Chicago Trip 2010 (97 photos), by Kristin Hanaoka

Last month I went back to Chicago for Christmas. This was a special trip for a few reasons. This was my first Christmas home since I had left for Japan. One of the best parts was spending time with my family and seeing old friends and co-workers. What also made this trip special was that I was able to bring five students and a teacher from my Japanese high school home with me.

Kurosawa Sensei and I have become good friends and team teach many English classes together. Last April she became the new leader of the international group at my high school and asked me if I would be interested in having some students visit Chicago when I went home in December. I thought this was a great opportunity and quickly agreed. Kurosawa Sensei and I began planning a rough itinerary and put a poster up at school that said, "Do you want to go to Chicago with Kristin Sensei?" We advertised the trip as Christmas in Chicago. The trip was open to the whole school and the deadline was July. Five students from different classes and grades signed up and the trip was officially approved by school and the prefecture. The group included four girls- two seniors, one junior and one sophomore and one senior boy.

After much planning, preparing and emails the trip finally came together. All of the students stayed with families from my church in Chicago and most students stayed with two families. We left Japan on December 14 and the group returned to Japan on December 28th, while I stayed in Chicago for another week. It was a great two weeks packed full with school visits, sightseeing downtown, shopping, visiting church and hanging out with the youth group and spending Christmas Eve and Christmas with host families. Everyone had a great time and said they would visit Chicago again, but in warmer weather! The cold weather and snow was a first for the group since winter in Ibaraki is very mild compared to winter in Chicago! I couldn't have done this trip without the help of Kurosawa Sensei, my school, my family and many friends at church and in the community. I'm very thankful I was able to be a part of this amazing experience and hope there will be another trip in the future.




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