A DREAM FULFILLED

A DREAM FULFILLED

By Hema Kundargi

Dec 19, 1978 is a very special day in the history of Cupertino and Toyokawa.

It was the day that Cupertino City Councilman Dan O’Keefe visited Toyokawa to sign a Declaration officially establishing the Sister city connection. 35 years later this connection has flourished and is fulfilling Mayor Yamamoto's dreams of establishing a future of peaceful international understanding between Japan and the rest of the world.

The first adult delegation, consisting of twelve Cupertino officials, community leaders and local citizens, visited Toyokawa in June 1979; ever since then delegate exchanges between Cupertino and Toyokawa take place each fifth anniversary of the sister city relationship. The delegates stay with a host family and are able to experience the local culture and lifestyle while making lifetime friendships and connections. Five years ago my husband, Kiran and I were fortunate to be a part of the delegation and have permanently etched the warmth and generosity of our host family in our hearts.

Twelve Cupertino families welcomed the Toyokawa delegates in to their homes in July 2013. Kiran and I were fortunate to host the Mayor Minoru Yamawaki and Shoji Sato at our house, both of whom were perfect house guests. They loved to try new food, were keen to enjoy the natural beauty and were impressed  by the organized and well laid out stores. They were fascinated by the game of Scrabble and I think that they are now die- hard fans of the game.

To showcase our diversely rich neighborhood, Kiran and I hosted an international potluck dinner in honor of our guests. We had an array of ethnic foods made by our neighbors ranging from All-American mac and cheese, to Indian samosas, Persian Addas Polo, Middle Eastern Dolmas with Pomegranate syrup and a refreshing California spinach orange salad, a funky fusion recipe of Quinoa -bean cutlets and a deliciously wicked, homemade Chocolate cake.

We were in for a big surprise as Shoji Sato, with the assistance of Mayor Yamawaki made a special Japanese dessert, yomogi-shiratama azuki for all of us.  It was interesting to see these two budding chefs, cook with utmost precision and care with ingredients they had brought all the way from Japan. A special rice flour was kneaded into a dough with water and then made in to small balls. The rice flour had an addition of dried yomogi leaf powder, which gave a very pleasant green color to the balls and boosted the nutrition too. These rice balls were then boiled in water, rinsed and served with red bean paste and  sprinkled with a salty soy powder.

Yomogi-Shiratama Azuki was a feast for the eyes and taste buds. This dessert has an explosion of textures, color and taste with a light touch of sweetness and a hint of saltiness.

As we all sat and enjoyed good food, laughed and talked,  and connected with each other, it felt like a Thanksgiving table and had the warm feeling  that we all belong to one big family. Mayor Yamamoto would have been a very happy man to see that his dream of connecting people around the globe is fulfilled.