Saying Goodbye.....

Tonight is our last night with Asuka. There will be tears tomorrow for sure, there always is. We had to go to school today for their farewell lunch. This visit they did things a little differently in that when the student said their speeches, the host families also had to stand at the front with them and they introduced us to everyone. It was so nice to see how each student had become attached to their family, their were tears and hugs and moments of speechlessness, it was actually a little hard to digest at times, really tear jerking, I was bawling before it was even my turn.....LOL. Asuka said some lovely things about us which was so nice to hear, the one thing that made me laugh though was she had mentioned that "my host father likes to eat peanuts", what a scream!!!

Asuka and the other students also dressed in traditional wear, being a Kimono. It was the first time that any of the students that we have had had done this, and we loved it. It was so colourful and the girls appear so delicate when dressed like that.

On the way home it was tough in the car Asuka was crying, it must be difficult for them, I'm not looking forward to tomorrow morning, must get the waterproof mascara out LOL.

Here are some photos of Asuka in her Kimono, I really love the one of the three girls together, they look so happy.

Last night, we travelled down to Victor Harbour to show Asuka the penguins, they are so darn cute. They go fishing all day and come home in the evening to feed and stay with their chicks. They have about 400 penguins on the island at the moment. Unfortunately it is a little hard to get pics of them, as you can't use a flash, because it can send them blind for about 20 minutes, poor little guys. Victor Harbour is such a beautiful place and the walk out to Granite island is so nice, although it was pretty cold last night.

We came home via windy point, we thought that we would show Asuka the lights of Adelaide, hmm that was unsuccessful we got up there only to discover a nice thick blend of fog and the lights were not able to be seen, bummer.

Here are some pics of us walking out to Granite Island. The red lit photo is actually of a penguin if you can make it out.

This morning, we took Asuka out for some last minute shopping, she loves chocolate, so she asked to be taken to a Supermarket to be able to stock up on some for her friends and family at home. We took her to the lolly section in Big W, it was like she had died and gone to heaven, not sure of the set up that they have in Japan, but she quite liked this one.

I have also sent her home with a jar of Nutella and a tin of Milo, because she loved both of them.

We also took her to a souvenir shop to finish up with, check her out in the good old Aussie cork hat, she loved it LOL

I think that is enough for tonight, am a little weary after a big day.

Leanne

xx