You might think that it would be hard to make friends from other countries. I can picture you wondering — How will we communicate across language and cultural differences? I can promise you that whatever challenges you might face, it will be worth it.

I can’t tell you how excited I was when I came into school today to hear that a package had arrived from Japan. My friend Omi-Sensei sent some holiday greetings for my advisory. The students were so excited when they saw their names on the letters and artwork!

They were thrilled to see personal notes written directly to them, from Japanese students, telling them about life in a Japanese school.

Many of the Japanese students sent original artwork, which totally blew my students away. There are many talented artists in Omi-Sensei’s class! My students were amazed.

In particular, my students were very impressed with the anime artwork on a calendar that the Japanese students made themselves. Wow!

We were also so excited to receive a homemade Tofu San doll to keep our other ones company. (It’s the cutie on top. The other fun stuff was made by my students).

We posted more artwork on the wall outside of our classroom for the rest of the middle school students to see.

So many treats! We are too lucky!

Here’s a personal thank you from me to Omi-Sensei and her students:

Please comment on this entry to join me in thanking Omi-Sensei for her wonderful gift! And if you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, or New Years, or some other holiday at this time of year, I encourage you to send some greetings across the oceans. Maybe you’ll make someone as happy as we were today.