Good evening everyone! When we arrived here, we couldn’t speak English very well. However, it has been getting better and better as time goes by. And, I’d like to say “Thank You.” to all of you, because you really tried hard to understand us. At school we learned a lot of things. The first day, we learned the difference and similarities between Canada and Japan. For example, we share the same color, red and white on each flag, but we use different symbols, A maple leaf for the Canadian flag and “Hinomaru” circle for the Japanese flag. Most Canadian people speak both French and English. We only speak Japanese. But someday, we would like to be able to speak English too. On the second day, we went to the Ocean Center. We saw jellyfish, starfish and a very big octopus!! On the third day, we went to the senior center. We sang, danced, made origami and had a good chat with the seniors. Now, I’d like to express my feelings of gratitude to all of the people I met in Canada. The three sisters, I mean the three beautiful teachers, Jane, Louise and Silvia. You are all funny and active. You made us laugh a lot. Our Canadian buddies, you guys were really interested in Japan and tried to get to know about us. We had a lot in common so we had a great time together. Especially at lunch break! To our host families, every morning you made breakfast and lunch for us and took us to school. I was taken out to a candy shop, shopping mall and so on. Children are very cute and active. I was very happy to know that they got happy when I gave them paper balloons as a souvenir. Today we are leaving Victoria. We will never forget your kindness and hospitality. So don’t forget that we are friends forever!!!

All of the things in Canada were very, very big for us. For example, the land, houses, food and people’s minds, I mean, Canadian people are open-minded. I stayed at the Sausa’s family’s house. The Sausas were very kind and taught me a lot of things. They helped me a lot when I had a problem. However, the Sausa’s had a big problem too. The Sausa’s host father Tony had a heart attack. He had to be hospitalized. Fortunately, he recovered very quickly and got out of the hospital. There was a moment that I will never forget. Tony told us jokes when we visited him in the hospital. If I had been him, I couldn’t have afforded to do that because all I could do would be just worry about myself. From this experience, I have decided to become an open-minded person. I want to become able to consider others more. Through this program, my attitude toward English has changed, too. Before coming to Canada, I had considered English as one of the school subjects needed only for university entrance exams. In Japan, I usually don’t have much opportunity to talk with English-speaking people. But in Canada, I’ve had a lot of chances to talk with people in English. For example, with our teachers, our host family, the elder people in the senior centre and so on. I started to consider English as a great communication tool which can connect and bridge people’s minds. English is something wonderful for us. After going back to Japan, I think all of us feel like we want to improve both our English ability and our personalities. I will never forget about my second home country, Canada and all of you. Thank you for listening.

（E.M）