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Friendship among the kids of the Asia-Pacific
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Posted on Jul 29 2004
I am 11 years old, and I had just returned from my trip to Fukuoka, Japan. I went there because I was chosen to be a junior ambassador for Tinian Elementary School. There were six of us from the Northern Marianas Islands at the Asian Pacific Children’s Conference. We stayed there for 15 days. I am writing this letter so I can share my experience with the rest of the people of the Commonwealth.
When I arrived in Japan I felt like I was treated like a king. The care and attention that the staff and our Japanese families extended was beyond what simple words can describe. I was deeply touched by the friendliness of everyone, including those children coming from different parts of the Asia-Pacific region. I met children from Mongolia, Australia, Bhutan, Pakistan, Nepal, New Zealand, and so on. The difference in culture brought us together rather than separated us. We became quick friends and we were very interested in learning about each other’s culture. We played together well. We learned our lessons together well and even when there are some who did not speak English well, we did communicate well and had lots of fun together. This is an experience that I will never forget and I will always remember all the friends I made from the different counties. But, most especially I will never forget my Japanese family and the friends I made through them while I was there. It was very hard saying goodbye to them, because I came to love them just like my own family. But, I promise that from this day on it will be my goal to continue writing to them and I will try to visit them as often as I can.
I want to thank the Marianas Visitors Authority and the Japanese organizers for putting this conference together and my school for selecting me to be its representative during this conference. It is one of the greatest opportunities for us to reach out to the world and become friends. We should not be afraid of people who are different from us and we should continue trying to make friends across the world. Thank you, arrigato guzaimas, si yu’us ma’ase’.
Henry Ernest “EJ” U. Hofschneider, Jr.
