Eri (Mom) & Ryo (10) from Japan
What an exciting summer 2008 has already been. First we enjoyed our wonderful students from China (Dani & Kevin) with all their friends. Then we had the pleasure of hosting 2 more boys from Dani & Kevin's class for just 2 short days - (Victor & Travis). We had a couple of days to get organized again when Eri & Ryo joined our family for 2 weeks. Eri was taking English classes at King George International College in Surrey, BC and Ryo was registered for their summer program. 2 Weeks is such a short time for such a long journey. Ryo is one of the most outgoing young boys I have ever met. He rose each & every day around 6am and was excited & happy to be going to school. He met lots of people from around the word and his best friend was a young boy - about his age - from China. They were always together at school. If one arrived earlier in the morning he would always wait for the other. They would run across the parking lot and give each other a huge morning hug. It was like they had been apart for years not hours. What a wonderful experience for them both. Eri took the bus each morning to her English program and also enjoyed it. She told me that she would sit with the other students over lunch to practice their communication - after all if you are from China, South Korea or Mexico the only way to communicate with a Japanese student is English! Both of their English improved greatly.
Unfortunately the 2 weeks flew bye and we had to say goodbye to them. We have been invited to visit them in Japan as well as Dani & Kevin in China. I think John & I will have to plan a 3 month Asian tour for 2012 and visit all our new friends. What an exciting trip to plan. We will also have met so many more students by then also and would love to include them on our trip.
