2 Visitors...

Last week we had the opportunity to be the host family for 2 Japanese girls. Our family has participated in this now for several years, and we find we look forward to it every year. Our kids especially like having the girls come & I find it such a great opportunity for them to learn about different cultures and realize that there are other people in this world who don't speak English or look like them. These girls were just a joy to have. Yoshi & Maki were both a bit nervous to come to Canada as it was their first time visiting a foreign country. They were also nervous about speaking English. After a day or so though they seemed to fit right and felt comfortable with our family. It was fun to introduce them to knew things and have them do activities they had never done before. Who knew that 2 Japanese girls didn't know how to make Sushi...and that a Canadian would be the one to teach them!

I taught the girls how to make cookies & ice them. They spent at least 2 hours decorating their Halloween cookies. I think they really liked it. They started making their own designs with Pokemon characters and symbols. It was really neat to see their creativity. We also took them ice skating. One girl, Maki had been before and was actually quite good, but for Yoshi this was her first time. She wasn't scared at all and I was happy at her enthusiasm to try something knew

Then we got together with another host family and carved pumpkins. The girls had so much fun doing this!

My kids were sad to see Yoshi and Maki leave, but now they have two more Japanese friends for LIFE! One day I hope to travel to Japan and see all the students that we have hosted. I think that would be a great experience.