When I visited Japan I stayed with a host family. One afternoon we drove up into the mountains near Suwa and visited my host Grandparents. After being introduced to dinner (a live chicken) and being very tired to the point I couldn’t keep my eyes open I took a nap. When I woke up, the Grandmother had been told I liked art, and so beckoned me to sit next to her. As a hobby she made beautiful art with pressed flowers and presented to me a little framed piece of paper on my own. She helped me pick flowers out of her collection and showed me how to glue them down. I was happy to see my favorite color of purple among the many flowers, and found it as one of her favorite colors too. This is one of my favorite memories of visiting with my host family that reminds me that it is such a different way to experience a place than normal travel.
Souvenir Saturday is an every-other week series on the items that represent travel memories.
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