Sunday, November 2nd

They let us sleep in an extra hour until 10:00 because we arrived so late last night. My body still isn't in the correct time zone. I was up early and went for a walk. Everyone is polite and nods as you go by with a "good morning" or "Ohaiyo gazimasu" greeting. Hamamatsu is a city of 830.000 but there are still power poles and overhead wires everywhere except in the central downtown area. Great buffet breakfast in the hotel with both Western and Japanese food. A few members of the Hamakita Rotary Club took us to their community and to the Manyo-no-Mori Parks that featured plants that grew in Japan a thousand years ago. Next we were dressed in period costumes for photos and lunch. There a complete meal of food and I hadn't eaten one item on the tray before but I did try everything (including the complete fish, yes the head was a little tough to swallow). We visited our first Buddhist Temple and then a long trip back to the hotel. We had a very formal dinner with District 2620 Rotary officials including the Governor, Seiji Makita. The dinner was a eight course meal. Our glasses were all filled with beer, osaka, or other beverage, but never water! I need to learn how to say "water" in japanese! Very few of the foods were familiar and there were lots of new tastes (many of them i could say, "I've never tasted anything like it!") We were on the 40th floor of the hotel with a great nighttime view of the city. Back to the hotel for much needed sleep.
Ken