This is weird. I posted an entry after the 24th above and then checked to see that it was there. It was so I then posted again with more info. This has been a busy week. The second post went in and I checked on it. Sure enough it was there but the first one I posted today was gone! And while I was doing all that the entire thread disappeared from the Mudcat! Now it's back!

Anyway, here is the first post from today:

Last Tuesday we toured the island with a group of Japanese high school students. Our friends, Ward and Kayoko, are part of the exchange program between George Washington High School and the high school in Shodoshima, Japan. The tour was scheduled for Tuesday but neither could take the time off from their respective jobs to attend. They drafted us.

There were seven students (six girls and one boy) and two Japanese chaperones (man and woman). The students are all sixteen years old. Their chaperones don쳌ft look much older but they are. The schedule started with a few hours at the Untalan Middle School. We were met by the Assistant Principal and taken in tow by three members of the student government. They were shown the classrooms, library, gym, locker room, band room, athletic fields, and cafeteria. They got to eat cafeteria food and meet with students. They listened to the band play and Mari played the piano for them. Untalan has the best school band on the island and it shows.

After that we took a bus ride to Nimitz Hill, Ga쳌fan Point. Fort Soledad, and the Merizo Bell Tower before returning to the high school. Ward was there to meet us and take back his students. We were exhausted and glad to relinquish the responsibility.

As we started out on the trip Wakana told the kids that they had to be careful not to miss the bus or we would leave them behind. She also told them they each had to practice their English with me. Some of them came forward on their own and I had to make a point to engage the others.

Masako, the female chaperone, had some photographs she쳌fd taken with a Japanese pop singer. All the girls were envious and kept wanting to look at them. She and Wakana cooked up a scheme where they could compete for the pictures. They made me the judge. My wife is a lot of trouble.

I judged them on English skill and bravery. At the beginning of the trip they were all very shy. As the trip progressed they became more comfortable and eventually I managed to speak with most of them. I awarded first prize to Shoko for being the first to speak with me (bravery) and for speaking with me the most. I awarded second prize to Mari for volunteering to play the piano. Third prize was split between Myuki and Rika for their conversation with me about Japanese TV and for folding some Origami structures for me and Wakana.

Last night we went to their goodbye party at the high school. They wore their kimonos, sang songs, performed a dance, played Japanese games with their host families, and performed a traditional Japanese play about the Bamboo Princess. They cooked a huge meal of udon, rice, fried chicken (Japanese style), and potato salad with mochi and chocolate for desert. We had cold green tea for a beverage. There were also brownies and fruit salad. At the end of the entertainment they had to read thank you letters to their host families. The first to read was the young man. He passed through the ordeal quickly and returned to the line. Then next was little Shoko. By the second line she had tears rolling down her cheeks. That got the rest of the girls crying. By the time the third kid started in to reading the rest of the girls in the audience were crying too, including those who had NOT hosted a student. Poor kids. I wanted to hug them and tell them it was all right.

I gave them a copy of the first Roll & Go CD for their school. So now there is a school in Shodoshima that has a copy in their school library. That CD is getting wider circulation than most folk CDs. I just wish we were selling them out there. The Roll & Go crew would be busy packaging and mailing.

By the way, congratulations to Roll & Go for making the performer list at Mystic this year. I am kicking myself now for cutting my trip short.