June 21 - Our Japanese Language School's annual Spring Garden Party is one of my favorite annual events. This party gives me a chance to visit a beautiful part of Yokohama on the bluff overlooking the harbor, to meet the members of the Yokohama community who support the school, and to see how our students have progressed in their language learning.

Yokohama Mayor Fumiko Hayashi, our guest of honor, gave a nice congratulatory speech. Our language students listened to her intently in order to understand every word. Ambassador Roos also congratulated our students on completing their year of Japanese language study.

The school had also invited many guests who provide cultural enrichment and language learning opportunities for students. I met employees of Yokohama city who host our students as interns to give them experience working in a Japanese language environment.

I also spoke with the Dean of the School of Defense Sciences at the National Defense Academy, where our students had made a field trip earlier in the year. The students introduced me to several language volunteers. These members of the Yokohama community meet with our students each week to let them practice their Japanese conversation skills.

I meet our students when they arrive in the fall. Therefore the highlight of this party for me is to hear our students progress in Japanese. One of the students served as master of ceremonies and another gave a toast to all the guests. They spoke Japanese fluently and clearly, even making jokes. Other students mingled with our guests.

Impressed with our students' progress in Japanese, I thought their teachers had prepared them well to begin working at the U.S. Embassy and our Consulates around Japan.

Until next time,

Jim