The first week, when A was staying at the other family's house, we wanted to participate as much as possible and show our support for her and for the program.
We attended the welcome dinner, which was the first day they arrived. They looked very frightened when they filed in. They were paired with their families to eat a sandwich dinner. We had arrived early to the event and settled in at a table, hoping the other family ("the J's") would sit with us. The J's arrived late and there was no room by us to sit so they found their own place. No, they didn't invite us to move or join them. But, since they arrived late, there wasn't much space near them, either.
We got to know some of the other families. That was fun. When their students joined them, we chatted a bit with them and their students. We made an effort to go over to the other family and meet them and meet our student, A. She seemed shy and nervous, but very polite.
On Wednesday of that week, there was a bowling/dinner event. We came to watch, visit, and say hi. We did see A, and what a transformation! She was confident, well-rested, happy and enjoying herself with her new American friends. Some of the J family was there, too - no adults, but the daughter who was in the Japanese class ("D") and two of her sisters. One of these sisters, who was about 20 or so, had her little boy with her, much to the delight of the Japanese girls. It was fun to watch them interact with each other and between the Japanese and the Americans.
Many of the Japanese girls found one of the American boys to be very handsome. Lots of giggles and pictures. It was adorable.
On Friday night there was a pancake dinner. I was working that day, so I couldn't go. Husband went and he hung out with the J family and some of the other families we had gotten to know.
Sunday, A came to stay with us. That afternoon, we went shopping, per her request. This is when we had the cultural misunderstanding I mentioned in a previous post. Dinner was at Sweet Tomatoes. After dinner, a fun trip to the Price Chopper grocery store for food for the week and entertainment for her. That evening, we watched The Princess and the Frog on DVD. That movie is new in Japan, so A got to see it before all her friends did!
(We put on the English subtitles. That seemed to help her understand the dialog.)
Monday after school, it was a lovely day, so we took her to the dog park with our dogs. It's fun to go for a walk and watch the dogs run and play without a leash. There are dogs everywhere! She liked seeing so many dogs, some like her dog in Japan.
Tuesday evening we went shopping at Target. Later in the evening we hung out at home. She taught us to make origami cranes and chopstick holders. We shared pictures and talked about Disney, and Tokyo Disney.
Wednesday was the group dinner to say goodbye. That took up most of the evening.
Thursday, husband took her out to dinner (at Taco Bell, per her request - oh so American) then they went to his college level Japanese class.
Friday, A and the group went home to Japan.
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