Naohiro

We had the privilege of having a Japanese foreign exchange student stay with us for a week. We had never done anything like this before and we were quite nervous about the experience. But it turned out great and we had a good time while Naohiro (pronounced Now-Hero) was staying with us.  We received a packet of information about Naohiro before he arrived.  In that packet we learned that he loves to go bowling, speaks a little English, has one little sister, has a calm demeanor, and is allergic to house dust.  I had to laugh because there is nothing I hate more than dusting.  We spent a couple of days getting the house ready for our student to arrive and Kayden graciously gave up his bedroom so Naohiro had a place to stay.  Then finally he arrived.  The night he arrived we took him out for American hamburgers and fries.  When we got home we showed him around and then he showered us with gifts.  He brought us several greeting cards, chopsticks, child's chopsticks for Kayden, Japanese games, handkerchiefs, tons of traditional Japanese snacks, stickers of Japanese currency, gifts bags, and Japanese comic books.  I am sure I am forgetting something!  Despite his jet lag, he wanted to stay up and show the boys how everything worked and to play with them.  He also loved playing with our dog Suki--which is a Japanese name much to Naohiro's delight.

Naohiro showing Kayden how the practice chopsticks work.

I insisted he showed me how to use the chopsticks as well.  I figured it out that night, but I haven't be able to figure it out since.  Even Kayden has tried giving me tips.  Also above, McKay is playing one of the Japanese games that he brought to us.

After his first full day here (he was gone all day on the weekdays), we took him to Trafalga after dinner to have some fun.  He loved the Frog Hopper Ride even though he was nervous at first.  We even ran into another host family that are some friends of ours while we were there and had some fun hanging out with them and playing Laser Tag.  The boys all climbed the rock wall as well.

The second day Naohiro was here was Halloween.  We dressed him up and McKay took him trick-or-treating.

Friday morning, Naohiro when to school with McKay and shadowed him all day.  He liked seeing how McKay's school was different than his.  He really enjoyed McKay's art class.

On Friday night we invited some friends of ours--who were also host families to Japanese exchange students--to roast hotdogs and s'mores over the fire.  While we were setting up, Naohiro discovered the trampoline and jumped on it for the first time.  He liked it.

The kids all had a good time eating, playing catch with the football, playing basketball and playing games.  Above they are playing Duck, Duck, Goose.

On Saturday I guess jet lag caught up with Naohiro and he took a nap on the couch.  He had been going nonstop since his arrival.  In fact, I was pretty worn out myself!

Saturday afternoon we took him bowling which is his favorite thing to do.  It was no surprise that he beat us all.  After bowling, we went laser tagging again.  Laser tagging ended up being his favorite activity while he was here.

On Sunday we took him to church.  I asked him what he thought about it and he said, "It was very long."  I laughed.  After church we took him with us to Grandma and Grandpa White's house for family dinner.  We had homemade pizza and he loved it!

Monday night they had a big thank you social and wrap up.  We had dinner and then there was a program.  The students performed various things and did some dancing.  It was fun to watch Naohiro.

Saying good-bye the night before he left.  We were just about to have family prayer when there was a last minute dog pile on Jaxon.  Naohiro joined in on the fun.

 The boys really enjoyed having him here and they were sad to see him go.

I have to insert here that Naohiro had great manners, was very polite and was such a good kid.  He liked all of my cooking and always wanted seconds.  He and McKay got along great as well and became good friends.  They didn't even need to talk to each other. (Talking to Naohiro was not an easy feat.)  It was like they could read each others' thoughts.  They had a good time together and McKay was bummed when it was time for Naohiro to leave. 

Naohiro left us the following card when he left:

 His card made me smile.

It didn't hit me until I was cleaning up and putting all the things that he had given us away that we would never see him again.  As glad as I was to get things back to normal, it made me sad that he was gone forever.  It was a good experience and we will have to maybe see about hosting again another year.