Japanese Friends

Today's the day .............. when the Japanese school girls came

Had a visit today at work from a party of 26 Japanese school girls from the Friends School in Tokyo with four of their teachers and an interpreter. They come every year and they are a total delight.

Bridget and I give them a little introductory talk and because we have been on the 'Welcome International' training course(!), we say a few things in Japanese. We say 'Konnichi wa' (Good afternoon) and a ripple goes round the room of a sound, sort of like 'Aahhhh' but very Japanese - and we know that they are so pleased that we have made an attempt to speak their language.

They love to buy things in the shop. I remember one year, because we had a display about a Quaker School, we had old-fashioned school slates with a sort of nail thing to write on it for sale. They absolutely loved these and everyone bought one and started to scratch on it. Considering Japan must be one of the most up-to-date technological nations on the planet, it was very amusing to see all the girls so fascinated with something so basic.

The girls today loved the shop too. I asked them if I could take a picture and they said ........."Of course!"