Welcome Party - A Taste of Home

Michi, one of my students from Shogai University (where I teach on Wednesday afternoons), invited us to come to a welcome party for a Mexican band on tour in Japan. I wasn't quite sure why they were in Japan, but she said Mexican food and we said YES!


This was the flyer for the concert. they played here in Himeji on Friday, May 23rd. You will notice that the girl in front is not Mexican, but Japanese. I learned at the party that she wanted to learn how to play the harp so her parents sent her to Mexico to learn from the older man in the band. He is suppose to be one of the best harp players in the world. Then her agent set up a mini tour for them to come to Japan so she could perform with them. We would have liked to have gone, but the tickets were a bit steep ($50 a piece) and we are trying to curb our spending so we have money to come home with. The party was only $10 a person.

Now, on to the party
They served rolled tacos, soft tacos (on corn tortillas) guacamole, salsa, sour cream, chips, and many Japanese items (sushi, tempura, katsu) We had to teach the Japanese friends at our table how to eat the Mexican food. Lucky for us, they waned to stay with their traditional Japanese food.
The welcome banner. I was so excited to be able to read something in Japan!!
This is the band as they entered the party.
Then the Japanese friends who put on the party, did many different traditional Japanese performances. I think they were singing La Cocaracha.

This is Favi (RJ's friend Kimi's mom) and her friend Azu. Favi is from Mexico and Azu is from Spain. They were asked to prepare the Mexican food for this party. The both speak English, Spanish and Japanese so they were explaining the food to everyone.
This is Michi with my family. She is a lot of fun to talk with!
After we ate, the Japanese performances continues. Then they invited the band members to come up on stage and try them too.
This is a sheet of bamboo sticks that are tied together somehow and can be released into a line of sticks with the flick of the wrist.

Everyone had fun trying them out!

Lion dance
Salute to Mexico by the lion
If they lion bites you, you will have good luck. The lion went around a bit all the foreigners, including my children. They were not too happy!
Making mochi (pounding rice until it becomes one big ball)
The the Mexican band performed 2 songs. I never thought I would be so happy to hear a Mexican song. I actually understood a lot of the words. It was pretty cool. I guess I am a bit more home sick than I thought.

This is a video clip of the song, just in case you haven't heard Mexican music in a while.

We had a great time! Thanks Michi for inviting us!!