It all started when my husband, who was working at the Extension Center, Waseda University, came back with the news that an international student at the dormitory was looking for a host family.  Last year, at the closing ceremony, we received a certificate of appreciation having hosted seven students.　 　　 The first student was William Murray from Georgetown University, who came to us in October 1990.  He was a very tall, 190 cm, and slim boy.  We were already a big family back then; our son and daughter and my parents living together.  Naturally William became the tallest of our family but he was always quiet and never ate more than we ate.  Looking back now, we were very nervous to host an international student for the first time, but I am sure that he was pretty nervous as well.  He was always reading books and his Japanese was excellent.  He even knew the stroke orders of kanjis perfectly.  His hobby was juggling, spinning round the sticks like bowling pins.  Our son really got on well with William and when he was to return, we decided to let our son go with him for a while.  My husband and I had work so we let our daughter go with them.  We were very worried but we made a final decision as we trusted William completely.  Our son could not speak English at all but, blissful ignorance, he did not look nervous at all.  Because it was during the summer holiday season, Narita Airport was very crowded.  It took so long to get passed the immigration office that we had to miss the flight and take the next one available.  I was so anxious about everything until they finally got on the plane.  I know that William did not complain and stayed in a queue knowing that he had to miss the flight because of his too tender personality.  Later he came to Japan again and visited us.  He was still a kind, quiet, tall boy that we knew. 　　 Our second lodger was Hanna Coen once again from Georgetown.  She was a cute but strong girl.  As Christmas, she made a cookie house with some gingerbread and for the first time at our house, we had roast turkey for dinner.  Since then every Christmas we have roast turkey with my younger sister's family.  After graduation, she worked as a cultural ambassador of Otsuki town, Kochi prefecture for two years.  Then she worked as a staff of Kodak at the Nagano Olympics for three months.  She returned to America to be a high school teacher.  During the summer holiday, she came to Japan with some of her students twice.  Two years ago, we were invited to attend her wedding ceremony in Kansas City.  We attended the dinner party with her relatives and friends on the eve of the wedding, the wedding ceremony at the church and a large party after the wedding at the garden of her house.  It was happy even for us to see that Hanna was congratulated by everyone at the party. 　　 The third lodger, Marty Dahl was a unique student who graduated from the University of California and came to Japan to study Japanese.  He passed the entrance examination of the Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo.  He stayed with us until he moved to the dormitory and started his research at the research center there in April that year.  Altogether he stayed in Japan for 6 years and having completed the doctor course he went back to his country.  Later he became an assistant professor at Stanford University.  Last year, he got married to a tall girl who looks like Arisa Mizuki and was a self-defense official.  They had been going out for over 10 years since he was still at Waseda University. 　　 Alice Hsu, the fourth student, was Taiwanese from Columbia University, New York.  As she already knew some people in Japan, she was always with many people having parties.  When my husband asked her to bring some friends to the annual barbecue party with his colleagues, she turned up with millions of her friends.  We were simply astonished.  She was always out or on a trip and never really at home. 　　 The fifth student was Annie Hou.  She was Taiwanese but immigrated to Melbourne, Australia.  She was a tall, slender and beautiful girl.  Being the oldest of three siblings, she was very strong-minded.  After completing the course at Waseda University, she attended the language school to study Japanese for the test of practical Japanese.  She worked at a Japanese company for six years but when she looked for a job which was closer to her house, she could not find any so she left Japan for Melbourne. 　　 The sixth one was Nick Cheeseman of Cambridge, England.  He had been suffering from diabetes since he was a child.  He was quiet at home.  Since April last year, he has been working as a municipal worker in Yonezawa city, Yamagata prefecture.  When his parents came to Japan, we found out that his father was a great fan of football.  Our son, a college student then, who also loves football had fun talking about it with him.  That summer, our son visited England during the holiday to watch a football match.  It was a dream come true for him. 　　 Isaac Gagne from Georgetown was the seventh lodger.  He was a short student, shorter than our son, and liked rock music.  He often went to the live concert at Koenji with our son.  He loved anime and according to him, the manga called Bagabondo (vagabond) was popular over there and that influenced him a great deal.  He is an American boy who liked Japanese swords, katana, Japanese gardens and having a bath.  He was saying he would like to come back to Japan in the future. 　　And now our eighth lodger is Jen Yuen from China.  She is a student of New York State University.  It seems that the Asian way of thinking and the American way of rational thinking coexist inside her.  She helps me with cooking and washing up willingly, as if it is her role in the family. 　　And now our eighth lodger is Jen Yuen from China.  She is a student of New York State University.  It seems that the Asian way of thinking and the American way of rational thinking coexist inside her.  She helps me with cooking and washing up willingly, as if it is her role in the family. 　　 We remember each student clearly and they influenced us a great deal.  We would like to thank them for that.  America, England, China, Australia Taiwan, although each was for a short period of time, while living here in Tokyo, we were able to experience various cultures and gain different information through those students.  Besides, by having meals with them, I rediscovered the beauty of the Japanese culture and customs.  We also learnt our weakness.  I would very much hope that we are playing a part, however small it may be, in making an international contribution.  And I can definitely say that it helped us internationalize our house.