Wednesday, September 20th my students and I converged upon the Harrison Plaza Suites Hotel in order to use their wireless internet access for our first videoconference.
Eleven students and their parents came to participate in the "event" and I do mean event. All week the kids had been anticipating their experience interacting with Japanese students. They made signs and word cards and prepared scripts in very basic Japanese.
Unfortunately, we could only hear our Japanese counterparts and they could only see us. Because this unexpected turn of events required quick thinking I was not able to stop to take photos. The kids were a little disappointed but, as kids will, they managed to create their own entertainment during the lagtime.
Since this first videoconference both the teachers in Japan and I have been wracking our brains trying to figure out how to solve our tech issues. So far we have collectively had an additional five test conferences between ourselves, with Elissa and others. (I've even been having test videoconferences with my husband on his computer while he is sitting three feet away!) In the process of elimination that has subsequently ensued, I have purchased an additional gig of memory to try to upgrade my system, uninstalled and reinstalled Skype and Messenger, twice, and downloaded and installed the newest drivers for my webcam. Gambatte! Gambatte!
This afternoon we had yet another test vidoconference and this time I could hear Makiko and Mayumi and, they could see and hear me! So we are a little bit closer to solving this mystery.
In any case, I enjoy hearing their voices and remembering that lesson learned so well while in Fujinomiya, communication, namely the desire to communicate, is much more meaningful than words alone.