"Account of a Georgian folk musician’s visit with a Japanese host family"
My family hosted a single 25-year-old male flute and three-stringed instrument player who was part of a Georgian folk dancing group visiting Japan.
He was interested in studying Japanese. He surprised us by starting to speak Japanese suddenly when we arrived home after the dancing group’s welcome party.
From then on he continued to study Japanese, writing Japanese in a notebook every night during his stay in our home. He was so eager to learn our language; I was amazed he could quickly remember and understand some Japanese.
He also spoke English well while learning Japanese. As we managed to speak a little English with him we talked about his hometown. He played his instruments for us. He sometimes looked homesick; I smiled to see his lonely expression and I sensed his sweet and sensitive nature.
On his one free day, the 19th, it rained all day. After sleeping late in the morning he went shopping in the afternoon and bought twenty pairs of chopsticks for his friends in Georgia.
He was good at using chopsticks because he loved Japanese food, especially sushi. During his stay in our home he was very natural and enjoyed interacting with all our family. He was a good−natured young man who had a charming smile.
After the good-bye party I went to Kansai airport to see him off on the 27th. I couldn’t help laughing when he said his last Japanese words to me -- “tsumetai namida” or “cold tears”-- with his parting gestures. We felt sad to say good bye to each other and have many warm memories of his stay in our home.
"Thoughts on fulfilling the role of a host family"
When we decided to host one of the members of the Georgian folk dancing group, at first I was full of both hope and anxiety because I knew nothing about Georgia. I didn’t know where Georgia is, what kind of language Georgians speak and what kind of food they eat.
A twenty-year-old Georgian male dancer came to stay in our home. On the first night I was a bit disappointed that he went to bed without even taking a shower. I wondered if he was exhausted.
I couldn’t understand the Georgian language in spite of getting a Georgian colloquial conversation book before he arrived. Fortunately, he could speak some English.
On the day after he arrived it was raining all day, so I gave up going somewhere with him. I contacted the two other host families and met with them.
I had already known that Georgians love giving toasts and
drinking wine very much, but they surprised us by drinking beer in the morning as they do at home. “To our Georgia and your country!” and “To your families and our families!”, they toasted and drank.I was astonished to see that whenever they gave a toast, they quickly gulped down their wine many times. An accordionist played the piano for us. His sad melody was meant to represent and remind the Georgian people who suffered from Russian tyranny. The song also reminded me of a beautiful Georgian scene I had seen in a photograph. Unexpectedly, he also played a Japanese song, so we sang it together loudly. When one of the dancers taught us some dancing steps, my child danced with him. We had the time of our lives, drinking, singing and dancing together.
On the next day they gave a public performance at Lovely Hall. I felt the men’s dancing was strong and the lady’s dancing was mellow and fluid. I was impressed to see that they made sparks fly when they crossed swords in their dramatic dancing routine. I sensed the Georgians’ pride in their dancing as well as their country.
Though I initially felt unsure about how to host them, I had a good experience and was much helped by other host families, the KIFA organization and volunteers for this event. I really appreciated their help and efforts. They did a great job.
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