So We Bid Farewell

Wow how time flies but also amazed at what can be packed into a small time frame !! After a very quick 5 days we had to say farewell to our new family member. It is amazing how quickly relationships can form. We were so sad to have to say goodbye as we were just starting to get comfortable with the language barrier and customs and we had really fallen in love with this beautiful young lady. She became my third daughter.

My 3 beautiful daughters all ready for school.

 On the last day we were all invited to a "graduation ceremony" for our exchange students, where they were given certificates and small gifts to remember their time with us all.

Jennifer allowed C to present gifts to the exchange teachers

Yummy graduation cake

Of course E found the blue tongue lizards in the school garden !!

After the ceremony the students sang Waltzing Matilda which was fantastic. They had been practicing for months and then they performed some traditional Japanese dances. All very entertaining.

Our last family photo.

The hardest part of the whole trip, saying goodbye.

A funny note, Jennifer who was the organiser of the trip and home stays advised the school to have plenty of tissues on hand for when the students left as she knew that there would be a lot a tears. The teacher really didn't believe that there would be a real need for many tissues. Boy was she wrong !!! The parents were crying, the teachers were crying, grown men were crying, the kids were crying !! There weren't many dry eyes and she was very surprised at how strong these relationships became in such a short period of time. Next time she will be well prepared !!!

A MASSIVE thank you to everyone involved in this event. I never thought in a million years that our family would ever take on an exchange student and we can't wait until the next one arrives. We loved the experience, learning new things and teaching them new things. We hope that next time the time will be longer. We also thank Kyokas family for allowing her to become a large part of our family and allowing us the opportunity to take great care of her. She will be part of our family forever.