A Picnic With The Japanese Exchange Students

I was invited to a picnic at the beach with the Japanese exchange students who are in town from Sapporo Japan. It was so much fun! I arrived at the school to take the bus to the lake where the picnic was going to be, and everyone divided up into two vans because one van was going to be picking up some people from a local mall. I rode over with a girl named Nami and two crazy boys who had a video camera and filmed everything. Nami and I talked a lot, I wanted to help her practice her English. She speaks English fairly well, and we talked a lot about various subjects. I showed her churches and she explained that they have more temples in Japan than churches. I explained that we were going to the country for the picnic, and that she had been in the city for most of her visit in the USA.

It was our van that was to pick up the extra people, and at the mall, five old Russian women loaded into the van. They could have been my grandma's friends! Haha! They talked and talked for the rest of the trip, and the quiet van we had been in quickly got loud. Nami and I huddled together to talk more, and the van quickly began to smell of old perfume and potato pancakes. Nami shook her head and laughed when she realized all of this was happening.

When we arrived at the lake house that the picnic was going to be at, we were greeted warmly by the owners, who had set everything up for us to use. They had a changing area so we could change into swim suits, an outdoor bathroom, a storage area for water toys, and two boats that were located just off the dock we would be jumping in off of to go swimming. The boats were a canoe and a boat that you had to peddle to make it go. Nami didn't want to get wet, neither did Naomi, but Yukari, who came later with her host family, brought a pair of pants she didn't mind getting wet. I forgot a swim suit, but the owner of the house gave me one to use while I was there.

Yukari and I made it our goal to get Nami wet, but Naomi told us she couldn't swim and didn't wish to get wet, so we respected her wishes. The boys all had a great time in the water. The paddled out into the middle of the lake many times, even tipping the boat and soaking themselves a few times. Jen, the other American girl who came with the group, took a lot of pictures. I took a few with my phone, but my camera is breaking down after 5 or so years.

Around 5pm, after swimming a lot and eating ice cream delivered from the ice cream truck, we went to a petting zoo that had lamas, ducks, chickens, sheep, goats, a bull and goats. When we pulled up, I shouted "dinner!" and pointed at all the ducks and chickens. The students all shouted dinner after that too, and laughed a lot. Naomi practically jumped into my arms the whole time we were there. A huge shetland sheepdog was also there, and he got really close to her and she hid behind me. The dog was bigger than Naomi, so I understood why she was frightened. I hugged her and told her not to be scared, but she kept holding onto me. She was also scared of the lamas and only took a second to touch the babies before the mothers came and scared her away. Nami touched every animal and took her picture with all of them.

After the petting zoo, we headed back for food, and everyone ate burgers and hot dogs and salad. It was delicious. More pictures were taken, and, after attempting to get Nami wet again, we finally grabbed a squirt gun and got her fairly wet. Naomi played badminton with the boys and Jen, and Gary, the third American to attend, took photos.

Mr. Tanaka, the English teacher, seemed to enjoy watching everything a lot. Eventually, we roasted marshmallows over a fire, and he really liked this American tradition.

On the ride home, I sat with Naomi and we talked about Japan. She told me about her city, and how it is about the size of the city she has been staying in. She told me she lives with a woman who has a daughter who is at college in a different state, so she had a spare room and is hosting her. The woman also has a dog. She told me she loved shopping here, but her favorite part of the trip was talking with me! I was so happy she had enjoyed talking, and I enjoyed her friendship. I found out that she has a boyfriend, who she misses a lot, as well as a few friends she is close to and missing as well. She and Nami work at a restaurant called "Surprise Donkey". We looked at lots of pictures on Naomi's phone of Japan, and she told me about her group of friends and everything. Naomi and I cuddled a bit on the ride back to the school, and we swore we would always be friends, even shaking on it. She told me she likes my personality and feels safe with me, and I took pride in that.

As we walked down to the bus stop, I worked with all of them on their English, correcting any sentences that needed correcting and helping them speak properly. They were all happy about that, especially Matsuda, who is really working hard on that. Such nice kids! I am going to miss them greatly when they go back. I will give them all my card and let them know they can e-mail me any questions they have about English. I will miss Naomi the most, no doubt, but it gives me a reason to go to Japan! Such sweet people.

However, personally, I have found that I do not get along well with the girls from Tokyo. I have met three girls so far, and all were quite rude to me! Ayaka was a total bitch when I asked her simple questions, like how long she had been here and if she enjoyed it here so far, responding with: "a long time!" and "I wouldn't have stayed if I didn't!" She has evil eyes too...they scream of 'I am hot and I know it and I will treat you poorly!' The other two girls from there are Miho, who only finds me if she needs something, a trait I find very rude, and Yuko, who never really talked to me and seemed shy, but also didn't open up when I used my usual techniques to attempt to get her to talk and open up. Naoki, our only male exchange student last year, was very nice and from a town outside of Tokyo. He dated our German exchange student Anna, but it didn't last when they each had to return to their countries.

So...That has been my experience so far! Yukari and Nami both want to stay longer, as do many of the guys. Naomi misses her parents, boyfriend, older sisters, and nephew very much! Her older sister just had a baby boy and she loves and misses him. She enjoys being an aunt a lot. They are all just so sweet and I would love to get to know them better.

I think I have found my calling: I want to get my MA in Education and work as an International Coordinator at a local college. I love these kids, and working with them and helping them has been so rewarding! I am blessed to have gotten to know each and every one of them!