Unexpected and Wonderful

During one of our days in Hannibal, Missouri we decided to go see the Lighthouse just a short distance from our motel.  When we arrived at the top of the hill and spotted the Lighthouse, we also noticed that there were two women up on the platform too.  They were taking pictures and enjoying the views of the Mississippi River too.  

We offered a friendly hello and they quickly replied with a hello and we struck up a great conversation about where we were all from and how long we had been visiting Hannibal.  The conversation was so wonderful and pleasant, we were still talking a half hour later.  

One of the women was Noriko and she is from Japan.  She is doing a type of student/teacher exchange program.  Noriko is a teacher at an after school program in Japan and was very interested in learning and seeing more about Mark Twain.  

She talked with the kids about how American and Japan schooling is similar and different.  She had a Mark Twain book that had both English and Japanese words in it.  

Noriko also made each of the kids something in origami with Japanese paper.  Chloe got a crane.  Samantha got a bird.  Cody got a ninja star.

Samantha's bird.

Chloe's crane.

Cody's Ninja Star.

Before we left, she also performed a Japanese street show with sticks.   

Fishing pole.

Fish.

St. Louis Arch.

Two flags.  US and Japan.

Fishing net.

Cody wanted to try.

He made the fishing pole.

And a fish.

A fish for Samantha.

And, a fish for Chloe.

It was amazing and such a learning experience.  We exchanged addresses and definitely plan on keeping in touch.