A letter from Sanford and Emiko Taborn in Japan
March 2012
It started with a smile. My commute to the university where I teach is a 10-minute walk. Every morning during my commute, I meet the children from the neighborhood walking in the opposite direction on their way to elementary school. As I pass the children walking alone or in groups of two or three, I would greet them with a warm smile and a hearty, “Good Morning!” They would shyly smile back and sheepishly say, “Ohayo Gozaimasu,” which is "Good morning" in the Japanese language.
Shaking hands with excited fourth grader Hiroshi
This type of interaction went on for about three years. Then suddenly things changed. First, because of several serious incidents of children being bothered or attacked on their way to elementary school, the school administration instituted a buddy system. The students are now required to walk to school in large groups. There are various meeting points where these groups assemble by a specific time. One meeting place is on the corner right next to of my house. One or two parents wait with the children until the full group is assembled. Then the students walk to school in the large group. Second, the curriculum in elementary school was tweaked to allow very elementary English to be taught. Generally English education begins in junior high school. With these two changes, I was pleasantly surprised one morning by the group of students assembled next to my house. Before I could say anything, the group said in unison, “Good Morning!” and “Have a nice day.” I warmly greeted them back.
Variations on this exchange of greetings have continued. However, one morning the children surprised me with a piece of paper that they handed to me. They were shouting, “Please come, please come!” After reading the paper, I said, “Okay. I’ll come.” The children had invited me to their school festival. At school festivals children demonstrate things that they have been studying in class or in their various clubs. Each class of students decides on the types of activities they would like to display or demonstrate. It is a major event in the school calendar.
Fifth grader Maho explaining a card game.
When I arrived at the festival, the students who had invited me were alerted and several of them came to the entrance area, greeted me in English, and proceeded to guide me around the festival. They were all very excited and tried their best to communicate with me in English. I got to see many interesting displays and demonstrations and meet many students and their families. The parents beamed with pride as they watched their children trying with all their might to communicate with me in English. It was a very exciting day for everybody, myself included. And it all started with a warm smile and a hearty “Good Morning!”
Sanford
The 2012 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 200
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