman Don Webb and Jan Webb for making it such a memorable visit.
Highlights of the essay winners’ stay.
On the day of arrival Kent Moore hosted a lovely reception in his home. Thank you so much. The following day was family day for our guests. Then on Sunday we had a picnic with all the host families and membership; we also included the exchange students, their host families and their chaperones. We had a nice dance demonstration performed by the exchange students. Mr. Ogina and Mrs. Suzuki (two of the essay winners) with the assistance of Makikio Widerman did an Ikebana floral demonstration for us. On Monday they toured the city of Newport Beach with our tour guides, Ced Fields and Sam Tate. The highlight of the day was going to the Newport Beach Police Station and shooting guns in the shooting range. They did squeeze in a quick shopping trip to Fashion Island guided by Kathy Leek and Linda Fuller. Monday evening we all attended the annual Rotary BBQ and carving of the pumpkins with the exchange students. What fun seeing the many carved Jack-O-Lanterns! The exchange students put on their dance and then adults also did a number. Some of us even joined in on the dance.
The next day was off to tour the main Newport Beach Library, Mariners Library, the Environmental Nature Center, Balboa Peninsula, and harbor cruise guided by Ced Field, Sam Tate, and Kent Moore. In the evening we had a very nice dinner at Newport Landing. Their last day while visiting was spent at Disneyland and California Adventure guided by Dixie Allen and myself. Everyone enjoys the Happiest Place on Earth. The highlight of the day was having a late lunch at Club 33. Thank you Flossie and Val.
After the essay winners had returned to Okazaki and reported to the city about their trip, we have been asked again to host the essay winners in our homes in 2010. Of course, I said yes.
I will let Dan Hoffmann chair of the Okazaki committee report to you on the student exchange. I do know that the visits went very well. As they were saying goodbye at 5:45 am, there were many sad and teary-eyed faces. Thank you Dan for doing a GREAT job!
2009 will commemorate our 25th anniversary of sister city relationship with Okazaki.
We are currently taking applications for the French exchange which will occur with the Antibes Students visiting Feb 13 – 24 and the Newport Students going to Antibes:
Apr 1 – 12. We now have a new Antibes committee chair, Justin Myers. Welcome.
But we will surely miss the co-chairs, Marie Atkins and Fay Bosler, who have done excellent work over the years with this committee. With much appreciation to you both for the years of service co-chairing this committee.
The Christmas breakfast is fast approaching. December 6, at 8 AM at Five Crowns Restaurant in Corona del Mar.
Wishing each of you a Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas.
By Cherri Penne-Myers
The November sumo tournament is underway and after several days, Newport Beach hometown favorite, Kotomitsuki, stands at 7 wins and 2 losses. It is hoped that he will continue on and do as well as he did during the September tournament where he compiled a 10-5 record.
Kotomitsuki, who has been newly appointed to the rank of Ozeki due to his strong performances, is now ranked among the top 6 wrestlers in the country. His sponsor and President of the Kotomitsuki Supporters Association, Dr. Tsuneo Okada, is holding yet another reception for his wrestler in December. On September 30, Ozeki Kotomitsuki was honored at a grand reception held at the New Otani Hotel in Tokyo where a special proclamation from Newport Beach Mayor Steve Rosansky was presented to him. This event was widely covered by the media.
Dr Okada later wrote Mayor Rosansky, “On his behalf, I would like to express my appreciation to you for this honor. To the best of my knowledge, he is probably the very first one to be honored with a proclamation from a prominent city like Newport Beach. We would like to thank you for your very special consideration.” The Association truly appreciates the support of our Mayor and City Council in all matters concerning our wide variety of sister city activities.
The Newport Beach Sister City Association is a member of the Kotomitsuki Supporters Association and has followed his career closely for several years now. We wish him continued good health and success in the ring.
by Kent Moore
I enjoyed having Tami Mitsui, a teacher, as my guest for the Okazaki delegation visit to Newport Beach. We had a pleasant time together--she enjoyed a USC football game at the Coliseum and dinner at Little Tokyo in Los Angeles. Also, she was thrilled with the beauty of our city, which is very different from her hometown. She found the visit to an East Bluff Elementary kindergarten class interesting and gave the teacher origami papers.
