Letters Home

 In the last 24 hours we've heard from the two members of the 5 Ring Circus who are away from home.  Drew's note was handwritten; Kelsey's came via email.  While I knew I missed them both, I had no idea how much I was really missing them until I read their letters.

From Drew:
Hey, Guys!  Settled in @ Pine Bluff nice and warm.  Dinner was great, chapel was cool, and dodge ball, was, you guessed it, awesome.  Slept soundly the first night.  It stunk though because they lost my pillow in the less than one mile in a truck. So I have another pillow one of the counselers got me. That was pretty much it. OH! And I learned this awesome game called Stupid Ninja Game. Bye!
Drew
P.S. I found 4 counselers that remember me.

From Kelsey:
Mom, Dad, Erin, and Drew,

I`m writing to you on my mom`s laptop. However, I won`t be on it often. I hope you all are doing well. I`m having a great time and have actually already bought some of you your presents. Erin, you`re still on the `Will probably never find` list. Not really since Miyo and I are going to Kyoto tomorrow and there`s a new aquarium there. I`m not sure if i`ll take pictures though....

My host family is very nice. Miyo is fluent in English after completing her own homestay of 10 months in America. My brother, Ryo, is also very good at English and is leaving on July 25th for Maryland. Aya, my little sister, is very cute but shy. She doesn`t speak English so it`s a great oppertunity for me to practice Japanese. Susumu, my dad, is very funny and nice as well. The whole family seems to like me abd we get along very well. I`ve already eaten squid, octopus, and eel. Guys. Eel is the best food you`ll ever eat.

I attended High School for the past 3 days. However, due to a large amount of tests being taken, I won`t be able to return to the school until July 11, and that will end July 13th. My high school`s name literally translates into `The highest/best` so consequently the school is very busy. However, I`ll be going to the local middle school and elementary school on different occasions. I also go work at Miyo`s cram school, which is for elementary students. My family is very good friends with the Yamaguchi family, who has a 15 y/o daughter named Saki and an 11 y/o son named Taka. Aya has a crush on Taka!  The family is very nice, espiecially the mom (Rie). She loves Coltrane and we talk about him often.

I`m having a fantastic time in Japan and I hope that America is actually coming close to how great of a time I`m having here,

Kelsey