Getting ready for America!

It won't be long until I travel to the great U.S. of A., and I'm pretty excited about it. :)

The same is true of nine junior high school students and two high school students from Kuji and two teachers (including my boss, Yamadate).

At the beginning of January, the group will do some sightseeing in San Francisco before going to Franklin, to visit Kuji's sister city. During the four days in Franklin, each student will stay with a host family and sit in on classes at either Custer Baker Middle School or Franklin Community High School.

What a great way for them to experience American culture! At the same time, they can teach their host families and others about Japanese culture. So it's a win-win situation.

I'm looking forward to having two of the students stay with my family! Here is a picture of all the girls (minus one), who will be coming to America...

The two girls I'm touching are the ones who will be hanging out with my family -- Shiori (beside me) and Marina (my student from Okawame, who is below me.) Sorry about the less-that-stellar picture quality.

Here's a picture of the guys (again, one is missing) and the two chaperones...

For the last month, the group has been meeting each week for English conversation classes, in preparation for the trip. Mayla, Liz and I have helped them with their English self-introductions and basic conversation. I think the students are a little nervous about the homestay aspect of the trip.

After their stay in Franklin (and Camby, for the two girls who will be at my house), I will travel with the group to Washington, D.C. and help lead them. Then together, we'll fly to Tokyo and travel to Kuji.

Although the students aren't coming to America until January, I'll arrive on December 23rd so I can be home for Christmas. As is tradition, my family is driving to Florida the day after Christmas to spend the week with my grandparents. :)

There will be a lot of moving around during my brief stay in America, but it should all be fun!

While I'm making announcements and telling you about my plans, here is another bit of news: I've decided to live in Kuji for a second year! So until August 2010, the grand Japanese adventure continues...