Japan - Barbara Elias

I was working in the Philippines when I heard about the world quilt Festival being held in Nagoya Japan so I decided I should go.
It wasn’t that far to fly from the Philippines to Japan- well in the scheme of things not too far.
I did a little research and discovered that a group from Canada was actually going to this festival and they had contact with a Japanese group of quilters called the cat patch group.
So I decided to hitch onto there a program.
At most major airports in Japan, there is an interesting free guide-interpreter connection.
I toddled over there and talked to the lady in charge and she gave me three people to work with while I was in Japan. Because of these wonderful women, I had the greatest time beyond going to the festival.
There is no charge for this service beyond paying for meals or transportation or any out-of-pocket expenses the interpreter might incur.
First I connected with the group from Canada mostly from Vancouver actually and spent some time getting to know them and visiting the incredible incredible world quilt festival Which covered five huge huge pavilions. At the entrance to the first pavilion, we went into there were some small installations of rooms, and one that really caught my attention was the Ann of Green Gable’s room.
Anna Green Gable‘s is Hugely popular in Japan and it was amazing to see these women with their red braids and wonderful school girl outfits.
The highlight of the visit was an invitation to the home of the Canadian ambassador Nagoya.
His magnificent home had incredible floral arrangements with a resident florist to care for them all.

The ambassador's wife was Thai so we had a lot in common. we were served an incredible Thai buffet meal and afterward entertained by a traditional Japanese musician.
we had fun with the ambassador's wife who was quite young.
We dressed her up in Ann of Green Gable's clothes and put a hat with pigtails on her.
She insisted on keeping the hat as a souvenir of our visit.