Tami appreciated all the activities that the Committee planned for her and especially enjoyed Disneyland.
Tami has invited me to Okazaki and to a "riokan" Inn for hot baths. I will hope to see her again in Japan.
by Dixie Allen
I volunteered to host a guest as a way of saying ‘thank-you’ for the hospitality that was shown to us delegates by the people of Okazaki in April 2007. I am new to the Sister City organization and this was my first hosting experience. My guest, Ryoko Kohayakawa, knew more English than I know Japanese, but we each learned to communicate more effectively by the end of the visit. I learned about life and customs in Japan and she experienced many things ‘American’ including learning how to set a table and entertain dinner guests. One night she cooked dinner (beef curry on rice) for me, Kent and Yuki. It was delicious! Ryoko was very knowledgeable about and fascinated with American celebrities, music, movies, etc. She loved touring Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, and Santa Monica, an activity which we did with Dory Ford and her guests.
Ryoko maintained high energy throughout the trip and looked forward to and enjoyed all of the activities. When we got home, she gave me the greatest shiatsu massages—saying that I was stressed and needed to relax! She also wrote in her diary every night and read me what she wrote. On the last night after giving me a massage and writing in her diary, she drew my picture, wrote a message in characters and a thank you note in English. I found out that she was up until midnight! I was touched that she made this effort and she showed more maturity than I expected.
Getting to know the other hosts and members of the organization who worked so hard to entertain the essay contest winners was the best part of the experience.
by Gerry Kawamura
My house guest was Mr. Yukio “Happy Man” Kato. You see, Yukio translated into English means happy man and he certainly was that. He liked to be called Yuki and explained to everyone he met here that he was, indeed, very, very happy.
Yuki is retired from a Toyota subsidiary company where he worked in their Public Relations Division. I’ll bet he served them well because he has a lot of drive and a warm, engaging personality. Nobody could have had a better time visiting Newport Beach than Yuki.
I was particularly happy that Yuki liked high performance vehicles and we went on several “hot laps” together during his stay. I took him to the weekly “Cars and Coffee” event down at the Irvine Spectrum which he really enjoyed. He must have taken a photo of every car in attendance and boasted to me during his visit that he had taken over 1,000 photos. This makes sense, though, because Yuki is an accomplished amateur photographer and he brought me several of his beautiful outdoor shots to frame and hang in my home. (But where will they possibly go?)
Every morning and evening you could find him out on the deck taking photos of Newport Harbor and the Pavilion. The various lights and shadows he captured reflected upon his first-class talent as a photographer.
Yuki loved American breakfasts and we had two or three at local places where he delighted in always ordering pancakes, bacon and scrambled eggs. He also liked putting ketchup and hot sauce on his eggs and I told him he was a real “native.”
While Yuki’s English skills weren’t the greatest we managed to communicate sort of well together. He was always up for seeing more sights and meeting new people, especially where white wine was being served. It didn’t matter whether it was Chardonnay, Fumé Blanc, Viognier or Pinot Grigio--this man loved his whites and we certainly “tipped” a couple during his brief stay.
The morning he left, the happy man let his guard down a little and actually shed a few ters as he boarded the van to LAX. He had me promise to mail some postcards for him and they were all addressed in Japanese. The message, however, was in English and it was the same on all the cards he was sending to his friends at home.
The message read, “I am having a good time in Newport Beach. I don’t want to come home.” We had heard this from several visitors, both essay winners and students.
I’ll look forward to keeping in touch with my new friend and hope to see him again on our next trip to Okazaki in 2009, celebrating the 25th anniversary of our sister city relationship.
by Kent Moore
This year has sped by so fast. We’ve had a lot of activities so far this year. In February we had 10 French students visiting. Then in April we had a delegation of adults go to Okazaki, Japan, which included our Mayor Steve Rosansky, Councilman Don Webb and Mrs. Webb.
