Just wanted to give a shout-out that we really, really, really liked this summer camp! It was so well organized (but what else would you expect from Japanese people, right?), close-by to where we live, and most of all... fun! Lily already said she wants to go again next year. Ennio didn't... but then again, he didn't complain either, which is a major achievement!
Kizuna's Summer Camp was held at the
Pasadena Japanese Cultural Institute. The camp theme was
Natsu Matsuri Week. Through exploring the concept of summer festivals in Japan and America, campers were encouraged to learn the core values of summer, gatherings, and volunteering. Every night, we received an email with photos and highlights of that day, and announcements for the next day (f.i. bring a cardboard box to make a parade float). It gave us a peak inside the camp's activities.
On Monday, the kids learned about the Tanabata festival, and made Kazari (typical Japanese) decorations. It took patience, but they are beautiful to look at and enjoy.
On Tuesday, they learned about two important summertime activities:
Nisei Week and
Obon Festivals. They took part in some key activities that happen during Nisei Week – a special festival that celebrates Japanese culture in Little Tokyo – such as a gyoza eating contest, and a parade! They also designed their own uchiwa and tied their hachimakis to add flair to their dancing skills as they learned several popular obon dances! They learned that Obon is a Japanese Buddhist festival held every year to honor the dead. One way to express gratitude to the generations who have come before us, is through dancing! The kids practiced the traditional tanko bushi, or the coal miner dance.
On Wednesday, the kids all worked together to put on a fun summer festival called
Camp Matsuri! They spent the morning preparing their booths, carnival-style. Each team was given their own booth to set up and run for the duration of Camp Matsuri. From the ping pong toss to mice toss, every booth had a fun game campers could play. It was hard work preparing the booths and running them, but in the end, the matsuri was a success. Planning an event for our community only works when we can all pitch in together – something anyone who has helped with a summer festival will know!
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Funny faces at their booth!
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On Thursday was the field trip to Little Tokyo! The kids went by Los Angeles Metro, an adventure in itself, and then received a tour of Cafe Dulce from its owner, James Choi. James has supported the Little Tokyo community from the get-go, f.i. by helping to organize Haunted Little Tokyo's Halloween festival. James got to show the campers how some of Cafe Dulce's treats are made, as well as discuss how he remains creative and comes up with new ideas. The kids also had free time to explore the rest of Little Tokyo. From its several ramen restaurants, to shops selling Japanese goods, to monuments, Little Tokyo is full of history and exciting things to do!
On Friday, there was a culmination show in which the kids showed off what they had learned and made. As the camp director said:
"Throughout the week, we've practiced the importance of philanthropy by
encouraging our students to donate their candy to our communal jar. Each
day we've seen more and more caring students sacrificing their stash
for their community of campers, thinking about themselves as a group
rather than as one person. We've continued to see this trend today, as
our campers banded together to make leis for one another and helped
each other out in preparing for Culmination. We're so proud of them. We can't believe how fast time has flown by. We shared lots of laughs, learning, and eating this past week. We learned about kansha and the importance of showing gratitude to others, both during and outside of mealtimes, as well as chanto and enryo. We learned the importance of giving back through our daily philanthropy activities. We even learned team work and team spirit through all of our group activities. And, of course, we learned about the kinds of food consumed in Japan. We sincerely hoped your kids enjoyed our program and had lots of great memories and lessons to share with your families!"
We did and we will be back next year!
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| Lily (aka Skater Gurl) and her counselor! |
Marcus spent 10 days in Paris (August 20 - 29), recording the score for L'Empereur de Paris. It was a great professional experience, he said, but best of all, he was able to see his dad and brother again over the weekend ❤️
Big day today for our big boy and big girl! Ennio started Second Grade in school and Lily went off to Fourth Grade! Ennio also lost a tooth yesterday. You'd think he'd be excited, but unfortunately... not this guy! He kept on saying: "No, it can't be school today! Summer can't be over!" I felt so bad to have to disappoint him! On the other hand, it tells me he must have really enjoyed the summer, our traveling and family time together... which warms my heart. Lily, quite the opposite, couldn't wait until school would start. She was so excited to see her friends again, to find out who her new teacher would be and who would be in her classroom,... She had picked out a new backpack and lunchbox, thought carefully about what outfit she would wear on the first day of school... So different than Ennio, who couldn't care less about his backpack or clothes :-) All he wanted to do today, was stay home and play! It's good he has a really cool teacher. Hopefully, she will be able to show him how much fun learning can be! Lily is also lucky enough to have an excellent teacher (she has the reputation to be a teacher who changes her students' lives...). Go Ms. Langsdorff and go Ms. Convey! Go, Ennio and Lily! We are crossing our fingers for a successful year!
When we got back from New Zealand and sat down to have a look at the photos we made, Marcus was a little disappointed that he had not been able to capture the landscape, sights and animals the way we had seen it for ourselves. The pictures just didn't do reality justice. He blamed it on his old camera and decided to go for the real deal. He first got his brother Tobi's advice and finally settled for a Nikon D7200 DSLR Camera. He's experimenting as much as he can! Last week, for example, he took the camera to Adalyn, Alexa and Alice's birthday party at the pool in Burbank (Alexa is Ennio's friend from preschool). The girls turned 9, 7 and 1, all in July, that's why their parents Amie and Alejandro threw one big party for the three of them. Here are some of my favorite pics!
Just wanted to give a shout-out that we really, really, really liked this summer camp! It was so well organized (but what else would you expect from Japanese people, right?), close-by to where we live, and most of all... fun! Lily already said she wants to go again next year. Ennio didn't... but then again, he didn't complain either, which is a major achievement! Kizuna's Summer Camp was held at the Pasadena Japanese Cultural Institute. The camp theme was Natsu Matsuri Week. Through exploring the concept of summer festivals in Japan and America, campers were encouraged to learn the core values of summer, gatherings, and volunteering. Every night, we received an email with photos and highlights of that day, and announcements for the next day (f.i. bring a cardboard box to make a parade float). It gave us a peak inside the camp's activities.
