Thomson Family Adventures gives your children an experience they won’t get anywhere else: the chance to befriend kids across the world. When you become a part of our Friends Across Borders program on select trips, we’ll pair your child up with a pen pal and schedule a memorable meeting for them to spend time together. Depending on where you go, they might play soccer, make origami or learn the steps to a folk dance.
Below is the story of the Wear family, a grandmother who traveled with her grandkids to Japan.
The Wear Family
Pamela Wear took her grandkids Merced and Madison on our Japan Family Adventure in June 2019. The Wear family is no stranger to Friends Across Borders – through Thomson, Merced and Madison have had pen pals in Tanzania, Thailand, Belize, Italy and Japan. They still communicate with some of them on social media!
In January of 2019, Merced sent her first letter to Chikano Junior High School in Japan, talking about her 8th grade school, her hometown and her theater group. “Do you like to read?” Merced wrote. “In 2018, I read 49 books. I love to read about science fiction and animals. What do you like to read?”
A month later, she received a response from Hajime, Taiga, Haruka, Himari and Rei. Each student introduced themselves and talked about their favorite activities. Hajime said he read more than 42 books the year before, and that his favorite is “Into the Wild” by Erin Hunter. Taiga said he likes to play soccer, but he’s not very good.
In Japan, Merced and Madison participated in an afternoon Friends Across Borders meetup with their pen pals. Everyone introduced themselves and shared a little about their interests and hobbies. Merced, Madison and three other American girls on the trip sang the United States national anthem.
Rei shared her love of Japanese pop and talked about one of her favorite performers.
“Rei has tons of personality,” Pamela said.
Then, the group delved into some Japanese arts and crafts. They learned to write their names in calligraphy and made origami birds. Later, they played soccer and basketball.
They spoke a little English, but also communicated via hand signals, laughter and clapping. Merced and Madison enjoyed the experience, learning and laughing alongside their new Japanese friends.
“They loved doing calligraphy and origami, working side-by-side with the children, and making mistakes, all laughing and working through each project to completion,” Pamela said.
Pamela said what stood out to her was that the kids figured out how to communicate so easily, despite the cultural barriers.
“Two different cultures, two different languages. But kids are kids. They figure out how to communicate,” she said.
The meetup ended with a gift exchange and farewells. Pamela said she felt very proud of her grandkids and the Japanese students for participating so enthusiastically in this cultural exchange.
“They took a leap of faith and communicated and interacted with each other,” Pamela said. “That’s super growth.”
