On Nov. 2, 2006 at 6:00PM US time, Dowell and Onominami had a very successful videoconference. The students from Dowell's Japanese Friendship Club had a surprise for the Japanese students.

Earlier in the week, the 5th grade club members presented Mr. Araki with 25 teddy bears. Each one was dressed differently and came with a letter of introduction, written in the eyes of the bear. This is a gift that Mr. Araki took with him back to Japan. There is one bear for each class in the school. We used the premise of the Dolls of Friendship that began in 1927.

The children in Japan came to school on a national holiday, with their parents, to hold the conference. My students presented their bears and then we had a Japanese language lesson.

The parents in both countries were very impressed. I had 12 students crowded around the computer talking to the kids in Japan. They talked about fast plants, television and shopping at the mall.

This conference went much better than I could have hoped for. The parents were excited and the children were ecstatic. I feel like we bridged the gap of the mileage that exists between us. It was so exciting!

I really believe that our friendship will go on for many years to come.

As usual, my pictures will appear in the next posting. This time the reason is because I am unable to find the reader.