What sounds like a recipe for disaster was actually pretty great. It started out with three girls and eight boys. Two lovely and official ESL teachers from the States were flown in to Okinawa for the students' morning classes. Every other moment they were ours (Mary and I were everyone's “camp counselors”). We helped them make breakfast in the morning (pancakes anyone? scrambled eggs with vegetables? FRENCH TOAST?), get off to school on time, and then all afternoon we facilitated outdoor activities (Nature walk? Soccer? Kickball? Icebreaker games? We even kayaked in the mangroves one day!) and after dinner we taught them night games in English (which after much explanation and animation, often ended up having relatively close Japanese equivalents), played cards or board games, or had bon fires (fire safety was a problem, s'mores were beloved by all). And then it was time to help them with homework and get them all tucked into bed for the next early morning. We created a comfortable routine and became a happy ESL camp family. For the last three days, an additional six girls and two boys joined us.
Overall, it was a wonderful change of pace. I had the mornings to read or take walks (sans Naha's concrete, thank goodness) and the rest of the time I played. I had the pleasure to get to know these students personally, answer their questions without being rushed by jam-packed class schedules, and ask them questions that arose as we hung out together. We all came out of it having learned a lot about each other and our languages and cultures, through multiple long days together and small group/one-on-one connections. Genuine communication takes time, persistence, and focus.
As much as the internet provides me a forum for communicating with people around the world, I sincerely hope to see you soon.
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