Okonomiyaki (hereafter known as Yoko-Ono-miyaki :) ) I am officially an expert on its preparation, and I have the certificate to prove it. :p (More on that in a minute...)
We started out the day today at Honkawa Elementary, the school closest to the hypocenter when the a-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima (turns out the other one we went to see wasn't the closest, but it WAS important because the survivors used its rooms as a triage unit, and its walls as a primitive message board to locate family members after the a-bomb hit.) At Honkawa, the daughter of a Hiroshima Hibakusha (survivor) spoke to us about her mother's experience, and described the devastation that the bombing caused. By the end of her presentation, we were all literally too stunned to speak. As we exited the building to return to the bus, we were spotted by some elementary school students who waved and shouted (in amazingly good English), "Welcome to Hiroshima! We're pleased to met you!" :) Something about their smiles seemed to make things look a lot brighter. :)
After leaving the museum, we proceeded to the City Municipal Building, where we were addressed by the Mayor and met with three members of the Board of Education. Not surprisingly, the message conveyed to us was one of peace. Seems to be the underlying message of this entire leg of the trip. And I have to admit, it's amazingly inspiring.
Before heading to meet the remaining members of the Board of Education, we were taken to an okonomiyake (Yoko-Ono-miyake) restaurant for lunch and a cooking lesson. In seeing all of the ingredients (batter, cabbage, soba noodles, corn, fish salt, seaweed sprinkles, egg and squid), I was a little skeptical. The okonomiyake master demonstrated proper preparation techniques, then set us all loose to prepare our own lunch. Despite the fact that flipping a pile of cabbage and corn wasn't exactly easy, my okonomiyake lunch turned out to be quite tasty...especially once I smothered it in yummy okonomiyake sauce. :) Since we accomplished our task without setting anything on fire or permanently scarring ourselves, the okonomiyake chef presented each of us with an official okonomiyake diploma. Can't wait to add that credential to my resume. :p
From the restaurant, we headed back to the Municipal Building to attend a Q&A session with the rest of the Board of Education. It was quite interesting (especially in terms of gender equity...seems Japan still has a ways to go in that regard.)
And tonight? You'll never believe...I went and did laundry (such an exciting night, no lie! :p) Oh well, I still have a few days left here, and now I can finish out the trip with a lovely Tide-fresh smell hovering around me. :p
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