...and Peter
Why the dead rabbit? My kids thought it was strange that I like to eat rabbit. But it's delicious! Please try it soon!
What do we do at English camp? First, we eat.
And, of course, we talk (in English!). We're talking about the debate.
We talked a lot. The last night, we talked until 1 am! We were supposed to be talking about a game we were making, but really we were just having fun and making jokes ("Wake up, Shiori, Yuriko, and Masakazu!"). We talked during meals and we talked at the dance. I was impressed how well my kids can speak English, and how easily they understood me. I was also impressed at how cool they are--I was really lucky to have such a great group.
The big activity was a debate. We made plans and practiced for a long time. It was hard, but everybody did a great job. Kanae's opening speech was fantastic, and Asuka thought very quickly and changed her opening speech right there because the format of the debate changed. Good thinking! Everyone else made great points in the rebuttals and great answers to the other team's rebuttals. Finally, Shiori wrote an excellent ending speech. We didn't win, but we tried hard and did very well.
Asuka's Pictures
The ALTs (and Jake): Standing: Riccardo, Liam, Nicholas, Jake, Camilla, Peter Rivard; sitting and kneeling: Kate, Peter Dillon, Sarah, and Matthew
The Group
(Clockwise from Peter): Yoshiko, Itsumi, Kanae, and Asuka. Yoshiko went to Manyo with Shiori (and me)
And, of course, the dance! Everyone in my group was a little shy, but we all enjoyed the dance. Kanae and Itsumi enjoyed hiding from me when I tried to make them dance--they escaped!! Yuki wasn't so lucky. She ran away, but I caught her! It was like tag ("tag" is "oni gokko" in Japanese). Asuka only danced with me a little bit, but she was very stylish, as always. Yuriko and Shiori were a little shy at first, but soon they were burning up the dance floor. Very cool, girls! And Masakazu! He was hanging out with the breakdancing boys, but I didn't see him spin. Did Masakazu ever find a girlfriend that night?
My memories. Here we are. All seven of my kids are fantastic--I'll remember you forever. Masakazu--very cool! Itsumi, shy but sweet, and great at English--you sound like you come from California, not Fukui. Asuka, our fashion queen, shy at first but also great at English and a good leader. Yuki, smart and cute--and why are you looking at me like that? What an interesting girl! I really enjoyed teasing Asuka and Yuki! Shiori, you spoke with me a lot--I really enjoyed it! Keep trying hard. Yuriko, you are great at communicating in English--you asked me a million questions, and you taught me a lot, too. I enjoyed meeting and talking to all of you a lot--this seminar was the most fun I've had in Fukui. I really like all of you and I hope I can meet you again before I leave Japan. But when I go home, please come visit me in America! And send me email, too.
Anyone at the Rokuroshi camp: If you send me more pictures (my address) I'll put them on this page and send them back to you.
Of course, there were a lot of cool people who weren't in my group: Hairboy and The Bald Guy, the great break dancers; Masumi, the girl who wears table tennis balls; Victoria's Secret Girl, beautiful, stylish, and cool; Kaori Crazy Girl (from Takefu Higashi), who I think is the coolest of them all; Naomi, who is cool in Japanese, English, and Spanish; Tex, who speaks English better than I do and should have been one of the teachers, not a student; Naoya, who thought he WAS a teacher (he was always near us--really great guy); Kami-chan; Ayumi Kurauchi, whose clothes were so interesting; and all the rest of you. I liked EVERYONE I met at Rokuroshi; I wish I had had enough time to become friends with all 98 of you. But you are all great! Keep trying hard!
Asuka and Yuki (on my right) and the girls on my left aren't as small as they look--they were scrunching down a little bit. Asuka comes up to about the middle of my head, and Yuki is only a little shorter. In this picture, I look like Godzilla.

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