Mail from Amanda!

I was so happy I've got a mail from Amanda. Just this time last year Airin and I had a great time at her house in Seattle where we experienced our first home-stay program. And also that was her first host mother experience. I was so lucky we had a wonderful host mother. We are good friends from that time on.

She told me that she had several Japanese girls but they didn't make much effort to talk to and also they didn't go out without her. She apparently feels disappointed to Japanese guests. It's indeed desappointing that she takes it that Japanese people isn't interesting to accompany with. I think we Japanese are not good at expressing ourselves to people we don't know well. And Japanese education system might contribute to train childrens that luck of social skills.

I reaffirm the importance to foster open-mindness and develop the ability to express one's opinions.