Junior High School Group #2

Today I went and picked up our second lot of boys for this month. It was a very strange experience! There were 277 students in total and 47 different host families to collect them. The host families sat in chairs holding their name card and facing all the students. Each host's name was then called and you stood up - and the students who were staying with you also stood up and faced you. After greeting each other you sat down again. What makes it so strange is that although you are given profiles of the students in advance you really don't know what they will be like until you actually meet them. In the last big school group there were students with safety pins in their lips, bleached hair etc. who were completely out of control. The sighs of relief from people when they discovered they were not in their group could almost be heard all around the room! Although this school seemed to be a bit more conservative there was still the nervous moment before your students stood up and you wondered who they were.
Fortunately we got a really nice group - even better than last week. They had a great time preparing tea and of course eating it too. The fireflies are also out in force now so going for a wander to see them is a nice way to break tea and dessert. This time the students are only here for one night so tomorrow morning I have to work them really hard in the garden before taking them back to their friends. If we could hand pick the students each time I wouldn't mind having a group each week. Perhaps our luck will run out with our last group next week though. Another anxious moment awaits us on Monday!