The Final Homestay in 2025
This year, we have met so many wonderful people, and now it's the end of the year. We hosted two families for a 3-night, 4-day stay as the final guests of the year 2025. Two groups who didn't know each other at all were staying at the same time. We were excited to see how things would unfold! 😆
One group arrived by train from Osaka, and the other came by car from Nagoya. Both families had boys of similar ages who loved dinosaurs and played soccer. The mothers were both interested in learning English at home.
By December 28th, most tourist attractions in the city would be closed for the year. So, for the train group, we planned to meet at the Sasayamaguchi Station and then visit places like the Kuromame-no-Yakata Restaurant, Namikimichi Central Park, Tambaryu-no-Sato Park, and finally the Dinosaur Museum. Since the car group wouldn't make it in time for lunch, we decided to keep in touch and meet at the Dinosaur Museum.
Despite of the fact that the two boys met first time, they became best friends, as if they were brothers.
On the first day, before arriving at our house, they were a bit reserved, but once we were home, they got along well, playing with Lego and visiting the chicken coup to see the chickens.
On the second day, we decided to go see the Oni-no-Kakehashi, and the boys joined John for a hike up Mount Kinzan. The weather was nice, making it a pleasant outing. After returning home, they took a short break and played with toys again. Since the mother from Nagoya wanted to buy souvenirs, she went shopping at Kuromame-no-Yakata, which was open for its last day of the year. The older boy from Nagoya happily stayed with us while he waited.
A little later that day, a small incident occurred… The mother from Osaka fell ill and needed some rest. However, her son calmly played with us without showing signs of shyness or missing his mom. I watched her in awe while she managed to prepare meals and take care of her son despite feeling unwell, remembering how I used to handle things when I was at her stage of life. I felt admiration for all the mothers out there.
In the evening, we let the mom rest while the kids and I challenged ourselves with difficult dinosaur origami and played English games.
On the third day, a neighbor invited us to a mochi-pounding event, so we took the kids and the mom from Nagoya to the neighbor's house. They welcomed us, saying, "It's not done with a pestle but with a machine..." No problem! Thank you for inviting us! Back when I was a child, we used to gather at my relatives' house to pound mochi in a traditional way using a pestle, but eventually switched to using a machine. We used to have one of the machine at my parents' house. I found it nostalgic as I saw the entire process from steaming the rice to completing the mochi with one machine. While we often see traditional mochi pounding at events, it's rare to see it done with a machine nowadays.
Moreover, we were all captivated by the neighbor who skillfully divided the freshly pounded mochi and rolled it into balls in her hands. I learned that in this region, they make round-shaped mochi instead of the flat kind. We got to try it ourselves, but ours turned out bumpy and not smooth at all! The kids, however, didn't mind; they made star shape and sofa shape (?), and in the end, we got to bring home some of their creations as souvenirs. We toasted the mochi for lunch and enjoyed it with soybean flour.
The following day, they were to head home, so the afternoon of the third day was our last chance to hang out together. The mom from Nagoya took the boys and I to Namikimichi Central Park in her car because the boy from Nagoya hadn't visited on the first day. There were many other families back for winter holidays, and the two boys ran around energetically, playing soccer and jumping rope until just before sunset.
After returning home, the mother from Osaka seemed to be feeling better, saying, "I think I can manage to take the train home tomorrow." I was relieved! The mother from Nagoya included the Osaka boy in their activities so naturally, which I truly appreciated. It could have been awkward depending on the personality, but two mothers helped each other out, and I was really grateful for that.
Time flew by quickly, and the Nagoya family departed in the morning while the Osaka family left in the afternoon.
And thus, our final homestay of 2025 came to an end.
It was our first end-of-year homestay, and we were glad to see it ended successfully.
We look forward to next year! 🥰