MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni residents visited a flower farm and made flower bouquets in Iwakuni City, Japan, July 12, 2018.
The residents participated in the Marine Corps Community Services Cultural Adaptation Program event to learn where local venders get their flowers from and how to arrange flowers in bouquets.
The families first visited a flower farm, owned by Chieme Tsukuda. They walked through aisles of flowers and were given a brief class on how they are grown.
“We had the opportunity to visit a local flower farm and see how a Rindou, a flower found in the Yamaguchi Prefecture, is grown,” said Mikie Watanabe, a cultural adaptation specialist with CAP. “We used Rindou to make our own flower arrangements and we’re able to take them home and enjoy the art that we’ve made.”
After the farm visit, the group traveled to a local farmers market, where they sold flowers from the farm and different goods from the local area. After visiting the market they participated in a flower arrangement class. The class gave the air station residence and local Japanese a chance to bond.
“It was really fun and relaxing to make the flower arrangements,” said Caitlin Scaun, a MCAS I resident. “You can go to the store and you can appreciate flower arrangements that are already made, but getting to see the process of how they layer and balance the different flowers is really neat.”
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