This Time, It's My Turn to Welcome Them【Island Elementary School ③#19】/ Remote Island Elementary School Season 3 19

Last time, I accompanied two 4th graders to the National Tree Planting Festival.
Autumn 2004.
After finishing a major event, a slightly calmer time returns to the island.
Culture Day that year was a single holiday in the middle of the week.
Instead of returning to the mainland as usual, this time I decided to welcome my family to the island.
The sunset I watched at the port that day has become one of the unforgettable scenes in my life, even more than 20 years later.

1. This time, it's my turn to welcome them

On the last Sunday of October, I stopped by my parents' house before returning to the island from the mainland.
This was because I had promised that my parents would come to the island the day after tomorrow at noon.

My father has always loved fishing.
Since I am working on a remote island, I had long wanted to invite him here once and go fishing together.
That was a thought I had for some time.

Normally, I would return to my home on the mainland for Culture Day, but it was only a one-day break in the middle of the week.
This time, I decided to stay on the island and welcome my parents and family.

2. Sunset welcomed on the island

November 2nd.
When lunchtime arrived, the second ferry entered the port.
I went to pick up my parents and carried their luggage to the inn.

Without even taking a breath, my father headed to the port with his fishing gear in hand.
“Since I’ve come all this way.”
His gait seemed to say exactly that.
Meanwhile, my mother said,
“I’m going to walk around the island a bit,”
and seemed to be taking a leisurely stroll around the island.

My father said that in the past, he had even taken a boat to the areas around this island for rock fishing.
He was casting his line at the port as if reminiscing about the island he hadn't visited in a long time.

As evening approached, the time to welcome my family arriving on the third ferry drew near.
I headed to the fishing spot a step ahead to check on my father.
It was just around the time the setting sun began to dye the sea red, and I captured that beautiful scenery in a photo.

After a while, the third ferry carrying the children arrived at the port.
After going to the port to meet them, I then took my grandchildren to the fishing spot where my father was waiting.

When the children also held fishing rods, they soon caught about six horse mackerel.
Laughter echoed at the port, making for a lively sunset that was a little different from the usual island life.

At night, we all had dinner together at the inn.
Seeing the food brought out, the children were surprised and asked,
“Wait, are we allowed to eat all of this?”
with their eyes wide open.

Starting with one spiny lobster per person, dishes like simmered leatherjacket, and sashimi of horse mackerel and bigfin reef squid were lined up one after another, all seafood that had just been landed that day.
“The fish on this island is so delicious.”
Hearing the children say that, both my father and mother were smiling as they enjoyed their meal.

When my family came during summer vacation, they stayed at my residence, but this time there were too many people and not enough bedding.
Therefore, the children ended up staying at the inn as well.

3. Culture Day spent on the island

The next morning, my father headed to the port early again. I also cast a line with him for a little while. On this day, the takabe were biting one after another, and the children were completely absorbed in it.

When they held the fish they had caught, they ran over to the island cats that were nearby.
The children were overjoyed to give the fish they caught to the cats, and the cats seemed to enjoy eating them too.

After that, we headed to the school.
They seemed to be very much looking forward to playing with the island children, and in fact, they had even written letters before they arrived.

The children, who hadn't seen each other in a long time, hit it off immediately, running around the schoolyard and playing inside the school building.
At the school where I usually teach, my own children were happily playing with the island children.
Just watching that scene made me feel happy somehow.

4. Back to the Quiet Island

The fun times really flew by.
My parents and family were heading back to the mainland on the 2:45 PM ferry.
As I waved from the port, the ship slowly pulled away from the quay, gradually shrinking in the distance while leaving a white wake behind.

The voices of my father and mother, and the laughter of the children that I had heard just moments ago, seemed to fade away along with the ship as it disappeared from sight.
The usual quiet time has returned to the port.

Until now, whenever I had a day off, I was almost always the one boarding this ship to return to my home on the mainland.
But on this day, I was the one seeing my family off.
The walk from the port to my living quarters felt a little longer than usual today.

From the next day on, it was back to school life with the four children.
In our integrated studies class, a new "Salt Story" was just beginning to take shape.

Thank you for reading this far.
To be continued in the next installment.👇

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◆ About this series (For first-time readers)👇👇

Remote Island Elementary School Series Season 3👇

Remote Island Elementary School Series Season 1👇👇

Remote Island Elementary School Series Season 2👇👇👇