Last night with Hono, my `sister` was truly amazing and I want to share it with you...

I have been teaching Hono English. She is seven and English is not taught formally in school until students are 12 or so. Each night she asks me to read a story or what something is called in English..I tell her and she will usually reply by pointing at an object and saying `Nihongo onigaishimas. Dore wa nandesko?` (Japanese please. What is this?)..Last night I came into the living room and saw Hono working away...I walk over to the table and she gestures me to come and sit with her. I do. I see that she has written the numerals `one` and `two` on a piece of paper along with the corresponding hiragana for each. She motions to me to trace over her hiragana...

I am Canadian and because of this I form letters with downward strokes first and then horizontal. Hono was not impressed that I did my hragana this way. She labeled which line was to be done first and the order to follow...I re-did my hiragana and passed her test. I wrote, on the bottom of the page `one, two` in dotted lines for her to trace..she saw them, looked at me and fake yawned saying `sleepy`...it was only quarter past 8...she still had daytime clothes on. I said `I traced, you do too`...so finally the seven year old did.

Once she had finished, she flipped that paper over and wrote A LOT of hiragana characters on the back. She then labeled the order to which each character MUST be written, looked at me and said `your turn`...we both burst out laughing. I pointed to her and said `Nihongo Sensei`..she pointed back saying `English Teacher`...more giggles followed...

I am thankful for this experience for the leaning that ensues. I love my evenings teaching English and in return learning Japanese...Without this experience I would not have met a sweet little girl who has a caring mum...nor would I have been smiling through slight jet lag :)