I suppose I was so caught up in my own preparations for our visit to Nisinakno Elementary School that I didn't stop to think that they were also preparing for our arrival. From the moment we stepped foot inside the elementary school, there was so much energy and excitement generated by the anticipation for the arrival of the Americans! The students walking through the halls all wanted to get a look at their new American friends for the day.
The welcoming ceremony they prepared for us was beyond my wildest dreams. I know, cliche, but true. They had a full band play as we marched into the gymnasium through a tunnel of colorful paper arches created by the kids. Each class stood up in unison and sang us a song in English to welcome us (and show off their great English speaking skills of course). The second graders definitely won the award for loudest and most enthusiastic!
Next we greeted them in Japanese and told them where we are from. It's amazing how talking in front of a couple hundred elementary school students can be more nerve wracking than talking to a room full of adults. 
At the end of the welcoming party, the band marched us out playing none other than the Star Wars theme song. You can't get much more American than that.
I was not expecting this grand ceremony. It made me more relaxed and excited about the day, and relieved my nervousness.
I spent the day with a class of 4th graders. They were pretty active but not as rambunctious as I had anticipated. I taught them about what American elementary students each for lunch and helped them work on their English pronunciation of words like tomato, orange, and strawberry. Next, I drew a map of America on the board and showed them where New York, New Haven, and Las Vegas are located. I also taught them about my family. They were very interested in that and asked me random questions like who is the tallest person in my family and who is the best at sports.
For the remaining 45 minutes, I taught them a few typical American elementary school games; Simon Says and Heads Up 7 Up. I was worried they wouldn't quite get the instructions I was trying to explain (in Japanese of course), but to my surprise, they quickly caught on. They were clearly too smart for Simon Says, so I switched to a more challenging game.
After the games, it was time for lunch. In Japan, students do not bring their own lunch to school. Lunch is prepared at the school everyday, and everyone eats the same thing.
After lunch, I signed an autograph for every student in the class. It made me feel like I was a special, important person in their world, at least for the day.
A few of the girls from my class gave me lots of omiyage (presents). Shells, beads, feathers, pretty much anything they could find in their desks to give to me as a token of their appreciation. They wrote me little notes on pieces of paper that said "Thank you so much. Please don't ever forget us." It was very touching.Perhaps the most amazing part of the day was my experience with a girl from my class named Yori. She kept giving me more and more gifts and I started to feel bad that I didn't have anything to give to her in return. There was only one thing I could think of giving her and that was the notes I had prepared for my lecture that day. The night before, I drew a rough sketch of the map of America on a Post-It so that I'd have something to reference when I drew it on the board in the classroom. She was beyond excited when I gave her that "gift". She was jumping up and down with excitement and told her friend that it was the first time she had ever seen a map of America and now she had her own map. To me, it was just a piece of paper that I was about to throw away now that the day was over. But to her, it was a precious treasure.
I left the school feeling as though I had made a difference. Although it may take the kids a few more attempts before they can pronounce "tomato" correctly or they may forget how to play Heads Up 7 Up, there will always be a girl in Japan, named Yuri, who has her very own map of America. 
