The Move....

Today I am moving families. Although the students from Canada stay with the same family for their entire stay in Japan, the chaperones have their stay broken down between two different homes. For the past two weeks I have been staying with the Suzuki family and they graciously welcomed me into their home. Last evening I cooked them supper and cleaned up the kitchen. My host mother laughed that I probably know better were the dishes go then her husband does. My “job” has been drying dishes since arriving so day by day I learned were everything belongs. Last night I cooked baked pasta and cheese with tomatoes, salad and garlic bread – all eaten with chopsticks. I has previously made pancakes and some cookies.

Part of my time with the Suzuki Family has been assisting Mari with her Labo Parties. Over the past few weeks I have had a great time getting to know some of the students and will miss chatting with them. Mari hosts a group of students between the ages of 14 and 22 on Wednesday nights at her house. It is amazing to watch this group work and play together, all while looking after each other. You can see the respect they have for one another. This past Sunday, Mari hosted her special party. Many Labo tutors will hold a special party just prior to summer holidays. The students just finished school for the summer holiday yesterday, July 21st.

The older students helped organize this special day. We started by singing English songs and played some games, everyone took part – even the 21 year old boys (Mari's older youth group has an equal number of boys and girls attending). We played “duck duck goose”, “London Bridge”, and “Old MacDonalds' Farm. Each English song also has actions to go with it. From there we did introductions and the students presented a story that they had learned through the year. This was followed up with food – shaved ice, cotton candy and Okonomiyaki. After food it was back upstairs for more games – a rely race and then a shooting game using guns a few of the students had made out of chopsticks to shoot elastics at cans setup. I was amazed how much all the students jumped in (with enthusiasm) to play the games and sing the songs. I can not remember the last time I saw a teenage play duck, duck goose.

I saw this group last night for the last time and had a short question and answer period with them. The questions could go in either direction, I could ask them questions and they could ask me. Although I have only knew them for a few weeks, they have fun to be around and very welcoming. Today I am moving to a new home for the reminder of my stay in Japan. I can only thank the Suzuki's and her Labo students for a fantastic few weeks.