Craypot Cafe by Warwick M. Harvey

Author:Warwick M. Harvey [Harvey, Warwick M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781543495027
Publisher: Xlibris NZ
Published: 2018-09-12T04:00:00+00:00

6

SEIKO HAMASAKI’S ARRIVAL

AND THE LOCAL SITES

It was now mid February, and Mako was sitting in the front row of the Kaikoura Area High School hall. It was 2 p.m. on the second Friday of term one. Mako was trying to pass time by outstaring a fly that was sitting on one of the buckles of his hand-me-down Roman sandals. Joel was wearing his new pair of shoes and sitting somewhere further back with the fifth formers. Mako would no doubt receive them sometime next year. Mako’s thirteenth birthday was only three weeks away in early March, but today he was more excited about the anticipated arrival of the group of overseas Japanese exchange students.

Mako had been given some brief details about Seiko Hamasaki, the billet student his family had been assigned for the next four months. He knew that he was a thirteen-year-old boy and that he lived in Tokyo. His father was Mr Naoki Hamasaki, an officer of the House of Representatives in the Japanese government.

Mako’s father had said on reading the school memo in early February, ‘He must be some sort of bigwig around town, just like me!’

That had driven the whole family to hysterics. Jerry had immediately stood up from the dining table and announced that he was off to polish Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for Seiko’s arrival.

None of Mako’s family knew quite what to expect from a minister’s son. Mako had tidied his room three times in the last week under his mother’s standing orders. She would tidy it again in secret when Mako was away at school. The spare bed in Mako’s room had been repositioned twice, and the new bedspread and sheets had been purchased on her latest trip to Nelson. Even though it was still summer, Rose had been experimenting with various types of miso soup. They were all a bit nervous, but Mako had the edge on them all, for one reason. Last Sunday afternoon, on his sitting seat, he had received an image whilst meditating of what he believed was the expected Japanese boy.

The image had come to him as clear as day, though quite unexpectedly. First, there was an image of what he believed to be Seiko presenting the family with gifts of appreciation after the first evening meal. And then there had been a more mysterious image of Seiko and himself rowing on the ocean in a small rowboat. Just what that image meant was a puzzle to Mako, but they had been rowing and laughing, and it felt like good fun out on the water on a sunny afternoon. For now, all Mako felt was the warm summer breeze blow across his face through the open windows as he sat waiting for the bus to arrive from Christchurch.

Finally, there was the squeal of slowing wheels and the hiss of air brakes to announce the arrival of the Japanese students’ coach liner. Not long after, the students were led into the hall by the Kaikoura High School principal and a team of welcoming teachers.

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