There’s nothing like 90 or 100 degree heat along with 80% humidity! Whew! We go through lots of water, tea, and ice coffee. (Popsicles and ice cubes for the kids.) Cameron walks around with a long skinny towel around his neck to use as a “sweat cloth.” (With the way he sneezes at dust, it doubles as a handkerchief!)

We were all glad to travel into the mountains a few days ago to help out with teaching English to 6th and 9th graders at a Japanese school event. Our kids enjoyed the extra attention and being able to run around and play with other kids, and we were able to meet many new people and even a few old friends. Even though the English was not the best (“How many deers do you have?”), the people time was great!

I had the challenge of using ventriloquism in a slight mixture of English and Japanese or very easy English sentences. I had volunteers come up to talk to Jasper, and the man introducing me called me a pro. (Wow.) Many had never seen a ventriloquist before. Or a blond-headed kid like Melodie, for that matter! I thought one 9th grade girl was a little spacey until I realized she was just staring at my eye color!

“My name is Susan. Nice to meet you.”