Adventures with Hiro - part 3

Monday saw the kids all return to school (this was a few weeks ago now LOL).  That night Hiro went with the boys to cadets.  I wonder what he thought of it all?  There was another Japanese student there that night from yet another school (this is the popular time for Japanese students to visit as they are on summer holidays and don't miss school).  I wonder what he thought of it all???  It was hard to tell but the boys said he took lots of photos and the cadets all made him feel welcome.

Wednesday was Hiro's last day with us.  They had organised afternoon tea at the school with a performance by the students.  They sang a song in English and Japanese.  You can see Hiro in the back row, just left of the middle.  They were swaying from side to side and The Thinker stood up on his chair to get the shot.  This was the only time I got to see the students all mixing with each other.  You would never have know that there was a language barrier.  Each of them just re-phrased things until the other understood.  It was great to see them all hanging out and being silly together.  It made me feel just a little old, as that was once me!!!

During the presentation each student gave a speech in English thanking their host families.  Hiro was the last to give his and his was the longest.  He said the nicest things about us and it made us feel really special.  I am glad that we were able to have him stay with us and I would be very pleased to have him stay again.

We had organised with my brother and SIL to meet up for a Japanese meal that night at an authentic restaurant in the city.  We had hoped the wait staff might be able to help us with translating, but they were very busy.  We also wanted Hiro to have the opportunity to share with us some of the food he was used to.  Other than sushi and a few other food court style dishes we had never had Japanese before.  My SIL loves Japanese food and she had recommended the restaurant.  The first thing Hiro said when he sat down was "I am so excited to be having Japanese food!".  It was definitely the right decision to go there.  While we were there we gave him his mini album and he spent most of the night looking over it :-)

The Extrovert (wearing his new glasses!) and Hiro

The main meal came as an set tray and you chose the 'main' part, so we asked Hiro to suggest our starters.  We tried lots of wonderful food and I would never have thought that I would have ever eaten raw beef.  But it tasted sooooooooooo good and I will definitely be having it again!  For our main course four of us (including Hiro) had the tempura with udon noodles and sushi.  Every main dish comes with miso soup, salad and beans.  Hiro said they have the miso soup and salad every day with their dinner.  Everything tasted YUM!

Tempura with Udon and Sushi

The LOML had teriyaki pork and rice and The Extrovert tried the sashimi.  The Princess had picked up a tummy bug that day at school and so she was unable to come.  She was very disappointed.  We will definitely be having Japanese again.  As we were leaving Hiro said it was his best night ever!

All of us at dinner.

He had to take family photos the next morning and Hiro was very sad to be leaving.  The boys said he cried when he got to school as he didn't want to go home yet.  We all had adventures with Hiro and we will remember them forever.  Remember, if you are ever given the chance to host an exchange student, seriously think about doing it!

Chipper