Above all the kids that came to wish Aya a fond farewell.  On either side, we pose in our yukata’s by the koi pond.  Naturally, Cade would  not be left out.  Then it was time for lunch!

Aya and Audrey prepare the rice balls.  Above a plate of our Japanese lunch.  You can see the kids had fun and worked hard to use their chopsticks!  (Hashi)

By the end of the meal a lot of the kids had the hang of eating with chopsticks!  It was really fun!

After lunch Aya wrote each child’s name in Hiragana.  In Japanese language there are three forms of writing.  Kanji is the complicated symbols, Hiragana is the common ‘alphabet’ where certain symbols represent sounds, and Katakana is the writing the Japanese use to write all sounds that are foreign...particularly other languages.  It is possible she used Katakana in her writing of our names. 

She used India ink and a thick brush to make her marks.  Here you can see below the paper is a blotter felt that acts as a guide to making her marks.  Below, Grayson poses with his name.

Audrey and Aya taught the kids to make a cicada, in honor of summer.  Aya brought Audrey a wonderful origami book that she has been using almost every day of Aya’s home stay.  The directions are in English, and Japanese.  Very cool

At party’s end, Aya was presented with gifts from her new American friends...including Washington D C memorabilia, and a lovely necklace.  It was a really fun time, and allowed us to share our Japanese experience with our friends and family.