Monday, October 8, 2018

T Stands for a Party

Happy T day my friends.  I hope everyone had a nice weekend and if you had a long holiday weekend these past few days, I hope it was a good one.  We had 3 days of grey damp skies but it was still a good weekend for me. Now it's Tuesday once again and time to share a drink related post over at Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog.
Today we are going to a dinner party.
It's casual, so you don't need to get all dressed up for this affair.
Last week our Japanese sister school arrived in town for a visit. There was a super assembly for them at school and the visiting students went off to spend the weekend with their host families. 
Friday night our principal hosted a dinner party at her house for our guests. She invited all the teachers who had traveled to Japan over various years to come for dinner also. It was nice to see some of the Japanese educators we met last spring, as well as getting to meet a new teacher who didn't work at the school last spring.
And our hosts made a delicious meal.
We had salad, steak, mashed potatoes and a veggie medley.  I had a glass of wine (not photographed), but after one glass I switched to a Diet Coke.
One interesting part of the evening was the exchange of gifts. This is a very traditional thing to do in Japanese culture.  
The story was told how a box arrived this summer from us science teachers who visited in April. We sent Thank You gifts to our Japanese friends:  a tub of maple syrup for the English teacher who was our guide for the entire trip, even when we left our sister city and went to visit Kyoto and Tokyo. oem nice gifts for a few other school personnel who helped make our visit wonderful.  I also put together a photo book from our time at school for the owner of the school. ( Our sister school is a private school called Nichinan Gakuen.) I turned it into a thank you book, and we ( all 5 of  us teachers) all signed it. We were told this past Friday night  how when the book was given to the owner he was so impressed that he told his staff they needed to create photos books for gifts when they came to Portsmouth. Now they didn't have time to make photo books, so instead we each got photo albums with photos the principal had taken while we were they. They were really nice gifts, and to me, it was much appreciated to get photos with myself in them. 

And we also got a lesson in a popular Japanese game called Shogi. Shogi is a chess like game, and this particular version in the photo is a child's version.  The teacher showing us how to play is ranked something like 32 in all of Japan, so I guess none of us would look good next to him.
It was a really fun evening , and I hoped you enjoyed being a part of it too.
Thanks for visiting, and hope it's great T day for all of you. 

21 comments:

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

OMgosh. You spent several weeks with these people and they only visited for ONE DAY and one weekend? I bet that was a let down for you, but maybe you knew in advance. And of course, I enjoyed reading about the gifts, too. Very thoughtful of you.

I haven't had a steak in a long time, but yours looks a little (actually MORE than a little) overcooked. The veggies, salad, and potatoes were to die for, though. I'm really hungry, now. Seriously. Thanks for sharing the evening with us, the meal, and your diet coke for T this Tuesday. Those were a sweet photos of the fun you had that night. So glad you shared them with us.

Valerie-Jael said...

Looks like a great get-together, and the food looks fantastic. Good to meet up with your friends again. I had colleagues at school who always played shogi. I'm sure the gifts from Japan were beautiful, too. Happy T Day, hugs, Valerie

froebelsternchen said...

That sounds and looks super that you had all together such a nice evening - a wonderful thing is this cultural exchange !

Happy T-Day dear Erika!
Hugs, Susi

johanna said...

how good that i don´t need to dress up *g*, i´m still in my pyjamas;)
the food looks yummy and it is for sure, that gifts with photos of the people involved are the best! what a good idea!
happy t-day:)

Meggymay said...

This sounds like a lovely dinner party evening. It must have been good to see the staff from the school you visited again. The meal did look very delicious.
Did you learn to play the game? the folk around the table all seemed to be concentrating .
Happy T day wishes Erika.
Yvonne xx

kathyinozarks said...

Wow what an awesome experience you all had-both when you went to Japan and now when they came here-I really enjoyed all of your Japan trip photos. thanks for sharing everything with us. the gift exchanges were so special for everyone too-hugs Happy t Kathy

Eileen The Artful Crafter said...

It was a lovely party, Erika. The personal relationships your schools have with each other is amazing. I really enjoy reading about your Japanese friends and adventures.

Happy T-day! Hugs, Eileen

Linda Kunsman said...

What a wonderful and special time! I love that you had another chance to see some members of your Japanese sister school. The dinner looks wonderful- what a nice thing for the principal to host such a big group. The photo books were a charming gift for both groups. Thanks for sharing and happy T day!

CJ Kennedy said...

Fun party. How wonderful to hear your photo book was so well received, and you received a meaningful gift in return. Have a Happy T Day and enjoy the warm weather.

craftytrog said...

Dinner looks delicious! x

Divers and Sundry said...

What a fun party that must've been. It sounds like a joy to make friends from so far away and to have time to spend with them. That meal looks like the perfect American meal to share :) Happy T Tuesday!

Kate Yetter said...

What a fun dinner party! The food looks delicious and I bet that was so fun to see fellow teachers in a different setting. The gift exchange and the Shogi game sound like that would be my favorite part. So glad that you shared your evening with us.
Happy Tea Day,
Kate

Caty said...

These are wonderful photographs Erika ! Thank you very much for sharing them. Lovely to enjoy so good moments. This game, Shogi may be interesting.
I wish you a very happy anniversary dear Erika, and all the best for ever ♥
Have a very nice evening,
Big hugs, Caty

sheila 77 said...

Yes, thanks Erika for inviting us too. The way you wrote this post and the photos made me feel as if I was a little part of the party. The Shogi game looks very interesting with the small board and few pieces. I am going to find out more about it.
You've had so much out of your Japanese trip and so have we with your photos and related artwork

sheila 77 said...

Just looked up Shogi and I now see that the version you show is a child's version - maybe a good place to start?

pearshapedcrafting said...

This looks like a brilliant way to celebrate the visit and how lovely that you can have some memories of your visit that weren't taken by you! Happy T day, Chrisx

Lisca said...

How lovely that you had a dinner party with all involved past and present. The Japanese have a thing about giving presents. A lady in our church in the Uk taught in a college in Osaka. Every year she would bring a group of students to England and the highlight was always the ‘home stay’. We hosted a student several years in a row. A very interesting and positive experience. The presents we received still take prime position in our display cabinet.
Thank you for sharing your dinner party photos.
Happy TDay,
Lisca

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

What a nice way to remember your trip, Erika.

Let's Art Journal said...

Sorry to be so late visiting this T Day, Tuesday was our last day with our friends. We flew back yesterday and arrived back home today, so I figured that it's better to be late then never ...lol 😉. Wow, the dinner looks amazing and the photo books sound very special, such a cool idea! We had a lovely anniversary, tha k you! The weather was on the cooler side but we bundled up and hiked one of the trails near our friends house and saw some amazing fall colours then we had a surprise lobster dinner with all the fixings at our friend's house and watched the Red Sox play off - Go Red Sox! such fun! Sending you very happy belated T Day wishes! J 😊 x

Halle said...

How cool! Love the exchange of culture.
Happy T Day!

Jeanie said...

I'm so glad the Japanese visit went well. I really love the book idea -- that's a terrific one. I know that will be their most meaningful of gifts from this visit.