My first-ever English-student party (outside of class) was. . . a hit?!? Well, I don't know how the students felt, but I enjoyed it anyways (haha!!) No, I took it from their smiles that everyone had fun, even though (notice the one guy in the picture -- yeah, he's 20. . . and all of the women are about my parents' age or so -- not that that's OLD mom and dad, but. . . ) I felt a little bad for Kentaro. 8 of my 13 adult students came out to my house for the evening near the end of August, which was also fun to "host" something at my place (since, although it may not look huge from the picture, I have a VERY nice / spacious little house for being in Japan, and compared to my accomodations in Osaka -- it's just small here, and so I feel really blessed!!). I should mention though that the 2 ladies at the end of the table came over an hour before the party and basically put together everything for the okonomiyaki (they call it "Japanese pizza", but don't believe it!) you see on the table. . . Okonomiyaki is actually a specialty of Osaka (known for it's creative culinary delights, including balls of batter with a chunk of octopus in the middle fried golden on the outside -- you can just ask my dad how much he enjoyed the one bit he took. . .) and so I sometimes miss eating it as I'm no longer an "Osakajin" (Osaka person -- a special "brand" of Japanese people). Anyways, inside okonomiyaki you will find an assortment of food, ranging from squid, shrimp and pork to deep fried pieces of tempura, pickled ginger and noodles, all topped off with a sweet brown sauce, mayo, and flakes of both seaweed and bonito fish. Needless to say, it is delicious (and that's not sarcasm!) Even though these students were from 4 different classes, they seemed to become comfortable with one another as the evening went on, so I was excited to see that taking place. For those of you who know the "bowl game", I also subjected them to performing that combination of Taboo and charades during the evening (as their teacher, I have the right to do these kinds of things. . . haha!!) I just can't help but praise God for the wonderful people that He has brought to my classes, and look forward to the times we have to relate to one another. . . Although it was the first time I've done this, it definitely won't be the last -- any ideas for next time?