We were pleased to host my good friend from my college years last night and three of her students. She teaches English...in Japan! Yes, my good friend was an exchange student from Japan in college. I had a great time teaching her all about American culture. And she taught me a little Japanese...you know, important words like coffee (kohi) and beer (biru). She also taught me the words for cold and scared, but they sound so much the same that I can't remember what they are unless she is saying them. Oh, we had so many crazy adventures!
The fact that her visit coincides with the 65th anniversary of Hiroshima is ironic. Our grandfathers fought in World War II (although my grandfathers were in Europea and New York). We once briefly talked about the war, but both shrugged and said, "It all happened in the past. We are friends now." Today, neither one of us, nor her students, were aware of the significance of today's date. Or that they drove right by the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, the home of the USS Missouri up until ten years ago. Does that say something about the educational systems of our countries? I'll leave the discussion up to you.
Anyway, every two years or so, my friend shows up with some Japanese students and surprises me with the call, "I'm in Washington! Are you home?" This time
we surprised
her because we moved last year! I really enjoyed showing her our chickens. I heard her say she was scared in Japanese when she was going into the chicken yard and I was so pleased with myself for remembering the word that I said, "It's not scary!"
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| Holding a Chicken! |
Her students were so sweet. She brought two girls, aged 17 and 10, and a boy, aged 13. They were very polite. The 10 year old was very spunky and helpful. She reminded me of A when she was 10. She was not scared at all to come into the chicken yard. And we were lucky to have a freshly laid egg for the kids to hold, still warm!
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| Holding the Egg |
We brought the egg inside and ate it for breakfast (along with ten other eggs, some ours, some from the store). The 10 year old helped me crack and count the eggs in Japanese and then she cooked them! What fun! I hope they come again!
