Entry III. Meeting Mr. Endo

I was planning to write about the Japanese language today, but that will have to wait. I am much too excited about something special that happened. Today, Mrs. Langhus and I went to Madison to meet Mr. Endo. In November, after I return from Japan, Mr. Endo will be coming to Fernwood to be a special guest teacher for three weeks.

We had so much fun talking to Mr. Endo and making plans for his visit to our School.

Mr. Endo is in a group of 8 Japanese teachers visiting Wisconsin in October and November. They are coming to teach us about their country and to learn about Wisconsin. Mr. Endo will share his culture with us and we will help him with his English.

Mrs. Langhus and her family will host Mr. Endo in their home while he is here. They are planning to show him many of the wonderful museums and performances in Milwaukee.

We knew that Mr. Endo had three children, but we didn't know that he loves sports and music. In Japan he teaches 6th grade. He is also a basketball coach at his school. He told us that at his school the girls like to play basketball more than the boys. The boys love to play baseball.

The visiting Japanese teachers sang songs and taught us a traditional Japanese Dance. Mr. Endo has a beautiful voice and plays the recorder. He promised to teach our students a song about cherry blossoms that his own children love to sing. He also brought materials to teach lessons about geography and art.

He showed us beautiful brush paintings that his sixth grade students had made. The paintings show scenes from Japan such as Mt. Fuji and Temples. One student drew a bowl of Japanese noodles. Several others drew pictures from Japanese Anime. I know that many of our students love anime cartoons and will want to talk to Mr. Endo about this.

It was a joy for Mrs. Langhus and me to meet Mr. Endo. We are very lucky that he will be coming to Fernwood. If you haven't yet seen the picture of Mr. Endo and his beautiful wife and children, check out the display case outside of room 14.