Today we had the opportunity to host Japanese students for the American Life Club. The purpose is to show them how Americans live and give them the opportunity to practice their English. Eisley and I had these awesome 15 year-old guys to hang out with. They came all the way down from Osaka, Japan, which is about an 8 1/2 hour trip by bus. They didn't speak a lot of English, but we definitely all learned something new from each other today and the creative communication to get our message across made it fun.
The first thing we did was take a walking tour around base. I took them to the commissary to practice some English identifying items and also just showing them how different it is from a Japanese grocery store (I will have to do a post on that for you all soon!). I had fun showing them different fruits and veggies that they aren't used to seeing and pointing out Kingsford Charcoal and telling them how it is made in my hometown and showing them on a map where I am from. It is always nice going to a store and being able to find a little bit of home! I think the biggest cultural difference I found at the grocery store is the American obsession with breakfast. Even in our tiny little commissary we have an entire aisle full of cereal and oatmeal, a large portion of our cooler section, and a big chunk of our freezer section all dedicated to different breakfast foods. It was crazy trying to explain that Americans like hot breakfast and cold breakfast. How we eat cereal cold covered in milk or hot oatmeal and scrambled eggs with hash browns, or bagels covered in cream cheese and toaster strudels and cinnamon rolls covered in icing. I was showing them how pancakes are different than waffles, but you cover them both in maple syrup. I realized how weird to concept of a big American breakfast would be to someone whose never had a bowl of cereal. I asked them what they eat for breakfast and their enthusiastic answer was RICE!
We gathered a few items and went through the self checkout which they don't have in their grocery stores. They were fascinated with our kids race car carts.
Next I took them on a tour of our house and we settled in for our "English Lesson" which was just a little worksheet with getting to know you questions and a game of Jenga. They were struggling with the worksheet since they didn't really know that much English so we only did part of it. For Jenga I put word labels on sticky notes on each piece so when they took a piece they had to label the item. It worked out really well and they enjoyed the game.
Even Eisley got a label :)
We made lunch together so I made homemade crust and had the boys choose their toppings. They were pretty overwhelmed with the choices but they had fun and did a really good job making delicious pizzas!
Three full size pizzas in one oven? No problem!
Seiya
Daiki
Bunta
Matumoto
Rinntaro
Eisley got some pizza too
Eisley loved having some friends today
After lunch we got together with the other home stay families and had a little "Trunk or Treat". We had the kids decorate the trunks as part of the activity. They didn't really get the concept of going from car to car so most of my kids just stuck around and got candy from me, but it was fine.
Our trunk
Lupita's Trunk
Lupita had them play games for candy
We wanted them to burn some energy before their bus ride so we had them play soccer. Not quite American but it works :)
Eisley loves playing with Finn
Eisley is obsessed with Dogs so she loved seeing Bella today. Bella took her on a walk.
Overall it was a really fun day and I'm glad it went so well. It was my first time so I was a little nervous but I will have a better idea what to expect next time. I feel like I learned just as much from them as they did from me. I'm excited to do it again with new kids!
Instead of paying almost $700 to get a last minute seat on the same plane as David, Eisley and I went with a discount ticket ($200 bought the day before departure) on Peach Air. It was kind of questionable at times but it did the job for a good price. We met a fellow military spouse from David's ship and we navigated the train system to Yokosuka together.
The view from our room.
Some more "Engrish"
Our room is a lot bigger here than it was in Fukuoka!
The next day while the boys were in school I went out with the two other spouses who accompanied their husbands here from the Green Bay in Sasebo. We took a stroll to figure out where everything was in the city. We stopped by Mikasa Park which is right across a little channel from the base. It is home to the Mikasa Battleship, which is now a museum. The park has a nice little fountain show set to music throughout the day.
We found some interesting things at the grocery store here while we were browsing around. These are flavored milks: Apple, Orange, and Blueberry. I've only seen Banana and Melon so far in Sasebo.
Their fruit is usually a bit expensive, but $30 for a small watermelon!? I'm sad because I adore watermelon in the summer! Andrea bought a slice of the yellow colored watermelon for us all to try.
Just your average children's book in Japan where you ride the toilet and people watch through the window?
David and I have been trying to find good places to eat while we are here. We have found that google translate can be pretty unreliable, but hilarious at the same time. Here are some of our results:
We had a little lost in translation fail and ended up with 3 entrees, 2 sides, and 2 desserts, when we normally just get an entree to split and no dessert.
While Eisley and I play out in town, David plays in class. We were able to meet up with a friend from back in Annapolis. We went to this awesome play place in the Mall where everything moves. Eisley was loving it! Meanwhile David is learning how to be a stealthy navy guy and clear rooms and shoot hostile pirates and such.
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