Hiroto's Homestay

Many thanks to Tom and Kate Nicholls and their family who are looking after Hiroto. In this post they describe their experience of hosting Hiroto and how it has been a wonderful experience for everyone. Many thanks to them for their kindness and for taking the time to let us know all about it.

Undoubtedly we are extremely fortunate to have the wonderful Hiroto staying in our family home. When I asked my children to describe him in 3 words, they said..."clever, kind, funny, friendly, good at speaking English and a very nice boy!!!!!" (slightly more than 3 words but all very accurate).

 

Immediately our children enjoyed chatting with Hiroto and explaining things to him, as Ted is doing in this picture. The Nintendo Wii became a great ice breaker and leveller as the boys battled it out with bowling. After the first day and as jet lag began to fade we were keen to engage Hiroto in the fantastic and highly respected British tradition of "Twister!" Hiroto took to this immediately and practised his English as the caller before quickly tangling himself amongst the others!



On the following evening we learnt that Hiroto had experienced the "blues" in his afternoon music session, which meant we had to get the guitars out at home and have an impromptu jamming session. With a Gibson SG put through a 75w amplifier Hiroto was soon experimenting with a louder style. This complimented a further education in music as we introduced him to the global hit "Gangnam Style" in preparation for the Friday disco. He returned that evening very hot and happy, so another success!

At a visit to friends following his London trip, Hiroto again proved his communication skills and polite manner as he slipped easily into conversation with adults and children...and this leads us to today (Sunday). Meeting at St. John's Hiroto had a chance to dress in his Kimono with traditional sandals whilst creating short films with our students. This was a magical experience as the two groups gelled together in a very short space of time.

To top off a great day we met with Takaya, Yuki and Kensuke in Savernake Forest where Hiroto was put under pressure as BBQ chef!

With a shelter built to ensure rain did not stop play, Hiroto did a great job and only dropped six sausages, which were all quickly returned to the BBQ and subsequently eaten! Takaya returned home with us and another guitar session took place before all the children invaded our trampoline!

We are currently enjoying a "Star Wars" film...!

Double Birthday!

Akinori became 16 on Saturday. He was very lucky that his host family made a lovely birthday party for him and invited Kensuke and Yuki. On the bus he enjoyed another cake. I think he has had a birthday to remember for the rest of his life!

Disco Fever

This was taken outside the disco on Friday night. Having a lot of fun!

Evening Activities

In the evenings the boys sometimes play soccer. This is Takushi and Junichiro having fun.

London

 One of the things that the boys enjoyed most in London was taking the Underground!

 This is the Shard - the tallest building in Europe.

 Taken at the top of The Shard.

Buckingham Palace

After the British Museum the boys enjoyed taking the underground. We went to Buckingham Palace and took a picture. We couldn't see the queen. Maybe next time.

London: British Museum

Today we spent the day in London and had a great time. We left Marlborough at 8 o'clock in the morning and arrived at the British Museum at 10. We were met by our guide, Jane who spent the whole day with us. In the British Museum we saw many interesting things. The Parthenon Marbles from Athens, some very ancient things from Egypt, the Sutton Hoo ship burial, statues from Easter Island and so on.

Shall we dance?

Every day after lunch there is a dance session and on Friday night there was a disco. Here we can see Kentaro getting into it. Great to see the boys relaxing and having fun.

Kendama

The kendama brought by Kentaro has been a big hit here with everyone! It's a great way to break the ice with the other kids.

Our leader at rest

Many thanks to Yuki Amano who has been the student leader. He has been great. Always smiling and extremely helpful - like on our trip to London yesterday where he counted all the students about 50 times! Here he is enjoying a well earned rest.

Good Friends

The boys made some good friends this week. Some of them have gone back to their homes now. We will miss them. Friendships were made and I hope the boys keep in touch.

Simon and Kensuke

This is Simon. He is one of the English teachers at the Summer School.

In Town

Some pictures of the boys out in town. The weather has just turned wet and there has been very heavy rain today.

Patrick's assistant

This is Kai, Patrick's son. He's 10 and  has really enjoyed spending time with the Tokai boys. They have been so nice to him. Thank you, guys!

A trip to the fire station

On Friday, we visited the fire station. Learning about something through English is a nice way to get out of the classroom for an hour or so.

15 Adventurers!

Today I managed to take a picture of each of the boys before their morning lesson. You can see how well and happy they look. They are really now getting used to their new life.

Samurai!

Issei is enjoying his martial arts course in the afternoons. Looks like a lot of fun and a great way to learn English, listening to the teacher's explanations of all the moves.

Jailbreak

This evening's activity was called Jailbreak. The teachers dressed up as robbers and the students had to catch them and put them in jail. They had great fun.