Kids from Hiroshima by cogdogblog
posted 1 Oct ’08, 10.04am MDT PST on flickr
This cute group if school kids today asked me to help them practice their English while I was visiting Kinkakuji Temple in Kyoto.
It went something like…
"Excuse me! Excuse me" (little voices rang out).
"Hello, My name is Miko" said one reading from his script. "What is your name?"
"My name is Alan" I replied.
"We are from Hiroshima," said Miko, "where do you live?"
"I live in America, in Arizona"
"Will you sign our book?"
And there I was signing my name in 4 of their books, and then they gave me a present:
flickr.com/photos/cogdog/2904163089/
flickr.com/photos/cogdog/2905009782/
flickr.com/photos/cogdog/2905012480/
It was such a sweet moment. I felt famous for 45 seconds.
That is just incredible! I love the way they are learning in such an authentic and useful way. I really appreciated the thought that went into the exercise, down to the note and thank-you gifts. Simple but so meaningful. Thanks for sharing CogDog!
For some reason, the moment had a poignant feeling to me. Seeing those smiling faces next to yours in that photo is wonderful. I wonder if these children have a historical context to understand how incredible this actually is. I am jealous of your travels, Alan. Enjoy them!
@Cole- think how much this moment will mean to these kids years later when they realize they got an autograph from Tom Cruise 😉
Just kidding.
Maybe.
Wow! This sure brings back memories of a summer we spent in Japan. We too had our 45 seconds of fame. Did you have anyone ask if they could ride with you on the subway or train and practice their English with you? It didn’t seem to matter if they went miles out of their way. I never got to practice my tiny amount of Japanese because they wanted to practice their English and that was certainly more fun than my stumbling words! Thanks for the memory prompts!
Touching post Alan. Thanks. Experienced like moments in Taiwan and Japan. Brings a smile to my face. May I share two photographs from Kyoto…
http://www.larkin.net.au/kyoto_temple/pages/kyoto_temple_1_23.html
http://www.larkin.net.au/kyoto_temple/pages/kyoto_temple_1_11.html
Cheers, John.
Nice post. Reminds me of my first trip to Taiwan in 1996. While browsing around the National Technology Museum in Taichung visiting students would approach me to practise their English. I could practise my fledgling Mandarin.
The same has happened in Japan. This time I managed to capture some images.
http://www.larkin.net.au/kyoto_temple/pages/kyoto_temple_1_11.html
Cheers
John